A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

We hosted a dinner for lots of friends this past weekend. I had planned an easy dinner and had pre-made the desserts. All I would have to do is take the cakes from the freezer and thaw. That's it! But!  When I opened one of my cakes, it didn't look pretty. Oopsie! What to do!?!?! 25 people for dinner in just a few hours and there's no time to make a brand new dessert! Trifle! I'll make a trifle! I have never made a trifle before! I didn't really know what cream stuff to put in with it, but I'd figure that out as I went along, right? My cake was a coconut pecan cake. Yummy! I found an easy Martha Steward recipe for a coconut cream filling. I adapted it only slightly and the result was fantastic! This is one of those recipes that you'll want to keep around because it's so versatile and easily adaptable to your recipe and only your imagination is the limit to what can be done with it! I made the cream and cooled it.  Th...

With the holidays in full swing, sometimes you need a fast, throw-together-appetizer for your guests . . . or dinner for your family! Sometimes, during the holiday, that's what my family gets to eat for dinner! Some quick appetizer! Hey!  Don't knock it!  At least they're getting food! You may even want to make it for your "family movie night!" It's that easy! Warm Jalapeno Popper Dip 1 package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup mayonnaise 4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 3-5 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (depends on your jalapeno flavor "want!") 1/2 cup crushed ritz crackers or panko crumbs 2 TBSP melted butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise together.  Stir in the cheddar cheese and jalapenos.  If you are wanting a bit of heat, leave some of the seeds in your cheese mixture. In a small bowl, mix the cracker crumbs and butter together.  Place the cream cheese mixtur...

Seriously, my kids are getting tired of sweet potatoes! We are having them at least once a week! First, it's the season for this great vegetable. Second, they're $0.25 a pound! That's practically free! Yesterday, I was trying to think of a vegetable to put with our lunch and I had one lonely sweet potato left. One! What a lonely number! What can one potato do for a family of 4? It can make us happy! I washed it, cubed it, tossed it with olive oil, roasted it, and then crowned it! We all devoured this delicious new side dish! Roasted Sweet Potatoes w/ Brown Sugar Glaze (Slightly Adapted from Pillsbury) 1-3 sweet potatoes, (depending on the number of people you are serving & the size of the potato)** olive oil 1/4 cup butter                         1/4 cup packed brown sugar     ...

Image from Pinterest . . . we finished our dip before I could snap a picture! Many years ago, I worked with some ladies from the church we attended. We started an event called "Seasonal Sensations." It was a little Winter get together -- just a time to have fun and raise money for mission work. Here was the hair-brain idea: invite some ladies in the church to cook and serve samples of one of their favorite holiday dish. Something easy -- something that's a family favorite! The event was promoted and tickets were sold -- more than 300 ladies attended that first event! That was nearly 15 years ago and they're still doing that event. It looks a little different now, but they're still raising money for missions! That first Seasonal Sensations, I made a pumpkin pie dip. I found the recipe the other day after telling my mother-in-law about it. It had been years since I had made it! Matter of fact, my cherubs don't even remember the la...

About a week ago, the Mr. and I headed to the Texas Hill Country for a little get away. It was a perfect weekend! We went with some friend; we shopped, we ate, we laughed, and we listened to great music each night! One of the places that we ate, served cranberry salsa and chips. It was phenomenal! I knew I wanted to make it for the holiday season . . . . and with 8 bags of cranberries in my freezer, I knew I had enough ingredients! The minute I see cranberries in the store, I start buying! There are several great recipes that I like to make during this time of year, and this is one to add to the list! The Mr. had the recipe on his phone, but when I started to make the salsa, I didn't have the recipe. But I remember reading it -- so I just started making it! I mean, how hard can it possibly be? While I didn't make it exactly like the recipe, it was pretty close, and we all devoured it! Here's the real recipe!  What I love about this ...

Today, we cleaned out the freezer. The big freezer. The one in the garage. It needed to be defrosted, which took a good amount of time since it is in the 30's today! Ice doesn't melt too fast when it's cold enough to freeze! Along with the defrosting came the Mr. being all productive! Like making me create a list of all the things in the freezer. So, I willingly agreed! As a result, we're having for dinner tonight something from . . . the freezer! I surely wasn't planning on having brisket tonight . . . or tomorrow night, or the night after that! I just went to the grocery store yesterday and I clearly didn't buy anything that would be a great side to brisket! However, I remember Auntie Ronda making a BBQ green bean bundle. But we're just eating -- not being fancy tonight, so I took a spin off of her idea and put these ingredients together for our side to go along with our brisket! BBQ Green Beans 2 cans green beans, ...

