Gideon bakes (mostly mama bakes)

I'm not sure what is going on with me these days, but I decided to do another messy activity with Gideon yesterday.  Easter egg sugar cookies.  Let's blame it on the weather.  That warm breeze blowing in will do that to a person.  This one was much more of a success than painting.  He enjoyed this mess and didn't even mind touching it, and moving it to his mouth for a taste was an added bonus.

So here is what we did...

These are dairy-free, by the way.  HOOTY HOO!  You will need:

1 1/2 cup xxx sugar (that means powdered sugar.  my mama had to tell me that.  disaster averted)

1 cup margarine (or butter if you want the dairy)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tarter

I decided not to test my luck and went ahead and got the mixing going before putting it on Gideon's level to help.  I think we will save the pouring in of ingredients for an eighteen month activity?  He stuck his fingers in it and when he thought I wasn't looking would put some in his mouth.  Yelling ensued because all I kept thinking was salmonella or E. coli and I have already cleaned up my diarrhea quota for this year.

I also had to call my mom because it wasn't mixing up well.  It just stayed powdery at first and she suggested using my hands to mix it.  It worked!

This blurry mess of a photo is a warning, lest ye be so stupid as to say the word "cookie" around a toddler before they are ready to be eaten.  He saw the dough going into the fridge and had a nervous breakdown.  There were tears, clearly.  Stomping of feet and all the good stuff.

My mama bought me a rolling pin for Christmas.  The horror that I didn't have one was just too much.  I mainly wanted it to crush Oreos for Oreo balls, but cookies will do.  I also took Gideon to the store and let him pick between the Easter egg cutter or a bunny and chick.  He made a wise decision.

I'm pretty sure he was kissing the oven.  Coaxing it to hurry up with those cookies.  Oh yea, and you bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes.  Our oven is a ninja so it only took seven.

For the frosting:

2 cups xxx sugar (see my baker speech coming out.  I'm such a pro)

1/2 tsp of vanilla

mix in milk (I used Almond milk to keep it dairy-free) until you like the consistency.  I caution you here to start slow with one or two tsp.  I went with too much too fast and while decorating I realized it was much too runny.

Add food coloring for desired colors

My junior decorator turned to sampler while I was busy.  I seriously looked up and he had half a cookie gone.  And these are big cookies.  

I put the frosting in a sandwich baggie and clipped off the corner to decorate.  And there is the runny mess of frosting.  Gorgeous, right?  Can I blame my toddler even though he did not decorate a single one?  Yep, we will go with that story.

But, they kinda look cute once they dry and they taste amazing.

Irish Potatoes

I'm no chef and clearly no food photographer, either.  I probably need to get better with these photos when I post a recipe, but I literally pulled these potatoes out of the oven and walked to the car to go to home group, so this was the best I could do with my iPhone with these babies sitting in my lap.

Our home group decided to do a potluck last week and I got handed the responsibility of making a side dish.  It doesn't sound so bad, right?  But, I usually make my sides out of cans or a box that says "instant," and I wanted to do better than that for our friends.  And to top it off, the person bringing the main dish was making brisket.  Well, way to up the ante there.

So, in a panic on Thursday morning, I started going through Pinterest recipes.  Maybe a homemade mac and cheese?  Who am I kidding?  Mashed potatoes?  Boring.  But, maybe my mom's Irish potatoes?  Bingo.  So thus started a chain of texts, phone calls and voicemails with my mom with questions like, "are they hard to make?" "how long do you boil potatoes?" "how much should I use for this many people?"  Honestly, this happens a lot.  I think of something my mom makes that I want to try my hand at and she is always gracious to answer my calls, texts, and questions usually while she is at work.  Then in the evening she'll send me a text asking me how it turned out.

Now these potatoes are no paleo, low calorie, cardboard potatoes.  These are so fattening you wouldn't believe it.  I mean sour cream, cream cheese, and butter.  The trifecta.  Here we go...

What you need:
-bag of potatoes (should be ten in there)
-1- 8 ounce pack of cream cheese
-1 stick of butter
-1- 16 ounce container of sour cream
-paprika
-a little bit of milk

What to do:
1. Wash, peel and cube potatoes.  Boil them for 20 minutes.
2. Immediately drain them.  Use a hand mixer to mix them up making sure there are no lumps.  Add a little milk (as much or as little as you want, just eyeball it) to get it a little creamier and smooth.
3. Add in the stick of butter, block of cream cheese and container of sour cream (I didn't add all of the sour cream.  Add some, mix and taste it and just add until you are satisfied) while the potatoes are still hot to help melt it all.  Use the mixer to mix it all in until smooth.
4. Pour into a baking dish and top with a little paprika.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Eat it and don't feel guilty.

*This was made for a group of 8 adults and several kids and we still had some left over. Just adjust the amount of everything to how many you need to serve!

White chicken chili

I promised a white chicken chili recipe, so here it is.  I got this from my sister and every time I make it I have several people asking for the recipe.  I even spooned out some corn, beans and chicken for Gideon the other night and he ate it up.  But, really no surprise there since the kid will eat ANY table food I set in front of him.  It's really easy and reheats well.

What you'll need:

3 (10.5 oz) cans of chicken broth

3 (15 oz) cans of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

16 oz pkg frozen white corn, thawed (I always have trouble finding white corn, so yellow works too!)

4 oz can chopped green chilies

1 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

What to do: (It's really simple! Are you ready for this?)

Place ingredients in a big pot and mix thoroughly.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes.  Serve with shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Crockpot chili

I love a good chili.  Always have, always will and since getting married, I have taken it upon myself to be fully stocked and ready when "chili season" comes.  Taylor has dubbed October 1st through February 28th chili season and we are NOT to have chili any other time outside of those guidelines.  I know there are a million chili recipes out there and this is really nothing new, but I always know that everyone makes chili a little different, so why not share my take on it.  This won't be a formal recipe, as chili is kind of a free-for-all.  Just toss things in and see how it turns out.  But, here is how I do it:

Things you need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
1 green pepper
2 stalks of celery
chili powder
hot sauce
2 large cans of tomato sauce (I usually just buy store brand)
2, 8 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
tostito chips


What to do:

I start my crockpot in the morning with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and kidney beans (drained), set on warm.  I chop the onion (about half), green pepper (about half) and two stalks of celery.  I brown my ground beef and then add the veggies to the pan to simmer for a minute or two.  I then add the ground beef/veggie mixture to the crockpot.  I add some hot sauce and chili powder, both to your liking.  Taylor always tells me to "ere on the side of spicy."  To each their own.  I usually turn up the crockpot to low while I am home and turn it down to warm if I plan on leaving.  Just stir occasionally.  By dinnertime, you are all set.  I serve mine over chips and top with cheese and sour cream.  Taylor will eat his over chips or in a bowl.  I grew up eating mine over chips so I never understood the whole "chili in a bowl" thing and I say bring on the chips.  It feels like a little chili nacho thing.

Of note:

-You can always add more or less of things like tomato sauce or diced tomatoes.  We like ours a little more runny, so more sauce and a little less chunky, so less diced tomatoes.

-Next up will be a white chicken chili which is always a hit!

-I must have done something right the other day because Taylor posted this: