Gluten Free Mushroom and Fennel Quinoa Stuffing

My husband is NOT a quinoa fan. I keep trying, and he keeps HATING it! Makes me so sad because I love it. 

We got a fennel, celery, and pack of mushrooms in our bountiful baskets recently and I didn't know what to do with it. We haven't been SUPER impressed with our fennel when we've got it previously. I found this recipe and I am not kidding you, I BEGGED my husband to just try it. 

I may have just been really hungry that day, I am not sure, but it was GONE in a matter of minutes! We made this for lunch, and we loved it! My husband said, "That's the best quinoa we've had so far" (and I think we've had some pretty great quinoa recipes!) 

I wanted to share this with you all in case you are in a predicament like me...or you just want some good food! I highly recommend this! 

Photo from Skinnytaste.com 

Mushroom and Fennel Quinoa Stuffing

*we added sausage to it, and it really was a complete Thanksgiving stuffing! sooo good! 

Banana Cake

Photo from journeytothepastblog.blogspot.com

Banana Bread is my absolute favorite thing EVER! Seriously, it was what I asked for my birthdays for many years because I love it! A few weeks ago, my husband had a random cooking mood and decided to make banana cake (he didn't even remember I love banana bread) and was so shocked when I was in LOVE with it (no- I will not tell you how much of it I ate).

I was so in love, I asked him if we could make it again but experiment a little. The second time around, we added less sugar, more bananas, and chocolate and butterscotch chips! SO good! We didn't even end up making the frosting, just ate it as is! I even loved this cake so much, I asked him to make it for me for my birthday next year! :)

Here's the scoop on this deliciousness!

1 c. sugar                                              
1/2 c butter or margarine                        
2 eggs                                                    
1 cup buttermilk                                    
2 cups flour                                            
1 tsp baking powder                                
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 ripe/mushed bananas
1/2 c butter/marg.
1 cup brown sugar, not packed
1/4 cup milk
1 1/3 c powdered sugar

Cream together sugar, 1/2 c  butter, buttermilk (can substitute 1 c milk and 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice-just let it sit for 5 minutes). Add flour, baking soda, eggs, and banana. Put in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Cool. To make the icing combine butter and brown sugar. Stirring constantly, boil on low heat for 2 minutes. Add milk and stir just to boiling. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm (about 15 minutes). Add by whisking in the powdered sugar. Pour over cake.

Cabbage...Oh Cabbage!

Sorry it's been such a long time since I have posted! I have been busy crafting, and doing things, just haven't been really great at documenting them! I'll have to show you what I am up to these days (soon)!

I don't know if you guys are cabbage lovers, but that is one vegetable that we have really hard to learn to like since we get it on occasion from our bountiful baskets. If you are a cabbage loving family, have you tried this recipe?? It has become our favorite "go to" meal with cabbage! I hope you'll try it!

Skillet Ham, Cabbage and Potatoes

Another recipe we love with cabbage is GYOZA. The only problem, is it takes quite a while to make enough for your family.  But if you have helpers it goes by much faster!

GYOZA (from the Clarke Family):

1 lb. raw hamburger                                                      
5 medium sized leaves of Napa Cabbage, Shredded      
1/2 Medium Onion, chopped                                          
2 garlic cloves, finely minced                                            
1 tsp. ginger powder *we've never used this since we don't have it
1 dash black pepper
1/4 c. Soy Sauce
1 pkg round or square Won Ton Wraps
Sesame Oil

In a mixing bowl, sprinkle the cabbage with salt and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Squeeze all the water out, then mix in the raw hamburger, onion, garlic, ginger, pepper and soy sauce. Place about 1 tablespoon of mixture on each won ton wrap, and fold in half, seasling the edges with a small amount of cool water. Put 1 1/2 tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a skilled and crowd gyoza in a single layer. Cook on medium high until the wraps are brown on the bottom. Add 1/4 cup water, cover the skillet with a lid and turn the heat down. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve with rice and sweet and sour sauce or a sauce made with mustard and soy sauce.

**We have experimented with this to bake in the oven to cook more at a time, and it works great! We place our ready-to-cook won ton wraps on a cookie sheet with high edges, add a little bit of oil to the bottom, and cook at 350 until they are golden brown, and a little crisp, about 15 minutes.

**
We have also tried this recipe without the the won ton wraps, and just put it over rice. It's good, but you have to make you sure you at least double the sweet and sour sauce, if not triple, to get enough to cover the rice.

DIY Faux "wall paper" stripes tutorial

Alright, I mentioned in my last post I would put up a tutorial on how to do "faux wall paper stripes" with colored butcher paper. Honestly, it was easy! I even did it while the hubby was sleeping (in the same room!) I have been searching for a budget friendly way to fake paint my walls for quite some time now. I looked into renters wallpaper, fabric with the temporary glue made of cornstarch, I looked into buying vinyl. I thought, and thought and thought...and nothing I researched was worth my effort (since I don't know how long we'll live here) or fit within my budget that my husband wouldn't have a COW when he found out how much I spent doing such a project!

I finally came up with the idea of using colored butcher paper because my husband is a teacher. He came home once upon a time with a big wad of paper, and asked me if I would make a poster for his classroom, and a light bulb went off in my head!

