Limeade and Lime Ricky Raspberry Lemonade

For upcoming summer months, nothing is as good as refreshing drinks!  Try this one , it is yummy

Limeade
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar
8 cups cold water
1 cup fresh lime juice (or lemon juice for lemonade)

IN a small saucepan combine sugar and 2 cups water.  Boil for 2 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved.  This forms a syrup.  Allow to cool before using (this can be made ahead of time and kept in fridge)

In large pitcher add the syrup and 6 cups water and the fresh squeezed lime juice.  
Can keep in the refrigerator up to a week!
To make lemonade, just substitute the lime juice in recipe for lemon juice! yum

To make raspberry lemonade or limeade,  go here and click on Flavors and click on Flavor tab and it will show you all the flavors, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Raspberry syrup, you can order one bottle and they deliver it to your door in like 3 days!
I also buy the GRAPE SYRUP and you can make this limeade drink a LIME RICKY by adding grape syrup to it!

TO. DIE. FOR!

Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments

I have not made this particular recipe, but I am posting this because this is something I would like to try or have my kids try and give me as a gift!
go here for pictures and recipe!

Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

Okay, I have not made these yet but I am going to and I already know they will be yummy.  I got a bag of Rolo's for my birthday so I will try these today! 
This was found on this blog so go here for great ideas as well

Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

* Rolo Candies
*Ritz Crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place Ritz crackers on a cookie sheet face side down and top each one with a Rolo candy (unwrapping the Rolo is the hardest part of this recipe ha ha)
Bake for 3 to 5 minutes to soften (but not fully melt) the Rolos, 
Remove from oven and immediately top with a second Ritz cracker.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container!
Enjoy the sweet and salty goodness!

Pecan Pie Cupcakes

I love pecan pie.  For my birthday my daughter Shauna made me some pecan pie cupcakes.  Can I just say  to.die.for.  and I think I will rename them "These are That Good!" or something, seriously, you need to make them.  I took them to work to share and was sorry I did because now they are all gone!  Here is the link to where she found the recipe, I like to share the link so you can check out that person's blog for other great recipes as well!  go here

Pecan Pie Cupcakes

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix well

Spray a miniature muffin tin with non stick cooking spray (the kind with flour in it works well)
Fill each indention 3/4 the way full
Bake for approximately 15 to 18 min
Makes 24 mini muffins

Note:  some people have problems with them sticking to the pan so suggestions are to only let them cool in the pan for a a minute or two and then invert them onto cooling rack  .  do not let them cool in the pan or they will stick to pan.
Also, don't fill them all the way to the top or they will overflow.
enjoy! these are DIVINE

Strawberry Nut Bread

My newly married daughter decided to try out a recipe in her new cookbook given to her by a friend, Analisa Glenn and their family cookbook called 4RetroSisters, and I got to taste it and it was really good!

Strawberry Nut Bread
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped nuts
Cream together margarine, sugar, and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each.  Mix and add flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  Mix and add strawberry jam, sour cream, and chopped nuts.  Place in two greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 min.

It is yummy!

For the nourishing of our souls:

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, and we have no idea
all the blessings he has in store for us!  We need to trust him, love Him, and return to live with him!

Dessert Crepes

These are called Jana's crepes, she was my neighbor and best friend and she took the best care of me!  She still does!  We like to serve these for after dinner dessert or breakfast!  Because of the sugar content they are very sweet and very yummy! Divine!

Jana's crepes:

(the secret ingredient was that she substituted the water with sugar, no wonder these are to die for!)

3 eggs

½ cup milk

½ cup sugar (original recipe called for ½ cup water here, but Jana did sugar instead)

3 TBLSP butter, melted

¾ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in blender container; blend about 1 minute. Scrape down sides with spatula and blend about 30 seconds more.  Refrigerate for one hour.  To cook, heat omelet, crepe, or regular frying pan on medium-high heat just hot enough to sizzle a drop of water.  Brush lightly with melted butter.  For each crepe, pour in just enough butter to cover bottom of pan, tipping and tilting pan to move batter quickly over bottom.  If crepe has holes, add a drop

or two of batter to patch.  Cook til light brown on bottom and dry on top.  Remove from pan and stack on plate.  Makes 12 crepes (mine only made 9 crepes)

I am not always patient and do not wait for the hour in the fridge, and I cook them right away (maybe stick in freezer for a few minutes) and they still turn out fine! 
And I turn my crepes over and cook both sides.

One of our favorite fruit fillings for the crepes is a strawberry filling

that I got from my daughter in law Krista marshall harrah! thanks for sharing this fun cream filling: (she uses it for a fruit dip)

1 small tub strawberry cream cheese

1 small container cool whip

1 jar marshmallow cream

Mix cream cheese with marshmallow cream with electric mixer.  Fold in cool whip  Serve with favorite fruit.

Here is another version to the crepes my landlord upstairs had in her family recipe book I am going  to try this week, yummy!

