Brown Sugar and Butter Acorn Squash

 

This is a really simple recipe for acorn squash. This is the way my mother always makes it, but she always cuts hers the other way. I like to cut them this way so they look like a flower. For mine (I don’t like to have all the sugar and butter)I just sprayed the inside of the squash with Pam and then added a little Splenda.

Brown Sugar and Butter Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash

8 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter

water

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squashes in half and clean out centers. Arrange in a shallow pan with 1~2 inches of water. Put the butter in each half and then 1~2 tablespoons of brown sugar in each half. Bake for 45 minutes or until fork tender.

Bagel Spice Review

                                       

Do you like an everything bagel? You know with onions, sesame seeds and all your favorites? Well now you can have all these yummy flavors to use in your favorite recipes!

Bagel Spice gourmet topping blend is a delicious accompaniment to a variety of savory dishes.

- Sprinkle it on cream cheese, hummus or other bread spreads for a taste bud explosion

- Shake it over fried eggs, lox and tuna for a delectable flavor boost

- Mix it with mashed potatoes, egg salad and potato salad for a delightful flavor

- Add it to salad dressings and vinaigrettes for extra zing in your salads

- Blend it with marinades and sauces for an aromatic kick

- Combine it with your favorite dry rub mixture for delicious meat dishes

                 

Chauncey likes the Bagel Spice on his friend eggs.

                 

I used the Bagel Spice

I really enjoyed the Bagel Spice in my Zucchini Pancakes. I really like these as a side dish or with grated cheese and salsa for a meal. Oh, and they are practically non fat!

Zucchini Pancakes

2 small zucchinis, grated

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

14 teaspoon pepper

1-2 teaspoons Bagel Spice

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Heat a griddle and spray it with Pam. Drop out zucchini batter and smooth out. Brown for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Flip and brown for 3-4 minutes. These are really good with a little grated cheese melted on top and some salsa!

The possibilities are endless for distinctive, mouth-watering dishes with Bagel Spice.

~I received a product sample in order to write my review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are mine.

Fried Potatoes easier than hash browns!

This is one of my families favorites, well not usually Sloan, but then she's kind of anti~potato. My mother made these all the time when I was growing up! I do mine a little different then she does, you know, a little healthier. I like to leave the skins on and I fry them in olive oil. These are so much easier than making hash brown. We have them for breakfast or dinner.

Fried Potatoes

1 potato per person

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Wash your potatoes and peel them if you want, but you don't have to. Dice them up. Heat your oil in a frying pan, I like my good old cast iron one. Add the potatoes and cover them, keep the heat about medium. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn them and turn the heat down a little. Cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn them again and if they aren't browned enough cook them a little longer. Season with salt and pepper. My family loves ketchup on them!

Crazy Dog T~Shirt Review/Giveaway, Ham Bites are Born and Mozzarella Sticks and Onion Rings!

Today I'm linking up with We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday! My tip today is actually from my daughter, Jennie. She is a big pasta fan.

Jennie says that when you make any kind of pasta you should throw a big handful of salt into the pasta water. I finally remembered to do it when I made spaghetti the other night. It was just spaghetti made with bottled sauce, frozen meatballs and (Jennie, don't read this) Parmesan cheese that comes in the big green can. Hey, that's what my family likes! Well, the family agreed that it was the best spaghetti they've had that was from a bottled sauce! So from now on I'm salting my pasta water for a more flavorful pasta!


Crazy Dog T~Shirt Review and Giveaway!


Crazy Dog T~Shirts is your number 1 place online for funny t~shirts. They were kind enough to let me pick out two shirts for a review.


I love this shirt, it says "Invisibility Shirt ~ Currently Deactivated"



Here she is again in it with her new puppy Ella. I don't know if I shared this with you, but her sweet doggie Fifi was hit and killed by a car, while I was in Maine. I felt so bad that I wasn't there for her when she lost Fifi. Ken bought her adorable Ella Louise (Louise is my middle name!) while i was gone to take Fifi's place. Ella is a Toy Platinum Mink Miniature Schnauzer. She is fitting into the family quiet nicely!


Here's Chauncey modeling this fun Zombie Shirt! His big brother Jacob is big on outsmarting Zombie attacks!

I just had to share another picture of Chauncey modeling!

Crazy Dog T~Shirts are made out of a nice heavy cotton and are really nice thick and soft t~shirts. We always hang our t~shirts to dry and these didn't shrink when we washed them. Crazy Dog T~Shirts has an awesome selection to choose from!

Crazy Dog T~Shirts are letting me giveaway a T~Shirt to one lucky winner and the winner can pick any t~shirt!

Here are the rules~The first one is the only one you HAVE to do to enter the giveaway, the rest are just extra entries.

1)This rule is mandatory~Become a follower of my blog, easy huh? Just click on the Google Friend Connect Follower button on the top left on my blog. Leave me a comment and tell me that you're a follower! Don't worry, if you are already following me that's great, just leave me a comment saying you're a follower!

2)Sign up for Crazy Dog T~Shirt's Newsletter and leave me a comment telling me that you signed up!

3)Like Crazy Dog T~Shirts on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me that you did it.

4)Put my cute Songberries Button on your blog. (You can find it on the top left of my blog) Leave me a comment saying you did with a link to your blog.

5)Follow Crazy Dog T~Shirts on Twitter. Leave me a comment telling me along with your Twitter ID.

6)Tell me in a comment your favorite Crazy Dog T~Shirt.

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and I will close it and pick a winner Sunday, June 20th.

I was not financially compensated for this review. I received a sample of this product for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experiences.

Now, onto some more food! PW made some like this a while back on her blog, but since I couldn't find her recipe, I made up my own. These were super easy, just remember to freeze your cheese sticks ahead of time. You need to freeze them at least 2 hrs, but you can pop them in the freezer the day before or night before. These were gobbled up pretty fast!

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

1 cup Italian Panko Bread Crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
12 string cheese sticks, cut in half
oil for frying

First, put the cheese sticks on a plate and freeze for 2 hrs.

Heat oil in a skillet, I like to use my cast iron 10inch skillet with about 2 inches of oil.

In a bowl put the flour and seasonings and mix with a whisk. In another bowl whisk the eggs and milk. In a third bowl place the panko bread crumbs. I like to line my bowls up by the stove with the bread crumbs being the closest to the stove, then the egg mixture, then the flour mixture.

This is where I got my family involved! I had Sloan dipping the cheese sticks in the flour, then she'd put them into the egg mixture. Ken would take them out of the egg mixture and roll them in the bread crumbs, then put them in the hot oil.. I would turn them over with tongs when they started to brown, then remove them to a plate with 2 layers of paper towels on it, when they were browned.


We had leftover breading, so we cut some onions up and made onion rings!

We still had some of the breading left, so we cut up pieces of ham and made ham bites! Ken just loved the ham bites! I thought they were better than chicken nuggets!

A review of CSN Stores and Potato Casserole

CSN Stores contacted me a while back to do a review of one of their products. I thought that would be really fun, and I'd been wanting a new casserole dish. I looked at Cookware.com and found this beautiful Cobalt Blue Le Creuset 12"x9.5" Rectangular Dish, and it was only $29.95. It matches my dinnerware perfectly and looks so nice on the table. It is made out of stoneware and it goes from freezer to oven and it's dishwasher safe.

CSN Stores can handle all your shopping needs. You can find all the things you need for kids and babies at Allchildrensfurniture.com. They have a great selection of cribs, lamps and rugs.

Allmodern.com has furniture, lighting and even dinnerware. It is so fun to do your shopping from your own home!

Racksandstands.com is another store where you can find a great entertainment center, a bookcase or even home theater seating! CSN Stores are such a great place to shop, you can find so many things!

CSN Stores ship really fast, I got my new bakeware pan in just a few days!





Here is the first recipe I tried out in my new bakeware pan. I am lovin this pan! It washes up so nice and I love the color!

This potato casserole goes together really fast and my guys just loved it! Don't worry, girls would love it too, but my Sloan is a picky eater and doesn't like potatoes.


Potato Casserole

6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 - 1 cup milk, I went with 1 cup, kind of soupy, but worked great!
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour into a baking pan. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour.

Cream Cheese & Sour Cream Chunky Potatoes

Ok, I'm not going to lie to you, these potatoes are decadent. They are sinful. And they are really, really good. Would you believe Sloan doesn't like potatoes unless they are french fries. She didn't like these, but my guys loved them! I had some potatoes I needed to use up, so I came up with this recipe. You don't have to add the bacon, but mmm, it makes it yummy! This went really well with the leftover ham from our Easter Brunch.

Cream Cheese & Sour Cream Chunky Potatoes

1 pound bacon, cubed and browned, drained
5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed and cooked
8 oz package cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt ground black pepper to taste

Combine potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, milk, onion salt, and pepper to taste and mash a little with a potato masher. Mix well, then add the bacon and stir.

