Fall Enjoyment

Yesterday my dad and his "special" friend ;) came down to visit us and see our new home. We were so glad to have them. I gave them a tour of our community and we visited a local small town that is full of gift shops. It was a beautiful day out, a bit chilly, but the leaves are just gorgeous right now. It was such a fun time together. When we got back to our house, we enjoyed a yummy fall supper together of Old Fashioned Beef and Noodles, corn, homemade bread and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin cake. The cake was so easy and really nice way to end a beautiful fall day.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 c. pumpkin
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. chocolate chips
2 c. walnuts
1 c. oil

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

***I didn't have any walnuts so I didn't add those and it was just fine without.

Yummy Supper Side and Dessert

Tonight I tried out another new recipe for supper and it was a hit. I LOVE onion rings but have never made them at home because it just seems to messy. I hate frying things due the mess and smell so when I stumbled on a recipe for Baked Onion Rings I thought, "Why not?" We had them tonight for supper and I will be making these again. I do have to admit that prior to the baking process, they sure didn't look like they were going to be any good.

Baked Onion Rings
1 1/2 c. cornflakes
1/2 c. dried breadcrumbs, plain
1 egg
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. flour
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1 medium Vidalia onion, quartered crosswise, broken into rings
(discard small center rings)
2 T. olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Run cornflakes and bread crumbs through food processor and put in pie plate. Whisk together egg, buttermilk, flour, cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Drop onion rings in egg mixture. Dredge in crumb mixture. Place on large plate. Pour oil on rimmed baking sheet. Place sheet in oven for 2 min. Remove and tilt so oil coats sheet evenly. Arrange onion rings on sheet. Bake, turning once for 16 min. Season with salt.

I don't have a food processor, so I ground the cornflakes in my mini-food chopper and mixed them with the bread crumbs. This seemed to work fine. I also didn't have any buttermilk, but made my own by putting 1 T. vinegar in my glass measuring cup then adding enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Mix this together and let sit for a 5 minutes so it thickens.

I also made an onion ring sauce to go along with the onion rings. Yum!

Onion Ring Sauce
1/2 c. mayo
1 1/2 t. ketchup
1 1/2 t. horseradish
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. ground cayenne pepper
Combine all of the ingredients. Chill at least one hour before serving.

And for dessert our favorite Blueberry Pie recipe. A friend of mine from church made this for us after we had our first daughter and we were in Blueberry Heaven. I had forgotten about it until another friend from church made the same pie for us this summer when we were in the midst of packing boxes before our move. I finally got around to getting the recipe. We have been enjoying this recipe as I am trying to use up our frozen blueberries.

Pie Crust
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. oil
1 t. salt
2 T. sugar
2 T. milk
Mix together all ingredients with pastry blender. Pat into pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Blueberry Filling
Bring 1 c. blueberries and 1/2 c. water to boil on stove top. Simmer for 2 min.
Mix 3/4 c. sugar and 2 T. cornstarch together. Stir into blueberry mixture. Stir until thick and bring to boil for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add 2 T. lemon juice. Let cool.
Add 3 c. fresh blueberries. Pour into pie crust. Chill in fridge.

This is MUCH better with fresh berries, but it's yummy with frozen also!

Cinnamon Oat Pancakes

Hubby usually has to head out for classes and work before lunch so I try to make a late breakfast for us that is filling. That way he isn't starving during his class. Today I made a batch of Cinnamon Oat Pancakes for us. I found the recipe in Everyday Food. This little magazine is one of my favorite recipe magazines. I check them out of the library and scour them for new recipes. This is a keeper! I will be writing this one on a recipe card and filing it.

Cinnamon Oat Pancakes

2 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
2 c. milk
2 large eggs
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Grind 1 cup of the oats in a food processor. Combine ground oats with flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another large bowl whisk milk, eggs, and oil. Add dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and 1 cup oats.

I do not have a food processor but a mini food chopper. It worked fine to grind the 1 cup of oats in that. I also used quick oats, which is all I had on hand. These were so yummy! I made all of the pancakes and froze the leftovers. You just layer on a cookie sheet, freeze 30 minutes, then put into freezer bags. When you want to use them, warm them in a toaster over or in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Fall Treat

This evening we had an easy supper. We were all rather full from eating out with friends after church today. Some sweet dear friends from home were down for a music festival here in town and to visit their daughter who is also at the university. They always make a point to see us and took us out for lunch. The last time they were here they took the girls and I to a really delectable Indian restaurant. Today they treated us to Turkish food. My only ethnic cuisine up to this point in my life was pretty much Mexican and Chinese food. I was a bit unsure about trying these new foods, but was genuinely surprised both times. After our Indian excursion, I even drug Hubby to the restaurant the following Sunday because I was craving it something bad!

So back to my original thought...this evening we were not all that hungry and I was not ready to make a big meal, so I pulled out a pumpkin pancake recipe that had been nicely filed away in my recipe box and tried it. YUM! These pancakes are super moist and so wonderful. I will definitely be making these again during the fall season. A perfect meal to make for fall!

