Food

Our Favorite Pancakes

Friday, May 2, 2008, by Sherra

We have several pancake recipes that we love and rotate for Sunday brunch.

PhilBillPaul and I love breakfast any time. We have it for dinner at least once a week. Much to the chagrin of Wizzy. There’s one in every family or in our case–two. The Grunter doesn’t eat eggs.

Remember my food chart? Sigh.

PhilBillPaul loves IHOP buttermilk pancakes and I figured some brilliant cook had worked out a copycat recipe.

So this recipe was found through the detective work of The Grunter and Google. Mostly Google.

To keep it real, here is the actual recipe that sometimes finds its way back to one of my recipe binders divided by categories. Usually though, it’s just loose in the cabinet and we search through a big pile to find it.

Have I mentioned that we have a slew of artists in the house? This is an unsigned work so I can’t give proper credit.

Have a great breakfast this weekend!

P.S. Credit for the recipe source is noted on the recipe itself but in case you missed it, it was found on Top Secret Recipes.

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Popularity: 31%

Categories: Food, Raves

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Aunt Jane’s Brownies

Friday, April 25, 2008, by Sherra

I have no idea where my Aunt Jane got this recipe. I’m visiting next week so I’ll try to get the history of the recipe because I don’t want there to be any bad press surrounding the release of this recipe.

I just remember that whenever we visited her house she always had a pan of brownies for us.

The important facts you need to know right now are that these brownies are super easy to make and delicious. This is a great recipe for kids to make as you teach them to cook.

I’ve yet to meet a bad brownie.

Enjoy!

Aunt Jane’s Brownies

1.5 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 C sugar
1 C shortening
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 heaping TBSP cocoa

Beat by hand. Bake at 350º in greased 13×9″ pan for 30-35 mines. No icing needed. Melt in your mouth delicious!

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Popularity: 29%

Categories: Food

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The Internet Recipe Scandal and
My Mom’s Butterscotch Brownies

Friday, April 18, 2008, by Sherra

I choose not to talk politics or religion here.

Mostly because I started this site so we could share and support one another.

I didn’t start this site to get into any heated debates and I heartily respect other people’s views even when they are different than mine. It’s how I learn. It’s what makes the world go ’round.

It’s also what makes me laugh. Especially when I’m right. Which is often. Just ask PhilBillPaul.

Or you could ask my mom since I was right about the year of the photo.

I was amused when they got into a heated debate this week on The View. If you didn’t hear about this BIG news story, hurry, click on over and get yourself educated about this newsworthy event.

Even if you don’t want to get educated, please click just so you can see
the author’s name. I feel like I’m being stalked by ________s.
Fill in the blank with author’s last name.

The answer is no for those of you asking yourselves if I’m going to stop being immature any time soon…sticking out my tongue as I type this.

I had already planned to share this recipe with you all before I heard about the story.

My Mom’s Butterscotch Brownies are brownies she has made since I was a little girl. They are a lovely change from your regular chocolate brownies and they are a perfect addition when making a brownie tray medley which I’ve been known to do on occasion. Easy and quick, PhilBillPaul whips them up from time to time.

Now because of Cindy McCain and the recipe scandal, I feel I must put a disclaimer here before actually revealing the recipe.

Disclaimer: To my knowledge, my mother has never created her own recipe. She has added and omitted different ingredients to match our family’s taste buds. I have followed that same tradition and customized recipes to match our ~~love~~ dislike of vegetables.

We call them “Family Recipes” because they are the recipes our family grew up loving and were prepared in our home - hence the name “Family Recipes.” I don’t know for sure where her Butterscotch Brownies recipe originated. She may have lifted this recipe right from the pages of a very old and worn Betty Crocker cookbook that looks just like this…

Sidenote & reminder to my mom: Remember, I get the cookbook along with the black cast iron skillet and Grandad’s desk.

I feel better now that it’s in writing on the internet just in case she hasn’t made that clear in her will even though we’ve discussed it dozens of times through the years. I think this will hold up in court; you all are now my witnesses. Thanks.

I’ve done my research and Betty Crocker was not a real person and if she was, she’s dead. General Mills could come after me or my mom. Um, yeah, okay, whatever.

Here’s the thing…speaking only for women (since I am a woman), we trade recipes, share recipes, print recipes, type recipes, email recipes and post recipes. Whenever possible, I give credit as to the origin of the recipe. Many times, I just don’t know or remember. I don’t think any of us are trying to plagiarize or steal anyone’s original recipes.

Relax people. Share the recipes. Share the love. Journalists: Find a news story worthy of reporting and more importantly, worthy of our time!

Next week I might get really wild and share my Aunt Jane’s Brownie recipe. Who knows who she stole it from. My mom and my Aunt Jane have a long history of theft and deception.

Until then, bake these this weekend and enjoy!

