Baked Beans

I was hosting a few guests, including my Mother In Law, recently for a birthday party.  Because cooking for her makes me nervous, and because I was short on time, I decided to keep it simple and I made (ahead!) my ham & swiss sliders and these baked beans.  Both were a smashing success, so I thought I would share the recipe here.  It’s a recipe I’ve been making for probably 15 years, and I don’t even remember where it came from, but even my bean-hating kids love these beans! 
image courtesy:  Cook Like A Champion

Ham & Swiss Sliders (aka “Funeral Sandwiches”)

I ignored this recipe entirely the first several times I saw it on Pinterest, because I thought the whole idea of “marinating” a sandwiches was a recipe for soggy grossness.  But I just kept seeing people pinning them, so I decided to try them, and my entire family absolutely loves these little sandwiches.  They are even good leftover, so I usually make a double batch. 

image courtesy:  Lilikoi Joy  recipe courtesy:  Cooking With The Preacher’s Wife

I like to add poppyseeds and dried minced onion to the marinade.  They add extra texture.

Pizza- Deep Dish & Quick and Easy Gluten Free

 

We like to do pizza and movie night every Friday night!

I think homemade pizza is better then anything else. (Although I would never turn down the other stuff.)  About 5 years ago I found Crystal at everydayfoodstorage.net  Her 30 minute homemade pizza dough recipe has been our favorite ever since the first time I made it.

We MISS Crystals recipe and have struggled to find a good substitute.  About a month ago we found one! I think it will be our new GF favorite! Premium gold makes a good  ‘Gluten Free Flax & Ancient Grains All-purpose Flour’ you can buy it off their website or at Costco. I’m excited to try more of their recipes!

 

What do you like to top your pizza with?

Fresh Peach Dessert

I’m wrapping up what will probably be my final box of peaches for the season.  This latest box was the best yet.  These peaches are enormous!  They look almost more like mini pumpkins than peaches!  We’ve already had this fresh peach dessert a couple times this year, but the kids wanted to have it just one last time before the peaches were all gone. 

recipe adapted* from and image courtesy My Favorite Things To Eat

*I reduced the sugar in the crust portion of the original recipe.  I thought it was too sweet, and I prefer for the natural sweetness of the peaches to shine through. 

Peach Pie

This pie.  So delicious.  It is one of my favorite recipes to make during that late summer into early fall produce extravaganza.  

image courtesy Two Peas And Their Pod

I used to always use the Marie Callendar’s deep dish frozen pie crust to make this pie.  It is excellent this way.  Now that I’ve mastered the homemade pie crust, though, I have of course been using that recipe.  I am proud to say my crust is every bit as delicious and flaky as Marie’s, but without all the extra preservatives in hers! 

Pretzel Salad

 

It’s my mom’s birthday!

When I was little my mom was a daycare provider. At one time both of my parents were working at home and they had up to 12 kids plus their 4.

(Talk about CRAZY!!!  I don’t know how she did it.)

With all of those kids, I’m sure meal time could have been filled with a lot of complaining. But I don’t remember it being that way.

When I was growing up there was this rule/motto that we had.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT YOU JUST HAVE TO EAT IT!

(This motto came from my mom’s side. My grandma and Grandpa used it with their six kids)

The parents of her daycare kids started asking for recipes because they couldn’t get them to eat healthy meals. She decided to make a cookbook.  Filing it with favorites that have been ‘begged borrowed or stolen’.

(Photo of one of the original cookbooks)

One of our favorites recipes out of this book, is this pretzel salad.

I don’t think we ever had a thanksgiving or Christmas without it.

It’s one of those dishes that we never have any leftovers.

A couple of years ago we started making it with real whip cream because of an allergy (to the coconut oil). Talk about delicious! The only downfall is that the cream doesn’t stay as firm as the Cool Whip does… Who cares about that?… NO ONE!

The extra work is worth it if you have the time.

Peach Cobbler

This is my favorite time of the year.  I love the welcome relief of the changing temperatures and the stunning beauty of the changing leaves, but the main reason I love this time of year is the abundant FALL PRODUCE!  Tomatoes, cukes, zucchini, peppers, and – probably my favorite of all! – peaches.  I bought a case of peaches last week and made peach freezer jam out of them at 4 am one morning before the kids got up for school.  Then, when they got up, they got mad at me because I had used up all the peaches!  So I bought another case for them, just for baking, snacking, and freezing.  Last night, Messy Girl and I made this peach cobbler.  I love how easy it is and how it crisps up on top so nicely. 

image courtesy Magnolia Days

Next up, a peach pie for Messy Boy. 

I’m hoping I can bust through this case and work in one more case before they’re all gone.  I’m a glutton like that.  Blame it on fall produce!