In the meantime

Traditionally, feijoada is Brazilian black bean dish that includes various parts of the cow that we usually don’t eat (such as stomach and other such parts of the intestines) and is considered a delicacy. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever actually had the real feijoada with such ingredients.  Instead, I’ve just had the alternative method of preparing it that has the undesirable ingredients swapped out for linguica (a type of sausage.) In a desperate attempt to figure out something for supper the a couple weeks ago, I decided to concoct a black bean dish to put over rice.  Without meaning to, this dish accidentally ended up being similar to what I remember feijoada to be!  What a nice surprise!  We went from never eating Brazilian food to having these black beans almost every week! This cheater feijoada dish is definitely going on my list of last-minute, fast, super easy, yummy meals to make when Talitha is being n...

A combination of a couple different recipes, I’ve made this several times recently.  Just the other day, while we were eating it,  Isaac kept making comments like “Mmmm, this is good, Angie” and  “Mmmm, I’m so full” and  “Mmmmm, that was really good.” If it’s husband-approved, I think it’s a keeper! Aside from being husband-approved, it also has several things going for it that makes it “cook/mom-approved:” - It’s a crockpot meal that only cooks 3-4 hours (compared to all-day on low.) - It uses up leftover rice. - The rice makes the hamburger go further. - It’s quick and easy to put together. I’ve mentioned adapting a baked stuffed cabbage roll recipe into a stovetop, unstuffed cabbage rolls recipe —which is pretty good.  While it is a pretty easy recipe to make last-minute, I think I like this crockpot, stuffed version better!  The process of “stuffing cabbage rolls” has always sounded tedious to me, but all t...

Here’s a favorite goodie for snack-time at school.  I came across this recipe on the internet awhile back, but I just scribbled it on a piece of paper, so I have no idea what site it came from...otherwise I would link to it, you know...give credit where credit is due sort of thing.  Anyway, not only is it popular among the students, it is one of my favorites as well, particularly since it is super easy to mix up and makes a big batch! These are also yummy straight out of the freezer!  Here's the recipe: 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1 Cup Sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cup Peanut Butter 3 eggs 1 Tablespoon Vanilla 1 1/2 cup quick oats (or 2 cups Old Fashioned, ground in a blender) 3 cups Old Fashioned oats 1-2 cups M&Ms 1 cup chocolate chips Mix all together and spread into a greased cookie sheet.   This is where the plastic wrap over the dough to help press it into the pan comes in super handy! Bake at 350 for 18-20 minu...

On the days I cook at Cornerstone, one of my responsibilities has been to make a dessert of some sort.  These desserts usually end up being some kind of bars or cakes.  Occasionally, I’ll make cookies, but not very often. Anyway...after having this responsibility for several years now, I’m slowly learning a few tricks to help make the job easier.  Here are two that I have used recently: Trick #1: When pressing stiff cookie-dough type dough into a pan for bars, do two things: *First, scoop (or crumble) the dough into multiple piles instead of just one big pile in the middle.  Having multiple piles of dough on the pan will make it much easier to press the dough into the pan—the dough will only have to spread a couple inches to reach the edges instead of all the way from the middle out to the edges!  *Secondly, use plastic wrap to help press it into the pan. A piece of plastic wrap slightly bigger than the pan should do the job.  Just lay...

The past few Christmases I've posted some recipes that are traditional here at the Stanley/Lehrman household:  Cheese Ball,   Summer Sausage & Peppernuts,  and  Almond Toast . I think it was last year that Isaac and I enjoyed delivering Summer Sausage and Almond Toast to friends.  This year, however,  I didn't get around to making the almond toast.  Instead, I decided to make Mom's Caramel Corn recipe to go along with the Summer Sausage and Zippy Mustard.   I think it turned out quite well! Christmas Caramel Corn:  Pop roughly 7 quarts of popcorn.   If you're doing it on the stove, you'll need about 1 3/4 cup dry popcorn (1/2 cup dry popcorn makes roughly 2 quarts popped popcorn.) (Don't know how many bags of microwave popcorn that would be...)  Mix together and boil for 5 minutes (while stirring):  2 cups brown sugar 1 cup butter 1/2 cup white or dark corn syrup  1/2 tsp salt  Remo...

The first week after Talitha was born, my parents were here, so they basically took care of all our meals during that time.  Then my parents left.  For almost the next two weeks, ladies from church brought us meals.  It was such a blessing to know that a hot meal was coming each day and I didn’t have to even think about what to make for supper!  (Sometimes that thinking part is the hardest part! haha!) Anyway… during that time, instead of a hot meal for supper, one friend brought us some frozen breakfast burritos.  Ok guys, let me tell you something: for those of us who always have to have a hot breakfast, those burritos were the best. idea. ever.  Period.  I say that because, for about the first month after Talitha was born, there were so many mornings I was so tired I could hardly make myself get out of bed, much less get out of bed in time to make Isaac breakfast before he had to leave for work....

I think I’ve gotten into a rut (but I don’t think it is a bad rut…at least not yet.)  Let me explain. I’ve had an ongoing, weekly,  problem:  What to make for Sunday lunch?  If I don’t have something planned for lunch on Sunday, it easily becomes one of those my-brain-isn’t-working moments after we get home from church...  So every week, come Saturday night (or if I really am organized, sometimes Saturday morning or afternoon), I try to think ahead to what should I make for lunch on Sunday?   Oh what to make?!? (That's every housewife’s never-ending struggle, right???  My husband frequently marvels at how “easily” I come up with something to eat…  Haha! Little does he know that I’ve only been slightly obsessing about it in my mind for who knows how long, desperately trying to come up with something-- anything-- that is edible to put on the table!) Anyway, I have a few [subconscious] prerequisites for meals that work for Sunday ...

All my life, I’ve never liked granola bars—they were much too crunchy, nutty, fruity, and healthy  for me.  By nature, I am much more of a junk-food person than a health-nut…I could eat hamburgers and fries and pizza every day.  Soooo, I really only ate granola bars when I was desperate…and even then, not very often.  But since last summer, I’ve been working to change my diet.  Cutting out grains, dairy, and unhealthy sweets also cut out alot of the snacky-type things that I like.  And one can only eat so much fruit and plain nuts.  Oh, what can I snack on?? These homemade granola bars have become my latest and favoritest snack.  They’re full of chopped seeds, nuts, coconut, and some dried fruit (and I like to add some chocolate too!)  And they’re so YUMMY! Oh yeah, there’s the chocolate and coconut. (Did I mention that I also used to not like coconut?) What holds it to...

So I wrote this post back when it was still fall...not early 2017 with piles of snow everywhere. Haha... ********** Fall is totally my favorite time of the year—the weather, the colors, the food.  It’s the best!  Because of all the great sales at the grocery stores lately, there have been lots of apples around our place lately, and now sweet potatoes (or yams) are coming around as well!   I have enjoyed the opportunity to make some yummy apple and sweet potato dishes. Some of my favorites have been sweet potato french fries baked in the oven with a little coconut oil and seasoned salt...mmm, I could eat a whole pan of them! Sliced sweet potatoes fried in a skillet with  olive oil and salt are just as good—even though they have a slightly different shape. (And every. single. time I make this dish, I almost have to physically restrain myself from adding more seasonings to it, but you really only need the olive oil and salt with these potatoes!) And t...

Here are some new recipes that I’ve tried lately and I think they are well on their way to being made quite often around here! 1.  Curried Chicken Apple Salad I love. love. love the curry twist to your normal grilled chicken salad! Don’t let the curry scare you off!  And then having chunks of apple (I used Granny Smith apples) made it even better!  I’m finding that even if I don’t make this whole recipe (with the fruit and nuts and dressing) I like having the curry flavor on the chicken to dress up a regular lettuce salad. 2.  Pumpkin Granola  Isaac calls this "ludicrously good!"  Can you ever go wrong with pumpkin?  I don’t think so.  Haha… Anyway, I should warn you before you even look at the recipe: this isn’t your average bowl of healthy-oatmeal-granola-for-breakfast. In fact, you might find out that you have a selfish-streak in you (which of course we all have, unfortuniately), and you just might be tempted to eat it all befor...

We called it “the mayonnaise-vinegar dressing” and it was “Dad’s recipe.”  And then he taught me how to make it: you dump a little of this and a bit of that and mix it together. After he taught me, it was always my responsibility to make it whenever we needed some.  As I dumped and poured each time I made it, I came up with the proportions to guarantee success each time. (Although I confess that I mostly just dump and pour anyway!) Now, it has almost become the go-to dressing (next to Ranch, that is!) for all sorts of things: grilled chicken salad, normal salad, taco salad, and burritos. (It is absolutely yummy on Mexican food!)  Anyway, I almost always have a dish of it in the fridge…and it stays good for…well…a long time! Here’s what you do to make it: Mix together equal portions of mayonnaise and sugar (i.e. 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup sugar.) Add up to 1/2-portion of vinegar or to taste (i.e. up to 1/4 cup vinegar.)  That’s it! If you...

