Peanut butter O bars

Such an easy recipe and you don't need a ton of ingredients.  The only thing I think these were missing was a drizzle of chocolate

Crust

2 cups Cheerios

1 stick softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup flour

Mix together and press into a greased cake pan

Filling

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

Mix together and pour over crust. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes!! Mmmm!  So these went so fast I didnt even get a picture :(

Pallet reading nook with book storage!

Such a cheap and easy reading nook, and Ira LOVES it!

Cut two pallets in half and stack on top of each other, add cushions, pillows, ect.  I sewed pillow cases and stuffed them with all of Ira's old baby blankets! Put yor books in the little cubbies and enjoy!

Spiced Pear Bundt Cake

This is a wonderful dessert for fall.  The aroma alone makes me melt.......

1 1/2 wheat flour

1 1/2 cups white flour

1 egg

4 cups diced pears

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2  tsp nutmeg 

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup oil

1/8 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp salt

Combine sugar and pears. Let soak for 1 hour.  Combine all ingredients and put in a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 325 for 50 minutes.

I put a super simple glaze on mine ( cinnamon, powdered sugar and water) MMMM!!!! 

Vanilla custard

This custard is easy and yummy, add a little cinnamon and you have a great fall dessert!

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients and pour into custard dishes.  Put into baking pan and fill with water just below custard dishes.  Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.  Top with cinnamon .  Enjoy warm or chilled!

Blueberry banana bread

This recipe has a blueberry twist on a classic recipe.

1 1/4 c white flour

3/4 c wheat flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter

2 tsp baking powder

2 medium bananas

 1 cup blueberries

1/4 cup milk

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup oats

Mash bananas and combine the rest of the ingredients.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Moist, delic, goodness describes this recipe!

Easy home made pizza

ade pizza, no yeast doughThis pizza crust is awesome because it uses no yeast, therefor you can bake it a.s.a.p.

The sauce is so much better than store bought you won't go back!

Dough

1 1/2 c W W flour

1 cup white flour

1 tsp salt 

3 tsp baking powder

1 tbs olive oil

3/4 - 1 cup water

Knead ingredients together until elastic.  Roll out and spread with sauce cheese and your fave toppings! Bake at 400 for 15- 20 min.

Sauce

1 small can tomato sauce

1 clove minced garlic

2 tbs Parmesan cheese 

oregano
basil
S and P
Simmer in a sauce pan for 10 minutes

First catering gig!!!

As you all know I love cooking, baking, and creating just about anything.  Well today I got to make money doing what I truly enjoy.  I catered a bridal reception and made some lovely blueberry crepes.  The recipients were more then pleased, which made me more then pleased!

So I did blueberry crepes, fresh fruit, chocolate truffles and fresh squeezed sparkling OJ.

Crepes recipe soon to follow!

Quinoa Burgers!

Quinoa is such a wonderful grain and I am constantly looking for new ways to use it.  Tonight for dinner I really wanted a burger but not BEEF.  So I came up with these AMAZING veggie burgers.  They are delicious, vegan and freeze well, so make a bunch!  You could easily make them Gluten-free also by subbing the flour for tapioca.   

11/2 -2 cups cooked quinoa

1/4 cup tofu ( you could add an egg instead)

2 tbs roasted garlic

salt and pepper

2 tbs ketchup

about  7 green olives (minced)

4 tbs wheat flour

dash of hot sauce

red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)

This is what it looks like before you smother it with toppings

Combine olives, tofu, salt and pepper, garlic,flour, tomato paste and hot sauce in a food processor until creamy, add cold quioa and chill for one hour.  Form into patties and fry em' up!!! 

I topped mine with cheese, fresh chives and lettuce, it was delic!!!

Banana cupcakes with Strawberry frosting

These cupcakes remind me of a smoothie! There a wonderful fruity concoction and not too sweet. 

Banana cupcake

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar 

3 bananas mashed

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 for 20 min.

For the frosting 

1 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar 

about 10 pureed strawberries

Puree strawberries and add to whipped butter and powdered sugar!

*** When I made this I didn't have powdered sugar so I made my own!

In a food processor add one cup sugar and 2 tbs corn starch ....MMM! 

Cajun style salmon corn cakes with remoulade sauce

I am always trying to figure out a new way to eat salmon.  This cajun inspired meal goes great with red beans and rice.  Enjoy!!!

