So....since I haven't really been baking anything, I thought I would just pop in here and give a little update on the garden. This is my first garden and I am super excited with the produce that I have gotten from it and what I am still getting. The picture above is what I harvested today. I planted cucumbers, spinach, squash, zucchini, green beans, okra, brussel sprouts and tomatoes. The spinach didn't make it and the squash and zucchini are about done too. The okra is just now starting...and I really don't know what to expect with the brussel sprouts. I have never seen them grown, so it is a watch and see kind of thing.

I have enjoyed everything in my garden..from tilling the ground to planting the seeds. Watching them sprout and now getting to harvest. My kids have enjoyed it and it makes me happy to see that they are eating from our back yard. It is such a good feeling to know that we grew it and there was nothing harmful added to it. If you have ever watched Food Inc., then you know what I am talking about.

I am already planning next years garden and planning to expand it. I would highly suggest to anyone to is questioning the idea of a garden...do it! The benefits from it....well, it just makes you smile!

I hope everyone is having a great Summer! My kids head back to school in about 3 weeks..so we are enjoying every last minute that we can!

Happy 4th of July!

How about celebrating with this Red, White and Blue Cream Cheese Poundcake, except I used blackberries instead of blueberries. The cream cheese makes this cake dense and moist, with the tang of the cream cheese, mixed with the sweetness of the berries and you can't resist another piece! This is another link that Beth sent my way and you can find the original recipe here.

Happy 4th of July!! Have a safe and fun day celebrating our freedom!

Red, White, and Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, but not quite room temperature

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened slightly

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 ounces raspberries

6 ounces fresh blueberries---I used blackberries

lemon glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, and place on a cookie sheet.

2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese. Pour in sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated.

3. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

4. Fold berries into batter.

5. Distribute batter evenly into pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely. Drizzle with lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add more juice or cream as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

Smore's Sandwich Bar Cookies

I have been away from The Cookie Carnival for some time now and when I got the email from Tami showing the new cookies for this month I knew I would be making these as soon as I could! You see, I have an addiction to gooey, roasted marshmallows. I just can't help myself when it comes to them...not sure where it comes from. Tami decided that for the Summer months we will have a kid friendly recipe along with the normal cookie recipe. As you can see, I went straight for the kid friendly one and let me tell you...I am so glad that I did. I couldn't get Abby or my boys in the kitchen to help me with these, but that's quite alright, they did their share in eating them! Seriously, these are amazingly good! Healthy, not so much...but honestly, it's worth the splurge!

I did have to improvise on a couple of things...I didn't have any Hershey bars, so I used semi sweet chocolate chips and no mini marshmallows, I had the large ones and just lined the top. I'm thinking next go around will have to include homemade marshmallows, you just can't go wrong with them.


S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies
From: Hershey

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz. each)
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan. 2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. 3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 16 bars.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Last week Abby had her tonsils and adnoids out. It really has been alot tougher than I thought it would be. She has lost over 5 lbs and still isn't eating and the fever came back yesterday. Do you know how hard it is to get a 9 year old to eat nothing but soft things, when the said 9 year old doesn't really like jello, ice cream, pudding? Let me just say that she is growing tired of mashed potatoes.

Last night while we were talking about what she wanted to eat, she said that she was craving a warm, chewy chocolate chip cookie. I then remembered these bars that I had bookmarked from Donna of My Tasty Treasures. I thought maybe the edges of the cookies would be hard on her, and the bars would be a little easier. I still don't know the verdict of that yet, because the craving left her as soon as it came to her.

I did have to modify a couple of things...I didn't have any brown sugar, so I googled the substitute for it and you can mix 1 cup sugar with 2 Tbsp of molasses, I had some left from my gingerbread at Christmas, and you know what?? You can't tell a difference in the taste. My bars came out just a little bit dark from it..but no change in the taste. The recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, I had a cup of mixed peanut butter and chocolate chips, so I threw them in with some chopped up semi sweet chocolate and a bar of my dark chocolate that Beth sent me. Worked out perfectly! And with not having to wait for you butter to soften, you just melt and mix...go ahead and make some for yourself.

Chocolate Chip Bars
From: My Tasty Treasures

2 ⅛ cups (10 ½ ounces) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
½ (3 ½ ounces) cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24–28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

The kids are out of school and we are just enjoying the weather. I can't believe that it has been over 2 weeks since I have posted last, but sometimes life just happens.

I found these cookies from Amanda's Cookin' and knew that I had to make them. Peanut butter cookies, or if I am being honest, anything with peanut butter is my all time favorite. These were quick to mix together with a short bake of 8 minutes and they were perfect. Soft and chewy, just what I needed!

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
From: Amanda's Cookin'

1/2 cup shortening (or butter flavored shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls (using a cookie scoop works great) 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Strawberry Turnovers

Spring has arrived here and the weather has been beautiful. We are having a blast just being outside and enjoying it. With that said, there hasn't been alot of activity in the kitchen. I have had this craving for a strawberry fried pied, but seeing how that really isn't the healthiest thing, I opted for this strawberry turnover. These turned out tasty and low sugar, which helps with the blood sugar levels. This recipe could be adapted to any fruit or filling of your liking.


Strawberry Turnovers
From: Cooking Light Desserts

1 lb strawberries, lightly chopped
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar, or regular sugar

4 (14x9 inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Butter-flavored cooking spray

1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp water
1/8 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the strawberries and sugar into a bowl, and mix until combined.
Place 1 phyllo sheet on a damp towel (cover remaining dough to keep from drying out). Lightly coat with cooking spray. Place second phyllo sheet over first sheet, lightly coat with cooking spray. Cut stacked sheets lenghtwise into 3 equal strips (each about 4 1/2 inches wide).
Working with 1 strip at a time (cover remaining strips), place 2 Tbsp strawberry mixture at base of strip. Fold the corner over strawberry mixture to form a triangle. Continue folding triangle back and forth to end of strip. Place triangle, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining 1 phyllo sheets and strawberry mixture. Coat triangles with cooking spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan, and cool 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Combine powdered sugar, water, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Drizzle sugar mixture evenly over turnovers.

Our first garden!

This year will be our first year planting a garden. I am enjoying watching the excitement in my kids! I didn't think that they would care at all about it, but to my surprise, they are just as excited as I am! Now, let's just pray that it all grows!!