Saturday mornings used to be sorta lazy. Meaning, there was time to get up, have some coffee, and the Mr. would make a "traditional" breakfast, as the cherubs like to tease him about. But now, we have baseball and ballet and other what-nots that start earlier than I'd prefer and our lazy Saturday breakfasts have sorta gotten . . . lazy. But this morning, I decided to make pancakes before everybody scurried off to their activities. Since both of my cherubs like pumpkin, I decided to do a quick pumpkin pancake. I've posted before a quick pumpkin waffle and a pancake, but this is even easier! That's great for a Saturday breakfast! Pumpkin Soda Pancakes 2 cups buttermilk pancake mix 1 bottle pumpkin pie soda Heat a pan or griddle with a bit of oil or Pam. In a bowl, stir together the pancake mix and enough soda to make the batter the consistency it should be.  I used nearly the entire bottle . . .there may have been 2 or 3 drinks left in th...

I think I have said it before, but it's worth saying again. I really like my crock pot! My cherubs aren't too fond of it! They say they get tired of crock pot food! I say you aren't old enough to appreciate a crock pot! Since there is a small battle that surrounds the crock pot at our house, I try to make our crock pot meals "worthy." This recipe has made it's rounds 'round town, but I've never made it until now. I'm so sad that I've missed out all these years! Easy French Dip Sandwiches 3-5 pound boneless beef  roast 1-2 envelopes Lipton onion soup mix 2 cans beef broth 1 tsp black pepper Ciabatta rolls  ("hard" bread absorbs the au jus!) provolone cheese Combine the dry soup mix, broth and pepper, pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred with two forks on a cutting board. Place the meat back in the crock pot with the liqui...

I'd call this Six Can Soup, really. Doesn't that sound more fun? I think so! My friend, Kim, is a great cook! I always love to have dinner with her for two reasons. She makes it look "souper" easy (a little funny since she gave me the soup recipe!) It always tastes amazing. Nothing, absolutely nothing , bothers her! Well, I know that's not exactly true, because then she'd be a Saint. She is a Saint, but not that kind of Saint! But when things do bother her, she doesn't show it like I do! She's raising three great boys and a husband and they have a dog named Chief. "Chief!"  That tells you Chief isn't a tea cup poodle -- Chief is big enough to count as one of the boys. But I didn't include him! Why did I tell you all of this? Because when Kim cooks, it has to please! She gave me this recipe almost a year ago. Or at least when the weather was cooler and we were freezing together at the baseball fi...

I'd like to say "Beef" in the title, or "pork." or maybe even "chicken." But because this is versatile, I just called it meat. Doesn't sound appetizing, does it? I know! I'm not sure that I would have read much further than the title! But I'm just saying, that if you'll give this a whirl, you'll be glad that you hung with me! This can be as spicy as you want. I like this recipe because it's kind of a sweet heat. Because my girl cherub is a wimp when it comes to much spice, I kept it easy. But I will say, I could have easily added an extra toss of the chipotle peppers! Which!  Let me tell you my most exciting find on the grocery aisle this past shopping trip! Normally, I have to buy a can of chipotle peppers. Like this: I pop the top, use what I need and freeze the rest until another recipe. But then I found the peppers, chopped, in a jar . . . a small jar, but none-the-less, a jar! That means I...

I've made reference to our trip last Summer to different European countries. My prized souvenirs are cookbooks from each country. I'm not sure, of the 4 cookbooks, which is my favorite, but I surely enjoy the one I purchased while in Greece. I'll tell the quick story: We were in an open air market in Greece, searching through antiques and junk. Along the perimeter of where we were shopping were business. In typical European fashion, outside one of the restaurants was a young man leaning against the doorframe, as if to summon customers into his restaurant. When he heard our English, he asked where we were from, as he had studied in the States when he was in school. That question led to a great conversation and he invited us into the restaurant which he and his mother owned.  We sampled all sorts of incredible foods that afternoon and when I told him that I would love to have a cookbook because of the great experience we had just had, he showed me the co...

Hotel in Paris, France The Summer of 2012, we took the family on a European vacation. My souvenirs from the trip was a cookbook from each country that we visited. It has been so fun to make some of the foods that we enjoyed while we were away! Last week, I used the book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking . I love this cookbook because it not only has recipes, but it gives the technical information about the dish or the style of cooking.  It's very interesting to read! For example, this dish, in French, is called Supremes de Volaille a Blanc. Doesn't that sound much more interesting? "Supremes" is a boneless piece of chicken breast. If the wing is left on the breast, it then becomes a "cotelette." The breast of a cooked chicken is not a "supreme" but a "blanc de poulet." Can you believe that I learned all of this from this amazing cookbook? It will not surprise you that Julia Child is one of the contributin...