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 c. flour
Pinch baking soda
2 T. sugar
1/4 t. sinnamon
1/8 t. ginger
1/8 t. nutmeg
1 egg well beaten
1 1/4 c. milk
2 T. melted shortening
1/2 c. canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potato, cooked
Combine flour, soda, sugar, and spices. Combine egg, shortening, pumpkin and milk, then add to flour mixture, beating until smooth. Bake on hot, lightly greased griddle, turning only once. Serve hot with butter and syrup or powdered sugar.

I didn't have any ginger, so I used 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I also added a bit more flour as the batter seemed a bit runny.

Hope you can make a batch of these this season!

Transplanted South

I am still here. Things have just been pretty crazy. We packed up our home of 7 years and moved south. Hubby is going back to school to finish his undergrad work in the field of Informatics. We moved to a larger university town. We are loving the community down here and all that it has to offer. I really do miss home. It is so difficult to be away from friends and family. I headed home last weekend and it was so wonderful to be with people who know me. I had a hard time this week after coming back. I just said today how great it would be if we could wrap all the good things up together...this great community and our friends and family. That would be perfection!

We moved to a smaller place, a town home. That being said, I don't have much room to have all my craft things out. Not really sure what to do about this. Everything is still packed away. Hoping I can steal away a nice corner of the small rec room in our basement that is filled with Hubby's recording equipment and my daughter's kitchen set.

I kind of came to a halt in the unpacking process so the rec room is not a pretty sight yet. I still may be able to figure out a crafty corner down there. I hope so. I have been itching to sew some curtains for my girl's new bedroom.

We've only been here a month and I am SICK of eggshell white!!! I don't plan on painting though. There is no way with two little ones and Hubby gone most of the time. I also do not like to paint. If we were buying a home, then maybe, but not while we are renting. So....we need bright pretty curtains. I have some neat red curtains for our living room but I keep forgetting to buy a rod when I am out shopping.

I wanted to share a really sweet video that I stumbled upon on one of my favorite blogs a few weeks ago. The music is from one of Hubby's favorite musicians, Sigur Ros.

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

Powerful

This photo essay is powerful.  May we never take a day of health for granted.  (Click on the right hand circle at bottom of the essay to go through the pictures.)

Yummy Roast Recipes

I am thinking that this is going to turn into a place for me to share my recipes with you rather than my crafting. I haven't crafted in forever because I never have time. I always have excellent intentions of sewing when the girls go down for their naps but then I am so worn out that I don't. That is also when I try to catch up on laundry and dishes and reading blogs. Ha! :) I do have to cook though. I have been really doing my best to cook more. I had gotten into such a cooking rut especially after our first daughter was born. I am slowly easing my way out of that rut. It had gotten so bad that one afternoon my hubby saw our crock pot out with a roast in it and asked, "Are we having company tonight?" Oops! :)

So, I have two recipes to share with you. I did not seek out permission (ok..it took me like a good two minutes to think of that word...wow! I'm tired!) to share these. I hope it is ok but I figure they were shared with me, so it is fine. :)

My sister-in-law shared the first with me. It is for Pot Roast. Oh if you don't have a crock pot, then these won't be so easy. Sorry!

Sister-in-Law's Pot Roast

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 bottle of Italian Dressing

1 Chuck Roast

Assorted Vegetables

Pour the soup and dressing into crock pot. Stir together. Add roast and spoon sauce over top. Cook on low 8-9 hours. Add veggies about halfway through cooking.

I used potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. Yum...the dressing add so much zip to the basic, boring pot roast. Loved this and so did hubby.

Now for Beef and Noodles...after we had our baby our church friends brought meals to us every other day for a month. God bless them! It was wonderful to not have to worry about getting groceries or cooking. Bliss! This is one meal that we got that I quickly sought out the recipe for. I made it for my family last night and it was a hit!

Old Fashioned Beef and Noodles

3 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 t. dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1 T. chopped onion

2 lbs. extra lean beef, cut into 1 in. cubes

2 (12 oz.) pkgs noodles

Combine all ingredients (except noodles) in a slow cooker; mix well. Heat on low for 8-9 hours. Prepare noodles according to pkg. directions. Stir into sauce. Serve.

I did use a chuck roast instead of the stew meat because it was on sale and much cheaper. After it was done cooking, I just took it out, shredded it and added it back into the sauce. And if you make this, use the Reames frozen noodles. They are just like homemade and worth the extra cost. Yum!

Also I did make those Jammin' Salmon Burgers and they are keepers. I bought the ingredients to make them again very soon. I had my in-laws over for those and everyone liked them. I also made Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges. These get made ALOT in my house...and frankly to tell you the mistake I made is embarrassing. I make these all of the time...well being tired much more than I was 2 months ago, I grabbed the cayenne pepper instead of the chili powder. Oops! They were so SPICY...so I don't recommend switching the two when you make them!