Cake Batter Oreo Bars

I made this recipe to take to a church event. I found the original recipe online and didn’t have all the ingredients. So I substituted and they were SUPER good! Here’s my version.

Maple Granola

This recipe was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe I found online. It it so amazing. I’m not sure it is healthy so I try not to use too much. A heaping tablespoon of granola is such a fabulous addition to yogurt.

• 3 cups oats (I used the non-instant, bigger pieces.)
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (non-packed)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 molasses
• 1 t vanilla
• handful of raisins (about 1/2 cup)

Combine oats, sesame seeds, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well. Meanwhile, on the stove, combine maple syrup, brown sugar, coconut oil and molasses at low heat. Stir until everything liquefies and combines. Add the vanilla, stir and pour over oat mixture. Stir well to coat.
Transfer mixture to baking sheet. Spread it out and bake at 300 degrees for about 38 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Add the raisins during the last 8 minutes of baking.

Yum.

Pumpkin Pie Filling Muffins

I bought two large cans of pumpkin pie filling around Thanksgiving. I was supposed to buy plain canned pumpkin. Oops. I decided to find a pumpkin muffin recipe to make using the filling.
I couldn’t find one that called for pumpkin pie filling. They all required plain canned pumpkin. So I had to adapt a recipe to use the pumpkin pie filling.

Maybe you bought the wrong canned pumpkin product, too? Try these muffins. They’re really good.

Summer Panzanella Bread Salad

Do you have lots of tomatoes? I actually don’t, the deer ate them, but the few I do have I used in this delicious salad. I’ve never made a bread salad before, but I recommend it. (Since writing this post, someone generously gave me a LOT of tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce!) 

DIY Easy Dill Pickles

I had no idea it was so simple to make pickles. I really like pickles. Not the sweet ones. They have to be dill. And my 4 year-old loves them, too. No canning required. (Even though I would love to learn to do that.) 

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Lately I have been enjoying some frozen strawberry lemonade, courtesy of our very own blender. I like it on the tart side, so if you want it sweeter, add a little more sugar.

10 frozen strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh or form a bottle)
1 cup water
2 1/2 T sugar
8 ice cubes

Put all the ingredients in the blender and process til smooth. Makes about 3 servings.
This is a far cheaper than going to a coffee shop for a frozen drink!


Places I have linked:
Or So She Says, Train to Crazy, Tater tots & Jello,  Merry Messy Life, Sugar Bee Crafts, Reasons to Skip the Housework,  The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely, 504 Main,Serenity Now,  Fingerprints on the Fridge, I heart NapTime, Classy Clutter, A Glimpse Inside, Somewhat Simple, Gingerly Made, Serenity Now, Today's Creative Blog, The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Stories A to Z, CraftyScrappyHappy

Latest Favorite Recipes: Part II (and tips for cooking with ginger root)

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my latest favorite recipes. I’m always trying new ones, so I figured I’d share a few that have been especially great.

First of all, two of these call for grated ginger root. Don’t use the dried stuff from your spice cupboard. Buy some of the whole root at the store (in the produce section) and put it in your freezer. Then remove it, don’t bother thawing it, and finely grate it as you need it (try and remove most of the brown covering first.)

Grilled Spinach Pizza

One thing that my husband and I like to make in the summer is grilled pizza. Unique? We think so. I posted about making basic pizza on the grill a few years ago here.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie Recipe

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. That was never something that sounded very tasty to me. However, a few years ago, I tried making a rhubarb-strawberry pie. And it is surprisingly good!

Coffee Smoothie Recipe

Coffee. I look forward to drinking it in the morning.

We grind our own coffee. Because of this, if we have leftover coffee in the mornings, I don’t usually want to throw it out. So I started saving it by freezing it in ice cube trays and then putting the frozen ice cubes into freezer bags.
This morning, I experimented with this recipe for a coffee smoothie.

8-10 ice cubes of brewed coffee
1 cup milk
8 oz plain yogurt
1 heaping teaspoon cocoa powder
1 banana, peeled
pinch of sugar

Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. You could use vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt.

Please note, I drink my coffee black. If you typically add sugar to your coffee, you should make this smoothie with more than a pinch of sugar. 


