I am not going to complain but yes, it was actually HOT today!

I was so happy though, when we did have to go out there was a nice breeze, so overall it wasn't too bad. The girls had a Doctor's appointment today, clean bill of health, yeah! But of course, they need to put on some weight. That wasn't anything I didnt know, twins are usually small, and their Daddy was a small baby, so we expected this. I have been researching recipes to try to help them gain some weight, but still be nutritious and tasty enough that they want to eat it. Today being hot I also wanted something to cool them off. I found this recipe last week and tested it, and loved it fresh made, and knew we would love it frozen. 

I am sure you will find, as I continue to blog about recipes, how much I love Nutella. I discovered it when I was going to a nutritionist and she wanted me to eat peanut butter which I hated. She suggested Nutella and ever since I have been in love!

This recipe is so easy, it takes a few moments to make and you dont have to wait for it to freeze for it to be enjoyable!

Nutella Fudge Pops

• 3 frozen bananas
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2c choc-hazelnut butter (Nutella)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used Vanilla Bean Paste for a little more flavor)
• tiny pinch salt

Blend all ingredients until super-smooth. (I used a food processor, and thawed the bananas a tiny bit so they’d blend.) Eat as ice cream, or scoop into popsicle molds (or paper cups) and freeze for fudgsicles. I highly recommend doubling this recipe as it goes fast!

Enjoy and God Bless!

Busy crazy day!

 Do you ever have those? I feel like I couldn't fit much more in, and then I look back and look around me, and wonder what I actually accomplished. It doesn't look like much, but then, every little step helps I guess. 

So today I thought I would write about what is absolutely one of my all time favorite recipes. The reason I think today is good for this, is that this is a recipe even the busiest person can find time for, and I manage to make it very frequently. I make it for every Pampered Chef party, as a gift for my Host, and have been making it for a friend who buys it regularly, as well as making it for all sorts of parties, functions, etc. It is easy, yet looks and tastes so impressive. And the best yet? It saves you a ton of money on something comparable at the store. 

It is called Artisan Bread. It has only 4 ingredients, (in the basic recipe) no preservatives, and takes literally only a few moments of time to prepare and work, and 45 minutes total to bake. There are all sorts of ways to use it too, and every flavor I have tried so far has been amazing. It is also pretty forgiving I have found, so if something isn't perfect about it, it still manages to come out good anyhow.

Artisan Bread

3 cups Bread Flour (Do not use all purpose flour for this)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I prefer sea salt but any kind will work)

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (bread yeast also works well)

1 1/2 cups slightly warm water (I find that just slightly above room temp is perfect)

Combine all dry ingredients and stir to mix. Add water and stir. Dough will become rather sticky. Make sure to stir till it pulls away from the side of the bowl, and turn over to make sure there are no dry spots or flour that isn't incorporated.  (I find if my house feels really dry I sometimes need to add a little more water, so I add a little at a time till my dough is mixed and there is nothing dry, usually only a few more tablespoons at most depending on the weather and temp)

Cover bowl tightly and let sit on your counter for 12-24 hours. (Like I said very forgiving recipe) Get the bread ready about 2 hours before you want to bake. You will know it is ready to bake when you see that it has risen in the bowl and has lots of little bubbles on the surface and throughout. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Stretch the dough a few times, and turn over to coat with flour. If there are very large bubbles you will want to pop them as they will expand when baking and fall when done leaving a hole in the bread. Small bubbles are fine and mean the dough is light and airy. (Do not overstretch as this makes the bread tough, do it 3-4 times just making sure it's well floured) Fold dough to fit your loaf pan. I bake mine in the Deep Covered Baker by Pampered Chef. If you are using a Standard loaf pan, cut the dough in half when stretching and make two standard loaves. I use parchment paper, if you do not have this, well oil and grease the pan before placing the dough in seam side down. Allow to rest covered on the counter for 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake covered (In Deep Covered Baker) for 30 minutes. Then remove cover and bake another 10-15 minutes to allow the top to brown. If you are using a standard loaf pan with no cover, start with 20-25 minutes and check the bread. When it is done, it will have risen in the pan, be nicely brown and spring back when pressed on. If it doesn't spring back it isn't done yet.

