Creamy Cucumber Salad

Remember how I said before that my garden wasn't doing too great this year? Well...I lied!  Something happened and now i've got cucumbers and zucchini growing like crazy!  My corn is ready and so sweet and delicious.  The tomatoes are still struggling, but I think they are snapping out of it too.  Crazy thing...I woke up in the middle of the night and thought to myself, "Hmmm...I haven't checked the cucumbers in awhile.  Wonder if they are growing?"  Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and think of crazy things like that?  I do it all the time.  I remember where I put things and things I forgot to do or people I forgot to call or even awesome funny status updates?!  *lol*  Ok...must just be me, but really kind of annoying.  Anyhoo...first thing that morning I went out to my garden and lo and behold there were cucumbers everywhere!  I couldn't believe how many I had.  So I picked a bunch.  I made my husbands favorite of soaking them in vinegar and salt and pepper with a little bit of onion and jalepenos cut up in it to give it a little heat.  It's one of my favorites too, but I wanted to try something different so that is where the Creamy Cucumber Salad enters.  Hello, Lover!  It is so yum!  I loved it and I will be making this a lot more.  Sorry for all the blabbering.  :o)

Creamy Cucumber Salad

4 c. cucumbers, sliced

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. mayo

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Add your sour cream, mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper into a medium sized bowl.  Stir until everything is combined.  Pour in cucumbers and stir til they are all coated.  Cover and refridgerate a couple hours before serving, so they are nice and cold.  Yum!

Source-Tasty Kitchen

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.  Have a great Wednesday!!  We have Justy's first soccer game tonight.  Fall is just right around the corner, and I am so excited!! I love Fall!!! 

Digi Day

Last week I told you about Splendid Fiins Super product line. This week I got to play a bit. If you have a boy then this line is a must have. Super cute (or cool as Ben would say) and super fun. Next Monday she is releasing her coordinating elements pack to go with this fun paper. Here is the layout I did using her Super line.

This is one of my favorite stories of my little Ben. Oh he was such a three year old hoot. Love this boy. Full Credits Here.

I also saw these fun tags by Elle's Studio and knew I needed them. I love all her already designed tags to use for gifts, crafts, or pretty much anything. I thought these would be perfect for my kids' lunches the first week of school.

Cute!

Have a great Tuesday! :) And get your craft on today!

Menu Monday

We got the first week of school behind us here.  She loves it, which is great!  We had a fun and busy weekend.  My husband and I canned all day on Sunday.  We got 24 pints of Grandma's apricot jam done and 16 pints of dilly beans.  YUM!  Always makes me feel good to add to our food storage.  I hope you all had a great and safe weekend.  Here's my menu for the week.

Monday
Hobo Dinners

Tuesday
Lazy Lasagna

Wednesday
Justy's soccer game...so i'll probably pack some ham and bacon wraps

Thursday
Hotdog boats

Friday
Tacos

Saturday
Simply Done Chicken Legs

Sunday
Family baby blessing.


My husband finished his finals last week so it was a crazy stressful week. All was a success so we're happy about that. Now we're dealing with our first bout of colds in our home. You gotta love those school germs. Anyway, here is the menu this week!

Monday
Slow Cooker Porkchops with Potatoes

Tuesday
Chickpea Stuffed Shells
(Didn't make these last week. I think we had mac and cheese instead, ha ha.)

Wednesday
Tacos (Maggie has been asking for these.)

Thursday
Ranch Chicken

Friday
Spinach Bacon Quesadillas

Saturday
Tofu Stirfry

Sunday
Roastbeef with Mashed Potatoes (My fave!)

Okie Dokie! Have a great week!

Cheerio Bird Feeders

With Justy back to school Mr. Coy gets a little bored.  I've been pinning a lot of fun things to do with him, so he won't think Mommy is so boring.  This was top on my list because it looked fun and it's cute! Plus I had some stale Cheerios on hand and some wire and ribbon.  That's all you need.  I used my husbands wire he uses for fencing, but i'm sure if you go to your local hardware store you'd find some thinner stuff.  Possibilities for shapes are endless.  I chose to do hearts.  I cut the wire with some wire cutters and shaped them into hearts.  Then I poured out the Cheerios and let Coy go to town on putting the Cheerios on the wire.

Here's my cutie putting cheerios on the wire.

He thought that was so fun...for a minute, until he figured out that these things tasted good...

Mmmmm...

