Just laying around for my camera shot!!

Thrift Store Deal

Top- Tupperware container dinner plate for $5.99
2 Slowcooker Crockpot Books both were $2.99 each

Crochet Project Baby Hat-Baby booties-Baby Mittens

I just created these two baby sets all in just a few hours while at work.
They were easily whipped up just followed websites. I want to personally thank them for sharing them.

Thumbless Baby Mittens

Baby Hat

10 Step Baby Booties

Apple Sauce Bread Pudding

This is a family recipe my mom always made when I was growing up where she got it I am not sure. This was one of the recipes my mom made a lot when I was growing up as we lived in the middle of no-where 7 miles from town in Michigan. We lived on 1.5 acres surrounded by an 80 acre corn field and acres of the best apples I have ever eaten Michigan apples. We always had homemade applesauce and day old bread even in the winter when we were snowed in for days.



Any kind of plain bread will work this type just happens to be day old sour dough bread used for sandwiches.



5 cups of torn up or diced up bread




Place the bread pieces into a large mixing bowl.



The applesauce bread pudding usually goes into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Since I didn't want to eat all the bread myself I split it up into 2 (8 x 8 pans) I plan to give one to my mom since she is currently to busy to bake.





3 cups of milk



2nd bowl wet ingredients

1 cup of applesauce
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2tsp. vanilla




Mix the above ingredients in to the 2nd bowl but use a third bowl to scramble those eggs (and check for egg issues) before dropping them into the other wet ingredients




In a medium size pan heat (scaled) the milk & 1/2 cup butter



When the milk/butter is hot pour over the bread pieces.



Allow to soak for 10 minutes.



Mix it up well after it has sit for 10 minutes



Mix the bowl 2 into the bowl with the bread/milk mixture and blend well.



Pour the mixture into the 2 pans and bake 325*F for 1 hour or until a tooth pick comes out clean.
When the applesauce bread pudding is cooled refrigerate it cut and serve cold.

Yummy and I love this bread for breakfast.

Stuffed Green Pepper

This dinner started off as a use up leftover ingredients this and that with an actual recipe I just used as usual what I had on hand or leftover that I assumed would work... and this is the original recipe Stuffed Green Peppers I while playing on my favorite cooking website the was the daily recipe the other day and I thought I could use my leftover meatballs & sauce in this from the dinner we had the night before :O)



2 green bell peppers (use what you prefer)
1 cup of leftover spaghetti sauce
6 turkey meatballs
1 package of mushrooms
1 cup of precooked white rice from the freezer
Green onions
Worcestershire sauce
Shredded Cheese

Bigger Pot-boiling water & salt bring to a boil this is to parboil the green peppers in for (5mins to soften them up).

Smaller Pot- this was to cook the mushroom & filling mix in.

Cut the tops off & remove seeds
Left with some nice top pieces that I could add to the filling no reason to waste good product just because a recipe doesn't call for it :O) got to love recipe that seem to waste things..



I dropped the peppers in the boiling water along w/the pieces of the tops.





In the smaller pot I sauteed in butter the diced mushrooms



Diced the green pepper tops be added to the filling mixture.




After the mushrooms reduced I added the following items spaghetti sauce, diced up meatballs, white rice, green onions, Worcestershire sauce and shredded cheese mixed up well.




In a glass loaf pan I lined it with foil for quicker clean on after dinner. I also sprayed the foil as well and then placed the par-cooked green peppers into it.





Filled the pepper w/ filling & shredded cheese.



Popped the stuffed green peppers into a toaster oven for 30 mins at 350*F


Verdict: I don't like the bell pepper part go figure but I loved the stuffing so I will just create the stuffing part for dinner using the diced up bell peppers next time

Week of Oct 24 Menu

Clean out the freezer/pantry/cabinets...

Sun- Freezer Chicken Noodle Soup
Mon- Freezer Meatballs/Spaghetti Noodles/ Jar sauce
Tue- Redo-Stuffed Green Peppers(Leftover meatballs/Sauce

Crochet Project Baby Beanie Hats

I made this quick baby hats I used an F hook as instructed to by the pattern the blue one is using regular sized yarn and the purple smaller one is using baby yarn..:O) they worked up quickly..

Microwave Strawberry Jam

I have been surfing the net for weeks reading recipes for microwave jam. I also wanted to find one that didn't need lots of ingredient as well as no specialty products just basic ingredients I have found one & decided what the heck lets try it here is the Microwave Strawberry Jam


YOU MUST HAVE A 2 QUART OR LARGE MICROWAVE BOWL!!

I was able to grab this one for under $8.00 a walmart the other day as I wanted badly to make jam or better yet I couldn't get the jam idea out of my mind..it was driving me crazy



Place a plate in the freezer for your test plate to see if the jam has reached the setting point. I forgot to snap a picture so I did it on the fly.



You will also need Mason jar to store your finish product in I was not sure how much it would yield per batch so I grabbed 6 jars & lids just to be sure I had enough.



Per batch you will need the following items in my picture I have enough for 2 batches

500 grams (2 cups) = 1 pound or 16 oz of strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped
375 grams (1 1/2 cups) of white sugar
Juice from 1 large lemon



I read you didn't need to dice the fruit as it will mash down however I prefer not so huge of pieces in my jam (mashed down or not) so I sliced them up into the measuring cup added less sugar as I also don't want too sweet of jam (3/4 cup)of sugar and 1/2 of a lemon for the juice.





