My Favorite Food Storage Pins of the Week

I love it when I find pins that inspire me to get working in the kitchen.  Check these ones out:

Source: country-magazine.com via Katherine on Pinterest

This pin for bread is salt-rising bread.  It's an old, old pioneer recipe that uses a cornmeal mixture in place of yeast.  I can't wait to try it.

Source: allthingsprovident.blogspot.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: myfoodstoragecookbook.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I love the idea of using applesauce to make fruit roll ups.  Jello is the flavoring.  How easy is that?












Maybe you have had the problem of getting crackers thin enough?  How about using a pasta roller?  I totally want a pasta roller now!











This is an interesting canning recipe to use up zucchini.  It's called pineapple zucchini and can be used in place of crushed pineapple in recipes.  This could make a super healthy sweet and sour sauce.









And who doesn't need these cool storage boxes for jars?

Source: jarbox.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Montana Road Trip July 2012

Our family vacation this year was a road trip to Montana where we met up with some of Bryce's family in Missoula.  It was a great trip.

I have fond memories of family vacations as a kid and I want my kids to have the same experience.  So I try and capture everything in a photo book.  Someday I may have to order extras so they can have their own, but for now I love having a small book to read with them and relive the memories.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

The Best Banana Bread I Ever Made

I had a few nasty brownish bananas sitting around this weekend.  That left me with only two choices: make banana bread or throw them out.  The outcome was totally dependent on how much energy my pregnant body had available.  So, I made my decision.  Skip the dishes and make the bread.  My kitchen is a mess but the bread was a.maz.ing.

Want to know my secret?  Lemon cubes.  (To find out what a lemon cube is just follow the link or this one.)

You see my recipe for banana bread calls for lemon juice.  I decided to throw in a lemon cube in its place.  With the extra zest in with the lemon juice it made the bread zingy.  Oh, it was delicious.  And because I was in a healthy mood I threw in flax seeds.  This made the bread a bit chewy.  Even my husband commented on how good it was.  Here's how I made it.

1 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 T. flax seeds
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter melted and cooled
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 brown bananas
1 lemon cube or 2 T. lemon juice with a little zest
2 t. vanilla

Mix it all together and throw in the oven for baby and me!  I mean, place it in greased and floured mini bread  pans or muffin tins or a cake pan or whatever you have.  Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes clean.

This post is linked at sixsistersstuff.com, sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com and Me And My Sweets

Random Crock Pot Pins

After discovering you can make granola in the crock pot, my mind began to wander.  I wonder what else you can make in the crock pot that I've been completely unaware of?  Below are some pins I found to answer that question.  Not to mention all the dinners that are possible!

I'm feeling a bit inspired to use the crock pot a little more often.  If you want to check out my new crock pot pin board, you can find it here.

Source: crockpotladies.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Caramel from sweetened condensed milk.

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: crockpotladies.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: crockpotladies.com via Peggy on Pinterest

Source: crockpotladies.com via Peggy on Pinterest

Source: crockpotladies.com via Peggy on Pinterest

Breakfast

Source: alattewithotta.com via Peggy on Pinterest

Source: crockpotladies.com via Nikki on Pinterest

Granola in the Crock Pot

Thanks to Pinterest, I have discovered that there are a few unusual uses for my crock pot.  Yesterday, I saw this pin for granola in the crock pot and decided to give it a try.

Source: theprairiehomestead.com via Patricia on Pinterest

I used my own recipe which you can find here (but I did add the salt to the syrup).  It filled the whole crock pot.  After reading the instructions I found by following the links in the pin I was a bit overly concerned about burning it.  I left it in for 2 and a half hours and guess what?  It's chewy!  Sure it taste's delicious, but who likes chewy granola?

So here's the verdict.  My recipe needs more time in the crock.  I do think I'm inclined to try this again because it means I don't have to wash two large cookie sheets and one big bowl, none of which fit in my dishwasher and usually sit on my counter for three days before I get around to washing them.

Oh, and I did take a picture of the granola in the crock but it looked so much like the one above I didn't bother uploading it.  Just picture a cream colored crock and no holes in the spoon and then you'll see what mine looked like.

Pet Monster Rocks

A few weeks ago we took a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  We found the river and let the kids choose rocks to bring home.

The next day we painted them.  I think this was Stan's first time painting.  He loved it.

The following morning we glued eyes on them and sprayed them with a clear varnish.

I love projects that take days, it means I don't have to come up with something new to keep them entertained.

Repeat After Me

This is what I am trying to tell myself everyday:

If printing this out and sticking it on your mirror will help you, just click on the image to get a printable PDF version.  I think I need one in every room of my house and taped to every computer screen.

Dinosaur Footprint Cookies

A little while ago I saw this blog post with dinosaur footprint cookies.  I knew this was the perfect activity for my dino obsessed three-year-old.  I didn't want to use the recipe on the site because it used and entire cup of butter.  Somehow I got it in my head that I needed cream cheese in the cookie dough.  I gave a shout out on FB looking for a good sugar cookie recipe with cream cheese.  My friend Ginger came through.  The recipe I used can be found here.

So we set about making the cookies and I let the boys stamp them with their dinosaurs (after we washed them, of course.)

You can tell Stan's work because his dinos had a tendency to stomp while Kimball's were a little more artistic.

I didn't take a picture of the final cookies because they spread out and you couldn't really see the footprints.  Kimball just pretended to be a paleontologist and used a discerning eye.  The other recipe might have produced a better footprints but these were DELICIOUS!  I ate most of them for breakfast the next day.  :)

Picture Scavenger Hunt

See if you can find the following in Kimball's latest artistic work:

1. A Daddy.
2. A Big Brother.
3. A Little Brother.
4. A Mommy, with long hair and "boobies to feed the new baby".  Please note the Mommy is sad.  It's best not to ask why.
5. A New Baby.  The new baby is also sad but that is because "the doctor is fixing it"--translation: being delivered in the hospital.  (Do you think he has any memory of the trauma of it?)
6. A door.
7. A triangle window.

Weekly Meal Think

I will be 15 weeks pregnant this week and I am finally able to start thinking about cooking again.  Yea!!

So here is what I am thinking about making this week:

• Cashew Chicken.  I have some celery and mushrooms that need to be used up.  I think I'll make it with chicken thighs since I found some on managers special for $0.71 per pound.  Woot!
• Pasta with Sausage and Pumpkin Sauce.  This is a Rachel Ray recipe that we love.  I've simplified it a bit for us, but it's really good.
• Chicken Enchiladas.
• "Best Chicken in the World" with sweet potato fries on the side.  This is new recipe that I saw on Pinterest want to try. 
• Homemade Pizza.

I should also be able to put away a few freezer meals as I can freeze the extra Sausage and Pumpkin Sauce and the enchiladas make a ton.