Hard Boiled Eggs

Our church starts at 11am this year.  So it's kinda  strange time to eat breakfast or lunch - so we've been trying to eat a larger brunch type meal around 10.  A couple weeks ago Grandpa made the kids some toast and hard boiled eggs for breakfast/brunch.  I kinda thought he was a little crazy.  I remember thinking - there is NO way the kids are going to eat hard boiled eggs.

But they LOVED them. 

(Except Gage, who only likes an egg if it's in a cake or a brownie.)  

Even Lucy - who is super picky and only likes ham/sausage/cheese and hot dogs loved the eggs!

But then came my dilemma.  

The kids started to ask me to make them eggs , but I've never had good luck making them right.  So I turned to facebook.  I got lots of good ideas and suggestions.  In the past month I've cooked them a couple different ways. 

Today I picked up two 18 count packages of eggs and came home and was prepping some breakfast foods for the week.  I made 24 muffins for the freezer, some brownies (just for fun) and while I was at it, I got dinner in the crock pot.  The kitchen was kinda a crazy disaster for a few hours.  I thought that in between all this cooking I could get some hard boiled eggs fixed for the week too.  

I had a cook book from Six Sisters already out so I decided to try their method. (click here for their instructions)  Starting with the eggs in the water, adding baking soda, taking them off the heat after bringing them to a boil....their recipe says it should be super easy to peel...

Since I was super busy in the kitchen doing a couple different things at once, I had it all timed out in my mind.  It's like that when I make bulk freezer meals too - I usually don't make all of one and them move onto another - but have multiple things going at once.  I've found it's the only way to get a couple recipes done at once in the kitchen. I placed the brownies in the oven and had 13 minutes for them to bake, so it should have been the perfect amount of time to peel 18 eggs that I had just placed in an ice bath.

Ugh.  I was SO wrong.  In the picture above - the green plate is from that method of cooking eggs.  I was SO frustrated.  The peels would not come off and I ended up wasting and throwing way some eggs too.  Wade had more patience than me and stood there chipping away at the eggs for a while longer.  I was just frustrated!

But the kids LOVE these eggs - so I really wanted to get some prepped and in the fringe for them.  So I used my 2nd 18 pack of eggs and cooked them according to the Pioneer Woman method.  (bring water to boil first, then add the eggs).  You can read her instructions HERE. 

(I'm posting here so share the info I learned - and so I will never lose the link)

Basically, it's just a tad harder, because you have to be careful not to break the eggs when you place them in the boiling water, but they peel amazingly well - and the shells come off in huge pieces. (the eggs on the orange plate in the picture are from this method)

(do you love my cheap colored plate?)

That brings me to this:

How do you make hard boiled eggs?

What did I do wrong the first time?  

I really love most recipes from Six Sisters, so I don't think they are wrong in their method - even though I followed it exactly, I must be doing something wrong, right?

~~~

ps:

I guess the good news is I have 24 muffins ready for breakfast next week.  We already ate half the pan of brownies and I did get some eggs in the fridge for next week. 

(but who am I kidding...with these boys - I think all of this food will be gone by Monday)

pps:

the kids like the eggs a little warm, so I put them in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm up from fridge temperatures.  One morning last week I accidentally hit 3:00 instead of 30 and walked away.  FYI: Eggs can blow up in the microwave...they make a pretty big bang when they do

Sunday Photo: 25

I tried to take a picture of Wade and the kids for Father's Day and Gage jumped up and said, 

"Hey Mom...it's Father's Day....give the guy a break.  He doesn't like pictures."

To which Wade replied that he agreed and that I shouldn't take a Sunday Photo this week.

So instead I'm posting one of his favorite summer recipes.  We have been alternating between this and brownies every other week for the past month or so at our house. I might have posted this before, I'm not sure. But the rhubarb in our garden is growing like crazy and we love this cake!

Rhubarb Cake

(This recipe is from my maternal grandmother, who I never met)

5 cups diced rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 package strawberry (or raspberry) jello

3 cups mini marshmallows

1 cake mix (white or yellow)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the rhubarb, sugar and jello in a bowl.  Layer in a 9x13 that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Add marshmallows evenly on top.  Mix the cake as directed on the box and add on top of the marshmallows.  Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.  (The cake always gets pretty dark brown, but make sure it's done in the middle with a toothpick).  When the cake comes out of the oven, I always cut around the edges and then flip onto a serving plate and then let it cool before serving.  Wade, my father in law, and I all agree it's a little bit better the second day, but it's super yummy the first day with a little bit of whipping cream too.

~~~

Happy Sunday and Happy Father's Day.

Picture or not, I've been blessed with some pretty good guys in my life.  

I hope my boys grow up to be like them. 

Go Dads, and Grandpas and Uncles and Great Examples!

Freezer Meal Ideas

Let me start by saying....I am not a freezer meal expert.  You can probably find much better/fancier recipes on Pinterst.   But I really do love making them.  And using them.  During the school year they save me.  Any time we move, they save me..then them with plastic utensils on paper plates and throw the whole mess away when you are done! (we've moved 10 times, I'm pretty good at knowing when to use these and when to pack my kitchen).  I've also had 5 babies...and these are a lifesaver when you have babies.

I think some of my favorite Relief Society activities have been the ones when we get together and make meals.  In Washington our ward did it a couple times and donated the meals.  Once to Ronald McDonald House and once to a family in the ward who's child had cancer.  It was something we could all contribute too.  It would be a stretch financially to make so many meals myself, (or anyone) but we all pitched in ingredients and helped and within an hour we had them all done! Those activities had such a great spirit, and I will never forget delivering them both times.

I'm not a huge fan of a lot of freezer meals during the summer because the ones that I like use your oven.  There are a lot of recipes on Pinterest for crock pot freezer meals.  But (in my opinion) if I can dump it in a bag to freeze, then I can dump it in my crock pot to make just as easy.

Anyway.  Last month, the youth in our ward had their fundraising service dinner.  Included in this was a service auction.  I couldn't think of anything that I really had to give, but then I thought about freezer meals.  So I signed up to donate a week's worth of freezer meals.  I provided a list for the family who bought the meals and they picked a couple favorites.  There was a trick this time because the sister who bought them actually bought them for her mother, who lives alone.

Cooking for 8...I got that. I do that every night.  But cooking for 1? I was so nervous to do this...it was a challenge and ended up being fun.  Cooking for one is hard!

After posting a picture on Instagram and facebook I got a lot of questions for recipes.

Here are some of my favorite recipes and ideas:
(I use canned soup.  If you don't like them, you might not like these...and if you want, I think there are a lot of recipes to make your own out there too.  I also don't have specific written down recipes for some of these, I probably did at one point, but now I just make them..hope that they make sense, let me know if you have any questions).

Burritos.
Burritos are some of the easiest things to start with.  Your filling can be whatever you want.  My favorite has been just brown hamburger and re-fried beans.  Sometimes I add taco seasoning to the meat, sometimes not.  Then I just roll them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet for an hour or two and then dump them all in  one big bag.  You can wrap them in plastic wrap if you want, it helps to prevent freezer burn.  But we usually eat them pretty fast.
When you want to eat these, wrap one up in a paper towel and warm it up in the microwave for a minute or minute and a half.

Another good filling for burritos is about one pound browned hamburger, and one can cream of mushroom and one can cream of chicken.  Add the soups and heat until the mixture is smooth.  You can add cheese to this too, but it's pretty good as is.  Then fill the tortillas and freeze them.  Wade really likes to eat these with cheese on top of them and some green Tabasco sauce.

There are a lot of really good cream cheese chicken taquito recipe that freeze well too. I like this one.

Breakfast Burritos.
These are super easy too!  When eggs go on sale buy a whole bunch.  Scramble away. Add browned sausage or crumbled bacon, cheese, peppers, whatever.  (I have found that ham does not do as well).  Assemble the burritos, freeze on a cookie sheet and then throw them in a big freezer bag.  I do think the eggs taste much better when you warm these up wrapped up in a paper towel.

