Random Happenings

Wow it's been a crazy month! School has started for both of us and we have been extremely busy! Niall is starting student teaching and he has to wear a tie everyday to class. Here he is on the first day of school! So handsome!

Made this potato recipe and it was not as good as I thought it would be. :( Not flavorful enough.

 Back to the grind!

 We had some friends over for a game night so I made some yummy food. This is a white bean dip which I accidentally put too much salt in and it ended up being too salty to eat.

 This was what we had for dinner before our friends came over. Ham & Cheese Crescent rolls with basil. They were really yummy! It was super easy and I found the recipe on Pinterest!

 Here I am, baking away!

Friends!

We played Scrabble. It was a great time!

 And this was all we had left the next day. Peanut Butter Snickers cookies, brownies, and Salted Thyme Flatbread (which turned out to be too salty too! And not very yummy.) I found the PB Snickers cookies and the bread recipe on Pinterest.

 When we went to our parents' houses to wash clothes (I can't wait to have my own washing machine!) I got to see my mom's dahlias. They are so beautiful! And large- these are almost the size of my face!

And last weekend we got to go to Women of Faith! It was incredible and I am so so so glad I could go! The Lord was amazing and provided us with a lot of free tickets!

 This is Mandisa- she is an incredible singer! I love her shoes too! Sandi Patti was there as well and I cannot believe the lungs on that woman!

 I also got to hold my mom's friends' grandbaby. She was so sweet and I LOVE babies!

 My mom and my mother-in-law. I thought this was such a cute picture of them walking together, with their arms out to the side! I am so glad we can all get together and enjoy the same activities.

 My Phoebers!

End of Summer Food Stock-Up!

I can't believe I've been in school for two weeks now! I've been super busy, but this weekend is a three-day weekend so I thought I'd give a little (or super long) up-date. Before school started I wanted to bake and cook a whole bunch of stuff so I could freeze it and we would have some easy dinners during the school year. Well I got a bit busy and didn't accomplish as much as I wanted to, but here is what I did do! A lot of this stuff didn't even make it to the freezer!

First on the list was Raspberry Oatmeal Bars!!! Mmm mmmm mmmmm! We absolutely LOVE these! Here is the recipe I used.

These are so easy to make and fairly healthy for you!

You've got to press the mixture in the bottom of the pan...

Then heat your jam so you can spread it over the oat mixture...

Put the rest of the oat mixture on top of the jam, bake, and you're set!

Mmmmm, I had to make another batch of these because we ate the entire first one!

I made my Mom's Macaroni Salad (a favorite of my brother's!) and there wasn't even any leftover to freeze. I also realized this stuff is way better when it's fresh and I don't think I would even want to freeze it. Yum. I haven't decided yet if I want to share the recipe... ;)

 We headed up to the farms in Greenbluff with my Mom one Sunday afternoon to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies.

 We just about sweated to death it was so hot that day!

There's my Mom and I after getting peaches! I would have made some peach freezer jam but Niall ate almost all the peaches! :)

 After searching for the perfect pesto recipe, I just combined a few I found online and made up my own. I think it turned out okay, but we won't know until later because I froze the whole batch! I  LOVE pesto, it is so yummy and good for you and quick and easy too!

My recipe:

3 Tbsp nuts (I used walnuts I found in our cupboard)

2 cups  basil leaves (washed and dried)

3 cloves of garlic

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/2 cup Cheese (I think I used Parmesan, but it could have been Romano)

-Put basil leaves, nuts, garlic and salt in food processor or blender. Blend. I had to scrape the sides often.

-Add 1/2 cup Olive Oil slowly while blending

-Add 1/2 cup cheese while blending

And here's what it looked like:

I put it in one of my jars, poured a little olive oil on top and stuck it in the freezer! Can't wait to try it on some pasta!

We went to Greenbluff before we went on vacation to Montana and picked a ton of raspberries, so I decided to make Raspberry Freezer Jam! 

I just followed the instructions on the Ball Instant Pectin container. Mmm, a few jars of delicious raspberry freezer jam! :)

I FINALLY attempted to make granola and it turned out great! I used Homemade Ginger's granola recipe but added a little cinnamon and nutmeg, along with a little bit of extra honey. My granola was pretty thick on the pan, so I flipped it with a spatula a lot to make sure all of it was cooked.

 It turned out EXCELLENT! I love it. I don't know why I didn't make this earlier!

Next on the list was Blueberry Buckle. I adapted this recipe from a recipe for Huckleberry Buckle that my mom has. Unfortunately I am not sharing it on here, because it is a secret family recipe! I did find a recipe for Lemony Blueberry Streusal which is similar to Blueberry Buckle, but not quite the same. Blueberry Buckle does not have lemon in it, and I have not personally tried the Lemony Blueberry Streusal recipe, but it does looks yummy!

This was before I added the crumb topping.

 And after! So delicious! Sorry I don't have more pictures!

I have been drying some herbs this summer to replenish our herb stock. This is some Oregano that we got from Niall's mom's garden. 

And here is our very own tarragon. If anyone has any tips for drying herbs, it would be appreciated because I am still new at it (and hopefully I am doing it right!).

Remember our Greenbluff excursion with my mom? These were some of the green beans we got and I wanted to freeze them. I found this wonderful how-to on how to blanch/freeze green beans. So helpful!

I thought this was so interesting- quickly cooling the beans in ice water.

And there you have it! All I have to do is pull these babies out of the freezer and cook them as a side dish on a rainy day!

So the last dish I decided to make (at least for now) for the freezer was Butternut Squash Soup! I used a recipe from Martha Stewart and it turned out to be very delicious. I did have a few set-backs though!

1. I did not know how to chop an onion (embarrassing, I know). So I found this handy how-to from the Pioneer Woman (she is just great!!!).

2. I made this soup at my mother's house, since we are house-sitting this weekend for her. She has an extremely old peeler. It took FOREVER to peel the squash. It's also so oddly shaped that I had to wedge the squash between my knees to try to stabilize it. I'm sure I looked pretty goofy. :)

3. My mother also has old knives that are not sharp. I mean, I should have just used a spoon to cut the squash (no offense, Mom. And I know what you're getting for Christmas this year!). I had my first "Whoops, I could have just sliced off my finger" accident. In attempting to cut up the squash I also dropped it on the floor a few times. Awesome.

So here was the beginning!

Cook the onions for a few minutes.

Add chicken broth, the squash, and water.

The damage done. All in all not too shabby, and Neosporin works wonders!

The cooking of the soup.

I didn't take a picture of the puree-ing of the soup in the blender. I thought it better to pay attention to what I was doing so I didn't have another finger-cutting accident. :)

And the finished product! Soooo very delicious! And the rest is in the freezer!

:)