Ok, here's my honey wheat bread - recipe makes 2 loaves - very easy!

Regular ol' granola - I added in golden raisins this time 'cause that's what I had.

The Best Banana Bread Ever - it only makes one loaf & it's a bit complicated, but very yummy.  It usually makes enough for about 5-6 muffins too, but those got eaten for lunch and didn't make it to the photo shoot...

simple cheesy bread for the kiddos

delicious deep dish pizza - made with a garlic bread dough - I par baked the bottom crust a bit this time and it worked like a charm!

The personal pan size - for The Pastor's lunch one day this week.

Not your best heart-healthy recipe, I'm sure - It's meat-lover's all the way, baby!!

There ya go - if you are interested in a recipe, just let me know.  I used my KitchenAid mixer for everything here, except the granola of course, which was on the stove.

I also just finished two blankies for this new little one growing in secret - One more Toddler-ish size/feel blankie, and a very warm, kinda-fuzzy yarn blankie for those cold Michigan winters.  I still think he needs just a simple ol' baby yarn blankie....I'll have to make a trip to Wal-Mart for some basic baby yarn and crochet something simple....soon.

*I'll post pics of the blankies soon - oh, and if you know of any LONG arm glove patterns, I would love to know about it.  I am looking for something to make my children - basically a glove pattern that I can elongate the wrist to cover the lower arm as well.  This is the part of my children that gets the coldest when they play in the snow.....their little forearms get exposed, or snow gets down in there.  I need a pattern that I can adjust (or is already written that way) to go up to the elbow or so.  Let me know..

~a very productive day~ (well, except for the fact that the girl's were still in jammies when The Pastor came home....oh well, a gal can't do *everything*)

MommaJoy

Hello,

Ahhhh...it's so nice to have my mixer back.  Yes, it has been driving me crazy and yes, there's really no reason for us to have had it in the shop twice already - but it *is* working now and I'm sooooo thankful!

So today I was able to bake up a couple loaves of honey wheat bread, some garlic dough (which I will be using to make some cheesy bread and deep dish pizza for tonight's dinner) plus some awesome banana bread with a few muffins on the side.  AND, if I'm not totally worn out by tonight, I just may whip up a batch of PB cookies with those cute little chocolate kisses in the middle.  I also just found this site:

Tammy's Recipes

I've only had a chance to check out her Bread Recipes (in right hand column) but I bet there's other great recipes in the rest of the sections as well.  I think I'm going to try some of her muffins.  I *still* have yet to find the PERFECT muffin recipe...I'll keep searching - and my family will keep testing.

What I *didn't* get done was any cleaning around here.  It's not bad actually, but I need to stay on top of things before they GET bad.  I'm about to tackle a huge pile of laundry, and I'll continue with that tonight as well.  I also just cleaned out my Dyson (sp?) vacuum inside parts and it's filter.  I need to cut away all my hair wrapped around the bottom turny-thingy (descriptive, huh?).  Then, I will vacuum the whole house - I am a sick woman - I'm really looking forward to that.  I expect to have to empty the canister numerous times during the process - man, it's terribly dusty out here in Colorado.

No news on the house as of yet - I sent the property manager people 16 pics of the house to put up on rentclicks.com .  They should have that up in the next day or two (or I'll be bugging them again - as my mother says, the squeaky wheel gets the oil).  If we don't have something happening by Christmas, I may start getting a bit anxious - but I am praying that won't happen, and I'm also praying for HIS peace no matter what happens!

Ok, time to get back to the baking stuff - bread in the oven - perhaps pics and recipes to come....

~In Him~
MommaJoy

I remember thinking after dinner tonight, "no, I don't want to bake tonight.  I'm tired and I just want to veg in front of the t.v."

Ugh.

Good thing I didn't listen to myself.

First I cleaned my kitchen from dinner (yes, I have to have a clean kitchen to bake in - just one of my quirks).  Then I got everything out for a few of my dessert recipes I need to get done.  The Pastor came into the kitchen and asked how he could help - YEAH!  I really love to bake with other people. 

When The Pastor asked what kind of pie I was making for our Pie Service tomorrow at church, I told him Frozen Peanut Butter Pie.  He said "ick".  Oh no, great.  I got all cranky.   Then The Pastor felt bad 'cause he said "ick".  Then I got all crabby.  Finally, The Pastor just kinda left (under the pretense of helping one of the babies, I think).  While he was gone, I confessed to myself that I had chosen that pie 'cause *I* like it.  That's it.  So I hunted around, trying to find something I had on hand to use with another grahm cracker crust - then I found two packages of pistachio pudding.  Ah-ha!  The Pastor had just told me a few weeks ago that he loves anything pistachio (which btw, I don't).  Perfect.

