Another Pie Post

Tonight I am having a get together.  HD will be 34 on Tuesday, yikes my man is getting closer to 40!  I am making baked chicken, fresh green beans, a sweet potato and apple casserole and a pie, a Turtle cheese  cake actually, is cheese cake, cake or pie you cut it like pie not cake, I think it's in the pie catagory and since I already gave this post the title of Another Pie Post, I am calling cheese cake pie, ok on with it already!

I decided that if I am going to eat this very fattening cheese cake you all should too, so please get to the store and make this with me, your friends will be thrilled your husband will be so happy (until swim suit season) and you will love it!

Turtle Cheesecake

1 3/4 cups chocolate gram crackers crumbs

1/3 cups butter melted

3 8oz cream cheese softened

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

2 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease 9 inch springform pan.

Crust:  Combine crumbs and butter, press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of pan.

Filling: beat cream cheese and milk until smooth, add sugar, eggs, lime juice and vanilla continue to beat.  Now microwave the 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips for 1 minute stir and microwave in 20 second intervals until the morsels are melted.  Take 2 cups of the batter and mix it with the chocolate.  Alternately spoon the batters into crust, beginning and ending with yellow batter. Bake 70 -75 minutes or until edge is set and center moves slightly.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then run knife around edge and let cool completely.  Drizzle syrups on top, sprinkle with nuts and morsels and refrigerate for at least 3 hours remove side of pan before serving.  

Eat and enjoy!  I am off to fold laundry, clean toilets and pick up toys!

Happy Saturday! 

Pie

I did not win the pie contest on Saturday nor did HD win the chili cook off.  The woman who won the first place in the pie contest also won 2nd place in the chili cook off and you want to know the worst part, she was pretty.  Now I don't think I would have minded half as much if she would have been slightly over weight with a mustache...

But noooooo she was tall and thin and blond and pretty with a cute outfit to boot!

I wanted to share my pie recipes with you, because I love you and they are really good.  Did I mention there were 41 pies entered into the contest?  So its not like I lost really bad.

Pecan Cream Cheese

1 refrigerated pie crust

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

1 egg

1 tea vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tea salt

3 eggs

1/4 cup sugar 

1 cup light corn syrup

1 tea vanilla

1 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Now with an electric mixer mix the first 5 ingredients until smooth.  Set it aside.  Now mix the next 4 ingredients well.  Spread the cream cheese mixture into the bottom of the uncooked pie shell and sprinkle the pecans on top of it.  Gently pour the corn syrup mixture onto of the pecans.  Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.  ( you may have to cover the crust with foil about half way through keep checking)

Macaroni and Cheese

My little bloggy, facebook friend Jodi from my hometown asked me if I had a Mac and Cheese recipe.  Now not only do I have a Mac and Cheese recipe I have the best Mac and Cheese recipe you have ever tasted!  I would love to take all the credit for this delicious master piece but it is actually my sister in law Jess's recipe.  Jess does not have a blog so I will share it with you!

Jess's Macaroni and Cheese

1 cup macaroni 

*All cheeses are grated*

1 cup provolone cheese

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup munster cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/2 stick butter 

2 eggs

Cook your noodles as the box directions.  Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients together.  Sprinkle the top with paprika.   Bake in a greased dish at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

I am telling you this is one amazing mac and cheese!

Some Answers part 2

I am really enjoying answering your questions.

Anonymous asked me how my day is set up, and if I have an advice on being a good wife and an marriage advice for a couple with young children~

I set my day up like this- We get up at 6 each morning, I set the coffee pot the night before so when we get up we have hot coffee waiting.  HD and I spend a few minutes reading the Bible and then I pack his lunch and make breakfast.  The kids get up between 6:30 and 7.  We eat breakfast together as a family and HD leaves for work at 7:30, We pray together as a family before he walks out the door.  I start school with the kids when he leaves.  I am teaching 2nd grade and Kindergarten so I alternate, Math with one and then the other, phonics with one and then the other.  I do some pre school with Daisy in between Math and phonics with the boys.  We have lunch around 1pm each day and Daisy takes a nap at 2pm.  I start dinner around 3 and when HD gets home at 5 its ready.  We sit together at the table and share dinner.  We will sometimes play a game after dinner sometimes we read books or even watch tv together.  The kids go to bed at 8.  I love to read so I read a lot in the evening.  HD and I sit together by the fire or on the couch and read or watch tv or just talk....

