Red Velvet Pancakes!

How cool is this!! i can send pictures from my phone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, I know this is late, but its my Sweetest day Pancakes! Red Velvet Pancakes, minus the red food coloring.. my husband is weird about eating food dye... weirdo!!

They were SOOOO good. I used buttermilk and it was so good, the kids even ate them! So chocolaty!!

Bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bread Bread Bread!!!

I made Chocolate, Banana, Peanut butter banana and Pumpkin Bread yesterday! It was soooooo good! Especially the chocolate one!

The coolest thing about these recipes is.... I made them all in the food processor!!! It was a breeze!!

Alright lets get to it!


Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

3oz cream cheese

1 cup brown sugar

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips optional!

Preheat over to 350. Grease a loaf pan.

Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in mashed banana, sour cream, and egg and mix until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 60-75 minutes. 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 large bananas, mashed

1 egg

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350.

\

Cream butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter until smooth. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla, mixing well for about 2-3 minutes. Mix in bananas and heavy cream until smooth. Add flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix until combined. Fold in peanut butter chips.

Pour batter in a greased loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Double Chocolate Chip Loaf

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or morsels (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.

Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blitz until a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Switch it off, then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or morsels.

Scrape and pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and put into the oven, cooking for about 1 hour. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a cake-tester will pretty well come out clean.

Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Mix pumpkin and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, oil and vanilla and continue to mix.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk to pumpkin mix – beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour into mini loaf pans, adding any addition mix-ins, like chocolate chips or walnuts. Bake 45-55 minutes.

Red Velvet Pancakes!!!

Tomorrow is sweetest day... A holiday only celebrated in Ohio, A holiday Hallmark or some greeting card company made up to sell cards in the down time... whatever reason, its a day to celebrate love, and all that jazz... blah blah blah..

The way I talk, people probly think Im single and lonely lol. But Im not.. Im married.. 5 years now!
Anyways.... We dont celebrate Sweetest day. I blame it on my husband not being from ohio.. or the USA!
But Im totally ok with it. I could ask him to go buy me something, or a card, or take me to dinner and he would be more then happy to. But there is no need to!

I came across this recipe today while looking through a cookbook. It is PERFECT for sweetest day, or valentines day!!!


RED... VELVET... PANCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!
makes 8 pancakes
1½ cups minus 1½ tablespoons buttermilk
(1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar use this if you dont have buttermilk. 1 1/2 cups of milk with the vinegar to make buttermilk substitute)
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 tablespoon chocolate chips

Whisk together milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.

In a mixing bowl,  all purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk mixture and food coloring. Mix until combined.

Preheat skillet or griddle on medium heat. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter. Once bubbles form, gently flip and cook for a few more minutes.

Top with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting.

( no pictures until tomorrow morning.. will update tomorrow ;)

It's October already!

For all of you who check my blog day after day and find nothing new... heres your new post!

Unfortunately I dont have any food related blogs... But I did find an AWESOME website that sells Giant Gummy bears ha ha. I think its awesome. Its more than 20 dollars for a gummy bear! check it out

http://giantgummybears.com/index.aspx



We have been quite busy with the kids, the house and my new adventure... Just wait, I'll get to it in a minute.

We have been in the process of Potty training justin. He is 2 1/2 and sooo ready! So far so good, its been 3 weeks with very minimal accidents. We started off with m & m's as treats.. Then one day he tells me, MAMA, no more mm's... lol too cute.

So then we decided to give him gummy bears. When justin uses the potty, he gets a small amount of gummy bears, and so does his sister.  Then brooke asks for more and I tell her when justin uses the potty we will have more. So she walks over to justin and says, Justin Pee Pee pleaaassssssssssssse Its adorable!

We started cutting back on the treats, when he doesnt ask, we dont give. But we do have a sticker chart. The first 2 weeks were awesome, he put one sticker every time he uses the potty, and his sister gets one sticker.  Well now that we are on a new sticker sheet, he puts the stickers wherever he pleases that day. Sometimes the wall, sometimes the floor, his sisters shirt, the bathroom door, his feet, moms feet, shirt, butt... wherever he pleases lol.

On to my new adventure..........

