Cake Ideas and trial-runs

I have some work to do on these fondant lilies, but here's a peek at my first try:

These are some goodies that I made for a friends' bridal shower:

Smoothie secrets

My girls LOVE smoothies.  And I have discovered that I can use them to sneak in some veggies too!  For my girls, I get the Dannon All-Natural Vanilla Yogurt, and add fresh fruit and a handful of baby spinach or lettuce leaves.  Bananas will do a decent job masking the green flavor.  When I make one for myself I add protein powder and make it my solitary mid-day meal.  I've used everything from strawberries to peaches and even an apple-cinnamon one.  Stick in a straw and watch them disappear!

Hazelnut No-Bake Cookies

Another recipe that stemmed from my daughters' peanut allergy, this was a FANTASTIC discovery.  Nutella (and a handful of off-brand hazelnut spreads) doesn't contain traces of peanuts.  Wanting an alternative to the Soy butter that I had been using in my no-bake cookies, I gave it a whirl.  They are delicious!  Here's the recipe that I used:

My girls enjoy helping me "drop" these cookies.

Hazelnut No-Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Nuttela
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups dry oatmeal  (I've used both instant and old fashioned, and both worked)

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, mix the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk, and bring to hard boil for 2 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes, then add the vanilla and oats.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper to cool.

Mac'N'Cheese

This is another recipe that comes a-dime-a-dozen, but it is treasured in this house and worth sharing.  I think it originally came from a Betty Crocker book?  I had a copy written on a recipe card from my mother-in-law since my bridal shower, and it has been committed to memory for years.  When my kids will eat nothing else, they will eat this.  It takes less than 20 minutes start to finish.  You can change it up to keep it interesting, and the leftovers do well microwaved with a teaspoon of milk or baked until crispy on top.  I have made this meal AT LEAST once a week for the last 9 years.

Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cups milk
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
16 oz. elbow or small shell macaroni noodles

Prepare pasta as directed.
Over medium heat melt the butter.  Add the salt and pepper, and stir in the flour until smooth and bubbly.  Add the milk, increase heat to high, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add the cheese, reduce heat to medium and stir until melted and mixed.  Pour over pasta.  TA-DA (as my girls would say).

Some variations:

Substitute chopped onion and garlic for the salt and pepper, or try tomatoes, hot dogs or pepperonis.

A Mother's version of computer terminology.

Another old favorite I stumbled upon today:

Re-Boot = Second cup of coffee

De-Fragment = Frantically and systematically finishing off the 6 projects that you started and abandoned earlier in the day. 

Monitor = Quietly supervising from the kitchen while they play in the living room.

Tower = Laundry pile

Memory = "I think I saw your teddy bear under the end table sweet heart. And your left shoe is behind the laundry hamper."

Hard drive = 72 in a 65 to make it home from the store before the pop-cicles, and the 2 year old, both melt.

Control Panel = Kitchen counter

Trash can = Trash can (and, magically, always full...)

Mega-byte = "Spit that out before you choke!"

Screen saver = Sliding glass door

Processor = Where you quickly dump your veggies when they aren't looking.

Software = Slippers

Start Menu = What you planned to make for dinner before you realized that someone ate all of the cheese

Does God ever poke Himself in the eye?

There are those moments, as a mother, that just can't be matched.  Some come in the form of humility, in other's we're bursting with pride.  Often we may find ourselves moved to tears.  We revel at these tiny people entrusted to us.  In some we may find ourselves terribly embarrassed (don't worry, we'll get our chance to return the favor later).  Then there are moments when, even though we are a good deal older, wiser and more proficient in almost every area of life than our children are, we find ourselves perfectly stumped.  We are absolutely dumbfounded, and at a complete loss for words.  This section of my blog is a little different than the rest.  You won't find recipes or crafty stuff here, just a little peek into my very BLESSED life as a mom.  A sample of what I see every day, of all that I have to be thankful for, and of the inspiration for the rest of this blog.  I created it today, to share some stories (both old and new) with you.  May I never take a moment for granted.

