Cheese Crackers!

Still trying to eat healthier around here... And definitely still a challenge! Trying to eat healthy, trying to save money... the two do not go hand in hand. I can't wait until Spring! I'm really looking forward to my garden this year. I got a taste of it last year, and while the weeds definitely took over, my little garden did pretty well! And this year, we're going to have even more! We'll do tomatoes again, along with lettuce, beans, broccoli, and zucchini. The lettuce did amazing last year. And it's so much easier to just run outside and pick it instead of having to run to the store when you want a salad! But in addition to those, we're also adding eggplant, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, pumpkin, and corn. We'll see. I may be getting a little ambitious, but at least seeds were only 20 cents. So we'll see! Anyway, I'm looking foward to it because I have so many recipes I want to try, and it will save money and be healthier! So hurry up, spring! I'm ready for you! Take the cold weather on out, please! But one way to save money is to try to make your own snacks. Now, if you have super-picky kids like mine, that may not be the easiest thing to introduce. But if you get them in there with you helping, it may actually work. Our project yesterday was making our own cheese crackers. I think they're pretty tasty! I had to make two batches, though, because Elijah didn't want his crunchy (seriously? non-crunchy crackers?), so I made one crunchy batch and one softer batch.

Cheese Crackers

1 1/2 c flour

3 c shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter

sea salt for topping

Preheat oven to 350; spray cookie sheets and set aside. Combine all ingredients (except sea salt) in a food processor and pulse until dough forms (if you've been pulsing for a few minutes and no dough yet, just add a tiny bit of water). 

 Make sure your table or counter is clean, then roll out the dough as thin as you can get it. I found it's just easier if you separate the dough into 3-4 smaller balls since that's easier to roll out. Then use a pastry cutter if you have one or, like I did, a pizza cutter, and cut into small squares (or the shape of your choice...).

 

Transfer the squares to a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt (you may want to press the salt lightly down so that it actually sticks on.)

 

 Bake at 350 for about 15 min., until golden. (If you like crunchy crackers. If not, just bake until your desired crispness.) Let cool, store in an airtight container, and enjoy! As you can see below, my crunchier crackers are on the left, and Elijah's softer ones are on the right.

Stepping Stone

I don't know about you, but I am officially sick of winter. My kids stay sick. Any time I want to do anything (such as go to the store!), either one of the kids is sick or it snows. I've got a horrible case of cabin/spring fever today! AHHH! So that's when you've got to start finding ways to keep the kids (and self!) busy. I've got some canvases we'll probably paint at some point, but Elijah and I decided we'd start with trying to make a stepping stone to put out by the sidewalk. Pretty simple! And fun! Not an eating recipe, but it's still a recipe, and the title of this is "Dinner, Dessert, and Everything In Between" - just consider this an "in between" thing!

(not a very good pic, but you get the idea!)

This is just salt dough, so pretty simple:

1 c salt

1 c flour

1/2 c warm water

glass marbles

Preheat oven to 200 F. Mix all together. If you want to make a colored stone, add your desired food coloring (Elijah wanted purple) and form a ball. Line a pie pan with parchment paper. As thin as you can get it, roll the dough out in the pan. Gently push the marbles in the dough in whatever pattern you want. Bake in preheated oven 3 hours. When you remove it, if it still seems wet or doughy, flip it over and bake another hour. 

Fun and super easy to do! We'll definitely be making more, if I ever make it to the store to get more salt! :)

 

Snow Cream

An oldie but goodie. I vaguely remember making this with my mom and sister growing up. I figured I'd continue the tradition! We still have a ton of snow around our house, and Elijah's been begging to eat some (some more - he ate a lot while we were playing outside yesterday!). We made some tonight. I wish you could have seen Jonah's face when he tried it! I don't think he was expecting it to be so cold! :)

Snow Cream

1 large bowl of snow (just make sure it's not yellow or brown!)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 c sugar

1-2 c milk (just add until desired consistency)

Mix all together in a large bowl, then enjoy!

