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Category: food fun

  • The Best Pickles EVER

    Yes, these are the best pickles EVER!  Not because we made them, but because the recipe is the best one I have ever tried.  And of course the best pickles come from home-grown cucumbers.  For the first time in my garden, I was able to grow perfect cucumbers!  I planted them by the trellis thinking they would climb…and boy, did they ever!

    The one problem that I have always had is powdery mildew. I can’t seem to keep it away. I found some organic spray that actually seemed to work fairly well, but if I missed a spraying, the leaves were covered again.

    From the vines, I was able to get about 5 quarts of pickles before we went on vacation.

    The recipe is as follows:

    1qt jar
    1 jalapeno
    1″ wedge of onion
    1 clove garlic
    cucumbers (as many as will fit, cram them in there because they shrink)
    1 teaspoon dill SEED
    1 tablespoon canning salt

    BRINE
    1/2c sugar
    1/2c pickling vinegar
    1c water
    Mix until sugar dissolves. Microwave JUST until boiling (about 4 minutes). Pour over jar contents to the top and seal. Store in a cool dark place for 2 weeks.

    ***The original recipe from a friend said to put the brine in cold, then place in a hot water bath just until the pickle color changes (10-15 minutes).  I have not been successful doing it this way, as my pickles always get too soft.

  • New Eating Habits

    Lately, I have been reading about the food that we buy now.  We are not in good shape as a country when it comes to our food.  There have been many things that have triggered my interest in eating healthier, but looking at my girls has been the biggest motivation.  Is what I am feeding them good for their minds and body?  While we eat healthier than most families…the answer is no.

    I stumbled across this blog Maria’s Health and was amazed at what she was making!  Everything we love…just so much better for you!  So I ordered her book.  Oh.My.Gosh.  The small book is PACKED full of recipes that sound awesome!  The best part is a lot are gluten free and low/no carb.

    With this change in eating comes a change in buying groceries.  I had to place a rather expensive order (I ♥ Amazon!!!) to get some of the ingredients.  This is only some of it, the rest will be delivered next week.  I told Wade…we can pay for it now, or we can pay for it later when we have health issues.  (And it is better than paying for some weight loss program!)

    Today I made my first recipe.  It was for cheese danishes.  They were pretty good!  The Stevia (Wade found it at HEB) is really sweet, much sweeter than sugar, so that will take some getting used to.

    (oh…and don’t forget to grease the pan! “fake” sugar does NOT come off of anything…even non-stick! lesson learned.)

  • This is the way we make banana bread

    Wade took all of these pictures as I helped the girls.  Recipe HERE.

  • Power Balls

    A couple weeks ago we bought some flax seed after hearing my co-worker talk about making power balls.  The girls LOVED them!  I am not sure who ate more, me or Wade.  The girls and I made more today.  It is a great [mostly] healthy snack.

    1c honey
    1c peanut butter
    1/2c flax seed
    3c oatmeal
    1c chocolate chips
    1/2c nuts
    1/2c dried fruit (we skipped this because we didn’t have any)

    Mix well and enjoy.

  • Meringue Cake Failure

    Lately we have been going low-carb.  But I have a SUPER sweet tooth, so this has been very difficult.  After 2 weeks I needed SOMETHING sweet.  The latest Martha Stuart magazine had some great recipes in it and with a little modification, are very low carb.  I attempted to make this beautiful meringue cake.

    I put it in the oven and started on the syrup.

    I took it out of the oven and this is what it looked like.

    Oops.  I think a couple things went wrong.  First I used one of those rubbery bunt pans and put it in a water bath.  I should have skipped the water bath using that pan.  The second, I think I actually over mixed the meringue.  It had stiff glossy peaks but it had only been about a minute and the instructions said 3-4 minutes.  Lastly, I used splenda instead of sugar (no carbs in splenda).

    We did try it then chuncked it in the trash.  Maybe next time.

  • Dehydrator

    For my birthday, I asked for a dehydrator.  My mom obliged.  She did not get me some rinky-dink little thing…no…it takes up 1/2 the counter, but it is awesome!  I wanted it for all of the tomatoes that I expect will start growing someday in the garden.  For our first run of it, we made dried apples (they were too soft and the girls did not like them) and strawberry fruit roll ups.  The girls really liked the roll-ups but a few kids gave them a hard time at school for them.  I bet their mom has never made fruit roll ups for them!

  • Christmas Desserts

    I don’t remember too many traditions growing up, but we did always make candies and fudge at Christmas time. My favorite fudge is Velveeta Cheese Fudge. Yes, it has cheese in it and it is unlike any fudge you have ever tasted…very sweet.

    The next thing we made was Chocolate Butterscotcharoos.  These are like peanut buttery rice crispy treats with chocolate/butterscotch on top.  Yummy!

  • Jello Watermelons

    I have several blogs that I follow…mainly photography blogs, but some are artsy crafty ones.  This idea is from one of my 87 (literally) blogs…I wish I could find the original to link it.  Oh well.

    Here is what we made, then I will show you how I did it.

    I thought this would be a fun summer activity to do with the girls.  I was wrong.  It took me almost 45 minutes just to scrap out the limes.  Limes don’t peel like oranges.  I cut the limes in half and then I used a knife to cut most of the insides out.  I flipped them inside out to scrape out the rest.

    *I should have left some lime on the rind…the oils in the rind made the jello sour.

    I put the lime halves in a muffin tin to keep them level.

    They have watermelon jello, but I wanted a nice bright red, so I used strawberry jello and poured it into the halves.  Make sure to use the “jiggler” recipe or the jello will slide out of the halves (which we discovered the next morning).

    I put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let them start to congeal.  Then I pulled them out and put in mini chocolate chips with a skewer for the seeds.

    After several hours, I took them out and sliced them in half again.  Wade could not stand to watch me with a knife, so he took over.

    The girls thought they were cool!  Spur of the moment, some friends invited us over for dinner so we got to share our creation.

  • Best Banana Bread (Laura’s Banana Bread)

    I think my mom got this recipe from a person named Laura.  It is pretty old…but it is the best bread!

    1/2 cup oleo (butter…not margarine)

    1 cup sugar

    2 eggs

    2 cups flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking soda

    1 cup chopped pecans (I use chocolate chips instead)

    3 large bananas mashed

    Blend oleo and sugar well.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Add the flour mixture. Stir in bananas and nuts.

    Pour into buttered and floured (or sugared) loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 45minutes-1 hour.  (Depending on the oven it might only be 35 minutes.  The edges will get brown before the center is done.  The center will rise and crack…to see if it is done, stick a toothpick into a colored crack.  If it is clean, it is done.)