Linus and LuLu

Pizza muffins

2013-08-27T18:30:00.003-05:00

Neither of my kids are fans of sandwiches. Which completely boggles their father because he could eat a sandwich every day and be perfectly happy. My kids, not so much. Which makes packing lunches and buying items for lunch an exercise in creativity. At the elementary school it was especially challenging because there was no access to a microwave and we have had zero luck with thermoses in our house.
This year though, E can use a microwave at his new school, which opens up a whole realm of additional possibilities.
I mentioned before the "corn dog muffins" that I made on Sunday. Both the boys like these and they take less then a minute in the microwave to warm up.
Today I made pizza muffins. I figured that after 2 days they were probably ready to have something different in the lunch boxes.

I got the recipe here...PIZZA MUFFIN RECIPE

Pepperoni Pizza Muffins

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup mini pepperoni
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
1½ cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Line two standard size muffin pans with liners or spray with cooking spray (I usually do this...less waste that way). Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano and sugar in a large bowl. Fold in green onions, pepperoni and one cup cheese. In a medium bowl, combine egg and oil and then whisk in buttermilk. Add buttermilk mixture to the mixture and stir until combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups about half full. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining cheese.

Bake at 375ºF for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

After muffins cool, individually wrap in plastic and freeze in a large container Makes 20 muffins.

The above is a copy of the original recipe from "I should be mopping the floor". I made a few changes.
1) I didn't have any green onions (and if I had I probably would have left them out since my youngest would likely have freaked out). I put in a tsp of onion powder instead.
2) I only had regular pepperoni so i just cut a bunch of those up in to sixths and tossed them in.
3) I used mozzarella instead of cheddar cheese.
4) I purposely choose my muffin pan that makes large muffins, so I only had 12 out of this batch. And I went ahead and used cupcake liners--mainly because my corn dog muffins stuck to the pan on Sunday even though I had sprayed the doololly out of it and I just didn't want to clean up another messed up muffin tin.

These are tasty. I tried one after they came out of the oven. I think the boys will really like them. Next time I make them I think I will add a bit more salt then the recipe, maybe bump it up to a full teaspoon. Also, I think these would also be great with crumbled Italian sausage in addition to or in place of the pepperoni. I think I will add some into the next batch I make.

And on a related note, I am LOVING my Sunday lunch prep!!! It is making lunch packing so, so easy and fast! Everything is already washed, cut and bagged so all I have to do is grab the stuff out of the fridge and toss it into the lunch boxes. Awesome!!!! The best thing I've done in a long time!!!

Blessings friends!

Tracey

working to make my life easier

2013-08-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before, once or a million times, about how much I hate packing lunches. It really doesn't take much time but for some reason this itty bitty task just BUGS me!
So this is what I did on Sunday afternoon.....

On the left, small containers of peanut butter and 10 bags of apple slices. Soak your apples in 7Up or Sprite and they won't turn brown.

On the right, 10 bags of crudite, aka baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, and snap peas. Also, 6 bags of goldfish, and 4 bags of pretzels.

Then I put them in here....

Now, when I have to pack lunches I just have to grab a bag of each, toss them in the lunch boxes with a capri sun and "the main dish."

For this week, E asked me to make him corn dog muffins. Mix up two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix. Slice up 6 hot dogs and toss them in your cornbread batter and mix well. Spoon into a muffin tin that you have sprayed well it cooking spray or lined with cupcake liners. Bake until golden brown. This week, I am packing two of these a day in E's lunch. (his cafeteria has a microwave that the kids can use)

Next week, I will pack different fruit, different veggies, and different crunchy snack. And I will make another "main dish." I have recipes for peanut butter and jelly muffins, pizza muffins, and a ton of other stuff! I'll try to remember to share with you each week when I prep the lunch stuff.

Blessings friends!

Tracey

This post is brought to you by E

2013-08-26T19:09:00.001-05:00

Yesterday E took my phone and took a bunch of pics...this is what he shot....

That's a spider he found outside his bedroom window...

Then he moved on to taking pics of his cats... this is Oreo licking her nose...he thought this pic was hysterical

Then he found Smooch over in the corner...he doesn't look thrilled about having his picture taken

A little later he found Mr. Smooch in the laundry basket

Then he just went back and forth between the two of them, taking more pics. I don't think they were as excited about it as he seemed to be....

Yesterday was a little sad. Today was the first day of school so the boys were both walking around like they were headed to jail. I know everyone says this but I just cannot believe how fast the summer went past. It just does not seem like they have been off for three months!!!

I was a little bit lonely without them today. I missed my side kicks!

No, he's not crying. He was actually laughing like a goof ball and wouldn't be still.

I swear it seems like I was just taking this guy to kindergarten. Now he's in 8th grade!!!

They both came home from the first day of school with glowing reports. I am so happy---and relieved!!! I am not joking or exaggerating when I tell you that I have prayed every day since May that God would provide them wonderful teachers and friends in their classes and that this would be a happy, successful year for them both. Mamas worry about things like that. :)

Blessings friends,

Tracey

I really, really love you BUUUUUT.....

2013-08-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was up at 1:45 a.m. I woke up with a headache. I got up and took some medicine and went back to bed. And I couldn't go back to sleep....so after an hour I decided to get up.
I poked around on Pinterest for a while and went back to bed just before 4. Where I stayed for 45 minutes and couldn't go back to sleep.
At 4:45, I decided that 2 and a half hours was all the sleep I was going to get and I might as well get up and start my day. Which is what I did.
By 9:00 I had cleaned my entire house, washed and replaced the sheets on all the beds, put supper in the crock pot, worked out and showered. By this time I figured that even if I did nothing else the rest of the day it was OK because I had already put in a full day's work.
At this time the kids were in E's room playing a card game so I thought "hmmm, maybe I'll lay down on the sofa and take a little nap." So I got cozy on the sofa and....here come the boys. (sigh) They wanted to watch some things they had on the DVR. OK, I can work with that. They watch TV and I'll doze for a little bit. Except they talk--LOUD--and one of them can't since still so my sofa feels like the inside of a popcorn popper.
Foiled again! All right, if I wasn't going to get a nap I might as well get something else done so I took everything out of the fridge, washed all the shelves, and reorganized in preparation for the back to school grocery needs. By this time the kids' were done watching their shows and had headed to their separate rooms.
Nap time!!!
I get on my cozy sofa, get my little pillow just so, close my eyes and

"I'M GOING TO GET MY DRINK!!" (why is this child yelling?)

(noises from the kitchen that sound nothing like getting a drink)
"Son, what are you doing?"

silence

"E! What are you doing? "

"I TOLD YOU I'M GETTING MY DRINK!"

"Then why are you in the cookie jar?" Even from the sofa with my eyes closed I know what this kid is doing.

"I'M JUST GETTING THE LAST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE!"

"Fine, get it and go play legos. I'm really tired because I didn't get any sleep last and just need a little nap."

"OK, MOM!" (goes back to his room)

Just starting to doze off......

"MOM! THERE IS THIS NEW GAME AND IT blah, blah, blah, blah, blah" (this is the point in the conversation that I start to hear the Charlie Brown teacher voice.) "SO CAN I GET IT?!?!?"

"I don't know, we'll see. Now, let me take a little nap"

"OK!"
"I'VE GOT TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!" (I really don't need the minute by minute report on what he is doing)

"MOM!!! THE FUNNIEST THING HAPPENED ON THIS SHOW...blah, blah, blah, blah blah"
(I think I might cry...or scream...or my head might explode. Is a 30 minute nap too much to ask?)
"ISN'T THAT FUNNY?!?!?!?"

"hmm...yeah, I'll have to see it later. I'm going to take a little nap now. Please go play in your room and give me a little time OK?"

"OK MOM!!!"

"HEY MOM!!!! WHAT TIME ARE WE GOING TO MEET MY NEW TEACHER?!?!? DO YOU THINK I WILL HAVE ANY FRIENDS IN MY CLASS?"

I'm going to cry....pray for me friends!

Blessings,
Tracey

Starting to look finished!

2013-08-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, it has taken me almost 3 weeks to get some of my stuff back up on the living room walls. There were a lot of reasons why it took almost 3 weeks but (to protect the innocent and not so innocent) I won't go into any of those reasons.

What is important is that I did get some things hung up and I have pics to prove it!

so this is the entry way of our house. That's my front door as you can see....

This is that wall you see on the left in the above pic. This is not what use to be on this wall but these things were in the living room.

This is behind the front door. It is little hooks that I hang guests' coats and purses on.. It used to be on the wall opposite, which is right in the opening of the door. I decided to move it behind the door so that it doesn't get in the way when people are coming and going

This is the wall opposite the mirrors. I have plans to repaint this table. We've had it for years and I am ready to change it. I have an idea that I found on pinterest, but I have to wait until it gets cooler here and I can work in the garage.

OK, this is the wall that you see as soon as you walk in our front door. I know the light is awful but that is what happens when you take a picture of a wall full of windows. As you can see there is nothing on these windows right now. I don't know what I am going to do here yet. The Mr. wants to put up white wood blinds. Maybe, but I think I still need some kind of curtains (even if they are just decorative and don't actually cover the windows) to add softness and color. Since there are two acres between us and our backyard neighbor, I'm not feeling pressured to figure it out.

