Peanut Butter Pie

About a month ago I made peanut butter pie and it was okay, but I thought "this would be much better with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in it". So I made it again today with the p.b. cups in it and it is soooo gooood!! The reason I waited to make it again (if anyone remembers) was my daughters comment fom last time - "why do we put peanut butter in everything?"

Well the way I see it there are 4 food groups:

1. Chocolate and peanut butter

2. Chocolate and caramel

3. Chocolate and marshmallow

4. Chocolate and mint

As long as there is chocolate, how can one go wrong?

Homemade T.V. Dinner

Browning the patties

Adding mushrooms and beef broth

Making the gravy

Pouring it into pan to bake in the oven

Salisbury Steak from scratch! Much better than the one from Banquet in the cardboard box! I found the recipe here: http://tinamommyx3.blogspot.com/2008/08/salisbury-steak-crock-pot-style.html. If I remember right her blog is called Mommy's Kitchen. I've been checking out recipes on other cooking blogs and she has some great recipes on hers!

Hannah's Hair

Hannah absolutely HATES it when I do things with her hair! I am lucky enough if I can get it brushed, muchless styled. So when I was able to get by with putting it up in a cute little bun, I thought I better take a picture of it quick while it lasted!!!

Marshmallow Sludge Bars

I made these delicious bars for a church potluck we had yesterday and came home with an empty pan! Will definitely be making these again! I found the recipe here: http://www.cpbgallery.com/2009/01/22/marshmallow-sludge-bars/ . This blog/website is titled "The Chocolate Peanut Butter Gallery". I think I will be going back to look at more of her recipes!

Just one of those days!!!

I generally enjoy cooking and baking, but today it was rather cold out and I was just plain tired. Randy and I both had sore throats over the weekend, so I have been rather exhausted the last couple of days. So it's just "one of those days" where you say,"Let's just have pizza tonight"!


Then my hubby was searching for something sweet to eat, so Betty Crocker came to the rescue for that with some fudge brownies! Not the most healthiest meals, I know, but we are just going to cuddle up and enjoy each other with the extra time not spent making a meal or doing the dishes. (Praise the Lord for paper plates!)

Valentine Goodies

My kitchen has turned into a Valentine goodies factory today! Gotta spoil my husband who is my main Valentine and our 3 little "Valentines"!

(see recipes & pictures below!)

Peanut Butter Hearts

This is the same dough as for making peanut butter balls.

Mix well, then roll out. Cut with heart shaped cookie cutters.

Then have your lovely assistant place them in the pan for you!

Oh, yeah...this is MY lovely assistant...sorry. The shirt says it all "I'm A Special Hershey's Girl". What can I say, like mother like daughter!

Once in pan, put them in the freezer to harden up a bit.

Once they are firmed up you can dunk them in chocolate! Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I figured as long as I was into the chocolate I might as well make some chocolate covered strawberries......right??

Cake Balls

Prepare cake mix according to package directions.

Once cake is mostly cooled, crumble it up and add a can of frosting.

Mix well.

Scoop out into balls on cookie sheet.

Dip into vanilla or chocolate coating.

I made some of each.

Final result! This is just one of our Valentine goodies! .....stay tuned for more!

WANTED!!!!

Here are the most recent photos for "America's Most Wanted". Has anyone seen these people lately? If so, you are encouraged not to take action yourself as they may be armed and dangerous. Let the law enforcement handle it!

The kids had a field trip to the Marion Police Department today as well as the Marion Fire Department. I was unable to get more pictures because apparently nobody else brought their cameras so I was instantly the "camera lady" taking pictures of their kids too! But they got to get their mugshots taken, sit in the police car, and see the K9 dog. Then they got to see some firetrucks and see a fireman get dressed up in his full gear. They were so excited! They were all trying to tell daddy everything all at once and I couldn't hardly get a word in edgewise!

Grilling Out!

I'm so glad we've had a couple of nice days for grilling out! Lastnight we had barbequed chicken on the grill and tonight we are having grilled chicken breasts with Webers "kickin chicken" seasoning on them. We are also having mixed veggies and homemade bread to go with it. I was also THRILLED to be able to "shove" my kids outside for the afternoon!! What can I say....when you are a stay-at-home mom, and homeschool your three kids, and have been stuck inside all winter....you look forward to spring so you can send them outside for a while!!!

Sledding Fun!

Lastnight was a sledding night with the Marion Homeschool Program at Squaw Creek Park. I put my husband in charge of the camera lastnight and these were the only 2 pictures he took!! Although I wish I would have had it when HE went down the hill (the smaller one) STANDING UP on the sled!! It was rather comical I must say!

We started out the night going down the BIG hill. Micah took the little green saucer down the hill by himself while the remaining 4 of us piled on the blue sled and FLEW down the hill. This made me question whether or not I wanted to do anymore sledding the rest of the evening or not! I sat out a couple and watched my adventurous husband from the top of the hill. Then the kids wanted to take a trip down on the blue sled so I loaded them up and gave them a push. Half way down they hit a bump that sent them falling off the sled. I wondered if they were alright because Randy started his normal over-animated "You guys o.k.? How bad is it?" which gets me going! Don't get me wrong, I have concern for my kids too, but my concern is a more calmer concern. Anyone who knows Randy knows he is very animated and so by the time he starts in, you are sitting there thinking *o.k. do we need stitches...is there a broken arm....broken leg....* and then you find out that everyone is o.k. and it is just daddy that needs to settle down.

After a couple trips down the BIG hill, the kids and I are ready to try the small hill! WOW, what a difference! I could do this hill a hundred times! Randy on the other hand (Mr. Adventurous) is bored and ready to go home. I'm like- the kids are just now starting to have fun! (without fearing their life!) Go get some hot chocolate and sit down and relax! Anyway, I've probably rambled on long enough, but we all had a blast by the end of the evening. The kids were talking about it all the way home. It was a highlight for them because we haven't done much all winter!

SWEET & SOUR

My SWEET little boy loves SOUR stuff....

So I made him a loaf of lemon blueberry bread. Did he like it? Well, I'd say the smile on his face tells half of the story. And the fact that he's eaten 2 or 3 slices of it already tells the other half!!