Monday, March 30, 2009

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin with Beer & Veggies


I used Honey Brown beer for this recipe. Ther recipe turned out great and was enjoyed by all.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Monkey Lover's Shake


The kids made this for dessert. It was not a hit! The kids want to go back ro plain vanilla or chocolate milk shakes. Here is the recipe.

Creamy Chicken Enchilada


Friday, March 27, 2009

Whole Grain Date & Nut Bars




In a large mixing bowl combine:


1 1/2 C cheerios cereal


3/4 C crispy rice cereal


1/3 C sliced almonds


3 T dry milk powder


1/2 C pitted dates, coarsely chopped


1/4 C coarsely chopped dried apricots


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


On the stove top combine: 1/3 C honey and 1/4 C natural salted peanut butter. Heat for 5 minutes until mixture is combined and easy to stir. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to combine. Place in a 8"X8" baking pan lined with parchment paper and then sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 10-12 minutes of just until the bars are beginning to brown. Let cool completely in pan for at least 2 hours. Remove from pan and cut into bars.


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Easy Chicken and Dumplings


In a Dutch oven place; 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 carrots chopped, 2 ribs celery chopped, 1 medium onion chopped, 4 bouillon cubes and about 6 C water. Let cook for 6 hours on high. Remove the chicken, shred and place back into the pot. Bring to a boil.In a medium bowl combine 1 egg , 3T water, 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 T vegetable oil. Whisk in 1 C all purpose flour. mix until well blended and elastic. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to use. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll very thin, approximately 1/16". Cut into small squares with a pizza cutter. Add dumplings a few at a time to pot Cook 3-5 minutes. Add 2T butter, cut up and 1/4 c heavy cream. Serve with cut up hard boiled eggs. I also added frozen peas toward the end because i love peas.

Silk Dyed Eggs







Today we made Martha Stewart's Silk Dyed eggs. Be sure and wrap your eggs really tight or the colors will not transfer.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Hot Fudge Sundae


Delicious hot fudge sauce recipe, I did not make the carmel, maybe next time.

Oven Fried Fish & Tartar Sauce




For the tartar sauce mix and blend: 1 C mayonnaise, 1 C sour cream, 4 T sweet pickle relish, 4 T dehydrated onion, 4 T fresh minced parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. For the fish: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F . In a shallow dish combine 1/1/2 C finely crushed butter crackers, salt and pepper, a dash or so of granulated garlic, a dash of dried parsley, 1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese, 1 tsp. finely grated red pepper. In another shallow dish place 1 1/2 C flour and a third dish place 1 C buttermilk. Take a cookie cooling rack and wrap with foil, spray with cooking spray and place on a jelly roll pan. First dip fish in the flour, then buttermilk and last the crumb mixture. Place on the covered cookie sheet. Bake fish for 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked thoroughly.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lillies







A few lilies for tomorrow's Feast of the Annunciation.



The Lily in Christian art is a well known symbol of chastity, innocence and purity.In pictures of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel is sometimes depicted holding a Lily branch, or Mary herself is clasping a Lily, or there is a Lily in the vicinity.
" Hail Mary fairest flower O Lily glistening white and stainless !I greet you at this time with Gabriel's words sublime,Ave O maid so highly favoured!"
There is an old tradition that the Lily sprang from the repentant tears of Eve as she went forth from paradise. Here Mary can be seen as the New Eve, the Mother of life, who bore the fruit that redeemed us all from sin and every fall.The Lily in the language of flowers means, "Majesty". The Lily as we know it today is a trumpet like flower, stately and noble. Its large petals open and surrender to the light. It exudes a beautiful perfume, and bears a high pollen yield. The white Lily when it is full open resembles a star. It is a flower of great beauty and it is easy to see why artists have so often placed it within pictures of the Holy Virgin.




Hershey's Roses




I have always wanted to make these roses and today we finally did. Very easy.

Candy Vase







For this project you need 2 vases ( large for outer and small for inner) jelly beans and I used Peeps candies. Place the smaller vase inside the larger vase and layer the candies. Carefully pour water into the small inner vase with a water pitcher, place flowers in and you are done. You can use any candy for this.

