Taking a Break

Trying to admit it to myself that I just don't have time to keep up with this blog.  Taking a break for a while...

A Couple New

Roast in Crock-pot with a can of Dr. Pepper.  Shred the meat when tender and put on toasted rolls with provolone.  Awesome!

Another recipe we had recently was marinated shrimp in lime juice and cilantro.  Then we grilled them - so yum!

Tostadas

Tonight we had my spin on tostadas.

Corn tortillas - warmed in oven until crispy
Take out of oven and spread the following:
canned refried black beans - who knew?
ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning
shredded cheddar
Stick back into oven until cheese melts
Take out and top with:
shredded lettuce
black olives
tomatoes
cilantro

Tomato and Mozz Salad with a Twist

Tomato and mozzarella salad - same as my last post but add a chopped up avocado.  Seriously?  Yumm

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

This is such a classic salad that I have recently rediscovered.  Since I have so many tomatoes right now, I was trying to think of other ways to use them.  We went to dinner at a friend's house the other night and she served a variation of it...which sparked my memory.

I normally slice cherry tomatoes in half.  Dice up the fresh ball of mozzarella.  Add some chopped fresh basil.  Drizzle some EVOO and good quality balsamic vinegar.  Oh and salt and pepper.

I could eat the stuff all day long.  Yum

Fajitas

As I've said before, we are dwindling down in our freezer beef.  Last night I made fajitas and used two soup bone cuts.  I cooked them slow on the stove top and then added a packet of fajita seasoning.  In another pot I cooked bell peppers and onions.  Then added them all together and turned the heat up really high to get a nice crispy edge.  I also hand shredded Monterrey jack cheese and pepper jack cheese for topping the fajitas and to mix into guac.  Oh and made a couple of cheese quesadillas (using gluten free corn tortillas) for the younger two boys.  It was yummmm!

PS - as I was making the fajitas, #5 drug the stool over so she could "help."  She asked what I was making and I told her fajitas.  She responded with, Oh I love mojitos!  Me too, baby girl, me too.

Watermelon!

This year my garden, for the most part, has been producing really well.

We've had an abundance of cucumbers.

Lots of cherry tomatoes.

A few larger tomatoes.

And yesterday, this huge watermelon!

And it was very very good!

Summer Corn

Who doesn't love corn on the cob in the summer?  Sweet corn?  We do!

Italian Roast

Ok- most of my kiddos thought this was too spicy but I didn't.  It was so good!

Arm roast
italian seasoning
large jar pepperocini (sp?) peppers
dutch oven
275 for about 4-5 hours

So easy and amazingly good!

P-dub does this recipe too and I think I blogged about it a couple of years  ago.  Something called "drip beef 2 ways" or something.  This was pretty close to that but easier!

Roast

I am starting to get to the dwindlings of the deep freeze beef.  I can't believe it.  We are out of steak, round steak, beef tips and soup bones.  Only 4 more roasts and about 30 pounds of hamburger.  Tonight we had a roast in the crock pot seasoned with a packet of italian seasoning.  It was just enough.  The kids loved it!  Served with mashed potatoes and green beans.  Just a little leftover for My Man's lunch tomorrow!

Corn Tortillas

Corn tortillas were never on my list of favorite foods until My Man started employing hispanic workers.  Their wives would make tamales for us and over time, I have fallen in love with authentic mexican cuisine.  Like, I totally love it.  Totally.

And now, when I make mexican at home I find myself only using corn tortillas.   And guess what?  My kiddos love them.  And guess what?  They are gluten free!

Last night we had tacos with all the typical toppings.  And two of the boys ended their meal with one more corn tortilla covered in melted cheese telling them they love these things while they wolfed them down.

White Wine Mushroom Chicken

I kind of made up a recipe last night - but nothing original just something I threw together.

Saute chicken breasts in olive oil.
In a separate pan, cook mushrooms in olive oil for about 20 minutes.
Add some white wine to the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.
Add two cloves of crushed garlic to the mushrooms.
Salt and pepper.
Then add some cream and butter to the mushrooms.
Then put chicken breasts into mushroom mixture and simmer about 10 minutes.
Serve over pasta - wheat free pasta if you want.
Very yummy!