Looking back on this project, I wish I would have chosen to do 9 inch stripes rather than 5 inch, but I wanted to get as many stripes out of my paper as I possibly could (because I am cheap resourceful like that). But either way, I still love it over my bare walls!

So here it is! The tutorial to do it yourself.

1.  Find a location in your area that sells colored butcher paper. I found one in Orem (because the there isn't one where I live) that sold it for $0.35 a foot.

2. Measure your wall so you know how many feet you need to buy. And also decide how wide you want your stripes. A normal paper is 36 inches long. So you'll need however many papers divided by the width you want, that will fit on each, until you have enough to cover the entire distance of your wall.

ex. my wall was 8 feet wide, by 12 feet tall. I did 5 inch stripes and put a stripe every 10 inches. I was able to get 6 stripes out of one paper width.  I needed 2 papers, and had some left over.

3. Using chalk (literally my daughters play chalk) I measured my 5 inches per stripe, as well as length 8 ft, plus one inch (it's better to be too long than too short right?) all the way up and across my paper to use as a cutting guide. I used white chalk since nothing else would show up and that was my back side once it was hung up.

Measuring Stripes and making guides to help with cutting

4. Cut your stripes. I couldn't find any scissors, so I used my rolling fabric cutter (which is probably why my lines were so loopy, besides the fact that I can't cut a straight line if my life depended on it! Although it was probably easier, it would be more sturdier using scissors...imo.

5. Next, I went into my room, where my husband was sleeping in our bed, and measured my wall and made a notch every 5 inches with the chalk because it would come clean so easily afterwards.

Sweet Dreams dear Hubby!

6. Using my notches as a guide, a level, and push pins, I hung up my stripes one by one. On one of them I had to cut around a plug plate. I cut around the plate (going in less than 1/4 of an inch further than needed so the plate would lay in front the paper ever so slightly). *3M also makes poster paper hanging tape that doesn't leave any residue or take the paint off that you could buy, cut up into smaller pieces, and hang that way. I chose pins, but my thumbs were SUPER sore by the time I was done!

*This was before I cut the paper around the outlet.

6. I did buy some of that tape mentioned above for a few of the "middles" of my stripes. Some were looser than others and it was really bothering me, so I used that to make it smoother on the wall.

7. The BEST PART...Hang your decor on top!

Ran out of paper and pins, so Here it is "finished" until Monday (I was doing this project over Mother's Day weekend) and I can go buy more!

Room Make Over-in a weekend! YAY!

Okay, so I don't know about you, but my bedroom in ALL the places we have ever lived, has been a last priority in being decorated, and often times used as a "shove everything in boxes and stack them up in the corner" room. I HATE THAT! 

I finally decided on a color scheme, and told myself I was going to do SOMETHING...It had been 4 years, this has gone on LONG enough! So I told my hubby that I wanted a clean bedroom for Mother's Day, and used birthday money for some supplies (lucky for me they are right by each other), and have been slowly collecting items (living within my monthly "crafting budget") and was able to make it happen! I am so excited!! I have never been so happy to open my eyes in the morning! Here are some of the things I did in my Room Make Over *still have  things to finish, like curtains, and repaint our dressers, but that will come with time).

I am so excited to show you my "new look" in our bedroom! I can't wait to get more things finished over time! 

This is my "striped wall" I made with colored butcher paper and pins. I currently rent, and we're not allowed to paint, but the bare walls were KILLING me, so I had to do something! I know fabric with the temporary glue with cornstarch would have been an ideal option, but it was too expensive for my budget! I ran out of paper and pins, so the wall isn't finished yet, but it will be soon! Look for a tutorial coming soon!

Dandelion Art picture I painted myself, I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since I am not the most artistic of people! My hubby loved it because it was yellow, I loved it because it gave the wall a little "pop". Tutorial on how I did this coming soon too!

Sorry this picture is blurry! Of some of the things to come...this is one of them. I am going to pain the picture frame and the & sign white so they stand out a little more, and blend in with the color scheme. I got my A and C from Joann's and modge podged paper on top. Used shoe polish (my favorite thing to distress with) to distress the edges! 

Rocking chair with yellow pillow....next!

My favorite thing I have done thus far!! I mentioned my birthday was recently, so these are the supplies I got to make pillows to go on my bed! Super easy, and with the great sales Joann's is having currently, I got for a major deal! 

This is "His" side of the bed. Again, one day our dressers will be painted! My hubby has all this "junk" he unloads out of his pockets every day and it drives me INSANE! So to solve the problem, we compromised with a "junk box" where he can put his wallet, badge, phone, keys, ect. and I can see nothing but pretty decorations! 

And this is "Hers" I need to paint my picture frame white (not blaring red) so that it'll match! But I am in love with how everything turned out! 

Thick, Hearty, may I even say Sexy Pancakes?!

So my wee one and I caught bronchitis recently and the thing I have been waiting most anxiously for is enough energy to cook again! I love cooking!

I have a large pile of bananas turning brown, and even more in my freezer, so I needed something to do with my bananas and ALL I could think about was banana oatmeal pancakes...EXTREME style! (haha okay, just really good!)

Here's what I came up with randomly throwing things into my bowl, and I must say, I was pretty darn pleased! I am not kidding you when I say these are thick, hearty, and sexy! (See my beautiful picture with all the goodness on top!)

