Peachy Keen....

We now interrupt this cooking blog for a timeout for peaches.....we just picked an enormous amount of peaches and therefore....are making peach everything. Okay not everything, but we have been making peach jam, dehydrating peaches, peach smoothies, peach pie (didn't turn out so great!) and are enjoying the peaches whole....stop on in for a peachy good time!

Strawberry Jam by the bucket loads....

So my amazing mom taught me how to make strawberry jam simply this summer....so in a small effort to be half as amazing as my mother I started doing a little of my own.....lets just say I probably got a little carried away, but we have plenty of jam for a while. I can't wait to make peach jam with a new friend from school!!!

Dish 17/440: Potato Soup

Okay....I know that I totally fell off the cooking bandwagon for a minute, but I am getting back on ( I have still been cooking, just not posting) and starting with this fabulous dish...

Creamy Potato Soup

This soup is so delicious and creamy, and most importantly easy! All you need is 2/3 cup butter, 2/3 flour, 6 cups of milk, a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk, 1lb mushrooms (I used canned mushrooms), 1 small bunch of green onions, 4 cups of potatoes peeled and cubed, 1 cup sour cream, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Cooked bacon for the top and a little cheese for the top as well. DELICIOUS!!!!

Husband's Rating: ****
Reheat Rating: *****

Dish 16/440:

Raspberry Delight

okay...so it was my birthday last week and Reagan was all in a dither because I didn't get a cake....so on Sunday I made my own! Actually, it was this scrumptious dessert!!! I sure love raspberries!!!

Husband's rating: ****
Reheat rating: ****

Dish 15/440:

Tex Mex Chicken....yummy, yummy, yummy.....it can be a little on the "HOT" side depending on what kind of salsa you use...we used my mom's (the only kind in our house...quite frankly I am suprised that we had any left my husband inhales this - quite literally! Once again my mom is amazing and makes sure that my husband is well stocked!!) however, it smelled so good when we came home from church that my husband kept asking if it was dinner time yet!!!

Husband's rating: *****
Reheat rating: *****

Dish 14/440:

Banana chocolate chip cake....well, i gave it a try but it wasn't exactly as good as I imagined it would be!!!

Husband's rating: ***
Reheat rating: I didn't reheat it....I didn't particularly like it the first time!!!

Dish 13/440:

okay...so this recipe wasn't in the cookbook, but it should be it is that good. My mom is an incredible lady...who has sooooo many amazing talents...one of which is cooking. Well, this is one of my absolutely favorite recipes that she makes however, she cooks by taste and it is incredibly difficult to make what she does because she doesn't use a recipe. However, I managed to make it similiar.....yummy, yummy BBQ spare ribs!!

Husband's rating: *****
Reheat rating: *****

Delicious!!!!

Dish 12/440:

This was so yummy......guacamole!!!!! Unfortunate.....(ok not really, it is more to my benefit, but Kurt doesn't like guacamole!) So, my faculty were the lucky recipients of this yummy dish for St. Patricks day!
Faculty rating: *****
There was nothing left to taste the next day so obviously it was that good!!!

We are back and there are more recipes to come!!!

Going on vacation....

Okay....I am going on vacation, both mentally and physically!!! I promise when I get back there will be more delicious things to see!!!

Dish 11/440:

Mozzarella Chicken

This was super yummy chicken made of cream of chicken soup, mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs and butter......it was so good I convinced my sister to make it too!

Husband's rating: ****
Reheat rating: *****

Dish 10/440:

Okay...we had another failed attempt....I attempted a banana pudding....well, it didn't work out so well!!! We will be attempting again at a later date!!! No picture!!! Sorry!!!

Dish 9/440:

Blueberry Cheesecake (or raspberry)

Okay....so I made this delicious cheesecake... took one to school, got devoured....kept one at home and this was all that was left!!

Husband's rating: ****
Reheat rating/Leftover Rating: ****

Slacker...but catching up

Okay so I didn't realize that so many people were checking each day to see if I have updated or not...sorry!!! I guess that it is motivation to keep me on the stick...

Dish 8/440:

BBQ Bacon Chicken:Teresha Taylor

I absolutely loved this....however, my husband hates avocados and sour cream so needless to say he didn't put that on his!!!

