Day 4- Project Pinterest

Today was a fun and busy day.  I will be honest, we didn't actually get to do a project today.  However, I am posting one that we did about 2 weeks ago.  No worries, I am hoping to post two tomorrow.  Lil' E feels kind of jipped that we didn't do a project eventhough, we went to the park, went to the beach, went to get icecream, went swimming, and went to baseball practice today.  So before I post pictures of our day I will share you with our project.

Today's Project Pinterest

Homemade Icecream

You will need

2 cups heavy cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2tsp mint extract

mini chocolate chips

Add your heavy cream to bowl and whip.

Whip until stiff peaks form.

In another bow add can of sweetened condensed milk, extract, and chocolate chips. I added food coloring for the added effect of mint icrecream. Mix all these together.

Fold your heavy cream into your milk mixture.

Place into a container

Freeze for 6 hours or until set.

This icecream is really yummy and so easy to make.  I love that you don't need ice or salt either. 

Don't like mint? Try other add ins. 

You could add anything to your sweetened condensed milk to create your own flavors.

We also made smore icecream by adding 3 TB butter, crushed chocolate covered graham crackers, mini marshmellows, chopped hershey's chocolate.  Once we started placing it into the container we added swirls of hot fudge then froze.  MMM! 

What flavor would you create?

Our Fun Filled Day!

We started our day with cleaning.  Fun no, necessary yes.  This spring break I have not only been trying to do fun things each day, but get at least 2 loads of laundry done, and clean 2 rooms in the house (clean clean, not just surface clean).  We finished our chores, packed a lunch and waited for Mema to arrive.  Then we loaded the kids into the car and headed out.

We went to Chetzamoka Park.  The kids got a kick out of the fact that their daddy used to work there before he left for college.  They really enjoyed playing on the monkey bars. 

This is fun!

Look what I can do!

Okay wait, I need some help!

MOOOOOOOOOOMMYYYYYYYYYY!

Trying to get a picture with the kids is so hard.  Razy is in that "I need to be silly posing stage."  They all have their forced smiles.  I am just thankful for professionals who know what they are doing and have captured great photos of the kids, because it can be so hard.

They do love their Mema.  They love going places with her and they were happy to find out that she would be joining us. 



After the park we headed down to the beach.  Mema likes to look for sea glass and the kids tried finding some for her.  No luck.  They did find lots of shells and rocks. 

We continued our adventure into town to visit the local icecream shop (no photos).  We each got a cone and then checked out all the gourmet candies.  Mema treated the kids to some jelly bellies.  They took their time selecting which flavors they wanted.  However, once getting into the car, Razy exclaims "I didn't want jelly beans" Icecrem and then jelly beans,? I think it was too much for her in such a little time. 

Next we met up with our cousins and enjoyed some swimming time.  They love the indoor pool because we can go during anytime of weather.  Our favorite is when we visit in the winter and go sledding and then swimming.  We couldn't stay all day and had to head home to get Lil' E to baseball practice.  It was cold, but fun to watch him crush those baseballs out in the outfield.  He gets so excited when he does. 

Well that was our fun day.  What did you do today?

Project Pinterest and Easter Week

Sadly this year we aren't going to be doing our annual "Stay"cation Destination.  With gas prices being so high, 30 weeks pregnant, preparing for easter, and once again rain on the forcast, the cons outweighed the pros this year.  I still wanted to do something fun with the kids.  We decided that "Project Pinterest" was the answer. 



I have pinned over a thousands pins in the last year.  Somethings will just sit there for years and probably never get done.  However, I have also done quite a few things.  I have a couple of boards that I have pinned that would be fun for the kids.  So each day of spring break they get to choose a project they would like to do.  It can be a craft, a game, a learning thing, a recipe, etc.  After we complete each of our projects we will post them on here for you to see and try for yourself if you would like.


On top of "Project Pinterest", we are celebrating our week long Easter.  We did this last year and it went so well.  We focused on what Easter really means, instead of focusing on the Easter Bunny.  We still did Easter Eggs, and enjoyed candy, but the kids really learned alot and they have been talking about it again this year.  We all are really looking forward to Friday when we will be having our "Last Supper".  This was one of our favorite ways to celebrate Easter last year.   

So stay tuned for some fun, inside, ideas to try during spring break or any time.  And celebrate along with us in our week long Easter celebration. 