So, I will admit, I am a texture person, and so I either have to go chunky, or not eat it! If it has any chunks at all, it's gotta be really chunky for me to be able to gobble it down. So you can make this a little less chunky if you so choose.

Blue Berry, Banana Oatmeal Pancakes:                          Yields: 6-8 medium to large pancakes




1 1/2 c. white wheat flour
1/2 c. oat flour (I ground up oatmeal in my mini seed mill)
1/4 c. old fashion oats
1 c. apple sauce
2 bananas (riper the better!)
1/4 c. blue berries (ours were frozen)
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
shake or two of salt

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl, use a hand mixer to mix. I left the bananas and blueberries a little chunky (not completely smooth mixture). Cook on a large griddle at 300 degrees for 3-5 minutes each side. *These are THICK so they need time to cook through* These are also not super sweet pancakes, so that is why I added the more sweeter toppings! You may play around as you wish to get the sweetness to your liking!

Top with butter, syrup, chopped up bananas, blueberries, cool whip, nuts, ect. Anything your heart desires! Enjoy!
 

Mother's Day Shelf Display

My husband knows that I enjoy crafting, decorating, and all the things he cannot comprehend why I enjoy them. He usually gets frustrated at all the things I want to buy, or do buy, because he doesn't understand what is so thrilling about decorating! We've come to an agreement that I would have a "seasonal shelf," which is placed in our entry way.

Each month I get excited decorate the shelf in a new way and buy a few things from the dollar store, DI, or my favorite local home decor shops to make it just a tiny bit better than last year (or in reference to ST. Patrick's day last year, it became an actual holiday on the shelf this year). I love it. I love that it gives me my little space, I don't have TOO much to store in seasonal decorations each year, and it makes celebrating all the holidays (even small ones) so much more fun for me!

This year was the first time I ever decorated for Mother's Day, and I have to say, it is probably my most favorite "shelf display" I have done YET! Probably because it is filled with people I love so much! I love the family history, the love, and wonderful women that have been in mine and my husband's life that is displayed in such a small space!

I want to share with you my "Mother's Day Shelf" in hopes that maybe you can find a "shelf" in your home and be as excited as I am each month when a new holiday or season arrives!

Mother's Day Tribute

Today is Mother's Day, and what a great day it has been. I have been blessed with a beautiful little girl, and a husband who loves me so much, a family who does nothing less of helping me to become my best, and friends to help me remember to have some "girl time" along the way.

For MANY years, Mother's Day was probably one of the worst days ever celebrated in my world, because it only reminded me of the relationship I didn't have with my mother, whom I only remember her image through photographs. I have longed and wished for that relationship to grow, and over the years I have learned and had experiences that have helped me realize, she is never far. The flip side of this, has also made me realize that Mother's Day is such a beautiful, and great day to remember those whom we love and have helped us become who we needed to be, and guided us to be the "Moms" we are today.

I have always struggled with Mother's Day talks, and how they almost always choose men to be the speaker, and talk about how "great mothers are" and they always refer to their wives, their mother's, and how grateful they are for them. Don't get me wrong, they ARE amazing, but I also think that a large portion of women are often forgotten on this day.

I wish that for once, someone would get up to the podium and say, "You are all Mother's, every woman in this room. Having a child of your own, is not the only qualifying factor that makes you a mother." SO many women struggle to have children of their own, are not at the point of having children in their lives (whether young or old), or have their own mothers-whom are not a part of their life, and all of those women, I think would agree, that mother's day is a big fat reminder of all of those hopes and dreams you don't have.

My life has been filled with so many beautiful and wonderful women, who have took me under their wings, and guided me through life as IF they were my mother (and many of those are outside of my family). I have truly felt loved by others simply because of their actions, their words, and most importantly their examples of what a righteous woman should be, and how I can someday be, just like them. Mother's are women, who have been given the ability to infinitely love God's children, in ways that no man can ever love. He gave women the ability to nurture, and strengthen themselves, other women, and children whom they come in contact with. He puts people in certain places, like Primary Teachers, Young Women Leaders, or Visiting Teachers, whatever the role may be, so that we may all be Mothers; with infinite love to those we serve. I know that I have been blessed by those women, who have reached out to me, and my family, whom I would call a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th... the list goes on and on, "Mother" in my life.

The world is blessed to have such beautiful, imperfect, yet loving beyond all measure, women in this world who can make a difference in people's lives by being a "Mother." In my opinion, as a daughter of God, you were meant to be a Mother in all circumstances, whether through your own children, your child's friend, the children you teach or mentor, the women you visit teach, the sisters you serve, the neighbor down the street, or the little girl who lost her mother at age 3. YOU were meant to love in all capabilities possible on this earth, YOU were meant to influence those for good, and YOU were meant to be a "Mother." 

I know that God will make all things work out in the Heavens. I know that we will all have families, whether in this life or the next, and that you will be a beautiful, holy, righteous woman, called by God to do the most important calling in this world and the world hereafter, TO BE A MOTHER. 

Sweet Potato Pancakes

I know this isn't anything new or magical, and I am sure you've all heard of or had Sweet Potato Pancakes before, but what you may not know is how easy they really can be to make! Plus it's a great way to sneek in some veggies that taste great! We (I), especially love this aspect of this yummy breakfast for my particular 2 year old eater! Anytime I can get her to eat fruits or vegetables without a fight, I am a happy mamma!

