Mystery goop

I remember as a kid a friend of mine showed me the magic of mystery goop that we would play with outside. We would pour it on her deck & watch it spread like water, but was nearly solid to touch. Way cool!
Ash is always looking to learn & try new things so I thought it would be a fun afternoon activity.
All you do is mix cornstarch & water together. That's it. Cleanup is super simple too. You just need a damp paper towel & your floor is clear.
I think that mystery goop kept him entertained for nearly an hour & perfect for a dreary day outside. Hope your little ones enjoy too!

Lemon Pound Cake

I found myself craving some kind of citrusy dessert yesterday & this lemon pound cake sure hit the spot!

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
zest of one lemon
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon juice with a mixer until blended.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add oil and lemon zest and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (It took an hour in my oven). Remove from oven and pour glaze over it, then cool in pan on a rack.
Glaze - whisk to combine

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

A friend of mine made these delicious cookies last week. I had to have the recipe! Now I can share it with all of you. Yum!

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking or regular rolled oats, uncooked

Heat oven to 375˚

Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; blend thoroughly. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Mix in peanut butter until well blended. Stir in oats, mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 4 dozen

Honey Balsamic Fish Filets

My husband & I used to eat fish all the time. Since my pregnancy I've lost my taste for it, but this is a great recipe we've made a few times.

1 lb fresh or frozen skinless cod, orange roughy or tilapia filets, 3/4 to 1" thick
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 medium red or yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey

Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Place spinach in a bowl and set aside. In a large skillet, cook onion in 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until tender and slightly golden. Add sweet pepper; cook and stir 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Stir onion mixture into spinach; transfer to a serving platter. Set aside.

Sprinkle fish fillets with salt & pepper. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add fish; cook 4 minutes. Carefully turn fish. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 minutes more or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place fish fillets on top of wilted spinach; cover to keep warm.

In a small bowl stir together the balsamic vinegar and honey. Add to skillet. Cook and stir until heated through, scraping up any browned bits. To serve, spoon balsamic vinaigrette over fish and spinach.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

I decided to try to make a special dinner for my husband last night since we both have to work on Valentines Day. I meant to surprise him, but duty called with Ash so dinner was way late. It was delicious though.

Prosciutto Wrapped  Chicken

1 package of boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 lb of thinly sliced prosciutto
3 tbsp of crushed garlic
fresh basil
1 package of sliced portabello mushrooms
sliced provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the fat off of your chicken breasts. Smear some of the crushed garlic onto the chicken. This is really up to you on how much you want to put on there. We love garlic so we tend to be heavy handed with it. Place a piece or 2 of fresh basil on then wrap the chicken breast up in prosciutto. Once all of your chicken is in a large casserole dish, lay provolone slices on top. Add the mushrooms and bake for about 45 minutes. I found that this made a delicious broth and there was no oil necessary. I served this with mashed potatoes.

Snickerdoodle Bars

I love snickerdoodles!!!! A friend of mine gave me this recipe for snickerdoodle bars. I immediately had to try it out. You can try adding some extra cinnamon to the dough for extra flavor if you like. Enjoy!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 8×8-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. (You can double this recipe and use a 9x13 baking dish)
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in salt, egg and vanilla extract until well combined. Add in flour and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer- You will probably have to wash your hands and use your fingers to pat it down evenly.
Stir together remaining 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle dough evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bars are set and the edges are just very lightly browned. Cool in the pan before slicing.

Red pepper & feta dip

I love to snack, but chips & dip get kinda boring sometimes. Here's something a little different.

4 pita breads, split & cut
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained & chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp cayenne
6 oz feta cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pita on baking sheet & bake, turning until crisp.
In a food processor, blend red peppers, 3/4 of feta, garlic & cayenne. Top tip with remaining feta & serve with pita chips.

Movin' on up!

I am so incredibly excited to announce that we now have a website!!! Right now it is only jewelry, but as I love to pick up hobbies, additions will likely be made as I get into those. Thank you all truly for all the support! Please check it out. Www.cozyhousecreations.com

Turkey meatball vegetable soup

It's chilly. So many of us are sick. It's soup time so make it happen! My husband & I prefer a heartier soup so just add more broth if prefer. Enjoy!

Turkey meatballs:

1lb ground turkey
1 egg
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp minced garlic
1tsp Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp dill weed
Stir all ingredients in large bowl until well blended the use spoon to make small meatballs. Place meatballs in bottom of large stockpot with some olive oil. Cook until meatballs brown on outside then add soup ingredients.

Soup:

3 14oz cans of diced tomato
2 cans of vegetable stock
2 containers of low sodium chicken broth
1 bag of steamed green beans
1 bag of streamed mixed vegetable
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
3 tbsp Mrs Dash Onion & Herb.

Keep on medium heat, stirring occasionally until pasta is fully cooked.

Orange Apricot Bread

When I was 1st starting to learn to bake I used to make quick breads all the time. It's like cake, but not. What's not to love? Add in my fear of yeast breads, quick breads were the ultimate answer. This great one is perfect for mornings!

6 ozs dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 cups water
2 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp finely grated orange peel
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
Cook apricots in water in a covered saucepan for 10-15 minutes, until apricots are mushy. Drain and reserve 3/4 cup liquid; set fruit aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and orange peel just until blended. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, dry milk, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir sifted mixture into to creamed mixture alternately with reserved apricot liquid and orange juice.
Stir chopped soaked apricots and pecans into the batter. Turn batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until bread springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan to rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

What came first? The chicken or the cheese?

Lunch today was a battle. Ash has fully realized how to absolutely refuse to do or eat something. Oh yeah, let the good times roll. I try to let him pick his meals so that if he has a say in it, it's not so frustrating for him. Raviolis for breakfast? Sure why not!
Today he picked leftover chicken cutlets and cheese cubes. He ate 2 pieces of chicken and then attacked the cheese leaving the rest of the chicken. Oh I don't think so!
We then had a disagreement so to speak about how he could only have more cheese if he ate chicken first. He stared at me crying for a while pointing to the cheese. Very sad, but poor kid, he had no idea that momma was winning this one. It's possible that he nearly flipped me off before he begrudgingly at the chicken whilst giving me the stink eye. Then as promised, he got his cheese. Tears, breadcrumbs & cheese on his face.....the smile I got was priceless.

My strange addiction

For some unknown reason about a month ago I decided to try my hand at jewelry. I wasn't sure how it would go given my normal patience level. We're talking about teeny tiny beads here.
I find it oddly therapeutic though & a lot of fun! I never thought I would have so much fun with it. Now I can't seem to control myself.
Beads. Beads. BEADS!!!!! Oh my goodness, I can't get enough!!!