We like Dessert!!

We made a gingerbread house as a family-the boys, me, Aunt Melissa and Grandma.

It was really fun! These snowman melting cookies were a hit for the kids parties at school-and so fun to make!!

Josh made the most delicious cheesecakes for teachers and neighbors.

For Thanksgiving I was in charge of dessert. Yummy!

Josh also shared cheesecake with us-I really liked this one a lil' almond flavor with a homemade strawberry sauce. Mmmm.

My Speedy Oatmeal Cookies w/ White Beans!

I know, I know it sounds gross. Or at least weird. But my kids and their friends love these cookies, and honestly have no idea beans are in there, so try 'em!

First, take 1/4 cup of white beans and mix them in a blender or even just with a fork. Make 'em mushy, you don't want to think beans when you eat your cookie! You can drain them first, but a little bean juice will help mix 'em.

STIR UNTIL SMOOTH

1 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C Butter Flavor Shortening (Crisco)

1/4 Cup mashed White Beans

1 Egg

1/2 Tsp. Soda

1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1T Vanilla

ADD

1 C Flour

1 C Oatmeal

1/2 C Nuts or Chocolate Chips (or both!)

Stir Until Smooth, Drop by spoonful on a cookie sheet. Bake approx. 10 minutes at a preheated 350 degrees.

Recipe makes 2-3 dozen.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Personally, I like this fat substitute (beans) better than applesauce. They aren't as spongy or moist "sticky" as when I make cookies with applesauce.

A Great Compliment

My son's friend commented while eating dinner with us, "these meatballs are good!"

Orlando quickly explained:

Ya. My mom makes really special meatballs.

Friend:

How?

Orlando:

Well, first she gets them out of there (gesture to freezer) and they are cold. Then she puts them in the microwave until they are warm and then they go on the table!

LOL!!

Later, the friend said he liked my cookies.

Orlando said, ya my mom makes special cookies.

This I can't deny, since they have white beans in them (and the kids have no idea!)

Ask, if you're interested in the recipe.

Just for the "Hail.a.but."

I made fish tonight. I don't make fish. I don't like fish. But in an effort to eat a bit healthier, I tried it once again. I made the marinade, baked it to perfection, and served it on the plates. I tried to talk the kids into eating it. I tried to eat it. About the 3rd bite I got that distinct "fishy" flavor.

Anyway, long story short, Josh is bringing home a pizza. And the upside, the salad I made is fantastic!

My only exception to the non-fish thing is fried Catfish. I guess I'm a land-locked state kind-a girl. Texas being the exception, but even then I was only a few miles to Oklahoma (and I've never seen the gulf of Mexico.) I remember going fishing in Texas for catfish when I was 8 or 9. You drag big nets accross muddy ponds. Really quite disgusting. And I fell into the net, getting cut up in the process.

Ya, me and fish we don't get along.

And I'm okay with that!

If you put in too much butter...

Your cookies might try and slide off the pan!

And when you add more flour, they may stick in the bowl, but eventually....

It IS possible to get them just right! Thanks Mary for having us over!

Pop-Corn and Cauliflower

You really should know:

You can put popcorn in a brown paper bag, fold it over, tape it with skotch tape and then microwave it. I'd use like a 1/4 cup of kernels.

Listen for it so you don't burn it. Then season as desired.

Just thought you might want a healthy inexpensive snack!

Also, you can cream cauliflower like mashed potatoes, just cook it, add some cream cheese or milk, pepper, garlic, whatever you like! Simple and yummy!

This time of year I struggle with eating healthy--what do you eat that is healthy and easy this time of year? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Boo!

I was asked to teach a basic class on cake decorating. That is especially ironic since I don't know that much. Still, I love to decorate cakes for my kids birthdays and I've been wanting to work with fondant again, so I decided in the 7 minute power class (taught 5 times) I would show the ladies how to make a fondant ghost (or something of the sort).

It went pretty well. I learned more about fondant, like buying name brand IS important. (marshmallows and powdered sugar). I also learned how time consuming it is to make and color, plus you need a butter cream icing so it tastes decent.

Overall, I'd call is successful. Hopefully I'll get to work with it again soon!

Marshmallow Sandwiches!

Smores are a summer must and Orlando has decided that Marshmallow Sandwiches is a better name!  Too cute.  So, I have been having some fun with the whole sandwich idea.   Here is the newest yummiest bestest ever:

Nuke the mallow for 10 seconds on a saucer.  Place it on a graham cracker, but first smooth some peanut butter on the cracker and set some chocolate chips down in it.  (B/C who really has chocolate bars--chocolate chips very easy to find-and they don't roll off when in the PB!)  Then add the top cracker and enjoy!  

Let me repeat, layers include

graham cracker

peanut butter

chocolate

marshmallow

graham cracker.

How can that not be good?

What is your latest summer treat?

Crafting for Easter

Here are a few crafty things I did this year for Easter.  I didn't spend much money, and I had fun just using up stuff here at home.

