Two Firsts!

Salt Dough Ornaments are a first in our family.  I am 34 years old and have never made them...that I can remember.  The recipe that I found online was very simple.  You really should try it.  This kids had a blast decorating them! 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup water 1 cup flour I doubled the recipe just so that I made sure I had enough ornaments for the kids to decorate.  I didn't count, but I think it was the perfect amount.  Mix the above together and then knead together for about 7-10 minutes on a floured counter.  Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.  I have some old fashioned cookie cutters that we used that worked perfectly.  Bake at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours or overnight.  You are just trying to get all the moisture out of them. We are going to be giving some these away so I let the kids draw on them with marker.  If you have polyurethane you can coat them in that to make sure that they last for years to come.  I didn't.  I'm not sure how long mine will last.  I'll have to get back with you on that one next year.

Make your own free scrapbook

My second first is, sharing our photos through a virtual scrapbook.  I'm not sure how this is going to work and, most importantly, if my readers are going to like it.  I LOVE taking pics of things that my kids do and can easily take a kabillion in one sitting.  Of course I want to show them all to you but posting them on a blog post can take forever and you know, just might not be very appealing to the eye.  So I opted to make a virtual scrapbook.  Hopefully you will click the link and check out the pics.  If you don't like it this way, please tell me and I'll go back to the old way of posting pics.  If you do like it, tell me that too.

I also like the fact that I am not only sharing my scrapbook pages with you, but when I create them, I can print them out and insert them into our "actual" scrapbook.  Maybe doing it this way will help me get caught up on my scrapbooking.  If I am only scrabooking a couple of things at a time to show you, it may not make the task seem so insurmountable.

You Asked For It and I Got It!

After I posted my Halloween pics, I had a couple of commenters want a recipe for my hubby's fantabulous chili. 

After much prodding and begging for the secret recipe - I finally got it for you.

Let me remind you this is my husbands recipe so "alot" of it is to taste although this is the "base" that he follows.

BIG DADDY CHILI

4 cans of beans (pinto, black, kidney and chili)

4 pounds of meat (we used venison but you can use hamburger or ground turkey)

2 cans stewed tomatoes

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

2 cans green chilis

jalapenos - seeded and deveined (we used 6 but this is completely to taste - you can certainly add more for more heat.)

green, red, yellow and orange bell pepper (this is also to taste - we like lots of veggies and we chop them big so you can get a big bite of them)

1 regular size bottle of ketchup

3 packets of chili seasoning (2 were mixed in with the meat before it was cooked and then 1 was added to the pan when everything was together.)

Brian feels that the key to good chili is mixing the seasoning packets in with the meat and letting it sit for about 20 minutes before cooking it.  He also cut the jalapenos lengthwise like match sticks so that for individuals that didn't want them, they were easily identifiable so they could be removed.

I have to admit, I was never really a fan of chili but I LOVE THIS!  If you try it let me know how it turns out!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pies and having already made three of them so far this season I wanted to do something different with pumpkin.  I searched the internet for a cookie recipe and found one but "tweaked" it to work for me.  It's simple and easy.  I doubled the batch but one will yield about 2 dozen cookies.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin pie filling
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

{If you only have pumpkin and not the pie filling kind you add 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves}

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2.In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3.Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4.To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.


THEY ARE YUMMY and THEY MAKE YOUR HOUSE SMELL YUMMY!!

WARNING to anyone that cooks!

I decided to come up with another chicken salad tonight and bought a Kraft Parmesan Asiago Dressing to use for the marinade and dressing.

Sounded good enough to me.  I sliced up some chicken and put it with some of the dressing in a pan to cook it all together.  BAD IDEA!!!!  It stunk up my whole house like VOMIT - I am not kidding.  James has a friend spending the night and they were playing in the other room and he walked and in and said "Mom, it smells like Parker threw up.  I think I'm gonna throw up!"

Needless to say, the chicken and the dressing went down the drain.  I couldn't even fathom the idea of tasting it simply because the smell was HORRID.  So...it's frozen salisbury steak for the kids and a simple veggie salad for me and the hubby.

I must say that the dressing is okay on a salad by itself but DON'T cook with it unless you are fond of the smell it puts dissipates.

Chicken and Raspberry Vinagarette Salad

Our family has been doing good at trying to eat healthier and this is on what was on our menu last night.  I have been trying to come up with different ways to make salads so that it can be our entire meal and EVERYONE loved this one.  I was trying to copy Granite City's Bruschetta salad but came up with something totally different.  I wish I would have taken more pics so that you could see.  The secret ingredient that made it so yummy was Lilly's Raspberry Walnut Vinagarette Dressing (at Walmart).

Cook the chicken in Kraft Tuscan House dressing until cooked through and red onions in the Raspberry Walnut dressing just until they are soft.  I used about four chicken breasts.  Slice the chicken into strips based on your preference.

In a salad bowl combine Spring Salad Mix, spinach leaf, chopped tomatoes, and feta cheese.  Mix it all together with the chicken and onions once they are cooled and toss with more Raspberry Vinagarette dressing.  YUMMY!!

If you have olives or crumbled bacon that would have been a good addition.  I topped bruschetta bread with the salad but you can easily eat it on your own.  My hubby used the new Tuscan Herb Wheat Thins .

This will definitely be on menu more often!!  Let me know how it turns out if you make it.

Weekly Wrap-Up

I have had a crazy busy weekend.  Working on the basement, the yard, spring planting, and all of the other daily chores makes my schedule filled to the brim which didn't allow for blogging.  Don't worry though, I still have some great finds for you though.

Also, stay tuned for more about an amazing person (chef) that I met last night.  You're going to love some of what she had to say!!

Now on to the weekly wrap-up.  Meg over at A Little Knick Knack made some very cute Easter pillows.  Ii isn't easter anymore but I think they would be great just for spring.  Guess what...they're made out of dish towels!  Very simple....

She also did this a cute project that takes the famous quote from the book "I Love Your Forever."  My oldest boy loved this book and I can't wait to start reading it to Parker. 

Little Birdie Secrets has something UBER COOL!!  Seasonal word blocks :)  You decorate seven blocks with corresponding letters and you can spell up to sixteen seasonal words! 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE LollyChops!  These wallflowers are seriously too cute!!  I love the three-dimensional look of them on the frames!!  This is going to be a MUST DO when my craft room is done.  Check out her blog because she has others in different colors.

  Katie at Favorites and Things has a recipe called "California Chicken" that will probably sneak it's way into my weekly menu. 

Mmm.Mmm....good!

Stay tuned for my special post on the famous person I met last night!!

Smashed Peanut Butter and Jelly - IT'S NEW

James loves making creations in the kitchen and his new one is called Smashed Peanut Butter and Jelly.  He says it is just like "Smashed Potatoes."

Here is how you make 'em (in his own words)!!

First, you cut up bread, any size, but don't leave them not cut up!
Second, you get some jelly.  Then flick the jelly but if it doesn't work, rub it!
Third, you get some peanut butter and flick the peanut butter.  If it doesn't work, rub it!

Daddy said it tasted delicious!!  {smile - wink} don't you just love the minds of little ones...

Gotta Try It - Sante Fe Chicken Salad

I am attempting to make at least one salad as out dinner every week in order to get lighten our plates a little bit.  I got this recipe from SparkRecipes.  They are heathier options and it also give you the nutritional values of the meal.

The original recipe called for Peanut Sauce which couldn't find at the store so I substituted Kraft Asian and Toasted Sesame Dressing.  My family LOVED it, including my six year old son who WILL NOT eat anything.

Sante Fe Chicken Salad

1 large bag of Romain lettuce, rinsed, dried and torn
1 can sweet corn, cooked and drained
I can of black beans rinsed until the water runs clear
5 plum tomatoes washed and diced
4 taco shells or tortilla chips, crunched up
4 chicken breast
Dressing

Slice chicken into strips to your desired length and marinate in dressing for 30 minutes.  Cook along with dressing that you marinated with until it is cooked thoroughly and the dressing becomes sticky.

While the chicken is cooking toss all of the other ingredients together.  Toss chicken in when done cooking.  Spoon onto a plate or bowl and dive in!!

Sorry my pic is a little blurry.  I REALLY need a new camera (hint, hint if my hubby is reading this).

Sinful Cinnamon Rolls

I got the best cinnamon roll recipe from my friend, Shannon.  This is the first cinnamon roll recipe that I have ever tried from scratch and admit that there isn't a need to try anmore.  These are the best!!

If only you could smell the yumminess...you would be in Heaven!

The Best Biscuits EVER!!

I have been in search of a biscuit recipe for several months now.  I personally know that Pillsbury Grands fits all my criteria but m y dear hubby was wanting me to make some homemade ones.  His dream is to one day open a cafe so he wanted a biscuit recipe that was the most delicious ever.

I tried about six different recipes and they never turned out quite the way I wanted.  They were either too hard, tasted like flour too much, or simply wasn't the consistency I was going for.  Every recipe spins off of a pretty basic recipe but some call for buttermilk, some do not, some call for self rising flour, some do not.  I wanted something that was SIMPLE. 

I got this recipe from my mother in laws sister and I have to say that these "Ange Biscuits" are simply divine.  They are fluffy and YUMMY!!!  The recipe does call for buttermilk which I didn't have.  If you don't have buttermilk you can take 2 cups of whole milk and add 2 T of vinegar.  Make sure this is at room temperature.  This makes it work best for some reason.  I put the milk in the microwave for about 40 seconds and then added the vinegar.  This will take the chill out of it in order to be close to room temperature.

ANGEL BISCUITS

1 envelope yeast
2 T. lukewarm water
5 c. flour
1 t. soda
3 t. baking powder
3 T. honey
1 t. salt
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in water. Sift dry ingredients. Cut shortening into dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and honey, then yeast. Stir until flour is dampened. Knead on floured board 1/2 minute. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes. No rising is necessary. Dough can be refrigerated and used as needed for a week.
 
Good Luck!!  I hope you enjoy!!