Smoky Kielbasa Beans & Rice with Sweet Cornbread

I said that I was going to stay out of the kitchen but I just couldn't. The cool breezes blew through the windows all day yesterday making it feel more like a fall day than summertime.
When it's cool like this I always seem drawn to the kitchen. It makes me want to put a big pot of soup or stew on as well as turn the oven on and bake a sweet treat.


I only spent a little time in the kitchen though because once I got this dish started I put it in the crockpot to finish cooking and then I made a pan of cornbread and that was it. Oh, I almost forgot I made some lemon-lime Jell-o for dessert that I mixed with a little Cool Whip.
Pretty quick & easy meal with lots of flavor.

                    Smoky Kielbasa Beans & Rice

14 oz. kielbasa, sliced in 1/2" circles

12 oz. pkg. bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 onion, diced

2 mild banana peppers, diced

(could use green bell pepper)

15.5 oz. can pinto beans

2 - (15oz.) cans of kidney beans

14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes

3/4 cup rice

2 cups water

3/4 tsp. cajun seasoning

2 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar

Fry bacon pieces and kielbasa together in a pan.

When meat is just about cooked add the peppers & onions and let cook till tender.

Remove from heat and drain grease off.

Once drained, place back on stove and add rest of ingredients.

Let heat through till warmed and then place in a greased crockpot.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

**This recipe does make a large amount so you may want to cut it down a bit. I would use the same amount of meat but use half of everything else.**

Sweet Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar ( I use  about 1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 cup flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

Place dry ingredients in bowl & whisk together.

Add wet ingredients and mix well.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 450°.

Enjoy!

What a Difference a Day Can Make

This is what it read two days ago.
100° outside and 80° inside our house ~ yuck!
The sun was blazing down and the humidity was awful.
That has been our weather pattern for a good while now but yesterday a front passed through our area and left us with much more pleasant weather. (My kind of weather)

Sunny skies and cool breezes have replaced all that stickiness. The A/C is off and the windows are open and
I'm enjoying the fresh air. The cooler temperatures always lure me to the kitchen to bake something yummy or prepare a big feast but instead I think I will simply sit back and enjoy the day. Maybe work a little on school lesson plans or just sit and stitch a bit.

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

This is the frozen yogurt that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I snapped pictures the whole way through as I made it BUT some little fingers found my camera and just so happened to delete all photos except the one above.

New rule in our house:
Don't touch Mom's camera!
No Way ~ No How!

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

                             5 cups blackberries
                                 1/3 cup water
                             2 tbsp. lemon juice
                                 1 cup sugar
                                 2 tsp. vanilla
                             dash of cinnamon
             32 oz. vanilla yogurt (can be Fat Free)

Place berries in a food processor and puree.
Strain to remove all seeds.
*I used my food mill for this step but you could also use a cheese cloth to squeeze all the goodness from the berries.*
Place pulp & juice back in food processor.
Add sugar, vanilla & cinnamon & process again.
Remove mixture to a bowl and add the yogurt.
Whisk together till blended well and freeze.

Do you know what this is?

I have searched the internet high and low as well as a few gardening books and still can't figure out what kind of bug this is.
They are all over the leaves of my potato plants and as you can see they are stripping the leaves right off of the stems. As of right now they aren't bothering any of my other plants but I'm afraid they will be before long.
I've been catching them and placing them in a jar. I was told that I need to squish them but eeeeewwww...I just can't do that.
If you know what they are please, please enlighten me!

While talking of insects I'll show you a few others that I snapped a picture of recently.

                                          Caught in the act!!

                                         Itty Bitty Praying Mantis

I've never seen a baby praying mantis (just full grown adults) so I thought this was pretty neat. He was hanging on to the underside of our porch roof until we got a broom out to get him down. I thought he was pretty cute until he started jumping towards me.

Zucchini Apple Cake

Here's the recipe for my Zucchini Apple Cake that I made yesterday. It received a thumbs up from all...even the picky eaters that don't like zucchini.

Zucchini Apple Cake

2 cups shredded zucchini (1 med. zucchini)

1 cup shredded apple (1 apple)

1 stick butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 tbsp. cocoa

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

*1 cup sour milk

* To make sour milk just place 1 tbsp. of lemon juice into a 1 C. measuring cup and fill the rest of the way up with milk.)

Shred zucchini & apple and set aside.

In large bowl, mix melted butter & sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla.

In a smaller bowl, mix cocoa, flour, soda and salt.

Now add those dry ingredients to egg mixture alternately with the sour milk.

Add zucchini & apple.

Batter will be thick!

Place in a greased 13X9 pan.

Bake 350° for 45 minutes.

Cool and frost with cream cheese icing.

As for the icing, my first thought was to make a caramel frosting but it got voted down when I gave the kids the  second option of a cream cheese icing.

