Heavy Whipping Cream

 I got this container of heavy whipping cream for a quarter and had to do something with it...

Homemade Alfredo sauce is oh-so-easy to make.  It is more expensive than buying a jar, but it is delicious.  However, we won't talk about the fat and calorie content.  I use Betty Crocker's recipe for many things and she says you need 1/2 C heavy cream, 1/2 C butter, 3/4 C Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Heat butter and cream in a 10 inch skillet until the butter is melted and the mixture starts to bubble.  Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 6 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in salt, pepper, and cheese.  Done.

I doubled the recipe and there was still over half of the cream left.  So, I made apple dump cake with cream on top instead of butter.  Yum.

Applesauce

My Grammy gave me a bucket of apples from her backyard.  These are organic since she doesn't do anything to them ;) 

They are not real pretty, but Grammy told me they are great in pies.  I had seen a recipe for crockpot applesauce and wanted to try it.

In crockpot with cinnamon and a bit of sugar

It turned out wonderful!

Blended with the hand mixer

In jars, ready for snacks!

Go Bananas!

I love bananas on Wednesdays! At Sunfest in Branson (across from Holiday Hills) bananas are 19 cents a pound every Wednesday! There is a five pound limit and I always try to get close to five pounds. There are a gazillion things you can do with bananas even if you have a small family. Here is my list, add your suggestions too!

eat 'em!

make banana muffins or bread

make banana cookies

Banana smoothies

Banana pops (Frozen, peeled bananas on a stick dipped in chocolate and other toppings- nuts, sprinkles, etc.)

PB, honey, and banana sandwiches

PB toast w/ sliced bananas

fruit salad

Freeze overripe bananas you cannot use right away for later!

Let me know how you use bananas!

'Tis the Season

...for baking!


On my computer these pictures are right side up. I don't know what happened...

We took this plate along with dinner to friends who had a baby last week!

Eli's cookies (he ate frosting off as he worked) Eli loves to help me cook. His favorites- french toast and granola. He likes to sprinkle the cinnamon and put the bread in the gooey stuff.

So fun! More baking to come!

Apple Bread!

Yes, that is a picture of delicious, warm, apple cinnamon raisin bread! I used a quick bread mix that I made and added shredded apples, applesauce, cinnamon, and raisins. It turned out great even after if overflowed into my oven. I overfilled the loaf pans! So I ended up with 6 small loaves rather than 4!

I really do love to bake, because I really do love to eat!

The Comforts of Fall!

Yesterday I made two firsts for supper. Whole-wheat bread bowls and creamy broccoli soup. It was a perfect meal for a dreary October day. Both turned out great and I am sure soup in a bread bowl will be a weekly meal through the winter!

For the bread bowls I used a basic bread recipe. One loaf would make 3-4 good size bread bowls. The broccoli soup recipe was on a container of powdered milk.

The leftovers were wonderful as well!

This is a fine thing in life, to see more finer things visit Amy!

Question

My mom got a great deal on whole wheat graham flour and whole grain rye flour. She bought them for me and I am very glad, but I don't know what to make! I need recipes that use these or ideas of what to substitute them into.

Please comment with any suggestions! Thank you!

Beautiful!

I made this very attractive triffle for the Hollister Junior High staff picnic this weekend. I love it. It tasted good, but I must say, it looked better!

I just wanted to share because this is my art!

Strawberry Limeades

A delicious treat for summer! Cool, refreshing, and easy!


In the blender I squeezed the juice from 2 limes (be sure to roll them first and get them juicy!), about a 1/4 C sugar, 2 C Sprite or water or a combo, and a cup or so frozen sliced strawberries! I have also added frozen blueberries! Blend until chunks are gone! This makes enough for Andy and me!

This is a Finer Thing in life! Visit Amy to see more finer things!

Blueberries Galore! Part 2

There were still MORE blueberries, so I had to do somethings else. I saw that Crystal at Money Saving Mom was having a baking day and making Blueberry Streusel Muffins and had to try them. They are delicious. I loved this recipe and will make it often! It is not so healthy, but it does have blueberries and I think I will use 1/2 whole wheat flour next time.


Here is my batter, chock full of blueberries.

Topped with streusel, ready to go in the oven.

Just out of the oven, gooey berries overflowing!

They tasted as good as they look!

Blueberries Galore!

On Monday Andy, Eli, and I went to a farm in Lampe, MO to pick blueberries with our friend Sarah. Eli ate as many blueberries as he picked, including a couple that were green and not blue! Sarah picked about 3 pounds and we ended up with close to 7 pounds. The next question was what to do with hundreds of blueberries! The first thing I did was rinse and sort the berries, then take the stems off. I was consciense to remove the stems as I picked, but Andy and Eli were not. Eli just pulled berries off and Andy would pick whole bunches which was faster, but also meant I had unripe or overripe berries with stems. Then I froze a couple pounds by laying them out on a baking sheet in the freezer then putting them in a ziploc bag.


Here are some of our many berries! The next task was freezer jam. As with all homemaking tasks, this was new to me! I was excited at how easy it was to do and how delicious it was to eat! I just used the recipe from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. The basic recipe for freezer jam is about equal amounts of crushed fruit and sugar and a package of pectin mixed in.

Here are my berries in the midst of crushing...

After I added the sugar. It takes about 20 minutes to dissolve. Just stir every few minutes.

After the pectin was added, I stirred for a couple minutes.

My finished product! It takes up to a day to set up. I did one jar and the rest in tupperware-like containers. I am giving the jar to my daddy! He likes fresh jam! Freezer jam will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge and 6-12 months in the freezer.

We had toast with jam for breakfast this morning and it was wonderful! This recipe was a success!

Skillet Granola

This was my first attempt at making granola and I think it turned out well. This was a very simple recipe with ingredients I have on hand. Most granola recipes call for soaking oats and baking them. I cannot do this. The time it would take! This recipe from the University of Oregon took less than 30 minutes. I, of course, did not follow the recipe exactly, and I certainly did not measure most ingredients.


Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups uncooked, old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (I used chopped nuts instead)
1 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Warm oil and honey in a skillet for one minute over medium heat. Add
powdered milk and vanilla. (At this point I also added a few shakes if cinnamon)
2. Stir in oats and sunflower seeds and mix until coated with oil and
honey mixture. Heat over medium heat. Stir until oatmeal is slightly
brown. (I browned for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes)
3. Take off heat. Stir in raisins.
4. Cool mixture. Store in an airtight container (jar or plastic bag).

Oil and honey after it heated.After I added powdered milk, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Poured in oats, then mixed.
My finished product!

Cooling before I sealed it.

It tasted great. I think I will have it mixed with Cheerios for breakfast tomorrow. I also need to get yogurt and use my granola as a topping.

Banana Cookies

Bananas are 19 cents a pound EVERY WEDNESDAY at the new Sunfest grocery store across from Holiday Hills on 76. Eli and Andy love bananas so I buy 5lbs a week. If I have leftovers I either peel and flash fleeze them, then store in a zip-loc for making shakes or I make banana cookies! These are delicious and healthy enough to eat for breakfast. We love them!

Banana Cookies

Ingredients:
· 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
· 1/2 cup butter, softened
· 1 cup brown sugar, packed (I actually use about 1/3 cup, the bananas make it so sweet, without adding much sugar!)
· 2 eggs (the original recipe called for 4 egg whites and that was too much work for me!)
· 3 cups oats
· 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
· 1/4 cup milk (a little less works too, depending on the consistancy of your bananas)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
· 1/2 tsp. salt
· 1 tsp. vanilla
· 1/2 chocolate chips or nuts (if you wish-- I've made them plain, with nuts, or with choc. chips... they're good no matter what!)
Directions:
· Mix first 3 ingredients together in a large bowl. Add egg whites and mix. Add remaining ingredients except nuts or chocolate chips. After dough (more like batter, really) is mixed, add nuts or chips.
· Batter will seem too liquid, but drop on cookie sheet by tablespoon anyway.
· Bake at 350 for approx. 12 minutes.

Stuffed Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
1 Package cream cheese, slice into thin strips
a few hot peppers, sliced into small pieces
1 stick butter, melted
1 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1 C bread crumbs
Tony's seasoning
toothpicks

Pound out chicken breast and fill each with a couple cream cheese and pepper slices. Wrap up and pin with toothpicks. Dip each breast in butter and roll in mixture of Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and seasoning. Place in baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

We love this with mashed sweet potatoes!

Homemade Tortillas

This past week I made my own tortillas, which was somewhat successful. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 white flour. They were delicious and healthy for my family! The downside: I could NOT get them to roll thin enough. Every time they were pressed thin they would shrink back up, becoming smaller and thicker. The recipe I used called for 2 C flour and 1 tsp baking powder. I think there may have been too much BP. Next time I will cut the amount in half.

If anyone has suggestions on how to make tortillas, I would love to hear them! I will keep you updated on my tortilla making adventures!

At Girl's Night tonight we made our own pizzas, one of my favorite meals! For those girls who asked, here is my recipe for pizza crust. I modified Betty Crocker's. I do this using the manual setting on my bread machine, but have done it by hand as well.

Pizza Crust

1 C WARM water
3 T olive or vegetable oil
2 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat flour (these can be changed according to your taste, just get three cups total)
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 package (or 2 1/4 t) yeast

Put the ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Set machine to manual or dough cycle. Start. This makes 2 crusts. When it is done, roll out onto pizza sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. Add toppings and bake for another 8-10 minutes or till cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

The dough can be made ahead of time and frozen. Just pop in a ziploc and freeze. Take it out and put in the fridge the day before you want to use it. Then roll out and bake as directed.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, we do. Homemade pizza has become a weekly meal in our house!