I have decided to open up an online boutique. My first love is cooking (besides my kids of course) Then its sewing. I absolutely LOVE to sew. I could sit in front of a sewing machine all day long and just make things.
Well, now that Im a business woman lol, I need a bigger sewing room. So we took the biggest room in the house, its like 20 x 20.. and made it into my sewing room!
Im hoping to Open my store by Halloween. In the meantime I am very busy making my items to sell and I also am doing a craft show in November with a friend. So I have a ton on my plate right now!!!!!!!


Im also fighting a sinus infection, so baking for jerrys work is non existant. I didnt know if what I had was contagious therefore I didnt want to send anything in. Im hoping to bake sunday. So be ready!!!!!!! new recipes for everyone!!!!

In the meantime, check out my older posts and find something to make!! love you all!!

Awesome Popcorn!

At the west side market in cleveland, tucked away in the back corner is an AWESOME popcorn shop. Its called Campbell's popcorn. They have TONS of flavors. My favorite is the Cheezy popcorn. I tried the Dill pickle popcorn this time. But it was too sour. I love dill, LOVE LOVE LOVE dill. But this popcorn had too much citric acid in it.

Try it out next time you head out to the west side market. They give out free samples!

Granola Bars

Usually when I bake for my husbands work, I try new recipes that I find online, OR i just make cookies. I know im boring! With 2 kids running around, potty training one, yelling at the other, filling sippy cups, cleaning up accidents on the floor, doing laundry, thinking about dinner, taking care of our renters, paying bills ... etc... I dont have much time to bake! But truly it is my passion. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake.  So when my husband tells me at 3pm on a tuesday that the following day they are having a pot luck lunch. Yah at 3pm!  He did tell me that I didnt have to make anything. BUT that's not me. Im always the one to send in a crap load of food!
So this time, I made Granola Bars! And they were SOOOOO good. I used a mixture of Raisins, apricots and..... drum roll please...... Hawthorne Berries... I highly doubt that anyone reading this knows what these are. And if you don't live near a China town, you won't find these sugary goodness. We LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Even though I dont understand why noone truly knows what they look like lol.   The Hawthorne berries are cut into strips and rolled in sugar and are so yummy. It kinda reminds you of eating a fruit roll up but cut into strips. So good.


Enough of me talking... here is the recipe!





Granola Bars
1 1/8 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup craisins

1 c dried fruit


In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Combine the remaining ingredients; add to peanut butter mixture and stir to coat. Press into two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Don't overbake or they will get crispy. When they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the pan a little. Cool on wire racks. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen.


(If you would like to incorporate Peanut butter into this recipe, cut the Corn Syrup back to 3/4 cup and add 1 cup of peanut butter.)

Limoncello Recipe

I should've posted this before, when I posted the Limoncello pictures. Here is the recipe to it.

Limoncello

15 lemons
2 bottles min. 80 proof vodka
4 cups sugar
5 cups water


Wash the lemons to remove wax and pat dry. Zest the lemons with a peeler. Try not to get any of the pith (white part) on the lemon rind.  We are only using the lemon peels for this recipe. So take the remainder of the lemon and squeeze the juice out. I freeze the juice for lemonade later. It's a great way to add ice cubes to lemonade when its hot out.

Put the peels in a large glass jar. Add one bottle of vodka and seal the jar tightly in a cool, dark place for at least 2 weeks.

After the 2 week resting period, combine sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until the sugar is dissolved. Allow the sugar water to cool. Add syrup and the other bottle of codka to the limoncello mixture that has been resting for 2 weeks. Allow to sit for another 30 days (a month)

Strain out the lemon peels through a piece of cheesecloth. Pour the limoncello into another container. Press the peels down to get all the extra flavor out of the peels. Stir the limoncello. Put the Limoncello into clean bottles and seal tightly (I used the vodka bottles)  Let the Limoncello sit for another week before drinking.  Store it in the freezer.

Butterscotch Cookies

(sorry no pics with this one, we ate them too quickly!)

It's been SOOOOO cold lately.. I love it though! Its time to fire up the stove and bake anything I can think of! Oh and Make lots of apple cider, or mulled cider.
For some reason this time of year makes me think of butterscotch. Im really not sure why. I found a Butterscotch Cookie recipe online through stumbleupon, and I felt the need to try it. Recipe and pictures below.

YOU BET YOUR BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES
http://dujourmag.com/blog/kitchy-weekends-butterscotch-cookies/

makes 2 dozen
1 stick softened butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup butterscotch chips



1. preheat the oven to 375 F
2. cream the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl (I only used spatula to creaming the butter and sugar)
3. add the egg and vanilla to the creamed butter and sugar. Blend the ingredients well.
4. Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in the other mixing bowl. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture. Blend it well. You have cookie dough! Now mix the butterscotch chips into the dough.
5. Spoon the dough onto the greased cookie sheets to make these drop cookies. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Allow the cookies to cool before eating them

My favorite Food Blog sites

These are in no order of which are my favorite. Just a random order of some of my favs. There are sooooo many more. But for now, check these ones out!


http://www.stumbleupon.com/
http://www.userealbutter.com/
http://www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/
http://www.amandascookin.com/
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/
http://www.thepressedpastrychef.com/
http://www.honeyneverspoils.com/
http://www.momswhothink.com/
http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/
http://www.theparsleythief.com/
.http://annies-eats.com/

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Sour Cream Double Chocolate Banana Bread


Adapted from Savory Sweet Life Chocolate Banan Bread

•Unsalted butter, 8 tablespoons (1 stick), softened
•Granulated sugar, 1/4 cup
•Brown sugar, 1/4 cup
•Egg, 1 large
•Ripened bananas, 2 large, mashed
•Sour cream (low fat okay), 1/2 cup
•Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
•All-purpose flour, 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon to be tossed with the dark chocolate
•Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
•Cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons
•Salt, 1/8 teaspoon
•Dark chocolate chips, 1 cup, coarsely chopped

•Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, banana, sour cream and vanilla extract. Mix until well blended, about a minute. Add 1 cup of flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Mix until everything is well incorporated, about 2 minutes.

Toss dark chocolate with 1 tablespoon of flour. This will ensure that they don’t sink to the bottom of the bread when they bake. Mix dark chocolate into the batter.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes (mine took 53 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from the heat and allow bread to rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert the pan to release the bread. Let the bread cool on a cooling rack. You can serve this bread warm, though it will slice better when it’s completely cool after about an hour and a half.

 

 

 

 

 

Mulled Apple Cider

Last year around this time we went to Patterson's fruit farm with our friends. We bought hot apple cider, apple chips and apples. Then sat on the patio and watched people walk the trails. It was an amazing view of the trees changing colors and is so enjoyable to drink hot apple cider! This year we will go again to buy pumpkins, drink cider and play on the playground with the kids.
Yesterday I couldnt wait any longer for apple cider. So I decided to break out the apple juice and Mulling spices that I have. I bought Mulling spiced tea bags last year at Patterson's.

Its really simple to make.
Fill a pan with apple juice, add tea bags and boil.  Fill up your cup and drink it on a nice cold night!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!

Found this FABULOUS recipe.. Unfortunately i have NO pics for you guys. But heres the recipe!
(jessica this is for you!)


Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins


Time: about 90 minutes

Yield: 30 muffins

Recipe from  http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2010/08/double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins.html




4 C flour

1 1/2 C sugar

1/2 C cocoa

1 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 1/2 C oil

1 1/2 C milk

3 eggs

2 t vanilla

2 C shredded zucchini

1 1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for only 1 C, but I added an extra 1/2 C......I can't help myself, I've got a chocolate addiction, seriously.)
1. Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. Add the zucchini to the wet ingredients.

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir, just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and you are ready for the muffin pan baby.

4. Line your muffin tin with cupcake holders and fill a bit more than 2/3 of the way full.

5. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes.

limoncello

peeling 40 lemons finally paid off! It took about 40 days to make. Just sugar, water, vodka and lemon peels!
It smelled so delish! I ended up with about 6 of these bottles! Now its time to make pizza.. Ive already put my request in for a Pizza Stone from Santa... lets hope he gets my letter ... i wonder if i put enough postage on that thing... maybe i'll have to ask again.. I could always use 2 if he gets a duplicate of the letter :)

Its a sad sad day to be a deep fryer.... 2003-2010

RIP deepfryer.. you were with me through many many years. You've cooked many many recipes for me. I will never forget you. You were my first deep fryer.. I hope you find lots of other deep fryers at the dump.  RIP deep fryer....

teriyaki chicken

I grew up H-A-T-I-N-G.... chinese food.. My parents would get chinese take out, and on the way home they would swing through mickey D's to grab me something else. Well who would've thought that I would marry an asian man?? I remember when I first met him, i wouldn't even eat rice lol.. Things changed  after 5 yrs of marriage and 7 yrs of being together. Now  I recreate asian dishes. Its quite entertaining actually.