My advice on being a good wife is very simple, if your husband loves to eat make sure you feed him after a long day of work, if he hates a mess, then spend a few minutes cleaning up before he comes home.  My husband loves to eat and he likes me to be fixed up so every day at 4:45 I touch up my makeup and dinner is ready when he gets in the door.  The very best marriage advice I can give anyone with kids or not is pray for your husband!  Our husbands are faced with many challenges each and everyday and the best thing you can do is pray for him.  Pray together and if you have a husband who does not like to pray out loud ask him if you can pray with him and take his hand and just pray for you both.  Take time to be with each other alone also.  I treasure my time with HD in the evening when our kids are in bed, lets face it babysitters are expensive  so we have dates at home often, after the kids go off to bed I try and set the stage for a nice date sometimes romantic sometimes just fun.  

Little Toes asked me if I had an easy cake recipe for Christmas~  

I will give you my favorite cake recipe, its called Neiman Marcus Bars

Crust-

1 box of butter cake mix

1 stick of butter

1 large egg

Filling-

1 package of cream cheese 8 oz at room temp.

2 large eggs

1 tea pure vanilla extract

1 stick of butter melted

3 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for the first step mix the ingredients together for the crust, it should come together in a ball.  With your fingers pat it evenly into a 9x13 pan.

Next for the filling mix the first 4 ingredients together until smooth and then about a cup at a time add the sugar, mix until incorporated well.  Pour the filling on top of the crust mixture.  Bake in the oven for 45-47 minutes it should be well browned on top and just slightly jiggle when you shake the pan,  Place it on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes, cut and serve.  This is one  of my very favorite deserts ever! 

Growin' with it asked me three very good questions, What did I want to be when I grew up, If I was a superhero what would my powers be and what is my favorite color and why~

I had two career aspirations, I always and I mean always wanted to be a wife and mommy!  My mother and I lived with my Grandparents from the time I turned 5 and the only really good relationship I ever saw was that of my Grandpa and Grandma, I would dream of how my husband would sweep me away and we would have 7 children, I even had all 7 names picked out -Carlotta, Calliope, Collette, Christian, Justine, Jasmine and Sky.  I wanted a house full of girls.

My other dream job was to be a famous singer, not just a singer but a famous one, I wanted to be the next Reba!  Now being that I am from Dayton Ohio and with no hint of southern accent, this is a problem...

If I was a superhero I would totally have the power to be invisible, I would use my power to listen in on conversations and rid the Christian world of Gossip!  You would never know when Superhero Happy Mommy would be listening in and bust you for talking about your friends behind their back, so all Christian Woman everywhere would be kinder and way more careful about what they say, creating unity in the church like we have never known before!  Hey God's invisible and always listening, that should make us think.....

My favorite color is red!  I love red because I look good in red, red clothes, red lipstick, red shoes, and of course red nail polish.  I think red is a powerful color and when you where red you get noticed, not in a "your hot way"  but in a you know what your talking about way.  I don't think I ever walk by a woman dressed in red and don't look twice.  And all red food is yummy!

Calzones and randomness

I told you all yesterday that I would post a calzone recipe and it is so easy that I shouldn't even call it a recipe!

Calzones

1-2 pizza crust (in the can the roll out kind)

mozzarella cheese

pepperoni

good tomato sauce

I roll the pizza dough out into a large rectangle on a cookie sheet.  I put pepperoni down the middle, make it thick.  Now add as much cheese as you like.  Take one side of the dough and fold it over the cheese, now take the other side and fold over the dough.  Take the long calzone and flip it over so that the seem is on the underneath side of the calzone.  Take a little melted butter and brush it on top, add a little garlic salt, and make a few slits on top.   Bake at 375 for around 10 to 12 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on top.

I serve it with a really good chunky tomato sauce for dipping.  Enjoy!  It takes 3 calzones to feed my family so you might want to buy 3 or 4 packages of dough if you have a big appetite or company.

On to the randomness~

I hate the rain I have told you that 1000 times

It's raining and I doubt we are getting dressed

I get a headache if I don't have coffee the minute I get up

I think that means I am addicted

I know I am addicted

I only drink it black

No sugar!!!

