My best tool in the kitchen!

I had a friend email and ask me about cooking my oven fries (her's almost burnt on the bottom) so I wanted to share a secret with you all. My secret weapon in the kitchen is Pampered Chef Stoneware!!!!  I honestly don't know how I cooked anything before it. Maybe I didn't cook. LOL I can't remember.  I have been using it for about 6 or more years now and it is amazing!  My go-to item is my large bar pan but I also love my pizza stones (I have two!!), my bread pan, my large casserole pan, my round casserole dish and my muffin pan.  Awesome stuff!!  (And no one is asking me to promote these...I just really love them!) (You know, I can't remember if I had a problem with the bottoms of things burning when I lived in California...could be after I moved to a higher elevation (alomst 6000 ft.) or could just be that I didn't cook as much before...anyhow, just thinking out loud!)

Let me tell you why stoneware is so amazing.
1. It cooks food evenly. Things don't get too brown on the bottom before the top of the food gets browned.
2. Food doesn't stick (well, a little bit sometimes, but hardly at all if you season them well!). 
3. It's easy to clean (once again, if you have seasoned them well...I'll explain that below.) Ever soak a lasagna pan forEVER to remove the stuck on cheese?? It cleans off of stoneware so easily!
4. It keeps food hot longer.
5. It is both oven and microwave safe (and freezer safe but I never put mine in the freezer)....but never put it in the dishwasher or use soap!!!  Soap will ruin stoneware.  I use the little scrapper that comes with stoneware and a dishrag that never comes into contact with soap.

Now, you might notice that the stoneware is a little pricey.  In my opinion, it is well worth the investment.  I have had mine for years and it works even better now than when I first got it.  Just being able to bake cookies, biscuits, etc. without the bottoms burning is worth it to me! And don't even bother to try the less expensive stoneware you might find at the store.  I have tried it and it is not nearly the same. Look up a PC consultant near you and buy it from her.  You can even host a little cooking party if you like...I have hosted and been to several-I love PC stuff!

As I mentioned above, the key to having wonderful results with stoneware is to season it properly.  You MUST cook high fat content foods in it the first several times.  Don't be tempted to skimp here.  You know you want those croissants, bicuits, brownies and cookies anyhow.  (Or give them away to a neighbor if the temptation is too great for you.) But really, this is key.  Spray it with non-stick spray AND cook something high in fat. I always do this at least 3 times before I cook low fat goodies.  Your stone will turn dark brown over time.  This means it is well-seasoned and how it is supposed to look so don't worry. Now, I have heard a consultant say that all you have to do is spray it with cooking spray to season it...if your's says this, don't believe her! Trust me.  I have many well-loved and seasoned pans and can tell you from experience that you cannot skip this critical step of seasoning it well. LOL

Ok, I will stop going on and on about PC Stoneware now.  :) Feel free to ask if you have any questions about what pans I use/recommend or if you need a good recipe to season your new stoneware.
*One last thing to mention is that all ovens are different and you often need to adjust the cooking temperatures or times of a recipe to fit your particular oven.  Keep that in mind and try to learn if your oven cooks extra hot or takes longer to cook things. It's helpful to have an oven thermometer as well.)
Happy baking!!!

Layouts for Abby

I have a couple of new layouts I made for Abby's album. I used goodies from a "self made" kit using up goodies from my scrappy stash.  This always helps me to create pages more quickly.  If you haven't tried to make your own kits, you should!!  Just pick some cardstock, patterned papers, stickers, and other goodies.  For some reason, the products are more inspiring when you look at them this way than just stuffed with the rest of your scrapbooking supplies.  (See below for a pic of the kit I created.)

Here are the layouts I have made with my kit so far-

Here's the kit I created-

I challenge you to create your own kit to scrap with! Have a great weekend!

A few photos and updates

Some might say a room void of furniture is a waste. But to others, it's an empty canvas awaiting an artist's (or child's) imaginative touch (and by that I mean a whole lot of train tracks or other toys!). Joshua got his first set of trains and tracks almost 3 years ago and he still loves to play with them. Abby helps to put together the tracks now as well and even Ellie joins in the fun...she loves to watch them whiz by her. Here's how we spend some mornings.

And did you know that if it is suddenly very quiet in our house, it usually means that ABBY is getting into something she shouldn't be? It's usually either my scrapbook stuff or my diaper bag. But sometimes it's lotions, makeup or even the dog food! (And the pantry...remember the marshmallow photo not too long ago??) Look who I caught under my craft desk with my lipstick case!

A few other updates:

~Joshua is halfway through preschool and is looking forward to going to kindergarten everyday. He is becoming a great reader and reads signs, emails (over my shoulder as I type them) and books to us and his sisters. He loves to learn and is so curious about everything.