Other super easy items to make and freeze:
muffins, pancakes, waffles, and peanut butter sandwiches...homemade version of uncrustables. (put the peanut butter on both sides of the bread and jam in the middle)

Some of my favorite recipes for freezer (dinner) meals:

Easy Lasagna
1 26 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 8 ounce package shredded mozzarella sauce
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 container cottage cheese
1 pound hamburger
1 cup water

Brown hamburger, and add sauce.  In separate bowl combine the 3 cheeses.  In greased casserole dish layer lasagna noodles (I use the ready oven ready noodles and I do NOT cook them first).  Then layer half the sauce, half the cheese, and then noodles again and repeat.  Add some extra cheese to the top if you want. (you can add anything else to the layer too..if we have spinach on hand, I add that and the kids eat it and love it).  When you are all done add a cup of water.  I do a double later of tin foil on the top and I always spray the tin foil with cooking spray so the cheese won't stick.  If you have time and remember to thaw this you only need to cook this for about 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.  If you are like me and don't' remember to thaw the meal out it usually needs about 1-1/12 hours to cook.

Swiss Chicken Bake
1 package of chicken stuffing mix (made and mixed)
2-3 chicken breast cooked and diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 8 ounce block of swiss cheese shredded (or you can use sliced swiss cheese)

Mix chicken and soup together, layer on the bottom of a greased casserole dish. On top of that layer swiss cheese.  Then on the top layer stuffing mix.  Spray tin foil with cooking spray and cover for freezing.  Cooking is same as before, Since everything is already cooked in these recipes  you just have to makes sure they are warmed up and bubbly before eating.

Pizza Casserole
This one is a kid favorite around here.
2 cups (8 oz) Mostaccioli pasta
1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce
1/2 (2 oz) sliced pepperoni, quartered
1 1/2 (6oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan

Cook pasta according to the directions on package. Drain. In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish combine pasta, sauce, pepperoni and 1 cup cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and Parmesan Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  (Makes about 4 servings)

I also just buy one package of the tiny pepperoni's and throw the whole bag in. I'll be honest. I add more cheese too. Just because cheese is good too.
I then put it in a 11x7 baking dish.

Or cover and freeze.  If you are freezing then add about 1/2- 3/4 cup water. 

Chicken Enchiladas

1 can Rotel

1 package sour cream

1 can cream of chicken

2-3 diced cooked chicken breast

cheese

Mix Rotel, sour cream, and soup together.  In a casserole dish spoon about 1/3 cup mixture in the bottom of the pan.  Add chicken to the mixture and roll into tortillas.  Add remaining mixture to the top and then cover with cheddar cheese.  You can add black beans to this recipe too and it's pretty good, or you can cover with a green enchilada sauce too.  It depends on my mood (and what is one sale and what we have on hand, but we like any of these combinations).

thawed warm up in oven for about 30 minutes, or frozen it takes about an hour

Beef Enchiladas

1 pound browned ground beef

diced onions (cooked with the meat)

1 can refried beans

1 large can red enchilada sauce

cheese

It doesn't get easier than this recipe.  I combine the beef, onions, and beans in each tortilla and then cover it with the sauce and then cheese.

