Happy Birthday Benjamon!

My middle son (the sweetest of all sweet things) just turned three. Very exciting this year, mostly because he had such an opinion on how thing were going down. He requested a cars cake. After looking over the pans in the shape of a car I decided I was in no way capable of pulling that off. I told Jamon I was just going to buy one. He says, "remember when we were kids, our cakes had the actual toys on them." Hmmm...why yes I do remember that being super cool. So I went with that.





I have Jamon take the kids somewhere or play outside while I put the icing on the cake. Then we make a big production out of the very first time you see your birthday cake. Benjamon was hilarious. He kept yelling, "it's cars Mommy, it's cars, woohoo!"








"Woody let me introduce you to Buzz. You don't know it yet but you guys will be lifelong friends."



Wyatt and my Dad (also know as my manny because I drag him to the grocery store, doctors office, playground, etc.) hanging out and enjoying the festivities.

By the way we had the party at the park beside our house. It was lovely.




It was SO windy. We had to move the cake to the back of Papa Joes truck to light the candles. We didn't think it was ever going to work but finally Ben got to blow out his candles. High five for sure.

Happy birthday my darling boy. I wish you would stay just the way you are today forever and ever. Except for the occasional pooping in the pants thing. That I could do without.

Love, your Momma.

My Garden

Well hello. I know I haven't posted anything in a while. I am so busy lately and the blog is on the bottom of my list. But hopefully I will find the time to update you on my life goings on and not just food.

We'll start with this.




As you may or may not know. I love gardening. Yes, seriously. There is something very rewarding in eating food that you have grown and cared for yourself. In Edmond we had a little baby garden. We didn't have room for much but I still planted a small one. Here in Kingston America my garden is rockin! I am currently growing strawberries, spinach, green beans, bell peppers (red, orange and green), jalapenos,tomatoes, squash, eggplant, potatoes, onions, radishes,carrots and a weird pepper that I didn't mean to plant and have no idea what it is. I think I will snap a photo and post it so we can all guess what it is. Yes that will be lovely.

Gardening is so great for my family for many reasons. 1) It's a very frugal way to feed the family. It's tons cheaper to buy the seeds or plants than it is to purchase produce at the grocery store. 2) It's a great learning experience for the kids. Meredith and Ben help me pick plants, water and pull weeds. Meredith loves to eat salad because she got to go out and pick the spinach, wash it and put it on her plate. Not to mention it teaches the kids to be self-sufficient and learn to "live off the land" shall we say. 3) We eat healthier. When you have an abundance of fruits and veggies you tend to eat an abundance of fruits and veggies. We plan to cover the back part (behind the fence) with fruit trees. That project will have to come next year I suppose. We have way too many things going on around here. Which I plan to post. I love to see all of your projects so I think I will start showing mine.




Meredith and Benjamon are supposed to be showing the potatoes they dug. Ben is giving his the evil eye and Meredith is looking at Dad. I simply cannot get a good photo of these two together.



Here they are helping me in the garden.

And.....I'll throw one in of Wyatt practicing his spoon using skills since he seems to be left out of the blog photos lately.

Skillet Brownie

Sometimes Jamon comes home from work and says to me "hey here's a recipe for a cake we had at a work lunch and it was really good, or my coworker said we should try out this recipe, or you are such a hot and sexy babe." Okay, so he doesn't actually say that last one but I know he is thinking it.

Here is a FATastic recipe he brought home a few years ago and we have been making it since then. It is super fast and easy and very good.

2 sticks of butter (yes that's what I said 2)
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
6 eggs
3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Melt butter in an iron skillet. Mix dry stuff, pour in eggs and butter and vanilla, mix with a fork until all lumps are gone. Pour all in an iron skillet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. When outside edges are brownie like cake is done and center will be runny like fudge.

You can see what mine looks like when I take it out. The first time I made it I thought it might be raw in the middle. But actually it is very good. It reminds me a little of chocolate pie filling.

Peanut Butter Play Dough

Here is something easy and fun for the kids. *WARNING* This play dough is extremely tasty.



