Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

This is one if the critters that gives Rusty such a hard time in the back yard. This one sat there for awhile barking and fussing at Rusty while Rusty had fits on the ground.

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.
Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

COLESLAW

2 1/2 c. shredded cabbage

1 c. shredded carrot

1 sm. red onion, cut in half, thinly sliced and separated (or to taste)

1/2 c. dairy sour cream

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. water

Layer cabbage, carrot and onion in a salad bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill.

To make dressing, stir together sour cream, vinegar and sugar. Pour into a container with

a tight lid and chill. At picnic time, pour dressing over vegetables in the bowl.

Toss to mix well. Makes 6 servings.

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!
Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

I took this picture late in the fall, a few weeks ago. These little birds were in the pecan tree in the front yard. Wish I knew what kind they were!

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.
Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

Berry Lemonade

4 cups of very cold water

1 (11.5-ounce) can Berry Flavor Juicy Juice Non-Frozen Concentrate

1 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)

1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar (to taste)

Combine water, Juicy Juice, lemon juice and sugar in large pitcher; stir well.

Serve over ice. Makes 4 servings.

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!
Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

This little (two inches from nose to tail) critter was right out side our window croaking with such a loud voice it sounded as if he was IN the room. We heard him one night and when I went out the next morning to look, of course he was gone. The next night when he serenaded us again. I went out right then to look. This picture was taken in the middle of the night with the aid of a flashlight.

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.

Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

Taco Soup

1 1/2 lbs. Hamburger meat

1 medium onion -- chopped

2 cans corn (with liquid)

2 cans Pinto beans (with liquid)

1 can black beans (with liquid)

1can (14-1/2 ounces) tomatoes with liquid (Mexican style)

1 can Ro-tel (mild or hot)

(I never use Ro-tel or my husband wouldn't eat it.)

1 pkg. taco seasoning

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix (not the dip mix, not the low fat version either)

Brown hamburger and season with the onion and garlic, salt and pepper to taste in a large pot. Drain. Add the ranch dressing mix and taco seasoning to the meat and stir well. Do not drain any of the canned ingredients. Add all canned ingredients (including the juice) to the meat. Bring to a boil. Once the soup has been brought to a boil cover and simmer on low for 30-45 min. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with grated cheese or sour cream. Serves 8. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy.

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!

Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

As I was driving to my nieces home last week, I took the wrong country road, again. So I thought as long as I was there I'd stop and take a picture of these guys! They were laying out in the pasture so calmly and close to the fence.

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.
Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

Happy Mother's Day

Stuffed Pork Chops

4 thick cut pork chops

filling:

2 apples, cored and chopped

1/2 C raisins

3/4 C bread crumbs

1 T brown sugar

1/2 t salt

12 t pepper

1/2 t cloves

2 T melted butter

2 T chopped chives

2 T butter

1 C beef Broth

Trim fat from chops. Make a slit in thick end of chop. In a bowl, combine apples, raisins, bread crumbs, brown sugar, pepper, salt, and cloves. Add 2 T melted butter and chives. Mix well. Stuff each chop with filling. Pin closed with a toothpick.

Heat 2 T butte in skillet. Brown chops slowly over medium heat on both sides. Add beef broth and bring to a simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes or until tender. Cover with lid if broth does not cover chops. Remove toothpicks, put on serving platter, pour pan juice over chops, and serve.

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!
Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

This is my little dog, Rusty, posing for me in a local park. He is a good dog and will "stay" so I've been having some fun posing him. On his blog he is hoping to be America's Next Top Dog Idol.

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.

Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

Buttermilk Pie

1 1/2 cups of white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 t lemon juice

3T flour

1/2 cup butter (or margarine)

2 t vanilla extract

1 9-inch, unbaked and chilled pie shell

Beat the eggs thoroughly and add to the sugar and flour. Add 1/2 cup butter, belted, and one cut buttermilk. Mix well then fold in 2 t vanilla extract and 1 t of lemon juice. Pour into the pie shell. Bake at 350* for 35 minutes. Resist opening the door.

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!

Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Camera Critters & Scrumptious Sunday

Mockingbird

When taking this picture I was focused on the mockingbird and didn't pay any attention to the background. That black thing by his head is on the phone wire above.

Live and learn.

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters. Please visit for lots more great critter photos.

Chili

1 1/4 pounds ground beef

2 cups diced onion

1 (6 oz) can whole tomatoes, with juice

2 1/2 T chili powder

2 1/2 t cumin

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/4 cups beef stock

1/2 t garlic powder or 3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small bay leaf

1 t oregano

1/4 cayenne pepper (I usually leave this out, my husband can't eat it)

1 (15 oz) can kidney beans

Toppings:

grated cheddar cheese

3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
6 T sour cream

To prepare the chili: Saute' the meat and the onions over medium heat until the meat loses its pink color. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the beans and toppings. simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add the beans and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaf. The chili will hold, refrigerated, for 3 days at this point; the flavors will mellow and improve with time.

For service: Serve in heated bowls. Top each serving with grated Cheddar cheese, chopped onion, and sour cream. Serves 6

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!
Join in or visit, the recipees are scrumptious!

Scrumptious Sunday Cookies

For more Scrumptious Sunday visit Mercedes' World!

We just finished reading 3 versions of

"the Gingerbread man" at school

so I thought I'd use this gingerbread man cookie

recipe this week!

Gingerbread Man Cookies

2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
pinch salt
3/4 cup molasses
1 egg
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Cream together first 6 ingredients. Add egg and mix. Add molasses and mix again.
Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl. Sift. Add to the creamed mixture and stir until well blended. Chill 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll out dough 1/4 at a time to 1/8" thickness or slightly thicker on a lightly floured board. Cut with a cookie cutter and transfer to a greased (or non stick) cookie sheet.
Repeat with remaining dough. Before baking, decorate with raisins as you like.
Place in oven for 8 - 10 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack
Decorate with any items you wish.

Scrumptious Sunday

Scrumptious Sunday Third Edition

Mercedes’s recipe theme for today is casseroles . I do love a good casserole! If you would like to join in or see the recipies click on the picture above.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

1 chicken (about 4 lbs)

2 t salt

1 t pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz)

1 can Rotel tomatoes (10 1/2 oz)

1/2 cup chicken broth

additional salt and pepper

12 corn tortillas, torn in small pieces

2 onions, finely chopped

3 cups grated sharp cheese

Boil chicken in water with 2 t salt, 1 t pepper and bay leaf. Remove cooked chicken and cool. Reserve 1/2 cup broth. Cut chicken into large, bite-sized pieces and set aside. Combine soups, Rotel, 1/2 C stock and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. In a 3 quart casserole, make three layers int he following order: corn tortillas, chicken, tomato mixture, chopped onions and grated cheese. Use all ingredients in the three layers, being sure that cheese is on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Can be prepared a day ahead of serving and it freezes well. This recipe serves 6-8.

Scrumptious Sunday - Easy Key Lime Pie

Visit Mercedes Rocks for more about Scrumptious Sunday.

Join us for for some yummy fun.

Easy Key Lime Pie

4 egg yolks

1C lime juice (fresh if you have it)

3 (14 oz) cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 large deep graham cracked pie shells

Combine the egg yolks, lime juice and condensed milk and mix well. Pour into the pie shells and bake at 350* for 15 minutes. Chill.

These are fast, yummy, and simple for dessert. I bake two at a time and send leftovers home with company so I don't eat it all. Serve with a cold glass of sweet milk. Nothing could be better.

Scrumptious Sunday - Chicken

This is the first week for Scrumptious Sunday over at Mercedes Rocks. Please go there to read about it and to participate!

The theme for Scrumptious Sunday this week is chicken! Right up my alley, we eat lots of chicken here.

Frozen Chicken in a Crock Pot

This recipe is easy and perfect when you don't want to mess with thawing anything!It's very tasty too.

Place 8 to 10 (depending on size) boneless, skinless, frozen chicken thighs in the crock pot. If you prefer, use chicken breast halves.

In a bowl mix one family size can of cream of chicken soup, one package of fresh sliced mushrooms (or canned sliced mushrooms,) and salt & pepper to taste.

Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.

When it is done it should look like this.

Cook up a nice batch of brown rice.

Serve with steamed vegetables and a side salad if desired.

I am a member of NaBloPoMo '08

New Years Eve & Recipe

Yesterday was a busy one. I was preparing goodies for the party at my friend's house, we went to get my 21 year old niece, her husband and baby to go with us. They will be spending a couple of nights in the guest house. ;)

The goodies I took were simple but edible. With all the young people and kids that were there that's fine. I brought cokes, sandwiches, a meat and cheese plate with crackers, apples with two kinds of fruit dip, tortilla roll-ups, and a relish tray. This is always a family party with lots of eating, laughing, game playing, talking and more eating. We palyed Apples to Apples and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? The little ones watched Dora the Explorer and High School Musical. We toasted at midnight with sparkling grape juice and egg nog. My friend makes THE BEST home made egg nog. We visited a little more then cleaned up and every one went home. We had a great time! Below I will give two recipies for versions of this appatizer.

Tortilla Roll-ups

20 flour tortillas

3 8oz. blocks of cream cheese

1 8oz cour cream

5 pickled jalapenos (or more to taste)

Picante sauce

Mix bottom three ingredients together, warn tortillas in microwave and spread mixture on tortillas, roll up, refrigerate until set, slice, arrange on platter, and serve with picante sauce. I usually use more than 5 jalapenos and take out the seeds. Also I usually add at least a teaspoon of juice from the jalapenos to the mixture.

Rolled Trotillas

3 8oz blocks of cream cheese

1 8oz carton sour cream

g to 8 green onions (chopped)

1 Tablespoon jalapeno peppers

1 large package flour tortillas

Picante sauce to taste

Warm tortillas in microwave and let cool. Mix other ingredients. Spread over each tortilla, then roll. Chill overnight, then slice into 1/2 inch slices. Serve with picante sauce.

Ornament Recipe - Kid Friendly

Here it is Saturday and I'm looking at a 2 week break from school. Of course I'll be up there working on lesson plans and so on a couple of days. The end of the school day doesn't mean the end of work! My kiddos went home happy after the Christmas party yesterday. During the week I provided ingredients for them to create gifts for their parents/caregivers. They included cards, a candle and two ornaments. One was a 3D paper ornament either made from pertty patterned paper or self decorated, their choice. One was an applesauce and cinnamon ornament. Sounds weird doesn't it? Other than the thiness our ornaments looked like these.

These applesauce and cinnamon ornaments went home with my students to decorate their trees. The kids enjoyed making them. We had a lesson on measurement (we tripled the recipe) as the ingredients were prepared in the mixing bowl. The resulting dough was rolled out on a table and each student chose from a variety of cookie cutters I had on hand. They cut the dough, removed the shape to a square of wax paper, cut a hole at the top of each ornament with a straw, and placed them on a bookcase to dry. With 20 of them drying the room sure smelled good for awhile! I purchased some pretty shiny ribbon for the children to thread through the hole once the ornaments were dry. We discussed the fact that these would not be edible once they were ready. ("edible" was added to the academic vocabulary folder)

Recipe

3/4 cup applesauce

one 4.12 oz. bottle of ground cinnamon

Mix to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Make a hole for the ribbon. Carefully, place on a rack to dry. Allow the cutouts to air dry for several days, turning occasionally.

Tips learned from experimenting with this before I took it to school for the kids to make: make sure it is at least 1/4 inch thick or a little thicker or the ornaments will break easily. Be sure to turn! The ornaments in the picture above look thinner than they need for easy handling by young children.

Christmas Recipe - No Bake Cookies

I love these cookies and so do the kids in my family! It is an old recipe so you probably already have it, but here goes:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

2 C sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 C cocoa

1/2 C milk

pinch salt

Bring above ingrediants to a rolling boil and cook 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from fire and stir in:

1/2 C peanut butter

3 C Quick Oats

1t vanilla

Quickly drop by teaspoons full on to waxed paper.

Cool and enjoy.

Christmas Recipie - Sweet Potato Souffle'

It is getting to be that time. Usually I do a turkey and dressing, or ham and dressing. My nieces love my dressing and fake giblet gravy. This year my husband has to work and my sister has moved to Kansas (where they are freezing their patooties off) so I'm going over to a friend's house and have been requested to bring my sweet potatoes. They like them a lot. The recipe calls it a souffle' but it's not. So here it is:

Sweet Potato Souffle'

3 c cooked sweet potatoes, mashed

1 stick margarine

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

1 c sugar

pinch of salt

Topping

1/2 c pecans - chopped

1 c brown sugar

1/3 c flour

2/3 cup melted margarine

(can add 1/2 cup shredded coconut)

Instructions

Beat souffle' ingredients together. Place in greased pan or oven proof dish.

Spread topping over the mix and bake 30 min. at 35o degrees.

Note

I always add extra pecans, I usually use real butter and I never add coconut.

When I need to make double of triple batches (depending on how many people will be there) I try to cut back on the butter some.