10,000 Things That Make Me Hungry

The goal was to update my recipe book. I wanted my grown kids to have access to their favorite recipes, but I also wanted to go through and remove recipes I never use, add in a few new ones, and update the recipes we know and love around here so that the instructions include all my shortcuts and modifications. It felt so overwhelming because, honestly, that job is never done. As soon as I finished printing an updated copy, there would be new recipes and further changes I wish were in there.

That's when I remembered my hungry blog! I started it in 2013, added a bunch of mostly main dish recipes in 2014, added six more in 2016 and one in 2017 and then forgot about it. But as I contemplated my recipe dilemma, I realized my blog is the answer. I can update and add to it anytime I want and no one has to print anything out or worry about it becoming outdated. 

And so in January I got to work. I made sure the recipes already on the blog were current. Then I put in almost all the rest of our tried-and-true recipes. I'll update it as I think of additions, and make changes as I find better easier ways to do things. ;) I've already been able to give out links to specific recipes upon request. It's so easy! 

So click here to enjoy my no-frills recipe blog. Please let me know if you find something you love!

Tip: in the desktop version, there is a search bar to hopefully help you find what you're looking for.

Easy Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bread

This is one of our favorite quick meals around here. When the world shut down and the kids were home everyday, we must have eaten this for lunch at least 2 or 3 times a week! It's super easy to make and only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. 

Easy Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bread

1 or 2 loaves Jimmy John’s day-old bread*

Butter or margarine

Garlic bread seasoning (Click here for the recipe)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Pepperoni

     Cut each loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Lightly butter each piece and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning (substitute with garlic salt, if needed). Sprinkle with cheese and cover with a row of pepperoni slices. Place under broiler for 3-5 minutes, checking every couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Cut each piece into fourths. Serve warm.

*You can ask for "day-old" at Jimmy John's. At the location near us, which happens to be store #00001, it costs 50 cents a loaf and you can buy up to 4 loaves. Sometimes they sell out, but they seem to have it 90% of the time around here. If it's not available where you live, you can always use French bread or Italian bread loaves instead.

Peach Perfect

Or maybe I should title this post "Peach Plenty." Either way, we have beautiful, sweet, ripe peaches coming out of our ears.

The peach tree at our rental home next door has exceeded all expectations. Jeff pruned it pretty heavily last fall. This spring, when we saw that it was producing more peaches than it could possibly support, Spencer thinned it, completely filling a five-gallon bucket with nickel-sized peaches. He thinned it a little more after the bucket was full then decided that was good enough. 

Fast forward a couple of months and several of the branches are dragging on the ground. This picture is the underside of just one branch. Isn't that crazy!! I've never seen anything like it.

It's kind of fun. We've been giving away peaches left and right. I've been eating them for breakfast every morning. I'm making a peach crisp tonight and peaches-and-cream cheesecake tomorrow. Between me and my friends, we've picked well over 400 peaches and still, the tree looks untouched. 

Good thing we like peaches! :)

Milk Wars

The war is on! Two small grocery stores are battling it out for the lowest prices and milk is their battleground. I shop both stores and their milk prices have been dropping for the past several months. 

This picture was taken in mid-April and prices have gone up a little since then. I mean, it's now $1.00 a gallon. I know. I'm not complaining.  I don't think I've paid more than $1.50 a gallon in the past six months. This is great news because we drink a ton of milk around here (at least a gallon a day). 

Bring it on! :)

Just Picked

Straight from the garden this morning:

Ready for lunch tomorrow:

Two Batches of Freezer Jam!

Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam just seems to taste better when you grow the strawberries yourself! The first time I made freezer jam years ago, we decided we'd never be able to eat anything else. It's so much better than anything you can get from the store. 

Here's the recipe I use:

Strawberry* Freezer Jam

2 c. pureed strawberries

4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Combine and stir very well. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine:

3/4 c. water

1/3 c. pectin**

Stir constantly, over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. 

Pour pectin mixture into strawberries and stir for 3 minutes. Pour into jars (I use old Skippy peanut butter jars). Let stand for 24 hours before storing in freezer. 

One batch makes about 3 jars

*I've substituted peaches or I've used half strawberries, half peaches with great results. Other berries can be used as well. It's pretty versatile. 

**I get my pectin in Amish country, but I used to use a boxed variety (where I originally found the recipe) from a local discount grocery store. 

Happy Pi Day

Hands down, this is my favorite pie. It's the apple pie I grew up with, the one I'd sneak into the kitchen for to steal loose bits of the yummy top crust when no one was looking. It's so yummy served warm with vanilla ice cream or cold out of the fridge for breakfast the next day.

It's the perfect pie for our Pi Day (3.14) celebration. It's super easy to make which makes it even better!

Mom's Apple Pie
1 bottom pie crust (not deep dish)
4+ large Granny Smith apples (or 7-8 smaller apples)
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Combine sugar and cinnamon. Peel, core, and slice apples. Place them in unbaked pie shell and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar after each layer or so. Continue until apples are heaping in pie shell.

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. butter or margarine
With a pastry blender, combine until crumbly. Spoon over apples and pat down with hands to form the top "crust." Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 400° for 40-50 minutes. (My oven is on the warm side so 40 minutes is plenty. I gently place a piece of foil on top for the last 10 minutes to keep the top crust from getting too dark.)

Enjoy!

Feeding the Pigs

Wait, did I say pigs? Obviously I meant feeding the birds, but sometimes it's hard to tell. I've never seen birds go through so much food and I've never seen birds stick around all winter! I fill up their feeder every couple of days. You can see from the photo above that our feeder has become quite the gathering spot. This flurry of activity is a fairly common sight. The feeder sits right outside our big dining room and has provided plenty of entertainment this winter.

These pictures were taken a week or so ago when we still had snow on the ground. The snow makes a great backdrop to see the birds and the mess they make. Sometimes I wonder if the birds at the feeder are actually eating anything or if they are just knocking the seed onto the ground for other birds to eat. This scattering of seed on the ground in the photo below is mild compared to what is there now.

A friend of mine who raises chickens which provide his family with eggs wanted to know, "Why do you feed the birds. What value do they provide?"

"Sheer joy."

He considered that for a second and said, "It's worth it then."

Yes, it's definitely worth it.

Maltesers

One of the things I miss about Scotland is the sweets. (Why is it that European chocolate is so much better?) With little corner shops located at the most convenient locations, it was easy to stop in and pick up a "sweetie" or two.

Side note: One of my missionary companions was very generous in sharing her sweets. She would usually hand me half of whatever she was eating and say, "Better your butt than mine." Ah, memories. :)

Anyway, I was pretty excited yesterday when I was shopping at a nearby salvage store and found Maltesers, one of my favorite Scottish treats. I hurried and grabbed several packages and then thought about it and grabbed a few more.

Do you like Whoppers? Maltesers are basically the same thing, but better! I've come across them before so Jeff and the kids are already fans.

What a happy surprise! :)

The Great Food Contrast

At the end of January, Jeff and the boys went on the annual Scout Klondike Derby. This is an event I will never understand. Let's all go sleep outside in the middle of winter. Definitely not my idea of a good time.

Anyway.

With Savannah away at college and Soren old enough to go with the boys this year, Sadie and I were left to enjoy some one-on-one girl time together. After sleeping in on Saturday (a luxury we don't often enjoy around here) we made a yummy brunch of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and chocolate milk.

I snapped this picture to send to Jeff --

My words: "Mmmm. Yummy brunch!"

This is what he sent in return --

Jeff's words: "Anything tastes good when you're hungry." 

It really doesn't help the let's all go sleep outside in the middle of winter argument, does it? :)

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love the taste of pumpkin cookies, but I'm not a fan of the texture. I'm sure that's because pumpkin cookies are always cakey and I don't like cake.

Voila! This recipe solves that problem. Because there are no eggs, they don't have too much moisture so they are chewy and look like regular cookies. And they are oh so good!!

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes about 5 dozen cookies)

2 sticks minus 2 Tbsp. butter (14 Tbsp.)*

2 cups brown sugar

½ cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ginger

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cloves

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream together butter and sugars. Add the vanilla and pumpkin and mix until smooth. Combine all the dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 11-17 minutes or until just starting to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pan.

*As for the butter, I know that's a weird amount. I only had that much on hand one day when I wanted to make these so I tried it and hoped for the best. They turned out the best ever so I make them that way every time! :)

Enjoy!! 

Harvest Fun

I harvested our butternut squash today. Seeing them sitting on the counter, I just couldn't resist...

Do you recognize Jimmy from VeggieTales?  I just quickly penciled him in, but I think he's so cute! Of course, my kids think I'm totally insane awesome! 

Love it! :)

Pi for Breakfast

Happy Pi Day!!
3.14

Today isn't just any Pi day. This is a once-in-a-century Pi day.

Today is...
3.1415 

And if you are a complete nerd (like me!), then you celebrated at exactly 9:26:53 which makes it...
3.141592653

If you haven't celebrated yet, there's still time. Nothing wrong with eating pie at 9:26 p.m. In fact, I think we will. :)

Our breakfast pie.
I was planning to make a pie from scratch until I saw this. Oh. Yum.

