Pinterest Party: The Mother Huddle

This picture was from a Pinterest Party I was invited to hosted by my new church friend. I had so much fun! Thanks for the invitation, Aubrey!

For more information and details see her post here.

Pear Apple Sauce

With so much fruit left over we decided to make one of my favorites, Pear Apple Sauce!

Don't be intimidated. This is one of the easiest recipes ever.


Pear Apple Sauce

Ingredients:

Apples and pears, enough to fill the crockpot
2 tsp ground cinnamon




Directions:

1. Peel, core, and slice apples and pears into chunks. Place in large crockpot on high.

2. Add ground cinnamon. Let cook for several hours until fruit begins to soften.

3. Stir mixture occasionally. Use potato masher to break up any large pieces. Let continue to cook until fruit is desired softness/consistency. 

4. Enjoy! Delicious warm or cold. Can be frozen in Tupperware and enjoyed later.

This was a smaller batch. Don't be afraid to fill it to the top of the pot, it cooks down a lot.

I like having a few varieties of apples in it for a mixture of tastes and textures. You can even make it with brown sugar or nutmeg if you want to try that variation. I've also made it with a handful of frozen berries or leftover fruit from my refrigerator tossed in. Really, there is no way to go wrong with any assortment of fruit!

I love to make this for Christmas dinner. Spiral glazed ham + apple pear sauce = yum. I love having foods hot and ready whenever it's time to eat, and not take up room in the oven or on the stove top for big dinners. 

One of my favorite things about it, is that it makes your house smell amazing.

Let me know if you try it!

Apple Pear Crisp

I was excited to whip up some apple/pear treats after our harvest, and figured I would make one of Zach's favorite desserts, a crisp!

I started with a recipe from Our Best Bites, found here, but substituted pears and apples. Here is my version!



Apple Pear Crisp

Filling Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs ripe but firm pears and apples (6-8), peeled, cored, and sliced into 3/4″ wedges.

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pinch salt

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of ground nutmeg

Crumb Topping:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

6 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.

Directions:

For fruit filling, gently combine fruit and sugar in a large bowl and let stand for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Whisk cornstarch, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in small bowl. Toss juice mixture with fruit and transfer to an 8 or 9 inch square pan that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. 

For topping, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon and either grate the cold butter with a large-hole cheese grater, or cut it into small cubes and use your fingers to crumble the mixture together. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit in pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes.  The topping should look golden brown and crisp and the fruit should be soft.  Let cool to luke warm before serving.  Serve with ice cream.

Breakfast of champions!

I will definitely use this recipe again for future crisps! I even enjoyed eating it for breakfast the next morning warmed in the microwave, then served with milk, like a bowl of oatmeal. Yum.

Grilled Peaches

We made these for the Pool Party Family Night BBQ a few weeks ago. We just served them with whipped cream, but if I made them again I would toss them in a little bit of brown sugar before grilling, and then serve them with vanilla ice cream.


Grilled Peaches

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
Peaches



Directions:

1. Wash and dry peaches. Slice peaches in half, pull pit out, brush with oil.

2. Grill skin side down first for a few minutes until you get nice grill lines, then flip peach over to grill cut side down until peaches are soft, but not falling apart.

3. Serve with ice cream, sprinkled with brown sugar, or whipped cream.




The inspiration:

Via.

What is your favorite thing to grill as a side dish or  dessert?

English Muffin Bread

My friend Sonja sent me this recipe for English Muffin Bread. It is amazing! And so easy, only five ingredients, holla! Plus, another goal for the year accomplished!

Zach liked it so much he practically ate an entire loaf himself, and then requested that I make it every week. And who doesn't like their house to smell like homemade bread? Mmmm. Heaven.

English Muffin Bread
Via.  Makes 4 loaves.


Ingredients:

5 1/2 Cups warm water
3 Packages rapid rise yeast
2 Tablespoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
11 Cups all purpose flour

Melted butter for brushing on at the end.




Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl, only enough to combine ingredients. (Will barely fit in a 5 quart mixing bowl.) Dough will be really sticky.

2. Divide into four equal parts and place in pans.

3. Let rise until dough reaches top of pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Ten minutes before done, brush with melted butter and place back in oven for the last ten minutes.

6. Wait for loaves to cool completely on cooling rack before cutting if you want nice slices.

If you are like me and only have one legitimate bread pan, any glass baking dish will do!

It tastes great toasted, warm out of the oven, or however else you can think of. I made some homemade Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup to go with it, and it was a delicious!

I have already bought more ingredients to make this again!


What is your favorite way to eat homemade bread? Favorite meal to pair with it?

Marshmallow Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

I could not stop eating this yummy dip at our Cheese Party. I especially enjoyed dipping walnuts into it. Yum! After getting the recipe from my friend, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to recreate.



Marshmallow Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 15oz jar marshmallow cream
Fresh fruit
Graham crackers

Directions:

1. Blend cream cheese and Marshmallow cream with hand mixer until combined.

2. Serve with assorted fresh fruits and graham cracker sticks.

DIY: Baby Headbands

My friend Natalie taught me how to make some headbands for Lucy and Clara, and sold me a handful of flowers for them. I love how they turned out. So easy and cute.

I made two plain white headbands to start with, one for each girl. Each has a piece of scratchy and soft velcro on it, so that the flowers are interchangeable, and any velcro on a bow or flower will stick to it.

Now that I have the white headbands I am excited to make even more bows and flowers to put on them, and maybe even make a few more headbands of other colors.

