Suzie Homemaker in Training

I had a "free" weekend, meaning no tests to study for or assignments to finish, just a ton of reading. I find myself craving the creative when I am busy with school and work. My grandparents 50th wedding anniversary is coming up this weekend and so I thought the grand kids could make a nice lunch for them. I bought all the stuff I need to make cake pops for dessert (as they are my newest obsession) and that got me thinking that I want to have something nice to display them on. My other inspiration for this project, obviously pinterest because I am obsessed, is the new show Sugar Stars, have you seen it, OMG this is what I want to do that for a living. I would be so content making sweets and candy all day! But their displays, they are amazing! I am not into the kitchy things like the make up cases and dragon eggs but the colours, the symmetry, the creativity, I cant get enough.   Well back to the topic at hand. These cake plates are jus...

I love blackberries one because they are delicious and two because they are free! This season I decided to keep some of that deliciousness for the rest of the year. For all of $2.00 for the pectin and $4.68 for the containers I made enough freezer jam for the entire year and them some. I used the freezer jam pectin because it calls for ALOT less sugar, only 1 1/2 cups rather than the 5 cups in a normal recipe. Also there was no cooking involved. You just mix and put in containers then let it set up for 30 minutes. We picked about 4x as much as needed for the one batch of jam so needless to say we had enough over to make a little Friday night treat blackberry mojitos! Maybe this weekend we will make a pie too, or a crumble!

This one is short, sweet and delicious. Chocolate chip cookies, everyone loves them. Here is the recipe I have been making for over 10 years and before that my mom would make them for us. http://m.pillsbury.com/recipes/soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/7fd0ee7b-fb8a-46c4-8bc5-ca58a0d6057d The only change I make is that I use less chocolate chips, the dough is sweet enough already that it doesn't need that much chocolate. I think the most I have used is about a cup and a half but usually I just eyeball it. These cookies stay soft and chewy so if you like crisp cookies these aren't for you. I use a one ounce scoop and it comes out to be about 4 and a half dozen cookies so make sure you have someone to help you eat them all

I don't know about you but we never seem to be able to finish our spinach before it starts getting wilted. Colour me picky but I don't like making salads with wilted spinach. I also hate throwing out food or being wasteful in general and we had an extra large amount of spinach this week. So I went online and looked up what to do with wilted spinach. My favorite result was spinach pesto. So here are the general guidelines for a pesto. You can create something suited more to your taste or to accommodate the ingredients in your cupboard. 1 1/2 cups spinach 1/2 cup of your favorite herbs good ones to use are basil or parsley 1/2 of nuts walnuts, almonds, pine nuts or anything in that family works 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or feta would work 4 cloves of garlic 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 cup olive oil Put everything except the oil in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the olive oil and blend until mixed evenly...

Ok so I love Pad Thai, it has everything you need for a balanced meal and it tastes great! You have noodles, veggies and whatever protein suits your fancy. We tried to rotate a good Pad Thai in our routine every couple weeks but found the sauce and noodle combo was expensive so we waited until everything went on sale. Not anymore! Due to my new pinning ways I have found the secret to the Pad Thai sauce that tastes just as good as those greasy packages you get in the store but without all the grease and at a fraction of the cost! We also have gotten a cheaper brand of noodles that taste just as good and the bigger name and they go twice as far. Half of a package will feed us both for dinner and lunch plus one more portion left over so 5 healthy portions overall. Pad Thai Sauce: 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar (I used agave syrup because we are trying to stay away from processed sugar as much as possible) 2 Tablespoons of Lime Juice 3 Tablespoons of Soya ...

Seriously the easiest! Four ingredients and a little time and you are done. This loaf is a cranberry and lemon, but you can make any kind you want. I also tried it with whole wheat flower and it turned out great. Here is the original recipe: 3 cups unbleached flour 1 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon yeast 1 1/2 cups water In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and yeast together. Mix in the water. Done! It won't look pretty but don't worry it will be pretty. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 12 - 18 hours. After you have let it sit preheat your oven to 450. Once heated put your baking apparatus in the oven for 30 mins. I say baking apparatus because the recipe calls for a Dutch oven (<-- in the picture) but not everyone has one. You can use a pot and lid or anything you want as long as it has a cover. Dutch ovens are not cheap I have learned so don't worry if you don't have one, luckily I found one at a garage sale because we ...

I asked for this book for Christmas and when I got it I was super disappointed that all of the recipes were for ice cream machines. I put the book away for months because I was mad I couldn't use it. Luckily I also received a gift card for Home Outfitters and after 5 months it hit me, buy a ice cream maker. So I used my GC and bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker. The difference in the quality is amazing and knowing everything that is in it feels good too. I bought $6 worth of ingredients and the rest was just stuff I had around the house and it made 3 quarts of ice cream. A big savings in my book. The book is jenis splendid ice creams at home by by Jeni Britton Bauer and the Cuisinart ice cream maker was obviously from Home Outfitters and was $69.99.