Breakfast of Champions

99.9% of the time, my children are forced to eat cereal for breakfast.

But at least it looks like this!

Growing up, my mother would NEVER let us eat sweetened cereal.

If we got a treat, it was LIFE cereal.

My sister and I vowed that we would be super cool parents and let our kids eat cereals like Fruity Pebbles and Capn' Crunch.

And now, when I ask my 10-year-old what cereal he would like for breakfast, he asks for Cheerios with a banana.

What?

Gingerbread House

This year I paid a little more for the house that was already put together.

The only way to go.

The kids only had to decorate.

Unfortunately, #3 felt that he wasn't getting enough opportunities with the icing and candy bits.

So he pouted a little bit and did Legos instead.

Looks awesome!

Sugar Cone Christmas Trees

The sugar cone Christmas trees went great.  We used canned frosting with a few drops of food coloring.  I gave each kid two cones and a plop of frosting with a plastic knife.  Then I put an assortment of sprinkles in little bowls.

Here's what we came up with:

Christmas Goodies

Christmas goodies are a comin'!

I've got quite a few ideas from Pinterest and can't wait to get started.  First up is this!

Sugar Cone Christmas Trees

We are making them Saturday night!

Pumpkin Muffins

Seriously, I didn't think these would be any good.  Man was I wrong.  These were amazing!

Pumpkin Muffins

Only 2 ingredients!  And somewhere on that site, I read that they are only like 3 points for Weight Watchers. I think that's good?

Football Cupcakes

Yes, I'm pretty awesome.

#5's Birthday Cake

I made #5's birthday cake for her 3rd birthday.  Here is the pic.  It was a box mix and I added a capful of almond flavoring to the batter and used 4 eggs instead of 3.  For the frosting I used Paula Deen's recipe for buttercream.  It was super yummy but not great for cakes.  (Wilton's buttercream recipe is just perfect for cakes.)  I got the edible image from a cake store nearby and the name is from those sugar sheets you can get at Hobby Lobby.  I won't do that again unless I have a Cricket to actually punch out the letters for me.  Goodness.

I just found this pic.

I'm not sure if I already posted about it or not.  

From #5's b-day back in August.

Apple Pie

The other day a friend presented me with a huge bag of Gala apples, straight from the orchard!

Apple Pie for all.

Crisco pie crust recipe, sliced apples topped with a lot of cinnamon.

That's it!

Halloween Goodies

This year we made a few goodies off of Pinterest!

Candy Corn Marshmallows

Ghost Pop Twinkies

Spiders!

Boo Mix!

Also, before heading out to trick-or-treat, I made Ghost Dogs.  These are hot dogs wrapped in a Pillsbury breadstick and baked according to package directions.

Super Yum - but no pics!

October Goodies

I love Pinterest for so many reasons and one of them is because I have about 25 different goodies to make with my kids.  I'm getting started this weekend!  Spook Mix, Mummy Dogs and freak pudding are up!

You may not know, but if you have an abundance of boys in your house, they really like things to be freaky and gross.

The older 2 just aren't too into pumpkins and the occasional happy jack-o-lantern.  I love making these goodies (and crafts too) around Halloween because it gets my teacher fix filled.

Fried Squirrel

Over the weekend, my oldest 3 boys went hunting with their Daddy and Poppy.  Of the several things they managed to kill, one was a squirrel.  Sweet.  Thankfully, Poppy cleaned the squirrel and then sent it home so I could cook it up.  Last night, I did just that.  I didn't get a picture and I so wanted to!  I tossed the pieces in flour, salt, and pepper and then fried it like chicken.  There was so little meat on the bones, the boys had to chew around to even get a bite.  My oldest said it perfectly when he described eating squirrel:  if I was stranded in the forest and needed to eat to survive, I would eat a squirrel.  I bet it would taste better then.  And I bet he's right!  I'm not interested in cooking squirrel again, thanks.

Pinterest Recipes

I've been trying some pinterest recipes lately!

Here are a few I've tried:

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
This one was awesome and yummy.  If I made it again, I would use less butter.