I like to buy sweet potatoes when they're on sale, or when I have produce coupons since they're more expensive.  I steam ours, puree it in my blender (adding some water because our blender is so....sad). I place them in ice cube tray(s), once frozen, I store in a freezer ziplock bag for easy use in the future.

We also make our own pancake mix. You can use store bought, it works just the same. On the morning we decide to make these pancakes, we whip out our pancake mix as directed (adding the liquid-water or milk until the end to make it the consistency we like) and add:
4 sweet potato cubes
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1 tsp of cinnamon (you can add more if you like)
1 tsp vanilla

...And Wha-la! You have tasty sweet potato pancakes! I've found they need to be cooked at a slightly lower temperature than regular pancakes, because the sweet potato makes it "thicker/more dense" and if cooked too high, the outside will burn and inside be gooey.

Here is our pancake mix we like best (I am working on making this healthier, or find a healthier mix-but I haven't found one we love yet!)

Classic Pancakes from Allrecipes.com          Makes 6-7 medium-large pancakes

1 c all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbs sugar or honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Silk pure almond milk or vanilla *regular milk/evaporated works just as well
2 Tbs canola oil
1 egg

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add milk, oil, and egg, mix until slightly smooth. Cook pancakes on a griddle over medium heat.

*I want to try it one day with oat flour, now that I have a mill, I can! I also want to try lowering the milk amount so that we can continue using this recipe in an emergency, and use less milk.

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Series

Crockpot meals are always nice when life is crazy! Sadly, i wish i was better about doing this lately! Our typical conversation at about 4:30pm is, "So, what do you want for dinner?" Because we haven't planned our meals out (I hate that!) Here are a few of our favorite "go to meals"

 Southwestern Chicken: (I got this from a website a long time ago but can't remember where, so sorry I can't give proper credit)

1 small bag frozen corn
1 can black beans
2 lg boneless, skinless ckicken breast
1-16 oz jar of medium heat salsa

TOPPINGS:
shredded cheese
tortillas or chips
sour cream
cilantro
avacado

Pour bag of frozen corn in bottom of crockpot. Place chicken breasts on top of corn and cover with rinsed and drained black beans, salsa, and cilantro. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with toppings and chips or tortillas.
*can also place all ingredients in freezer zip l8ck bag and cook on a later date.

Garlic & Pineapple Chicken:

1 lb chicken breast
1/4 tsp onion powder & garlic powder *I like a lot so I do 1 tsp.
8 oz pineapple chunk in juice (save 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
5 oz sweet & sour sauce
16 oz frozen mixed veggies (broccoli,  peas, peppers,  whatever you like. We do Mediterranean blend)

In a bowl add wet ingredients, powders, and sugar, mix well. Place in greased crockpot over chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, add chopped veggies last 30 minutes, cook on high. Serve over rice.

Chicken Cassiatoré: *we just had this last week and loved it!

1-10oz can tomato soup
1 28oz can chopped/diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 tsp minced garlic (we like 1 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 c chopped green pepper
1/2 c chopped mushrooms (we uses 1 can)
1/2 c onion, chopped
1 lb chicken breast
Pasta or rice *we did spaghetti noodles

Mix sauces, add to crock pot. Add rest of ingredients, except rice or noodles. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Serve with rice or pasta al dente.

Ham & Cheesy Potatoes:

1 bag frozen diced potatoes with onions and peppers (thawed)
8 oz shredded cheddar & monterey jack cheese blend
1 can cream of celery soup
8 oz sour cream
3 lb fully cooked smoked ham *or 3 cups cubed ham

Spray cooker. Add ingredients to crockpot. Cut ham lenth wise in half and place in potatoe mixture. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours or until potatoes are done. Remove ham and slice for serving.

Steak and noodles (from Families on the go)

2lbs stew meat
2 cans french onion soup (undiluted)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
1 pkg wide egg noodles
*I like to add chopped zucchini
* I also like to add 1 can worth of water

Combine all ingredients into slow cooker except noodles. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over noodles.

Freezer Meals Part II

Okay! Life has finally settled down just a bit for us! We had a scare with our little one. She had been complaining for a few weeks about headaches, and her doctor rushed an MRI for her. Talk about the scariest, longest, day of my life! But luckily, it turned out great! And I am ready to get back to normal...whatever that is?

I mentioned previously I wanted to post to you about some of my favorite things to help out with dinners that I keep stocked up in the freezer. We all want those extra minutes with our kids, our hubby, our house (it needs love too!), or maybe for ourselves. Help a girl out, and make life simple, right!?

I know some of these may seem super tedious, but I promise, it really DOES make a difference!

1. Chopped Vegetables I don't know about your house, but we always seem to need onions and peppers for our various recipes. One thing that has made life a little simpler is to have veggies already chopped up in the freezer. As you're cooking dinner, you're sitting there chopping the onion-bawling your eyes out, while the kid is screaming in the background, and whatever you're cooking is nearly burnt. (That's real life at our house!) I did some research about some foods, how to store them, or use them to help keep them longer, or simply just to be more flexible in cooking. Chop some onions, peppers, zucchini, whatever it is that you find yourself using frequently-except potatoes...we'll go there soon, place them on a tray/plate and flash freeze them for 1 hour so they don't stick together, then throw them in freezer ziplock bags. When you need them for you next dinner, you already have them done, chopped and ready to go! (And honestly, it's so that those dang onions only make me cry every once in a while!) 