"Painted" Toast











For each color place 1T heavy cream and 2 drops of food coloring. Have the children use a q-tip and color their piece of bread. Place in the toaster and top with butter and the kids sprinkled on cinnamon sugar. The colors really seem to pop out after the bread is toasted.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Asian Ginger Dressing




1/4 C. vegetable oil


2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar


1 Tbsp. water


1 Tbsp. minced ginger


1 Tbsp. chopped celery


1 Tbsp. mishroom soy sauce


1 1/2 tsp. tomato paste


1 1/2 tsp. sugar1 tsp. lemon juice


1/2 tsp. salt


pepper to taste


1 dash of granulated garlic
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Process until almost smooth. Any unused portions may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Famous Pork Chops


Breaded pork chop recipe from allrecipes.com, not out of the ordinary but tasty!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cook's Country Chicken Florentine


We tried this Chicken Floretine recipe tonight from Cook's Country magazine. It was a quick and easy dish. The spinach was tasty and the reipce was a hit.

Cinnamon Chip Banana Muffins




I tried this tasty recipe tonight, I made muffins instead of loaves. Delicious recipe, this is a keeper.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Bella's Lasagna


Today i made a new lasagna recipe (from Bella's blog) in honor of Saint Joseph's Feast Day. The lasagna was very rich and lots of layers. I only took a photo of the lasagna just out of the oven, it fell apart as soon as we cut into it. Happy Saint Joseph's Day!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Reuben on Rye


Today for Saint Patrick's day I made a Reuben loaf on rye bread dough for the Artisan's in Five Minutes. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Saint Patrick's Day Hat


Easy Saint Patrick's Day hat.

Air Head Rainbow


For this rainbow you need Air Head candies and golden coins. Take each Air Head candy and cut it length-wise into thirds, place the cut pieces next to each other and take a rolling pin and roll the pieces together to form a rainbow. You can use smaller decorations to decorate cupcakes.

Irish Brown Bread




This easy tasty bread recipe is a keeper. The whole family loves this bread. Tasty and not overly sweet.

Irish Stew


I saw this recipe in one of the Taste of Home magazines, the stew was really tasty. I made a few changes: I cooked everything in a cast iron Dutch oven and i let the stew simmer on low for a total of 6 hours. Just before we were ready to eat, I added the peas and brought the stew to boil. The stew was a great consistency, not too thick or soupy, it was perfect. I also add 1 bottle of dark Dundee beer.

Saint Patrick Pistachio Cookies




I made these cookies last year and the kids really loved them. So i made them again today. Yum

Friday, March 13, 2009

Irish Soda Bread


I love Irish Soda bread and i usually make it for Saint Patrick's Day, so here is the recipe we are trying this year.

Apples & Peanut Butter


The other day at BJ'si bought 1 3lb. can of salted peanuts for $5.99-$1.00 coupon so $4.99 for 3 lb. of peanuts. Today i was able to make 2qt.s of delicious peanut butter with all of the nuts. Here is how to make the peanut butter: In a food processor mix together to desired consistency( we like creamy) 4 C salted peanuts, 4T vegetable oil, 4T local honey. You will try this peanut butter and be hooked.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Fontina Risotto With Chicken




The only change i made to this recipe was the addition of frozen peas at the very end.

Spinach, Feta and Pine Nut Bread




I have had this recipe for a few months i finally made it today. The bread was eaten up and there was not even a crumb left!!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Holiday M&M Oatmeal Bar Mix


In a 1 quart canning jar layer:

1/2 C old fashioned oats

1/2 C M&M's

1/2 C light brown sugar

1/2 C Bisquick

1/2 C dark brown sugar

1C Bisquick

Attach a gift tag with these instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl cream 1/2 C butter, softened, 1 egg and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add the jar contents. Stir until the mixture is well blended. Press into a greased 8 inch square baking pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until bars are light golden brown and center is almost set. Cool before cutting.

Chicken Fajita Salad




For the chicken marinade:


1/4 C fresh lime juice


1/3 C water


2 T vegetable oil


1 dash granulated garlic


2T rice wine vinegar


2 tsp. mushroom soy sauce


1 tsp. liquid smoke


salt and pepper


1 tsp. chili powder


1/2 tsp. red pepper


1 tsp. granulated onion




Combine all ingredients and marinate 1 lb. of chicken for 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to cook the chicken, warm 1-2 T olive oil and cook chicken in batches. Throw out the remaining marinade. Serve with fajitas, lettuce, cheese, salsa and any other fajita salad ingredients.

Mexican Whole Wheat Tortillas


With this tortilla recipe you will never need to purchase tortillas again. These tortillas taste so much better than store bought. What a great recipe!