One of my favorite dishes is teriyaki chicken. I buy a teriyaki sauce from china town. The brand is Kikkoman but its kinda pricey. Like 4 bucks a bottle. So i decided to start making my own sauce. And WOW is it yummy!

Teriyaki Sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c soy sauce (low sodium is best!)
1/4 c cider vinegar
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper in a saucepan. Boil for a minute or so. Watch so it doesnt boil over. Stir cornstarch and water and slowly pour into sauce pan. Heat sauce until bubbly. Remove from heat and set aside.


Chicken thighs are best! Boneless skinless works well. If not use chicken breast. Slice into small chunks, saute until done. Add teriyaki sauce and stir well. Heat for a minute or two until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken.

Pour mixture over white or brown rice. Its super sweet and YUMMMMMO!

simmering the liquids...

favorite soy sauce!

all done~!

cooking it together

ready for consumption! lol My son ate almost everything in this bowl! kids love it~!

Flag Cake

After 10 days of my husband being a US citizen.. I finally made him a cake. I know Im super delayed on these posts. We were in michigan visiting some friends and honestly I really havent had time for this blog.. Sorry to all my stalkers.. he he...

For the cake, i decided to make a pumpkin flavor. I really love Cream cheese frosting. And what goes better with cream cheese frosting than Pumpkin flavored cake???? I used the same recipe I do for pumpkin rolls. The cake is a 2 layer with cream cheese in the center.

I found a picture of this cake in a Ina Garten cookbook. Shes definitely my fav Food network star~! Her dishes are soooo good. And they are things that normal people eat. Not those crazy meals that five star restaurants serve, and noone really knows what it is. Ive made Granola bars from her recipes and they were So good. I made this cake, and the lemon bread was from her too! I borrowed the book from the library and was really impressed.

       Bake 2 sheet cakes. Slice off the top to make it even...

layer on some cream cheese frosting.... Set the second cake ontop and try to make sure its on even.

Cover the cake with cream cheese frosting. ... Start the design with fresh raspberries and blueberries

VOILA~! Happy Citizenship to my Hubby~!!!

For the cakes:

4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2½ cups packed light-brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1½ cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)



For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

No words can explain...... Copycat Recipe David's Chicken and Friends from Wild Wing Cafe

How AMAZING this recipe is! Lol..
Also I should make a mention that on Friday August 20th my husband became a US citizen! After being in the USA for 15 yrs and being married to ME for 5 yrs, he finally became a citizen! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Now on to the important stuff..........


When we lived in SC we used to eat at a restaurant called Wild Wing Cafe. Their wings are sooo good. But I always liked to go to get the Davids Chicken and friends dip. I could eat the whole thing by myself and not eat anything else all day long. When we moved from Charleston... sadly... in 2005 there was no more charlies chicken dip for me.. Boo Hoo~! 

Tonight as I was listening to my children scream, I was thinking about how heavenly that dip was and how much I wanted it again. So i was determined to make it. Its really simple to make. Really Really Simple!  

Here's your recipe! Enjoy!!!!!

I totally should have taken a better picture of this.... but whatever. It was SO GOOD

Copycat of Davids Chicken and Friends

1 chicken breast cooked and cubed

5 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

1 green onion chopped

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup home made ranch dressing

1/4 cup mild wing sauce

I made my own home made ranch dressing by using the powdered ranch mix and sour cream along with a small amount of milk to make it a little runny. This tastes way better than salad dressing in a bottle.

Combine Ranch, mild sauce and chicken. Mix it to coat the chicken evenly. Add bacon and the green onion to the mixture. Mix well. Add shredded cheddar cheese  and melt in the microwave or under a broiler. When the cheese is melted take out of the microwave and stir. Indulge with tortilla chips.

serves 2 (my husband got about 2 bites lol... i ate the rest!)

Make your own Hazelnut Chocolate Spread!!

We just recently got hooked on nutella spread. Its so chocolatey and yummy. But its really expensive!

When you buy Nutella at the store the ingredients on the label are

modified palm oil, 13% hazelnuts,  sugar,  cocoa,  skimmed milk,  soy lecithin,  vanillin,  and  reduced mineral whey

When you make it at home the ingredients are

hazelnuts, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, and optional honey.