thawed warm up in oven for about 30 minutes, or frozen it takes about an hour

~~~

I think the hardest part of doing freezer meals is the prep that goes into it. If you are going to make a bunch at one time.  Making the master grocery list and prepping the food.  I also think prepping and cooking all your meat is a HUGE time saver.  If I find meat on a good price I usually bring it home and cook it and freeze it whether it's a freezer meal day or not.  It's a huge time saver to already have cooked, diced chicken in your freezer.  Prep and get everything out and ready.  Then it's easy to bust out 10 meals in an hour or two, including cleaning up your kitchen at the end!

I'll post the recipes in the post below that we've used for the Relief Society Activity nights too.  If you are interested in doing this with a group, I have some sign up sheets already done too.

Let me know what questions you have.  Sorry I don't have a lot of picture for these.  

10 Meals to Make Ahead

10 Meals to Make Ahead

“Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” 1 Peter 4:9

“And on this day though shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart…” D&C 59:13

Menu

*Chicken and Broccoli Bake

*Chicken and Rice

*Tetrazini Chicken

Chicken Noodle Soup

*Sour Cream Enchiladas

*Quick Taco Pie

*Enchilada Pie

Meatloaf

*Hamburger Noodle Bake

It’s In There Supper

(* items are recipes my family really likes)

Shopping List

Produce

6 onions

One bunch carrots

One stalk celery

One green pepper

Frozen

10 oz chopped broccoli

10 oz peas and carrots

1 bag tator tots

10 oz frozen peas

Meat

6-8 large chicken breasts

8 pounds hamburger

2 cups ham chunks

Dairy

1 large carton sour cream

5 cups cheddar cheese

3 cups Monterrey jack cheese

6 eggs

Milk

Parmesan cheese

Mayonnaise

Butter

Canned

5 cans Cream of Chicken soup

2 -4 oz cans mushrooms

2 -4 oz can green chilies

3 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cans tomatoes sauce

1 can corn

1 small can chopped olives

2 cans tomato soup

1 bottle chili sauce

4 cans chicken broth

Dry

1 taco seasoning mix

Chili powder

Biscuit mix

1 onion soup mix

1 cup rice (cooked)

20 flour tortillas

Egg noodles

Spaghetti

Bread crumbs

Parsley

Curry powder

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Recipes:

Enchilada Pie

1 pound ground beef

1 can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 can corn

1 small can chopped olives

8 flour tortillas

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and sauté the onions. Add sauce, chili powder, corn and olives. Layer 4 tortillas on bottom of pan and half of meat mixture and half cheese. Add remaining four tortillas and remaining mixture then cheese. Add ½ cup water, label and freeze. If thawed bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Meat Loaf

2 beaten eggs

¾ cup milk

½ cup dry bread crumbs

¼ cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground sage

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 ½ pounds ground beef

Combine eggs and milk; stir in crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage and pepper. Add ground beef and mix well. Pat into a loaf pan and label and freeze. When thawed bake at 350 for 1 ½ hours.

It’s In There Supper

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup milk

1 cup diced chicken

1 package frozen peas

2 cups ham chunks

1 package tator tots

Combine soup, milk, chicken, ham and peas. Place inside casserole dish and layer tator tots on top. Label and freeze. When thawed bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

8 cans chicken broth

2 cups cooked diced chicken

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups sliced carrots

2 sliced celery

Package of thick egg noodles

Combine all ingredients in large pot. Bring to boil and simmer until vegetables are tender. Place in freezer bag and label and freeze. When thawed heat thoroughly.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

1 ½ pounds ground beef (or 2 chicken breast)

1 ¼ cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon chili powder

Salt and pepper

12 flour tortillas

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ cup sour cream

1 4 oz can chopped green chilies

3 cups grated Monterey jack cheese

Brown ground beef and sauté onions. Combine these with chili powder, salt and pepper. Spoon enough meat mixture and cheese on each tortillas and place in pan seam side down. When tortillas are compiled cover with sauce and then the remaining cheese. Label and freeze. When thawed bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Quick Taco Pie

1 ½ pounds ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 4 oz can chopped green chilies

2 cups milk

1 1/3 cups baking biscuit mix

4 eggs

2 cups grated cheese

Brown ground beef and sauté the onions. Drain and add the green chilies and taco seasoning. Add to the bottom of baking dish. Mix milk, baking mix and eggs. Add mixture and cheese to dish and label and freeze. When thawed bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

Chicken Broccoli Bake

10 oz chopped broccoli

3 cups chicken pieces

2 cans cream of chicken soup

½ cup mayonnaise

4 ounces chopped mushrooms

¼ teaspoon curry powder

