Playing in the Garden Last Summer

I was going to post some other pictures, but came apon these and they brought a smile to my face. They are a year old, but still CUTE!! Yes she was eating dirt..

Some of my Favorite Cookie Recipes

The first one I am posting I have tried once and yes, it is a LARGE recipe. It was a huge hit with my 16yr old and her friends, but I have not been able to make them since because of the peanut butter. PA is allergic to anything nut. My older daughter is not thrilled about it.

Monster Cookies

Makes 60 Large cookies

12 eggs
2 C butter
2 C brown sugar
4C sugar
1/4 C vanilla
3 lb. jar peanut butter
or other nut butter
8 teaspoons  baking soda
18 C quick oatmeal
1 C choc chips
1 C nuts
1 C M&M’s
Mix in the order listed and drop on baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes

This next one is one I have used for years and I make them all the time. The butter flavored Crisco is important to use. It makes the cookies better.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

 

¾ c. butter flavor Crisco

1 ¼ c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

3 c. quick oats uncooked

1 c. flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 c. raisins

Heat oven to 375

Combine brown sugar, egg, milk and vanilla in large bowl.

Add in oats, flour, soda, salt and cinnamon into creamy mixture.

Then add raisins.

Drop onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart

Bake at 375 for 10 – 12 min or until light brown.

The last one I am going to post is my favorite of all time. I have made these so much over the years I have it memorized. Of course, because of the whole peanut butter thing I do not get to make or have them. Also because my and chocolate do not get along (thank you Carcinoid Syndrome).

Uncooked Cookies

2c. Sugar

½ c. canned milk

1 c. butter

Bring to boil in saucepan then add…

3 c. oatmeal

½ c. peanut butter

4 Tbs. cocoa

1 Tbs. vanilla

Mix well then spoon out onto wax paper on a cookie sheet and refrigerate until cold.

More Baking and My Love for Pumpkin

I love to bake. I also love pumpkin and I like new ways to use pumpkin. Not only is it yummy, but it can also add fiber to a recipe and make it just a little more healthy (even if it is just to make me feel better about serving this to my family 😉 ).

My 16yr old daughter LOVES these cookies & has had me make them for fund-raisers and for her friends. I have been teaching her how to make them for herself.

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 c. sugar

½ c. vegetable oil

1 egg

2 c. flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp milk

1 tbsp vanilla

2 c. chocolate chips

½ c. walnuts (optional)

Cream together pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Add in baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Then flour and rest of ingredients.

Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 min. (My oven took 15-18 min so watch carefully). Take out when they are just starting to brown and just firm.

 

For Thanksgiving I made the Pumpkin Bread Pudding instead of pie. It was a huge hit. Yes it is very rich, but OH so YUMMY 😉

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

1 loaf French bread (torn in pieces)

1 quart 40% whipping cream

1 dozen eggs

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

2 Tbs. vanilla

4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 c. sugar

2 c. brown sugar

2 c. canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend all the ingredients, except the French bread, until mixed well.

Place the French bread in 2 loaf pans or a large cake pan. Pour mixture over the French bread and let sit 30 min. Bake for 1 hour or till firm.

After the Rain

A few weeks ago, we had a good storm & actually, there were two tornado touchdowns (they were very small). We were on tornado warning for several hours. I did not think it was a big deal. I knew we were not going to see anything close to what the Midwest was experiencing.

After the rain & hail stopped, I took PA outside to get her out of the house for a while.  She wanted to play with the umbrella.

 

Update on my hobby (I’m such a wirdo)

I am sure you have noticed I have not been posting as much recently. Well truth is I have had a hard time putting words to paper without sounding as if I am whining about my health. Alternatively, how frustrated I have been with PA’s regression. We are in process of getting her re-evaluated in hopes she we can get her the help she needs. Therefore, I decided to post an update on one of my more recent hobbies (no whining I promise LOL).

I made several trips shopping this month & have proven to my hubby that sending him out to get me many newspapers pays off. In two trips alone to Wal-Mart, I was able to buy $213.49 worth of products (in retail), but only paid $54.34 total split between the two trips. I only took pictures of one of my trips in that trip I spent $28.00 but got $123.37 in products.

All of what I bought we will use in the coming months. I do not believe in buying stuff we do not use even if I can get it is free, unless I am able to donate it. I also do not buy lots of processed food and give many coupons for stuff we will not use to friends. I also do not believe in wasting coupons.

Just because I am a weirdo (and I am proud of my accomplishment), I am going to list everything I got in my two big trips.

6 Shick Hydro 3 razors (I would have gotten 9 but they did not have enough)                                                                                                         48.00

4 Pro-Glide Razors                                                                                   13.74

3 Soft Scrub Total Bath Cleaners                                                       10.41

3 Soft Scrub Bath & Bowl                                                                        11.61

4 bottles of Mens Nivea Active 3 Body Wash                               15.80

9 bottles of Dial Body Wash                                                                  35.73

4 Colgate 360 Actifresh Sonic Power toothbrushes                  22.00

4 Oral B Pro-Health Cross Action toothbrushes                          14.96

4 Oral B Pulsar (bat.) toothbrushes                                                    23.98

4 Crest 3D White Vivid Radiant toothpaste                                     12.68

10 cans of Chicken of the Sea Solid White Albacore Tuna        14.50

                                                                                            Total Retail          213.49

                                                                                                                 Paid      54.34

                                                                                               Savings of           159.15

Now just for the record my hubby still will not shop with me LOL, but that is OK I have a good friend who goes with me. It also serves to get me out of the house, and I even accidently left my Blackberry at home one night (TeeHee).

Wordless Wed. More from my Garden

All of these taken in my yard in the past 2 weeks. Enjoy….

A picture to sum up my week

 

You have seen the signs that say bump in the road. Well life has bumps we all know this, but some people’s bumps are a bit more in numbers & more complex than others are. I saw this sign today and it made me laugh. My life has been full of bumps in the road and usually more than one bump at a time. Here is a sign to sum it up 😉

New/Old Hobbies

The reason I am starting up new/old hobbies is to have something to do. My hubby went back to school a while back. The time PA is in school is when he needs to study. I get bored easy and I am not good at entertaining myself. I can only so much housework I have to be careful not to overdo things because of health conditions. I use to be a very active person. I use to go to the gym, hike, run & I did Tae Kwon Do.  Trading an active lifestyle for what I have now has been really hard for me. Problem is most hobbies cost money and so I have to keep it on the cheap.

I have two new/old hobbies I have gone back to recently. The first one is couponing. I have always tried to use coupons, so I guess it kind of an old hobby. I have wanted to get into it since my hubby became disabled years ago.  I have a friend helping me with it right now.

I am still learning the ropes, but having fun doing it. However, it does have drawbacks like making my husband crazy. I make him go out and get several papers at the dollars store for me, because I cannot drive. In addition, it takes several hours a week to keep organized, which is not a big deal because I use the time he is studying to do it. He likes the savings but it makes him nervous at the checkout counter. The other evening, we went to Target and I had my coupons and my list. The problem was I did not read the ad for pull-ups right. It was not a big deal really the clerk took the ad out and we figured it out. Problem solved. No one was mad and there was no one behind us. He just does not like it if we have to do more than have the clerk scan the items & pay. He told me tonight to leave him home next time. Now I have to find a friend to shop with because I do not drive. Maybe I can just leave him in the car.

Next is photography. Actually, it has been a love of mine since I got my first camera at 8yrs old. It was a Kodak 110 camera with my initials on it. I remember going through film like crazy & my parents saying they would not buy me anymore. I had a few other cameras over the years, but was not until I was in High School & I saved up one summer to get the CHINON CP7-M. I was very proud of this camera and I inherited a bunch of lenses from my dad (from his old Pentax). I was on yearbook staff and took the classes. It was stolen a couple years out of high school, and I never replaced it (regret not replacing it).

 I got a nice camera at a work Christmas party before I became disabled. It still works well, but it is slow & does not do close up well. Which until PA came along was fine, but she is so fast and is hard to get good photos without taking a ton of pictures. The camera I like to use right now is my new Blackberry.  It actually takes some awesome photos. I would love to replace my Chinon CP7-M. Maybe someday I will be able to.