Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Organic Teething Biscuits...Charlee looooooves these

1.5 cups white flour
0.5 cup whole wheat flour
0.5 cup organic maple syrup
3Tbsp organic applesauce ( I actually just used a jar of stage 1 organic applesauce baby food)

*Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough forms.
*Preheat oven to 300
*Roll to 1/3" thick, use biscuit cutter to make round shape, or use pizza cutter to slice into strips (these were easier for her to hold)
*Place on ungreased cookie sheet.*Bake for 25-30 minutes or til browned. Cool completely. Store in a Zip-Loc bag.

ECLAIR CAKE..>This is John's favorite..really easy

2 pkgs (out of 1 box) honey graham crackers
2 boxes instant French vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1tsp vanilla
9 oz Cool Whip
tub of chocolate frosting

*Mix pudding with milk. Add vanilla and beat to thicken. Fold in whipped cream and refrigerate.
*Place whole graham crackers in bottom of a 9x13 pan and cover whole area.
*Pour half of pudding mixture over the crackers and spread. Repeat layers.
*Cover top layer of pudding with layer of graham crackers. Frost with as much icing as desired (I find it easier to frost them BEFORE I put them on!!)
*Refrigerate several hours or over night.

Whitney's Strawberry Bread

3 cups flour
1tsp salt
2cups sugar
3tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking soda
2 10oz pkgs frozen strawberries
4 eggs
1.25 cups oil
1.25 cups pecans


*Mix all dry ingredients together, sifting if desired for less lumps. Add moist ingredients..
*Stir well. DO NOT USE A MIXER!!!!!!
*Bake at 350 for 1 hour in a Bundt pan or two loaf pans.

dieting...again

So I've been a bad girl. I've started drinking more pepsis and sneaking in the occassional sweet. When I slowed down to 1-2 a day, I lost EIGHT POUNDS in one week. So now I'm hoping I can do this again. I've fought so hard with my weight for so long, but I'm tired of it.
I have this beautiful little girl that I am going to watch grow up. But I want to see it all first hand, not sitting off on the sidelines because I'm too big to be able to play and have fun with her. Just the little bit I've lost so far I can already tell a difference. I'm able to wrestle around wtih her longer and not be out of breath. I think Charlee's amazed cuz Mommy actually spends a little more time on the floor with her.
She's getting SOOOO big now. At her checkup last month, she was up to 16lbs 13oz, was 24.25 inches long :) The doctor said her weight was nearly perfect (FINALLY!!!) but her length was a little short. I looked down at myself, looked at John and then looked at the doctor. He finally got what I was saying and laughed "Yeah I guess genetics COULD play a part in that!"
She's saying Nana and Dada pretty good now, and there is FINALLY the occassional Mama thrown in now. We laugh she's a "cave baby" cuz she grunts and growls at everyone.
She LOVES Nana's two chihuahuas. Jake is a little wary because of the flailing arms, but Jacie will just lay there and let her pet and pull and hug. I guess that litter of puppies broke her of any inhibitions of yanking things.
Charlee has discovered the ability of getting up on all 4s now and rocking. She can go a "step" or two on crawling but then she falls. I'm terrified of when she starts cuz it'll be twice as hard to keep up with her, but then again I can't wait to see those little chubby legs going across the floor LOL
She loves other little kids and finds them endlessly amusing. Whitney's little niece Braxton is Charlee's BEST FRIEND. She sees Braxi and her face just lights up and she starts giggling. Nana is the only other one that can get her so pumped up.
Well I'm off to type some more recipes. ...anything you wanna talk about....you can hunt me up on Myspace or Facebook.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Barefoot Contessa Parker Beef Stew...lots of steps but COMPLETELY worth it

2.5lbs chunked beef
750 ml good red wine (you'll only use 1/2 this)
2 whole cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
2 cups flour
2 onions, cubed
1lb carrots, chunked
1lb small potatoes, halved or quartered
3 cloves garlic minced, or 1Tbsp of the jar minced garlic
(2) 14.5 cans chicken broth
1 lg branch fresh rosemary or 2tsp dried
2 Tbsp Worcestershire


*Stir 1/2 bottle of wine, 1 can chicken broth, 2 whole cloves garlic and bay leaves in a large bowl. Put in beef. Place in refrigerator and marinate overnight.
*Preheat oven to 300
*Combine flour and salt and pepper. Lift beef out of marinade with a slotted spoon. Discard bay leaves and garlic..>SAVE MARINADE!!!!
*In batches, dredge meat in flour and shake off extra.
*Heat 2Tbsp oil in large pot over medium heat and brown meat; turning to brown evenly. Place in a large Dutch oven
*Once done with meat, heat additional 2 Tbsp oil in same pan, add onions, carrots and potatoes. Cook 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook 5 more minutes. Place veggies in Dutch oven with meat.
*Add 2.5 cups marinade to empty pot and heat on high to deglaze pan, scraping up brown bits. Add the chicken broth, rosemary, Worcestershire, 1 Tbsp salt and 2 tsp pepper and cook 2 minutes.
*Pour sauce over meat and veggies in the dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat over the stove. Cover pot and bake for 2 hours. If stew boils rather than simmer, reduce heat to 250.