Don't Eat Me!

What is your cereal telling you? :)

Pinterest Partial Fail

Savannah is on a health kick. She found a super easy and delicious healthy dinner on Pinterest that she was excited to make for us. Quinoa, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic - we had all the ingredients on hand and Savannah got to work. It wasn't as "super easy" as the recipe boasted, but Savannah persevered.

The top picture below is what it was supposed to look like. The bottom picture is what we ended up with.

Despite Savannah's crestfallen looks and her declarations of, "No one is ever going to want to marry me," it wasn't a total loss. The end result tasted fine, and most of the kids cleaned their plate. (Anything is edible with enough ketchup...)

Thanks for dinner, Savannah! It tasted great. We'll work on presentation. :)

Recipe: Salted Browned Butter Crispy Treats

Sorry, I have no picture. Whenever I make these, they are gone before I ever think of taking a picture. Honestly, they look just like regular Rice Krispie treats which is quite deceiving because these are oh, so much better! Not that there was anything wrong with regular Rice Krispie treats. But if you're anything like me, once you make these, you'll never go back. 

I have my sister-in-law to blame thank for introducing me to this deliciousness. With double the butter, browned and sprinkled with sea salt, these have a sort of salted caramel or toffee flavor to them. Kristin gave me the recipe and it's also available from this website.  The recipe says to use an 8" square pan, but a 9x13 works, too. They just won't be as tall. Of course, I double the recipe and spread it in a big jelly roll pan, just to make sure there's enough to go around... :) 

Salted Browned Butter Crispy Treats 
Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars

1 stick (4-ounces) butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don't take your eyes off the pot as the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off, sprinkle salt over the butter, and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth. Be careful not to cook the marshmallows.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the cereal. Quickly spread into prepared pan. Use a piece of waxed or parchment paper sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners. A silicon spatula works almost as well. Let cool and cut into squares.

(*Missy's note: My marshmallows come in a 10.5-ounce bag so I just use the whole thing! :)

Potato Duck

Spencer harvested the potatoes from his garden the other day. We'll definitely be eating potatoes for a while with an overflowing 5 gallon bucket full and then some. Yum!!

While most of the potatoes looked pretty normal, we got a kick out of this unusually shaped one. It looks like a duck swimming away with his tail feathers in the air, don't you think? :)

For Display Only

We eat a lot of apples around here. The kids may roll their eyes when I suggest an apple as a solution to their hunger pangs, but if I slice up an apple or two, those slices disappear without complaint.

Sadie was given an apple at school. She was pretty happy about it, maybe because it is a different variety than what I usually buy. She was excited to show her siblings so she set it on the counter when she got home. I gave her a friendly warning that apples are fair game at our house so if she was going to leave it there, she couldn't complain if someone ate it without asking. I suggested she put a little note by it if she wanted to save it.

This is what I found when I returned to the kitchen a little later...

Display. Do not eat.

I sure love my crazy little Sadie bug.

Butterbeer

In our quest to relive Butterbeer from our Harry Potter experience earlier this month, I searched the internet for recipes. I found several, some much more complicated than others, and we tried to doctor up some cream soda to achieve the right flavor. Sadly, nothing we tried was close enough to satisfy. 

Little did I know, we had the closest thing to Butterbeer on a shelf at our local farm store. Some friends, after hearing of our failed attempts, happened upon this Vanilla Caramel Creme Soda and left two bottles inside our door. Pour a bit of lightly whipped cream on top and we've got ourselves a winner! Oh Yum!

The next best thing to Butterbeer!

Quail Eggs

One day at church, a cute little basket was perched atop the coat rack with a handwritten note that said something along the lines of:

Fresh Quail Eggs -- Help Yourself.

Honestly, we laughed a little when we saw it. Quail eggs? What exactly do you do with quail eggs? After talking to another member and learning that quail eggs are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, a couple of my boys started feeling brave. We tracked down the man who brought them and asked if he had any tips. "Just use them like regular eggs," was his advice. So we brought a bag home. Aren't they cute? They are so little, not much bigger than a quarter. (The bowl in the photo is small - less than 4" in diameter - to give you an idea how small the eggs are.)

Spencer and Sterling tried them. Spencer said they are hard to crack. The shells fall off just fine, but the inner lining is tough and hard to get through. According to Sterling, they look and taste just like regular eggs, only smaller.

Kind of fun to try something new!

Rhubarb Banana

What do you do when you pick some rhubarb from your garden and, after a couple of days, it curls up to look just like a banana? You laugh, show everyone your rhubarb banana, and then take a picture and post it on your blog because it makes you happy.

At least that's what I do.