When I Was Young

Hello Sweets,

Well today has been a bad health day for me :(, every part of my body is achy and this migraine seems to be never ending.  So needless to say I didn't create anything new in the kitchen.  Actually I spent the day relaxing and watching cute animal shows lol (really did).

Having a sick day made me remissness back to when I was small and had sick days at home with grandma.  So for today's post I'm going to talk about the things that make me feel a little better, both then and now!  Actually you would be surprised how many of the tricks my grandma used are still applicable, funny how things from your past make you both feel small again but still work.  Now there are my typical staples such as ginger ale, crackers, toast, and chicken noodle soup, but there are some that you wouldn't think would do the trick at all.  Now I am sure you are wondering what they could be and I'll tell you :)  French fries, especially when I am nauseous (weird right?), cookies lol really, and probably the silliest ice cream.  There are only three flavors that I can have when I'm not feeling well, the obvious is vanilla, but then we have a couple of unusual suspects.  The first one Nathan and I came across at PF Changs restaurant, it's the perfect blend of mellow flavors;  pineapple coconut (sooo yummy).  Then the final flavor that takes me back to when I was a child that combines my favorite fruit with the deliciousness that is ice cream; black cherry!  So when Nathan and I were at the grocery store and he noticed they had some, I couldn't pass it up.

This has actually helped on more then one occasion, and needless to say since I don't feel well now I am going to enjoy some right now!  Until next time............


Stay sweet




Jennifer xoxoxo

p.s. I'll have a regular length post tomorrow, I promise to rest up tonight :)

Stormtroopers and Pumpkin Seeds

Hello Sweets,


Happy Monday! I know what you're thinking "happy Monday? not quite!" lol  Well I had a good day today (not health wise but I made the best of it), and I did some activities today that made me reminisce back to when I was little.

Now I know I always seem to be talking about what a great man Nathan is, but he really is different from any guy I've ever met, and I hope all the ladies out there find a man that treats you exactly like you should be treated....like a queen!  But really, he does anything to make me smile, especially if I am having a bad health day like today.  Of course he knows I love Halloween, and I had been telling him all about how I love carving pumpkins, and how white ones are my absolute favorite!  So today he surprised me with a trip out to Hall's Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine, where we picked up the VERY LAST carvable white pumpkin!!!

 

Isn't she beautiful? :p 

Needless to say, I was one very happy girl, smiling from ear to ear just like I have every year since I can remember. :D  Now I was in complete and utter shock when Nathan told me had NEVER carved a pumpkin.  I honestly thought that was a right of passage as a child.  So of course I decided to carve a pumpkin that he could be as excited about as I always am lol, and Nathan being the Star Wars fan that he is, I decided on an Imperial Stormtrooper.

Not an easy stencil

Since my shoulders always hurt as it is, and Nathan has never carved a pumpkin before, he helped me with all the difficult carving (le sigh :( ).  So I got him to cut the top open, then I cleaned out all the pumpkin gunk (he had absolutely NO desire to touch the stuff), stenciled it for him, and started the operation!

Be careful when cutting as the pumpkins are thick, and kids always use parental help :)

Now the more detailed the stencil, the more careful you have to be with your cuts as to not leave any weak spots in the structure, or you'll end up with a sad droopy pumpkin, and no one wants that!  After a couple of hours of strategic cuts, and a few more shaves to allow light, our master piece was complete, and might I say "out of this world" lol!

Isn't it great!!

Now as I am sure you are all aware, I do not like to waste anything when baking/cooking, and pumpkin carving is no different!  You can make a deliciously healthy snack from the pumpkin seeds themselves, and it is all very simple and easy.  Actually the hardest part is digging through the squishy innards of the pumpkin.

Healthy Flavorful Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

 Fresh pumpkin seeds, from your freshly carved pumpkin

Seasonings of your choice, I opted for;

Sea salt

Garlic and pepper seasoning

Seasoning salt

Crushed red peppers

Directions:

1)  Preheat your oven to 275F.  Wash the pumpkin seeds free of all pumpkin goop, and towel dry as best you can, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet.

2)  Add your seasonings on top before placing into the oven, so the flavors absorb during the baking process (I had an after thought when they were baking in the oven that you could season them in a bowl to ensure they are completely covered).

Yum!

3)  Bake in the oven for at least 20 minutes.  Periodically shuffle them around with a spatula to ensure all the liquid is evaporating ,and they will all be crunchy.  Enjoy this tasty health snack on the go, or instead of popcorn, munch on these!

So we were a little late in getting up this morning.  Well, just me, since I had a really bad sleep :(, and I had promised Nathan I would make him pumpkin pancakes.  What do you do when you miss the best meal of the day?  Have breakfast for dinner!  I always love making him breakfast, and since discovering pumpkin pancakes, which he happens to now love, that's what we were going to have.  Now I had leftover batter from the last breakfast I had made(Pumpkin Pancakes), which keeps very well in the fridge.  All it took was a couple of stirs, and it was ready to go!  Now the original plan was to serve maple bacon with the pancakes, but Nathan had some maple breakfast sausage so our side dish changed.  This was my first time cooking the round breakfast sausage, so I had Nathan take the reigns on this venture.

Maple Breakfast Sausage 

Ingredients

1 package of round breakfast sausage

5Tbs of maple syrup

Directions:

1)  Cut up the sausage into 1/2" slices, place onto a cold skillet, top with a dollop of maple syrup and cook over medium heat.