That's One Giant Sandwhich

MMM...Doesn't that look so good?  Let me tell you it was DELICIOUS!! This giant sandwhich, along with a giant bowl of fruit salad was our yummy dinner tonight.   

While JBody was in chiropractic school, we would go to his sister's house on the weekends for dinner.  This is where she introduced us to this huge sandwhich. I have only made it one other time.  It was a couple years ago and I had completely forgotten about it. 

To make this for yourself you will need:

8-inch round loaf of bread

 horseradish

1/2 lb. thinly sliced cooked roast beef

prepared mustard

1/2 lb. thinly sliced cooked ham or turkey

4 slices Swiss cheese

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1 small tomato

6 bacon strips, cooked

4 slices American cheese

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup butter, melted (I didn't use this much)
sesame seeds

onion salt

Look at all those yummy layers...

1. Slice bread horizontally into 4-equal layers. Spread bottom layer with mayo and horseradish; top with roast beef.  Spread mayo on bottom of next slice of bread.  Place the next slice of bread over beef; spread with mayo and mustard and top with ham or turkey & Swiss cheese. Spread more mayo on bottom of next slice of bread. Add the next slice of bread; spread with mayonnaise and top with tomato, bacon, onion and

American cheese. Spread mayo on last slice of bread and cover. Combine butter, sesame seeds, and onion salt; brush over top and sides of loaf. Place on a baking sheet; loosely tent with heavy-duty foil.

2. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Cooking Tip: We like to saute the onions before putting them on the sandwich.  The meat takes a long to time to warm through while baking-- I like to warm it up a little before making the sandwich.

Just because it is so yummy looking.  I added another picture for you!

Sunday Night Popcorn and AFV

The kids love watching American Funniest Videos and Daddy loves Sunday night treats.  Usually we do caramel popcorn or rice krispy treats. Tonight after making 2 16 inch cakes for an upcoming Blue & Gold Banquet I wasn't too thrilled to have to make something else.  Where  did I turn to?  Pinterest of course. I found a mixture of our two favorite easy treats. 

Marshmallow Caramel Poporn

Popped popcorn- 3/4 cup kernels or 3 bags microwave popcorn

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

16oz bag of marshmallows

Melt butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows on the stovetop or microwave until a creamy sauce. 

Pour over popcorn and enjoy!

Do you watch AFV?  I remember watching it every sunday as a kid.  It is so fun to see the reactions of our kids.  It is so much funnier to watch it with them than by yourself. 

Baked Doughnuts

For the past week the kids have been able to enjoy the snow.  We got snow.  Lots and lots of snow.  There had to have been at least a foot.  I even had lots of fun in it too.  Not only because I got to see the kids in awe of all the fluffy white stuff in our yard, or hear their giggles as they played, but because when you spend the day playing out in the snow, you get to come inside and drink warm hot cocoa.  We had lots of hot cocoa, made caramel popcorn, and even snow icecream.  On top of these yummy foods I found a recipe for baked doughnuts.  So this morning before going out to play in the snow, Razy helped me make the dough.  Then after dinner we finished the final steps and as a family we enjoyed the yummy goodness.

Before I go on can I just say that I LOVE SNOW SUITS.  They make life so much easier.  Before we bought the kids snow suits they went out in layers of clothes.  They would go out at least 2 or 3 times a day in the snow which meant I had lots and lots of wet clothes to deal with.  Now that they each have a snow suit, I have ZERO wet clothes to deal with.  Thank you to whomever invented snow suits.  

Now onto the recipe. 

MMM.  Don't they look so good.  They were nice and light and fluffy.  I got two thumbs up from each member of the family.  They were pretty fool proof too.  Try them out for yourself and let me know what you think.

***This recipe was taken from Krissy's Creations***

Baked Doughnuts

Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& doughnut holes)

For the Dough
3/4 cups Warm Milk
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze
* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts
¼ cup Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball. Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts. However, I found that the dough got too hard to work with. 

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze. Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts. I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping. Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts.

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until just warmed. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)!

Homemade Frozen Hasbrowns

I was down in our basement yesterday and noticed the buckets of potatoes we had harvest earlier this fall.  I have a tendency to forget about what is down there and decided I needed to something with the potatoes before they went bad.  I know that they can last pretty long, but I didn't want to take my chances.  Besides we have cans and cans of potatoe flakes in our pantry so I wanted to to something with them other than use them for mashed potatoes.  HASHBROWNS!  I figured there had to be a way to make your own frozen ones since you can find them in the stores.  And of course google came to the rescue. 

To make your own hashbrowns you will need:
Potatoes!!! Yep that is it.  Well you will need some equipment and water, but no preservatives.

You can buy your potatoes or harvest your own.  These are ones from our own garden, but in the past I have gotten those big bags of potatoes and then wasted them because we didn't know what to do with all of them.  Now I know!

Wash and peel your potatoes.

Cut them into large chunks.  Place them into cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 mins.  This will keep them from browning in the freezer.

I forgot to take a picture, but after they have boiled. Drain them and place in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Keep them in water and place in the refridgerator overnight.

Using a food processor grate or shred your potatoes. You will notice how dry they come out.  This is a good thing.  Dry potatoes are what make your crispy yummy hashbrowns.

Place in gallon ziploc freezer bags.  I put 2 pounds in each bag.  This way if I have a recipe that calls for hashbrowns they are in the same size bags you would buy from the store.  Lay them flat and get all the air out of them.  Lastly place them in your freezer.  Easy Peasy.  And Cheap too!

Thanksgiving Turkey Veggie Platter

Need a last minute way to make your veggie tray cute for your Thanksgiving table?  How about turn it into a turkey?  I found this cute little idea on pinterest and knew I wanted to make it.

The original was cuter but I wanted to add celery and tomatoes and didn't want as many peppers that they had on their tray.  It doesn't matter the veggies you use, it is the color that really makes the turkey.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Apple Crisp Recipe

I have apples coming out of my ears right now.  Earlier during the summer months I prepared bags and bags of pear puree to turn into pear applesauce.  I have been dreading the applesauce making because I have been feeling so icky.  Well with the help of my mom and brother I went and picked baskets full of apples.  I have been slowly working on them and have made 10 quarts of pear applesauce, 5 pints of apple butter, and I still have lots more to do.  Well last night I decided to take a break and make something other than applesauce.  The kids and I found a yummy recipe and got to work.  I am excited to share it with you.  It smells delicious and tastes even better. 

Apple Crisp

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored, and sliced. 

1 cup white sugar

1 TB all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2.  Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan.  Mix the white sugar, 1 TB flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples.  Pour water evenly over all.

3.  Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together.  Crumble evenly over the apple mixture. 

4.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 mins.  (If your topping is getting too brown you can cover with aluminum foil.  I did this for the last 5 mins)

5.  Let cool for a little bit.  Serve with icecream!

Stay tuned for Pear Applesauce recipe.

How to Can Peaches {tutorial}

First off I have to apologize for this tutorial.  It is a NON PICTURE tutorial.  For those of you who have ever canned peaches before you know how sticky and messy it is.  For those of you who will soon can for the first time, you will see why there are no pictures in this tutorial. So let's get started.

Before you Begin

The best way to can peaches is with a friend.  Trust me it makes the process alot quicker and enjoyable. JBody and I had about 100-125lbs of peaches to can this year.  There is no way I could have done it without him.

1. Start by putting your jars and rings into a dishwasher on the sterilize setting. If you don’t have a dishwasher, you can easily place your jars in your boiling water canner and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes. I like to leave them in the dishwasher on heat dry until I am ready to use them. You can also place them in the oven at 250 to keep them hot.  Keeping your jars hot will prevent them from cracking when you add hot fruits and liquid into the jars.

2. Place the lids in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer, but don’t boil. You only need to do this for about 5 minutes.
3. Wash your peaches by rinsing in a colander. Use lukewarm water and be carefull not to bruise.

4. Place the peaches into a pot of boiling water and blanch for 30 to 60 seconds.

5. After blanching, place them into a ice water bath to keep them from cooking.

6. Then the skins should slip right off. You won't even need to use a knife. If they don’t slip off, you may need to put them back in the boiling water for 30 more seconds. If they still don’t slip, your peaches might not be ripe. Put a ripe banana in the box and check them the next day. The banana usually does the trick and the peaches ripen right up.

7. Cut your peaches.  We like cutting the peach into eight pieces.  You get more in a jar and it makes it easier for little ones to eat.  You can cut them in half, quarters, eights. If you are working with regular mouth jars you will want to at least quarter your peaches. 

8. This step you can choose to omit.  If you want to keep your fruit from turning brown you can use fruit fresh or lemon juice.  I did some with and then the second day I chose to skip that part. 