HD drinks it like a girl with cream and sugar

He doesn't think that's funny

I do

I am going to do school with the kids 

They don't know it's Saturday

I love online shopping

I don't have to get dressed and go out in the rain which I hate

I wish it would snow

It does not snow in the south very much

Maybe  it will snow when we are in Ohio for Thanksgiving

I am not looking forward to the holidays without my Grandpa

I want to make it special for my children

I am really struggling

It's time to put up the tree

That might help

I don't like eggs

Our chickens our on strike they have stopped laying

An old farmer told us to put golf balls in the nesting boxes it will make them lay again

I think that's really funny

I am tired of trying to get pregnant

I realize I want to be in control

God needs to be in control he does much better at it than me

I again am struggling with that too

I ripped up our charts

God knows whats best even if it hurts 

I don't want to miss out on the kids I already have thinking about the baby I want

Daisy got a haircut

She looks like Kit Kittredge the American Girl, she loves it

I am going to start school now, Happy Saturday!

Happy Mommy's Slap Yo Mama Chicken Wing Dip

Chicken Wing Dip

4 lg cans of white chicken meat

1 bottle of Texas Pete Chicken Wing Sauce

2 8oz containers of cream cheese

1 bottle of Blue Cheese dressing (the chunkier the better)

8 cubs of shredded cheddar cheese

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker and simmer until melted and bubbly and serve with corn chips!

* I sometimes add extra cheese and blue cheese as well as extra wing sauce from time to time.

Hurry run to the store, you must have this very comfort comforting dip!

We are off to a football game Bo plays at 11 and Luke at 12, I am making snack bags and icing up some Gatorade, I''m team mom. And all the while baking my mom a birthday cake we are having a birthday party for her this evening. I am super busy today!

Happy Saturday!

A Baby Shower

Today we are celebrating my best friend Ruby Wife's baby! He will be coming soon, his due date is Oct 16. Dia, Ruby Wife's other best friend, and I are giving her a baby shower today, tonight actually. I am so excited for this new baby to enter our lives! One reason is that I want a baby so bad that I will get to sniff, hug and squeeze one very soon, and you just love your best friends kids it's a given, another reason is that Ruby Wife and her husband have been with us through the whole process of our vasectomy reversal and when we told them initially about the mistake we had made they were contemplating having one themselves, after hearing the heart break of our having a vasectomy and regretting it, they reconsidered, and God has blessed them with another child. I have always been very open about our reversal and I truly feel that for us it was a big mistake and I feel like many times people rush into a vasectomy with the stress of little children and regret it and if my and HD's story can help one family then I am glad to share.

We are going to play the "Don't say BABY" game in which ever woman gets a clothes pin and if she says BABY the clothes pin gets taken away by who ever hears it, the woman with the most clothes pins at the end of the night gets the prize. We are also playing a game where I printed the baby's name at the top of some pretty paper and we see how many different words we can come up with the woman with the most words wins. Ruby Wife was adamant NO wrapping Toilet paper around my large middle or I WILL KILL YOU, I think were her exact words.

Dia is in charge of Chicken salad sandwiches and cake. I am making Chicken Wing dip, BLT Dip a veggie tray and Reese Cup cookies.

I realize that I have yet to share my Chicken Wing Dip recipe with you, that is really a sad shame because it is so good, so warm and cheesy so so delicious.

The End.

Just kidding, but you will have to wait until tomorrow for my Chicken Wing Dip, only because I have to start school now. Did I tell you all that Twice Blessed Mommy was here? She is I have been holding babies already this morning.

Really come back tomorrow for the recipe, it's well worth it and you will be sending me XOXOXO on super bowl I swear!

BLT Dip

One of my best friends in junior high and high school was a girl named Danielle.  Danielle and I were not the coolest girls that's for sure, but we met in 6th grade when everything was changing and we hit it off and became inseparable!  

