Italian Meatballs

 

Italian Meatballs

2 lb ground pork/beef mix
1/2 C Italian Breadcrumbs
1/2 C grated pecorino romano 
2 Tbsp of garlic
1/4 C milk
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt (to taste)

Preheat oven to 425, grease dark baking sheet. Mix all ingredients, then grab chunks of mixture about pink pong ball size (1.25 oz). They seem to hold the sauce even better when they're a little jagged, kinda like a meteor, and try to avoid making round smooth edges. Bake 12 minutes, then flip and cook for another 12 minutes. Serve with marinara.  

These are a super high protein and delicious meal (four of them in a dish with some marinara is a delicious way to meal prep, adding steamed broccoli for me makes it even better!) and they heat up great in either the microwave or the air fryer. You could also make them half size and serve with toothpicks for an appetizer. Yum!  

Jason's Salsa

 

Jason's Salsa

One of Jason's firehouse buddies taught him this recipe, and it's a hit every time he makes it. Super easy to add all ingredients to the blender with minimal prep  

28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes 
1-2 jalapeños, depending on how hot you want it
1/2 of a red onion, outer skin peeled off
1/2 lime juice, fresh is best
Bunch of cilantro, cut off the stems and throw it all in 
Apx. 3 T. Lawry’s garlic salt 

Blend all ingredients and serve with tortilla chips. Yum!  

White Christmas Crack

 

Susan’s White Christmas Crack 

2 packages Hershey’s white baking morsels
3 cups Crispix cereal
3 cups golde2n grahams
3 cups corn chex
3 cups mini pretzels
12 oz can mixed nuts
8 oz bag hershey’s cookies and crème drops – cut in halves
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix all cereal, pretzels, nuts and candy in a large bowl. Melt white chocolate baking morsels and vegetable oil together in microwave, stirring every 20-30 seconds. Pour melted mixture over cereal and coat thoroughly. Pour onto wax paper, spread out and let dry until hardened. 

Salt River Bars

 

Salt River Bars

These have been a long time favorite, first discovered at Downtown Gilbert's "Liberty Market" and a special treat that I would pick up for Jason every time I was near there. Jason found this recipe, which is a little labor intensive, but SO worth the work. WARNING - these are super rich, I highly recommend either making them for a party, or planning on sharing them with others right away. 

• 90 Club crackers
• 1 cup butter, salted
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• Maldon sea salt for finishing (available on Amazon and WORTH IT for the light, flaky salt texture!) 

1. Prepare a 9 by 13 inch pan (very helpful if the pan has straight sides, like this one) by lining it with parchment paper, leaving the two long edges a bit long so that it can be used to remove the bars from the pan later.  Spray the parchment and sides of the pan with nonstick spray.
2. 
   
3. Cover the bottom of the pan with the first layer of crackers on top of the parchment.  Cut the crackers to fit as needed.  I used five rows of six crackers, which covered my pan perfectly.
4. 
   
5. In a medium sized heavy bottomed pan, melt butter, brown sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and heavy cream together over medium heat, stirring constantly.  
6. 
   
7. Bring the mixture to a boil, continuing to stir, and boil for 7 minutes.
8. 
   
9. Pour half of the caramel mixture over the crackers, spreading it evenly to the edges of the pan.  Working quickly, add another layer of crackers over the caramel.
10. 
    
11. Pour the rest of the caramel over the second layer of crackers, and then add a final layer of crackers.
12. Refrigerate the pan to chill and set the caramel layers while you make the chocolate topping.
13. 
    
14. To make the chocolate topping, add milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for 30-45 seconds, then stir.  Microwave the chocolate in 15 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. 
15. 
    
16. Pour the chocolate topping over the final layer of crackers, spreading it evenly to the edges.   Sprinkle sea salt over the chocolate layer to taste.  I used about 1 teaspoon. 
17. 
    
18. Chill for 1-2 hours before using a sharp knife to cut into bars.  Sometimes I like to use the parchment paper edges to lift the whole thing out of the pan to make cutting easier.

