Orange Julius

Well, so much for making up school days! President's Day was a snow make-up day, but we got MORE snow so it was cancelled. So, I used up all my daily ambition first thing in the morning and made a nice breakfast for the kiddos. One of their FAVORITES is Orange Julius. I have also made this for brunch showers and the like and I get many requests for the recipe. So, here you go!

Orange Julius

6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (I use half of a standard 12 oz. can)

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (OK, I just dump this in- I never measure vanilla cause I saw Martha Stewart just dumping it in once)

10-12 ice cubes (I just use a whole tray)

Put all ingredients in your blender and combine (I usually use the ice crush mode) until smooth.

I would love to know if you try this- it is DELICIOUS!!!

Decoupage Recipe Box

My brother is in the United States Army. He is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. He can build things, fix things, and now, probably because he is sick of fast food and microwave pizzas, he is learning to cook things. A looooooooooooooooong time ago he asked me for some recipes. Well, I just can’t do anything simply. I wanted to make him a recipe box, too. I finally got around to it and here it is:

TA DA!

I decoupaged fabric onto a cheapy $1 recipe box and touched it up with some paint. Here is how:
I measured VERY carefully and cut out a piece of fabric to wrap around the bottom, plus a little overlap, and a piece for on top with the corners cut out so it could come down over the sides.

Then I used ModPodge to glue the material to the box. It didn't go as smoothly as I thought because it is very hard to watch the edges of all four sides at once and get everything straight. So, there was a little bit that didn't cover.
So, I just got out some Country Tan paint that matched pretty nice and looked like sandy dirt, and I used a sponge brush to paint the inside and smudge some here and there and all over the edges to give it a grungy effect/cover up my mistakes. In hindsight, I wish I had pained it FIRST, because some of those stripes show through (with the digital camo it is OK) and it would have been easier to cover up some of those mistakes.

Finally, I added some cute labels on top. I typed these on the computer using stencil font and printed them out. I have heard that a regular ink-jet printer will run when using ModPodge on it, so I put a strip of clear tape over the lettering. If nothing else, it kept the paper from wrinkling up where the tape covered when applying the glue.

So, now I can give him all the secret family recipes I want. Except we don't really have any.

I think, though, that doing recipe boxes like this could be really nice bridal shower gifts. The fabric could match their kitchen or wedding colors. I might try it again. If you make one, I would love to see it!

Soup Recipe and Money Saving Tips

This post will be part recipe, part frugal food tips. I think a lot of people are trying to cut corners wherever they can, so I hope this is helpful information. Here is how I made Ham Bean Vegetable Soup yesterday:

2 cups sliced carrots

I used baby carrots because they were buy one get one free and what I had on hand. Although more of a pain to chop, they will be eaten more easily by the kids than big slices of carrot.

2 cups diced, cooked ham
When I boil a large ham, there is usually an excess of meat, so I cut it up and freeze it in smaller quantities to use in recipes later. This is a great idea if you can get a big ham on sale around holidays, like Easter. If you don’t have the freezer space for a big ham- cook it right away and make a big pot of ham pot pie or ham and green beans (typical PA Dutch foods), freezing the rest of them ham for later. You can get several meals out of it this way.

2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
Potatoes are a big food staple in this house. We grow a lot but we need a better way to store them…

2 cups sliced celery
I didn’t have any so I skipped this, but it sure would make the soup prettier!

1 pound navy beans
Remember to soak your beans the night before! Dry beans are really cheap and they take up less space in your cupboard than canned ones.

6 cups chicken brothInstead of canned chicken broth, boil some chicken and save the broth. The chicken was used in zucchini casserole, but other than casseroles, I sometimes use the meat in chicken wraps for lunches, too. I boil the broth down to condense it sometimes, then freeze it in old margarine or sour cream containers. Another great way to take advantage of a good sale on chicken, or better yet, get your meat directly through the farmer- you will cut out the middle man and save! If you want it to be lower in fat, you can let it cool and then skim the fat off of the top.

