Happy Mother's day Treats!

Happy Mother's day to all of you amazing woman out there!  Even if you don't have children of your own... Every woman is a mother in one way or another. You all are worthy of celebration! Thank you for making this world a better place. A special Happy Mother's Day to my dear Mother. She is an amazing woman, mother and grandmother. She will have 5 new grandchildren join her life this year. She taught me to love being a mother! She taught me compassion, gratitude, love, endurance, and patience. She also gave me my love for the kitchen. I sure love you mom!!!

Today's post is a special one, just for Mother's Day. My sister had her baby shower a little while back and I thought I would share some cute pictures from it.  Here is the really cool part... The cup cakes you see, were made by an 11 year old. I told her that I would post them and get her some business.  She also made an amazing bridal shower cake for my sister when she got married.  This girl is talented!!! If you want her info, let me know.

Did you know that Huggies makes jean looking diapers?   Pockets and everything. They are so cute! Since my sister is having a boy, we decided to use the blue diapers for the cake. It turned out so adorable!!!

At my mother-in-laws request... here is the recipe for the diaper cake. You will need about 100-130 diapers. (depending on the size you want and the size of the diaper) Start at the open end of the diaper and roll towards the folded edge.  Tie with thin ribbon or embroidery floss.  You could even use raffia or anything else you have.  Get creative!

With someones help (It's tough to try this on your own... but I've done it) stack the diapers in a circle, starting in the center and adding them evenly until you get to the size you want for the bottom layer. Wrap a wide piece of ribbon around the edge and tie into a double knot. You can make a bow, add toys, or other baby items to cover the knot or just leave it the way it is. When it is tied off, I like to add 5-10 more diapers into any loose spots so that the diapers fit a little more snug inside the ribbon. This way, when you are transferring it, they won't pop out. 

Continue doing each layer the same way, adding less and less diapers. I don't connect the layers. It's easier to transfer this way. Then when you get to your destination, you can just stack the layers there. Top with your favorite baby item, or bow. This is such a creative shower gift for the "mommy to be".  This method also makes it so that the mom can use the diapers for the baby. (instead of using glue and wasting perfectly good diapers.)

How cute are these? I still can't believe that an 11 year old made them.  Her mom said that she didn't help either.  This girl is amazing! Again if you want her information, let me know. She doesn't just do cupcakes either.  She has made some beautiful cakes.

A Watermelon cradle! What a great way to decorate a watermelon. My mother has done this kind of a thing for as long as I can remember. Stay tuned for more designs and how to's in the future. 

Brazilian Limeade

My husband lived in Brazil for a couple of years and really loved this drink while he was there.  We also have many Brazilian friends and got this recipe from one of them.  There is just something about this drink that hits the "comfort food" button. It's so creamy and delicious. Our Favorite part is to drink the frothy foam at the top. You can also add ice (I like using sonic ice because it shaves up nicely) to the blender to may it more of a slushy drink.

Brazilian Limeade

2 limes

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

3 cups water

ice

Wash limes and cut into quarters (Keep the peels on). In a blender, combine limes, sugar, condensed milk and water. Blend for about 30 seconds, or until limes are broken down. (you can also add ice to this step to make it a thicker drink) Strain juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove pulp. Serve over ice.

Freezer Jam

This recipe goes right along with yesterdays post Basic White Bread. I love me a little bread with homemade freezer jam. You can also "can" jam.  I'll show that one in a later post.  I like canned jam, but freezer jam tastes so much more fresh and delish. Its also a lot easier to do. I also like a hot piece of toast or a hot roll with jam from the freezer. It's still not quite solid when it's frozen. So you thaw it just enough to be able to scoop out... and then the ice cold jam, on a hot piece of bread is fabulous!

I like to use the liquid pectin, just because you can skip a step that way, but really any pectin will do. Each package will come with its own instructions, so be sure to follow them. (If you are using liquid pectin, the recipe will be pretty similar if not exact to this one.) I'll just post the recipe that I used. Here is a picture of the box.

You can also use all different types of berries, and other fruits to make jam.  Some need to be cooked and some can be made into no cook freezer jam. Just follow the instructions on the package and you will be just fine. For now, here is the basic strawberry freezer jam recipe.

Freezer Jam

2 cups crushed strawberries (about 2 1lb containers)

4 Cups sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 package of liquid fruit pectin (I used Ball brand this time)

crush strawberries with a potato masher. Combine fruit with sugar in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and let stand 10 minutes. Add entire pouch of liquid fruit pectin and lemon juice. Stir for 3 minutes. Ladle freezer jam into freezer safe containers, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Apply lid and let stand in fridge for up to 24 hours. When jam is "set" move to the freezer for up to 1 year. Or you may keep it in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Basic White Bread

Don't you just love the smell of you house as bread is baking.  Can we say Heaven!! If you have never made bread before... Try it. It's awesome. Don't get intimidated. Just try it. You don't need any fancy equipment or even a bread maker. If you have a nice heavy duty mixer, that is ideal. (egg beaters wont work too far into the process) Otherwise after the first couple of cups of flour, you will need to start mixing by hand.  I've made this recipe hundreds of times and used my hands quite a bit. Don't be afraid to play with it and get your hands dirty.  It's fun!

