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Aren't those just the cutest things ever? My son didn't appreciate the pink but my girls and I loved it! There is just something about pink that I love, at least now anyway. Growing up I was the oldest girl with an older brother and 2 brothers right underneath me (lets just say when my sister came along 6 years later I was one happy little girl).  I was not what someone would call a girly-girl.  I loved to play in the mud and could make one mean mud pie.  I also loved to get dirty, be outside, not really have anything to do with shopping, make-up, or shaving--I know gross.  Thank heavens I have since changed my ways! But back then I didn't like girl things at all.  Especially pink.  I hated anything pink and would not wear clothes that were pink (sorry mom :).  Now I find myself being a lover of pink.  Just ask my kids.  They know what my favorite color is pink.  I think I am just making up for all those years of hateful thoughts about t...

We are getting geared up for school to start.  We still have a week and a half till the kids go back. Have you started all already? I remember one of the things I loved about coming home from school was what would be ready for us to eat when we got there.  Since we lived so far out we usually rode the bus for an hour and we were starving by the time we walked in that door. I remember my mom having so many yummy things just coming out of the oven.  Cookies, pull-aparts, warm bread, and so many other delicious things. I get so excited for my kids to get home from school their first day and tell all about their day.  I have found that they are a lot more talkative when there is something yummy waiting for them (probably whey my mom had something for us--what a smart lady!), especially my son. So I have been trying different recipes to decide what to make for them their first day.  Everyone in our house LOVES butterfingers so this was a natural choice.  These a...

 Sorry Jennifer I have taken so long to post this but canning season is in full swing at my house so everything else takes a back seat. Apricots are a weird fruit to me.  People either like them or hate them.   I think there is so much hate involved because if you have a apricot tree that is within a 5 mile radius of your house those "neighbors" will try to pawn their fruit off on you.  I guess we should link apricots with the quote of "if you have a apricot tree you can feed a nation" (okay not really but your entire neighborhood!). Apricots are like zucchini in that way, there is always a million of them and you never know what to do with them because after eating them all day long for 2 weeks straight, you kinda get sick of them and nobody wants to take them off your hands. Except me.  At least a few bucket loads because even I can only handle so much of these little beauties. We like apricot jam a little bit at our house so one or two batches gets jamified b...

 Why does camping have to be so much work? Now don't get me wrong, we love to go camping but (and that's a pretty big but) it's so much work for mom. We are the kind of campers that still sleep in a tent so we can't just add some food to the camping trailer, hook it up to the truck and off we go. We have to load all the sleeping bags, blankets--in case it gets super cold, food, snacks, all the cooking equipment, foam pads--you can't just sleep on the ground, the tent, some more food--you wouldn't want to run out, clothes, lanterns, flashlights, bug spray, and the list keeps going on.  I mean because if you are going some place that has bike trails or swimming or hiking or fishing or 4 wheel riding the list of stuff to brings begins to multiply by 10. And by this time you are so tired of trying to make everything fit and making sure you didn't forget anything that you brain needs a nap and man! you haven't even left yet. Not to mention when you get back! ...

Our fruit of choice this year has been the mango.    I am on a mango kick and am loving how it tastes in so many recipes.   The best part is that I am converting my children.  I don't remember eating this particular fruit at all as a child.  I wasn't introduced to it until my brother who served a mission in the Philippines came back loving it.  I wondered what all the hype was about and finally tried one.   And I hated it.   Yep, it's true.  I finally tried it again this summer and my taste buds have taken a complete 180.  I am loving it.  Every time we get one, I am constantly searching my favorite recipe sites until I find something to make with it.   We have met with some delicious winners this year and this is another one to add to the list.  My son was in heaven and couldn't get enough of it.  The mango salsa is a perfect complement to the chicken.  It makes it absolutely delicious. Macadamia Crusted Ch...

I have shared with you before how much everyone in my house L.O.V.E.S. their ice cream. It's okay in my book but when it comes to homemade ice cream wow the likeability has definitely taken a step up.  Especially when we got a fabulous ice cream maker from my parents and now making your own ice cream is even easier (and no I didn't get paid to say that). It's awesome and I love the idea of no salt or ice.  So naturally we had to make some ice cream as soon as we got it.  One of my children's favorite flavors is cake batter.  There is nothing like licking the beaters after making a cake...mmmm so delicious, so we decided on that yumminess. The ice cream was amazing.  It has a hint of cake batter plus a very smooth consistency.  And as a side note, I come from the "school of cream" (I know you are dying Maria but...), which means that if I am going to be making ice cream we use the real stuff.  No 1 or 2% milk or half-n-half.  My husband thinks tha...

I know, I know...zucchini pizza? Well when the zucchini just won't stop growing and all your efforts at killing it just won't work and you are finding random bags left at your door you know it is time to get super creative. Anybody with me on this? If you have never grown something before, try a zucchini plant.  They are super sturdy (trust me they never die especially when you want them to), they always produce many zucchinis (have you heard of the phrase that one zucchini plant will feed a neighborhood?--it's totally true), and they are very good in everything from desserts ( chocolate zucchini cupcakes or zucchini bread ) to main dishes (pizza, meatloaf , zucchini boats ) to side dishes ( grilled zucchini ). The other day my friend gave me some round zucchini (thanks Aubrey).  I had never seen ones like these.  But I knew they would be perfect for my next zucchini idea. Pizza. Plus I was hoping that if I slathered it with cheese and pepperoni my kids would eat it! ...