Banana Brule’ Crepes From Lauren Scott

Crepes

2 ½ cups flour

1 ½ Tblsp sugar

¾  tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

3 cups milk

3 eggs

3 Tblsp butter (melted)

¾ tsp vanilla extract

Bananas

4 bananas sliced

3 Tblsp butter

4 Tblsp brown sugar

Cream

1 pkg cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cream (whipped)

Melt 3 Tblsp butter in sauce pan.  Add sliced bananas and brown sugar.  Sauté for 1 min.  Whip cream and set aside.  Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar.  Fold the two together.  Mix crepe batter and cook crepes.  Spread middle with cream mixture and add bananas.  Fold in half and top with chocolate sauce drizzled on top with sprinkled powdered sugar

And now for the nourishing of our souls:

Here is a saying I saw on Facebook:

Don't regret knowing the people who came into your life.  Good people give you happiness.  Bad ones give you experience.  The worst ones give you lessons and the best people give you memories.

Yay for good memories!

Have a wonderful day, my day today is filled with thunder, dark sky, wind blowing through my window and yet beauty that makes me smile!  happy day

Ham Fried Rice with Peas and Scrambled Eggs

I was babysitting for my daughter Amy and she had leftovers in her fridge for dinner, I ate this and loved it!  She kindly gave me the recipe so I will share it with you

Ham Fried Rice with Peas and Scrambled Eggs
1 1/2 Tbslp canola oil (divided)
2 eggs (whisked) (Amy used 3)
1/4 tsp salt   1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic minced
8 slices ham (diced ham approximately 1 1/2 cups)
3 cups white rice, cooked (white or brown, I used brown minute rice)
1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium soy sauce)
2 Tblsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tblsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups frozen peas (thawed under warm water)

Directions:
In a wok or large skillet, heat 1/2 Tblsp oil, add whisked eggs and season with salt and pepper.  Scramble eggs until cooked.  Remove eggs from pan and set aside.
Heat 1 Tblsp of oil in same pan. Add onion and garlic.   Saute for 5 minutes.  Add ham and heat until it starts to brown and crisp up (keep the heat medium high)  Once ham is browning, add the cooked rice and fry it until it starts to brown.
Add soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar.  Stir . Add thawed peas and reserved scrambled eggs. Heat thoroughly and serve immediately!

enjoy! I sure did! Use good ham, it makes it more tasty!

For the nourishing of our souls:
Here are some sayings I just saw:

when you try to control everything, you enjoy nothing.  Sometimes you just need to relax, breathe, let go, and just live in the moment!

Trust is a fragile thing, easy to break easy to lose, and one of the hardest things to ever get back!

Stop thinking too much, it's alright not to know the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.

Easy Beef Enchiladas

These are my quick go to enchiladas I can make and they always taste good!  They are great to take to others when you need to take in a meal.  I like to add a can of refried beans to my enchiladas so I will include them in this recipe:

Easy Beef and Bean Enchiladas

1 1/2 lb ground beef, cooked, drained, and seasoned

1 large can tomato soup

1 large can Rosarita (red) mild enchilada sauce

1 can Refried Beans

1 can black olives, sliced

Shredded cheese

Corn tortillas

Lettuce, Tomato Salsa, and sour cream for topping

Mix in big bowl one can of tomato soup and one can Rosarita mild enchilada sauce. (I don't like too spicy , that is why I add the tomato soup), mix together well.  In a 9 x 13 pan, pour a little sauce in the bottom.  Dip corn tortilla in soup mixture and then place in pan.  Add seasoned ground beef, a spoon of refried beans, shredded cheese, and sliced olives.  Roll up in a tortilla, continue with each tortilla.  I usually get 12 rolled corn tortillas in a 9 x 13 pan.  Cover top of enchiladas with the rest of the red sauce and cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 min.  Serve with lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream and chopped olives!

Yummy!

Since I don't like to eat too much red meat, you could substitute chicken and onions and peppers in place of meat and beans.

Quick and Easy and Yummy!  Winner!

For the nourishing of our souls:

Here is a saying I saw:

If you planted hope today in a heart that felt alone,

If you caused a laugh that chased some tears away,

If someone's burden was made lighter because of your kindness,

Then your day was well spent!

May we have well spent days!

Chex Treat

This is a family favorite, it is very addicting and always a favorite!

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup light Karo Syrup
3/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
6 cups Rice Chex Cereal
6 cups Golden Grahams Cereal

Mix cereal together in large bowl.  Melt sugar, Karo syrup, and butter over stove top.  Bring to boil and boil 1 to 2 min.  Remove from heat, add vanilla, Pour over cereal and mix well.

Can add 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds and 1 cup coconut if desired!(just add it to the cereal)

You can also pour this stuff over 10 to 13 cups popped popcorn.

Very yummy stuff!  You can use only Rice Chex cereal if you dont have the others, or half Rice chex and half corn chex, or any mixture of cereals, I love the golden grahams mixed in.

For the nourishing of souls:
Here is a quote I saw on Facebook I loved it:

Marriage Box
Most people get married believing a myth that marriage is a beautiful box full of all the things they have longed for: companionship, intimacy, friendship, etc. The Truth is that marriage at the start is an empty box.  You must put something in before you can take anything out.  There is no love in marriage. Love is in people. And people put love in marriage. There is no romance in marriage.  You have to infuse it into your marriage.  A couple must learn the art and form the habit of giving, loving, serving, praising, keeping the box full .  IF you take out more than you put in, the box will be empty.