*My favorites to store are onions, peppers, zucchini, carrots, jalapenos, and tomatoes. For information on how to store tomatoes in the freezer check out this link! 

2. Meat already cooked
This may sound dumb to you, but I can't even tell you how much longer it takes to cook hamburger/chicken/ham/whatever raw, than it does already cooked and frozen again. And with our crazy life, every minute I save is precious!

We don't use hamburger very often, but it's so nice to have it ready when you need it. I buy hamburger on manager special at Smith's (saving every cent I can), bring it home, and cook it ALL in the crock pot (usually I do it at night so in the morning I just drain, sort, and throw in the baggies). I like to divide it in half, (take out the plain first), then add taco seasoning the the second half, and label my baggies plain/taco. We also like to do this with chicken.  Canned chicken is really expensive, and personally, I HATE shredding chicken. So again, I cook 6-7 chicken breasts in the crock pot with some water and broth for some extra flavor, when it's done, I chop into cubes, or shred, divide into baggies...you get the hint! It's awesome!

3. Bread sticks
These are honestly my FAVORITE bread sticks for many reasons, they're easy to make, they require no yeast (we're not friends... I can never get it to work!), and they are really filling! We've even used this recipe before as a pizza crust and it works AWESOME! My husband, a big eater, was full in just 2 slices (I am pretty sure that has NEVER happened before!) I follow this recipe-times 3 or 4. And always have to add a little more milk than what the recipe calls for, or flour if I accidentally dump the milk in! (Oops!) I make the recipe, cut the bread sticks into slices, flash freeze for an hour, place them into a freezer ziplock bag. And when I am ready to cook them, I melt the butter in the bottom of the pan-like directed, throw the frozen bread sticks on top, and add a few minutes to cooking time! It's like bread sticks in less than 20 minutes! *These make great bread sticks for dipping-like with spaghetti.

Click here for the recipe from Hill Billy House Wife 

4. Muffins, Muffins, Muffins, and more Muffins! Muffins are my favorite thing to have on hand because they help make a meal a little more filling, I can hide vegetables in them (I get pretty creative sometimes haha), and my daughter will devour them, which is pretty awesome because she hardily eats ANYTHING! I also love these because they freeze so well, they keep for probably about 3 months, and they're great for my hubby to just grab and go for breakfast in the morning. (I don't think we've ever made it to the 3 month mark, and that's with doubling/tripling EVERY recipe!)

*If you want to save time, make these into bread. I personally like the muffins, even though they take longer to make when doing in bulk because they're already divided into serving sizes and I can thaw out a small portion rather than the whole loaf.

Our favorites are:

•  Banana Oatmeal Muffins
• Spaghetti Squash Muffins (MODIFICATIONS: I add 1/2 cup of craisins to these too, which my family loves. I blend my squash in a blender with the eggs, vanilla, and 1- 1 1/2 c. of apple sauce (because my blender is horrible and needs a lot of "wet" ingredients to be able to blend. I also use nutmeg in the place of ginger. And do half whole wheat flour. Because I add applesauce, I minus a 1/2 cup of sugar to the recipe.)
•  Chocolate Spinach Muffins *I loved these, hubby did not, but I am pretty sure I forgot to add an egg, so they were pretty dry, and it helps if you have a good blender-NOT the blender I have lol!
• Zucchini/Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Muffins

Brussels Sprouts (Yeah, I know you're grossed out already!)

I recently volunteered to be a Bountiful Basket Site Coordinator in our area (man, it's a lot more work than you think!) But I have been loving it! It feels great to be involved with our community, and helping to provide families with fruits and vegetables to feed their families!

This week in our baskets we got Brussels sprouts. It was SO funny to hear the "you can have my brussel sprouts, if I can have this..." to those who exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! I love brussel sprouts!"
Believe me, there are a LOT of them who think they're gross...and I am one of them!

I asked some of the people that like Brussels sprouts how they prepare them (I am a firm believer it matters how you "try" it) most of them said they steam, boil, ect...the common ways. But I also had a few who said the best way is to saute them. Who would have thought to saute a Brussels sprout?! NOT ME!

They also gave some suggestions like adding garlic, butter, Parmesan cheese, bacon, onions, ect. I decided I was going to try experimenting with my Brussels sprouts to find a way to like them-not love them-but like them.

I am actually scarfing this down now as we speak (yes I am starving, but it's also really good..for a Brussels sprout!)

Here is what  I came up with! Be brave!! Try it!! It's really not that bad! I am NOT gagging it down, like I have other vegetables!

Brussels Sprout Saute:

Egg noodles-follow package directions (I did about 1 cup uncooked for myself)
onion, diced (I did 1/4 of a medium sized on)
brussels sprouts, washed, and sliced (I did 4 little ones)
ham, diced (ours was an actual ham we cooked a while ago, divided up, and froze)
1 tbs. olive oil
shake or two of salt
1 tsp garlic powder
shake or two of fresh ground pepper

I am not giving you exact amounts, because honestly, I have no idea, and I made it for myself, not for my whole family. So do what looks good to you!

