MM 24 weeks Christmas Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sour Throat & Cough Remedy

 

 

 

 

 This doesn't taste bad and worked for me.

 

 

SORE THROAT AND COUGH REMEDY

¼ teaspoon Cayenne
¼ teaspoon Ginger
1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar
 2 Tablespoon Water
1 Tablespoon Honey

Dissolve cayenne and ginger in cider vinegar and water. Add honey and shake well. Take 1 Tablespoon as needed for cough.
Note: this doesn’t dissolve perfectly. Always shake well before using.

If you make this in small batches as the recipe is written, there is no need to refrigerate.
If you prefer, you may refrigerate this. It keeps as long as you need it.

Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna

Always on the lookout for chicken recipes and this looked good.  Recipe is from one of my community cookbooks. 

I didn't use gluten free dressing or noodles.



2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk
1 (1 oz) pkg. Any Gluten Free Dry Ranch Salad Dressing (not the dip blend)
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken (about 2 large chicken breasts)
1/8 tsp pepper
2-3 C. uncooked gluten free penne pasta
1 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 C Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1. Spray a 9x13 baking dish. Cook pasta  according to directions on package. Drain, add to the prepared dish.
2. Combine evaporated milk with the  Ranch dressing, pepper in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat just to a boil then lower heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Simmer, uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce will thicken.
3. Layer pasta, chicken, sauce, and cheese into dish. Bake uncovered at 350' for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
4. Let rest 10 minutes before serving

 

Christmas

MM 23 weeks----Christmas Eve

 

 

 

                   While visions of treats danced in his head


A Visit From St. Nicholas/'Twas the Night Before Christmas
by Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Suwannee Lights

Gregory took the photos. Suwannee Lights are located in Live Oak, Florida.

                                                Entrance

Holiday Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

YUM! Easy and really good. I bought additional cake mix yesterday because they have it on sale, buy one get one free. I'm definitely making these again.

I didn't have Christmas sprinkles and used whatever I could find at Winn- Dixie. The dough, when everything is combined is thick. I mixed in sprinkles gently because I didn't want the colors to run.

The recipe is adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction. Check out her page. Lots of pictures of the cookies  and a tall "trick" hint which I used for the first time. I also checked with her about the size of the cakemix. I used the Duncan Hines Signature mix.
 
1 box (18.25 oz) vanilla/white cake mix (like Duncan Hines)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sprinkles( used about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla by hand. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to form a dough- stir vigorously until all of the pockets of dry cake mix are gone. Gently mix in the sprinkles – you do not want to dye the cookie dough by overstirring the sprinkles.
3. Drop rounded 1-inch balls of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Make sure the balls of dough are taller than they are wide. See here for more details.
4. Bake for 9 minutes – do not let the cookies get brown. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes; they will be very soft at first. As they cool, the tops will settle down so you will not have to press the cookies down yourself. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Store in an airtight container, for up to one week

When they come out of the oven they look like they aren't done. THEY ARE! So nice and soft and chewy. There are some lucky people getting these for Christmas!

 

Steven Foster State Park

 

 

 

 

Dec. 24, 1955

I wonder how many of you know about this. On the date above Sears placed an ad in the Colorado Springs newspaper and told children they could call Santa and gave them "Santa's" phone number.
There was a mistake in the phone number and instead of the calls going to the Old Man they went to CONAD- Colorado Continental Air Defense Command. Colonel Shoup, who was on duty that night told his staff to give all the kids that called the "current location" for Santa. Thus, this is how the tradition began.

NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958.NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program possible. Each volunteer handles 40 calls per hour and the team handles 12,000 emails and 70,000 calls.

Yes Virginia,there REALLY is a Santa Claus!

MM 22 weeks

                                                                                     The Kids

        My gift under the tree

 

 

Crockpot Red Beans and Rice

Divingabe has asked me to make this so many times but I just never got around to it. I saw this Recipe and I could make it in my crockpot, knew it was on the menu.

This is SO easy and really good. It's also a frugal meal. I made my own stock and the only thing I would change -add more peppers. I would add a few red and green instead of just the one called for in the recipe.

1 pound red beans
7 cups water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
2 cans Campbell's chicken broth
1-1/2 pounds sausage (I used Andouille)
2 tablespoons Creole Seasoning (I use Tony C's)
Hot cooked rice
Combine all ingredients except rice and cook in a Crock Pot on high for 7 hours.
For detailed instructions go to littlemagnoliakitchen blog which is highlighted above

Note to Self- Used 6 cups of chicken broth. Added cornstarch to thicken it up a bit. Added about cup and 1/2 rice to crockpot last hour of cooking.

Did You Say Play?

Engage Play Mode

Young person in the house!

Grilled Cheese Hard Boiled Eggs

I made these last winter. I liked them and they make a easy lunch or dinner.

The recipe is adapted from The Kitchen .

It's not much of a recipe, boiled eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs- that's it.

Boil your eggs

Remove shells and cut egg in half

Sprinkle with cheese of you choice ( I used swiss)

Sprinkle with bread crumbs- I crushed up Ritz crackers

Put under broiler until cheese has melted.

Note: they look nicer with a blend of yellow cheese, I had tiny bit of swiss and bacon I wanted to use up.

MM 21 Weeks

Ok, I sort of jumped the gun and added a picture of Max last week and it wasn't even Max Monday! With the powered sugar on his face I just could not resist. We have had two black labs and I never dropped anything on them and go figure, my little yellow gets the mess. He didn't think it was a mess, I can tell he definitely has a sweet tooth.

We weighed him yesterday and he's 44 pounds. He's gotten taller and looks thin but when I try to pick up, it a solid 44 pounds.

Gregory is coming home tomorrow and they get to meet. Max is going to be so excited, a new play pal!

                  Checking out that ear! He missed it when giving out kisses.

                                Just making sure Santa doesn't forget my house!

Mt. Dew Cupcakes

December 7th was Ted's birthday. Ted is Gabe's friend and diving buddy . He loves Mt. Dew and I wanted to make him something special for his birthday and came up with a few ideas but Gabe thought this was something he would like.

 I adapted the recipe and added my comment in red.

                                    The original recipe is HERE

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup Mountain Dew
1/4 cup of lemon and lime juice (juice from 1 lemon and 1 lime)
zest from 1 lemon and 2 limes (separate into 2 piles, one for butter cream) (see note below on the lemon and limes)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mountain Dew Butter cream:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Mountain Dew
Juices from half of 1 lemon and half of 1 lime.
Lemon and lime zest (rest of zest from cupcake recipe. Or zest from half of 1 lemon and 1 whole lime)
1 teaspoon lemon extract
neon green food coloring (yellow and blue if you don't have green)(did not use)

Directions

 With an electric mixer beat the butter at medium speed for about 30 seconds and add the lemon and lime zest and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, Scrape sides of bowl in between additions.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium size bowl.

 Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix with your electric mixture on low for  about 5 seconds

Add the Mountain Dew, lemon/lime juice, and lemon extract . Mix to combine.

Scoop into cupcake papers about two-thirds full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment paper

In a medium size bowl beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy. Add half of the sugar, turn mixer on low for 5 seconds.Add the Mountain Dew, zest, and lemon extract . Beat until combined.

If you want to add food coloring you can add it at this point.

Gradually add remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

**Lemon and Lime note: used 1 lemon and 2 limes zest in the batter, for the butter cream I added the same amount.

 

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Peaking around Susan's boards I saw THIS recipe. I love lemon and when I'm home I usually try quite a few recipes because Rita and Lewis love lemon also and I give most of what I've baked to them. Down here I have to look for people to bake for.

Recently I bought a bottle of Jack Daniels that was on sale. The lady asked me if I wanted glasses also. I asked was that part of the deal since the Jack was on sale. She gave me two nice glasses that I can sip my drink and light bulb moment! I can make her some bars!

This recipe was adapted and next time I know to buy more cream cheese. I gave a slice to my "no I don't like sweets" hubby and he liked it. I had to get it out of the house before I ate the whole pan!
 

1 box lemon cake mix (15.25oz)
1/3 cup butter or margarine - softened
1 egg
8 ounces cream cheese - softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 lemon - grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a mixing bowl, blend dry cake mix, butter, and 1 egg.
2. Press into a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased.( I sprayed the pan, didn't want to take any chances)
3. Beat the cream cheese until smooth.
4. Gradually blend in the powdered sugar.
5. Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth.
6. Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture and refrigerate it for later use.( I didn't think there was enough so I didn't refrigerate the half, spread the whole 8oz with the eggs and vanilla onto the cakemix base. I also don't think I would use vanilla next time, I'll try lemon extract)
7. Beat the remaining 2 eggs, add the vanilla, and then beat this mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture until well blended.
8. Spread over the cake mixture.
9. Bake at 350° until set, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
10. Cool completely.
11. Spread the reserved cream cheese mixture onto the bars.( next time I'll take 8oz of the cream cheese and powdered sugar and spread that on top)  refrigerate until firm; then cut into squares and serve

MM 20 weeks

Divingabe and Max get the mail everyday. Max likes to "help" and carry something back. He's usually pretty good about giving the junk mail back to us but this one he decided he needed to dispose of .

            Hilltop Animal Hospital had Santa on saturday.
Max was one of the many pups that whispered what he wanted to the jolly man.

Bell Christmas Parade

This is our second year spending the Christmas season in warm weather. Last year we went to the Alachua Christmas parade and yesterday morning I saw in the Lake City Journal that Bell was having a parade.

Max loved it. The kids from the Bell Safety Patrol loved him and they tried to sneak in a candy cane as a treat. I thanked them but told them he didn't need any extra energy, he had enough!

                               


                                                        Mean Old Mr. Grinch

                                                 

                                                                     The Elf

 They were throwing candy from all the cars, tractors, people on horseback and a few floats. Most of the candy landed on the road. I had a good time picking it up and giving it to the little kids.