Christmas wreaths

Monday, December 15

When I was in elementary school, I remember someone in my class would always bring these treats to school. I always liked them and when I found a recipe for them I decided to make a batch. They are made with corn flakes, marshmallows and red hot cinnamon candies. Yum! (When I have a minute to find the recipe again, I will post it here.)

That's what fries are made from?

Monday, September 3

Labor Day - We wanted to take the family to the Brigham City Temple open house and about a week and a half before this day I was able to find some tickets for the open house online for Labor Day.  I thought that this would work perfectly for our family because with the kids in school and marching band practices and football games, not to mention the soccer practices and games that had started up already, we didn't have a lot of available time.

I got tickets for the earliest time available - early afternoon.  We ate an early lunch and got everyone dressed up for the event and drove up to Brigham City - a little bit more than an hour drive from our house.  My parents also got tickets to go through at the same time.  We arrived in Brigham City and parked where they directed us to and then got in line to wait for the shuttle bus to the temple.  The line was fairly long and it was a hot, sunny day.  We waited and waited and there were a few buses that came and dropped people off and then left empty to return to the temple to pick up more people.  One of the workers said that the wait at the temple was about 2 hours - just to get in the door.  At this point we had been waiting an hour already.  People ahead of us in line kept leaving.  Finally we made it onto a bus, took the ride to the temple, saw the huge line that was there and decided to go back to our cars and return home.  There was no way our kids were going to last waiting another 2 hours in the hot blazing sun.  My parents had a dinner engagement for early in the evening and weren't able to wait either.  We were very disappointed.  We found out later that most people that went that day didn't even bother to get tickets, parked in the neighborhood around the temple and walked straight there and got in line.  Those of us that followed the directions that were given and actually had tickets to attend the open house ended up getting hurt in the long run...

None of us were in very good moods when we finally made it back home.  Once again it was getting close to my favorite time of the day (not!) - dinner time!  I was in the mood for some french fries so I found a recipe online that I had all of the ingredients for and got some potatoes out and started cutting them into long strips.  Luke saw what I was doing and I asked him if he could guess what I was making.  He had no idea and when I told him they were french fries he said in disbelief, "That's what fries are made from?"  I informed him that yes they were made from potatoes, but I still don't think he believed me until I pulled them out of the oven once they were done and he finally thought that they looked (and tasted) like french fries!

I thought that they could have used a little more seasoning, but other than that they were really good.  If anyone would like the recipe, here it is:  Zesty Oven Baked Fries

M&M turns 14!!

Monday, July 30

That title makes me feel like I am getting old!  Yes, my oldest child has turned 14!!  I'm also excited to say that she is finally growing some more!  She is just a couple of inches shorter than me and her feet are getting close to my size as well.  (Although Luke's feet are bigger than M&M's...)  M&M was kind enough to let her younger sisters help her open her gifts and they totally enjoyed it!  M&M got some clothes, a graphing calculator for school (yippee) and a few other things.  I also finally found some pajamas for her (that are not tank-tops or super short shorts) and they actually fit her (and she likes them too)!!  Right now she is in-between fitting in the children's size clothing and the junior sizes.  She's kind of in a tough spot as far as clothing goes...

Since M&M just had her braces put on a few days before her birthday, unfortunately her teeth were still pretty sore when her birthday rolled around.  She is also not a big cake fan anyways so we decided to make her an ice cream cake this year.  I searched around on the internet and found the recipe for this cake and it turned out AWESOME!!  It also looked like we had bought it at the store and it was actually pretty easy to do.  I would totally recommend the recipe to anyone!!  Here it is if you're interested:  Layered ice cream cake.  It's just made from oreos, ice cream sandwiches, cool whip and 3 flavors of ice cream.  We used a really good chocolate ice cream, strawberry frozen yogurt and vanilla. Everyone loved it!

Next time I need to try and get the layers a little more even.  I'm not sure if I was using a bigger pan than called for in the recipe or I just measured it wrong, but I had to add quite a bit more vanilla ice cream to the top so that it filled the whole pan.

Trying out the new pajamas.  And sorry about the red-eye.  With her glasses being a reddish-brown color, my photo software has a hard time getting the red-eye out of her pictures...



We also had this sign on our front door from the MiaMaid class.  M&M is so excited to be moving up to that group.

Decorating with fondant

Saturday, July 14

Blondie wanted cupcakes decorated with fondant icing for her birthday this year.  Since her birthday was on a Sunday we decided to make and decorate them on Saturday so they would be all ready to go for Sunday.  I got the recipe from off of the internet and we found some cute decorating ideas there as well.  The girls all had fun helping and designing the cupcakes.  This was my first time working with fondant and it was kind of fun.  It definitely has a different taste than the typical buttercream frosting though.  Some of my kids liked it and some didn't care for it as much.  We frosted the cupcakes with buttercream frosting first and then cut the fondant into circles to go on top of that.

Here are the finished products:

M&M made this one to look like Blondie.

Cool looking layered jello!

Sunday, July 2

We went over to my parents' house for dinner and this is the jello that I made and brought with me:

Here is the recipe for it:
Layered Jello

Homemade doughnuts!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

This is what M&M and I did while DH was at the Priesthood Session of Conference:

They were delicious and super filling and super sweet!! None of us could eat more than one plus a doughnut hole at one sitting! We did regular glaze on all of them and then we drizzled chocolate on some of them and dipped one side of some of them into the chocolate. YUM!!

Here is a link to the recipe we used if anyone wants to try it:
Buttermilk Doughnuts

Pizza on the grill!

Monday, July 25, 2011

I found a recipe and instructions for cooking pizza on the grill so I had to try it. It was nice because I made smaller pizzas and individualized them for our family's tastes. It was AWESOME!! Definitely a new family favorite! If you would like the recipe that I used, here is a link: How to Grill Pizza

The crust and sauce from this website were awesome too!

Peanut Blossom

On Monday Luke and I made some cookies for FHE using my new mixer and the cookie paddle attachments. I just threw all of the ingredients in the bowl, turned it on, scraped the sides of the bowl once with a spatula and then we were done. I was going to take a picture of the cookies stacked nicely on a serving plate, but I forgot to and now there is only one left - this is one of our family's favorite cookies.

While we were making the cookies Luke asked if he could crack the egg. I said "sure" and then stood back and watched. He hit the egg on the side of the bowl rather timidly and then finally hit it harder to get the shell to crack. Then he tried to stick his thumbs in the crack to open the egg and it happened quicker than he was expecting and he quickly dropped the egg, shell and all, into the bowl so he wouldn't get it all over his hands... Luckily I was able to get all the shell out without any problem.

Then I was measuring out the peanut butter and Kitty was watching me. After a minute she asked, "You're not going to put that in the cookies are you?" I said, "Yes, why not?" Then she replied, "That's disgusting!" I then had to inform her that these were peanut butter cookies and that's what you put in them. To which she responded, "Okay." When I gave her some cookie dough to try later on she was a little bit hesitant at first but really liked it after she had a taste.

Here is the recipe for anyone that would like it:

Peanut Blossoms from the book Pillsbury: The Complete Book of Baking
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
48 milk chocolate candy kisses

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the candy kisses. Blend at low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with a candy kiss, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Strawberry cake

I made this cake for my birthday this year and both DH and M&M loved it so much that they wanted seconds (and they are not normally cake lovers). M&M told me that she wanted that cake for her birthday so I made it for her party on Saturday. My parents both loved it as well so I am including the recipe here for anyone that would like to try it. It is a very light cake with a cream cheese icing. (I have only made it without the strawberries in the frosting because I was afraid that that would overdo it on the strawberry flavor for me.)

Light Strawberry Cake
1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 small (4 servings) package sugar-free strawberry gelatin
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup strawberries, thawed if frozen, pureed if fresh
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 egg whites

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
Strawberries and juice to moisten (about 2 tablespoons) - or 1 1/2 T milk + 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray cake pan(s) with nonstick cooking spray and dust lightly with flour. Set aside

2. Place the cake mix, strawberry gelatin and flour in large bowl and mix together. In another bowl, combine the strawberries, water and oil. Pour wet ingredients all at once over dry ingredients and combine. Add the egg whites, one at a time, beating after each addition. This should take several minutes.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from pan(s) and cool on rack.

4. For frosting: In a large bowl, mix together butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and beat well. Add strawberries a little at a time until the icing is a good spreading consistency.

5. Frost the cake and then refrigerate.

M&M's birthday!

