A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

I was at home one day this week and it was cool outside after the rain and I wanted needed a quick lunch but I didn't want a sandwich. I saw a chicken tortilla soup recipe on-line and thought about that, but I didn't have all of the stuff. Soup sounded good, though, so I improvised! This is what I came up with.  A vegetarian spicy Mexican soup. The next day, the Mr. took the left-overs to work for his lunch and he shared with his secretary. They both liked it -- so I think I'll keep it!  What's great about this recipe is the flexibility!  If you want more potatoes, add it!  If you don't like black beans, leave them out!  If you prefer red enchilada sauce over green, make the substitution!  You can't go wrong! Mexican Potato Soup 1/2 onion, chopped 1 TBSP oil 3 tsp. chopped garlic 1 can rotel tomatoes, undrained 1 can black beans, drained 1 can green enchilada sauce 2 cans chicken broth 1 can green chilies 1 cup south...

In Tennessee there is a GREAT restaurant called The Apple Barn. Everything there is delicious. Everything! Once you order, the waitress brings this little cup of cold drink. Emphasis is on little . Because I want a big cup of this cold drink. I want the entire pitcher of this drink on my little table. I want to be hooked up intravenously to this drink. I bought The Apple Barn Cookbook because it had the recipe for this drink . . . this was way before smart-phones. . . where I could take the book in a corner and act like I was totally interested in the book and be all "consumed" with the incredible recipes, all the while, trying to get my smart-phone camera out so that I could snap a picture of the single recipe that I wanted,  then decided that I really didn't need the recipe book . . . Not that I would have done that; I'm just saying I have the whole recipe book for this one recipe! Apple Barn Julep 1 quart apple juice 1 cup pineapple ju...

Pretzels are a great snack to have. They're so user friendly:  you can eat them plain, dip them, or transform them! I've given you a recipe for a spicy pretzel but here's a treat for a sweet pretzel. It's easy as can be and even your kids can help you make this snack. I have seen variations of this recipe in Midwest Living , Taste of Home , and other easy-to-do recipe books. Sweet and Crunchy Pretzels 1 (16 oz) bag pretzels (twists, butter squares, nuggets, sticks . . .whatever you prefer!) ⅔ cup vegetable oil ½ cup sugar 2 tsp cinnamon Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pour pretzels into a roasting pan. In a medium sized bowl mix together vegetable oil, cinnamon and sugar. Pour over pretzels and stir to coat. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, removing twice to stir. Allow to cool before serving (although, the warm sugary pretzel sure is tasty -- wink, wink!) Store in a ziplock bag. **Once you've finished your bag of pretzels, any ...

Marshmallow popcorn -- so yummy! Follow my directions of "remove unpopped kernel" as it makes your treat more treat-y! At my house, we really do love popcorn. Sometimes we eat a lot of popcorn; as in everyday we eat popcorn. Then, there are times that we don't eat any popcorn. Until we find a recipe like this one. This makes you want to eat popcorn every day. Maybe twice a day! If you love caramel popcorn -- then feast your lips on this easy to make treat! It's so easy to make, it's almost dangerous! Here's the good news . . . or maybe it's bad news . . . This is a "fix and eat" kind of treat.  It's not good left over -- so for whatever that's worth -- go make yourself a "I gotta eat it now" popcorn treat! Marshmallow Popcorn 1 bag of microwavable popcorn, popped (regular size) 5 TBSP butter 1 cup mini marshmallows 1/3 cup brown sugar Pop the popcorn.  Once cooled, pick out the unpopped kern...

Image from the Internet I have always liked chocolate dipped cones. Always! On a Summer day, there is no doubt, they are messy. But they're great. There's an art to eating a chocolate dipped cone. First, you bite the very top off of the chocolate. This allows you to suck some of the soft-serve ice cream from the inside of the chocolate shell. But you have to be careful or the chocolate shell will crack and some will fall in on itself, and the other bits will fall onto the ground. Those pieces on the ground are gone forever. And that's sad. But once you have removed just the right amount of soft-serve ice cream, you then bit the chocolate shell again, being careful to only get a small amount. Then you suck more ice cream out. You continue this pattern . . . Very quickly. Because it's a hot day and everybody knows that the chocolate is not a strong fortified shell and there's always at least one tiny hole. A small place where the cho...

image from the internet Yesterday we had lunch with some friends at their house. It was a great time and fantastic food! My friend served some delish Mexican food and I begged her for the recipes! She shared with me. I share with you. You'll be happy! Today, I give you the Green Chili Rice recipe. You can't go wrong with this stuff! Hurry up and make it, you'll be happy you did! Green Chili Rice Casserole 4 cups of cooked white rice, instant rice is great 2 (4oz.) cans diced green chilies 3/4 pound Monterey Jack cheese, (1 1/2 bags if using pre-shredded) 2 cups sour cream 1/2-3/4 tsp. seasoning salt to taste (I use Lawry's) chives and cheese to top Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Pour into a 9X13 greased baking dish.  Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or until thoroughly hot.

My oldest cherub loves pumpkin . . .   . . .bread  . . . cookies  . . . pie  . . . and waffles! It works out really well that the Mr. found pumpkin on sale at the store the other day for about $0.25 a can!  Honestly, that's what the Mr. goes to the store for . . .sale items! Now that I have 10 cans of pumpkin in my cabinets and it's not anywhere near Fall, I'm searching the recipes for delicious recipes that we'll enjoy in the Spring! I found this recipe on the internet and made some small changes to it and we all thought they were delicious waffles! On a wonderful Spring Saturday morning, you may want to serve these delicious Fall pumpkin waffles to your family! Pumpkin Waffles 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp. cornstarch 1 1/4 cup flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. King Arthur Pumpkin flavoring 2 large eggs, seperated 1 cup whole milk 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin 4 Tbsp. unsalted b...

OH!  I heart guacamole! Fresh guacamole! It's so fresh and simple and yummy! It's one of the easiest things to make! If you order it out -- it can cost a you a small mariachi band! But there's no need in that! The ingredients are inexpensive and the taste will make you say, "Ole!" Guacamole 2 ripe avocados 1/4 of a small onion, diced 1/2-1 lime pinch of salt cilantro, if desired Halve the avocados, remove pit and scoop the pulp into a bowl.  Squeeze the juice of 1/2-1 lime over the avocado.  Using your fork, smash the avocado to desired consistency.  Add in the diced onion, the pinch of salt, and cilantro.  Stir to incorporate all the ingredients. Stick the avocado seed in the middle of your guacamole to help prevent the prized possession from turning brown. Enjoy! **We like 1 whole lime in our guacamole.  Also, I use the cilantro in a bottle, so I put just a teensy  squirt (maybe 1/2 tsp.) in the recipe to add a smidge ...

Not too much to say here, except this little product is great! Before Christmas, I told my husband, and I quote, "I want to create a little cami -- using just a small piece of material, that would Velcro onto the bra straps and would be an easy fit under too-low cut shirts." It wasn't a week later, I was in a store and saw that someone must have heard my idea . . .and beat me to the punch!  Because there it was -- all packaged up, exactly what I was saying was a necessary invention! I asked for a package for Christmas. Didn't get it. It's now March and I stopped by Walgreens on the way to Bible Study to get myself a package! I needed it desperately! It's so amazing how easy these work -- I put on my new "belongings" at the stoplight! Pretty amazing! My girl cherub say the "little" things on my dresser and said, "What's that ?"  When I told her, she said, "Well, huh!  That's pretty ...

Image from King Arthur website I have said it before. I love King Arthur products. I have to thank Benjamin , his mom, and Ms. Gladys. . . they spoiled me to the finer things of King Arthur. Now, I'm a convert. Tried and true! For Christmas, I asked for a bunch of different King Arthur flavorings. Sad, but true. Even better, I got them! How cheap is that -- I took the catalogue, circled the flavorings my heart desired, left a note for the Mr., highlighting when the "free shipping dates" were and viola!  Got myself some flavorings! One of the flavors I wanted was the Coffee. It's not an extract, but rather a flavoring. "What's the difference?" you say. "I don't know!"  I reply! The website says "Flavorings," so I don't want to mislead. But truthfully, I'd say extract! The coffee, though, is great! I've added it to many things chocolate and even a...

 Images taken from internet:  www.pbs.org I really do like grilled cheese sandwiches. But the clincher is this:  it has to be good! Not any 'ol grilled cheese sandwich will do. I think my mom made me a persnickety grilled cheese eater when I was a little girl. My mom would grill the sandwich for my lunch. The problem was this:  I wasn't eating it at home! I was eating at school! In an "effort" to keep it warm, she'd wrap the sandwich in foil. That didn't do anything except make for a soggy-ish cold grilled cheese sandwich. Now that I'm older, there are two things I do:  eat my grilled cheese hot . . .and I don't send grilled cheese sandwiches with my cherubs to school!  No matter how tempting it may be! Last night, we were running errands right up until dinner time.  I had no dinner plans. That makes for some fussy family members! I sent my youngest cherub off to dance with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I ...

I remember my mom making this salad when I was a small girl. She hasn't made it in a L.O.N.G. time. And neither have I. But I made it early this week;  and it's good. I should make it more often! It makes a large amount, so it's great for taking along to a gathering. But if you're not going to a gathering anytime soon, still make it. Freeze it in 2 different containers . . .one for now and one for later! Mom's Frozen Fruit Salad 6 bananas, sliced 1/2 cup lemon juice (can be bottled if you prefer) 1 1/2 cups sugar* 20 oz can of crushed pineapple 8 oz jar maraschino cherries, chopped 1 cup pecans, chopped, if desired 1 pt. sour cream 12 oz container cool whip, thawed Place banana slices in a large bowl and pour in lemon juice.  Toss to coat.  Add the sugar, pineapple, chopped cherries and the pecans, if you're using them, and the sour cream.  Stir to mix.   Add in the cool whip and just enough cherry juice to get the...

You're going to be amazed with these little gems! Serve them to your friends and they're going to be amazed by your culinary talent. I'm guessing you could go into your kitchen and whip these little treats up in a matter of minutes because these are "normal" ingredients. Don't you love "normal?"  Me too! These sweet bites are great beside a salad or served at a luncheon or shower. Orange-Glazed Tea Rolls 1- 8oz package refrigerated crescent rolls 1 TBSP butter, melted 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon Orange Glaze (recipe below) Preheat oven to 375. Unroll crescent roll dough onto lightly floured board.  Press perforations to seal.  Brush dough with the melted butter.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough. Roll up, jellyroll fashion, starting at the long side.  Cut into 1 inch thick slices. Place slices, cut side up, in a lightly greased mini muffin pan.  1 slice per mini cup. Bake at 375 for 1...