The other day was one of those days that practically begged to have a bowl of soup for supper: the snow was falling and there was no sign of it stopping; the fire was blazing in our wood stove; and the next day was our day off… All together, it felt like a yummy bowl of soup and a movie was the cozy winter thing to do.  You know what I’m talking about. If I hadn’t already had something planned for supper, I totally would have made some Borscht and biscuits. Borscht, or German Cabbage Soup, is a simple soup with something about it that just shouts “Comfort Food.”  I don’t know how or why.  It just does. So don’t let the cabbage scare you off! 1-2 Chicken breasts, cut in chunks 1 onion, diced 1/2 head of cabbage, finely chopped 2-3 carrots, chopped 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained 2 cups broth (you may need more, depending on how soupy you like your soup!) 1-2 teaspoons parsley, dill, or any other spices that sound good. ...

Yes, I'm am a Settlers of Catan fan...and a Cities and Knights fan.  If you are also a fan, you should check out these  Settlers of Catan Nachos . Aren't they sweet?!? Someday when I'm super motivated to do a Catan-themed party or something...I'll make these. :)

These are some of the yummiest and most addicting cookies I’ve ever had.  My aunt often had a fresh batch in a cookie jar filled with pretty cellophane paper sitting on the kitchen counter when we’d come to visit.  Boy was it hard to not to eat them all up as soon at we got to her house!  These cookies are super simple…and really not a special recipe at all because you can almost always find the recipe on the back of a Funfetti Cake Mix box or a  Funfetti Frosting can!  And yet as available as the recipe is, I’ve never eaten them anywhere than at my aunt’s house, which makes me wonder if anyone ever reads the sides of boxes!  Anyway, here it is: 1 Funfetti Cake Mix 1/3 C. Oil 2 Egg Mix together and form into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Remove from pan and cool for a few minutes. While cookies are s...

I haven't really spent too much time on the Pioneer Woman website until recently.  I found several recipes that sounded good and clipped them to my Evernote  (which is super handy, by the way! It’s free too! ) So when we got invited to a “let’s- watch-the-college-football-national-championship-game” get-together, I thought these No Bake Peanut Butter Bars  would be the perfect goodie to take!  (Never mind that I had never made them before! How can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?) These bars had several things going for them: 1. They were no bake—hence, a quick and easy dessert to whip up after work and before the game. 2.  They had peanut butter…and chocolate chips…and more chocolate chips. What's not to love?? 3. They kinda (ish) had the Reese’s Cup look—with a layer of peanut butter and a layer of chocolate. So, while I was somewhat skeptical of them, they actually weren't too bad.   Some of the guys...

I’ll be honest: I don’t ever remember Grandma making this…but that’s because I only remember celebrating Christmas with her one time—back in 1996—and I was only 7 years old  (because chese balls and who made them are not very important to 7-year-olds....)   Ahh, that Christmas in ‘96 stands out in my mind…hanging with my cousins {playing Mario and Donkey Kong} , aunts and uncles and grandmas being around, going ice skating, snow, a real Christmas tree {I think that was the first and maybe even the only time we had a real tree} … Yes, that is one of my favorite Christmases. Anyway,  we’ve made this cheese ball recipe practically every year… I’ve tried other cheese balls, but this one always is still the winner!  I think it is the pineapple in it that makes it unique.  I think you’ll agree once you also try it.   Grandma Lehrman’s Christmas Cheese Ball 2 – 8oz. packages cream cheese 1 c. cooked pineapple, drained and squeezed dry (I usuall...

Thanksgiving is over and the season for celebrating Christmas is here!  Although I know Christmas isn’t so much about what we do as it is about Who we celebrate , you can’t deny that all of the sights, smells, and traditions have become a part of how we celebrate Christ’s birth.     Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share several more special recipes that, around here, are only for Christmas .  Last year I shared my family’s all-time favorite recipes for Peppernuts  and Home-made Summer Sausage  ( If you’ve never tried homemade summer sausage, you don’t know what you’re missing out on! I grew up on this stuff, and it has kind of {really} spoiled me.) This year I’ll try to post the recipes for Almond Toast,   Grandma Lehrman’s Christmas Cheese Ball ( it’s the best cheese ball I’ve ever had!)and Homemade Zippy Mustard to go with the Summer Sausage (which makes the summer sausage burst w...