Friday, June 29, 2012

Easy Spiral Cut Hot Dogs!

Super Easy...
Spiral Cut Hot Dogs! 

How to...
Why to...





Yum! 

What's your favorite summertime food?

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Wind Beneath My Wings and Super Inexpensive Art

 
The wind beneath my wings.

If you missed today's Flower Patch Farm Girl, well, you just shouldn't.  
It's about The Least of These

Shannan got me thinking - as she often does.  

Who are the least of these?  
Are you?  
Am I? 
(Did you read FPFG?)

Can I be honest?
On any given day I can feel hopelessly poor or very comfortable. 
It changes from moment to moment.  I can wish I had central air because the window unit (at a sadly precarious angle) isn't dripping the condensation out but rather sorta sideways - so it's leaving a puddle on the window ledge.  Which just can't be good.

But...
Then I'll drive home and pass someone leaning against a pole at a bus stop under the blazing afternoon sun.  I have a car.  That  works.  With air conditioning.  And, I'm heading home.
Sigh.

I can get pretty complacent about thanking God for my blessings.

Okay, so here's where I get real. 
And, pretty vulnerable.  
So, I'm just gonna put it out there. 
And, what happens, happens.

Recently, I needed some help.
Not in a desperate way.  A friend was there.  She helped.  In a "we don't want you to get desperate" way.  She asked for a list of things she could bring me - to lighten my burden.  I said chicken stock, T.P. and a couple other things.  (Yeah, I know you can make chicken stock.  But, seriously I don't trust the chickens in the mega mart to make stock from.  And, right now organic chickens are just not gonna happen.)  In the blink of an eye my friend appeared on my doorstep, chicken stock in hand.  (T.P. and the other things, too.)  And, the next day, more of the same.

(We're good on stock now, btw. LOL.)

She was the wind beneath my wings. 

It wasn't extraordinary.  She just knew we could lend a hand> She kept asking what she could do.  And, then, when I had the courage to give her a short list...she filled it.  And, then some.

She didn't move mountains. 
She saw and listened to the words that were said (and a few that weren't.) She filled an real need.  With love. God's using her hands to do great things.  In my mind, she's an angel.

Awkward transition here...

Speaking of angels, if you like the photo up top, here's a super sweet tip.  
(Those of you who Follow us on Facebook are already in the know!) 

You can head to Mistflower Photo and get 30% (yeah, thirty!) off by entering this code at check out - SUMMER12.  No telling when the deal will end, so move quickly.  It's not just angels...it's nature, industrial, funny, flowers, all sorts of gorgeousness. And it helps an independent seller.  (I love that!)

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

So, I'm wondering.
When is the last time someone else provided the wind beneath YOUR wings?
If that's a little too personal, maybe someone helped "your friend."
*wink*

I'd love to hear how little things (or big ones!) 
have made a difference to you.

Or "your friend!" 

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Thursday, June 14, 2012

I Couldn't Leave Well Enough Alone...



I totally went bananas.

You see, there's a time tested recipe.
Super simple.
And, it will be going into our How Fun category in the sidebar. 
(Cuz it was!)

Three ingredients.
Cake mix, an egg, a tub of COOL WHIP Whipped Topping.
Mix together.
Bake.
Result? 16 yummy fluffy cookies.

I couldn't leave well enough alone.

There's a special someone in our family who loves banana bread. So, I wondered. Could I take this simple recipe and make it complicated make little banana cake cookies?

Yep, apparently so.

I started with a yellow cake mix. I mushed up 2 ripe bananas. Then I added 1 egg to the cake mix. Then a smidge of cinnamon. A dash of vanilla. A whole lot of nutmeg. And, love. Oh, and 8 oz. of thawed COOL WHIP.

Side note: Sometimes I put chocolate chips in my banana bread.  This time I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder.  I don't recommend following my lead.  Chocolate chips would probably have been perfect.