Husband's Rating: ****

Reheat Rating: ****

Dish 7/440:

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls: Noryne Moss

I took these to school...and they were gone in about 60 seconds!!! They were scrumptious...add a little cream cheese frosting and VOILA!!!! Instant friends.....or enemies (that didn't get any!!!) The dough is a little bit tougher than you think...but they turn out great!

Husband's Rating: *** (He got the leftovers....sorry honey!)

Reheat Rating: ..... there was nothing to reheat!!!

Dish 6/440:

Cowboy Cookies: Wendy Busenbark

Yummy!!! Yummy!!! Yummy!!! These cookies were terrifc!!!

Husband's Rating: ****

Reheat Rating: *** (Would have been better had I put them in an airtight container!)

Dish 5/440

Linda Prentice's Navajo Tacos

Now, I am sure that you are all thinking...wow!! No big deal I can make Navajo Tacos...and rightfully so....but this is an expriment... I am cooking every recipe in this book using their recipe. So, tonight we had Navajo Taco's.... I was trying to combine it with the scone recipe, but as you saw in the last post...it failed!!!! So, I ended up using "my orginal" scone recipe and combined it with her Navajo Taco Recipe....

Husband's Rating: ****

Dish 4/440:

Mary Nchika's Milk Scones

O.k. so, I was doing quite well...3 out of 3 isn't bad....but I had a little problem today when I went to make these scones....for some reason I couldn't get the consistency right and had to chuck the whole thing and go back to "my orginal" scone recipe.....I am going to try these again another day....but, in the mean time if you figure this recipe out please let me know!!!

*There will be no picture to document this recipe..... :(

Dish 3/440:

Ok, so I made the mistake of bringing one of my many friends at school some of the carrot cake that I made...well, needless to say it put me in hot water with some of my other faculty members. So, to redeem myself I made some of these:

Susan Moser's Layered Mint Chocolate Brownies

Can you say yummy???? I made two large pans, just so I could make sure that there was enough for everyone.....well, after school they were both gone....so they must have been good.

Husband's Rating: *** (he got the leftovers...ones that I saved for him were a little bit stale the time to got around to eating it....not an acturate judging!)
Reheat Rating: *** (Best if fresh!!!, but over all quite good!)

Dish 2/440

Anna E. Stark's The Very Best Carrot Cake Ever

(I Promise)

......so, here is desert.... my husband and neighbors absolutely loved this cake....I did as well, but I think that they would have been happy just eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!!! Delicious!!! So, thank you Anna Stark for sharing your great recipe!!!

Husband's Rating: *****
Reheat Rating: ***** (o.k. so I didn't actually reheat it, but how it tasted the next day!!!)

Already in love....Dish 1/440

ok...so this morning I woke early...not because of choice, but more out of necessity (9:00 church will do that to you!) I was excited to start on my new goal....today's choice Joyce Brasher's Crock-Pot Chicken recipe....now you are all thinking that doesn't sound all that exciting, but it was delicious and simple....success right from the start......

Husband's Rating: **** (posible 5)
Reheat Rating: *****

I am posting this while the desert is cooking...can't wait to tell you about it!!!

me...cooking???

ok...so here is the "scoop"....pardon the food analagy, but I had to do it!!! Sometime during December I came across the movie Julia and Julia and thought her idea of cooking of everything in Julia Child's recipe book was such a fun idea....however, I am not a great chef by any sense of the imagination and those recipes are far more complex than I am willing to tackle, and perhaps a little more complex than my husbands palate will adjust to, but I am making a new goal....'tis the season right? Well....here is it....to cook at least 3 different items a week from the World Wide Ward Cookbook. Now, why this cookbook you ask....couple of different reasons:

• the recipes are simple
• the recipes do not require a lot of preparation time beforehand
• many of the ingredients I have on hand and will not require a late night run to the grocery store
• I can cook them....at least I hope!!!
  
  
  

Now, my husband has been kind enough to endulge me on this project...and let me splerge this week and by this beauty....can you say excited. Really, what does he have to loose right? Anyway, I have created this new blog to help me accomplish this goal and for a variety of other things.....

1. to rate how well as a family we like the dish
2. to remember useful tips or suggestions for next time
3. to learn to plan out our family meals better to have more a well balanced diet
4. to have fun creating in the kitchen as a family

so...tomorrow is the big day to start and I couldn't be more excited....I hope that you can take this journey along with us and perhaps be convinced at the end of it that there are some pretty great recipes that you need to try too!!!!

Happy Cooking......