 Nutella is very high in calories, and sugars. So tonight I decided to make my own! And WOW did it turn out good. Here's the recipe along with pictures!

fresh piece of toasted bread! YUM!

Chocolate hazelnut Spread

1/3 cup hazelnuts, with skins on

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons honey  (optional)*

 

Toast the Hazelnuts in the oven. When the skins are dark brown take them out and let them cool.

Once cooled put a handful of hazelnuts into a kitchen towel and rub the skins off of the hazelnuts.

I doubled the recipe, that's why there is so many hazelnuts!

Discard the skins

Put the hazelnuts into a food processor and turn it on for 5 minutes. After 2 minutes stop the food processor and scrape the sides of the bowl. The goal is to make the hazelnuts into a paste.

While grinding the hazelnuts, add the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk into a microwave safe bowl. Stick in the microwave for 2 minutes or until the chocolate is melted. Stir the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk together. This is where the honey comes in. Personally It is sweet enough from the Sweetened condensed milk. *Honey really is NOT necessary unless you want it.

Add the chocolate mixture to the hazelnuts and turn the food processor on for 5 minutes.

Stick the mixture into a bowl with a lid and let cool. If it is kept in the fridge it might harden a little more than Nutella does. I keep ours at room temperature. This will last up to a month or so.. if you don't eat it all!!

The finished product!!!

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Blueberry muffins are comfort food for me. Growing up on school mornings and weekends my mom would make blueberry muffins and they were always hot and fresh when we got up. Its such a great memory of my childhood. As my husband and I were talking tonight I realized that my mom never made home made muffins. They were always store bought. But I still love those kind. You know the ones that have the blueberries in the can? So yummy.

I have been on a quest to find a good blueberry muffin recipe so my children dont grow up to tell everyone they only like the blueberry muffins that come out of a box. And i think I might have found a winner!!

My husband didnt like these because he said the blueberries were too "sour"... so sorry hun.. they weren't packed in a sugary syrup!

Anyways... I thought these muffins were delectable. I ate one whole one by myself which is very rare. I NEVER eat sweets anymore. And if I do it is only a quick taste.  Please try this recipe and let me know.

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4tsp salt

2 1/ 2 tsp baking bowder

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup blueberries

Stir flour, salt, baking powder. In another bowl mix oil, vanilla, egg, milk and sour cream.

Add flour mixture to wet mixture and stir. Fold in blueberries.

Portion into 12 muffin tins. Make sure you grease the muffin tins!!! If desired

use streusel topping.

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

mix together and crumble the butter into small pieces. Sprinkle on top of batter and bake

Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes

makes 12 muffins

(i used frozen blueberries if i have them. fresh work well too!)

always double this recipe unless your cooking for one person. You will run out!

Chocolate Syrup

I'm all about making things from the least amount of ingredients as possible. And I also believe if you make things at home from scratch it is way better for you. Less preservatives, less hidden bad fats and such.. And lets mention Bugs or bug residue! Eww.. One time at Culinary school I was in the store room class. So you get orders together for other classes... And i had to grab this brown paper bag of raisins and you have NO CLUE what i found in there????? It was a dead cockroach. It was so gross. If you google it im sure you can find the other products that have traces of bugs in them. Pretty gross...

Anyways... Tonight I thought I would make home made chocolate syrup!

In a bottle of Hersheys Chocolate Syrup there is tons of other un necessary ingredients like High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, sugar, cocoa, contains 2% or less of: potassium sorbate (preservative), salt, mono & digycerides, polysorbate 60 (emulsifier), xanthan gum & vanilla (artificial flavor).

The syrup I made contains cocoa powder, salt, sugar, water and vanilla.

And it is SUPER EASY to make.. and tastes SOOO good!!!

So heres the recipe

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla

Boil the water and cocoa together until dissolved. Add sugar and stir. Once the sugar dissolves add salt and vanilla. Let cool and pour into a bottle. Stick that bad boy in the fridge and you're good to go! This makes such a nice flavor chocolate milk!  Im not sure how long it will last, but i almost guarantee it will be gone before it expires!

this hasn't been stirred recently lol there is a bit of settling that occured

the remaining chocolate syrup

Mini Burgers-sliders

My husband was working late, so we had a fun dinner. More like lots of snacks lol.

