Ice Cream on Mush?

Ok, This is AWESOME!!!!! I mean really, really over the top! Actually, to be completely honest, I've eaten vanilla ice cream on my oatmeal with peaches and brown sugar. (don't judge me!) LOL!  Well, growing up on "mush" was great, i'M NOT KIDDING! I have always loved hot cereal with homemade toast.  Mom and Dad use to wake up early and put a pot of oatmeal, cream of wheat, cracked wheat or malt-o-meal to cook. It might seem silly that even though I was embarrassed  to call hot cereal "mush", I still loved to eat it! I just might try this!!! lol!

( click on the ad to zoom in and read the fine print. It's hilarious!)

Baby Square Crinkle Toy

I sewed this simple baby tag toy, using a tutorial from Joy's Hope! Her tag toy is perfect and so cute! I love this one I made, but I made the ribbon tags a little too long.

Katherine loves playing with it

I used little girl sweats for the material, a babywipes package for the crinkle, and some cordinating ribbon I had on hand.

                                              She REALLY loves it!

up close, I made a few mistakes, oops!

Here it is connected to her plastic ring toys

Easy Fudge

I know the holidays are over, but here it is anyway!
After all, it doesn't have to be Christmas to enjoy chocolate yumminess!
I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made it easily, only substituting prepared nonfat dry milk for the evaporated milk. Did you know you could do that? ( I took this photo with with my new camera! I know: a sewing machine and a camera all in the same Christmas! I am loved!!!)

Therapy Wheat Bag

I am so happy to share with you a little more variety to my blog. Sewing projects! I got my very own, very first sewing machine for Christmas!!! I made this wheat bag for my 7 year old son who broke his collar bone last week sledding. He is recovering well with a sling, but sometimes he aches, so I throw the wheat bag in the microwave for a couple of minutes and he puts it on the sore spot and it seems to do a good job of soothing the pain. I made this one out of an old t-shirt, so it's very soft. It was easy to sew and took less than 20 minutes to make. If you want to make one, go to this blog. She has a great tutorial and her wheat bags are very pretty!

Holiday Donuts

I woke up this morning and felt inspired to make donuts! I wanted to try a new recipe and found this one.

(I love the detailed step by step photo instructions)

Will I Post before Christmas?

T'was the week before Christmas and all through this Blog, not a Post was updated not even a ________. (couldn't think of a good word that rhymes with Blog that fit the line, can you?)

I have to Apologize for not posting! I just keep staring at my last post of biscuits and gravy and thinking "that looks gross"!!! It must take a skilled photographer to make gray food look appetizing! I promise the biscuits and gravy tastes GREAT! By the way: Leave comments!!! (Even if it's just to say "hi") I have tons of great posts in the making, So check back soon!

I love you all! Thanks for listening! (Aren't those felt trees so adorable? I found that photo online)
By the way have you seen Julie and Julia??? So inspiring!

Biscuits and Gravy

For those of you who have been with me on this blog from the beginning, will remember my post about the best homemade biscuits ever. I love making biscuits and gravy for breakfast on cold autumn mornings like this one. So I used the biscuit recipe and this gravy recipe given to me from a dear friend:

1/2 pound Jimmy Dean Regular ground sausage

1/3 cup flour

Salt about a tsp.

Pepper about a tsp.

1 Quart (4 cups) milk

Brown sausage in pan. Add flour, pepper and salt and stir for a few minutes until combined. Then add milk stirring until it is thick and bubbly.

So Yummy! Plan on hanging out in the kitchen for about 30-45 minutes when preparing this breakfast. (Great time to catch up on a good conversation with your kids, and help them make their lunches for school!)

I like to use cookie cutters for my biscuits for whatever season it is or upcomming holiday.

Acorn Sugar Cookies

I had so much fun making these acorn cookies! I used the recipes and techniques from this post. I am still practicing on having a steady hand, but I was happy with the colors, and the over all look.

