Best Applesauce

We recently posted a cookbook using honey as the main ingredient in each recipe.  This applesauce was SO easy and it's absolutely delicious - and only three ingredients!

3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice

Just place all of the above in a food processor and pulse until it's the consistency you like.

You won't ever buy applesauce at the store again!

Summer Tees

I just LOVE these cute tees for summer that are on line and on the shelves at Wet Seal.  Look at all of the options! Bananas, hot sauce, and bees!

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Garden for Kids

My niece's kids had made fairy gardens, and I've seen those all around, so I decided while we had our three grandkids over, we'd make a version of a fairy garden...sans fairies - ha!

All of this was purchased at a Dollar General store and Home Depot - a small discount chain store and a garden center.

Large roaster foil pan
Small battery operated water fountain
yard light
small garden characters
wood chips
blue sand
small ceramic flower pot
succulent

All of the above cost about $15 per garden.  You could totally eliminate the water feature - but it was so fun to have!

We had potting soil and gravel in our backyard.  We laid out a beach towel on the table before we started.

We poured in the dirt, then let the kids get gravel and pour on top.  They then started arranging their items like they wanted them.

We will keep these, and the kids can add too, play with, or rearrange at each visit!

Tote and Blanket!

A colorful picnic blanket that folds out for 4 people, and a carry-all to match with handles, for all of your other picnic fare - so cute from Target!!!  Great for summer outings...

Fantastic Flatbread

Slice squash thinly, toss with S&P, and roast.

Mix with fresh chopped spinach.

Flatbread - spread it with red pepper hummus.

Top with squash mixture and smoked mozzarella

Heat in oven.

Fantastic!

Blondies

These blondies are loaded with cinnamon and nutmeg, and they filled the house with the best of aromas while they were cooking!  And they taste really good...

I made them for a lunch with friends, and wrapped them each in colored paper, tied with kitchen twine.

A Fun Idea

Talking with a friend, I learned that she and her husband made this wall where they pin a thumbs up, or thumbs down, as they visit BBQ places all over.  People suggest places to them, they visit and eat, snap a photo, and give their up or down...and some don't make the cut at all!  Notice, they still have a few left to visit.  And by the way, they exclude chains...they only visit the authentic locals!

I thought it was such a cute idea to share for other ideas as well, ice cream places, food trucks, drive-thrus, movie theaters, all sorts of places around town.  You could do it as a family, as a couple, with friend, or whatever!

It keeps you moving, there's always some place to go, and how fun it is trying new places!  I currently have a running list of burger joints...I just need to create my photo wall!

Trip Pouches

Travel time is around the corner, and these travel pouches for cosmetics are super cute and affordable from World Market - I want them all!  They're in such pretty colors and fabrics...

Blue Carpet 

Large red, white blue

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BBQ Chicken Salad

What a very tasty combo we had tonight - Chicken and Salad - with a BBQ flavor.

Make your salad dressing:

Stir 1 tsp lime zest and 3 T lime juice, 1/2 minced garlic, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tsp honey, salt and pepper, then whisk in 1/3 cup salad oil (safflower or canola).

Rub chicken cutlets (1 lb) with smoked paprika (I used paprika and cumin) salt, and pepper, and pour over half of the dressing, and grill the cutlets or fry in a cast-iron skillet. Remove and let sit for a few minutes before slicing.

In the same skillet, char the corn cut from three cobs, let it cool.

Meanwhile toss together:

Halved cherry tomatoes, red-leaf lettuce torn into pieces, 1 diced avocado, the cooled corn, and the other half of the dressing.  Season with S&P

Top with thin tortilla strips (I sliced tortillas into thin strips and fried in the same skillet - then salted).

Arrange on the plate and serve - this was SO full of flavor - and satisfying!

Recycled and Fragrant

This candle caught my eye because it's made out of recycled beer bottles, and it has coffee beans in the wax!  There are other candles on the website, as well as soaps!  Check them all out...

Lavender & Honey Scones

Today I tried a recipe for lavender scones and they included lavender buds - which I found on the "healthy" aisle at the grocery store.  These turned out so luxurious and good, especially with honey drizzled on top!

Recipe:

Table for the Porch

Just found this cute porch table for $19.99 at Ross and added an $8 plant on top, to add some color to the front of the house!

Pan Fried Chops

I've made these pork chops twice, using this recipe from Pioneer Woman, and they turned out delicious both times!

The crust and the spices and the butter make these chops soar...

Bubba's Beez

We've bought this honey before, as these people show up at festivals around our state.  However, they have an online store - Bubba's Beez - where you too can buy.  The honey is great, and I just bought their cookbook, too - can't wait to try the recipes.  The book includes info about bees and other ideas for using honey, too.  And, they sell soap!

Check them out!

Cuff Bracelet

At a festival this weekend, I saw this cuff bracelet and bought it - and I LOVED all of the other jewelry as well.  This cuff bracelet can be worn two ways! And..they had different sizes, so I was able to find one to fit my wrist.

Check out all of the jewelry at Kepiaa Handmade Art!

Churro Bar

We had a graduation party tonight and one of the tables we set up was a Churro Bar:

we bought the churros from a local bakery (halved and third-ed some for the littles)
we made sauces such as white chocolate almond, mango, raspberry, nutella sauce and dulce de leche
we had sprinkles, nuts, coconut, honey and even apple pie filling and strawberry jam
we decorated with bandanas

here are a few pictures and a couple of recipes:

mango sauce -

peel 3 large mangos and cut away the flesh - process until liquefied.
pour pulp through strainer and measure out 1 1/2 cups of puree
combine the  mango puree with 2 T fresh lime juice and 2 T sugar
heat in saucepan over med heat stirring often, until reduces to 1 cup (takes 10-15 min)
serve at room temp or chilled

dulce de leche

combine 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup packed dark brown sugar in saucepan over med heat, stir til sugar dissolves and mixture comes to slow boil,
continue and stir until reduces down to 1 cup - about 10 min.
once reduced, stir in 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and whisk.  serve warm.

Spring Scents

Who says you can't burn candles in every season?  World Market has candles on sale right now, and these two filled candles smell so wonderful - and they're in very pretty jars, too!

Amber Jaipur

White Verbena & Pear

Vintage Vase

I just bought a rustic vase with a frog lid (webbed wire to hold up individual flower stems) on the shelves at a discount store - but I found this really cute on on line for just $11.99!  Check it out!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Another vintage recipe from my blender cookbook called Better Homes and Gardens Blender Cook Book - ha!

preheat oven to 425.

These banana oatmeal muffins are awesome.

1 cup flour
3 T sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 T salad oil (canola will do)
1 large ripe banana

In large bowl, sift first four ingredients together, stir in the oats.  Put milk, egg, oil in blender, then cut the banana into the blender.  Blend til mixture is smooth.  Pour mixture into dry ingredients and stir to moisten.

Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.

(Tastes great warm, with butter...)

Creamy Guac

I found an old cookbook of mine that is full of blender recipes, and this guacamole is from the pages of that book - it's tasty!  And very creamy!

2 T lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt
1 small tomato cut in pieces
1/4 med onion
1 7oz can green chiles
2 ripe avocados halved, seeded, peeled, into chunks

Place everything in the blender and pulse til smooth - makes 2 cups.

Lariat Neckwear

These are two gifts I received today for Mother's Day - a pretty feather necklace from World Market (they have awesome jewelry) and a lariate style necklace from Market of Hope!

Pesto Cheese BLT

We bought smoked mozzarella recently at a market, and I found a recipe to use it, on line - this sandwich - which turned out to taste so good!

You'll need:

basil pesto
parmesan cheese
smoked mozzarella
provolone cheese
mayo
wheat bread
lettuce tomato

Toast the bread slightly.  Spread pesto on one slice, and mayo on the other.  Then sprinkle grated Parm and grated smoked mozzarella on each slice of bread.  Top with provolone, lettuce and tomato. That's it!

$30 For All This!

We just got a large vintage picnic basket at a trading post on a road trip - loving it!  I wanted some dishes and a picnic blanket to store inside for when we use it - which will be often....

For $30, I got all of this...at Big Lots....

Beach Blanket

Bowls, flatware caddy, plates, and cups (available in stores)

Chicks & Chard

This recipe was easy, and the lemon juice just made it sing!

Chop 1 bunch of Swiss Chard off the stems, then saute the stems with 1 cup each of red jalapeno and onion - chopped, in olive oil over medium-high heat til softened - about 3 minutes.  season with salt.

Add one 15-oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed, but keep liquid).  Cook, stirring another 3 minutes.

Add 2 minced garlic cloves; cook 30 seconds.

Add the chard leaves with the chickpea liquid and 1/2 tsp ground cumin, simmer til the chard wilts.

Stir in the juice of one lemon.

Oh my, this was good!

Pasta Dish Divine

This pasta is super, super tasty....

I bought lemon pepper fettucine from a farmer's market and cooked it according to directions.

Then I cooked up sweet Italian Sausage until completely browned and caramelized a bit.  I moved the sausage to the side of the skillet and added in one chopped onion and let that cook a minute, then 2 minced garlic cloves for about 30 seconds, added a bit of the pasta water and stirred up the pan bits, one can of diced tomatoes and 1/4 cup chopped oregano... (also added salt for flavor).

When the pasta was done, I added it in, and topped with Parmesan cheese - oh my - so good!

Blackberry Dumplings

These blackberry dumplings were so easy to make, and didn't require an oven!  This is NOT blackberry cobbler, and the dumplings taste more like biscuits, but the flavor is great!

This recipe is from a cookbook I recently bought on a trip - The Cowgirls' Cookbook - see it below.

Enjoy!