Best Sugar Cookies Ever!

This recipe comes from Betty Crocker herself. I have seen and tried several different sugar cookie recipes but I always come back to this one. The key is in the sugar. This recipe uses powdered sugar, not granulated. Big difference. Melt in your mouth goodness! Great for frosting or just sprinkling with crystallized sugar.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix everything in a bowl. Form into a a big flattened disc (I like this better than a ball) and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Cut out into desired shapes. Sprinkle with crystallized sugar if you aren't going to frost them later. Bake at 375* for 7-9 minutes depending on size of cookies. Let cool and then frost if desired. Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Chanukkah Sufganiyot

This is a very easy but good recipe for Chanukkah donuts. Here is a little background tidbit that came with the recipe:

The oil in the recipe symbolizes the miracle of Chanukkah. The sufganiyot also symbolizes the meeting of Eastern and Western cultures. The fritter is of Sephardic origin while the sugar topping and jelly filling are part of the Chanukkah tradition of European immigrants, who celebrated Chanukkah with glazed doughnuts filled with apricot jelly.

We usually double the recipe when we have guests.

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

Heat until melted. Cool to lukewarm.

Add

4 tsp. yeast

Stir until dissolved

Add

3 cups flour

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

Knead with additional flour until the dough has a smooth texture. It will be a fairly soft dough.

Cover and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes

Roll out dough and use a circle cutter or drinking glass to cut out doughnuts. You shouldn’t get more than 18 or so  if you use a 3 inch cutter, or they will be too flat. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. Fry in oil** on both sides. Let cool, then fill with jelly or jam. Roll in powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Make sure to use a good high heat frying oil such as safflower. Olive oil is not a good choice-ask me why I know! :-)

Baked Oatmeal recipe

Oh my goodness, this is a good one. A friend gave me this recipe a few years ago and it's a keeper. It turns out more like a cake and is always completely devoured. I usually double it and bake in a 10x14 (adding a few extra minutes baking time)

Combine in large bowl:
1/2 cup melted butter or oil
3/4-1 cup sucanat or other sugar
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup yogurt, kefir, or buttermilk

if possible and for best results, let this sit overnight.

The next morning add:
2 beaten eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit or chopped apples-optional

Bake in a greased 11x7 pan at 350* for 25 minutes. Serve with butter and maple syrup if desired

My Sweet Challah recipe

Sweet Challah

Mix together in large bowl:

2/3 cup softened butter

1/2-2/3 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey (depends on taste)

Beat in:

3 eggs

Stir in by hand:

4 heaping tsp. yeast***

3 cups white flour (no whole wheat allowed on Shabbat!)

Add:

1 1/2 cups very warm milk (or water)

Beat with an electric mixer until smooth

Add 4+ cups of flour (and any dried fruit if desired) and mix until it can be kneaded.

Add small amounts of flour until you have a SOFT, but not sticky ball of dough. Knead for several minutes until nice and smooth. Cover, and let rise in an oiled bowl for about an hour (until double in size). Split dough in 2 parts large loaves. Make 3 or 6 ropes out of each part and braid into challah loaves. Brush an egg glaze on top and let rise on cooking skeet for about 30 minutes. I bake mine for 28 minutes at 350 degrees. Baking time will depend on individual oven temp.

***If you are having trouble getting a nice loaf, you can 'proof' the yeast by adding it to your warm milk along with a tablespoon of the sugar. Let it sit for a few minutes. If the yeast was activated, it should be frothy.

Cinnamon roll variation:

Divide into 2 parts after first rising. Roll out into rectangles and spread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon (LOTS!**) and sugar. Roll up and cut into 9(for each rectangle) large rolls. Put 9 rolls into a 9 x 13 pan, making sure they slightly touch each other. Let rise for about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (depending on how done/gooey you want them). While still warm, spread with frosting made of 1/4 cup butter, 4 ounces cream cheese, and about 2 cups powdered sugar. After they are cooled, cover with saran wrap and enjoy the next morning on Shabbat! This will make 2 pans of cinnamon rolls, one to keep and one to give away!

      Pecan Sticky Bun variation:

Follow same rolling instructions for cinnamon rolls but ease up on the cinnamon and use brown sugar. Mix some more brown sugar and chopped, toasted pecans and sprinkle on bottom of the 9 x 13 pan before you put the rolls in. The more sugar-nut mixture, the better! Bake the same. When serving, be sure to flip the roll out upside down onto the plate. No frosting needed.