*I learned that if you cook Brussels sprouts too long, they'll be really bitter, so cook your onions, and ham to get the favor going, then add the Brussels sprouts last to they get lightly sauteed.

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup (You'll Actually Eat!)

My husband and I had a really rushed day the other night, and we have been slacking in planning our dinners! The typical, "What do you want for dinner?" conversation totally happened, except this time, it was..."We have 25 minutes to make dinner, what do you want?"

Grilled cheese sandwiches are always our "hurry up we need dinner" meal, and so of course we decided that's what we'd have. However, I knew that wouldn't be enough to fill my big eater husband up, so it needed to be filling. We decided to experiment with the soup portion because it was the easiest to make more filling, and it's our least favorite part. It's great to dip, but honestly SO much of our soup goes right in the garbage afterwards (such a waste!)

Here is what we came up with, and it really was good! My husband wrote the recipe card and titled it:

This is not our soup! Just a picture I found online 

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup (You'll Actually Eat!):

1 can Tomato Soup +1 can water
1 can drained corn (or frozen corn)
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilis (or use fresh! we get TONS of both in our Bountiful Baskets)
1 can ranch style beans, drained
1-2 oz cream cheese
*we decided a little cilantro would be amazing in this too!

Place all ingredients in a pot, stirring occasionally, until cream cheese is melted & soup is heated.

Awesome Grilled Cheese Fixins:
Pepperoni
Guacamole
Instead of cheddar, try mozzarella cheese *we LOVE mozzarella!

How I do Freezer Meals- Maybe it's the lazy version way??

To all you mama's out there who can sit down and cook for 4+ hours and make a large number of freezer meals all at once, Kudo's to you! I am not one of those moms! Yes, I am only chasing one little monster, rather than some of you who are chasing multiple, but it just never really works out (as much as I wish it did). So I have come up with a real-life-mama-who-doesn't-have-hours-to-spend-in-the-kitchen-solution!

If you knew my husband, you would know he's a big eater-sometimes I feel like I am feeding a house full of teenage boys, and he is my only one! For those of you REALLY feeding a house full of boys-oye! Good luck! I feel like I can barely keep up, so I can't imagine how you REALLY do keep up!

One of my favorite things about cooking is experimenting. I like to try new things, try new ingredients in already perfected recipes, and I love to make my man happy with lunches prepared for him to take to work.

I have found the easiest thing for me to do to get freezer meals/lunches, ect to actually make it to the freezer (instead of being eaten all at once for dinner) is to double, or sometimes triple, or even quadruple the recipe! That may seem like a lot of work to you, but in my mind, I already AM doing the work. I am cooking dinner for THAT night right then and there, so I may as well make dinner or lunches for a few more nights while I am at it!

Here are a few of my favorite things and recipes to freeze, that we really love to have on hand. First of all, I have to preface, we're not big meat eaters! So in almost every recipe that I have adapted for us, it's how WE like it, and how WE cook it. If it's not enough meat for you, or too spicy, or whatever, feel free to experiment and make it work for your family! We're pretty adventurous when it comes to food, and I know some of you are not! Hope these can help you're little family! Happy cooking!

Carley's Favorite Meals to Freeze:

1. Meatloaf (and recently a Southwest Meatloaf): personally I am all about what I like to refer to as "veggie purging"-using as many vegetables in recipes as possible-because I know there are days when we don't have many, or there are days when I have a ton of veggies in my fridge that need to be used ASAP. This is one of my favorite to veggie purge with!

2. Chicken Chili- this is another one of my absolute favorite veggie purging meals! I love it because it's easy, it's filling for my man, and can easily be divided into smaller servings for him to take to lunch. Add a little corn bread muffin or two, (which I freeze those too, they'll be in a later post!) have it thaw in his lunch box, and it's ready to roll!

3. Lasagna- seriously, the easiest lasagna to throw together EVER! I love this recipe. It's even a quick meal, when you don't have it pre-frozen. It works great for lunches too! Just cook it, let it cool, and divide into smaller freezer ziplock bags!

4. Potato Soup

5. Sweet Pork recipe (or for chicken). We almost always use this for chicken instead of pork, mainly because we hardily have pork on hand. But it's a great recipe to have for salads, tostadas, burritos, ect. Or just to serve with rice and black beans. I'll share with you my "black bean concoction."

6. Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole This is a great one when you're feeling for something a little "fancy" but don't want to put the effort into a gourmet meal!

7. Carley's Enchiladas This is my husband's favorite meal I have made him since we have been married! He was so certain his favorite meal was lasagna, until he had this, and every since, he is always requesting these! *cilantro is a good add to this too!

8. Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

 9. Tater Tot Casserole

10. Stromboli LOVE This one for lunches!

11. Tortellini Stew I LOVE this one! My brother actually made it for a family event-he uses marinara sauce (what's the difference?!) I just use spaghetti sauce since I have it on hand, and if I am really craving it, will add a touch of sugar to make it a little sweeter!


Stay tuned for my next post on "sides" I love to have ready in my freezer! Which will include breadsticks, muffins, muffins, muffins, and so much more!

Carley

Baby Gate

We recently started having a little guy over that I will be babysitting, and I told my hubby we needed a gate ASAP! We have a really weird width to purchase a gate, so we decided to build. He and my neighbor worked Saturday to build this! I love it so much! They say it was a pain in the butt...but this is also coming from my husband who has very  little woodworking experience, so he is easily frustrated with almost any project I give him that involves wood.

