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Monday, October 31, 2011

Cranberry Pork/Chicken

4 pork chops or chicken breasts
16 oz can whole cranberry sauce (I use Ocean Spray)
1/2 cup french onion dressing
1/2 packet onion soup mix (I use Lipton's)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pork or chicken in a glass baking dish.

In a saucepan combine everything else.  Heat to melt the jellied part of the cranberry sauce. Stir to combine. Pour over pork or chicken. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

My mom gave me this recipe. I never knew what was in it and when she told me I said, "Ewww really?"  I wouldn't have thought these go together so well! My mother has always made it with chicken.  She sometimes make this for Christmas dinner.  I tried it with pork one day and it was really yummy. I grow bored with chicken if we have it too much.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Richmond Zombie Walk 2011

















We had a lot of fun dressing up!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Two Happy Years of Marriage

"the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

This is so true when entering into a marriage. We have traveled several miles so far and it has been a wonderful adventure. I am truly excited to see what comes next.

Happy anniversary to my wonderful husband!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Potato/Onion Bin

My amazing friend, Christy, bought this potato and onion bin for me. We have had numerous conversations about how we each wanted one. Her grandmother had one and gave it to her back in July. Christy found one at the Goodwill and brought it to my work as a surprise! It was a nice gift and she is such a great friend!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Kristin and John's Wedding










My little sister got married! Such a beautiful day.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

We have awesome and generous friends!

Big thanks to Laura and Max for our homemade apple sauce. Max picked about ten pounds of apples last week and they still have some left. This was the first time Laura made applesauce. She did not make it too sweet and is not sure why it turned out the color of apple butter. The recipe did not say to skin the apples so maybe that is why? Or maybe she did not use enough protector to preserve the color? Who knows and who cares because it tastes great!

So thankful!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Warm Cider with Mulling Spices

It is fall! In this house it means putting another quilt on the bed, attending fall festivals, carving pumpkins, using apple butter instead of jam, making/eating pumpkin nut bread, making/eating apple related foods and drinking cider/cranberry juice/coffee with mulling spices!

I just love mulling spices. I got this jar for free! If you have never heard of Penzey's Spices then please check them out here.They have a Richmond location in Carytown. The spices are great and mailer is free. The mailer sometimes comes with coupons for half off/free coupons, which is how I got the mulling spices for free. The mailer also includes recipes that are created by customers. The business does not create them at all. It is pretty cool to see what others are doing. Please check them out.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Oatmeal Spice Muffins


You can check it out here. That site is my best friend's blog.

These are super easy too. A bit rich to just eat for breakfast, but I was thinking you could have it with something else. I sometimes eat part of my breakfast in the car on the way to work. I feel like I never have enough time in the morning. I will eat eggs with toast and cereal at the table and then eat a banana or granola bar in the car. Sometimes I completely space on breakfast and just eat cereal. One of these with some fruit in the car could work.

Mine actually yielded 12 muffins. I guess I could have filled them higher and would get 10 muffins.
217 calories per muffin. Not bad!

1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 cup milk (I used 1% as well)
1 large egg
1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (could also use allspice or pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

In a bowl, combine the milk and oats. Let this sit for one hour so the oats can set up.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, add the egg, melted margarine, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add flour and stir. Add the oat and milk mixture. You just want to stir everything enough to thorough combine, but do not over stir. According to my friend, the muffins can turn out hard if you over stir. Not good!

I ran out of paper muffin cups so I greased a muffin tin really well with cooking spray. They slide right out so it should work for you too.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Voila!

Note: I feel these would be really good even if the chocolate chips were not used. Add more spices and it would be like an oatmeal spice muffin. Add ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and it be lovely!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie


Prepared Graham Cracker Crust
1 cup boiling water
2 oz semi sweet baking chocolate (2 cubes)
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
mini chocolate chips

When I was making my tea this morning, I added more water to the kettle for the boiling water part.  I measured out one cup and poured it into a saucepan.  Add chocolate and let it get soft.  I waited about five minutes to steep my tea and enjoy a few sips. Turn on the burner to a low heat. Add sugar and stir. Add cornstarch and continuously stir until combined. Add softened butter and stir until combined. Remove from heat. I poured the chocolate mixture into a 4 cup measuring cup. Pour it into the crust until only 1/4 to 1/2 is left in the measuring cup. Place in the freezer until hardened.

In a bowl, add peanut butter, milk and sifted powdered sugar. You do not need to sift the powdered sugar if you do not want to. The peanut butter may be lumpier, but it will not ruin the taste! I just wanted everything to be really smooth.  Spread on top of the hardened chocolate. Top with mini chocolate chips if you want to.

This is not a classic peanut butter pie recipe.  Usually it has cream cheese and/or heavy cream in it.  But this is just as tasty and very easy.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Jessie and Rick's Wedding
















Congrats you two!

My First Pie

It is not the prettiest pie, but it is my first. I did not have time to go out searching for a pie plate or pastry cutter so I used the refrigerated kind, but it did not work out that well. The filling was wonderful so I got at least one thing right! I could honestly eat pie filling only though! I got this recipe from my dear friend, Michelle, and added the cinnamon.

The filling:
5 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen with stems removed
1 cup white sugar
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
cold butter tabs cut into cubes (about 2 tablespoons)
sprinkle of raw sugar (optional)

Rinse blueberries and place in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the white sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and cinnamon.  Pour over the blueberries and toss to coat. If fresh or out of a can let it sit for 15 minutes. If frozen, let it sit for 45 minutes until blueberries are slightly thawed but still icy. I used the blueberries I picked in July that I froze.

After you let the berries sit, add to the pie crust. Dab the butter cubes on top of the pie filling and place the top crust on. Cut slits to vent the pie. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-55 minutes depending if the berries are frozen or not. If crust is getting too brown then cover the crust only with tin foil.

You can also brush the top crust with an egg wash if you desire.


I used one of my favorite plates that I bought at a consignment store to eat the first slice of pie off of.