Blueberry pancakes

These were delicious! And so so easy! I used Krusteaz pancake mix and mixed in about 2 tablespoons of a canned blueberry pie filling. I cooked each pancake on each side for about 2 minutes. Once plated I added 2 tablespoons of the pie filling on top, topped that with whipped cream and fairy dust (aka powdered sugar) yum! Yum! Yum! 

Halloween

Katie came home and said she volunteered me for cupcakes for her school Halloween party. I was really thrilled because we just moved from a school where homemade treats were not allowed. So now I get to use by baking and creativity skills to send her to school with some wicked edible treats! Here's what we created. I love them! They look the guys off of Sesame Street! Lol! 

Bread Pudding

Because we got 2 inches of snow last night I woke up wanting to make the family something warm and cozy. Bread pudding! A yummy custard layered breakfast dish. 

7 oz of buttered bread cut in half and broiled (about 10 slices)

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Layer bread in deep casserole dish.

In a saucepan heat up milk and vanila to a boil. Turn off and cover to enhance the vanilla flavor. In the meantime whip your eggs and sugar together in a seperate bowl.  Add the milk mixture to the eggs. Pour mixture over your layered bread. Push down any bread that floats up.

Set casserole dish in the middle of larger pan and fill half way with water. This will help cook the custard evenly on the bottom.

Place in oven. Cook for about 35-40 minutes pushing down any bread that floats up with a spoon.

Vanilla topping

Meanwhile...in a sauce pan heat 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp vanilla to a boil then turn off and cover.

In a separate bowl beat 3 egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar until whitened. Add the milk mixture to the egg mixture. Return to the stovetop and heat stirring constantly until the mixture coats your spoon. Remove from heat immediately and let cool down. Stirring constantly still to prevent clumping.

When the bread pudding is done serve in a bowl with the vanilla topping drizzle over it.

Yum!!

Grandma Cox's Cinnamon Rolls

I get 90% of my recipes from the Cox family cookbook. Why? Because my ancestors where awesome cooks!! This recipe for cinnamon rolls brings back many memories of Grandma's house! The base of the recipe can be used for rolls too. Just omit the sugar and cinnamon and the step to roll them into spiral mounds of ooey gooey goodness! 

Dough:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast proofed in 1/4 cup warm water

4 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

3 eggs

Mix all ingredients together and roll out 

To 1/4 thick

Spread with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. 

Roll and cut into 2 inch thick rolls

Place on baking sheet

Cover with dish towel and let raise until double the size. Usually 1 1/2 hours 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake 15 minutes

Frosting: 

1 cube butter soften

2 cups powdered sugar 

1 tsp vanilla

Whip together until soft and fluffy and spread over warm cinnamon rolls

Devour! 

Mermaid party for savannah

Savannah turned 6 today. We had the cousins meet us at a campground where we could meet in the middle and where there was a pool.  Lots of fun! 

The Winnemucca Story

Where in the World is Winnemucca Nevada?? Well, we are about to find out! That's right, we are moving to the middle of nowhere August 19th!
This new adventure started a couple months ago. Kyle had gone to school and was notified of an accounting job in Boardman Oregon. He emailed them his resume and they called him back the next morning. He attended a short interview and came home. We talked about Boardman Oregon and the possibility of moving there. I thought it would be ok because it's only 2 hours away from my parents and only 1 hour away from Tri-Cities. A few days later Kyle got a call from the company who interviewed him. He was over qualified for the job in Oregon and they offered him the Assistant Controller of financing operations in Winnemucca. He came home to tell me and we laughed a little. We rolled it over and over in our minds and soon the thought grew more exciting. But, we knew we wouldn't make the BIG move without a little more incentive. I think the people felt this, within a week they had changed their offer a couple more times, each time getting BIGGER and BETTER.  They WANTED him! He was the man for the job because of all his experience. Their offer became so BIG we would be idiots to turn it down! Kyle graduates in August with his Bachelors of Science in Accounting Degree. I'm so proud of him! Most people who graduate with that degree have to start at the bottom. But because of his grades and experience he's been chosen by this company to be the Assistant Controller. The name is Winnemucca Farms owned by RDO. He owns 60 John Deere Dealerships across the NorthWest including the one in Pasco. Simplot is about a tenth of the size of this company and operate in North Dakota, Oregon, Idaho and Washington.
We have been truly blessed! The Windows of Heaven have opened up and everything has landed right into place!! We secured a house, the town is about the size of Ephrata and has 4 LDS wards in it. My friend, Melissa Thompson moved there years ago and she loves it! I've been in contact with her from the beginning and she's been my little guinea pig! LOL! I'll call or text her frequently with questions. She would even drive miles out of her way to go look at houses for me. She owns her own Salon there and know about everyone so I'm excited to meet all her friends and glad she's there to welcome us!

I've had to keep this a secret for a couple months now. But, now that we are able to make the announcement I feel the sentiments rising with in me. It's a 9 hour drive, which isn't too bad. But, I know I'll miss my Mom. I've grown up here. 34 years of this beautiful country! We've established 5 acres of lush green land in Mae Valley and LOVE it out here! Now we are moving to the middle of the dessert. But we know for certain that this is the Lord's plan and this is where he wants us to go. We will not sell our place. We have our good friend Jody lined up to take care of it while we are gone. We would like to return soon, but don't know when. In the meantime, I will miss you all! We love you and God Bless!!

Pork Rinds...who knew?

So while starting full boar into the Atkins eating lifestyle again, I needed to research some new and exciting recipes. I came across a website that is awesome. As I was skimming down the list of new ideas I came across "Grilled Cheese" sandwiches. Just like that, in perentheses and all. So I clicked on it and the main ingredient was PORK RINDS!! Oh yeah! I don't mind pork rinds. I think they are delectible. They are so acceptable in this diet because they have 0 carbs! To make the grilled cheese sandwiches you meed to crush the pork rinds in the food processor. Kind of down to a consistency of a graham flour. As I'm feeling the pork rind flour I get the thought that this is a new and astounding find!! I could use this flour to make pancakes, crusts, tortillas, muffins. The list goes on and on! So this morning I made pancakes and they turned out delicious!!! I just mixed 1/2 cup or pork rind flour in with 2 eggs, 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and some spledna. Then I covered the pancakes with sugar free maple syrup and lots of butter. Melt in your mouth! Way better than the soy flour pancakes I was making! Tomorrow I am going to try and sugar free cheese cake with the pork rind flour as the crust. I'm so excited!