You will have to look up a recipe for cream cheese icing because I just whipped this one up from scratch and tasted-tested it as I went.

After making this recipe I still have several zucchini left over so I'll be making this.

My favorite ~ Zucchini sauteed in a little olive oil with salt & pepper.

I snapped a picture of the kids playing that game that I bought at a yard sale this weekend. Everyone is having so much fun playing it except for the sore arm muscles that we all have. Just goes to show you that when you don't use them, you lose them.

Well, it's a gloomy yet humid day here with showers off and on so I think I will spend a little time indoors today putting  some of our lesson plans for school together. I'll catch up with all of you later on.  

Yardsale Finds & More Garden Pictures

I finally made it to some yardsales this weekend and here are a few of my finds. I love these cross-stitched pictures. I got each one for a buck. They will go perfect in my "log cabin" bedroom.

I couldn't pass up the little birdhouse thingy. I had my husband take the handle off of it and then I put it in the living room to hold the TV remotes and such. I grabbed the old milk bottle  to place some pretty posies in and that little pink thing is a letter opener advertisement for Fuller Brushes.
I also got a lot of books for the kids. One of the schools that our county has shut down was having a sale and I ended up with 2 large boxes of books for $2.00.
 Another thing was some kind of yard toy for the kids. I don't remember the name on the box but it reminds me of a tether ball. It's a long pole that you stick in the ground and it has a cord attatched with a tennis ball at the end. It comes with 2 paddles and you hit it round and round the pole. The kids as well as us adults are having fun playing it. Not bad for a $2.00 bargain. I'll have to snap a picture later of the kids playing it.

I've been watching the garden grow over the weekend...literally.
Yesterday morning we noticed an ear of corn growing on one of the stalks. By last night I recounted and found 4 more. Silly I know, but I get so excited when I see the garden expanding. Before I know it I will probably be up to my ears in corn and tomatoes.

  The peppers are starting to grow and I can't wait to make salsa and hot mustard.

I picked four zucchini last night and there are plenty more where they came from.

This morning I got up early (to beat the heat) and made a Zucchini Apple Cake. If it turns out good then I'll have to share the recipe. That's about it for my weekend. Swimming, shopping, yard sales, gardening and cooking out with the family to celerate Father's Day. Hope your weekend was just as pleasant.

Homemade Caramel Apple Blossoms

We used to buy these through a public school fundraiser called Market Day. They quickly became a favorite of my youngest son but since we homeschool now a days I no longer purchase them through the school. Sam's Club used to sell a similar item but I haven't been able to find those ones anymore.
So, to make the poor boy happy I decided to try to make a homemade version and here is what I came up with.
I went the easy way with canned pie filling but you could always cut and chop fresh apples too! Oh and maybe add a bit of cinnamon.

Homemade Apple Blossoms

1 box refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)

2 cans apple pie filling

1 (16 oz.) jar of Hershey's Caramel Sauce

Sparkling Sugar Crystals

Unfold crust and cut into quarters.

Roll each quarter out just a little bit bigger.

Place 2 heaping tbsp. of apple filling in center.

Wrap dough up and over the apples leaving the center open.

Place on a greased foil-lined pan.

Bake 450° for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven & drizzle caramel over the tops.

Bake 10 more minutes.

Let cool a few minutes and then sprinkle with sugar crystals.

Gently remove blossoms from pan while still warm. (otherwise they will stick)

Enjoy warm, or if you want to save them for later then place each blossom on a piece of waxed paper and let cool. I stored mine in the refrigerator and ate them within a few days but you could also freeze them.

If you freeze them then you could remove them one at a time and microwave.

Hope you enjoy!

Trying to Beat the Heat

It has been soooo sticky, hot & humid here. It feels more like late August than summer and summer hasn't even officially begun yet.
I sure hope that's not any indication of what is to come. I prefer cooler spring temps. over this thick, sticky stuff.
The one good thing about this weather is that the gardens are doing great.
The down side is that the weeds are also growing great and it's way too muddy to get into the garden to get them out. Maybe it will dry up a bit within the next few days and I can get in there and get at it.

This weekend was a busy one. My SIL and niece came up for a quick visit. While they were here the kids wanted to go to GRAND VUE PARK so we headed up there to play.

              We also played a bit of putt putt golf.

                              My niece ~ Elly

The rest of the time has been spent splashing around in a little kiddie pool in the backyard.

                  Katie & Tyke making silly faces

I've been alternating from the back yard to the kitchen as the kids play in the pool so I haven't really had much time to get on the computer. (I so wish I had a laptop that I could take with me no matter where I was.)

I haven't been cooking many wonderful meals lately. Just trying to grill outdoors as much as I can so that I don't heat the house up. I do have a few dessert recipes to share with you sometime this week though.

