I think if you polled my family and asked them what I cook that they love best, my oatmeal cookies would probably win hands down.

Growing up these cookies were not a favourite of mine but since I have discovered this little trick they have now become just that.  I found this recipe in an old church cookbook and the key ingredient stood out from all other oatmeal cookies, instant vanilla pudding mix.  This not only gives the cookies a creamy texture it gives them a unique sweet taste that most oatmeal cookies lack.  I have since started adding this to my chocolate chip cookies with the same yummy results.  I normally bake a batch of either every week and love to freeze dough balls for those nights when you just NEED a chocolate fix....that reminds me.

Oatmeal cookies

1 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Cup margarine

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 package vanilla instant pudding mix

2 eggs

3 ¼ cup instant oats

Combine butter, sugars and pudding. Beat until smooth ... Read More »

Comments (4)

This will officially wrap up the month of April.  It seems no matter how hard I try to stay on track I always end up several meals short by month end.  I guess  my intentions were great but there were nights when I could not muster up the energy to make what I planned and had to resort to something easy (hanging head in shame).  In all honesty we had the plague sweep through our house and many nights were spent praying to the porcelain gods rather than sautéing shrimp.  I plan to spend the night on the couch drafting up May's plan and will try once again to stay focused and stick to the plan, pending any virus that may crop up.

 

Monday - Tuna casserole (again) this is by far my favourite meal and I could easily eat this once a week if the rest of the family would let me.  Wait a minute!! I am the one cooking and I doubt anyone would challenge me on this because last I checked there were no volunteers to take over cooking duty.

Tuesday - One pot saucy bake - A mixture of hamburger, pasta sauce, mushrooms, peppers and cheese.  This dish is never the same but is always good and a great ... Read More »

We all need a little inspiration now and then and what better way than Before and After photos.  Check this transformation out!

I normally have some of these mushroom containers kicking around.  Normally I would not have thought twice about tossing these out but after seeing this I might just hang onto them a little longer.

It seems even kids have too much stuff nowadays.  The toy rooms are overflowing and bins are filled to the brim yet "I'm bored" can often be heard coming from their mouths.  Why not try some of these unique homemade crafts and ideas to keep the little ones amused.  With summer vacation nearing this may come in handy to maintain sanity until fall.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

I don't know why it took me so long to implement this idea.  Over the years I cannot even begin to count the number of computers that have come and gone in our household.  Some came with associated media and due to the sheer volume of these disks being reincarnated as coasters, obviously many did not leave. 

I found a great deal on these inexpensive fabric cd cases at our local dollarstore.  I bought one for each machine and clearly labelled on the outside the make and model # it is associated with.  Inside I keep all boot disks, software cd's, printer disks, anti-virus upgrades etc.  Anything associated with the running of our computer goes inside this case where it is neatly zipped up.  Should the inevitable happen and the thing conks out I can easily grab the case and have all required media handy while on hold for support.  

No more frantically searching the house for that printer cd or software serial number.

    Read More »

Well enough with the whining and growling, I must tackle the oh so fun job of spring cleaning.  I sheepishly admit that I was perplexed why this yearly chore was even needed.  I used to say "how dirty could it be if you kept the house clean on a regular basis?".  Now before you hit the send button on that hate mail let me remind you this was pre-kids coupled with an efficient housekeeper.  Fast forward 3 years and you could play a mean game of tick tack toe on any given piece of furniture (exception being the highchairs).  We also burn wood in an oversized stove in our kitchen.... Cozy...yes, Clean...not so much.  I have now given a great deal of thought into this chore and wanted to ensure that nothing goes untouched.  If I am going to waste a good portion of my spring like weather I might as well have a spotless house to show for it. 

When I tackled my regular chores I would write down any job, big or small on a list under the appropriate room.  There were so many times that I thought of a task to complete and knew I would not remember this on the day of cleaning.  Case in point that grate at the bottom of the fridge, nasty nasty place.  My list is very detailed and precise but I can simply refer to this to ensure that every nook and dirty cranny are scrubbed to the bald mans approval and the list adds the sense of accountability that I need to stay focused.

Read More »

I admit I am not an exceptional cook. My primary goal is to provide a healthy meal, one that everyone will eat and nobody ends up praying to the porcelain gods.  If I succeed in all of the above I am one happy momma.  Ok it's not that bad but it is a challenge to please 4 adults and 2 children so I aim to keep everyone as happy as possible.  There are certain dishes that crop up more often then others on my meal planning schedule.  For these I try to streamline them even more so by pre mixing the ingredients before hand. 

Some of those dishes that work really well are

Pizza dough

Cornbread

waffles

bread 

Oatmeal cookies

When the time comes to make one of these meals I simply fill several large ziploc bags with the required dry ingredients.  For example waffles I can add the flour, spices, soda or powder and I only have to add the wet ingredients when the time comes to prepare this dinner.  You can even go as far as writing the remaining ingredients to be added but after making my oatmeal cookies on a weekly basis I can pretty much go on memory.  These bags are stored under my cupboard and are a welcomed practice on those nights when this meal is served. Beca ... Read More »

I try to keep my freezer portion neat and organized, but somehow this always falls into a state of disrepair and a thorough cleaning is in order.  Small bags of this and half boxes of that start accumulating to the point that I cannot see my so called lunch basket without shovelling through the piles of Ziploc and stacks of Tupperware.  The majority of the items belong in the deep freeze located in the basement and for the most part it is due to sheer laziness and convenience that this ends up in this freezer..there admitting that is the first step to recovery.  Once every two weeks I take the time to thoroughly clean the freezer, organize and place items where they should be.  Although this feels just as embarrassing as showing you my underwear drawer here goes nothing.

 

BEFORE

Read More »

 

Monday - Fish cakes and green bean bake.

 

I saw this recipe in the latest issue of  Kraft magazine.  I have several jars of frozen shredded carrots that I use for carrot cakes.  This would cut down on prep time and the other half can be used for a cake.

Tuesday - Taco salad bowls.  This also came from the Kraft magazine.  Dad loves anything taco related so this would be an appropriate dish to try

Wednesday - Beef barley soup and sour cream rolls. The recipe actually calls for Wheat berries but when inquiring on such a product everyone looked at me like I had two heads.  I finally settled on barley at the local bulk food store and hope this will ... Read More »

Well this weekend I may have to make it short and sweet.  I have 2 kids, a hubby and a mommy all sick with the stomach flu.  Need I say more.

So here are a couple of links that caught my eye.

 

Who doesn't have these ugly things kicking around.  Why not spruce them up and make some beautiful fridge magnet clips?

Wow, I love these tool bins.  She said Home Depot had them so I better get over there and check it out.

Well, It wouldn't be a weekend roundup without some sort of link on toy organization

Here is some inspiration for those ugly plastic storage containers that we normally toss into the garbage

And finally here is a list of 10 uses for the good ol' baking soda. 

 

See you next week

Niki

I mentioned in an  earlier post how much I love my coffee.  When the sun rises so do my kids, so that steaming cup of java better be waiting for me with a heaping tablespoon of whitener (I know it's bad for me but I'm not ready to give it up).  On occasion (aka every evening) l like to spice up my latte with something more than the regular flavoured beans.  I have come up with quite a collection of recipes that I found online and made up a chart that hangs in my coffee cupboard where it can be easily referred to.  When I find a new one that I would like to try I simply edit my saved word file, reprint and replace.  All of these mixes can be made up ahead of time and stored in a container to be added to boiling water.  The majority of the time I simply add instant coffee to a regular cup of hot chocolate and that satisfies my craving for coffee and chocolate. What can be better than those two combinations?

 

Read More »