Kitchen Crazyness

I have a huge amount of apples. A friend of a friend has a tree and so we picked alot. I'll have to post a picture... only we are working on the entrance to the kitchen and the wall the computers are normally on, so 2 computers are dissconnected and too far from the cable to bother with hooking up. I'm using Luke computer, which is a little on the slow side, but I can check email and what not. Just have to be more patient.
I have made a batch of crockpot apple butter, 4 pies (one of them made with honey instead of sugar- wonderful!) and apple cinnamon rolls. Made from this recipe, only I put in some apple chunks instead of raisins.
So I have some recipes to post and pictures to download and post, so maybe I'll be able to do that later this week. But we have to put up sheetrock, texture and then prime and paint the wall. After that I'll put the computers back. :-)

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. :-)