This bread does well when eaten within a few days, and around here it doesn't last that long anyhow. There are no preservatives in it, so in warm weather you will want to refrigerate it.

Some yummy flavors I have tried are :

any flavor of Mrs Dash, italian seasoning, rosemary - add 1 1/2 teaspoons to the dry ingredients, then proceed as above. 

Bread dipping oil seasonings, lighter flavored seasonings - add 2 teaspoons to the dry ingredients, then proceed as above. 

Pressed Garlic, parmesan cheese - 1-2 cloves, and 1/4 cup - add to dry ingredients, then proceed as above. When ready to bake, add thinly sliced tomatoes and onions to the top, with more freshly grated cheese, for a foccacia type loaf.

2-3 teaspoons of Cinnamon, 3 teaspoons orange zest, 1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries. Add all to dry ingredients, mix well, and when adding water, replace 1/2 cup water with orange juice. Proceed as above. This makes a very lightly sweet cinnamon bread. You can add sugar or sugar substitute to the dry ingredients if you want a sweeter dough. 

Experiment and have fun! you can make dinner rolls, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, all sorts of yummy baked goods with this as a base. 

Have fun and let me know when you try it!

Happy Baking and God Bless!

What a weekend! 

Busy, crazy, and fun. Our life  is usually that way, even mundane things like grocery shopping are fun when you have the two cutest twin girls in the world, (I am a little biased ;))

So although I did not have time to write about it, I did get the chance to test a few recipes. (Heard no complaints from the husband about this either, as he is my biggest guinea pig ) A couple still need a little tweaking, but overall they were very tasty. Which is a good thing as I wanted to write about them this week. I am also going to remind myself to post photos, I do have them for every recipe, just new to this blogging thing and I forgot. 

So what to tell you about today? Well, I am waiting for a warmer day to write about the amazing fudg-cicles I made, so today I think I will tell you about a recipe I made for my Team Meeting last week. It was so amazing, easy, tasty, and DIFFERENT! I don't know about you but I get sick of bringing the same old thing to every party and get together, it was nice to find something a little different. I tried the recipe, tweaked it a little (Adding citrus, using vanilla bean and less fattening version of cream cheese, and something to dip in) and viola! A fun new summer recipe...

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar

Ingredients:
-1 lb large strawberries (you will definitely want to double this as they go fast!!)
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling, and you can substitute with Splenda)
-2 tsp lime juice

-1 tsp vanilla extract (I used about 1/3 of a vanilla bean)
-graham cracker crumbs
I served this with sour cream and brown sugar for dipping, dip in sour
cream first then the brown sugar, DIVINE!

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove
the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may
already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla
until creamy. 

3. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the
corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once
strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. 

If not serving immediately, refrigerate until ready. If trying the sour cream and brown

sugar, wait till you are ready to serve to put bowls of that out, and do not mix them,

as the brown sugar will dissolve. And trust me, I know it sounds like an odd combo, 

but just try it you won't be sorry!

Happy Cooking and God Bless!

Summer.

I think it's here. 

Mother Nature isn't positive yet, but school is getting out, grills are getting cleaned off and some have been in use for quite some time. Around here the weather has been good enough for us to use the grill since April. So of course, that means less cooking indoors, and less dishes. Mama likes this...

In the past I would get so sick of grilling the same things over and over, so this year I decided that I wanted to be more adventurous.

My new favorite, and something my husband requests almost daily, is Grilled Pie. 

Yes, you heard me, PIE!

I first saw a recipe for this posted on Facebook, and found one on the Pillsbury site too, and between the two, made something up that I really love, and have now created a few versions of. 

Grilled Rustic Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb fresh strawberries (about 2 2/3 cups), thinly sliced

3-4 teaspoons sugar or splenda

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 pie crust (as for a single crust pie, or you can use the pre-made crust from Pillsbury, one roll, room temp)

1/3 cup strawberry rhubarb jam or preserves (not jelly) *I don't like rhubarb but in this it is very good, if you don't care for it feel free to use plain Strawberry)

1-3 teaspoons whipping cream (Not whipped cream, find this by the milk, and use the rest to make some home made whipped cream)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. If there is a temperature gauge on grill, try to maintain it at about 350°F.

In medium bowl, mix strawberries, 2-3 teaspoons of the sugar and the cornstarch. (Do this to your taste, it's fine with 2 teaspoons, unless the strawberries aren't very sweet)

Unroll pie crust onto lightly oiled aluminum foil pan. (I use the Pizza Grill Pan from The Pampered Chef) Spread jam evenly over crust to within 1 1/4 inches of edge.

Using slotted spoon to avoid putting juice from strawberries onto crust, place strawberries in mound evenly on center of crust.

Fold 1 1/4-inch edge of crust up over strawberries. Using a basting brush, brush whipping cream over crust; sprinkle remaining teaspoon sugar (don't use splenda for this step) over crust and strawberries.

Place pie on grill over medium heat (350°F), be sure the burner under the pie is off.  Cover grill; bake about 20 minutes or until crust is light golden brown. 

 While the pie is grilling, or even beforehand, whip up some Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream, and chill it in the fridge, the combo of warm strawberries and cold cream is divine!

 Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons sugar or splenda

Place all in mixing bowl and with electric mixer or whisk, mix until soft peaks form. By hand this will take 5 or so minutes depending on how fast you whisk, with a blender it will only take a couple of minutes.

When crust is slightly brown (It will not brown as much as in the oven so do not overcook) remove pie from grill onto serving platter or tray.  Cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges to serve. 

Now I did mention variations, yes there is more!

Peaches and Cream Grilled Pie

Ingredients

 

2-3 ripe peaches peeled, pitted and sliced (can use drained, unsweetened canned)

6 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese

1 tablespoon and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar (or splenda)

1 teaspoon Korintje Cinnamon Plus

4 teaspoons whipping cream, divided

1 pie crust

Mix Cream cheese, 1 tablespoon sugar or splenda, Cinnamon Plus and 3 teaspoons whipping cream till smooth. Spread onto unrolled pie crust. Arrange Peach Slices in the center of crust and roll up edges as in the above recipe. Brush 1 teaspoon whipping cream over crust and sprinkle the whole pie with 2 -3 teaspoons of sugar (not splenda). (You can also sprinkle more cinnamon if desired) Grill as directed above. 

For now give these a try, soon I will post the blueberry, cherry, and apple versions of this new favorite of ours. Happy Grilling and God Bless!

My first blog....

Wow!

 A Blog. And it's mine. 

Not something I'd envisioned for myself a few years back, but then, I didn't think I would be doing much of what I am right now. Life is an amazing journey, ups, downs, twists and turns. Isn't it funny how we always seem to end up right where we need to be? Of course, that doesn't seem to matter at the time when the car has broken down and we have to figure out how to pay for repairs, or when we are going through our first broken heart, or dealing with the loss of a much needed job. But somehow, life seems to happen just the way it needs to. 

For those who don't know me, I am a proud Mama of twin girls. They are almost 2 *gulp*, and wife to a hard working, much loved Daddy. We have a house we have worked hard on for years, and a little land, on which we like to grow our own veggies, and raise our horses. We are so happy to be able to give our girls a life of experiences, and try to give them as many opportunities to see and touch things first hand. 

So Daddy, aka Mike, has a job he loves, and so do I. I am not only a Stay-at-home Mama and wife, but I also have a Team within The Pampered Chef. I love to cook, and am always being asked to share recipes and cooking tips, so I thought, how better to do this than a blog? 

I will share little stories from the home front, touching stories of my girls, and our adventures as a family, but mostly I will share my love for cooking and baking. I am not formally trained, nor am I saying I am any kind of expert. But I really love to make food that tastes good, and I try hard to make it healthy too. Sometimes, though, you might find something that I just couldn't make healthy, so of course, try it in moderation...

I really hope you will enjoy my ideas, recipes, and stories, and look forward to hearing back from you too. 

In the meantime, Happy Cooking and God Bless!