The Best Lemon-Y Cookies!

I just pulled the most delicious cookies out of the lemon,  I mean oven. 

Seriously, that's how good they are.

 (I really just typed that, and decided not to fix it!)

You wanna' know what they are??

First, you need to stop reading, get off your computer, grab your purse and keys, throw your kids in your van and go buy some lemons. I promise that if you don't do that before you read this post, you will wish you had. Go ahead....I'll wait.

Hey, you're back!  How was your trip? The kids did what?  (Just kidding! Back to cookies.)

Most of my inspiration comes from Pinterest lately and one of my friends has an entire board dedicated to "When Life Hands You Lemons"  (Cute, right?!)  She pinned this recipe awhile back and I finally remembered to buy some lemons. 

Of course, I did modify it some. But just with subsituting my "somewhat healthier" ingredients and no real modifications.

Lemon Crinkle CookiesMakes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened (I used Unsalted, organic)
1 cup granulated sugar ( I used organic coconut sugar)
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, and 1 cup unbleached AP Flour)
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Here is the original link:
LDS Living

They are really good.

I just ate three.

 I made them pretty small though,

so I'm sure I can have a few more!

Sarah

Pasta Salad Lovin'

Hello. My name is Sarah and I am a pasta addict.

and I seem to have influenced my children...just a little.

They eat an entire pound of these noodles between the four of them.

Because this is my blog and I can post whatever I want,,,neener,

and because I love Haley in this picture,

I am going to post about my favorite pasta salad

Mom's Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb tri color noodles (cooked, drained and cooled)
4oz. sliced pepperoni (more if you want)
1 bottle Italian dressing (only use a little over half)
1 container cherry/grape tomatoes (halved)
1 medium green bell pepper (diced)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all indredients and Enjoy!

That's the problem with pasta....

it's too easy...

you can sit and browse pinterest all day,

daydreaming of all the projects you could be doing

and then all of a sudden,

"Whoops, it's dinnertime...

That's okay, I'll just make some noodles!"

I should write a book titled "How to Enjoy Pinterest Guilt Free"

First Chapter: Pasta For Dinner

:)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Nudgepapa and Home Cookin'

This is my great grandfather,

Nudgepapa

My siblings and I spent alot time with my great grandparents growing up. We would spend entire days at their house while my parents would be at work. 

Nudgemama would always cut my toast with a pizza cutter into tiny bite-size pieces.

She made sugar and cinnamon doughnuts every Sunday morning before church.

She stocked up on 7up, Klondike bars, and Apple Jacks.

And after going through the Great Depression,

couldn't leave a restaurant without swiping all of their sugar packets.

Nudgepapa took us on countless rides on his mower through the woods and

he swore like a sailor. Maybe worse  :) 

When it came time to say "Goodbye" he would never give a kiss

but would attack us by blowing raspberries on our cheeks. 

They always made time for us.

Nudgemama and Nudgepapa came over from Hungary and started a family here. Like all Hungarian women, she brought her recipes and love for cooking with her.  So here is one recipe that has been passed down from her. Although, my mom says that Nudgemama told her, "Hungarian cooks won't give you the original recipe. They always take out one ingredient, so it will neve taste exactly the same."

So, I'm sure it's missing something.

Nothing ever tastes as good as when Nudgemama used to make it!

Hungarian Goulash

8 oz. Elbow Macaroni
1 lb. Ground Beef
Garlic/Garlic Powder
Medium Onion-Chopped
1/2 to 1 large can tomato juice
1 Green Pepper-Chopped
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes-don't drain
1 Can Each Light and Dark Red Kidney Beans-drained

Seasonings To Taste:
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Oregano

Cook noodles in boiling salted water. Drain

Brown hamburger over medium heat with garlic and onion. Combine with noodles. Add tomato juice, seasonings, pepper, tomatoes, and beans. Cook on medium heat until hot, then low until served.

Nudgepapa died this month, twelve years ago.

Miss him still.

"C" is for Cucumbers!

I thought since I have no time to blog and have been in the kitchen all week , that maybe the only way to do some blogging was to literally do so ~ as I cook.

So, Lucky You!

Welcome to Sarah’s Kitchen!

(It’s nice. Isn’t it? New counter, cabinets that open…sigh….bright, cheery windows) 

Oh, Sorry, back to cooking.

This week the garden began to be fruitful and we are overcome with

turnips, radishes and cucumbers.

And when I say overcome….I’m not exaggerating.

Although proud of my husband and his green thumb, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what would possess a person to plant so many turnips and radishes.

We have never even eaten a turnip in this house until last night!