This is a simple white bread recipe.  You don't have to use any special flour, just plain white four will do.  I had some extra bread flour this time so I decided to try it.  It made it taste even more light and fluffy.  It also made it rise, like I have never seen before.  So if you have bread flour, go for it, and just fill your pans about 1/4 of the way instead of 1/2. Otherwise, plain ol' white flour works beautifully. Also its not necessary, but it makes a HUGE difference.  You will want to use SAF yeast.  Nothing works better than SAF.  You can find it at food storage stores and specialty bakeware/cookware stores. This recipe come from a friend of mine.  She gave it to us to use in our church cookbook. 

Basic White Bread

4 tbsp, saf instant yeast. 

5 C Water

1 C Canola oil

4 eggs

1 C sugar

2/3 c Powdered dry milk

2 tsp salt
14 c. flour approx (bread flour works best but all-purpose is still great)

Mix 5 cups flour, salt, sugar, milk and yeast.  Add Water, oil and eggs.  Mix thoroughly and add flour just until it pulls away from the sides.(of mixer)

Let rise until doubled, punch dough. About like this :)

For bread... put into greased bread pans. Let rise until its the size of a nice big loaf of bread. For rolls, roll into balls and place in a baking pan about a half inch to and inch apart. Let rise until doubled. Bake about 30 minutes. (Less time for the rolls.When they start to get golden brown... they are done.)\

Tip: the key to light and fluffy bread, is using as little flour as needed.  When the dough starts to pull from the sides of the mixer, or becomes just easy enough to handle with your hands, it's ready. It's better to flour or oil your hands to shape it, rather than have it easy enough to handle with out doing that. 

Microwave Enchiladas

Here is a 5 minute meal for those busy nights when you don't feel like cooking. This is such a super easy and quick meal. I got this idea from a friend of mine. It's a big hit at my house. All you need is a good red enchilada sauce. I like using Macayo's brand. It's not to spicy and not too runny. 

Microwave Enchiladas

12-15 Corn Tortillas

large can of red enchilada Sauce

Shredded cheddar cheese

Pour enchilada sauce into a skillet on low heat. When sauce is warm, coat tortillas one by one with sauce. (they don't need to sit in the sauce more than a second on each side. If you put them in there too long, the tortilla will fall apart.)

Lay coated tortilla on a microwavable plate and place desired amount of cheese onto half of the tortilla. Fold in half and microwave for about 30 seconds or until cheese is melted. Add shredded lettuce, sour cream etc to your enchilada after microwaving.

Bacon Wrapped Grilled Corn on the Cob

Oh boy oh boy, this recipe puts a whole new twist to corn on the cob. Bacon seems to make anything better.  And there is nothing more satisfying to me than a nice ear of corn on the cob.  What a great combo! We have been grilling a bunch lately. I went to the library and got a video about grilling from Paula Deen. There was some fabulous recipes on there. I am so excited to try them!  I just love Paula Deen.  That woman knows how to make some serious comfort food. I also have another one of hers called Tastes Like Lasagna Soup on here, that is just heavenly. 

Bacon Wrapped Grilled Corn on the Cob

8 ears of corn

1 lb bacon



Gently pull back the husk exposing the corn. Do not remove the husk. Remove the corn silk and use a brush to make sure all the silk is removed. Soak the corn with the silks removed in water for 30 minutes. This will prevent the husks from charring.


Preheat a grill to medium heat.


Remove from the water and pat dry. Take a strip of bacon and wrap it around the corn. Fold the corn leaves back over, covering the bacon and corn. Tie the leaves with butcher string and repeat the process for each ear of corn. Place the ears of corn on the hot grill and cook, turning occasionally until bacon is cooked and corn is tender, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Flatbread Tacos

Here is a delicious, quick, and easy meal! It's also one that your kiddos will love.  This recipe is made with refrigerator biscuits. Such as Pillsbury. You don't need any extra oil or anything.  The oil in the biscuit is plenty to crisp that little puppy right up. This turned out so much better than I had expected. This recipe comes from Laura over at Real Mom Kitchen. I changed it up just a bit to make things even easier. 

I love to find and post recipes that are simple and use minimal ingredients.  For busy moms like me, you don't want to have to run to the store every time you find a new recipe you like, to buy all new ingredients. So you can expect to find simple easy meals on this blog.  Every once in a while I'll throw in a challenge, but for the most part, we are keeping it simple. Also, I have run into many people who would like info on the basics.  So I will try to be detailed in my recipes, to provide information for the seasoned cook as well as those just getting started in the cooking world. 

I want everyone to gain the confidence in the kitchen that I have been able to gain, just in the past few months. I have tried so many new things lately, it has been very edifying.  I have always loved to cook, but never had any major confidence. If you ever have any questions, please post them. I would love to hear them and will answer them asap. My goal for this blog is to help everyone find joy and confidence in cooking and baking.

Flatbread Tacos

Ranch dip

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 teaspoons ranch salad dressing mix
Mix sour cream and ranch powder in a bowl and set aside. 

Filling
1 pound ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) petite diced tomatoes undrained
1/8 cup taco seasoning (this is 1/2 of an envelope)
Brown beef. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer on low until warmed through

Flatbread
One can of refrigerator biscuits

Roll out dough on a flat surface.  (rolling on wax paper will help it keep from sticking.) I like to get mine pretty thin. It will puff up while cooking.  Place on a skillet or griddle and cook at medium low heat until both sides are golden brown.  (a couple minutes on each side)
Top with sour cream mixture, then ground beef mixture then top with additional toppings.

Optional toppings: sliced ripe olives, shredded lettuce, diced green onion and shredded cheese

You can fold it up or just eat it like a tostada. I like to just cut it up and eat it in pieces.