Another goal down!

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

I made this once before and really liked it (Zach and Lucy not so much). I decided to make it again and tweak the recipe a little bit more to my tastes. 

I love to have this salad made up in the fridge for me to grab and eat any time. It makes me feel super to know that I am eating something full of things that are good for my body!

My newest version of this yummy salad:

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 

Found here. 

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa
2 oranges, peeled and segmented, chopped

8oz blueberries
2 avocados, chopped
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate worth)
1 can of corn, drained
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)
2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
dash of sugar
salt & pepper
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Grilled chicken or shrimp

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine.

3. Combine cooled quinoa with orange segments, avocado, beans, pomegranate arils, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Top with grilled chicken or shrimp. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Yummy!

It would also be really yummy to throw in a can of mandarin oranges, grill the corn, and add the lemon zest from the lemon peels.

What else would you add?

Bacon-Tomato Bagel Melts

This recipe is another winner found in my Taste of Home: Winning Recipes cookbook. It is really simple and easy for a quick lunch or dinner.


Bacon-Tomato Bagel Melts
Makes 4

Ingredients:
2 bagels, split and toasted (I like everything bagels)
8 big tomato slices (or 16 small slices, etc.)
8 cooked bacon strips, chopped
4 slices mozzarella cheese
Ranch dressing


Directions:
1. Place bagels sliced side up on baking sheet. Top each half with tomatoes, bacon, and cheese on top.

2. Broil in oven 4-6 inches from heat for 1-2 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. Serve with Ranch dressing.

Yum!

Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta

Here is another yummy dinner Boyd made us while he was visiting.


Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta
Found here. Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs)
Salt and pepper
1 pond penne pasta
5oz bag of arugula
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
6 tablespoons juice from two lemons
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in large pot. Meanwhile, combine garlic, pepper flakes, and oil in large bowl and microwave until garlic is golden and fragrant, about 1 minutes.

2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. transfer 1 tablespoon of oil from bowl with garlic mixture to large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken and cook until well browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. transfer to cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest 5 minutes, then slice thin and set aside.

3. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in sliced chicken, arugula, basil, lemon juice, Parmesan, and remaining garlic mixture, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

This was so simple and delicious! I love the fresh flavor of the arugula and basil. You could also substitute baby spinach for the arugula if you wanted.

Zach loves pasta dishes. Do you have any amazing pasta recipes to recommend?

Air Dry Clay: Valentines Hearts

Another fun activity for Lucy from our February Advent Calendar was working with air dry clay. We rolled out the clay and used cookie cutters to make hearts for Valentines Day. Lucy also had fun making snowmen out of the clay. 

After letting them dry for a couple of days we used red tempera paint to paint them. Lucy did a great job painting and had fun learning a new art medium with the clay!

Lucy's Scrapbook

Lucy always wants to look at my Peter book, pictures on my computer, and the little photo album of her ultrasound pictures that used to reside in her room. I'm always protective of my Peter book, and she naughtily took her ultrasound pictures out of the baby album, so I decided we should make a scrapbook/photo album of her own that she could look at whenever she wants and that I don't have to worry about her ruining. 

We already had a big box of kids scrap booking stuff that was a gift from one of Zach's coworkers for Lucy when Peter died. (What a great idea for a gift, huh?) 

I used duplicate photos that I had already used in Lucy's baby book to give her for her scrap book, and I let her pick out what she wanted on each page as I helped her cut and glue. 

Materials:

- Scrapbook kit: Foam covers, blank pages, plastic cover sheets, stickers

- Scissors

- Scrap booking glue

- Bone folder and ruler (for scoring pages so they will bend with the spine of the book)

- Colored pencils

- Fine point pen for writing captions for pictures

Showing Dad her project and telling him about each picture.

We started with her own baby pictures and eventually we will continue to add more pages and she will have some of her and Peter to look at too.

I let her pick out the stickers and put them on herself.

Line up the ruler and use the bone folder to score the paper so that it bends naturally as you turn the pages.

Letting Lucy fill in the blank pages between the photos with colored pencil drawings.

I showed her how to trace her hands and scribble-fill the page. She loved this and wanted me to do it for her on every page.


Lucy loved showing off her own scrap book and explaining every little detail. This will be a fun project for us to work on together throughout the year as we add more pages.

Toilet Paper Roll Stamps: Valentine Heart Cards

For one of our February Advent Calender activities Lucy made Valentines for her friends and family using toilet paper rolls as stamps.


Materials:
- Toilet paper roll cut in half
- Blank cards (Walmart)
- Pink and red paint
- Paper plate for paint pallet

Directions:

1. Bend the TP rolls to form heart shapes.
2. Pour paint onto paper plate
3. Dip heart "stamp" into paint
4. Press stamp onto card
5. Repeat until desired outcome
6. Set card aside to dry and work on a new one

Lucy had a good time stamping away, and it was good practice for me to let her make her own art work and not micromanage it so much. I would definitely do this project again and even do new kinds of stamping with her. It was an age appropriate art project for her.

She did half of the cards with pink paint and then we switched and did the other half with red paint. After drying overnight I gave her silver and gold sharpies to draw on the cards to add more detail. Then Lucy annotated to me what to write in each one and told me who it was for. This part always makes me laugh with what she wants to say.

I like letting Lucy write cards to friends and family who are so far away. I feel like it helps her remember peoples names and who they are, and it is always a fun activity for her as well. She is always asking me if we can do artwork or a project. Makes a momma proud. :)