Nathan was surprised when he turned around and saw my addition, but liked the final product ;)

2)  Flip continually to brown evenly on each side, cook for about 20 minutes or until there is no pink in the center and the center is 160F.

Yum!

Serve in addition to some of your delicious pumpkin pancakes with butter and syrup, and you've just made yourself the best breakfast supper around lol :)

I crowded the frying pan just a little lol.  Still turned out great!

Needless to say I think Nathan and I had a wonderful Monday, low key, but full of smiles and laughs.  Do you like carving pumpkins?  What is your favorite/hardest stencil you've created?  Better yet, have any of you NOT carved a pumpkin before?  Do you eat the seeds?  If so what seasonings did you use?  Until next time.......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

A newbie and a Classic

Hello Sweets,

I don't know about where all of you are, but here in Texas there is a cold front coming and it is chilly, stay inside kind of weather.  The winds are so strong here, that the outdoor fans look like they're on high speed!  Before coming down to Texas, I made sure to pack some new and old recipes to make for my favorite men :), and I completely forgot about the rare and unique recipe that I had stumbled upon.....pecan pie muffins!  I love pecan pie, and just this last summer, Nathan took me to the Fort Worth Stockyards for a day trip/date, and while we were there we went to Riscky's Steakhouse.  We had some delicious steak, the waiter tried to trick us into ordering cow testicles, lol yuck, and for dessert we had the most amazing piece of pecan pie either of us have ever had!

Now I know with that setup, you'd be thinking I'm going to do a pecan pie recipe, but nope not a pie, but muffins!  When I came across the recipe, I thought it was an interesting concept and decided right then and there that I should make this the next time I'm in Texas.  Now Texans love their pecans, any which way they can have them too, so I knew that I had to make sure I brought my A game, and rock out some amazing muffins.  So let's get this recipe in the oven.  It's super simple and very quick to make ;)

Pecan Pie Muffins

Ingredients

1C pecans, chopped

1C brown sugar

1/2C flour

2 eggs

1/2C butter, melted

I'll be writing "keeper" on this recipe card ;)

Directions:

1)  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Combine the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in the center of the mixture.

I only had whole pecans, so chop chop chop for me 

so simple it's crazy 

looks almost like instant oatmeal, but much more aromatic

2)  Beat eggs until foamy.  Stir together eggs and butter; add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.

foamy eggs 

now with butter 

smells just like pecan pie, mmmmm!

3)  Place baking cups into muffin pans, or spray with cooking spray if you're out of muffin cups.  Spoon batter into cups, filling them 2/3's full.

Makes a small batch, only 12 :( should have doubled the recipe.

4)  Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from pans immediately.

Makes your kitchen smell just like pecan pie!

Don't be alarmed when they don't rise, they are short but hearty muffins.  The top will be nice a crispy where the sugar caramelized, and the bottom is soft and sweet.  It passed the Texas men test, not to mention I absolutely love them too, so they are officially part of Canuckette's recipe box!  Hmmm maybe when I get home I'll take a picture of my recipe box and the story about how it all started :)

Well obviously that was the new recipe (I only said it like three times lol), and this oldie but goodie recipe is very simple but always delicious.  Now I have been craving these for almost five months now, lol and I know what you're thinking; "just make them!".  But you need a certain cooking method in order for them to be perfect and living in the city sort of limits you from having a....fire to roast marshmallows!  I have been wanting smores for so long, and since Nathan's family has a fire pit I asked him if we could have some :)  Of course he said yes, he actually thought I was cute when he saw how excited I got over them lol, and the best part of smores is that you can make them anyway you'd like.  It's much different now then when I grew up, they have all different kinds of marshmallows and even multiple types of graham crackers!  You can use different types of chocolate, so use your favorite chocolate bar.  There are unlimited options for them so have fun and get creative.  I have opted to go with the classic plain marshmallows, a Hershey's chocolate bar, and the twist is with the "cinnamon" graham crackers, courtesy of Honey Maid ;)

Super Easy and Delicious Smores

Ingredients

Kraft Jet Puffed marshmallows, as many as you'll need

Hershey's milk chocolate bars

Honey Maid graham crackers (we're using cinnamon)

Directions:

1)  Start a fire, making sure it's contained.  If you're a child, make sure that you have adult supervision.  If you're not lucky enough to have a marshmallow roaster, you can make one out of a coat hanger (just unwind and straighten as much as possible), and burn for a moment to sanitize.  You can also use a stick (just make sure it's not too thick and again burn it for a moment to sanitize).

I'm a child at heart, so Nathan supervised and started the fire

all the fixin's 

2)  Place the marshmallow on the end of the stick and roast it just above the flames.   I personally like mine REALLY cooked, but most people like them a light brown.

waiting is the hardest part

3)  Once you have reached your roasting preference, place a piece of the chocolate on a graham cracker and squish the marshmallow between that and another graham cracker.

haven't had one in years!!!!!

4)  Wait just a second or two as to not burn your mouth, and enjoy!

Lol I look sort of evil, my smore!!

Honestly this was the perfect little mini stay-in date on a chilly night :)  How do you like your smores?  Do you have any secrets or tips?  I would love to hear all about your childhood memories of summer.  And I encourage all of you to go back to your childhood once in awhile, and if you have an indoor fireplace I encourage you to have smores once every couple of months lol!!  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo