jump up and down

in the kitchen: crock pot peanut clusters

 

I got this recipe at a Relief Society Candy Recipe Exchange activity that I attended a couple of weeks ago.  There were many delicious candies and recipes shared that evening, but this is the only recipe I brought home because it was the only one that I really thought I would make because it was so easy.  I think I might be getting lazy, or just more realistic about the amount of work I am actually willing to put forth for something good to eat.  

Crock Pot Peanut Clusters

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

16 oounces white chocolate chips

16 ounces white almond bark

16 ounces dry roasted salted peanuts

16 ounces dry roasted unsalted peanuts

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker on low for 1 hours, stirring occasionally.  When the chocolate is completely melted, use a spoon to drop small mounds on waxed paper.  Let the mounds set up and store in air tight container in the fridge.  Makes a ton!  Well, not really a ton, but around 100 clusters.

For the salted peanuts, I used the dry roasted peanuts that you can get at Costco.  These are very lightly salted and I think you could use two pounds of these peanuts instead of the unsalted and salted.  If I make them again, I'm going to try this.

Like I said in my last post, I'm not a big fan of making the same thing over and over again for neighbors and friends, so I also made these simple homemade oreo cookies, this pumpkin bread, and a great simple bread recipe that I know I got from a blog a while ago, but I can't remember which one.  And of course, there have been lots of extras for us that I've been enjoying a little too much in the last few days.  Tis' the season, right?  Enjoy!

the birthday boy: six

Peter turned six!  Yes, yes, we did have a birthday (almost two weeks ago), but it's kid birthday season (Ned's is in about two weeks) in our house and we're just calling it birthday month around here.  So, excuse me if I'm a little late in posting this, but I'm still in celebration mode.  Peter had a great day complete with candles in his morning pancakes and a visit to a friend's house in the afternoon where he ran a car track from their moose head antlers to the floor and saw their chickens.  He loved it!

For those of you who followed on Facebook, I did go with strawberry skewers for his class treat.  I am always appalled at the amount of sweets that end up at the class parties and I wanted to do something healthy.  The kids loved it!  Phew!  I was a little worried.  I printed the free flags from Fog and Thistle.  I think I will do the same thing for Ned's class birthday treat.  

I love this kid's smile.  And that he has no trouble picking out the best flavor cake - that was one delicious chocolate cake.  Thanks for making me a mom, Peter - you're a great kid!

I am still debating whether I will throw the boys a joint friend birthday party when the weather gets warmer.  I told myself this was the year.  Talk me into it please...

easter

Thank you for all of your encouraging comments in the last post.  I am dealing with it all fairly well - the most noticeable change to me is that I'm not eating as well or exercising as much, which is unfortunate because those things would probably help me feel better.  I felt like I wasn't blogging much because there were so many things going on that I hadn't shared here yet that were the biggest parts of my life.  We are enjoying a nice relaxing Easter weekend at home which is really helping.  Here's some of what we've done.

I tried the electrical tape method from the latest MS Living magazine, but it didn't turn out quite as neat as hers did.  I also tried punching out some shapes, but they just fell off the eggs.  Did anyone else try this?

 The boys did a little coloring with crayons on their eggs, but mostly just wanted to get another one in the dye as soon as one egg was finished.

I made two bowling bunnies - finished them very late last night and slipped one in each easter basket.  I have enough to make a full set embroidered and cut out.  I hope to finish them today.

 And orange rolls (although I use the Refrigerator Roll recipe instead of the Dinner Roll on).  This is more of a General Conference tradition for us than an Easter one.  There's no better day to listen to conference than Easter - I'm grateful to be home enjoying the day, learning about the Savior, and watching the boys hide their eggs and then go searching for them again.  Happy Easter everyone!

sweet potato muffins

 

It's been a long time since I've shared a recipe on my blog - I'm glad to be back at it with one of my favorites!  I've been making these for a couple of years and loving them every time.  The kids love them too.  I took a recipe from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Simmons and modified it a bit by cutting sugar, substituting some of the oil for applesauce, adding some wheat flour and generally making it a little more healthy.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Muffins

3/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c canola oil

1/4 c applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 c white flour

1 c wheat flour

2 tsp baking poswder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp salt

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and finely grated, to make 4 cups    (I usually do this with my food processor - they are pretty tough, making it difficult to grate by hand unless you have arms of steel.)

1/2 c raisins (optional)

1 c chopped nuts (optional, but oh so delicious)

1) Preheat the oven to 350.  Insert 12 muffin liners into muffin cups.

2) In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and eggs.

3)  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt, and grated sweet potatoes.  Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg mixture.  Stir the egg mixture, gradually incorporating it with the flour mixture.  Stir in the raisins and nuts.  Spoon the batter into the tins, filling each to the rim.  Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

popcorn balls

It's probably way too late for this post - all of you are into your healthy eating resolutions and I will just be tempting you with this delicious treat.  But if you didn't make a healthy eating resolution or you are like Ned who said, "I still need more Christmas!" this morning, this is something you should definitely try right now.