This is an old favorite.  My oldest daughter (now 6) was 3 at the time.  It is so priceless that I recorded it right away, so that I wouldn't forget it.  I copied the story below:

On the way home from church the other night, with the girls in the car, Lily's foot was hurting (I think it was a blister of some sort from her shoes) and the following conversation took place:
Lily: "Maybe God just made the skin on my foot like that."
Me: "Like what sweetie?"
Lily: "Like hurting the way it is."
Me: "Well, God doesn't like to make us hurt sweetie, he likes us to be happy and not to have boo-boo's. He wouldn't make your foot hurt I don't think. I'll bet that it'll start to feel better soon."
Lily: "But maybe he accidentally made it that way."
Me: "God doesn't make accidents sweet heart, He doesn't make mistakes. He's perfect. We all make mistakes, but God doesn't."
Lily: "Everyone makes mistakes?"
Me: "Yup, everyone."
At this point Lily proceeds to name several people whom she really wished to know if they, specifically, made any mistakes. Apparently these people were perfect in her little eyes and she needed reassurance that they were human. The list included her friend Brooke from church, Brooke's mother, and Lily's own Grandma - my mother (I feel slightly hurt that it did not include me ;-) Satisfied with my answers she grew quiet for some time and then piped up again:
Lily: "Mom....does God ever poke Himself in the eye?"
Oh to know what is going on in that precious little head. :-)

My little dog lover

We don't have a dog.  But we do have a Lauren.  She's 2 years old and LOVES puppies and dogs. "Wren" spends much of her life crawling around on the floor, panting and barking (something I usually discourage at the grocery store, but have gotten used to in the house).  Her sisters have taken full advantage of this, and they've taught her to sit, shake and fetch.  We don't have a cat either, but I think she's already onto them (at least she has made her opinion of them rather clear).  She likes them, but they rate FAR below dogs on the coolness meter.  Her dog-loving heart was revealed afresh today when she brought me a bean-bag toy kitten laying on it's back in her arms, and we had the following conversation:

Wren: "Mommy, da kitty is SICK!"

Me: "Oh NO!  What is wrong with her?!?!?"

Wren: "She sick and keepth thayin' MEOW MEOW!"

Me: "Oh!  Is that a problem?"

Wren: "YEAH!"  (bangs on kitty's tummy a few times and listens for breathing - I swear that's not how I treat ailments in this house)

Wren: "WOOF WOOF!   Dare, LOOK, she's all better now!  WOOF WOOF!" (turns kitty right-side-up and saunters off )

So there you have it folks.  Kitties are just sickly dog-wanna-be-s hoping for a miraculous cure.

Cinnamon Rolls

I found this recipe online and have made it twice, and they are positively mouthwatering.  This is a no-yeast recipe (Apparently there is a heated debate as to whether yeast should be required to make a good cinnamon roll? I found all sorts of commentary on this.) and is relatively easy to make, despite the long list of ingredients.  I'm sure they are terribly unhealthy, but TRUST ME, they're worth the occasional indulgence.  

Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (divided) 

Filling:

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

Start off by preheating your oven to 425 and greasing a 9" round cake pan or pie plate, or a square baking dish.  Combine the filling ingredients until crumbly and moist-through, and set them aside.  

To make the dough, in two separate bowls whisk together the dry ingredients and the milk with 2Tbsp of the melted butter.  

Mix them together just until it's wet through, and then dump them onto a well floured surface and knead them about a minute. 

 Using your hands and a rolling pin, form a rectangle about 12" long and 9" wide.  Brush another 2Tbsp melted butter on top and then pour the filling onto the dough, spreading it evenly up to about 1/2" from the edges, and press it in with a spoon or the back of your measuring cup. 

Roll the dough into a log.  It is soft, and this will be a bit messy.  Even if they don't look great they sure taste crazy-good and the frosting will cover the lumps.  Cut the log into 8-9 (8 for round pans, 9 for square) sections, and lay them in the pan.  Brush on the remaining 2Tbsp of melted butter and bake them for about 20-25 minutes.  The recipe calls for dumping them onto a greased cooling rack and cooling them for 10 minutes before frosting them.  I frosted them right in the pan after allowing them 10 minutes to cool.  It kept the gold, I mean frosting, from wasting and they kept well covered with cling-wrap in the fridge.  My husband claims that they're even better when they're chilled.  It's a close call.  Either way, they're delicious, and I plan to keep this recipe ready for holidays and special occasions (when I don't mind gaining 4 pounds at breakfast).  

