Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Crockpot Queso 8 oz. organic pepper jack cheese, shredded 8 oz. organic Monterery Jack cheese, shredded 8 oz. organic cream cheese 1 4-oz. can organic green chilis, drained 2 herb garden green onions, sliced thin 1/2 cup organic whole milk 1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder Stir together all ingredients in a crockpot.  Cook on low for 4 hours or until melted.  Note:  Some organic canned chili's may differ in size, and you could cube the cheese too, but it will take a bit longer (block cheese makes a creamer dip vs. buying already shredded cheese).  Sorry for the bad photo, but my husband was gobbling it up, ha ha!  I do think it needs maybe a jalapeno next time. Not sure if this is the reason my biscuits are flaky with layers, but it may be.  I watched a cooking show and if you "shred" the butter vs. cube you get a better rise with the biscuits.  I cube, but them use a butter blender to cut the butter chunks up a bit more. I baked up some whiskey s...

  Recipe I want to try (without the whipped cream) Recipe I tried.  It's a keeper - peanut butter whiskey balls.  It has peanut butter in them, but more of the peanut butter whiskey.  Delicious! (recipe from Allrecipes) Bought myself some fun mini cutters for Christmas pies.  I already had the star, but look at all that fun!  I could even cut cheese slices for a festive cheese/cracker snack too. Am I the last to know this?  Hummus on a hard boiled egg? Yum!  Breakfast, lunch, side dish or snack.  The intake is in, but more work needs done before our daughter can drive it.  Our friend is coming back over today to finish up on it.  Hopefully, it'll be ready for daughter to drive after that. We got wood cut and split Sunday morning.  In the afternoon we met up with my younger brother at my Dad's place.  We made a plan to bring the truck over next weekend and help remove lots of furniture.  Oh my.  My Dad saved every...

It cooled down quickly (woke up to the 40's) here, so home grown sweet potatoes, green bell peppers and garlic went into good use - sweet potato chili.   After running into the basket in the kitchen too many times, my extent of "fall" decor was placing those hard-as-a-rock pie pumpkins on the porch ledge.   The dead bolt on one of the doors broke.  I had to gently lay that news on Hubby.  It was stuck locked, and the latch to turn it broke.  Good thing I have another door to use.  Avoiding the garden for the most part of the day, I baked some flourless brownies... Whipped up some more whiskey butterscotch sauce .... Made a jar of homemade pumpkin pie spice. Homemade pumpkin pie spice 3 Tbsp. organic ground cinnamon 2 tsp. organic ground ginger 2 tsp. organic ground nutmeg 1 1/2 tsp. organic ground all-spice 1 1/2 tsp. organic ground cloves Mix and store in an airtight container.  I used a recycled bab...

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.  Sunday we fried.  It was 92°F with a heat index of 99°F.  We literally didn't go outside much at all.  Hubby and I hit the garden work first, but it was too hot and humid to be outside.  We even said no to a motorcycle ride to get ice cream.  It was that hot.  Today, rain is once again in the forecast, and we may actually get some this time.  It's to rain all day, so first on the to-do list is work on the green beans in the garden.  If I can resurrect the second row, we plan to mow down the last two and replant. On the breakfast plate. . . Eggs, toast with home canned jam, coffee The weather outside is . . . It's hot and humid, and we are praying we finally get rain. On my reading pile . . . Herbal books from the library. On the TV . . . McCleod's Daughters On the menu . . . -organic roast, carrots, potatoes and onion -stuffed shells, steamed broccoli -chicken ...

For the first time in a long, long, long time, I woke up to a day where I had nothing on the list that could be done (for one reason or another).  Rain arrived, and there was heavy cloud cover, making me feel even lazier than ever.  Oh, I could have attacked some deep cleaning with gusto, but I didn't.  I got a few recipes written on cards, but boy I felt lazy dazy.  Maybe I deserved a day off and it just arrived? Well, I eventually found something I could do.   I mean they are taking up half of a kitchen table right now. About the bread. . . .

Not to let this awesome birthday week end without another "bang" of goodness, I made.... Flourless brownies and whiskey butterscotch sauce for sundaes.  Yes, yes and yes.  I ate them both with organic ice cream (too lazy to make homemade ice cream).

Say that three times - Bourbon Blueberry Banana Bread.  Ha! I made up the recipe.  Sort of.  I whipped up a loaf of it, and frosted it with an oh-so delicious, bourbon-y frosting.  Not kid friendly, but a guaranteed way to make your bread last longer if you do have kids.  Oh, and I forgot the oil, but because I added blueberries, I was lucky it added some moisture to it.

We finally had our family get together (a winter, non-Christmas gathering) yesterday, with my side of the family.  I can share what Christmas gifts I gifted.  I ran out of time, then you know, got sick, so it was not very much this past holiday. I had them ready, other than the recipe to attach to the sage (but emailed everyone it, along with what to do with sage).

Although the w eat her is better now, it was nasty a few days ago.  This was a "small" rain shower.  W e had thunderstorms and 50 degree weather most of the day.  It was a swamp.   Nas ty weather is always a w elcoming reason to deep clean and then treat myself to crochet time. ...or baking time.  I've been a bit lazy getting breakfast made with greens lately.  I just love the home canned cherry jam I canned last year.  LOVE IT!  It's on the list of restocking this summer.  A large container of homemade hot ch ocolate has been restocked. ... it's also a good day to restock supplies like dishwa sher detergent.  My laundry detergent needs restocked too. I started my 30-minute per day/per area cleaning/clutter clean up challenge.  Now th at the blanke t is done, I have time to get my home in order.  It's the f irst thing we see when we wake up and the last when we go to bed.  It's important for me t...

Weather was nasty. School was canceled.  It's was a perfect excuse to bake a cake for dinner.  We woke up to ice, sleet, slu sh, then pouring down rain on a layer of half melted ice....then in the evening 55 mph winds.  We may have lost a pi llow to the back porch swing (should have run out and collected them, but forgot abou t them).  It's too dark and early to tell.  When t he sun is up, I'll go tak e a look see.   I dug out my old, hand-me-down cake pan, and baked a maple-rum pound cake with maple-rum glaze.  It was a new recipe that had been floating around the kitchen.  I believe I tore it out of a King Flour magazine. The results?

Don't throw tomatoes at me, ha ha!  I spent the Labor Day weekend laboring in the tomato patch(s). Hubby and I had to re-tie the 100-some tomato plants and finally finished them up yesterday.  By the time we picked tomatoes, it was too hot to remain out there, and too late to start a batch of anything with tomatoes. I tried a new recipe to see if it would be a different spin on a holiday treat for gatherings.  I lined a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper, then lightly oiled it.  You could use non-stick spray if you prefer.  I didn't use much at all really.   Pour 1 cup of Jack Daniel's Whiskey over 2 pounds of sifted powdered sugar and stir.

Hubby's birthday is coming up soon, and has put in a request for flourless brownies, topped with organic vanilla ice cream, and of course whiskey butterscotch sauce.   I whipped up a batch of sauce before the weekend, so I could have that ready.  Not sure what the birthday dinner will entail just yet, but I'll be guessing he'll ask for tacos.  Maybe. 

In July of 2014, we came home to this.  Free wood.  Delivered for free.  Pieces were bigger and taller than myself, and wide.  Very wide. Guess what?

Guess what I am making next?  Hint:  It will need to infuse for 3-4 weeks and will be ready in the nick of time for Christmas day.

I have found yet another way to use sorghum molasses - flavored butter for winter squash, sweet potatoes, or carrots.  If you don't want the extra brown sugar on your acorn squash this winter, it is a nice substitute.

The bad news? This is the last of the tomatoes that I picked the other day. The good news? 

Sunday we finally sat around and simply enjoyed ourselves.  We tossed around the idea of going bowling, but the more we relaxed and took time for ourselves, the more we wanted to simply hang out (in pajamas no less). It's hard for me to sit around and do nothing, which was what we told Mom to do (she had another ER visit) for the next few days.  I was reading through a library book, on handmade gifts and decided to not let the year end without a "bang."  I went to the kitchen and made Whiskey Butterscotch Sauce.

This year may be a "booze infused" Christmas. Ha ha!    Hubby brought home a 4 oz. back of "Whiskey Stix" made here locally in our state.  They were spicy, they were delicious, but way over priced.  I, like most days, said "I can make this myself!" I found a recipe for Whiskey "Sticks", and made them for Hubby's game day.  They are easy to make, healthier than most snacks they take, and delish!