The weekend and a GLORIOUS new recipe..

We had the most 

amazing

chops this weekend.

We try and cook delicious food on Sundays because it is our 

day to be together as a family with no interruptions. We find a lot of our recipes

in the Parade newspaper and this is for sure

 our families new favorite! 

Balsamic Cherry Pork Chops:
2 Tbsp. (plus 2 tsp) olive oil
1/4 C onion, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 cups frozen cherries, chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock 
3 Tbsp. cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 tsp. salt, plus extra to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to taste.
4 (6oz.) bone-in pork chops
1. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium. 
Add onion and garlic, cook stirring for 2 minutes.
Stir in vinegar, cook for 30 seconds. Add cherries and stock. 
Cook over high until liquid is think and slightly syrupy, 5 to 7 minutes. 
Whisk in butter, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. 
Transfer half of glaze mixture to a separate bowl. 
2. Coat chops with remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Brush chops with cherry glaze. 3. Preheat grill to high and oil the grate. Grill chops 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. 4. Let chops sit for 5 minutes, top with remaining glaze.
ENJOY!

Thanks Jason for making this for us-

it was DIVINE! 

Whit whoo-

Love this man...

 

We love chillin outside with our kids on blankets even if it always ends up with

crying and fighting because of the usual, 'she touched me, he looked at me or give me some space!' arguments.

 

 

HHEEELLLPPPPPP!!

 

One of the funniest parts of our weekend was our boys, 

desperate for some swim time came up with this solution...

I was HYSTERICAL! So was everyone who drove past-

creative and funny boys!

 I won free registration to the Classic 10K this weekend and ran it. I got my best time ever and 

loved the race! (Maybe being free made a difference!)

 I came home from the race with this sweet 

'Good Job Mom' on our garage.

I love my family and I LOVE our weekends!

The weekend and Ebleskivers...

This weekend we attended soccer games, football games, had sleepovers,
hung out with great friends and Sunday we made a delicious breakfast..

Ebleskivers

The recipe comes from Jason's danish heritage and it is SO delicious!
The recipe is at the end of this post, because once you try these, you will LOVE them!

You cut up any fruit you want to put in the center-

bananas are my kids favorite-

Cover the fruit up with the batter-

Let them cook for a few moments-

Turn them over and let the other side cook-

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and WHALAH!

The most scrumptious, delicious breakfast ever!

Danish Ebleskivers-

4 eggs, seperated

1 Tb. Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 cups flour

1/4 C. melted shortening

2 Cups Milk

Beat egg yolks, add sugar. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with shortening and milk.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Bake in Ebleskiver pan, medium heat. Pour 1/2 Tablespoon batter in each circle, place some pieces of fruit on top of batter and pour remaining batter on top of the fruit. Cook until golden on bottom and ready to turn. Turn and cook other side until golden.

ENJOY!

Rainbow Deliciousness-

 Savannah loves any and all holidays because she knows it usually involves candy, so since it is now March,  I told her about St. Patty's day. She got excited about the leprechauns, gold and especially the rainbows and thought it would be fun to make our own rainbows.

So we thought, why not make rainbow sugar cookies? 

The girls had a blast adding the food coloring, rolling them out and then of course the 

best part- eating them!

They were 

scrum-dilly-yum-tious!

It is one of the best sugar cookie recipes ever (you can find it at the end of this post)!

Sugar Cookies-

1 Cup Butter, softened

2 eggs

4 1/2 Cups Four

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 Cup Sour Cream

Cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla; add dry ingredients

and sour cream, alternating and mixing well after each addition. Cover or wrap in wax paper and chill until firm enough to roll out. Roll on floured surface and cut out. Bake at 350* for 8-9 minutes.

My new favorite sandwich...

Imagine a sandwich like this:

honey wheat bread
thai ginger peanut butter
apricot jalapeno jam
sprouts
peas
red and yellow peppers
and
spinach...
I am sure the sound of it makes you want to cringe
but I had this exact sandwich at a new Organic PB&J shop and it was
scrum-dilly-yum-tious!!
Who would of thought all of those ingredients would make a
melt in your mouth peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

I dare you to try it or make your own!

MMMmmmmmm....

THE most delicious and no-so-bad-for-you-cookies!

We have been trying to eat a lot healthier this year which has been a little hard since we both have a serious sweet tooth. I have come across some delicious and healthy recipes and have been asked several times for this one. These cookies only have 80 calories each which is not bad for a cookie!

ENJOY!

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1- 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup salted butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao) chopped
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350* arrange coconut in a single layer in a small baking pan. Bake at 350* for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once. Let cool.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda in a medium bowl, stir with a whisk until blended. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture beating at low speed just until combined.
Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.
Drop by level teaspoons 2 inches apart. Bake at 350* for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Remove from pan, cool on wire racks.
Courtesy of cooking light with some changes by me.

A full freezer...