Pizza Quesadilla

Put cooked tortilla on preheated griddle, spread pizza sauce, top with mozzarella cheese, favorite toppings (toppings shown are: sausage, mini pepperonis,and mushrooms) and top with more cheese...

I found these great little Hormel Pepperoni Minis last week at Walmart. I Love them! They are so cute, and they were on sale!

Now put a tortilla on top and cook until the bottom is nice and crispy, flip over and do the same until all the cheese is gooey...

Remove from the pan onto a cutting board, cut and serve hot!

Pizza Sauce
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can tomato puree

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Pour the left over Pizza Sauce into an ice cube tray and freeze. When frozen, put in freezer baggie for future single serving of sauce.

Candle ReUse, Recycle (or whatever you want to call it)

Look at this cute little candy dish. Would you ever think that it was once home to a delicious smelling pumpkin pie candle?

Do you have a candle on your candle warmer that's just about all used up? Or some candles you burned a while ago and have piled up in a cupboard somewhere thinking you might do something with them some day????

You might just throw away the candle when it's all gone.

Or you could.....

Make a candy dish or some cute little mini candles.

To make the mini candle (that looks a lot like a Reese's Cup):

Set the short, almost all used up wick in the middle of a mini muffin paper, and pour some of the melted wax around it. Then carefully carry it to the freezer and place on a flat surface and let it set for a few minutes...

and peel the paper off...

Then you have an adorable mini candle. You can burn it and still enjoy the candle scent, or trim off the black end of the wick and you have a brand new mini candle you can give as a gift. Jeff is 9 and made this candle with a bit of supervision and wrapped it up and is giving it to his school teacher for a little Thanksgiving gift.

If you just want to make the candy dish, melt the wax and pour into an old plastic container and throw it away in the trash. Then wipe the rest of the melted wax out with a napkin or paper towel. Warning: Never, I mean NEVER pour hot wax down the drain or you will be calling your plummer!!! Also ,Warning: If you don't have a candle warmer, but you want to melt the wax, NEVER melt it in the microwave if it has a wick in it, because it has metal and you could have a serious disaster if you put metal in the microwave!!! Instead, put it on a pan on the stove on medium heat (watching carefully) until the candle is all melted and then continue on with your project.

The other night I was thinking of all the things this adorable glass dish could hold, like: Veggie dip, Salsa, Buttons, Beads, Sea Shells, and, Oh, my...My mind just decided it's late and time for sleep and I can't remember all the great uses I thought of the other night. Well, You get the idea. It was really fun and easy to do. I liked this project and will do more, Because MY cupboard is full of used up candles!!! Now Im going to go eat one (or three, or four) of those candy corn pumpkins and go to sleep.

Fall Kitchen Table

What's on your kitchen table?

Banana Walnut Muffins

For this recipe I used my previous Marvelously Moist Muffin Recipe.

I followed the recipe EXACTLY. When it came time to add the fruit and nuts,

I added:

1 cup smashed over-ripe bananas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

and there you have it: Banana Walnut Muffins

I think they taste best, (more moist) after I put them in a plastic container or big ziploc bag for a day or two.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Muffins
combine dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

combine, and then add to dry ingredients:
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup pumpkin
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

~spoon batter into paper lined muffin cups
~fill until almost full
~bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes
~cool for 5 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat with electric mixer:
1 stick (8 Tbs.) softened butter
1/4 cup (2 ounces) softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

kids can decorate cakes

Three years ago (has it really been that long?) the boys decorated their own Halloween cakes for the school Fall Fest. They got their inspiration from magazines and websites. Baking and cake decorating with kids is so fun ( and messy)!

