Amazing Oils

I have not had a lot of experience with natural remedies but I am convinced that the Lord has provided us with all that we need. Over the past year or so I have been learning more and more. I must say that I am totally and completely amazed with peppermint oil. Did you know that it is a natural pain reliever?? A few years back I bought a small bottle of pain relief spray called super ouch spray. A member of our family was selling it at a family reunion. I have never found it anywhere else but the main ingredient was peppermint oil. At that time I had a horribly painful heel spur. Some mornings my heel would hurt so bad that I could not even step on that foot. I started spraying my heel every time it hurt and within a few months the pain stopped completely. Do you know that it has NEVER come back?!?! I have also used it on a tooth ache and I believe prevented myself from needing a root canal. Recently I have discovered another use for peppermint oil. I have menstrual cramps about once every 3 months or so. They are not nearly as bad as they were when I was a teenager but they are definitely not pleasant either. Just one or two drops of peppermint oil on the tip of the finger and rubbed on the belly button and POOF! the pain is gone!! I mean it is seriously that quick. No waiting 30 minutes for the medicine to kick in. It is mere seconds. It sounds completely crazy. It makes absolutely no sense. It is just a tiny drop on the skin and the internal pain is gone!!! I have a friend that has tried the peppermint oil for cramps(months ago) and was as amazed at the results as I was. Within about a month she is due to have a baby girl and is planning on a natural birth. She is gonna take her peppermint oil with her to the hospital. I'll have to let ya know if it helps the labor pain.

Yummy Breakfast!!

I had been browsing Allrecipes.com looking for new ideas for breakfast. After seeing several pictures of french toast I decided they looked really good. It has been awhile since I have made french toast and I wanted something a little different so I looked through several different recipes and then, through mixing and matching, came up with a hit.
I had a loaf of french bread so I cut it into about 1 inch slices. I then cut 3/4 of the way down the middle of each slice and smeared on some smashed bananas between the two sides.

In a bowl, I put about 1/4 cup of flour and whisked in milk until all the flour was mixed in and smooth. I ended up with about 1 1/2-2 cups of milk. Add 2 eggs some cinnamon and vanilla and mix it all together. I then dipped each slice in the milk/egg mixture and cooked on a hot griddle.

The smell while they were cooking was heavenly, like banana bread was in the oven. We topped each slice with a drizzle of syrup and it was a BIG hit. This was the first time I had used french bread instead of regular sliced bread. I had also never used flour in the mixture before. Those two changes made a HUGE difference. Of course the banana was key! I don't think my old way of making french toast will ever be acceptable again.

Blueberry sauce

I could not decide if the photo on the black plate or the white plate did this dish the most justice so I just posted them both!

I have been given some blueberries. Lots and Lots of blueberries. I have made blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins and have plans to make some blueberry jelly. This weekend I started making pancakes before I thought about the blueberries in the freezer so I started searching www.allrecipes.com. I found a simple recipe for a blueberry sauce and decided to give it a try. WOW!! It was amazing! If I can find a steady supply of inexpensive blueberries for the rest of my life I would never have a need for syrup again! Here is all ya do....

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs corn starch
1/3 cup water
2 cup blueberry

Mix sugar and corn starch in a saucepan. slowly add water and mix well. add blueberries and cook on medium heat stirring often. When it comes to a boil, boil for about 1 minute while stirring.

That's it!! I told ya it was simple. You can add more cornstarch to make a thicker sauce for toppings like on a cheesecake or less cornstarch for a syrupy sauce. Trust me-this stuff is DELICIOUS!

Bubble Pizza

Ok, I have to admit that I am so terrible!! I found a recipe on somebodies blog and I wrote the recipe down but did not write the blog down. I tried the recipe and it was so good and so easy to make I just have to share. If you happen to have this recipe posted on your blog, please know that I did not mean to steal it and repost without giving you credit. Feel free to leave a comment and take the credit!

2 cans of biscuits cut up

1 jar of pizza sauce

whatever you like on pizza-I used canadian bacon, onion and green peppers

Mix all together and pour into a cake/casserole pan

Bake for 20 minutes then cover with Motzerella cheese and put back in the oven to melt cheese.

Is it good?!?

Thumbs up!!

...can't answer mom...eatin pizza...