Combine all ingredients in a large crock pot and cook on low 8 to 12 hours.
It was pretty good. Next time, however, I might try to use ham soup base instead of chicken broth. I am used to my regular ham bean soup with that good, smoky flavor. Bacon would really make this, too. :)

Baked Ziti Freezer Meals

I thought I would take a break from Christmas preparations for a minute and share one of the Christmas gifts that I am making. I am putting together homemade frozen dinners for my grandparents. I know that Grandma LOVES my baked ziti (she is half Italian after all!) so I made a batch for them. (Note: it is not cooked in this picture- just ready to freeze!)
One of my batches makes 3 8” square pans or 2 9”x13”cake pans. Not only is this a great gift, it is just nice to have some frozen dinners on hand for those unexpectedly busy evenings- and it prevents a fast food splurge, too! So I thought it would be a great idea to share here. Without further ado, the recipe:

Baked Ziti
~2 pounds loose sausage (Optional- I actually like it just fine without meat, but Hubby and other meaty guys I know like it better. Oh, and you can use hamburger, too.)
~6 cups spaghetti sauce (I used a quart and a pint of what I canned this summer and added a little tomato paste to thicken cause my sauce is always runny, but I had some left over, so if you are purchasing jars from the store get less)
~1 pound ziti pasta
~32oz. Ricotta cheese (Stock up when this is on sale!)
~6 cups mozzarella
~½ cup parmesan

Brown sausage and drain grease. Add tomato sauce to pan and heat through. Meanwhile, boil ziti just until tender- do not overcook! Drain. Mix ricotta and 3 cups mozzarella and stir in cooked ziti. Put a layer of sauce on the bottom of each pan. Top with ziti and cheese mixture, splitting it evenly between the pans. Spread remaining sauce on top of ziti. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella evenly on top of each pan and then sprinkle heavily with parmesan.

Then, you have two options- bake now or freeze! (I like to put these in two cake pans to make one right away for dinner and freeze the other for later.) If you are baking it right away, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly and begins to brown. If you are freezing it, cover with plastic wrap, then foil. (If you are giving it as a gift, be sure to label and include heating instructions.) When you go to bake it, remove the plastic wrap and put the foil back on. Then bake at 350 degrees until it is heated through and the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown on top- I really forget how long it takes.

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

YAY! I am almost done with my ornament orders! I just wanted to get off of my feet for a minute and share with you the cookies I baked with the kids this morning.

They are just regular peanut butter cookies, some of which we decorated up a bit.

Peanut Butter Cookies
½ cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp. milk
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 ¼ cups flour
Cream shortening, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla at medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients. Roll into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet and flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes- DO NOT OVERBAKE or else they will be really dry.
If you want to make these into reindeer like we did, just put a red m&m on for the nose, two chocolate chips for the eyes, and two pretzels for the antlers (really smash those in god or they will fall off when baking or shortly thereafter!)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Sorry I have been scarce on the blog lately. I have been cleaning and crafting my little heart out around here! As promised to several people, here is the recipe I got from a great lady at church for making pumpkin whoopie pies! Chocolate whoopie pies have always been a PA Dutch/Amish kind of thing so I grew up with those- I thought it was really funny when the New York Times ran an article a few years ago about them like it was some new discovery sweeping the nation! Anyway, here is the pumpkin version!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
1 lb. brown sugar (I thought “YIKES” when I saw that but trust me, they are good!)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves (I go a little light on this)
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 ½ cups flour
Mix pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add spices and dry ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove from tray and cool.

For the yummy cream cheese filling you will need:
4 ½ Tbsp. butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups 10x sugar
Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Mix in the sugar and then spread a little bit on the flat side of a cookie, then sandwich

If you want them to last more than a day you may want to make a double batch!

Pumpkin Muffins

WOW! Another great pumpkin recipe! This one came from my friend, Cheyenne, with a beautiful blog over at Little Prairie Baby. THANK YOU!!! I baked some today (although I probably went overboard on the brown sugar sprinkled on top- I go overboard on all brown sugar) and hubby gobbled 4 of them up! He probably would have liked more, but they are safely on a plate covered in plastic wrap to take along to a family dinner!

Anyway, here is the fabulous recipe!

Pumpkin Muffins 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups oil 3 cups flour 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cups chopped nuts (optional) 1 3/4 - 2 cups pumpkin Beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Beat thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and sprinkle tops with brown sugar. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Makes about 36 muffins.