Thanksgiving and Family

Hello there.  We have been super busy here in the Silva house.  Girl scout cookies and Cub Scout popcorn had us out and about.  Delivering most of our cookies today and then we should be done.  What a relief. 
I have been getting the holiday spirit lately, have you?  I listened to Christmas music and already want to decorate!  We are having some wonderful company for Thanksgiving and are getting really excited.  What a great time of the year!  I am trying to come up with a plan for the time they will be here.  As always my thoughts are on what everyone is going to eat and how to have it easily prepared.  My thoughts are turning of course to normal family favorite dinners.  I love to cook new things, but now is really not the time to try something new.  You should usually test on your immediate family!  So I think we are going to have:

Spaghetti
Stir Fry with rice
Chili on Black Friday
Black Bean Enchiladas

I am still trying to add some more.  We are having company for around 10 days.  I know that we will have quite a bit of leftovers from Thanksgiving.  That makes the end of the week easier for us.  I did end up buying a 24+ lb turkey and a nice ham.  So I might make my Potato Soup with some of the leftover ham.  I did something a little different this yr with my company.  Normally we all cook together and to be honest it gets a little frazzled.  So this yr I asked my sister-in-law Maile to make the desserts.  I also asked my mother-in-law to make appetizers.  I am in charge of the main meal.  This is what I am going to make:

Turkey
Ham
Stuffing
Broccoli Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Rolls

Maile is also going to make sweet potato casserole.  She has a great recipe and her husband loves it and it is like a dessert ;)!  So that sounded good to me.  What are you guys making for the holidays?  What is your favorite dish to eat?   As I said before we are really excited to spend time with them.  It is so fun and relaxed.  We also have a tradition to go out Black Friday shopping.  We normally leave extremely early.  The grandparents watch all of the little ones, which total 7 this yr.  We shop and have fun and go to breakfast.  I just love it!  So many memories we create every year.  And do you know what? Even if you aren't spending the holidays with your extended family this year, make it SPECIAL.  Make memories that will last a lifetime!  And throughout the holidays, don't forget to smile and breathe. It isn't the perfect that makes good memories it is the fun!

Menu Plan Monday and Warehouse Clubs???

I know it is nasty out, rainy and just plain yuk.  So instead of putting up the fall Menu Plan Monday I wanted to pretend it is still summer. That is OK right?  Just a little bit of tricking the mind.  After all tricks are what this week is about.  Trick or Treat! 
Are you guys all ready for the little scary people to come and want your candy? I am.  I did not wait until the last minute, I bought all of our candy Fri night.  Now lets just honestly hope that we don't eat it all before Halloween.  Don't laugh, I know you have done it before too! 
Anyway.  We are trying to eat a little more healthy and a little more budget friendly of course.  So I went to BJ's Warehouse Club on Sat with my little fam.  I told myself: "Self" if we are going to do this we must only buy our meat and salad there today.  "self" listened.  We did good.  We got a great price on chicken breast,  fresh salmon and sweet potatoes.   Do you guys shop at big warehouse stores?  Do you find it helps with your budget?  Which one do you frequent most? Let me know as we consider buying a membership.  We have been members before at diff clubs, but we always were a little scared of the scenario: you just can't get out of there without spending $250.  And then of course you just have to go the grocery store to get some stuff.  Anyway here is my menu for the week.  Pretty basic, but hopefully pretty yum.  Take care.  And stay tuned as I have a new name for my blog coming soon.



Monday: Salmon with brown rice and a salad
Tuesday: Hubby is gone: Crescent roll somethings.......;)
Wednesday: Friends coming over: Pizza for the kids and Salads for the adults
Thursday: Chicken with sweet potatoes and salad
Friday: Enchilada Casserole
Sat: Chicken with corn and salad
Sunday: Salmon with sweet potatoes and of course salad!

If you have any great recipes for healthy salmon or chicken please let me know. 