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook the broccoli slightly in boiling water, drain and place in the bottom of pan. Stir together the chicken, soup, mayonnaise, mushrooms, curry powder and the parmesan cheese. Add to the top of the broccoli. Label and freeze. When thawed bake covered at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, uncover and finish baking another 20 minutes.

Chicken and Rice

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 4 oz can mushrooms

1 cup cooked rice

1 10 oz package peas and carrots

2 ½ cups chicken pieces

Mix all ingredients together in order given. Place in casserole dish and label and freeze. When thawed bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Tetrazzini Chicken

4 cups chicken pieces

½ pounds spaghetti

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 ¼ cup chopped onion

4 cups Monterrey Jack cheese

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 soup can of milk

Cook the spaghetti according to the package and drain. Sauté the onions and green pepper in the butter. Mix together all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Place in casserole dish and label and freeze. When thawed bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

Hamburger Noodle Bake

1 pounds ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green pepper

1 3 oz package of egg noodles

2 cans tomato soup

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 6 oz bottle chili sauce

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 ½ cups bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter

In large skillet cook beef, onion and green until meat is brown. Cook noodles according to package, leaving them slightly undercooked. Into meat mixture add soup, cheese, chili sauce, salt pepper, 1 cup water and mix well. Add noodles and top with bread crumbs. Label and freeze. When thawed bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

{yummy staples}

I need to be better at posting recipes for a couple reasons.  The first reason (most important) is it is easier for me to find recipes on my blog and more convenient than trying to find them in recipe books.  I am just lazy I guess.  I also think it's important for the kids...someday...that they have all our favorite recipes down someplace.

I could never be a food blogger because  I take all my pictures with my iphone and we almost always eat on pretty fancy plastic plates from Ikea.  

anyway - here are two staples that we love around our house.  

Brownies and rolls.

Ken's Famous Brownies

I think I might have posted this recipe before, when we lived in Iowa and there is a picture of baby Gage eating the brownie batter, but I can never find it when I am searching for it.


My little (younger) brother Ken would make these brownies almost every Sunday growing up.  He had the recipe memorized...he probably still does. I think we found the recipe in a magazine, but they soon became Ken's Famous Brownies.

(Recipe Doubled)

3 sticks butter softened

3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add eggs one at a time.  In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Slowly add the flour to the eggs and sugar.  Mix well.  Pour into greased 9 1/2 X 11 pan.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Jenny's 60 Hour Rolls

My sister Jenny makes the best rolls.  She is always the one in charge of bringing them to any dinner event, because they are just so yummy.  I use the same recipe, but some how her's always taste better...although my kids love it when I make these and they don't complain at all.  The recipe is supposed to be a 60 minute roll recipe, but since we all love Jenny's rolls so much we get a little impatient when waiting for them.  When you are waiting for these rolls it can seem like forever...so we renamed them Jenny's 60 Hour Rolls.

I usually have to double the recipe...because Gage loves rolls and can eat most of one batch himself.
This is one batch recipe.

4-5 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons yeast

1 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, sugar, salt and yeast.  In a saucepan combine milk, water, and butter.  Heat, but do not boil.  Slowly add to dry ingredients in a mixer.  Mix in remaining flour until it pulls away from the mixing bowl clean.  Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.  Punch down and roll out and form into rolls.  Let rolls rise for another 20 minutes.  Bake at 425 for 8 minutes.  Brush with butter on the top when they are hot and come out of the oven.

{Pancake Sausage Muffins}

I love saving time in the morning.  Sometimes it can just be such a crazy house getting everyone ready and everything done.  This is one of my favorite recipes that is super easy to whip up in bulk and freeze for later...it is one that we love to have in the morning to save time.  I posted about it a few years ago when I posted about breakfast items, (click for link...I have no idea why I complained about a 9am school start time, it's 7:50 now!) .....but I never posted the recipe.  Since I was already sitting at the computer trying to type it all into MyFitnessPal, I figured I might as well post the recipe.

(Do you know about MyFitnessPal? My sister has been telling me to use it forever and I finally decided to try it.  I am loving it!)

