Last Sunday, after a long, physically tiring day of community service on Saturday, we opted to have a really easy dinner after church, paper plate included! Cheeseburgers were on the menu, but I wanted to do a side-dish and potato salad was a little much since I’m the only one around the house right now that even likes it. Something that I used to make for summer barbecues was something more or less without a name…you know, the kind of thing you throw together and call it “those baked beans with hamburger, onions, green peppers and cheese”. Remembering the dish put me right in the mood for it, and I wouldn’t have to eat it all by myself. I know it’s not quite time for summer barbecues, but I’ll get a jump on the idea. This is also a great stand-alone meal, almost like a chili or stew, but a little on the sweeter side like beans’n’wienies…another family dish. I even gave it a name! Cheeseburger Baked Beans (No baking required!) 1 pound lean ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 2 -28oz. cans of Bush’s Original Baked Beans 10-12 slices American sliced cheese, chopped into about 1/2″ cubes 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed Put the ground beef, onions and green pepper in a 3 quart pan and brown; season with salt, pepper and/or Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Drain any fat off…if
Last Saturday, our family participated in the California state-wide “Mormon Helping Hands” service project…and I forgot my camera! What can I say? Too busy working anyway! Due to the current economic downturn, it has been challenging for local governments everywhere to maintain many of the city’s green spaces. Volunteers helped city workers and park rangers to clear overgrowth, remove debris and in general, beautify community spaces. It’s a great annual project and we enjoy doing the work as a family. A few weeks ago, I got a sneak preview of a song that was being re-mixed to celebrate this occasion. The song, “Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?” has long been a favorite hymn of mine to sing at church. But the rendition done by Alex Boye, Carmen Rasmusen Herbert and choir is so beautifully done that I wanted to share it. The question posed is a good one for me to keep in mind as I review my day. I love the organized days of service, but these are not the beginning nor the end of how we serve, just a marker along the way. Doing it enmass with others is wonderful and serves the community as a whole, but doing small acts of kindness as an individual is a daily task that buoys up our spirit of gratitude and helps us to remember that the source of all goodness comes from a loving Heavenly Father,
Wendy C, who said: “I would love to win this cook book. My son loves Rhodes bread rolls.” Congratulations, Wendy C.!!! Please send me your address and I will get the cookbook on it’s way to you! Just to let everyone else know, I do a guest post with Rhodes about every 8 weeks, so before you know it, there will be another giveaway…that’s before I know it as well! Funny how things like this have a way of sneaking up on you! If you missed it, you can visit the post for Bacon Cheese Nibbles here!
Recipes are best when shared, especially when friends share something super yummy and it comes with samples! Our family has a few deep, dark secrets…family recipe secrets, that is, that a certain one of my children (you know who you are) don’t like to share, so I am really excited when I ask a friend for a recipe and they will actually give it to me! Sometimes it comes with a story, usually anecdotal, that makes the recipe more fun. Thanks for the samples, Jeremy and thanks for typing up the recipe and sending it to me, Mandy! Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies 1/2 cus unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Dry ingredients: 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks Heat the waffle iron. In a large bowl, whisk the butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Sir in flour, baking soda, and salt; finish by stirring in the chocolate chips. Coat the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Use a tablespoon to portion out a cookie onto each waffle square. Close the iron and cook until they begin to brown, about 1 1/2 to 3 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool; repeat
UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST! Yes, I know…it’s that time again! This is one of my favorite posts to do because making delicious recipes with Rhodes is as easy as 1…thaw, 2…cut and dip, and 3…top, rest (both the dough and me) and bake! On a cold, rainy day, the aroma of bacon, cheese and bread filled the whole house as the boys bounded in, hungry from school and work! Yet another delectable addiction…I mean addition…to our family’s Rhodes repertoire! You can read all the details over at the Official Rhodes Blog. But before you go, I want you to know that I’m having a special cookbook give-away this post, courtesy of Rhodes. This is a really fun cookbook – either if you have kids or you want to wow your guests/co-workers/friends with your amazing artistic abilities. (My sister-in-law made a bunny for the family Easter party and it was a hugh hit! Here’s what you need to do: Visit the Rhodes Blog and leave a comment. Next, come back here and leave a comment…that’s two chances. For a third chance, you can also go to the Rhodes Facebook page, “Like” Rhodes and leave a comment. Each comment will get your “name in the hat” for an extra chance to win – one comment per visitor per site, please. The contest will go until noon (Pacific Time) on Saturday, April 21, 2012 and the winner will be announced later that
