Mandarin Orange Cake

This cake is so delightful. I can not tell you the amount of people who have asked for this recipe. I was just at a birthday party the other day and they had this cake. So good and refreshing.

I got it from the book "101 things to do with a cake mix". To make the cake take:

1 box yellow (I have used white as well) cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons water
3 large eggs
1 small can Mandarin orange slices with the juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the above together and place batter in the greased 9 x 13 pan or three round pans.

Bake for 23-25 mins or until center comes out clean.

While that is baking for the frosting:

one large box (I am using a regular box)
12 oz cool whip topping
1 can crushed pineapple (I use the small can)

Mix this together and spread on cool cake and keep in the fridge. It is so yummy. I use sugar free cool whip and pudding. You can not tell the difference. Today I am making it with the gluten free cake mix just to try it out. The cake is so moist from the fruit that you don't have to worry about pinching corners. Good luck it is awesome I tell you, awesome.

Weight watchers points would be a 3. I figured it and it came out 2 pts but I forgot to figure the oil so it would be a 3 pt treat.

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Weight Watchers Journey

My daughter and I joined weight watchers. I lost weight there before and I think it is a good thing for us all to be doing the same thing in the household. Here is a few recipes that I made tonight and yummo.
Blueberry Bars.....so simple: 1 can light blueberry pie filling (I couldn't find any light so I used regular) 1 box angel food cake mix Mix the two together and put the mixture into 13x9 pan into the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 mins until light and fluffy. Cut into squares (16 pcs) and 2 points a square.

These are going to bake up really fluffy then when they set they will fall down. They are very blueberry sweet, a little chewy from the angel food cake and very tasty. The two points were worth it.


Lemon Bars.....so, so simple: 1 box sugar free vanilla pudding (mix with two cups cold milk and let set up) 1 box sugar free lemon pudding (mix dry mix into the set up vanilla pudding) 1 box angel food cake mix ( mix the dry mix into pudding and
put into 13x9 pan) bake on 350 for about 30 mins. Cool, cut and sprinkle with
powdered sugar. 2 weight watcher points for each square.

The lemon squares turned out wonderful as well and so lemontastically good!!

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Healthy homemade Oatmeal cookies

I have been wanting to make a healthy cookie lately and have not gotten around to figuring out what kind, but these Healthy Oatmeal cookies will hit the spot. Yummo. Thanks Whole Grain Gourmet. I am going to make a couple of different varieties with raisins, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

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Healthier Peanut Butter Cookies Updated

My entire family has been eating better this week and it shows with everyone showing a weight loss this week. We started out by detoxing for a few days with only eating raw fruits and veggies. It was difficult but it helped clear your system out and shell shocked me and my husband from diet soda. My poor hubby has given up his white bread, miracle whip, and diet dr. pepper. Very difficult for him.

We slowly added back in some whole grains and then some chicken. We kept the fruit and veggies as the main part of the meal. My daughter has been helping me a lot by prepare meals, cleaning up and we have been eating as a family.

Last night we were discussing dinner and how much we were craving something sweet like cookies but we didn't really know what to do with it so we talked about what cookie recipes I have that can be healthy. My friend, Denise made monster cookies this year that were great and I made them several times since. So my daughter and I sat and played with that recipe on the recipe calculator to see how we can get it to be healthier. We took out m&m and put in nuts, then we took the nuts back out...we just played around until we decided what would it taste like just as a peanut butter cookie? And this is what we came up with....my version of the healthier peanut butter cookie. Here is the recipe if you were to use splenda sugars and almond butter, Healthier Butter cookie.

Although the calorie count is still up there a bit, the ingredients are really good. They turned out great and a couple of cookies hit the spot so well. If you want a weight lose site this one is great Spark people. I like using it for recipes, recipe calculator, message boards, calorie counting and more.

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This could not look any better: Peach Dump Cake

Ok so I have seen this recipe for peach dump cake before and it always makes my mouth water. Here she is again...I think I have everything for this recipe on hand...oh yeah baby. Thanks Bakerella for another good old recipe from heaven.

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Homemade Products: Cereals

Cereals are not just for breakfast anymore. I use them as a quick lunch or dinner and even as a snack. They are great for putting in a baggie for fast snacking.

My friend Denise has a great granola recipe that you can see by going here. There are many granola recipes out there but I found Denise's to taste very good.


Let's talk oatmeal. How many of you purchase instant oatmeal for the ease? You can easily make your own to dsave money and give your family a quick meal with the best products you put in the recipe. Try out this recipe for oats that is sure to please and you can make it your way.

Oatmeal mix recipe: Combine in a large bowl 6 cups quick cooking oats, 1 1/3 cups dry milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves. Add one cup of dried fruits and or nuts. Like more fruit add some in, don't like the spices then leave them out. Dry milk is a little pricey but remember you can use it in a lot of other recipes. A quick tip on dried milk a long time ago I worked with a lady who had six kids and they just could not afford milk (imagine how much milk they would go through?) She used to make dry milk and then take a gallon jug putting half the dry milk and half the reg milk to cut down on the price.

How about Toasted Muesli for a great start to the day? I am going to make this for a snack for sure. Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 and in a 15x 10 baking pan 2 cups old fashion oats, 1/4 cup sunflower kernels, 1/4 cup sliced almonds and bake for 10 to 15 mins or until almonds are golden. In a large bowl combine 1/3 cup chopped dates, 2 tablespoons oat bran, and stir to coat the fruit with the bran. Add the toasted oat mixture, and 1 cup bran flakes, 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ, 1/4 cup raisins, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir to gently combine. Place in an airtight container label and date. makes 3 1/2 cups (7 servings)

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Just a little more should do it......

The other day I blogged about being afraid to use up my frozen/canned reserves. I got some comments (thanks you all) from other feeling the same way I felt....like a loony wanting to hold onto our hard labored efforts. In this age you can go to the store and get what you need anyway so I suppose we sort of got programed into thinking this way. Years ago they had no choice but to eat their put up food storage.

Today I was at at my favorite place to get meat and veggies when I saw they were marking the produce they had in cold storage way down. I was able to get pie pumpkins for 10 cents a pound. I picked up 3 more pumpkins to puree. I also got a half bushel of apples and will be making some more apple pie filling as well.

I plan on making an apple pie and an apple cake as well to freeze for after dinners later next month. I buy the aluminium tins at the dollar general for a buck (for 3) and usually when making a cake recipe will split it into to of the tins so I can pull one out for a quick dessert and smaller portions.

So the next time you have a chance to go to the local markets or farm markets you might get some good deals to put up for the remainder of the winter months.

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Bran Yeast Rolls

I just wrote about death and how much of it we have had lately. I was flirting around on the websites and found this recipe which reminded me of my grandmother. These bran yeast rolls are the exact recipe my grandmother (who passed a few weeks ago) made all the time except she didn't add honey for I am going to now. As she got older I took over the recipe but we have not made them for the past year. It made me remember her, the good times and the wonderful food she always prepared with love. Thanks for the reminder. I am going to make these for dinner tomorrow. YUMMO.

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Old Family Recipe for Carrot Cake

At my grandmother's funeral my great Aunt brought her carrot cake. It was so good. It was the best carrot cake I have ever had. I looked online to see recipes because I didn't have hers and wasn't sure because I kept coming up with pineapple in the cakes. I love pineapple but I was sure there was none in her cake because I never tasted it but surprise there is pineapple in it. I got the recipe from my sister in law today. I am making this tonight. My sister in law said that my aunt freezes the cakes all the time too so my plan is to make a cake and freeze half. Here is the recipe and I will ad a picture later on today.

Big Bon’s Carrot Cake (this makes one 9 x 13 cake)

Preheat oven to 325 (bake 30-35 mins)
Makes 1 9x13 pan grease and use wax paper on bottom to easily remove it if you want
Sift together:
2 Cups Flour 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1.5 teaspoons Baking Soda 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Add to dry ingredients:
1.5 Cups Oil 2 Cups sugar
4 eggs (beat in one egg at a time)

Lastly add:
2 Cup grated carrots
1 small can drained crushed pinapple
¾ Cup Nuts
(if doubling batch use one big can pineapple and drain/and squeeze out extra juice)

Frosting:
1 8oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

You can freeze this cake fully frosted.

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Christmas time treats

This year it is all about the ease of making treats. I love to bake but I will be honest time and patience are not my strong point this year so here are some of the things I have been working on for Christmas goodies.

I love no bake cookies and if you have not had them before or for a long while whip up a batch of these babies and freeze some for later. Yummo!!

