Blueberry Coffee Cake

Blueberries and coffee...hhhmmmm....what could be better to start out the day?  Well, ok, sleeping in and not having to eat breakfast would be fantastic, but with two littles and one in school, that is pretty much just a dream at this point!  So, instead, I get to enjoy yummy things like this!  It is an okay trade off!  Very simple recipe, worth the 10 minutes that it took to whip it together!

Blueberry Coffee Cake
4 tbsp butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 cups blueberries

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter cut into pieces

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Combine milk, sugar, eggs and butter in another bowl.  Stir milk mixture into dry mix.

After well mixed, fold in the blueberries gently.  Pour into greased 9X13 pan.  Mix topping in a food processor on pulse until crumbly.  If you don't have a food processor (like me) it is very easy to mix by hand.  Sprinkle on topping and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy!

Halloween Treats

Started out with plain old cupcakes...but was able to come up with quite the treat for Logan's Halloween party at school tomorrow.  I even got an "Awesome, Mom!" when he got home and saw them!!  Hooray!

 

 

So, I think that I may have had more fun decorating these little cuties than the kids will have tomorrow when they see them!  I started off a little conservative, some candied sugar and an eye ball.  Soon, I got a little braver and before I knew it, I had bugs with legs and spiders in their webs!  :)




It was all really petty easy tricks.  The spider web is an orange gel frosting pen.  I just made a circle and then webs through it.  The spider is a malted milk ball with black piped frosted for the legs.  Each of the bugs is 2 or 3 pieces of candy connected with the black piping and legs again.  It was just a really fun project! 

Happy Halloween!!

A Family Affair

My kitchen may be my domain, but it belongs to my entire family.  Cooking, baking, enjoying the warmth, the scents, it is a central hub of our home.  Everyone has different "jobs" in the kitchen and we all try to be involved in one aspect or another when it comes to dinner time.  My 9 year old, Logan has become more and more interested in learning how to cook.  Not just helping make cookies or treats, actually making a meal.  

The last few months, we have started including him more and more in the dinner making process.  We started out slowly.  Picking out the vegetables and doing the prep work.  Setting the table, making sure all the proper condiments were available.  Making side dishes.  As he mastered each of these smaller tasks, we started adding more to his responsibilities.  I have never seem him thrive as he does when he successfully contributes to our dinners.  It is such an amazing feeling to know that we have found something to share that gives him such a sense of accomplishment.

Tonight, for the first night, he made dinner.  From beginning to end.  Mom "helped" from the side lines, but it was Logan's show.  He did AMAZING!  He made lasagna, green beans and garlic bread, and it was incredible!  The looks of pure joy as everyone complimented his meal were worth every extra second that I have had to spend in the kitchen teaching him the wonderful world of cooking.  I remember growing up, my mom tutored me through my earlier years of cooking and I thank God that she spent that time with me so today I was able to share it with my son.  Very happy momma tonight!

Insomnia?

Had someone told me that I would have insomnia while there was a toddler and an almost toddler living in my house, I would have showed them the way to the funny farm.  Yet, here I sit, at 230am, wide awake.  What is up with that?!?!  Sophie (my 3 year old) has never been a good sleeper.  Not once since we brought her home from the hospital have I had a decent night of sleep, unless she was having a sleep over with Grandma!  Most of the time, I have no idea what her issue with sleeping is.  Sometimes, she is over tired, or napped too long during the day, or is excited about tomorrow's activities, or is having a bad night.  But, on the standard side, she just does not sleep well.  If she falls asleep quickly, there is no doubt that she will be awake by 130am, ready to "start the day, Mom!"  If it takes her a couple hours (like tonight, three and a half hours) to fall asleep, she is still up and ready to go by 5am.  

This trait did not come from her mommy.  I like sleep.  I have always been a really good sleeper.  I fall asleep quickly, I don't like to wake up, I would much rather snuggle in my bed for 30-45 minutes after waking rather than getting up and being motivated.  With Sophie's wonderful sleep schedule, there isn't much chance for insomnia.  Normally.  Tonight??  Who knows.  Yet, I found myself tossing and turning and making lists in my head of the things that I would really like to get accomplished tomorrow.  Very seldom does this happen, but when it does, it is frustrating!  I know that at the maximum from right now as I sit here typing, my little Boo will be ready for her day to start within two and a half hours.  :(

My boys, on the other hand, definitely have acquired their sleeping habits from their mommy.  Logan (age 9) made it quite the habit this summer to stroll out of bed anywhere from 11am to 1pm.  That's my boy!  I remember fondly the days when I could do that!  Henry (my almost toddler, age 20 months) has slept like a peach since we brought him home from the hospital.  He goes to sleep in his bed, by himself, without a fuss every single nap and bed time.  There is sometimes quiet playing that can be heard from his monitor, but within 30 minutes, he has picked up his toys, crawled back into his bed and gone to sleep until his sister is too noisy for him to continue sleeping.  Most days, if I can keep the loud mouth (said with lots of love!!) quiet, Henry will sleep the clock around.  For those of you whose parents didn't use that term frequently, 12 hours!  Or more!  