I popped it in the microwave on on high for 4 mins ( Watch it can cover it with wax paper to avoid it boiling/rising over the top) This is a picture at this point. I stirred it and back into microwave for 15 mins more




The next step is making sure your jam has set well from experience with this batch what you are looking for is most of the liquid to have evaporated you don't want super soup mix it should be thick.. If you place a tablespoon of mixture on the plate wait 10 seconds and run your finger threw the jam and the area you ran your finger threw has merger back together ( so you wouldn't see where you put your finger threw it is not ready) if it goes back super slowly then it is set.They call this the wrinkle test.




You can process them in a water bath (have to try this next time to store them on pantry shelf)

Fill your jars the picture is what I got after completing 2 batches :O)I allowed them to cool and placed them into the refrigerate to set more ( they were not thick as I preferred next time I will cook longer but Damn it was great on toasted English muffin

Verdict: Can't wait for the next batch with different fruit!!

Banana Bread 4 Grandma

While I was shopping at the fresh & Easy I called grandma and asked if she wanted anything from the store she tells me to pick up 4 banana as she will pick them up after work by the time I got home I was now assigned to make banana bread for her since she works late due to her job & she needed the banana bread for work the next day.



I prefer smaller loaves of bread to work with you run less the risk this type of bread not cooking in the center if you use smaller loaf pans and splinting the batter between them.So I grabbed 2 and greased them well so the batter when done won't stick.Turn the toaster oven on 350 *F


I gathered all the wet ingredients into a large bowl I used

1 egg
1/2 cup of yogurt in place of 1/4 cup oleo= margarine
4 bananas
1 cup sugar


In another bowl mix together the following ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt



Dice up the bananas w/ sugar mix together well w/ a potato masher to mash well I don't prefer to eat huge pieces of banana in my breads.



I prefer to use my hand mixer to make sure then wet ingredients are blended well before adding the dry ingredients.



Make sure you scramble the egg before adding it incorporate easier into the sugar/banana mixture.



Slowly sift 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well don't forget to scrap down sided as well as from the bottom for some reason the dry ingredients love to stick to the bottom when stirring and you notice it only when you pour the batter at the end

At this point if you desire to add nuts or chocolate chips use
only 1/2 cup & mix in well

I forgot to take a picture before popping them into the toaster oven on 350 *F for 1 hour or until tooth pick comes out dry/clean however here is the after picture... Nicely awaiting grandma to pick them up.

Fresh & Easy Closing Store Sale

My Fresh Easy store closest to me was closing :O( due to loss of sales I am very sad since the next closes stores are not close at all or on my way any where so I will not be shopping them as much any more only on my day's off from work when I can since they are over 5 miles away in a direction I never go :O) But I was able to grab a lot of deals yesterday as they were having a 50 % off everything sale!!!!
To me this means stock up on things you wouldn't normally purchase for their full prices!!

Total Spend at Fresh & Easy was $41.99 plus tax came to $51.00




Pita Chip for dd who is able to eat these Cheese type of chips with no Dairy issues so I had to grab 2 bags regular price was $2.98 a bag for 2= $5.96 then 50 % off Price was $2.98 for 2 bags :O)

2 bags of bagels $1.99 each normal however they were marked down to $1.29 each total before 50 % off deal so I got 2 bags for $1.49 these went quickly into the freezer after I sliced them and placed them into sandwich baggies for quick grab & go.

1 loaf of Sour dough bread for $1.99 50 % off got it for 99 cents
1 bag of English muffins for $1.99 50 % off go it for 99 cents


Total spend $7.94 plus tax



6 boxes of Vanilla Jell-o Pudding for $7.74-50 %=3.87 for 6 boxes
1 jar of Dijon Mustard regular price $1.49-50 % off =.74 cents
2 jar of New Mexico Salsa regular price $1.99 -50%= $1.99 for 2 jars
2 bottle of Teriyaki sauce regular price $4.99-50%=4.99 for 2 jars
2 bottle of caramel topping regular priced $1.29-50 %= $1.29 for 2 jars
2 bottles of hot fudge topping $1.29-50 %=$1.29 for 2 jars
3 boxes of Madress Lentils for $1.28 -50 %=$1.92 for 3
4 jar of pasta sauce $ 1.59-50 %=$3.18 for 4 jars



Total price spent=$19.72






4 bananas 19 cents each-50 % off =$.38
2 green peppers $1.00 each -50 % off =$1.00
1 bag of shredded lettuce on clearance was $.64-50% =$.32 cents
1 bag of lemons $1.29-50 % off =$.64 cents

Total Price spent=$2.34





2 boxes of Soy creamer on clearance was .97 cents each-50%=$.97
1 bottle of OJ was .99 cents- 50 % off = .49 cents


Total Price Spent= $1.46






1 gallon of milk on clearance was .99 cents- 50 % off =.49 cents
3 packages of precooked chicken breasts $2.50 each- 50 % off -$3.75
2 packages of chicken breasts $5.00 each- 50 % =$5.00
2 sour cream for $1.29-50 %=$1.29

Total Price Spent=$10.53

Wacky Cake Mix

Dairy free and Egg Free Cake Mix

As most people know dd has been troubled w/ what she can and can't eat due to Dairy Product(cow milk)hiding out in almost everything my mom use to make this cake all the time when we were growing up since it didn't need milk or egg which were hard to get in the winter time if you got snowed in. However it was not one I wrote down I needed to ask mom for it again however I just jumped online to my fave cooking site because I know someone would have posted this type of recipe by now and I was right here it is
Wacky Cake Recipe


I decided to pre-make the mix up in a dry kit which will allow dd to just add the wet ingredients when she is ready to use it.

So I grabbed a quart size freezer bag and started measuring out the following dry ingredients.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients that need to be added when ready to make the cake

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Pour dry mix baggie into an 8x8 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three depressions. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour water over all, and stir well with fork.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing.