Hawaiian BBQ Chicken - Crock Pot

Here's another yummy crock pot recipe:

Chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
1 Jar Archer Farms Hawaiian Barbecue Sauce (from Target)
1 can pineapple chunks

Dump all ingredients in crock pot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8.  Serve over rice.

I used 1 chicken breast and 2 thighs, half a jar of BBQ sauce, and a small can of crushed pineapple.  Super easy and very delicious.  The girls really liked it too. :-)  Reminded me of sweet 'n' sour chicken.

Cinnamon Rolls

I made cinnamon rolls for the very first time on Sunday.  I used Eric's Mom's recipe:

http://www.mlre.org/index.php?recipe=8

They turned out beautifully!  Just pay attention to the beginning of the recipe where it says "Begin 4 hours before you want to eat them"!  It takes a time-investment, but it is really easy otherwise.  :-) Enjoy!

Taco Pizza

I have recently instituted what I call "Taco Tuesday" in our house.  Tuesdays are going to be dedicated to some form of Taco-y/Mexican food goodness.  Last night it was Taco Pizza...another recipe I found on Pinterest. 

http://realmomkitchen.com/5301/taco-pizza/

After it was cooked, I also added fresh lettuce, avocados, sour cream, and Cotija cheese.  Cotija is my new favorite cheese to use when cooking Mexican food.  It is a hard, crumbly cheese that just adds so much flavor to your food.  Good recipe - kids liked it, and most importantly, it was EASY!  ;-) 

Calzone

I just discovered Pinterest.  If you haven't yet...proceed with caution.  I avoided it as long as possible because people kept talking about how addicting it is.  They were right.  But it has also reignited a flame within me for all things homey.  I've been cooking more because I've seen so many new recipes on there that I want to try.  I've been crafting more because they have so many fun ideas!  So, I urge you to check it out - but just know that it will suck you in!!  ;-)

Monday I tried a recipe I found for homemade calzone.  Calzone is like pizza but it's all wrapped up kind of like a giant burrito.  The recipe looked easy and my kids love pizza so we tried it.  It was great!  I bought a refrigerated pizza crust in a tube (Pillsbury) but you can also make your own - she provides a link to a recipe.  Very very yummy, and EASY!

http://www.squidoo.com/homemade-calzone

Farmhouse Sugar Cookies

This is the sugar cookie recipe that my mom always made when I was growing up.  It was cross-stitched onto a cute little cookie-cutter holder that you could hang on the wall.  As a child, I thought that was pretty nifty.  Anyway, I continue to make these sugar cookies because of their familiarity (and their deliciousness), and thought I'd share.  The recipe makes a soft, chewy sugar cookie that lends itself well to being frosted/decorated.

3/4 C. butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 C. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Chill, roll, cut.  Bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.  (I have found that the chilling part is very important to the process - makes the rolling and cutting much easier!)

And this is the frosting recipe my mom always used (good for cupcakes and cakes too) - she has the recipe in her head so this is how she dictated it to me:

1 lb. powdered sugar (4 cups)
1 cube butter
1 t. vanilla
Milk - enough to make it the right consistency (probably a couple tablespoons)
Add 2-4 T. cocoa if you want chocolate frosting.

As a side note, here is a link to a recipe for Hungry Bear Sugar Dream cookies (which are also fabulous, but in a different class of sugar cookie, in my opinion - good for consuming with a large glass of milk, not so good for decorating). 

Got Bread?

Every other Wednesday, we trek down to the Orowheat/Entemann's outlet down on Clovis Ave. If you are a Fresno/Clovis local and have not been there, go now! They have a punch card that they stamp for every dollar that you spend - when the punch card is full, you get to choose 2 items in the store for free. Wednesdays are double punch days - twice the stamps for what you spend. And, if you bring your own bag they give you $5 worth of stamps as well. AND, if you spend $7, you get another free item from the rack up front. Today I redeemed a full punch card - so, here's a picture of today's haul:


2 loaves of wheat bread, 2 packages of mini sandwich thins (the girls really like when I make their sandwiches on these), 1 package of regular sandwich thins, 2 packages of Thomas English muffins and 1 package of bagels.

Total spent: $8.36

...now to find space in my freezer...

Blackberry Blitz!!

I just picked a little over 3 lbs. of blackberries from our bush outside! This is the second big harvest I've done. I've already made one pie...and I'll probably make 2 more while I am down in San Diego this next week.

Basketful of berries

These things are HUGE!!

Into the pan!

Ready to eat!! Delicious!!! For the recipe, click here.