I often say that if my 3 year old slept as well as the 20 month old, bed time could be bliss! Alas, it is not so, yet.  I have a lot of faith in her that she will some day...before I am old and gray, sleep well.  At least one night.  It has to happen, right?!?!  Until that day, nights like this take quite the toll on this Momma.  I can tell you how it will go, before it even happens.  I will finally, happily, slip into dream land...and the pitter patter of my love's feet will hit the floor.  Just as I am about to become completely unconscious, due to lack of sleep, the most adorable little girl will slip in my bed beside me.  Then she will whisper quietly, "Good morning, Mom."  And we will start another day that I am blessed to have with her.  :)

Olive Garden Bread Sticks

I love bread sticks.  It is a simple fact.  If I eat spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine, soup, okay, pretty much anything!  Bread sticks make it better!  I came upon this recipe out of sheer luck.  Trolling websites one day, I found a very close recipe to Olive Garden's.  A few of my own little tweaks, and voila!  Bliss!

Olive Garden (or pretty close!) Bread Sticks
Dough:
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp salt (I know, it seems like a lot, but it is how I do it every time!)
2 tbsp butter, softened
4-5 cups flour

Topping:
3 tbsp butter, melted
sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder

 For the dough, sprinkle the sugar and yeast over the warm water.  Wait 5-10 minutes until the mixture looks milky, refer to the two pictures on the right.  

After the mixture has become milky, add the salt, butter and 2 cups of the flour.  Mix well, scrape edges of bowl before adding any more.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have the consistency you want.  It should not stick to your fingers when you touch the dough, but you don't want to much flour or the sticks will be hard.  Once you have all the flour added, either knead with your mixer or by hand about 5 minutes.  Dough should be elastic and stretchy.  Spray inside of the bowl with cooking spray, flip dough over so it is all covered and place in a warm spot with a towel over the top to rise.  This process should take about an hour.  You want the dough to double in size.

Lightly flour your surface and roll out the dough by hand into one long log.

Spray your knife with cooking spray and cut log into 12-14 pieces.

Roll pieces into 6 inch long snakes and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Be sure they are at least 2 inches apart.

Heat oven to 170 degrees (or if it is older like mine, the warm option!), place cookie sheets into oven and let the sticks rise for about 15 minutes.  Use half of the butter from the topping ingredients and brush each bread stick.  Sprinkle sea salt on top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.  Immediately remove and brush with remaining butter and garlic powder.  Enjoy!

Flowers

I was so incredibly excited to be able to have the time and energy and everything else that was needed this year for me to have a flower garden.  I poured over the catalogs that kept coming and coming in the mail and I have to admit, I was overwhelmed.  So many pretty flowers, but, what do I know about perennials and border or trellis flowers?  Not much!  I had to take a quick crash course because the one thing I did know was I wanted flowers blooming at my house!  As you can see, the gladiolas were one of my all time favorites!  They all turned out SO incredibly pretty, I probably have close to as many pics of the glads as I do of my children during the time they bloomed!  ;)  

Maybe not, but I know it is close!  Another huge favorite was the lilies.  Oh my goodness, they were so pretty.  I cannot wait until next year when they are a little more mature and have slightly large blossoms...oh, so much beautifulness!!

   
And then, my rose bush.  Hallelujah for the amazing woman who planted this rose bush!  I have no idea how long it has been here, but boy oh boy!!  I am so happy it is here!

It is huge!  It was FULL of roses!  It was probably my favorite place to "relax" while watching the kids play outside!

I have a lot of ideas for next summer that are already starting to brew.  I better hide the flower catalogs from my husband!  He is probably tired of helping!!  

Handy Kitchen Tips

If there was ever one thing that I would absolutely have to know about kitchen work, well, there are too many!!  I have picked up so many "helpful" hints since I was a little girl helping my mom in the kitchen that I have probably forgotten half of them!  How did I ever manage anything in the kitchen before I knew a few of these?!?!  So, I decided to make a list.  Whether you are a newbie in the kitchen or an "old hat", hopefully one of these things will be something new for you!  

1.  If you have to measure honey or corn syrup, or any other sticky substance, spray the measuring spoon or cup with cooking spray first.  It will coat the cup, but not leave any odd tastes in the food.

2.  Add a tablespoon of baking soda to your pan when boiling eggs.  It will make the egg shells virtually fall right off!  Hardly no peeling needed!