I belong to a freezer group with some amazingly talented chefs.
We meet once a month and exchange freezer meals.
I have been saving mine for the last 2 months in my garage freezer so I can have them on hand for my dear mother in law who is taking care of our kids while Jason and I go to his graduation.
It's nice to have on those crazy days when dinner preparation time is limited!One of my favorite meals I have received isn't a freezer meal, it is actually a canned goods meal. You throw everything into a crock pot and 8 hours later..a delicious dinner!
Here is the recipe:
(it's easy to mail to friends and family too, just have them add the chicken breasts!)
Thanks Shauna!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 frozen chicken breasts
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 can black beans
1 can mild green chilis

Add everything to crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken after 8 hours and shred. Return shredded chicken to soup and serve with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips if desired.
MMMMmmmmm.

I've got Fall Fever!

Since it has been in the 20's all week, I have wanted to stay indoors, play games with my kids and bake.
So I ventured out and made apple butter. To me no other smell says Fall like cinnamon, apples and sugar simmering in your crock pot all day.
And
of course I had to step outdoors to try and capture some fun Fall pictures!
I am ready for the cold because cold=holidays!

My kids love the apple-peeler-corer-slicer.
Not only does it make apples easy to bake with...

The kids have contests with the apple peels!

And wallah...
the beautiful and delicious apple butter!
Happy Fall!

Crock pot apple butter

For standard size crock pot, adjust for small or huge one.
12-14 apples (I do enough to fill my pot)
2 cups apple juice or cider

Wash, core, peel and slice apples. Put in crock pot, cover and cook on low 10-14 hours. I start mine before bed and finish the next day.

When fruit is tender, mash with potato masher or whisk. Measure amount of cooked fruit and put back into crock pot. For EACH 2 cups cooked fruit add:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cloves

Stir well, cover and cook on high for an additional 6-8 hours, stirring every two hours. After 3 hours, remove lid and continue to cook uncovered so butter will thicken. Spoon into hot jars and process in hot water bath. ( I did mine for 20 minutes, adjust to where you live. You can also just put into freezer jars and freeze!
ENJOY!

I had a mother and father who read to me...

“You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be—
I had a mother who read to me.”
(Strickland W. Gillilan, The Reading Mother.)

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time, it was taken in 1999. I love McKay and Ashley's interest in the book I am holding and I am happy to say they are still interested in books today!
I have even resorted to occasionally grounding Ashley from reading because sometimes that is ALL she does (just don't tell the librarian-Ashley told her I did that sometimes and she gave me a very disappointed look!)

I love to read to my children as often as I can, but especially at night. That is when they snuggle up, all cares set aside and we are carried away into adventure land. I usually take the short stories and Jason takes long, adventurous books. They have read the Adventures of Huck Finn, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and are now embarking on Great Expectations. The kids love it and we occasionally make a treat to go with the book. With Great Expecations, we made bread pudding which is a very popular English dish, is cheap and very tasty!
English Bread Pudding
(from essentially England)

• 8 slices of white bread
• 2 large handfuls of dried fruit (currants, sultanas, raisins, mixed peel, berries - or all of the above)
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar (a little more if you like your puddings very sweet)
• 3 eggs
• 300-350 ml milk or half milk, half double cream
• a little butter for the bread and for greasing the baking dish

Grease a large flat baking dish, about 1 - 1 1/2 inches deep.Then cut the bread into 8 medium to thick slices and spread with butter.Cut the slices into triangles, leaving the crusts on.Arrange half the bread in the greased baking dish, then sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar and half the dried fruit on top.Cover with the second layer of bread and repeat with the sugar and fruit.Next beat three whole eggs with about 300-350ml of milk or half milk, half cream.Pour the mixture over the bread and leave to soak for 10-20 minutes. (If you can't spare the time to soak the bread, it's not a disaster. The finished dish is still nice to eat, just not as silky.)Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, until puffed up and golden.Sprinkle with a little cinnamon or nutmeg and the last of the sugar.Top with whip cream.

Dinner time and play-doh

Dinner time is almost impossible to accomplish with 6 kids needing your undivided attention. Today I told the kids to create their favorite meal out of playdoh hoping it would buy me some time. They had a blast and it kept them occupied for a whole 10 minutes- it looked so much fun, I had to participate (so much for dinner prep!)

I LOVE PLAYDOH
especially homemade!

Homemade Playdoh

1 c. flour
1 c. boiling water
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
1/2 c. salt
1 tbsp. oil
Food coloring

Mix and knead together.
This playdoh is not sticky and does not dry out.

Prepare to gain 10 lbs...

The warm weather has returned and play dates have begun which means after school snacks are a must. We pulled out our most favorite cookie recipe by G'ma Madsen:

Homemade Oreos.

My kids devour these, I devour these, Jason devours these. My tummy is happy but my morning workout just went out the window. Trust me, you won't be able to resist such a temptuous heavenly creation!
ENJOY!
Homemade Oreos

1 Devils food cake mix
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
2 eggs

Mix ingredients and form into balls. Put on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Meanwhile mix 4 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter,1 tsp. vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar.
Put a Tbs. between two cookies and enjoy!

