Tub Scrub

I am veering away from the normal recipe to give you a homemade non-toxic cleaning solution!
I have been impressed!

Usually you hear claims about how great something is and how great it cleans and often times it doesn't hold up to the claims!

This little mixture did!

Thank you Martha Stewart and I will now be buying bulk Baking Soda from Costco!  I also know you can add Baking Soda to your laundry to whiten your whites too!

Tub Scrub

(found on pinterest via http://www.marthastewart.com/)

• Baking Soda
• dish soap
• essential oils for smell

Add 1 tsp soap and several drops of essential oil (tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary or peppermint) to 1 cup baking soda.  Add just enough water to form a paste and scrub away!

Chocolate Almond Swirl Bundt

YUM!

MOIST!

YUMMY!

CHOCOLATEY!

Just a few adjectives to describe this yummy, made from scatch cake!  I love bundt cakes!  The thought of getting out of making frosting and the cake still looks great!  This was a mixture of chocolate and vanilla that came together really well and tasted just as great!

Chocolate Almond Swirl Bundt

(www.getoffyourbuttand)bake.blogspot.com

• 1 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp almond extract (I didn't add this)
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds or pecans (optional)
• 1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips to vanilla batter (I added this to the recipe)

Cream butter.  Add sugar gradually and beat until light.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg.

Sift flour, salt and soda (I didn't sift).  Add to the batter alternating with the sour cream.  Add your tsp vanilla.

Now comes the flavorings.  Split your batter in half the best you can.  Now add to half the batter your unsweetened cocoa powder.  To the other half of the batter, add your almond extract if you like or your mini chocolate chips or add nuts.

Grease your bundt cake pan.  I only greased mine and I had a hard time getting it to come out.  I am going to grease and flour my pan next time.

Pour half of your vanilla batter in your pan and spread evenly.  Next pour your chocolate batter on top.  Now pour the other half of your vanilla batter.  Take a knife and swirl through the batter.  Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until done.

Cool in pan for about 10 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.

Once cooled but still slightly warm, pour your vanilla glaze over the top.

Vanilla Glaze ~

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• enough milk to make a drizzling consistency

Mix together to the right consistency (nice and smooth) and drizzle all over your yummy cake!  You will be glad you did and enjoy every bite!!

Bourbon Chicken (without the Bourbon)

This was a hit with the entire family! 

Everyone loved the flavor and I loved it was simple goodness!

Yes, who doesn't love a quick meal that tastes really really good!

I made it a little different than the recipe, so I will give you both options!

Bourbon Chicken (without the Bourbon!)

(found on pinterest, via jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com)

• 5 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1/4 cup apple or pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp corn starch

Option 1:  Cut your raw chicken into small 1-2 inch pieces with kitchen scissors.  Heat up a large skillet over medium high heat.  Once it is hot, pour your 2 tbsp oil into it.  Add your chicken pieces to the pan and let them cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain some of the chicken juices and then continue to cook the chicken until done.

Option 2:  Place 5 frozen chicken breasts in a pan that has a lid.  Cover the chicken with water and bring pan to a boil.  Once boiling, cover with the lid and poach your chicken for about 20 minutes or until done.

Once done, place chicken on a cutting board or plate and let rest.  Once cool enough to handle, I shredded the chicken and then placed in a skillet and browned the pieces a little.

While chicken is cooking (either option),  combine your sauce ingredients.  Combine your garlic, juice, brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, water, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and cornstarch.  Whisk together until corn starch is dissolved and ingredients completely mixed.

When chicken is browned, pour the sauce into the pan.  Stir it around until it covers all your chicken pieces.

Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the pan with a lid at an angle in order to allow some of the steam to escape.  Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring a couple times.

Serve over brown or white rice and enjoy!

Creamy Bacon Carbonara

This was described as simple ~ it was!!

This was described as yummy ~ it definitely was!!

This was a very good meal that the entire family loved!  I did add peas to add some veggies to it!

My kids thought it was a little spicy, so I will probably use a little less red pepper flakes next time!  I 1 1/2 the sauce, she doubled the sauce.  I thought it was plenty, but next time I will 1 1/2 the sauce but not add more pepper flakes!

Definitely an add to my recipes!!

Creamy Bacon Carbonara

(www.justgetoffyourbuttand via pinterest)bake.com

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• sprinkle dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• (she doubled the sauce, I 1 1/2 the sauce-but wont add more red pepper flakes next time)
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 small onion, chopped ~ optional
• 3 mushrooms sliced ~ optional
• cooked peas ~ which I added to the recipe

Beat the eggs, cream, parmesan, parsley, salt and red pepper flakes in a bowl.  Use a whisk or fork, whatever you like!

Fry the bacon until crisp.  I like to use my kitchen scissors and cut up the bacon before it is cooked.  Once crisp, set it aside (I like to put it on a paper towel to get some of the grease out!).

While you are cooking your bacon, cook your pasta according to pkg directions.

If you are going to add onions and mushrooms, set aside about 1-2 tbsp bacon grease and saute your onions and mushrooms in it.  Cook until translucent and golden.  Also cook your peas and then set them aside.

Drain your pasta when done and while still warm, add to the onions and mushrooms.  Pour the cream mixture over the top and stir over LOW heat for 1-2 minutes.  Make sure it is on low so you don't scramble the eggs!  Add your bacon and peas and mix.