Every time we go camping we always have to have s'mores around the fire.  Remembering to bring the s'more stuff is more important than our tent, blankets, and even the regular food.  I forgot it one time and oh my word did I get in trouble.  Let's just say that my kids thought I had personally ruined their lives. So you can see that I have a few people around here that love the s'mores.  It also seems to be the dessert of choice this summer with so many ways to make these little babies.   Because I can't do anything normal, we have s'mores with choices when we go camping.  There is oreos, graham crackers, granola thins, and shortbread cookies for the outside and then pretty much any kind of candy bar for the outside.  My favorite is the reese's pb cups and my kids is the cookies and cream hershey's bar.  But the trick is to find a flat (clean) rock that you put next to the fire and let it heat up.  When you are ready to start roasting your ma...

I don't know what it is about this time of year but babies seem to be coming out of the woodwork in our families. In the past 2 months we have had 4 babies born and two announced.  I guess that's what happens when you have 9 kids in your family and 12 in your husbands'.  It has been lots of fun to see them, smell them,  hold and cuddle them, and then give them back to their parents. You know what I mean? As much as I love holding a brand new baby I love knowing we are done having children.  My children on the other hand are coming to terms with it.  Especially my daughters.  They see new babies and ask constantly for a little brother or sister.  I will not cave to peer pressure no matter how much they look at me with those puppy dog eyes! So in honor of Miranda, Ezra, Grace, and Ruth we made some cookies.  A perfectly natural thing to do, don't you think?   I am a sucker for oatmeal cookies, especially warm, gooey ones (okay that's any cookie...

You're probably wondering what in the heck is quinoa, and by the way it's pronounced Keen-wah, which I figured out the embarrassing way.  Kinda looked like a dork when I asked the grocery clerk where the qu-no-ah was.  He kindly informed of the right way to say it so now you know too and won't look like a dork like me.  Of course I had to google it because I didn't know what it was and I like to know what I am eating.  Google told me that quinoa is a grain that is a wonderful source of iron, fiber, calcium and iron. It's also a complete protein source and it's also gluten free.  It's usually used in place of rice or couscous and they say is a great substitute for any of those. Now that you know too, I was searching the other day to find a way to use my mangos.  I wanted to try something new.  And something healthier.  Summer does that to me.  With everything coming on in my garden I wanted something light and fresh and just healthy. ...

 If you follow my facebook page, many of you knew that my birthday was last week. According to my children I am officially old.  My son even asked me, in all seriousness, if I was born in the 17th century.  I just laughed (and maybe cried a little bit) because I remember thinking that my parents were old when they were in their thirties.  Now that I have been here for a few years I can't believe I thought my parents were old! Anyways to celebrate I made some cupcakes for myself and ate some of the most amazing chocolate cake I have ever tasted in my life.  I am so dead serious.  It was layers and layers of chocolate cake, dark chocolate cream filling, chocolate chips, and frosting.  Oh my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! I am hoping I can get him to share the recipe. It was absolutely to die for.  Anyways...chocolate cake is clouding my mind but these cupcakes were pretty amazing too.  The cupcakes are very moist and the h...

My husband and I went out to a nice restaurant last week to celebrate 12 years of marriage.  Oh what a great time we have had.  Many ups and downs but 4 kids later we are still very much in love.   Back to the salad, I noticed at this restaurant that they had a wedge salad on the menu for $9. Seriously! It's a piece of iceberg lettuce sprinkled with a few toppings.  I am not paying 9 buck for that.  But of course I had to come home and make myself one. I wanted to know what was so special about a wedge salad.  We rarely eat iceberg lettuce, my husband thinks it is quite revolting, but I had to give it a try.   After searching several blogs I found this recipe with homemade bleu cheese dressing.  I do not like bleu cheese dressing but that's what the restaurant served it with so of course I had to do it too. Oh my. I think I love iceberg lettuce, at least if I can eat it like this. And I think I like bleu cheese dressing--I know gross, but after th...

 Did you grow up in a house with scones?  Or when you went to the fair did you would buy an "elephant ear"?  Have you ever had one before?  If not you are so missing out. Scones was a regular occurrence at my house growing up and it still is at my house today.  We mostly would eat them when it was bread day.  My mom always made homemade bread and so for dinner we would eat the leftover bread dough friend as scones. We would eat it with butter and honey, peanut butter and jam, or our favorite way: tuna fish and pickles. Mmmm---good! After Pioneer Women had a post on berry butter, I knew exactly what I was going to make those ladies/girls at camp.  I am a berry lover and nothing could be easier than berry butter.  It is divine and amazing, then pair it with a fresh, hot scone and it is pure heaven. This scone recipe has been around since who knows when--I got it from my mother who got it from her sister-in-law who got it from her grandmother (I thi...