Pumpkin Pecan Waffles with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

I wanted something extra fun and Yummy for Halloween breakfast, (and for Bake at 350's Flavor of the Month) so I thought "why not tweek my waffle recipe and turn them into pumpkin waffles?" So I did, and here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Pecan Waffles with Cinnamon Whipped Cream
makes about 12 waffles
3 cups Flour
2 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1/4 cup Powdered Milk (optional)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/8 tsp. Ground Cloves
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
combine all dry ingredients,
then mix in...
1 1/2 cups cold water (or milk if you're not using powdered milk)
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
stir, and then pour batter onto preheated waffle iron,
sprinkle batter with chopped pecans and cinnamon and cook until golden brown.
The Pecans have that wonderful toasted nut aroma and flavor.
Serve with butter, maple syrup and cinnamon whipped cream!
Make cinnamon whipped cream by adding a little cinnamon and sugar to your heavy cream when whipping it. Top with more chopped pecans, and enjoy!!!

Coming soon: Pumpkin Praline Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting, Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Pesto, Tomatoes, Bacon, and Mozzarella Cheese, Super Moist Banana Walnut Muffins and more!!!

Halloween Brownies

My sister-in-law Stacey is a senior in high school and she is so creative! I went over to my in laws house last night and saw these super cute brownies on the kitchen counter. Stacey made them by: looking on google and finding some Halloween images, then she printed them out, cut them out, placed them on a brownie and sprinkled powdered suger over them! So simple and so cute!

Grilled Veggie and Steak Kabobs

I'm going to share with you one of my husbands FAVORITE meals! I know that when I cook this for dinner it 's sure to put a smile on his face! It's really pretty easy. The veggies we usually use are: zuchini, yellow squash, grape or cherry tomatoes, mushrooms( my favorite), white onions, red onions, bell peppers and a few chili peppers. After we put the veggies on the metal kabob sticks we brush them with melted butter mixed with Johnny's Garlic Spread (found at Costco). Then we grill them on medium high heat until they look done. When we take them off the grill and put them on the serving platter, we brush them once more with the melted butter mixture and cover with foil until we're ready to eat.

The meat is simple. Just cut a good quality steak into large cubes and brush with canola oil, and rub with homemade grilling seasoning (great with chicken and pork too!)

1 Tbsp. fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt (must be kosher salt so it doesn't come out tough)

1/8 tsp. garlic powder.

When the meat is done cooking, put it on the serving platter, cover with foil and let it rest for a few minutes to keep the meat nice and juicy! This meal goes great with any rice of your choice (lately my favorite is a long grain and wild rice mix). My moms favorite is this lime cilantro rice from Leigh Ann over at YourHomeBasedMom, which I still haven't tried but heard it is amazing!

Peach Syrup

When My family came to visit a few weeks ago, my Mom brought some of her amazing home canned peaches. They were so good. We ate them up in just a couple of days, but were left with a jar of light syrup. When I made pancakes for breakfast I was sad that the peaches were all gone, and then I wondered what the pancakes would taste like with the peach syrup. Wow! I put a little butter and poured on the peach syrup (and got a little carried away). It was Sooooo good! Thanks Mom!!! Now I need your recipe for your canned peaches!

Soft Ginger Cookies

Need an idea to give to your visiting teaching ladies? I find that taking a food gift to give, always brightens the day and opens up the conversation with even the more challenging assignments.

Soft Ginger Cookies
from Better Homes and Garden New Baking Book
makes: 24-36 cookies Oven: 350 Bake: 10 min

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses (or honey)
2 Tbsp. sugar

1. In a medium bowl combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in the 1 cup sugar. Add egg and molasses; beat well. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture.
3. Shape dough into balls. Roll them in the 2 Tbsp. sugar to coat . Place balls about 2 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown and still puffed. (do not overbake) Cool cookies on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.


This cookie is perfect for Autumn time. The flavors and aroma reminded me a lot like eating pie, and what goes best with pie? vanilla ICECREAM! So I kicked it up a notch and made Ginger Cookie Icecream sandwiches. Now this was a true taste of Autumn!!! Yumm!