Crockpot Extra Cheesy Squash Casserole! We are in the season of squash! It seems that this time of year I have it coming out of my ears! But, I love it so the fact that I have boxes and boxes of it is a good thing! As some of you might have read I have been focusing my dinners around the slow cooker here lately. It just seems that every day I have so much going on that I can't keep up. That is why I love these crockpot recipes. They help me feed my family without much thought or effort going into dinner! With all this squash on hand I decided that I needed to come up with an idea to make squash int he crockpot. This is something I had never done before but I was excited for the challenge of coming up with a recipe! The recipe that I decided to try to make was an Extra Cheesy Squash Casserole! My husband is NOT a fan of squash but he loves cheese so I was hoping that if I added enough cheese he would overlook the fact that there was squash hiding in … [Read more...]
Simple Homemade Applesauce AND It’s Freezable!
Simple Homemade Applesauce AND It's Freezable! We can now officially say that it is Fall. The leaves are turning and the fall festivities are starting up and my house is smelling of pumpkin spice and cinnamon. I love this season and everything that goes along with it. One of the things I have been doing is making a simple applesauce with my husband's 92 year old great grandmother. She has taught me more about life than I ever have imagined. She has helped form me into the belief that if you can make it yourself then do it because it will save you money and also be much healthier for you as well. I love that our projects we do involve my kids as well. They help take the apple peelings to the compost and helped mash the apples through the sieve. It becomes moments that they will cherish with their great great grandmother more than they realize now at their young age. This is what makes this "more" than easy..it makes this memorable for all. We start off with a simple and … [Read more...]
Baked Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob
Baked Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob I am a lucky girl. I have Sweet Corn all around me in the fall and I can't get enough! There are farmers selling it on every street corner for just $0.25 each and with that price I make sure to stock up on enough Sweet Corn to last me the whole year! I love how versatile Sweet Corn can be. I put it in my salads, soups, salsa, I bake it, BBQ it and boil it on the stove! It's amazing! This past week I had some Sweet Corn given to me and I decided to try something I had never done before...I added Chili-Lime to my Sweet Corn! It turned out amazing! Ingredients: 4 ears of Sweet Corn 2 TBS butter 2 TBS fresh lime juice 1TBS chili powder 4 sheets Aluminum Foil Directions: 1. Mix Butter, lime juice and chili powder together. Divide into 4 equal parts. 2. Husk corn 3. Place Husked corn in sheet of aluminum foil. 4. Spread divided butter mixture onto each ear of corn, evenly. 5. Wrap … [Read more...]
French Onion & Parmesan Slow Cooker Pork Chops
French Onion & Parmesan Slow Cooker Pork Chops My life is hectic and no matter how hard I work it just seems that I get farther and farther behind. Between housecleaning and running the kids all over town, I have no time for gourmet meals anymore. That is why for me and family simple is best at this time. On those crazy days my slow cooker comes in handy. I find myself using it more and more here recently and I must say we have had some pretty amazing slow cooker meals this week! One of those meals was my French Onion & Parmesan Pork Chops! They turned out simply amazing! My family honestly could not get enough! Ingredients: 4 Pork Chops1/2 stick butter1 cup water1 packet French Onion Soup mix1 medium onion diced2 tbs dried parsley 3/4 tbs granulated garlic1 cup Parmesan cheese Directions: 1. Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Can you believe that they are really that simple? Just toss in the … [Read more...]
Roasted Garlic Jelly Recipe! #recipe #jelly #garlic
Roasted Garlic Jelly I am a garlic lover. I add garlic to everything. I mean EVERYTHING! So when I came across this recipe for Roasted Garlic Jelly it was a given that I would try it out! I could not resist....even though the thought of Roasted Garlic Jelly sounded disgusting! I found this recipe when I was looking for canning ideas for all the garlic I received from my Grandmother. I had never heard of Roasted Garlic Jelly before and I was actually shocked that someone had ever thought to make it into a jelly. But, after trying this out I know that I will be making it much more often! It was amazing! Roasted Garlic Jelly is not something that I would eat on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But I loved it on crackers with cheese. I can't wait for the holidays to share my Roasted Garlic Jelly with all my friends and family! It is going to be great served as an appetizer at our holiday meals paired with cheese and crackers! I can't wait! Ingredients: 3 heads garlic … [Read more...]
