Celebrate Life!

It is Birthday time here!   My Cousin's daughter Emily is here for 4 weeks and we get to celebrate her 22nd Birthday! Her requested menu was: Grilled chicken Mashed Pototoes Broccoli Gravy Carrot Cake  So here is the Carrot Cake! Emily and I ended up planting my flowerbeds today. We also had 5 little ones here throughout the day. Lots of fun! So..... Cake decorating took a back seat! It tasted yummy though!!! Carrot Cake: Preheat oven to 350. Mix together eggs, sugar and oil.  Stir in carrots and nuts. 4 eggs 2 cups white sugar 1 1/4 cup canola oil 3 cups grated carrots 1 cup nuts, walnuts, pecans Add following and mix until moist and all dry ingredients are combined. 2 cups white flour (I replaced some with spelt flour) 2 tsp Cinnamon 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda Spray a 9x13 baking pan with pam spray. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center,  make sure it comes out clean

As the hot summer weather approaches, it is the time of year to gather up those key ingrediants for refreshing drinks! You want to be able to stir up something cold to drink at a moments notice! You know,  those days after you've been working in the flowerbeds or garden and you are ready to sit on the porch! The kids have been playing outside and now they are hot and thirsty! First of all, let me say our #1 drink is  WATER!!!! We drink lots of water!  Over the years I've learned the benefits of water. Our bodies need water to function properly! I make sure to choose water as my main thirst quencher,  but sometimes I get in the mood for something with a little flavor! That's when I turn to some of my old favorites. Homemade Lemonade : 1 Cup Lemon juice (Fresh squeezed lemons are the best, if you have a juicer,  I just use ReaLemon) 2 Cups white sugar 1 Gallon Cold Water Measure lemon juice and sugar directly into a Gallon Pitcher. Ad

4 cups of lean ground beef 1 medium onion chopped fine 1 Tbsp dried parsely 4 tsp salt 4 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp oregano 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp basil 1 1/2- 2 cups oatmeal 4 eggs few drops of liquid smoke Mix together all ingrediants throughly. Be sure to wash your hands before and after because of handling raw meat. Shape into pattys 1/3 -1/2 cup patties work nicely. Seasonings are all optional depending on what flavor you prefer. Our family really enjoyed this particular mix. We grilled them for supper, but you can pan fry them on medium heat until cooked in the center. It tooks us 5-7 minutes.  A few minutes on both sides until they turn grayish brown. I cook them just until  there is no more pink in the middle.

You know, I've been pondering starting this blog for a long time. I was waiting till the timing was perfect. As I waited and thought and pondered, I realized there may never be a "perfect" time! What is holding me back from starting this blog? Perfection. If I am going to do another blog, it has to be well thought out and planned. I have to have lots of time to write amazing blog entries! Phooey!!! That's not happening here! After talking about it with my family, they got excited about helping me. That was all I needed. My girls are on board with helping me make videos of different foods we make, so I'll start there! The purpose for this blog, really is to pass on to my kids. In doing so, I want to have this blog as a resource for others who want simple recipes. Yeah, I want healthy recipes. I strive to feed my family healthy foods. I enjoy making foods "from scratch". Real life happens!  When you are right in the middle of raising kid

Check out youtube for videos on how to wash and prepare Fiddleheads. We tried it this weekend. They taste similar to asparagus. I really enjoyed them with fresh Walleye! Make sure you don't get the ones with white fuzzys on them. They are not edible. The kind with the "brown paper bag"  look are the ones that you want.