Every year when we have our Annual Gingerbread House Party, I have to make these cookies.  They are the perfect Gingerbread Cookie.  That are soft and spicy and delicious.  They don't even need frosting!

Gingerbread Cookies by Our Best Bites
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. molasses
2 egg yolks
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Chill for at least an hour. It’s a fairly sticky dough so you might need to chill it a little longer.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough to 1/4″ thick and cut with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2″ apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you bake them on the short end they will stay soft and chewy and if you bake them on the longer end they will be nice and crispy. They’re great either way!
3. Allow to cool about 5 minutes on pan and then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Once they’re cooled you can decorate your heart out.

 
 
There is a beloved recipe I've been cooking for over a decade called Cranberry Nut Bread.  I always have it out for Thanksgiving breakfast, and sometimes for Christmas morning.

I have a secret.  All these years I've led you all to believe that I was making a perfect brunch food called "Cranberry Nut Bread."  Here's the truth: It's called "Cranberry Nut Dessert" and the original recipe recommends you serve it with ice cream or whipped cream.

Because I love you all, here is the recipe so you can make it.  Enjoy!  I love to double or triple it.  And I LOVE to eat it for breakfast.

Cranberry Nut "Bread" by Taste of Home
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Whipped cream or ice cream, optional

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add cranberries and nuts; toss to coat. Stir in the butter, eggs and extract (mixture will be very thick if using frozen berries). Spread into a greased 9-in. pie plate.
2. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

When the weather starts to cool down, I get a craving.  It's wassail time!  It's a tradition in our family to have wassail at Thanksgiving, Christmas and at our annual Gingerbread House party.

I have tried using all kinds of cider and juice.  I've used expensive apple cider and cheap apple juice.  Happily it does not matter what kind you use.  So I usually go cheap and get whatever apple juice is the most affordable.

Save the 3 Q. bottle the juice comes in, it's great for leftovers.  I like to use cheesecloth and a funnel to filter out the excess spices and then store the wassail in the fridge.  I find that if I don't filter it, the leftovers get a bitter taste.  When I filter it and heat it up by the cup, it tastes just like it does on the first day.

Wassail
3 Q. apple juice, any brand
10 oz. cranberry juice
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. allspice
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange or clementine, peeled
6-7 whole cloves

1. Peel or cut off orange peel and stud with cloves. Add all ingredients to a crock pot.  Heat on high for 1 hour and low for up to 5 hours. Serve after one hour.
2. Filter remaining wassail through a funnel with cheesecloth into original 3 Q. juice bottle.  Reheat one cup at a time.

When my friend asked me to teach her how to bake great cookies, I knew my "Mom's Sugar Cookies" was the recipe to use.  If you know how to make a great sugar cookie you are set for any holiday.

My friend was having trouble with cookies.  She says they always came out yucky.  After our day together baking cookies, she discovered that her cookies didn't work because she wasn't mixing the ingredients in the right way, in the right order.  She was adding all the ingredients to a bowl and mixing.  Cookies don't work that way!  If you use this recipe and follow all the steps, you'll have amazing cookies. 

First, make sure your butter is at room temperature.  If not, cut it into tablespoon sized segments, put it on a plat and microwave for 10 seconds.  It should feel as soft as play dough.  Then add your butter to a mixer and mix just to make sure it's nice and smooth.  Add the sugar and cream together.  It should look like beach sand when well mixed.

Then add the eggs one at a time.  It will look like soupy beach sand.  Add the vanilla.

Then add the flour, salt and baking powder.  Technically you're supposed to mix all three dry ingredients together and then add to the mixture.  I find that I can add a little of each until all three are added to save time and dirty one less bowl.

Divide the dough into three or four parts.  Pour onto plastic wrap and wrap it up, then smash it flat into a disk shape.  Let chill for at least an hour, or for a couple days if you want to make the dough in advance.

Roll out the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes.  Bake at 400 degrees for 6-10 minutes, depending on how hot your oven cooks, how big your shape is, and how thick your cookie is.  Your cookie is done baking when the edges are barely set and the center is still doughy.  The cookies will be all white with no browning at all.

Let cook for 1-2 minutes and then move to a cooling sheet.  They will be ready to decorate as soon as they are cool, usually about 5 minutes later.

To make the glaze, just add all the components to a mixing bowl and mix.  If it's too thick, add milk.  If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.  I like to drizzle it on the cookies and then add sprinkles.  It will set in a hour or two.  Then you can move them to a plate and cover.