These are my grandma's popcorn balls.  I grew up eating these and I promise that after you have one you will not be able to eat another popcorn ball again.  I never could!  The secret to their full flavor and bright colors is Jello.  This year we made them in four flavors - cherry, strawberry, lime, and orange.  We gave a few to neighbors and friends, some to my grandma who is taking care of my sick grandpa and didn't make any homemade treats this year and kept a few for ourselves.  I finished the last one on New Year's Day.  And even though they are super easy, I only make them once a year, so I'll just have to drool over the pictures until Christmas comes around again.

POPCORN BALLS

1 c. light corn syrup (see I told you they were not good for you!)

1/2 c. sugar

1 3 oz package of flavored gelatin

12-14c. of unflavored popped popcorn - we use air popped, but I think pan/oil popped would work just fine - just don't flavor it.  In my popper it is about 1/3 c. unpopped.

Bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil while stirring.  When mixture reaches boiling, cook for 4 minutes then remove from heat and add gelatin, stirring until dissolved.  Pour mixture over popped popcorn (make sure the popcorn is in a very large bowl) and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix well.  Quickly form the popcorn balls  by dipping your hands in cold water (keeping a bowl close by or turning the faucet on momentarily works great), taking a handful of the popcorn mixture and squeezing.  Place balls on waxed paper and let sit for 1-2 hours.  Each batch makes about 10 popcorn balls.

Here are a few shots of the process.  This was with the orange batch which wasn't nearly as colorful as the others so it is harder to see the syrup mix on the popcorn, but hopefully they are still helpful.  

Make sure the popcorn is coated well before forming the balls - sort of like rice crispy cereal when you are making rice crispy treats.

 A good handful is just about the right size - squeeze it a bit and set it down on the waxed paper.  When they have dried for an hour or two,  you can slip them into a sandwich bag or they can be wrapped in a square of wax paper and tied with ribbon.  Of course, I always enjoy one right after I've formed them - nice and warm and gooey!  Enjoy!

oven dill pickles and a bit of a pickle

It seems that even though I know what my next blog post will be doesn't mean that I will get it up...I think I have some reasons why I've been such a sparse blogger lately.  But let me first share that dill pickle recipe that I promised.  These are super easy and super delicious.  Something about processing them in the oven makes them turn out a little crunchier than pickles done in a hot water.  It is probably a little late for most of you to be getting a pickle recipe, but perhaps some of you in warmer climates can still make use of it.  

OVEN DILL PICKLES

3 quarts of water

1/2 cup of canning salt    

1 quart of white vinegar

Cucumbers 

Powdered Garlic

Dried Dill

Wash cucumbers, cut if desired, and stuff into jars leaving a 1/4" head space.   Add 1/4 tsp powdered garlic and 1 teaspoon dried dill per quart jar.  

In a large pot,hat brine until salt dissolves.  Pour brine over cucumbers in jar.  Wipe tops and put new lids on firmly.  

Fill a roasting pan with one inch of water and put prepared bottles into the pan.  Put the pan in a 300 degree oven for 20 min.  Remove pan and put bottles on a rack or a towel .  Tighten lids and let sit for one week before eating.  

 Here is my last basket of tomatoes.  I gathered them a little over a week ago on the day before we had our first freeze.  And then on Monday it snowed and it's been cold, cold, cold ever since.  Yes, it will get colder, but summer is definitely over which is such a shame because summer is definitely the best season in Idaho. 

And now let's discuss my pickle...I started a blog a few months after I discovered the world of craft blogging - I wanted to share in this great world.  I also started blogging to share a part of our family life with my friends and family that were far away (we are 4 hours from the closest family).  In addition, I also started this blog to promote my shop, but I don't think I do a very good job of that here and I'm not really sure that many people are reading my blog to keep track of what's going on in my shop anyway.  Let me know if you are - I'd be curious to know if anyone out there is hoping for more shop news here.  Lately, I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the blogging world.  There are so many blogs and even though I have really tried to pare down the ones I am reading, I still cannot keep up with it lately. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this is a community in which there is giving and taking and sometimes I'm not sure if I have the time to keep up.  I like to respond to my comments, but have also found that hard to do - especially since Typepad change the comment e-mail format.  I have become more concerned about the safety of the information that I share here about our family.  I admire bloggers who seem to be able to share just the right amount of personal info to make their blog more personable and interesting without indulging all of their family secret but sometimes I'm not sure where to draw the line, especially as the mother of a child with special needs.  