Our way: We usually double this one and bake in a 13×9″ pan since there are six of us. The top has a thin crispy-like layer and they are gooey underneath. Don’t overbake!

My Mom’s Butterscotch Brownies

1/4 C margarine, melted
1 C light brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine, sugar and egg. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Spread in 8×8″ or 9×9″ well-greased pan. Bake at 350º for 25 minutes.

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Popularity: 45%

Categories: Food, Rants

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Easter & Baked Pineapple

Friday, March 21, 2008, by Sherra

When I was growing up my mom always made a baked ham with pineapple rings that I just loved.

I’d like to tell you that I have carried on that lovely tradition but alas, I’d be lying.

Instead, I pick up our favorite Honeybaked Ham and cook this simple and easy side dish along with several other side dishes and two or three desserts. I got this recipe from a friend who served it at a luncheon many years ago. (Thanks Daylelynn!)

Baked Pineapple

Two 20 oz. cans pineapple tidbits, drained
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1 tube/sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick margarine, melted

Mix all together in a 9×13″ pan. Top with crushed Ritz crackers and drizzle melted margarine over the top. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

It’s always fun to add something new to your traditional menu so please share one of your favorite Easter recipes here!

Wishing you all Easter blessings…

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Popularity: 21%

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Little Lesson #1 - Weekly Planning

Wednesday, March 12, 2008, by Sherra

A new series that will share little lessons learned through the years.

I’m a systems kind of girl. I thrive when repetitive tasks are made easier. We have a “Family Binder” that houses all kinds of important information that we need to find on a regular basis. (I’ll probably feature that in a future post and tell you what is in the binder.) I mention this binder because my Weekly Planning form is found in the binder in a sheet protector with extra copies.

Since the big kids were little kids, I have used this form and posted it on our fridge. I have used the form in presentations to several mothers’ groups and I’ve lost count of the number of moms who spied it on our fridge and have asked for a copy.

Such buildup for an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper.

One of the best things about the efficiency of this form for me has been that anyone can write down a shopping item and when I have an errand day, I simply grab the sheet and fold it up and tuck it in my purse.

You can make something similar and put your favorite stores in each column. Keep an original as your master and make copies to have on hand or print from your computer. I do better when I can see what I need at each store rather than one giant list. Call me crazy, I’m just visual like that.

The second part of the form “Things to Do” is where I would first put all the activities for the week in the appropriate slots. I tried to do this every Sunday evening and then post it for all to see. PhilBillPaul and I would take a few minutes and review our separate calendars and plug in the items for the week. Since I’ve always had a homebased business, this was an excellent snapshot to see when I would be at a meeting or an event in the evening. Appointments, school events, basketball, etc., would all be recorded here.

Once that was done, it took less than 15 minutes for me to plan our meals around our schedule for the week. A weekly menu plan for dinner really helped us as a family. I believe that planning dinner is still a stress point for many. At the bewitching hour of 5:00 p.m. or so, the last thing I wanted to hear was a semi-whiney voice saying “Whaaaat’s for dinner?”

I rotated our meals around a master list of main dishes that we liked. We being me and PhilBillPaul. Now that the teens can make dinner (life skill), they have more input. The menu planning also helped with the shopping list and having them all on one sheet of paper really worked well for me! (Use the back if you need more room for your grocery list.)

I used the lunch planning when they were toddlers and in the years that we homeschooled. You can eliminate that portion of the form if all your kids are in school or you can use it for your own *healthy* lunch plans.

Here’s how I planned dinners in those toddler and tween days of chaos and Cocoa Krispies.

Sunday - chicken night
Monday - pasta night
Tuesday - ground beef night
Wednesday - breakfast night
Thursday - pork night
Friday - pizza night
Saturday - “wing it” night

Peanut butter or cereal was available if they didn’t like the menu.

Make your own theme nights and rotate your favorite recipes or try new ones. A little bit of weekly planning can save you a lot of time during the week!

I must confess, I don’t use it as consistently as I used to because with three teenagers driving and working part-time, we all go different directions on many nights. But I do still use it during the holidays and on vacations.

I hope this inspires you to spend a little time planning your week so you can save some time and avoid some aggravation during the week. I’d like to hear if this helps or gives you an idea to improve what you are already doing. Or maybe you have a great system or menu planning tip? Either way, share it by leaving a comment here!

Popularity: 41%

Categories: Food, Little Lessons

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Quick & Easy Dinner-Baked Ziti

Friday, February 29, 2008, by Sherra

I made baked ziti last week for dinner and the kids are still talking about it. Well, except for The Grunter, who doesn’t eat noodles. No, I didn’t traumatize him with a pasta dish.

Scary Baby said “it was the best dinner ever.” I was going to freeze 1/2 of it but the kids who are not crazy about leftovers…ate it all!

As I assembled it in the kitchen, Wizzy watched intently because she loves to know how to make dinner “the way mom does” which is rare these days. She noted that “it would have been cool if we had taken pictures and then put them on the blog.” What a great idea. That we didn’t do…

This is a quick, easy meal you can make ahead of time. During the season of life with 3 toddlers, I would often make an extra pan and freeze it. It is my go-to meal when I need to deliver a meal to a family in need. Throw in a loaf of fresh bread (or frozen garlic bread) and “salad in a bag” (yeah, I send something green and vegetable-like to other families) and you have a delicious, hearty meal. I’m all about convenience and ease so if I’m making it to take to another family, I make it in a disposable foil pan so no one has to worry about returning dishes.

Don’t forget dessert - if the family has little ones I always send knox blox (stop laughing) and some cookies or cake. They’ll love you for it, I’m telling you!

Our way: I use one jar of Prego spaghetti sauce & one can of Hunt’s tomato sauce. I season the sauce with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, minced onion, pepper & brown sugar. I wish I could tell you how much, but I don’t know. My educated guess would be about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of each and about 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Basil? Hmm, I might sprinkle in some dry basil leaves. You don’t seriously think we would have a fresh, green herb in our house, do you? Oh, and I use shredded mozzarella and there’s no such thing as too much cheese at our house so I use about 2 cups and save a little for the top. I spread the sour cream on top of the cheese slices and then add sauce. I use an 11 x 13 pan.

Baked Ziti

1 16 oz package rigatoni pasta (or any shape you like!)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 (28 oz) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces sliced provolone cheese
6 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al denté; drain. In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat and add onions. Drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce; simmer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º and lightly grease a 2 quart baking dish. Place about half of the pasta; top with a layer of provolone and mozzarella cheese slices. Spread on a layer of half sour cream and half spaghetti sauce. Repeat with pasta, cheese, sour cream and sauce; sprinkle with parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Bake for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly.

I’d love to hear if you make this and what you think!

This recipe is from one of my favorite recipe sites: allrecipes.com

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Popularity: 30%

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The Cocoa Krispie Nightmare

Monday, February 18, 2008, by Sherra

This is a message of hope for moms with toddlers, tweens or teens who have some version of the strong-willed child. I know the pain of wondering if you are damaging their self-esteem, leaving permanent scars and ruining their childhood.

First a little more background on The Grunter…

He was born with a mild disposition and he slept through the night. He was an unexpected, unplanned joy in our life.

He was our pumpkin.

He became a big brother far sooner than we would have ever planned.
(If we had been planning.)

At 21 months, we brought home, not just one, but TWO baby sisters who invaded his world.

The days flew by and he spent his days letting his sisters touch all of his toys and protecting them from “choking people.” (You know those little Fisher Price® figures that went with the farm and various other toys.) He announced they had “choking people” at least seven times a day to which I would reply, “Thank you, Officer Humphreys.”

He endured being paraded around and photographed with those darn twin sisters. Here is just one of many, many photos he endured while dressed to match his little sisters.

Side parenting tip: It is much easier to count and corral your children in public if you have them dressed alike. I’m sure it also squelches their individuality but that’s a post for another day.

He even endured life when we had the nerve to bring home another sister the year of his 10th birthday. Weren’t two enough?

But he kind of liked this one who appeared to be his very own “twin.”

The above picture is Scary Baby at 6 months, framed picture of The Grunter at six months and The Grunter himself.

It has to be hard, still to this day, living with all these GIRLS! In spite of how he acts on the outside, we have witnessed his kindness and affection for them. On most days, he’s a pretty good big brother. I like to believe that he knows, deep down, that he would have been a lonely boy without his sisters to play with…

I shared all that with you first so you wouldn’t think I’m a bad mom for taking pictures of one of our many struggles. (Remember we’re all here to share not judge.)

I will be the first to admit that I think there is an extra challenge for mothers who are stubborn and strong-willed who are blessed with children who possess those same characteristics. Well, that and God has a sense of humor…

I am guilty of dreaming of having passive, quiet children who obey and never rock the boat. I have friends who have these ~~strange~~ nice children. Such a boring life these people have…sigh.

Instead, I have a boy who continues to challenge us in so many ways.

It seems like it was just yesterday but in fact, it was more than 10 years ago when our little pumpkin wouldn’t eat much of anything. (No comments from you vegetable-lovers please.)

I present you now with one of our favorite family memories. You know those fantastic one-liners your kids utter and you know right then and there that you’ll never forget them from that very moment.

On this day in September of 1997, that line was…

“WHEN WILL THIS NIGHTMARE BE OVER?”

The back story of this sad photo:

We were in a phase at our house where he was having a very hard time eating good meals. Yes, I am one of “those” mothers who often says, “You are NOT sick, you are FINE.” But when this eating problem persisted, I had a change of heart. I really did get worried.