** The types and amount of cinnamon are the keys. Try getting some cinnamon from Cinnabon or a specialty shop. There is a HUGE difference! With an excellent quality cinnamon, pour it on and it’s delicious!

Lentils

 
Lentils are cheap, easy to prepare, and really good for you. They can stretch the use of meat in a recipe also. What else is there to say? Here are my top three ways to use them.




                                      Lentil Sloppy Joes


1 lb. groung turkey or beef
1 onion-chopped plus some garlic (to taste)
1 green pepper-chopped
2 cups brown lentils
1 can tomato paste
about 3 cups stock or water


all seasoning amounts are approximate:
1-2 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. salt
a couple dashes Worcestershire sauce
a couple dashes pepper
any type of b-b-q sauce or seasoning if desired


Brown the ground turkey, onion, and pepper. Stir in lentils, tomato paste, and water. Simmer until lentils are tender; about 20 minutes. You may need to add more water and stir occasionally.  Add seasonings etc.. to taste and serve over buns with cheese. should serve 8-10 depending on appetites.








                                       Lentil-Rice Pilaf


2 cups brown lentils
1 1/2 cups long grain brown rice
1 large bunch green onions chopped
3 cloves garlic-minced
4 Tble. butter
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
2 Tble. parsley
a couple dashes pepper-to taste
(a lemon-pepper seasoning works great)


Saute the lentils, rice, onions and garlic in the butter. Add broth and seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. I shamefully always peak at my rice to see if it is done so I'm not precise on the cooking time. This feeds a large group as a side. I like to add a little lemon juice at the end sometimes. 








                                Chocolate-Lentil Cake


2 cups water
2/3 cup brown lentils
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
barely 2 cups sifted flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt


Bring water to boil. Add lentils, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Drain, but save the liquid.
Add 1/2 cup liquid back to lentils and puree in a blender. Beat together sugar, oil, and eggs. Add vanilla and pureed lentils. Sift and add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Let cool and frost if desired but it's good on it's own too!

My Holy Moses Score Booklist

Yesterday I stopped by one of the local thrift stores for "just a minute" and came away with 2 boxes of books! I usually always find a few good ones but never have I left with a cart FULL of them! I was so thrilled I thought I might share them here. I love to see what others are reading and I am known for snooping on bookshelves everywhere I go. I also have a habit of trying to see what books are in little inset pictures of ads. I can't help myself. I tend to lean towards reference books and childrens books and of course classics. I don't get too many fiction books for myself. So for those fellow book aficionados, here you go.

Now instead of making you squint and try to see all of the titles, I'm going to break it up into groups for you! Aren't I nice?

This is a neat set I have been wanting for awhile. I read the original book Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach years ago. Now there is a daybook (hb), companion workbook(large pb), and a study book(hb).

I just LOVE Cheryl Harness books! Excellent illustrations and information. Great childrens books.

This big book is brand new and will be perfect for the newest addition to our little one room schoolhouse.

And note the "teacher approved" label in the lower right hand corner of the cover! That sure makes me feel better!?! :-)

Here are assorted books for my littles including a sweet Precious Moments bible for my Lydia bug. Can't imagine paying full price for books that will get so much wear and tear. And they are all in excellent condition...for now. ;-)

This oversized hardback book is brand new and is a memory book filled with beautiful watercolor paintings. Every page is to be filled out with information about my life, my mom's life, and my daughter's life. It will be wonderful for a certain daughter's birthday next year. I just hope I can remember enough to fill in all of the pages!

This is a stack I am particularly excited about! All excellent condition including the matching full set of The Chronicles of Narnia!

Another stack of excellence! And do you see that 2003 Taste of Home cookbook? We collect those for the girl's hopechests. Also a hardback brand new I Spy book (the kids love those) and a Cartooning book with some of the best instruction I've seen for two of my kids. Details on the rest below

An inside peak of the top book; The Classic Herb Cookbook

What I like about this are the full page spreads of photographs and detailed information on each edible herb.

Poetry for Young People is a series I highly recommend. Great illustrations to accompany the text throughout.

 

Always a score when I find any DK Eyewitness books. It looks brand new!

My kids (especially the boys) cannot get enough of Stephen Biesty cross-section books. They check them out at the library all of the time! And these two huge oversize books are seriously in brand new condition.

Here are more goodies for me!

At the top of the pile are three quote books and everyone knows how I love my quotes! I especially love the one full of garden thoughts, so inspiring!

These are great standards to collect for the self help section of everyone's personal library.