This is the site Jason got this recipe from. https://lovelylittlekitchen.com/salt-river-bars/

Homemade Cheeze It's

Homemade Cheeze It's    

So so simple, and really delicious.  Two ingredients - thinly sliced cheddar (regular works well too but takes longer to cook) and sea salt!  Cut into squares and cook at 275 for 20-30 mins, until done to your liking.  You can poke with a straw if you want it to look like a cheeze-it, or let it ride and go for basic squares.  Some also do piles of shredded cheese, though that will look a little different and I love the simplicity of this as it is. 

Yum! 

 

Wendy's Scratch Pancakes

Jason said these took his breath away, and both kids loved them, too.  Worth the extra effort to make pancakes from scratch, according to all three of them!  

Wendy’s Scratch Pancakes
2 Tbsp Oil
1 egg
1 C. milk
2 Tbsp. Baking Powder 
2 Tbsp Sugar 
½ tsp. Salt 

White Chocolate Chippers / Panera Copy Cat

 

Chocolate Chippers (Panera Copycat Recipe)

1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
¾ C. brown sugar, tightly packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
1 ¼ C. cocoa powder (dark or mix or dark and regular)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ C. white chocolate chips
½ C. chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat over to 350.  Beat butter and sugars until well combined, add eggs and vanilla and mix.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and then slowly add, mixing just until combined.  Stir in chips, bake for 7-8 minutes until starting to firm up but soft in the middle.  Let 

$100 at Trader Joe's / Amazing Humans Today Idea

 When I came home from this experience, I felt motivated to type out the story so that I could remember, tell my family and some close friends. I also kind of like the idea of sharing this on my blog which I hope my kids might look at some day, just to get to know me a little more in a way that they may not - or maybe they do, and right now, it's something that they just know about me, but maybe don't appreciate the active cultivation of.  I don't know, even typing that feels very vulnerable and exposing in some ways, and this has more of a "journal" feel to it than most of my posts have. (Different feelings associated with food! ha!) Anyway, I do want to start this trend for myself of paying attention to and noticing when "amazing humans in the world today," since the society, news, social media, etc. is so focused on highlighting the times when people are acting in ways that are not as generous, kind, and thoughtful.  So here goes. :) 

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Today, I went to Trader Joe’s with $100 in my pocket, literally five $20 bills folded in my jean shorts.  We’re trying to be good about cash envelopes and not spending on the credit cards (even though we pay them off every month) and so that was an intentional move. 

When it was time to pay, I noticed two things: one, that I was going to go over $100 (doh!) and two, as I reached in my pocket to get the dollars, I realized they were not there.  I retraced my steps in my mind, trying to remember if I moved them to my wallet, and then when I was certain I hadn’t, and that the cash was gone, I found myself looking out at the parking lot, which I could see from where I was paying.  

I put the entire amount on my card and asked the cashier if it was OK that I park my cart next to them while I scan the store as I had cash in my pocket that I was afraid fell out.  They said absolutely, and as I retraced my steps (starting at the produce side, literally going through the store how I did), I noticed the young guy who bagged my groceries sort of running parallel me at the opposite end of the aisle.  Eventually, he caught up to me and told me that someone had turned in some cash at Customer Service, and to check there. 

One of the managers started walking towards me as I was heading to the desk, asking what denominations it was that I had lost.  I told him that it was five $20s all folded together, and he immediately started shaking his head and opened his cash drawer to pull out the cash with a sticky note on it.  He then told me that someone had found it in the parking lot and turned it in!  

I think this is SO amazing for so many reasons.  I am a big believer in Karma, and my experience in general is that I have this kind of “luck” more often than not. That being said, I know that not everyone who would find $100 in a parking lot would turn it in.  

I have done that sort of thing before, but many, many years ago.  I remember one time specifically from when I was a kid, seeing the guy who dropped his cash at the mall when I was Christmas shopping with my mom, and then giving it back to him – she really built me up about it and noted that it was possible that was all the money he had to shop for his family for Christmas, and what a big deal it was that I gave it back to him.  I remember feeling very proud that I was that kind of person, even at that young age, and I feel like it stayed with me as a character trait that I try to still hold. 

I thanked the Manager profusely and then went back to where my cart was, told them the story and also thanked the cashier and the bagger guy again for being amazing humans in this world.  And with each of them, I also reiterated how this is the sort of thing that helps me maintain my faith in humanity and the good of the people in the world.  

