Joy in the Kitchen!

Look at these adorable garden helpers! The weather is cooling and was forecasting rain for the weekend so last week we harvested quite a few of our onions.  We are blessed to live in an area where temperatures and humidity allow us to store produce for several months in our garage once it's harvested.   These onions will be set out to let the outer skin and tops dry up and then we'll put them in mesh bags and hang them in the garage to store.  Most years I've been able to keep them in usable condition until March or April.  Once in a while I have to put a heater in the garage at night if the temperatures are getting below zero, but most of the time they're okay. Wes and Ben helped pull the onions and put them in the garden cart.  They did a good job and were amazed at the huge onions! Soon it will be time to dig potatoes and carrots.  We'll keep the carrots in coolers and potatoes in burlap bags in the garage for the winter as well.   Love the ability to

I've been wanting to try a Chicken Tortilla Soup for a while but there are so many recipes out there I couldn't choose which one to try.  My daughter is visiting this week from Tennessee.  She woke up this morning with all congested and though soup sounded good for dinner. She likes Chicken Tortilla Soup so we just made our own version (to add to the myriads out there) with the ingredients she likes best. My younger girls had a cross-country race today and we'd arrive back home just in time for dinner.  This soup cooked up nicely in a crock pot so when we got home all we had to do was bake the tortilla strips.  They could have been baked ahead, but I ran out of time before we left.  My daughter thinks she'd like to try this lightly thickened, but I liked it just like this.  If you like it spicier you could add some cayenne or other hot pepper. Chicken Tortilla Soup 6 C. chicken broth (canned or made up from water and bouillon) 2-3 C. cooked, d

We live in Idaho.  Our small school still has a 2 week break in the fall for Spud Harvest.  (Potato Harvest for those less familiar with our famous potatoes!)  Quite a few of the teenagers are able to help with harvest, some working at the cellars or in the fields, and others helping babysit younger children while parents work.  I've worked my share of harvests and there is nothing like the earthy smell of freshly dug potatoes.   This harvest I am not working and I have several children and a couple of grandkids who need activities to stay busy.  This morning we decided to do mosaics.    Here's my cute crew starting their projects. Supplies School glue or tacky craft glue construction paper or cardstock pencil Various dry kitchen ingredients such as:   pasta, dry beans, popcorn, rice, etc. I like to fill a large muffin tin with a variety of pasta and beans.  I just go through the cupboard and see what we have to work with.   Let your chil

Several years ago on the Frugal Families forum I'm a member of, someone posted a favorite crock pot recipe called Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken.   The thought of garlic and brown sugar was NOT my idea of a good mix!  I gave it a try though since it was getting such good reviews and I was totally wrong!  Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken is so delicious!   I love using my crock pot on busy days.  Monday's I get home from work about 15 minutes before our usual dinner time.  I'm tired and everyone is hungry!  Having a nice meal already cooked is a wonderful thing to come home to.  All you need to add on this recipe is rice.  Minute rice or rice precooked and reheated with a little water would be easy enough.  I'm only gone from 3:00 - 6:00 so I can put my rice in my rice cooker and it cooks and stays nice and warm until we're ready to eat.    I love eating Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken with quinoa in place of the rice but most of my family are not huge quinoa fans (yet) s

It seems that certain recipes come and go in our menu's and some things that we just loved for a while get pushed aside by new loves and forgotten. I was hunting through my piles of recipes today and came across one I haven't made for several years.  I mixed up a batch of these Easy Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies this morning and my kids love them!  And they were so easy!  I don't know why I set this recipe to the back of the cupboard!  I love bar cookies and brownies partly because you just mix them up and bake all at once rather than changing out pans of cookies every 10 minutes.   I like to double this recipe and spread it in a large 18x13 baking sheet with sides. Easy Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies 3/4 C. butter or margarine 1 C. brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla 2 C. buttermilk pancake mix (just add water kind) 1/2 C. chocolate chips 1/4 C. chopped walnuts In a large bowl cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

I've been craving Reese's lately.  A LOT.  Or Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.  Tonight we have a pie and ice cream social to attend and I signed up to bring a pie.  I originally planned on baking an apple pie using fruit off of our trees, but considering my relentless Reese's craving, I changed my mind.  Peanut Butter Chocolate pie it is!   It might not go as well with homemade ice cream as the apple may have, but we'll just have to deal with that. You'll need a graham cracker crust and you can either make one or buy one.  Doesn't matter to me.  I made one so I didn't have to run to the store.  A chocolate cookie crust would be delicious as well, but... then I would have had to run to the store.  You can try it that way if you'd like.  OR next time I make this, if there happens to be a sleeve of Oreo cookies that have escaped attention (like THAT ever happens!) I'll try it.   This filling recipe makes enough for 2 pies.  Therefore yo