For Men Only by Shaunti Feldhahn(great series for couples)

Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson (LOVE all of her books!)

Keeping Our Children's Hearts by Steve and Terry Maxwell (of MOTH fame)

boy meets girl with CD by Joshua Harris(gotta plan ahead!)

The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo (highly recommend)

Five L♥ve languages of children by Gary Chapman(met him once-very nice guy)

Brand new hardback and the girls just love his stuff, not that our dogs are like his though! :-)

One of my favorite titles from my youth. Classic hardback with lovely ribbon bookmark.

A thick compendium by William J. and while I was flipping through it, I didn't recognise half of the books he recommends! That is hard to do; stump me on books so I'm excited to read through it and discover many more title to search for!

I have more deals from previous trips to share but I'll save them for later. So I am wondering how much everyone thinks I paid for my Holy Moses Score of books?? If I counted correctly, I've listed 46 books. Let me know what your guess is in the comments and we'll see if I really got a deal or not! But don't do what hubby does and under price it all. I did pay more than say 5.00 for all of them! No bursting my bubble of pride allowed! :-)

Too much freedom??

Is it possible to have too much freedom? I'm not exactly sure but after spending the last week thinking about all of the different freedoms I have, it seems that there are more than anyone realizes. I wonder if we as Americans deserve our freedoms if we don't appreciate, respect and honor them. In any case, I have enjoyed my week of personal contemplation and I have a renewed respect for the enviable position most of us find ourselves in here in the USA. Even in my darkest moment of financial difficulty I have it better than 3/4 of the world. I can't remember a time when I couldn't express my faith, buy what I needed, or give my vote on a political matter. I have also begun to center my world view around lesser recognized freedoms that are almost more important than the more obvious. Like personal freedom to have boundaries and say NO to people and things that would be a detriment to my life goals. Or how about the freedom that comes with getting out of debt? Owe no man....it's a worthy goal. To look beyond daily irritations and appreciate my abundant blessings. Not one of us can really complain.

We have the HBO miniseries John Adams and it's one of my all time favorites. Paul Giamatti does such a good job, but I'm biased because I ♥ Paul Giamatti. No matter how hard I try, I just can't  imagine living back then and accomplishing what they did. All I can do is read, watch, learn and remember. We also have a copy of David McCullough's 1776 the illustrated edition. Love it! And I hear it's being made into a miniseries as well. Can't wait! And as long as I have the freedom of owning books and videos, I will be getting them out every year for my family to learn and remember.

So I want to wish all of America a happy 4th and I pray we all take the time to understand what freedom really means. Here's a little youtube and even though it's on the "cheezy seen it a million times" side, it really doesn't get too old in my book. It's what the 4th is all about!
                                   

God Bless The USA

Freedom Week

For the next week I want to reflect on the freedoms in my life. There are so many that I just take for granted on most days without any thought. I want to remember what I have and to practice gratefulness in all areas of my life. It's just too darn easy to fall into the trap of expecting rights, that in light of history are actually hard earned privileges that can easily be taken away if I do not do my part in protecting and respecting them.Today I have been really thinking about my religious freedom. It is amazing to think about how it is possible in America to take part in any number of religious or spiritual groups without fear of harassment or being thrown in some horrible prison. And what makes my apathy about this even worse is that I've read countless books, watched numerous movies, and have even taught my kids lessons on the persecution that has happened through the ages. This is a subject that I am well acquainted with and yet on a daily basis I get so caught up in insignificant details that my mind is often blinded to the pure joy I should have in just being able to express my beliefs in whatever way I choose. What a beautiful thing. Something that should produce a daily happiness and yet I seem to rob myself of it all too often. So I am on a mission to regularly remind myself of the wonderful freedom I have. I am striving to remember the fragility of religious freedom and how very quickly it can be taken away. Here is what I'm going to use to ramp up our family's awareness of other cultures and religions. We have this beautiful book from 1944 to help us realize that other religious groups besides Christianity helped in the building of our country and I like to read aloud from this each July. And one of the best ways to help keep our gratitude is to delve into any number of  resources on one of the many world wars that have been fought over religion. In school this past year we studied the middle ages and my goodness are there plenty of examples of religious persecution. Corrie Ten Boom's life has always been a favorite of mine also. It seems that every year I find new stories and biographies to learn from other people's lives and trials. To keep this freedom of religious expression involves constant practice of discipline to focus, remember and be grateful. It is not a simple thing to be able to go to church or synagogue or to even be an atheist in most of the world. In so many countries none of those would be an option. I wonder what I would do? I wonder how many of us would be able to hold up under intense persecution?

First Amendment to the constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

The Glory of a Deal

I drag hubby out quite often to garage sales. Occasionally he has to come with me to the thrift store. He hates thrift stores. Really can't stand them. He says they smell weird and finds it creepy that they sell underwear. But, I have to say that I love other people's junk. Maybe not the underwear, but I love finding something useful out of a pile of stuff someone else thought was garbage. I don't mind washing off the dirt of a perfectly good coat or drinking tea out of a lovely old tea cup that has been used before. I imagine stories behind all of these things. Especially when I go to estate sales. I can see a person's whole life laid out. I suppose it could seem sad and disrespectful to traipse through someones house and haggle over their possessions, but not for me. I like to think I am honoring their memory by giving whatever little treasure I find a new home. We are so wasteful in America. Wasteful and prideful. I don't care if I can afford to go and pay full price for all my wants and needs. Not that I can, but I'm thinking theoretically. I think it would be wonderful if everyone would learn to reuse things. It's one of the best ways to go "green" which seems to be all the rage these days.  So without further ado, here is the latest and greatest in my 2010 thrifting adventure...

Pacific Trail down filled (machine washable) puffy winter coat .25 cents!!!

And it's for ♥me♥

3 beautiful tea cups Royal Albert bone china, and one Japanese

3.00 each

I Love Thriftiness

Look at my lovely thrifting finds:

A beautiful 3 piece tiered glass set

My new winter cookie plate

A special plate for special little ones

tea cup #1

tea cup #2

tea cup #3

And I have to say, the tea cups were the best deal! Bone china with no nicks for .80 per cup & saucer set!!

Now, if I were to be interested in lowering my carbon footprint, thrifting is an excellent choice! :)

Exercise Update

I am officially in phase 2 of my "lose the jello" exercise regimen. For all of February I will be doing strength training along with my yoga stretching. I have really enjoyed this so far. It has not been hard core crazy workouts that burn millions of calories, but I have been able to be consistent and not give up. That is important, making something work well enough to stick with it. I've learned this the hard way with so many failed crazy plans under my belt. An interesting side not is I have found my mental attitude is better since I have been exercising. Now if I can just get my snarkiness under control I will be much pleased with myself.

I am also working diligently at making healthier food choices. This is probably the most frustrating part for me. I used to be great at eating healthy and I never, ever had to watch calories. That's what I get for bragging about my metabolism. So now I am addicted to cupcakes and cookies and pie and I really don't want to give them up. I am trying to eat healthy during the week, and then reward myself with the good stuff on the weekend. Friday night dinner should always include carbs and sugar! Now since it is still the weekend, I am off to make a double batch of: 

           Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup craisins

2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup Macadamia nuts

bake @ 375* for 10-12 minutes

FPU

I am excited once again about some new directions my life is taking this year. Because a nice friend (thank you very much Carrie) sent an email coupon for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, I decided to give it a go. It was on my to-do list, but I really wasn't going to tackle it until the Fall. But, after I bought it online, it showed I had only 16 weeks to finish the course. Crap! So now I'm in whether I like it or not. It will end up being a good thing since I always work better under stress though! Don't we all?  I've already done lesson #1. I'm suppose to be journaling so I am starting a special category for my thoughts on money. I am also suppose to find a "buddy" or "buddies" for accountability and encouragement so if there is anyone who wants to be my buddy, let me know!

Right off the bat, in lesson 1, I got depressed. I had heard most of it before, years ago from Larry Burkett, and it seemed sad that I had to be relearning this information. What really got me was the compound interest segment. That is amazing! One person saving 2,000 per year between age 19-26 (a total of 8 years @ 12%)equals 2,288,996 at age 65. Second person saves 2,000 per year between the age 27-65 (a total of 38 years @ 12%) equals 1,532,166 at age 65. What a difference!  When I was younger, it seemed so hard to save a little and I thought for sure that there would be years to save etc... Now, years later, I'm not that much better off. Frustrating! Dave is right when he says things WILL happen and they can be devestating when you're not prepared. He also said it's never too late so I'm going to go with that. I know I will regret it 10 years from now if I don't work on it now and I'm trying really hard to stay away from pity parties. They get so boring after awhile!

So here I go on yet another adventure towards my future. I have decided to quit waiting for my ship to come in and start canoeing my way out to the sea of financial peace. If anyone cares to join me, it would be a good, good thing. Remember, a small bit out of a tax refund invested in this course would pay for itself with the moneywiseness (my own imaginative word) you would come away with!

