Okay, I'm in Love

(photo courtesy of smittenkitchen.com)

I got this recipe from A Chelsea Morning.  You can find the original post here.

2 boxes cake mix

2 sticks butter (melted, but I left mine out on the counter and in the heat of the summer, it was plenty soft)

2 tablespoons water

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips, or raisins, or whatever goody you want

Mix cake mix and butter

Add water and eggs

Add chocolate chips

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes

The flavor combinations are endless.  I used Dunkin Hines Butter Golden flavor with semi-sweet chocolate chips.  What about Devil's Food with milk chocolate chips?  Spice cake cookies with cream cheese frosting?  Marble with mini chocolate chips?  Oh yum, I cannot wait.

* Now, I am a Toll House snob.  But this is so quick and the cookies come out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and I find them a very close second.  Very close.

Hope you like them!

Happy Homemaker Monday - Hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Since I am a housewife, and today I am feeling happy (the weather has a lot to do with that), I have decided to join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for:

The Weather

Today is a perfect summer day in New England.  It is 84 degrees with 54% humidity, blue skies with white fluffy clouds. 

On my reading pile

Anna Karenina
The New Testament
The Awakening
Prodigal Summer

I am determined to get through the New Testament this summer.  I have to teach it during the school year and although I have studied it before, it is good to have it fresh in my mind.  During the school year while I am teaching it, I will study it in more depth.

I am hoping to get through Anna Karenina.  There is a movie coming out and I really want to have read it before I see it.

The Awakening is on my Nook and was a required book for my daughter's summer reading, but she switched from Honors English to AP Language and her list changed.  Don't know if I will bother, depends on if I get to it.

I have started Prodigal Summer but don't know if I will finish it.  I really liked The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, but this one isn't capturing my attention.

I sound a little picky, and I guess I am.  I only have the summer to read for pleasure, and I don't want to waste it on a book that doesn't satisfy.  Think I will be going back to the library to look for more.

On my tv

I don't watch much t.v., but two of my children have been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if I'm around I usually plop down in the family room and join them.  We have Jane Eyre and National Treasure coming from Netflix.  We usually watch all of the Harry Potter movies (and Lord of the Rings) during the summer.  Time to start that marathon.

On the menu for this week

For now it is easier for me to take one day at a time with dinner planning.  Having teenagers around and a crazy schedule, I sometimes do not know who will be around (including me).  Plus, I have a birthday this week and perhaps will be taken out to dinner?  Tonight, however, we will be having macaroni with meat sauce and shredded mozzarella and a chopped salad.

On my to do list

Sanitize the washing machine (I have a front loader with a mildew problem I am trying to get rid of)
3-4 loads of laundry
clean 3 bathrooms
vacuum main floor

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating

Ha!  This is NOT me, though I love to see what Sandra is up to.


Homemaking Tips
The best thing to get a spot out of a carpet is seltzer water, a white rag, and just a little elbow grease.  It has not failed me yet and the spot does not show up months later.  I just wish I knew about this for the first 10 years I had carpets.  (Credit goes to my sister for this tip.)

Looking around the house

Everyone is finally up and my 18 year old son is sitting with me at our kitchen table looking at his laptop, my 15 year old daughter is playing the piano, and my 13 year old son is downstairs on the computer watching nature videos on YouTube.

From the camera

My favorite flower, the daylily, growing in my front yard

On my prayer list

Always my kids, my father and father in-law who are both in poor health.  

Bible verse, Devotional

I just read this yesterday:

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33 

Light the Grill Day 2

(this is not my photo, this image comes from google images)

Tonight we had grilled salmon.  I didn't do anything with it at all (due to some members of my family liking food plain and simple), just sprayed canola oil on a piece of heavy duty foil, placed the salmon on top, and placed it on the grill.

I made some peas and a potato salad.

I'm trying to perfect a potato salad.  I never made them much, due to the heaviness and high calories, and my sister makes an awesome one for our family parties.  And for my husband family parties, my MIL makes an awesome German potato salad.

But last year I saw a recipe in either "Woman's Day" or "Family Circle" for a salad that was half potato and half cauliflower.  Now THAT lightens it up quite a bit.  The first time I made it I used Thousand Island dressing, and it was pretty yummy.  Trouble is, my husband, who really is not picky at all, but he does have a couple of dislikes, and relish (pickles in general) is one (coconut is the other - no coconut cream cakes for me, waaah).  

I think I have the vegetables down that I want:  potatoes, cauliflower, celery, and radishes.

But I am still looking for the right dressing.

I tried ranch dressing (gotta use up that ranch), and it was just all right.  Perhaps if I mixed in a little of the french dressing like I did last night for the chicken...

Still searching.  Will post an official recipe if I every get it the way I want it.

Light the Grill...Meal #1

Our forecast says it will be sunny with occasional thunderstorms (which always happen when it is time to make dinner...), so I have been pulling out my cookbooks for the grilling recipes.  At my warehouse store I bought a large package of boneless chicken breasts which is good for two meals, a salmon filet, and a package of three ham steaks.  We will see how far that gets me.  I am hoping for a leftover night, but we will see.

Yesterday I grilled corn on the cob (without husks) which became our appetizer.  Then I mixed 1/2 C ranch dressing with 2 T french dressing and basted the chicken with it as it grilled.  (This idea came from Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook).  Everyone loved it and the chicken stayed moist and tender; and I am happy because I have two large bottles of ranch dressing to use up over the summer.  This recipe is a keeper.

My Best Friend

I have been given several homemaking tips over the years from homemakers far more skilled than myself. Many times this advice goes in one ear and out the other for a couple of reasons: 1) I am not in the homemaking mood (which is often) or 2) it is just too complicated or overwhelming or whatever. But, there are a few that I am oh so glad to have been taught and have remembered.

The following is a big one.

Meet my best friend:

Please note that this is Oxi Clean in its powdered form.

In my house, we are a sweaty people.  Those white undershirts?  With the yellow stains in the underarm and collar areas?  A good long soak in an Oxi Clean solution, then a good wash in the machine takes right care of that problem.  Blood stains (and any other bodily function stains)?  A good soak in an Oxi Clean bath will take care of those too.  Even stains that have been on clothing for awhile and have been dried in the dryer first.  Oxi Clean is very good on organic stains, i.e. coming from humans (blood, sweat, bathroom stuff) and food (although Dawn dish soap is my favorite for food stains since they so often come with grease).  

Here is what I do:  I buy this large box at my warehouse store.  I use a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with about 1 cup of oxi clean powder and hot water.  I can soak 7-10 undershirts at once.  Or a sheet.  I give it a good long time because I don't want to have to do it again (usually overnight or most of the day).  I could probably use less powder, but again, I don't want to have to soak it again, so I make sure there is a good amount in the water.  When it is done soaking, I squeeze the garments out, and throw them in the machine and wash as usual using warm water.  The stains are gone (for awhile anyway), and the whites are whiter too.

One Dinner At a Time

I tried to make a weekly menu.  I have been trying for awhile.  But I am finding it impossible.  People are always coming and going in our house, and I never know when I will have to go somewhere.  Today, for example, I have to take two of my kids to piano lessons.  We will be gone from 4:40-5:40 ish.  That makes it a little difficult to get a good meal on the table, and I don't care how quick a recipe claims to be, nothing takes less than an hour and more likely two hours, except hot dogs with deli salads and/or canned baked beans.  Or sandwiches.  The problem with either of these choices is that everyone eats at different times, which means that either I am constantly making another sandwich, or someone will come home and instead of making his/her dinner, will have a bowl of ice cream or some other horror instead.  Thursdays are even worse for me during the school year, when I have to take my son to scouts and then my daughter to dance.  Then we are all eating at different times.  Ugh.

Now that my rant is over (for the time being), here is what we will have tonight:

Kitchen Sink Quesadillas (I do not remember where I got this from, so I cannot give credit.  Grr)

1 15.5 oz can black beans, drained
1 11 oz can corn, drained
3/4 C salsa, drained
8 flour tortillas
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

mix beans, corn, and salsa
lay four tortillas on a foil lined baking sheet
spread 1/2 cheese
spread bean mixture
spread remaining cheese
lay four tortillas on top
bake @ 400 for 10 minutes

I will first make a batch of just cheese or cheese and chopped deli turkey breast (to use up) for the picky ones, which is everyone but my husband and myself.
This still won't be as quick as it sounds because my oven no longer preheats and I will have to give it 20-30 minutes, but that will give me time to throw a quick salad together of iceberg lettuce, celery, carrots, and chopped tomato.

Sandwich Toppers

Today I am eating a chicken sandwich with lettuce.

Lettuce is an okay sandwich topper, but over the years I have tried various vegetables, and have found that I have different favorites depending on the main ingredient.  And here they are:

tuna with sprouts (broccoli sprouts are the best)

turkey with thinly sliced cucumber

roast beef with green pepper strips (even better with sauteed green peppers)

peanut butter and jelly with banana

bologna with shredded iceberg lettuce

hamburgers with sauteed mushrooms and onions

hot dogs with sauteed onions

tomato is a welcome addition if it is garden fresh