A Spice Salute

This is a shameless plug for one of my favorite products, 21 Seasoning Salute, from Trader Joe's.

I always have a jar of this in my kitchen. I use it in my roasted carrots and to season chicken, whether it's in the pan or the pot. I've also added it to rice, soups, other veggies, and we use it as a better alternative to season Top Ramen.

It contains spices that you'd expect like onion, garlic, basil, rosemary...and some maybe you wouldn't, like orange peel, carrot, cumin, cayenne, and oil of lemon. What it doesn't contain is salt!

Here's my simple, yet delicious recipe for Roasted Carrots:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Now, you can mix everything up in a bowl like you should, or be lazy like me, and mix it all on the baking sheet. =)

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 425.

Mix together baby carrots (enough to serve your group) and oil (olive, canola, or grapeseed)- enough to coat the carrots. You want to coat them, but not drown them!

Sprinkle coated carrots with coarse salt and the 21 Seasoning Salute and stir to mix.

Set your rack one level up from the middle and roast carrots for at least 20 minutes or until done. Check and stir along the way. They should be tender and look roasted...you can do this! These are yum-O!

Just one of the many products I love from Trader Joe's. And no, I don't work there (how fun would that be!!!) I just enjoy shopping there! Don't even get me started on their cornbread...

Let Freedom Ring!

Here's hoping you all had a fun and safe 4th of July! We had a great time with friends, bbq'ing at our house, relaxing, kids in the pool, eating waaay too much (yes!), and seeing some fireworks.

I am so thankful to live in a country where I can speak my mind (as cracked as it may be sometimes), pursue my dreams, live in freedom and worship God without fear.

And it is because of Christ's work on the cross that we have true freedom, a freedom that cannot be taken away by any person, group or government. Thank you, Jesus!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.    -Galatians 5:1

Grace is Nine

Ahh, my youngest is nine today. I cannot be in denial, I don't want to be, except that I can no longer pick her up. She can practically pick me up. That part just plain stinks!

To Grace: You bring so much to my life - laughter, drama, bugs (ugh!), brains (you're welcome!), energy, a stubborn streak, and our shared love of math, just for starters. I am so in love with you, darlin', and blessed to be your mommy!

Getting her ears pierced

   

 With her birthday present 

  

Grace Loves Tomatoes (aka the Instagram Demo)

 The other day, I was randomly snapping photos with my iPhone of my daughter, Grace with some tomatoes on a cutting board. (Don't ask!)...Anyway, she loves tomatoes and loves the camera, so we had fun with it. Then, by chance, I found out about an app for iPhones called Instagram. You can apply any of about a dozen different filters to your photograph. Then you can share it through email, Facebook, or followers on Instagram, etc. It's a free app (the best kind), and I have to admit, I am hooked!

See for yourself with "Grace and the Tomatoes":

  

two different filters applied

to the same photograph for comparison

Fun stuff! Look out world...as Paul Simon would say...I got an iPhone camera, love to take a photograph! Oh, wait...he said Nikon camera. Well, goodbye Kodachrome, hello Instagram!

Parenting 001

This article by Kevin DeYoung is so good, I had to link it to my blog. I want to read it over and over again. You should read it, too. It's a (very) funny, fresh, and freeing viewpoint on parenting. (Click on the link below)

Parenting 001

Rachel...This One's For You

My darling Rachel,
   Please forgive me for being so very late in saying "Happy 12th Birthday" to you on my blog. I hope this little video makes you feel better. I love you, Lu! You are precious to me!

Easy and Cheap Recipes

Here are a couple of recipes I've discovered recently. These are all easy to prepare, cheap, and actually liked by every member of my family. They also use ingredients that with the exception of a couple, are staples in my kitchen.


"Maple" Syrup
I really like this maple syrup recipe, not just because it costs less than what I can buy at the store. We tend to go through a lot of the stuff thanks to our affinity for crepes, waffles, pancakes...you get it. This recipe is made without corn syrup, and in my opinion, tastes really good! It does need to be refrigerated, but can be warmed up as needed.


1 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2+ tsp. vanilla (I always like MORE vanilla!)
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring


Combine sugars and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the stove, but allow the saucepan to remain on the burner for several minutes, stirring occasionally (make sure the sugars are completely dissolved).
Remove from burner and allow to cool a little, then add the vanilla and maple flavoring, stirring well. Cool completely before pouring into container (I use a store-brand syrup bottle!)




Cake Mix Cookies
This is another super easy recipe, and a great way to use up that cake mix that is just sitting in the pantry, or those leftover nuts from another recipe (or the half-eaten bag of chocolate chips...because your family thinks your pantry is a snack bar). You could also just buy a box of cake mix, such as German Chocolate Cake (yum!), since on sale or with a coupon you can usually get them for around $1 per box.


1 box of cake mix (any flavor)
2 eggs (better if you have Piper Crazy Chicken Farm eggs!)
1/2 cup oil
Optional ingredients: nuts, chocolate chips, m&m's, coconut, etc.
Optional: Flavoring such as vanilla, orange, etc. if you are using a white cake mix.


Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. I did this by hand with my strong arm (cough, cough) and a wooden spoon.
Drop by spoonfuls or cookie scoop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until done. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack. Or just eat them as you are taking them off the cookie sheets!!!
If you manage to not eat them all at once, you can frost them or make ice cream sandwiches with them.


I saw a variation to this recipe where one egg, 1/4 cup oil, and 1/4 cup water was used instead of what I listed above. I have not tried this variation, but am curious to know how they differ. I wonder if the cookies come out flatter...they are probably a little healthier with the smaller quantity of oil. All in all, not a big difference, so you can choose.


I think I need to go make some cookies now!