Every morning the kids can even take care of themselves, all you have to do is pop a couple of these in the microwave for 45 seconds or so and eat!  Sometimes with syrup, sometimes without!

I do have to admit that they look nicer with crumbled sausage, the link ones always look funny to me.  But sometimes I just go with what's on sale.

Sausage Pancake Muffins
Today I made some with pancake batter, and some with Martha White Honey Bran Muffin Mix.  They are both really great!

1 package of Martha White Honey Bran Muffin Mix
2/3 Cup Milk
Dash Cinnamon
Cooked link sausage (or cooked crumbled sausage)  

Mix the muffin mix with milk and add a dash of cinnamon.  Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use muffin liners.  Fill 1/2 full with muffin mix, add 1/2 of sausage link (or a spoonful of crumbled sausage).  We really like mini muffins.  Bake mini muffins at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Bake regular size muffins at 425 for 14-17 minutes.  One package makes 6-8 regular muffins or 12-18 mini muffins.  I double the batch and make 36 mini muffins plus a couple regular size muffins.

Cook completely and then freeze in a gallon freezer ziplock bag.

~~
Another variation is the pancake version.  Same idea.  You can even cheat and use pancake mix from the store.  I have totally done that before.  Or you can use your own favorite pancake recipes.  Here are two of my favorite:


Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Pour in the milk, egg and melted butter, mix until smooth.

Whole Wheat Pancakes:

2 cups whole wheat flour,
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 cups plus 2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl sift together all the dry ingredients.  Pour in the milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix until smooth.

{Cafe Rio Sweet Pork and Creamy Green Dressing}

This is one of Wade's favorite meals.  My version is nothing new, but I am always searching the recipes out each time I want to make them, so I thought I would post them on my blog.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

(originally from Becky Higgins website)

1 large pork roast

2 cups brown sugar

1 can coke (not diet)

1 bottle salsa

Place pork roast in crock pot and cover with coke and brown sugar.  Empty salsa into blender and blend until smooth.  We have a magic bullet and it just takes a couple seconds but makes a huge difference in the end result!

Cook in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours or high 3-5 hours (I think every crock pot is different.) or until pork roast can shred.

Creamy Green Dressing

(originally from Our Best Bites website)

1 cup mayo (not miracle whip)

1 package of ranch dressing seasoning

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup green salsa

1/2 cup milk

2 garlic cloves chopped

Juice from 1 lime

Combine ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  Wade doesn't exactly measure the cilantro -he adds a "bunch" Also he adds more or less green salsa or ranch dressing mix depending on what taste he wants.  He starts with half a dressing mix and then adds from there.  Refrigerate dressing for a couple hours.  We usually make the dressing at the same time we put the pork in the crock pot.  It will get nice and creamy the longer it refrigerates.

Cilantro Lime Rice

When we make Cafe Rio Pork we also cook cilantro lime rice.  Cook your rice as you normally would but use chicken broth instead of water and thrown in a little lime juice and chopped cilantro.

To assemble use your favorite burrito toppings, some of ours include:

Warm tortillas, black beans, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, green salsa, cheese, sour cream, avocado, rice, sweet pork and top with creamy dressing.

I like to make mine "open face" so it's more just a pork salad on top of the warmed tortilla.  I layer tortillas, lettuce, rice, pork, beans, cheese, avocado, and dressing.

Enjoy!

What's Cooking

Nobody freak out - but I've now managed to post 3...THREE times between Sunday Photos! And since I'm sharing 3 recipes, I could technically break this into 3 posts - but honestly, I'm just a little lazy for that.

I thought I would post a few recipes that we've had lately that we love.  That way they are here in one place when I want to find them.

I am all about freezer meals and crock pots.  And recipes that I can throw together in minutes and are not too complicated.  These kids keep me B-U-S-Y!  If I can't make it while the baby is asleep or make it with one hand while I hold her, then we will not be eating it and it will be a breakfast for dinner kinda night.

Sunday I mentioned we had Italian Beef Sandwiches   I got the recipe from my sister - who made this for us when we had Lucy.  Wade loves this stuff!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

1 beef rump roast

1 pkg good season Italian salad dressing mix

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 jar pepperoncini with their juice

1 cup beef broth

Cut the stems off the pepperoncinis.  Combine everything in your crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours until roast is tender.  Shred beef, mix, and serve on buns with provolone cheese slices and some of the juice.