Yum!  If you live nearby and go to the Eastern Idaho State Fair or if you've gone to the corn maze in Blackfoot, you may have had Mexican Crazy Corn.  It is delicious!  This is similar.  Essentially you're coating corn on the cob with mayonnaise and Cotija cheese.  They offer chili lime and another seasoning to sprinkle on and I love the chili lime...  just a little though. Our garden still has a few nice ears of corn left in the patch and that's what we used tonight.   If you still have corn on the cob available near you - give this delicious twist a try! Mexican Corn on the Cob Husk as many ears of corn as you'd like to serve.   Boil corn on the cob for about 8-10 minutes.  Remove and pat dry.   Spread each ear of corn with a generous amount of mayonnaise (not salad dressing!) and then spoon grated Cotija cheese on each ear of corn until it is completely covered.  It should be fairly heavy.   Sprinkle with chili lime seasoning or salt and pepper if you

At least once a year we make delicious homemade doughnuts. (these are not those!)  YUMMY!  The dough is made from scratch from an old recipe and cutting out and letting them rise, all take time.  Sometimes we want the fun and deliciousness of a homemade donuts without the time and work!  (the original from scratch ones are best hands-down, but there work in a pinch!)   Tonight we had fish taco's for dinner using deep fried fish nuggets.   Since I'd already have oil out and splatters from that I decided to make these quick Cinnamon Sugar Donuts for dessert! My husband was already planning to press apple cider this afternoon and these warm, sugary donuts went perfectly with a fresh glass of cider.  I posted a few years ago about our homemade cider press and cider pressing day!  You can find that post HERE.   The ingredients and method for these are so simple!  If you don't love cinnamon, just leave it out and have Sugared Donuts.  Simple! Quick Cinnamon Sugar Do

We had turkey for dinner on Sunday.  I know, it's not Thanksgiving, but I had an extra one in the freezer and it was nearing the end of it's freezer life!  Besides, one turkey on Sunday equals several meals for the week!  Monday we had Turkey Pasta Salad (which fed us Monday night and lunches for everyone on Tuesday), and tonight we finished that off with Southwest Turkey and Rice Casserole.    When I make this again I will add a bit more seasoning. Southwest Turkey and Rice Turkey (leftover, diced or shredded) 1 C. rice 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 cans broth from simmering the turkey OR water 1 can diced green chili's 3/4 C. diced onion 1 tsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. salt dash black pepper Shredded cheese - Monterrey Jack, or cheddar  Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  Sprinkle the dry rice across the bottom evenly.  Sprinkle diced onion on top of the rice.  Spread diced/shredded turkey on top of the onion. In a mixing bowl mix soup,

It is chilly outside.  Cool breeze and overcast.  Tonight it is supposed to drop to below freezing.  It is fall!  Several varieties of our apples are ready to use now and as delicious as they are fresh, we can't eat them all before they'll spoil that way! I've got a few Honey Crisp apples from my trees and some Wealthy apples from Dad's trees.  Dad said his mother preferred Wealthy apples for most of her eating and cooking.  These days you rarely even hear of that variety.   Today I'm drying apples slices in my food dehydrator.   There are several different brands of dehydrators and you can pay a lot or a little.  Mine is probably on the less expensive end of the range and works wonderfully for what I like to do. Who needs artificial scents when you can dehydrate cinnamon apples and fill your home with the scent of apple pie! Dried Cinnamon Apples Peel (if desired), core, and slice several apples and lay out in a single layer on dehydrator rack Sprinkle

This Savory Garlic Pull-Apart Bread was a terrific accompaniment for the Turkey Pasta salad we had for dinner tonight. I wanted to make a garlic bread of some sort.  I used the dough recipe that my friend Pat uses for her cinnamon rolls (I had just printed it off and it was still on the counter!  Nice and handy!) though I did cut that recipe in half.  I did add a tad more salt, and a tad less sugar.  I dipped pieces of dough from that into melted butter mixed with garlic powder.    Next time, I will use more garlic and a little salt with the butter.  I included those changes with this recipe. I was pleased over all with how these turned out!  They did almost grow out of the pan though!  My favorite part to eat was the crisp outer edges.  Mmmmm!   Definitely making these again!  I can't wait to try these with soups later this fall and winter! Savory Garlic Pull-Apart Bread 1 3/4 C. warm water 1/4 C. oil 1/3 C. sugar 3 T. yeast Mix together and let sit 15 minutes.