So outside in our fridge, we now have two pies:  one Frozen Peanut Butter Pie and one Pistachio Pudding Pie.  YIPPEE!

Our babies were also "helping".  Here's some pics of their efforts:

Also, I am in the process of baking my famous (well, famous around our house and with some at church) Oatmeal Pecan Cookies.  Very yummy!  And this recipe is huge, I think I'll have more than 4 dozen. Awesome, especially considering the family I am bringing them to is a family of 12!!

So tomorrow, The Pastor and I will be picking up some accompaniment CD's of some Christmas music.  We have been asked to sing a few times in Dec. (a women's event and in service).  We are happy to do it, but just have to squeeze in the time with everything else going on too!

Then, while The Pastor is working and the babies are napping, I need to bake some Autumn Pumpkin Apple Bread and some Best Banana Bread Ever.  Then all I'll have to do on Thanksgiving is make some yeast rolls and a veggie tray - oh, and some deviled eggs.  Not bad, breaking it up over three days.

~Time for bed~

MommaJoy

My poor son....he is a mac-n-cheese purist.  And not just ANY mac-n-cheese, nope, it's Kraft or nothin'.  Yuck.

I have been working on him though.  I keep serving him variations of my homemade version and hoping for him to just take a bite, just one or two. 

Whew...he's stubborn.  He's learning that if he doesn't eat what is put in front of him, that's fine, we don't MAKE our children eat anything - but if you don't eat what is put in front of you, you'll go hungry.  We will NOT make you a separate meal just to cater to your wants.  If Lil' Man doesn't eat mac-n-cheese for lunch, well....dinner is at 6pm.

So today I tried this version.  I used garden rotini (you know, the tri-color stuff), shredded cheese, parmesan cheese, American cheese slices, flour (to thicken it up a bit) and S&P.  Amongst these layers, I added in just a few frozen peas and some left-over crisp bacon pieces.  Then I poured milk over everything and baked it covered for 30 min, then uncovered for 30 min.  Delicious!!

Other variations:  add in whatever left-over meat you have in the fridge, throw in some green veggies (mine are usually frozen), maybe some diced or stewed tomatoes - oh just anything that will go with mac-n-cheese.  I usually use little elbow macaroni (again, to try and get my son to appreciate the dish) but I was out so I used rotini.  Any fun shape is fine (I personally wouldn't use speghetti).

So there ya go.  Did Lil' Man eat it today - nope, not a bite.  And he whined a bit (got some time in our spare room to calm down and STOP WHINING - ugh) and told me he was hungry NUMEROUS times during the day.  I was strong though and he waited for dinner.  Dinner was Homemade Sloppy Joes (yummy!) on my honey wheat buns (a new trick I learned with my bread dough) and sticky cinnamon popcorn (The Pastor's fav) so rest assured, he did not starve.

Ya know, I *could* just feed my kiddos Kraft Mac-n-Cheese on a regular basis (and there have been times I've done just that, believe me) - but it's actually much more fulfilling and satisfying to know that I went to the trouble of being creative, making my own from-scratch foods, and feeding my family healthy and hearty meals.  Sometimes they are quite basic - but when it's all from scratch, when you KNOW it's good for them, even the simple, basic stuff is GREAT!!

~Tired~

MommaJoy

We received some fresh produce from a church family last night at AWANA.  Great potatoes, carrots, squash, corn, and this funny looking root I'd never seen before.  Turns out, it's a turnip. 

Ok.....I have NO IDEA how to cook turnips.

I've a gotten two recipes on-line to try - but I still feel nervous about it.  I don't know how to store, peel (do you peel?), salt (do you salt the water to boil them?), do you use all those green leaves on them (they look fairly wilted and kinda grody)?

Ok, new experience ahead - I'll just have to thank the Lord for His provision (we are fairly short on grocery money lately and produce has been nill) and take my best shot.  Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated.

In Him
~MommaJoy~

I know, I know....sounds *super* health-conscious, right??!  Oh well...

APPLE PIE OATMEAL

make old fashioned oats on the stove like normal.

while cooking the oats, add in some chopped apples

**as a side note, the apples we used this morning were from an apple orchard we visited with my parents in IN.  The kids were able to pick the apples right off the trees and therefore LOVE to eat anything with "their" apples in it.  So cool!

when cooked, add in some cinnamon, brown sugar and butter - to taste.  Be careful, it gets sweet QUICK (I have made this mistake before and the kids wouldn't even touch it).

Presto, apple pie oatmeal.  A great way to get grains into your child.

Btw, I've heard about soaking your old fashioned oats overnight, I just have yet to try it - anyone heard about his and actually tried it?? 

~MommaJoy~