Anyway, as thrilled as I am to have a refrigerator full of very smelly vegetables, I am even more thrilled at the crop of cukes on my counter

Here are a few ways that we love to eat cucumbers at our house.

(Notice that I don’t have any recipes to share for those turnips yet…that may take awhile)

Cucumber Sandwiches

Spread a thin layer of Mayo on some bread and slap on some cucumber slices! That’s It!

We like to slice the cucmbers thin, with a veggie peeler, and cut off the crusts. You don’t have to be as fancy as us though for these to be delicious…I was too lazy yesterday to wash the peeler (don’t judge)  and ended up slicing them with a knife, peel and all; and it still hit the spot! YUM!

We also love Vinegar Cucumbers

This one is my Grandma’s recipe. We have this at all of our family summer cookouts.

The very best way to eat these, is to pull one slice out at a time and eat with your fingers, I’m not joking. (Ya. You can judge me now, if you want)

Ingredients:

1 ¾  cups Vinegar

3 cups Water

1-2 Tbs. Salt

1 Tbs. Sugar

One medium onion, thinly sliced

One clove garlic, crushed
3 Large or 4 Medium Cucumbers-Peeled and Sliced

Lightly coat all of your cucmbers with salt and let sit for 10 minutes or so.
Then combine all of your ingredients and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Stir and Enjoy! 

The longer they sit, the better they get.

And lastly, I asked my dear husband to plant some cucumbers for pickling this year.

So, my final recipe for the day…

Dill Pickles

(This recipe belongs to Alada Schnake , one of my husband’s clients)

Ingredients:

Enough cucumbers to fill a 1 gallon jar

1 qt. vinegar

3 qts. Water

¾ cup canning salt

5 cloves garlic

5 heads of fresh dill (2-3 TBS)

1 Slice White Bread

Boil and cool first three ingredients.

Cut 1/16 inch off the blossom end of pickles. In jar put garlic and dill, standing pickles long ways.

Then pour cooled liquid mixture over pickles. Place one slice of white bread on top, put lid on.

Set in sun for 3 days and nights. Remove bread and refrigerate.

You can add a pinch of alum to make pickles crispier before setting in the sun.

We have ton of blackberries,

mulberries and blueberries too. 

Guess I know what my next post will be about! 

Sarah

Two Things

I don't have all of my crafty pictures loaded yet but I just thought that I would give you something while you wait for the good stuff!

My "Make Every Week Granola Bars"

(are you excited? you should be........)

One of my friends posted this recipe on Facebook awhile back and I had tried so many others with no success, I tried this one too; figuring I had already wasted two containers of peanut butter on nasty mushy bars, what's a little more? Right?!

So,  here's the recipe and it is a good one!! As always, I attempted to make it healthier by losing some peanut butter and substituting applesauce for butter BUT it never turns out right. This is

The Actual Original From Facebook Recipe

Enjoy!

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

3/4 c. melted butter

1 TBSP. vanilla

3 c. whole oats

1 1/2 c. rice crispy cereal

1/2 c. wheat germ or flaxseed meal

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat 350*

Combine first 8 ingredients and then fold in the chocolate chips. Press into greased jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet). Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until set and edges are browned. Cool on wire rack. Allow to stand covered for 1 day. Cut into bars and individually wrap in plastic wrap, store in an airtight container.

Did you notice my Mason Jar Mug? I just had to show one off! My sister called me this past weekend and sent me digging through some old ladies cupboards to find them...What a deal! Paid $4 for six! Beats the ones at Pottery Barn for $25! Anyway, back to cooking.........

 

My latest love in the kitchen is this:

It only has one ingredient......Gelatin. Period. That's it. No reading long ingredient lists here, folks.  All you do is mix up 1/2 cup of boiling water with the gelatin; add your favorite juice and you've got

"Preservative-Free" J-E-L-L-O

It's juice. I swear!

Although, If you make it with apple juice,

they kinda' look like they should have little labels and be taken to the doctor tomorrow..............if you know what I mean. My kids think it tastes great either way, so have fun trying out these latest recipes and I'll see you soon!

Sarah

Creamy Beef Stroganoff

Okay, I know this is nothing new. And every one of you probably has your favorite go to Stroganoff recipe that you and your mom and your mom's mom have been making for years...
But this turned out sooooo good, I just had to share!
I am a member of Kraft First Taste and occasionally I receive coupons to try out their new products. The latest one I got in the mail was for Philadelphia Cooking Creme.

I know this isn't the "Cleanest" of things to eat. But FREE is FREE! The creme came with one of those nifty recipe tags on the top so while I was at the store we picked up the rest of the ingredients for the stroganoff.

