Baptism Day

Kaden had a wonderful baptism day.

His daddy baptized him.

Kaden had his two grandmas, his grandpa and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles there to support him.


We are sure glad Kaden is part of our family... how blessed we are.

Easy and Yummy

German Chocolate Cupcakes
Easy and Yummy! once again my two favorite words together.

I used my favorite gheradelli base for the chocolate cupcake
Melt 2 sticks of butter
add 2 bars of 100% Ghirardelli chocolate bars till melted
Set aside to cool a bit.

Cream together:
5 eggs
3 Cups Sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Then add Chocolate Mixture
Finally add:
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp salt

Consistency will be thick.
Here is the part that is really easy... go to the store and buy your favorite German Chocolate icing, spread on top. Awesome right?



For the Frosting
Bittercream Frosting
1 pint heavy cream
11.5 oz. 60% Bittersweet cacao chips
½ c. butter
4-5 c. powdered sugar


Pumpkin Spice Brownie Bites

Recipe From: http://insidebrucrewlife.blogspot.com/2010/09/pumpkin-spice-brownie-bites.html
I pkg brwonie mix.. make it up and let it cool
pumpkin spice hershey kisses
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

After brownies have cooled cut into squares. put kiss in middle then mush the brownie into a ball around the kiss. Put into freezer. Melt your chocolate, take balls out of freezer, and dip. Yup, it's that easy. Then you can melt any other kind of chocolate or in my case butterscotch chips and drizzle on top for looks. Ooohhh so yummy.

It's Great to Be Eight

My Kaden turned eight. He is such a good boy. For his birthday we had a cowboy party.

Aunt Ashley was so nice and brought her miniature horse for the kids at the party to ride.

with star sheriff badge sugar cookies, an oreo cake per request of the birthday boy, and ice cream the kids were plenty sugared up.
we also nailed a horse shoe to a board and let them paint it. Roping competitions and a few games before the hamburgers were served, this made for a crazy but fun eighth birthday party with like 18 kids in attendance. gotta love Birthdays.

My handsome Kaden gets baptized tomorrow into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by his father, we are so proud of him.

Enjoying the Harvest

We have sure enjoyed having fresh fruits and vegetables around this summer. My favorite is our watermelon and cantaloupes, Ava's too.

Ok how many of you put vanilla ice cream on your cantaloupe?
If you don't you should!

My mom did this for us as a treat when we were kids, so I thought I would carry on the tradition with my own kids, they love it!

Fried zucchini -

I remember my dad making fried zucchini when we were kids also. he cut his into circles, I made mine more into a fry shape.
All you need to do is did the zucchini into an egg, then into bread crumbs. Fry then until browned, salt and pepper to taste.
My kids smacked these right down as well. We also like to dip our in ranch. Not much healthy about this zucchini recipe. ha :)
I will post more later, short on time today.

Cowboys love Brick Oven Pizza

I have a few cowboys in my house that love pizza.
Here is Kaden at Roping lessons....


Here is Porter trying his hand at it....

After a hard day out on the ranch, what do my boys love? That's right Brick oven pizza. There is something so very flavorful and tasty about bread and pizza cooked in an outside brick-oven.

~ Here is the problem~
I went to a friends house and had pizza cooked in a real pizza brick oven. I was hooked instantly. The ambiance was wonderful too. We were surrounded by a big garden, the yard was lovely, chickens running around out in the yard, jazzy-soul music playing. My friend cut vegetables straight out of her garden and put them on the pizza and cooked them up. It was heaven. Yum. So I decided I would try this in my outside fireplace that had a side oven. ~Not the Same~. You have to have firebricks around the whole thing for the heat to stay in properly. As you can see we have a metal plate on the top of ours.

So we had to keep a small fire going at all times to keep enough heat in there. It worked. But for my birthday I am asking my husband to make me a real brick-oven pizza.
I cut fresh basil off my plant and put in the dough.
I've decided swiss chard is a must on every pizza. My kids even love it.



I like the thinner crust...


Karl likes the thicker crust....

We chopped up zucchini, squash, green onions, basil, olives, and tomatoes also and put on it. WIth a whole wheat crust this is really a healthy garden vegetable dinner, and I am really craving it right now. :)
The funnest part was the kids all made their own individual pizzas they loved getting in and cooking.

First day of School

Ethan last year


Ethan This year.

Kaden and Porter last year.

Kaden this year


Porter this year.

Ava last year.

Ava this year.

Sometimes I wish we could stop time. I really do enjoy my kids and I don't want them to grow up.

Garden Vegetable Dinners

Our vegetables are coming off quickly.

~Photo Courtesy of Kaden~
I am finding as many ways as possible to use them.

Skewers -
I took thin steaks and cubed them.
then Marinated them in olive oil and Worcester sauce, peppered with Montreal steak seasoning
Cut the vegetables. (Squash, Zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes)
I boiled the potatoes for a few minutes just to make sure they would get done, before putting them on the skewer.
Last I splashed olive oil, Worcester sauce and steak seasoning over all of it.
~ My boys came and helped put the skews together, then their friends came in and wanted to help, it was a neighborhood affair~ It was fun.

Karl then cooked them on the grill, long enough to make sure the meat was done, OOOhhhh sooo yummy. We will have to do this again.
Zucchini Patties

1-15.5 oz can of chickpeas (aka garbonzo beans) drained and rinsed
1- cup plain breadcrumbs
1-zucchini grated
1- small red onion grated
1- egg slightly beaten
1-tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil


Mash chickpeas in a bowl until smooth. Stir in breadcrumbs, zucchini, onion, egg, and salt. Form into patties about a half inch thick.

Fry patties in oil until golden brown and crisp. Is good with ranch dressing, greek yogurt or sour cream.
I had my doubts as so did my family, but they actually turned out good.
We have zucchini coming out our ears, I have made bread and muffins until the family is sick of it.

Mini loaves, Karl and Ethan delivered to the widow ladies in the neighborhood.

Zucchini banana Bread: ( from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients

3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup grated zucchini
2 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch bread loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light yellow and frothy. Add oil, brown sugar, white sugar, grated zucchini, bananas, and vanilla; blend together until well combined. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the cranberries and nuts. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the loaf pans on a wire rack before removing and serving.

What do you do with your zucchini?? :)