New Year Eve cooking...

Oh no... the cooking has NOT stopped here in northern Wyoming!!!!

When I was growing up in Massachusetts our tradition was to get some Chinese food to enjoy for New Year's eve.

Now that I'm here in the boonies of northern Wyoming... we've taken on different traditions!

Today we'll be making some yummy food including our very favorite... Clam Chowda!

Our kitchen's going to be a buzz of activity... on the list:
Clam Chowda (Brattan's Boston Clam Chowder recipe... google it)
Egg Rolls  (this will be our first time!)
Sushi  (really California Rolls... thank you Keiko for teaching us how to make these!)

For fun...
Board Games!!!!

It's our family tradition....

Oh Christmas Tree...

It just doesn't seem like Christmas until we get our tree up and decorated!

So at some point today, I'll be hunting down a Christmas tree!  And tonight for FHE, we'll decorate it! Yay!

Boy do I have a busy day planned!  I'm so excited to begin the tile job in the 1st floor bathroom!  And I have a whole list of other things that need to happen today... but it's all going to start with 25 minutes on the treadmill... so off I go!!!!

Wish me luck with the tiling!

Happy Sunday...

It's an overcast morning here in northern Wyoming.  There is a possibility of snow they say...   I think that it has snowed, well at least flurried, every Sunday for the past 3 weeks!

But here in my sunny kitchen, I've got apple muffins and apple bread cooking!  No, you can't smell it yet, but soon the house will be filled with the delicious scent of cinnamon and apples!

Here's the recipe that I used:
Apple Muffins presented by Alexander Bed & Breakfast
3 1/2 C Flour
1 T Cinnamon
3 C finely chopped apples (I used my canned apples)
1 C Veg. Oil
2 C sugar (1/2 brown, 1/2 white)
3 Eggs
1 T salt
2 C chopped nuts
2 T soda
2 T vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tins. Thoroughly combine apples and sugar, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add oil, egg, nuts and vanilla. Then mix in flour. The batter will be very thick and gooey. Fill muffin tins ⅔ full. Bake about 30 minutes. Can be frozen.

must remember gloves...

I was out to the hoop house this morning gathering some greens to go into my breakfast smoothie.   I just feel so good when I drink up my fruity green smoothies!

Oh my gosh is it ever chilly out there! I must remember to put ON MY gloves before attempting to remove the snow surrounding my hoop house!  It's only 18 degrees F out there!

I added some pineapple chuncks, a whole banana, an asian pear, juice of 1/2 lemon, some pomegranate seeds, 2 frozen strawberries and greens from the hoop house (including peppery arugula!) mixed with about a cup of water, ESP and Vanilla Cinch.  Yummy!!  I just love the taste of that peppery arugula in my shake!

I'm getting ready to paint the 1st floor bathroom.... final coat!  Did the brush work yesterday... now for the easy part!

A fast breakfast for kids (and us big kids too) who...

Good morning!  It's a bone chilling 12 degrees Fahrenheit this morning in northern Wyoming....  Burr...

Do you have kids that run out the door for school without eating breakfast?  Or maybe you find yourself running to work on an empty stomach...

One of boys has to be out the door before 6:45am... and really struggles with eating so early in the morning.

My friend Peg told me about these Energizing  Protein balls that she's made for years and suggested that I try them.   They are yummy!

I've come up with my own twist that the kids love!  And I call my version, Energizing Crispy Peanut Butter Balls!

Energizing Crispy Peanut Butter Balls... almost gone!

They're loaded with energy sustaining protein!!!!   And they only take a few minutes to whip up.

Here's what you need:

Shaklee Energizing Soy Protein... or... Shaklee Cinch Shake (I use chocolate)
Peanut Butter  (or my friend Peg suggested using Hazelnut butter or Cashew butter)
Rice Crispies
Honey or Agave

In a mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer with the mixer paddle), add 1 serving of Shaklee protein, an equal amount of peanut butter,  about 3 tablespoons or more of rice crispies... and enough honey (we use agave) to keep it all together.

Mix briefly until it forms a loose dough.

Form into little balls.  Put them on a pretty serving dish on the table at breakfast time and after school.

Freeze the extras... if there are any!

Magical Monday morning...

Magical Morning...

Sunday brought us fog so thick that we could barely see our neighbor’s house!  My son A had spent the night at his grandmorther’s Saturday night and as he made his trek home just a couple blocks said, “I just kept walking knowing that our house was there even though I couldn’t see it.”

As the sun rose this morning, we were treated to a magical morning of shiny frost crystals enveloping the countryside!  Hoar frost was covering everything!  

It's just magical!!!!  I love how the sunlight makes the crystals shimmer.  It is truly a winter wonderland out there!

I'm making split pea soup for Sunday dinner...

I haven't made split pea soup for ages... I mean it's been years and years.

I've got a ham bone in the freezer from Thanksgiving so I'm giving it a try using Emeril's recipe.

I may even make some sour dough bread to go with it!!!