I tweaked it just a little , as always. 
 For the original recipe, go here: cookphilly.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 lb. beef stew meat
Olive oil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 tub Philadelphia original cooking creme
1/3 cup organic beef broth  (or make your own)
2 cups whole wheat egg noodles
Chopped parsley for garnish

Heat oil in a large skillet and cook meat with onions until meat is cooked through. Remove from skillet and cover to keep warm. Using your drippings still in the pan, saute' mushrooms and pepper about five minutes.
Add the creme, stir until combined. Return your meat to the pan and add the broth. Cook for five minutes and remove from heat.

Add your noodles and stir to combine .Then garnish with parsley.



I don't know how to make Stroganoff look pretty....But it sure was tasty!



I roasted up some heads of garlic to spread on sliced bread and served it up with fresh asparagus from the garden.

We had none leftover. Which is sayin' somthing!

Thanks for joining me today! Don't forget to come back Friday and we will get our craft on!

                                                                                            Sarah

Can You Say Coconut?!

This is one of my new favorite recipes! I found it over at Healthy Food For Living. She has some wonderful ideas over there!  This isn't the most healthy one but...hey, we all need dessert

Lemon-Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cup full fat shredded unsweetened coconut (one 8 oz package)
• 1 cup reduced-fat shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• zest of 1 lemon (bright yellow part only; don’t use the white pith)
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
• 3/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Directions:

My Coconut Butter

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, process 2 2/3 cups full fat shredded coconut for about 5-8 minutes, until a thick, smooth coconut butter forms, scraping down the sides as needed (this will yield about 1 cup of coconut butter)~~~For this step I could only find flaked coconut. So I had to add about 2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter, while pulsing, to get my coconut to cream.
3. Combine the coconut butter and all of the remaining ingredients (reduced-fat coconut through salt) in a bowl. Stir until well-combined.
4. Using a mini ice cream scoop (I used my hands, naturally!) scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet (no need to leave much room in between as they do not spread out). Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until the bottoms of the macaroons are lightly browned. The macaroons will be very soft at this point. ~~~~~My oven had them done in about 15.
5. Allow the macaroons to sit at room temperature on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until they firm up and cool down.

At our house, dessert isn't really dessert unless it comes with chocolate (Seriously, You put out a peach cobbler and they will laugh in your face!)....So,

I melted about 1/2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips and drizzled over the top. Now we've got DESSERT!

Thanks Again, Lauren for the great recipe!! Hope you all give this one a try and head on over to Healthy Food For Living and let Lauren know how much you enjoyed it!

THE BIG GAME!

So last night was a big night at our house…my husband is a die-hard WINGS fan!!

I started the day gathering all of my ingredients…I was unprepared for the last party and had no food, drinks, and had not swept! (gasp!) That was not going to happen again.

This time, I was going to be prepared.

My  Not-So-Clean Menu:

 Black Bean Soup

Rattlesnake Bites

Spinach Dip

Brownies

(Sorry there aren't alot of finished pictures! It was time for the game to start and everyone was already eating! I'm sure you know how that goes!!)

The Black Bean Soup has become a regular at our house! It’s very flavorful and just a little bit spicy! I always serve it up with tortilla chips, a little cheese on top and a dollop of organic sour cream!

1 T olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3/4 C diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)

3/4 C diced celery (about 2 ribs)

1 C diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 3.5oz can green chilies

2 cans low-sodium beef broth (or make your own)

1 t kosher salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t cumin

1/2 t dry oregano leaves

My special bean washer

                    1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat. When pan is warm, add olive oil. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

The recipe says to grind it up so it's somewhat smooth but I serve it with tortilla chips so I like it chunky....super yummy!

I was most excited about the Rattlesnake Bites  I got the recipe from the Texas Roadhouse website. They were fairly easy. The only change I made to the ingredients was I used Less Fat cheese and ended up only using 6 peppers.  I tried following the instrucions but found that I couldn't get the crumbs to stick to the pepper. I tried cutting the peppers a little smaller forming the cheese mixture around it...That Worked!  I also considered trying to bake them, instead of frying but since this was my first go-around, I didn’t want to mess up and have hungry guests! Maybe next time…

Ingredients:

12 large jalepenos (seeded and halved)

2 cups mont. jack shredded cheese

1 egg

2 tbs. milk

1 tbs. flour

1 tsp. parm

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cup bread crumbs

oil for frying

Stuff each 1/2 pepper with cheese

Mix your flour, egg, parm, milk, salt and pepper

Ready for the freezer

Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish

Dip your cheese-stuffed peppers into the mixture then the crumbs and freeze for 30 mins.

