It seems like every family has Christmas traditions. Many of my family's went out the door when my parents split. We held on to some after the kids moved out, but the divorce definitely meant the end.
Since having a child, we have started our own traditions. First, I have to tell you that Shane is a SCROOGE! He hates holidays. I'm not sure why, but he isn't big on any aspect of it except seeing Wade open presents :)
One tradition I am beginning this year is part of A Book on Every Bed. A friend from work told me she saw it in the Chicago Trib and I am IN! Now I just have to decide WHICH book goes on his bed. Wade loves books. He has TONS on his bookshelf. We cycle out the holiday books and slowly get rid of the board books as he loses interest or space on his little shelf.
Reading is a priority in my house. I hope Wade continues to love to read. That's one life long skill I hope to give him!
Off to choose which book he gets...there are about two dozen waiting to be wrapped. Yes, that many. I'm addicted, what can I say?
24 December 2010
19 December 2010
Cranberry Orange Bread
Yesterday I was a baking whirlwind! I found this recipe and I had almost everything I needed.
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
* 1 cup golden raisins
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and orange peel. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with juice. Fold in cranberries and raisins. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Left out the raisins and added more than what was called for in cranberries. Turned out well and the OJ really brings a good taste! YUMMY!
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
* 1 cup golden raisins
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and orange peel. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with juice. Fold in cranberries and raisins. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Left out the raisins and added more than what was called for in cranberries. Turned out well and the OJ really brings a good taste! YUMMY!
13 December 2010
Mexi Pizzas--our first e-mealz meal!
I decided to try e-mealz.com at the recommendation of a friend. It is also a Dave Ramsey recommended site...so I knew it couldn't be too bad ;) I will be honest in saying we won't use the whole menu each week. Very rarely do we eat 7 meals at home and I don't eat fish :) I also cut out some of the cost by having meat in the freezer. I have deer and beef (and hopefully pork soon!). I buy chicken breasts when they go on sale--10 pkgs or so at a time. Love having a deep freeze!
Mexi Pizzas
Ingredients:
Refrigerated pizza crust
2 cooked chicken breasts shredded
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles--drained (the regular ro-tel was too hot for Wade!)
1 can white corn--drained
1/2 c. chopped onion
8 oz fiesta blend cheese (used co-jack because that was what was in the freezer!
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400o. Spread dough on 2 pizza pans.Bake 10 min. Remove from oven.
Toss shredded chicken with cumin and garlic salt; heat in
microwave 2 min.
In separate bowl, combine tomato sauce
and diced tomatoes. Divide and spread evenly on both
crusts. Divide corn, onion and chicken; sprinkle on pizzas.
Divide cheese; sprinkle on pizzas. Place in oven 10-12
additional min until cheese is melted. Slice to serve.
This recipe originally called for 2 crusts and splitting the ingredients. I only used a small 8 oz can of tomato sauce and half the cheese. The tomato/corn mixture went well on one crust. I must say that cooking the crust 10 minutes before adding ingredients made for a SUPER crust! It was crisp and flaky! Excellent for a pre-made crust!
Next time I will buy mild Ro-tel so Wade will be more likely to eat it. He swears he doesn't like tomatoes...:)
Mexi Pizzas
Ingredients:
Refrigerated pizza crust
2 cooked chicken breasts shredded
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles--drained (the regular ro-tel was too hot for Wade!)
1 can white corn--drained
1/2 c. chopped onion
8 oz fiesta blend cheese (used co-jack because that was what was in the freezer!
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400o. Spread dough on 2 pizza pans.Bake 10 min. Remove from oven.
Toss shredded chicken with cumin and garlic salt; heat in
microwave 2 min.
In separate bowl, combine tomato sauce
and diced tomatoes. Divide and spread evenly on both
crusts. Divide corn, onion and chicken; sprinkle on pizzas.
Divide cheese; sprinkle on pizzas. Place in oven 10-12
additional min until cheese is melted. Slice to serve.
This recipe originally called for 2 crusts and splitting the ingredients. I only used a small 8 oz can of tomato sauce and half the cheese. The tomato/corn mixture went well on one crust. I must say that cooking the crust 10 minutes before adding ingredients made for a SUPER crust! It was crisp and flaky! Excellent for a pre-made crust!
Next time I will buy mild Ro-tel so Wade will be more likely to eat it. He swears he doesn't like tomatoes...:)
09 December 2010
Blessed
I am truly blessed. We are renovating our family room--from the ceiling to the floors, it'll all be new by the time we are done.
The first of October we had the drywall fixed and the ceiling re-done. Then we painted.
My father came down this week and put a new sliding glass door in for us. He also put two new ceiling fans/lights in. Fixed two outlets.
Next week is carpeting in that room and the master bedroom.
All that will be left after that is trim. It's ALMOST DONE!
The first of October we had the drywall fixed and the ceiling re-done. Then we painted.
My father came down this week and put a new sliding glass door in for us. He also put two new ceiling fans/lights in. Fixed two outlets.
Next week is carpeting in that room and the master bedroom.
All that will be left after that is trim. It's ALMOST DONE!
06 December 2010
Christmas treat
Totally stole this recipe from Tanya at My Two Cents. They are quite YUMMY! Taking the rest to school to hand out for Christmas treats! SO EASY
Two-Second Turtles (ok more like 10 minute...but still excellent!)
Ingredients
Equal numbers of the following:
Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)
Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)
Pecan Halves
*
Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....
***
Instructions
Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Neither of my boys like nuts (darn it!)I tasted several for quality control...YUMMO!
Thanks TKO (I know it's more like TKR now, but I think TKO when I think of you!)
Two-Second Turtles (ok more like 10 minute...but still excellent!)
Ingredients
Equal numbers of the following:
Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)
Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)
Pecan Halves
*
Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....
***
Instructions
Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Neither of my boys like nuts (darn it!)I tasted several for quality control...YUMMO!
Thanks TKO (I know it's more like TKR now, but I think TKO when I think of you!)
03 December 2010
Chicken Sweet Potato Bake
Note: Whenever I find a new recipe, I always change it. I mean ALWAYS! Here is the original recipe:
Ingredients
* 1 large McIntosh apple - peeled, cored, and diced
* 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 small onion, sliced
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 bone-in chicken breast halves
Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Stir the apple, sweet potatoes, onion, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish and place the chicken breasts on top.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I baked that stinking chicken for an hour (I even cut it into smaller pieces at first to save some cooking time.) It just didn't cook. The sweet potatoes were not cooked either. So I threw the chicken in a skillet and the potatoes/apples in the microwave for 15 minutes.
Spice changes: I didn't have ginger or nutmeg. I used cinnamon and brown sugar. Omitted the salt and pepper except on the chicken. Salt and cinnamon...not a good mix!
Shane LOVED the sweet potatoes and apples!
Ingredients
* 1 large McIntosh apple - peeled, cored, and diced
* 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 small onion, sliced
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 bone-in chicken breast halves
Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Stir the apple, sweet potatoes, onion, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish and place the chicken breasts on top.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I baked that stinking chicken for an hour (I even cut it into smaller pieces at first to save some cooking time.) It just didn't cook. The sweet potatoes were not cooked either. So I threw the chicken in a skillet and the potatoes/apples in the microwave for 15 minutes.
Spice changes: I didn't have ginger or nutmeg. I used cinnamon and brown sugar. Omitted the salt and pepper except on the chicken. Salt and cinnamon...not a good mix!
Shane LOVED the sweet potatoes and apples!
29 November 2010
Thanksgiving
This year we had Thanksgiving at my mother in law's. There were about a dozen or so people there.
I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I followed the recipe this time, next time I'll make a couple of changes (noted in italics)
Crust:
1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (use graham cracker crumbs)
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/3 cup maple syrup
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 4 eggs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. (Line pan with aluminum foil first!)
2. Using a fork, combine gingersnaps, pecans, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and melted butter. Press mixture onto the bottom and two inches up the sides of the pan to form the crust.
3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the pumpkin. Mix in the cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes, or until center of cheesecake is set. Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
It was wonderful, but a bit rich after a big meal. I am looking for a mint cheesecake recipe for Christmas.
I also made a ham and broccoli pastry dish last week. It was pretty yummy.
Ingredients:
10-12 oz ham slices chopped up
6 oz shredded swiss cheese
2 cups FRESH broccoli chopped
2 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/2 c onion chopped
1 tube of crescent rolls
Preheat oven to 350. roll out crescent rolls and press seams. Mix remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread mix down center of crescent rolls and then fold rolls together. The top will be open. Seal the ends. Bake until crescent rolls are brown--10-15 minutes.
Notes: I didn't put the mustard or onions in (Shane dislikes both). I used frozen steamed broccoli--MISTAKE. It was too watery! All in all it was yummy. I heated the leftovers up in a cast iron skillet. It was pretty good left over too!
I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I followed the recipe this time, next time I'll make a couple of changes (noted in italics)
Crust:
1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (use graham cracker crumbs)
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/3 cup maple syrup
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 4 eggs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. (Line pan with aluminum foil first!)
2. Using a fork, combine gingersnaps, pecans, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and melted butter. Press mixture onto the bottom and two inches up the sides of the pan to form the crust.
3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the pumpkin. Mix in the cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes, or until center of cheesecake is set. Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
It was wonderful, but a bit rich after a big meal. I am looking for a mint cheesecake recipe for Christmas.
I also made a ham and broccoli pastry dish last week. It was pretty yummy.
Ingredients:
10-12 oz ham slices chopped up
6 oz shredded swiss cheese
2 cups FRESH broccoli chopped
2 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/2 c onion chopped
1 tube of crescent rolls
Preheat oven to 350. roll out crescent rolls and press seams. Mix remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread mix down center of crescent rolls and then fold rolls together. The top will be open. Seal the ends. Bake until crescent rolls are brown--10-15 minutes.
Notes: I didn't put the mustard or onions in (Shane dislikes both). I used frozen steamed broccoli--MISTAKE. It was too watery! All in all it was yummy. I heated the leftovers up in a cast iron skillet. It was pretty good left over too!
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