Keeping it Simple

Temple Grandin

2012-01-30T11:52:00.000-08:00

If you want to see a good, clean movie that your whole family can watch, this is it. It's based on a true story of a girl who had severe autism and the doctors told her mother to put her in a home, but she wouldn't listen. This girl grew up to do some pretty amazing things. Both kids and adults will laugh at the very funny things she did on a daily basis because of her autism. It's a 2 hour movie, but it doesn't seem like it, because it's just so fast moving and interesting.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2012-01-26T06:33:00.000-08:00

I went to a Longhorn Steakhouse with someone a couple of weeks ago and she ordered this dip. I thought it was disgusting. I don't like spinach, or artichokes or mayonnaise. I don't care for cheese unless it's on my pizza. I only eat sour cream if it's in a cake. So the only thing in this recipe that I actually DO like, is the garlic. So I wasn't going to try it, but she insisted. I was glad I did, because this dip is very good! So good that I came home and told my family that I was going to make it and they were ALL going to try it! So if you don't like these ingredients, don't let that stop you from giving it a try! You just might be glad you did. I found this recipe here. They show this dip with crackers, but my family all agreed that it's better with tortilla chips, like the restaurant served it with.

2 cups parmesan cheese
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Mix together Parmesan cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
Combine remaining ingredients and mix with spinach mixture.
Spread in a 9 inch pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips.

For Bosch Users

2012-01-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

I love my Bosch Universal mixer. I went to buy a meat grinder attachment for Christmas and noticed that they had a new attachment for the mixer. This thing is SO nice. It swipes the edges and the center piece so it all gets mixed in well. It snaps on easily and clean up is easy as well. I bought mine from Pleasant Hill Grain. It's really worth it! Here is a short, 28 second You Tube showing how this works.

Committed to Serve

2012-01-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to a revival and heard an excellent sermon. He preached out of Job 15:13 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. As small children, as in the picture above, if our parents told us to jump, we just did it. We didn't think about our parents letting us fall and get hurt. We trusted them. God lets many things come into our lives that we see as bad. They hurt us. They are hard. But just as Job said, we need to purpose in our hearts that no matter what this world has to throw at us, no matter how hard or hurtful it is, that we are going to trust God and serve him for all of our days. There is NO better life than what God has for us. We just need to trust him in everything.

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

2012-01-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law told me about a restaurant that served these potatoes and they loved them. So she began to experiment and find a way to make them. We tried them tonight and the whole family loved them. They are very creamy but not cheesy tasting.

3 pounds whole potatoes (Peeled & Cut into 1 by 1 cubes)

4 TBS butter

1 cup half & half

3/4 cup grated parmesan

1 TBS salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Boil potatoes until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and mash.

* I didn't have half and half, but I did have whipping cream, so I used half whipping cream and half regular milk and they were good.

One of My Favorite Pans

2012-01-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this pot! I have a nice set of stainless steel pots and pans, but I was always needing one that was in between sizes. So I went looking and found this one. It's the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless Steel 5-1/2-Quart Multi-Purpose Pot with Glass Cover. I love that it's stainless steel, it's the perfect size for extra green beans when having company, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, a pot of soup, it looks good enough to just set on the table when you're ready to eat AND the price is right. It was just $26. It has a glass lid so you can see what's going on inside too.

Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cake Recipe

2012-01-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

My oldest daughter received the Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible for Christmas. So yesterday we tried her red velvet cake and it's the best recipe I've tried for this cake.

2 c canola oil
2-1/4 c sugar
3 eggs
One ounce bottle red food coloring
2 tsp. vanilla
3-1/2 c plain flour
1/4 c cocoa
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 c buttermilk
2 tsp. baking soda
1 TBS vinegar
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 3 nine inch pans.
Put the oil and sugar in a mixer bowl and mix until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the coloring and mix slowly. Then add vanilla.
In another bowl mix together the flour, cocoa and salt. Beat one third of the flour into sugar mixture. Add half the buttermilk. Continue adding the rest this way. Place the baking soda in a small dish. Add the vinegar. With the mixer running, add this to the batter and beat for 10 seconds.
Divide the batter between the 3 pans and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans after they have cooled 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

2-8 oz. Packs cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Optional: Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy

White Steak Gravy

2012-01-02T05:11:00.000-08:00

My family loves cube steak fried with a white gravy over it and this recipe is the best I've found. It's very easy, thick and delicious!

2 cups water
2/3 cups dry milk powder
1/3-cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

In the order given, put all ingredients into blender. Blend briefly on high till smooth. Pour into a saucepan.
Using a wire whisk, stir constantly while cooking on medium-heat till comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Turn down to lowest setting and stir frequently until ready to use.

Why is This My FAVORITE 9x13 Pan????

