Recipes to try

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I've been thinking about what I want to make for that week.  Shannon may be working, so we'll "celebrate" when he's home.

I also found a few recipes I want to try in general.  With Shannon gone at all hours, I need to start making different recipes.

Remember the Orange Julius?

I remember when I was a kid, when my parents took us to the mall we usually stopped to get an orange julius -- a sweet treat!  It truly was a treat because we didn't get to enjoy this every day! 

This evening, we went to the mall and there was an Orange Julius!  We stopped and got a medium size drink to share.  I remember back in the late 80s and 90s, Orange Julius used to have a handful of blenders and they would make your julius right in front of you.  Well, today, it seems they no longer do that.  The orange julius comes out of a machine! 

As we walked away from the Orange Julius place, I thought about look up a homemade recipe version!  We tried making it years ago and I even found a recipe I wanted to try, but Shannon just took that over and made it the way he wanted.  This time I will make it the way I want to, with a recipe. 

Went searching for recipes...

I looked online for vegetarian recipes and stumbled onto marthastewart.com.  She had a tab for vegetarian recipes and I found a few that I liked.  I found 4 recipes that I want to try.  I am surprised that I found any recipes at all on Martha Stewart's website.  I would have thought Martha's recipes were difficult and "high class" type of foods.  The recipes I found had a short list of ingredients and it was easy to prepare! 

I made a new recipe today and Shannon said he liked it.  Hopefully I can try to make more. 

How it turned out...

Yesterday I wrote about my urge to make Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, after getting the idea from watching Desperate Housewives.  Well, I made it this afternoon and it turned out perfect!  I am so surprised that my first time making this cake, it turned out so nice!  I need to get a deeper pan because the one I have is too shallow. 

Here are the results:

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Watch out! I am going to bake again! My first attempt at baking bread turned out pretty well, I was actually really surprised at myself!  Even my husband loved the banana bread I made!  Last night, I decided that I wanted to make pineapple upside-down cake.  I got the idea from watching Desperate Housewives!  I don't think I have ever tasted pineapple upside-down cake but it sure looks good, don't you think?

Unfortunately, my "baking" skills are pretty much like Gabrielle's, rather than Bree's!  So, I am hoping it will turn out!  I am trying to do things that challenge me, and baking seems to do that.  I am trying to find new interests and things that make me happy!

I looked up a few recipes and found one from Betty Crocker that I liked and that looked easy enough for me to follow!  I bought all of the ingredients I need and will be making it tomorrow!  My husband said he would have some if I made it!

I just hope I don't get this reaction to my cake.  By the way, I think her expression is priceless! 

Does this make me a baker?!

I just made my homemade banana bread!  I am so proud of myself because I am not much of a baker!  I figure I can read, so surely I can figure out how to make something.  I am inspired to try more recipes!  I hope to try much more cooking and baking once we get into our own place again.

Last week, I had the idea in my head to make banana bread.  My son loves bananas, but sometimes he doesn’t.  That usually means that if we have bananas on hand and he doesn’t eat them, I freeze them to add to my smoothies or shakes. 

I bought all the ingredients needed to make banana bread a few days ago and then had to wait for the bananas to ripen!  Today was the perfect day to make them since I was bored and the bananas were ready!  Here is a picture of the finished product:

I had Shannon slice the bread, since he is better at that than I am.  He ended up loving the bread!  He said “it was good” which means a lot!  Although, he isn’t too picky on food, as long as it is edible.  If he didn’t like it, he would have said so. 

One day of school

Kyle was well enough to go to school today.  I think he could have gone yesterday but it was better to make sure he was feeling better.  He ended up missing Monday and Tuesday of this week, and only attended one day this week. 

We decided not to go to Kyle's therapy tomorrow due to the weather.  It's been raining and our tires are so old, Shannon doesn't feel comfortable driving in the rain with our tires.  The last time we had the tires changed was in 2004...yes, it's been 6 years since we bought new tires.  During those 6 years, the tires went through driving across the United States in 2007! 

I have been thinking about getting a soy candle starter kit!  I think I would really enjoy making soy candles!  Yesterday, I ended up buying two tart burners on facebook.  I went a little crazy and plus they were really cute!  Now I am considering making tarts for myself to see how that goes.  I have never burned tarts before, so I am really looking forward to trying it out.  It may be safer to use (no fire required to melt tarts), especially around Kyle! 

 

I have also been thinking about getting a small food processor.  I can use it when I make our homemade laundry detergent.  It would only take a few minutes to grate the soap if I use a food processor, rather than grate it by hand!  Also, there are a few recipes that I want to try, that require a food processor.  I found one I liked on amazon and Walmart!  I may buy it from amazon and save my gift cards to get it for free! 

I'm addicted to Arizona Green Tea

Today is the 3rd day of making a homemade batch of Arizona Green Tea! It is so good! I think I drink so much of it because we haven't bought soda and water is a little boring to drink all the time.

I think I have perfected it to the exact taste of Arizona Green Tea! Here is the recipe posted online, there are many other versions out there and I went with this one as a guide.

Here is what I use, please feel free to use your own brands/types:

3 Bigelow 100% Organic Green Tea Bags
1/2 Cup of Organic Cane Sugar
2 Tablespoons Pure Honey
3 Tablespoons 100% Pure Lemon Juice

I used the same directions in the recipe.

Homemade Arizona Green Tea

I tried the Arizona Green Tea that I made from this recipe. I did change the recipe, instead, I used 2 tea bags, and omitted the gingseng. It turned out really good, but I am going to try 3 tea bags next time. It was really refreshing and delicious, but it had a little too much lemon flavor (not that it was bad). I just want to try different versions and see how it turns out.

That is what's great about recipes, you can change them up as much as you want!

Watermelon and Corn on the Cob

I forgot to mention that Kyle now knows how to eat watermelon and corn on the cob. He takes little bites of corn on the cob. He and I usually end up sharing. My MIL bought watermelon and he loves it! I offered it to himand he refused at first, then I took a few bites and offered it to him again and he loved it! He tends to love fruit or juicy type of fruits. The other night, he wanted more, so Shannon had to cut more pieces for him. He had another slice today.

My MIL and I went shopping. We are trying to find specific products to make our own laundry detergent. We are having the hardest time finding the Fels-Naptha soap and washing soda! We've checked Ace Hardware, Bi-Lo (grocery store), and Big Kmart. I may just end up buying both online.

While we were gone, Shannon received a call back from one of the jobs I applied for (for him). I love job searching for him and don't mind doing it. These days, since there is so much competition in the job market that I don't expect him to get a call back. Plus, he is on unemployment and about to start college! Anyway, he didn't answer the call because he was watching Kyle at the time. The lady left a message asking him to come in for an interview on Monday at either 12 noon or 3pm, sounds very informal! LOL This job is approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes away. He's going to try calling her back this weekend, if not, he will have to call on Monday. He's planning on going to the interview. This job is for a General Manager position. We're not going to get excited or our hopes up about this job, but this is great job interviewing practice.

My MIL bought Arizona Green Tea and it is so good. I am drinking a lot of it, so I looked on the internet for the recipe and I was able to find it. I think we'll be making a lot of this!