Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Homemade Taco Seasoning

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I love making foods with Tex-Mex or Mexican flavors. Taco seasoning has some of my favorite spices all blended together. I use to, on rare occasions, dabble with a recipe for making my own mix since I could never seem to have packets of it in the cupboards when I wanted to make taco's. The day I found this recipe, I was hooked. It's simple, fast, and easy!


Then one day I read the ingredients in the store bought packet I had on hand. . . .  I never bought a packet again. I am not exactly running around eating all healthy foods, but I was shocked to see such a list of ingredients beyond spices! That was the last packet that I ever bought. 

This recipe is so much easier to have on hand than a packet. Try it, I am sure you will love it too!




Homemade Taco Seasoning  
1/4 c. ancho chili powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
2 t. dried oregano
2 t. paprika
2 T. ground cumin
3 t. sea salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix, with 1/2 cup of water to one pound of ground meat.   Simmer for about 15 minutes or until liquid is reduced. 

Substitute 2 1/2 Tablespoons of mix in recipe calling for one packet of taco seasoning.

Source:  Smells Like Home

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Friday, June 14, 2019

Daily Goodie Box

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It's time for the fun products in June's Daily Goodie Box!
I'm still working my way through this box, and let me tell you this was a great box this month! My most favorite in this box was Curad Soothe & Cool. Honestly. I'm danger prone, and always looking for ways to sooth my most recent injury.
Check out all the detail below on the great things I got to try.



7th Heaven - Black Seaweed Peel Off Mask

Prince & Spring - Fruitmojis

The Grandpa Soap Co - Apple Cider Vinegar Body Wash

Smart Pressed Juice - Vegan Vanilla Proteini

Auromere - Ayurvedic Toothpaste

Treeline Coffee Roasters - The GEO

CURAD - Soothe & Cool Bandages

Snack Less - Fruit Bars


Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Go check it out! Seriously couldn't be easier.
All you need to do after getting a box, is let them know what you think!

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Chewy Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

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 My cookie connoisseurs may have been feeling neglected, but I think I redeemed myself this weekend on this most recent batch of cookies.
  

I've been obsessing over this recipe for a while. Making small adjustments each batch. After this last batch I felt satisfied, and I am getting requests for the recipe, so I feel I finally reached success on this flavor. The final addition to the recipe was the cinnamon chips. I found them in the largest grocery store chain I have regular access to a couple months ago and stashed them away for when the time was right. This was it.


Cinnamon lovers will thank you. Oatmeal lovers will thank you. Cookie lovers will thank you. This is the perfect balance of cinnamon and oatmeal wrapped into a lovely chewy cookie.  If you don't have cinnamon chips, go ahead, make them anyway! Just add an extra pinch of cinnamon if you omit the chips to make up for the cinnamon. Trust me, living where I do, I often have to substitute or work around special ingredients!


Chewy Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
1 3/4 cup flour 
1 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar 
1/2  cup granulated sugar 
2 eggs 
1 tsp. vanilla 
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
10 oz bag cinnamon chips 

Mix together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. 

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture mixing until ingredients are completely combined. Add  cinnamon chips, stir by hand until evenly distributed.

Cover dough and refrigerate overnight. * Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using small cookie scoop, drop dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool for 3 to 4 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. 

Store in airtight container for 4-5 days. 

*I do not recommend shortening the dough chill time on this recipe.

Enjoy!

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Thursday, May 30, 2019

Our Newest Additions

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Several years ago I was looking for baby chicks on Craigslist. During my searching, I stumbled across a "new to me" breed of chickens called Icelandic.  After doing some research on this breed, I was completely intrigued. I reached out to the person on Craigslist selling the chicks, but they never responded.

I have looked into this breed a few times since then, but the price per chick and the minimum quantity prevent me from ordering any. But then this year, things changed. In one of my chicken groups on Facebook, a lady from central Wisconsin was advertising her Icelandic chicks for sale. I was so excited. But, with our schedules she was still to far away. My husband insisted we could find a way to make the journey because he knew how important they were to me. In a conversation with the lady to see about scheduling the trip, she asked where we were from. Turns out she has a friend that lives 20 miles from us and she also raises Icelandic Chicks! I was put in contact with the local lady, and the rest is history! 

We are now the proud owners of Icelandic chicks. So far it appears that we have all pullets, but we'll see!
 They are about 2 weeks old in this photo. Still living in the house.


After battling our excessively rainy spring, they finally got to start sampling grass and bugs this past week! 




If you would like to read about Icelandic Chickens, here are some interesting articles:

What's your favorite breed of chicken?

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Daily Goodie Box

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It's time for the fun products in March's Daily Goodie Box!
I'm still working my way through this box, and let me tell you this was a great box this month! My most favorite in this box was Kika's Treats - Salted Crunch Caramels.   Honestly, the box of them was empty when I took this picture! They were that good!

Check out all the detail below on the great things I got to try.



KÖE - Organic Kombucha

Pure Aura - Cosmic Shimmer Hologram Foil Mask

Goddess Garden - Facial SPF30 Natural Sunscreen Lotion

CUSA Tea - Premium Instant Tea Variety Pack

Kika’s Treats - Salted Crunchy Caramels

Michele’s Granola - Grab-and-Go Snack Size Original Granola

PiperWai - Natural Deodorant Stick

Prince & Spring - Organic Applesauce Pouches


Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Go check it out! Seriously couldn't be easier.
All you need to do after getting a box, is let them know what you think!

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Life on the Farm

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Happy Spring!! There is no shortage of changes in the seasons happening, so I wanted to share some photo's of what's going on around the farm.

Our lovely Joan, has been happily free ranging and tends to always keep an eye on where I am. 
She seems to think I will have treats for her! (I usually do!)



The Queen of the Farm, happy to soak up that sunshine!


A man and his dog.


Our garden. Oh how I wish we would have cleaned it up last fall. But, we both dived into this past weekend, and even got some dirt worked. Hopefully get some early seeds in this coming weekend.


If the dogs go missing, just look for them in the last bit of remaining snow!



And, things are growing!  Tulips seem very early for us.

The strawberries are happy to see all this sunshine!


Friday, March 15, 2019

Daily Goodie Box

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It's time for the fun products in March's Daily Goodie Box!
My most favorite in this box was  Jessica's Vanilla Maple Granola, delicious!
Check out all the detail below on the great things I got to try.




Avitae - Caffeinated Sparkling Water

Fyve - Coconut Lime Lip Balm

GLEEN - Electronic Cloth

Greenshield Organic - Lavender Organic Laundry Detergent

Hubs - Virginia Salted Peanuts

Jessica’s - All Natural Gluten-Free Granola

Prince & Spring - Jackpot Popcorn

Natralia - Eczema Moisturizing Lotion


Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Go check it out! Seriously couldn't be easier.
All you need to do after getting a box, is let them know what you think!

Monday, March 11, 2019

Whipped Cream Frosting

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For many years, I wasn't a fan of cake or frosting. In hind sight, I guess sweets in general weren't at the top of my list. I preferred salty snacks and treats. I am not sure when that changed, but I suspect it was when I switched to making things from scratch. I know my love for frosting grew when I started making it, instead of buying it.

Typically, I don't follow much of a recipe when making frosting, I just wing it and add what I need for the occasion. There are exceptions to this though. The first exception is Mom's Marshmallow Frosting. It's heavenly.  Then, I met Carlee from Cooking With Carlee. I told you about Carlee's cheesecake a couple weeks ago, but you need to know that she is like a frosting genius. It took me a while to dive into her frosting recipes, but for my husbands birthday a couple years back I decided to try something new. Really new. And different. A cooked frosting! Say what? I really didn't know such frostings existed before.


After doing some research on this type of frosting, I found that this goes by a crazy amount of "Frosting" names including:  Boiled Milk, Heritage , Ermine, Cloudburst, Gravy, Roux, and Cooked Flour Frosting.  I'm really curious if you've made or heard of this before, and what name you call it?


This frosting is so amazing. It's so light. And not overly sweet. Dreamy is my best description for this frosting. It takes a little more time, but it's worth every minute. Please know that you should not, under any circumstances, leave the stove. Do not even stand at the stove (not whisking) thinking you can play one turn of Words with Friends! Just keep whisking!


Whipped Cream Frosting

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, softened and cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add flour and sugar to medium saucepan, whisk together. Slowly, add a couple tablespoons of milk, whisking until you have a smooth mixture. Add remaining milk, whisking until smooth and completely incorporated.  Heat over medium heat, whisking continuously until thick and consistency of pudding.

Remove from heat and cool completely.  Once cool, add butter to mixer and mix butter until smooth. Add vanilla and cooled flour mixture. Mix on high speed for 10 minutes, scraping down sides after 5 minutes.


Source: Cooking with Carlee

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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

White Cake

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I've been meaning to share this cake recipe for so long now. I've made it for my husbands birthday at least the last three years. I guess the blog worthy photo's are what has kept me from sharing. Being the short days are still here in February, I battle with enough sunlight to get a photo. And in hind sight, I'm embarrassed at how fast this cake disappears!  This year I was able to snap the photo's more easily since husband wasn't home for his birthday! Yep, his birthday cake had to wait two days under my supervision for him to get home to enjoy this.


Dear Husband (aka Truckin' Man) loves this cake so much I should make it more often for him. But, you know... Then I eat more of it than I should, it's one of those that I have to fight with myself on. 

I've wanted a simple scratch white cake recipe for years, and this one fits the bill. It doesn't rise as high as box mix, but that's ok! It's so moist, you will just fall in love with it.


I chuckled last month when some friends made this recipe, and sent a Snapchat showing me "Kris Cake", as they have started to call it. I loved that!


Now, I do believe this frosting is what sends this wonderful cake out of the park, to birthday cake levels, so stay tuned for that recipe. I will be sharing soon!


White Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites (at room temperature)
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 pan, dust with flour and set aside.

In medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In large mixing bowl, add shortening and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  Add sugar, mixing until combined. Add egg whites and vanilla, beat for one minute.  Add buttermilk to mixture, alternating with flour, mixing well after each addition. Beat on high for two minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Frost as desired.

Store in airtight container

Source: NellieBellie

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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Donna's Famous Cheesecake - Tested And Approved

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Who all loves cheesecake? While I do love it, my husband is a fanatic! He loves all things cheesecake. Since he has been laid off for a while this winter, I figured I should make some of his favorites. This way he's home to gobble them up, and that means less temptation for me to be eating more than I should.


I tried a new cheesecake recipe this time, and have to share this with you. This recipe is from my friend Carlee, who you can find at Cooking with Carlee.  She has so many great recipes and our husbands have similar tastes, so she is definitely one of my go to sites for recipes.

 Carlee's cheesecake definitely got a thumbs up from us. It was a little different from the cheesecake that I normally make, in that it uses Sweetened Condensed Milk. The texture was perfect, and the top didn't crack! But, the bonus was it wasn't as heavy as other cheesecakes. I really enjoyed that I could eat the whole piece without feeling like I over-indulged!


Recipe at: Cooking With Carlee


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