Cars 2

So, we took the kids to the much anticipated showing of Cars 2 at our local theater this afternoon.  We all have been waiting for this movie for a very long time!  The kids counted down the days for the last week until we went.  You could say the kids, Dylan in particular, are obsessed with Cars!

While the movie was great, it was not what I expected.  If I had to choose, my vote would go to the original Cars movie.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but the movie fell short of whatever it was.  I don't want to ruin anything for those who have not seen it so I won't go into any details about the movie.  Just that is was good, not awesome, just good.

Don't get me wrong, I will be buying the DVD as soon as it hits the shelves and I'm sure we will watch it at least 5 million times when I do.  I am just hoping it grows on me as much as the first movie did!

http://disney.go.com/cars

Oriental Slaw

A few years ago Hubby's grandmother made this as a side for one of our Sunday dinners.  We fell in love with it and eat it quite a bit during the grilling months. It goes perfect with burgers and dogs and, well, just about anything! 

Oriental Slaw

2 packages of ramen noodles, chicken flavor

1 package of slaw mix

3-4 green onions, diced

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 cup oil

2/3 cup vinegar

2 tbs sugar

both packets of flavoring from the noodles

1/2 tsp pepper

In a large bowl combine slaw mix, onions, sunflower seeds and almonds.  You can add more or less onions, seeds and nuts, whatever your preference!  Crush up the noodles until they are no longer clumped together. Add to slaw mix.  In a large cup mix oil, vinegar, sugar, flavor packets and pepper. Stir well to dissolve.  Poor over the slaw mix. Either stir up real good or put the cover on the bowl and shake it up!  Best served cold.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

It is blueberry season around here! The kids and the hubby love blueberries, I do not. Well, I love stuff with blueberries in them, I just cannot seem to eat them as they are!  I was getting ready to make some blueberry muffins and decided to make a coffee cake instead. I'll make the muffins another day!


Blueberry Coffee Cake

10 tbs  (1 stick & 2 tbs) Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla 
4 cups Flour
4 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk
3 cups Fresh Blueberries

TOPPING:
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbs) Butter

1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla until mixed.  Add flour and milk until combined.

Grease 2 - 9 x 13 inch baking pans. Pour in batter.

In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and cut together using a pastry cutter or knives. Sprinkle over the top of the cakes.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown. 

Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

The kids LOVE dessert pizza! They love any pizza but if they had to vote, dessert pizza would obviously be their favorite!   When we order in pizza from a certain pizza place with the initials PJ....they know they are getting a yummy treat!

Well, I hate ordering in pizza, to me, homemade is the BEST!  So, I make my own dessert pizza!  And the kids love it just the same!

I make mine in a cookie sheet and cut them into sticks

Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

Pizza Crust (you can find one here)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tbs cinnamon

8 tbs (1 stick) butter

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbs of milk or water

Mix flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.  With your hands or a pastry cutter, combine the cold butter with the flour mixture.  You want to crumble them leaving fairly large crumbles. Spread on the pizza dough.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the crust is light brown and cooked through.

Stir together the powdered sugar and water and drizzle over the cooked pie.

The Beginning...

So, Groupon had a deal the other day for Curves. $40 for 2 months and no enrollment fee.  I thought about it...and thought about it.  Heck, its only 2 months right. If I don't like it, I don't have to continue. If I do, well great! I have saved myself some money!  All sorts of self doubt went through my head. Do I really want to go and look like the fat fool on all these machines?  I just know what is going to be going through everyone's head!  She is WAY to big to be doing this! Well, I knew all that was just my head talking, and if people were really going to think that, screw them!  I'm doing this for myself and no one else!  I bought the Groupon.  And instead of waiting the 2 months I had to redeem it, I went that night, last night.  Signed myself up, got weighed in and measured...which was a super morale booster let me tell ya! The coach walked me thru the circuit and that was that.

Well, I went back tonight. I had every intention of doing my 30 minute, 2 round circuit of all the machines and be done with it.  They offer a Zumba class twice a week at the Curves I joined.  I was going to stay a little longer and check out from afar the Zumba class.  Because there was NO WAY my giant behind was going to be able to make it through another 30 minutes of dancing around like a fool! (Mind you, I have NEVER seen a bit of Zumba so I had no idea!)

