Fruit Roll-Ups

I didn't even know this was possible without a food dehydrator, but I found out how to do this in an old book I've been reading called "Today's Tips for Easy Living". It's a great book even though the "today" referred to in the title was in 1988!

All you have to do to make these is puree whatever fruit you want in the blender. Add about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice per quart of puree to keep the fruit from browning and as a preservative. After blending them, pour onto an inverted cookie sheet covered in saran wrap. Put them in an oven set at 175 degrees and leave the door open a couple inches (I assume so the moisture won't remain in the oven?). You have to leave them in there for several hours, but you can tell when they're done because they don't look "wet" anymore and when you try to peel them they'll be pliable.

For mine, I used strawberries, oranges and bananas. They all tasted great. Also, I dried my strawberry one out so much that it was brittle and I was just cracking pieces off of it. I put it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of water and the next day it was just as soft as the others.

I'm looking forward to trying this with all different kinds of fruit. What a healthy treat! Enjoy!

Eggs 'n Gravy

I recently discovered this breakfast food and I absolutely love it! We all need another way to cook eggs, right? I've never heard of this method before, but it's so simple. The kids love it too.

It's made just like you would make biscuits and gravy (which I just recently learned how to make as well), except with eggs instead of sausage. You'll need some biscuits, so you can either use pre-made biscuits or start cooking your favorite kind while you're preparing the rest.

1. First you hard boil some eggs (I make one per person). Peel them and then separate the whites from the yolks.
2. While the eggs are cooking, heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add butter and cornstarch or flour. Whisk them together. This is a roux.
3. When the butter is melted, add milk while stirring. Make sure it is hot enough that it's bubbling a bit so it will thicken.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste. I also add a little hot sauce here because I always add hot sauce to my eggs, but you can leave that out if you don't like it.
5. Chop up the egg whites and add them to the milk mixture.
6. Split each biscuit in half and spoon some of the egg/milk mixture onto it.
7. Crumble an egg yolk over the top of each biscuit.

Ok, normally I just "eye-ball" it, but in the interest of trying to create a recipe, here are the general amounts per person:
1 Egg, 1/2 Tbsp. Butter, 1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch/Flour, 3/4 Cup Milk, 1 Biscuit.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ok, here's the second one. You would not believe how good these taste with so few ingredients. I even have to pop bits of the filling into my mouth while I'm making these because I can't wait until I'm all done!

2 Pkgs. Whole Button Mushrooms

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1 Pkg. Jimmy Dean Sausage Tube

1. Cook sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
2. Meanwhile, clean mushrooms and remove stems.
3. Chop stems.
   
4. Combine stems, cooked sausage and cream cheese until mixed together (if the sausage is still warm, it will melt the cream cheese and make it easier to stir).
   
5. Stuff mixture into mushrooms (and don't worry if they are bulging far over the top). I've tried many methods for this, but you really just have to use your hands.
   
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

You could also sprinkle bread crumbs or parmesean cheese on them if you wanted to, but I really think they are fine just the way they are. CAUTION...Make sure you have a napkin when you eat them, because they drip!

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

I'm posting my two favorite appetizers that I always make during the holidays. Wait til you try these two EASY recipes. You won't believe how good they taste for being so simple!

1 Pkg. Bacon

2-3 Cans Whole Water Chestnuts

1 Cup Ketchup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1. Combine Ketchup and Brown Sugar.
2. Cut all of the bacon in half.
3. Separate the bacon and lay on a plate with paper towels. Cook in the microwave until they're about half-way cooked.
   
4. Wrap bacon around water chestnuts and secure with a toothpick.
5. Dip each one into ketchup mixture and set into a glass pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Ok, I know the Ketchup and Brown Sugar mixture sounds nasty, but it's really the only combo that works. I've tried every kind of BBQ sauce known to man on these, and they just don't work! Ketchup is really just tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar anyway, so that sugar really comes out when you bake it and it becomes sweet and delicious...of course you're also adding the sweet brown sugar to it as well, but man, it just doesn't get better than this!

Taco Soup

Everyone has a recipe for Taco Soup, but I'm posting this one anyway because it's my favorite. I always make this on halloween and serve it with corn bread. It's so easy to make because everything is right from your pantry. You just throw in can after can!

1. Saute ground beef and onion together in a large pot over medium-high heat.
1 1/2 lbs. Ground Beef
1 Onion

2. Add the following to the pot and bring to a boil:
1 Can Green Beans & Liquid
1 Can Whole Kernal Corn & Liquid
1 Can Red Kidney Beans & Liquid
1 Can (pint) Tomatoes
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Pkg. Dry Taco Seasoning

3. Reduce heat and simmer at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

4. Ladle into bowls and top with the following (if desired):
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos
Sliced Green Onions

Cake Decorating Tips

Do many of you have the same problems with frosting cake as I do? I always try to frost it and end up churning the cake up right into my frosting. It's so frustrating. My sister-in-law, Kaleena, is an awesome cake decorator and shared these tips with me.

1. Be sure you have good cake pans. It's worth the extra money for the non-stick cake pans to make sure your cake doesn't stick. It's much easier to frost when it's smooth.
2. Freeze cake for an hour or two before frosting.
3. Use a cake decorating spatula. It just makes the job easier.
4. Use plenty of frosting, usually about two pillsbury containers per one box of cake mix. Just gob it on there and then you're essentially just pushing the frosting around to cover the cake.
5. After spreading frosting around, dip knife into cold water to smooth out frosting all over cake.

These tips helped me, so I thought they might help you too. Good Luck!

Pirate Ship Cake

I was so proud of myself for making this cake for Jakey's first birthday. I'm not a great "baker" and my cakes never turn out, so I pretty much gave up on them a long time ago. I've never made Hailee a birthday cake, I always buy them or have someone else make them for me. I decided I'm going to start trying to make my own kids birthday cakes. You know, just one of those things that makes me feel like a better mom, as irrational as that may be. Anyway, I loved how this one turned out!
It was actually pretty simple. I got the idea on the internet and then made some improvisations. Here are the steps:

1. Bake cake according to package directions in two round cake pans.
2. While cake is baking, frost the bottom of a cookie sheet with blue frosting for the water and position Swedish Fish and/or Gummy Sharks around.
3. When cake is cool, cut each circle in half.
4. Use frosting to "glue" each half circle together to make a boat shape. Cut a tiny bit off the bottom so it will stand upright.
5. Frost the top and sides and transfer to frosted cookie sheet.
6. Use "pirrohette" cookies around the edges of the top to form a "wooden railing". Pipe more frosting around the top of the cookies to add a second layer of cookies.
7. Insert Swiss Rolls or Ho Ho's with straws into the side of the ship to form "cannons".
8. Punch holes into white cardstock and slide a straw through to form the "sails".
9. Decorate the top of the cake with a pile of Nestle Treasures for "treasure chests", a pile of Whoppers for "cannon balls" and toy pirate figurines. I also put a pirate bracelet across the front for decoration.

Just have fun with it and good luck!