Sockeye fillet (or canned salmon will work)

1 cup frozen corn 

1/2 green onions, chopped 

2 cups corn flakes ( separated)

1/3 cup mayo

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 egg beaten

3 Tbs fresh chopped parsley

3 Tsp chile powder

salt and pepper 

Cook salmon at 350 for 30 minutes.  Let cool and crumble.  Mix all ingredients except for 1 cup of corn flakes.  Form into equally sized balls and flatten into remaining corn flakes.  Fry in a couple tbs of oil for 3 minutes each sided.

Remoulade sauce

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons  mustard
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon  hot sauce, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped green olives
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Put all ingredients into food processor until smooth.  Top salmon cakes.

Mexi Mac

This is an easy lunch that anyone will like (even the kids).  I do not usually make Mac n cheese, but this is a worthy recipe.

One box of Mac N cheese ( I use Annies Organic shells)

3 chicken breasts

1 cup diced bell peppers

1/2 onion

1/4 cup salsa

1 can black beans

cheddar cheese

Make your box of mac n cheese according to package directions

In a skillet sate your cubed chicken with a 1/4 cup salsa, peppers and onion.  When chicken is fully cooked add beans. Mix the two together and top with cheddar cheese and onion.  Easy peezy lemon squeazy! Oh yeah, and yummy too!

Pumpkin raisin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting

I usually save this recipe for the fall, but I found a leftover bag of pumpkin from last Nov. that needed to be used.  These muffins are earthy, cinnamony, and yumminess!!

Muffin Ingredients:

1 cup All-purpose Flour

 1/2 cup Brown Sugar

 2 teaspoons Baking Powder

 2 teaspoon Cinnamon

  teaspoon Salt

 4 Tablespoons Butter 

cut into pieces1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree

 1/2 cup  Milk

 1 whole Egg

 1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

 1/2 cup Raisins   

Sift ingredients together and add milk and egg and fold in raisins. Bake at 400 for 25 min.

Frosting

2 tsp cinnamon

8 ounces cream cheese

3tbs butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

whip ingredients together

I topped mine with 3 tbs of brown sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon sifted on top.

ENJOY!!!

Raw chocolate banana bars

With the whole "RAW" craze going on I was bound to end up eating something deemed raw eventually, but I was pleasantly surprised that, That something was absolutely delicious! It was a brownie of all things and the best brownie I have ever had.....Seriously!  My sister in-law is the one who concocted this lovely desert ( you can visit her blog here  on raw and healthy eating) and now I decided to give er a go myself.  However, I must say that my desert is not truly "raw" because I did not have raw cacao or raw peanut butter.

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 walnuts (or your fave nut)

1/4 unsweetened peanut butter

10-12 dates

2 tbs cacao powder

1 banana 

Combine all ingredients except banana in food processor until they can be formed.  Press in a cookie sheet and top with banana!  Easy and pretty good. Now I must say that after my daughter picked her bananas off she wouldn't touch the "raw crust" not even after I made it into a turtle..........

Enjoy!!!

Rhubarb Fool

Easy refreshing summer desert, what more could you ask for?

1 Pound rhubarb chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cream

1/8 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Boil rhubarb with 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and 1 cup water.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until rhubarb is tender.  Let cool.

Whip cream and powdered sugar together.  

Layer rhubarb and cream in glass dish and serve!

Peanut butter parfait bars

I made these bars to cure a peanut butter craving and I think I'll keep the recipe around for a while

Frosting

1 can sweet and condensed milk

1 pckge cream cheese

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Batter

1 1/2 cups flower

3/4 cups sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup nuts ( any kind you like)

1 tbs vanilla

1/4 cup milk

Extra nuts for topping

Mix batter ingredients together.  Put in baking dish and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Let cool.  Whip cream cheese and peanut butter together, slowly add condensed milk then sugar.  Put on top of your cake....YUM!

Green Chile Halibut

On the 4th of July I was lucky enough to go out on a skiff with the family and check out another Island.  We set out some halibut gear and caught seven!!!  We let three go though because they were about 70 pounds each!

After and exhausting 4th I did not want to cook a big meal let alone go to the grocery store, so I used what I had and made a delic quick meal with fresh halibut that I helped pull in!

Ok, so after that most appetizing picture; I'll get to the recipe...

1 pound cubed halibut

1- 8 oz can diced green chiles

salt and pepper

onion powder

rice or mexi rice

black beans 

corn

tortillas

Put your fish in a baking dish, salt, pepper and onion powder it and cover with the can of green chiles.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Serve with your sides and tortillas....Told you I was being lazy, but this turned out delicious and will definitely be one of my Go-To dishes.

  

1st place in the Seafood Cook Off!

Here in Kodiak, AK we have an annual festival with rides and games and a Sea food cook off , which I decided to enter......and won 1st place!  Woo Hoo!  Anyways that was actually back in May and well, I kinda forgot about it.  Until now, and I want to share my recipe with you.  This is a great appetizer dish that almost everyone enjoys.

Smoked Salmon Flower

1#  Kodiak Island Smokehouse smoked red salmon

1 pkge. cream cheese ( softened)

1 small onion ( minced)

2 cloves pressed garlic

3 Tbs milk

1 cup cheddar cheese (grated) and divided in 2

6 jalapenos sliced

1/2 cup vinegar

2 cups sugar 

2 large apples cut into small pieces 

Break up the salmon and put into a stand up mixer.  Add cream cheese, onion, milk and garlic.  Mix on low until well combined.  Incorporate 1/2 cup of cheese.  Form into a ball and place on a piece of plastic wrap.  Cover with the remaining cheese (like you would a cheese ball) .  Wrap up and refrigerate for one hour. 

*In a sauce bring jalapenos,apples, vinegar and sugar to a boil.  Reduce to  a simmer and let go until it has thickened.  Let cool.

Unwrap the salmon ball and place on plate put jalapeno mixture on top and surround with crackers. 

4th of July food: "hot dog" cookies

HOT DOG, its the 4th of July!

These cookies are easy to make and even the kids can help!

1 C. butter

1/2 Powdered sugar

2 C. flour

1 Tsp. vanilla

red food coloring

Yellow frosting

Beat butter and sugar then vanilla and flower.  Take 1 cup of dough and dye it red ( about 6 drops).  Chill all dough for one hour.  Cut the red dough in 16 equal pieces and shape into the 2 1/2 inch dogs.  Take the remaining dough and form into 3 inch logs and place a slit down the middle and spread apart with your fingers.  Insert the dog and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.   When cool squeeze a line of yellow frosting "mustard" down the middle.  Wa la! You have hot dogs!  

Note:  I always make my own frosting, but I couldn't see making a whole batch of buttercream for such a small amount of frosting....so I just bough a tube of yellow decorator frosting.

Almond pancakes with rhubarb syrup

Its been a long time since I last posted (sorry) but I hope this recipe makes up for it!

I just harvested my rhubarb and decided to make rhubarb syrup.  It is sweet and delicious and something different than your every day sauce.  

Pancake recipe

One thing I like about this recipe is the fact you use whole wheat four, it really gives the cakes a nice texture

1 C. WW flour

1 Tbsp baking soda

2 egg whites

1/2 cup milk

1/4 almonds

Mix together and fry just like any other pancake

Rhubarb syrup

4 big stalks rhubarb

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Combine ingredients and let simmer for one hour.  Cool and serve.

I always put yogurt on my pancakes but it is optional of course!

VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!

I told myself the day that my blog reaches a 100 hits a day for a week straight I would do my first giveaway......Well thats happened!  Yay for me!...and well, YAY for the winner.

Are you ready to find out what it is?......ha?  Are you?

Ok, ok you will receive enough fabric, 1 yard of bias tape,  coordinating ribbon, and pattern, to make this adorable pillow case dress.  ( little girl not included)

Alls you have to do is leave  a comment below for a chance to win!  How easy rite?  So what are you waiting for?  leave a comment!

Awesome Vegan Apple Crisp

Back to basics ........So My hubby went to the main land to get me a new car *WOOT WOOT*  Ok I really just didn't do that, but anyhow he had to ride the tug boat back and I'm not sure how well they fed him.  Soooo, I wanted to make him something yummy to come home to.  Here in Kodiak its almost 9:30 at night so I had to work with what I had (and what I didn't have) which is  eggs.  I came up with this recipe by just basically reinventing any modern apple crisp recipe.  I am going to post this before it even comes out of the oven (in case any one wants to make a late night desert).  SO HERE IS WHERE I CAUTION.....I have not yet tried this.  I'll comment how it turned out in about 30 minutes!