Perfect if you have different age groups in your home (or not). A lot of time when Meredith is learning Benjamon misbehaves for attention or wants to do something else. I have to come up with things to keep my two year old interested while the four year old is learning.





Both kids enjoyed mixing the dough. We used a stand mixer (I over mixed so mine was a little oily) but you could let the kids help and mix it by hand. Once the dough was done we used mini cookie cutters to cut shapes and worked on learning shapes.




Ben still needs to work on circle, square, triangle (you know the basics). Meredith has those down so I bust out a rhombus to shake things up and keep her on her toes. We found this tasty dough to be a great hands on helper for learning simple math, shapes and counting. Oh, and did I mention it is so tasty? Try this for some good fun with your sweet babies.





1 C creamy peanut butter
2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C honey

Just mix it up until it looks like dough. It isn't sticky like you may think. It was a great solid dough.

Girls and Boys

Jamon has taken out the entire front yard to make a new one. So in the meantime my kids have a giant sand box. I was looking at this photo of Meredith playing with a truck and thought to myself that her wearing her brothers undershirt and playing with trucks in the dirt doesn't make her look any less than the pretty little girl that she is.



Nor does this picture of her brother wearing her dress make him look anything like a sweet little girl.




Or how about these high heels. What about now? Does he look a little girly now?

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This dip is one of my favorite things. I love to get this dip when we eat out so I decided to try to make some at home. I loved this and so did the husband.

Ingredients:

2 cups parmesan cheese
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons garlic, minced (I didn't have any so I used real garlic and it was tasty)
1/4 tsp. curry (optional, but I love curry so I use it whenever I can dash some in)

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. 2
Mix together Parmesan cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
3 Combine remaining ingredients and mix with spinach mixture.
4 Bake for 20-30 minutes.
5 Serve with crackers or toasted bread.

Update

Since I haven't found the time to work on my blog lately I thought I would fill you in on what's been going on.

1. We are moved into our house. We are still unpacking and it seems as though we will be for the rest of our lives but at least we are in the house and slowly but surely getting settled.

2. The kids and I are trying to enjoy the last of summer before we are trapped inside for the winter. I know we will have plenty of time to unpack boxes and wash windows once the colder weather sets in. So for now we have vowed to.....

Explore our new surroundings



Go on lots of picnics



Smile for the camera



Make big messes in the kitchen



And eat lots of watermelon while we still can

Apple Cobbler

Here is a super easy apple cobbler. My husband loves "fruit" dessert and this is one of his favorites. This came from Mama (Jamons maternal grandmother for those of you who are new to the blog). You can pretend it took you hours to make this one and everyone will believe you. If you are into that sorta thing.

Peel and slice apples. I used seven in this dish. You can fill it as high or low as you like.
Spread them in a 9X13 pan.
Melt a stick of butter and pour over the apples. Then sprinkle the top with brown sugar and cinnamon. I don't know how much. Lets just say a cup and if you feel the need to add more then please do so. You have my permission. Then sprinkle on the cinnamon.
Take a store bought crust and unroll and cut into strips and layer over the top. This 9X13 size takes two crust. But you can (and I do a lot) make this in a 8X8 and only use one crust. I sprinkle the crust with white sugar and a little tiny bit of cinnamon.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Taco Salad

This is a tasty treat. I haven't had it in forever and came across this recipe. Now as you can see from the photo I followed the recipe and added a bottle of Catilina dressing. Note to self: Half a bottle will do ya. I also think you could eat it plain without the dressing. I took a bite and it was lovely. Or just let each person "dress" their own. Here it is. Plain and simple and quick and easy.

1lb. ground meat

1 package taco seasoning

1 can black olives sliced

1 can ranch style beans drained and rinsed

2 c. shredded cheese

1 cup shredded carrots

1 head chopped lettuce

1 tomato chopped

1 small bunch green onions sliced

1 bag nacho cheese Doritos crushed

1 bottle catalina salad dressing



Brown hamburger and add taco seasoning, let cool. Add all ingredients together and dress with catalina when ready to eat. Garnish with avocado.

