Some of Grandma's Recipes

I enjoy going through my grandmothers old recipes box and cooking some of her recipes. It always brings back memories of her as I read her handwriting and then taste the flavors I remember from my childhood. Here are a few of her recipes typed up just the way she wrote them:

Potato Soup 

Thinly silce 3 potatoes and 1 onion in covered bowl add 1/2c. water, cook 8min stirring a couple of times. Add salt, peper, milk and butter to taste and heat 1 more minute.

Noodles

2 beaten eggs
1 tsp grease
salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk

cut in 1 in strips and drop in boiling beef or chicken broth.

Maw's Good Cookies

1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. oats
1 1/4 c. choc chips
1 1/4 c. coconut
1 1/4 c. nuts

Use* cake method. Drop on cookie sheets, bake 10 to 15 min. at 350

*I am not sure what this means the first word is faded, but appears to say "use". So I just mix it all up and then drop on the batter in cookie portions onto the cookie sheet and then bake.

Good Applesauce Dessert

Fill small ovenproof bowls with applesauce, top with a mixture of flour, brown sugar and butter (equal portions of each) and a dash of cinnamon. Place under broiler until topping is browned and bubbly.

Cranberry Salad

Grind 1 pkg. frozen cranberries. Mix in two cups sugar, let set overnight. Next day add 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained. 1 cup miniature marshmallow, 2/3 cup nut meats. Last, add 1-9oz Cool Whip. Mix, refrigerate one or two hours.

Some freezer Recipes

Freezer Italian Chicken: Italian Chicken is really really easy. you just put 5 or 6 raw  chicken breasts in a gallon freezer bag and pour a bottle of italian dressing over the chicken and place it in the freezer until ready to cook. To thaw you can sit in refrigerator for 24 hours or run warm water over the bag. Then pour the entire contents out and either bake in over 45-60 min at 350 or cook in crockpot 4-6 hours on high. I usually serve with rice or pasta.


Pizza dough: 
2 tbs active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 tbs oil
5 cups of flour


Dissolve yeast in warm water and add sugar, salt oil and flour. Knead on floured surface for 3-5 minutes. Divide into 15 to 20 pieces and roll into small circles. Add pizza fillings, fold dough over and seal usually with wet fingers.  Bake on greased baking sheet for 10-15 min at 500. After cooling I place into  ziploc bags and freeze. 


FYI this recipe can be halved to make a single pizza crust or you can freeze the dough and defrost to make pizza later. As a pizza I bake it at 450 for 10-15 min.


Chicken broccoli casserole

2 1/2 cups uncooked rice (I use brown)

2 cups cooked chicken shredded or chopped

4 cups of fresh broccoli florets or a bag of frozen

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

First cook brown rice and steam broccoli until tender. Then combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and reserve 1/2 cup of cheese. Mix the ingredients and pour either into 2 grease 8x8 dishes or one large 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with cheese.

Now bake 20-30 min at 350.

Or you can cover and freeze before baking. To cook from freezer, allow to thaw and then bake 20-30 min at 350.

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Let the couponing begin! (Again)

When our two and a half year old daughter was born I became a stay at home mom and I discovered couponing as a way to supplement the loss of a second income. I knew where to get a good deal and was planning strategic trips to the store. Then when we put our house on the market and ultimately moved the couponing went on the back burner. Now that the holidays are over and I am becoming familiar with our new town I am getting the urge to start saving with coupons again. So I went to a free couponing class at our library last night to find out where the best stores are to shop and I am getting organized, and I am excited to start having a well stocked house at bargain prices again.

So, this morning I got up early and began clipping. Immediately my eyes gravitated towards a nabisco coupon for any size product. The key word is any. So I sent my husband off to work with a handful of coupons and a few dollars and instructions to stop by Wal-Mart on his way home. (He gets excited by the good deals as much as I do.) I am sure our kids will be happy when they see the new stock pile of snacks!


