Johnny Appleseed 2011 . . .

Headed out to Johnny Appleseed today. Not such a bright idea with the broken leg! The uneven ground, the gravel and the crowds were not so easy to maneuver with the boot on, but I got some beef vegetable soup which made it all worth while!

Oh my he is getting so big!

Momma and her girl!

Sarsaparilla!

Apple Dumplings . . .

Today after we returned from the Johnny Appleseed Festival, I made apple dumplings. While I am sure theirs were good, I know mine are equally as good and I did not have to stand in line for an hour!

I made a half batch which makes 8. This is plenty for our family! If I am taking it to a carry in I will make a full batch. Here is the half batch ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls
1 apple (I used one Granny Smith and one Macintosh)
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon
About 6 oz of Mountain Dew

All you do is roll a few apple slices in each crescent roll triangle. Place in a 9x13 baking dish.

Melt butter and mix in sugar and cinnamon. Pour over dumplings.

This is what happens when you try to pour a 2 liter of Mountain Dew over the dumplings while trying to take a picture with your other hand. It is not pretty! You end up crushing the bottle and shooting MD all over the stove.

Pour Mountain Dew over and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ham and Egg Cups . . .

Made these for dinner tonight, they are all over pinterest so I though I'd give them a try.

All you do is take thin sliced ham and fit it into a muffin tin that has been lightly greased. I sprayed mine with Canola oil. My ham was a bit thin so if there was a tear or a small hole, I just ripped another peice of ham into small bits and layered it on the bottom to "plug" the hole.


When the ham is all nestled in the muffin tins, crack an egg and pop them into the ham cup. I sprinkled with salt and pepper an added grated cheddar cheese on top of some. I also added green onions on a few others. I left a few plain in case the kids preferred those.

Here they are on their way to the oven . . .

They were yummy and the kids loved them! We ate a whole dozen! They called for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven and the yolks were over done. Next time I will get them out a bit sooner to make the eggs dippers. But they were still yummy!

No Flour Peanut Butter Cookies. . .

I made these for my mommy tonight. She has been gluten free for some time as they found out she has Celiacs Disease. She feels so much better than she ever has. She doesn't really crave baked goods, but every now nad again she pines for cookies and cakes. I know you can bake with gluten free flours, but they are far too complicated for me. I thought I would give these a shot.

Totally gluten free peanut butter cookies.

1 c of peanut butter
1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 t baking soda
1/2 t of vanilla

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Remove cookies from oven but leave on cookie sheet to cool.

Colors, Colors . . .

Today is my brother's birthday. What do you get a man who buys what he wants? He just moved into a new apartment a couple months ago, so I decided the kids and I needed to make him a piece of art!

This is floating around the internet and is all over Pinterest. (If you want an invite, send me an email or leave a comment with your email and I will send you an invite) I decided I could so do one and I thought Uncle Josh might like it, so we gave it a try.

I bought these wrapped canvases at Walmart for $6 for two! The crayons were only 40 cents. I definitely bought Crayola because I know that they color better because they are made with better wax so I thought they would melt much better.

First thing I did was to line up the crayons in a basic rainbow order. I hot glued the crayons on the end of the canvas (being careful to line up the label) and hot glued them on. You take a blow dryer on hot and melt the crayons letting the color drip down the canvas.

Watch yourself, the wax is hot and if you use the high setting it does tend to fling the wax around. See my hand? I used low and it was much more controlled.

This was our finished product. While I like it, I thought that the crayons looked a bit too kiddie for Uncle Josh. So I decided to try it a different way . . .


This time I glued the crayons onto a piece of 1x2 I had in the closet. This time I wasn't concerned with the labels so it was much faster. I glued the crayons so they are just barely off the wood peice and then glued the wood onto the end of the canvas. I once again melted the crayons with the blow dryer.

I also blew wax all over my arm!

The crayon-wood combo came apart from the canvas easily and I think I could use it one more time to melt onto another canvas. The crayons are less than half gone.


Here are the two different versions. I think the one with the crayons is fine, but I like the one without the crayons much better!

What do you think? Sound doable! Super easy, trust me. And for only $7 for two prints . . . totally affordable!

Happy Birthday Uncle Josh!

Thankfulness Project Monday. . .

I have recently started reading Musings of a Counselor. She sponsors a Thankfulness Project Monday post and I thought I would start today. . .

Today I am thankful for:

1. Soul Sisters who travel 6 hours one way to come hug my neck!
2. Soul Sister's kids who don't think my kids are crazy!
3. Husbands who understand when I want to spend lots of time with said Soul Sister.
4. Medications that work without too many side effects for my babies
5. Being able to walk on my broken leg, even with a very heavy "boot".
6. Being able to spend time with some pretty great family today at mom's cookout

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

-- Epictetus

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

-- Rabbi Harold Kushner .