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 We go through a lot of maple syrup at our house.  And it's never the boughten kind. Growing up we always made a simple syrup with maple flavoring.  It's very easy to make and can be thrown together when you run out.   When I came upon this more involved recipe (but still very simple) I knew this would be my new favorite homemade version.  I love that it makes a ton.  It just sits in my fridge until we are ready for the next jar.  And I love that it tastes absolutely delicious.   I made the first batch when my husband and I were out of town for a week.  I didn't want to babysitter to run out so it was a perfect time to try it.  The best part was when we got home, my 5 year old came tearing out the door and the first words out of his mouth were, "Mom we didn't run out of syrup!". So glad he was happy to see me :). Homemade Maple Syrup ( click here for printable version ) 8 cups granulated sugar 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar 1/2 c...

 I know, I know.  Another Nutella recipe. But this bad boy is pretty much delicious in anything.  Heavens you don't even need to put it in anything, you could just lick it off the spoon. After what I have been making this week, I think I should buy stock in Nutella.  Anybody with me on that!!?? I even have my kids addicted to it.  When we run out, they beg until I get more.  Pretty sad but it is super delicious and the favorite at Saturday morning breakfasts.  Kathryn thinks nothing is better than a pancake smeared with Nutella and Peanut Butter and topped with strawberries.  I know, but at least it's only once a week. This particular cookie was brought to my attention by my new friend, Jill (you better leave a comment for this one :).  And oh my heavens, are they absolutely devilish.  I could not stay out of them.  Thank heavens I took them with me to the family reunion and they polished them off in hours.  They were absolutel...

 Hopefully your not sick of family pictures yet cause I just want to give a shout out to the hubs.  We celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary today.  Wow...where does time go, not to mention what does it do to our bodies!  Good thing he still loves me, even after a body that has been filled with 4 children and many, many delicious treats.  Maybe it's all those treats I make.  Especially ones like these.  Oh my!   There are just certain foods I have a hard time staying away.  The self control is so not there.  Any kind of chex mix is one of these for me.   Plus since it's one of the desserts I can eat--the justification is going full steam ahead.  And it doesn't help that it's nutella and so much delicious crunchiness.  That's a perfect snack to this lady! Nutella Almond Muddy Buddies ( click here for printable version ) 9 cups Rice Chex 1 cup almonds, whole, unsalted 1 cup semisweet (or dark chocolate) chocolate chips 1/2 ...

Wow!  We are back...again.  We have been on a tour of eastern Idaho, southern Montana. and northern Wyoming, cataloging 1029 miles in 6 days and boy did we have a great time. We spent 3 days in Yellowstone (this was the kids least favorite...hiking and swimming beat out Old Faithful hands down!!) and we even got to spend several days at a guest ranch and a dude ranch.  This is me with two of my sisters...we were getting ready to go riding. (p.s. that's the trail guide in the back) When we get back from vacation, there is always a million things to do.  One of my favorite things to do is stick something in the crockpot in the morning so while I am busy doing laundry, returning phone calls, and putting myself back together, I don't have to worry about dinner. This was absolutely amazing.  Even my daughter who pretty much detests any kind of meat ate 2 of them.  I was shocked.  She said, "I hate meat but not this kind!".  Sweet. The meat was so tende...

See that beautiful goodness!!  Ahh...I love it. We are back from a week long family vacation.  It was so nice to get away, have other people cook for me, ride horses (my daughters were in absolute heaven), and visit Yellowstone National Park.   Believe it or not, growing up in Idaho, I had never been to Yellowstone before.  Wow!  The kids loved it and I loved how absolutely beautiful it was.  Amazing. But speaking of other people cooking for me, we got to spend at night at a Guest Ranch that one of my sisters is the head chef for.  Emily, who does guest posts for me sometimes, got to be the head guru this summer and we got to enjoy her delicious food.  It was wonderful.  We also got to spend a night with another sister that works at a Dude Ranch.  You know you are in the wilds when you have to carry bear spray with you, right Jess!! Now that we are home, it's back to life and back to some of this deliciousness.  The hubs and the kid...

Did you know there were so many tasty things to make with bananas?   Seriously!!  After searching on Pinterest, I had a hard time narrowing down what exactly to make. There are cookies, breads, cakes, cupcakes, bars, pie, trifles, puddings, and the list goes on.  I was in practically drooling on my keyboard looking at some of them. After the Banana Reeses Cookies, I thought I would take a little different avenue and decided on this cake (don't worry Monday I will have another banana recipe for you).  The frosting is what really got me, it looked absolutely divine.  Nothing beats a whipped vanilla frosting! Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting ( click here for printable version ) Cake: 2/3 cup sugar (vanilla sugar works great if you have it) 2 tbsp butter, softened to room temperature 1/2 cup sour cream 3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2 bananas) 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda Vanilla Bean Frosting: 2 tbsp butter, softene...