Then I mixed 'em together which gave a really thick sticky batter. I used a cookie disher but an ice cream scoop or 2 spoons would have worked, too.

Usually the "3 Ingredient Cookie" recipe tells you to bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Mine took closer to 14-16 minutes. I think the added moisture from the bananas affected the time.

The cookies will crack when they are a few minutes away from cooking.  When the space in the cracks is no longer shiny, then they are likely done.  If they are still a bit shiny...wait.  I pulled a bit too soon.  They were still too moist and crumbled when the spatula touched them.  Yum!  Chef treats!  (I love it when a few break...)

TIP: If you have 2 sheet pans and 2 silpats...I would recommend just letting the cookies cool on the silpats.  (I realize that this sounds bizarre.  But, the ones I left on the silpat weren't as sticky on the bottom and held their shape better.   This recipe made about 16 good sized cookies and I was able to get them done on 2 pans.)

This is a simple enough recipe for Dad's Day.
Little fingers wold love mashing bananas. 

I really enjoyed the way the cookies turned out. Little light banana bread cookies. I was planning to make a caramel drizzle for the top - but no need. The bottom of the cookies - I guess from the banana - ended up caramelizing all by themselves!

Call me surprised!
And, happy. 

Now I know a super quick one-bowl cookie recipe that I can tweak to my heart's content. Hmm.  Strawberry banana cake cookies.  Lemon cookies with lemon zest.  Chocolate peanut butter?  I'm thinking orange chocolate next time. (Same flavors as my wedding cake.)

And, I don't want to forget...
Do you have a special dessert you'd like to share? Enter COOL WHIP's Fan Dessert of the Month Contest for a chance to win $500! Simply make a COOL WHIP dessert, take a photo, and upload it here. Enter now!

What flavor combo do YOU love?

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

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Linking up to: Whatch' Bakin' Wednesday Pin It

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Geese, the Hokey Pokey, and Hungry Teenagers.

Momma and the munchkins.
(That is, unless someone tells me that's a male goose.
I'm faking it here.  Poetic license.)

It was goos-a-palooza at the lake.
We counted 6 broods (is that the word?) of geese.

Wanna see da babies up close?


Up close and kinda blurry.  Sorry.
Er, don't worry about that leg sticking out.
It's not broken.

This family kept things loosey goosey.
They valued  valued dong the Hokey Pokey.
You think I'm kidding?


At one point they ALL had their left leg out.
We missed the "shake them all about" part.
I was busy counting families.


Okay, so that's 3 families there.
Two having a water race - each with mom and dad as the engineer and caboose.

Then there's the single mom with the yellow balls of fur.


Looking the other way, there's 3 more families.
I love the way the parents led the way up the cement.

The GREEN ZONE...
Goose loading and unloading only.


The carefree lifestyle was not for this family.
There would be no Hokey Pokey.

Mom and Dad were going to raise these older goslings correctly.
"Line up, face the water, bums up."

"Hey!  Hey!  
We're do you think you're going?!"


Can you blame them?
Teenagers.
ALWAYS hungry :)

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

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Friday, June 1, 2012

So, About Fifty Shades of Grey...

Fifty Shades Grey Healthy Christian Books Women

So, about Fifty Shades of Grey...
I'm pretty sure this is one book list that won't include that title.
 And, I'm okay with that.

Let me ask you...

 Looking for some Christian books for women?

Are you trying to keep costs down?


Well, good news!
Darlene, from Time -Warp Wife,
has just opened a new site called $2.99 or Less which features...

Affordable Christian eBooks at your fingertips.

And, if you want to get while the getting's good,
you can sign-up for e-mail notifications when she adds new titles to the list.

I think this is a smashing idea.

(It's sounds so serious...
but I assure you, Jen Hatmaker is rip-roaring hilarious!) 

So, this summer, when I'm not dong a reboot of organizing and cleaning,
I'll be chilling with 7.

What's the last good book you've read?
What's on your list for this summer?

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