Steak Fajitas

I made fajitas last night.  I've made them quite a few times before but no one would ever eat them besides My Man and I.  However, a couple months ago we took the kids to a mexican restaurant for dinner and told them they needed to order something that was not chicken strips and fries.  One ordered a taco, one ordered fajitas and two ordered cheese quesadillas.  (Little Miss still got to order chicken strips).

Everyone liked what they got and I gushed and made a big deal about the fact that they were growing up and broadening their pallet and all of that.

So when I told the kids I was making fajitas, I got a "yay!"  Everyone tried them and enjoyed them, though three of the boys picked out the onions and peppers.  Since we are transitioning to a gluten free household, I served corn tortillas.  Everyone seemed to like those.  #4 decided to try the onions and ended up loving those.  #1 will put all the stuff on his fajita but the rest just want the steak.

It was a nice accomplishment in the Kohler house last night!

Cucumbers

So, I'm having a bumper crop of cucumbers right now!  We have them coming out of our ears!  My favorite way to eat a cucumber is by slicing it up thinly and pouring vinegar and sugar on them.  Yummy!  But I'm trying to limit the sugar in my diet as well as the kids...so I'm subbing some Steevia in there too.  And NO ONE CAN TELL!

I'm also getting about 15 cherry tomatoes a day.  I can pop those like candy.  Sadly, I've eaten all of them so the kids and hubs have done without.  I'm trying to refrain for a few days though so we can have BLT's on Friday.  Only, the tomatoes are cherry soooo...it will be a bit different.

And I got a new blender for my anniversary.  Well we gave it to each other.  It's a Blentec and it's quite amazing.  Our mornings have been full of protein shakes with kale and spinach, frozen fruits, protein powder and almond milk.  My Man has been trying to choke them down, haha!

Garden

My garden is starting to produce!

Tomatoes and cucumbers so far!

A few blackberries too.

My zucchini plants got some kind of bug on them early on and are struggling...might not get many this year.

Ranch-Pesto Chicken

Another new recipe I tried was an easy crock-pot one!  Ranch-Pesto Crock-pot Chicken.  It was super easy and the kids loved it.  I served with whole wheat pasta.

 Chicken breast (4-6), 1pkg ranch dressing mix, 1 small jar pesto (or approx 1/2-3/4 cup-depending on how many breast your cooking), and 1/4 or less chicken stock. Cook on low about 6 hours, then I shred the chicken and serve over pasta with a little parm cheese. Sorry about all the estimates- I don't measure or follow a specific recipe. Enjoy!

St. Louis Eats

While we were in STL last weekend, we ate some amazing food!  Two places we checked out were on an episode of Man vs. Food.  A BBQ joint called Pappy's Smokehouse and a candy/malt shop called Crown Candy.

I had checked out both on Tripadvisor to see the reviews.  Both got great reviews.  We were not disappointed.  We got to Pappy's Smokehouse at just the right time because I had read that the line to order could wrap around the block.  We got in and only had about 8 people in front of us.  My Man ordered some kind of huge platter and then added on a couple of turkey sandwiches.  I think we ended up with 2 slabs of pork ribs, a pulled pork sandwich, pulled chicken sandwich, brisket sandwich, two turkey sandwiches, deep fried corn on the cob (seriously), sweet potato fries and baked beans.  There were three different sauces to choose from so we did a taste test.  I will post about that on my other blog.  The area for Pappy's location was not worrisome.  Sometimes, when you think of good BBQ, you think about inner city areas with lots of sinister looking individuals and unclean streets, etc.  Not so with Pappy's.


Crown Candy was another spot that we got to just in time.  We only waited about 5 minutes to order and the line ended up out the door almost right after we got there.  We went for ice cream but got to see some of the food items while we waited.  The BLT looked awesome.  We ordered 2 hot fudge sundaes (homemade hot fudge), chocolate ice cream, marshmallow malt, chocolate banana malt, and a strawberry sundae.  All of it was amazing!  Since it was a nice day, we ate in the lot across the street that had been reconstructed as an outdoor eating area.  We knew as we were getting close to Crown Candy that the neighborhood was getting sketchy.  The drug bust down the block was our first clue.  Lots of flashing lights, police SUV's, men in long white t-shirts and baggy jeans getting arrested...gave our children some culture for sure.  The shop itself was clean and great.  The eating area across the street was clean as well.  The surrounding buildings seemed to be all tenement housing with several loitering individuals on the street, sidewalks, inside cars, etc.  My mind kept flashing back to Boyz in the Hood...  But we were fine, we ate our ice cream and quick hopped back in the car and didn't waste any time leaving.