Notes: This amount of frosting actually covered BOTH of the batches that I made!  After liberally frosting the first batch (I admit, I like frosting and I drowned the rolls in it) I froze the other 1/2 and used it when I made the second batch 2 months later! It was still fantastic and covered them completely.  These pictures were of my second batch.  

I also found that you can put this all together at night and store them, covered, in the fridge until morning and then bake them and frost them.  I did this for Christmas morning and they baked while we opened gifts.  

Bailey Goes Camping

 My girls really enjoy this book and wanted to go camping like Bailey.  We did the whole thing, and they LOVED it.  (To protect my family's privacy I don't like to put up pics with my girls' faces, but you can get the point from these).  I would recommend something like this as a fun cabin-fever activity.  I pulled the whole thing off with about 45 minutes of prep-time and for the cost of a bag of marshmallows and a pack of hot-dogs.  I used scrap pieces of yarn and some leftover velcro stickies to make the fish and poles.  It was a well-spent afternoon/evening.

Peach Mustard Pork Tenderloin

A rookie on the dinner roster, this became an instant favorite for two reasons: 1) It's easy, and 2) My kids will happily eat it.

Peach Mustard Pork Tenderloin
2/3 cup peach preserves
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Olive oil
Pinch of ground thyme
1/4 tsp. Salt
About 1 1/2 pounds Pork tenderloin

Mix all of the ingredients in a big zipper bag, add pork and marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.  Preheat your oven to 450.  Remove pork, shake off the marinade, and place it in a roasting pan.  Bake uncovered about 30 minutes (check done-ness with your meat thermometer).  While your pork is roasting, pour the marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil for 1 minute.  Allow it to cool.  Once your pork is cooked through, let it stand for 5 minutes, then cut it into slices and pour the marinade over it.

Note: I might try to microwave some peaches in water until soft and serve them with this next time...

Pancakes! Pancakes!

This is one of those things that I dedicated myself to and it paid off.  I have tried approximately 365,912 pancake recipes, and through a lot of trial and error I have finally created a perfect set of my own custom recipes.  I have my mouthwatering, blubber-building, buttery carb-cakes, and my lean, mean, muscle-building protein pancakes, and my tiger-striped pancakes (GO TIGERS!) and my whole wheat cranberry pancakes... (to name a few)  And, of course, the shape and topping possibilities are endless.  Here are some of my pet recipes:

Amanda's Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
Mix well and fry in butter until golden brown


Amanda's Whole Wheat Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs


Amanda's Whole Wheat Cranberry Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. dried cranberries sprinkled onto each pancake just after you drop it on the griddle.

Amanda's Power Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups soy milk
2 scoops Body Fortress Vanilla protein powder
2 eggs

(For a carb-based menu item, these tote a relatively low calorie count and pack a whopping 6-8 grams of protein per pancake depending on the size.  I usually top mine with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.)

Amanda's Cornbread Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla (optional with this recipe)
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

"Fillng":
3/4 cup brown sugar
3-4 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. melted butter

Glaze:
6 oz. cream cheese - softened
2 Tbsp. butter - softened
1 cup powdered sugar (you can add more or less of this depending on how thick you want your glaze/frosting)
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare your glaze and set it aside. Mix the filling ingredients and put them into a small zipper bag or a pastry bag.  Make the batter as you normally would and pour it onto your griddle to make your pancakes, then snip the corner off of the filling bag and drizzle the filling in a spiral shape onto the pancakes on the griddle.  Flip as you normally would.  After you pancakes are golden on both sides stack them up and glaze them with the cream cheese glaze.

Tiger-striped Pancakes
Inspired by on of my girls' favorite bedtime stories ("The Boy and the Tigers" by Helen Bannerman) this recipe  also boasts a bit of school-pride for us, as the tiger is our district mascot.  Divide your favorite pancake batter into 2 bowls, and mix 1/2 cup cocoa and 1 Tbsp. milk into one of the bowls.  After pouring the regular batter out on the griddle streak the cocoa batter across the top with a spoon.  Flip as normal.  ENJOY!

(Who says you shouldn't play with your food?!?!?!?!?)