Egg and Pea Salad...one of our favorites!

One of the things I love about Easter Time 

is boiling up and decorating eggs.

 We usually boil up 12-18 eggs and so we always have PLENTY to make up Deviled Eggs and one of our FAVORITE salads...

Just 5 ingredients, but LOTS of flavor.

This is pretty much a complete meal in one.

I usually send a bowl of this salad,

 plus an apple and some kind of a muffin in our lunches.

This is also a great filling for croissants as well.

yummy, Yummy, YUMMY is what this is!  

Egg and Pea Salad
(the perfect salad to make at Easter to use your “Hard boiled eggs”)  

2 cups frozen peas
6 hard boiled eggs (peeled and chunked) (sometimes I add in 8)
½ pound bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
½ cup “Miracle Whip” Salad Dressing
grated cheese (optional) 

In bowl layer peas, eggs and bacon--Stir in Miracle Whip—let stand for 8 hours before serving. Sprinkle with grated cheese if you like.  Stir before serving.  

(sprinkle with salt and pepper if you like)

Enjoy some boiled egg 

yummy-ness today!

Spinach... Smoothies, Eggs & Soup!

 Spinach...

I'm always amazed when I read that it is
difficult to overestimate the  
nutritional powerhouse that is in spinach!

This is a wonderful article of the amazing things that are in spinach...

 it is one of those foods that is 

at the TOP of most Super Food lists!

We are definitely a spinach loving family,

we enjoy it freshly steamed and served with salmon,

 it is a staple in our salads, we enjoy it in soups, 

 we love topping homemade tortillas  

with cream cheese, veggies and SPINACH leaves for a great lunch...

 our favorite way is blending it up into a GREEN Smoothie  

a few times a week. 

I LOVE that spinach is so easy to grow 

in the spring/summer time.   

We usually have more spinach than we know what to do with and so I will wash the Spinach and freeze it in 2 cup bags in our freezer to pull out in the winter months.

 During the winter months 
(when we have run out of our garden spinach)
 when we go on our weekly dates, 
we purchase a large one pound container of spinach from Sam's Club for $3.97

so that we can still make up our weekly GREEN Smoothies and have it to add to soups, salads and sandwiches.  

I also purchase one or two FRESH pineapples 

each week to cut up and add to our smoothies as well.

While we are a frugal family, 

we do believe in buying quality appliances  

and so each week whether it be grinding wheat, making bread or homemade treats, or blending up smoothies, making almond milk or bean puree, they all get used LOTS!  
  

If you don't have a good quality blender, 

I strongly suggest you save your pennies to invest in one...

 it is worth the money spent and makes it EASY to get your family eating more fruits and veggies in SMOOTHIE form.

There are SO many ways to get your kids and family eating more of this wonderful SUPER food of Spinach 

and I'm going to share with you our favorites that are tried, true, delicious and 

ALWAYS a hit each time they are served!

 GREEN SMOOTHIE

Here is the basic recipe...(it varies depending upon the season)

but it ALWAYS has the same ingredients

fresh pineapple (1-2 cups)

one stalk of celery

one slice of lime (with rind)

2-3 cups spinach

water/ice

the variable is this...

in winter time we add in one or two oranges

in the summer time we add in one or two large handfuls of grapes
(here for other smoothie options) 

In the summertime when the kids are out of school,  
we make some variation of a green smoothie almost every day for lunch.  

During the school year, we enjoy our green smoothies on the weekends and also once or twice during the week for either breakfast or to add to a light dinner.

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EGGS

(when I'm in charge of breakfast and the kids are asking for eggs) 

I always make up a yummy batch of eggs that has LOTS of veggies in them. 

I recently read about a lady that adds in spinach with her eggs in the blender and WOW is it ever good.  We are hooked and I'm going to add spinach to my veggie eggs from here on out.

Veggies and Eggs

2-3 large slices of onion finely chopped

1/2 bell pepper finely chopped

2 carrots finely chopped

1-2 Tbsp butter

(diced ham if you like)

Melt butter in frying pan and add in veggies (ham if you have it) and saute together until tender/crisp

(eggs)

8 eggs

2 Tbsp milk

1 large slice of onion

1 packed cup of fresh spinach

(mix altogether in the blender until spinach is finely chopped)

Pour egg mixture over sauteed veggies and let cook 2-3 minutes before you start stirring the eggs.    

Stir together and cook until eggs are done.  

Top with freshly grated cheese and tomatoes!   

Perfect served with homemade pancakes for a hearty, 

get you going weekend breakfast! 

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Minestrone Soup

SOUPS...truly one of our family's staples.

I love this Minestrone Soup because it seriously 

tastes like something you would get at a really nice restaurant 

AND I love all of the yummy veggies it has in it. 

Toasted Artisan Bread is the perfect accompaniment for this soup!

 It is a GREAT way to use  

cabbage and spinach/kale 

and is something that actually tastes better the next day.  

(great to take for lunches)

 Minestrone Soup
(pretty much a "vegetarian meal")
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large diced onions
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup sliced carrots
1 tsp basil
1 can Italian tomatoes (undrained)
3 beef bouillon cubes with 8 cups water (OR, pull a bag of leftover "roast drippings" from the freezer and add in enough water to make 8 cups)
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
1 can Great Northern Beans (undrained)
1-2 cups Spinach, OR, Kale (OR add in 1 cup chopped zucchini instead)

Cook onions, carrots, garlic and basil in olive oil for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beef bouillon and cabbage.
Bring soup to boil and cook for 1 hour.
Add beans with liquid and spinach and cook another 20 minutes. 
Garnish bowls with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, OR, serve with a dollop of cottage cheese.  This tastes even better the 2nd day.

This is soup is definitely 
a favorite with my kids!

and it’s SO easy and healthy!!
Great served with homemade bread, breadsticks, 

or our favorite... (Artisan Bread)

I hope you enjoy the wonderful health benefits 

of Spinach in your family as well!
Yummy, delicious and most of all

economic and nutritious!

A Wonderful Sunday Afternoon!

"When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness". ~~~Bob Hope

Summer time is such a wonderful time!
It's a time in our lives where the weather is just right and so many times we find ourselves, packing up our dinner and heading to the mountains, the desert, a park...you name it.

We have to eat, so why stay home and be boring...
why not load your car with dinner fixins' and head to enjoy some gorgeous scenery and family fun!

All this requires is a few dollars of gas in your car and a little preparation and you have priceless memories that your kids will cherish forever.

Sometimes we take our Dutch Oven and cook up dinner, or roast hot dogs and make Smore's...
Sometimes we fill a cooler with sandwich fixin's and fresh fruit, or a salad...
Other times we just fill our thermos with hot soup and take it with us.
(one time we put our taco filling in a thermos and filled the cooler with containers of lettuce, chopped tomatoes and grated cheese and went an enjoyed tacos sitting on the sand at the Rigby Lake)

Whatever we do, the kids just love these out of the ordinary moments AND I love them too.

Sunday after church
we packed the cooler with containers of diced potatoes, beaten eggs, grated cheese and sausage, threw in a jug of iced water, grabbed our picnic bag and Dutch Oven and headed to the hills.
Besides enjoying dinner in the mountains, we were on a fact finding mission to see how the Huckleberries were doing this year.

Tracy got the coals all ready and we made
"Breakfast in one" in the Dutch Oven.

Our folding picnic table with our plates, sporks and mugs all ready to be filled and enjoyed!

Talk about FAMILY FUN!!

The recipe:

1/2 pound sausage
3 baked potatoes peeled and diced
8 eggs well beaten with 1/4 cup milk
grated cheese
(salt and pepper to taste)

Brown sausage in Dutch Oven until browned.
Remove sausage and most of the grease
Add in potatoes and cook until browned
Then pile on cooked sausage
beaten eggs and top with grated cheese.
Cook for 15-20 minutes until eggs are cooked
with 12 coals on the bottom AND top of Dutch Oven.

Enjoy!

(would also be yummy if you sauteed onions and bell peppers when you cook the sausage...
also yummy served with Salsa on the top)

Good thing we didn't listen to people when we first got to our picnic spot. They said they had looked all around and only found 5 Huckleberries...
we hiked up the mountain a little bit
and low and behold came across MANY berries.
Lots of green berries which we'll make sure we can come back in a week and get and MANY ripe berries.
We set an hour limit for picking since it was getting late in the afternoon.