Worried to the point of going to the doctor to make sure he was healthy. After many tests including urine, stool sample, blood work, x-rays and an upper G.I. - a clean bill of health was announced.

Dad made a special trip to the grocery and bought him this specific cereal because it “sounded good.” Unfortunately, the soggy texture of the milk and cereal combination (who knew?) coupled with our insistence that he eat the TINY bowl of cereal created a full-fledged meltdown ending with the now famous line, “When will this nightmare be over?”

For those readers who are concerned about the boy, his cereal and his life now…

Here is our ~~delightful~~ much-loved firstborn on his 18th birthday who never eats cereal and drumroll please…he is FINE!

Life Lesson (LL): Cereal and milk become soggy when not eaten quickly and the trauma of eating the said soggy cereal may cause you to seek out therapy later.

Share a Life Lesson (SALL): What awful things did you make your kids sit at the table and eat? Or better yet, what did your ~~horrible, mean~~ parents make you finish and you are still sharing those memories ~~in therapy~~ with a chosen few? Come on now, don’t be shy - this is a safe place to share!

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Sending You Love & Chocolate on Valentine’s Day

Thursday, February 14, 2008, by Sherra

WHAT??!! You didn’t make the cake????

You woke up this morning and realized it was Valentine’s Day and forgot to make something yummy for your friends and family?!

Quick, stop at the store and buy THREE things:

Bag of Hershey’s Kisses
Bag of M & Ms
Bag of Snyder’s Pretzel Snaps

Preheat oven to 275º and unwrap all the Hershey’s kisses. (Good job for the kids unless you want to surprise them.) Line up pretzels on baking sheet. Put one kiss on each pretzel. Bake in oven 2-3 MINUTES. The kisses will be shiny. Remove from oven and immediately press one M & M on each kiss. Let cool and harden. (Some people put them in the freezer.)

Ta-da! There you have the simplest, quickest recipe I’ve ever made in my life. The perfect blend of sweet and salty and they’re darn cute too.

I promise yours will look better than these last three pitiful ones that I had to fight Roger Leroy and Wizzy for so I could use them for this professional blog photo shoot.

I hear the green M & Ms are the new red. Speaking only for myself, I’ll eat any color.

We did pick out the brown ones and eat them immediately since we all agreed they wouldn’t look as *pretty* on top on the kiss.

Thanks Wendy for introducing us to this fun, bite-sized treat.

Popularity: 17%

Categories: Food

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Chocolate Bavarian Torte

Friday, February 8, 2008, by Sherra

First, I need to start by saying that I won’t necessarily be posting a recipe every Friday. This is merely a coincidence in the timing of the Superbowl and upcoming Valentine’s Day. And since I have had a wee bit of trouble “finding the funny” in anything this week, chocolate and whipping cream go a long way in my personal healing.

Secondly, every recipe I have in my extensive recipe collection does not call for whipping cream or half and half. It is just another coincidence.

Seriously, I just wanted to give you some lead time to go to the grocery and buy these complicated ingredients for this elaborate and FAN-CEE cake so you can impress your family by making this fabulous cake for your Valentine’s Day dessert!

That’s next Thursday, February 14th, for those of you who are not planners. Just like Christmas, it comes once a year, same month and date so don’t let it surprise you this year.

You have to refrigerate this cake overnight so that means you need to make it on Wednesday, February 13th. See, I’m here to help you plan. Be ready. Make this cake!

Unless your family is allergic to chocolate and/or dairy…then I don’t have any suggestions. That must be hard. I’m sorry.

The picture to entice and inspire you…

I’d like to tell you that this cake is one I actually made and the lovely pink roses and baby’s breath scattered in the background are from PhilBillPaul. That would be a big lie.

But the picture did make me laugh. Because it made me think about my friend Leigh Anne, who would make it in heart-shaped pans and scatter raspberries around the plate (that she and her children picked) and cut fresh flowers from her garden…I love to have friends who are so different than me…it’s what makes the world go ’round

Our way: We don’t change a darn thing in this recipe. Sometimes I skip the grated chocolate on the top just because I’m lazy like that. I’m all about eating and not so much about presentation.

Photo & recipe from Taste of Home magazine

Enjoy and please do tell if you and your family love it as much as we do!!

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Popularity: 31%

Categories: Food, Friends

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P.S. Did you watch the Superbowl?

Monday, February 4, 2008, by Sherra

Even non-football fans had to hear about what an amazing game it was!!!!

I have a tendency to root for the underdog unless a favorite team is playing. This year it was unanimous at our house - we all cheered for the New York Giants. That fourth quarter play when Eli Manning broke free and completed the pass to David Tyree made them winners in my book right then. Ahh, but then they scored the winning touchdown moments later and it was one of the best, if not the best Superbowl ending that I can remember.

Banner by Wizzy and Scary Baby.