I want to share this experience with my kids, Jason, my friends and other family, and I also want to remember the details of it.  While I keep a daily gratitude journal, I wanted to have room for more details, and an opportunity to more easily share this in the future, and maybe even have my kids and other loved ones read it one day so that they may also see what I see, which is a world full of people who are kind, compassionate, and really do the “right” thing, even when no one is looking.  

Full disclaimer – I realize that is not who everyone in the world would do this, and the ever so prevalent social media and new stories certainly don’t highlight this sort of thing.  And I also don’t judge people who aren’t “like me” in that way – I can easily come up with a story of a single parent who finds the money as they are leaving the store, and can really use it more than I need it… or even just some lucky kid who feels like it is the universe providing for him… so it is all good all the way around.  I just am very glad that I found it today.  Oh, also, I know better than to carry that kind of money in my jean shorts!!!  I do have a little bit of shame that I even put myself in that situation, so much so that I am a tiny bit nervous to share the story with others.  Given how it ended (this time), I do think I will share. J 

Grandma's Blueberry Cake

 

Jason’s mom Grandma Wendy made this, using her mom’s recipe.  This picture doesn’t do it justice – there isn't really a streusel layer on top, but there is an amazing, buttery, brown sugar blueberry layer throughout the middle of the cake.  It is not the prettiest of all cakes, but it is delicious enough to make up for it – and then some. 

Grandma Squires Blueberry Cake

1 C. butter
2 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 C. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¾ C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

1 C. blueberries
½ C. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Mix all top ingredients together, then mix the second group together. Put first 2/3 of batter in bottom of pan, scoop the blueberry mixture randomly over the mix, then dollop the last third of the batter.  Cook for 55-60 minutes.  

Grandma Squires Cheesecake

 

Grandma Squires Cheesecake 

Grandma Squires, Jason’s grandma, gave us this recipe and we immediately went home and made it!  It is more of a pudding pie style of cheesecake (versus something more firm), but I love that it is completely homemade and can be put together so quickly.  

Crust: 
One package of graham crackers, smashed
One stick of butter, melted

Filling: 
One block of cream cheese, softened
One can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 C. lemon juice
1 tsp. Vanilla 

Optional – strawberries, chocolate or caramel sauce, pecans, etc. 

Mix together melted butter and graham crackers, press into greased pan and set aside.  Beat the filling ingredients together, pour into crust and chill for minimum 4-5 hours and ideally overnight.  Garnish as desired and enjoy!  

Easy Oven Tacos

 

Easy Oven Tacos
shredded meat of your choice, I loved doing this with Ranch Chicken Tacos
cheese 
corn tortillas
cooking spray
toothpicks 

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray cookie sheet, microwave tortillas until soft and pliable.  I did six tortillas for 30 seconds and it was the right amount.  (Less and they’re prone to breaking). Fill with meat, sprinkle with cheese, close with a toothpick and then spray the tops with cooking spray.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  These are SO delicious and feel special, even though they are so easy.  It was a great way to use up leftover slow cooker meat and makes the food more portable, somehow.  Yum!  Can’t wait to make this again.  

Runners Pizza

Runners Pizza
I remember my mom making this for us when we were kids.  My kids also thought it was delicious!    

spaghetti, cooked 
pasta sauce
mozzarella 
toppings, if desired

Preheat oven to 400, spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.  Arrange pasta on cookie sheet, spoon on sauce and sprinkle generously with mozzarella. Add any toppings desired and cook for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted. Let rest for five minutes or so before cutting into squares. 

Minestrone Soup (Updated)

 My sister turned me on to this recipe, and I haven't made it in far too long. Serve it with a crusty bread and some fresh grated parmesean on top... yum.

This is the UPDATED version of how I *actually* make it.  I will try to delete the old one, but just in case... :-) 

Minestrone Soup
3 T olive oil
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 C. onion, chopped
1 C. celery, chopped
1 C. carrot, chopped

2-4 medium red potatoes

1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 can garbanzo beans, undrained

1 can chopped tomatoes, blended

1-2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil

8 C. vegetable stock (64 oz, 2 cartons)

1 1/2 C. uncooked small pasta (I like spirals or veggie twists)

OPTIONAL - fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, crusty bread 

In a large kettle, saute the garlic and onions until soft. Add celery, carrots, salt, oregano, black pepper, basil. Mix well and cook covered over low heat for 10 minutes.  

