Joy in the Kitchen!

  It has been cold and snowy white as far as the eye can see where I live!  This week the temperatures are supposed to be above freezing for the first time in several weeks!  I mean high 30's!  Absolutely balmy!  When we're this far into winter, I'm always ready for some peeks into spring.  Though we are several weeks away from the snow melting enough to see the ground, I enjoy including this colorful, fresh salad in my menu!  It's a lovely reminder of the garden harvest I'll enjoy this summer.  This is more of a throw-it-together sort of dish rather than one needing exact measurements, but I have some guidelines I use as the base of this dish.   I make it in this quantity for myself for lunch, or I leave the garbanzo beans out and add another cucumber and a little more olive oil and lemon and use it as a side dish for the family at dinnertime.   I've never been a fan of vinegar and oil dressing on salads, but I love, love, L...

Lentil and Burger Bake We've been finding new ways to eat healthier which includes using beans and legumes more often.  My Mom used to make this lentil dish once in a while and I've always loved it.   I love the peppery, earthy flavor of lentils!   They cook up quicker than dry beans as well, you can cook them on the stovetop for 40-50 minutes or in the instant pot for around 8-10 minutes.  Sometimes I just love my Instant Pot for things like that! When I'm reading recipe blogs I don't enjoy having to sort through so much chatter to find the recipe, so on to the important part!   Ranch Style Lentil and Burger Bake 1 lb. lean hamburger (I like 93/7 but use what you can find) 1 T. olive or vegetable oil 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix OR 1 T. beef bouillon and 1/2 C. fresh, diced onion 4 C. cooked lentils 1 tsp. dry mustard 1 tsp. vinegar 1 C. water Brown burger in oil, stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour into a casserole dish or 9x13 pan and bake a...

S'More's   are one of our family's favorite camping treats.  A beautifully browned marshmallow and a few pieces of chocolate bar pressed between two crispy graham crackers.  Yum!   They are sticky and messy to eat and only the most patient of marshmallow roasters get them beautifully browned, but even S'More's with blackened marshmallows are tasty! I don't remember where I got the base recipe for these S'More's Cookie Bars, but we've been making them for about 20 years.  It's like a taste of camping anytime!  No fire to build, coals to wait for, or smoky clothes and hair when you're done!  Right now our firepit is buried in snow drifts as well so this is a much better option for this chocolaty marshmallow treat! Today I'm making these for my son to take to a get together with friends.  They need about half an hour to cool enough to cut and then a little longer to cool enough for the chocolate to set, so be sure to bake with time to spare....

Early this spring, my friend called asking for help!  A swarm of bees had landed in her yard and were collecting on the base of her lilac bush.  I called my niece, whose husband (Andrew) is a beekeeper and he was here in an hour or so.   He brought all of the equipment needed for capturing a swarm.  He was excited when he saw how large this swarm was!  A prime swarm!  HUGE!   I wish I'd videoed him scooping the bees up by handfuls and shaking them into their new beehive home.  Pretty cool from a distance! We have sev eral apple tr ees, pea r, plum trees and a fairly large garden.  Alfalfa fields are nearby as well so our little hive of bees have plenty of blossoms to stay busy all summer.  Andrew told me bees gather nectar in a 5 mile radius of their hive.   When the hive was fully capped off (the bees had filled all their little honey holes and sealed them), Andrew and his wife Cassie brought their honey separat...

This blog is usually my place to share my favorite recipes, to share food memories of my childhood, share my food experiments!  I've been a bit rattled by this COVID-19 emergency as I know many of  you have.  It has brought clarity to what is most important in my life.    Once, years ago, I had a personal crisis.  I was heartbroken and wondered why it had happened.  I read this scripture and in my mind I heard God say to me "Joy, settle down.  I've got this."  I felt peace.    I love going to the mountains.  In them, I see God's strength and power.  I feel close to Him there.  Combining a favorite place with a favorite scripture was a therapeutic exercise for me today. God bless you as you turn to Him and find therapeutic activities that bring you peace! 

Hi there!  Thanks for dropping by. I am currently working on eating healthier and moving more to help with some of those health issues that sneak up as you age.  Fatigue, weight, stiff joints.  I know some of you totally understand about that!  I complain to my Dad once in a while (he will be 94 in a few months) and he always says "Well Joy, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"  Bwahaha!  Nothing like things getting put in perspective! So, I am creating a new little section on my blog for my Adventures in Healthy Eating.  This is my first attempt at creating a recipe in that genre - this year.  There are other healthy recipes on my blog but many of them are my childhood comfort foods or ones that were used as we raised a large family on a little budget.  Those are special occasion foods! I kept seeing these lovely Baked Avocado Egg recipes.  They look delicious.  But I am a tad lazy  and impatient and heating the w...

It is nearing the end of tomato season here.  A few days ago we had our first hard frost.  This year we've had a bumper crop of tomatoes!  I think I've picked about 2-3 bushel so far and there's at least another bushel on the plants we covered to protect a little longer from frost. I love to eat tomatoes fresh, and one of my most favorite garden treats is a tomato sandwich!  Tender slices of homemade bread spread with mayo, and thick slices of ripened garden tomato sprinkled with salt.  YUMMMMY! My next favorite use of fresh tomatoes is Aunt Lois's Marinated Tomatoes... so tangy!  A perfect accompaniment for a summer meal. What we don't eat fresh I bottle.  My family loves salsa and I love Best Ever Canned Salsa as it can be as mild or hot as you like (we prefer mild) and makes several pints.  We also like homemade Chili Sauce and can some of that to put on meats and potatoes.... an old fashioned treat.   This delici...