Chicken Avocado Enchiladas

Another really good recipe I made from our mom FB recipe page was Chicken Avocado Enchiladas.  These were super good!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chicken-avocado-enchiladas/

Baked Chimichangas

Some friends have started a little FB page where we share our tried and true recipes with each other.  It's been really fun to try other things!   One of the first things I tried was Baked Chimichangas.  They were very very good!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas 

8oz pkg. cream cheese
8oz. Pepperjack cheese, shredded
1 1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 lb. cooked chicken, shredded
8 flour tortillas
cooking spray
shredded cheddar cheese
green onions, for garnish
sour cream
salsa

Stir together cream cheese, Pepperjack cheese and taco seasoning.
Fold in chicken.
Divide among flour tortillas.
Tuck in sides, and roll up each tortilla.
Lay seam side down in a sprayed 9x13" baking dish.
Spray tops of tortillas with cooking spray.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Turn chimi's over, and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Serve with cheddar cheese, green onions, sour cream, and salsa.

Beef Fajita Spaghetti

Last night I made beef fajita spaghetti.  It was so easy!  And most everyone liked it which is always a plus.  You prepare spaghetti noodles like normal.  You brown your meat of choice.  I used round steak cut into strips but you could any red meat except ground beef.  Well you could use ground beef but it might be strange.  So, brown the meat in a bit of oil.  Drain.  Then add sliced bell peppers.  I used red, orange and yellow.  Also add a sliced onion.   Brown that for a bit and then add the fajita seasoning and some water.  Cook until the veggies are good and tender and a little black like fajitas veggies should look.  That's it!  It was really good!

Beef Tacos Carnitas

I should have gotten a pic of this one!  I am in the midst of trying to use just the beef that we have.  I have a ton of hamburger, round steak and stew meat.  Last night I used the round steak.  I put in the Crock-pot with a seasoning package that was something like Carnitas/mexican grill seasoning.  Added a little water as well.  I cooked for about 6 hours and then added a can of black beans.

We ate the meat on corn tortillas topped with monterrey jack cheese and mexican rice.

Yummy!!

More Morels

Yesterday I was blessed with TWO bags of mushrooms from friends.  I fried some up last night for dinner and am planning to fry up the rest tonight.  The kids are all enjoying them too!  

I also bought a smoked turkey sausage at the store and skillet fried that to go along with the mushrooms.  Don't waste your money.  It's a glorified hot dog.  I had hoped it would taste like smoked sausage but be healthier.  No, nothing like it!

Penne Alla Betsy

I made this tonight for dinner but substituted chicken for the shrimp.  So yummy!

Penne Alla Betsy

I have probably blogged about this recipe before.  I just love it so!

I also roasted some asparagus and made garlic bread!

Morels - my heaven

My husband's awesome secretary gave us some morel mushrooms last week.

They were already washed and trimmed - how spoiled am I?

I promptly called my Daddy to remind me how to properly prepare these lovelies.

Egg, flour, saltines, oil.

I said amen and started about my biz-nass.

I wish I took a pic of the fried beauties but I ate them as they came out of the pot.

I saved about 5 for my eldest son and maybe 8 for My Man.

I ate the rest.

And now...today...I searched our land.  Our vast wooded land...for 2 hours.   Seriously.  And I found none.  NONE!  Not one single mushroom.

So, I decided today that while I can cook the dickens out of the things and eat them like a trucker, I am not able to be the finder.  

#1 Had a Birthday

My kids get to pick a few things during their birthday week for me to prepare.

#1 just turned 11 and he picked lemon cake pops and banana bread!

Blueberry Easter Cake

I'm not sure why I'm calling this an Easter cake but we had it Easter morning and it was extremely heavenly.  

There are two ways I use blueberries in dessert type foods.  One is here and the other will now be this one.

Resurrection Rolls

A few years ago we started making our traditional Resurrection Rolls.

It's so easy and gives the kids a great visual of how Christ arose from the grave on Easter morning.

Crescent rolls

butter

sugar/cinnamon

jumbo marshmallows

Peep Pops

Pinterest idea...seriously, how did I function before it?

So easy!

Especially with my sweet little helper!

Carrot Strawberries

This was the second year of making these cute things.

