At Home My Way

This past weekend I made tacos, Mexican Slaw , homemade refried beans from the freezer (recipe coming soon), and this recipe for Homemade Mexican Rice. I grew up eating something my mother called "Spanish Rice."  I don't honestly know how she made it.  I know she would never have made anything from a box, but it could have just been rice, tomatoes, and chili powder for all I know LOL.  We loved it but I don't know how she made it.  She rarely used a recipe. I found this recipe at Lynn's Cooking Adventures .  She always has the BEST recipes and they are always dependable.  Since my girls both like Mexican Rice, I wanted to find something I could make at home without buying one of those "little boxes".  We ditched the box and haven't looked back.  I actually prefer using canned chicken broth when I make this.  I'm not sure why that is.  My homemade chicken broth/stock is just very concentrated and I like a more tomato-y/smokey rice...

We have some friends who have an annual Firework Frenzy each year around July 4th.  It's a great chance to visit with my husband's friends from high school.  They gather together and enjoy each other's company more than just about any high school class I have ever heard about. In addition to old classmates, the party is filled with family, friends, friends of friends, work friends, and LOTS of delicious food!  This much anticipated party offers the best side dishes you will ever find.  What a bunch of great cooks!  Our friends have it down to a science!  They set up big tables labeled "desserts" and "sides" so that you know immediately where to put your dish.  Love that idea! I go to this party excited to see my friends, excited to try the food, and we ALWAYS bring home lots of good memories and at least one recipe that we can't get enough of.  This recipe for Mexican Coleslaw was THAT RECIPE this year.  I love the combination of blac...

I wanted to post the recipe and directions for this casserole, which I have posted before (it included instructions for using real potatoes) and this time include the instructions for using instant mashed potatoes.  Sometimes I just roll like that and for some reason my husband will eat leftover instant mashed potatoes better than he will eat leftover real mashed potatoes (really, he won't eat real leftover mashed potatoes at all).  If we intend to eat this casserole leftover, then I only use instant.  It's pretty easy to mix up and get into the oven.  I'm betting you could even make an extra for the freezer for reheating on busy days but I haven't tried that just yet so I'll let you know. This casserole is really super delicious!  We served it with BBQ chicken. YUM!  I also think it would make a great potluck dish and would reheat in the microwave if you use a micro-proof dish for those carry-ins when you just don't know what to make and are tired of...

My daughter and her boyfriend came home from college this weekend.  We've had a great visit and it is so good having a few more mouths to feed.  We were perusing the grocery store yesterday and Rachel and her boyfriend were admiring the raisin bread in the bread aisle.  I told them not to get it, so I could try making some.  I've been wanting to try making homemade raisin bread for quite some time.  I love toast made with raisin bread.  I have a special love of food and farm blogs and lately I've been loving a blog called Chickens in the Road .  Suzanne has a post on raisin bread and her picture of raisin toast just made me CRAVE it.  Suzanne's post is found HERE .  I used my own sandwich bread recipe, added one egg, a half of a cup of raisins and one teaspoon of cinnamon to the liquid ingredients in my bread recipe.  I used my bread machine for the dough but you could do it by hand just as well.  It turn...

Each winter I sit around looking at farm/gardening magazines, newspapers, and reading blogs dreaming about canning and gardening. Oh the things I will do!  Then, as summer arrives, life gets busy. I work all day coming home dead beat and my stuff just sits in the garden or on my counter, waiting for me.  Eventually it gets to the compost pile and I get no canning done!  Then, winter comes again and I think, "Next year!"   It occurred to me the other day while reading one of my favorite blogs ( Hickery Holler Farm Blog ) that most people who work on canning projects are working on it when they are also dead tired, that typically days aren't set aside for these projects but they are fit into already busy days.  Families work together to get the summer's bounty preserved at the end of already long days.  The fact is, that I am NO DIFFERENT THAN ANYONE ELSE!  I'm tired and I still have stuff to do!  There are never enough hours in the day for me...

School starting always puts me in the mood for new beginnings!  I don't even have any kids living at home IN school this year (our younger daughter IS a junior in college but she lives about two hours away from us) BUT I still find myself somehow inspired to get back with the program!  Time to start planning ahead and sticking to a plan.  Enough spending money on eating out! I haven't been very good this summer at making things for breakfast.  I ate my first bowl of homemade oatmeal this week.  It was so delish!  Sure beats all of the donuts (eek!) that I have been stuffing my face with this summer LOL. This morning I woke up early.  Feeling pretty good for a change, I jumped up and put a load of clothes that I had washed late last night into the dryer.  (I also haven't been very good at using my clothesline which I dearly love but don't seem to be able to fit into my schedule these days.)  Funny how things "come to you" but as I was...

I got the recipe for this Pineapple Sheetcake from my husband's aunt.  She is a wonderful cook and a very special lady!  My husband likes to say that it's almost like he has two moms (Aunt C is his mother's sister and she lived in their basement for many years while he was growing up).  There is a funny story about Aunt C buying him some blow up shoes so that he could try walking on water.  Let's just say that didn't work for him LOL.  Back to the cake... This is one of Aunt C's most requested dishes!   This Pineapple Sheetcake makes an appearance at just about every single family dinner whether it's Christmas or the 4th of July.  We all love it and savor leftovers (if there are any).  It is not overly sweet.  The cake has no oil/fat in it since it includes a whole can of crushed pineapple and the whole thing turns out moist and just delicious!   I made this cake for a potluck lunch at work the other day.  I had worked all d...

I rarely BUY anything for canning.  Its like if I buy something to can, I am defeating the purpose.  Usually if I can't get it in my garden or unless someone has a surplus and gives it to me, I just won't spend the money on an intended frugal choice.  HOWEVER, peaches are another thing! Look at these delicious Missouri peaches!  Sure wish you could smell these because Mmmmmm, they smell like heaven must smell! Folks in my part of the country are knee deep in canning season. I have several friends who were canning a BUNCH of salsa this weekend.  During my trip to the grocery store, my checker saw the Surejell in my basket and commented that her mom and aunt were canning lots of salsa on Saturday; that she couldn't WAIT to get home to smell it cooking!   Friday night we spent some time with friends who were planning to do a BUNCH of salsa canning on Saturday.  (They ended up canning 54 pints!  WHEW!)   These friends casually menti...