Last year I made too many sugar cookies.  I put them in the freezer where they sat all year long.  When Liz needed to take a treat to school we pulled them out at 8:00am, decorated with a can of frosting and sprinkles, and sent her off to school at 8:30am.  So if you want to plan ahead, these freeze well!

Donna's Sugar Cookies and Glaze
Makes 9-10 dozen 1-1/2 inch scalloped circle cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Glaze
4 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. milk (more or less to get the consistency right)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract

1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mix well.  Add vanilla.
3. Add flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix well.
4. Divide into 3 or 4 parts.  Pour onto a sheet of plastic wrap, shape into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap.  Chill for one hour or for several days.
5.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out cookie dough to 1/4 inch.  Cut into shapes and bake for 6-10 minutes, until the edges are barely set and center is still doughy.
6. Let cool for 1-2 minutes on baking sheet and then move to a cooling rack.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then glaze.

To make glaze, add all components in a mixing bowl.  If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.  If it's too thick, add more milk.  I often add more milk until the glaze drizzles off a spoon.

 


This recipe saved me!  I'm in the Primary Presidency and we needed to think of a Christmas gift for 35 primary workers.  We decided to make 5 dozen cookies each, then we could bag them up and deliver them to each Primary Worker.  Five dozen cookies is no big deal.  One batch of chocolate chip cookies will make 5 dozen cookies.

But then my friend in the Primary Presidency asked if I could teach her how to bake cookies since she has trouble making great cookies.  So then I realized I had to figure out how to make make 10 dozen cookies within days of Christmas and crazy holiday activities.  That's a lot!  Then I found this recipe...

Rolo Pretzel Turtles by Steamy Kitchen
Preheat your oven to 350

1. Upwrap your Rolos. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top with a Rolo.

2. Bake in oven for 3-5 minutes, until the chocolate just begins to melt. The Rolo should be soft but not completely melted.

3. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and immediately squish the chocolate with a nut. Watch the caramel oooze out.

Thanks, Steamy Kitchen!  In addition to making sugar cookies from scratch, my friend and I easily made 100 of these and they were a huge hit at church!  I gave a bag of a half a dozen to a friend and she ate them all in 5 minutes.  AND she's passionate about healthy, organic food.  If she can make an exception for Rolo Pretzel Turtles, then these are a hit!

I bought a bag of pretzels for $3 and two bags of rolos at $2.66 each.  With an economy sized bag of pecans in my freezer ready to use it was a very affordable treat.

If you google "Meal Planning" you'll find tons of different recommendations, charts, and how to's.  That's cool, but I don't have time to figure them out.  I've settled on a simpler method.  This is how I meal plan.

First, gather your stuff.  I grab my shopping list, it's the white board.  I saw it one day in an office supply store and I splurged on it.  It was $9.99.  I don't spend money easily (lucky for Jason). It has been the best $9.99 a woman can ever spend.  Every time I need something I write it down immediately.  Now I almost never forget stuff I need.  There is nothing more grievous that getting multiple kids to the store and back and then realizing you forgot the eggs.  Or the cheeseballs.  I'll spend money on cheeseballs any day.  Now I'm distracted by cheeseballs!  Focus!

You'll also need two slips of paper.  The slips of paper come from all the papers my kids bring home from school.  Teachers love to send stuff home on colored paper!  And I love colored paper that comes home free.  I just cut it into strips and use the back.  Boom, baby!  Colored paper for free!  Actually I just realized it was purchased with my tax dollars.  Sigh.

Lastly, you need your favorite recipes.  Maybe you don't have any yet so you'll need to sit down in front of this amazing blog and use that.  My favorite recipes are ones I print or clip out of magazines and keep in the binder.  Also, my sister and I each made cookbooks on Heritage Makers with our family favorites.  Also, I once compiled a "menu" with all the recipes I cook frequently.  I also like to use the weekly grocery ads for inspiration.  If you don't have a place where you keep all your recipes, I recommend starting with a binder. Buy low!


Now that you have your shopping list, your slips of paper and your recipes, get a pen!  Aren't you glad I'm here?

One slip of paper is for the store (it's awkward to take the white board, and my kids have erased it in the car), and one for your meal plan.  I'm a WalMart shopper, so I write that on one sheet (and any other errands I need to run, like going to the bank or getting gas or going to the post office).  On the other sheet I write down the days of the week.



Next, check your schedule and write down events you have that might interfere with cooking.  For example, Saturday is Date Night, Tuesday is Boy Scouts, and Friday night is a Daddy Daughter Campout.  I don't want to end up planning a big meal on Date Night when we're going out, and on Boy Scout night I know it will be hectic getting kids and a husband off to mutual.

Next, flip through your favorite recipes and start filling in your days.  On Date Night the kids will be eating Mac and Cheese, leftover spaghetti and applesauce and carrots.  On Boy Scout night we're having easy freezer food (like chicken nuggets and french fries or a frozen pizza) so I can be available to help find scout shirts and Scout books.  On Wedneday, when I have nothing going on I'm hoping to make calzones since it's more time consuming.  We're having leftovers on Daddy Daughter Campout Night since I'll be prepping camping food with said daughter.

As you write down each recipe, check the ingredients to see what you need to buy and write it down.  Add anything else from the whiteboard shipping list (like vitamins, a bridal shower gift for a friend's daughter, and church shoes for Liz).



Then shop with your shopping list and clip your meal plan back on the whiteboard so you won't misplace it.  I refer to it through the week.  Sometimes the plan changes and I feel like BLT's instead of calzones so I switch it around.
The best time to meal plan is when you're NOT hungry.  The worst time to meal plan is dinnertime.  How do you meal plan?

These are my Dad's Baked Beans and they are one of my favorite foods.  I love them hot, or cold as leftovers.  I always bring them to parties and BBQ's and everyone things I worked for hours on them.  The truth is that they take about 20-30 minutes and are very budget friendly.

Drain one can of pork and beans.  I've used both name brand and store brand.  Both work well in this recipe.  You can double or triple this recipe for a crowd.  Since ALL the ingredients for this recipe are either in your pantry or are condiments, this is a great recipe to make without planning ahead.

To the drained beans, add brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, honey and dried onions.


Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, look at that color change!  You can stop the recipe right there and eat it!

Or...let's take it to the next level!  See what's in the bowl?  That's kielbasa, otherwise known as Polish Sausage.  I have about one cup that has been grilled and cut into chunks.  Add it to your beans and heat through.  We cooked Keilbasa for dinner a month ago and didn't finish it all.  So I chopped it up and froze it to save for these beans.

Serve with burgers, hot dogs, or BBQ pork sandwiches like we did.  It will make your man happy!


Mike's Baked Beans
Serves 6-8

2 can pork and beans, drained
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T. honey
1/2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. dried onions
1 c. kielbasa, or hot dogs, or 3-4 strips bacon, cooked, optional

1. Drain pork and beans (you can leave some of the liquid for creamier beans), add to a medium sized saucepan.
2. Add brown sugar, ketchup, honey, mustard, dried onions.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stir occasionally so it doesn't burn on the bottom.
3. Add any optional meats and heat through.  Serve warm, or cold for leftovers.

I have four kids so I make A LOT of pizza.  That means we go through A LOT of cheese.  Here's how I always have cheese on hand.

I buy pre-shredded mozzarella cheese at CostCo in bulk.  One bag is about 40 cups of cheese.  Even through it's shredded, it's cheaper than buying it in a block.  And it's one less thing for me to do!

I also buy sandwich size Ziploc baggies at CostCo.  You'll need them for this tip.  Add 1 cup of cheese to one sandwich baggie.  Jiggle the cheese around so that it's flat and uniform in the baggie.


Seal the bag all except for a finger widths amount.  That's the air escape valve.  So technical!


Roll up your bag to squeeze out all the air.

Seal up the opening.

Look!  It's vacuum sealed!  I just saved you $100 on a vacuum sealer!  I take checks and credit cards.

Nice and flat and air tight!  Now stack them up and put them in your freezer.  One bag it good for one good sized pizza.  And since you just bagged up 40 c. of cheese, you can make 40 pizzas!

Do you hate it as much as I do when lettuce gets swampy and you have to throw it away?  Wasted produce is a bad thing for a family on a budget.  Here's how I get my lettuce to last forever.

Unwrap your lettuce and give it a rinse in cold water.  Pat it dry with a paper towel.


Wrap it in a dry paper towel or two and put it in a gallon bag.  Mine are not ziploc, they just close with a twist tie.  You can find them in the baggie section.  You don't need to close the bag or anything, you can leave it open to give it some air.

Don't cut lettuce off the head until you're ready to use it.  Keeping the head intact helps it stay fresher longer.  Just tear off what you need and put it back in the paper towel wrap when you're done.  If the paper towels start to get too moist, replace them with fresh ones.

Now put it in the fridge and it will be there whenever you need lettuce (Taco salad anyone?).  The paper towel helps suck up extra moisture.  Of course, you could just eat more salad before it gets a chance to go bad.  But that's just crazy talk.

