Christmas Tea

It's that time of year again.  The time of year when Sarge asks me to buy all the fixin's for Christmas tea.  This is one recipe that I cannot (according to him) make healthy.  It only tastes good if you use the bad for you stuff =)

So, here's to an unhealthy, but delicious hot beverage.

one container ice tea mix

one container lemonade mix

one container Tang (it has to be Tang!)

cinnamon to taste

nutmeg to taste

Mix everything together in a large seal-able container.  Mix 2-3 teaspoons in a mug of hot water and enjoy!

Foodie Friday: Butternut Mac and Cheese

It's been awhile since we featured a recipe on Foodie Friday.  So, I thought I would post what I made earlier this week that *gasp* all the kids had seconds of.

Ingredients:

1lb pasta cooked until tender (use your favorite kind or none at all)

bacon (everything is better with bacon)
butternut squash peeled and diced
mushrooms
green onions
kale

about 2 Tbsp butter
about 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder (or flour, you're making a rue sauce)
about 2 cups milk
shredded cheddar cheese

*Notice I didn't list exact amounts.  I usually use up what is on hand or guesstimate based on what I know my kids will eat =)

Fry up that bacon and butternut squash.  I prefer the squash when it has some nice browning on it, but you only have to cook it until it's tender.  Add in the mushrooms and green onions (I chopped mine up in a Ninja so the kids wouldn't see it ;) ).  Cook until tender.  Add in the kale and simmer until tender.

Mix the squash mixture and the pasta together.  Set aside.

Melt some butter in a pan and add arrowroot powder until you get a nice think paste.  Slowly add the milk and whisk until it thickens over low heat.  Remove from heat and add cheese.  Mix (probably don't want to use the whisk now) until the cheese is melted and then add to the pasta mixture.

Season to taste and serve.

This took about 30 minutes to throw together and about 15 minutes to eat.

Did you make this?  What did you think of it?

Pumpkin Spice Yum

It's fall, so that means pumpkin spice everything =)

I love pumpkin spic lattes, but since giving up sugar in my coffee earlier this year, I refuse to buy the pumpkin spice creamer (and who wants all those ingredients you can't pronounce?).

So, I've been scouring the internet for pumpkin spice creamer recipes.  And, I wasn't thrilled about most of them (one called for Truvia, one called for essential oils instead of real spices...).

The first one I found that I liked the ingredients on called for coconut milk.  And while it smelled wonderful, I thought it gave my coffee an interesting aftertaste.  Or maybe it was just me because I don't really like the taste of coconut ;)

This is what I've come up with.

1 1/2 cup almond milk

1 1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup pumpkin pie mix

cinnamon

nutmeg

cloves

maple syrup

Combine the first 3 ingredients and whisk well.  Add the spices and maple syrup to taste. (since I don't like too sweet, I didn't add any beyond what was already in the pumpkin mix).  Gently heat until the mix starts steaming.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer.  Store in the refrigerator.

Sausage and Potatoes

I'm all for quick and tasty meals.  One of our favorites is sausage and potatoes.  

1 lb of your favorite sausage, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

6 (or more depending on family size) red potatoes, diced

favorite seasoning (right now I'm loving the Everything Seasoning from Flavor God)

1/2 a stick of butter (I'm loving this butter from Sierra Nevada)

Saute everything in a skillet until potatoes are tender.  Serve to a hungry family.

Yup, it's that easy =)

Rice Pudding

With fourteen laying hens, we have a slight over abundance of eggs (about 11 eggs a day).  There's only so many times I can eat fried or scrambled eggs, so I went looking for some other alternatives.

I came across one for rice pudding and decided to tweak a bit...

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup raisins

2 lg. eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups milk

Gradually heat the rice, raisins and milk to not quite boiling.   In a small bowl beat eggs just enough to combine yolks and whites. Stir in sugar, salt and nutmeg.  Slowly combine the hot milk mixture with the eggs in a 9x13 casserole.  Bake 350 degrees until knife inserted comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes.  Make sure there is another pan of water in the oven when baking.  This helps to keep the rice pudding moist.

Serve while still warm.  My kids added some butter to theirs.  Junior ended up eating 3 servings and finished the rest for breakfast the next day =)

Red Buds and Violets

It's spring here in OK and the woods are filled with colorful flowers.

Like these violets.

And these red buds.

They are beautiful, but did you know they're also edible?

My mother in love found a recipe to make red bud jelly.  So we did.  And it was wonderful.  It tastes like a cross between an apple and a plum.

And then we started thinking about some of the other edible flowers and realized our woods are full of violets.  So we decided to try violet jelly.

First we had to soak the flowers.

Then we worked our jelly making magic (ok, we followed the directions on the pectin box).  And ended up with another beautifully colored jelly that tastes like honey.

And we made another batch of red bud while we were at it =)

And we may or may not be using the *extra* liquid to make violet wine ;)

What type of jellies do you like?  Do you make your own?