Another Fun Site

This one reminds me of the "Decptively Delicious" cookbook. I am going to use the ideas in my photos, I need some cute dishes!!! It has healthy kid food ideas, my kids don't eat anyway, but maybe somethings will just be good to try for Dennis and myself even if they are sorta kiddy food!!!

Desserts: No Bake Style

Will really wanted cookies but I really didn't want to turn on the oven to make cookies so I made chocolate no bake cookies! He hated them but Dennis, Cadey, Ian and I loved them!

I got the recipe on-line from about.com. Here it is:

Ingredients:
•2 cups sugar
•1/2 cup milk
•1/2 cup cocoa
•pinch salt
•1/2 cup butter
•1 cup peanut butter
•1 tsp. vanilla
•3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
Preparation:
In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down sides of pan. Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.
Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape. Let cool completely; store tightly covered at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.

Nachos

Summer cooking is here to stay!!! It has been so hot in Vegas, I hate turning my oven on!! So we have been trying to eat without it as much as possible. The other night we made nachos. We did use the oven for about 10 minutes to melt all the cheese, but most of it was done stove top. Turned out yummy, especially with homemade guacamole!!! (We just mash up 1 1/2 to 2 avacados, season with cummin, salt and pepper and throw in some tomatoes and lime juice, amounts are to taste).

We also made yummy BLT sandwiches which are another cool summer meal. Tonight it's a Cobb Salad. Hard boiled eggs, deli meat, lettuce tomatoes, cheese, and whatever sounds good in your salad. I am not sure if that is the true definition of a cobb salad, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am not gone, I am just behind in photographing our food and blogging about it. Hope those last three give you at least a few ideas for summer eating!

Soft Pretzels

So with Will' getting baptized I started this little It's Great to Be 8 count down of 8 activities to do that help prepare for baptism. The first activity was to make homemade soft pretzels and talk about prayer and how Will should pray about the decision to be baptized. You do the pretzels because they are shaped like arms folded in prayer. We had fun making these and they were so easy and so yummy I thought I would share the recipe I found. It is an Alton Brown recipe of whom I love. He always adds the science behind the food and I find that to be super interesting. Anyway, here is the link to that recipe. You can also find the episode for the recipe on YouTube. Super fun!!

Another fun site

My sister Megan introduced me to this site, it's all vegitarian which I love! Check it out, it has some yummy looking recipes!

fun new site I found

Check out this cute site. I am going to make some of these cake pops for Will's baptism. Soooo cute!!

Garlic Bread

One of the best cooks I know is my sister in-law Brandi. I always love eating at their house because it so good every time! This last week-end they had us over for dinner and again it was delicious! It was simple, just bbq chicken, pasta salad, green salad and GARLIC BREAD! My brother and sister in-law are hilarious and each had their own version of the best garlic bread and served both. I personally thought both were delicious and ate about 10 pieces of each (I don't think anyone else got any!!!). So when I got home I had to make some since it had been on my mind ever since!

Ingredients:

loaf of french bread

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup asiago cheese

1 cup monteray jack

1 cup mayo

1 bunch green onions

2 cloves crushed garlic

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except bread. Cut loaf of bread in half length wise. Spread with mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 7 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes (or until bubbly and golden on top).

OK so a few things. . .

1) My sister in law said this makes a lot and it sometimes seems too much for one loaf of bread. She uses the left overs on hot sandwiches the next day. Sounds so good.

2) When I made this I called Brandi the day of for the recipe thinking I had the ingredients but I had like none of them!!! I had Parmesan instead of asiago cheese and mozzarella instead of Monteray jack. I didn't have green onions so I put a tablespoon of dried onion in mine. It still turned out good, but it wasn't as good as Brandi's had been. Still really good though.

3) I did have left overs and I put my left overs on hamburger buns and burgers the next day. I just broiled the buns with the mixture spread on and then topped with my burger and fixin's. That was really tasty too.