Recipe # 22 Celebrate with Non-Alcoholic Drinks

We don't drink alcoholic beverages, but we do like to celebrate with fancy drinks that are non-alcoholic. Here's one that I came up with.

You can use regular Sprite, Fresca, other soft drinks, or if you like to get a little fancier you can use one of  Martinellis sparkling juices or Welch's sparkling juices.

Simply get a fancy glass for everyone, pour in the soft drink or sparkling juice of your choice and add fresh or frozen fruit like raspberries, strawberries, or blue berries. You could add fresh mint as a finishing touch if you would like. That's it. Pretty easy and it adds some fun to your party.

Have fun celebrating!

Recipe # 21 Easy Creamy Icing

I have no idea where I got this recipe from. I typed it in awhile ago and I thought I'd share it. If I find where I got it from I'll give them credit where credit is due. It might be from one of my cookbooks. I can't remember. Sorry!

Easy Creamy Icing

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring

11/2 Tablespoon cream

Or 1 Tablespoon water

Food Coloring to desired color

I think this is a great recipe for frosting cookies. I just made some frosting for sugar cookies the other day. I made it up myself. I had one package of cream cheese, about a cup and a half of powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons of vanilla, and I mixed it all together. It turned out pretty good. I hope my neighbors like it too. :)

Recipe # 20 Halloween Favorites

A tradition that we had growing up in my parent's house was having Potato Cheese soup when we got finished Trick or Treating out in the neighborhood. Later, we added the bread sticks recipe to the mix from my food's class. 

I love both of them and recommend you try our fun Halloween family tradition. 

Sometimes we would throw in a Halloween movie into the mix and invite the grandparents over to watch it with us and enjoy our Potato Cheese soup and Bread sticks.

Garner’s Famous Halloween Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

4 Cups Potatoes

1 Cup Celery

1 Cup Carrots

½ Cup Onion

2 Cups Grated Cheese

2 Cups Ham

Directions:

Cut up vegetables into bite-sized chunks. Boil vegetables in 3 Cups of Water for 10 minutes.

Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

½ Cup Butter

½ Cup Flour

4 Cups Milk

2 teaspoons Salt

Directions:

Make white sauce. Melt butter and flour in a pan. Stir to make a paste. Try not to make it lumpy. Pour in milk and salt. Stir constantly until it gets smooth.

Add cream sauce to vegetables. Don’t drain the water off of the vegetables. Cool a little so the cheese won’t curdle when you add it to the mix.

Add one pound (2 Cups) of grated cheese. 

Add two cups of chopped ham.

And what soup would be complete without bread sticks to go with it?

Chewy Bread Sticks

Ingredients:

11/2 teaspoon Yeast (add ½ teaspoon white sugar to help the yeast grow faster)

3 Cups of warmer water

Combine and let sit for 2 to 5 minutes.

11/2 teaspoon Malted Milk Powder

11/2 teaspoon Honey

½ teaspoon Salt

Mix together in a larger bowl, then add the yeast and water mixture.

11/2 to 13/4 Cups of flour

Add flour cup by cup to make soft, but not sticky dough.

Knead the dough. Let raise for 15 to 30 minutes.

Shape dough with your hands by rolling golf ball sized pieces of dough between your hands. ¾ inch thick to 4 to 5 inches long.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little Lawery season salt. Let raise to double the size. Bake at 400 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes.

Happy Halloween! Thanks Mom & Dad for making it so much fun growing up!

Love,

Tiffany

Recipe # 19 Soft and Moist Banana Bread

BANANA BREAD (SOFT AND MOIST) 

1/2 c. butter 2 eggs 1 c. white sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 c. ripe mashed bananas 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 c. sour cream 1-1/2 c. sifted flour 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional) Preheat oven to 350°F.Mix: butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and mix until creamy. Add: bananas, cinnamon and mix well. Add: baking soda, salt, sour cream, flour, mix until all smooth. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour until done.

I got this recipe from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,184,145186-230200,00.html


Thanks! Check out www.cooks.com for more brilliant recipes!


I found two bananas that were just ripe enough to make banana bread. The only problem for us is we don't have a banana bread loaf pan... So, I might have to get a little creative and make it into a cake instead of bread I guess. That would be a good thing to put on one of my birthday/Christmas lists for someone to get as a present. It can't be too expensive right? I can't wait to make our banana bread cake and smell it cooking. That's the best part before eating it. I hope it turns out ok. :)


Happy baking!


Love,


Tiffany

Recipe # 18 Old-Fashioned Lemonade

Old-Fashioned Lemonade

Ingredients

• 6 lemons
• 1 cup white sugar
• 6 cups cold water

Directions

1. Juice the lemons to make 1 cup of juice. To make your labor easier, FIRMLY roll the lemons between your hand and counter top before cutting in half and juicing.
2. In a gallon pitcher combine 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, and 6 cups cold water. Stir. Adjust water to taste. Chill and serve over ice.

A nice thing to make when it gets warmer outside is ice cold lemonade. It brings me back to my days as a child with a lemonade stand. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com Thanks! Go check them out for more recipes with lemons. And don't forget the famous saying: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"

Happy juicing,

Tiffany

Here's a twist thanks to Martha Stewart and bfeedme.com:

Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

1  pint strawberries  

8  tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons superfine sugar  

8  tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice  

Seltzer water AKA Sparkling water

What’s Next:

Before squeezing juice from the lemons, roll them on the countertop, applying gentle pressure with the heel of your palm. This will really get the lemons’ juices flowing and make it easier to squeeze them.


Purée strawberries and 2 teaspoons sugar in a blender. Set out two glasses, and spoon 3 tablespoons of the resulting strawberry purée, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 4 tablespoons lemon juice into each glass. Stir the lemonade, and add ice. Top off the glasses with seltzer water. Add more sugar if desired.  And that’s all, good work!

Enjoy! Until next time.

I am not dead. Promise!

Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've last posted. I've just been busy with what seems like finals month. Yes, I said month, because it doesn't feel like finals week. I promise I will post more soon. I've been super super busy. Check out some of my other blogs on the you can also find me here links. I've also been trying to post to those. My sink is also full of dishes and we are in the market for a portable dishwasher. In other words, I haven't really had much time to slave over a hot stove and oven cooking.

I've also been busy getting everything ready for graduation and I got into graduate school in the Elementary Education department. So, I've also been getting ready for graduate school. To top it off I've been looking for a summer P/T job that I can be doing so that we can pay our rent. If you hear of anything please let me know! I need something that is flexible enough to work with my school schedule.

Can you see why I haven't written in two months? I promise as soon as my sink is not full of dishes, it will get me back in the mood of actually cooking stuff, and I will post an idea or two here.

Love,

Tiffany

Recipe # 17 Orange Julius

Hey ya'll! I haven't posted forever! Can you ever forgive me for leading such a busy life? I hope you like the recipes that I have posted/blogged about so far... If not, try them. That's why they're here. :) Let everyone know how it went. Feel free to leave tips and comments. That's what we're here for. Anyway, I came up with my version of Orange Julius after looking at several recipes and remembering what my parents did when they made it. I know that my dad always used powdered sugar instead of regular sugar because it makes it creamier. However, I will note that many of the recipes used sugar. So, if you're not into the whole creamy thing, try substituting sugar for the powdered sugar in my recipe. I happen to like the creamy version though, because obviously that's what I grew up drinking.

Orange Julius

1 (12 ounce) Can of frozen Orange Juice
1 Can Skim Milk
1 Can Water
1 tsp. Vanilla (Optional)
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
7 Ice Cubes

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses. Serve and enjoy. :)

Happy Blending!

Love,

Tiffany

Note: I made this for Valentine's Day but substituted frozen apple juice for the frozen orange juice. It was really good! Now I want to try other frozen juices and see if they taste as good as these two versions!

Recipe # 16 Dr. Oz's Brain-Boosting Smoothie

Ingredients:


1 banana Bananas are high in antioxidants, dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine boosts memory and attention while serotonin elevates mood and helps control appetite, memory and learning.


1/4 cup blueberries Blueberries contain pigments called anthocyanins that give the fruit its dark color and also boost brain function. They also help protect the brain from stress and may reduce dementia.


A handful of hemp nuts These nuts are rich in Omega-3's which are essential for the health of your brain and nervous system. Additionally, the compounds found in hemp seeds have been shown to promote memory, learning and immune function.


1/2 cup apple juice Apple juice prevents the loss of an important neurotransmitter called acetylcholine which is critical for memory and brain health.


1 teaspoon rhodiola rosea This liquit plant extract improves mood, alleviates depression and can also improve sexual functioning and libido. It's available for purchase in natural food stores. 


Add a handful of ice and blend in a blender until smooth.


Thank you Dr. Oz for sharing this recipe! I can't wait to try it to improve my memory!


Happy Blending!


Love,


Tiffany

Recipe # 15 Ricotta Lasagna Rolls

Cooking Directions for Lasagna:
Bring 5 quarts of water to a rapid boil. One tablespoon of oil may be added to water to prevent lasagna from sticking. Add pieces of lasagna one at a time, allowing each to slowly soften as it is added to the water. For most recipes, cook lasagna until nearly tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain immediately and rinse in cold water. Arrange lasagna pieces flat in single layer on clean, dry towels to dry until ready to use.

Ricotta Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna:
1/2 (16 oz) package lasagna, cooked and drained
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 egg slightly beaten
1 pound ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 pound Mozzarella cheese, sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce:
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
3 cups water
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sweet basil
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:
In saucepan, combine sauce ingredients, stirring to blend well. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While sauce is cooking, prepare lasagna rolls. Cream together cream cheese and butter/margarine. Stir in egg, ricotta cheese, parsley, salt and pepper; blend thoroughly. Spread 2 to 3 Tablespoons of filling on each piece of lasagna. Starting at narrow end, lightly roll up each piece. Place rolls, open side down, in greased shallow baking pan. Pour sauce over rolls; top with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake uncovered, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes. Refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

I got this off of the back of our lasagna box. Thanks Kroger! I can't wait to try this new recipe!

Happy Baking!

Love,

Tiffany