We made sliders. I even went the healthy route and bought the wheat buns!! there were 12 in this package and we still have half of it left!

I bought this pan at 5 below. My new fav store. Its a slider pan!

Don't be fooled.. you have to flip the burgers still!

A little blurry.....

Man did these things splatter with grease! I used 90/10 ground  beef too!

Yummy

why does my hand look like its 80 years old??

My son posing for me. I told him to take a bite so mommy could take a picture.

He kept saying Cheese while he had the burger in his mouth!

Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate Muffins

makes 24 muffins

2 1/2 cups flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbsp unsalted butter  softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

1 bag chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt)

Mix butter and sugar. Beat it with a whisk for about  2 minutes

Add eggs one by one to the sugar mix. Whisk it in between each egg.

Mix in vanilla and milk. Add 1/2 the flour mix. Use a spatula to incorperate.

Once mixed add the rest of the flour. Add the chocolate chips and fold into mixture.

Scoop into muffin pans and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the centers are cooked.

This part is totally optional. Let cool and then drizzle with chocolate.

They just looked so boring without the chocolate..

Then i decided they needed something else.....

                                                     so i added pink sugar.. aka fairy dust

So it's been awhile...

So sorry for all of you followers or gawkers, or whatever you like to call yourself these days.. I guess creeper could be a good name as well lol.. August is a crazy month for me. My big 5 yr wedding anniversary is this friday!! Friday the 13th!!! And we have a wedding next weekend and the following week I am taking the kids to michigan. Craziness!

I started making Lemoncello about a week ago.. It involves peeling 40 lemons. Putting them in an air tight container and adding  2 bottles of vodka!! Then you let it sit for 2 weeks and take the lemon peels out and add sugar water and 2 more bottles of vodka. Im pretty excited about this. I've only opened the container ONE time to smell it. And its heavenly!

My goal was to sit down and relax after the kids go to bed and just blog for a while and maybe stumble for a little while after that. But my nightly routine is anything but relaxing. Im not complaining at all. I love my evenings..

Here is a run down of what goes on at my house from 5pm until i go to bed....
I make dinner, feed the kids, clean up from dinner and about this time my husband is getting home from work. I make him food, or a plate of what the kids ate, sit and talk for a few minutes, bathe kids, pick up the house and try to collect toys to put back into their room. Then i get the kids a snack and get them ready for bed. After the kids are in bed I do dishes, make my husbands breakfast and lunch for the following day, make coffee for iced coffee and then bake for my husbands work. I dont bake every night. But tonight in a two hour span i made chocolate muffins, eggs, bacon, toast, marinated chicken, rice, bubble tea, coffee and part of the kids breakfast.  Then i went on to do dishes and clean my counters and floor while the muffins cooled. Oh wait let me add I made 2 pepperoni rolls for my parents. Then after the kitchen was semi clean and the muffins cooled, i melted chocolate and drizzled it over top of the muffins, let it harden and packed it up for jerry to take to work... And now it is 11:58 pm and I am just sitting down. Well actually I am laying in bed typing this. I feel guilty I havent blogged in a while and I dont want you guys to lose interest in my site.

Look forward to a massive update of recipes in the next few days. I will be adding much much more! Until then....

AMAZING chocolate brownies!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that i don't eat anything sweet. Very rarely do I even taste what I make. Luckily I have people who do that for me lol. They are my husbands co workers. One day when I write a cookbook and make all of you buy it, I will thank all of the people who have tried my creations over the years. Baking is truly my passion. It took 22 years of my life to realize it, but now that I know its all I ever make anymore!!
                                        (a waterfall we went to see this past weekend!)

On monday I made zucchini bread. It was just a recipe out of a regular Better Homes and Garden recipe book. But tuesday I made Brownies that just made my heart melt. This recipe is super simple. I added peanut butter chips in it and when you ate the brownies right outta the oven they were so soft and yummo!

From the time i walked into the kitchen, until I put the brownies in the oven was less than 20 minutes. Anyone can make these! Heres my recipe.. ENJOY!

