make it simple

sometimes i forget it can be this simple:

crescent roll and little smokie pigs in a blanket (on fine china!)
canned green beans with grape tomato
canned corn heated up in the microwave

dear simplicity - i want more of you in my life!

what's cookin part I

sometimes i get in a rut in the kitchen. i have no idea what to make. it helps me to record things to remind myself of what i do.

above is a tomato basil salad. okay this is a version of my friend christina's recipe. it's not nearly as nice as hers but it's what i had on hand.

grape tomatoes
mozzarella cheese
olive oil
salt, pepper, basil

sweet potato bread.
one of my favorites.
so good right out of the oven with some butter.

1 cup baked sweet potato
1 cup self rising flour
shortening size of an egg

cut shortening into flour. mush up sweet potato with fork. add sweet potato to flour mixture and stir. bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes

when lee is gone in the evening for whatever reason this is what will and i often will eat.

fried rice!

sometimes if i have leftover ham or chicken i'll add that to it. this time i didn't so it was leftover rice, egg, bell pepper, and onion.

saute green pepper and onion in oil
fry egg
add cooked rice and egg to veggies and cook a few more minutes

this was sooo good the other night.

pan fried squash
twice baked potatoes

we had some leftover roast

cut up squash and put in ziploc with about a T or more of olive oil. sprinkle seasoned bread crumbs and shake bake. put it frying pan with a little more olive oil.

will helped me make this apple cake. i had some granny smith apples that i needed to use. i used my new (to me!) kitchenaid mixer from my sister in law ashley! love this gift!

the dough for this cake is delicious by the way. this cake was a hit.

1 cup cooking oil
2 cup sugar
3 cup flour
2 eggs
1 c. chopped nuts ( did pecans)
1 t. baking soda
2 t. vanilla
1/2. t. salt
3 - 4 c. chopped fresh apples, peeled

combine cooking oil and sugar. add beaten eggs and vanilla. measure and sift together flour. salt and soda. add dry ingredients to first mixture. stir in chopped fresh apples and nuts and combine thoroughly with above ingredients. pour into greased tube pan and bake 70 minutes or until done at 325.

will (who is 3 1/2) enjoys chopping the nuts and sifting and pouring whatever i get brave enough to allow.

cake boss at the cox house

i love making birthday cakes for my son. i look forward to making them for my daughter!
above is his first birthday cake - caterpillar!
this was made by using two bundt cakes that were cut and pieced together to make the squiggly worm. i used spice drops for feet and oreo sticks for the antennae.

when he turned two, he had a tractor birthday cake. both of his grandpas have tractors and we had a garden that year so he got to see his papa plow which was very exciting.

just this past weekend we had a race car birthday party for his third birthday.
i learn a lot when i make each cake. and each one is thrown together at the last minute.
cake boss has definitely inspired me to do more challenging cakes. this cake took me two hours to build and ice. looking back i realized a much easier way to build it. but, with the help of some family in town and a picture of lightning mcqueen - oh, and a lot of icing - it came together. really i just started out with the idea of a race car. and i knew i wanted donuts for the tires and a spoiler on the back. it is red because will keeps saying his favorite color is red.

some lessons learned - if you're gonna have red cake, get some strong food coloring and get ready to see red everywhere!
it is okay to bake and decorate the night before and let the cake sit out until the next day. this was wonderful news to me this year.
whipped icing is not the best stuff to decorate with. i used store bought this year to save time which was important, but in the future i need to perfect a homemade icing.

more cakes to come. i get to make two next year!

scrambled waffles

what's for breakfast?
scrambled blueberry waffles.
make waffles as you normally would - you'll just need to use a very old waffle iron that barely works.
they tasted good.

what's for lunch?

here we have leftover sauteed veggies (squash, red pepper, black beans, corn) with shredded monterrey jack cheese on top. dill snackers and lays stax are a wonderful combo. with a side of fresh strawberries. not pictured - 2 pieces of homemade lemon poppyseed bread!

pizza quesadilla

i haven't done a serious grocery trip in awhile. i'm tired of sandwiches and i'm actually out of peanut butter and lunchmeat anyway. so i had to be creative today.

this is a whole wheat tortilla with mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni sprinkled with oregano. broil it in the oven for about 5 minutes. fold in half and slice like a quesadilla. serve with carrot sticks and raisins and there's your toddler's lunch for the day!

graham cracker recipe

here is the graham cracker recipe - finally got it typed up. i got this recipe from crystal miller's website the family homestead.