1. The smores in a jar were fun to make and made cute gifts.  For a better picture, go here.

2. Cloth carrots.  I know.  Sorry, no link, just a Lara weird idea.
3. Some weirdo trees.  I know go ahead and laugh...I did!!  They were fun though and I had lots of extra eggs.  
4.  Yummy FHE treats.  The boys loved making these and we shared with our neighbors!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

We really enjoyed St. Patty's day this year!  We made a cool fruit rainbow for our family home evening treat yesterday--complete with the pot 'o gold!
We had red and green apples, oranges, bananas, blueberries, and grapes!  The gold was vanilla pudding for a simple but yummy fruit dip!


The boys got to lay out the fruit and they were just so excited.  Holidays are so fun with kids!  Their milk was green this morning.  Yep, the leprechauns came and turned the milk green...

The boys then wondered if the leprechauns were still in the house and if they were nice.  Ammon loved the green milk (just food color, no flavor)  Lando wouldn't touch it!!  Ivan (as usual) played the middle child and wasn't sure... he drank some with Ammon and refused some with Lando! 

Challah II

Like I said, I've been having fun with Challah latley.    The site Artisan bread in 5 Minutes a day gets me craving home made bread.  I really want their book. Here is the link to their site and if you are looking for this particular recipe it can be found here.  It is made with spinach, feta, and pine nuts.  It has sesame seeds on top.  I coat the bread with egg and then add the seeds.  The egg helps make it a golden brown as well!  The first time I made it Josh and I devoured it!!  Even Orlando said, "Mom, thanks for making a yummy bread.  It looks great!"  The second time was for a baby shower, and I can't wait for another excuse.  Here is a link to a great you tube video on how to braid and do other fun stuff with Challah dough.  Have fun and let me know if you try it! 

CHALLAH

I have had some fun with Challah lately.  These empanadas turned out fabulous and were really fun to make.  I've since also made calazones.  For the calazones I put in my favorite pizza ingredients, for these empanadas I made up a recipe.  Occasionaly I get that brave.  I had some leftover pork, added veggies, hot sauce a heaping spoon full of miracle whip, and a squirt of honey mustard.  They turned out great and the boys like playing with the dough.

Christmas=Food

A healthy Christmas Tree I threw together to enjoy with friends on Christmas Eve. We were thankful to have a fun night even though it wasn't with family.



The Sunday before Christmas we made Christmas pancakes. Snowmen are not pictured, neither are the Santas, but boy o boy, did my boys love this!









Making sugar cookies with friends. Me and 2 friends have 8 sons all 6 and under. The boys each got frosting and enjoyed mixing the colors like paint.



These were new! Peanut butter balls with cranberries and oats, yummy!



We gave these away and they packaged up so cute!


Our Christmas day spread: We enjoyed, fruit, cinnamon rolls, veggies, bread, meat, cheese, etc. That night I asked if anyone wanted me to fix dinner. Lando said, "Mom, it's Christmas, we just eat and eat and eat whenever we want!!"





Don't you just love all the great food Christmas brings?

Lara's Kale Soup

As requested, here is the recipe:

8 C Water
Generous Chicken Bouillon. I used "Better than Bouillon" from Trader Joe's. It took a heaping T.
8 C fresh Kale
2 Cans of Chopped Tomatoes
2 Cans White Beans ( I used Great Northern-Cannellini or even Kidney would work also.)
1 T Olive Oil
1 Small apple chopped
1/2 medium onion
Heaping TB garlic
Dash of McCormick Garlic Pepper (LOVE this stuff)
1/2 TB of Rosemary
Dash or Parsley
Dash of salt as desired
Sprinkle of generic Italian seasoning.

This recipe is a combination of ideas I got on line. So feel free to use what you have--I will say the apple was truly original and the sweetness it added was awesome!
Okay, first heat your oil and add garlic, chopped onion, and chopped apple, cook until onion is transparent.Then add Kale (chopped small and you might want to remove some of the real stemy parts.) Let this cook on low until the Kale is completely wilted.
In a separate pan make a yummy chicken broth. Take the tomatoes and beans (undrained) and mix them with a blender (if you want a creamier less stew-like soup-if you want more brothy soup, don't do this!). Then add this mix to the chicken broth. Add your seasonings. Add the kale/onion/apple/garlic/ mixture. Simmer until you know all the flavors are mixed and eat warm!! This was fantastic! Even Orlando ate his! This recipe could be cut in half, but I made enough to have some for lunches during the week. It also freezes well.
The only thing to count for W.W. points are the beans
2 pts a can
the tomatoes
1 pt a can
one apple (1 pt)
and the olive oil
2-3 pts.
You get tons of soup, so it is probably .5 pts a cup roughly!! And super healthy! Another idea, you could add noodles, potatoes, or rice if you wanted it more starchy. However, I found it surprisingly more filling than I expected.

What is your latest healthy recipe? Please share!

Our Turkey Dinner

Ammon's "age appropriate" Turkey.
Here is Orlando working tediously.

One night in November I didn't want to cook.  It was about a week before Thanksgiving.   I decided to have an early Turkey dinner with all the fixins.  Raisins, pretzels, marshmallows, Doritos (for beaks) choc. chips, etc.  The boys really took this seriously.  I laid my beak flat, but Orlando stuck his right in, giving it more dimension.  Lando also asked for additional "feathers" and covered each one with precision and exactness.  Ivan too worked hard, and Ammon---well, his is more age appropriate. 

Oh, and one day maybe I'll learn how to get fotos correct in my blog posts.  Until then. . .enjoy!