Homemade Peanut Butter

I made peanut butter last week and can you believe it, it's all gone! LOL!

I started making homemade a few months ago and won't go back to store bought. 

I love using it on bread, of course. I grew up eating peanut butter and butter sandwiches as a child. No, no jelly or jam here. :-)

But since I started using homemade, I find it's not only good on bread, but on waffles too, and don't forget eating it by the spoonful!

After finding this recipe on Averie Cooks (She has some of the best recipes!)

I had to have a food processor!

And lucky for me, I got one for Christmas last year. :-)

I'm terrible at following recipes to a "T" though, and normally I don't measure.

So here's what I think I used.

Approximately 3+ cups of honey roasted peanuts

1/2 cup each butterscotch and white chocolate chips.

It takes about 15 minutes to make depending on the power of your processor.

I keep mine in the fridge because homemade peanut butter is very liquidy.

Try it and you'll never go back to store bought again!

A Sunflower for Bruce

Years ago, I'm guessing it was 1995 or 1996, my brother scattered sunflower seeds in the backyard for the birds. They were the little black seeds and they grew dainty little sunflowers.

. My brother passed away in 2001, but every spring come rain or shine, heat or cold, those sunflowers would pop up in the yard. That is until this year. I miss those little flowers that my brother would share with me even though he wasn't here. Today is my brother's birthday and he would be 46. So this year I decided to give my brother a sunflower.

I started with my old white plastic patio table.

And then using spray paint

I liked this background color and it matches my house! :-)

Then I spray painted a black circle in the middle and then using yellow, I spray painted the petals

Then using a paintbrush and black craft paint

Well, you get the picture.

Here's the final result.

I finished it off with a coat of clear gloss

Happy Birthday, Bruce. I hope you like it. 

I miss you. Give mom a hug for me.

Love your sister, Karen

Cactus Apples!

I have a huge cactus.

And I love the flowers it produces 

And so do the bees

 But the best part are the cactus apples!

Went out and picked the first 2 cactus apples of the season today. 

I can't believe how big the one is.

Zucchini, Rice, and Spinach Casserole

Thought I'd try something different. I was making Boboli pizzas for dinner last night and wanted something to go with it and decided to put together a casserole.

It was quite simple and the prep time was short and easy.

I had some spinach leaves that I needed to use up so I lined my greased baking dish with those.

I then mixed a cup of cooked white rice with a half of cup shredded cheese. I used a Bruschetta Jack cheese, but I think pepperjack, or cheddar would work just as well.

Layer it on top of the spinach leaves.

Then I sliced two zucchini and layered them on the rice/cheese mixture.

I had a packet of Boboli pizza sauce that I spread on the zucchini.

Then I covered the dish, (I have a glass cover) and baked in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until the zucchini was tender but not mushy. I took it out of the oven, removed the lid and sprinkled parmesan cheese on top and baked about 10 minutes longer without the lid.

I had considered mixing an egg with the rice and cheese thinking the rice mixture would just crumble, but it held its shape and the family loved it!

Zucchini, Rice, and Spinach Casserole

A couple of handfuls of fresh spinach leaves, washed and drained.

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 small zucchini sliced

1/2 to 1 cup of pizza, spaghetti. or tomato sauce. Your choice.

1/8 to 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

Bake at 350 for approximately 30-35 minutes covered

Then sprinkle on parmesan cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered.

Homemade Yogurt!

I made yogurt for the first time last week and enjoyed it so much, I am making it again!

I checked out different recipes online here and here.

It really isn't hard. I made a quart. I used 4 cups of regular milk and 1/4 cup of plain yogurt for my starter. I heated the milk to 180 degrees and then let it cool to 115 degrees. I then poured a cup of the milk into a sterilized coffee cup and mixed in the 1/4 cup of yogurt and then stirred the mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk. Mixed it and then poured it into my sterilized glass jar. After putting the lid on, I wrapped the jar in a towel and placed it in the oven (turned off, of course) and let it sit for 6 hours.

I like mine with a swirl of organic honey!

Happy Easter!

Wishing each and everyone a Happy Easter filled with 

love and blessings!

My Cosmo bloomed!

My Marygolds

Homemade candy for Easter

Store bought Candy :-)

Eggs

                                  This is so awesome!

And Check out all of Foodinese videos here!

A to Z Blogging Challenge

I have signed up for the A to Z Blogging challenge this year.

 I was invited by Donna B. McNicol, who has some terrific blogs of her own!

   The challenge starts on April 1st and the challenge is to write a blog post every day (except Sundays) starting with A and working your way to Z. Sound like fun? You can sign up for the challenge here. 

There's only 8 days left to sign up and so far there are 1602 participants!

I will be doing my challenge on my other blog,

  

Karen's Different Corners

Hope to see you there!

Juice and Cake!

It's been a while since I last posted. Valentine's Day actually!

It seems as if I'm only doing the holidays. So to keep on course...

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and along with making corned beef and cabbage and all the trimmings,  and having an extra bag of carrots and a few apples, I decided to get out the juicer.

Yep, it's an oldie but works great!

Nothing beats a glass of homemade juice! Even carrot juice is smooth and sweet and adding a few crisp apples, gives it an extra tangy sweetness.

But wait! 

Don't throw out the pulp!

It has all the fiber.

So what do you do with it, you ask?

You bake a cake!

I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. But not ordinary cream cheese. No, pumpkin spice cream cheese. Every once in a while I find some really neat things at the 99 cent store that my local grocery store doesn't carry! Name brands for just 99 cents? Works for me!

My Carrot Cake Recipe

Sift together

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Add:

1/2 cup oil 

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of the carrot/apple pulp from the juicer 

or you can substitute

1 cup grated carrots and 1/2 cup of grated apple for the pulp

1/2 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 cup crushed pineapple drained (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and add to flour mixture.

Pour into a 9x9 greased and floured pan.

(I used a 9x9 Corningware baking dish. I greased it with oil, but did not flour it) 

Bake at 350 for apprx. 35-40 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 T. unsalted butter

2 T. milk

1/2 cup of spreadable cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the butter, add milk and cream cheese, mix and then add the powdered sugar.

Note: Depending on how stiff you want your frosting, add more powdered sugar till your desired consistency. 

Even though I overcooked mine (Don't bake and be on the computer at the same time.) and didn't add pineapple to it, it was still moist even after cutting it and the next day also.