Add potato, kidney and garbanzo beans in their juice, and stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  

Add (blended) chopped tomatoes and their juice. Keep at low heat until you are ready to serve.  

I always cook my pasta separate and add just before serving, so it doesn't break down in the soup. 

Top with parsley and grated parmesean cheese, if you like.

Jason's Peanut Butter Cookies

Jason made these peanut butter cookies the other day and they were SO good!  I don't remember him chilling the dough, but I am sure that wouldn't hurt anything and in fact, would probably make them hold their shape better.  I have a GF recipe that is also delicious, but this is another one worth keeping.  Enjoy!  

• 1 C. butter1 C. peanut butter1 C.  sugars1 C.  brown sugar2 Eggs2 ½ cups flour1 t. baking powder½ teaspoon salt1 ½ t. baking soda
  Preheat oven to 375.  Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars in a large bowl.  Beat in eggs.  In a separate bowl,  combine dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture.  Put dough in the fridge for an hour, then roll into 1" balls and put on baking sheet.  Flatten each with a fork, making a criss cross pattern.  Bake for 10 mins, or until cookies begin to brown.  
• Nutrition Facts 

  Per Serving:

  251.7 calories; 4.5 g protein; 29.7 g carbohydrates; 35.8 mg cholesterol; 209.4 mg sodium.

Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

These are really, really good sugar cookies.  Kind of fluffy and ooey on the inside, but buttery crispy on the outside.  They don’t need any frosting- they’re great as is.  This recipe suggests rolling them in sugar before baking, which is great, but I think this recipe would also make a fantastic snickerdoodle, if you added cinnamon to the rolling mixture. 

Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar (additional for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.  Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.  Add the egg and mix until well combined.  Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined.

It will be thick and shouldn’t be sticky. Do not over mix. Once it’s well combined, use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.  Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll into a ball, then roll each ball in the additional sugar to coat. Set the balls on the baking sheet.

Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will spread and the centers will look soft, but should look done. Remove just before the edges begin to turn golden. Don’t over bake. The cookies will be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven but will fall a bit as they cool.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe came from this site: https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/best-soft-and-chewy-sugar-cookies/

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Believe it or not, I have found myself bored of the Nestle Toll House recipe.  Total first world problem, right?  This recognition led me to search for a new chocolate chip cookie recipe, and this one was fantastic.  The cookies really held their shape and were that perfect mix of buttery crispy on the outside, but ooey goodness in the middle.  This will be my new go-to recipe.  Enjoy! 

Best Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

1 cup salted butter* softened
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
1 cup light brown sugar packed
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt***
2 cups chocolate chips (or chunks, or chopped chocolate)

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.  In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Set aside.  Cream together butter and sugars until combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy.  Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.  Add 12 oz package of chocolate chips and mix well.

I used my large scoop to size them and then rolled the dough, this helped them to be even prettier and I think was worth the effort.  (I also froze a few of them at this point!) 

Bake for 8-10 minutes, and take them out when they are just BARELY starting to brown at the edges.  When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will still look doughy. THIS is the secret that makes these cookies so absolutely amazing! Please, I beg you, do NOT over-bake!

Let them sit on the baking pan for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Peasant Bread

Jason learned how to make this at the fire house recently, and now, it is pretty common that he comes home from a tour and makes this on his first day back.  It is delicious fresh out of the oven and the next day too, though I don't know that ours usually lasts that long.

Peasant Bread
3.5 cups flourheaping tsp yeastheaping tsp salt1 Tbsp Sugar2 Cups warm water, divided.

Mix dry ingredients, then add in 1.5 C of warm water.  Then add in the rest of the water until all the mix is wet. Let sit in the mixing bowl for one hour in microwave (off) with a cup of hot water.

Put in bread pan (coated with butter), then put it back in the microwave (with a cup of hot water) for  25 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425, then cook for 15 minutes, then turn down to 375 and cook for 15 more minutes, brushing with melted butter when there are 5-10 minutes left.  Keep an eye on it and if it appears to start to burn, cover with foil.  Flip out of pan, slice and enjoy!    