Amazing Banana Bread

This is my grandma's recipe. She was great about adding little extras to really finish off a great recipe and really making it her own. This is a family ALL TIME favorite. Our youth had a bake sale last week to help raise money for them to go to church camp and I made some of this bread to sell. My whole family was upset that they had to smell it baking but did not get to eat any of it so I thought I better make some more.

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 c sugar

3 smashed very ripe bananas

1 tsp baking soda

2 c flour

1/4 c chopped pecans

1/4c chocolate chips

1/4c maraschino cherries

cream shortening egg and sugar then add banana mix well add soda and flour mix well add nuts cherries and chocolate. pour into greased loaf pans. bake at 350* for 1 hour

I used 5 mini loaf pans and they were done in about 45 minutes

This stuff is soooo good that I will have trouble keeping it around very long.

Chicken Pasta Salad

Chicken pasta salad is AWESOME and oh so easy! All you need is...

Pasta-cooked and cooled-we have used spirals, shells, and the colorful noodles but my kids like the bow ties the best
chicken-cooked, cut up, and cooled
dressing-we use honey mustard(Ken's is really good) but you can try it with any dressing your family likes
what ever you like and have on hand-how easy is that!?! We like you add cut broccoli, chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, small cubes of cheddar, onion, cauliflower(monty doesn't like that but will eat it in this salad and sometimes not realize it:))


Dump everything in a big bowl, mix and serve cold. This is awesome for a quick meal and great as left overs for lunch. It is perfect for "no time for cooking and still get in a nap before we have to leave again" Sunday afternoons!! It is also great with some warm bread sticks or crescent rolls with butter and garlic salt spread on the inside before they are cooked.

Ok, so the close up picture doesn't look all that appetizing but trust me, this stuff is AWESOME!

Don't Be Afraid!!

I got an email from a dear friend that reads my blog (we will just call her Mrs. Ken Doll) about my homemade chicken and noodle recipe. She said...

Hey Charlynne, I made your grandma's noodles last night. They were a
breeze and yum yum. I altered the recipe a bit, I cut it in half and
used whole wheat flour, egg whites, skim milk and a large chic breast.
It made about three hefty servings at about 300 cals and we had some
steamed carrots to put on top. I'm sure the other way is tastier but
this way was a healthy treat that we all enjoyed. Thanks for the
recipe and convincing me it is easy. I've been meaning to attempt
noodles for quite awhile now but just never got up the nerve to try.

It was so good to hear that someone had tried it and liked it. I posted her email to say 2 things...

1.Don't be afraid to try it! homemade noodles are not as hard as they appear. I also LOVE the fact that she modified it to fit her smaller family and substituted ingredients in order to make it a healthier meal. That is one thing I have learned from my grandma. Recipes are a Guide! Make them your own, add what you like, take out or substitute for things you don't like. My grandma can never tell you exact measurements of the ingredients she uses. You just eye it and add more or less of whatever your family likes. It doesn't even have to be the same each time you use the same recipe. The experimenting is the most fun and what will later make your husband say "My mom never did cook like this!" and you kids say "No one could ever cook like MY MOM!"

2.Don't be afraid to leave me comments! This particular friend sends me emails often about things she has read or liked on my blog but has never left a comment on the blog. I have another friend that calls me and has said she is nervous to leave a comment because it is like being published-it is there for everyone to see. I understand. I was nervous the first time I ever left a comment on another blog but I did not know that women. She lives 1/2 way across the country and seems so brilliant and is inspiring to read and is obviously a great wife-mom-homeschooler-Christian-etc. I AM JUST ME GUYS! There is no need for you to be nervous about leaving me a comment! I love them! I need them! It makes my day when someone comments on my blog! You can always use a pet name to protect you identity. That is why I changed my friends name to Mrs. Ken Doll in this post-protecting her identity;) . If we are friends there must be a little pet nickname you could give yourself to let me know who you are and if we do not know each other than it really doesn't matter what name you use!!! Now I am not in anyway upset that Mrs Ken Doll has not commented but instead sends me a personal email. I love getting emails from her and I am glad she gets whatever she gets out of reading my thoughts. I just wanted to issue any reader a challenge....

1.If you have never left a comment, please leave me a comment to tell my why you don't. Even if it is because my writing sucks and my life is too boring to comment on, I can take it. I am just curious about what all reasons people have for never saying anything.