Anyway, I did my 30 minutes, on a few machines and towards the end my left leg felt a little shaky.  That knee is horrible and the whole leg is just screwed up thank to being pregnant.  But, I made it! I was so proud of myself! I didn't need to sit and take a break, my heart rate was around 154 ish. I could tell I was getting a good workout. When I was done, the Zumba instructor had arrived and I decided to watch. She encouraged me to join and do what I could do. Hmmm....

Okay! 5 of us got in a circle, the music started and away we went. OH MY WORD! First of all, I am not coordinated AT ALL! My arms, hands and feet do not work well together.  But that's okay! I eventually got the hang of it. Sure, I was not as "bouncy" as the instructor, well, quite frankly because bouncing all this weight on my knees is virtually impossible!  But I did have some pep in my step and a sway in my hips and boy did I dance my rear off for 30 minutes!  it got my heart pumping and I was sweating like crazy but I was still able to kinda chat while dancing so I knew I wasn't in danger of having a heart attack!  And before I knew it, it was done.

I would just like to say how proud of myself I am! I never thought I could do it! And I did it! I cannot wait to go back tomorrow and I really cannot wait to do the Zumba class again on Thursday! (I know I say that now, let's see how I feel tomorrow!)

Sausage Breakfast Burritos (Freezer Cooking)

The hubby goes to work early and never has enough time to eat breakfast before he goes.  I like to have these stocked in the freezer so he can just grab one and and heat it when he gets to work.  Saves us money so he doesn't go to a drive-thru and it is so much better for him than pop tarts!  Plus, they are always around when the kids want one.

Sausage Breakfast Burritos


2 lbs ground sausage
2 1/2 dozen eggs
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
1 oz. jar of salsa
20 large flour tortillas

Cook the sausage and drain off grease.  Scramble the eggs.  In a large bowl, mix sausage, eggs, cheese and salsa.

Spread about 1/2 cup of the egg mixture in the middle of a tortilla.  

Fold the sides in and roll up from the bottom, forming a burrito. 

 Roll the burrito in a piece of tinfoil and place in a freezer bag and freeze!

When ready to eat, either heat up in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or removes from tinfoil and heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Spaghetti Pie

I am addicted to pasta!  I could eat some sort of pasta every day of the week.  NOT a good thing considering I'm a diabetic and shouldn't be eating so many carbs!

If you like spaghetti or lasagna, you will LOVE spaghetti pie! I know my family did.

Spaghetti Pie (this makes 2 pies)


1 pound spaghetti
1.5 pounds ground beef
2 small onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 tbs minced garlic
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 tbs of Italian seasoning
4 tbs of butter
2 cups Parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups ricotta cheese


Cook spaghetti according to the package.  In a saucepan cook ground beef. Once cooked, add in onion, pepper and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain grease and add in Italian seasoning and tomato sauce.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine spaghetti, melted butter, 1 cup Parmesan and eggs.  Divide mixture into 2 greased pie plates.  Push spaghetti up the sides of both dishes and the bottoms making a crust. Spread ricotta over spaghetti and sprinkle on  1/2 cup mozzarella.  Spoon meat mixture over the ricotta and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella and some Italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top slightly browns.  Serve with some garlic bread or a side salad and enjoy!

Turkey and Spinach Pasta Rolls

It's no secret that I love pasta! And lasagna tops the list of my favorite meals of all time!  My husband was a little leery about this dish.  He doesn't like it when I switch up the food he knows and loves so well.  But, I think this went over very well with both him and the kids! It will definitely be on my list of must haves!

Turkey and Spinach Pasta Rolls

1 package of lasagna noodles (regular or whole wheat)
15 oz of ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 pound of lean ground turkey
3 cups of fresh spinach, chopped
4 tbs of minced garlic
2 tsp of Italian seasoning
2 cups of spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce

Cook noodles according to the package.

Brown the turkey with the garlic, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, chopped spinach, Italian seasoning, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and turkey.

Put 1 cup of the sauce int he bottom of a casserole dish.

Spoon the mixture onto a lasagna noodle and spread the whole length of the noodle. Roll the noodle up and place int he casserole dish. Do this until you have no more mixture.