Susan's

These are a super basic, shortbread cookie with a burst of extra flavor (and texture variation) from the chocolate, which is kind of a cross between a frosting and a ganache.  I was really pleased with how these turned out, and they were fairly quick to make- probably only a couple hours max, start to finish, including cleaning up! :-)

Susan's

Cookies:
1 C. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. flour

Frosting:
2 C. powdered sugar
4 T. cocoa
3 T. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly, then blend in the flour.  Shape a teaspoon of dough (keep them smaller, use the small scoop!) into a ball.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies look dry but not brown.  Once you pull them out of the oven, they'll be a little puffy, but make either a thumbprint, or use a tool to make a ledge to fill with frosting. (I have this wooden thingie that helps make crusts fit better in my mini-muffin tin and it worked perfect for pleasing the OCD part of me...) Once they cool, put the frosting into a ziplock bag, clip the corner, and fill the divot with chocolate yumminess before letting them cool.  I let them set up in the fridge and that worked well!

Grandma Squires Cooked Fudge

Old Fashioned Cooked Fudge

I made this with Grandma Squires a week or so ago, and it wasn't that "hard," but I wanted to write down as much of the directions as I could so that next time I try it on my own, I may have better luck.  Here's hoping!  This was Grandpa's favorite fudge recipe.  

The original recipe is posted below, but Grandma says that she always makes 1 1/2 batches, because she likes to use a bigger "soup" pot for cooking.  (The smaller pan almost bubbles over, and a single batch in the soup pan is too little...). 

1 C. cocoa (Hershey's is the best, NOT Nestle)
4 1/2 C. sugar
Just over 1/8 t. salt
1 C. evaporated milk
1 1/4 C. milk (2% or whatever is fine) 
6 T. butter 
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Combine the cocoa, sugar and salt and whisk together.  

Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Once it's boiling, let it cook for a long time without stirring often.  Seriously, it was probably a solid 15-18 minutes that we let this stuff go.  Once in a while, do a figure 8 type shape on the bottom of the pan.  You're cooking it until it forms a "soft ball" when dropped in fridge cooled water.  (Have a couple of glasses ready so you can test more than once.). It should feel sort of like a soft tootsie roll.  

Remove from heat, and add butter.  Do not stir until all of the butter melts.  

Add vanilla and stir until mixture thickens.  (Grandma puts the pan in an ice bath in the sink.). 

Pour into a greased pan, cool and cut into squares. 


Original Recipe:
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups sugar
1/8 t. salt
1 1/2 cups milk (half evaporated makes it creamier)
4 1/2 T BUTTER
1t vanilla.

Combine cocoa, sugar salt and milk; bring to boil stirring frequently, cook to 234 degrees on candy thermometer, or soft ball stage. Remove from heat, add butter, cool to about 110; add vanill, nuts if you want, beat until thickens. Pour into buttered pan and cut into squares. MUST USE BUTTER.

CPK Smashed Pea & Barley Soup

Made this CPK Copycat Smashed Pea and Barley Soup the other day and it was SO good, it motivated me to bring back a soup habit.  When I made it, I blended half of my raw chopped carrots with some of the cooking liquid, just so the kids wouldn't see quite so many "cooked carrots," which they seem to think they don't like lately.  I also had a ten minute quick cooking barley, so I added it for the last ten minutes of cooking.  Actually, I may have even cooked it separate and added it, because the soup got so thick.  

CPK Smashed Pea and Barley Soup
½ cup pearl barley
2 quarts water
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (or ½ tablespoon dried)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon rubbed dried sage
Large pinch ground cumin
1 ½ cups diced carrots
2/3 cup minced onion
1/3 cup finely diced celery
¼ cup thinly sliced green onion tops, optional 

1 pound dried split peas, sorted and rinsed

In large pot, combine peas, barley, water, bay leaves, salt, soy sauce, thyme, garlic, sage and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in carrots, onion and celery. Cover and simmer until vegetable are tender, another 25 to 30 minutes. (Check periodically, adding small amounts of additional water if needed.) Discard bay leaves. Ladle soup into warmed soup bowls and garnish with green onion tops, if desired.