mmmonday! {French Toast with Easy Butter Syrup}

Guys.  If you are looking for a quick and easy, yet kind of fancy and super delicious breakfast, you have got to try this.

Make French Toast.  This is the recipe that I use, but any will do.

Make the syrup.  This syrup is seriously so easy and it’s delicious.

Top with fresh fruit and a bit of cream and you have got an amazing and pretty meal!

Have a fabulous Monday!

MMMonday {Summer Salmon}

Today I would like to share with you one of our favorite fish recipes.  We’re not really fish people, but we really like this one.  It’s easy to make, and perfect for a quick summer meal.

We use salmon for this recipe.

Slice it into steaks and place on 2 sheets of tinfoil with a little bit of olive oil on it.  Drizzle the salmon with honey. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and some chopped red onions.

Let it sit for about 15-30 minutes.  Flip the fish over a time or two during the 15-30 minutes to make sure the fish is coated with honey, onions and salt and pepper.

Grill the fish to desired done-ness, and enjoy with potatoes, veggies or fruit.

We like to grill our veggies.  These are green beans, but we have also done yellow squash and zucchini successfully.  For the veggies, we drizzle olive oil, sprinkle garlic salt and some pepper and they are awesome.

Send me a note if you try this recipe.  I would love to hear what you think!

My New Love...

Homemade Ice Cream!

I've always had a strong affection for ice cream, but have recently avoided buying it at the store so that I won't gain 500 pounds.  Because I will eat it.  I will.  Every. last. bit. 

A few weeks ago, I was looking for something in the garage, and stumbled across our ice cream maker.  We got it when we were married....almost 15 years ago!  In our first year of marriage, we made ice cream in it maybe 2 times {from those packets you can buy} and then relegated it to storage.

So when I saw it in the garage, I thought it may be fun...um...for the kids...to make and eat some ice cream.

I tried a few recipes with little success and then found this one!

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

{from The Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Cookbook by Mable and Gar Hoffman}

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

2 egg yolks

1 cup whipping cream

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in milk. Stir over medium heat. Simmer 1 minute over low heat; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks. Stir about 1 cup milk mixture into egg yolks, then pour egg yolk mixture back into the remaining milk. Cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Pour into ice cream canister. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

P.S. the recipe in the book also included 1 {5 ounce} can of evaporated milk, but I didn't have any, so I just left it out. If you add it, it goes in with the whipping cream and vanilla.

I keep meaning to add fruit or cookies or cookie dough, or chocolate, but I the kids just keep eating it too fast.

Let me know if you try this recipe and how it turns out...or if you have any favorite homemade ice cream recipes...because my kids just can't get enough.

{Sweet Treat}

For all of you out there who are looking for a great summer snack, you have to try this one!

To make these yummy frozen banana treats, slice bananas in half, and skewer on a stick. 

{I used corn skewers}

Then, dip in melted chocolate.

An easy and delicious recipe for dipping is:

1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup butter, cubed

3 Tablespoons Evaporated Milk

Combine and heat till mixture is smooth.

Next, sprinkle {or roll} your chocolate-coated banana with sprinkles, crushed oreos or candybars or whatever else sounds good.  You could also get extra creative and coat the banana in peanut butter before dipping it in chocolate, etc.

After your bananas are assembled to your liking, place in the freezer.  In the name of science, we tested several of these snacks during various stages of freezing, and concluded that the bananas were nice and cold  after about 30 minutes but weren't frozen solid for several hours...and that even after a few days in the freezer, the frozen banana snacks maintained their deliciousness.

If you have other variations of  this snack, please share!   

We will be experimenting all summer long!

P.S. Come back and visit next week, for some awesome ideas for the 4th of July!

This is your lucky day!

I'm feeling a little crazy and am going to share with you a secret family recipe.  I figure, if you've got something good, you should share it, right? 

The other day, we ran out of jam.  For some people, this might not be seen as a huge problem, but at our house, it was tragic.

Jam runs through our veins. 

We love it that much.

However, we have been spoiled and only eat homemade freezer jam.  We've tried to do store jam and just can't hack it. 

You could even go so far as to say that we border on jam snobbiness.

So I ran to the store and collected ingredients, and made a quick batch of jam. 

It really was quick.

And easy. 

And sooooo good! 

And after you try it, you may never be able to go back.

First, wash and hull your strawberries. {I know that my collander looks like it has seen better days, but as I was contemplating replacing it, I came to the conclusion that I really liked it all cracked and broken because it made it more collapsable and it's easier to get into the cupboard that way.}

Then, take a few strawberries and start blending.  I start with just a few so that I can get a good liquid base and then the rest are easier to blend.  On a side note, I would like to thank my 10 year old daughter for these amazing photos of me making jam.

Once you get a good liquid going in the bottom, add more and more strawberries until you have 5 cups of liquid strawberry. {Don't blend as much if you like chunky jam.}

After your strawberries are blended, pour them into a large bowl and set aside.

Next, take 2 boxes of dry pectin {I like MCP--the Sure Jell makes it kind of jiggly}

 and dissolve and bring to a boil in 1 and a half cups of water.  I always use a whisk to get the lumps out.  Let it boil about a minute, but watch it because it will boil over if you aren't careful.  

Pour the pectin mix into the strawberries and stir. 

Next, add two packets of Strawberry Kool-Aid and stir till blended.  {I think that is the secret part of the secret recipe...}

Then add 6-7 cups of sugar {depending on how sweet you like your jam} and stir until blended.  Continue stirring for about 3 minutes, then let sit on the counter for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After your jam has set, divide into freezer-safe containers and store in your freezer.  When you are ready to use it, keep it in the fridge.

This recipe usually makes about 8-10 cups of jam.

Also, I have made a variation of this recipe in the past with rasberries and rasberry Kool-Aid, and really, you could do like a peach-strawberry or any other combination that you can think of.

So there you have it.  Happy jam-making!

Yeesh...I think it actually took me longer to post this recipe than to make it.

Taco Salad

Nothing is easier than throwing some chicken in the crock pot with your favorite salsa, letting it cook all day and then serving it over lettuce with cheese and ranch.  And maybe some tortilla chips or quesadillas.  mmmmm.