I really should have planned better! I made a menu and went to the store. I planned for some new recipes. Recipes from cookbooks that I bought while we were on our Summer vacation last year in Europe. Exciting recipes! Recipes that weren't cooked in the crockpot.  . . . and there's the dilemma! I worked all week! I put everything in the freezer and revamped our weekly menu! One night, I created this dinner sensation!  It's a keeper in our family . . . maybe your family will like it too! Southwest Gravy over Cornbread 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 can tomatoes with chilies 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can cheddar cheese soup 1 tsp. chili powder cornbread mix necessary ingredients for your cornbread mix green chilies Prepare your cornbread according to the package directions.  Add the desired amount of green chilies to the batter.  Place in the oven and cook according to directions while you cook the meat mixture. Ov...

I wish I had a picture of this to post for you. But I don't! Here's our dilemma . . . we want to eat Chinese food, But we can't find a Chinese food place we like. I'm not talking Pei Wei, although, that's nice fru-fru Chinese food. We just want noodles, rice, chicken, sauce. That's it! I make sticky rice at home occasionally. It is a gluten rice that makes it sticky. Get it!  "S.T.I.C.K.Y" rice? You can take a smidge, smoosh it together into a little ball and it stays. It's great for dipping in your Chinese sauce. If you have Chinese sauce. Which we don't always have. So we use soy sauce. But it's not the same. We want Chinese sauce. I found this recipe and made it. I think I've solved our dilemma for Chinese food! I'll make it at home and be very content! I got this from a website, but I have absolutely no idea where it came from . . .that was many weeks ago!  I'm very sorry if it cam...

I'm being very creative with our  meals these days. That translates to this:  " Wow !  I really need to go to the grocery store!" Honestly, who enjoys that job? Going to the grocery store? I really don't. I've been in this position before; where I really need to go, but it's gotten so bad, and we need so much stuff, that I don't really want to go. So I'm challenging myself:  how creative can I be with what we have! This won! On Sunday, driving home from church, I came up with this lunch special! Because this is based on what you have, or don't have, the amounts and ingredients are only suggestions! Pasta and Spinach Salad 8 oz pasta, cooked grape tomatoes olive oil salt and pepper onions, sliced butter balsamic vinegar sugar grilled chicken Parmesan cheese, fresh grated balsamic vinaigrette dressing Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a small cookie sheet with foil. Toss grape tomatoes with olive oil and ...

Image from the internet Years ago, these were called "Party Ham Sandwiches." Now, they're called "sliders!" Some people think they have the market on "new" just because they make it smaller! Not true! Regardless of what you call these, we call them "Good!" My cherubs love these sandwiches. My Mr. loves them too! Well, I'm not going to lie -- I love them! But I love them for other reasons than the rest of my family! I love them for three reasons: They're easy to make They make great lunchbox leftovers They're rarely duplicated when you take them to a party Those are reason enough to make them! If this is a recipe that you remember from long ago, treat yourself to an easy dinner! If this is new to you, you're going to be thrilled! Whether you take them to a party or serve them at dinner along with a salad, you will be glad you made them! Party Ham Sandwiches 1 package of 12 Hawaiian Sweet R...

For my cherub's 15th family birthday celebration, we did a tailgate party and watched the OU game! We did a ton of fun tailgate food that was really yummy! One of the many new recipes I tried for that day was this salsa recipe. We are salsa hounds! We love salsa! I will be making this again, for sure! I loved how easy it went together and how tasty it was! Salsa II 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, well drained 1 ( 8oz) can of pickled jalapenos and carrots . . .and don't use the carrots (unless you want to!) 1/4 cup onion 1 tsp. garlic salt 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. lime juice Place all ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate any unused portion . . . like that will happen!

Every year, when we go to Red River, New Mexico, we always stop at the same places along the way. One of our very favorite places to stop is Gladstone, New Mexico.  There's only one thing there:  The Gladstone Mercantile. It is a stop in the road. Literally! Here's their population sign 5! There used to be a mercantile store and a post office. They closed the post office! The mercantile store is still there. This might surprise you, but it's family owned and operated! The lady who runs it doesn't live in Gladstone. But her parents do! And their neighbors. That makes 5! We always stop to go to the bathroom, buy a package of homemade cookies, and my mom always buys a years supply of these pot scrubber things. The have a ton of homemade goodies and canned goods. The serve lunch to the local ranchers and serve the vacationers who are onto bigger destinations. Once the post office closed, the mercantile took over the little room ...