After 14 years of marriage I had an epiphany while making taco meat.  If you add beans it stretches the quantity to twice as much.  I will now present you with the most multipurpose, easy, budget friendly dinner of all. Get ready to save money!

Brown your beef (I'm using 3/4 of a pound), and drain the grease.  Then drain one can of black beans and add to the ground beef.  My beef was from the freezer and the beans were in the pantry.  No shopping required!


Add 3/4 cup water...

Add 3-4 tablespoons of McCormick Taco Seasoning.

Simmer until the sauce is thick and delicious.

Here's the multipurpose part...Make it into a Burrito!  Jason added salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese with a "Daddy" flour tortilla.

Or make it into taco salad!  Heidi put her taco meat on a bed of corn tortilla chips with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Or make it into a taco!  You can toast your taco shells in the oven using the directions on the box.  It makes them so much more delicious than right out of the box! Liz is a taco purist, she added taco meat and cheese.  She's often anti-vegetable.  But that's okay because so am I.  We get our vitamins so don't judge us!


If ground beef is $1.99/pound and a can of black beans is about $0.50-$0.79 than the beans are half the price of the meat.  It may not sound like you've saved much, but if I cook Taco Meat once a week for 14 years of marriage, here's some math fun for you.

Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
3/4 lb. ground beef = 1.99*3/4 = $1.50
1 can black beans = $0.50 (thanks to the caselot sale at Smiths!)
Total =  $2.00
Once a week for 14 years = $1,456

NOT Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 pound = $1.99
another pound of ground beef instead of a can of black beans = $1.99
Total = $4.00
Once a week for 14 years = $2,912

Savings = $1456 over 14 years or $104 a year

What would you do with $104?  And this is just the money saved on one meal.  Imagine if you had a whole collection of budget meals?  Never underestimate how much you'll save by being wise for every meal.

And what if I bought dry beans and cooked them?  One pound of dry beans is about a dollar and makes a huge quantity of cooked beans.  I also have a recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning!  Let's save those recipes for another day...

Multipurpose Taco Meat
Serves 6 (that's $0.33 per person, not including toppings)

3/4 or 1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
3/4 c. water
4 T. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or more or less depending on how hot you like it)

Extras:
Taco Shells or Flour Tortillas or Tortilla Chips
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole

1. Brown and drain ground beef.  Drain beans and add to beef.
2. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning (mine is McCormick, it's 3/4 c. water and 4 T. mix) and add to beef and beans.  Simmer until thickened and heated through.
3. Prepare extras and serve with hot taco meat.
4. Plot how to use all your extra money...

We took a parenting class at church.  They taught that if a kid wants to help you with a task, just let them help.  It doesn't matter if you can do it faster or better.  The teachers said that the time will come when they won't want to help you, so when they do you need to let them!  Apparently all my kids are at the helping age because I always have helpers in the kitchen.

Yes, all the boys have knives.  It worked out great.  So don't be afraid!


 Yikes!  Be afraid!

Get your helpers to hull your strawberries.  That's a fancy way of saying get rid of the leaves.  Then chop up the strawberries.  This recipe is perfect for kids because it doesn't matter what size they chop them up or if the dice is uneven.  It's all going into the blender anyway.


Add sugar to your strawberries and mix.  I added about 1/4 cup to 3 or 4 cups diced strawberries.


Taste test it if you want!  Then let it sit in your refrigerator for about an hour.


On to the pineapple!  Pineapples are in season right now.  If you can't find a ripe pineapple and your pineapple is still pretty green, you'll want it to ripen on your counter for a day or two.  You know a pineapple is ripe when the bottom smells like a delicious pineapple and it has a nice yellow tint to it.

This pineapple is perfectly ripe.  Let's cut it up!  I had my helpers watch since I used a BIG knife.  Safety first!  Cut off the pineapple's top and bottom.


Then slice off the outside inedible layer.


Poor pineapple!  You're no match for my big knife!


Cut the pineapple into four long spears.


Then cut the core out of each spear.  I know it looks like I'm about to slice off my knuckle.  I didn't.  And Steve was a great cameraman!


Then slice each spear into two or three long spears.


Next, cut each spear into 1" chunks.


After an hour in the fridge, check out your strawberries!  See that juice at the bottom?


The sugar combined with the strawberries to make a delicious strawberry juice.  These strawberries are perfect for strawberry shortcake (but that's a different recipe).


Add some of the strawberries and juice, and some pineapple to the blender and mix until it is creamy.  Add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream and mix it up.  You're done! I fed this to my family after a hard day's work in the yard.  They said it was the best smoothie they ever had.  Since it's actually a milkshake I don't know how to take that...  They said I was the best mom in the world so if you want some appreciation, this is the recipe for you.