2011-12-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

This is the Mirro 9x13 baking pan that I use all the time. I love it so much, that I just bought myself a second one, to replace the other 9x13 pan I have. I bought this pan at the local ACE Hardware for just $6.99 over a year ago and I have never regretted it. The sides are straight up and not angled out like most, so it makes a nicer looking cake. The lid is metal as well, so I can put it in the refrigerator and put stuff on top of it, which helps me to have more space in there. It's nice to not have to use aluminum foil and have a nice tight fitting lid. I always use this pan when I have to take something off to a dinner or party. I even take cookies in it just because it has a tight lid and it's easy.

The Best Cheese Biscuits

2011-12-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

We had tried the cheese biscuits at Ruby Tuesdays, but they were too sweet. So I went looking for a recipe and found one pretty close. So I did a little adjusting and we all LOVED the result. We said this was IT. Not too sweet, but delicious.

2 c plain flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1-1/2 tsp. chives
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
2 TBS canola oil
1 heaping cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 – 2/3 c milk

For brushing on top:
6 TBS butter
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, garlic salt, sugar, chives and garlic powder.
Add the cubed butter. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut butter into flour until it is coarse, pea-sized.
Add oil, grated cheddar cheese and enough milk to make a stiff batter. Stir till well combined and holds together.
Make sure to keep adding milk a bit at a time, just until the dough is moistened and you can no longer see any raw flour.
Drop onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-17 minutes in a preheated oven at 400. This depends on how big you make them. I made mine smaller and baked them for 11 minutes.
While biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl with garlic powder and the parsley.
When biscuits come out of the oven, use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Do this a couple of times.

Taco Stix

2011-12-19T03:40:00.000-08:00

This is a favorite at our house. I make it every Christmas. It's good to have something salty besides chips with all the sweets around. I also give this in containers to others as well.
3-- 7oz. Cans of potato stix
2-- 6oz. Cans of French fried onions ( don’t use generic brand, they are too fine and go to the bottom)
12 oz. peanuts
1 pack taco mix
1/3 c melted butter

Put first 3 ingredients in large bowl.
Melt the butter and add taco mix.
Pour over mixture and toss to coat.
It will look like it is not enough but it is.
Spread out on 2 large cookie sheets.
Bake at 250 for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes.

Neti Pot Warning

2011-12-17T04:24:00.000-08:00

For those of you who use the Neti pot, as I do, please hear this warning. I had read earlier this year about a young man dying after using the Neti pot. There is a dangerous bacteria that can be in our pipes, that is not harmful to swallow, but deadly if it gets lodged in our nasal passages. Only 1 person has ever survived after having this. Since reading that this summer, I only use distilled water in my pot now. It was in the news today about another woman who has died after getting this from using her tap water in the neti pot. You can read the article here on CNN.

New Favorite Yellow Cake Recipe

2011-12-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

I had another yellow cake recipe that I have always used, but today I tried a new one and it's even better. It's light and fluffy and it makes a thick cake. I was afraid it'd be heavy, with 2 sticks of butter, but it wasn't. I baked it in a 9x13 instead of layers. It's perfect! I got it here. I used self rising flour instead of plain. I also didn't have enough buttermilk, so I used half regular milk and it was perfect.

1 cup butter
2- 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 -1/2 cups buttermilk
3- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2- 1/4 tsp.baking powder
2 -1/2 tsp. baking soda
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9x13 inch pans. (You read that right, but I used just one 9x13 pan) Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
I baked mine for 55 minutes.

Look How Far We Have Come

2011-12-14T05:19:00.000-08:00

When I was a teenager I can remember wanting to look pretty, especially if there were a young man I was interested in. What happened to that in young girls now? So bad I want to walk up to girls dressed like the ones in the bottom picture and ask, 'Do you think you look pretty in those pants?" Do they even realize what those kind of clothes even say about them? Girls used to look feminine but that is long gone. How did that happen? If you see a young lady that looks pretty or even just well dressed, and I don't mean expensive clothing, but simply clothing that looks feminine, don't just think it, take a moment and compliment her on it. We need to encourage young ladies to care about themselves and be pretty and feminine. Young ladies aren't suppose to look dumpy and thrown away. But all this on the outside is only a clue as to what is going on inside. We can't change everyone, but we can encourage those who are being good examples.

Homemade Pot Holders

2011-12-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me some pot holders made like these a few years ago and I've been stuck on them ever since. They are the right size- no flopping over in the pan as you're getting something out. They are heat resistant- I could never figure out how to make my pot holders actually keep the heat out, but these do. I have a few friends I wanted to give some little thing to for Christmas, so I made up a batch of these. I'm also giving the mail lady a set of these along with some Taco Stix that I always make at Christmas time. I can't forget the mail lady!! I just loved this fabric. I think it's too cute!

