Puppy Chow aka Muddy Buddies

(This is a great treat for children's events. This snack can be very addictive so eat wisely!)

INGREDIENTS

• 9 cups crispy rice cereal squares (Chex cereal)
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
2. Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

No Bake Cookies! I love these!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cocoa, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oats.
2. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool for at least 1 hour. Store in an airtight container.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad - Yum!!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Baked potato pizza

I first learned of this pizza when I lived in Traverse City. We would go to this little italian restuarant named Minerva's. It's in the Park Place Hotel. Absolutely delicious food! Now that I live here in Idaho, you can find this at one pizza place. (Doesn't make sense that we live here in Idaho- land of potatoes- and yet we don't have alot of places that serve this pizza?!?!?)Well, here's how to make one at home...

INGREDIENTS
1 (6.5 ounce) package pizza crust mix
3 medium unpeeled potatoes, baked and cooled
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 cup sour cream
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
3 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
Prepare crust according to package directions. Press dough into a lightly greased 14-in. pizza pan; build up edges slightly. Bake at 400 degrees F for 5-6 minutes or until crust is firm and begins to brown.
Cut potatoes into 1/2-in. cubes. In a bowl, combine butter, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Add potatoes and toss. Spread sour cream over crust; top with potato mixture, bacon, onions and cheeses. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

I love springtime!

I just love Springtime. I love the warmer weather, blooming flowers and the ability to go out and do something fun. Today I worked on our front yard. I needed to get out and weed the flower beds and plant these flowers that I bought the other night. I still have alot more to do but I can only do so much at a time without breaking the bank. LOL. I had to get more fertilizer down on the lawn as the dandelions are terrible this year. We've fertilized twice already and still having a problem. Course anyone with water from an irrigation line knows that the first few weeks of running your sprinkler system simply spreads all the seeds, etc that have been in the ditches all winter long. So we're probably going to have to do a lot more work to make it really nice but I think it's looking good so far. (We definitely have a better lawn than the neighbors! LOL) Here's some photos I thought you might like to see. If you have any tips on what you think might look nice in the flower beds, let me know. We have to have flowers/plants that can be "full sun" because there is not any shade in the front.

This Old Recipe Box

I have a few items that belonged to my Grandma Vannie. She died when I was 12 but I have a lot of fond memories of her and Grandpa Verlin. I spent the night at their house once a week and I'm so thankful to have had that time with them. My Grandma was a school teacher and Grandpa worked at the local creamery. One thing that my grandparents were devoted to was the church and their love for the Lord. There was many a time where missionaries and workers would come into their home and discuss scriptures, etc... One of the items that I have is an old recipe box that contains a lot of old handwritten recipes. Some of them even say that they are from missionaries. It's very interesting to see how some of them are written and what they are written on... some are written on writing paper, some on envelopes and even a few of them are written on "personal mailing cards" so I thought that I would blog about this today and share with everyone some of the most interesting recipes that I have found.

Whipped Cream Cake (Freezes well)

Sift together:
2 1/4 cup cake flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sugar

Whip 1 1/4 cup heavy cream until thick, add sifted dry ingredients, 4 egg whites (1/2 cup) unbeaten and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes until batter is well blended. Pour into well greased and lightly floured 8 in. layer pans at least 1 1/4 in. deep. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. make two layers.

"Grandma's Garden Huckleberry Pie"
1 qt. Garden Huckleberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 T. nutmeg
1/4 T. Salt
1 oz. of fresh lemon or lime juice

Let Simmer gently until tender in small amounts of water. Drain if necessary. Add rest of ingredients, mix well and pour into raw pie shell. Dot with butter and add top crust.

(This one doesn't say how long to bake but I'm assuming at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Also suggest using tin foil on the edges of the pie crust to avoid burning.)

There's alot of other recipes for all sorts of stuff including cough syrup and hand lotion. Course those two require ingredients that wouldn't be easy to find and frankly, it would just be easier to go to the store and buy some...

There was a card for Miscellaneous tips. Very Interesting! One of them was this:

Mildew Stain: 2 tablespoons of peroxide to every quart of water and boil will remove most every kind of stain.

Wednesday Morning Ranting

Don't you just love how children look in the morning when they first wake up? Rylan's hair is all messy and all he was concerned about was getting his morning dose of milk. He's just so cute. Everyday he makes me so thankful to be his mommy. He had his first nightmare last night. It was kind of freaky for all of us as he's never really had one before. He was shaking and wouldn't really talk much. So I just held him and he started to fall asleep in my lap so we put him back to bed and he slept all night. Goodness, that was a terrible feeling to know he was unhappy.

Bye-Bye to Shannon & Derek on Dancing with the Stars

Shannon Elizabeth & Derek Hough are the latest couple to leave DWTS. Tonight, the bottom two were Shannon & Derek along with Marissa & Tony. Thank goodness it wasn't Marissa and Tony who were sent packin'. I think that they have at least one more week of dancing but I don't think they will make it much farther than next week. Unfortunately, the others are better dancers and they would have to step it up ALOT to go farther... Marissa reminds me of my friend Deanna so much... so bubbly and happy.

I wonder what next week will bring. Two more dances and another elimination...

Herb Chicken with vegetables

1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

3 cloves garlic,minced

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 boneless, skin-on chicken breasts

3 bone-in, skin-on thighs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

6 cipollini onions, trimmed and peeled

8 ounces baby carrots-peeled and trimmed,

1 cup chicken broth

6 ounces snap peas, trimmed

4 ounces morel mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a small bowl combine the thyme, parsley, garlic, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the chicken pieces on a work surface. Gently loosen the skin of the chicken and push the herb mixture under the skin. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper.
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the pan, skin side down, when the oil is hot. Cook until the skin is crispy and golden, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken and cook the same way on the other side. Turn the heat off the pan and reserve. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish, skin side up again, and finish cooking in the oven, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile return the same pan to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the butter has melted add the cipollini onions and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until tender and golden in places, about 7 minutes. Add the chicken broth and scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the snap peas and mushrooms. Simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Remove the chicken from the oven. Spoon the vegetables onto a serving platter along with the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Scrapbooking is so much fun!

I also love to scrapbook. Chris and I have worked on a scrapbook for Rylan's childhood and another for Roger's time he spent in the United States Marine Corps. Here's some of the photos of the Marine Scrapbook.

I would love to have more scrapbooking events. Maybe plan a time where a bunch of us can get together, have a bite to eat and scrapbook til the sun goes down..lol.

I love to make greeting cards!

I really enjoy making greeting cards and scrapbooking. I've decided to post some of my ideas for cards and I will also work on getting some of my scrapbook photos. For the most part, I work on most of my crafts with my friend Chris (See side photo). She's extremely talented and we make great projects together. Here's some of my cards. I'll be posting more later.