Sister Sister Sister

Sister Sister Sunday

I thought since I'm so diligent at keeping my own blog going (haha!), that it would be fun to contribute to another blog as well! My sisters and I are featured as guest bloggers on yesterday's Sister Sister feature over at Kuzak's Closet. Click here to check it out!

cupcakes!

Okay, have to post this so Erin will quit bugging me to vote...kidding! Our neighbor, Erin, makes yummy treats for us all the time. She entered one of her recipes in an online contest. Please click here to check out her recipe and vote for her delectable PB & J cupcakes. You don't have to register or anything...just click on "Vote Now". Then go try out her recipe because it is damn good. :)

Linking to:

Sister Sister Sunday

banana bread

We've been on a banana bread kick lately...I think because our bananas are ripening so quickly in this HEAT! This is another recipe I got from my friend, David, and thought I'd pass along...

INGREDIENTS*
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter or margarine (room temperature)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups very ripe bananas mashed up
2/3 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add bananas and stir. Slowly combine with dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Line a 9 x 5 non-stick bread pan with parchment paper. Use enough parchment paper so that it hangs over the outside of the bread pan. This makes it really easy to remove the loaf and saves you from having to grease the pan. Fill pan with batter and bake for 50 minutes.

*I think this recipe would also be fabulous with some chopped walnuts added in, but sadly, due to nut allergies in this house, I've never tried it that way.

Enjoy! I also made some zucchini bread today and plan on making a ton more in the near future since the garden has several tiny zucchinis visible now. Watch for a post with that recipe in a few weeks. It was my great-aunt's recipe and is soooo good!

guac!

So I'm almost a week late linking up to the Sister Sister post at Kuzak's Closet this week, but I won't let that stop me from sharing this recipe.

It has become one of my absolute favorites and we whip it up pretty much every time we have guests. Now that we are gardening fools, we are even making use of our own cilantro and soon will be able to use our own onions and tomatoes without having to head to the store.

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INGREDIENTS:
3 avocados
1 lime (juice)
1 plum tomato
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbs chopped white onion
1 tbs finely chopped cilantro
1 tsp (sea) salt

DIRECTIONS:
Pit, peel and mash the avocados in a bowl until they are chunky. Add the lime juice and salt. Chop the remaining ingredients one at a time and add. I prefer the garlic, onion and cilantro to be finely chopped. Dice the tomato and stir all ingredients together. Cover and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

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I swiped this recipe from my friend, David, who occasionally decides to blog his favorite recipes...and he has some good ones! Check out his blog here. His banana bread is also a fan favorite in our house.

Linking this post to:

more Halloween fun!

So, the microwave has been fixed since Friday, yet in the whole time it was down, I never posted any additional recipes beyond the white chili. One day, I'll share the rest of my favorite, non-microwave, yet still easy recipes, but for today, I thought I'd share one that is a huge pain in the butt, but oh so yummy and festive:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds


1/2 stick melted butter
2 tsp. salt
cleaned pumpkin seeds

Mix butter and salt. Pour over pumpkin seeds in bowl and stir to coat every seed. Bake in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes at 350°.

I roasted ours for the kids after carving pumpkins yesterday and, after discovering what a giant, time-consuming project it is, made sure to call my mom to thank her for making them for us every year while growing up. The end result makes it all worth it, though...well, almost.

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Now, on to the pumpkin carving!

Prep...drawing the faces:
Time to open them up:

Daddy has to do this part:

They got tired of watching Daddy carve:

The final result:

public service announcement...

When we moved into this house, we had to pick appliances as we were moving into a new build. The builder had already installed the dishwasher that he had chosen. So, naturally, we decided to go with the family of Frigidaire appliances that matched the already existing dishwasher.

We soon figured out that the dishwasher was really not that wonderful. It had less space than our old, less expensive dishwasher and nothing ever comes out looking really clean.

We were also annoyed by the refrigerator whose doors are hung crooked and whose kick plate won't stay on. Even the logo is mounted askew. About 6 weeks ago, we replaced the filter in the fridge only to have it decide to freak out and spit water and ice all over the kitchen for several minutes while every light on the thing flashed incessantly at us. We furiously searched the manual and learned how to force quit everything. After we cleaned up the kitchen and let it rest for a few hours, we tried the water and ice feature again and it worked fine. It has not happened again, but at least once a week at work since, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach wondering if the refrigerator is busy flooding our house while I am busy at work.

The last straw came this past Monday, though. I turned on the microwave to heat up a portion of our dinner and it sounded like a jet was landing in our kitchen. Needless to say, it did not heat the food. We called the appliance distributor who came out the next day (Tuesday) to confirm the busted part and said they'd get back to us. Haven't heard from them since, so I'll be bugging them a couple of times a day every day next week because if I don't get some damn PopSecret Homestyle popcorn in me soon, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.

So, I'm focusing on meals for the past few days and the next several days that do not require the assistance of a microwave. This is pretty tough in a house with two small children and two working-full-time parents. And since my mother-in-law requested some of these recipes recently, I've decided to share them here, so all readers can have the chance to enjoy them. First up, a fall favorite, because who doesn't love chili in the fall?

White Chili

2 or 3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 24 oz jar of Northern beans
1 15 oz. can of chicken broth
1/2 cup of water
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 can of diced tomatoes or 2 small fresh tomatoes

Brown chicken; saute onions, celery and garlic in butter for about 1 minute.
Add chicken broth, water and remaining ingredients.
Simmer for about one hour.

In the last 15 minutes, add diced tomatoes.
Thicken with 2 Tablespoons of flour mixed with cold water.
Garnish bowls with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheddar.

Enjoy!