The kids just love them and seriously, they are so darn easy!

Carrot Poke Cake

This heavenly thing I found on Pinterest and made it for Easter.

It's an Easter Poke Cake.

You start out with a carrot cake mix, prepared.

Add sweetened condensed milk, a mixture of pudding, cool whip and some new cool whip frosting.

Here's the recipe.

In the end, while we thought it was good, it was also quite sweet.

Plus, we had a chocolate pie and homemade from scratch traditional carrot cake to contend with.

But really still yummy!

Kit Kat Easter Cake

Today I am working on this masterpiece I found on Pinterest!

I'm a bit nervous to put coconut all over the top because my kids aren't fans.  I am assuming they can scrap it off the top.  Another picture I saw just showed a topping of m&m's.  So we'll see what I decide to do.

Favorite Peeps

Today #4 had an Easter party at his preschool.  This is what he took to his classmates.

Some of My Favorite Peeps

But I used this bag topper.

I'm feeling quite awesome.

Bunny Cake

In year's past, I have always made this bunny cake.

But this year, I'm changing it up.  New bunny cake!

I'll let the kids decide which they like best!

Easter Bark

It's Easter Week here at the Kohler House and you know what that means...

My awesome-ness comes out again!

Today I prepared this.

St. Patrick's Cookies

You know I love making some kind of treat for holidays.

This is one the kids really love for St. Patrick's Day.

Starting with simple sugar cookies using my grandma's recipe.

And Martha Stewart's recipe for royal icing.

Add in a sous chef and you're good to go!

Sometimes I can't believe how awesome I am.

St. Patrick's Day Treats

St. Patty's Day is quickly approaching.  Here's what I'm whipping up for #4 to take to his preschool party!

Lucky To Be Your Friend

Speaking of Lucky...my grandma once had a dog named Lucky.  And then years later she got another dog and she thought he looked like Lucky did...so she named him Looky.  True story.

Red Velvet Poke Cake

Now that the boys are involved in so many evening activities, I don't have the time I  used to to make Valentine's Day treats all the time.  Well, I have the time to make them, but if the kids are around to enjoy them, I refuse to spend so much time on that stuff.  So, I picked just a few days to make some goodies.  I posted about a couple the other day

On the actual Valentine's Day, after a great meal of steak, baked potatoes, rolls and broccoli, I made this:

Red Velvet Poke Cake

Yummy!

Bacon Egg Crescent Ring

The kids are not too adventursome when it comes to breakfast food but I did make this recipe I found on Pinterest.  It involves bacon, eggs, cheese and crescent rolls.  Very yummy!

Bacon Egg Crescent Ring

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

To all my foodie friends...don't freak out!

And don't judge!

At a recent family gathering, a relative mentioned that her family (kids and husband) love Hungry Jack instant mashed potatoes.  I asked her if she was serious and she assured me they were good!

The other day at the store, I got some.

I made them tonight without telling anyone what I'd done differently to the potatoes.

The kids didn't want to eat their mashed potatoes because they knew I had made them and were afraid they would taste like they always do (not like Gramma's).

But I casually mentioned that I had made them a little different this time and encouraged them to take at least one bite.

They (all 5, plus My Man) ate ALL OF IT!

"Mom, these are awesome!"  "Better than Gramma's!"  "You got the right recipe now, Mom!"

Seriously I felt like the mom on the commercial years ago that made the rice krispie treats and then threw flour on her face just before leaving the kitchen, acting like it was such a chore.

These were so easy.

And believe it or not, they were good!

Along those same lines, I found this at Wal-mart the other day.  I have never veered away from my mother-in-law's meatloaf recipe ever.  I never liked meatloaf growing up and one time after we got married, she made it and I tried it and liked it.  So, I have been too afraid to make any changes.

Until now!  I took one pound of hamburger, mixed with about 3/4 cup Stovetop crumbs, half a can of this and some salt and pepper.  This time I made little meatloaves (30 min at 350) but I usually just bake it in a bread pan (one hour at 350).  Just before serving I poured the rest of the sauce on top of the loaves.

Awesome with a capital A.  No joke!

Who knew?  

From now one, this will be one of my quick weeknight meals.  From start to finish...35 minutes!

(served with green beans cooked in bacon grease and Rhodes rolls that I quick-thawed in the oven ahead of time).