~Abby wants to go to preschool already and misses Joshua terribly when he is gone. Sometimes she will bring her backpack and try to put it and her jacket into a cubby in his classroom when we drop him off. She loves cars, trains, Bakugans and anything else Joshua is into. But she also loves to play mommy to her dolls...so cute!

~Ellie has been a roller and a talker for a while now. She loves to stand (with our help of course), love to sit (with support...not by herself yet),watch the kids play and loves to watch the dog.

~Jeremy is working hard finishing up his master's degree. He is taking his last class and is about to begin his thesis. It's been a long road trying to get it completed between working and spending time with us but we are finally nearing the end. Hooray!! I am so proud of him for working so hard.

~As for me, I am just busy being a mom. :)

Happy Tuesday. I hope to have something scrappy to share soon!

Oven Fries-recipe

I know I haven't posted many recipes or menus lately. One reason is that three kids have been keeping me pretty busy and I find less and less time to do "extra" things. The other is that since we are watching what we eat, I have found myself using many of the same recipes over and over and haven't had a lot of time to experiment with recipes. Most of what I make these days needs to be quick and easy and I find myself falling back on certain "go-to" recipes a lot.

Anyhow, that said, I have taken photos of a few recipes that turned out yummy but I still need to find the time to type up the recipes for you. I'll get to them eventually! :)

Lately, we have had oven baked French fries a couple of times a week...usually to go with a veggie burger, hot dog (have you tried these?? We get the first kind listed. They are delicious and only ONE WW point each!), wrap (the Cheeseburger Chomp is yummy!!) or sandwich. The last time I made the fries (using a slightly different technique than usual), Jeremy said they were as good as fast food fries! Maybe I have deprived him of deep fried foods for too long (LOL) or maybe it was the cool fast food looking baskets I served them in. Whatever the case, there's a new little trick I learned to make them crispy on the outside. I hope you try them out for a healthier fry alternative!

Oven French Fries
Potatoes (4-5)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
cold water
4 tsp oil (I use olive oil)
1 tsp paprika
extra salt
Directions:
1. Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2 inch thick strips.
2. Soak in a mixture of 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar and cold water for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4. Drain potatoes and toss with oil and paprika.
5. Spread potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Sprinkle with a little extra salt and enjoy! (Cute baskets optional. LOL)

Happy Eating!!!

New projects

Here's a card and a couple of layouts I recently created. (Working on Christmas cards for next year! LOL) TonBow is having a great contest right now! All you have to do is create a new project or card with their products and link it back to them. I used my TomBow Aqua glue stick for this card.


Here are a couple of recent layouts-
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Have a great Tuesday!

New layouts about Joshua...and a question for you

I've made a few layouts this week...all about Joshua! One is for the family album and two are for his album. I created a little "kit" out of my own scrapbooking goodies to make these pages go quickly (and they did!!)

Thanks for checking them out!!! Hope you are starting the year with some scrappy time!

Soooo...just curious if anyone is interested in some NEW sketches? Are you up to your ears in sketches already from other sites? Anyone? Let me know!!!

This girl of mine...

We actually DO have a child lock on the pantry door. But you have to close the door pretty hard or else it doesn't close all the way and little miss sweet tooth will find her way in there. How am I supposed to resist that sweet smile?????

Layouts and projects- TSR

I got a scrappy gift for myself from The Scrapbook Room! :) They have lots of great challenges and nice ladies on the message board. (I need a good challenge to keep up on my albums or I may never get them done!) Here are some projects and layouts I completed with this month's kit from there.

A-Z year

Anyone want to play along? I was very hesitant to commit to this, but I think it will be fun and force us to do some new things(I have a tendency to stay in my comfort zone!). The idea is to try new things for each letter of the alphabet throughout the year. (You only focus on each letter for two weeks at a time.) Check it out on Nicole's blog and join if you are so inclined... www.madebynicole.blogspot.com

I promise to update here soon with some new pics. I just haven't had time to download or upload or do much of anything!!!!

Some snowy pictures

These are pictures from a couple of weekends ago when we got a good amount of snow. They loooooove to play in the snow. :) We still have much of the snow but some has melted away. We are supposed to get more this week. Wonder if it will snow on Christmas!?

A quick photo op with all three. No, Ellie didn't go sledding. :)

Jeremy took Joshua and Abby to the park to sled down a little hill. I guess Abby's gloves fell off? Oops! Any tricks to keeping those suckers on??

No scrapping lately...been busy with Christmas preparations and the normal everyday stuff. :)