Another fun item I made was splenda chocolate cocoa. It was very easy to make and I put tiny little marshmallows in it as well. Then I made some really cute stir sticks by putting candy canes in a chocolate mold and so they come out with little snow men chocolate shapes wrapped around a candy cane. (I would show a picture but my camera is not working). Just replace the sugar with splenda for a sugar free version.I will also be making some chex mix and puppy chow mix. These freeze well as well and make great little gift bags for baskets. If you really want something different and want to use chex mix for jars or gifts then check out their site there are tons of recipes for making fun types of chex mix. I am also making my own candy this year. I did this often when I was a kid and my mom and I would make fun chocolate shapes, buckeyes and more. This year besides the candy canes I am making turtles. I found a really easy way to fill molds and use the chocolate as well. Put your chocolate pieces in a zip lock bag and place in the microwave. Set the time for 20 second each time until melted. It usually doesn't take much. Snip the end of the bag and poof...instant chocolate with no mess.

To make the turtles take 4 full pecans and put them into a circle then dribble a little chocolate over them, then take the Carmel ( I put the Carmel in a zip lock bag as well until warm then you can pull little bits out) make a small circle with the Carmel and place on top of the chocolate, finish by covering up with more chocolate. You can let them sit or put in the freezer for a quick set. I usually use a plate or cookie sheet lined with wax paper. These are so yummy as well.

The last thing I will make is my mint patties. Take mint chocolate and melt it in the microwave or double boiler. once it is melted then take Ritz crackers and dip into the mint chocolate completely covering the cracker. Place the cracker on wax paper and let cool or place in freezer for quick set. These taste like Girl Scout mint cookies.

What are you making this year?

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How do you do your oatmeal?

The winter winds will soon be knocking on your door. You want to lose some pounds, you want to get the kids off to school with a full stomach and a warm but quick breakfast...well oatmeal to the rescue. The winter months bring many coupons and sales for oatmeal as well so you can really scoop on the savings and make a cheap, easy meal. It's not just for breakfast either. Think of a busy day of running around, the snow is falling and you make oatmeal with a table center piece of options to put in the oatmeal. Finish it up with some wholesome milk or a smoothie and your family will be full and satisfied. So the next time you see instant oats, old fashioned oats or steel cut oats on sale with a coupon in hand plan a breakfast, lunch or dinner for cheap.

Growing up I had oatmeal on special occasions...we were not a breakfast family. We had it cooked on the stove and we poured milk over it and had brown sugar too. I still like it with brown sugar but I also like raisins, dates and nuts too. But there are a million different ways you can eat your oatmeal and here is a site to help you do just that! Some of them seem off the wall but you know...if you like it and it is good for you...go for it. When I saw this site I thought...well we are always looking for new recipes, and economic eating...here you go.

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What a week..

How is everyone? I have had no time to blog and little time for much else but keeping up with my life. Trying to get back into the swing of things at work, seeing clients, traveling, paperwork, and computer work.

Cleaning out my father in laws house before it falls in has been lots of fun..not. He lived like a hoarder and lots of stuff to go through.

Now the funeral of my husband's grandmother is over my father in law has been well....an ass lately so dealing with those sorts of emotions as well.

I feel overwhelmed by all that is going on in my life right now but trying to stay ahead of the game and get enough sleep, and keep the anxiety at bay.

Working on recipes for Christmas baskets this year and trying to pick out what I want to make, what will be the easiest for baking/making and the most frugal but also fun and yummy. My daughter will help with the baskets this year.

I made a yummy apple cake tonight and just frosted it with a simple homemade cream cheese frosting. I had some apples going soft and didn't want to toss them so this cake was a breeze. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested. The only changes I made was that I doubled the recipe, I used one cup of oat flour and I actually used about 5 1/2 cups of apples because I had them so I tossed them in and it took a little longer to bake but came out moist and yummy. The frosting I just used one brick or cream cheese, I stick of butter, a dash of vanilla and enough powder sugar to make it creamy.

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Making today....Can't wait

I just can't wait to make this chocolate cake. I am going to let the recipe and web site pictures speak for themselves. Yummy, Yummo, delish....thank you pioneer woman...your site has been added to my blog list. Thanksgiving, work carry in...need I say more?

Made this tonight..oh so yummy...let it sit about ten minutes and then cut into it while its still hot...it is very good. Easy to make and would serve alot.

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Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

These cookies are really yummy. I bought the Taste of Home Holiday Magazine and it has tons of fun stuff to make in there. This looked really easy and quick so I though I would give it a try. If you like a short bread kinda taste then these are for you!

