Menu -- Thursday, September 23, 2010

Bar-B-Que Stuffed Bell Peppers
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 can corn kernels, drained
Trader Joe's bar-b-que sauce (I used between 1/2 & 3/4 of the bottle)
bell peppers (tops cut off, cleaned, and boiled for 3 minutes)

In skillet over medium heat, saute onion in a little chicken broth. Add the ground beef and cook through. Combine ground beef with rice, corn and bar-b-que sauce. Stuff your bell peppers. If you have people in your household who won't eat cooked bell peppers, just surround your filled bell peppers with the rest of the filling and bake that way. Bake at 350º for about 30 minutes.

Apple Coleslaw
2 cups cabbage
1 medium grated carrot
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 chopped apple
5 tablespoons yogurt, lowfat
1 tablespoon mayonnaise, lowfat
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dill weed (I didn't have dill weed. I used celery seed and I was happy with the result.)

Wash the cabbage. Cut it into fine shreds, until you have 2 cups of cabbage.

Peel the carrot. Grate it with a grater. Chop half a green pepper into small pieces. Remove the core, and chop the apple. Put the cabbage, carrot, green pepper, and apple in a large mixing bowl. Stir together.

Put the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and dill weed in a small bowl. Stir together to make a dressing.

Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Butternut Squash
*Just baked this in the oven, then mashed it.

Lapbook Lessons Giveaway Event

Lapbook Lessons is hosting the Back to Homeschool Giveaway Event. The current giveaway is for a super membership to In the Hands of a Child. Boy would I LOVE to win this. Take a look for yourself.

Homemade Graham Crackers

I purchased some graham flour from Azure Standard approximately two months ago, and it has been sitting in my pantry ever since. Until today. Today, I finally broke down and made graham crackers

2-1/2 c. graham flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 Tbs. butter, softened
6 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine graham flour, salt and baking soda in mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar, honey and egg until well combined. Add butter mixture to flour mixture. Blend until it holds together.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dump dough (it will be dry and stiff) onto parchment paper, and roll to desired thinness with a rolling pin. Cut into desired shapes and prick with a fork.

Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow to cool so they will crisp up.

Verdict:

Mine turned out more like soft graham crackers--I didn't roll them thin enough. Also, they were a touch too salty. I will try to use 3/4 tsp. salt next time. Also, they were a tad too sweet. I will reduce the amount of brown sugar next time.

100 Things About Me

So, o.k., maybe this is a little dorky. I have seen it on other people's blogs, and I enjoy reading them. And probably I'm not doing this so much for other people to read and I am to see if I can actually think up 100 things about myself. And, for the record, I struggle with doing this because it feels a little like I am trying to promote myself--totally not the point.

1)I am a daughter of THE King.
2)I believe God made the sweetest strawberries just to see us smile.
3)My career goal in college was to be CEO of Disney. At the time it was Michael Eisner's job, and I fully intended to take it from him.
4)This career goal came to an abrupt end during the first trimester of my first pregnancy. I was in class, took a good look around and decided that no one in that class had any idea of what was really important.
5)I was in Junior Miss in high school.
6)I never skipped school.
7)I went to high school with Emmit Smith (2 years behind).
8)I sing soprano.
9)My secret dream is to be a recording artist.
10)I had my daughter's name picked out twelve years before she was born.
11)I once had the desire to have twelve children.
12)I absolutely no longer have that desire.
13)I eat precisely twelve M&Ms almost every night before bed with hot tea or decaf coffee.
14)I exercise for forty to fifty minutes at least four days and usually five days a week.
15)I hate to exercise.
16)I listen to a lot of books on tape (MP3) while I am cleaning.
17)I love books.
18)My favorite food is pancakes—especially with peanut butter and cherry preserves.
19)I had all three of my children at home.
20)I was in high school before I knew my middle name begins with a “K” and not a “C”.
21)I have entered the Pillsbury Bakeoff.
22)I make really good granola. (Sorry, I won't share the recipe. I might want to sell granola one day.)
23)My husband gave me pearls on our wedding day and I almost didn't wear them. I didn't want to hurt the feelings of a friend who had given me a necklace to borrow. (I ended up wearing both.)
24)I wish we had gone to the court house to get married.
25)My dream vacation would be to stay in a house that had a pool and lots of things for the kids to do. There would be a cook, who would cook to my specifications, and a housekeeper, who also did laundry.
26)I love to collect recipes.
27)I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly.
28)I memorized LOTS and LOTS of Bible verses growing up.
29)I have a terrible memory for memories.
30)I don't have a favorite color.
31)I prefer carnations to roses—they last longer.
32)I hate my handwriting.
33)I am not a risk-taker.
34)Rainbows make me smile.
35)I really dislike long car trips.
36)I almost always fall asleep during a long car trip.
37)If I am taking a long car trip, I want to know why we didn't get there yesterday.
38)I hate shopping for clothes.
39)I hate shopping for shoes even more.
40)I am a second generation homeschooler.
41)I used to make up quadratic equations to do during church.
42)I listen better when my hands are busy working on something.
43) I like soggy cereal.

. . . to be continued.