A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

 Picture used from Google Image I'm having the minister's wives over for lunch on Tuesday. I've settled on a menu . . . but it's only Sunday, so I'm liable to change my mind 10 more times before I head to the grocery store! I'll be serving a green salad and I was flipping through some recipe books looking for a new dressing.  I normally go to one of my 3 favorites because I know they're delicious. But I'm branching out a bit for this lunch. I saw this recipe in a Southern Living book and it sounds great! I think it would be great drizzled poured over some greens with some sliced mango, purple onion, and avocado! I think it would also make a great chicken marinade -- or fish too! Let's make a new dressing together! Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette 1/2 cup cider vinegar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 teaspoon grated lime rind 2 tablespoons lime juice Click to see savings 1 tablespoon honey 1/4 tea...

True confession:  this sounds gross! It does! True confession:  we ate it. We did! Worked all day. Ran home. Had  45 minutes before the girl cherub had to be at dance and the Mr. and the boy cherub had to leave for the Rangers/Yankees game. Cooking dinner is much cheaper than going out. Remember this! Not "this" -- but that statement before it. It's true. You're like me.  You look in your cabinets at "stuff" and say, "There's nothing to eat." We're spoiled. It's true. But this isn't an editorial about our abundance. It's a blog about food. I look in the freezer.  There are hot dogs. Not any ol' hot dog.  The boy cherub is particular. They're Hebrew National hot dogs.  The fat free ones -- or whatever they call them. I had a box of jiffy cornbread mix. Because everyone should keep a box of that stuff.  It's handy. I had onion. We made dinner! Corn dog Casserole 1 jif...

This weekend we were busy. Between homework, baseball games, laundry, and a wedding  -- there wasn't much time for anything else. Saturday afternoon, the Mr. says, "We need to think about what the cherubs are doing for dinner."  Mind you -- it's 2:00 and we leave for the wedding at 5:00.  Everything is in the freezer. My mind wandered . . . what would I feed them? I grab the crock pot -- because that's what first comes to your mind when you're in a hurry, right?! I throw in some chicken and a seasoning packet and turn it to high. It cooks. The cherubs and the dude who came over to hang out with them said it was good. My boy cherub said it was "blog worthy." While there's no picture of the dish, there is the endorsement of a 13 year old boy and a 25 year old single guy!  That's a pretty strong support! In honor of the brave man who ate something I had never made and didn't have a recipe for, I bestow the honorary...

Confession:  this is a trial and error recipe. The thought is there. The family liked it. I would change a thing or two. The family doesn't care what I change -- as long as I make it again! We debated what to call this. It's kind of like a sugar cookie. But it's thick like a cake. It's dense like a shortcake. It's moist like a  .  . . Ummm.  I don't know what it's moist like. It's just moist. I would add more frosting. The family says there's enough. What I think I like about this recipe is the flexibility!  If you want a buttercream frosting -- do it!  If you don't have time for homemade frosting, use a canned frosting.  I think a cream cheese frosting topped with some chopped fruit would be tasty too.  This dessert is like an artist canvas, just waiting to be colored!  (Gag!) Point is -- there's no wrong here!  Strawberry Sugar Cookie Bars 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups granula...

Last week, my cherub went to a birthday party. Here's what stresses me out about 10 year old girl parties:  .  . .the gift! There are so many choices . . . and kids have so much these days . . . Point is this:  I really prefer to give money. But giving "just money" isn't very fun. So, on a whim, my cherub and I came up with this money-giving idea. She decorated an egg carton! Together, we tore up 3 coordinating printed papers into pieces. Not tiny pieces -- just pieces. She then used mod podge to glue the paper on, in random patterns. Once it was glued on, she put another coat over the entire outer surface. She let it dry over night. Then we took colored plastic eggs and filled each one with money. Put a little card in it that said "Happy Birthday" and that was it! There you go! Gift is done! And it was cute! And my cherub did it by herself. This concept can be translated to other means items . . .not just egg cartons...

A long time ago my papa's wife, Hap, made this cake. She called it "Dr. Bird Cake." I have no idea why . . .but I do know I liked it, even as a little girl. One summer, I was staying with them.  Hap was a great baker and she made this cake during the week I was there. We were down to one piece of cake left. We were going to save it for dessert after dinner and all share it. That was the deal. We shook on it. Me and my pa-pa did.  We had a deal. I went "to town" with Mee-Maw (that's what I called her that Summer.  I was all the time changing the name I called her.) We came home and the cake was gone! For a home-sick little girl, that's all it took! I cried! And cried! And cried! My pa-pa was mean!  He'd take advantage of any situation to get a good laugh! Even a crying little girl. Not just any little girl! His first grandchild! He let me go on and on . . . and call my ...