Zucchini Burgers

I still have zucchini hiding in my refrigerator so I decided to try making some Zucchini Burgers or Patties. I thought they were wonderful! They have a nice onion, zucchini flavor. They would be good with cheese melted on top in a bun too!


Zucchini Burgers

2 cups zucchini, grated
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 slices whole wheat bread, make into fine breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon smoky paprika, or regular paprika
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Heat a griddle and spray with Pam.

Mix all the ingredients except the whole wheat flour in a bowl. Make into patties. Put the whole wheat flour in a bowl or plate and coat the patties. Fry on both sides until brown.

My 20 mile run and a great Tomato Pie recipe and a giveaway

Yesterday turned out to be a good day for running! It was kind of overcast all morning, so it wasn't to hot! It was just getting light at 6am when we started running down the canyon. We even had a fellow runner pass us as we were running downhill in the dark. We ran around the reservoir in Mantua, which was gorgeous! And we found some friends that we out for a run, so we hung out with them for a few minutes. Then we headed out of town and down the canyon into Brigham City. I looked at my Garmin and it said 15 miles! We were so excited! We had planned on running out to Perry and back, but decided to stay in town and get our last 5 miles in! We headed into the cemetery to refill our water bottles, and finished in no time. Now we can do it all over again next Saturday! This is the first time I've had someone to train with for long runs! It sure makes it nicer to have a running buddy!

I found a new blog the other day, it's Runner Mom. Susan has a yummy sounding recipe for tomato pie. I have a slew of tomatoes that need to be used up, so I gave it a try. Everyone loved it, even my picky girl Sloan! It's super easy too, and we all like that!

Tomato Pie

1 baked pie crust (see below)
2-3 tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Slice tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you don't want to use the chopped onion, sprinkle the tomatoes with some onion powder. Line the pie crust with tomatoes, cutting them to fit.

Mix the mayonnaise and cheese in a bowl. Spread over the tomatoes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Single Crust

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
4-5 tablespoons ice water
additional flour for rolling dough

Whisk the flour and the salt in a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender, until it looks like peas. Sprinkle the water over the top and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Sprinkle a counter top with flour and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch. Fold dough in thirds and put into a 9inch pie pan. Don't pull the dough as you work it into the pie pan. Trim the edges with a knife and prick with a fork.

Bake at 450 for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and prick any bubbles with a fork. Bake for 10 more minutes.

Head over to Frummie's Quilted Garden for a great fabric giveaway!

We Tried Fried Green Tomatoes!

Have you ever had fried green tomatoes? I've always wanted to try them ever since that movie came out....and that's been a long time ago! I acquired some lovely green tomatoes the other day, so I decided to try them! The family wasn't to sure about them. They actually reminded me more of a fruit when they were fixed this way. Give it a try and let me know what you think!


Fried Green Tomatoes

2 large green tomatoes
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon smoky paprika
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 eggs

In a bowl that has a fairly flat bottom mix the flour and seasonings.

In another bowl measure the cornmeal.

In another bowl beat the eggs.

Heat a griddle or frying pan and spray with Pam.

Slice the tomatoes in about 1/2 inch slices. Dip in flour, then egg, then cornmeal and fry on a medium low heat until lightly browned. Flip and cook again until lightly browned.

Oven Roasted Green Beans

My daughter loves to roast vege's in the oven. She's even fixed them for me, but until the other day I hadn't done it myself. Big mistake! I decided to roast some green beans in the oven. Now, usually I just stick them in the pressure cooker. I always thought that was easiest, but I WAS WRONG! I decided to roast them in the oven, and they were the best green beans I'd ever had! I had a big pile of them, then I went and got some more, and while I was cleaning up the kitchen I snacked on them some more and I though, hey these taste better than french fries! Then I was thinking it would be fun to go to McDonald's and buy some french fries and use the little box to put my bean fries in, just for fun. But, then I remembered that they had torn down our McDonald's recently and built a brand new one. Everyone has been talking about how nice it is and I still haven't been there. In fact no one in my family has! I keep telling my kids that I think it would be fun to be able to say we're the only ones in town that have never eaten there! I don't think McDonald's has the best food choices, so I choose not to eat there. Now, to get off my high horse and back to the beans. We went to Arby's for dinner and brought it home, and I let my sweet hubby and my kids eat the french fries while I proceded to fill the french fry box with my lovely green beans. They were so good! Let me tempt you with some pictures!

Oven Roasted Green Beans
green beans, I used 2/3 of a bag from Costco
olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
Put the green beans on a big cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. With your hands, stir them up, then lay them all out nice and even. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Taste them to tell if they need more time.