A Raw Diet Good for Dogs?

2011-12-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I met a lady who told me she only fed her dogs raw meat, bones and all. I was surprised because I had always heard that chicken bones were bad for dogs, but then she told me that only cooked chicken bones are bad, because then they become brittle. We had had our little dog for about 5 months and he would eat a little dog food and go and eat some later, but never a lot at one time. I came home and read online about the raw diet for dogs and that night I was cooking chicken. So I cut the back up into 2 pieces and gave it to our little miniature dashhound. He ate it up! He didn't stop like he did with his dog food, he stayed and ate it all until it was gone. I began thinking about how dogs love to catch and eat chickens. It's their instinct! God put that in them but men have told us we need to buy the food that is processed for them. So our little dog began eating food he really likes and what he was created to eat. It's been neat seeing what he likes and what he doesn't. When we fed him dog food, we didn't know he preferred anything. But now we know that he hates vegetables and potatoes, but he loves raw sausage and hamburger meat and chicken. Give him any bone and he'll eat it. I also read that feeding your dog a raw diet will also help to keep the fleas away. Just like when we humans eat sugar, it attracts insects through our skin, when a dog eats raw food, it's not appetizing to fleas.

Chocolate Chip Dip

2011-12-09T03:50:00.000-08:00

This is a favorite dip of my kids. We have tried graham crackers but vanilla wafers are the best to dip in this. It's SO easy to make too. YUMMY!!

8 oz. package cream cheese

3/4 c butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c sugar

2 TBS brown sugar

3/4 c miniature semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except the chips and mix until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate. Serve with vanilla wafers.

Lemon Cake

2011-12-07T03:46:00.000-08:00

For a long time I had been looking for a really good lemon cake, made from scratch. I finally decided to take a recipe and tweak it to make it good and this one is just that!!

1 c butter

2 c sugar

4 eggs

3 c plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 c milk

9 TBS lemon juice (plus extra for the glaze)

1 TBS lemon zest

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl cream the sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the milk and flour alternately to the cream mixture. Then stir in lemon juice and the zest. Spoon into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Mix glaze and spread on top.

Glaze:

Mix 3 c confectionary sugar with 1 tsp. vanilla and enough lemon juice to make it the right consistency.

Handy Tools for Cooking With Lemons

2011-12-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

I used to dread cooking with lemons, because it took SO long to get the zest off. The zest really adds the punch to any thing, so I knew it was needed. I had tried several different zesters and they all left me dreading using lemons. Then I read the reviews on this one. I LOVE it. I can just swipe it across the lemon and the zest comes off easily. In a matter of seconds I have a LOT of zest. Then I was at TJ Maxx and saw this lemon juicer. It was just $2.99 and I got it. Now making anything with lemons is so easy. I no longer dread it. My girls will have both of these when they leave home!

Speaking the Truth

2011-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

Last week the girls and I went shopping. We were in the mall and this lady who had a booth in the middle wanted to show me this great product she had, that would make my skin look SO good! She began telling me how my face is the MOST important thing for me to take care of. I only have one face and it needs to be my priority. As she was telling me all this, I thought about what the bible says in 1 Peter 3:3-4 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. You know I sat there, thinking on these verses and thinking I should tell her. I mean, she is telling me what SHE thinks is the MOST important right? So why shouldn't I tell her what I believe is the most important? I mean, I have the most powerful thing in this world on my side: the word of God! But then I thought, "She doesn't want to hear that. She'll just ignore it. She won't care." But then God reminded me that I am NOT responsible for the outcome, I am just responsible for speaking the truth. So I told her that I didn't think the skin was the most important BECAUSE the word of God says the inside of me is what I need to work on. That no matter how good a person looks on the outside, it's the inside that matters. She didn't know what to say. She looked shocked. Maybe no one has ever told her, but I could tell that she has the answer for anything someone says, but she didn't haev an answer to that. So she started up again on my skin. So when she asked me if I wanted to buy her product, I told her again, that God says the inside is the most important and that doesn't cost me anything to do!

You know TOO many times I have sat by and let others tell me what they think and what they believe and I let the devil talk me right out of speaking the TRUTH. If the TRUTH comes to your mind when someone is telling you the opposite, then who do you think is bringing that to your attention? God wants us to speak the truth to counteract those lies the world believes. It's not up to us to make them believe it or to make them change. That's God's job. We are just to be faithful servants and speak the truth. Just like this picture says, Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes. You may be nervous about speaking up, but if you know it's in the bible, then speak it! Even if they disagree, you have the authority of the bible to stand on. What do they have?

The Boll Weevil Monument

2011-11-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

This morning our pastor told us the true story of the boll weevil monument that is in Alabama. In the early 1920's the boll weevils had destroyed the cotton crops in Alabama, which was their livelihood. Well, the emergence of the boll weevil actually forced farmers to diversify. Rather than fight off the weevils, many farmers turned to peanuts, which they quickly found even more profitable. Others began to rotate crops, which increased the productivity of their land. All of Coffey County, Alabama was blessed with an economic resurgence following the boll weevil disaster. So what seemed to be a tragedy, actually was a blessing. Now all the students of Alabama are made to visit the monument on a field trip and to hear the story of the boll weevil. This is the only monument in America that is an insect!
I got to thinking about this story after I got home. I read about it on the internet. The people of Alabama want the other generations to learn what they learned in those hard years. They were thankful for the hard ship that came to them, by way of the boll weevil. I'm sure they weren't thankful in the year it happened. I don't know how many years it took for them to realize that it had been a blessing instead. The children of Israel were lead out of captivity and throughout the bible God reminds them and the people remind the other generations of God delivering them. I know every single person has something very hard in their lives or something very hard that they have had happen to them. Our flesh wants to look on the negative side, ALL the time, but God has a bigger plan. We may not see it this year, or the next, but if we look, we will see something good that came of it. God lets hard things happen to us, to mold us. He never lets things happen to us for no reason or just to hurt us, any more than we do our own children. It doesn't even matter if we ever see or understand the things that happen to us. What is important, is that we thank God for the life he has given us and we live by faith, trusting in a loving father who knows what is best for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. If God told the Israelites to make sure all the future generations knew about how he delivered them and the people of Alabama think it's important for their future generations to know about the boll weevil, I think we should know that it's even more important for us to tell our future generations about how God brought us through our difficult times. Not only does it increase our faith and remind us of God's goodness to us, but it'll increase the faith of those who hear it.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last year was the first time we ever cooked down a pumpkin and made a homemade pumpkin pie. My oldest daughter actually did it. She found a recipe online that they liked, because we didn't know anyone who made one from scratch. Then the other day our family was at a cane grinding and someone made this pie and my husband liked it better. So here is our favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

15 oz. or 2 c cooked pumpkin
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs
12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 pie crust
Mix all together and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 40-50 minutes or until done.

A Great Game for All Ages

2011-11-24T18:56:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours brought this game over and we had the most fun playing it! You put the head band on your head and put a card in it. You don't see what it is, but every one else does. You then have one minute to ask questions about what you are. If you don't guess, the next person asks questions about what they are. The first person to get three cards guessed right, wins. My husband had a jump rope and we all just laughed when he asked, "Am I a food?" "Do I have four fur?" "Do we have one?" Yes, we have one, but he never uses it! It is just so much fun. The box makes it look like a kids game, but we all had the biggest time playing it, and the youngest was 13. Amazon has it, but I'm not sure where else.

Chippy Blond Brownies

2011-11-24T04:14:00.000-08:00

6 TBS butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (Optional)
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and pecans. Spread into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
*You can double this recipe and bake in a 9x13 baking dish.

Russian Tea

2011-11-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

My oldest daughter LOVES this tea. She had a tea party for the widows of our church and fixed this tea and they just loved it. If you are into tea, you might like this.

1 c instant tea
2 c Tang
1-1/2 c sugar
1-3 oz. package lemonade, with sugar
1-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/4 tsp. cloves, ground

Mix all together. Put 1 tsp. per cup of hot water.

Best Cornbread Dressing

2011-11-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

Two in my family like cornbread stuffing, but the rest of us like it made with bread. So I have been searching and searching for a good cornbread dressing recipe. I found this one in an old cookbook and the ones in my family who like cornbread dressing, said it was perfect just as it was. So here it is:

Cornbread:
1 large egg
2 c self rising cornmeal mix
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 c buttermilk
1/4 c oil
2 TBS sugar
Mix all together and pour into an 8 inch skillet. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.

Cornbread, crumbled
6 slices bread
5-1/2 c chicken broth
3 TBS butter
2 medium onions
4 stalks of celery
1/2 lb. cooked, mild sausage
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten

When the cornbread is cooled enough to handle, mix it with 6 slices of bread in a large bowl. Crumble it all up. Add the broth and let it set at least 10 minutes.
Dice up the onion and celery.
Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the onion and celery. Let it cook 10 minutes or until tender.
Add the sausage and cook until no longer pink. Drain.
Add to the bread /cornbread mixture. Add the pepper and eggs.
Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 for one hour or until lightly browned.

Fried Corn

2011-11-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine told me about fried corn a couple of weeks ago, and we've now had it 3 times. This stuff is GOOD. Put a couple of tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a skillet. Add some diced up onions and a little bell pepper. It depends on how much you like of each. Cook until they are tender and then add the drained kernal corn. Cook until it's golden colored, as in the picture. This is SO good!