This is the wall between the front door and the windows. This picture showed me that the TV was off center, so I have since moved it to the right. The framed pics are G Kid originals. E drew the pic on the left, of his cat. C painted the one on the right "G 4 V R" I need to hang something in the middle. My idea is to hang a framed wreath here. I have some frames made of reclaimed wood that I got at an estate sale, there is no glass in them. This is kind of what I am thinking of.....

Up next, this is the wall, opposite the windows, this is where our framed family pics will go. We just had some new pics taken of the boys last week. I am waiting until I get the new pics so that I can figure out a gallery layout for this wall.

I also plan to repaint/redo this buffet to match the table over in the entry way.

This is just to the left of the buffet in the previous pic. The opening leads to the guest bath, the laundry room, and the garage.

This is the chalkboard that I mentioned yesterday. This was a poster frame that used to be in E's room. It fell one day and the glass broke. So, rather than getting the glass replaced, I decided to use chalkboard paint on the back of the frame. This is going to be where I post the dinner menu, stuff we have going on this week, etc. You know the funny part? I don't have any chalk! LOL, I was going to write something on here taking the pic but I found out that my extensive art and craft supply did not include chalk!

And this is the door to our garage, i.e. how we get in and out of our house. I painted it black about six months ago but I don't think I ever posted a pic. I LOVE it!!! It used to be white and I was forever having to wipe it clean.

And finally, here are a few pics that I took with my phone while the kids were getting their pics taken. The two extra kids? That's my niece and nephew. We had pics taken of the four of them for the grandparents' Christmas.

I think they are going to come out pretty cute. Can't wait to see the final results!

Blessings friends!

Tracey

Lots of things that have nothing to do with each other

2013-08-20T19:11:00.001-05:00

There have been lots of things going on here but I am not sure how "blog worthy" they are! :)

I still haven't hung anything on the walls in the living room. It's a long story that involves a laser level and my ignorance of its use, and the wonder of spray paint. I am hoping that tomorrow is going to be "THE DAY" that sees the stuff going back up on the walls.

Today I spent a good portion of the day mixing up cookie dough. The fair is in a couple of weeks and in an effort to be well prepared, I made all my cookie dough and stuck it in the freezer. I mixed up oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip, and sugar cookie doughs. Once the fair gets here, I will post the recipes for you. I can't do it before then just in case the competition is reading this and steals my recipes!

The boys go back to school on MONDAY!!! I cannot believe that the summer is over---I swear they just got out of school a few weeks ago. We have all the school supplies, the new tennis shoes, and some new shirts. I am praying that they both have wonderful teachers, friends in class, and a successful year.

I have a new bread recipe. Made it today and it is tasty! If you enjoy baking your own bread you should give it a try. Here's the link.

I'm ready the "Wheat Belly Cookbook" I'm considering making us wheat free. I just need to see how difficult it is going to be to get wheat free ingredients. Have you tried this?

I have read so many books this summer. It has made me remember two things (a) how much I love to read and (b) summers when I was a kid and would walk to the library and come home with as many books as I could carry. Some of my favorites this summer have been: Inferno by Dan Brown,
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. I know that there are more but I can't remember any more titles right now! Right now, I am reading Clockwork Princess which is the prequel to The Mortal Instruments. My oldest wants to see the movie that comes out in a couple of weeks and strongly recommended the books to me, so I told him I would give it a shot. I'll let you know how it is--I'm only a few pages in right now so I can't give you a critique.

I'm making a large chalkboard to hang near our garage door. I hope to get it hung up tomorrow, I'll post pics when it is finished.

Blessings friends!
Tracey

The IDEA vs. the REALITY

2013-08-13T19:28:00.000-05:00

The idea is that as I wash clothes, I put the items that need to be ironed into a basket in my closet. Once I get 3 or 4 items in the basket, I will iron them. This is a good idea because (a) I am not going to pull out the ironing board and all the other junk I need to iron for one shirt and (b) if I do my ironing when there are just a few things to be done, it doesn't take long and is not such a burden.
Great idea huh?

Here's the reality....

I'm a bit over the 3 or 4 item idea, as you can see. And this is what happens every time. I always start out with good intentions but I seem to let this basket get to overflowing before I actually do anything about it. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have been without summer pants for over a month. Yes, every pair of capri and crop pants I own is in this basket and has been for over a month (probably closer to two months now). It's a good thing that I have a lot of maxi dresses and that I don't have to get dressed for anything that calls for more than yoga pants on most days.

Anyway, this was one of the projects on my list that I needed to get done before the kids went back to school.

A little over an hour later, this is what it looked like....