Apple Dumplings

Here it is.... Apple season.  As many of you know we went and picked a bushel of apples a couple weeks ago.  We really have done nothing super special with them other than snack on them.  We have about a 1/3 left.  Well this past weekend my church, Crossbridge, had an apple carry in.  So needless to say I had to use some of these babies up.  So began my search.  I must confess I don't really care for apples.  I like a few varieties of them to snack on, but apple desserts aren't my cup of tea.  So I scanned some of my cookbooks and came upon this super simple apple dumpling recipe.  It takes probably 10 minutes to prep and then it is baking and you are done.  It also takes some quick convenient foods from the grocery.  I did get alot of great reviews at church.  I think you will really enjoy it. 

(Also this can be done in the crock pot.  I have never liked baking in mine, but go ahead and try it.  Just load everything up and turn it on high for 4-5 hrs with the lid cracked open.)

Apple Dumplings:

2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
2-3 apples, I used 3 diff apples to mix up the texture and taste
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 cup of Mountain Dew, yep that is right.

Peel and thinly slice apples.  Unroll crescent rolls and roll inside 3 pieces of thin apples, using the diff kinds.  Place in a greased 9x13 pan, can crowd if needed.  Melt butter and add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Pour over each crescent.  Now pour over your Mountain Dew.  Put in the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.  I served these at room temp and they were great.  I also for my church made them smaller sized by cutting the crescent rolls in 1/2 and then rolling up the apples.  Seemed to be the perfect size when you are feeding a large crowd.  Hope you enjoy.

Menu Plan

Here is my menu plan.  Starting tomorrow I am reviewing recipes, I have some yummy ones, plus getting my house together after a busy weekend!

Monday:
LoMein + Taking an extra dish to a friends.
Tuesday:
Kale, Pink Beans and Ham
Wednesday:
Grilled Chicken and Veggies
Thursday:
Curry and Rice
Friday:
Pizza


I will post again on Friday for my upcoming week.  Take care guys.
Recipe review this week for Apple Dumplings.  So quick, easy and delicious so check back!

Menu Plan

Here I am again.  Don't worry about the look of the blog, I am just fiddling around.  I am trying to make it suit me better.  I also am trying to come up with a catchy name for the blog. Any ideas?  If so please let me know.  This week is going to be all about family favorites.  Here goes:

Grandma's Sloppy Joe's! Yummy!
Meatloaf
Pork Chops with Gnocchi
Chicken and Rice
Leftovers
Spaghetti
Jeannie's Chicken and Rice Casserole

Very easy meals and some comfort foods make a good week for me.  Roman has started selling cub scout popcorn and Caitlin starts selling girl scout cookies tonight .  Yikes!  Tomorrow starts a ladies bible study so I am making a treat to bring there.  Plus, I am trying to add in canning this week.  Really hoping that I can get that done and over with so I won't worry about it anymore.  Easy and yummy foods that I know my family will eat is sometimes the best way to go when you are crunched on time.  Hoping you all have a blessed week. 

Recipe Reviews!

I have been really behind on writing about all of the recipes that we have been making.  I always like to let people know when it failed or when it was a success.  Here they are:

1.Blender Fudge Pie:  Now the name is really ridiculous. It must have a better name.  It is really good.  The recipe does make 2 pies.  I made one fresh the first night and then I made one cooked it and then froze it wrapped in tinfoil.  That was the best one!!!  It seemed to thicken up a little and have a more refined taste.  Kind of like my jar of last yrs canned apple butter.  Tastes better later.........  If you want something really and I mean really east then by all means make this.  Don't scrimp on the crust though.  I bought Wegmans rolled pie crust and that was yuck, must buy a good one or make a good one.  Here is the link:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/blenderfudgepie.htm

2.Homemade Chili Seasoning:  Normally I buy the little packets of seasoning. I realized the other day that I was out and was making turkey chili. Oops, so while searching I came across this recipe and it is wonderful.  I am sure that you have everything in your cupboard to make this.  If you don't have every little spice mix it up. Just don't leave out the main seasonings: like chili powder.  Also you might want to cut the red pepper flakes in 1/2 if you have little tots in the house, it was a tad bit spicy. Here is the recipe and I will add underneath it my recipe for chili that was so easy and delicious.
Sorry I didn't save the link so if this is yours please take credit and thanks for a great keeper.