Danielle's Dad was a great father, we was the kind of Dad who took us everywhere.  Being that my Dad was absent from most all my life I really liked her Dad.  He even took us to the Gulf of Mexico for spring Break once, camping for a week and he just was a great Dad.  Unfortunately about 5 years ago he had a massive heart attack and past away.  I don't keep in contact with Danielle very often, my SIL "J" is friends and I was actually friends with "J" before we even knew our husbands, but she talks to Danielle from time to time and she is doing well.  Last night I dreamed about her and this morning I wanted to share a recipe of her fathers it is called BLT Dip, it brings back fond summer memory's of pool parties, and fun with my friend.

BLT Dip

1 quart of Mayo

1 pint sour cream

2 pounds bacon

2 med tomatoes

2 tablespoons of parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Cook your bacon crisp and crumble it all up.  Peel and deseed your tomato then cut into chunks.  Now mix all of the ingredients together.  chill and serve with club crackers.  This is always a major hit at my parties.  Enjoy!

The crock pot your friend

I want to share with you all today something that will save you tons of time and allow you to play all day in the summer sun!  Can you believe summer is almost over?  Hard to believe in only a month I will be homeschooling 2 children, I am nervous with a capital N!  Back to the time saving, use your crock pot, the crock pot is your friend!  It saves me so much time and it allows me to have very tasty meals while enjoying my day with the kids and staying out of the kitchen.  I use the crock pot a few times a month in the summer and even more in the winter because I love hot stew and soups.  I am going to share two recipes that are all mine.  One is my crock pot chicken and the only reason I have decided to share is because on Monday when I got a nasty comment you all were so supportive and I love you all really I do, so I think you all need this recipe!  And the second recipe will be Lima Beans and bacon, a great summer recipe that just screams I Live In The South...

HM's Crock Pot Chicken

8 to 10 pieces of dark meat chicken like legs or thighs or 1 whole chicken  I use dark meat 

2 cups of apple cider vinegar

2 table spoons of minced garlic

1 table spoon hot sauce

salt and pepper

This is such an easy recipe it's hard to believe its one of my families favorites.  I put the raw chicken in the crock pot and all the seasonings and vinegar and cook on med/low all day.  It cooks for about 8 hours.  At the very end you will need to take all the chicken out of the crock pot and clean all the bones out, pour the juice into another bowl making sure all the bones are out of the juice as well.  Now put the chicken back into the crock pot and pull it all apart.  I use two forks or my kitchen scissors.  After the chicken is good and shredded up add some of the juice back in to make a nice consistency for sandwiches.

Now serve on buns with some BBQ sauce I use Sweet Baby Rays.  I also make a side of french fries in the oven and a toss salad.  Easy and really quick dinner.

Lima Beans and Bacon

2 bags of frozen lima beans

2 20oz cans of diced tomatoes (undrained)

2 table spoons of spicy mustard

salt and pepper 

2 tea sugar

1/2 cup water

Place all of the ingredients in the crock pot and you will cook on low for 8 hours.  You will need to fry 1 or 2 pounds of bacon.  You serve these beans with the bacon chopped up on top and with some corn bread.  

So please pull your crock pot out and use them its not a winter only appliance and it can same you time!  

Have you ever had Pretzel salad?

Let me tell you pretzel salad is one of my favorite desserts of all times, and since it uses the word salad I am just a little less guilty for eating half the pan myself!  We have family visiting from Ohio this week, both of my grandma's baby sisters and my cousin Stacy and her daughter Emily who I played with when I was a little girl remember I posted a picture of us a few weeks ago.

So tonight I am having the whole gang over for dinner, we are going to have my special pulled chicken BBQ which I am starting now because it takes all day in the crockpot, don't you just love the crockpot?  I do, even more in the summer because we run all day and with swim lessons this week I can pop some goodies in the pot and still have a great dinner.

I am making HM baked beans, coleslaw which I have found to be so easy, I just use the food processor to chop up the cabbage and a few carrots and I have been using Maries Coleslaw dressing, this is the best coleslaw I have found you need to try it.

Now on to dessert I want you all to get to have this wonderful yummy and almost guiltless dessert with me.

Pretzel Salad

1 stick of butter or 1 cup of Parkay butter spray (if you are feeling very health conscious like my lower extremity's need me to be)

2 cups  white sugar

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

1 8oz container of cool whip

1 8oz container of cream cheese (can also use low fat but not fat free)

1 20oz can crushed pineapple

Melt butter and mix with pretzels and 1 cup sugar, press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, you are making a crust with sugar butter and pretzels, does it get any better than that IDONTTHINKSO!