2 shirts for the boys, 4 shirts for me and 12 pairs of pants. It's like I have a whole new wardrobe in my closet! Now, 18 items is a lot to iron but it is not the most I've ever had piled up but it also is not the 3 or 4 I aim for in this basket.

So, if you are keeping count, that is 3 projects that I have gotten crossed off my list. Yay!!!!

Blessings friends,

Tracey

Scorpions! Oh My!!!

2013-08-12T18:49:00.000-05:00

This is number 4. I found him on Friday morning in my bathroom. We get these nasty things every summer. When we first moved into our house, there was still alot of building going on around us so the first couple of summers we thought that was why we kept finding them. But, after 8 years, we still have them every year. And I have had exterminators out every summer, sometimes 2x a summer to spray and dust for them. They persist. So this year, we are going old school----squishing their guts out. Plus the cats are AWESOME scorpion hunters. The last three we squished, the cats found them first and that's how we knew the nasty bugs were there. Good little scorpion hunters!

In other news,

I cleaned up these two junky areas on Friday. Much nicer! The laundry room just needed to be tidied up. Especially the shelves!

The closet is now the home for all my fabric and almost all my craft supplies. I am still working on getting the rest of my craft stuff in there. I just didn't want to work on it anymore!

This is what the "office" looks like

Yeah...I know. That will be next on my list. Maybe tomorrow. Lord help me!

Blessings friends,
Tracey

Downton Revisited

2013-08-09T20:17:00.002-05:00

What the heck PBS?!?!?! Are you trying to kill me? The new season isn't set to start here until January and you're already showing the Revisited special? It's just WRONG!!!! And MEAN!!!! And just CRUEL!!!!!

Ooooo, I see, if I give you $200 you'll send be season 4 on DVD. That's is just dirty pool PBS!!!!

Just for that, I'm going to order it from Amazon!

Blessings friends,
Tracey

I gotta get my act together

2013-08-07T19:45:00.002-05:00

The kids go back to school in three weeks. Which means in three weeks I will start getting calls to substitute up at the school. And while I do have the freedom to decline jobs that also means I decline getting paid. So I really, really, really, need to tackle some projects that I had told myself I would get done this summer. And of course, I have NOT gotten said projects done. What is up with that?

I don't think of myself as a procrastinator. In fact, if anything, I am the person that tries to get as much done in advance as I possibly can. So why, when it comes to projects during the summer, is it so easy to put it off until I am practically out of time?

And I always start out with such good intentions. I make lists. I make plans. I consider options. But I don't actually do that thing that needs to be done. Let me give you some examples.

We have a closet over by our laundry room. I have been planning for months to empty it out, reorganize it and store all my craft stuff in it. I avoid looking at the door every time I walk by it.

I NEED, not want, NEED to get in E's room and finish organizing it and get some stuff out of his room in preparation for the painting that will be occurring in there soon.

And don't even look in our "home office" which is actually our "home storage/dumping area" Looking at this room makes me understand (a little bit) how hoarders slip down the slippery slope.

I have registered for the fall consignment sale that I participate it twice a year. I have most of my stuff that I am consigning already gathered up in one place. But I have yet to start entering the items in the computer or getting anything tagged. Despite the fact that after the spring sale I swore I would not wait til the last weekend like I did last time. Yeah, I'm a bit liar.

And what is really puzzling to me---it's not like I am avoiding these projects to lay by the pool or read a book. No, I avoid these projects and clean house, or mow grass, or peruse Pinterest (OK, maybe that what is more procrastination) but what is that?

So...here's what I'm gonna do to motivate myself. I am committing to 2 projects a week and I have to write about it on here for accountability.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do----unless I start avoiding my blog, or kill 4 hours on Pinterest.

Blessings friends!
Tracey

I'm depressed

2013-08-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

I am not kidding when I tell you this. I really am feeling blue.

Why? You ask....

Summer is almost over....and I am sooooo not ready for school to begin.

I know that some of you are reading this and thinking "WHAT?! Are you out of your mind?! I can't WAIT for my kids to go back to school!! You are crazy lady!!!"

Let me explain.....when school starts back up I have to pack lunches again, and face the pick up/drop off line every day, and do homework every night! Not to mention the daily battle each morning to make sure that everyone is dressed and out the door on time. It also means that I have to start cooking supper again. Because the kids won't be home at lunch so I can't continue my summer method of cooking lunch and having everyone fend for themselves at supper time. And start paying better attention to bedtimes. And go back to work!!!

I just don't think I can face it. I'm not ready!!! How can it possibly be August already?!!? There has to be some kind of mistake. Please don't make me pack a lunch!!!!!

Blessings friends,
Tracey

Goodbye chocolate! Hello rain drop!!!

2013-08-05T18:54:00.001-05:00

I've posted pics of our living room before. But I don't want to look for any of them now. So here is a pic of the chocolate colored walls before we started priming them.

Let me back up a second. Tuesday, I took everything off the walls, filled all the nail holes, and swept and washed down the walls.

Wednesday, I painted all the trim---two coats of white.

Thursday, the Mr. was back in town so we did all the taping off. Then we started priming.

Two coats of primer---on the living room, entry way, area around the coat closet and the hallway from the garage. After the day we spent priming over the red in the family room back in the fall, and then priming over all of this brown---it is going to be one heck of a wonderful color to ever get me to paint another room a dark color. We started working on the taping off at 7:00 on Thursday morning. We weren't done until 5:00 p.m. My back and hips and arms were so dang sore! And we still didn't have any paint on the walls!!!

Friday we were up and at it at 7:00 again. We thought we would be done by noon. Hahahahahaha! I'm not sure if we are crazy or stupid! We also hoped we were going to be able to get by with one coat of paint. Umm, yeah, not so much. We finished painting about 3:00 on Friday.

Saturday we were able to move all the furniture back, get the switch plates back on the walls, etc.

And here is the new color---rain drop! I haven't hung any pictures back up yet. Now that the holes are all patched and the wall are all painted, I don't want to hang anything up until I am certain where I want to put stuff.

And check out my corner lines....

Oh yeah baby!! Those are some nice corner lines. No bleeding there. Yes, that does make me really happy. :)

Now, I have to figure out where to hang the pictures and we have to get the new blinds for the windows. And, unfortunately, the office has three brown walls and one red...and I want to repaint. Yes, there is more priming in my future. But it's going to be a while. I just don't want to see another can of paint or roll of "Scotch blue" for a little bit.

Oh, and E wants his room painted. And C NEEDS his room painted. And all the doors need to be painted....I guess I know what I'm doing in a few weeks when the kids go back to school.

Tomorrow, we are back to recipes!

Blessings friends!
Tracey

Chicken parm and apple pie

2013-08-04T18:58:00.003-05:00

I've never made chicken parm before. Out of the blue, C asked me if I would make it for supper. I looked over some recipes and then set out on my own..
Mr. G got me the pre-cut thin sliced chicken breasts so I didn't have to pound them flat. What a time saver!
I set up two pie plates, one with a beaten egg and the other with some seasoned panko crumbs and a bit of flour (about a TBS). Set your pie plates near the stove so that you can coat your chicken and put them right into the pan. Heat a couple of TBS of olive oil in your pan. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper then dip in egg then coat with bread crumbs. Put in the pan and brown on both sides. do this for each piece of chicken. Remember you are not cooking the chicken through--you are just getting the crust crisp and brown.
In a baking dish, pour a layer of spaghetti sauce (I used a jar of my homemade stuff). you just need enough to coat the bottom of your pan. As you take your chicken out of the frying pan, place them in the baking pan. Once all your chicken in in your baking pan pour some more of your sauce on top to cover. Bake in the oven at 350. This is when your chicken is going to cook through. Bake for about 15 minutes, then sprinkle your remaining bread crumbs on top. Bake another 10 minutes. Then add shredded mozzarella on top. Leave in the oven long enough for the cheese to get melted and bubbly. I served it with some fettuccine noodles and broccoli. A hit with all!

Apple Pie

I got this one from the King Arthur website. The crust is really tasty. But, my filling looked a lot wetter then the picture on the website. I will need to keep working on this to get the filling right. I used green apples. Maybe I need a different kind of apple.

here's the website.

Blessings friends,
Tracey

Sourdough Starter

2013-08-03T16:44:00.003-05:00

I was looking around on Pinterest today--cuz that's what I do---and I found this recipe which called for a bread starter. I really didn't know anything about starters, except the one for Amish friendship bread that I think everyone has heard of at some point.
Anyway, I followed some links, checked out some different sites, and I am making a sourdough bread starter today.
If you are interested in trying one of your own, here are the recipes that I am going to use. I am going to start with the King Arthur one.
If you have any info or have tried a starter before, I'd love any tips you might have.

King Arthur Flour
Red Star Yeast

Blessings friends!
Tracey

Just letting you know, I'm still here

2013-08-02T19:57:00.001-05:00

Sorry, I know that I haven't written all week. The Mr and I have been painting the living room, foyer, and two small hallways connected to these areas. It has been a MASSIVE job!!! Mr. G was out of town Monday thru Wednesday. So I had to do all the prep.
On Tuesday, C helped me move all the furniture to the middle of the room, then we took off all the switch and plug plates, took everything off the walls an pulled out the nails, patched the nail holes, swept down walls and baseboards and then washed down the walls and baseboards. What a job!
Wednesday I painted all the trim.
Thursday Mr. G and I did all the taping off. And then put on two coats of primer. We started at 7:30 in the morning. It was 5:00 in the evening when I got in the shower. We were sooooo tired!
Today we were in the home stretch. We put two coats of paint on the walls. We just finished removing all the tape and paper. We still need to put the switch plates back on, rehang the stuff, and put all the furniture back.
This is the project that never ends!
I'll post pics later this weekend when we have it all finished.

Blessings friends!
Tracey

You say it's your birthday!

2013-07-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

Today is Mr. G's birthday. And while it is not a fair recipe, I do have a cake recipe for you.
Mr. G LOOOVES pineapple upside down cake. His birthday is just about the only time I ever make it (it's not one of my favorites, and one of the benefits of being the baker is getting to choose what you bake.)
Any whozits...here's the recipe....

Spray a 9x13 pan (or I did a 10" round cake pan and then had extra batter to pour into some cupcakes).
Pour the juice off a can of pineapple slices into a measuring cup. You are going to use the juice to mix up your cake batter so don't throw it away!!!
Lay the pineapple slices out in an even layer at the bottom of your pan. Place a maraschino cherry inside each pineapple ring. Set your pan aside, you'll come back to it in a minute.
In a pan on medium heat, melt a stick of butter with a cup of brown sugar. Stir until all the butter is melted and the sugar mixture looks smooth. Pour over the pineapple.
Mix up a regular yellow cake mix. Use the reserved pineapple juice in place of the water required for the mix. If you don't have enough juice you can either top it off with water or, you can open a can of pineapple tidbits and add additional juice. Add the required oil for the cake mix and the required eggs. If you opened a second can of pineapple for the juice add the pineapple into the batter. Mix it all up until smooth then pour over the brown sugar. Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean---mine took about 45 minutes. Let cool. Run a butter knife around the edge of the cake to separate edges from the pan. Invert onto a serving platter. You shouldn't have any trouble getting the cake out of the pan, between the non-stick spray and the stick of butter, it should slide right out.

Mr G and the boys say it was AWESOME!!! Enjoy! :)

Blessings friends!
Tracey

Cookies and corn bread

2013-07-26T13:36:00.001-05:00

Sorry, I know that I said I would be working on a recipe a day. Things got busy around here!
Wednesday I did the work of five men, or one mom! I cleaned house, did laundry, worked out, weeded the flower beds in our front yard, mowed the front and back yards, cleaned the pool and made lunch! I was worn out come 5:00 and there was going to be no time or energy to bake anything or post on the blog.

So, you get two recipes today! One I made yesterday and one I made today for lunch.

Up first sugar cookies! The recipe can be found here.
There are a million sugar cookie recipes out there but I had seen this one some time ago and just hadn't given in a try. This one is really good, and they even seem better the day after they are baked. I would make a couple of changes though. 1st, the recipe says to but the baked cookies in the fridge and chill them before icing them and then serve immediately. The guys and I each tried one cookie this way and we didn't care for them. The cookies were really hard and crunchy after being in the fridge. And I've told you before that my boys don't care for crunchy cookies. I had only put a few in the fridge, so we tried another cookie that hadn't been chilled and we liked these MUCH better. Unchilled they are soft and the taste of the cookie seems to come through more than when they are cold. Today they are still nice and chewy and soft. I went ahead and iced them all and they are still great.
The other thing I would change is the frosting recipe. It calls for 2 pounds of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of milk. Now, if you have ever made frosting you know that is a HUGE amount of liquid for a frosting recipe! After reading that I did not follow the directions. Instead, I creamed the butter and sour cream together and then I added in powdered sugar until it was the right consistency (I probably ended up using about 3/4 of a pound). I had more then enough to frost all my cookies and still had left over frosting--probably enough for another dozen cookies. I can't imagine how much frosting I would have left over if I had followed the recipe!!! This does make a lot of cookies. I got 5 dozen out of the recipe and they are big cookies!
One last thing, the recipe said to bake for 8 minutes until they were just starting to brown at the edges. My cookies took 12 minutes to reach this stage. Just keep checking on them
Definitely recommend this one for you to try out. :)

Next is honey cornbread. The recipe is here.
My boys looooove corn bread. I like it BUT it has to be moist and I like it to be kind of sweet. This one fits the bill in both areas. it has a nice sweetness but doesn't taste like honey and it is moist. Despite checking with a toothpick, mine was still a little underdone right in the center so I would probably bake it for another 5 minutes or so. The boys really liked it and it even met my picky standards.

Blessings friends!
Tracey

French bread

2013-07-23T18:56:00.001-05:00

Today my assistant (E) and I made French Bread as a possible fair entry in the "yeast loaf---white" category.
Here is our finished product....

