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My mom bought me a juicer for Christmas. My kids and I have been having fun trying different juices. It's "home ec" in action!

Tonight while we  were waiting for some people to come over for outpost. (Cell group) We made some fresh orange juice. Totally yummy! It was a hit. Then we tried a juice with apples, carrots, broccoli and grapes. That was pretty tasty too, but next time I need to use less broccoli.

I've never been much of a juice drinker, unless it was fresh. I can't wait till summer and autumn for some of the really good melons and berries to be in season. Oh drool!

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* I don't have exact measurments because I cook by look, smell and taste.

Di's Sloppy Joe's

Make in a crockpot so you can have more time with the family. =)

• ground hamburger. (I cook up a bunch of hamburger and then freeze it by the pound or two. Saves a bunch of time)
• about 1 cup of water (depends on how much hamburger you use.)
• 1 package of dry onion soup mix
• about 3 quick shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 quick shake of Liquid smoke (just a tiny bit!)
• crushed garlic (I use one clove or more) Mmmmm garlic!
• ketchup (I just squeeze the bottle.)
• brown sugar
• small pinch of sea salt

I then do a taste test to see if I need to add more of something. Then I let it cook. Once it is all nice and hot and making the house smell good I take another test to see if it needs anything.

Serve on hamburger buns. I like to put a slice of cheese on mine along with Lays potato chips for added crunch. Comfort!

*****This recipe also works great for meatballs! Omit the ketchup and use less brown sugar. Serve meatballs over mashed potatos or bread. Comfort!

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I will never cook anything in the crockpot overnight again!

I had a roast that I had to cook before it would go bad. I decided to put it in the crockpot to cook overnight. That was a HUGE mistake! I didn't sleep well, my hubby didn't sleep well and two of my children didn't sleep well. We all kept waking up throughout the night smelling yummy deliciousness! I kept having dreams about eating, then I'd wake up smelling beef. My hubby also experienced simular.

Roast:

I sauté a roast. Making sure all sides are brown. Then I add the roast to the crockpot with a little bit of water. I then add one package dry onion soup.

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Almond Butter Crunch (Almond Roca)

1 Cup butter

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 tbsp. light corn syrup

3 tbsp. water

1 cup coarsly chopped almonds, toasted

4  4 1/2 oz milk chocolate bars, melted

1 cup finely chopped almonds, toasted

 

In large saucepan melt butter; add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, to hard-crack stage (300 degrees) *Quickly stir in coarsly chopped nuts; spread in ungreassed 13x9x2 inch pan. Cool thoroughly. Turn out on waxed paper; spread top with half the chocoate; sprinkle with half the finely chopped nuts. Cover with waxed paped; invert. Spread with rest of chocolate, sprinke remaining nuts atop. If necessary chill to firm; crack in pieces.

 

Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 tsp. soda

1 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup light corn syrup

3 tbsp. butter

1 pound (or 3 cups) shelled unroasted peanuts

 

Butter 2 baking sheets; keep warm. Combine soda, 1 tsp water, and vanilla; set aside.

 

Combine sugar, 1 cup water and corn syrup in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to 240 degrees on candy thermometer.

 

Stir in butter and peanuts. Cook, stirring constantly to 300 degrees. Watch carefully so mixture doesn't burn.

 

Immediately remove from heat; stir in soda mixture throroughly. Poor half candy onto warm baking sheets and quickly spread evenly about 1/3 inch think to cool; break candy into pieces.

 

Makes 2 pounds

 

Divinity

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup water

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 nuts (optional)

 

Stir sugar, corn syrup and water until sugar is disolved; then cook without stirring to 252 degrees. Remove from heat and pour, beating continuously in a fine stream into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape and loses its gloss. Then add vanilla and nuts.

Spread on waxed paper or a greased shallow pan.

 

For Seafoam, use the recipe for Divinity but use dark corn syrup and maple flavoring.

 

Caramel Popcorn

8 cups popped corn (about 1/2 cup unpopped.)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. white vinager

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup butter

 

Measure popcorn into large bowl. Combine sugars, corn syrup, water, vinager, and salt in pan. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequiently. Cook, stirring constantly to 260 degrees on candy thermometer.

 

Reduce heat to low; stir in butter until melted. Pour syrup in thin stream over corn in bowl, stirring until coated. (For added fun add food coloring)

 

Butter hands to make balls, put on waxed paper.

 

*Note - all these recipes are in my recipe notebook (spiral) that I kept and collected when I was a teenager. These were all  kept in my hope chest.

 

 

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You can call it Frog Frappe's...

 or you can call it Grasshopper Juice... (as my hubby calls it)

 or you can call it Green Juice...

 or you can call it Caterpillar Slime Drink...

 

If you are teaching/learning about anything green then this is for you! (You have to be old enough to run a blender though.)

 

What you need:

Lime Sherbet

Lowfat Milk

A little bit of sugar for taste

Ice Cubes

 

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

 

*I put it all in there to taste which was about 4 cups of milk, 1 ice tray worth of ice, 6 or 7 scoops of lime sherbet, and half a spoonful of sugar.

 

This recipe was found in Weaver Curriculum, Volume 2.

They also suggested adding Pineapple to it, but my children don't like Pineapple.

 

 

 

 

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My favorite sandwich doesn't have a name. It's just something that I've come to enjoy by playing around.

 

Pita bread or flat bread. These two taste the best.  (I use whole wheat)

Alfalfa sprouts

Red onion slices (white onions don't taste as good on this sammich)

Tomato slices

Cucumber

Avacado

Cream cheese

Bacon (Once in a while I put a strip or 2 of bacon in it, depends on my mood.)

 

Slap on some cream cheese and then add slices of the other veggies. Goes great with freshly brewed iced tea! Mmmmmmm!

 

 

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I have been having to much fun in the world of blog today!

TOSPUBLISHER (Gena) was asking what your fav. crockpot recipe was...

 

Taco Soup

 

1 pound of cooked hamburger or meat of choice

1 can Chilli beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

(and/or any other beans I might have on hand)

1 can diced tomatoes with green chillies (including the juice)

1 can diced tomatoes (including the juice)

1 can of corn (including the juice)

1 package of taco seasoning OR I use some dashes of red chilli pepper, tad bit of paprika, garlic and chilli seasoning. I like to go by taste!

Cup or two of water.

 

For those who like their soup to kick back, I put in a jalapeno or two that I roasted in a dry hot skillet until the sides are all black. I then take off the blackend skin. Slice the pepper, seeds and all and throw in.

OR

I slice up a habanaro pepper

 

I set the crock on low and let it cook all day!

 

Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sliced avacados OR with cornbread and shredded cheese.