One of my favorite pies! I've been known to ask for this for my birthday; I love it that much! If you can't get over the name . . .that's OK! One bite and you'll know that this is one fantastic tasting pie! There is no hint of a buttermilk taste. There can't be; there's too much sugar in it! This is a fantastic, simple, back-to-basics pie that you can't go wrong with! The only regret you'll have is when it's gone! Buttermilk Pie 2 cups sugar 2 TBSP flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 3 large eggs, beaten 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. butter extract** (can substitute vanilla for the butter extract) 1 tsp. white vinegar sprinkle of nutmeg on top once the filling is poured into the pie shell, if desired Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the prepared, unbaked piecrust into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Combine the sugar with the flour.  Cream the butter and sugar toge...

I grew up with my mom making pies. She did the whole thing from scratch:  crust and all. I'm not sure that she ever really taught me how to make a crust; I just learned by watching her. I remember when I was younger, she and my Aunt would tag team pies: my mom would make the crust and my Aunt would make the filling. They made a good team! Making pie crust isn't hard. It does take a little practice . . . but who doesn't mind that! Homemade pie crust is also cheaper than the pre-packaged kind and it tastes so much better. Plus!  If you have left over pie crust, then you make pie crust cookies! That's what my mom did when she baked! The left-over crust scrapes where placed on a pan and dusted with cinnamon and sugar and baked. That makes "pie crust cookies!" Pie Crust (This makes a double crust) 2 cups flour 3/4 cup solid Crisco (shortening) dash of salt 1/4 cup ICE COLD water Place the flour and salt in a bowl and add the...

Growing up, I did not like pimento cheese sandwiches. It seems like that's all I remember from church socials and family gatherings. Nasty orange filling between two slices of white bread cut into triangles. Yuck! But as I got older, I found I really did like pimento cheese. But not the stuff found in the container from the grocery store, but homemade pimento cheese! Yes! That's where it's at! This Summer, I made pimento cheese to take on our vacation. It was wonderful! Use it for sandwiches, or to stuff baby red or yellow peppers or to make into grilled pimento cheese sandwiches or to scoop onto crackers. Regardless of what you think of pimento cheese, you ought to give this a try! Pimento Cheese Spread 1 8oz package extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated 1 8oz package Monterey jack cheese, grated 3oz of cream cheese (not the whole thing!), softened 1 4oz jar chopped pimentos, well drained 1/2 cup mayo (more or less depending on tas...

We have been back from vacation for a week now. I need to go to the grocery store. We had empty cabinets before vacation; that's because we had been in NYC for 12 days! When we returned from NYC, I didn't go to the store because we were leaving for vacation in just 10 days! Why go buy stuff, right? I'm not even making this up! I haven't been to the store since July 2. We've been living on weird stuff out of the freezer! It's allowed me to be creative! I think that's good! But now, the grocery list is SO extensive, that I don't want to go to the store! I'm going to have to push that mess up and down the aisles, lug it onto the conveyor belt to check out, lug it back into the basket, to lug it into the back of my car, to lug it into the house, then to put it all up. . . only to later stand in front of the refrigerator that afternoon and wonder, "what's for dinner?" No!  That doesn't sound fu...

I have to admit; I'm not much on "Shower Punch" drinks. There are many reasons: One being, I don't usually think they're good. I guess I'm a shower punch drink snob. I don't want to be . . . I try not to be . . . but it must be my lot in life. That's one reason why I try not to provide the shower punch when I'm helping with shower. I know others are punch snobs too! Are you one, but you haven't admitted it until now? It's OK -- it's freeing to own it! However, I did what I try not to do . . . be responsible for the punch at a recent shower. It was S.T.R.E.S.S.F.U.L ! I don't like to match my punch color to the shower color. Oh no! I don't like to have to worry about "serving it slushy." That takes me over the edge too! I don't want a punch that creates a foam when I mix it together! I searched my recipes. I looked on line. I considered my favorite punch drinks . . .and ...

Remember the blueberry bread I made? Our friend was over and he kept talking about how good it smelled and kept asking if I was baking it for him? The answer to that was, "NO!" But then I started to feel sorry for him. So I baked him a loaf of breakfast bread. But I didn't have anymore fruit to do the blueberry bread . . .  . . .and I wasn't going to the store just for some blueberries. So I made this instead. It was equally as easy. It smelled just as good baking! I think this is a keeper too! Buttermilk Poppy Seed Bread   2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1 teaspoon extract (butter, almond, lemon, vanilla . . . your choice) 2 tablespoons poppy seed Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare one loaf pan; lightly grease the pan with shorten...