The cute wreath is from my sister (my other one...I have 4), who made it and gave to me for Christmas, which I also love! I thought the two went well together!

So proud of my "barn door" as my neighbor calls it!

Bon Appetit!

My kitchen and I have been at war for a long time! I think it is the most awkward set up, no wall space, and ridiculously ugly! I have wanted to decorate it, and I have great plans in my head...it'll just take some time to get there! But I wanted to show you something I am very proud of, that me and my sister threw together this past weekend.

We started at the DI finding utensils that were "vintage" and some frames! In total, this project cost me $6.00 (not including the burlap, paint, and hot glue gun/super glue, my sister already had on hand). I am so happy with it! And I love looking into my kitchen now-even though the whole thing still has a long ways to go before it is what I dream it will be one day!

What do you think?

The yellow push pin will be gone-and I'll add a knob.
And the far right frame will get another round of paint! I was just too excited to share! 

Homemade Baby Wipes

This is by far one of the GREATEST gifts we ever received as a baby shower present when we were expecting baby #1. It has something that even my husband recommends giving to everyone we get invited to their baby showers. I don't know if any of my friends who I have given this as baby shower gifts have actually tried this recipe and love it as much as I do, but anyone who has babysat my child and used these wipes in her bag, have said, "Can I get this recipe?"

My husband loves the wipes because 1. It's cheap 2. They're big enough to cover his whole hand 3. They're so much stronger and more durable, and they hold a LOT more!

I love them because 1. They're cheap (like SOOO ridiculously cheap! I'll figure out the math for you) 2. They're really easy to make 3. I love saving money 4. They really are so much better than store bought! (My opinion is mine, but it's not changing, I hope you'll give them a try too!)

First you will need:

1 air tight container large enough to hold a paper towel roll cut in half (I have found success at Target and TJ Maxx)
1 bottle of baby lotion, baby oil, and baby wash (I was given a TON for our baby shower, and that's what we're still using, but Dollar Tree has them for $1.00, or if you're an avid couponer, you can score some great deals!)
1 non-serrated knife (we usually use a utility knife, but have found one in our kitchen that works better!)

Click Here for a Girl Recipe

Click Here for a Boy Recipe

*a variation I have seen done with this, is instead of using baby oil, some have used coconut oil. Obviously this will increase the price some, but it'll still be very cheap!*

Alright, I promised the math...So here it is!

• About every 6 months Smith's has their 8 ct. Bounty paper towels on sale somewhere in the $4 range. Last time we bought some for $4.49 plus a P&G $0.25 off coupon= $4.24 for a package of 8 rolls. *Price match at Walmart if you don't have a Smith's near by!
• $3.00 plus tax for all the 10 oz. lotion, oil, and wash from the dollar store ~$3.19
• An one time purchase of an air tight container, the one we use at Target is $17.99
• If you don't have one already- a utility knife, which you can get anywhere from $1.99-$25.99

Since you cut each roll (8) in half, there are 16 rolls with 44 sheets per roll. 16x44=704 wipes
You get 20 Tablespoons out of 10 ounces of the oil, wash, and lotion=20 times of making wipes. Since you use 1 TBSP of EACH mixture (x3) it costs $0.15 in the oil, lotion, and wash per diaper wipe mix.

**To keep math simple, we'll stick to 16 wipe mixes, since we have 16 rolls.**
$2.40 (for oil, wash, lotion-$0.15x16) + $4.24 (704 wipes) =$6.64/704 wipes =$.0094 per wipe!

*Now obviously, this is an approximate, because I don't know what all of your sales tax rates are, so I left that part out of the equation. I also didn't include the cost of the container, because it is a one time purchase, so the longer you make homemade wipes, the more you'll get your money back! With our tax prices, our total comes in at about $.01 per wipe.*

Let me know if you've tried this out, and how you like it!

Potato Wedges

I tried making these last night to go along with our dinner. I was hoping they'd turn out okay, and they turned out way better than I was expecting!! My husband rated them as a 7, and wants to have them more often. Lucky for us, we bought 50 pounds of red potatoes from an Idaho potato farmer, so we have plenty of potatoes!

May not be the best picture, but they tasted great!

What you'll need:

1/8 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Dried Parsley

1/4 tsp. Seasoning Salt

1/8. tsp. Black Pepper *I like fresh ground 

Cooking spray

3-4 potatoes (We used red potatoes, but any baking potato will work)

Parmesan Cheese

Here's the scoop:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F

2. Wash and scrub potatoes, NO peeling!

3. Cut potatoes in half, and into wedges.

4. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray

5. Lay potato wedges, skin side down, spray with cooking spray

6. In a small bowl, mix all seasoning ingredients 

EXCEPT Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle over potatoes.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes uncovered 

(at least until you can poke potato easily with a fork, it took ours 20 minutes)

8. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese while warm.

9. Serve! 

Party Punch

One summer day, we were hosting a summer party. I bought some frozen juice thinking it would be plenty for our party, put it in the cute pitcher my husband gave to me for Mother's Day last year, and it didn't even reach halfway to the dispenser level! With guests arriving in just minutes, I started to panic! What are we going to do?!

My husband and I put on our experiment caps on, and started mixing potions! We came up with this REALLY good drink mix, and have used it at every event we've hosted since!




2 cans of frozen Raspberry Lemonade
2 cans of frozen Orange Juice Concentrate
2 cans of frozen Pineapple Juice
Water

We used pineapple juice in a plastic container the first time we made this, and filled 2 cans from the other juices to fill it. We also added enough water to make for EACH juice mix, then diluted it to our liking. We like ours a little on the watery side, so we add about 3-4 cans more of water.

Hope you like it!

Tomato, Tomatoe

My husband and I are big fans of Bountiful Baskets, and love to feed our family with fresh fruits and vegetables at such a minimal cost. Our favorite part, is actually the fact that you never know what you're getting, and you always get something a little "odd". Our bravery to try new foods has increased so much at our house since we started participated in bountiful baskets!

Last week, we bought 25 pounds of tomatoes to make into salsa, or spaghetti sauce (we go through both like crazy!) Thankfully, because of the holiday this week (MLK Jr. Day) my hubby had the day off, which meant I become the slave driver.

We set off to make spaghetti sauce, but I wanted the most easiest way possible. We found this recipe for tomato sauce from the Ball Canning website, which looked really easy because:
1. You used a blender.
2. You didn't HAVE to take the skins off.
3. We had all the ingredients (for the most part, already on hand)

For the recipe click here Basil-Tomato Sauce

I did some researching, and to get the tomato sauce thicker, you just simmer it longer, and could not strain the skins (which is what we chose to do). We also didn't have fresh Basil, but a lot of wonderful dried spices like Rosemary, Basil, Parsley, Chives, Oregano, Italian Seasoning, ect, that I threw in the mix instead!

We ended up with 7 jars full, plus 1/2 a gallon size baggie that we were keeping out to use that evening! It turned out DELICIOUS! We were so excited with our results! It was a little runny, compared  to store bought spaghetti sauce, and we like to add a lot of veggies to our spaghetti so we added peppers, onions, and other vegetables to it as we cook it (we keep a bag of frozen chopped up onions and peppers to toss into any recipe we may need). Our little one's favorite food (that grown ups will eat too) is Spaghetti, so we are excited to have some yummy sauce on hand!

The Man Cave

When we first moved into our new home, my husband went scouting to find all the "nooks and crannies" of the place. He came across a little room (and I mean little) behind our water heater closet, under the stairs. It is literally big enough for him to lay down, and to sit up, but not able to stand. He came running up to me, "Come check this out!" So I went to see what all the excitement was about, and he begged and pleaded to turn it into his Man Cave. Considering there really isn't anywhere else for him to have a man cave, I said yes. He immediately thought up some plans of how he was going to decorate, and what accessories he needed to make it a home. First things first, an extension cord and a lamp. Then came some jimmy rigged bookshelves out of really sturdy cardboard boxes turned on its side (he is a bookworm)! Then came the bean bag chair that he got for Father's Day from me and our daughter. I wanted to get him some cute manly decorations to go in there. I kept seeing all of these "Man Cave" signs, but none of them seemed to really speak about my hubby! I decided I was going to make one so that it fit his personality.

This is what I came up with! I absolutely love it! I ended up giving it to him as a gift for Christmas. He was so excited to put it in his man cave! He even admitted, it wasn't too girly! YAY!

How to:

1. Print the Man Cave Rules printable on cardstock, or heavier paper so it doesn't tear
2. Buy a 11x14 (ish) plaque from any crafting store (mine is from Walmart for about $7.00)
3. Paint it your desired color
4. Use modge podge on the back of the paper, then place it on the wood plaque. Try to lay as flatly as possible, and get as much of the air bubbles out before you put the top coat on.
5. Top coat of modge podge to seal the paper. *if there are air bubbles, use a pin (I poked holes in the thick letters or objects (fleur de lis) to hide the holes a little better just in case), and reseal.
6 *Optional* I personally LOVE shoe polish. It is the easiest way to get distressed look! I use it for everything! I distressed my paper edges, but not the wood edges because my husband doesn't like the "antique" look and I didn't want to over do it and have him hate it!
7. Ta Da! Man Cave sign!

If you would like your free printable of the "Man Cave Rules" click here

Carpet Cleaner

This morning my little one coughed so much that she ended up throwing up ALL over my floor! It was a not a pretty sight! I frantically thought, how am I going to get THAT color out of my white carpet?! Then I remembered a "carpet cleaner" recipe I found on pinterest and decided to give it a whirl.

Well, I have to say, I wanted to spare you from the before and after pictures of my poor girl's mess, but I did take pictures of another horrifying stain that  has been there for MONTHS and I was afraid I could never get out (we're renters)! But it worked wonders! Here are the results!

I found this magical recipe on Lizzy Writes: Magical Carpet Cleaner

The recipe goes as follows:
1. Scrape up the liquid (if not already done so previously)
2. Sprinkle baking soda or cornstarch on stain to let absorb for 10 minutes and then vacuum.
3. Mix one tablespoon clear dish washing liquid and one tablespoon white vinegar with two cups of warm water.
4. Using a white cloth, sponge the stain with the detergent/vinegar solution and blot until all the liquid is absorbed.
5. Sponge off with cold water and blot dry

P.S. I only had orange dish washing liquid, and it worked just fine!