Amazing Brownies

1 1/4 c sugar

3 eggs

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

8 oz chocolate chips (i used peanut butter)

Preheat over to 350. In a large bowl whisk sugar and eggs. In another bowl whisk flour, cocoa and salt. In a microwave bowl melt butter and heavy cream. Add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture and whisk. Fold in flour. (this is where I added the peanut butter chips) Add the chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into a greased pan.  Bake 40 minutes. Serve Warm if possible!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

It's been awhile since I last blogged. I still havent went to the grocery store! I plan on figuring out what i want to make for the next two weeks and write it all down before I head to the store!


Before posting todays recipe I want to start by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINO!!! This cake was actually made for gino. Hope he likes it!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

from Ina Garten's recipes

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

For the Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.
Stir flour, baking powder and salt into one bowl.
In another bowl whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.
Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
With a spatula fold the vegetable oil in the batter.
Pour batter into pan and bake 50 minutes.
Meanwhile cook 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set Aside
When the cake is done, allow it to cool for 10 minutes
Place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. Pour warm lemon sugar mixture all over. Allow to soak in and cool.
For the glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice mix well. pour over cake.

Hippo Stew! Enjoy!!!

HIPPOPOTAMUS STEW

1 med. sized hippo
1 ton salt
Pepper to taste
500 bushels potatoes
1000 gals. brown gravy
200 bushels carrots
400 sprigs parsley
2 sm. rabbits (optional)

Cut hippo meat into bite sized pieces. This will take about 2 months. Cut vegetables into cubes (another 2 months). Place meat into large pan and cover with gravy. Simmer for 4 weeks. Shovel in salt and pepper to taste. When meat is tender, add vegetables. A steam shovel is useful for this. Simmer slowly for 4 more weeks. Garnish with parsley.
Will serve 2, 700 people. If more are expected, add 2 small rabbits - this is not recommended as very few people like hare in their stew



http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1748,150189-251195,00.html

LAST DAY~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Day 31

This month has been lots of fun! A real eye opener! I cant wait for next year's No Spend July!!
I definitely would like to do this every july. This morning I made Blueberry Muffins to celebrate! We have decided to grill out all weekend to use up some more of the meat that we have. I plan on starting a Menu calendar. That way I can figure out the things I will make before heading to the store and I can make a list rather then wing'in it!

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for anyone who tries the No Spend month to share their results and obstacles with me.

I am counting down the minutes until August 1st YAY!!!!!!!!

day 29.. 11.00

We are so close to finishing this month off! We ate philly cheesesteaks yesterday and it was soo good. Unfortunately we didnt take pics of it.. But i can give you the recipe!


Philly Cheesesteaks


Ribeye/new york strip/sirloin/tenderloin
Green pepper
Onion
provolone
hoagie buns
mushrooms
salt and pepper


slice the steak as thin as possible. Remember the better the cut of meat, the more tender it will be!
Cook in a saute pan until medium well. Sprinkle Salt and pepper. In another pan add onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. Saute until done. Heat the hoagie bun in the oven or the microwave. Add provolone to the steak and once its melted scoop it right into the bun! Add onion and pepper and mushrooms.

A look into my fridge.. LAST WEEK OF CHALLENGE!

Its amazing what you find when you eat all the good stuff out of the freezer! The things left in the bottom or back of the freezer are still good! lol

Day 28 Potato Pancakes!

Potato Pancakes!

This is my grandmothers recipe

Potato Pancakes

4 medium potatoes

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

salt

pepper

2 tbsp garlic

Oil

Peel and Grate the potatoes. Squeeze out the water from the potatoes. Add the egg and potatoes in a bowl. Salt, pepper and garlic can be added. Start to add the flour 1/4 cup and then stir. Add additional flour and shape the potatoes into patties. Heat Oil and fry until golden brown. SOOO YUMMY!

This is what it looked like before i added the rest of the flour.

Day25, 26 and 27 Pumpkin Cream Chese Muffins

Its day 27!!! We are almost there! Just a few more and I can go grocery shopping! I plan on going alone, and im gonna be gone for HOURS just shopping wisely lol. I definitely learned this month to make a list before I leave, and plan on what I am going to make before I go to the store. We have so much food (had) that we bought and never did anything with! And now that we found it in the back of the cabinet, its not appealing anymore! We have a TON of pasta noodles. Any kind you can think of we probly have!
My freezer is almost empty other than A big Ham that belongs to my parents, and insert to an ice cream machine, and a pork roast. There is frozen raspberries and strawberries also. I had picked them at peak season and froze the left overs after I made jam. We make a lot of smoothies, the fruit comes in handy! And i picked it with my own 2 hands!

I really wanted to post as many recipes as I could this month. As I searched through the recipes I was missing a ton of items. And if I go to the store, I know I will go over the budget. Therefore, I will skip those recipes and make them next month! I did think about possibly just posting recipes with no pictures. But what fun is that???



Today I made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. I made these around halloween and they were a big hit!
Unfortunately I have no clue where I found this recipe so I can't give that person credit. But if I come across it I will update.




Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

3 cups Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar


Prepare filling first. In a mixer add cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  The original directions say to roll it into a log and freeze. But i found this to be a pain. My directions are to put into a bowl and set in fridge.

For the muffin batter: Combine flour, spices, salt and naking soda in a bowl. Mix and set aside. In another bowl combine eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix with a hand mixer.

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners. (i didnt line mine)
Fill each tin half way with batter*. Add a teaspoon of filling.** (its in the fridge!)
Split the remaining batter between the 24 cupcakes and make sure it covers the filling.
Bake 20-25 minutes

*(using an ice cream scoop is the EASIEST way to scoop batter!)
** most people dont have pastry bags in there homes. BUT if you do, this would be easiest to put the filling into the muffin.

Did you know??

I was reading the book: Industrial Organic Food by Michael Pollan and in the book it tells you all about organic food and farms etc.
I came across this page that shows some brands who are owned by other  major companies. Here is a list!

Coca Cola owns: Honest Tea, Odwalla
Dean owns: Horizon, White wave/Silk
Danon owns : Stonyfield Farms
General Mills owns: Cascadian Farm, Muir Glenn
Hain Celestial (Heinz and cargill) owns: Sunspire Spectrum Organics, Garden of Eatin', Imagine/Rice Dream/Soy Dream, Celestial Seasonings.
Kellogg owns: Bear naked, Kashi, Morningstar Farms/natural touch
Kraft owns: Boca Foods, Back to Nature
Pepsi owns: Naked Juice
Unilever owns: Ben & Jerry's

The following companies have refused buyout from larger companies:
Amy's Kitchen
Clif bar
Newman's Own
Applegate Farms
Eden Foods

This just makes me wonder why Pepsi, Coca Cola, Kraft and Kellogg don't make their signature products healthier! They have the knowledge to do so.

Day 22, 23 and 24

Weekends are tough for me to keep up with this blog! Between the list of never ending chores, and the kids I find time in the evenings to write. Unless we have nights like last night. My kids hate going to bed. They think they will miss something exciting. After sitting in their room for 45 minutes they finally were both asleep. Then I was so tired I didnt want to do anything anyways! Oh and we started a netflix subscription... so that doesn't help with my laziness.

I don't really cook much on the weekends. Between chores, and quick meals for the kids I don't have the time I used to. On Thursday night my dad took the kids and I out to dinner at my FAVORITE Italian place.. Buca Di Beppo!  And Saturday he took the kids and I to a festival, so we ate there. And today (Sunday) he called and said to come over around 5 because he was making us a surprise.. Surprises can go either way. They can be Excellent food, home cooking, comfort food. OR it could be like my grandma who thinks that you can substitute Lettuce for fruit cocktail when you make Jello! My dad comes up with different foods, mostly good. So we went over in caution. We knew if it wasn't something edible I would just make the kids pasta or we would scoot out early and come home and eat before the kids were super cranky. Lucky enough he made Pasta with a cream sauce and chicken and carrots for the kids and I, and Pasta and a cream sauce with scallops and shrimp for my husband and himself.  I don't eat seafood so I'm glad he made a different one for us.  It was pretty good, other than my husband thinks it was too salty.

My mom is out of town so my dad is spending lots of time with us. We enjoy his company. I told my mom I expect to receive reimbursement for babysitting him.

Sadly, this is our last week of no spend month. I think we have done pretty well so far. I would make some changes next time. But overall for our first time we have pretty much stayed on budget.

In celebration of our last week I will be cooking and baking ALOT! My husband took pepperoni rolls in two times this past week, along with rice krispies, and something else but my memory isn't helping right now.

This week I will attempt Fudge Skillet Brownies. Granola bars, Loaded Baked Potato Soup, Peppermint Patties, and a few different varieties of Kolachky (kolace, kolacky, kolache)