White Queso Dip
I'm a huge fan of the white cheese dip we eat at our local mexican restaurant.  I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out because it calls for atypical ingredients.  But we were pleased, it was great!  It's thick - more like a dip.

Bean and Rice Burritos
These were good - I used brown rice.

Clean Banana Bread

As the kids are getting back into the swing of school, homework, practices and bed, I am going to try harder to make time to blog.  I have a lot of pictures, foods, stories and rattling to do post about!

Food:

I'm still not what you call a clean eater (check out Misty's blog) if you want to know more about it!

But I did make some CLEAN banana bread the other day!

1/2 cup butter at room temp (I used FAGE)
1 cup sugar (I used organic raw)
1/2 teaspoon salt (sea salt)
2 eggs (farm fresh)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour (I used organic whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 ripe mashed bananas


Mix the butter, sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla together in a bowl with a spoon or whisk.  Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together (i just sift it right into the bowl with the other stuff).  Mix with spoon.  Add mashed bananas.  Mix it all up together really well and pour into greased loaf pan (I used Pam).

Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

Delish!

Billy Bob's Dairyland

I decided to post today about this favorite restaurant of ours in Branson, MO.

It's called Billy Bob's Dairyland and it is heavenly.

We first stumbled upon it about 8 years ago during a weekend get-a-way.

We'd started going to Branson to celebrate our anniversary 2 years prior to that and had had a terrible time finding good places to eat.  Some of you might think that is crazy talk because of all the restaurants in this town but we must be picky (not really).  However, since this was our anniversary celebration, we were looking for something like Ruth's Chris to eat.  We spent the first two years eating at every restaurant that looked nice/good.  Disappointed every time.  We found ourselves twice at Sonic because there you at least knew what you were getting.  We also ate a few meals at Cracker Barrel (which we love but we can eat there anytime).

So, this one lonely night of looking all over for a place to eat, we stumbled upon this little diner on the corner of the strip and another street.  The parking lot was packed (a good sign).  We knew there was no place like Ruth's Chris and thought maybe good diner food would be suffice.  We had to wait to find a seat and wait to get our food (they make it fresh).  While we waited two different important looking people came in to get food to go.  Upon further eavesdropping, we learned they were picking up food for big name performers.  Must we pretty good, we thought.

We both ordered the cheeseburger basket and chocolate shakes.

Every burger is made by hand and is 1/2 pound.  They are cooked on a griddle, the buns are toasted on there as well.  The fries are wavy cut and perfect.  The shakes are made old-fashioned.  We were in heaven.  We ate there twice that weekend.

Now, ever since that night, we eat there at least twice every time we go to Branson.

Usually lunch both days.  We started taking our kids with us about 4 years ago.  They love it too.

They like to order the chicken strips, foot-long hot dogs, onion rings and grilled cheese.  They also love the sundaes and twist cones.  

We go there often enough, the regular workers are beginning to remember us (always a good sign).  We have "our booth" too.

I have a shirt that says Billy Bob's (I'm a dork).

About 5-6 years ago, Branson changed the path of the Strip and Billy Bob's was set to be torn down so they moved their little joint.  Now it sits more toward the north end of the Strip, same side of the road as Dixie Stampede, next to a Phillips 66 gas station.  

Please visit the next time you go, you won't be disappointed!

(and they don't take credit cards...only cash or check).

Clean Blueberry Muffins

So...I'm not really what you would call a "clean eater."  I'm more of a healthy-when-I-want-to-by kind of eater. But lately I've given more thought to what I put into my body.  A friend of mine has started a clean eating website and posts recipes that she's tried in her home.  I'm not quite there where she is, but I've taken a few baby steps.

This morning I used Ina Garten's recipe for blueberry coffee cake muffins.  I subbed in a few things:

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

1 1/2 sticks softened butter (I used one stick salted ((all I had)))
1 1/2 cups sugar (I used organic pure cane sugar)
3 extra large eggs (I used 4 of our farm fresh)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream (I used one cup FAGE)
1/4 cup milk (I used 1/4 cup almond milk)
2 1/2 cups flour (I used organic whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I used kosher)
2 half-pints blueberries (I used some that we picked earlier this summer)

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Use muffin liners or spray with cooking spray.  Using electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time.  Then add vanilla, sour cream (FAGE), and milk.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add that to mixer bowl.   Fold in blueberries.  Scoop batter evenly into muffin pan (mine made 16).  Bake 25-30 minutes.  Mine took 25 and then I let them cool about 10 minutes.

And guess what?  Not only were they delish, I didn't have to feel very guilty about eating one!  My kids loved them (though I avoided the word "healthy" as my boys tend to categorize that word up there with shots and homework).

**These were about as "clean" as I could get for my household.  I'm sure there are cleaner routes but as I've said before, baby steps.


Here's Misty's website:

www.cleanformyking.blogspot.com

http://clean4myking.blogspot.com/

4th of July Goodies

Well I thought I'd not managed to take pics of the goodies I made from the 4th.

But surprise!  I remembered that I'd taken some quick pics right before everyone showed up.

I posted on my other blog that I had to scramble to find 4th of July themed things at Wal-mart a couple of days before the 4th.  I did not have any luck with that and had to dig deep to come up with something.

A Pinterest idea.

Do you know how hard it is to find blue sugar sprinkles?

Everyone else must have made these this year or blue sprinkles are almost extinct.

Vanilla cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting.

Topped with blue and red sugar and a little flag toothpick (thanks Mom for giving those to me last year).

Another Pinterest idea.

Sugar cones dipped in white chocolate, topped with blue and red sugar.

I'd hoped to top them with actual 4th of July sprinkles...but none to be found.

Next year, in May, when I start seeing 4th of July stuff, I will buy it.

Geesh!

Garden Tomatoes

One of my favorite summer treats!

Thankfully, my tomato plants are beginning to get loaded down with tomatoes.

Most are still green, but I found an early red one!

There's something about garden tomatoes.

I am repulsed at any other kind.  Oh and I like them warm from the sun.

Maybe it's the whole refrigerated thing that makes my skin crawl?

Refrigerated = not home grown?

I don't know but I only eat BLT's in the summer and only put tomatoes on my burger in the summer.

Blueberry Pancakes

Often I find myself saying "why re-invent the wheel?" when I think about pancakes.

Bisquick is a great little invention and I use it all the time when making pancakes.

This time I added some of our fresh blueberries and a little bit of almond extract.

Delish!

Blackberry/Blueberry Cobbler

Blackberry Cobbler

Over at my other blog, you can the most recent post about picking blueberries with my 5 kids.  We have so much that I found myself scrounging around for recipes I could sub blueberries in for blackberries or other types of berries.  So, I used my favorite P-dub recipe for blackberry cobbler but subbed in the BLUEBERRIES instead.  Outstanding!!!

P-Dub Cowgirl Quiche

Well I can't find the link to this little slice of heaven.

The recipe is in P-dub's new cookbook.

Here's what's in it:

16 oz white mushrooms, sliced

2-3 leeks

2T butter

8 eggs

1 1/2 cups cream (I subbed FAGE)

2 c. grated swiss cheese (I used a little cheddar and parmesan)

s/p

8 thin slices prosciutto (I used ham)

Lay the mushrooms on a cookie sheet and roast at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Slice leeks and let soak in a big bowl of water for 10 minutes or so.  They are grown in a gritty type soil and this will allow the grit to fall to the bottom of the bowl and the leeks to float.

Melt butter in large skillet and saute leeks 8-10 minutes until starting to brown.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the cream/FAGE.

Then add in the mushrooms, leeks and cheese.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pour into a piecrust that you put into a tart pan.

Bake 45 minutes at 400 covered loosely with foil.

Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more.

Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

I used a simple pie crust recipe that was perfect for a quiche.

It was 2 cups flour, 1T sugar, 1 tsp Salt, and 2 sticks butter.

Process it all in your food processor and then push down into your tart pan.

This dough was a bit sticky and had a sweet shortbread taste.

I loved it!

Protein Shakes

Shake Recipe

For any of you who have always wondered about protein shakes...I have found the light.