Now take your room temp cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar mix well and then stir in the very well drained pineapple and then fold in the cool whip.

Now spread the pineapple mixture on top of the cooled pretzel crust.  Add a few crushed pretzels for looks and refrigerate for a few hours.

Now hurry off the store and buy everything to make this lovely salad you will thank me!  Happy Tuesday!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake (from Ruby Wife)

I am making this for dinner tonight and will be setting this to post on Saturday because we are going out of town.  I am giving you all this recipe because it just sounds so good I know it will be.  And Ruby Wife is a great cook so I know it will be good!

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (chopped in small bite size chunks)

1 Box of stuffing (chicken flavor)

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes undrained

2 TBS dried basil

2 cloves garlic minced (I use 2 TBS jarred garlic)

salt and pepper to taste.

1 or 2 cups Mozzarella 

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the uncooked but completely thawed chicken chicken chunks in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, salt and pepper the chicken.  Now mix the stuffing, tomatoes, basil and garlic in a bowl mix well.  If the mix looks dry you can add up to 1/2 cup of water but go slow so it's not soggy.  Spoon the mix over the chicken.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Take a small piece of chicken out for testing doneness.  If it is done, add the cheese on top and bake 5 more minutes.

Eat and enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal

On Saturday I normally take part in Saturday Stirrings with Dee Dee at It Coulda' Been Worse, but she is at She Speaks for a blog convention so I will not disappoint, I am going to give you a really easy recipe, we have this all the time!

Baked Oatmeal

3 Cups quick cook oatmeal

1/2 Cup white or brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup of applesauce

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix it all together (dry oatmeal) and put in a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Eat and enjoy!

This recipe can be changed in so may ways, sometimes I mash up 2 small banana's and add 1/4 of a cup of walnuts omitting the applesauce and cloves.  Bake the same.

I also chop up a large can of peaches and use those instead of applesauce I also change the milk for cream and no cloves.  Bake the same.

You can put 1/2 a can of pumpkin instead of applesauce, I then also add ginger it is like pumpkin pie.

You can add just about any fruit you want and it is great, I have done pears and mixed fruit.  I hope you all like this very easy recipe!

Saturday Stirrings~ Jelly Muffins

I am up early and making muffins today!  My kids love muffins!  This recipe is great because you can use any jelly you like, I am putting apple butter in mine.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil

Set oven at 400.  Combine flour, sugar and baking powder.  Make a well in the center.  Combine egg, milk, and oil now add all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just till moistened (batter will be lumpy) lightly grease or spray with non-stick all muffin pans, fill 1/3 full off batter and top with 1 teaspoon of jelly, jam or preserves then top with enough batter to fill each muffin 2/3 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

For more tasty recipes head over to It Coulda' Been Worse.

Cinnamon Bread

Two weeks ago a share a recipe, Gorilla bread.  It was tasty but a bit to rich for us.  So this week I  tamed it down at tried this.

Cinnamon Bread

2cans biscuits

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 TB cinnamon

1 stick of butter

Pre heat the oven to 350, spray a bundt pan with non stick spray and then mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Cut each biscuit in half and roll around in the sugar mixture, layer in the bottom of the pan. After the first can of biscuits has been used pour 1/2 of the melted butter over the rolls, and add 1/2 of the sugar mixture on top of that.  Now repeat the above steps.  Bake for about 25 min.

We loved this, it was much better than the first recipe.  For more great Saturday Stirring ideas head on over to It Coulda Been Worse.

Now we are off to go pick strawberries, I'll have to post our jam recipe later!  And pictures too.

Coconut Dream Cake and Pasta Salad

Good Morning!  I am going to share with all of you my favorite dessert besides ice cream and Cherry Dump cake!  So Today I will be making Coconut Dream Cake.  You need to make it the day before.  This is the hard part.  I love this cake and it calls to you really it does.  It's a very simple recipe, the coco' de cream is found in the drink mix isle of the store with pina colada and margarita mixes.  Coco' de cream is in a can a little bigger than a soda and it is super thick.