Yet another Pinterest inspired recipe…I am determined to try things out right away and expand my recipe collection, or toss the idea away. Some people can snap a picture of something that looks really yummy, but the final taste doesn’t meet my expectations. A couple of weeks ago, I found a delicious looking cupcake using Mint Oreos: Oreos in the middle, in the frosting and on top. I didn’t have the Mint Oreos, but I used regular Oreos and made them for our family Easter party, and they were delicious. I had a little trouble with the frosting…all those crunched cookies had trouble going through the tip, and the pastry bag was already full, I needed to get out the door and on the road, blah, blah, blah…so they weren’t as pretty as I wanted them to be…you can see them here. Anyway, I was going to make the cupcakes again for the boy’s party tonight, but then I decided to try something a little different – Oreo Stuffed Brownies – and they turned out delicious! I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but here’s what I did and it was really easy. For these brownies, I used two packages from a big box of Ghirardelli Brownie mix that I got from Costco, and prepared the mix according to the directions on the box. Spray the bottom of the pan with non-stick spray,
Have you ever watched little kids dish up food at a buffet and think to yourself, “They will never be able eat all that!”? I always have big plans, bigger than I seem to have the energy to accomplish. Last week I was busy making desserts for our family Easter gathering, mostly recipes or ideas that I found on Pinterest: Easter pastels dipped Golden Oreos…I used the leftover candy melts from the cake pops that I made…super easy! Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats. Yep…they were good enough to make again! Since I was trying to make desserts with things I had on hand, I opted to make Oreo Surprise Cupcakes…I was short on the supplies to make them minty. I was a little short on time and had a “lack of equipment” failure, but they were delicious! I will make these again. I also made cake pops, but ran out of time to take pictures. Megan and I made two batches…one with devil’s food cake and one with white cake. The chocolate ones were dipped in different candy melts and topped with graham cracker crumbs and crunched itty bitty marshmallows (the kind that go into hot chocolate) OR crunched up Reese’s Pieces. The white were plain with swizzled chocolate of a different color…sorry, no pictures of those. It was hard enough to take the above pictures at my brother and sister-in-laws, but
In the process of cleaning my workroom, which I seem to be constantly starting but never finishing, I came across a bag of fabric scraps from ages ago when I was making yoyos. I hate to throw things away, but I am trying to adopt an attitude of use it or toss it…I am guilty of pre-meditated scrap hoard! However, if one chooses to face their addiction, the occasional paper project might give one the justification needed to NOT completely purge the little, lingering bits of this and that…which is what I just did! The red wool piece is actually not a scrap…I think I might be able to make a few thousand hearts from the piece I have! I love the background kraft-colored tags – so neutral but nice! The big flower behind the heart was leftover from a project. I love the decorative pin! On occasion, I miss-cut a piece of lace or ribbon. Can’t throw those scraps away – it was the perfect length for this tag! What a deal – a few random scraps got used right up. Oh, if only all my the scraps were so small and usable! Now, in case you were wondering what the heck you would do with these… They make a nice touch of color to a wrapped gift, a note on a plate of cookies, and a layout or a card. If you keep them a little less dimensional, you
It’s true…after I discovered the Cake Batter Krispie Treat recipe, I have been on the hunt for good deals on candy sprinkles so that I will always have them on hand. Just this afternoon I found some pretty, springy sprinkles at the 99centsonly store – about 1.7 oz for just under a dollar. Good deal, right? I thought so, too…that is until Megan bought me a box of these… Yep…a whole 10 pound box of the prettiest candy sprinkles EVER for just $15.99 for the whole box – Costco Business. Aren’t they beautiful? I feel an urge for some Cake Batter Krispie Treats! It could just be the beginning of a quest for desserts with sprinkles included. Who needs a ticket for Mega Millions when you have a box of these! I am the luckiest girl around! Thanks, Megan!
Yesterday’s post was full of fun with My Mind’s Eye, Miss Caroline, the Howdy Doody line, a link to the Matilde free font download, along with a Matilde Sentiments and Bubbles pdf for you to print and use. But there are lots more ideas for this fun line! On this card I combined a little stitching with a flower made out of a sheet of vintage graph paper. Did you notice? The center brad is out of my favorite paper design from the line. Love the crumpled flower and it is so easy! The flower (scalloped circle) punch is from EK Success. Speaking of flowers… The punches are: Scalloped flower/round – EK Success; Sunburst – Martha Stewart; twine – The Twinery. The buttons are from my big old random button jars…I’ll have to share a picture of those with you someday. I had a bunch of scraps of ribbon that go perfectly with the projects – I love using up scraps! The ribbon is from May Arts, with a little Glimmer Mist Spray. The alphabet stamp is from Limited Edition Rubberstamps and the label stamp is from PaperTrey Ink; the ink is Fluid Chalk from ColorBox. Here is the last card for today – There it is…my favorite paper from the show! I can hardly wait until I find just the right pictures to use the full 12″ X 12″ sheets of patterned paper for some layouts – but
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