Homemade French Onion Soup Mix

I just love a cup of hot cheesy French onion soup. I hate to slice the onions though so this is a quick way to make my soup, keep my eyes from tearing and not buy the expensive stuff from the store. Here goes:

12 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
24 teaspoons dried minced onion
3 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Combine and place into baggie or jar. Shake well before using.  Mix into water to taste for a nice cup of hot onion soup.

Birthdays x 3!!

Wow, yesterday was party heaven for our family.  We celebrated 3 birthdays--My M-I-L, my DH, and my DS-I-L. I made three, count them, 3 cakes(well one was a set of cupcakes).

German chocolate is my Son-in-law's favorite!

I made flower cupcakes for my Mother-in-law Rose.

And this is Tom's cake--Dole Pineapple Cake AKA Tom's Birthday Cake. I make this for him every year--it's his favorite!

We also had spaghetti and meatballs, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and my Cheddar Beer Bread. I guess you all know what I did all day Sunday--COOK!

The Dole Pineapple Cake Recipe is as follows:

1 can crushed pineapple drained and reserve juice

1small box instant vanilla pudding mix

1 12 oz. Cool Whip

1 Family sized Sara Lee frozen pound cake

Almond Extract

Rum Extract

1 can Pineapple slices

Marachino Cherries

Sliced Almonds

Slice pound cake into 3 pieces legnth ways while frozen. Add 1 teaspoon each of the extracts to pineapple juice and dribble onto each layer of pound cake. Try to use it all. Mix drained pineapple with cool whip and pudding mix. Add 1 teaspoon of each extract to pineapple mix. Put bottom layer of cake onto tray and then use pineapple mix to ice the top of it. Add middle layer then ice and then the top and ice. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.  Arrange 3 pineapple slices on top then half rings around bottom on plate-- 3 half slices  per side and one on each end. Garnish with marachino cherries inside each pineapple ring and half ring.  Chill before serving. If you have leftovers--store in refrigerator. That is not a problem at our house!!  Hope your family enjoys this cake as much as my family does!

Blessings,

Lisa       

Quote of the Week

Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be.

                                                                                      --Joy Page

Remember, you can "bee" anything you choose to "bee"!

Blessings,

Lisa

Just ordered a Dehydrator!!

Wow,  little things in life make me so happy!  I just placed my order for a Nesco Dehydrator.  I am so looking forward to drying my own veggies, making fruit leather, and making beef jerky. This is going to be so nifty--beef jerky is so expensive but my family just loves it.  I cannot wait to make all natural fruit leather for my grand baby!  She will adore it especially sweetened with honey(don't worry, she is almost 3). 
 I am looking forward to being able to take advantage of sales and garden surplus.  Look for posts in the near future about my foray into dehydrating!
If anyone has any advice or recipes for jerky, please let me know!
Thank you!
Blessings,
Lisa

Homemade Mrs. Dash Type Herbal Salt Substitute

Many people are suffering from high blood pressure and are trying to reduce their sodium intake--myself included.  I love salt.  I mean I really love salt to the point that if the food isn't salted it isn't worth eating.  Did I tell you I LOVE salt. Did I also tell you I have high blood pressure? Really high blood pressure so I am trying to cut back on my salt intake but it is so hard.  I am trying to season my food with herbs and spices to give it more flavor so I discovered this recipe for a homemade herbal salt substitute--no, lets call it a homemade flavor enhancer! Yes, I like that much better--won't have to say the "S" word. So, here is the recipe:

Herbal Flavor Enhancer

• 1 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp dried savory
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp ground dried grated lemon peel
• 1 tsp paprika

Just mix the above and store in a mason jar or reused spice shaker.

I know this won't be the same as using the "s" word but maybe we'll learn to appreciate the real flavors of  food and lower our blood pressure at the same time!