Coconut Dream Cake

1 Box White Cake Mix

1 Can Coco'de Cream

1 Cool Whip

1 1/2 Cups of Sweetened Shredded Coconut Flakes

Make the cake as the package directions adding 1/2 cup of the coconut, and bake in a 9x13.  Cool your cake and when it is completely cooled poke wholes all over the cake, and pour at least 1 1/2 cups of the Coco'de cream over the top, the cake may even float up a bit, that's  good.

Mix the Cool Whip and the remaining coconut together and ice the cake with it.  Refrigerate for no less than 12 hours but 24 is much better.

Have self control don't you cut into it early, it's worth the wait I promise!  

Now I will share my pasta salad recipe, because it's almost Mothers Day and it's my gift to you. really it is that good.  It's so good I am afraid my husband might slap my momma cause his won't be with us tomorrow.  Watch out Mom....

Happy Mommy's Pasta Salad

1 1/2 Boxes of Small Shell Noodles that's 24oz

1 Lg Can Large Black Olives

2 Bunches of Green Onions

1 Large red of yellow Bell Pepper

1 Med size Package of Crab Meat (found in the meat department not canned)

1 lb of Shrimp (med size)

1 32oz Hellman's real Mayo ( add slowly you might not need it all)

4 TB Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Make your pasta and set to the side.  Lightly chop your olives, slice your onions thinly and chop your pepper.  Pull the crab meat apart with your hands slightly shredding it.  Clean your shrimp and if uncooked cook, and add, if frozen which I do use run under cold water and pat dry add to bowl.  Add noodles and then add the mayo and the you may not need it all so add it slowly.  Add the vinegar and the salt and pepper.  Very easy and so tasty!

For more wonderful recipes head over to It Coulda' Been Worse.  Happy Mother's Day!

$15.94

Our weekend was filled with lots of fun.  Saturday we had a birthday party at my house for my Grandpa he turned 79 on Sunday.  I made Pioneer Woman's Lasagna, and it was wonderful!  I also bought some Italian bread which I like much better than French bread, I put a garlic butter spread on it and bake.  We also had Pea Pickn' Cake and it was great!  So we gave Grandpa a party and his gifts.  We enjoyed our time with My Aunt (Twice Blessed Mommy) and family.  The babies loved playing with our Little People toys.

On Sunday we all went to my favorite Chinese restaurant.  I love the sushi, not the kind with raw fish the kind with vegetables.  The owner's name is May and she is as sweet as she can be, she had the staff come and sing to my Grandpa.  I feed the babies rice, and noodles, they loved it.  Until Reese stuffed a huge bite in her mouth and choked, (Kristen I thought of you) we scooped the mess of rice out of her mouth and all was well.  I tried to get her to take a drink of water, but she doesn't know how to drink from a straw.  I will be working on that, on our vacation to Florida, in less than 3 weeks, have I told you all that we are going on a beach vacation in less than 3 weeks, we are going with Dana and Joe.

After dinner we went out to our land, just the kids Happy Daddy and I.  We walked around for

 a few hours dreaming and planning where our new house is going to be, where we want the barn and the garden...  So after all our walking, and after 20 minutes of picking ticks off of ourselves we were kinda hungry not really hungry, so we asked the kids if they wanted to have ice cream for dinner.  You will never guess what they said "YES"!!

So off we headed for our local DQ.  I had a medium Reese Cup Blizzard, and did you know that Dairy Queen had the name Blizzard copy righted in 1954 but we did get to try the first Blizzard as we know them today until 1986, I bet you all needed to know that, didn't you.  Have I mentioned that my favorite food is ice cream and that I would give up a whole days worth of food for ice cream.  Happy Daddy had a large Heath Blizzard.  Luke had a Chocolate dipped waffle bowl with vanilla ice cream and camel sauce.  Daisy had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and Bo the middle child had to be different he wanted a lime slush, now mind you this is dinner, we wanted him to have a little calcium at least.  We gave in he had his lime slush.  And our total was $15.94, I think that's a lot of money.  I could have bought a half gallon of Edy's Vanilla Bean for 3.94 and a whole lot of Reese Cups and made our own Blizzards.  

It was really good though.  I'm not sure if  it was $15.94 good.  Daddy pointed out that we also could have ordered a pizza for $10, and got the ice cream and some banana's for the same price.

Oh well, our kids think they have the greatest parents in the world!

Gorilla Bread

I never like to serve my friends a dish, I haven't tried myself, so I got up this morning at 5:55 (you read that right) because Bo and Daisy were in the bed with us and at 5:55 I had enough of a foot in my back and an elbow in my neck...

I am making this wonderful recipe on Wed morning for my Woman's Bible study, so I thought I would make it this morning and try it out on my family.

It takes about 25 min to prepare so set aside enough time.

Gorilla Bread

1 Cup White Sugar

1 TBS Cinnamon

1 Stick Butter

1 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar

1 8oz Package Cream Cheese

2 7.5 Oz Cans of Refrigerated Biscuits (10 count)

1 1/2 Cups Nuts (pecans or walnuts)

1.Pre heat your oven to 350, Spray a Bundt pan with non stick cooking spray.  2. Mix the white sugar and the cinnamon together and set aside.  3.  In a sauce pan melt the brown sugar and butter over low heat, stirring well, set aside.  4.  Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal pieces.  Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar mix, place one cube of cream cheese in the center of each and seal the biscuit around the sugar/cinnamon mix and cream cheese.  Repeat this with all the biscuits.  5.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup of nuts into the bottom of the Bundt pan.  Place 10 biscuit's on top of the nuts,  Sprinkle with 1/2 of the remaining cinnamon sugar and then pour 1/2 of the melted brown sugar and butter on top.  Now top with remaining biscuit's and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and pour remaining melted sugar over the top and top off with the remaining nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes and place a plate on top of the Bundt pan and invert onto plate.

Eat and enjoy!

For other great Saturday Stirring recipes go here!

Pea Pickn' Cake

Sunday is my Grandpa's 79th birthday.  My Grandpa and Grandma helped raise me, so my Grandpa is my Daddy!  I am having a birthday party for him tomorrow and I will be making one of his favorite cakes, Pea Pickn' Cake.  So with much Bloggy Love I will share the recipe with all of you.

1 Box White Cake mix

1/2 cup Oil

4 Eggs

1 Box of Vanilla Instant Pudding

1 8-9 oz Container of Cool Whip

1 11 oz Can of Mandarin Oranges (with Juice)

1 15 oz Can Crushed Pineapple (undrained)

Combine cake mix with eggs, oil and oranges with the juice, mix well.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 30 min.  Cool cake completely!

Mix Pineapple and pudding mix together, fold in the cool whip. Spread on top of the cooled cake, cover and chill in the refrigerator over night if you can handle the wait, or at least 4 hours.

Go make yourself some good cake!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Happy Saturday!  Today I have whipped up

some yummy muffins, that is if one can whip

anything up this early on a Saturday!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Tbs Baking Powder

1 Egg

3/4 cup Milk

1/4 cup Vegetable oil

1-2 tsp Lemon Extract (Not Lemon Juice)

1 Tbs Poppy seeds

Place flour, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl.  Make a little well in the middle and add all other ingredients mix.  Don't go crazy stirring, some lumps are good with muffins.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

For more wonderful Saturday Stirring Recipes head over to It Coulda' Been Worse.  Hurry now you know you need some ideas!

Banana Bread recipe

I thought you all might like to know what we are having for breakfast in the morning.  Banana bread with fresh (frozen fruit) fruit.  I found that the kids really like the frozen fruit from Sams Club, it has strawberries and pineapple and mango, melons and I think grapes, it's just a little under $9 for a large bag the bag lasts for about 3 breakfasts.  We have fruit for breakfast about two times a week with yogurt or fresh muffins.  Tomorrow I am going to have Banana bread, it smells so good I thought I would share my recipe with you, you all, my cyber friends..

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup Sugar

2 tea Baking Powder

1/2 tea Baking Soda

1/4 tea Salt

1 tlbs Vanilla 

2 Eggs (fresh from your very own back yard if you have them)

1/3 cup Shortening 

2 tlbs Milk

2 or 3 Ripe Bananas / Mashed

1 cup Pecans / Chopped

I just mix it all together and I use two loaf pans, I like thinner slices of bread, you can use one loaf pan and make a really thick loaf.  Bake at 350 for about 50-60 min.

Now the hard part is to wrap the warm wonderful smelling bread up in plastic wrap and wait until morning, but if you can, it is so moist and wonderful you will thank me!