Spread the remaining 1 cup of sauce over the top of the pasta rolls. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

It's Blueberry Time!!

I love this time of year! All the gardens and earth's wonderful fruits and veggies are coming in. Perfect if you ask me!

Today I took the kids blueberry picking at Wrights Berry Farm in Newburgh, Indiana. They had a blast!  it was their first time and they were like old pros! Only picking the ripe berries, with very few green ones in the bunch.

We picked 10 pounds of blueberries!  Now momma just has to wash them, freeze some for later use and come up with all sorts of yummy goodness int he next couple days!!

I cannot wait to post what I come up with!

                                       

Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion Pizza

This has got to be my favorite pizza of all time! when I first saw it on The Pioneer Woman's website, I wasn't too sure about it. But, as most things, I made it on a whim. And boy is my family glad I did! They all love it! My son asks for onion pizza all the time!  you first need a good pizza crust, which you can find here... Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion Pizza

(Sorry for the horrible photo, I promise it is awesome!)

1 whole pizza crust (1/2 of above)

olive oil

1 large red onion

1/4 c. brown sugar

Grated Parmesan cheese

10 oz. fresh mozzarella

8 + slices of prosciutto

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in pan, half and thinly slice onions. Put in the hot oil with the brown sugar. Cook until browned. Set aside.

Roll/Stretch/Push your dough into/onto your pizza stone or baking sheet. Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle a a little Parmesan cheese over the crust.

Slice mozzarella thin and lay evenly on top of crust (it will all melt together)  Evenly arrange caramelized onions and prosciutto on top of the mozzarella

Bake 15-17 minutes.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I know what you are saying, who needs to make their own taco seasoning?  It is so cheap and so convenient just to buy the little packets.  I know, I know, but why not?  You can control what goes in the mix.  I am a firm believer of DIY! No need to pay someone else to do something that is so simple and takes no time to do! So make up a batch today and you will ALWAYS have taco seasoning when you need it! Plus, you could put it in cute little jars and give them as gifts!

6 tbs chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp paprika
3 tbs cumin
4 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs black pepper


Just mix it all together and store in an air tight container.  3 tbs of this mixture is the same as 1 packet from the store!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

We eat homemade pizza all the time. It is cheaper, tastes better and we can make it just the way we like it!

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in your bread machine in the order listed above. Set the machine to the dough setting, start and let be!

When done, take dough out of the bread machine pan and roll it into a glass bowl drizzled with olive oil. Toss the dough in the bowl to ensure all surfaces are coated with the oil.  At this point you can either use the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the frig for a couple days or wrap in saran wrap and put in a freezer bag and freeze.  If you store in the frig or freezer, make sure you take it out and let it thaw and re-rise before using.  Makes 2-3 pizzas depending on size.

Coming up this week: Caramelized Onion and Prosciutto Pizza!

How to Make and Can Grape Jelly from Juice

Homemade Grape Jelly

adapted from here

6 cups of grape juice (no sugar added, either bottles or frozen)

4 1/2 cups sugar

9 tbs. Ball RealFruit Classic Flex Batch Pectin

Sterilized Jars

Lids

Water bath Canner

Jar Lifter

Get your water bath canner heated up and boiling.

I usually use frozen juice concentrate.  Just reconstitue according to the packaging. 

Place juice in a large saucepan, preferably non stick. Mix 1/2 cup of the sugar and the pectin and add to the juice.  Heat mixture to a full rolling boil, should take 5-10 minutes. You want to make sure you stir often as this will burn and ruin the batch. 

This is the perfect time to heat up your lids and get your sterilized jars ready. 

Once it comes to a full rolling boil, stir in the remaining 4 cups of sugar and bring back to a full boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and using a ladle and funnel, fill jars leaving 1/4 inch head space  Place lid and ring on top of jar and tighten. 

Using a jar lifter, carefully put jars into canner making sure there is at least 2  inches of water above them.

Process jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove from canner and let sit for 24 hours. Once cool, test jars ot make sure they have sealed properly. You can do this by pushing on the middle of the lids to make sure they do not pop back.

Label and enjoy! You can store these for 12-18 months!

You can do this with any kind of juice with no sugar added. I usually make grape and apple jelly!