1 Cup Butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup confectioner sugar (powered sugar)
1 cup (6 oz) choc. chips

That is it. Melt the butter and add the vanilla set aside to cool down. Mix the Sugar and flour together add cooled butter mixture and choc. chips. The mixture will be crumbly. Mine was slightly wet but crumbly within a few minutes of sitting out. Use a cookie scoop or teaspoons to get small balls place on ungreased cookie sheet. Slightly flatten. I found that if I just made a ball and flatten slightly in my palm it was easier then pressing them down because they stick. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12 mins, edges should be getting slightly brown. Cool on wire rack. I just left mine to cool on sheet for a few minutes and these tasty little babies are good. The recipes says you can get 4 doz but I got no where near that so I must have made mine really big or the ones they made are super small. Let me know if these work out for you.

My camera ran out of batteries so I will post a picture tomorrow if they don't all disappear.

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Stockpiling Homemade Style (UPDATED)

I don't know about all of you but my recipes never turn out exactly like the ones I post about. If you are a new cook/baker my recommendation is to stick to the recipes. If you have been cooking a long time..(like me) then I usually use the recipes as a base for what I am making. The recipe for cream of chicken soup below is a great way to get started. I used my fresh stock broth and I didn't use as much milk as they said. I also used clear jel as a thickening agent. (Tip: if you can find clear jel get it. It is wonderful in all types of foods). I didn't have all the spices they suggested so I used what I had and it came out wonderful. So don't be afraid to try some variations on the recipes. If it doesn't work try something different next time.

I have been extra busy lately preparing food for the family and getting things in the freezer. I told you about a great local store near me that has good prices on fruits, veggies and meats. I usually use the Amish butcher for my meat but lately they have had better cuts of beef for better prices. Today I got 20 lbs. of ground sirloin for 2.29 a pound. I also got 10 pounds of chicken breasts (boneless) for a little over a 1.00 a pd. So what did I make today?

I made a big batch of tater tot casserole. We ate half tonight and the other half is lunch tomorrow. I made sloppy Joe's for dinner tomorrow night. Everyone has crazy schedules tomorrow. I browned and froze about 6 pounds of taco seasoned meat. I made up four 1 pound meatloaves and froze those as well. I have about 5 pounds of beef left which I will probably just brown and freeze tomorrow.

Chicken I slow simmer all day to get a wonderful homemade broth. I am going to make homemade cream of chicken soup tomorrow. See recipe here. I am going to shred most of the chicken tonight yet and freeze it for recipes. I will either freeze the broth or make chicken and noodles this week yet.

My freezer is getting pretty full and I have a few homemade desserts in there as well. Good thing because it looks like I have a belly button hernia and will probably have to have surgery. Hopefully this will be a quick in and out procedure. In Jan. 2008 I went in for two hernias and they ended up having to take care of eight hernias and I was cut from breast to belly button. I was laid up awhile with that and never want to have a repeat.

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Gifts from your Heart & Oven

Ok these are so cute. To my friends and family you are getting some of these so act surprised and delighted when they come your way at Christmas but I just could not keep these to myself. Go here to see this great idea and this wonderful new website I found.

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Mini Pies....UPDATED

These little mini apple dutch pies turned out great. They take about three bites and are perfect with a cold glass of milk. YUMMO.

I have been making more apple pie filling for the freezer and was considering making some little miniature apple pies. I have more pumpkins to puree tomorrow too and then I ran across this post by bakerella. YUMMY. I think I am going to go ahead and make the apple pie minis and some of these cute little pumpkin pie minis as well. I will freeze a batch so I can pull them out in a few weeks for a quick desert. Give her site a browse. She has a whole new site and so many yummo recipes to try. She is always on my left side bar as well. Thanks Bakerella for the wonderful recipe ideas.

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Pie without the crust? I don't think so...

I went back to my local Shelton's store and got another bushel of apples for $4.99. I also got a peck of gala apples to mix with the Paula Red's for the applesauce. The applesauce was super easy. I don't have a special mill or anything. I peeled, cored and sliced the apples. I have no idea how many I used, maybe 1/2 bushel. I used a big stock pot and added about 2 inches or so of apple juice (I used simply apple juice). Start the apples and juice cooking to get the apples tender. After they start getting really hot and tender put them on low with a lid and let them simmer until done. I added about a cup of cinnamon sugar. (this was special raw sugar that had Cinnamon on it). I took a hand held blender and blended away. My daughter likes it with little bits of apples so I blended until I had the consistency I wanted. Taste test .....we had several bowls to make sure we got it just right. SMILE. Let it cool some and put in your freezer bags. Very easy you can't go wrong.





