Jack: 1/27/11

Jack: mom come see, I grew last night!



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Quaker Oatmeal Chewy Bars

Quaker Oatmeal Chewy Bars
½ cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup molasses
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups Quaker Oats
1 cup of whatever you’d like in the chewy bars (combine one or more of the following into 1 cup total)(raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, mini m&m’s, peanut butter chips, coconut, walnuts….)

350 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, molasses and vanilla; beat well. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt and mix well. Add to butter mixture. Once mixed, add oats and whatever mix you are adding.

Line cookie sheet with tin foil. Spread mixture out on cookie sheet. Bake until proper texture…may be 8-10 minutes or longer. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, cut into bars and remove to dry on wire rack. Store in tightly covered container. Refrigerate after 3 days.
½ cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup molasses
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups Quaker Oats
1 cup of whatever you’d like in the chewy bars (combine one or more of the following into 1 cup total)(raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, mini m&m’s, peanut butter chips, coconut, walnuts….)

350 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, molasses and vanilla; beat well. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt and mix well. Add to butter mixture. Once mixed, add oats and whatever mix you are adding.

Line cookie sheet with tin foil. Spread mixture out on cookie sheet. Bake until proper texture…may be 8-10 minutes or longer. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, cut into bars and remove to dry on wire rack. Store in tightly covered container. Refrigerate after 3 days.


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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

January 12,2011

12 inches of snow.....





Two snow days....


And critters living in "Nellie " the snowblower

Courtney dads funeral today. The finest kind with a a great family.
Caught Emma hanging out the bedroom window today to get icicles. Ugh.... So scary and lost on how to deal with her.




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The girls new room!

The new room. Finished on 12/23 just in time for the big reveal on Christmas morning.


The before:












The after:







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1/11/11: new iPad in hand!

Finally got the new iPad yesterday. Very cool. Still frustrated with the iCal tasks that are not synced with the iCal on the iPad. Ugh!
Work at gym today. Cleaned out and organized toolsnin the basement. Yeah... Have been living in chaos since Christmas.

14 inches of snow tonight - tomorrow am.

Emma's First Meet: 1/8/11

Emma competed in her first REAL mmet today, and overcame a huge fear.  She did great, and qualified for states with a  32.0 AA.

Abby did awesome, this was her second meet, and came very close to qualifng with a 31.15.

So proud of them both, and thrilled that Emma did it, her performance anxiety has been holding her back for years.  Today she was really able to shine.

____________

Church today / PCU Open House at the Gym  / Janis and Clark visit / and the Mela Experiment begins!

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup: Crock Pot

re-posted from:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/05/homemade-cream-of-mushroom-soup.html

--2 lbs mushrooms

--2 cups water

--2 cans (4 cups) vegetable broth

--1 qt of milk (to add later)

--juice of 1 lemon

--1/2 t salt

--1/2 t pepper

--1 T dried minced onion

--2 T Italian seasoning

The Directions.

Wash your mushrooms well and cut them into fourths. Put into your stoneware and add the spices and lemon juice. Pour in the vegetable broth and water.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

CAREFULLY use an immersible hand blender and blend until soupy. If you don't have an immersible hand blender, very, very carefully blend in batches in a regular blender.

Stir in an entire quart of milk. I used fat free cow's milk. You can use any percentage you'd like; even cream.

let cool on the counter for quite a few hours, then pour into freezer bags to store or plastic containers. I used 2 cups per bag--which is 16 fluid ounces. A can of cream-of-soup is 10 ounces.

The Verdict.

I am excited to cook with this soup. I haven't tested it out yet. It isn't as thick as the canned soups, but is very flavorful.

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice Soup

re-posted from

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/crockpot-chicken-and-rice-soup.html 

The Ingredients.

--2 boxes of chicken broth

--1 cup of uncooked brown rice

--1 cup of water

--1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

--1 1/2-2 cups of vegetables (I used celery, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower, a red bell pepper, and green onion)

--1 t herbs de provence (sounds fancy)

--salt and pepper to taste after cooking

The Directions:

using a food processer, blender or hand chopper, chop up all the vegetables into whatever sized pieces your family likes.

I don't have a food processer, so I used the Vita Mix.

A container full of vegetables

turned into this

dump all ingredients into your crockpot stoneware insert

cook on low for as long as you can--the longer the better.

Recipe: Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

by Andi on January 6, 2009

in food

http://www.udandi.com/2009/01/06/recipe-cream-of-chicken-wild-rice-soup/

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, small cubes
1 package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet (I used Kroger brand, which was 6 oz)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream (one review did 1 cup milk & 1 cup cream)
Directions
1. Open rice, pull out seasoning packet and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. Set aside.
3. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat.
4. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux.
5. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
6. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

January 7, 2011

I want an iPad!
Spent most of yesterday at the gym prepping for the home meet on Saturday. Double Session- totally booked! Today is meal planning and shopping day! Also continue to take back the house day, and laundry day. Lots to do. Matt is working OT in the snow tonight. He is not happy about that.
Zoe had a huge break though at Dr. Malchar's yesterday.