Polka Dot Chowder!

Here is the latest recipe from the recently reviewed book

Click here to enter in that giveaway.

 

My kids really liked this and it’s kind of why I chose it. They love hot dogs so I knew they would eat it up. It reminds me of the corn chowder I make but with hot dogs added. Very kid friendly.

 

Ingredients:

16 oz. package of beef hot dogs, sliced ( I used organic hot dogs)

6 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 onion, diced

2 15-1/4 oz cans of corn. (I used one regular and one cream style)

3 TBS butter

salt and pepper to taste

13 oz can evaporated milk

Directions:

In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients except the evaporated milk. Cover and cook on high setting for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk. (I ended up adding some half and half to it as well.) Cover and cook an additional 20 minutes before serving. Garnish portions with a sprinkle of seasoned salt, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

Enjoy!

Porch Popcorn!

I thought it would be fun to actually  have it sitting out on the porch to cool. LOL!

Here is another recipe from the recently reviewed copy of

Click here for your chance to win a copy of this cookbook.

 

This recipe was good. The kids especially loved it.

Ingredients:

1 lb. melting chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

12 to 16 cups of salted popped popcorn

1-1/2 cups salted peanuts

1-1/2 cups of crispy rice cereal

Directions:

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. (I cooked it over low heat on the stove.) Microwave on high for one minute;stir. Add peanut butter; microwave an additional one to 2 minutes, until chocolate is completely melted. Stir mixture until creamy. Place popcorn in a large bowl or roasting pan; drizzle half the chocolate mixture over popcorn and stir. Sprinkle in peanuts and cereal, stirring to mix well. Pour remaining chocolate mixture over all; stir gently to coat. Spread onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Put on a cool porch or in the refrigerator until chocolate is hardened. Break up any large pieces before serving. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 16 to 20 cups.

ENJOY!

Ham and Gruyere Egg Cups!

Gooseberry Patch has once again said I could post the recipes that I tried while reviewing their new book Mom’s Best Recipes.

This recipe was so easy and so yummy.

Ingredients:

12 Thin Slices Deli Ham (I used Applegate Smoked Turkey)

3/4 shredded Gruyere Cheese

1 dozen eggs

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup half and half

2 TBS. grated Parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Line each muffin cup with a slice of ham folded in half. Top each ham slice with one tablespoon Gruyere cheese, and egg cracked into the cup, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, one tablespoon half and half and 1/2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese. Place muffin tin on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, until eggs are set. Allow baked eggs to cook for several minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Makes one dozen.

Now you don’t have to make 12 if there are only 2 of you. Just adjust the recipe to suit your needs and enjoy!

Mom’s Best Recipes Book Review and Giveaway!

Are you ready for yet another great Gooseberry Patch Book Giveaway?

This time it’s for their yet to be released…

I had so much fun perusing this book and finding recipes to try for this review. As always there are super fun tips and ideas sprinkled throughout the book.

I found so many recipes in here that I remembered eating when I was growing up. There is definitely something in here for every one. You’ll find something for every course of the day.

Take a look!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH

APPETIZERS AND SNACKS

SOUPS, BREADS, AND SANDWICHES

SIDES AND SALADS

MAIN DISHES

DESSERTS

See it takes you right through the whole day with tons of yummy recipes.

Here’s a few that I’ve tried so far that were thumbs up in my family.

Ham and Gruyere Egg Cups

Porch Popcorn

and Polka Dot Soup! The kids liked this one a lot.

As with the other book I reviewed, there are still a bunch I want to try. Like Mom’s Sweet Apple Omelet, Evelyn’s Crab-Stuffed Potatoes and the Rich Oatmeal Cake!

So do you want to win a copy of this yet to be released book? Of course you do and here’s how.

Giveaway Rules

1.  Tell me one of your favorite recipes that your mom used to make or still does.

That’s it! Easy huh?

Giveaway will be open until Thursday, March 3rd @ 12:00 pm EST. A winner will be picked by using Random.org and announced that day. Giveaway is only open to the U.S and Canada.

If you don’t want to wait you can preorder your copy today by visiting the Gooseberry Patch website.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!!

*Gooseberry Patch provided me with Mom’s Best Recipes Cookbook and one to giveaway in return for an honest review of the book.*

Friday Funnies! Dissecting a Turtle!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Are you ready to end this week on a good note? Well then you’ve stopped at the right place. Here you’ll find family friendly funnies to get your middle jiggling. If you would like to participate please feel free to link up a family friendly picture, video, story etc.

My funny today involves my 8 year old son, again. He is constantly doing something to make me laugh. 

My parents had sent down some Turtles for the kids for Valentine’s Day. Three HUGE boxes of them. These are not something that we would normally give our children so I was proceeding to tell my kids that they weren’t good for them and that they had corn syrup and too much sugar, yada, yada, yada, blah blah blah.  Basically I didn’t want to deal with the sugar high that comes after they eat them.

So the next day he’s at the table doing this.

Dissecting a poor Turtle. (Notice the quizzical brow!) He wanted to see for himself how bad they were.

Doesn’t that look sick? The ooey gooey caramel?

The sickening chocolate!

Thank goodness for best friends who’s husbands happen to LOVE  Turtles and took most of them off our hands!

Have you dissected a turtle lately?

 

 

Coffee and a Kiss!

Seriously, what’s he trying to say?

Is he on to me?

 

Have I eaten one to many Hershey’s Kisses in his presence?

Is my pure enjoyment of a good cup of coffee to evident?

How come he’s never given me a picture with a carrot stick or a piece of celery on it?

Where’s the 3-D picture of the my bible and a granola bar?

Is he trying to soften me up to find out where my stash of chocolate is?

Whatever the reason, he put  a lot of effort into it and I love it. I mean it’s 3 dimensional and everything. LOL!

Love that boy!

Firsts! From Garden to Trees, Part 2

When we moved in, there were some trees that needed some trimming really bad.

This was one of them.

We have no idea what kind of tree it is but soon after we moved in my hubby was trimming it and we had worried neighbors come over and tell him that it was a favorite tree on the street.  I think they might have thought he was going to chop it down. LOL!  It let go of thousands of little tiny leaves that ended up in our garage this past winter. I’m REALLY hoping it gets better looking then it is right now. But it is starting to green so we’ll see.

 

This new life belongs to…

…this cypress tree. I can’t wait till it’s covered in green.

 

This beautiful bush here….

…. well, it’s dead. The freeze took it from us and we hardly even got to know it. It was beautiful when we first moved in 3 months ago. But it’s deader than a doornail now. 

 

But I’ll leave it there “just in case”.

One thing I liked about this house was that it had such a variety of trees on the property. There are also long needle pines, a couple of palm trees and an oak tree in the way back.  It’s so refreshing to look at something other than cabbage palms all year round. And to think we only had to move 8 miles to do it. LOL!

The front of the house is a clean slate and it’s screaming for a makeover. I can’t wait to dig into that and make it beautiful.

Here’s a before glimpse.

 

Anything blooming in your yard yet? Or are you still under snow? What’s usually the first thing to bloom?

Thanks for joining me in my little outdoor tour.

Have a FABULOUS day!

Why wait till Monday? The Winner is…..

…….#24 Carolee Jones!!!

Congratulations Carolee and thank you to all who entered. There are still a lot of giveaways going on. If you FB Gooseberry Patch, they can keep you up to date. I myself will be having another book review and giveaway next week. So don’t miss it.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Firsts! From Garden to Trees! Part 1

It was such a gorgeous day here today that I couldn’t resist going outside and taking pictures. As I was walking around I was thinking about how many firsts are going to take place (and have already taken place) this year in our new home.

So won’t you join me in my little tour?

This is our first “real” garden here.  Shoot, it’s our first real garden anywhere!  My hubby has put a lot of effort into this garden. We are VERY excited about this!

The benefit of living in Florida is a longer growing season. Yay!

And then there are the first buds of our trees on the property.

Next is the same type of maple tree but in at a different stage.

I believe this last maple is the furthest along as it now has green on it.

This next tree stumps me. I have no idea what it is.

It started out with these. That turned into…

 

these….and now it looks like…

this.

What is it?

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of the “Firsts Outdoor Tour.”"

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Friday Funnies! What do you pass around?

Happy Friday Everyone!

It’s time to end another busy week on a happy note. If you’d like to help spread some of that fun feel free to link up a family friendly funny. It can be a joke, video, picture etc.

Let’s get to it.

 

I saw this on FB last week and by now a lot of you have probably already seen it but for those of you who haven’t, it’s HILARIOUS!

Enjoy!

(Ah, there’s a “vote to legalize marijuana” comment at the top of the screen when it starts playing. You can X out of it. Just thought I’d warn you about that! Not promoting that! Didn’t want you to think I’ve gone off the deep end! LOL!)

And don’t forget about my giveaway.  Click here to enter!

Gooseberry Patch Book Review and Giveaway!

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*


When Gooseberry Patch asked if I would review some books for them I totally jumped at the chance. I have a slight obsession with their books for those of you who didn’t know.

So I officially became an

and this is my first official

I was so excited about the book they sent me.

HELLO? Cookies? Heck yeah!

But I knew I had to be good when choosing a couple of recipes to try, as we had just come off of Valentine’s Day and if I’m not careful I’ll gain 100lbs. LOL! So I went directly the chapter entitled Light and Healthy Cookies! Aren’t I a good girl?

I loved all the healthier choices in this chapter but 2 recipes stood out to me.

The No Cook Date Balls

And the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies! 

(You won’t believe the missing ingredient in this one.)

With permission I have posted the recipes over at my cooking blog. Just click on the pictures or the links above.

One thing I love about this book is that it caters to everybody. I don’t think there is a person out there who couldn’t find a bunch of yummy recipes in this book.

Just look at the Table of Contents:

Cookie Jar Cookies

Holiday Cookies

All-American Cookies

Old-Fashioned Cookies

Best-Ever Brownies and Bars

Fast and Fun Cookies

Light and Healthy Cookies

Big-Batch Cookies

Seriously, they have your cookie needs covered in this book. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of gluten free recipes to. They are scattered through out but they are in there. Plus one thing I’ve learned is that if it’s truly a good recipe it can be altered to your taste.

I still have a list of ones I still want to try.

There’s Pumpkin Pillows, Lemony Almond Macaroons, Coconut Kisses, Coconut Mounds and so many more!

You want to know what else I love? The little helpful tips that they put on the pages with the recipes. Take this one for instance.
“If you need a round cookie cutter and there isn’t one handy, just use the open end of a clean, empty soup can to cut the dough into circles.”

Love that!

So are you in love with this book yet? If so I have some exciting news. Gooseberry Patch sent me an extra copy to share with YOU. So that means one of you lucky people can win a copy of BEST EVER COOKIES before it’s even released in the stores. BUT if you don’t want to take any chances and insure yourself a copy you can click here to pre-order your own.

Giveaway Rules!

1. Leave a comment telling me whether or not you have a Gooseberry Patch book or books of your own and which is your favorite.

2. Facebook about the giveaway and come back and leave another comment.

3. Blog about the giveaway and leave another comment.

That’s it! You have 3 chances to win.

You have until Sunday, February 20th at 3 pm EST. A winner will be chosen using the random number generator and announced Monday morning!

Open to U.S. residents only please.

I have another book review in the works and yet another giveaway. Be looking for that next week.

HAVE A GOOSEBERRY PATCH KIND OF DAY!

*Gooseberry Patch sent me a book to review and one to giveaway in exchange for an honest review .*

No Cook Date Balls!

I have always wanted to dabble with whole foods so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.

It comes out of the soon to be released 

Gooseberry Patch has given me permission to post the recipes that I have tried in my reviewing the book. You will have a chance to win a copy before it ever hits the stands on my main blog. So keep an eye out for that.

NO COOK DATE BALLS!

1 cup dates

1/4 c. plus 1 TBS raisins

1/4 c. walnuts

1/4 c. almonds

1/8 c. cashews

7/8 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients together in a food processor. Process to desired consistency. If too dry, add a little water, one teaspoon at a time. Roll mixture into one inch balls. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until serving time. Makes 1-1 1/2 dozen.

I have to tell you that we ALL loved these.  My 17 year old, my 8 year old and my 5 year old. 

What a great way for them to get some fiber!

ENJOY!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies!

When Gooseberry Patch asked me to be an Early Bird Book Reviewer I jumped at the chance. 

I have 2 books that I am in the process of reviewing and they have given me permission to post the recipes that I have tried.

This is the book that this recipe came out of.

Not yet released but you will have a chance to win one soon on my main blog so keep an eye out.

The recipe I chose had me curious. It contains no flour so for this GF family that was intriguing.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies!

Ingredients:

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

Favorite jam or jelly

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except preserves; mix until well blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Make a criss-cross pattern with a fork on top of the cookies.(I skipped this step. I used my thumb to make an indent into the cookies.) Carefully spoon jam into holes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-11 minutes. Allow to cook 2 minutes on baking sheets; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 3 dozen. (I got about 2 dozen. I must have made them big. LOL!)

Big thumbs up from me and all the kids! (Dad wasn't home yet!)

ENJOY!