calling for help

I am looking for an absolutely wonderful, we're talking to-die-for, brownie recipe. If you have one you love I'd love to try it. Leave a comment or email me if you have my info. Thanks!

random recipe

Some of you have seen this recipe before, but I wanted to post it anyway. I love this simple treat. It's easy and fun to make. And, of course, it's yummy as can be.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup sugar

You just heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat until hot and then add the popcorn. (I added three popcorn kernels with the oil so when they popped I knew it was hot enough.) Sprinkle the sugar and a little bit of salt on top and cover. Then you just let the pot sit on the heat for three seconds and then shake the pot for three seconds, then repeat until the popping slows to once every two or three seconds. Then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl and stir it to keep it from sticking together too much. Once it's cool you can eat it up!

Menus on Monday

I have been totally slacking, I know. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, my kids have been sick this past week and, sadly, it's not over yet. Luckily it's not too miserable, just contagious. That means I have to keep the older ones home from school and some how keep everyone happy and busy. Which brings me to reason number two: the computer. I have been hesitant to turn it on lately because of the strange magical powers it possesses. As soon as it is on, my kids' eyeballs are immediately turned away from whatever they are doing and glued to this screen. It doesn't much matter what is on the screen, just that it's on. This causes many difficulties, as you might imagine. These include fussiness, territorial behavior, no homework getting done, and me going crazy. And then, of course, I have to clean off the remnants of eyeball and IQ that are stuck to the screen. So, I have opted for keeping it turned off.

But I am back to start with a menu and maybe get something else posted this week, if we're lucky.

Monday: chicken nuggets and fruit salad

Tuesday: Karen's bbq pork sandwiches and Sunday carrots

Wednesday: eggs and cheese

Thursday: baked potatoes

Friday: pizza

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: Italian chicken and rice

Menus on Monday

Sorry, I spaced last Friday. So, how about a fancy colored Monday menu? Does that make up for it?

Monday: pancakes and smoothie

Tuesday: chicken nuggets and fruit

Wednesday: zucchini soup and rolls

Thursday: tacos

Friday: pizza

Saturday: Macaroni and cheese

Sunday: spaghetti and breadsticks and green beans

Thrifty Thursdays

This morning my kids ate donuts for breakfast. Totally sugary and void of any nutritional value, right? But they are cheap. They are the cheapest breakfast-away-from-home option I know of. So, that's kind of thrifty. Maybe cheap really is the best word for it: you get little nutritional value for your buck. It's a good thing I don't let them have them very often.

Today's real tip is something I really should do more often. When you have left-overs, don't offer anything else for dinner until they're gone. When I avoid the left-overs at my house I end up throwing them away, which means I spend money on a new meal and waste the extra money on that big dinner I thought might make good left-overs. So, make the most of your time and money and eat your left-overs until they're gone. A pretty good rule for homemade left-overs is to eat them within a week. Most stuff from a restaurant needs to be eaten in about 2 days. Depending on what you've got sitting in your fridge, this is sometimes a good diet tip too. :)

Words for Wednesday

Today's word is fiber. Fun, huh? Well, actually it doesn't really bring to mind anything fun at all. But, it's important and easier to find and fit into a simple diet than one might think.

"For good health, the National Cancer Institute and American Diabetes Association recommend routine consumption of high fiber foods. They suggest daily dietary fiber intake of 20 – 35 g per day. The USDA 2005 dietary guidelines recommend 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables, and a minimum of 1.5 whole grain food servings (for babies of 2 -3 years old) per day. The number of all fiber food servings increases with age. For a person of 9 years and older, the recommended whole grain serving is 3 – 6 per day.

The following are examples of one dietary fiber servings.

Example 1: One fruit and vegetables fiber servings:

• a small glass of 100% fruit or vegetable juice (3/4 cup or 6 oz)
• a medium-size piece of fruit (an orange, small banana, medium-size apple)
• 1 cup of raw salad greens
• ½ cup of cooked vegetables
• 1/2 cup of cut-up fruit or vegetables
• 1/4 cup of dried fruit
• 1/2 cup of dried beans or peas

Example 2: Whole grain fiber servings :

• 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta, or cooked cereal
• 1 ounce dry pasta, rice or other dry grain
• 1 slice bread
• 1 small muffin (weighing one ounce)
• 1 cup ready-to-eat cereal flake"

You can read more here if you're interested.

treats on Tuesday

I made these brownies for Sunday dessert this week. They are not my favorite brownie, but they are chocolate so they're worth making. And sometimes I would just rather have these than the gooey chewy kind. Sunday was one of those days. I like to cut them really small and eat 12 bite-sized pieces instead of 2 or 3 big ones.

Brownies

beat together:

2 sticks butter or margarine, melted

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

add to:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cups cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when done.

Menus on Monday

Last week I totally abandoned my menu and did whatever on most days. That's how it goes around here sometimes. But I still love to make the list just in case I'm at a loss when dinner time rolls around. Here's the plan for this week.