YUMMY muffins...

My family loves a hot breakfast and occasionally I will make something I have to share. This is one recipe that is DELICIOUS and SUPER HEALTHY!
My kids even devour these!

Becki's add an extra 10 years to your life bran muffins:
1 1/2 cup bran cereal
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
3 whole eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/3 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup raisins
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans

Pour boiling water over bran and set aside. Beat applesauce, sugar and honey until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in buttermilk and wet bran cereal. Mix all dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Mix well. Stir in oatmeal, carrots, raisins and nuts. Can let stand overnight if desired or bake in muffin pan at 350* for 15-20 minutes.
YUM YUM!

What am I thankful for?

Day 7:
Coupons!

When you have eight mouths to feed and your
grocery shopping trip looks like this every week and a half,
coupons become your best friend!

So does the free Kraft food and family magazine that comes in the mail with a ton of coupons and the easiest and yummiest recipes.
Click here to see their archives of cookbooks and click here to sign up, all you need to do is click on profile, fill it out and your magazines should come in the mail soon!
Love, love, love FREE!

What am I thankful for?

Day 2.
TOMATOES!

For those of you who know me well, know that I eat tomatoes on everything..
pizza, eggs, grilled cheese, noodles, soups, and if it doesn't have tomatoes on it at the restaurant, I ask for them. It all started when my wonderful grandparents planted a giant garden and we helped pick tomatoes and I would eat them fresh from the garden.
YUM,YUM and YUM!
No meal is complete without the moist, scrumptious flavor of a tomato!
This past year when everyone thought tomatoes were making people sick, I stopped going to restaurants because I just couldn't eat meals without them!

Here is one of my favorite recipes for salsa.
ENJOY that beautiful, red delicacy!

Delicious Tomato, Corn and Avocado Salsa
(My Sisters Cafe)

2-3 cups black beans OR 2 (15 oz) cans black beans rinsed and drained

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups frozen sweet corn, thawed

1 avocado, diced

1 small red pepper, diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

6 green onions (tops and all) finely chopped

1 jalopeno, seeded and minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Put the lime juice, oil, garlic, salt and cayenne in a small jar. Cover with lid an shake until well combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the beans, corn, avacado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, hot pepper and cilantro. Pour the lime dressing over the salad. Stir well to coat.

Makes 4-5 main course servings or 8-10 side-dish servings.

The salsa can be prepared a few hours ahead, but don't add the avocado until serving time. Refrigerate, and adjust the seasonings before serving.
ENJOY!

"Doughnut" know what I would do without doughnuts!

Jason and the kids decided to make doughnuts Sunday morning, so we put aside our figures and chowed down!
They are so delicious and so easy!

Super Easy Doughnut INGREDIENTS
(Gotta love Allrecipes)

* 2 tablespoons white vinegar
* 3/8 cup milk
* 2 tablespoons shortening
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 quart oil for deep frying
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir the vinegar into the milk, and let stand for a few minutes until thick.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture alternating with the vinegar and milk. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a donut cutter. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry doughnuts in the hot oil until golden, turning over once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioners' sugar while they are still warm, and serve immediately.

Mmmm.....Pumpkin Pancakes

My family loves a big breakfast in the morning, so to welcome this cold Autumn weather, we made Pumpkin Pancakes complete with an apple topping that will make your mouth water!

Pumpkin Pancakes (Allrecipes)

INGREDIENTS
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups milk
* 1 cup pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Apple topping:
Cut 2 apples into slices, add butter and brown sugar to your liking, cook until apples are soft. Put on top of pancakes and enjoy! Add pecans on top if desired.

Ok Em, I will update my blog. Nothing much has happened since we came back from Utah. We finally got a new computer and it is so fun but oh so complicated to figure out! Jason and I have made plans to have a 2nd honeymoon next month! We will be going to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico! Soooo excited! Will try and post some pictures soon. Instead, here is a FABULOUS recipe I will pass on from my dear friend Trinette:

Lemon Bread

2 1/4 flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter, at room tempature
2 1/4 sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. packed grated lemon zest
2 tsp. pure lemon extract one 16 ounce sour cream

Lemon Glaze
3/4 powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. preheat oven to 350 butter and flour 6 5x3 mini
loaf pans
2. Whisk together the flour, b.powder, and salt
in a meduim bowl.
3. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3
min. until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon zest and
lemon extract. On low speed beat in flour mixture in
three additions, atlernating with sour cream in 2
additions, beat until incorporated
4. Put batter in pans and smooth tops. Bake for 32
to 34 min. until toothpick comes out with a few moist
crumbs. cool for 10min or longer.
5. Run knife around edges release cakes invert on
baking sheet, let cool completely.

Spoon glaze down center and let some drip down the
sides


Glaze

Whisk together lemon juice and sugar mix in lemon
juice until smooth glaze

enjoy