There is a shake place in our little town that I love.  I love the hundreds of shake flavors offered, love the people who work there, love the aerobics classes offered there in the wee morning hours.  And for a short while I got My Man to start going and getting a shake for his breakfast (instead of a Snickers and Coke from the gas station).  It was great but not great for the wallet.  I was determined to start making my own.

I have a friend who owns a health food store in a nearby town and talked to her about a good protein powder.  She suggested a whey powder with 25 grams of protein per scoop.  It's perfect for me and for My Man.  Great for My Man because he's the size of Hulk.  Great for me because I have hypoglycemia and have to have loads of protein in the mornings or I am comatose and pass out.

I started out just blending the protein powder with skim milk and maybe a banana or some frozen strawberries.  Soon, I was finding all kinds of concoctions online.  The recipe link I posted is one I use quite a bit.  I use a different protein powder than the "V" brand.  I'm planning to get a huge bag of whey protein at Costco next week as I recently heard there is a good quality kind there.

Give it a try!

Pinterest: Raspberry Wine

Raspberry Wine

Okay, I really can't remember the name for this drink I made the other day but it was really good!  I think it was a raspberry spritzer or something like that.  All I know is two glasses had me almost falling out of my chair asleep.  It was super easy to throw  together and I plan to make it all summer long!

Pinterest: Country Club Chicken

Country Club Chicken

This is another gem from Pinterest.  It was delish - rave reviews from all of my kiddos too!

I served it with some arborio rice I needed to use instead of the spaghetti noodles but I'm sure it would have been even more of a hit if I'd used the pasta.

And you might be wondering why I haven't been using the pics I take myself (the dark/yellow/blurry ones?).  I tend to think the pic from the Pinterest sight is much better.  Why try to re-invent the wheel, ya know?

Pool Side Dip: Pinterest

Pool Side Dip

Made this the other night for a BBQ.  It's amazing!

P-Dub Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes

This recipe if from Pioneer Woman.  I wanted to try it out because she gushed on and on about how wonderful her sloppy joes were.  And they were good, don't get me wrong.  But honestly, we probably liked the canned stuff better (Manwich).  Our pallets are so "pedestrian."

Vegetable Risotto

This is so yummy!  It's a recipe that I can't get the link to upload (sorry) so I'll try to describe it!  You heat 2 cups of chicken broth in a small sauce pan.  In a skillet you sauté mushrooms until tender and then set aside on a plate.  In the same pan you sauté an onion in some olive oil until tender then add 1/2 cup arborio rice.  Let it toast around a bit and then add 1 cup of the warmed chicken broth.  Once the liquid is absorbed (cover and let simmer about 12 minutes for this to happen), add some chopped asparagus and 1/4 cup broth.  Let liquid absorb again (this time uncovered and stirring).  Add 1/2 cup frozen peas and the rest of the broth.  Stir and stir over low heat until most of liquid is absorbed.  Add back in the mushrooms and the juice of one lemon.  Remove from heat and also add some fresh basil, 1T butter, and lots of parmesan.  Salt and pepper to taste.  It was sooooo good!

Potatoes Cooked in Cream

The other night I made this recipe from Cook's Country magazine.  You dice red potatoes and cook them in cream.  Yes cream.  Then as the cream soaks into the potatoes, you turn up the heat a bit and add salt and pepper and continue to cook until the potatoes start to brown.  Amazing.

Bacon

You may not know this but I cook bacon several times a week.  We go through about 2 pounds?  I have a bacon cooker that you can use in the microwave and I have a big iron skillet for the stovetop.  I recently began hearing about cooking bacon in the oven.  Novel idea.  You can learn about it here.

This oven idea is great if you use store-bought bacon (Black Label is my favorite).  But if you use fresh bacon, which we have about 15 pounds of, this is not a good way.  Fresh bacon cooks much faster and requires a lot of attention lest it burn.  So, I prefer to cook fresh in my iron skillet.

Ridiculous Dessert: Pinterest

So...I haven't posted any recipes in a while and for that I am sorry.  I know you wonder what in the world we eat on a typical day and I promise I do feed my children.  However, these past couple of months have been such a whirlwind of school and sports that I literally flung food into their mouths and then we were rushing off to one thing or the next.