3.  Keep single chopsticks in your flour container, simply for "leveling" the cup!  So much easier than always getting out a butter knife.

4.  Add a slice of bread to the bottom of your cookie jar before filling it up.  The bread will suck up the moisture and get hard instead of your cookies!

5.  Place a wooden spoon across the top of your pan when boiling anything.  The pot will NOT boil over.

6.  For potato salad, chop eggs with a pastry blender.  It cuts them up wonderfully.

7.  When you buy celery, take it out of the plastic bag and wrap it in tin foil.  It will last three times longer.

8.  Wrap tin foil around the cluster at the top of a bunch of bananas.  They will last twice as long.

9.  When greasing a cake pan or bread pan, put the oil on a piece of bread.  It is much easier to get it into the corners and doesn't leave any paper towel bits.

10.  When you are not using both racks in the oven, pull out the extra one and use it as a cooling rack.  If you are making cookies and they may fall through, cover the rack in tin foil before use.

These are just a few of my top favorite tips.  Some of these things I do not know what I would do without!  If you have any great hints, leave me a post!  

Fried Zucchini

One of my all time favorite side dishes during the summer.  If it were only to make this dish, summer could stay all year round if it were up to me!  This dish has been passed down for so long, I have no idea where it originated.  Of course, as with all recipes passed along, there are a few variations that have been made over the years.  For the most part, I would imagine it is just as delicious today as it was when it was first concocted.  If any of you have ever grown zucchini before, you know that it does not take long for your entire house to be overtaken by the zucchini plants.  I know that towards the end, I was not really very sad that the frost was coming and I wouldn't get too many more...except for this dish.  If every zucchini off the plants could be saved for this dish, I would grow it year round!

This zucchini is about the perfect size for this dish.  The younger they are, the tastier the dish will be.  Once they get to the size of the first picture, the only thing I do with them is shred them and freeze it for zucchini bread.  They just do not have the flavor that these little beauties possess!

Healthy, hearty, filling, and packed with a punch, this dish will spice up any meal you decide to eat it with! 

Fried Zucchini Side Dish
3-4 small zucchini, washed and sliced at about 1/4 inch thickness
1-2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
garlic sea salt

In a large frying pan, add olive oil, zucchini and onion.  On medium heat, slowly fry the mixture as you would with fried potatoes.  This should take about 7-8 minutes.  After about 5 minutes, the zucchini will start to lose its white color and will begin to turn an off white color.  When this happens, add the tomatoes and garlic sea salt.  I don't use a measuring spoon on the garlic, it is more of a taste thing.  If you like garlic, add more, if not, don't!  Put a lid on the pan, stir once between 5-8 minutes and serve!  Super easy recipe, super tasty, healthy!  Enjoy!

Honey

Doesn't matter what brand, what size bottle, squirt top or pour top, honey is a magical substance.  It is a natural sweetener, helps with an irritated throat, health and beauty enhancer.  It really is a liquid as good as gold! 

Raw honey is another incredible find.  Raw honey has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It promotes body and digestive health, is a powerful antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, eliminates allergies, and is an excellent remedy for skin wounds and all types of infections. Raw honey's benefits don't stop there. Raw honey can also stabilize blood pressure, balance sugar levels, relieve pain, calm nerves, and it has been used to treat ulcers. Raw honey is also an expectorant and anti-inflammatory and has been known to effectively treat respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and asthma.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035493_raw_honey_health_benefits_antibacterial.html#ixzz29i9mcjD1

After starting to make most of our bread, muffins, crackers, cookies and granola bars, I really wanted to get away from sugar.  It is just not something I want my kids and family to be ingesting in the quantities that some recipes call for.  Honey was my first and only substitute.  I did some research and was floored by what I found.  

http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/best-worst-sugar-sub/p104202/page8

It's up to 50 percent sweeter than the white stuff -- so your sweet tooth will be satisfied with less!!

This was a definite plus at our house!  :)

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

Sophie is my helper.  Whether I am in the kitchen cooking, the garden working, the flower beds weeding, Sophie is glued to my hip!  I am always looking for new, fun and nutritional things that we can make together.  Since finding out about Henry's lactose intolerance, we have to be super careful with everything that we feed him.  His allergy is very severe unfortunately, so we have started making most of other family's store bought items at home.  Bread, muffins, cookies, crackers, you name it, we make it!  Found a fantastic recipe recently for Pumpkin Spice Muffins.  Since it is getting to be fall around here, pumpkin spice sounded amazing to me!  Oh and the smell ....mmm....definitely worth the time just to have that incredible smell in the house for the day! 