We like to serve these babies up with some homemade french fries, cole slaw and some chips.  

~~

Potato Goodness Crock Pot Soup

I found this recipe on Pinterest here.  It is now my go to potato soup recipe.  

So easy. Love it!

(we are eating it tonight!)

1 (30 oz.) bag frozen hash-brown potatoes (I use the squared, southern style)

2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth

1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1/2c chopped onion

1/3 tsp. ground black pepper

1 (8oz) package cream cheese (softened)

Throw the potatoes, chicken broth, soup, onion and pepper in a crock pot.  Cook on low for about 4 hours.  The last 30 minutes add the cream cheese and stir until blended.

I love it with cheese, green onions and some bacon.  Because bacon makes  EVERYTHING better!

~~

this next one...well, Kids love it!

I made this for a friend and she loved it and told another friend.  Who then also made it for her kids.

All 10 of our kids agree this stuff is good.

(Lucy doesn't count, but if she did - that would make 11!)

I got this recipe from one of my sister in laws when we did a recipe exchange.

Pizzeria Casserole

2 cups (8 oz) Mostaccioli pasta

1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce

1/2 (2 oz) sliced pepperoni, quartered

1 1/2  (6oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan

Cook pasta according to the directions on package.  Drain.  In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish combine pasta, sauce, pepperoni and 1 cup cheese.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and Parmesan   Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  (Makes about 4 servings)

I usually double the recipe.  I also just buy one package of the tiny pepperoni's and throw the whole bag in. I'll be honest.  I add more cheese too.  Just because cheese is good too.

 I then put it in a 11x7 baking dish.

This makes an excellent recipe to double and freeze too!

The picture of it is the frozen version if you couldn't tell!

 I am all about doubling simple recipes lately and freezing one.

Like I said, freezer meals and crock pots are like my new best friends.

{Farm Buns Dinner}

For some reason I can't seem to find a lot of my recipes since moving. 

And sadly, they are the ones I just had wrote down on random pieces of paper and stuck in my recipe binder, and unless I can remember who gave it to me, or the entire recipe, it's now lost.

(I  like to imagine they are out there blowing in the wind across Idaho and Oregon)  

Luckily, a lot of these recipes are from my mom and she is just a phone call/email away. But tonight's dinner I had no such luck. I thought I had it, but opened the binder to find it was missing.  It was a fairly simple recipe, so I'm pretty sure I got it right (or close enough). But, just to be safe, I better write it down on here for safe keeping.

I (think) I got this recipe from a spouse cooking group I was part of while Wade was in med school. It was such a fun support group for the spouses and we had so much fun cooking and learning every month. I can't remember who's recipe it is beyond that. If it's your recipe, or I didn't get it from the SAA group at DMU - sorry!

Farm Buns

Favorite bread or roll dough (such as Rhodes)

One pound ground hamburger

Approximately 1-2 cups shredded cabbage

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

1/2 Chopped onion (if you want)

I like to use my own plain-jane white bread recipe (here).  I follow the recipe and let it rise one time, then form the rolls. I usually make about 24 medium size rolls.  If you are using Rhodes, just let the frozen little rolls rise however you want.

Brown hamburger (and onions, but if you aren't an onion person, omit this step).  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Lower heat and add shredded cabbage. I get lazy sometimes and have used coleslaw mix and it works great too. I use about half a of mix if that is what you are using. Cook over medium heat until cabbage is tender.

Flatten and stretch out one roll and spoon in a tablespoon or so of the hamburger/cabbage. Bring the corners of the roll together and seal. Repeat until all the hamburger mixture is gone.

Place (fairly close together) in a greased 11x13 baking dish.

Cover and let rise for another 10-15 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until rolls are golden. Brush with butter, and serve warm.

~~

I think these make a yummy "hearty" old fashion winter meal. We got our first snow today, so it seemed like perfect timing and a good warm meal.  

They are pretty good serve with mash potatoes, gravy and a fruit salad.

Pumpkin Layer Cake

Wade loves this pumpkin layer cake.  It's a recipe we got from my mom and we have to have it every October at least once. We usually don't even share this with the kids, but Noah discovered it this week and declared it the best thing EVER! 

If you love pumpkin, (I know, it's not for everyone), try this cake!

Pumpkin Layer Cake

First Layer:

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  

Mix and press into cake pan, 1 package yellow cake mix, 1 stick melted butter, 1 egg.

Combine 1 (14 oz) can of pumpkin pie mix, 2 eggs and 2/3 cups milk in mixing bowl.

Pour over cake layer.

