Date Bars

This was the first time I had ever tried to make these. My old "bar" recipe has peanut butter, which is now a no-no. 

Knitting Buddy

My knitting buddy and I are working on another vest.

Knitting And Crocheting Again

One of the things my growing family does is keep me knitting. My youngest niece and nephew were both overdue for a gift.  Yes! In my family I am that crazy aunt who sends sweaters. 

For my nephew in his favorite red.

For my niece in a yarn of my choice.

White Lasagna (noodle testing)

While I was picking up some supplies from Dollar Tree, I found these oven ready lasagne noodles.They cost  more than $1 at the regular grocery store, but I am not familiar with this brand. I picked up two boxes -- one to use immediately and one for the pantry.

I started with 1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey and 1/2 of a large bell pepper diced. I cooked those together and while they were cooking I made a simple white sauce to which I added garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings. In a bowl I mixed 6 ounces of shredded mozzarella with a small tub of low fat ricotta cheese and an egg. ( I reserved 2 ounces of my cheese for the top.) Layer all this in the usual way and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if you want.

At that point I covered it and refrigerated it. Half an hour before I wanted to cook I took it out and poured 1 cup of milk over it.  I baked it for 45 minutes with a foil cover and then 15 without.

The results were.....

Quite yummy!

Long Weekend

Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. Dessert for the long weekend.

Homemade English Muffins

From the library I checked out the cookbook Miserly Meals by Jonni McCoy. These were an attempt at her English muffin recipe. I am not certain, but I think there may be a typo in the recipe. It took considerably more flour to make a dough I could handle.  I know it isn't unusual for a recipe to require varying amounts of flour, but I used not quite a cup more.  However, these muffins were a hit with my family.

English Muffins by Jonni McCoy with my notes in parentheses)

1 cup milk (I used water and powdered milk)

1 1/2 tbsp. of dried yeast (I used 2 1/2 tsps quick yeast)

1 tsp. Sugar (I added two)

1/4 cup butter melted

2 cups flour (I ended up with closer to three)

1 tsp. Salt

Do the usual mix, knead, rise until double, etc. shape into circles about 1 1/2" thick. 

Let rise again for 20 to 30 minutes. Cook one side at a time on a hot skillet. (5 to 8 minutes each side)

My notes -- I am babysitting most days and I want home baked, but need easy. I put it all in the bread machine on dough cycle. At the end I let it rest five minutes and then I patted it out to about 1 1/2"  thick on a floured surface and used the biscuit cutter to cut them out. I let them rise, covered for about 30 minutes. I then cooked mine on a griddle, 8 minutes per side. I ended up with 12 English muffins.

When I make these again I will pay closer to 1", but beyond that these were a hit. 

Filling the Freezer Hodge Podge

A double batch of chocolate chip pancakes for quick breakfasts for my daughter. 

Yellow onions on sale now chopped and frozen.

I actually froze two bags of these brownies -- individually wrapped. Easy to toss in lunch box or for a quick 30 seconds in a microwave and you have a warm snack.