Garden Fresh Tomato's = Homemade Salsa

At our house we love salsa, but we are very picky about it!  It can't be too sweet, too chunky, too soupy or have too much cilantro.  I love that my husband loves to get in the kitchen and try new stuff so when he found this salsa recipe he wanted to try I was all for it.  Of course it came from the Pioneer Woman.  I haven't tried a recipe of hers that I haven't like.  This simple salsa recipe is amazing!  

Yesterday my husband picked a bucket full of tomatoes from our little garden.  He is not a huge tomato fan, but I am.  I wasn't always, but I love them now.  Salsa was the first thing that popped in his head, so today after church we made a double batch with our fresh from the garden tomatoes.  I must say the salsa is even better with fresh tomatoes.

So we had some fun in the kitchen this afternoon!  Blanching and peeling tomatoes, chopping peppers, onions and cilantro and blending it all up!  

First time I ever blanched tomatoes and I must say makes it super easy to peel them.

Cutting them in half and adding them to the blender.

 Kev chopping up the onion, jalapeno's and lime.

Everything you need for good salsa!

 Add it all to the blender...

 and blend away...

 We made a double batch!  Our parents will be happy when we show up with a jar of salsa in a few days!

Here is the Pioneer Woman's Recipe 

Restaurant Style Salsa

1 can 28 oz Whole Tomatoes w/ juice (we used 14 small fresh roma tomatoes)

2 can Rotel (1 regular, 1 mild)

1/4 cup chopped onions

1 clove garlic, minced

1 whole jalapeno, chopped

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped 

1/2 whole lime juice

Put it all in a blender or food processor until you get the consistency you'd like.  Taste test and adjust to your liking.  Enjoy! 

*you can click on Pioneer Woman above to go to her website for the recipe

Roasted Garlic Parmesan Squash

Eat your veggies!  How often did you hear this growing up??  I heard it ALL THE TIME!  I was a very picky eater most of my life.  After I was married I started cooking more and I started trying things I never thought I would try.  I do eat a lot more than I use to, but veggies are still an issue for me.

I am trying to change some of my eating habits and adding more veggies is #1 on my list.  Last week I bought some asparagus and tried roasting it and it was amazing!  I went to a friend's farm and picked blackberries and blueberries the other day.  She gave me a bag of squash and I was like what can I do with this.  I like it fried, but that is a huge no!  I am not a squash casserole fan either.  So I decided to try roasting it like I did the asparagus.  The squash was even better than the asparagus so I must share it with yall!

Roast Garlic Parmesan Squash

1-2 Squash, sliced

1/2-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 450.  Slice your squash and sat aside. 

 Line a cookie sheet with foil for quick and easy clean up.  In a quart size Ziploc bag add olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  I don't really measure, just add accordingly.

Add squash to bag and shake...

Put the squash on the cookie sheet and top with a little bit of shredded Parmesan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

15 minutes later you have this!  YUM!

Tonight we had Pepper Steak and Squash

It's a must try!  We all love it.  What are some of your favorite squash recipes??

Wanted to share a few pages from my Half Marathon Training Notebook.  I have a page where I keep up with how I am doing every 30 days.  I also keep up with what I do each week.  Monday is Day 1 for me so I also weigh in on Monday.  At the end of each week I write down my total miles for the week.  I have also printed out a 14 week guide that I will start end of July.  This first few weeks has been all about getting back on track, watching what I eat and drinking 100 oz of water a day (that's another blog post). 

So here is a sneak peak into my notebook...

I wanted to end by sharing a favorite Bible verse of mine:

"Let us run with endurance the race set before us..." Hebrews 12:1

It's the most wonderful time to bake...

Nothing like baking during the holidays!  Last night I had to make one of my favorites.  7 Layer Cookies! YUM!  My mom has been baking them for me for a long time and it is a really quick and easy recipe.

7 Layer Cookies

Here is what you need...

So you start with 2/3 a stick of real butter in a 9x13 pan.  Melt in the oven.  While the butter is melting take a sleeve of graham crackers and crush them.  Remove pan from oven and pour cracker crumbs onto melted butter and spread evenly.

Next you add 1 cup of coconut...

1 cup of Chocolate Chips

1 cup of Butterscotch Chips (my favorite)

1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

Top it off with some chopped Pecans

Bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes, cool and enjoy!

Today being Christmas Eve we have to make cookies for Santa!  YUM!  I don't know about yall, but at my house Santa absolutely loves Chocolate Chip Ice Sandwich Cookies!  My boys and I love to bake cookies on Christmas Eve and today we had some extra help!  My son's girlfriend is spending the day with us so she helped us--it was fun having another girl in the kitchen!