A recipe this easy shouldn't be allowed. This is ridiculous! If you like peanut butter, then you're in business. There will never be the excuse of: I don't have the ingredients. I don't have time. It takes too much stuff for the recipe. Or whatever other reason . . . This kind of recipe makes you look like one fantastical amazing person! This cookie recipe only has 3 ingredients!  . . . and the result is one big taste! If you want to be a fancy-pants, just drizzle the cooled cookies with chocolate; either melted chocolate almond bark or chocolate chips melted in a baggie. 3 Peanut Butter Cookies 1 egg 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, combine all ingredients until well blended. Drop by whatever cookie size you want. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size and desired doneness. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

This is the only picture I could find that resembled my friend's pasta dish.  This is not my picture -- I found it on the internet. Not long ago, I was invited into the secret club of pokeno . This is a girl's night out club. Need I say more? When I say "invited in" I only mean as a guest -- subbing for a night -- not the "invited in to stay" kind of gig! It's all "oh, we'll have a great time, dinner and playing . . .bring a gift for the game." Sounds fun, right? It's cut throat! During dinner, it's all "We're so glad you're here . . .and lots of laughing." Then the game starts and the cut-throat playing begins! First you win prizes . . .then they can get taken away from you. Those girls don't care if you're new . . .they want the prize! There's a great possibility you'll go home empty handed! It's hard for me to even talk about the night . . .but what I can talk a...

I made this salad to go with our Easter lunch. It was been  awhile a long time since I made it last and I had forgotten how easy and wonderful it is. The first time I had this side salad, I was in graduate school. I was young! I was poor! And anything that was homemade was great! I went to school and I worked as a secretary to a professor. Most of the other secretaries were wives of the men who were in school -- so many of them took me under their wing and helped me right along. We would have salad luncheons and this salad showed up almost every time . . .and I was impressed! I was early 20's and living on steamed veggies and toast . . . unless my parents came to town and went to the grocery store for me! But I remember loving this salad then . . . and now! Fresh Broccoli Salad 4 cups chopped broccoli 4-6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled 1 cup raisins 1/2 of small red onion, chopped handful or more of cashews, optional (the r...

Not my picture; not my pasta. Image used from the internet. My family loves pasta. As in, they would not complain if I served pasta every night of the week. I would complain. They would not. My girl loves Alfredo sauce. Matter of fact, a real "treat" to her is when I let her get a lean cuisine meal for dinner!  She always gets the chicken Alfredo! Now, my boys, they are a classic red sauce.  I'll post that recipe later -- but today is for a quick Alfredo sauce. I made this when we were having friends over for dinner. It was such a hit.  It's great because these are normal ingredients and you are not having to start with a basic white sauce.  This recipe is basically melting cheese together! And even I liked it!  You want to know what I liked about this sauce -- it was thick.  Thick! Not a thin little white sauce that you're kind of scraping the plate with your noodles. This is a substantial, stick to the noodles, kind of s...

Our boy cherub is in a new phase of life. The teenage years. Puberty. Achievements. This week he wore, for the first time, a tie. He and the Mr. went shopping and brought home 4 shirts and 4 ties. No pants. My cherub selected the shirt and tie that he liked best with his khaki uniform pants. He got dressed. He felt "weird." He looked handsome. He wore his dad's shoes this day. There's something sobering to watch your boy walk out the door in his dad's shoes . . . When we watched our cherub walk across the stage, we were so proud of him!  He is far more funnier than we could ever try to be. far smarter than we could ever imagine. far more grounded than we could have hoped. far more humble than we have taught. far more than we deserve. Son, you know:  "You're my favorite little boy!"  Here are some pictures of my cherub getting ready for the induction ceremony. Choking.  Really? The Mr. had no time t...

As you think about having company this weekend and you look over favorite recipes and plan your menu, you may want to add this recipe to your list of "must haves!" Homemade bread! You can't go wrong! Making bread can be so . . . . intimidating! Sometimes it can be finicky . . . Sometimes it can be down-right frustrating! This recipe, though, is neither! I found this recipe on "Tasty Kitchen" and I've made it 3 or 4 times now and I've had the same success each time! Sometimes I make loaves and sometimes I make Parker House rolls.  Once, I even made cinnamon rolls!  Matter of fact, since I've started making this, I've not bought bread at the store.  I make 2 loaves a week, place in the freezer and remove them when we're in need to bread.  While this is a "no knead" bread, it is not a quick bread!  You can make the dough, which goes very fast, but depending on the warmth of your kitchen, it will take several h...

 A couple of weekends ago we had lunch with some friends after church and my friend made a fantastic meal. I asked her to share the recipes with me . . . which really means I'm sharing them with you! By the way -- I asked her if I could post it here and she said "Yes!"  It's your lucky day! She served this fantastic meat so we could make soft tacos.  It was spicy and perfect! It was delicious! How do you say "delicious" in Spanish? I don't know, but I do know you'll want to make this meat  . . .and don't forget to make the Green Chili rice to serve with it! Slow Cooked Mexican Beef 1  (4 pound) chuck roast 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 1 1/4 cups diced green chili pepper* 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper* 1 (5 ounce) bottle hot pepper sauce* 1 teaspoon garlic powder Directions Trim the roast of any excess fat, ...

The baked goods at Starbucks are really delicious. But honestly, they're over-priced. For what you pay for one muffin or loaf slice, you can just about make enough to feed your family for a week. Ok, maybe not that much, but close! The Mr. loves the pumpkin muffins from there; and since he bought me 40 cans of pumpkin on sale the other day, I'm trying out all kinds of recipes! I've never had a Starbucks pumpkin muffin (Gasp!), but the Mr. surely has and he says these are just as delicious! And so does my friend, Julie. I took her one for breakfast . . .at Starbucks!  We meet there every Wednesday morning before Bible study. It's a religious experience. I can't remember which website I found this recipe at, but I made some minor changes.  Here's my recipe, which is really their recipe, only tweaked. How do you credit that?  I'm not sure . . . I'll ponder that! Pumpkin Muffins 3 cups  flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon ...