A day on the farm….

What better way to spend a Saturday morning than going out to a farm and being able to pick some blueberries and cherries.  Ott Farms in Modesto is one of the best blueberry and cherry farms around the area.  I would highly recommend coming here with the kids, make a day of it and just have fun.  

One of the best parts of choosing which ones to pick is “taste testing.”  It is always recommended to taste the different varieties of  what’s out there, so you know whether you want a sweeter taste or a more tart taste. Of course, by default, by the time you are ready to leave the farm, you’ve eaten as many as you have picked….and loved every one of them.  There are rows and rows of blueberry bushes just ready to be picked for your bucket and taken home. It was a especially nice day on the day we went, so it was nice being able to just take our time and have fun while we were out there.  The bushes were loaded with blueberry clusters as well as the cherry trees.  There were at least 5 varieties of blueberries and a couple varieties of cherries as well.

You can check out my post about Baking with Blueberries as well for some more delicious blueberry recipes. 

Next, it was time to take home our stock of fresh fruit.  I had a recipe to try for blueberry muffins again…and….they came out…
A-MAZ-ING!!!

Blueberry Cream Muffins

Now for a little bit of CREATIVITIY…

I even tried out a great blueberry smoothie recipe as well, another great breakfast on the go drink.  I love smoothies on a hot day and I can’t always make it over to a smoothie place to buy one, so it’s great when I’m able to grab some fresh fruit and yogurt to make some of my own when I have a craving for a smoothie. 

Strawberry-Banana-Blueberry Smoothie

1 Banana
1/2 cup Strawberries
1/2 cup Blueberries
2 TBSP Greek Vanilla Yogurt
about 1 cup of Milk

Ice (if needed for consistency/thickness)

Grab your favorite blender and add the ingredients and mix it well until the desired thickness is achieved.
Then pour into your favorite glass and enjoy!  

I tend to vary my ingredients by what I have on hand, but this mix usually produces a really great smoothie to start off your morning with!

Blessings,

My Favorite Fall Recipe!

 Okay, so I love it when Fall comes around, cooler weather, changing colors, warm sweaters and scarves, jeans and cute boots.  But mostly, that’s when the pumpkins come back.  The Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and all things pumpkin flavored.  Well, I came across this recipe last Fall and I’ve made it a couple of times since and it has had some amazing reviews.  It’s also really simple and easy to make, and a must to make when the “Fall Season” rolls around!  I’ve made it with fresh pumpkin and canned pumpkin as well, both are amazing! 

So here it is…   

 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread!

Ingredients:

2 cans pumpkin ( or 4 cups fresh pumpkin)
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3-1/2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves
3 tsp cinnamon
Add chocolate chips (or nuts)

 

Directions:

Cream eggs and sugar together.

 

Add pumpkin, oil and water.

 

Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, cloves, cinnamon. Then, add into pumpkin mixture.

 

Add in chocolate chips.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until you can insert and toothpick/knife and it comes out clean. 
This is where baking the bread can get a little bit tricky just because baking times can vary with this bread. I tend to bake the bread for an extra 10-15 minutes (depending on how full the pans are) 

Makes 2-3 loaves

Enjoy!!!!! 

My Favorite Finds

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, I don't know about you but there's something about Fall that makes me crave something pumpkin flavored everyday! :-) I came across this recipe and I just had to try it out.  Being as it's Fall and 'tis the season of these wonderful pumpkin cravings, I figured it was worth a try.  With no surprise they came out AMAZING!  It's quick and easy and in less than an hour you have amazing pumpkin cookies that fill your home with that great "Fall" pumpkin smell.  

Ingredients:  butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, canned pumpkin, semisweet chocolate chips

 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:


In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.


Beat in egg and vanilla.

 
Combine the flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon;

 
Alternate mixing in Flour Mixture and Pumpkin....

 
Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonful's onto greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Let Cool for 5 minutes and remove and cool completely on wire rack

 
AND....Enjoy!!!! :-)

Makes approx: 4 dozen

Snack Time!

#1 Cake-batter snickerdoodles

Time for some BAKING!!!

Well...sometimes don't you just crave something sweet? I totally do at times!  Most of our sweet cravings come from when we aren't wanting to eat a lot of sweets, right?  Usually when we're dieting?  Well here are some "sweet tooth' cravings 'with' and 'without' a lot of sugar in them.

I've wandered through Pinterest a few times....okay maybe more than a few times, (totally addicting site, what can I say), but there's some great ideas out there.  I first found these cake-batter snicker-doodles, and while I've seen them before, I really just had to try them this time.  

That, and I was having a group get together for facial one night and I wanted to have some snacks available.  I also didn't want to be in the kitchen all-day preparing them.  So I found these four snacks that I literally made in under 2 hours. Which wasn't a huge chunk out out of my day and at least let me get some of my work done that I needed to do to prepare for my skin care class that night. 

#1: Cake-batter Snicker-doodles - they were really simple to make when you just want to whip us a late night snack.

#2 Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Then I wanted to make something that consisted of peanut butter and chocolate, something that tends to be a craving a little more often. What can I say...

#2:  Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sqaures - defiantly an amazing treat! 
         Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Awesomeness! 
Defiantly enjoyed by everyone!




Well, I thought after these two sugar-packed recipes I should go for something a little more on the healthy side. So I tried recipe number 3.