 It seems like we are full of birthdays around here--well 'cause it's kinda true.  So this is a shout out to my wonderful Mother who just turned 29 (well at least for 24 years now :)!! My mom introduced me to this recipe.  Now don't say, "oh I hate brown rice and I will never eat that and that's totally disgusting and....so on" because this recipe has completely changed how I feel about brown rice. It's never been my favorite thing and my kids hate it when I make it.  But not anymore.  I LOVE this.  The rice is moist, fluffy, and so tasty with a slightly nutty flavor.  So delicious.  I could even eat it by itself, it's that good! Baked Brown Rice (click here for printable version) INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cups brown rice 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8X8-inch or 9X9-inch baking pan. Place the rice in the prepared pan and pour in the liquid. Stir to equally distribute the rice. Cover tightly wit...

 My oldest child turned 12 several weeks ago ("gasp"--I know, I know I can't be that old but it's true!!) and 12 is a big birthday at this house.  Not only does he get to have a major party with friends (notice the "get" part--this mama had a few too many things on her plate so he graciously let me schedule his party for the end of the month), he got to have lots of family come into town. Some of the family brought bananas with them.  And it wasn't just a few bananas.  It was many of them. Like 20! Maybe that's not a lot to you but when they are all on the verge of being super ripe there was no way they were all going to be eaten by themselves.  Especially by this lady.  You see, I love bananas, but when they start to get really ripe, I can't even put them in my mouth.  Way too strong.  Anyway.... So because there were lots of people around and because there were lots of bananas around and Pinterest was open on the computer--we started baking awa...

Excuse the non-dessert post. I know, I know... I prefer desserts too but this house hasn't had many of those lately.  Pretty sad but sometimes a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do. You see I have had hypothyroidism for several years now.  And I have been doing much better, not completely normal but much better.  As I read and talked with others I have come to a place that is working much better for me.  I am going gluten free. Now I do not have Celiacs but Hypothyroidism and Celiacs are both in the same family of diseases: auto-immune.  Once you have one, the chances of you having parts of others are much higher. I have still been struggling greatly with my energy levels and I was sick to death of it.  So I decided that it was time for me to try something new.  I have been doing this for 3 weeks now and I am feeling quite spectacular (even through a week of girls camp). This means that I haven't been able to make much desserts, mostly because I...

I did this recipe as a guest post last month so I thought you might want to check it out too!  Now that it is almost summer time I am always looking for ways to cook on the grill.  I hate to heat up my house and one of our very favorites to do on the grill is different kinds of pizza. Pizza cooks so much faster on the grill not to mention that you can tailor it to what you feel like eating.  My kids love it the normal way (some pizza sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella), but my husband and I love this BLT pizza or a Grilled Pesto Pizza , which is also fabulous. BLT Pizza ( click here for printable version ) Crust: 1 c. warm water  3 1/4 tsp. instant yeast 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, plus extra for brushing 1 1/4 tsp. honey 2 2/3-3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 tsp. coarse salt 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional) Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese For the maple bacon vinaigrette: 1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp. cider vinegar 1 tbsp. bacon drippings 2 ...

 I am in charge of a once a month family home evening treat for the ladies in my church.  I try to have things that are kid-friendly, since most of us have children, and something that will save till that night (at least in a perfect world :). We made these beauties last month and they were a hit.  My kids especially loved them because they could tailor them exactly to their own taste buds.  If you don't like nuts, don't add them or if you only like chocolate then you are good to go.  They thought that was super awesome.  We each made one and this was the combinations we came up with: After we put them all together we stuck them in the freezer for several hours, pulled them out at treat time and Mmmm....so delicious.  These are great for a summer time treat too--just eat fast or the chocolate will melt! Banana Pops (click here for printable version) 3 Bananas (firm, barely ripe ones work best) 3 BBQ skewers 1 bag chocolate chips (milk or white) Topping...

Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! We definitely did.  Got to spend some quality time with the fam swimming, watching Brave, having a BBQ, visiting, watching fireworks, and playing games.  Love it! Now we are getting ready for more company because it's my oldest's birthday today--Happy Birthday Seth!! He is 12 and pretty excited about that. Here is something that is super easy if you need to whip up something delicious and quick. I've shared before how much I love snickerdoodles so when I found an even easier way to make it, I was stoked.  Seriously I could of sat down and ate this entire cake.  The cinnamon and sugar crust was a perfect compliment to the cake. Snickerdoodle Cake ( click here for printable version ) 1 cup butter flavored shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1/4 cup sour cream 2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 cup sugar 1 tbsp cinnamon 1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine...

(photo credit) I am taking the day off to BBQ and spend some time with family. Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating the amazing country we live in.  We truly are so blessed to live here!

Sometimes we get creative at our house... and sometimes we don't! Okay let's face it...most of the time I don't.  My kids love to do creative things and most days I wish I was a super crafty person that could make amazing things with wood, thrift store finds, and dumpster dives.  But's that is just not me and I facing that fact. Sometimes though, I actually have a creative thought when it comes to food.  You see with all this fruit that I keep buying because it's in season and so delicious, I have been trying to find ways to use it up.  And something different than the norm. Then it struck me one morning.  We were eating waffles and I thought these colors are perfect for the 4th of July.  My kids thought I was pretty for cool (for at least 10 minutes) and they were quite happy to have an American Flag on their waffle.   So this isn't a recipe, but just a fun idea to do for breakfast on the 4th of July. I used this waffle recipe and top them with ...