Marble Fudge Cake

So, I had to make a cake a while back. It had to feed at least 30 people.  The hubby's Uncle was turning 50 and seeing I am affectionately known by some as The Cake Lady, naturally I would make his cake! 

To please everyone (or no one...who knows!) I chose an old stand by...Marble Fudge Cake.

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  1 1/2 cups flour
  1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
  1 Tbsp baking powder
  1/2 tsp salt
  1 3/4 cups sugar
  4 eggs
  2 tsp vanilla
  1 1/4 cups milk
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
  Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
  
  Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.
  
  Pour the mixture in your prepared pan, reserving 1 cup of the batter.  Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the reserved batter and mix thoroughly.  Spoon chocolate batter on top of whats already in the pan and swirl with a knife. 
  
  Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool for 15 minutes in pan.  Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool all the way. Ice the cake with your favorite icing and enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

My mom made the best strawberry shortcake when I was younger.  Just delicious!  When I moved out on my own, moved to a new state and got married, my days of homemade shortcakes were over. Or so I thought!  it seems that everyone around here settles for those gross spongy cake things for their strawberry shortcake! Not me! You don't have to settle for those...make your own biscuits!  Using this recipe I posted the other day...Homemade Biss-Qwick you can make an awesome desert!

Strawberry Shortcake

1 quart of strawberries, sliced and crushed
1/4 cup sugar

2 1/3 cups Homemade Biss-Quick
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs butter, melted

Slice up strawberries and crush them slightly to release the juices.  Mix 1/4 cup sugar with them and set aside.

Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the Biss-Qwick, milk, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter together to form a soft  dough.  On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, spoon 8 mounds of dough.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Split warm shortcakes (I prefer to break them up a little), spoon strawberries over the shortcakes and top with Cool Whip or whip cream of your choosing and enjoy!!

How to Make and Can Strawberry Jam

Homemade Strawberry Jam

adapted from here

6 cups of crushed strawberries (About 10 cups whole)

4 cups sugar

9 tbs. Ball RealFruit Classic Flex Batch Pectin

Sterilized Jars

Lids

Water bath Canner

Jar Lifter

Get your water bath canner heated and boiling.

I like to start with fresh picked organic strawberries. You need to wash them and hull them. Then cut them up.  I like small pieces of fruit in my jams so I cut them and crush them up pretty good. 

Place crushed berries in a large saucepan, preferably non stick. Mix 1/2 cup of the sugar and the pectin and add to the strawberries.  Heat berries to a full rolling boil, should take 5-10 minutes. You want to make sure you stir often as this will burn and ruin the batch. 

This is the perfect time to heat up your lids and get your sterilized jars ready. 

Once it comes to a full rolling boil, stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar and bring back to a full boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir the berries.  Using a ladle and funnel, fill jars leaving 1/4 inch head space  Place lid and ring on top of jar and tighten. 

Using a jar lifter, carefully put jars into canner making sure there is at least 2  inches of water above them.

Process jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove from canner and let sit for 24 hours. Once cool, test jars ot make sure they have sealed properly. You can do this by pushing on the middle of the lids to make sure they do not pop back.

Label and enjoy! You can store these for 12-18 months!

Homemade Biss-Qwick!

Homemade baking Mix.  I use the stuff ALL the time! A box of the name brand stuff can cost between 3 and 4 bucks. There is no need to waste your money!  You can make your own in less time than it takes you to pack the kids in the car let alone going to the store.  And it is so much better for you! And cheaper! Why pay for preservatives! Unhealthy and a waste of money!

This stuff makes the BEST cakes for Strawberry Shortcake...Ill post that recipe tomorrow!


6 cups flour
1 tbs salt
1 tbs baking powder
3 tbs baking soda
3 tbs sugar
1 cup shortening

Sift all dry ingredients together.  Add the shortening. Using your stand mixer (or by hand if you have to), with the whisk attachment, mix it all together until it is a fine meal.

Store in the fridge (remember, no preservatives) and use in your favorite recipes!

It's Been a While...

Wow! I'm sorry, I just realized I skipped an entire month without a post! I have been super busy and have plenty to post, just kinda forgot! Such is the daily life of a mom and a wife!  New post tomorrow and I promise to update regularly!