Those were only $2.69 a peck. Last night I did some research on the pie crusts and found that freezing pie crusts are a simple way to have them on hand. I can't stand store bought pie crusts. Here is the recipe I found to make a good old fashion crust. Once you get them into the disc size then you wrap them in wax paper and saran wrap, then put them into a Ziploc bag to pull out the night before you want to make the pie. I figured I might as well get all this done and have all the pie makings at hand or else I wont use up all the apples I am freezing.

My goal this week is to get all the pie crusts done, wrapped and frozen. Tonight and Sunday I will be working on finishing up the apple pie filling, applesauce, plain apples and pumpkin puree. I have a few more zucchini left in the garden that need to be shredded up as well. Other then that I believe I am done with the canning/freezing portion of this years food.

I am pleasantly surprised at how much I have learned this year about making my own food, canning/freezing, gardening and more.

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Canning and Freezing....more stuff UPDATED

Update on all my work today. The carrots and celery came out fine. I loved using my dicer to do the work. I also got this handy new peeler and I will never go back to using a hand held peeler again. Here is a picture of the peeler. It cost $5.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It fits in the palm of your hand. Sweet!

Here is a picture of the apple pie filling. I can not tell you how good this tastes.
There was a bit of a mess up on the recipe amounts. I used 4 quarts (16 cups) of apples. I used two cups of sugar. Other wise I used the same amount they recommended for most everything else. I used freezer bags and so I mixed the apples and filling together before putting in the bags.

And you can also see the carrots and celery I bagged today as well. I have lots more apples to do tomorrow and will post an update on applesauce.


We have a local store called Shelton's here where they have produce at rock bottom prices, specials and locally grown fruits, veggies, and more. Depending on what you are looking for you usually get pretty good prices on seasonal items. Today's trip was a good one. I was able to get a bushel of Paula Red (Love that they are named after me...LOL) for $4.99. I got bulk carrots for a couple of bucks. Celery at .89 each, plums so cheap it was unbelievable and fresh cantaloupe for $1.00 each. I also got bulk walnuts (shelled) for $3.99 a pound, some smoked Cheddar cheese, eggs for .99 a doz and discounted bagged lettuce that date is 5 days away. I picked ups some other produce and milk as well.

My plan is to take the carrots and celery and freeze them in portion bags for cooking. Here is the thing with carrots and celery. I never have them on hand when I need them and canned mixed veggies are too salted and not used enough to take up space on the shelves. I love to make stews and pot pies during the winter and this will make for easy recipes this winter. For the prices I got I can't pass up the opportunity to stockpile some fresh produce. You can not can carrots unless you have a pressure cooker so I will be freezing mine. Go here to see how to do it.

From what I can see raw celery should not be frozen and it is recommended that it be steamed or boiled first. It doesn't have a long freeze time, (3 months) so I will make sure I use up what I do freeze before the end of the year.

I also will be freezing and canning my apples. I am going to make apple pie filling and will be making applesauce a bit later this next week or so. I will probably just have some bags of apples around for muffins and such as well. I plan on dicing part of the apples so the small size will already be ready for me to use.

I also got some mushrooms for a good price so I will be trying out the homemade mushroom soup and freezing some of that as well. My friend, Denise made it and said it was good.

So I have a lot to do in the next few days so I had better get to work and not let my good buys go to waste. I will post some pictures of all my hard work later. I truly feel this is all worth the effort, to help cut costs, eat healthier, have the produce on hand and make great food whenever I want to make it.

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Mini Pancakes

I saw this recipe on bakerella last week and I really want some but I never seem to be able to get myself moving in the mornings to make them...so I am going to make the batter tonight and bake them in the morning. This will make a great Sunday morning breakfast...although no one but myself and my father in law will be home tomorrow morning. I think they will probably be good as little snacks throughout the day. She makes the cutest, yummiest things.

I made these this morning. I didn't have any syrup can you believe it so I used honey in the recipe instead. I also used barley flour since that was handy last night. Make sure when you are putting the batter in the muffin pan you use a teaspoon and it doesn't take that much other wise you will not get 24 muffins and they puff up too much. You will also need to run a knife around the edges when done to pop them out. I just put a little honey butter on mine and they were good.

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