4.5 and growing FAST!

Family Pics 2013

We attempted to get a few family pics while my mom was up visiting this summer...it was a HOT afternoon!  Thankfully the girls were in good moods, and I think we got a few good shots!

Chris/Alexis and Mom/Haylee

My mom and Haylee

Scott, me, Chris/Alexis, Mom/Haylee, Darren

Scott, me, Libby/Haylee, Dad/Alexis, Darren

Metolius 2013

The girls' first trip to the Metolius!  My absolutel favorite place to camp growing up! So many memories of fishing with my grandma, making pancakes on the fire, riding bikes in the red dirt, and just enjoying nature!  I hope the girls love it as much as I do!

Camp Sherman Store

Easter 2013

We spent Easter at Tante Hella's house, with my dad's side of the family. It was a beautiful, warm day!  Although the girls did not want to get their pictures taken, as you can see, they were very well behaved and happy the whole day!

 

 And of course the Easter Bunny didn't forget to stop by our house :-)

A couple of attempts at a family picture...real life people, real life! Oh well, maybe next year!

Hoping you all had a blessed day full of family, friends, and love!

Mini Spinach Fritattas

Slightly adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach 
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 Tbs minced, dried onion (or 1/2 fresh onion if you have it)
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 7 large eggs
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated sharp cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Brown the onion flakes and tomato, to remove some of the juice. Remove from the heat and stir in the baby spinach and nutmeg until the spinach is just wilted, but still bright green, 2 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper until well combined. Stir in the cheese. Divide the egg mixture evenly between the muffin tins, filling them about halfway. Top evenly with the spinach mixture.
5. Bake until the quiches are well risen, golden brown and set, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with greens.

***Yummy, easy, and healthy. We made these for a baby shower and for Christmas morning!***

Baked Ham and Egg Cups

Slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

8 eggs

3/4 C shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 t kosher salt

1/8 t black pepper12 slices ham

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except ham slices) and stir well.

Spray muffin tin with non cook spray and place one piece of ham in each well to form a bowl.  

Evenly divide egg mixture between the 12 muffin wells (about 1/4 C each), being careful to keep ingredients well dispersed.  You want them to fill right up to the top.

 

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tops should be puffed and just barely set on top. Eggs will sink after cooling.

Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze them.

Makes 12.

*** I've made these for a baby shower and for Christmas morning. Excellent flavor, super easy, and fun to look at!***

Slice N Bake Lemon Gems

These come from Taste of Home:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup colored nonpareils
• LEMON ICING:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon peel. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• Shape into a 1-3/4-in.-diameter roll; roll in nonpareils. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• In a small bowl, combine icing ingredients. Spread over cookies. Yield: 28 cookies.

***Excellent!  Great lemon flavor!  Kind of like a shortbread cookie.***

Lemonburst (or Orangeburst) Cookies

Found these on The Sisters Cafe and knew they would be great for Mother's Day!

2-1/2 to 3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tb finely grated orange or lemon zest
1 cup white chocolate chips 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light.  Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture until combined.  Stir in  orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake about 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Cool for several minutes on the sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

***Yummy!  I will add more zest next time, because you could barely taste it.  Might also play with the recipe a bit, the flour/egg/butter ratio seemed to be off a bit. But a great concept.***

Lil' Cheddar Meatloaves

This recipe is a comfort food reminder of my late childhood...something my dad and brother loved to make for dinner. Yum!

Ingredients

1 egg

¾ cup milk

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup quick-cooking oats

½ cup chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 lb lean ground beef

²⁄₃ cup ketchup

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons prepared mustard

Directions

1. In a bowl, beat the egg and milk.
2. Stir in cheese, oats, onion, salt and rubbed sage.
3. Add beef and mix well.
4. (It will seem runny at first but will thicken up as you mix.) Shape into 8 equal sized loaves (oval/egg shaped) and place in a greased 9X13X2" baking dish.
5. Sauce: Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard.
6. Spoon over each loaf so they are all covered in the sauce.
7. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

***Soooo good! I do not like meatloaf, but I LOVE these! Easy, tasty, and hubs loved them as well! Great with mashed potatoes and corn!***

Cinnamon Cookie Crunch Popcorn

I came across this recipe on Our Best Bites. They always have great recipes!

Slightly modified:

12 cups air-popped popcorn
16 oz white chocolate (chips are fine)
1/2 cup red hot candies
10 Oreo cookies (Glutino GF work great)
optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon flavored oil (I left out)
3 tablespoons semisweet or dark chocolate chips
kosher or sea salt (I left out)

Instructions
Pulse red hots in a food processor until they are just roughly chopped.

Break cookies up into rough chunks, by smashign in a baggie. Do not crush into crumbs!

In a medium sized microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Gently stir in red hots and chocolate cookies and then add cinnamon oil to taste (if desired).

Pour mixture over popcorn and stir well to coat. Pour popcorn mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and set aside. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over popcorn mixture. Sprinkle kosher or sea salt lightly over mixture to taste (if desired). Let popcorn mixture harden. When completely dry, break into chunks and store in airtight container.

***Super yummy! Great flavor combination. It is super sweet, so I didn't find it hard to control myself, but really great to pop a few chunks here and there throughout the day! What a fun holiday treat!***

Cranberry Ecstasy Bars (just like Starbucks!)

Found this recipe in a FOODday several years ago:

Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup minced dried cranberries
1 1/2 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 3 Tbs powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup minced dried cranberries

Drizzle:
1 oz white chocolate
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp milk

Preheat over to 350
Line a 9x13 pan with parchement paper, and lightly greased (or spray Pam) the paper

To make the cake:
Cream together butter and sugar
Add eggs and vanilla
Sift together flour, ground ginger and salt; add to butter mixture until well incorporated
Fold in dried cranberries, white chocolate, and minced ginger
Spread the batter in the prepared pan
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown
Let cool completely in the pan

To make the frosting:
Mix together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt until well mixed
Remove cake from pan and trim edges until cake is uniformly flat
Spread frosting onto top of cake
Sprinkle minced cranberries over top
Refrigerate for 1 hour

To make the drizzle:
Microwave white chocolate in glass bowl, in 15 second increments, stirring after each
Once fully melted, whisk in powdered sugar and milk
Scrape into a sturdy plastic bag, cut a tiny piece off the corner, and squeeze to drizzle decoratively over cake

To serve, slice the cake lengthwise down the center
Cut each rectangle into 4 equal portions, and slice each of these diagonally

Enjoy!

***LOVE these! It seems overwhelming at first, because there are so many steps, but really it's pretty easy! So much better than the Starbucks version, and I love knowing exactly what is in my treat! We cut them even smaller, because they are so rich!***

Apple Cake

A recipe from a dear sweet friend, Carol!

1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup OJ (or juice of 1 orange)
3 cups flour
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 cups thinly sliced apples
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Mix all ingredients except the apples and cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling.
Pour 1/4 batter each in two loaf pans. Spread 1 cup apples over each pan.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Repeat layers.

***Can add chopped walnuts when you layer the apples if you like!

Bake on 350 for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean/crumbly.

***So yummy! Mine did not turn out as perfectly as Ms. Carol's, but she's been practicing for a very long time :-) So yummy!!! Hubs likes his with the walnuts, me-not so much!***

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 372
Mix butter, baking powder, sugar and salt together.
Beat in egg, milk and vanilla.
Add flour.
Do not over mix!

Chill dough for 1 hour in fridge
Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick
Use cookie cutters, any shape for any occasion!
Place on cookie sheet (I line mine with parchement paper)
Bake for 7-8 minutes (Just until ever-so-slightly starting to brown on the bottom edges)

Allow to cool before frosting!

***Super fun activity to do with kiddos! My nieces love to come over and decorate for different holidays!***

Big Cheese Potatoes

2 Tbs Butter
1 tsp minced garlic
8 cups peeled, shredded baking potatoes
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup (4oz) grated Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup (2oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup whipping cream (can use heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2)

Heat oven to 400
Melt butter in shallow 2qt baking dish
Add garlic
Brush to coat bottom and sides of dish
Combine potatoes, lemon juice, salt and pepper in large bowl
Combine cheeses in another bowl
Spread half the potatoes in the baking dish, cover with half the cheese
Repeat layers
Pour cream over top
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes
Remove foil and bake another 15-20 minutes

Serve with Italian Pork Chops and Broccoli Italiano for a complete, easy meal!

***So yummy!!! This is a recipe from my childhood, and it brought back so many memories of us all sitting around the table enjoying dinner together! My mama was/is a good cook!***

Artichoke Spinach Dip

1 can drained artichoke hearts
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
3oz cream cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh parmesan
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325f.

Cook spinach according to package; drain.
Drain and chop artichokes.
Mix all ingredients together.

Put in 1 quart greased baking dish.
Bake 20-30 minutes, or until slightly browned.

***We always double this, and it is still gone in minutes. We like to eat this with tortilla chips, but it is also great with pita chips or ritz crackers. This is a must at all holiday gatherings!***

Homemade Corn Dogs

Found on Bakingdom...LOVE this site!

Makes 8 to 10 corn dogs and about 1 dozen corn puppies

Ingredients

1 cup yellow corn meal or corn flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (we used GF of course!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
3/4 to 1 cup milk
1 to 2 tablespoons honey or agave
8 to 10 hot dogs

Preheat oil to 375 degrees in a large pot on stove. Preheat oven to lowest setting (around 175 degrees). Line a wire cooling rack or baking sheet with clean paper towels and place it in the oven.

In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal (or flour), all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, sugar, and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add the egg, milk, and honey. Mix until thoroughly combined, adding more milk, as needed.

Dry hot dogs off by rolling them on clean paper towel. Place a couple of dogs in the prepared batter and use a fork, chopstick, or your clean hands to roll it around and get it coated. Fry the corn dogs for 3 to 5 minutes, until deep golden brown. Place the dogs in the preheated oven on the prepared rack or pan. Once all of the dogs are cooked, serve immediately.

To make corn puppies: Using a table- or soup spoon, drop excess batter into the hot oil and fry for about 4 minutes, until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

***Sooooo good! I don't eat hot dogs very often, but being GF has pretty much meant no corn dogs, which is a bummer! These turned out great, our whole family at them, and no one knew they were GF. We used corn meal, and really liked the texture. Although it sounds intimidating, these were super easy to make!***

Mac N Cheese

Inspired by a recipe by Gina...

8 oz Pasta (we like a quinoa-corn pasta)
2 Tbs butter
4 Tbs Flour (we used GF)
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs onion flakes
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 cups shredded cheese (sharper cheese works best, we used a blend)
Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (we used ground Chex with a little salt/pepper/garlic)
Pam cooking spray

Cook pasta al dente, according to package (especially if using GF pasta)

Spray baking dish with cooking spray (or use a Demarle silicone pan like I did-no spray!)

Preheat oven to 375°

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add garlic and onion, and stir over medium heat 1 minute.

Add flour and stir another minute, until golden and well combined.

Add chicken broth and whisk until well combined. Whisk in milk, raising heat to medium-high until it begins to boil. Continue whisking for about 5 minutes, while mixture thickens.

Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese, until melted.

Add pasta, then pour into baking dish.

Pour breadcrumbs (or Chex + seasonings) over the top evenly. Spray with cooking spray (helps browning).

Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

***Oh my! This was delicious. Of course it doesn't closely resemble the inspiration recipe anymore since I used full fat options, but hey, it's Mac-N-Cheese! It is supposed to be sinful and delicious! At least that's what hubby says :-) Hubby's request: DO NOT ever, EVER lose this recipe (and don't add veggies to my mac n cheese)! Done and done. Make this! It is definitely a keeper! (p.s. we ate this with grilled chicken and brussel sprouts. It's all about balance :-) )***

Olive Garden Breadsticks-Sort of...

1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 - 120 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used GF)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should be frothy.

In separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Add melted butter. Mix with paddle attachment of stand mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined. Knead dough for a few minutes just until dough is smooth. Do not overknead!

Grease a cookie sheet. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips.

Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and once heated, pop in the bread sticks. In microwave, combine the following:

1 stick unsalted butter (or 1/2 cup margarine)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt

After 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture. Then continue to bake another 6-8 minutes. Immediately upon removal from the oven brush the other half of the butter on the sticks.

Allow them to cool for a minute or two, and enjoy!


Found HERE!

Originally posted HERE!

***It may be my inexperience with yeast, or the fact that I used GF flour, but these did not come out fluffy and light like Olive Garden Breadsticks! That being said, they were still delicious, and I will definitely be making them again. They ended up more dense, actually tasting like soft pretzels, which I love!! Hubs even gave his approval, so they must be good!***