Cookbook Discoveries: No Bake Cookies

Back in Elementary school, as a fundraiser, the PTO published and sold a cookbook.  It has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I even have several recipes in it.  As you can see, it is well used.

A family favorite out of this book is No Bake Cookies.  They are so easy and absolutely delicious.

No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 stick margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups rolled oats
Mix sugar and cocoa in a sauce pan.  Add milk and margarine and heat over medium until it starts to boil.  remove from heat and cool for 1 minute.  Mix in vanilla and peanut butter until incorporated, then stir in the oats.  Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let set up.

 

Here is a few things I learned.  In the book it calls for quick oats.  When I used these, the cookies never set up.  They remained gooey. You want these to be fairly solid.  My next batch, I made with Old Fashioned Rolled Oats and they set up perfectly.  Also, you don't want them too big.  As you can see below, I scooped them with an ice cream scoop and then flattened them with a piece of wax paper.  I know you will love these.

Here is the difference in the oatmeal.  The one above is the quick oats that never set.  Below is the Old Fashioned Rolled oats, the correct ones.

Best Crock Pot Roast

If you follow my blog, you know my love/hate relationship with my Crock Pot.  We have had some fantastic stuff but we have also had some downright awful stuff.  This recipe is honestly the best thing that has ever came out of my Crock Pot.

Best Crock Pot Roast
1 envelope Savory Pot Roast
1 envelope Au Jus mix
12 oz Diet Caffeine Free Coke
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
4 Tbsp Milk
2-3 lb Chuck Roast

Place the roast in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  (Mine was frozen).

Mix the 2 envelopes and the soda in a separate bowl and then pour over the top of the roast.  Cook on low for 7 hours.  Take the meat our of the Crock, make a slurry of the milk and corn starch and whisk it in to the juices in the Crock.  Turn Pot to high and put the meat and any juices back in the Crock.

 Leave for about 20 minutes until it is gravy consistency.  Serve with Mashed potatoes, rice, noodles or over bread.

Here is a great hint that I found.  I went to the hardware store and for $4 bought a light/lamp timer.  I don't know about you but I am gone from my house for more that 6-8 hours so my food was always overcooked.  This little guy lets me set it to start at a certain time and end at a certain time. It has been a dinner saver.  :)

Cookbook Discoveries: Banana Bread

A few months ago my Aunt Sharon from Iowa sent me a giant box of cookbooks.  I collect cookbooks so I was so excited to dig through them.  With the internet, I don't use my cookbooks as much as I should so I decided to go through and use them.  We had some browning bananas so I decided to make some Banana Bread.  My husband was thrilled.

The cookbook is from my Aunt and the bowl is from my husband's Grandma so it all felt very homey.

Banana Bread

2 eggs

3 bananas (mashed)

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1-3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Optional:

1 cup chopped walnuts

1cup chocolate chips

Beat eggs and bananas until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and oil and beat well.  Add dry ingredients and mix only until moist.  Fold in optional ingredients if using.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

 

I used 2 foil pans, sprayed with cooking spray.

 

Golden brown and delicious.

It's What's For Dinner: Creamy Coconut Shrimp

Do you have those amazing Chinese buffets near your house?  We have had many family dinners at the one by my sisters.  My husband loves the Peanut Butter Chicken and the Creamy Coconut Shrimp.  I have been trying to come up with the shrimp recipe for a while now an I think I finally nailed it.

Creamy Coconut Shrimp

2 lbs of peeled and deveined shrimp

1/2 cup corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour

1 tbsp seasoning salt

1 cup cream of coconut

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Vegetable oil for frying

Dredge the shrimp in the corn starch, shake off the excess, then dredge in the beaten egg.  Next, dredge in the flour with the seasoning salt mixed in.  Fry shrimp until fully cooked and drain on paper towels.  In a large skillet, melt the cream of coconut over medium high heat.  After it's melted down, add in the mayonnaise and cook until it starts to thicken.  Turn off the heat and add the shrimp back in and coat with the sauce.

Clam Chowder

My Crock Pot and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love the convenience of it but not all recipes are stellar when they come out.  A few weeks ago, I made probably the best Pot Roast I have ever had in it.  I will share that recipe soon.  Yesterday I made Clam Chowder in it.  I put it in around noon, we went to a movie and when we got back, it was done.  However, something was off.  It just didn't taste as good as when I made it on the stove top.  When I asked my husband to try it and see what was missing, he declared it tasted like Beef Stew.  WHAT?!?  We still ate it and it tasted good, I just think I was missing something and I can't put my finger on it.

Clam Chowder
1 small bag of shredded carrots
1 lb of bacon
1 cup chopped onion
6 potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
4 cans of chopped clams
2 cans evaporated milk or 3-5 cups heavy whipping cream
Johnny's Seasoning Salt, to taste

Chop bacon and brown in dutch oven or stock pot.  Once almost done, soften onions with the bacon.  Dump out most of the bacon fat and then toss in the potatoes and carrots, just to heat them up a bit.  Open the 4 cans of clams and throw them in the pot.  Warm all the ingredients then add the milk or heavy cream.  Simmer for about an hour, until the vegetables are soft, serve and enjoy.

Crock Pot Variation:  Cook bacon and onions as directed above, but just toss everything else in and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Jumble-aya

This is by no means a traditional Jambalaya recipe.  That's why I'm calling it Jumble-aya.  I typically make this with two or three meats.  What I love most about this meal is that it takes no planning, can be thrown together quickly and it makes great leftovers for lunch the next day (or two).

Jumble-aya
As always, there are no exact measurements.
Smoked Sausage
Chicken Tenders
Ground Beef
Marinara Sauce
Chicken Broth
Creole Seasoning
Minute Rice
Slice the chicken tenders and smoked sausage into bite size pieces.  Brown the ground beef with creole seasoning.  Add the chicken and smoked sausage.  Cook until chicken is no longer pink.  Add the chicken broth and marinara sauce.  Bring just to a boil and add in the minute rice.  Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the rice is tender. 

DIY Wall Decor: States of Love

I made this cute wall decor for our bedroom a few months ago but finally got around to hanging it up tonight. 

 

First step was printing the state shapes from the internet.  I just Google Image searched for them.  If you can't tell, our states are Oregon for my husband and Washington for me.  Next, I traced them onto the canvas.  These canvases are a 10" square but you can use any size you have or want.

 

The final step was just painting them any color I wanted to.  See how easy that was.  Why haven't you done this yet?  It would make a really nice wedding gift, Christmas gift or just for your own home. 

Holiday Season

Christmas is my favorite holiday.   I love everything to do with it.  The lights, buying presents, the weather, the family and the food.  I check out the Christmas Countdown a lot.  As of today, there are just 76 days.  Yikes!  I already feel like my weekends are filling up leading to the big day.

My second favorite holiday has to be Halloween.  What other excuse do adults get to dress up in silly costumes and run amok. "Amok, amok, amok, amok" ala Sarah from Hocus Pocus.

You can check out my Halloween posts HERE , HERE and HERE from last year.  We always do a huge party but this year may be a bit smaller and less fantastical.  My sister is set to have her second son on Friday October 11th so we are all kinda focused on that at the moment.  I do have some pretty cool ideas pinned on Pinterest but don't know if I will get around to them.  Check out my board HERE.  We have plenty of decorations in storage.  In the shop we have 4 totes of Halloween decorations.  (We have an entire outbuilding dedicated to Christmas decor.)

My husband and I spent about an hour at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday getting the fabric and do-dads for our costumes.  I am going to keep that under wraps for now.  I love to see the look on people's faces when they see what we've come up with.  It is getting harder and harder for me to top what we have done in the past.  Be careful when you set the bar too high.  You have to keep topping that.  :)

Honey Soy Glazed Chicken

This recipe is so easy and delicious.  I make it at least 3 times a month.  I've used it on Chicken, Pork and Beef.  The photos that accompany this recipe shows a double batch, half Chicken thighs and half boneless Pork Shoulder Ribs.  I don't have a photo of the finished product but I do have them pre-oven.

Honey Soy Glazed Chicken
2-1/2 lbs Chicken thighs
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/3 cup Ketchup
3/4 cup Honey
2 tbsp minced garlic
Salt and Pepper
Mix all ingredients in a bowl thoroughly.  Lay meat in a 9x13 baking dish and pour the glaze over.  Bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes.

Juanita

My husband, Roger, and I have always been car people.  When I met him he had a Firebird like the one from Smokey and the Bandit.  He even has a Firebird tattoo.  A few years ago we bought a 1962 Ford Fairlane 500 with the intentions to restore it and cruise.  We named him Charlie.  Unfortunately, Charlie never quite fit in and we never got around to doing anything with him. Finally we decided that we needed to get rid of Charlie and look for a new project.

Roger peruses Craigslist like it's his bible.  Finally, he found a car he loved.  He went over to the dealer on a Friday and the car came home 3 hours later.  Here it is being delivered on August 7th, 2012.  It's a 1963 Chrysler Imperial Crown.

 

 Her name is Juanita.  At the time, we didn't realize how much time and money she would take to get going but for us, she is worth it.  Luckily, my parents built a shop when they bought their house and it's a great place to work on cars so Juanita took a trip an hour north to the shop.  Roger worked on her for a long time until he finally found out that the motor was junk.  It was a real heartache but we decided to just buy a new motor and have the transmission rebuilt.  Our goal was to have the car done for Car Shows in late May but that wasn't able to happen.

When she was finally ready for a show, I was unable to go but Roger went and had a great time.  To top it all off, he won a Sponsor pick.  It was a really great confidence booster and made him really proud of all the work he had put it.

I will say, I was a bit jealous of all the attention Juanita was getting.  She was like the Mistress in our marriage.

See what I mean?

Another great part about Car Shows for us is that we get to spend time with Roger's parents.  Above is a photos of their Ford Falcon Futura along with Juanita at a show in Roger's hometown or Rainier.

It also give us the chance to meet new people from different Car Clubs around the area.  The photos above are from the Rus-T Rodz Car Club and Unique Tin shows.

This show was the Support Local Veterans Show at Home Depot.  We parked between the President of our Car Club and Roger's parents.  (I am the Secretary of our club.)

We won another Sponsor Pick at that show.

Finally, we took a long trip to Yachats, Oregon.  This show was my favorite.  It was right on the ocean.

We also won a Sponsor Pick at this show.

All in all, the hard work, money and time apart was worth it.  It has been a great summer.  I even have a tan!

Changing my Blogiverse

I really have been a horrible blogger lately.  I'm not really apologizing, just stating a fact.  I don't have many regular readers anyway.  Mostly just my family and some friends.  Anyway, I am going to be changing up my blog a bit.  Instead of being only crafts and cooking, I am just going to use this as a place to talk about my life.  Things I have done, things I enjoy, places I go, people I love and all the other crap.  Crafts and cooking will be a part of it because frankly, it is a large part of who I am but I will be adding Car Show stuff and other activities.

Mama June's Mashed Potato Multi-Meal

I have a confession to make.  

I love Alana Thompson and her family.  

You may know them better as the lovable bunch from McIntyre, Georgia who started out on Toddlers and Tiaras, but now star in their own reality show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.  Their show's second season is set to premiere on July 17th on TLC.

I even dressed as Honey Boo Boo for Halloween.  (No judgments!)

On the TLC Website, there is a couple videos of "Cooking with Mama June".  I decided to try her Mashed Potato Multi-Meal.  It was actually really good.  I changed it up a bit, but not much.  It's good old comfort food, which I am all about.

Mama June's Mashed Potato Multi-Meal

(No actual measurements, just throw this together.)

Mashed Potatoes

Ground Beef, cooked

1 can of Green Beans

1 can of Corn

Shredded Cheese

Spread the prepared potatoes in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Layer on the ground beef, then one can of vegetables.

Next, sprinkle cheese over the top and then repeat the process with the other half of the ingredients.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to tune in July 17th for the Season Premier of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on TLC.  

Oh, I almost forgot, the first night are "Watch & Sniff" episodes so make sure to pick up People Magazine's July 15th issue (out July 5th) to get your card.  When the number comes up on the screen, "Watch & Sniff".

What happened to May?

I haven't blogged in over a month.  Sorry about that.  It doesn't mean I haven't been busy, because I have.  It just means I haven't been great about keeping track of things and documenting them.  Here is a quick photo tour of my time spent since my last blog.

So, I started this project.  It's my kitchen table.  It's still in this state.

 I went on a Girl's Weekend trip and we made these yummy fish bowl drinks.  That is all I can say about the weekend because, "What Happens at the Beach, Stays at the Beach".

 I also set up a fun night out for the people at work so we could bond.  I mostly just drank.

 I have no idea why, but I really wanted to make these wristlet key chains so I bought the hardware on Etsy and I have made about 10 of them.  I will make a few more when I have time.  They were a really fun project.

 This is how I spent my birthday, sitting on the side of the road after our 63 Chrysler Imperial broke down on her maiden voyage home.  Her name is Juanita.

 And here she is being put on the flatbed tow truck that had to take her back to my Mom's house where she is still sitting.

 The weekend after that, we put on the All High School Car Show.  Which along with a dedicated group of volunteers, was a great success.

 I cooked during this time too.  These are Crispy Chicken Flautas.

These are just awesome Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies.

 This is the current state of the shop.  Miss Juanita is up in the air without a motor or transmission.  She is expensive!

 And finally, last weekend, I went to a 50th Anniversary party for one of the most special couples I know.  Here I am with my cousin Felicia.  I just think this is a cute picture.

Coming up this weekend, I am throwing my sister a gender reveal party.  Will we be having a boy or a girl?  I am so excited to find out.  I would love to promise that I will be better about blogging but if you have read any of my blogs, you know that probably won't happen.  I will try though.