More Beautiful Things

What do you get when you combine one awesome photographer, an imaginative storyteller, and a serious strategizer?  Crazy fun!

Beautiful Things

This is a treasure of mine. A gift actually, from my dad, and it's been years in the making. It's  The Library of  Presidents by Easton Press. Leather and gold and ribbon bookmarks. Handsome. Very handsome. It is a complete set minus three volumes that somehow I missed getting during assorted moves and address changes over the years. I will be getting those volumes soon and then my set will be complete. Ah, contentment. I want to read them all (in chronological order of course) someday, but not today. Today I am just going to admire how nice they look on my bookshelf. It makes me feel smarter just having them there.

I almost forgot. Thank you dad!

A New Place To Call Home

I've been wanting to switch my blog for about a year now. I had it at Wordpress but there were some design things that I couldn't do over there so I finally found a new home. I'm actually going to be moving again (*big grin*) but am still working on the setup at Typepad. I hope to eventually have a few different writing themes going on and connect them all to my home blog. This would also include a fun group discussion on a most beloved subject; irony! Anyways, here I am, at Blogspot, for the time being. If you wanted to see older posts and family pictures, go over to http://www.livingtheshema.wordpress.com/  and see them there. TTFN.

Who Wants To Join Me?

So I've started off this joyous year with yoga exercising, will be adding strength training in February, and once the weather warms up a bit, will be out jogging around the neighborhood. Hopefully. Maybe. Perhaps. I'm only on step one right now. Baby steps. Gotta take baby steps. After sooo many years of pregnant, nursing, pregnant, nursing, pregnant, nursing, this young-old lady needs some serious body revamping! The finale is to join in on the Bloomsday fun this year. I remember running it as a kid, and it is one of my "new and improved me" goals. I think some of the kids might come along too. This looks to be a good year for quite a few personal ideas that have been on the back burner for longer than I care to think. Happy momma makes everyone happier!

"Take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step."

                                                                                       Martin Luther King Jr.

Challah Time

I have been using a challah recipe for the last few years that I generally like. It's sweet and makes awesome cinnamon rolls! But I have been wanting to find one that is a little bit lighter and has a smoother shape to it. My challah always tastes good, but it can look fairly ugly at times. I came across a recipe that a friend posted a link to on her blog and I have been wanting to try it for about a year now. I finally got around to making it last week and it is wonderful! I want to tweek it just a little with a bit more sugar but for the most part it is perfect. It makes two huge loaves and trust me, you will have plenty to share. This is one of the best challah recipes I have made. And as a bonus, she has a video showing you how to do the always mysterious 6 braided loaf! How much better can it get?

About Me

Hello to all who read this page. My name is Mandy, and welcome to my world. I am a child of the One who created life eternal and I am forever grateful to him for that. I am a wife of 18+ years to do-it-yourself wizard and political brainiac Brett. I am a mother to lots of littles (Joel, Lydia, Abigail, and Daniel), a couple of middles (Anna & Aaron), and a few oldies (Matthew, Melissa, and Megan). I am also a chef, teacher, bedtime story reader, tea & wine drinker and a lover of all things chocolate. I am endeavoring to organize and catalog my thoughts and life for myself and my family, thus why I have this little blog. I also hope to help family and friends keep track of us since I am so bad at staying in touch! If you are here hoping to find great theological thoughts with perfect grammar, I will sorely disappoint you. My weakness is being more pessimistic than full of hopeful grace, and I write as I speak which means lots of grammatical mistakes. On the other hand, I can be slightly amusing on ocassion and I strive to live a wysiwyg** kind of life which, depending on how you look at it, can be a strength or a weakness.

So here I am, in all my unglory, for better or worse, take it or leave it. But God granted me life and I'm going for it. Come along if you like, enjoy the ride if you can, but under no circumstances are you allowed to blame me if you don't like where we end up!

**wysiwyg= what you see is what you get

Chocolate Thoughts

Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

Chocolate is the answer, no matter what the question is.

I'd stop eating chocolate, but I'm no quitter.

God sends no stress that prayer and chocolate cannot handle.

Put "Eat Chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

Save our planet. It's the only one with chocolate.

"Your hand and mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain." Dave Barry

I'm not overweight, I'm chocolate enriched.

"All I want is peace and quiet. And my hot chocolate." Donald Duck

If you can't eat all of your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all of your chocolate, what's wrong with you?