I did make this recipe the other day and, mercy, you must try it too.

Ridiculous Dessert

Apple Nachos (Pinterest)

apple nachos

Like I said the other day, I don't typically make dessert during the week but when I saw this Pinterest recipe, I knew I could call it dessert when it really might qualify as a fruity side dish.  I didn't use the nuts but did use homemade hot fudge and homemade caramel sauce.  I think the apples were Gala and I definitely used the mini chocolate chips!  The kids devoured them!

Pumpkin Pie Bars

I don't typically make desserts during the week but when I was cleaning out my pantry the other day, I realized I had a can of pumpkin in there that hadn't been used from the holidays.  So, I used another Pinterest recipe and made these pumpkin pie bars.  Seriously, I could eat pumpkin anything all year long.  So could my #1 child.  We love anything pumpkin!  (I did a graham cracker crust instead of the nuts because of my #3's allergy).

Bean and Rice Burritos

There was a day last week that I realized I'd forgotten to plan a dinner for.  I don't know about you but I have to plan each meal that I'm going to cook, buy the ingredients and stick to the plan.  If I don't, I end up using ingredients that I shouldn't and then wind up needing them later.  By the end of the week, our fridge is bare and so is the pantry.  So, here it was, Friday night and I'd kind of changed up the menu that week.  What I'd planned to cook I realized I'd used the ingredients in other stuff and now didn't have what I needed.  And of course, I didn't realize this until about and hour before My Man was to be home and we needed to be eating dinner.  So...this brings me to this Pinterest Recipe.  Man, what would I do if I didn't have Pinterest to turn to in a pinch?  I had all the ingredients I needed and it was a cinch to make.

Babycakes Corn Dog Nuggets

These were super yummy!  And very easy - the kids gobbled them right up and I did too!

Chipolte Knock-Off

Chipolte Knock-off

Oh yummy!

Pinterest: Zucchini Fritters

Made these yesterday after church.  While my boys ate french fries with their grilled hamburgers, My Man and I ate these zucchini fritters.  Super yummy!

Pinterest: Enchiladas

Cream Cheese Enchiladas

Neva's Lemonade

I'm so glad I have such fond memories of my grandmothers.

One of the memories that I often think about on warm summer days (or when it's 85 degrees in April) is the lemonade I used to help my Grandma Neva make.

I have vivid memories of sitting at her kitchen table with all the ingredients out next to me.

She told me to make the lemonade.

I asked how that first time and she just said to squeeze a lot of lemons into the pitcher, pour in some water and then put in a lot of sugar.

Really intricate, right?

Well, that's how I like my lemonade and that's how my kids like their lemonade.

Water, lemons and sugar.

Pork Chops, Apple, and Grits

This was a recipe from P-dub recently.

It was sooooo good!

I had no idea that I liked grits until now!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/08/pork-chops-with-apples-and-creamy-bacon-cheese-grits/

Quinoa - Who Knew?

Southwest Quinoa

I feel like I missed the boat on this stuff.  It's a lot like rice and you can put it with just about anything and it takes on that flavor...much like tofu only not nearly like tofu.

I couldn't stop eating this recipe.

Southwest Quinoa and Burritos!

Last night I made this and this.

Both were really really good!

This week is a crazy busy week with sports and sports and sports all in the evenings.  I am using up leftovers on Monday and Tuesday.  Hoping to make some Pinterest recipes later this week!  My daddy brought me a huge bag of fresh asparagus and I'm going to roast it using this recipe tonight!

Pinterest Recipe Week

Last week I made some Pinterest Recipes...but didn't take pics.  Sorry!

Edamame

Roasted Green Beans

Mushroom Green Beans

Dr. Pepper Brisket

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

All were super yummy except I didn't really enjoy the Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken.  My Man did though!

Easter Cupcakes

My mom got these darling cupcake liners and picks last year on clearance and I could not wait to use them this year!

Just a simple vanilla cake mix.

And vanilla buttercream frosting.

I took the entire tier of cupcakes outside for the kids to enjoy.

And boy did they ever.

and we found a snail while we were out there.

And then it started getting dark and buggy so we went inside for showers and baths.

The End