In bowl combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup melted butter and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Sprinkle over the top of the pumpkin layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until pumpkin layer is set and toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

{Apples}

An apple a day keeps the Dr. away.

But in our case we hope it brings him home to us.

Sunday night when we were at Wade's parents house the kids decided to pick apples.  They picked a "few" and it's safe to say we've had more than our fair share of an apple a day this week.

Monday I made 2 apple pies.  My favorite recipe comes from this vintage (1969) Better Homes and Garden Pies and Cakes cookbook I bought at a library book sale 10 something years ago.  

The recipes have never failed me.  

My pie crust ability always fails me though.  I broke down and bought store crust.  Wade came home, took one bite and said, "This is NOT your crust.  What is wrong with this?"  I guess it's safe to say he likes my homemade pie crust recipe.  Either way, store bought or homemade, I can never make a pretty pie.  I've even taken classes.  Geez.

World's Greatest Apple Pie

Better Homes and Garden

Pastry for 9-inch lattice top pie

6 or 7 tart apples, pared, cored and thinly sliced (6 cups)

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash each nutmeg and salt

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with tablespoons lemon juice.  Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; mix with sliced apples.  Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry; fill with apple mixture.  Dot with butter or margarine.

Top pie with lattice top and sprinkle with sugar.  Trim and seal edges.  Fold strip of oil or pie tape around rim of crust, covering fluted edge.  Bake in hot oven (400) 55-60 minutes or till apples are done.  

I like mine warm, with vanilla ice cream.  

Wade likes his cold.

Either way, enjoy!

Apple Puff Pancake

Another morning this week we tried out an Apple Puff Pancake. Obviously,  I lack in the ability to take good pictures of food with my iphone, but Avery and I decided it tasted delicious!

(My boys wouldn't even try this.  But they did enjoy watching it puff up in the oven.)

Apple Puff Pancake

The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen

(an awesome cook book I found at the library)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

5 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

dash of salt

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a 9 inch glass pie plate.  Heat in the oven until the butter is melted and bubbly - about 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, stir well and mix in the apples slices.  Return to the oven and bake for 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine eggs, milk flour and salt in a blender or food processor and process until frothy - 1 minute.  Pour over apple mixture.  Bake until the cake is puffed and the center is set, 18-20 minutes.  Serve warm with maple syrup or sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

 Homemade Applesauce

This is one of the easiest (but can be time consuming) things I love to make with apples.  You can google, or search Pinterest all you want, but most of the recipes are all the same.  Someday I am going to make my life easy and buy the right equipment for this project, then I can get serious and make a whole bunch.  If you have an apple peeler and/or a sieve this project is a sinch.  If not, you do it the longer way, like me.

I planned on taking pictures of making applesauce.  Then the kids ran off with the camera.  And my hands got messy.  And the kids took a bazillion and one pictures of the floor, my bum, crazy toys.

Back to the applesauce:

Here are the basic steps:

1.  Peel, core and slice all the apples.  (If you have a sieve you don't have to peel).

2.  Cook the apples.  You need some water or apple juice in the pan with the apples so they don't burn.  Turn up the heat and stir them until they are soft.  If you don't have a sieve or want chunkier sauce, then just keep stirring and cooking until they are almost the consistency you want.

3.  Mash the apples.  Either do this with a potato masher (for chunkier applesauce) or sieve.  Pretty easy stuff.

4.  Return to pot on stove and season.  You don't have to add anything.  I added about a cup of sugar, a dash of nutmeg and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

5.  You can eat and enjoy at this point or process the jars of applesauce!

I like to use this website when I am canning things. It's not a fancy-smancy looking site, but it always has lots of pictures and very good step by step instructions.  I didn't remember to buy new lids for quart size jars this week, so when I processed the applesauce I did pints.  I had brand new bottles and lids on hand.  I think they will only last our family about one meal each.  But add a label and some ribbon and I think they'll make cute gifts!

~~

We still have a few more apples from our picking.  I'm planning on making a delicious apple cake my sister made for us last weekend.  And I'm sure a few more apples will get carried off by the kids and eaten to the core.  

It's true.

We sure love our apples around here.