Monday: french toast

Tuesday: rice a roni with green beans

Wednesday: pesto pasta with pears and peaches

Thursday: tacos with corn

Friday: pizza

Saturday: stir fry vegetables with rice

Sunday: spaghetti with breadsticks and green beans

Fancy Fridays

Today I found a site that goes through table setting etiquette. That's the kind of thing I thought I'd learn about and share on our "fancy fridays". Okay, so it's not so fancy, but it's a start. You can find the site here. This is a little taste of what you can find there.

What goes where on the table

and which glasses go with what drinks

Real easy, the etiquette experts tell us. The general rule with utensils is to start from the outside of your place setting, and work your way toward the service plate (the main meal plate): soup spoon first, then fish knife and fork, then service knife and fork.

A	B	C	D	E
Serviette (napkin)	Service plate	Soup bowl on plate	Bread & butter plate with butter knife	Water glass
F	G	H	I	J
White wine	Red wine	Fish fork	Dinner Fork	Salad fork
K	L	M	N
Service knife	Fish knife	Soup spoon	Dessert spoon and cake fork
Note that it often is recommended that the salad fork (J) is placed to the left of the dinner fork (I). However, in this formal setting the dinner fork is placed to be used before the salad fork because it is suggested that the guest awaits the main meal before helping him/herself to the salad.

Thrifty Thursdays

I did a little cost analysis a few weeks ago after making a dozen bagels. I wondered if it was worth doing that regularly since my kids love bagels for breakfast. While I had the numbers in front of me I figured out how much it costs to make homemade breads from the recipes I use most. Here it goes:

Wheat Bread: $ .58/ loaf

Whole Wheat Bagels: $ .70/dozen

Whole Wheat Tortillas: $ .68/ dozen

Whole Wheat Pancakes: $ .60/ dozen

Granola: $ .38/cup

Oatmeal: $ .08/ serving (1/2 cup uncooked)

Breadsticks: $ .70/ batch (16 breadsticks)

Pizza dough: $ .45/ large

Hamburger buns: $ 1.10/ dozen

Puffy Pancake: $ .68/ pan (nine servings)

These numbers are calculated using the cost of dry milk, oats, and wheat from the church cannery. I grind my own wheat, so using store bought wheat flour would make the numbers different. I think some things are worth making at home and some are probably worth buying. Those hamburger buns are pretty close to store costs, but if I don't have them on hand, it's nice to know I can make them without lugging five kids to the store for a last minute trip. I am convinced that the bagels are a bargain. Seriously, they are $2 for a dozen plain bagels at Walmart. I think those and the granola are the best bargains.

Words for Wednesday

Today's "words" will just be more recipes because someone asked for them.

CHICKEN LICKIN’ CASSEROLE
(from Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing box/website)

Serves 6 to 8

1 package (10-oz.) Herb Seasoned Cube Stuffing
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken broth, heated
2 lbs. skinless and boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cans (10-3/4 oz ea.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 package (9-oz.) frozen cut green beans, thawed
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

In a bowl, mix stuffing, butter and broth. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13x2-inch baking pan; spread evenly. In a bowl, mix chicken, soup and green beans. Spread mixture evenly over stuffing. Cover and bake mixture in a preheated moderate oven (350 degrees F.) for 1 hour. Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Place back in oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

The roll recipe I use most is this one.

I often just wing it on the chicken noodle soup, but here's basically what I do.

1 lb. chicken, cooked and cubed

1 lb. baby carrots

2 stalks celery, chopped

6 oz. uncooked egg noodles

1 Tbsp. chicken base (you could substitute broth or bouillion cubes)

1 quart water

1 tsp. italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

You just throw it all together and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes (so the noodles cook) and as long as you want. It works well in a crock pot too.

The pasta casserole is also just thrown together, but it always tastes good to me.

Pasta casserole

8 oz. uncooked pasta, whatever shape you like

8 oz. shredded mozerella cheese

1/2-1 lb. ground beef or turkey, or italian sausage

1 jar spaghetti sauce, or homemade if you like it that way

Cook pasta according to package directions. While that's boiling, brown meat and then drain. Return to pan and add spaghetti sauce. Heat until warm.

In greased casserole dish (8x8), pour just enough sauce to cover bottom. Then layer 1/2 of pasta, 1/3 cheese, and 1/2 sauce. Then repeat layers again. Top with last 1/3 cheese. Cover and heat in 350 oven 30 minutes or until heated through.

treats on Tuesday

Sure, go ahead and believe that we only have treats on Tuesdays at our house.

Today's post is rich, delicious, and pretty easy. I can usually eat an endless amount of treats, no matter how rich, but I can only get through two or three of these before I am way done. They are so good though. If you like peanut butter these are worth a try. The title sometimes makes me think of pb&j cookies, which don't sound super appetizing to me, but these are really just like peanut butter oreos. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

from Taste of Home

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

5-6 Tbsp milk

1. In large mixing bowl, cream butter or margarine, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Shape into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. (It says not to grease them, but I usually do anyway.) Flatten with fork. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or until golden. Coll on wire racks.

3. For filling, beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and three tablespoons of miilk in large mixing bowl. Add more milk one tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until spreading consistency. Spread on half of the cookies and top each frosted cookie with another.