Yet Another Blog

So I started a new blog. It's my money making attempt.

In order to make money I do have to have an original blog post between each advertising post, so I will be writing things and posting pictures. I also need to have it going for 30 days before I start posting the ads.
I didn't want to do it on my cooking or family blog, just felt that it cheapens them a little- so I started a new one.
If you visit- Thanks!

Life in This Busy House

Breakfast Veggies

Brian was wanting to increase his fruits and veggies and I had just read an article about blending leafy greens as a cheaper alternative to juicing them- takes alot more to juice, so with a large family blending seemed like a great option. We tried it and actually liked it. The spinach isn't too strong, we actually taste the orange juice and strawberries more than spinach.

Now every morning with breakfast we have glasses of green juice. Naomi used to wake up and ask for milk and now she asks for juice. She loves it!

I just eyeball it every day, so I took a picture of the blender so you could have more of an idea of what I use.

I pack in 2 or 3 handfuls of spinach, 3-5 frozen strawberries and pour orange juice over that until it hits around the 2 cup mark on the blender. Then my blender makes it really easy because it has a "drink" button and goes through several different speeds for about a minute.

I've stuck in apples, bananas, peaches, apricots, etc and they are all tasty.

Just so you know, Naomi won't eat spinach any other way so I love it when she drinks a big glass of juice.

Veggie Frittata

We got a new grill this year, the old one belonged to some friends, who got it from their parents, who got it from the grandparents... and it had a glass front, which we found doesn't hold up to cooking while a squirt gun fight is under way.

I make alot of oven dishes and I struggle in the summer when I don't want to use the oven and the only "cold" dishes I know to make are sandwiches. Not that any of the guys mind that, they love meat sandwiches.
My friend Laura told me how her mom uses her grill to bake things in stones. Our new grill has a temperature gauge on it and it's taken me a while to get up the guts to try it. I really didn't want anything to happen to my precious stones! It worked great- Brian put the grill on low and it preheats in about 3 minutes- it kept it at a constant 375˚.


Veggie Frittata

Ingredients:
16 oz pasta, cooked and drained (I used Linguini)
1/2 c. chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped carrots
2 c. sliced zucchini
6 eggs
1 c. shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix pasta, tomatoes and carrots, pour into a casserole dish, 9x13 or a large skillet.
Top with layers of zucchini. Mix eggs, salt and pepper and pour over all. Top with cheese bake at 375˚ for about 30 minutes.
If you make it in a skillet, you can cut it into pie shapes to serve.

Sloppy Joes

This is one of those things I rarely make. Most likely because I don't like cooking with ketchup... don't get me wrong, I love ketchup, but I really don't believe it's healthy. But these are really easy and everyone in the family enjoys them.

Sloppy Joes
2-3 lbs ground meat
14 oz can tomato sauce
1/8 c. yellow mustard
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. tabasco
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Brown meat, then mix in the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Spoon onto hamburger buns and serve.

I've also added shredded carrots, an easy way to "sneak" in veggies... I say "sneak" because everyone in our family knows about it. :-)

Easiest Fruit Dip Ever

In our circles when someone serves fruit they serve a fruit dip, I don't ever remember people serving fruit dip when I was growing up, but I do enjoy it now! No one knows where this recipe came from but this is what we've all been doing. I don't typically use things like marshmallow cream, it's against my whole foods belief- but it was either that or buy 3 different other things to make a fruit dip, so I went for easy and cheap:

Easiest Fruit Dip Ever
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 7 oz. jar marshmallow cream

Mix thoroughly and serve.

Baby Shower Eats

Tonight I had a shower for a good friend, who attends the same church as we do and happens to live 3 blocks away, which has been super fun! Dawn just had her 4th baby- she now has 3 girls and 1 boy, she was set for baby supplies so we threw a "Pamper Dawn" shower- we had gift cards for restaurants along with baby sitting coupons, lotions, night gowns and manicure/pedicure supplies.

Dawn happens to be the unofficial church cake decorator- everyone calls on her to make cakes for showers, birthdays, linger longers at church, etc... when I mentioned cake, she said "Oh, we don't need cake! I like lots of things- cookies, ice cream, all sorts of things!" So... yeah, she might be a little sick of cake. :-)
So I made her cookies. I probably wouldn't have thought of it, if it hadn't been for another shower that I made cookies for. This was alot of fun, and I think easier than trying to decorate a cake- though, I would have just made a bundt cake, which I quite easy to decorate... but that's beside the point. Anyway- I went with cookies and fruit, it was very cute.

I thought I would post my punch recipe, as people are always asking about it. I've noticed that people are a bit timid when it comes to punch. They tend to just stick to the apparently traditional Hawaiian Punch with 7-Up. Let me tell you- Don't be afraid of punch. It's just juice mixed with some type of carbonated beverage and sometimes dollops of sherbet. Pretty much any juice works. I've tried most all of them. But this is what I like:


Rachel's Favorite Punch
1 46 oz. can pineapple juice
1 2 liter bottle of lemon lime soda
1 12 can raspberry/strawberry concentrate (left as a concentrate)
and optional
dollops of raspberry sherbet

Mix the juices together and dollop with sherbet- serve.

French Toast

We have had a really busy summer so far! We vacationed in Estes Park, Colorado in early June and since then I've been trying to spend more time on the house than on the computer... so, not much for posting on here! We've hand textured the finished side of the kitchen and painted it. My mom came for a few days and helped me make a bi-fold door for my laundry closet, out of pallets. She's so good at making things!
I haven't really been working on many recipes, and the ones I have been working on still need some tweeking. Brian has been working on a cookbook though, it looks really pretty. I still haven't looked into printing/publishing. Anyone know anything about that or have tips?

Anyway- moving on to the recipe... I love French Toast! This is not the healthiest, just because I like using plain old white bread. I have used homemade whole wheat bread, and it's good, but I just like the texture when it's made with white bread.


French Toast
In mixing/measuring bowl beat:
5 eggs
1 TB vanilla
then pour in milk so it reaches the 4 cup mark and mix together.
2 loaves regular white bread
Quickly dip one slice of bread at a time, making sure to coat both sides. Fry on hot griddle 3-5 per side. Serve- YUMMY!

This uses about 36 slices of bread (1 1/2 20 oz. loaves) It's enough for our 6 big eaters (and Naomi is a big eater- she will eat 3 or 4 slices!) and 2 others- so 8 big eaters total.

Brian likes his with Cinnamon, so after I make a couple griddles of this type I sprinkle cinnamon into the milk mixture.