Heathers Apple Pie

Here's something new and different. I had never had anything like this. It was so easy. I really don't enjoy making pie crust so I was happy when this one was so easy. The only pain in the hiney thing is cutting up the apples. No one enjoys peeling and cutting up a bunch of apples. It is unpleasant.
This Heather (because we all know more than one Heather)is a gal I went to High School with and lived with for one year during college. During that time she baked a lot of sweets and in turn caused me to develop a sweet tooth I never had before. So yes, we can all agree to hold her solely responsible for my slight case of obesity.

Anyway here is the recipe. Plain and simple. Yes, it is weird there is cheese in the crust. No, I will not apologize for it. Just try it and see for yourself.

1 stick margarine (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup grated cheese
6 small apples
Apple pie spice

Mix softened margarine, sugar & flour. Pat 2/3 mix into pie plate. Sprinkle grated cheese over crust mixture and lightly press in. Peel apples & slice, put into pie shell. Sprinkle with apple pie spice and water. Crumble rest of crust on top. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.

Oven temp: 375
Bake time: 45 min

I'm Still Here

Today is the day I vow to blog once again. I have finally sat myself down in front of the computer and forced myself to post something. My life has been crazy busy for the past several months.
We have always wanted to move back to our hometown the hubs and I. But life has never allowed for such things. Then they started at new program at Jamons job that allows employees to work from home. One day Jamon decided to ask his boss if he could work from home if we lived two hours away. He called me on his lunch break and says to call our realtor and put the house up for sale. One month later here we are all closed and moved away. By away I mean into the house we were staying in on lake visits. I mean a little tiny 900 square foot house where the washer is in the garage and the dishwasher is non existent. Now don't go getting all jealous on me folks! If I told you it really isn't that bad it would be a lie. I didn't think it would be at first. But it's getting old. Hand washing dishes, a baby bed in the living room. You know the sort of things you wouldn't want to deal with on a daily basis. Luckily we have found a house that we love and hope to close on it sometime this month.
Anyway I have some recipes to post and some other tips.
My friend Amy asked me what she could do with a big bag of beans she bought and I am making a pot as we speak so hopefully I will have some bean insight in the next few days. Anything else you all have just been dying to hear my thoughts on? Feel free to let me know.

I need a photo to go with each post so I will leave you with this one.



These girls are what I miss the most about living in Edmond. I look at this picture all the time to remind myself of the huge impact each and every one of them have had on my life. What an amazing buch you see here. Each has been such a blessing in my life. And by the way we have 23 kids between us. Now that's a bunch of baby mamma isn't it?

Spaghetti Salad

First of all I must apologize for the photo. I couldn't get my camera to understand how to adjust on a sketti salad.

Here is a recipe for a summer salad that we eat a lot. It makes a huge salad but stays good for a long time in the fridge so we eat the leftovers with lunch. I love this salad. It does take some prep time but it is worth it and it's easy.

1 pkg. spaghetti cooked as directed on package
1 TBS accent
3 TBS lemon juice
4 TBS Wesson oil
1 cup bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced celery
1 small jar of pimento drained
1 5 ounce jar spanish olives
1/2 cup mayo

After cooking spaghetti, rinse in cold water and drain well. Add the next three ingredients; mix well and marinate overnight. Next day add the rest of ingredients, salt to taste and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours.

Broccoli Salad

I know everyone is Oklahoma probably has a Broccoli Salad recipe. This is how my Momma makes it so this is how I believe it should be done. Now all this can be adjusted to your liking. If you are a fan of some facebook page called Ilovebacon.com then you should probably add a little extra. Or if you don't care for red onion just add a little or none at all. It ain't rocket science folks. Try this salad. My family thinks it's a lovely treat and I have never taken it to a pot luck where I wasn't asked for the recipe.

Salad

1 bunch of broccoli diced
5 pieces of cooked bacon
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup red onion

Dressing

1 1/2 cups of mayo
1/2 cup of sugar
2 TBS. vinegar

Menu Plan Monday

We are heading to the lake this week for a little mini-vacation so not much of a menu plan in place. Also, I probably (um, make that hopefully) won't be doing a ton of cooking while we are away so my blog might be lacking for a few days. I will get back on track next week.
Monday- chicken fettuccinei (using some leftover chicken so this will be easy)
Tuesday-burritos
The rest of the week we will be gone.