Serve with additional Parmesan cheese and some yummy french bread and salad!  Enjoy!!

Honey Oatmeal Bread

This bread has so far been my favorite homemade bread.  It has a great honey flavor and is moist.

I have been loving my wheat grinder and grinding extra flour to keep in my refrigerator to use in my pancakes, waffles, and any breads that I make!  I have even put a little in my cookies, cinnamon rolls, and pizza dough the other night!

A great recipe to use whole wheat in and one my whole family loves!

Honey Oatmeal Bread

(www.tastykitchen.com)

• 4 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 egg

In a medium saucepan, melt your butter and honey together.  Remove from heat when butter melted and add your water.  Make sure mixture is not too hot so you don't kill the yeast and then stir in your yeast.  Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes or until your yeast is all bubbly.

In your mixer, using the dough hook, combine salt, yeast mixture, 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour.  Beat for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Gradually beat in your egg and 1 more cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour to make a thick batter.  Keep beating for about 2 minutes. 

Stir in your oats now and 1 more cup of wheat and 1 cup of white flour.  Knead with your mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic.  If you find it is really sticky, you might need to add more flour.  I have ended up adding almost 1 cup more of flour when making this bread.  Add your flour slowly so not to add too much.

Place your dough in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour!  I always cover my dough with a clean kitchen towel.  I absolutely love my oven because it has a proofing cycle and it helps raise my bread so well!!

After it has doubled in size, punch your dough down and turn onto a floured surface.  Cover your dough with your bowl and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Shape into 2 loaves and place in your greased bread loaf pans.  Cover again and let rise for about 1 hour. 

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the tops of your bread is golden brown.  Try not to eat it all warm, but soo yummy when it is warm with jam and butter, or forget the butter and just jam or even plain!!

No-Bake Cookies made into Shapes

I am pretty sure this is not an original idea, but I needed to make a treat and thought why not make no-bakes in a cookie cutter mold??

Well it worked out better than I expected!  The only thing you need to worry about is working fast.  By the time I got to my last group, the cookies were starting to set up!

A fun way to make cookies into shape and an easy way when you need something quick!  Here is the recipe I used, which is actually already posted on the blog.  It is a good recipe if you haven't tried it!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Jamie Cooks it up!

4 cups sugar

6 tbsp cocoa

1 cup butter

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup crunchy peanut butter (I only had creamy and used that)

6 cups quick oats (add 7 cups if using regular oats) ~ substituted 1 1/2 cups 6 grain mix for 1 1/2 cups of the oats.  Good extra way to get more grains!

Put the sugar, cocoa, butter, milk, and salt in a large saucepan. Over medium high heat, bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. When it comes to a boil, start stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add your vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Stir in around until it is all incorporated. (I added the vanilla and peanut butter and then stirred until the peanut butter was melted. Then I poured this on top of the oats in a bigger bowl and stirred it all together.) It might be a little thin at first, but it will set up!

Drop by large spoonfuls into your cookie cutter onto wax paper. When you have the desired amount in your cutter, carefully remove the cutter and you shoud have your shape!  Work kind of fast so the cookie mix doesn't set up too fast in your bowl.  If you don't have wax paper, just spray cooking spray on cooking sheets and that will work too! Let the cookies cool and set up for about 20 minutes, then you are ready to eat!!

Corn and Cheese Chowder

This soup was a hit at our house!  One of my favorite food blogs is the Pioneer Woman and she now has a food show on the food network.  She made this soup this last Saturday and it was super simple and very very good!

Soups are a wonderful meal in the winter!

Todd thought we should have had a sandwich or something else with it, but I thought it was great all by itself!  It depends on your feelings for meat in every meal or not!

This is definitely a keeper and one I will make often~just add a sandwich or maybe some potatoes to the soup would make it a little heartier!

Corn and Cheese Chowder

(Pioneer Woman via Food Network)

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 whole onion, chopped (I used 1/2 onion)
• 3 slices bacon, cut into pieces (I used 4 to add a little more bacon)
• 3 whole bell peppers, finely diced ~ red, yellow, orange
• 5 ears corn, kernels sliced off (or 1 pkg frozen white corn thawed, which is what I used)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups chicken stock or broth
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 heaping cup of Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 heaping cup of Pepper Jack cheese
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• salt and pepper
• Bread bowls if you want to serve in them or crusty bread to dip and eat with it

I pre chopped all my vegies before I started and had my cheese grated.  It seemed to make it simpler for me especially as you might be helping kids with homework etc.

In a large pot, melt butter.  Over medium-high heat, add your chopped onions and cook for a few minutes.  Add your bacon (I find it easy to cut my bacon as I put it in the pot with kitchen scissors) and cook for another minute or so.  As the onions and bacon are cooking, I periodically stirred the mixture.  Now add your chopped bell peppers and stir occasionally cooking for a few minutes.  Finally, add your corn and cook again for a few minutes.

Sprinkle the flour evenly over your mixture and stir to combine.  Pour in the chicken stock and stir well.  Allow this to thicken for 3-4 minutes, and then reduce heat to low.  Stir in your half-and-half and then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or so. 

Stir in cheeses and green onions.  When the cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check your seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed. 

Serve in bread bowls, or in bowls with bread to eat with it.  My kids dipped their bread in the soup and also ate with saltines.  You can also eat this with a sandwich also!