M&M turned 10 yesterday! It was definitely a roller coaster of a day for her. She started out the day with being able to open one gift which was new clothes which she wore that day. The rest of her gifts she had to wait until her dad got home from work. We didn't really have anything planned for the day because she will be having a party on Saturday with friends. Just that morning I found a link through another blog for a recipe for making donuts. It turns out to be a pretty easy recipe and we had all of the ingredients on hand (it even uses mashed potatoes!) so I showed it to M&M and asked her if she would like to help make some that day. So after lunch we tried out the recipe - this was my first time ever making homemade donuts. It made a great mess of the kitchen but we had a lot of fun. :) DH got home from work when we were in the middle of the frying part and he helped get out some powdered sugar for the kids to dip the donuts in. Everyone loved them and made a great mess with the sugar. :) (Next time I need to find some better sizes of circles to cut them out with - they ended up being funny sizes & shapes.)
After the donuts M&M opened her gifts from the family. Unfortunately she knew what a couple of them were because I had her pick them out and then another gift Kitty told her what is was because she saw it being wrapped & was so excited about the gift - we've got to work on keeping secrets in this family. Next we opened up the bike and DH and I started putting it together. It took quite a while to figure everything out and we ended up needing to go to the hardware store to buy a new hex wrench to adjust the brakes on the handlebars. We also discovered that the front tire had a whole in it and we needed a new tube for it. Poor M&M! By this time it was almost 7 p.m. and we still hadn't eaten dinner.
So we ran to a sporting goods store to buy a new tire tube and then we went to McDonald's for dinner (M&M's choice). While we were eating there M&M's stomach started hurting and she wasn't feeling well at all. After the younger kids finished eating and played a little on the playground, M&M was ready to leave. We stopped at the hardware store on the way home to buy a hex wrench & M&M started feeling better (we think it is partly stress that caused it).
We got home around 9 p.m. and DH finished up the bike while M&M opened the gifts from DH's parents on the front porch. Then she was finally able to try out her bike!! Thankfully the day ended on a good note! The bike is definitely a big step up from her old bike (which she got on her 4th birthday). It has handlebar brakes and 18 gears. It is just slightly too big but once she can get on and get it started she can reach the pedals and everything just fine. She rode it this evening after dinner & just kept telling me how much she loves it!

By this time it was close to 10 p.m. We got the kids in pajamas and sent the younger ones to bed. We let M&M stay up and watch Anne of Green Gables - she just finished the book recently. It was fun watching the movie with her.

My parents came over today and gave M&M their gifts. Some of the things she got were Apples to Apples Junior, Croc shoes, new dress, comforter set for her bed, candy, Cinderella polly pocket doll with prince & carriage, balloon kit for making balloon animals and some books.

Baking Day

Wednesday I spent most of the day in the kitchen baking. I decided to try my husband's grandmother's recipe for Monster Cookies and I wanted to make some banana bread with my overripe bananas. I only made half of the cookie recipe and it still made a ton of cookies! M&M was a great helper with the cooking and with Baby K. We gave away several dozen of the cookies as well as some of the banana bread to neighbors. I also helped provide dinner to a family in the ward on the same day!

Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it:

Monster Cookies
1 pound butter
4 cups brown sugar
4 cups granulated sugar
12 large eggs
6 cups peanut butter
8 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
12 cups quick oats
1 large package M&Ms
1 package chocolate chips

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and peanut butter. Next add the baking soda, corn syrup, vanilla and oats. Cream together. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&Ms. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.

Just as a word of caution - half of this recipe was almost too much for one of the largest bowls I have in my kitchen...

Kid-friendly recipe

Here is a no-bake cookie recipe that M&M got at school last year. This is something that she can make herself without any help from me. The only problem that she has sometimes are her siblings wanting to help and picking at the batter whenever she turns away... She made a batch of them on Saturday and we were eating them so quickly that I had her make some more on Sunday since my parents & sister M & her fiance R were coming over. They're also great for me because they don't have chocolate - which causes me a lot of heartburn right now...

No Bake Peanut Butter Treats
Makes 4 dozen

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
2 cups (any combination of) raisins, diced dried mixed fruit, miniature marshmallows, shredded coconut, chopped peanuts, chocolate chips or M&Ms

1. In large bowl, combine peanut butter, sugar, milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in oats and remaining ingredients.
2. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let stand until firm. Store tightly covered.


Our favorite combination so far is 1 cup miniature marshmallows with 1 cup white chocolate chips.

Recipezaar

Do you ever sit there and wonder what you are going to make for dinner? I know I do ALL OF THE TIME!! So, for those of you who are looking for new recipes or wondering what on earth you can make with the ingredients you have on hand, check out the website Recipezaar. I have found several great recipes there and the nice thing is that the website will calculate the ingredient amounts for you if you want to make more or less than the recipe states. It also has the nutrition info for each recipe and you can read reviews from people who have already tried it. The website also has a lot of search options so you can find the exact recipe you are looking for. You can also post your own recipes and rate the ones you have tried. I just heard about this website a couple of weeks ago and I have used it 3 times just this week! So happy cooking!!

Here is a great recipe for pumpkin bread that I found if anyone is interested. (I substituted butter for the shortening and added chocolate chips instead of nuts.) It makes a great gift for visiting teaching - either a large or mini-loaf...
Pumpkin Bread