Chili Seasoning
1/4 cup of flour
4 t chili powder
1 T red pepper flakes
1 T garlic powder
2 t white sugar
2 t cumin
2 t parsley
2 t salt
1 t basil
1/4 t pepper

Mix all together.  I added in my recipe of turkey chili about 3-4 T of this mix.  Just do it to your taste. Save the rest in a baggie or Tupperware.

Turkey Chili:
1 T oil
1/2 diced small onion
1 stalk of celery with leaves, chopped
1 lb. ground turkey
2 cans of chili beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes
3-4 T of chili seasoning
water if you like it thinner

Heat oil in skillet and then add onion and celery.  Cook for 3 minutes on med and then add turkey, breaking up with back of wooden spoon.  When cooked through add your chili beans undrained and your tomatoes undrained.  Add 3-4 T of chili seasoning from above and cook on med for 1/2 hour.  If you like your chili thinner then add a little water.  Your choice.  We like our chili on rice so it is nice when it is thick.


That is all for today. Hope your week has been wonderful and will see you back here Fri for my menu plan.  Take care!

Menu Plan + Apple butter link with additional link to applesauce recipe! ENJOY!

I can't believe it is Friday already, but I am prepared!  It does feel so good to have a menu, grocery list and to come home after the grocery store with exactly what I need for the week.  This week I have decided to do easy and yummy family favorites.  No muss no fuss here. 
Tomorrow we are going apple picking!  We are so excited.  We started this last year with the kids.  Hayride and then picking.  It is lots of fun.  Last year I canned apple butter and it is delicious.  We just opened our last jar and it tastes even better!  I also made applesauce and froze some too.  I really do enjoy making it.  It is not that hard and the kids really enjoy it.  The plan is I am going to do the same things this yr.   I am going to pick a bushel this yr maybe 2.  They really do last a while in the garage when it is chilly. 
So on to my menu plan:

Chicken taco salad with oven crisped corn tortillas
Chili with rice
Apple pork chops
Baked chicken with a salad
C.O.R.N. clean out refrigerator night
Chicken and dumplings
Pork fried rice
Saurkraut and sausage in the crockpot

*Sometimes I don't put my side dishes down.  I will choose that day what I want.  I always have some frozen and fresh veggies and rice and potatoes.  I just do what I feel like.

Here is the recipe that I had great success with for apple butter.  It also has a link for the applesauce.  I did peel my apples for the applesauce and I did NOT use a special gadget like a sieve to make mine smooth.  It just gradually cooked down and we do like our applesauce just a little chunky.  If I would use something to make smooth I would use an immersion blender.  So easy.  Give it a try.  I think you will love both recipes!

http://www.pickyourown.org/applebutter.htm
 

Review on the Escarole with Pink Beans and Ham

REVIEW:

Last night I made a new recipe and I wanted to let you know how it turned out.  Once I got home from the grocery store and realized that the recipe said kale and not escarole I just went with the punches.  I saw the kale at the grocery store and thought no that can't be right, it has to be escarole.  I was wrong, but it still turned out really good.  Escarole has the texture of a lettuce, so it did seem to look like I put lettuce in there, but it is a much stronger flavor.  Kale looks to be more substantial and hearty even though I have never tried it.  I have to say that the taste was really great and it was so simple to make.  For you that are on low carb diets this is a perfect meal.  I added baked potatoes to our dinner to make it more filling and in case the kids didn't like the "lettuce" ;)  I would say that I am definately going to make this again.  The longest part of this meal was chopping the ham up and crisping it.  The rest took 5 minutes.  So I would say a prep of 5 minutes and a total cooking time of 10.  Sounds good to me.  How about you?  So here is the recipe:

Braised Kale ( Escarole ) with Pink Beans and Ham
Robin Miller
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced lean baked ham,  I used a ham steak.
1 pound kale, chopped  (escarole)
1 (15-ounce) can pink beans, rinsed and drained, I found this in the mexican section, Goya brand.
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, I had beef on hand.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ham and cook 2 minutes, until golden brown. Add kale, beans and broth, cover and steam 5 minutes, until kale is tender. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
 
Try it and let me know how you like it!

