Feeling Crafty

First things first....I am just now posting about our dinner Thursday night! Let me just say that it was delicious! Oh my word, we all had it over a baked potato and ate the cornbread on the side and it was just to die for!

I am telling you, that mixture with the potato and the cheese was awesome and such a good cold weather food! I'm anxious to take some leftovers home for Gene and the boys to try and see if they like it! I do know the boys won't like the beans so I'll cut them in half next time I make it.

The cake was awesome too and it really tastes like a pumpkin bread. We did decide that next time I'm going to add walnuts to it and do a cream cheese icing instead of the glaze. The glaze isn't bad, it just doesn't have much flavor. I think with the walnuts and cream cheese icing..mmmmmmm!! You could even just leave it dry and put it in loaf pans and make a bread! It's easy and yummy!

Now, of course, I have to throw a picture of Miss Thang on here! Mom, Grace and I went shopping yesterday at Target, Kirkland's and Hobby Lobby and this little one racked up big time! Which is no big surprise because she always does but ya know! Truthfully though the girl was in desperate need of some winter clothes so that's what Mom and I got her yesterday. She ended with, I think, 8 different outfits, 3 new pairs of pajamas and 5 new pairs of shoes!! I am so jealous, but you just can't beat Target's $4 dollar Circo brand pants and shirts. They are the best and fit her so good! The child is not even 3 yet but she is already wearing 4T clothes and a size 9 shoe! She is just growing too fast. Mom and I were in HEAVEN in Kirkland's because they have most of their Christmas stuff out and let me just tell you, Mom and I are HUGE Christmas people and our houses are always decorated big time for the holiday! I could have spent a lot more time and a whole lot more money in there but I just had to tell myself no! We did get a few things and we also got Granny a few prizes too!

Our last stop was Hobby Lobby because Granny had this glass vase from some flowers she was sent after her surgery. We had to throw the flowers out this week and I told Mom I wanted to do an arrangement in it for her table. So, we ventured into Hobby Lobby and found these artificial flowers to use! I had already decided I was going to slice lemons and oranges to put in the bottom. I got started on it this morning and this is how it turned out! I was very pleased with it, especially considering it's my first one to make EVER!!!

The lemons weren't a very bright yellow but they look alot better in person than in this picture! I've decided I'm going to have to get some more and make one for my house! I've been wanting a new centerpiece for our dining room table as well so now I've just gotta get to work on it! Overall, it wasn't that expensive either. She already had the vase and Hobby Lobby had their greenery and shrubs 50% off so all of them cost about $14-15 dollars and then I used two oranges that were .50 a piece and about 6 lemons that were .38 a piece. Not bad! Plus Granny was very happy with it!!

I have to work today so Grace and I will have to be leaving here in about 45 minutes to head back home up the mountain. :( I'm sad and wish we could stay but I'm also ready to get home and see my hubby and my boys! Gene is leaving tomorrow for a class at the Academy in Camden and won't be home until Thursday so I need to spend some time with him before he leaves!

The Razorbacks play the Florida Gators in the Swamp today at 2 so we'll be calling those Hogs all afternoon and rootin' for another win!!! Whooooooooo Pig Sooie!!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!!!

It's starting to smell like Fall!!!!

Grace, Mom and I are down in Alma right now at Granny's house and I have a ton of pictures to share but for right now I'm going to share two new recipes I've tried! I recently signed up at myrecipes.com and also at southernliving.com so I receive e-mails with recipes and ideas on a regular basis. Let me tell you, my recipe book has grown tremendously since I started getting them!

This past week I received one that was 20 Slow Cooker Recipes and I printed off just about everyone of them because they all sounded delish! I brought them down with me yesterday when we came and had Mom and Granny go through to see which ones they thought sounded good to make while we were here. We all decided on the Chalupa Dinner Bowl and the recipe says to put it in large taco salad shells or over cornbread so we decided we would make homemade cornbread and also baked potatoes to put it over!!! Now I will say first that we have not actually eaten it yet. I put it all together last night and let it cook overnight and we will be eating it for dinner here in about an hour so I'll be sure to come back and let you know how it was all together! I have tasted it though and mmmmmm......yum!! Ok, here ya go!!!

Chalupa Dinner Bowl

1 lb dried pinto beans

1 (3 1/2 lb) bone-in pork loin roast

2 (4 oz) cans chopped green chiles

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 (32 oz) box chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles with lime juice and cilantro

8 taco salad shells

1 small head Iceberg lettuce, shredded

Toppings: shredded Monterey Jack cheese, pickled jalapeno slices, halved grape tomatoes, sour cream, chopped avocado

Rinse and sort beans. Place pinto beans in a 6-qt slow cooker; add roast and next 6 ingredients. Pour chicken broth evenly over top of roast. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce to LOW, and cook 9 hours. Or, cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours. Remove bones and fat from roast; pull roast into large pieces with two forks. Stir in diced tomatoes and green chiles. Cook, uncovered, on HIGH 1 more hour or until liquid is slightly thickened. Heat taco salad shells according to package directions; place shredded lettuce evenly into shells. Spoon about 1 cup pork-and-bean mixture into each shell using a slotted spoon. Serve with desired toppings.

Note: I used a boneless pork roast and it worked wonderfully and it was easier because I didn't have to pull it out in order to tear it into small pieces because it was sooo tender! I also used minced garlic instead of garlic cloves (it says on the jar how much equals 2 cloves), a can of regular Rotel instead of the one it calls for and after it cooked for the first hour and I turned it to LOW I added a glass of water to it to make sure it didn't get dry because Granny's crock pot is really big and not all of the roast was under the broth. I think the water really helped because it made it more brothy. And of course we are using the cornbread and baked potatoes instead of what it says and I'll be sure to take pictures of the finished product and let you know how it all was together too!!

Now....I also had some new dessert recipes and I brought them down as well! They were all pretty much pumpkin recipes because, after all, 'tis the season!! So, we decided on the Pumpkin Pound Cake with Buttermilk Glaze! We haven't tried any yet because it will come after our dinner but rest assured I'll give you a verdict on it as well!! I do know that it smelled absolutely heavenly in here and then I got the cake in the oven and my mouth was just watering over the smell alone!! I'm so happy that fall is here....it's just my absolute favorite!!

Pumpkin Pound Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

CAKE:
cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

GLAZE:
1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbslp butter
2 tsps cornstarch
1/8 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare the cake, lightly coast a 10-in tube pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 tblsp flour. Spread pumpkin over 2 layers of paper towels; cover with 2 additional layers of paper towels. Let stand about 10 minutes. Scrape drained pumpkin into a bowl. (This drains the moisture out of the pumpkin to help make the cake's texture light.)

Place 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl.; beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Lightly spoon 3 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup of buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare glaze, combine 1/3 cup buttermilk and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Drizzle cake with glaze.


I'm hoping it tastes as good as it looks!!! I really do have several other pictures to share from our last couple of days but right now I need to make sure Grace isn't doing something she shouldn't be and finish getting stuff together for dinner!!!

Till then....

As Requested...

Here's the recipe for pizza crust and how we make our pizzas!! This is just for you Nic!!!

Easy Pizza Dough

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour

1 pkg. yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 cup hot water

2 tbsps. vegetable oil

In medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and oil. With mixer on low speed beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Gradually stir in remaining flour to make a firm dough. On floured surface knead dough 10 to 12 times. Cover, let rise for at least 15 minutes.

Now, when I make it I use 2 large pizza pans that I bought at Wal-Mart with the holes in the bottom of it so I make 2 whole recipes of dough and it's just the right amount for the big pans. You don't have to preheat the oven, just turn it to 425 degrees when you put your first one in. We like lots of cheese so we use 2 lbs of monterrey jack cheese and 2 lbs of mozzarella cheese. Grate it all and mix it together. Make sure to spread flour across your counter and then spread your dough out to fit your pan. I typically buy the Ragu brand pizza sauce but I have a recipe for sauce I'm going to try next time. Spread the sauce across the crust and then spread your toppings of choice on the sauce. You can really use anything you want. If you like italian sausage or hamburger make sure to brown the meat first. I chopped up one green pepper and half of an onion for ours.

On the first one I spread half of the browned hamburger meat (I used 2 lbs total) and then on the other half spread out pepperonis, crumbled browned italian sausage, green peppers and onion. Top it with cheese. Put it in the oven and turn it to 425, it had to bake for almost 30 minutes. You'll know when all the cheese is golden brown and you should be able to lift the edge of the crust with a fork to make sure it's done on bottom.

I repeated the steps for the second pizza!! Then just enjoy!! It really is pretty easy and a fun meal you can make with your kids.

Here's the sauce recipe too if you want to try it:

Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato puree

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. onion powder

2 tsps. grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

Blend well.

I would love to tell you how much this makes but honestly I have no idea so you'll just have to play around with it!!!