2.If you have left comments before, leave me a comment about the 1st time you ever commented on anyone's blog and what made you do it. If you had been reading blogs for a while before you ever commented, what made you not do it?

READY?! SET!!! LEAVE A COMMENT!!!!

Kenyon Made the Bread!

Last night when I was cooking dinner, chicken strips-mashed potatoes-and pea salad, Kenyon decided he wanted to make some homemade bread. I checked online real fast a quick dinner roll recipe and found one that looked pretty simple and that would not take too long so Kenyon made his first homemade bread all by himself! They turned out prety good and even with the time it took for them to rise, they were still done by the time I had the chicken strips all fried up.


Here is the recipe he used. (I found it on a recipe site but dont know which one. I just searched "quick homemade dinner roll")

1 pkg. yeast
1 c. lukewarm water
1 egg
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. oil
3 c. flour, sifted

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add egg, sugar, salt and oil. Add half the flour, and beat until smooth. Add rest of flour and beat again until smooth. Fill greased muffin pans half full and let rise until double. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

HOMEMADE NOODLES

My grandma has always made THE BEST homemade chicken and noodles. A few years back I told her that she was gonna have to teach me how to make them someday. That is when I learned that it is SO easy. First I boil a chicken. When it is about done I start my noodles. I use 2 eggs, about 1/3 cup of milk, salt(I like onion salt), and pepper. Whisk until frothy then add flour until you can stir into a dough ball(about 2 cups). Roll it out on a floured surface.

When it is rolled thin, cut into noodles. I have a noodle cutter that cuts about 6 at a time-I have no idea where it came from! It is one of those things that was in my drawers when I first moved out and for years I had no idea what it was for but I kept it. A pizza cutter would just fine for this step.

Some people like to let the noodles dry but I just sprinkle cut noodles with some flour and make sure there are no sticky parts. If you are like me you may think-" this doesn't look like enough noodles. I think I will just double the batch!" Don't be fooled! this makes plenty of noodles after they have expanded. If you want to double the batch, be sure you have a tall stock pot with plenty of liquid. Doubling the batch in a regular pot WILL result in burned noodles to the bottom of the pan!! It stinks and is not fun to get out!! Just trust me on that one!

After the noodles are cut, I remove the chicken for deboning and add the noodles to the chicken broth. The broth has to have a good boil or the noodles will get sticky and gooey. I add the chicken as I debone it. The noodles take about 30 minutes at a good boil for the consistency I like. Just check them periodically in case you want them softer(less time) or harder(more time).

You can always add some veggies it you like. We enjoy the plain0 chicken and noodle.

Don't be scared to make homemade noodles. They are kinda like rice krispy treats-everyone thinks you must have slaved over them but they are really very easy. I have never really messed up the noodle(even saved most when I burned them to the pan) even if they don't come out exactly the same every time. It is one of those recipes that brings memories of Grandma's cooking back and is just as good as hers.

Chicken Pot Pie

I have not posted recipes on here before but tonight I decided to share one of our all time favorites-homemade chicken pot pie. It is oh so good!! My family LOVES this so I use a large pan. This recipe would make about a cake size pan.

pie ingrediants:
chicken
3 or 4 chopped potatoes
2 cans of mixed vegis
cream of chicken
sour cream

I boil a whole chicken and debone it(I use 1/2 the chicken for another meal). While I am deboning the chicken I add several chopped up potatoes to the broth. When the potatoes are soft, I add a few cans of mixed vegis and the chicken. I drain the broth keeping about a cup in with the chicken and vegis. Then add a small container of sour cream and can of cream of chicken some salt and pepper and mix well.

crust:
2 cup flour
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
salt(I like onion salt)
pepper

mix the crust and pinch peices off and press against sides and bottom of pan.


pour chicken mixture into bottom crust.

for top crust, rollout between wax paper or saran wrap and lay on top of pie

put slices of butter on top and put in oven at 350*

about 30 minutes later, when the crust is golden brown, dinner is ready!

About 5 minutes after that-IT'S GONE!

This is an all time favorite. If anyone trys it, let me know what your family thinks. I have not yet decided if I should include more recipes on the blog. I just don't know if anyone really wants to read about them, so let me know how you feel about that.