Anyways, we make mini muffins mostly.  Normal muffins are just too big for the littles to consume in one sitting and the mini ones are cute!  Sophie picked out some fun Halloween liners for our project and we got started!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar (I use one cup honey)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 cup pureed pumpkin

Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners  For mini muffins, this recipe makes approximately 58 muffins. Sift together the flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

 

Beat 1/2 cup of butter, the white sugar or honey, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.


Bake mini muffins at 375 for 8-9 minutes.  If making regular muffins bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.
 

These tasty little treats are a perfect snack, breakfast side or just something yummy to grab as you are running out the door.  They freeze beautifully, thaw in the microwave for about 5-7 seconds, keep moist and wonderful for about a week.  Enjoy!

Chalkboard Paint

Another favorite gem I came across this summer was chalk board paint.  It is amazing stuff!  I know I am a little behind the times, as it has been around for awhile, but I have finally made it to the excitement!  There have been quite a few projects that I embarked on during the rainy days of the summer, but this one is probably one of my all time favorites!  We have an outdoor wood furnace and get a lot of our wood from an Amish man who makes pallets.  So, basically that means, lots of cut off pieces for me to rummage through until I find the ones I want for a new project!  I have accumulated quite a few new decorative pieces in my house from my scavenging!

I picked out 6 different sized boards that had the approximate length I was looking for.  After trimming a couple, I used another board long enough to go across the entire back of the other six boards to attach them all together.

I did one layer of a regular primer on the front and back of the entire thing.  I wasn't sure how well the chalkboard paint would cover since it was my first real project.  I probably didn't need to do the primer layer, but it is nice to have it on the back so it is not as "unfinished".  I added two layers of the chalkboard paint and tada!!  I love it, it is versatile, can be rewritten any time, works with every different type of decoration I have tried.

Happy Fall!!

Ham and Potato Soup

Fall is probably my favorite time of year.  Hoodies, leaves changing and soup weather!  Potato soup is one of my all time favorites.  It is creamy and filling and oh, so good!  This recipe is definitely my all time favorite.  It has enough spices to give it a little kick, but not too much for a potato soup.  Super easy, quick and tasty!

Ham and Potato Soup

3 1/2 cup peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup celery
1/3 cup onion
3/4 cup chopped ham
3 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp chicken bullion granules
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
5 tbsp butter
5 tbsp flour
2 cups milk

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a large pan.  Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat for 10-15 min or until potatoes are tender.  Stir in chicken bullion granules, salt and pepper.  In a separate pan, melt butter.  Whisk in flour with a fork and cook until it starts to get thick.  Slowly, stir in milk, continue to cook on medium heat 4-5 minutes.  Stir milk mixture into potatoes and heat through.  Serve and enjoy!

Home Made Spaghetti Sauce

One of my most exciting projects this summer was making my own spaghetti sauce.  This was the first time I had ever attempted this and was incredibly thrilled with the results!  The recipe is not too complex, doesn't take a TON of time and tastes amazing!  Spaghetti Sauce is such a tame name for this...it should be something like, Chunky Garden Medley Sauce!  There is no need to peel your tomatoes for this chunky sauce. Just chop them up and you're ready to go. The skins get lost in the sauce and you can't even tell you are eating them.  We use it for spaghetti, pizza, lasagna, you name it!

Isn't it beautiful?!?!  We love it and will be doing a ton more next year!

Spaghetti Sauce
one large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
2 large carrots, shredded
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup parsley
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp basil
6 cups tomatoes, chopped (I never peeled any of mine and you cannot tell!)
6 oz. tomato paste
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
vinegar

Saute onion and garlic in 2 tbsp. oil until tender. Add carrots through herbs and stir well. Add tomatoes, paste, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes.  To can, ladle into hot, sterilized pint jars (or quarts if you are canning a larger amount) to within 1/2 inch of top, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar per pint to assure acidity, seal with sterilized lids and process full jars in boiling water bath for 35 minutes.  I used quart jars because a pint is just not nearly enough for us.  This recipe yields 2 quarts.  When we eat it for regular spaghetti, I added 1 lb. of hamburger and a can of mushrooms.  Simply divine!  Enjoy!

Family Project

 One of my many projects from this summer's rainy days was this amazing Family Project that we finally completed last week.  We all sat down together and came up with words that describe our family.  Some words couldn't be included because of a little bit of a need for censoring!!  We came up with some pretty great words and then had an amazing time picking out the boards and staining each one.  I got the project of painting on each word and then Troy and I worked together to get it hung on the wall.  It is HUGE!!  Just a little comparison shot for you on the right, Sophie is about 37 inches tall right now!

Some of the words are hard to read because of the lighting in this room.

Here is a list:

Loving

Confidence

Thankful

Faithful

Play  Hope

Together

Crazy

Enjoy

Respect

Hope

Pray

Naughty

Trust

Happy

Believe

Funny

Family