#3 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

#3: Chocolate chip cookie dough dip - AND YES! It actually is a HEALTHY snack!  You would never believe that it was, because you could pretty much sit down and eat the whole bowl of it. I took it to one of my parties and it defiantly was the hit of the night.  I served it  with graham crackers to spread the cookie dough.





Next, I really wanted to try another HEALTHY food, with brings me to....

Banana, Applesauce, Raisin Cookies

#4:  Banana, applesauce, raisin cookies - 

Yes, those are pretty much the main ingredients in this recipe. Plus, they are totally and completely sugar-free.  And if you're looking for a pretty decent sugar-free snack to quench your sweet tooth than this would be a good choice for you. 
About half the people I gave these to really enjoyed these cookies; although, on the other hand the other half of us thought the taste was okay, but couldn't get past the texture and chewiness of the cookie.   Maybe these cookies can be re-worked a little, for some of us. :-)

These were great fast and easy snacks and treats to prepare when you don't really want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and fun to make as well.   

Grace and Peace, 

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Home-made Chocolate Chip Cookies!!! Yum!!! :-)

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Who doesn't love GREAT chocolate chip cookies?  Let me just say, these are some of the best I have ever made and tasted!  Sometimes nothing taste better than a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of cold milk.  I found this recipe in one of my FAVORITE cookbooks (from Point of Grace).  There are some great tips to making THE BEST chocolate cookie you have ever had!  AND....THEY ARE AMAZING COOKIES!!!! :-)

Here's the recipe: Just thought I would share with you...so grab some cookies and a nice glass of milk and enjoy an amazing snack! :-)

1 cup butter flavored shortening (butter flavored taste better) :-)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 T. milk
10 oz. chocolate chips

First - mix by hand, so not to get to much air into the batter, which will produce a 'cakey' texture.
  1.  Preheat over to 350.
  2.  In large bowl, cream shortening and sugars together by hand until well mixed.
  3.  Add vanilla and egg and continue mixing by hand. (less egg that a traditional recipe for a chewier        texture)
  4.  Add flour mixture, a little at a time (dough will be stiff) mix well.
  5.  Add milk, mix well.
  6.  Mix in chocolate chips.
  7.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet - 1 1/2 inches apart.
  8.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until starting to brown on top.
  9.  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  (cookies will crumble if you don't let the cookies coll for a few minutes before removing them.
 10.  Remove cookies from sheet and continue cooling on wire rack.

Makes 3-4 dozen  :-)

The best cookbook I have found!
Some great and easy recipes in here! :)

ENJOY!!!

Baking with Blueberries!

So this past week we went out to a farm here in Modesto to pick our own blueberries and cherries.  We found Ott Farms -- a huge orchard full of great fresh fruit!  And, yes they are on Facebook for directions on how to get there. :-) 
But, anyway...after picking so many blueberries, I just had to try a couple of new recipes.  I found a recipe for blueberry muffins just browsing the Internet on all-recipes.com and I found a buttermilk-blueberry breakfast cake from Pinterest a while ago.  Both recipes came out amazing and are both defiantly keepers.    So I just thought I would share a little bit about these great recipes on here.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1/3 cup milk

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Ingredients
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

Directions

1.. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

(I didn't have a lemon this time so I left the lemon zest out and it still came out great!)

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if done. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe FUN!!!



Breakfast Casserole for Christmas morning! :-)

     I love cooking and baking!  I found a great cookbook that I absolutely love to use.
     There's some amazing and delicious recipes in this book and everyone of them I've made have been keepers.  :-)
     There's some great everyday of the year recipes and some great ones to make during the holiday season as well.


I made breakfast this year for Christmas morning from my wonderful Point of Grace cookbook. I made a very delicious pull-apart bread that complemented my breakfast casserole I made very well. Defiantly two more recipes that are keepers! :-)


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Pull-Apart Bread!  :-)

This is a great recipe for breakfast when you are have guests staying with you, having company over for breakfast, or if you just want something easy to make for your family to give you a great breakfast!  It's really easy also!  You can prepare it the night before and take it out in the morning and put it straight into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  While that is baking.  You can brew the coffee and set the table up.  You can put out some fruit (whatever is in season) to go with this casserole as well, for a little added sweetness. :-)  This recipe also goes good with a Pull-Apart Bread for a little bit of sweetness to breakfast as well! (which comes from the back of the frozen Bridgeford Bread Rolls)

Breakfast Casserole

<!  6 Slices white bread

<!  1 pound mild sausage

<!  6 eggs

<!  12 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, graded

<   2 cups half and half

<!  ½ t. salt

<!  ½ t. pepper

<!  1 t. dry mustard

     1.  Trim crusts from bread.
2.  Butter bread and cut into fourths.

     3.  Line bottom of 9x13 dish with bread.

     4.  Brown sausage and drain well.

     5.  Sprinkle sausage over bread.
6.  Top with cheese.
7.  Beat eggs and add remaining ingredients.
8.  Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
9.  Bake for 20-25 minutes on 350 – starting in a cold oven (not preheated).

Serves 10-12.

**Optional**you can use Texas Toast (whole slices) and line the bottom of the dish as well.  If you want you can add 4 more eggs to make up for the extra bread added.  Both ways still make a great breakfast casserole.

**if it looks like the casserole needs to bake longer, try adding 5-10 to the baking time.