Blessings,

Lisa 

Free Dove

Go here for a free sample of Dove Smoothing Cream:

http://www.dove.us/Offers/Latest-Offers/hair-care-smoothing-cream-sample.aspx

Blessings,

Lisa

Homemade Chili Seasoning Mix

I love to make great big pots of chili during cold weather.  The only problem is that I didn't have a good chili mix recipe, so I had to buy my chili mix.  My favorite is the Cincinnati Chili Mix. The only problem with this is that it is getting quite pricey--close to $2 per pkg. and it takes 2 for my pot of chili. This brought me to research and try to find a chili mix recipe to make up into baggies in advance.  This is what I have come up with:

Lisa's Chili Seasoning Mix

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

5 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic

2 teaspoons white sugar or splenda

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried parsley

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Mix all together into a bowl and then put into baggies!  Double or triple to make more to store in the pantry.
You can tweak this recipe according to your taste--we do not like it too spicy hot but you can add red pepper flakes to add heat!
Hope you enjoy!
Blessings,
Lisa

Quote of the Day

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

                                                                                    - Norman Vincent Peale

Happy New Year! What are your resolutions?

                                                   

Hello and Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a nice holiday season! I know I did!  This is the time for making goals and making resolutions for the new year. What are your resolutions this year?
      Well, I have been thinking about mine.  I am diabetic and my HA1C is very high--10.7 to be exact. It should be about 6-7. I have been feeling very tired and run down, so I am going to try to work on this and get it down this year.  I would like to get it down to 7 by March.  It is an average of  my glucose levels for a 3 month period.  To do this, I am going to try to eat more raw foods, foods with more fiber, fewer carbs along with walking for exercise.  
     Since I spent too much on Christmas this year, I need to have a no spend January.  The only expenses to pay will be normal bills, and gas. 
   In addition, for the month I am having a pantry Challenge.  I only want to spend $10 week on milk and eggs. I bought tons of stuff to eat during the holidays and still have lots left over.  I still have the turkey my work gave us and I purchased 6 boneless hams on sale when it was $1.39 per lb.  I have a 25lb bag of flour left and plan on using my Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book weekly! Love that book! I should save $40 per week in grocery money!  That will help with the budget so much!
    I  want to start paying $50 per month extra on the house.  I have always paid at least $25 per month but really want to raise it to $50 each month.
    I want to put at least $1000 into my emergency fund.  I didn't quite make that goal last year so I am behind.
   Decluttering my house. My kids tell me I will soon be on the show Hoarders! Well, It is cluttered but it isn't that bad--I promise--really! I want to build shelves in the laundry room to hold my stash and my craft supplies by February--remember--No spend month in January!

So there you have it--my goals/resolutions for the new year!
Welcome 2012--Hope the New Year brings health and prosperity to all!
Blessings,
Lisa

My Christmas Gifts

   I hope each and everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas.  My family sure had a nice one!  It was so fun watching my nieces and Grandbaby opening their presents. This truly was the best part--seeing the joy and excitement in their little faces. It makes all of the hard work worth it. 
  Well,  I received a few of the things that I requested!  The Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day book and a bracelet and earrings were gifts from my DH. I just love them all.  My DD#1 got me a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker! So many things to do with that--cannot wait to show you all some of my future creations! I received a beautiful sweater from DD#2 and my boys gave me and Tom gift Cards. We are so blessed with our four children.  They aren't perfect but they are really great, caring kids in my humble opinion! Of course I am a wee bit partial!   I am their Mother....I am allowed to be!!
  I plan on making as much bread from scratch as possible this year. Hopefully I will get to the point where I will know the recipes by heart and get it down to the bare minimum timewise. Making my mouth water just thinking about it!
  Cake pops are so fun.  I have borrowed my cousins Cake pop maker before and had a blast with it.  January brings 4 birthdays in our family so I'll need to be making some this coming month. Many pics to come!
  Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and hope you have a wonderful New year!  2012 is going to be awesome! (From my lips to God's ears!) It cannot hurt to think positively can it?

Blessings,
Lisa