~Healthy Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns Kids Halloween Snack!~
~Healthy Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns!~ Great Kids Halloween Snack! We happen to love Halloween at our house! We always have fun thinking all year long of what we want to be dressed up as and our whole family gets into it. It's a night where you can let your imagination go free and be whoever or whatever you want to be with no one judging you or thinking you are crazy as you walk around getting candy! (well, now I stand on the sidewalk and allow my kids to be the ones getting candy, but you know!) As shocking as it may sound to my children, Halloween isn't ALL about candy & dressing up, ok possibly 95% but that other 5% is about finding fun ways to incorporate Halloween in a healthy way so we can stretch out the fun feeling of the holiday! These healthy Halloween jack-o-lanterns are the perfect way to show some Halloween fun PLUS get some fruit in for the day! Here is what you will need - Oranges (however many you are wanting to … [Read more...]
9 Layered Summer Salad!
9 Layered Summer Salad! Salads are my most favorite thing to make. I love the mix of all the fresh vegetables that can be added to a salad and the taste of a salad is out of this world in my opinion. Especially if the salad is made right! For the past few years when ever there is a potluck I am always asked to bring the salad. It is the one thing that I always seem to get right when it comes to cooking! Super simple and delicious! Ingredients: 16 oz bagged salad mix1 bundle radishes diced1 small purple onion diced6oz frozen peas6 oz shredded cheese10 oz cherry tomatoes 16 oz baby corn diced1 4oz container bacon bits16 oz artichokes drained and diced Directions: 1. First I start off the salad with 1-2 handfuls of lettuce out of the bag mix. Of course you will want to make sure your hands are clean ;) You will also need to layer this salad in a see through bowl so that you can really see the effect of the layers. 2. Next I layer the sliced … [Read more...]
~Edible Pencils Make The Grade! ~ Fun Healthy Snack Idea for Kids!
~Edible Pencils Make The Grade! ~ I always had a fun time trying to figure out what fun healthy snack I was going to take to my kids' kindergarten class when it was my turn and these Edible Pencils got an A+ because everyone loved them and my kids always loved the extra attention they got because their mom brought a fun snack! But really, it's string cheese with a twist, it took a extra time yes but was it worth it? Absolutely! My kids are past kindergarten now and they STILL talk about the fun snacks I always took to school to share! Here is what you are going to need to make these adorable edible pencil snacks! Ingredients: String Cheese (I used two types) Bag of Bugles Package of thick cut Bologna (Turkey) Small Box of Raisins Cream cheese or Mustard for the "eraser" to stick Directions: 1.) Set out the cream cheese to soften - Decide how many Pencils you will be making and start making the circles with the meat. I used a clean … [Read more...]
~Kid Friendly Tomatillo Salsa! ~
~Kid Friendly Tomatillo Salsa~ Both of my kids love chips & salsa but unfortunately at restaurants the salsa ends up being just too spicy for them to enjoy. I have purchased store bought mild salsa's but it just doesn't have the homemade feel to it which is why I was excited to try my hand at making my own fresh tomatillo salsa! We are currently house sitting so we have the advantage of taking care of someone's garden and they have tomatillos which is what inspired me to do this! Tomatillos are a sweet almost citrus twist to the tomato we know. Which is why I knew my kids would like this salsa because it's already sweet and tangy. Tomatillos are considered a fruit just like the red tomato but they are grown inside a paper like shell similar to a husk. I found out quickly that when you take the husk off, the tomatillos are sticky so make sure to wash them after you husk them! My daughter and I actually did this project together so she was in control of … [Read more...]
Braised Celery Recipe! #recipe #cooking #celery
Braised Celery! I am not a huge fan of celery. But, I have been trying to eat it more often because I know it is good for me. I also know that I can't make my daughter eat the healthy stuff if she see's me push it to the side...right? So since I have had a dislike for celery since I was a child I have been trying to focus on different ways to eat it that I might actually like. That is when I came across a recipe for Braised Celery. Celery is not a vegetable that I see cooked a lot unless it is in a soup. But, I had never thought to cook it as the main ingredient in a side dish. I was intrigued when I seen the Braised Celery recipe and I knew that I had to give it a try. Ingredients: 1 bundle of celery (about 10 stalks) - I chopped the whole stem 1 cup water 1 beef bullion cube 1/2 medium onion sliced 1 tbs butter 1/4 tsp garlic salt cracked peppercorn to taste Directions: 1. Wash and chop celery. 2. Add celery, onion and … [Read more...]
Italian Zucchini Boats Recipe! #recipe #cooking #dinner
Italian Zucchini Boats I love this time of year. Why? Because its harvest season which means lots of fresh vegetables! Recently I was given a bag filled with zucchini. I love getting fresh produce because it gives me a chance to try new recipes! One of those recipes that I decided to try out with my fresh zucchini was these amazing Italian Zucchini Boats! Someone posted a picture of these on my facebook page the other day. I did not really have a recipe for them per se.....but they did not look too hard so I knew they were worth a try. Ingredients: 3 medium zucchini 1 thinly sliced tomato 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil 1/2 sliced medium white onion Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degree's F. 2. Wash and slice zucchini in half length wise. Also slice a THIN piece off the bottom of each Zucchini to allow them to sit flat. 3. Place zucchini on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. 4. Remove … [Read more...]
Canned Roasted Garlic Mustard!
Canned Roasted Garlic Mustard! As most of you know my Grandma is an avid gardener. Her garden is bigger then any garden I have ever seen and because of this there is always enough fresh fruits and veggies for the whole family to enjoy! A few weeks ago my Grandma sent me home with a garbage bag filled with garlic. I had the intention of just pickling all of it and canning it. But then I got to thinking that there was probably some really amazing recipes around the internet that contained garlic. Boy was I right! I found so many amazing ideas! One of my favorite ideas was a recipe at Local Kitchen Blog. It was a recipe for Roasted Garlic & Lemon Mustard. I had never thought to make my own mustard before and the addition of roasted garlic and lemon made this recipe intriguing to me. I knew I had to give it a try! Ingredients: 3/4 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds 1/2 cup brown mustard seeds 3 heads garlic - … [Read more...]
Garlic and Onion Sauteed Swiss Chard
Garlic and Onion Sauteed Swiss Chard I have had Swiss Chard coming out of my ears here lately. I am not complaining as I love Swiss Chard. But I can say that I have had to start getting creative with my Swiss Chard cooking. Well that was until I came up with this awesome recipe. Now I can honestly say that I have ate this same exact recipe every day for an entire week! It has been the perfect lunch and oh so tasty! Another bonus to this recipe is that my husband will eat it! This is the first Swiss Chard recipe that he has actually like! Now I can't get enough! Ingredients: 2 cloves garlic diced 1/2 medium red onion diced 1 tbs olive oil 3 cups swiss chard Directions: 1. Add olive oil, garlic and onions to frying pan. Sautee on medium/high heat about 2-3 minutes or until garlic and onions caramelize into a golden color. Stir often so garlic does not burn. 2. Turn down heat to low and add Swiss Chard. Cover pan and cook 3-4 minutes stirring between each … [Read more...]
Canned Plumcot Barbecue Sauce Recipe #recipe #cooking
Plumcot Barbecue Sauce I am the first person to try new things. Recently I was able to score a huge bag filled with Plumcots. This was my first experience with Plumcots and besides snacking on them every day I was excited to try out some new canning recipes. As I searched the internet I had a hard time finding recipes that contained Plumcots. That is when I decided to get a little creative! I decided to find a couple of Peach Canning recipes and try out those recipes using Plumcots instead of Peaches. The first recipe that I made was some Plumcot Barbecue Sauce! I honestly did not know how this would turn out......but I can now say that it is amazing! Yum! The Plumcot Barbecue sauce is sweet and tangy and goes great with Chicken and Fish! Ingredients: 6 cups chopped Plumcots 1 diced red bell pepper 1 diced yellow onion 1 head crushed garlic 1-1/4 cups honey 1 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp hot pepper flakes 2 tsp dry … [Read more...]
Homemade Miracle Cure for Diaper Rash!
Brandie's Homemade Miracle Cure for Diaper Rash! Having my first baby was the most amazing thing I had ever done in my life. I was in heaven, he was perfect! And then we went home. He would not nurse, he was crying nonstop and it seemed nothing could be done. Along with being colicky he developed horrible diaper rash. It would get so bad that his poor bum would bleed. I tried Desitin and A&D ointment and Boudreaux Butt Paste and even milk of magnesia. Nothing seemed to work. I went to my pediatrician and she suggested mixing the Desitin, A&D ointment and milk of magnesia together to see what would happen. It was a miracle! I slathered it on as thick as I could and by the next diaper change I could see major improvement. The key to mixing these three things is getting the right Desitin. The one in the purple tube has the highest amount of zinc oxide and that is what you want. Just the normal tube of A&D works great and I always get the Philips brand of milk of … [Read more...]