And then I had no help hardly at all from him.  He was going to town on the stale Cheerios now.  Goofball!  So I got them all done and the cute ribbon tied on and we headed outside to hang it up in a tree.

Yay!  Outside! The boy carried around that bag of Cheerios for most the morning.

Here's a close up of it.  Isn't it cute?!

And here it is in our tree.  Now hopefully the birds will come eat it. 

So there you have it.  An easy craft to do with the kids.  All you need is wire, wire cutters, Cheerios, and ribbon.

Hope you all have a fun and safe weekend.  Let's keep our thoughts and prayers with those on the East Coast being affected my Hurricane Irene.  So scary!  STAY SAFE!  *hugs*  See you Monday!!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Mmmmm, you say lemon+butter+sugar and I am so there. This may sound a little nuts to most of you, but before I met my in-laws I didn't really care for chocolate. (Blame them and all their chocolate goodies for my giant hips!) Anyway...sorry, although I love chocolate now (dark please, not milk, blech), if you give me a choice between a chocolate dessert and a lemon dessert, I will go for the lemon 9 out of 10 times. Seriously.

So my very good friend Cheryl sent me an email saying I must try a cookie she had recently made and she mentioned lemon, and maybe the word amazing, and I was so intrigued. <--- (I have excellent run on sentences today!) The other day I had an event that needed sweets and I knew exactly what I needed to make. Thank goodness for events, because I get to sample then off they go to give someone else the extra calories.

These were really good. I love lemon and do think next time I will add even a little more zest and juice. Maybe even a brush of straight lemon juice to the top of the cookie? Hmmm, maybe. So, yes these are a keeper and if you like lemon you must try. :)

Ingredients:

½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Source: What's Cookin?

Honey Oat Bread

I made this last week thinking I would enter it into the fair that day.  I got them all baked up and ready to go, and realized that I couldn't enter them until the next day!  I was bummed, because I wanted them to taste it fresh.  So...I didn't enter one.  I promised myself that I would for sure next year.  Maybe with a few other things.  I would love it if I got Grand Champion!  Hey, maybe one day i'll try to get Homemaker of the Year!  Hahahahahahahaha...yeah right.  Anyhoo, this bread is awesome.  It's moist and perfect.  I love it fresh out of the oven with a big slab of butter spread all over.  *drool*  It's also really good for sandwich bread.  Give it a try.

Honey Oat Bread
4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 c. honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp salt
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. quick oats
1 egg

In a medium bowl heat the butter and honey in the microwave until the butter is melted. Remove and add the water; the mixture should be warm (110-120 degrees). Stir in the yeast and let sit until bubbly, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine salt, yeast mixture, 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. With mixer on low, gradually blend liquid into dry ingredients until just blended. Increase the speed to medium, beat for two minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Gradually beat in the egg and one cup of whole wheat flour to make a thick batter. Continue beating for two minutes. Stir in oats, 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour. Knead till smooth and elastic. Use more flour if dough is too sticky.

Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down and cover and let rise again for about 20 minutes.  Form into to loaves and place in greased 9x5 bread pans.  Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a golden brown.  Enjoy!

Source-Tasty Kitchen

Fair week went really well.  As I mentioned in a previous post,  Justy placed 10th in Quality, which is awesome!  I am so proud of her.  All that hard work really does pay off. 

Here she is showing off her good looking sheep.

See you tomorrow!!

Digi Day

Have you fallen in love with Splendid Fiins products yet? I have. She has the cutest fun style that I adore. She has a recently new Evidence line that is super fun. It's perfect for documenting all the amazing things in life. Namely mi familia. Here are a few fun things.


I love these Notes and Frames, can't wait to play with them.


These masks are really cool and look amazing with these black and white photos.


This is an Evidence File Starter. I love this look. She has three to choose from or get all three!


And two amazing templates that go with this line. I love her templates. They are already amazing and don't need a lot of change to them. You can really just add your photos and leave it as is or you can add and embellish all you want.

Here is my version of the above template.

I really didn't do much but add a different background paper, buttons, and some water/ink splotches. I also recolored the border and the number 5. Super quick, super simple, super amazing. Love it. Full Credits Here.

This line also have a full paper pack, frames, stickers, and a date stamp (which I love). Very fun stuff. Here is Nisa's full store to see her other stuff. Her new line is Super Half -tones for that little super hero in your life. So cute.