My Day Friday

We have been busy working on our garden this week. We have plenty of potatoes now so that is a lovely treat. I miss my friend Julie who moved away. She would come over last summer and help me dig them out of the ground. Great help for me and a great learning experience for her. I think of her each time I am out there digging and just laugh about the conversations we would have during those times of me showing her how to be "country".

Meredith watches "her" tomato each day and lectures me about not picking it until it turns red. Last year she never could leave them alone long enough for even one to turn red.

Benjamon is not that interested in the garden so I don't have to worry that he may pick anything. As you can see his patience is wearing thin and he waits to be pushed on the swing while I am snapping photos.



That's about all that is going on with me and the mini Reids. I'll leave you with a photo of a Mandevilla that is in bloom on my back porch. Did I mention I love the spring?



Oh...and here is tiny Elvis sporting one of his sisters hand me down nightgowns and what appears to be showing some gang signs with his hands. I try to keep them out of baby gangs but it looks like he's gone behind my back and joined one.

LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIE BARS

These cookies are the best lemon bar/cookie I have ever eaten. My friend Donna gave me an assortment of cookies last Christmas and this was in the box. I was pregnant at the time which makes me obsess over all things lemon. If you like lemon you should make these cookies. Perfect for a shower or tea (or for sitting down to eat a 9X13 of lemon cookies one hot afternoon). I, of course, would know nothing about such things.

Dough:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teas. baking powder
1/4 teas. salt

Beat butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy. In separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Mix both together well. Press dough into 13x9x2” pan refrigerate 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.

Just before dough is finished, make topping:

Topping:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. grated lemon peel

Pour mixture over baked dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.
This recipe is linked to the Grocery Cart Challenge. and Colleen's Kitchen and Mom Trends.

Chicken Spaghetti

Sorry for the lack of photo. I forgot to take one but think you will enjoy this recipe if you try it so I am posting without.

6 chicken breasts
1/2 cup picante sauce
1 small can green chilies
2 cans cream of chicken (cream of mushroom or sour cream)
1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
1/2 medium sauteed onion (optional)
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground pepper
2 cups grated cheese (whatever you like; I use Colby/jack)

Boil chicken then boil the spaghetti in the broth ( I don't do this. I cook my chicken in the crock pot and just boil the spaghetti with a few bouillon cubes in the water). Mix all other ingredients, including chicken. Drain spaghetti, saving 1 cup of broth. Add spaghetti to other mixture and mix well, using extra broth (if needed) to make a creamy consistency, (should not be too soupy). This recipe will make tow large casseroles; diving the mixture into two greased 9 X 13 pans. You can make these ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
**This recipe is easily halved. I make only one dish all the time.

Making Cookies Friendly

Cookies used to be mean to me. I would bake up a giant batch and they would sit on my counter calling out to me, haunting me until every one was gone. Those cookies would not be happy until I had eaten every one of them. Now when I make cookies I just cook enough for us to eat that day. So say I want to only eat two cookies (um, that is a lie) then I would just cook two. I take my small scoop and scoop the rest of the cookies into balls and freeze them as shown in the photo and then put them in an air tight container. This way when I want to do cookies I always have some on hand to heat up. Or if I want to eat a big ball of frozen cookie dough that works too.
This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks today for all things in bloom this spring at the Reid house.......

Thankful for the beautiful flowers that are coming alive.



Even more thankful for the food that we will get to enjoy soon.



Mostly thankful for the sweet things that are blooming around here!

Menu Plan Monday

Last weeks plan didn't go as planned. We had a few home improvement projects going so a few nights we did leftovers and sandwiches. Here is this weeks plan. Starting next week hopefully I will be more organized and add breakfast and lunch and dinner side dishes to this.

Monday-Beef Enchiladas
Tuesday-Chicken Spaghetti
Wednesday-Chili Buns
Thursday-Chicken Fried Rice
Friday-Ham