Nabisco Teddy Grahams Go-Paks $1.00 Regular Price


Use $2.00/3 Nabisco Honey Maid, newton Ritz Crakerfuls, Teddy Grahams Snackwell's, Wheat Thins, 100 call and Triscuit from SS1/8 (exp 1/27)

Final Price: $0.33 each when you buy 3

The First weekend of the Year!

This weekend, we scored some great FREE items on Craigslist! First, we got a captains bed with four built in drawers and we got a desk. Currently, both items are in the garage until we get a mattress for the bed and until we get some flooring upstairs. Hopefully, within the month both items will be in full use in our home.

The Highlight of the weekend was Saturday night, when Alan was a lector for the first time at our new church. At our previous parish the kids would be in the nursery when he lectored, so this was the first time they saw him get up and do the readings at mass. My heart was overwhelmed with happiness when I saw that our son was cheering on his dad and giving him a thumbs up.

After mass I decided to surprise the kids and treat myself to a night off from cooking. I used a free pizza coupon that I had and treated the family to some pizza. And to make it even better we had enough left over to use it for lunch on Sunday. So of course I used that extra time to bake some bread and make lasagna for dinner on Sunday.

Hello 2012!!!

With a new year comes the feeling of a fresh start. The first big change for us this year was finally getting internet service to our house. It has taken months of negotiation with the utility company to get them to run the cables to our home. Now we are able to do internet research, work on budgets, I can organize coupons and I can resume my mystery shopping for a little extra cash.

I have a few projects going on around our home.  First, our "launch pad" project is ongoing, I've gotten the coat hooks done, but the message center is still a work in progress. I hope that I can find some inspiration to make something frugal, beautiful and functional. We are also moving forward on our upstairs bonus room and picking out colors and design options for the second floor. Finally, we have begun looking for curriculum for our little mans homeschooling next year.

So far, on the homeschooling front, I have been reading, researching and planning. As a former math and science teacher I feel comfortable with picking curriculum for my children in most areas. However, I have anxiety about the reading curriculum. He loves books and loves writing his letters, but the next step towards becoming a reader seems overwhelming to me. There are so many methods, and curriculum and research about this that I am overwhelmed. Any curriculum suggestions and or advice are appreciated in regards to a reading program or homeschooling in general.

Currently I am leaning towards, Math U See, for our math curriculum. And for Reading/Phonics, I want something that helps him develop a love of reading.

All in all, I am excited about this year and the new adventures that we will be embarking on this year.

Launch pad project

Before beginning the Launch pad project

My new Projects

Today I am going to start designing our families launch pad are area by out kitchen door. So far I have come up with an idea using old door knobs as coat hangers and possibly a large frame as a dry erase board and message center. I really don't want to purchase anything for this project, so I am going to go up to my attic area tonight and look for inspiration. If that doesn't work, then I get to go shopping at the area secondhand and antique stores to find some objects I can repurpose. (Don't worry I will be posting pictures as I complete the project)

Today I am also making up my weekly batch of pumpkin bread for our family and I am also going to try to make some pumpkin monkey bread that can be used on Christmas morning. I am hoping that I can freeze the monkey bread until Christmas Eve. Then all I will have to do on Christmas morning is warm it in the oven and pour a glaze over it. If it turns out the way I want it to it will be a perfect tradition for years to come.

Now that we are in our new home another new tradition I am starting is the Shelf Elf. We are going to have the elves show up this Saturday morning. That morning the elves will be surprising our family with a traditional North Pole breakfast. So I will need to go to the store and get some small powdered donuts, large candy canes, mini marshmallows and bottled Starbucks coffee. I plan on using recycled Starbucks coffee bottles to put milk in, then I will place the candy canes in them and thread some donuts over the top of the candy canes. With the marshmallows I am thinking of making a winter wonderland fruit salad.

I will post pictures and more recipes as the projects are completed. So stay tuned.

Winter wonderland Fruit salad (serves 8)

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 small container Cool Whip topping
• 1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and cut in half

• Preparation

  The evening before:
  mix together the cream cheese, pineapple and
  marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

  The next morning:
  fold in the thawed Cool Whip and the cherries and serve.