Image from the Internet This is a recipe from pinterest. It's also labeled as "Starbucks copy kat recipe."  I'm not sure about that claim. But I know it's good because my friend makes it. Matter of fact, I like it when my friend makes it and shares with me! It's just perfect! The sharing, that is! I'm making this cake and going to freeze it for an easy "vacation" breakfast. It will be devoured, no doubt! That's why I want you to be able to make it too! And maybe you'll decide to share some with a friend! Blueberry Breakfast Cake ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature 2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 1 egg, room temperature 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries) 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. kosher salt 2 cups fresh blueberries (I used frozen) ½ cup buttermilk  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with l...

I'm sure you've heard all about making your own laundry soap. It's a novelty. Well, a novelty these days! Normally you think of tree-hugging, nut-eating, broom-stick skirt wearing, Birkenstock shoe wearing people as the only ones who would be interested in such. Not that trees, nuts, broom stick skirts and Birkenstock shoes are bad .  . . but sometimes when they're all put together; well, you know! Back to the laundry soap making . . . it's kind of coming back in style to be "in control" of things! That's probably because the things we need to be in control of  we aren't, so we're choosing random things to "take control of" so that we feel better about being out of control. Wow! I think that might be a deep thought to contemplate! Do I hear rhythmic snapping and "cool man" in the background? I have been making  my own laundry soap for several months now. It is cheaper. But I'm not so sure that it...

  Fruit Cocktail!  What's it possibly good for?  Not much except Jell-O cups and this cake! This is an old recipe . . .been around for years! You can find it in countless church cookbooks from "back in the day!" Back when, the recipe would call for "oleo" - - which is the old way of saying "butter!"  Today, I'm not sure that you'd find it in a newly published cookbook, but that's OK -- it's still good! Matter of fact, when you make it, there will be somebody that asks for the recipe because they've never had it before and they'll think it's something new! Don't you love that? This cake throws together in a flash and is easy enough for your cherubs to jump in and help you! Fruit Cocktail Cake 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 cups flour 2 eggs 1/2 cup of oil 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. baking soda 1 can fruit cocktail (I used "in it's own juice") Sauce 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter 5 oz evaporated mi...

Image from Betty Crocker This recipe is from a librarian friend of mine.  I've not made these cookies yet, but I may  just make them today! I'm posting this because: I trust her; she says they're yummy! The recipe is easy!  You don't have to measure anything! These are easy, on-hand ingredients You can make these cookies cheaper than you can buy some from the store With the Summer here, and kids home, and company coming, and vacations, this recipe should be an easy, go-to cookie with little effort and great results! Speaking of vacation, if you pack a goodie basket to carry in the car with you, then you could bake up these treats and store them in a clean, but empty Pringles container as you travel!  Isn't that a novel idea?  They'll be keep safe, won't break, and when you're done, you can toss the can in the nearest trash bin! If you really want to be creative, you can decorate the outside of the Pringles can with a decoupage road map,...

It's a 4th of July Celebration! My girl cherub has been making plans for a week now of things to make; both food and decorations! She's made the spread sheet, gathered ingredients, secured craft supplies and borrowed some much needed accessories and décor from a friend of hers. That would be a grown up friend of hers who knows how to throw a party! Last night, it was like a party company delivery at our house! The patriotic bunting, baskets, and other goodies were dropped off to help my cherub achieve the best 4th of July party ever! My cherub found a sweet snack treat on the internet and used the recipe as a guide for her own snack mix.  The jar she is serving it in is one of her entertaining creations too; thank goodness for google!  It's an endless supply of ideas!  She modified that too, and it's worked well! For the jar, that she's using to serve a patriotic drink in, she dipped the rim in white dipping chocolate then rolled it in red and bl...

I can't take credit for this recipe or the picture! Nope! Pillsbury and my son! I get e-mails from Pillsbury. Like almost every day -- it's c.r.a.z.y! But one day, my cherub was breathing down my neck reading over my shoulder and saw the picture of this recipe. "Oh momma, that'd be good!" And being a good momma, I said, "Sure thing!  Whatever you want!" (Because that's what I say most of the time to him . . .NOT!) We read the recipe; decided the changes we would make to it and then we got the ingredients the next time we went grocery shopping. This recipe calls for pre-made meatballs. Which I really don't like. For many reasons. One being texture. The others -- you don't want to know. Because truthfully, you probably didn't even care about the first reason! But what we did is make our own little meatballs.  Here's the link for that! http://www.karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/06/spaghetti-and-mea...