Kielbasa Casserole

I love snow days! Something about snow days is relaxing, being able to take your time, do what you want, take it easy... My kids enjoyed scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, hot dogs and fries for lunch, and now I've started a casserole for dinner. My kids are not a big fan of kielbasa. They tolerate it, but just because I cut it into pieces and say it's like hot dogs. I've already started browning the kielbasa and cooking the veggies, but I warned the boys that even though it's not a favorite of theirs, its IS one of Daddy's favorites and they'll need to eat some anyway. Then Jonah went into the kitchen, pointed at the stove and said "Daddy! Daddy!" Lol. I came across a similar recipe on pinterest, which I just used as my jumping off point for this. I use more spices than the original called for and I use kielbasa instead of  Italian sausage because no one in this house is a huge fan of Italian sausage. Anyway, here's our dinner casserole! Well, more or less - I didn't have any bell pepper or carrots, but it's still potatoes and onion! :)

Kielbasa Casserole

1 pkg. kielbasa

1 pkg. Italian dressing mix

1 can chicken broth

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp fennel

2 potatoes

1 onion

1 bell pepper

3 carrots

Preheat oven to 450. Cut the potatoes into thick chunks, the onion into wedges, the bell pepper into slices, and the carrots into chunks. Place all veggies in a 9x13 baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together the Italian dressing mix, chicken broth, minced garlic, and fennel. Pour over the vegetables and mix well. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven 45 min., until the veggies are tender. Meanwhile, cut the kielbasa into chunks and brown in a skillet over medium heat. Once the veggies are tender, stir the kielbasa into the mixture. Bake another 25 min., uncovered. Enjoy!

Apple Pie

I've mentioned before that we now have some groceries delivered from the Homestead Creamery. A few weeks ago, we added apple pie filling and cherry pie filling to our list for the week. I expected just a little thing of each - I was just going to squirt some on some crescent rolls and fry them for fried pies. But the pie filling was HUGE - a whole 2 lbs.! I was able to make several fried pies and had at least 3/4 of the tube left!

 It's not so much that making fried pies is a pain or anything, it's just a bit time consuming when you've got 3 kids underfoot. Josh suggested I make an apple pie... Well, I'm not that great making a crust. I've tried before, and somehow I just never have enough enough dough to make a bottom and top crust. So I found this recipe that's just a bottom crust. That's my kind of recipe! :)

Apple Pie

1 c flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c water

2/3 c shortening

1 egg

21 oz. can apple pie filling

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then add in the water, shortening, and egg. Mix with a mixer until well combined and smooth. Lightly grease a pie pan, then spread the dough in. Spread the pie filling over the crust but DO NOT STIR. Then just bake 40-45 min. (until crust is browned) and enjoy! :)

  

Pesto Fondue!

I love fondue! My absolute favorite was a Swiss one I had in Switzerland. I still have no idea what all was in it, but it was amazing! I've never had any kind of fondue other than cheese, though. At least, not that I remember. However, my boys and I are going to have a "fondue party" with my parents tonight. We're taking a cheese fondue, and my parents are having an oil fondue and a chocolate fondue. I'm excited! No guarantee my boys will eat any, but I think they'll at least eat some bread...

Pesto Fondue

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 jar sundried tomato pesto

Heat first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat until cheese is melted, then stir in the pesto. Heat until slightly bubbly, then transfer to a fondue pot if you have one. Serve with Italian bread, pretzels, and/or sausages. Enjoy!

Snack Mix!

I LOVE snack mix. I think it very well may be one of my absolute favorite holiday snacks to make! Thankfully, my boys have all taken after me in that respect. Josh doesn't like it! I have no idea what's wrong with him (he doesn't like minty things or peanut butter, either!). I know you can buy Chex mix or Ghardetto's (I know I didn't spell that right...), but I think homemade just tastes so much better! It's this time of year that I especially miss my Grandma. Her Chex mix was the absolute best! 