Late Menu Plan

Greetings everyone!  Sorry to have been so late posting my menu plan but we had quite a full week here in New York.  My mom flew in for a visit and 2 of my 3 children were really sick.  They are pretty much all better,  the parents are still feeling a little down.  I had a wonderful visit with my mom and was sad to see her go.  I know that I have to get out of my funk and start back on my routines.  So here is my menu.  Last menu I put was until Tues so this will pick up today until Fri.  I know that is short but I will then post on Fri for the following week.  Did I lose you?  Hope not, so here it is:

Wed:  Escarole with pink beans and ham
Thurs: Fluffy pancakes with turkey bacon: First cub scout night so I am making it easy!
Fri: Crispy Taco Salad

 I hope you guys have a wonderful couple days and enjoy the fall weather.  I just love autumn.  I think this week I am going to start getting my decorations out.  Do you guys have yours out already?  Well have fun and see you Friday.

Menu Plan Monday! Mom's Coming!

This week I am getting ready for my mother to fly in.  She is getting here late Wed night.  So we shall eat easy foods up until that point.  I am making some of our favorite foods while she is here and 2 new ones.  Hoping I get to them otherwise they will carry over to next weeks plan.  Here it is starting of course from last Fri:

Fri: Pizza
Sat: Wings and Salad
Sunday: Caitlin's Favorite Potato Soup
Mon: Hot Dogs and Mac and Cheese ( Jack's Favorite )
Tues: Friendship Casserole, carried over from last week.
Wed: CORN, Clean Out Refrigerator Night
Thurs: Black Bean Enchiladas with Pumpkin Roll
Fri: Chicken Lasagna Florentine with Garlic Bread
Sat: Date Night, Free Babysitter!
Sunday: Black Bean Soup requested by Mom
Monday: Hearty Beef and Noodles with a Raspberry Tart
Tues: She leaves so I am going to be depressed and not making dinner ;)

Now normally I only post Fri-Fri, but since I have it planned out while she is here I am posting until Tues. 
I have to link some of these recipes because they are delicious!

Black Bean Enchiladas by Sandra Lee Money Saving Meals!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/web-exclusive-round-2-recipe-black-bean-enchiladas-recipe/index.html

Raspberry Tart is Divine!!!!!!
http://mailesmucker.blogspot.com/2010/07/raspberry-tart-your-husband-or-you-cant.html

I hope you guys can try these recipes.  They are phenomenal.  Just a heads up the black bean enchiladas is a round 2 recipe from her Money Saving Meals.  I did not really think the 1st recipe black bean burgers would work.  They were kind of mushy, so I skipped that and used it all for the enchiladas.  I am glad I did, so delicious.  This dish is also easily frozen.
I hope you all have a wonderful week I know I will!

Thrifty + Bonus Crockpot Recipe!

 I like to be thrifty sometimes.  I get a little chuckle when I know that I have saved us some money.  It's fun and rewarding.  Today I have made homemade chicken noodle soup.  I spent alot of time on it.  I started with a whole bird.  I have extra chicken for a really yummy chicken pot pie or chicken n dumplings now too.  I feel good when I have extra things in my freezer.  I also cut some extra celery and onions and put them in freezer bags for my soups in the winter.  It really didn't take me any extra time or dirty anymore dishes and it used up some veggies that might of fallen into the black hole.  I was already using those ingredients in my soup.  I also had some fresh cherry tomatoes from my garden that have been eyeballing me.  So I washed and froze them whole.  I read online that you can do that with small tomatoes.  Another thing I did is make an extra broth from the bones of my chicken.  Now you are probably thinking that is gross. Have any of you made it before? Let me know.  I have not tried it because it went in the freezer for my next batch of soup.  I read about bone broth in a book about fibromyalgia.  It said it is extremely healthy for you.  We shall see ;).  I baked banana bread today because some sad looking bananas were peeking at me.  And the last thing I did was make bread pudding.  I was a busy mom but did I forget to mention that my kids went back to school today.  Oh I forgot to mention that part earlier.  Sorry.  I did take my little pumpkin for a nice long walk today too.  What did you do today?  Did you tackle being thrifty just for the fun of it?  Let me know your ways of being thrifty.  Lets be the nifty thrifty's!

Here is a delicious crock pot recipe for you.  Take care!

Black Bean Soup with Crab and Andouille Sausage
Thanks, Robin Miller

Ingredients

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 pound diced andouille sausage, I use kielbasa or polish sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper

2 cups lump crabmeat, picked for shells and cartilage
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine beans, broth, tomatoes, sausage, onion, celery, carrots, cumin, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Mix well. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with crab and cilantro.

I do not add the crab.  This is a delicious soup without that addition. 

Menu Plan Monday Sept. 6

I can't believe it is here already, Labor Day.  Back to school in this neck of the woods this week too.  I have made an easy and inexpensive menu plan for this week.  Here it is....

Fri:  Pizza, bought from the store fresh.
Sat: Steaks and baked potatoes
Sun: Hamburgers and green beans
Mon: Hot dogs and gourmet potatoes with strawberry nilla dessert
Tues: Friendship casserole
Wed: Homemade chicken noodle soup and fresh baked bread
Thurs: CORN  clean out refrigerator night

I hope you guys have a wonderful blessed week.  Take care.....

Quick Pot Sticker Soup

O.K. by now you are figuring out that I am all about yummy, quick and hopefully inexpensive meals.  Well here is another one that my family likes.  I know this is a soup and some of you think that is just for fall and winter, it is almost fall here guys!  Here it is:

Pot Sticker Soup

2 large boxed containers of chicken broth ( about 8 cups )
1 tsp of fresh grated ginger
1 small clove of minced fresh garlic
1 -2 TBSP soy sauce
1 bag of frozen pot stickers
Veggies:  this is your choice here.  Here are some suggestions if you want to add veggies
Celery, thin sliced carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts......

Boil the chicken broth then add in ginger, garlic and soy sauce.  If you are adding veggies the time for cooking them depends on when they will be tender.  So add them in and then account for the time of the pot stickers in your veggie total.  Look on your pot sticker bag and see how long it takes them to cook.  Normally I just boil them until they float.  The biggest time factor would be if you added carrots.  They would take longer.  Once your pot stickers float then the soup is done.  You could serve this with whole grain bread and butter.This is a 15 minute meal.  Hope you enjoy......

Menu Plan Monday Week of August 27

Welcome everyone.  We sure have been busy around here trying to get ready for school in a week and a half.  Most of you have already been there and done that this year.  Our school starts later than I am used too.  This weeks meal plan is going to be easy.  I am also changing my menu to go from Fri-Thurs.  The easier the better in our household since we are going to start putting up all of the pool toys and get ready for fall.  It is getting a little chilly here in the evenings so I am sure we are going to close the pool in a week or two.  Hope you guys have a wonderful week and see you back here soon.

Menu Plan Monday

Friday: subs
Sat:  kids night in parents out, mac and cheese
Sunday: steaks and sweet potatoes
Monday:  chicken and broccoli
Tuesday: garlic bread sammies
Wed: spaghetti with homemade sauce
Thurs: terriyaki chicken and rice

Quick and Delicious Garlic Bread Subs

Good morning!  This is just such a perfect day!  The weather is wonderful and my family is happy. What more could you ask for?  I hope your day started out just like mine!
I am going through all of my recipes and making my menu plan and grocery list.  I asked my husband what he would like on the menu this week.  Luckily he said my garlic bread subs!  So easy and quick to prepare.  Here is the recipe......