And here is the recipe (before I forget)

This was good. It was crusty on the outside, but not so chewy that your jaws were getting a work out. Nice and soft on the inside. It would have been great buttered but I stuck with plain since I'm counting calories and each one matters! I got two loaves out of the batch. I brushed olive oil on top before baking and on this one I sprinkled a little kosher salt on top. The Mr. liked the salt on top but I would probably leave it off next time because I thought it was too salty. I think is a contender for a fair entry.

In other news, look who got their new glasses today....

They took this of themselves while I was making dinner. They are pretty pleased with their new specs. :)

Don't know what is up for tomorrow's baking. E wanted to try out some brownies but I don't know if I have enough cocoa powder for that.

Blessings friends!

Tracey

Oatmeal Cookies

2013-07-22T18:21:00.003-05:00

Today's "fair possibility" recipe is for oatmeal cookies. After reviewing several possible recipes this is the one that we (me and lil' E) made today.

Our review: They stayed soft and chewy after they cooled. That is a BIG plus in our family. None of the boys like crisp, crunchy cookies. They have a nice sweetness and texture. I would definitely reduce the salt though. Even though it was only 1/2 a tsp you can definitely taste it, sometimes too much. It was a super easy dough to make. It makes about 3 dozen cookies. I think it would be even better with the addition of coconut or toffee chips. My kids didn't want any of these in them though....sometimes cooking for kids curbs your creativity! :)

Blessings friends,
Tracey

I think for tomorrow's recipe we might try some bread!

The fair is coming! The fair is coming!!!

2013-07-21T19:11:00.001-05:00

Last year after the fair, I decided that this year I would start planning earlier. Last year, I really didn't plan much in advance, and so I had some recipes that failed and I had to figure out a Plan B. After that I had promised myself to get an early start this year.
Yesterday I got on the fair website and printed out the different categories. I have A LOT of recipes that I have been pinning on Pinterest for the last year. But I haven't tried many of them out yet. Which means that I need to be baking!

Today I started with a coconut chess pie. It was super easy to make. And it had a good taste, I just don't know if it is "fair worthy." Also it doesn't call for a crust and I don't know if that would cost me some points.

But, you might want to try it out. So here's the recipe: Impossibly Easy Coconut Pie

Bake one up and let me know what you think.

I'll have a new recipe for you tomorrow.

Blessings friends,
Tracey

Summer science fun and that chocolate zucchini cake

2013-07-15T19:30:00.000-05:00

So, I noticed that somehow I neglected to actually post the link to the chocolate zucchini cake in my last post. It is AWESOME!!!! Really, you cannot taste the zucchini but it is so moist and chocolatey. You should definitely give it a try. Here's the link. Make it...really, it is good, better than good.

Last night it started raining. Praise the Lord!!! The beginning of the summer we got a good bit of rain and our grass was actually green well into June. But since then, things have dried out and we were in desperate need of some rain. We got over an inch last night and it rained off and on all day today. So the boys were trapped in the house. Which brought up the dreaded words "I'm bored."

Time to break out an activity. E decided that he wanted to try elephant toothpaste.

Can you tell that he had fun? Yes, he does own shirts and he does wear them. It just happens that he doesn't usually wear them when he is doing art or science projects. This was lots of fun for him. He made two batches and then played in the bubbles for about an hour. Here's the link if you want to give it a try.

Blessings,
Tracey

It's zucchini time!!

2013-07-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, friends---it is that time of the summer when the zucchini is come in by the baskets. And they are HUGE!!! My usual go to is zucchini bread. (recipe here) but, thanks to Pinterest, I have found a couple of new recipes to try out.

The first is baked zucchini fries. They are soooo good!
Line a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 400.
Wash your z and cut off the ends. Cut the z in half length wise and then cut each side in half across the width. Slice each quarter into thin French fry sized pieces. Crack one egg into a dish large enough to dip the zucchini. Whip the egg up with a fork. In another dish, pour in 1/4 to 1/3 cup of seasoned panko crumbs and some grated parmesan. (If you can't find seasoned panko crumbs, you can do 1/2 panko and 1/2 regular seasoned bread crumbs)
Dip a few z fries in the egg and then roll in the panko. You are using a small amount of panko because it will get gummy from the egg. Add more panko to the dish as you need to--I usually end up using a total of about a cup of crumbs.
As you finish coating each fry in the crumbs, lay it on the baking sheet. Make sure that are in one even layer, no overlaps. When your tray is full put it in the oven and bake until browned and crisp. This takes about 10 minutes in my oven but time may vary for you. Eat hot from the oven with ranch dressing on the side for dipping. :)
The link to the original recipe is here.

This next recipe we haven't tried yet. It was on the schedule for today but other things took priority.
So, little E and I are planning on whipping it up tomorrow. I will let you know what the boys think of it. It sure does look good! Chocolate zucchini cake

And that's it for today. :) If you have any good zucchini recipes, please send them my way. I've got a bounty of the stuff!

Blessings friends!
Tracey

Super easy peanut butter treats

2013-07-09T15:15:00.004-05:00

These are super easy, super fast, and super yummy. I usually only make them in the summer. They are no bake and really very little work. E and I just whipped up a batch and it took us about 10 minutes, start to finish, and that included clean up. E did all the measuring and the scooping. I did the cooking and mixing.

Peanut Buttery treats

1 c. sugar
1 c. light Karo syrup
bring to a rolling boil

Remove from heat and add:
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla
4 c. corn flakes (I use rice krispies but you can use any plain cereal)

Mix together & drop by spoonful onto wax paper. Cool & eat.

Our scoops were good sized (probably a full rounded soup spoon) We got about 3 dozen out of our batch. The boys and I have already eaten 6!!! Enjoy! :)

Summer is tiring!

2013-07-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

I know that I told you that we would be organizing and cleaning on Monday and that I would post some pics. But, we are tired! Last week was packed full and the weekend was overflowing!

So yesterday, instead of cleaning and organizing, we did some super important errands---we had to get to the library to return some books and pick up some others that we had requested; we had to go to the bank, the car wash, and fill the 5 gallon water tanks for our dispenser. Oh, and we had to get to the grocery store. That was actually the most important one because we had no food---well, we had canned food but you know we were missing things like milk, eggs, bread, fruit. Just the stuff we eat every day. :)

And ramen noodles. which in my kids' minds are the MOST important thing! Seriously, they are so ready for college because they could eat ramen for every meal, day after day. They ate it for breakfast this morning!!!! I know---its gross.

I also ran by Lowes and picked up five gallons of paint. Mr. G and I are gearing up to repaint the living room, foyer, and office. All of which are currently chocolate brown. It has taken me three tries but I finally decided on a color, it is a pale gray color. I think it will go great with the blue and yellow I already have in the house. I'm not sure when we are going to start painting, but we had to get the paint yesterday because it was the last day to get the rebate on the paint. I'll post a pic when we get this project done.

Anyway, after running all our errands we headed home so I could do 4 loads of laundry. After that I was pretty done for the day. The guys were lucky that I got it together to make tacos for supper.

Today hasn't been much better. I did make beds, I worked out, took the kids for a swim, and made lunch. I'm rolling around the idea of making some bread and possibly cleaning my bathroom. Or, not....we'll see. Once we get something of interest done, I'll take a pic for ya.

Blessings friends,
Tracey

4th of July treasure hunting

2013-07-07T21:12:00.002-05:00

I did not take one single picture of my kids this holiday. I KNOW, I am likely an awful mom. But you know every year I seem to get these smoky, dark pics instead of the great firework shots of the kids with sparklers, etc. So this year I just didn't even try.
I do have some pictures of some things I made though!

First up, a little flag jello.,,

The blue layer has crushed pineapple. The center layer is cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar. The red layer has strawberries and the top is cool whip. This picture really doesn't even show how cute it came out. BUT, I really didn't care for the taste of the blue jello. Ick! We are definitely a red and green jello family. :)

Next, a red white and blue fruit salad....

Sliced strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and a little orange juice to keep the bananas from turning.

For these cupcakes, I used the new Wilton baking bits. They are kind of like sprinkles but they actually melt into whatever you are baking so they don't leave a crunchy bit behind. These were nothing fancy, just a white cake mix (with an added cup of sour cream) and the Wilton bits.

Somehow I didn't get a pic of the cookies. They also had the Wilton bits and then I melted some of the frosting that I made for the cupcakes and drizzled it over them and added regular red, white and blue sprinkles. I cut them into sticks (about 1/2 inch wide and about 3 inches long) they were very good. The recipe was from Pinterest and you can find it here. I used an entire regular cake mix and then just doubled the rest of the ingredients. It made a LOT of cookies! But they all got nibbled up. :)

Then yesterday, we went treasure hunting! I got the CUTEST things!!!

The round thing in the cart is going to live on my back porch and hold plants. And I am in LOVE with my little wagon/wheelbarrow!! I have been wanting one to fill with flowers and add to my back yard. I think I am going to put some plastic in the bottom to keep it from rusting out, layer some bricks on the bottom, and then set potted plants on the bricks. I am so excited about this!!

And these two little cuties are actually bird feeders. I am going to hang them in the trees for decoration. I don't know if I am actually going to fill them with bird seed or not. :) But I sure do think they are cute. :)

Up tomorrow, some pics of newly organized areas. :)

Blessings friends!

Tracey