Graham Crackers

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup milk

2 T. molasses

1 t. vanilla

2 ½ to 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

in large mixing bowl using wire wisk, combine first 5 ingredients. In a smaller bowl combine 2 ½ cups pastry flour and last 4 ingredients. At some point you'll want to switch from wisk to large spoon. Add extra ½ cup flour if dough is sticky. Although a little sticky is okay. Begin to mix with hands.

Preheat oven to 300. divide dough in half. Spray large cookie sheet (one without sides is best) with Pam. Roll out dough on cookie sheet. Use pizza cutter to cut into squares and poke with fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

best salsa

i'm back in the kitchen and it feels great!!!

i made the best salsa in the whole world last night. the main reason i wanted a garden was so that i could have roma tomatoes and jalapenos to make fresh salsa. oh my gosh, i got it so right last night. it was so good, who needs the chips?

i got this recipe from my big southern living cookbook. this is my version.

5 roma tomatoes, quartered
2 or 3 cloves of garlic - i like garlic!!!
1 jalapeno pepper, quartered and seeded
3 T. lime juice (1 really juicy lime does it)

put in food processor and chill and there ya go!!! a taste of heaven on earth!

the recipe from southern living calls for a dash of salt and pepper and a small amount of cilantro, but i didn't add any of that and it was still divine! if you want it really hot, keep the seeds from the jalapeno in there.

i was also craving some cream cheese and chocolate something or another so i made a fudge brownie recipe with a cream cheese and butter layer with frosting on top. yummy!

Valentines!

look at what my man made me! i had the design in mind and he built it! yes, a designer's dream - to marry an engineer/carpenter type. (definitely feel loved every time i look at it. he also built a cubby unit for will's room and made me some potato boxes for the pantry.) i'm looking for some boxes to put on top of the coat rack to store hats and gloves. we do not have a coat closet in our house, so this is it!

my kitchen must know that valentines day is coming.

sweet potato pancakes!

salmon croquettes!

turkey pepperoni, broccoli, and spinach pizza on a TJs whole wheat pizza crust!

i guess this is my version of a valentine these days. can't beat a valentine you can eat!

Cake and Bread

Happy Birthday, Lee! the big 3 0. Will looks like he's about to grab a handful.

okay, so it wasn't perfectly decorated.

i'm so proud of myself!!! i made whole wheat loaf bread for the first time and it was actually good.

the recipe is from allrecipes.com. it uses half whole wheat flour and half bread flour but i am still very pleased!

cupcakes and sickness

paul's girlfriend, nikole, came over thursday night and we made these cupcakes and decorated with fondant icing to look like nintendo characters. she wanted to practice because paul's bday is coming up. i thought they turned out cute. she bought the premade fondant - worked pretty good. a lot less scary and time consuming than making fondant icing.

here we are dying the icing.

will has his first stomach bug - he stayed in the recliner with daddy for half an hour yesterday. this is NOT NORMAL. he is always on the move and never wants to cuddle. also he got into bed with me this morning (because i now have whatever he has) and fell asleep and rolled around for 2 1/2 hours. NOT NORMAL! but it was sweet, and all i felt like doing was lie in bed anyway. i'm ready for us to get well. i know he's tired of watered down apple juice, bananas and toast and applesauce. he misses his milk.

braided bread

i made bread this week - YUM! my mom got this recipe from a friend and taught me how to do it. we grew up eating this homemade bread on special occasions. i used to help punch the dough once it had risen and i would braid the bread for mom. when i got married i started making it on my own. love it - this recipe does not use a bread machine. just a big spoon and some muscle.