Strawberry Pineapple Milkshakes
Serves 3-6
2 pints of strawberries
1 pineapple
1/4 c. sugar
several scoops Vanilla Ice Cream

1. Hull and chop strawberries.  Mix with sugar (about 1/4 cup sugar for every 3-4 cups strawberries).  Let sit in the refrigerator for one hour.
2. Chop pineapple.
3. Add strawberries and juice, and pineapple to a blender and mix well.  Add several scoops of ice cream.  Serve and bask in the glory of your admiring fans!

And remember, a pineapple should never touch human skin:

This recipe is fast, easy and cheap.  It was invented by my Mom, and I tweaked it a little bit.  Time to get New Mexican for dinner!

I mentioned before that I almost never cook with fresh meat, it's usually frozen.  For chicken, I like to buy 10 lb. bags of frozen chicken breasts from CostCo.  These are boneless and skinless and cost $2/lb, or $20 for the whole bag.  This is a great price for NM stores and it means I always have frozen chicken in my freezer.

Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, you'll need 2 or 3 or 4 chicken breasts.  It really depends on how much meat vs. vegetables you want.  I like a 50-50 mix.  Put your chicken breasts on a plate and thaw in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.  You may want to flip them over halfway to help them thaw evenly.


While you're waiting for your chicken to defrost, slice up 1 yellow onion, 1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper.  The onion and green pepper are both very affordable.  The red on is the more expensive item in this recipe.  If you don't want to pay twice as much for the red pepper as the green pepper, you can substitute a green pepper for the red pepper.  I usually see green peppers for 50 cents, and red peppers for $1.69.  A great sale price for a red pepper is usually $1 or less in NM.

This recipe is also a great freezer meal.  If you see red and green peppers on sale, buy several.  Slice them up and put each one in a sandwich baggie.  With frozen chicken and peppers, half your meal is ready in the freezer anytime you feel like fajitas.

Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a skillet and heat to medium high or high.  When it is hot add all three vegetables (frozen or fresh) to a skillet and saute in oil until caramelized and tender.  Here is how they look when you start sauteing.  If it looks dry in the pan just add in some more oil by the tablespoon.  Stir the vegetables occasionally so they won't burn.  Slice up your chicken while your vegetables are cooking. 


Here is a picture when they are done.  You can see a little bit of char on the peppers and the onions are light brown.


Remove the vegetables from the pan, add some more oil and then add the chicken.  Some of that caramelized goodness will still be on the bottom of the pan so just stir around the chicken and it will pick it up and flavor the chicken.  Sometimes frozen chicken lets off a lot of moisture.  If you have a lot of moisture in the bottom of the pan, take a paper towel and soak it up (just like soaking up hamburger grease in the previous post).  When the chicken is just done, add about a cup of your favorite salsa.


Let it cook for a minute or two at a simmer to thicken the salsa and coat the chicken.  Use a salsa you really like since the flavor will condense.  If you have people in your family that don't like a lot of spice, use a milder salsa.  You can also use less salsa, or none.  Then other people in the family can just add salsa to their finished fajita.  We like it mildly spicy so 1 cup of a medium salsa pleases everyone in my house.

Then add the vegetables back in until they reheat.  Time for fajitas!


There are three kinds of flour tortillas.  Let's call them Daddy, Mommy and baby.  Daddy size (also known as "Burrito") and Mommy size ("Homestyle") are great for this recipe.  Baby size ("Gorditas") are a little too small for this recipe, but would still be delicious.


Warm your tortillas in the microwave until heated through.  When top with your chicken mixture, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole and/or more salsa.


Let's have a fajita folding lesson!  Fold up the bottom (to catch the deliciousness, you don't want that goodness dripping on your plate, then you have to lick your plate like Jason).


Then fold one side...


Then the other!  How easy is that?


Now who can tell me the NM state question?

Easy Fajitas
Serves 4-6
2-4 chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut in strips
1 red pepper, cut in strips
1 cup salsa
6 tortillas

Toppings:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese
Guacamole

1. Defrost chicken breasts.  Cut vegetables.
2. Heat oil in a skillet to medium high or high.  Saute vegetables until tender and caramelized.  Remove vegetables to a bowl.
3. Cook chicken until just done.  If there is a pool of liquid in the pan, drain it or soak it up with a paper towel.
4. Add salsa and simmer for a minute or two until salsa is thickened and reduced slightly.
5. Add vegetables back to pan until heated through.  Serve with warm tortillas and toppings.