At Home My Way

Last year I was a little discouraged with my garden.  Well... not just my garden.  I was SO EXCITED about the garden and then my work day increased.  I was leaving the house 30 minutes earlier than normal and getting home an hour later than normal (my husband and I started carpooling together) and that really cut into my day.  I was just exhausted trying to keep the bare minimums done at home and the garden suffered.  Plus, we got completely taken over by squash bugs.  Our favorite garden vege of all times is yellow squash and we didn't get a single one.  Squash vine borers!  Need I say more?  I have lots of stuff crammed into my garden.  I planted two rows of greenbeans (bush) from 3 packets of seeds and only 1 packet of seeds grew so I've replanted.  I use a cattle panel to make an arbor and I have cucumbers growing on there.  They are so much easier to pick that way.  I love growing pinto beans and I have them growing...

We like to smoke meat when we are having very many people over.  This way the meat cooks itself and you aren't slaving to the hot grill while trying to visit with your company.  Leftovers freeze beautifully and you can cook up a bunch of meat, wrap each hunk in foil, put in freezer bags and have some for later.  We use our smoker even on the coldest winter days (in Missouri Brrr!).  Most always, I whip up this easy rub and it seems to really season the meat nicely.  I use this rub on turkey, chicken, pork, and even briskit.  People will think you are a pro when they taste smoked pork loin with this wonderful rub.  Often, I make this homemade honey-mustard bbq sauce.  I found these two recipes in SOUTHERN LIVING magazine.  Enough said, huh?  I always find great recipes in that magazine.  I have modified the original recipe to suit my tastes.  The original recipe had cinnamon (of all things) in the rub, and I'm just not read...

The other night our friends were coming over for a little after-work relaxation and I wanted to make something yummy to snack on.  This recipe is great to make in a pinch because it uses ingredients you most always have in your pantry and since it only uses 5 ingredients, its super fast to stir together!  When  first looked at this recipe, I could not believe it had no baking powder - leavening ingredient, but it doesn't and it works great!  These are terrific leftover.  They get more moist and dense the next day.  Definitely a good recipe to take to pot lucks!  I usually sprinkle some powdered sugar over mine once they are cool for a better presentation! Easy Butterscotch Bars or "Blondies" - 5 INGREDIENTS 1 cup melted butter (I used margarine - that's 2 sticks) 1 3/4 cups brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups AP flour (whole wheat works great) Stir melted butter and brown sugar together. Add eggs and vanill...

My daughter was in a wedding over the weekend.  She was a bridesmaid!  They were going to get ready at the bride's house - doing hair, makeup, etc. and my daughter wanted to take some breakfast over to the wedding party.  She had to be at the reception hall decorating until 1AM and so I got up early to give her a good start on breakfast.  (I never sleep much anyway).  She was going to make muffins (two kinds) and make a fruit tray.  She had wanted a breakfast casserole but we didn't have quite the ingredients to make the breakfast casserole and she would have had to have gone to the store after decorating (at the all-night supercenter) and then made it (we had no bread), but that morning I discovered I did have enough ingredients to make a little pie crust and a simple quiche.  I made the muffins (chocolate chip and blueberry) using the Plain Muffin recipe from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ , the quiche from a favorite cookbook in my cabinet....

I have decided to participate in Menu Plan Monday found at http://www.orgjunkie.com/  and you will find me linked up there.  Definitely, knowing ahead of time what you are eating for the week will avoid a little of the crazies I find at my house from time to time and possibly save me a little cashola. This is my menu for the week starting Monday, June 20, 2011: Monday :  B  Wheat toast with HM raspberry beet jelly L  Peanut butter sandwich on WW bread, banana, and some leftover strawberry cottage cheese jello salad S  Hamburger Helper (not a good choice, I know, but its my older daughter's favorite and we had a big Father's Day meal yesterday so Dad can eat leftovers). Tuesday :  B  Cinnamon swirl Bread - toasted L  Peanut butter sandwich S  Two Crockpot Night - Baked whole chicken in the crockpot, baked potatoes in another crockpot, schoolhouse dinner rolls (make the dough Monday night and stick in the fridge), vege o...