My recipe for Pecan Pie

1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans


*Microwave butter until completely melted
*Add syrup, brown sugar, salt, butter and vanilla.
*In a seperate bowl, slightly beat eggs.
*Add eggs to batter and mix til batter looks the same as before; pour into pie crust.
*Sprinkle pecans on top of pie. Bake in preheated 325 oven for 30 minutes
*Take out and put foil around crust. Cook for additional 30-40 minutes or til knife comes out clean.

BBQ Green Beans

3 cans french cut green beans, drained
1 cup ketchup
4-5 strips bacon fried crisp and crumbled

*Mix all and bake at 350 for 2 hours OR
*microwave 10-15 minutes; stir; 5-10 minutes more

Nana's Raisin Pie

2 cups raisins
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Golden Delicious apple, finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp lemon juice
pastry for 9inch pie and strip top


*Combine raisins and water and boil for 5 minutes
*Blend together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add mix to hot raisins and cook and stir until clear. *Remove from heat and stir in apples, butter and lemon juice. Cool slightly.
*Pour into pie crust and top with strip.
*Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.

Nana's Robert Redford Cake

2 graham cracker pie crusts
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powder sugar
12 oz Cool Whip
small box instant vanilla pudding
small box instant chocolate pudding
2.5 cups milk


*Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 of Cool Whip and spread in pie crusts.

*Mix pudding mixes and milk until thick. Spread over cream cheese mixture.

*Top with rest of Cool Whip and sprinkle with shaved candy bars

Nana's Hershey Syrup Cake

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla
1lg can Hershey syrup

*Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla and syrup.
*Pour into a 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or til done.


FROSTING:
1 cup chocolate chips
2Tbsp butter
1 egg yolk
1.5 cup powder sugar
1/4 cup milk

Put all in a pan and stir til chocolate is melted. Spread over cake.

Easy Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

1lb baking potatoes cubed 14.5oz can chicken broth
1 cup milk 1/3 cup real bacon pieces
1 cup shredded cheese 1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup sour cream

*Microwave potatoes in a large microwaveable bowl on high 5 minutes. Stir. Microwave another 5 minutes. or til fork tender. Stir in broth and milk.
*Microwave 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes. Carefully crush potatoes with a potato masher.
*Stir in cheese and bacos, stir untl cheese melts. Microwave up to a minute til desired. Top with additional cheese and bacon, onions and sour cream.

Bourbon Chicken

1.5lb chicken, chunked 3Tbsp brown sugar
2Tbsp teriyaki 1Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire 1 cup white grape juice
1/2 tsp garlic salt 1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 tsp ginger powder 1/4 cup water


*Mix teriyaki, Worcestershire, garlic, ginger, brown sugar and half of the juice and bourbon. Stir til thoroughly blended. Pour 1/3 of the sauce on top of the chicken and mix. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Save remainder of sauce and refrigerate.
*Braise chicken with marinade on medium low heat until cooked. Remove from frying pan. In a 2-quart sauce pan heat remainder of bourbon sauce and add the remaining 1/2 cup of juice and sugar and water. Bring to a simmer until sugar is dissolved.
*Add chicken to sauce and stir until chicken is coated. Serve immediately.

First Recipe...My Fave....Tangy Ribeyes and BBQ Roasted Potatoes w/Sour Cream Sauce

TART & TANGY RIBEYE
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup steak sauce
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp dried parsley
4 rib-eyes (1.5-2lb total)
2 Tbsp steak seasoning

*In a large resealable bag. Combine first four ingredients and massage to combine. (((I"M WARNING YOU THIS STINKS!!!!)
*Place steaks in bag and coat steaks. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes or overnight is best.
*Remove steaks from bag and sprinkle both sides with steak seasoning. Place on well oiled medium high heat grill. Cook 8 minutes per side for medium-well.



BBQ ROASTED POTATOES WITH SOUR CREAM SAUCE
POTATOES SAUCE
3Tbsp olive oil 1 cup sour cream
2Tbsp BBQ seasoning 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
1Tbsp crushed garlic 1Tbsp Worcestershire
2tsp lemon juice 1tsp dried parsley
1.5 lbs quartered baby red potatoes (skin on)

*Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except potatoes. Then add potatoes and toss to coat.
*Place potatoes in almuminum foil pouch and seal. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

*For the sauce combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Put potatoes n a large bowl and pour sauce over. Toss well to coat.

Starting Out

So I've been thinking about doing a blog forever now, but just finally found the time and effort to sit down and actually do it. Between Charlee getting bigger and Nana getting sicker, I've been pretty busy. This will be a combo of my musings and some yummy recipes I find, since Nana has me experimenting to find new stuff she can eat.
I finally got back into school. I'm taking classes online through Penn Foster. I'm going for Medical Coding and Billing, so it's something I can do either at home or in an office. Yes, it's true, I'm too big of a wimp to put Charlee in a daycare just yet :)
Well, she's crying as we speak, so I better run.

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About Me

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SAHM to a beautiful, wonderful, miracle princess named Charlee Jean. Married to my high school sweetheart for over 6 years now, and expecting another miracle baby in October 2011