The Berenstain Bears Country Cookbook

The Berenstain Bears Country Cookbook is a wonderful cookbook. It is has 40 recipes that are "Cub-Friendly cooking with an Adult." The cookbook offers a variety of breakfast, lunch, main dishes, desserts and snacks recipes. Most recipes need simple ingredients and items you would have on hand. The book is very colorful, printed on nice quality paper and the recipes are easy to follow. Boys or girls of a variety of ages could use this cookbook, there are recipes as complex as grilled chicken with carrots to banana and peanut butter sandwiches. Several recipes could be made for a special event. I especially like the Race Car Cookies, Bunny Biscuits and Turkey Shaped Sandwich recipes and look forward to making these with and for my grandchildren. There are some that may not be appealing to children such as spinach salad and Scotch eggs.  

Throughout the book there are one page stories about different recipes and nutrition. In the back there is a page with "Sweet Facts about Honey" and kitchen measurements.The book ends sweetly with all the Berenstain Bears cooking and the Bible verse, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Miracle at the Higher Ground Cafe Book Review

I recently started reviewing books for Booklook Bloggers. This is my first review.

Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe by New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado was my choice to read and review.  This is my first book of Mr. Lucado's to read. It is described on the cover as a " Heavenly Novel" and is written from a Christian perspective. It's is a fictional novel that is a light and easy read.  It would be great to read on an airplane or laying on the beach. Mr.Lucado  writes a  fictional story in which you will quickly become involved.  The novel follows a young mother, Chelsea Chambers in opening an old-fashioned coffee shop. You experience her trials of divorce, single parenthood and owning her own business. Even though she has several upsets, she has unexpected help and experiences a unique way to make her business flourish. I do not agree with the ideology on how her business became lucrative. I don't believe this is how God works but, this is a fictional work and I had to keep that in perspective. I have to say the book was fairly predictable and I knew how it would end. I would hesitantly  recommend it to someone looking for an easy read who is not looking for a strict scriptural foundation .

Zucchini Bread

I developed this recipe a few years back. I make it all year long, in the summer I use fresh zucchini and in the winter, frozen zucchini. The bread is loaded with fiber and freezes well.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Oatmeal

2 cups white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup wheat bran

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup broken pecan pieces

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini (fresh)

or

I freeze 2 cups of fresh zucchini and when it thaws it measures approximately 1/2 cup after the water has been squeezed out

 In large bowl mix, oatmeal, flours, bran, baking soda, salt, baking powder and pecans.

In small bowl slightly beat 3 eggs:

Add sugar, oil, vanilla and zucchini.  Mix.

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, mix using spoon, do not use mixer.

Don't over mix, stop when all dry ingredients are in incorporated.

Spoon batter into 2 well greased bread pans, I use 1 large and 1 small pan.

Bake 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. The bread is done when  toothpick comes out clean.

I will post this recipe to these blog parties:

Made by You Monday

Treasure Box Tuesday

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Full Plate Thursday

Handmade Tuesdays

Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Strut Your Stuff Saturday

Sunday Showcase

The Book Thief

This book was written by Markus Zusak and puts a different perspective on World War II. First the story is told by "death" and then it follows a German, non Jewish  girl and her adopted family. You see the side that isn't normally told. How did the people of Germany who were not Jewish feel, what trial, fears did they have. The book become a little slow in the middle but, the end is well written and you will need some tissues handy. The book was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 230 weeks.

The movie is well done and stars Geoffrey Rush. I found it to be close to the book and one I would watch again. 

Both the movie and the book are thought provoking and I feel would be suitable for a young teen. 

I always recommend for a parent to read a book/watch a movie before their children do. 

I will posting this to these blog parties:

For the Kids Fridays

Made by You Monday

Breakfast Brierocks

 

My husband works as a conductor for the railroad. He goes to work at odd times and needs to pack enough food to last 12-24 hours. I needed something that would freeze and microwave well.
This recipe does both, plus it makes several.


Brown one pound sausage with a couple of tablespoons minced garlic, a  small onion, diced and a 1/2 a  green bell pepper, diced. Drain.

Scramble six eggs, add to sausage mixture and mix in one cup cheese of your choice.

I used a basic bread recipe in my bread machine. You could use frozen bread dough or make it from scratch. I rolled the dough out as thin as I could and cut it  into  4x4  to 6x6 inch squares.

Place a hefty amount of filling in the center of your bread dough square.

Fold over opposite corners and seal with an egg wash (a slightly beaten egg with a teaspoon of water added). Repeat with the other corners.  Make sure you have no holes in you dough and the seams are sealed. Place on a greased cookie sheet, seam side down and coat with the egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before you freeze.

I will post this to these post parties:

Made by You Monday

Treasure Box Tuesday

Foodie Friday

Wow us Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Handmade Tuesdays

Easy Peasy Cornbread

When the weather turns cooler what is  better than a pot of soup, stew, chili or gumbo simmering on the stove top? Cornbread, hot out of the oven with butter melting on top! 

The perfect combination!

1 cup baking mix

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375degrees. Pour 1-2 tablespoons oil in10 inch cast iron skillet and spread around.. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes, just long enough to heat the oil. 

Mix baking mix, cornmeal, sugar and baking powder in large bowl. Mix milk, egg and melted butter in a separate bowl, add to dry ingredients. Mix by hand, there may be a few lumps. Pour into hot cast iron skillet and bake for 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown and a toothpick when stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Helpful Hint: The dry ingredients can be mixed and stored in a baggie or glass jar in the freezer.  

I will be posting this to these blog parties:

Made by You Monday

Treasure Box Tuesday

Foodie Friday

Wow us Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Handmade Tuesdays

My garden is turning red, orange and green!

For the last 2-3 years, I have planted red, orange and green peppers in our garden. I like to chop up the peppers, freeze them and add them to stew, chili, gumbo etc. I wanted the variety of colors. Every year all my peppers are green! I thought maybe I picked up the wrong plant or someone exchanged the plant tag. The plants produced plenty of peppers, none were red or orange. This year was no different, I discussed this with a friend and she had the same problem. So I researched it and found out that green peppers are actually unripe and if you are patient your peppers will turn colors. This is why they are more expensive in the grocery story, it takes a lot longer for them to ripen. I feel a little silly, but, am happy to know I can grow red and orange peppers. 

I will post this to these blog parties:

Made by you Monday

Treasure Box Tuesday

Handmade Tuesdays

The Homestead Barn Hop