 Cookie are done!  Better get them in the freezer so they will be ready for Santa!

E showing off his Christmas spirit! 

Bay got some new boots!

I hope you all have a WoNdErFuL Christmas 

and a

HaPpY NEW YeAr!

Key Lime Pie

A couple weeks ago we went to spend the night with my fabulous Aunt Jean because we had to catch a early flight in Nashville the next day.  Like my mom and myself she also got the "baking gene" from Mema so when we got there she had made some goodies for us!

The boys go in the kitchen and instantly dive into the brownies!  She pulls a Key Lime Pie and fresh raspberries out of the frig and I am thinking "no"!  I have never cared for limes.  Than I see this pie with a Oreo crust and it peeks my interest.  Jean goes on to tell us that years go when they lived in Ohio she get the recipe from a neighbor.  Its one of the easiest pies to make and that you just follow the recipe on the back on of the Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice, BUT use a Oreo Cookie crust and serve it with some raspberries. 

She was so right!  The combination is amazing!  My husband who does not eat sweets had two pieces!  Since we have been home from our trip I have made 2 of these awesome pies!  I just had to pass this on to all my friends, but wanted to give credit to my Aunt Jean!  THANK YOU JEAN!  We have a new favorite dessert here!

So here is the recipe...

 Here is what you need (plus 3 eggs)...

 Make sure you use Nellie & Joe's Lime Juice with the recipe on the back!

 Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

 YUM!

 It's the perfect combination of flavors!

 Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Mema's Cobbler

I don't know where to begin when it comes to my Mema!  I love her so much and I miss her everyday.  She was the best grandmother and an amazing Christian woman.  I was blessed to have her in my life for 25 years.  She had 19 grandkids and she loved each and every one of us with her whole heart.  She loved us all the same, too.  Some of lived next door, some down the road and some hours away in another state, but we all felt equal.  She was just Mema!

One of my favorite things about Mema was that she was fabulous in the kitchen.  Thanksgiving and Christmas day at her house was the best.  Her dressing will never be matched--EVER!  She also made the most wonderful desserts.  Some of my favorites were her fried pies, pumpkin pie and cobbler.  No one could make cobbler like her.  Below is a picture of Mema and Pepa in the kitchen at their old house...

My Mema passed away November 1, 1998 and going home to Kentucky hasn't been the same since.  I miss so many things about her.  She gave the best advice and never had a bad thing to say about anyone.  She could put you in your place without rising her voice or being mean and she could just look at you and you knew how much you were loved.  My house is filled with reminders of her.  I have her wooden purse that she use to bring to church--she always had candy in it for me.  My kitchen is filled with the very "dust collectors" she had her kitchen.  One of the old blue tin coffee pots still has Pepa's twist of tobacco in it.

My mother got her mom's passion for cooking/baking and so do I.  After Mema died I was never able to find her cobbler recipe and I would try recipes and nothing tasted like hers.  They were either too much like a pie crust, too doughy or something just wasn't right.  There was one woman at our church in Indiana that could make a blackberry cobbler that was oh so close to Mema's.  One night while at my Aunt Jean's I was telling her how much I wish I had Mema's cobbler recipe and she was like "just a minute" and she grabs a cookbook and thumbs through it and minutes later hands me a notecard.  There in Mema's handwriting is Lazy Woman's Cobbler.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so excited and couldn't wait to get home and make a cobbler.  I didn't care if it was peach, blackberry or cherry I just wanted to get the crust to taste like Mema's.

I made Peach---

So here is the recipe:

1 Stick REAL Butter

1 Cup Self-Rising Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup of Milk (I use 2%)

2 Cups of FRESH FRUIT (Blackberry or Peach are best)

So you start by melting your butter in the oven...

While your butter is melting peel and cut up your peaches

 and mix together your next 3 ingredients

Next pour your batter into the middle of your melted butter

 than add your peaches and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes

* The key is REAL BUTTER, FRESH FRUIT and NO SKINNY MILK*

and here is a Yummy Peach Cobbler

Next time I will be making Blackberry which is my favorite, my guys requested peach this time!

I was Mema's first grandchild back in '73

This is Mema and me on my wedding day in '96

and in early '98 I gave birth to her first Great Grandchild

I wish she was still here so my boys could truly know her and so she could know them and all her other great grandchildren and all my cousin's spouses.  I know she is in Heaven and I will see her again someday though.  Love you Mema!  Thanks for being you!