(or, as I did: make a ball of cheese mixture and stuff the pepper in it. Then gently roll your ball into the crumbs to coat)

heat your oil and fry peppers until golden brown!

Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.

We ate these plain and they were....YUM!!

Spinach Dip

Don’t make this unless you have others to help you eat it! I mean it! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!

Ingredients:

½ pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 pkg. frozen spinach thawed

1 jar marinated artichokes, chopped

8 oz. !/3 Less Fat cream cheese

8 oz. Organic sour cream (or skim milk)

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

6 oz. shredded Low Fat Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 onion finely chopped

Olive oil

red pepper flakes to taste

2 oz. shredded Low Fat Monterey Jack cheese

Sauté onions in olive oil, adding ingredients while mixing and blending well after each addition. Add ingredients in the order listed. Transfer to crock or serving dish. Top with Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and additional cheese.  (I know it’s a lot of cheese but mmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!! )          Serve with Sea Salt Natural Tortilla Chips. 

Now, the brownies are actually clean! You can find the original recipe here: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-brownies/

These are so moist and delicious! I think my father-in-law had four!!

Brownies

1 (16 oz.) container almond butter

4 egg whites

1 cup honey

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips (I used Dark Chocolate)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

 Add each ingredient, one at a time, to a large mixing bowl.

 Pour into an oiled baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

There you go! Snack ideas for your next game night! 

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Easy English Muffins

I love breakfast breads! Bagels, Croissants, Danishes, Cinnamon Rolls and everything in between! So when I saw this post for english muffins on Facebook, my griddle was out and I was ready to go!

Raisin English Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 c very warm water

1 T yeast

2 T honey

1/4 c oil




1 t salt
1/2 c raisins (optional)
3 c flour (about)
2 T cornmeal

Proof yeast in water and honey. Add oil, salt, raisins, and a few cups flour. Stir till smooth. Add additional flour till dough is manageable and knead for a few minutes by hand or with a dough hook in the mixer.

Roll dough out with a rolling pin and cut out circles about 3 1/2" diameter. Sprinkle the counter with cornmeal and put the muffins on this surface to rest. Let rest for ten minutes or so.




Heat griddle. Bake muffins for about seven minutes on each side. You want the heat to be fairly low but make sure that the centers are done.

This makes about a dozen muffins.

Served up nice and warm with some strawberry jam!

Hungry? A Post For Wheat Thin Addicts

Every week I try to make a few snacks or breakfast items to last the week. This week I decided to try (again) making my own wheat thins. Wheat thins are ,in my opinion, the world's best cracker! I was watching a talk show a few months ago and realized that there is alot of sugar in my precious wheat thins. Don't believe me...go check your box...I'll wait... Crazy, right!?

So...here is a recipe a friend posted on Facebook. These will satisfy your munchies. I promise!

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
2/3 cup milk
salt (or other dried herbs and seasoning) for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar and salt. cut in the butter and mix until you have a coarse meal. Slowly blend in the milk just until you have a dough that will hold together. divide the dough into 2 pieces for rolling. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness. sprinkle with salt and roll over lightly with the rolling pin again. cut the dough into 2×2 inch squares. poke each square several times with a fork.

Transfer squares to an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes, until crackers are golden brown.

I think the only thing I feel I should stress is, make sure they are rolled 1/8 thin! VERY THIN!

(Sorry, there aren't more pics but I really bake like this every week, so I forgot to take pics of every step...maybe my next post, I will remember!)

Here you go! Fresh, Crispy, Salty Wheat Thins!

Homeade Samoa Cookies

We eat mostly healthy foods at our house. My husband, though, is somewhat opposed and tends to bring home lots of goodies. So, when the girl scouts came calling, he came home with five boxes of sugary, caramelly, coconut goodness. Namely: Samoa's.
I had to find a way to make these at home. I found a recipe that sounded amazing at A bicycle Built For 2.
Here are the ingredients (for the full directions click on the link above).I only changed a few things about their recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3 cups shredded coconut
• 12 ounces of caramels
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 8 ounces chocolate chips

To curb my guilty feeling (like these changes make it healthy!) I used: unsalted butter, Splenda in place of the sugar, Unbleached flour, and Dark Chocolate chips. 

My sister-in-law and I came up with a trick using "Holy Water" as she called it. Dipping our fingers into a dish with water to help form the caramel to the shape of the cookie. And we did do the chocolate coating before putting the caramel mixture on top. It just seemed logical. One more thing: the cooling process is very important! You have to wait. Even though you will be dying to eat them by the time they are assembled.

If I were you, I would stash two or three somewhere where you can be pleasantly surprised in a couple of days! These things will go fast!  Happy Eating!