Have a wonderful Tuesday people! :)

Menu Monday

Last week I stuck to my menu for the most part which is a sure sign life is getting back to normal. I know during the Summer we are usually on the go so there is a lot of improvising with the menu.  The kiddos started school and trying to get dinner on the table brings some normalcy to my new crazy life. Loving it though... :o)

Here is my menu this week...

Monday
Sticky Chicken
This is a recipe I've wanted to try for awhile...we'll see.

Tuesday
Chickpea Stuffed Shells
I try to do at least one vegetarian dish each week. Does anyone have any ideas for me?

Wednesday
Hawaiian Haystacks

Thursday
Chef Salads

Friday
Take and Bake Pizza
I decided I need one easy night a week...can you blame me?

Saturday
Tater Tot Casserole
Okay, maybe two easy nights.

Sunday
PorkChops and Scalloped Potatoes
I didn't make these last week because we were invited to a friends. So this week, it is.



Well...I didn't stick to my menu last week, so you will see a lot of repeats from the last Menu Monday.  It was so busy! We did get the fair out of the way.  It went really well.  Justy placed 10th overall in quality, which is awesome.  She sold her sheep to a really REALLY nice dude.  He's also known as my Dad.  :o)  I'm just happy to have it out of the way.  Hopefully life will start slowing down now.  I sent her off to her first day of Middle School this morning.  Don't know how to feel about that?  Weird!  Now I gotta keep 2 boys entertained all by myself.  Anyhoo...here's my menu for the week.

Monday
Haystacks

Tuesday
Chicken Strips and Oven Fries

Wednesday
Sloppy Joes

Thursday
Lemon Butter Chicken

Friday
I won't be home!  Going to a cousins wedding reception.  Can't wait!!

Saturday
Homemade Pizza

Sunday
Crockpot BBQ'd Chicken

So, there you have it!  Lots of repeats, and I apologize.  I will do better next week.  Have a great week!!

Digi Day

Getting back into the swing of things after having a baby is much harder than I thought. I really have to look at the little accomplishments I get done in a day. I'm still not completely unpacked from our trip and I have a lot of laundry to do, but I've had a nutritious dinner on the table every night and I get to spend a lot of time cuddling my new baby.

I just want to say that I'm in love. After six weeks of chaos I feel like this had been the first week that I've been able to just hold my baby girl and just fall in love with every piece of her. She makes my heart melt and I'm completely smitten with her. Sometimes I get overwelmed looking at her knowing what a huge responsibility I have in raising her. I hope I don't let her down. I'm excited to see her grow and see her personality develop but at the same time want to hold on to this perfect, small, fresh little person. It is so bittersweet.

Anyhoo, enough of my blubbering. One of the things I love about scrapping (and blogging) is my chance to get my feelings written down. I've said it before, but it's important for me to pass onto my children how much they are loved. I do that through scrapping. So with that I've started pages for our Abi to show how much she is adored. I feel journaling, no matter how you do it, is so important. We cherish our Grandma's journals and I hope my kids cherish mine.

This is a template by The Queen of Quirk. I love her templates. The paper is by Cosmo Cricket. Full Credits Here.

My two older kiddos started school yesterday (*sniffles*). It's hard for me to let them go but they were excited to head off to school so it's hard for me to be too sad...especially when I finally get to take a nap. :)

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe was a real winner in my house.  We ate them all within a day.  The recipe doesn't make very many, but I'm ok with that.  I didn't want these sitting around the house for more than a day.  Why?!  Because I would have made a pig out of myself until they were gone. 

I love finding delicious recipes with zucchini hidden in them.  I don't know how healthy the muffins are with the added chocolate chips, but knowing my kids are getting a little bit of veggies with a treat makes me happy!  :o)

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. apple sauce  (If you don't have the apple sauce then use 1/2 c. vegetable oil total.)
1/4 c. milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. grated zucchini
1/4-1/2 c, chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix well.  In a smaller bowl combing egg, oil, apple sauce, milk, lemon juice and vanilla.  Stir to combine and then add it to your dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips and zucchini. 

Pour into muffin liners, about 2/3rds full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  This made 12 muffins and then I poured the remaining batter in a ramekin and ate it myself!  :o) 

Have a great Wednesday!  Me and the family are off to the fair to see Justy show her sheep.  Woo!  Wish us luck.  Ciao!!