Places I have linked:
Or So She Says, Train to Crazy, Tater tots & Jello,  Merry Messy Life, Sugar Bee Crafts, Reasons to Skip the Housework,  The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely, 504 Main,Serenity Now,  Fingerprints on the Fridge, I heart NapTime, Classy Clutter, A Glimpse Inside, Somewhat Simple, Gingerly Made, Serenity Now, Today's Creative Blog, The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Stories A to Z, CraftyScrappyHappy

Latest Favorite Recipes.

What is something many of us have to do every day? Cook. Feed our families. I’ve made a few new recipes over the past several weeks and wanted to share some of my favorites with you.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I found this recipe a few years ago in Taste of Home magazine and made these truffles. They were amazing and I recently made them again and had to share the recipe.

Hot Chocolate Mix (Holiday Gift Idea)

I made these cute little jars of hot chocolate mix for my MOPS friends. I wanted to get my three-year old involved in the mixing and filling of the jars, but he declined. However, these would be a great project if young child was willing to participate. As an added bonus, it uses upcycled baby food jars. You've probably got a ton in your basement, right?

Healthier Macaroni & Cheese (Contains Vegetables!)

My boys love their mac and cheese. And my oldest loves vegetables in most any form. He’s truly an amazing eater. But my youngest won’t touch vegetables except the occasional (fresh, in-season) green bean. Not frozen. So…I have started hiding vegetables in our macaroni and cheese. And it isn’t really ‘hiding’. I don’t lie to my family. I tell them what’s in it. But they eat it anyway. And the one who turns up his nose at most veggies is only 15 months old.  And so far, he thinks it’s just mac-n-cheese and eats it with no complaint.
So. Let me tell you how I hide veggies. Specifically cauliflower, butternut squash or carrots.

Easy Two Ingredient Pumpkin Bars

Two ingredients. Yummy pumpkin bars. I am not the inventor of these things, but I think they're great. Heard of them? Make some. Read on.

Random Things & Lentil Soup.

Looking for the tutorial I just posted on making a tote bag?

In other news:
Lots of things have made me laugh this week. Which is great. Some funny things I want to tell you:
-I ordered nine [yes, 9] different pairs of boots. I really want a pair of brown ones. None of them fit. If I was on Instagram, I would show you a picture of the boxes stacked up by the door, waiting to go to the UPS store for return.  To three different websites. I have really narrow feet and the boots were all too wide. (Off topic, but have I mentioned that I don't even text? I know, I'm outnumbered!)
-I found a half of a peeled banana in the diaper bag. It had been there for about 3-4 weeks and somehow I had not noticed.
-Someone ended up getting poop on the [light colored] living room carpet. In just a few spots. It was a diaper malfunction. Good thing the little guy is so cute.
-I shattered a glass in the dishwasher and required shopvac-ing it out. I dislike getting the shopvac out of the garage. I think I should’ve just mounted it in the kitchen.
So I want to share an easy recipe that we had this week. It was super tasty and really easy to prepare. It is from a Healthy Cooking magazine. I slightly adapted it.

Got Tomatoes?

Make some fresh tomato sauce to enjoy over some pasta!

4 large tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 cup basil, chopped

2 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

1/4 t freshley ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced 

Combine all ingredients and gently toss. Serve over freshly cooked pasta and top with some sort of tasty, freshly grated cheese. 

Quinoa Salad: Recipe

Quinoa is a great thing to have in your pantry. It is a seed, not a grain, and is gluten-free. This salad is a great way to incorporate it and in-season veggies. It is really easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled

1 cup chicken breasts, cooked, chopped and cooled

1 cup frozen or fresh corn, cooked and cooled

1 large tomato or 15 cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, minced

dressing ingredients:

2 limes, juiced

1/3 cup olive oil

salt & pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar

Mix the quinoa, chicken, corn, tomato, bell pepper, and cilantro in a large bowl.

Mix dressing ingredients together and pour over salad.

Serves about 4.

Have you cooked with quinoa before?

Frosted Shortbread Cookies

You can't judge a recipe by its title. Meaning: I wasn't too excited to make shortbread cookies. But these are amazing. 

I made these cookies last week for a church function and received more than one request for the recipe.  I thought I'd share it with all of you. 

Pesto Sauce Recipe

I love basil. Pesto is made from basil and often tops Italian-style dishes at restaurants. You can buy it at the store, but I’ve found it is expensive and usually very oily. I’ve made it a few times and wanted to share the recipe! Mine was made using my Vitamix Blender,but you can use any type of blender or food processor.