I have thought lately about a lot of different things I could do - stop blogging altogether, go private, start another blog for family and friends with more family information and become more crafty here.   I can't seem to come up with a solution that will make me happy.  I'm not sure that I really want to stop blogging.  I'm not a big fan of private blogs, mostly because they can't be read in a reader and I have a really hard time remembering to check them.  And I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with one blog, let alone two.  How do you decide how much time to spend on blogging and all that it entails - reading, responding to comments, photos, posting, etc.?  And if I were to change some things around here, what would you like to stay?  What brings you here and what would you like to see more of?  I'd love to hear from as many of you as possible.  One thing that I've always loved about blogging is the feedback that I can get here.  I probably wouldn't have moved to our ugly little house if you hadn't all convinced me that I could make it livable.  There are definitely some drawbacks to living in this old house, but overall, we are very happy that we made this move and we are all benefitting from it.  I'm sure you will all enlighten me again!

this and that

Apparently, I am having some issues with finding my blogging groove lately.  I'm not really sure what it is...a combination of the shop being pretty busy, the schedule being a little more hectic with both of the boys in school, some lighting issues in our house that are making it harder to get consistently good photos, and this issue of "going to town."  If I have to "go to town,"  it seems to take up the entire day and when I get home I am so tired from trying to hit 4 or 5 places in a row (with boys in tow), that I usually don't get anything else done that day.  And I usually end up going to town about twice a week - once for our therapy day and then there is inevitably some other random event or appointment.  Is this just part of small town life?

So here's what I've been up to lately, all in one post....

I had so much fun with these the Christmas Block Swap.  I really need to figure out how to fit more quilts into my sewing schedule.  I haven't taken a pic of the ones that I got back yet, but there were some great ones.  Thanks again to Beth for organizing this great swap!

A huge cold front is forecasted to come in tonight, so I'm afraid my favorite summer lunch might be coming to an end.  I just slice some zucchini, saute it in a bit of olive oil with some onions, and then add tomatoes when the onions and zucchini have softened and cook a bit more.  You can season it with just salt and pepper, or add some garlic, or basil - whatever you like.  And after the tomatoes have stewed for a bit, pull it off of the burner and add some fresh mini mozzarella balls.  I got mine at Costco for a great price.  Mmmmm.....I think I know what I'll be having for lunch today!

And thrift shopping - I have been doing lots and lots of thrift shopping lately.  I've been really trying to be open to finding more of my clothing at the thrift store.  It's so much better for my wallet and the environment.  I have normally avoided finding clothes for myself at the thrift store, as I usually have a hard enough time finding clothes I like and that fit at a normal store.  I cut two pairs of my pants into shorts at the beginning of the summer and got rid of several things that were worn out or just didn't fit right and I knew my fall wardrobe was going to need a real boost this year and that the budget for that wardrobe would be fairly small.  I haven't had much luck finding pants at the thrift (but I have found several on the clearance rack - a total of 5 for about $50), but the shirts and sweaters and even a skirt or two have been rolling in - usually for $5 a piece or less!  Hooray for that!  Here is one of my favorites - a vintage red gingham shirt.  I think I got this one for $2 and the shoes you can see were totally new for $3.50.  

I'm going to get myself a tripod and hopefully deal with some of my lighting issues and hopefully I will get more used to our new schedule soon.  Peter is currently in the middle of his two week Spud Harvest vacation (apparently we are one of only a few schools left in Idaho who actually let out for Spud Harvest) so that's not helping either one of us get used to the new schedule, but I am learning how to pass lots of slow moving trucks full of potatoes!  I even have my next post planned - check back for those Oven Dill Pickles, plus a couple of other refrigerator pickle recipes that I tried.  Hopefully I'll be back soon and in the groove again!  I've missed all of you!  

celebrating with frozen bananas

Thanks to Sandi for the pic (taken last year).

Yesterday we celebrated nine years of marriage with frozen bananas - romantic, aren't we?  We aren't much for making a big deal about anniversaries - maybe we will next year when we hit ten, but I actually thought it was perfect to celebrate with our kids.  They are, of course, one of the reasons why we got married!  And here's an anniversary countdown - a little summary of our nine years. 

    9 great years
    8 the date our youngest was born
    7 the date our oldest was born
    6 years of graduate school
    5 houses or apartments
    4 kitchen chairs - we fill them all now
    3 states
    2 requests - Wednesday and eclairs for our wedding
    1 day at a time

The frozen bananas were delicious - I really love these and haven't had one for a long time.  I have been seeing them around the blogosphere all summer and have been longing to make some.  I've seen several versions of how to do these - I just covered the bottom of a glass pie dish with semi-sweet chocolate chips, microwaved for 30 seconds at a time to melt, and added 1-2 tbsp of canola oil when I started stirring the chocolate.  I cut the bananas in half and put the popsicle sticks in while the peel was still on.  I did have to help the chocolate onto the banana with a spoon and then I shook on the sprinkles.  After a few hours in freezer, enjoy a delicious treat.

And on a side note - I finally captured the reason why Ned is going to have surgery in a week and a half.  He's been a bit uncooperative and cross-eye is intermittent, but there it is.  I think it makes him look adorable, but he's got double vision because of it, which obviously can't be good!

sunday dinner

Even though I didn't want to use the oven today, it was worth it to cook the crust of this fabulous fruit pizza - recipe from Family Fun magazine.  It was the perfect Sunday dinner - yum!

favorite sandwich

one of my favorite sandwiches lately...

toast whole wheat pita bread, spread hummus on each side, sprinkle on feta cheese on each side, cut open kalamata olives and place on one side.  Put the two sides together and enjoy!