**********It turned out amazing!!!*************
...and I put a scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream on top!

For the filling

3 Large apples

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple  water

1 tablespoon cornstarch (dissolved in the water)

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

handful of raisins (optional)

For the topping

1 cup quick cooking oats 

1/2 cup cinnamon toast crunch ( optional)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter cut into squares

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350,  Mix all the filling ingredients and put into a baking pan.  Add the topping ingredients together except butter and pour over the filling.  Sprinkle the cubed butter on top and bake for about 45 minutes.

Oil Cloth Lunch Sack

I'm trying to skip out on using ziplocks so I tried this lunch sack

I am not totally stoked with the results but they are good enough for now

Easy Baby Shirt

This is an easy pattern and gives you room to make it your own.  The pattern is available at the end of the post.

For this project you will need fabric and 4 feet of  bias tape ( I will show you how to make some)

First the bias tape...

Cut a 2 inch by 4 ft piece of fabric and fold it in towards the middle and iron

 Fold in the other side to meet in the middle and iron

 Now fold in half and iron

You've got yourself some bias tape

Reuse wipes or Diaper boxes

I have a ton of boxes from bulk diapers and wipes, so I decided to make them useful.  If you have scrap fabric and need cheap extra storage this is a good project!

Take a wipe box (If your using Parents Choice these measurements work)

 a 32" by 18" piece of fabric

and a hot glue gun

Recycled Easter basket

This a good way to use up old news paper and magazine pages or any paper you have laying around.

You'll need one square sheet of paper ( you can fold the corner in and trim)  keep the scrap for the handle.

Follow this TUTE on how to fold a box http://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Paper-Box

Take a piece of newspaper and roll it up until its about an inch wide.  Start cutting very small pieces and this will be your Easter grass.  Tape your handle to your basket, fill with grass and goodies.  You can decorate it however you like.  Remember those bows we made, perfect easter gift!!

Easter Cookies

Not so much Easter cookies, but just pretty pastel flower cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup butter

1/2 salt

mix ingredients and chill for one hour, than roll to 1/2 inch thickness and use your favorite cookie cutters.

Bake at 400 for 12 minutes.

Frosting

One egg white

2 cups powdered sugar 

food coloring

( this is the frosting you will use to out line your cookies)

Flood frosting 

same as outline frosting but add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tbs water.

Out line your cookies with the thick frosting and wait for it to set.  Then put your flood frosting in a squeeze bottle and pour it onto your cookies.  Let that set and go back with your stiff frosting and add embellishments!

Easter hair bows

Alls you need is some scrap fabric, about 2" by 2 1/2"

A hot glue gun 

a barrett or clip

and a bead

oh yeah and a sewing machine!

 Fold inside out

 Sew three sides

 Turn rite side out

 Pinch togather

And SEW

Hot glue to a barrett and add a bead if your heart desires!!!

Ta DA !!!

Coffee Cupcakes with Irish Cream frosting

The best pick-me-up cupcake ever!

Amazingness

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup yogurt

3 eggs

1/2 cup veg oil

1 cup strong brewed coffee ( chilled)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla 

mix dry ingredients first then mix remaining ingredients until a smooth batter has formed.  Fill mini cupcake pan  3/4 full and bake at 350 for 12 min

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup Bailys

1tbs milk

Cream butter and add 1 1/2 cups sugar,  add milk than Bailys and remaining sugar.  Fill piping bag and swirl on frosting.  You can add any embellishments you like.

Halibut chowder and Powder Biscuits

Halibut Chowder

This is such a great meal when its cold and snowy.  It warms you up and fills you up!

1 pound halibut: cut into small chunks

6 medium potatoes cubed

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups cream

1 bunch of carrots; cut into small pieces

Frozen peas

1 medium onion

3 big cloves of garlic

1/2 cup butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Red pepper diced

Flour or Corn Starch for thickening

Combine your chicken stock, onion, garlic and butter in a large pot; bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes,carrots, peas, and pepper.  Continue cooking until the potatoes are firm.  Add the Halibut and boil another 10 minutes.  When Halibut is flaky add the cream and salt and pepper.  Cook another minute or so and add 3-5 Tbs of flour or until it thickens to your desire.