These are the first potatoes from our garden this year and HERE is what I made with them.

Oh, and I bought some Luigi's Italian Ice the other day and both my husband & I agreed that the HOMEMADE ITALIAN ICE RECIPE that I shared not long ago with you was so much tastier than the store-bought. So much more flavor.
Well I think I've rambled on enough. I'll be back tomorrow with a homemade Apple Blossom recipe.
Hope you all are staying cool!

Monthly Menu #2

Hello All!
It's that time again.
Time to make my meal plan, write out a grocery list and spend the day out stocking up on groceries.
Hope you may find something new & different to try.

Also, notice how some of my fonts are different?
I have typed and retyped trying to fix it.
I am frustrated beyond all and finally giving up. Sorry, you will just have to bear with me on this one and just scroll over each meal to see which items come with a recipe link. 
Hopefully, I will figure out what I did wrong for the next time.

                          Monthly Meal Plan #2

Crockpot Beef Rolls, Sour Cream & Chive Potatoes, green beans and pears
Meatball Subs, creamy salad & mandarin oranges
Ham & Cheese Omlets with toast
Honey & Beer Pork Ribs,baked Macaroni & Cheese & a veggie
Crockpot Potato Soup  & grilled cheese
Marlboro Man Sandwich & ranch fries
Chicken Stuffed Shells, mashed potatoes and a veggie
Steaks on the Grill, fries and a salad
Tacos
Ranch Pork Chops, Scalloped Cabbage, green beans & a fruit
Buttermilk Chicken, mashed potatoes, Hawaiian Rolls & a salad
Grilled kielbasa & onion packets, rice & a veggie
BBQ Lasagna, salad and rolls
Fried Zucchini & Feta Subs, and a side
Stuffed Cabbage Soup
Hamburger & hotdogs on the grill
Make Ahead Freezer Burritos
Crockpot Pork Chops N Gravy, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots
BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Potato Salad & baked beans
Grilled chicken packets, french fries & fruit
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit and hashbrowns
Pepperoni Burgers, mac n cheese & green beans
Oven BBQ Round Steak, mashed potatoes & Scalloped Corn
Taco Soup
Ranch Chicken Fried Steak, baked potatoes and sauteed zucchini

Well that's about it for this month'menu.
That's only about 25 meals but for us that is enough. The rest of the days will be Sunday dinners at my parents house or eating out.
Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

All Tuckered Out

This is a sight that's not often seen in our house. All of my kids are beyond that "need a nap" age so I was surprised when I went downstairs and found these two curled up in blankets on the couches.
                                  Sound Asleep

It was a rainy day outdoors so I guess they must of decided it was a good day to sleep. Wish I could have joined them.

Make Ahead Freezer Burritos

This recipe is perfect for quick summer-time meals and great for the OAM (Once A  Month) cook.
You can find the recipe HERE at Coleen's Recipes.
I made some of these over the weekend with hopes of having some extra to put in the freezer for another day.
Well, I had extras but they only lasted for one day before we ate them all up.

I love her technique of filling and then browning them. It gives it a bit of a crunch without having to deep-fry them.
I have to admit that I used my own traditional taco & burrito filling but hers sounds delicious too. I just used what was available in my own cupboards.
Now I'm thinking of all the endless possibilities for this creation:
Taco Chicken Burritos
Breakfast Burritos
Cheesburger Burritos
Yum!
So many ideas and so simple, easy and inexpensive!

Storm Watching from My Front Porch

Lots of storms moved through our area this weekend. Thankfully, we were spared some of the heavy damage that other surrounding counties endured.
Locally, there were plenty of creeks out of their banks due to the fast, heavy rainfall.
Here is the John Marshall Monarch Baseball Field in Glendale. My kids got a chuckle out of this because the sprinkler system was still on and watering the field even as it lay under water.

The heavy winds and rain also took a toll on our garden. Most of the corn got whipped over on it's side.

Some of them are beginning to stand up a bit but I figure I'm gonna have to stake some of them up once the garden dries up enough to walk in.
Here's a few more garden pics:

Potatoes are going to be ready to begin digging up soon.

                      Peppers with itty bitty blooms.

                              Giant Sunflowers

                            Tomatoes in bloom

                                     Zucchini

That's about all that is going on in my world. I'm still on *vacation* mode. I've got plenty to do but instead I'm just chilling out.
It's a definite lazy Monday here. I awoke many times last night to the sound of sirens as they raced up RT. 250.
There was an explosion at a drilling rig that injured 7 workers.
This is the orange glow and smoke that could be seen from my bedroom window last night.

The news said that the workers were transported to West Penn in Pittsburgh and that none of them were in life-threatening condition. That is super! However, I'm sure they all have a long road to recovery.

You can read more about it HERE.