(Tracy is always laughing that I take self portraits, but since I'm the main photographer of our outings, I have to at least take a photo of me showing that I WAS HERE enjoying this fun as well)

After one hour of picking we ended up
with 3 cups of Huckleberries.
Very much looking forward to making homemade ice cream tonight and making Huckleberry Floats for our Family Home Enjoyment this evening.

I absolutely agree that it truly is the little out of the ordinary moments that make life so big and memorable.

When I reflect back on all of the happy, memorable moments in my life I can honestly say that is truly is the "simplest things" that give the greatest glow of happiness!

Feeling blessed to have a hubby that always takes time to make life so much FUN for our family and feeling blessed to have kids that appreciate all of these little moments as well!

"Open your arms
and welcome the joy of today"!

Muffins and Eggs saved my day!!

First...I know that my Blog has been very "Random". If I waited until I could do it perfectly the way I want to, than it would never get done. I am just posting things on my Blog as they happen in my life as far as meals, thoughts, events and so I hope it remains interesting and enjoyable to read!

So how could muffins and eggs save the day??

First the Muffins...

I usually make muffins a few times each month and try and freeze 1/2 of the batch. There are several times each month that we either don't have leftovers, beans/tortillas for "roll-ups", OR bread to make sandwiches for our lunches and so MUFFINS save the day
because I pull them out of the freezer...
add either a boiled egg OR string cheese,
throw in an apple
and a handful of carrot sticks
and we all have a LUNCH to take
(so we don't have to buy school lunch or buy something at work).

Here are my favorite muffin recipes.....
Regarding the Bran muffin recipe; Tracy and I have Bran muffins and stewed prunes (I know we're getting old) when we go on our cruises for breakfast every morning and I was so thrilled to come across this recipe as it is the closest I have been able to find to the ones we had on the ship. These are our favorite!

Cereal Muffins
2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2-1/2 tsp soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups ALL BRAN cereal (OR 3 cups quick rolled oats)
1 cup boiling water
½ cup melted butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup wheat germ
2 eggs beaten
2 cups buttermilk

Combine whole wheat flour, soda and salt….set aside. In a large bowl stir together bran cereal or oat cereal and stir in boiling water…cool slightly To the cereal mixture stir in butter, sugar, wheat germ, egg and buttermilk. Add in flour mixture, stirring just until blended.

To bake… spoon batter into buttered muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until golden. Makes about 2-1/2 dozen muffins.

If you don’t have anything to make sandwiches with for lunch,or leftovers, you can always boil up an egg and grab a muffin, take an apple and it makes a yummy lunch.

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Pumpkin Muffins
½ cup REAL butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 cup pumpkin (or leftover squash)
¾ cup raisins OR chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. These are really good and freeze well.

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Oatmeal muffins
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried currants (I use dried cherries…..raisins would work well too, OR blueberries)


In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. and grease twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins.

Add egg, sugar and butter to oat mixture, stirring until just combined.Into another large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in currants.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake muffins in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. These freeze well.

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How could eggs possibly save the day?

Well, having the sometimes hectic life that we do there are those occasional nights where I don't have time to make anything for dinner and so EGGS save the night! (thanks to our wonderful chickens who provide us more eggs than we can use)

While we all love Fried eggs and toast, I like to throw in some veggies and make what my kids call "Omelette Eggs". (although Tracy doesn't think that's a good name for them, my kids do and so that is what I call them).

PS.....contrary to Old School Belief, eggs are healthy. Check out this link for some good documentation on this topic:
(click here)

FRUGAL TIP: I enjoy buying a big ham at Christmas time and Easter time and then cooking it in the crockpot at night and we enjoy it for breakfast the next morning. NOW the frugal part....I cut the ham in small pieces and divide it into "snack size" bags and then store it in the freezer and then anytime we need some ham for eggs, OR a bean dish I just pull out a bag and add it in. It's saves so much time and money to have things like this on hand.

Omelette Eggs
1 tsp. butter

1/2 a bell pepper, finely chopped
2 finely chopped carrots,
2 large slices of onions finely chopped
and 1/2 snack size bag of ham that I pull from my freezer.
6-9 eggs (depending how many you want)

Saute ham and veggies in 1 tsp. butter until the veggies are tender (5-10 minutes). Add in another 1 Tbsp. butter and crack in eggs and scramble all together.

This is a yummy and fun way to get your kids eating more veggies. And it's an inexpensive dinner or breakfast also.