Strawberry Balsamic Jam

My parents and a couple of their friends had a huge garden back when I was a kid.  They all canned, froze, or pickled what they could from the garden, and even though then I didn't enjoy some of my jobs related to preserving the food, I miss them now.

One thing my mother didn't make was jam or jelly, though.  She did try a small batch of grape jelly once.  It took her all day, and she was displeased with how it came out in the end.  I think the term "wallpaper paste" was used more than once.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Brussels Sprouts

My husband declared in late October that he felt he needed to lose a little weight and try to eat healthier.  According to the USDA, he was, in fact considered obese.  And I have to say that in 6 months, he's lost 30 pounds just by changing his diet alone.

Difference Between Pork Loin and Pork Tenderloin

Have you ever read a recipe that called for a pork tenderloin and you bought a pork loin instead thinking they were the same thing?  Frustrating isn't it, when your glaze burns and your meat isn't cooked through at the time the recipe said?  Or, worse, done it in reverse and cooked a pork tenderloin to death in a roasting pan.

Beef Stew with Mushrooms

Last winter I found stew beef on managers special several times, so we ended up eating a lot of beef stew, vegetable beef soup, and beef tips with gravy over mashed potatoes.  Not that anyone really complained.  Even the 9 year old will eat the beef and the potatoes from beef stew.

Yellow Rice

I realized the other night when I made this fantastic dish by Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom that I had never shared my yellow rice recipe with you.  It's such a simple recipe, it's easy to overlook, but it's such a versatile side dish and good starter for more substantial recipes.  The best part about this is, it's cheaper and healthier than those boxes or bags of yellow rice mix in the grocery store.  I know exactly what I'm eating when I make it myself and it takes only an extra minute to or two.

Kettle Corn

You know that sweet popcorn that smells so good when you go to a fair or street carnival?  Here our city holds a street festival in conjunction with our Christmas tree lighting, and there is always a kettle corn vendor.

Chicken Fried Rice

I said last week that the cast iron skillet nachos were the last of my little camping series, however, as I started working on this post I thought I'd add it in too to show the diversity of meals you can make while (car) camping.

S'mores Trail Mix

Here's a quick, easy one for a day time hike or an overnight car camping trip.  We like to mix up a big batch of this before all of our camping trips so we can snack on it in the car or while we're waiting for supper at the camp site.  I like it because, while it's admittedly not the healthiest snack mix out there, it's fun and versatile.

Bread and Butter Freezer Pickles

As I'm working on this post, I'm also chatting on Facebook with one of my parents' long-time friends, Marian, whom I haven't seen in more years than I can count.  When I was little, for a few years my parents, Marion and her husband, and another family all shared a large neighborhood garden.  It was quite large with lots of space for experiments - I remember the year they tried to grow peanuts! - and standbys.  Zucchini, anyone?

Mexicali Corn and Bacon Relish

Yesterday we went to a neighborhood cookout hosted by the family of one of the 8 year old's friends.  The cookout was covered dish, so I took the opportunity to add another dish to my covered dish/pot luck repertoire.  A few weeks ago I'd run across a recipe for bacon corn relish that sounded good but the flavor profiles weren't what I wanted.  So this dish is very much inspired by what I found, but really the only thing that stayed the same were the corn, bacon, and onions.

Peach Blueberry Garden Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinegrette

Okay, I have a small confession.  While I do love vegetables (I was that crazy kid who at age 5 would gobble up a plate of steamed broccoli and ask for more), I sometimes prefer fruit even more.  So if I can find a way to combine them into one meal, that's just about the closest thing to perfection I can get.

Chicken Bruschetta

So technically this isn't a bruschetta.  Bruschetta is really bread rubbed with garlic and olive oil.  The tomato topping is really a "tomato salad" often served with bruschetta.  But the name for this seems to work and most everyone thinks of the tomato salad when they think of bruschetta.

Mock Chicken Salad

Many years ago I was very active in an online community for women and had a tight-knit group of online friends that I spent time with in chats and on message boards.  On one of those boards, we often shared recipes.  Many of the members of that community were also vegetarian.  Probably the most well known of those recipes, and certainly the one that was most requested, was one of our member's recipe for mock chicken salad.  The recipe changed each time it was written down and each time another member made it so that there are probably more variations of this recipe than anyone can imagine.

Fruit or Berry Syrup

This recipe is so simple, it's more method than recipe.  In the picture above, I've used a mix of frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  You can also do this with one berry or cherries.  Whatever floats your boat. 

Momma's Chili

Like my momma's meatloaf, I suspect this was first my grandmother's chili.  Also like my momma's meatloaf, my mother and I don't make this the same way.  The basic "core" recipe is the same, but the combination of spices is slightly different.  And it's generally not made the same way twice.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

We don't watch a lot of sports around here because we're pretty strict about how much TV we let the 8 year old watch.  So generally when the 8 year old is awake or nearby, the TV is off unless he's indulging in his limited "screen time" for the day.  However we do like to watch the bowl games near the first of the year and we must watch the Super Bowl no matter who is playing.  And when we think of game time, our food of choice is buffalo wings.

Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

Big family gatherings and "breakfast for supper" nights call for fruit salad.  Everyone likes it and it's super easy to make.  My 8 year old loves that my fruit salad has just a bit of lime juice and honey for the dressing.  He told his Nana one day "Do you know why Mom puts lime juice in this?  It's to give it a little 'spark'," just like I told him when he asked.

Cranberry Relish

When I was growing up my mom would make this awesome cranberry relish.  There really was no recipe.  She'd just chop up some apples and oranges and push them through her meat grinder with cranberries until her taste testers (my brother and me) said it was perfect.  There may have been some lemon juice and sugar involved, but 30-some years later, I don't really remember.  Every Thanksgiving for years I've wanted that cranberry relish again.

Slow Cooker French Dip with Horseradish Aioli

Did you ever have one of those weeks that left you emotionally exhausted?  Well a few weeks ago we were struggling with the 8 year old and his homework.  He likes to play around - a lot - while doing his homework.  He wants attention, but when you give it to him, he still plays.  If you ignore him, he does everything he can to get your attention.  I try disengaging, but it's difficult when he won't do what he's supposed to until someone responds to him.

Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken

Even though I only work outside of the home from 9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m., all my extra activities after school is dismissed means weekdays get pretty busy around here sometimes.

On a busy weekday, you just can't go wrong with putting the ingredients for barbeque chicken in the slow cooker in the morning to have supper ready fast that evening.  What's even better for me is that the 7 year old loves this.