Snack Mix

3 cups chex cereal (rice, corn, or wheat, take your pick)

2 cups cheerios

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup cashews

1/4 cup peanuts

1/2 cup goldfish crackers

1 cup pretzel sticks

1/2 cup toasted corn (we tossed some in - we'd gotten it from the nut kiosk at the mall)

1 stick butter, melted

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 300. Mix the butter, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, and garlic powder. In a large baking dish, mix all the other ingredients. Then pour the butter mixture over the cereal mixture. Bake 10 min., then shake a little more seasoned salt over and stir, then bake another 10 min. Let cool completely, then store in airtight-containers. Enjoy! :)

Smoky Corn Soup

So I am addicted to pinterest. I've found so many good recipes and craft ideas, great gift ideas, tips for everything! It's great! It has seriously helped save money on gifts this year. I found this recipe on there. I just added/subtracted some things, though. But I thought it sounded good. Josh & I have the Homestead Creamery deliver most of our groceries now, and one thing we tend to stock up on is frozen corn. They also have some really good cream. So why not try it? :) One thing I like doing is taking soup recipes and modifying them a bit for the slow-cooker. That's what I did with this one. So far, the little tastes I've had while stirring have turned out pretty tasty. We'll see! :)

Smoky Corn Soup

3 c corn (frozen, canned, any kind, really)

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1 c water

1 c heavy cream

1 can chicken broth

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 pkt Ranch mix

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 4-6 hours. When serving, top with cheddar cheese. Enjoy! :)

  

Red Velvet Fudge!

I LOVE holiday cooking! Josh laughs at me, though, because I love to make it and GIVE IT AWAY. Look at us: do we look like we need any sweets in the house? We taste some, then pass it on! And each year, I've always got new recipes to try. Yesterday we went to a Christmas party: what better time to try a new recipe? I made red velvet fudge yesterday, and it was such a hit, I made it again to take to our Life Group meeting tonight. I did have some trouble getting it out of the Christmas pan I used, but I won in the end. :) There's really no reason it's called red velvet fudge except the color - it does not taste like red velvet cake. Just FYI... :) But it is still pretty tasty.

Red Velvet Fudge

1 pkg. white chocolate chips (the smaller package, not the large one)

1 Tbsp. chocolate chips

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1 small can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 tsp red food dye

1 tsp cocoa powder

Grease an 8" pan well, then set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, mix the white and chocolate chips along with the baking soda and salt, then add the sweetened condensed milk. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until melted and smooth. Mix in the cocoa, vanilla, and food dye. Pour into the greased pan and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Cut and store in airtight container in fridge.

  

Apple Water!

I can't believe it's been close to, what, a year since I've posted! I guess I should start my New Year's resolution early: to start posting new recipes! And I've got some pretty good ones, too. I just want to take some pictures of them before I post, so you can see how yummy they look! 

I do have one super-simple one that I'm going to post today. And when I say simple, I mean simple. It's really just flavored water. Why am I posting it? Well, because it's so simple I'm not sure anyone's really thought to do it. And also because today is Dec. 1! I am now HALF the size I was last Dec.! On the one hand, I'm really proud of that, but on the other hand, I think "Wow, how could I have been so huge?" But anyway, a lot of people have asked me how. Well, I started making this water this past week, and in that one week, it has helped me lost another 4 lbs. (I still had my cup of coffee in the morning, but then I drank only this for the rest of the day.) I'm not a huge fan of water, but I do like this! 

Apple Water

  1 apple, any flavor

1 cinnamon stick

water

Slice the apple and place it and the cinnamon stick in a pitcher. Fill the pitcher with water and ice (the ice isn't really necessary, but I think it helps keep the apple in when you're pouring lol). Let it sit in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the flavors to seep into the water. Then drink! You can refill the water up to 3 times before replacing the apple and cinnamon. Let me know what you guys think!