Garlic Bread Subs

1 loaf of garlic bread from freezer or fresh
1 pkg of fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 lg. onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. of butter
1 1b. roast beef from deli counter
6-8 slices of provolone, or your cheese preference

Preheat oven to 400.
Bake bread for about 8 minutes.
Saute mushrooms, garlic and onions in your butter until nice and soft.
Take bread out of oven and on each half press your mixture on top.  This is an open faced sandwich.  Now put your slices of meat and then top with your slices of cheese.  We like roast beef and provolone, but use your families favorites.  Now put it back in the oven until the cheese is melted and everything is nice and toasty.  Slice and enjoy.  Everyone in my family loves this.  For Roman I will just make a little section without the mushrooms.  This last time I used the garlic toasts in the freezer.  It worked good too. 

Grocery Budgeting

Here I am.  I got lost for a little bit, but I am back.  To tell you the truth the last 4 weeks have been very filled and I have been exhausted.  Hoping to get back to normal here for a while.  Lately I have been doing some cleaning and getting things ready for the start of the school year.  My kids don't go back to school until Sept 8.  Seems like we are all ready to get back in the school year groove.  The kids are missing there friends, who unfortunately go from one parent to the other at odd times.  So hard for them to keep in contact with them. 
We have also decided to start budgeting.   I know that we can do this.  Our money just flies out the door the minute that we get it, or else we spend it on junk.  Do you guys have that problem?  I would just love to know where are dollars are going.  We have decided to really hunker down and pay off some bills.  My main concern is how much I have for groceries.  It is really hard for me as a stay at home mom to not go to the store when I need something.  Fortunately and unfortunately I live about a block from Wegmans.  When I need milk I go to the store and come home with a bunch of other stuff that cost me about $20.  
Now I have a budget.  I need to really try and have all the food and paper goods that I need for 1 week.  Do you guys do a plan for 1 week or 2?  I know that for Menu Plan Monday I post for 1 week but really I write it out for 2 weeks.  I go to the store thinking that I will get most of what I need.  I don't.  I fail miserably.  Some days I (we) am not hungry for what I have on the plan.  I believe that if I started planning for just 1 week instead of the two it would be easier.?.  That way I could tell myself  " I can wait until Sunday for that particular item."   And I am going to also take the cash out of the account and put it in a envelope for groceries.  When I am out, I am OUT!   Think I can do it guys?  Any suggestions on grocery budgeting would be great.  Any great healthy meals would be awesome too!   Have an awesome Tuesday!

Homemade Cake Batter Ice Cream Recipe! YUM!

Let's just start off being honest here.  I have not made much ice cream.  I just always thought it was so much easier buying the containers at the store.  I have never been a huge fan of ice cream and the kind you buy at the grocery store is just not that great.  On the other hand I adore Coldstone Creamery's Ice Cream.  I just love the mud pie mojo.  Yum!  So I decided to start off small and make this cake batter ice cream.  It is creamy and decadent.  You could add all of the yummy stuff after you freeze it to have your own creamery concoction!  I am sure that you know buying your family ice cream at a creamery is going to cost about $5.00 per person.  No guilt here guys! This batch costs roughly around $3.50!  This is a win win scenario here people!  Just go now and make it, hurry up!

Cake Batter Ice Cream in a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 3/4 cups whole milk

3/4 - 1 cup of dry cake mix,  I used a yellow cake mix.

WHISK all ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher or large bowl until blended, it still will look chunky at this point. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

POUR milk mixture into freezer container of a 1 -quart electric ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. If you like soft serve than this is for you, otherwise read on....
REMOVE container from ice-cream maker pour in a Tupperware container and place in freezer until firm, about 1 to 1½ hours.

Menu Plan Monday: August 16th

I am back from vacation and we are not feeling up to par yet.  We have all been sick for the last week.  So this will be short and sweet.  Hope you all are having a fun summer. 

Amish Chicken and Steak with Baked Potatoes
Friendship Casserole
Bacon Onion and Tomato Sammies
Chicken Bombay with Rice
Hamburgers with Squash Casserole
Garlic Bread Sammies
Leftovers

My husband is on vacation this week so we are eating mostly cookout foods and summer favs.  I am going to be making ice cream this week with my ice cream maker.  I am trying out cake ice cream.  I will let you know how it goes.  Take care everyone!

