coffee cup cozy

I don't go to Starbucks that much but I had a bit of lovely purple yarn so I created my own coffee cozy......without a pattern! Quite a shocker for me. I always follow a pattern and usually never even alter it a bit. This is only my second completed crochet project. I find that crochet is faster than knitting and much easier to fix mistakes. I still love knitting though. I will post a pic of my latest project soon. For now, I am off to another Sunday of basketball (our last of the year, thank goodness).

I love baking!

Andrew and I made these chocolate brownies a few day ago. He is 5 but he does enjoy being in the kitchen with me.

Peanut butter and chocolate: I cannot think of a better combination but add a Reece's cup to a homemade chocolate chip cookie and this is what you get.

some new pictures

Valentine's Day

Here is what happens when the kids find my camera when I am not looking:

Got my Valentine's Day gift today

I did receive roses on Saturday but ***surprise!*** there were some Godiva chocolates hidden for me and David forgot to give them to me yesterday. Noah found them hidden in the closet today. We had a busy day yesterday with 4 basketball games so I can see how the chocolates were missed. The only person (?) I bought anything for was our 6 month old puppy, Scooby, who got some bones. We are heading to Las Vegas soon and the kids decided instead of candy on Feb. 14th, they would rather have something from our trip. Better remember to leave some space in the suitcase for the return trip home.

Lovely snow

I do love snow....I actually don't think we get enough of it here in Indiana. I wish we would have snow, lots of it, ALL winter long. Some mornings recently have resulted in beautiful frost on the trees so I took some pictures.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick note before church: we are not celebrating much today. We have 2 basketball games in different cities, with a potential 2 more games tonight. I am not even making a special dinner. We are having Puccini's Pizza for dinner. Twice baked potato pizza....here I come!

Last night I made perogies, broccoli, carrots, and molten chocolate lava cakes for dessert. I ate one and still lost weight.

molten lava cakes

Another no knead bread success

I have had this book, Kneadlessly Simple for over a year and I finally decided to actually USE it. I tried a cinnamon bread recipe today. The kids love the Pepperidge Farm cinnamon bread for breakfast but I am trying my best to make as much from scratch as possible so when I saw the cinnamon raisin bread recipe, I knew I had to try it. Now, we don't like raisins here. I cannot stand them. I have never liked them. I have given them to the kids but they don't really care for them either! If this bread tastes as good as it smells, goodbye Pepperidge Farm!!!

The kids were making a big tent today and they wanted to pose.

Inside out lasagna

I altered a recipe from the January issue of Eating Well magazine:

Cook 8 oz. pasta and drain. Pour some pasta sauce into large skillet. I didn't measure it, probably half a jar.

I added some salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Put some baby spinach in pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Add the pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Divide among 4 bowls and serve with dollops of ricotta cheese.

I have to alter many of the recipes I find. These silly people in my house don't like onions or mushrooms. (I find it hard to believe they are actually related to me because I love both!)

Have you found Etsy?

I love this website. If you are not familiar, it is a site where you can buy a variety of homemade gifts: pottery, bags, scarves, jewelry, soaps, candles, dolls.....the list is endless. And the creativity is amazing. I often like to browse the store, looking for inspiration for my own craft room. I made my first Etsy purchase a few weeks ago. I actually bought 2 things because I couldn't make a choice between the 2 and I knew I would use both.

The flowered bag is a bit smaller than I envisioned but the Peace and Love purse is perfect. It is very well made and has lots of little pockets for little goodies. I love buying things that are not mass produced in China. Check it out:  etsy.com

busy weekend

I really wanted to hibernate for the whole weekend, but it just wasn't possible. Emma and Noah both had basketball games on Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait until basketball is over and we can have a relaxing month in March. David may be going out of the country for 3 weeks in March so it may not be as relaxing as I would like :)

I made the family lots of goodies for their Super Bowl party. I didn't watch the game. I cannot stand watching football. I like basketball and baseball but football seems like a silly sport, too violent as well. It boggles my mind that so many people are "into" football. I don't think I will ever understand.

I made some Chex mix-just the original recipe, Rice Krispie treats, cheese fondue, potato skins, and a new recipe called: almost candy bars.

The fondue had black beans, nacho cheese sauce, soy based taco meat, and some cut up cheese. They used tortilla chips and pretzels for dipping.

The almost candy bars were from my new Taste of Home cookie cookbook. I altered the recipe quite a bit though. The base was sugar cookie dough instead of chocolate chip cookie dough. The next layer was granola and chocolate chips. I omitted the marshmallow, butterscotch chips, and nuts. Next came melted peanut butter chips and pretzels. Finally, a drizzle of melted dark chocolate completed the bars. 

Valentine's Day math

Check out this fun site:

http://www.googolpower.com/content/free-learning-resources/seasonal-math/valentines-day

a hit and a miss

Sometimes I follow the recipe to a "T" but it still doesn't work out. The lemon bars were over baked. The recipe said 30 minutes but 20 probably would have worked out better. I *am* used to baking in a square glass dish. This dark non stick pan is new and the edges were burned.

For the hit, I decided soup sounded good. I love soup in the winter. I could eat it every day. I used no recipe. I had some chicken stock in the freezer so I thawed it out. I cubed one large red potato with the skin on. I had some dry Amish noodles in the pantry, so one handful was put in the pot. I thawed out a little turkey left over from Thanksgiving and chopped it up. Seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, minced onion, and freshly ground pepper. After it had simmered about 20 minutes, I stirred in some shredded cheddar cheese. It was so good! My only regret was that I only made 1 serving....should have made a big pot.

snowing and baking just go together

I always get the urge to bake something sweet during a snow storm. Actually, I get the urge to bake at other times too but there is something about a warm oven and the yummy smell of baking cookies or muffins when outside, it is cold and windy. Last night, Andrew and I were home alone during a heavy snowfall so I dragged out a new cookbook: 

This should keep me busy for awhile. There are over 600 recipes in this book. That's a lot of cookies. I was craving something chocolatey so we headed to the "Brownie" chapter. We ended up making the fudgy brownies which were not as good as the recipe you find on the Baker's Chocolate box but they were still pretty tasty!

A new knitting project

http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/02/slow-knitting.html

I really hope I get a chance to cast on this blanket tonight. It all depends on how much snow we get because Noah's basketball game tonight *might* get canceled. It is snowing huge flakes right now and doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. The weather radar shows heavy snow in the 2 states to the west of us.

Anyway, I have lots of extra yarn that would make a good start for this blanket. I love doing straight knit stitch. It is so mindless and easy to do when I watch movies.

no bake cookies

We always have the ingredients for these cookies. Andrew thinks these look weird so he won't try one but the rest of us love them. The kids made them, hence the different sizes of cookies. I kept telling them to make small ones but somehow they kept getting larger and larger. This recipe comes from a Delaware County Extension Homemakers cookbook that my dear Grandma Joyce gave me. She even signed the front and dated it: 1992. As a child, I remember attending some of the Homemakers club meetings with her. This was just one of many clubs she was a member of. Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer and died when Andrew was a baby. I think about her often and miss her everyday.

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

4 T. cocoa

1/2 cup milk

4 T. peanut butter

pinch salt

1 t. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups oats

In large saucepan, mix sugar, butter, cocoa, milk, and peanut butter. Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbling. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and oats. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper or Silpat baking mat. I always put in the freezer to make them set up quickly and store in the refrigerator.

Scooby

This dog knows where the warmth is!
Our 5 month old puppy, Scooby, will do anything for food.
He can sit, shake his paw, lie down, and roll over.
If only he would learn his paws do not belong on the kitchen counter and
it is not ok to pull items from the trash can, especially used coffee grounds!

Upside down broccoli pizza

I read a lot of magazines, mostly food related stuff. Therefore, I tear out lots of recipes. This is one area of my life where I am very disorganized. I throw the recipe in a drawer and hope I can find it later when I actually need it. I have been thinking about buying an electronic recipe keeper but the $300 price has been holding me back.

I tried a new recipe last night. It was a hit with 4 out of the 5 in the house. Noah actually liked it and he normally will not eat broccoli. I modified the recipe greatly since the original called for turkey (only 1 will eat that) and onions (2 will not touch them).

Upside Down Broccoli Pizza

I didn't really measure anything so I will make guesses for you. First of all, you need some pizza dough. I don't buy premade dough. It is cheaper to make your own at home and my bread maker does a great job. I made a half batch although next time, I will make a full batch and freeze half for another day.

I cooked about 3 cups of frozen broccoli in the microwave. Drain and put in large, oven proof skillet. I added about 1/2 cup alfredo sauce and 1/2 cup ranch dressing and mix well. I also added some dried chives and freshly ground pepper. Top with mozzarella cheese. Roll pizza dough out to a circle that will cover the skillet. This is my least favorite part.....I cannot roll a circle.

I covered the broccoli then brushed the top with a beaten egg. Bake about 20 minutes @ 400 degrees. (Don't forget to keep a hot pad on the handle. I have a nice burn on my hand right now because I forgot :()

Coffee break

So Andrew and I had some time on our hands today after dropping Emma and Noah off for chocolate class (yes, chocolate class-gotta love homeschooling). We were in Brownsburg and according to my Urban Spoon app, there were many coffee shops to choose from. We went looking for the first--out of business. Second one, same thing. Third shop-turned into a bar/restaurant. It appears that Starbucks has run the independent coffee shops out of town. Just like they did in Plainfield. Two independents closed after Starbucks came to town. I don't really think Starbucks has the best coffee but when all the other places close, I have no other choice. A few years ago, my favorite Avon coffee place, Beanzies, shut down. I was so sad. Emma and I had spent some time there, just the 2 of us. Yummy strawberry scones, hot cocoa for her, and of course a sweet latte for me. There was also a knitting group that met there that I was looking forward to joining. I don't think boycotting Starbucks will make a bit of difference. I will continue to search for locally owned businesses and offer my money to them when I can.

Wish I had a walk-in pantry

like the one my old friend had. Floor to ceiling shelves, fancy lights that automatically turn on whenever a person walked into the room....what a dream! Unfortunately, my pantry is small.Last year, we had a guy give us an estimate to add some custom cabinets and shelving for a larger pantry. I didn't really think it would make that much more space. My kitchen is not that big anyway. Plus, the price was something like $700 or some crazy amount. My dear husband put up some shelving in the basement instead. I think the total cost was $150.I love, love, love these shelves. I can stock up when I find a good sale. I only make it to Trader Joe's about every other month so now I can really stock up at each visit and have some great place to store all the goodies. Of course, if Trader Joe would just build a new store in Hendricks County, I would be even happier. Have a great day everyone.

Granola bars

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a box of granola bars at the grocery store? It can be pretty scary actually. One of my goals this year is to decrease the amount of processed food we eat in my home. We do better than probably 75% of Americans but I want to do more. Why buy store bought cookies or muffins when homemade are pretty easy (and tastier too)? I have tried many granola bar recipes but this is my favorite. The bars are pretty crumbly so a plate is necessary but the taste is worth the crumbs. Enjoy!

Gina's granola bars

2 cups oats

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

optional: mini chocolate chips

Mix all together and press into 8 X 8 inch baking pan. Bake @ 350* for 10 min.

See how easy that is???? The original recipe called for brown sugar, butter, and a dash of baking soda. I actually forgot the baking soda the first time I made these. The second time, I included it but didn't notice any difference. I leave it out now. I don't measure out the peanut butter either. I just spoon some in the bowl. We love peanut butter so the more the better. I would assume these would be great with almond or cashew butter too.

Run and hide little groundhog

I don't want you seeing your shadow! I love winter, after fall, it is my favorite season. True, spring does have some good parts: baseball, camping, taking walks, my garden awakening, playground trips. But winter has wonderful opportunities as well:

~~more time for knitting, scrapbooking, and any other creative process I can work on

~~snuggling on the couch with a good book, a blanket, and a warm little body next to me

~~hot cocoa

~~playing cards, board games, video games

~~baking, baking, baking

~~snow, lots of it

Hibernation, according to dictionary.com, is

~~to withdraw or be in seclusion; retire

~~to be in an inactive or dormant state or period

~~to spend the winter in close quarters in a dormant condition, as bears and certain other animals

I don't mind the seclusion for short periods of time. After about a week, I am ready to leave the house. I am not inactive at home however (see list of activities above :)).

I see winter as my time to rest and relax more, to get refreshed for the busy springtime. With 3 kids in either baseball or softball, evenings are spent running from practice to practice and later game to game.

Loving the UPS man today....

Late this afternoon, the big brown truck pulled up with not 1 but 2 packages just for me. This was after I had already received a great handmade bag from Etsy from the USPS. One package was from Home Shopping Network which I have never watched on television. Instead, I found some interesting popcorn seasonings while reading a food magazine....can't remember which mag.....I read a lot of them. The seasonings were on HSN so I bought them online.

My other package was from Amazon, my favorite online shopping place. I buy books (many), food, video games, etc. from Amazon but this time I got a rice cooker/steamer. My old steamer had been slowly dying for months and after last weeks mushy rice meal, it was time to toss it. It was a very basic but adequate steamer that did last several years but this time, after much online research, I ordered one with more features. The Panasonic has 7 different settings: white rice, brown rice, sticky rice, porridge, cake, slow cook, and steam. I love the delayed timer. I think I will put some steel cut oats in there tonight for a nice, hot breakfast in the morning.

We are having some popcorn here tonight as well. I am trying my best to get away from microwave popcorn and with my new seasonings, everyone should be happy. I bought white cheddar, chipotle, kettle corn, and my personal favorite: dill pickle.

Hello world!

Welcome to my brand new blog! As you can see, it is still very much a work in progress. I haven't even thought of a good name yet. As it is almost dinner time, and my 3 kids are fighting, I don't have much time today to fix things. I am posting a new recipe I made yesterday in my crockpot. I love using the slow cooker. Since I stay at home with my kids, I have plenty of time in the morning for assembling the meal and throwing it all in the slow cooker. Rarely do I have a total failure when using it. Mine comes with 3 different sized inserts which are super easy to clean.

Triple Chocolate Mess~~a slow cooker cake

box of chocolate cake mix~~found a Devil's food mix in the back of the pantry

pint sour cream~~I used reduced fat because I rarely buy full fat sour cream

small pkg instant chocolate pudding~~used cheesecake flavored pudding because I had no chocolate pudding

8 ounces chocolate chips

3/4 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1 cup water

Directions: Oil the bottom and sides of the slow cooker. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Throw in slow cooker. Cook on low 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. The cake is very moist and needs no frosting.

(Yes, Joey, I did use ***gasp*** a boxed mix. Although I do prefer to skip the processed stuff and cook/bake homemade stuff, this looked to good to pass up. I did briefly think about making my own chocolate cake mix but ....... I didn't)