APPLESAUCE SPICE MUFFINS

A few weeks ago I was in a second hand store looking around. I ran across this cute little book. I have also been wanting some Blueberry Muffins. The only recipe I had for Blueberry Muffins wasn't a muffin, but more like a biscuit. So I picked this little book up.



Well, it has Blueberry Muffins and so much more. I decided to go with the Apple Spice Muffins. And were they ever good!!

APPLESAUCE SPICE MUFFINS
Makes 12 Muffins

1 3/4 C. Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
2 Eggs
1/2 C. + 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Vegetable Oil
1/2 C. Milk
1 C. diced peeled Apple
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 C. Applesauce
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon mixed with 3 tablespoons Sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line muffin tins with paper cups. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in medium bowl. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, milk, apple, lemon juice, and applesauce. Add flour mixture to liquid ingredients and stir just until flour disappears. Spoon into muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture and bake 25 to 30 minutes until tester comes out clean. (I use a toothpick inserted into muffins to see if they are done.)

Here they are fresh out of the oven. As you can see I got a few more than 12.

STUFFED PEPPERS

I found this recipe over at About.com The whole family loved this. It was really yummy!!

STUFFED PEPPERS WITH GROUND BEEF AND RICE



INGREDIENTS:
6 green bell peppers
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 C. chopped Onion
1/2 C. chopped Celery
1 can (14.5 oz.)diced tomatoes
1 can (8oz.)tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 C. cooked rice
shredded mild cheddar cheese, Optional

PREPARATION:
Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Chop edible part of tops and set aside. Rinse peppers under cold water. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Saute chopped green pepper(from tops), chopped onion, and chopped celery for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed garlic, oregano, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine egg and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Gently stir to blend; add ground beef, cooked rice, and 1 cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a 3-quart baking dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers. Bake at 350 for 55 to 65 minutes. If desired, top stuffed peppers with a little shredded cheddar cheese just before peppers are done; bake until cheese is melted.

SERVES 6

MEAT LOAF

My son makes a great Meat Loaf. I just hope I got this all right. I was asleep the other night when he gave me the recipe. LOL


MEAT LOAF




INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Hamburger
1 lb. Bulk Sausage
2 T. Mustard
3/4 C. Ketchup
1 Egg
1/2 t. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t. Soy Sauce
8 Crackers
1 can Hunts Stewed Tomatoes
5 Sticks of Celery
1 whole Onion - Diced
1 T. Butter
1/2 t. Parsley
1/2 t. Italian Seasoning
1/2 t. Basil
3 cloves Garlic - Diced

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients well. Shape into a loaf. Apply a thin layer of ketchup on the top of the loaf. Place in small roasting pan. Add 1 can of chicken broth and 1 can of water to roasting pan and cover. Bake about 1 hour at 350. If desired, add potatoes and carrots the last 20 minutes of cook time. Cook until potatoes and carrots are done.

On another note. How do you like my new look? Let me know, OK.

VEGGIE DIP

Ever have a get together and can't think what to serve? This is one of those things that can be thrown together really fast and it's kind of easy. If you have a little notice you can chop the veggies the night before. The dip it self should be refrigerated over night, but you can serve it the same day.

VEGGIE DIP

1 16oz. container of Plain Yogurt
1 original pkg. Hidden Valley Dressing Mix(powdered form)
1 tablespoon Parsley Flakes

Mix all ingredients well. Let sit, covered, overnight in the fridge

Veggies you can use:
Carotts
Cucumbers
Bell Peppers
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Green Onions

This is also great with chips and corn chips.

THRIFTY THURSDAY

Does anyone have mason canning jars sitting around doing nothing but collecting dust? I have several of the blue ones that my hubby kept buying at rummage sales. He would bring them home and put them in a box in the barn. One day I brought them in, washed them and put my button collection in them. They have labels on them as to what color they are. Some of the buttons are my mom's and some are from my Great Aunt Peggy and some are mine I have picked up here and there. I proudly put them on a shelf to show off. Most of the jars my hubby gave less than 1.00 for at the rummage sales. Don't they look nice holding all my buttons instead of dust?

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa and Lana are the hosts for Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays. They have some really great recipes. You should go check these 2 out!

Last fall I was looking for a new way to roast chicken. So I went looking on the internet to find a recipe. I went to one of my favorite places, Kraft Kitchens, and found this great recipe. And boy is it good!!!

GREEK STYLE LEMON ROAST CHICKEN



Greek Style Lemon Roast Chicken


INGREDIENTS

1 whole roasting chicken (3-1/2 lb.)
salt and black pepper
1 medium lemon, washed, halved
1/2 cup KRAFT Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

PREPARATION

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Place in a 13x9-inch baking dish.

SQUEEZE the juice from lemon and mix with dressing in a small bowl. Place the squeezed lemon halves inside the cavity of chicken. Drizzle dressing mixture over chicken. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of one of the chicken's thighs.

BAKE 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is cooked through (reaches an internal temperature of 180°F), basting occasionally.

Their serving suggestions is a Green Salad and a Whole Wheat Roll. I had the green salad, I also got that from the Kraft Kitchens. This also was very good!!!

TOSSED ITALIAN GARDEN SALAD




INGREDIENTS

10 cups torn romaine lettuce
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing

TOSS greens, vegetables and basil with dressing.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

This past Friday was my sons 40th birthday. He said he didn't want anything for his birthday, but I got him his favorite candy, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Plus he requested a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So I got busy and made him one. I got this recipe from my mom years ago. Have made lots and lots of them over the years. There was some trial and error, but I finally have it all down pat now.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

INGREDIENTS

2 ½ C. Flour
2 ½ teas. Baking Powder
1 teas. Salt
2 sticks of butter/margarine
1 ½ C. White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1 teas. Vanilla
1 Can of Crushed Pineapple
2 C. Brown Sugar, maybe less, maybe more

In large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, 1 stick of butter/margarine, white sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix all together well. Set aside for now.



PINEAPPLE TOPPING

In sauce pan melt 1 stick of butter/margarine. Pour this into a 9 X 11 cake pan, making sure you cover the bottom of the cake pan well.






Place Brown Sugar over bottom of cake pan, spreading it out and covering the bottom of the cake pan.



Pour Crushed Pineapple with juice in cake pan, covering the bottom of the cake pan. If needed you could use another can of pineapple.



Pour cake batter over pineapple, covering evenly.




Bake at 350 until done.



Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake, this losens the cake from the sides of the cake pan. Dump cake onto a flat platter or plate. DO NOT LET THE CAKE COOL, DUMP OUT WHILE IT’S STILL HOT.



I dump my cake onto one of those sliver trays you use around the hoildays. It works pretty well. I also put some wax paper on the bottom before dumping the cake. Makes for an easier clean up. Just trim the was paper and eat!!

STRAWBERRY SALAD

Foodie Friday is going on over at Gollum's place, Designs by Gollum. Got a great recipe to share, need one for supper, or just looking around? Hop over to Gollum's place and check out all the great recipes. This also my first posting for Foodie Friday!

This is a recipe my mom had in her personal recipe book. I got this book when she passed away. It was falling apart, the pages were turning brown, and some of the pages were falling out. I have since then turned this into a scrapbook. All mom's recipes, clippings, little booklets and everything else she had in there are preserved in this scrapbook.




This is one of the recipes that was in her recipe book. I tried it and it turned out really good. But I can't for the life of me figure out why it's called strawberry salad!




STRAWBERRY SALAD

2 boxes Strawberry Jell-o
1 ¾ C. Hot Water
2 boxes Frozen Strawberries
1 small can Crushed Pineapple (undrained)
Mix jell-o according to package directions. Thaw Strawberries. Mix strawberries and pineapple into jell-o, stirring well. Put in fridge to set.
TOPPING
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Eggs
½ C. Sugar
1 8oz. Cool Whip
In a saucepan mix lemon juice, eggs and sugar. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Cool mixture, then add Cool Whip. Top Strawberry Jell-o mixture.

THRIFTY THURSDAY

My hubby is a rummager, hard core! He hits the rummage sales early in the morning! He brings home lots of goodies. Last week he brought home this bird cage.



As soon as I saw it, I wanted to put it in my garden. I'm always looking for things to put in my garden. Not for the birds, but to look pretty! I tried it in the garden, but it is kind of top heavy, and wouldn't sit straight. So I moved it to the deck. Added a pretty pot, which came from the rummage sale, go some pretty flowers and ribbon and this is the result!



So what do you think, cute! Well, I think it's cute anyway! My hubby likes it too. And since it's so top heavy, even more since I put the pot in it, I've moved it to a corner and wired it to the deck. You can't see the wire. But now the wind won't knock it down.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa over at Blessed With Grace is hosting Tempt my Tummy Tuesday. Need a recipe for supper or just looking for something new? Hop over to Lisa's place and check out all the folks who have shared their recipes.

With summer coming on and the temps getting hotter, I am really fond of salads. So I went looking for something different than just lettuce and tomatoes. I went over to the Kraft Kitchens and found this really great salad. Hope you enjoy it! We all liked it lots around here!



TOSSED ITALIAN GARDEN SALAD

10 C. torn Romaine Lettuce
2 C. Sliced Mushrooms
2 Plum Tomatoes-Chopped
1 small Zucchini-Chopped
¼ C. Red Onion-Chopped
¼ C. fresh Basil Leaves-Chopped
¾ C. Kraft Light Italian Dressing

Toss greens, vegetables and basil with dressing.
Makes 6 servings.

MOUTHWATERING MONDAYS

Rachel over at A Southern Fairy Tale is hosting Mouthwatering Monday. Want to find a great new recipe? Check this place out! Lots of folks have shared their recipes.

I was looking for a recipe for Black Forrest Cake. I went to All Recipes.com and found one. Tried it out and boy is it YUMMY!!


BLACK FORREST CAKE




2 1/8 C All Purpose Flour
2 C. White Sugar
3/4 C. Unsweetened Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
3 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Vanilla
2 (20 oz.) Cans Pitted Sour Cherries
1 C. White Sugar
1/4 C. Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
1/3 C. Confectioners' Sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
4. Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
5. Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
6. With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups Frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake.

OATMEAL COOKIES

 This is my mom's recipe for Oatmeal Cookies. They are really yummy!




OATMEAL COOKIES

1 1/4 C. Butter
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 C. Uncooked Oatmeal

Heat oven to 375. Beat together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire colling rack.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa over at Blessed With Grace is hosting Temp My Tummy Tuesday! Got a great recipe to share or just looking for something for supper, hop over and check out all the folks that posted their recipes, I'll bet you'll find something you like.

I got this receipe from my sister-in-law. It's really good and is easy to put together.

COTTAGE CHEESE AND PINEAPPLE



1 box Cottage Cheese
1 can Crushed Pineapple - drained
1 pkg. Cool Whip
1 pkg. Jello - any flavor

Mix Jello according to pkg. directions. Mix remaining ingredients together with Jello. Place in refrigerator to set up. At Pineapple chunks or rings to top for decoration if desired.

BANANA NUT BREAD

Rachel is the host for Mouth Watering Mondays. Go check out all the other folks that have great recipes to share, Yummy!



This is a recipe I got from Paula Dean's book "Kitchen Classics". This book has lots of great recipes in it. I've tried several of them. This one is delicious!! Although at the time I didn't have any buttermilk. So went looking on the internet for substitutes and found this place called Recipe Zaar they had a great one. This is how you can substitute buttermilk: 1 Cup of Milk, 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Combine ingredients and let stand 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, mix together well and use as buttermilk in any recipe!



BANANA NUT BREAD

½ C. Shortening
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
2 C. Flour
3 Bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon Salt
1/3 C. Buttermilk
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ C. Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to creamed mixture. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

PUMPKIN PIE

I thought I would put my recipe for Pumpkin Pie up today. I must confess the recipe is actually off the can of Libby Pumpkin that I use. I am also not great at making pie crust, actually I suck at it, so I use bought pie crusts. And everyone usually eats the pie and there is never any left, so I guess it works for us.







PUMPKIN PIE

4 Eggs
1 – 29 oz. can Pumpkin
1 ½ C. Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ginger
½ teaspoon Cloves
2 – 13 oz. cans Evaporated Milk
4 – 9 inch Pie Shells

In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Sprinkle tops with Cinnamon. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake another 45 minutes.

When knife is inserted in center and comes out clean, remove pies and cool.

THRIFTY THURSDAY

We have a flea market that runs all year here. I love shopping there! I usually have no idea what I'm looking for when I first walk in the door. But I usually find something I like. I collect Beenie Babies. I found Pinky the Flamingo for $1.00. Isn't she cute!



I also read lots so am always looking for books and bookmarks. I found this pretty pink lace bookmark and this great pink book. Do you see a pattern here, Pink! The bookmark was $1.00 and the book was .50





I also found this Pyrex Bowl. It's kind of little, but it gets used for small things. The bowl was $2.00



All the items listed above are being used. Pinky sits on my desk, have read the book and use the bookmark all the time. As for the bowl, we use it to hold chips, cereal, and other small items.

PEACH COBBLER

Lisa is hosting the meme, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Want to find some scrumptious recipes? Go check out all the other folks who have participated. I made this recipe a few weeks ago. It's really yummy, I got it out of Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics book. It is on page 166 under desserts. As we don't have fresh peaches here yet, I used a can of sliced peaches. But you could use fresh peaches. You can also find this recipe at Paula Deen's web site. Just click on her name and you will go right there.



PEACH COBBLER

8 Tablespoons Butter
1 C. Sugar
¾ C. self-rising flour
¾ C. Milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter in deep baking dish and place in oven to melt. Mix sugar and flour; add milk slowly to prevent lumping. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. (see syrup below) Still do not stir; batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

FRESH PEACHES AND SYRUP

Peel and pit 2 C. of fresh peaches. Place in a medium size pan and add 1 C. of water and 1 C. of sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir often, making sure all the sugar melts. (This can be substituted for a 28 oz. can of sliced peaches, if desired)

SIMPLY DELICIOUS SUNDAY RECEIPES

This is a recipe my mom had in her recipe book. I remember making these when I was a child. It was lots of fun, but messy. Mom would pop up this really huge pan of popcorn and us kids would get to roll the popcorn balls. We probably ate more than we rolled, but it was loads of fun!!

POPCORN BALLS



1 C. White Corn Syrup
1 C. Brown Sugar
½ C. Water
1 teaspoon Vinegar
2 Tablespoon Butter
2 Qt. of Popped Popcorn

You will need the regular popcorn. The kind you have to pop in a pan with oil. The Microwave kind doesn’t work very well. At least for my recipe. You will need to pop enough popcorn to get 2 Quarts.

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, water, vinegar, and butter in a medium size pan. Cook as slow speed until consistency is thick and sticky. Let cool. Pour over popcorn in a large bowl. Rub your hands generously with butter and start making balls. If desired you can wrap them in plastic wrap and tie the ends with pretty yarn or ribbon as gifts. I’m not sure of the yield, but it should be around 10 to 12 balls.

I GOT AN AWARD!

This award got lost somewhere in my comments and I just found it. So thought I had better get it posted. It comes from Beca over at Ruby Lane. It is called the Honest Scrap Award. Here is the stuff I need to do:

The rules that come with this award say that I have to list 10 honest and interesting facts about me. So I guess that’s why this award is called honest scrap. I also have to pass this award on to 8 other bloggers. Here goes.

The 8 lucky people are:
1. mjpuzzlemom
2. Janet
3. Sandra
4. Gollum
5. Lisa
6. LL
7. Mom 2 My 9
8. Lynn

Now for my 10 true and interesting things about me. You'll have to be the judge if they are interesting!

1. I have been married 40 years to a wonderful guy, Thomas.
2. I work for the YMCA with their Child Care Program.
3. I love to read, just about anything will do, but like Historical Romances and Mysteries the best.
4. I am a self taught quilter. Have been quilting for 25+ years.
5. I have a son who is 40 years old this coming June. That probably gives my age away, oh well, my age is in my profile anyway.
6. I got married at the tender age of 16. I went straight from my parents house to my husbands house.
7. I scrapbook! I currently have about 10 scrapbooks going that I work on off and on!
8. I collect chickens! They are all over my kitchen.
9. My current car, a 1996 Ford Taurus has 200,192 miles on it. I travel 200 miles a week back and forth to my work place.
10. I currently have 15 blogs, yes you read that right. They are blogs about all the things I love to do!

Honest Scrap Award Rules

When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 8 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 8 friends. Show the 8 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!

ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD

Kristen over at Frugal Antics of A Harried Homemaker has given me the "One Lovely Blog Award"!

The rules involve passing this along to other of your favorite blogs. I am hereby giving this to the following for leaving such lovely comments on my blog:

1. Emily
2. Tammy
3. Aunt J - Ha
4. Becca
5. Alice Audrey