Freezing Fresh Corn

I worked on freezing 65 ears of fresh corn last Sat.  I first heard about freezing fresh corn from my sister-in-law Maile.  Her husbands family does this.  It sounded like such a fun and easy way to have great tasting corn in the yucky New York winter months.  I had arranged with a farmer's stand 2 weeks in advance to call me on Fri evening if they had 5 dozen ears left.  She did and I ran over.  I got 5  baker's dozen and they were delicious.  She cuts them every morning for her stand so I knew they were fresh.  It took me at most 1 hr to clean the corn.  1 hr to blanch the corn.  1 hr to cut and bag up the corn.  So at most this project took me 3 hrs.  Here are the basic directions.
1.  Clean the corn.
2.  Blanch the corn for about 5 minutes.  Different blogs or websites tell you diff times.  I felt that this was the right time for me and my corn ;)
3.  Cool.  I immediately placed them on some newspaper to soak up all the hot water and cool.
4.  Cut off the cob.  I used a big bowl and then put a measuring cup upside down in it.  I put the ear on the little cup and cut.  Most of the kernels fell into the big bowl.  I made sure to get the good stuff even some of the milk.
5.  Bag it up.  I put it in freezer bags.  Roughly 5 ears of cut corn in each bag.  I did throw in some diced red and yellow bell peppers into a few bags.
That was it.  I hope you get to try this sometime.  Can't wait to grab a bag when we have lots of snow and are really missing the tastes of summer.

Never Run Out of Gas!

OK folks.  I must admit that I was so close to running out of gas on the highway in the mountains on my way to NC.  You would of thought that I would of learned my lesson.  Oh no, not Kim.  I totally ran out of gas going to the store here in Charlotte today.  Totally ran out!  Here is the story.  We went to dinner and then decided to quickly go into this thrift store that my mother-in-law had heard about.  I had my father-in-law and my kids in the car watching a dvd.  All of a sudden here comes Caitlin and her cousin running in and telling me that I ran out of gas.  I just laughed and said no way.  Ha. Ha.  I went outside and it wouldn't start.  We rolled it to see if tilting it another way would start the car.  My idea guys.  Didn't work.  So Jim and I walked to the gas station.  As I am paying for the gas a sheriff comes in and looks at me all sweaty and knows that I am in trouble.  I ask him if he would give me a ride to my car, he only had room for 1.  So he takes me back to the van.  I put in the gas and it still won't start.  Jim comes up, my father-in-law from walking back from the gas station.  Tries to start it and another older man comes up all gruff and says "What is going on here folks?"  So I tell him and he looks at my 1 gallon gas can and laughs and says "that isn't going to cut it."  He says he will take us to get some more gas.  Jim is kind-of in his own world and doesn't really respond.  I feel weird because the guy grabs my gas can and Jim is doing his mechanic thing.  So I get in the truck WITH HIM............ So I know where the gas station is and he is not going to that one.  He says that he likes the one down another block.  I start to freak out a little.  Grab my purse tight and think how dumb I am.   So we do get to the gas station and I pay for the gas.  Get in the car and he is driving back.  I feel my pocket and realize that I have Kathy's cell phone.  It starts to ring....... It's Jim.  "Where are you?"  " We are on our way back to the parking lot."  He says they got the van started and they are looking for me at the gas station that we didn't go to.  The guys that is helping me is really persistent now and kind of gets gruff  "Where are they?  What gas station?  What? Which one?"  I felt really weird, but we get there.  I tell him "Thanks, and keep my can and the gas."
Needless to say my in-laws and my children were freaking out!  Kathy is all weepy and Jim is all huggy.  My kids are relieved.  I am just so feeling like I am just the biggest "dumb-ass" alive.  I just did something that I would NEVER want my kids to do.  I don't want to say too much on the guy.  I did feel weird.  He was very pushy and very lengthy in his stories.  You just don't ever know.  Was I extremely lucky that I got out of there in 1 piece?  You just never know.  But I do know this.... I sure did learn my lesson!