9. Pack your jars.  We cold or raw pack.  This means the fruit goes in cold or raw. If you want to hot pack, don't put into your jars quite yet.  When placing your peaches in jars, try to put them in pit side down.  This will allow you to get as much fruit into your jar as possible.  Pack tightly without squishing your fruit.  You will want to leave 1/2 inch headspace.

10. Prepare you syrup.  We like light syrup.  Kids get lots of sugar already and we don't think we need to pack alot of sugar into our fruit.  For our syrup we use 5 1/2 cups water to 2 1/2 cups sugar.  Put the sugar and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once boiling you add the hot liquid to your jars. *** Here is where you will start your hot pack if you choose to hot pack.  You will want to boil your peaches in your syrup for 5-7 mins and then place the fruit and liquid into jars.

11.  If cold packing add your liquid to your fruit jars.  Fill to 1/2 headspace and then run a butter knife to get any air bubbles.  This will let the bubble escape and the fruit settle a bit.  You will probably need to add more liquid.  Make sure you cover all your peaches. 

12.  Wipe the rim of your jars to make sure there are no juices or fruit on them. Put your lids and bands on your jars. Do not over tighten your bands.  Just finger tight them.  What does that mean? Only use your fingers to tighten them.  When you involved your wrist the go on way to tight.  You want to allow air to be released. 

13.  Place your jars into your hot water bath. You water should be hot and at or close to a boil. Make sure to place your jars in one by one and opposite sides of the canner rack.  This will minimize tipping.  A canner rack can hold 7 pint or quart sized jars.  Once all jars are in submerge them into the water.  When water comes to a boil start your time. We process our jars because we are at a low altitude.  You may have to alter your processing time depending on altitude. 

14.  After processing time is up, remove your jars.  Place them on the counter and try not to move them for 12-24 hours.  During cool down you may hear a popping sound.  This is good.  It means that your jars are sealing.  After 24 hours, jars that still pop when the lid is touched mean they were not sealed.  Just place in the refrigerate and eat!

There you have it.  It really is not all that bad.  It does make a giant mess.  JBody and I actually canned outside on our camping stoves.  All the mess was kept outside and we had lots of room to move around. 

Purple Cows

Is there anyone out there (other than my family) who has ever heard of a Purple Cow?

We told the kids the other night that we were going to have a purple cow for dessert.  We got some pretty weird looks and a bunch of "GROSS"es.  Little did the kids know that purple cows are a yummy treat.

I forgot about this treat, until recently.  While visiting an uncle, JBody and I were introduced to the Purple Cow Deliciousness.  So what is, and how do you make a Purple Cow.  Let me tell you.

GRAPE JUICE & VANILLA ICECREAM

Purple                                Cow

mmm doesn't that look yummy?!

Razy approval. 

Forget the rootbeer and bring on the purple goodness.

Pickling Beets {Tutorial}

Step 1- Selecting the Beets

The best beets are fresh beets.  Select firm, crisp beets.

Step 2: Trim the Tops and Wash your beets.

Just take a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors and trim off beet tops, leaving an inch of stem and roots to prevent bleeding of color.

Step 3: Cook the Beets

Place beets in a large pot and cover with water.  Cook them until they are tender.  This depends on the size.  I did mine for around 20 mins. Drain and discard the liquid.

Step 4: Cool the Beets

Place the beets in a bowl of ice water.  This is to cool them off for handling.

Step 5: Cut Beets into smaller pieces

You can cut your beets into wedges, slices, or leave them whole.  You just want them small enough to place into your jars.

Step 6: Prepare your Pickling Solution

4 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
1½ teaspoons canning or pickling salt
2 cups sugar or Splenda
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves - about 1 tsp
12 allspice nuts (whole) - about 1 tsp

Place vinegar, salt, sugar, and water in a large pot.  Put spices into a cheesecloth and tie off.
***tip- baby food holders work great to hold your spices. 
Bring to a boil.
 

Step 7: Boil Beets in Pickling Solution

Add beets to solution and simmer for 5 mins. 

Step 8: Place Beets in Jars

(forgot picture sorry)

Add beets to clean, sterile, hot jars. I like to keep mine in the oven at 250 degrees until ready to use.  Fill your jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace at top.  Then add liquid leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Place lids and bands semi tightly on. 

Step 8: Water Bath

Place jars in an open water bath for 30 mins. 

Step 9: Let Jars Cool

Cool your jars for 24 hours before removing bands.  Any jars that didn't process right, place in the refridgerator or eat.