Sunday was Father's Day!  We had a BBQ for my Dad, my husband, and my brother.  My husband's favorite dessert is mayonnaise cake.  I know this sounds gross, but its wonderful.  Mayonnaise is made with eggs and oil and the mayo in this cake replaces the eggs and oil in the recipe, so that makes it easy, and simple to make.  I frost this cake with a homemade cocoa frosting, but sometimes I also frost it with buttercream.  Its delicious and gets better the day after you make it.  Its heavy, dense, chocolatey, and roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head delicious! Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake 2 cups flour, all-purpose 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 cup cocoa (not Nestle's brand - its not very dark) 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup water or cold coffee (coffee will make a darker chocolate cake but I just used water) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, tossing lightly with a spoon to mix. Combine ...

I made HM cornbread to go with my roast dinner last Saturday night.  I prefer to bake mine in an iron skillet because I love the crispiness that you get around the edges when you bake it in an iron skillet.  I do sometimes bake corn muffins if we are going to someone's house and that just works better for carry-in dinners and potlucks. This recipe came from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ .  It is the recipe for Plain Muffins using the variation for cornbread.  We think this is as good as Jiffy cornbread.  Not quite as sweet but I'm sure you could increase the sugar a little bit and make it your own way.  I like to make cornbread At Home My Way (OF COURSE!  lol). Homemade Cornbread or Corn Muffins ■1/4 cup oil ■1 egg (I only used the egg white and did not use the yolk.) ■1 cup milk ■1/3 cup sugar ■1/2 teaspoon salt ■1 tablespoon baking powder ■1 cup flour ■1 cup yellow cornmeal (not self rising) In a large bowl combine the oil,...

My family moved to rural Missouri from a suburban area in Florida when I was in the eighth grade.  Let's just say it was a culture shock!  I remember the first year here around Christmas, possibly Christmas Eve we went to a very small town to visit some of my parents' friends.  This little town is located on the Missouri River and had a population of something like 25.  Their claim to fame was that one of the residents of the town had built come kind of solar porta pot!  Crazy... the things you remember.  Anyway, back to my story.  I remember that in our town's newspaper was a small section highlighting the news from the very small town we visited and we thought it was hysterical that our visit made the actual newspaper! The lady made us a very delicious meal and one of the things we loved that she served was dumplings in the roast gravy.  She took the gravy from her roast and put it in a little pot, brought it to a boil...

My family LOVES chicken cooked on the grill that has first been marinated in Italian Dressing.  I am never one who wants to go to the store to buy ONE INGREDIENT!  So, I pulled out my trusty laptop and searched for a homemade Italian Dressing recipe.  I found one that I love.  It makes a great dressing for salads, lettuce or pasta, and I also use it for marinating chicken, either for cooking on the stovetop or on the grill.  Its so much cheaper than buying a bottle of salad dressing and uses ingredients you probably already have in your house: Homemade Italian Dressing (Zesty) • ½ cup olive or canola oil • ½  cup white vinegar • 1 teaspoon Italian spices (I used oregano) • 1 teaspoon salt • pepper (just a shake) • ½ teaspoon garlic powder • 3 Tablespoons water • 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise (I did not use the mayo for my marinade) Mix well and store in a jar in the fridge.  Shake well before using.  Sometimes I add 1/2 teaspoon...

Trying to get my meal ideas all in one place again.  Its JUNE, 2011, and this is our meal log. June 4, 2011  (Saturday):  Poolside, hotdogs and polish sausage on the grill, chips and Dean's Dip, cream cheese covered with red pepper jelly w/ crackers June 5, 2011  (Sunday):  grilled chicken marinated in this Homemade Italian Salad Dressing , cheesy potatoes (hashbrown casserole), seasoned green beans, canned corn, HM french bread ; Snacks:  Salted yellow popcorn and Peanut Butter Popcorn (the popcorn was a huge success!) June 6, 2011 : (Monday):  Leftovers & Grandma's Homemade Vanilla Icecream and Homemade Strawberry Icecream June 7, 2011 : (Tuesday): McDonalds with Granny and Poppy June 8, 2011 :  (Wednesday)  HAPPY 26 ANNIVERSARY!  We had Outback and loved it! June 9, 2011 :  (Thursday)  Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with pasta, salad and garlic toast made with leftover HM french bread. June 10, 2011 :  (Friday) ...