Blueberry Picking...awhile ago

A long time ago before baby came along, (It seems like forever ago.) we went Blueberry picking. I had never done this before but had heard about a local patch and thought it would be fun for the kids. Fun it was! This farm was beautiful! It had perfect rows of blueberry bushes with grass inbetween the rows. There was a serene little pond nearby and the sounds of sheep in the background. It really was just a calm, fun place to be. My father and mother-in-law came along and we all enjoyed ourselves. The bushes were filled with plump, delicious blueberries and we filled our buckets.

So what to make with all these delicious blueberries? I froze a ton for future treats but first and foremost had to make blueberry muffins. I used this recipe by PW and loved every bite. :) We also enjoyed blueberry pancakes. Yum. I love fresh blueberries in my pancakes. Takes me back to sitting at my Grandma's table.

Photo by Erica. :)

I have other plans for my frozen blueberries. Here are a few that caught my eye on Pinterest. I've been wanting to try my hand at scones.

Alexandra's Kitchen

My Kitchen Addiction

Jam Hands

Thank goodness for Summer deliciousness. I think the joys of Summer is what gets us through dreary winters. My kiddos start school next week. :( Can't believe how fast the Summer flew by. The good thing about this whole thing called life, is that there is always something to look forward to. For us, it's a few more days at the pool, and catching up with friends. Throw in some kitchen time and I'm good to go!

Happy Tuesday!

Menu Monday

Monica had a really nice post typed up this morning, but silly me, somehow, deleted the entire thing.  *sigh*  My day is not starting out so good.  O'well.  I am just happy to have my sister back in the blogging world.  She just got back to Missouri.  She spent the entire time with her sweet Mother in law.  If you knew how her Mother in law cooked, you would want to stay there for an entire week too!  YUM!  She did say she loved it, but is excited to get back in her own kitchen to cook. 

Anyhoo...onto another Menu Monday.  It's Fair week here, and i'm excited...to get it over with!  :o)  So first is Monica's menu and then mine. 

Monday
Chicken Pasta Casserole

Tuesday
Hamburger Steaks

Wednesday
Chicken Parmesan

Thursday
French Dips

Friday
Grilled Cheese and soup

Saturday
Seattle Dogs

Sunday
Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes

And here's my menu...
Monday
Lemon Butter Chicken and Rice

Tuesday
Ham and Bacon Wraps

Wednesday
Grilled Hotdogs...You can tell this is a favorite in our home.  :o)

Thursday
Chicken Strips and Oven Fries

Friday
Homemade Pizza, Gonna make a Chicken Bacon Ranch one this time. 

Saturday
RODEO night...woohooo!  Gotta love the burgers and fries at the rodeo.  :o)

Sunday
Bean and Cheese Quesadillas

Have a great Monday!!!

Zucchini Brownies

Sorry for missing in action the past couple days.  It has been so chaotic around here.  Still is and will be for another couple weeks.  Ack!  Gotta love it though, right?  We got my baby girl signed up for middle school today.  *sigh*  Seriously...where the heck does time go?  Anyhoo...i'll try to do better at posting.  And hopefully Moni will be back at it soon too.  We have some fun new ideas for the blog!  :o)

Well I don't have zucchini coming out of my ears this year.  My garden is really struggling to make it!  Guess I will strive to do better next year.  My sweet Mother in law brought me some of hers, and I got straight to baking up some zucchini brownies.  These are so yummy!  They are more of a cakey texture though.  I love them!!  Especially with that rich chocolatey icing on top. 

Zucchini Brownies
1/2 c. vegetable oil 
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Icing
6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 13x9 baking dish. 

In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar and vanilla until well combined.  Add your flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt and mix well. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts and stir it up good.  Pour into baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or when you push on it gently and it springs back.  Our do the toothpick method.  It works great too.  :o)  Take out and let cool completely before icing.

To make icing melt your butter and 6 T. cocoa powder on med-low heat.  Set aside to cool.  In a medium bowl mix your powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until well combined and then add your cooled cocoa mixture and mix well.  Spread it evenly over brownies and ENJOY!  :o)  Delish!

Have a great rest of the week!  See you tomorrow...I hope. 

Menu Monday

Onto another BUSY week!  So we got some easy meals on the menu. :o) I like easy.  2 more weeks and school will be in session!  Am I the only Mom that gets excited for school to start?!  Back to a normal schedule.  No more, "I bored!".  No more antagonizing her little brother all day!  And I love Love LOVE Fall!!  I can't wait for that!  Here's my menu...

 
Monday
Slow Cooker French Dips

Tuesday
Tacos!!!

Wednesday
Chicken Strip Bagels

Thursday
Manicotti

Friday
Grab and Growl Night!!!

Saturday
Grilled Hamburgers and Homemade Fries

Sunday
Hotdogs and Homemade Mac and Cheese  (I asked the hubs what he wanted, and this is what he picked.  Easy enough!)

Hopefully Monica will post her menu starting next week too, so you won't get so bored with mine.  Have a great week!!!

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

I have found my new favorite roll recipe.  These turned out sooooooo yummy!  I could not stop eating them.  My kids and husband loved them too, and they don't like the wheat products so much.  Something about the taste of wheat bread just always brings so many memories of my sweet Grandma and of when I was a little girl.  *sigh*  Anyhoo...These take a lot of rising time, but I think it is totally worth it, because they are so light and fluffy and amazing and delicious and heavenly and perfect and...i'll stop now.  :o)  It was the perfect day to bake too.  It was raining and thundering most the day and oddly chilly.  It was just a dang good day!  I love those days!

Ooohhlala!  I got me a new camera and its FABULOUS!!



Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
4 tsp yeast (I prefer using the Saf Instant Yeast.  I have never ever had a problem with it and it works every time.)
1 3/4 c. warm water (110 degrees) You don't want your water too cold or too warm or your yeast won't work.
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. bread flour
1/4 c. melted butter to grease your pans, and rolls

In a large mixing bowl dissolve your yeast for about 10 minutes until it's good and bubbly.

Add sugar, salt, melted butter, egg, and whole wheat flour to the yeast mixture.  Mix well.  Start adding bread flour 1/2 c. at a time until the dough starts pulling away from the bowl.  Once that happens turn up the speed and with your dough hook knead it for 4 minutes.  If you don't have a dough hook then turn it onto a floured surface and knead 8 minutes until it's smooth and elastic.  Lightly oil bowl and put your dough back in turning to coat it.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.  About 1 hour. 

Punch down and let it rise again until doubled.  About 30 minutes.  Grease 2 muffin pans with butter.  Punch down dough and divide in half.  Roll it out into a rectangle 6x14 or so.  (Doesn't have to be perfect)  Then cut into 7x1 strips making 12 strips.  Roll your strips up and place into muffin cups.  Do the same with the other half.  Butter tops and cover them and let rise until doubled in size.  About 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake rolls 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove and butter again.  Now try not to eat all of them.  :o)

Source-Allrecipes

Have a fantastic weekend!!!  See you Monday!

Digi Day

Hi! I'm back! Thank you Erica for giving me a month off. She had a baby and was posting the next week. I have a baby and can barely keep my head above water. Granted I've been all over the place. Anyway, we adore our new little addition. She is a beauty and sweet. New babies are so incredibly delicious. There is nothing better than new little toes and fingers. Love them.

I had a page due for JessicaSprague.com so I thought I'd get some photos of our new babe on a page. I'm excited to be back sharing with you. :)

My assigned designer this month was In the Making Designs. I love her style. All products for this page are by her. Find them here.

And of course a photo of sweet girl. She is a month old now. I can't believe how much she has grown already!

So sweet!

Have a happy Tuesday! And enjoy your last few weeks of Summer!

Menu Monday

What a fun weekend!  But, i'm excited to get back into the groove of things.  My home has been seriously neglected.  I feel like organizing and sending lots of things to the D.I.  Did you all have a good weekend?  I sure hope so.  What is on your menu this week?

Monday
Roast, Mashed Taters and Whole wheat dinner rolls.  So excited for this!!!
It's such a gloomy, chilly, rainy day...perfect weather for baking! LOVE IT!

Tuesday
Taco Salads

Wednesday
Breakfast for dinner.  Bring on the WAFFLES!!

Thursday
Cheeseburger Spaghetti

Friday
Grilled steaks and Dutch Oven Potatoes

Saturday
Grab and Growl night!  WOOOT!

Sunday
Chicken Taco Pasta..because I didn't make it last week!  Oops.  :o)

Hope your week goes great!  And I think Monica will be back this week.  YAY!  :o)  Can't wait!  Also, I got my new camera!!  Can't wait to try it out and post the pictures.  Wish me luck!!  Have an awesome Monday!