Stuffed Green Peppers

We really like stuffed green peppers (My Man and I).  So when I saw this recipe, I knew it would be a good one.  I didn't use the meat the recipe suggested because I always have an abundance of roast.  Instead, I made a roast and then shredded the meat for the recipe.  These were great left over and My Man ate them for lunch a couple times!

Philly Green Peppers

Beef Tips

We always have so much roast that I search high and low for ways to use it up.  Believe it or not, we get tired of the same old roast with carrots and potatoes.  I know I know, we are spoiled.  But I have found so many other ways to use roast on Pinterest!  yay!  This recipe below was really easy and really good.  

Beef Tips

Parmesan Tomato Soup

I made this one the other day.  It was really good!  Tasted a lot like the tomato soup from Panera.

Parmesan Tomato Basil Soup

Pinterest Recipes

I'm getting back on track this week with trying to make one Pinterest recipe a week.  Being cooped up in the house for the last two days have given me much time to Pin a bunch of recipes!  Looking forward to getting the meals planned for the next couple of weeks.  I will post soon!  And I'm heading to Costco next week for my once-every-eight-weeks trip.  Should be a doozy!

V-day Treats

It's Valentine's Week and I'm trying my best to make some yummy treats for the kids.  Here is what I whipped out yesterday.

Usually, I have a lot more treats happening.  That's just not the case the days these days.  

No one seems to notice but me though - the blessing in having boys I guess.

I'm sure #5 will start seeing my short-comings soon.

Oatmeal Cookies

I cleaned out the pantry over the weekend and found a can of oats.  So, I made some Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies with raisins.  And they vanished!


Quaker Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies

January 21st-27th

Weekly Menu:


Monday
Brisket
Chips
Sauteed Spinach
Fruit

Tuesday
Pancakes
Sausage
Eggs
Amish Breakfast Casserole


Wednesday
Enchilada Casserole
Tacos
Guacamole
Chicken Tenders
Fruit


Thursday
Sliders
Frozen French Fries
Mac and Cheese
Roasted Cauliflower
Fruit


Friday
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Corn on the cob
Chocolate Chips Cookies


Saturday
Out


Sunday
Chicken Pot Pie
Fruit Pizzas
Apple Dumplings

Cookie Bars

Have you ever tried this?

On the back of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, there is a recipe for Cookie Bars.  It's basically the same as the recipe for chocolate chip cookies, only instead of plopping out little balls on the cookie sheet, you press the dough into a 9x13.

It's a real time-saver and the boys think it's amazing.

I love how little it takes to amaze boys.

That really doesn't change once they reach manhood either.

All Mine

My daddy likes to get my sister and I these most amazing chocolates from a candy store in Columbia.

Sometimes he gets us chocolate covered strawberries.  They are amazing.

This year, he got us a box of chocolates.

They are amazing as well!

It didn't come with a little code sheet like Russell Stover, so I felt that I had to take a bite out of each one to see what's inside.

I did all of this on Sunday.

I try not to eat junk during the week so my plans for next Sunday are to finish off about half of the box. And the other half the next Sunday.

For the chocolates I didn't like, I gave to my #1 child who is at the stage in life where he will eat just about anything.

Several of the these chocolates are fancy - but my favorite is still the chocolate covered caramels!

Guac - My Way

We love to eat guacamole in our house (ok, just me and My Man).

I thought I  took of a pic of all the ingredients but then realized I forgot to include the purple onion, garlic, lime and cheese.  Sometimes I put in a pomegranate.

We love to eat it with Fritos Scoops.

Christmas Morning Yummies

I've been making this on Christmas morning since #3 was a wee babe.


Christmas Morning

Marshmallow Peppermint Drops

Seriously, these are heavenly.  I used to make all kinds of goodies and stick them into Christmas tins.  When #5 was a newborn I decided to stop.  God loves a cheerful giver and that last year was nothing but stress...not cheer.  So, I decided to put that little box of fun on the shelf for a few years.  Instead, I've spent the last two years making one treat a week during the month of December.  One week I made these little darlings.

Melted peppermint flavored melts (found at Hobby Lobby, seasonal)
mini marshmallows

I melted the chocolate until just melted, waited about one minute and then stirred in the marshmallows.  Then dipped them out by spoonfuls.

North Pole Cupcakes

North Pole Cupcakes

Seriously delish!