Pineapple upside down cake

I served this to some friends we had over a couple weeks ago, and it was a hit. It's fun, old-fashioned and easy. And really, really good.

Pineapple upside down cake (from Mom's Best Desserts)

You’ll need:

1 20oz can of sliced pineapple (not chunks)

4 tbsp butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

16 pecan or walnut halves

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp ground ginger

6 tbsp butter or shortening

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup pineapple juice, reserved from can

 

1.       Preheat the oven to 350

2.       To make the topping, drain the pineapple, reserving 2/3 cup of the  juice for the cake. In a 9 inch glass pie/cake plate, melt the butter in the oven. Then sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter and spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple slices over the brown sugar. Fill the centers and spaces between the pineapple with pecan halves placed flat-side up.

3.       To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Set aside.

4.       In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the pineapple juice, mixing just until the batter is smooth and blended. Spoon the cake batter over the pineapple.

5.       Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6.       Cool for 5 minutes. Loosen the cake around the edge, then invert onto a serving platter. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Cheery Cherry Lemon Cake

I first made this for Anna's first birthday, and it's been a fixture ever since. It's best while the cherries are in season - like now!

1. Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease a lasagna-sized baking dish.
2. Coarsely chop 1 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries and pat dry. In a separate bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 2 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup soft butter on high for 30 seconds. Add 1 3/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry, flour mixture and 1 1/4 cup milk alternately to beaten mixture. Stir 2 tsp shredded lemon peel. Pour batter into pan, then sprinkle the chopped cherries on top. (They will sink, mind.)
4. Bake for 30-35 min and cool completely. Cut into pieces and add a dollop of some cream cheese frosting to each piece and top with a cherry.
5. To make the cream cheese frosting, combine an 8 oz package of cream cheese, 2/3 cup butter, 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Beat well, then add up to 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar and beat well.

I never got a chance to take a picture - it went pretty fast, but Taste of Home has the recipe, as well, along with this photo:

Truly, this photo doesn't do it justice - it looks much better in the flesh (and on my plate)!

Peach season!

It's been about 3 years since I've posted my recipe for Crock Pot Peach Jam, and interestingly, it proves to be one of my most looked at posts (according in a google search). Since the peach season is wonderfully upon us, I thought it would be helpful to repost:

 

Fresh Peach Jam

(from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook)



You'll need:

About 2 pounds slightly underripe peaches (7 to 8 large)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

One 1.75 or 2 ounce box powdered pectin (optional)

3 to 4 cups sugar, to taste

1. Peel the peaches by dipping them into a pan of boiling water to loosen the skin, then immediately cool them by holding under cold water. The skins will slip off. Remove the pits. In a large bowl, coarsely crush by hand with a potato masher or pulse a few times in a food processor; you'll have about 5 cups of pulp. combine the peaches and lemon juice in the slow cooker; sprinkle with the pectin, if using (I didn't bother). Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Stir in the sugar. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 hours, stirring twice.

3. Remove the lid, turn the cooker to HIGH, and cook 2 to 3 hours longer, until the jam achieves the desired consistency. Ladle the warm jam in to clean glass jars & let stand until cool.

To sterilize your jars, either run the jars and lids through the dishwasher or wash in hot, soapy water and heat in a coolish oven (about 300F) for 10 min.

 

Mine is in the crock pot as I write. However, I've got loads more peaches to deal with, thanks to a half bushel purchase yesterday. So, here are a few other peach-y (ba dum bum) ideas:

 

• Peach Frozen Yogurt
• Peach Smoothie
• Peach Crumb Bars
• Peach Lemonade
• Chicken with Peaches

Spring CousCous Salad

When it's dark and cold, I'm all about warm meals, especially for lunch. But when it's light at 5:30am (ask me how I know) and just looking at the kitchen makes me over heat, I love me some salad. But a green salad gets boring after a while...
I found this recipe on Pinterest and have made (and eaten) it plenty. It's fast, it's yummy, it's healthy, and probably my favorite part - since it's got asparagus, my kids aren't interested. Win!

Spring Couscous Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup Israeli couscous (if you can't find it, regular couscous works fine)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 pieces of bacon
• 1/2 cup fresh English peas
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine the olive oil and couscous in a large skillet over medium high heat. Toast the couscous until just golden brown and then add the chicken stock. Stir occasionally and let cook until all the liquid is gone. Transfer the cooked couscous to a bowl and set aside.
2. Place another skillet over medium heat. Add the strips of bacon and cook until crisp on both sides. Remove bacon from the skillet and add the trimmed asparagus. Saute for 4-5 minutes and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add the asparagus to the cooked couscous.
3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the peas and blanch for about 3 minutes. Drain the peas and shock them in an ice bath. Add peas to the couscous mixture.
4. Toss together the couscous and vegetables with the lemon juice and zest. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if desired. Also, feel free to add a teaspoon or so of the bacon drippings if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. I've also kept some in the fridge to eat later in the week - it's still good cold, but the flavors are a bit more muted, so 30 seconds in the microwave help kick up the flavor.

Just remember - bacon makes everything better.

Nom nom.

Super Good Chicken Salad

You know how everyone has that dish they love, and they're looking for the perfect version of it to recreate at home? Toby's thing is tiramisu - none has ever been better than the one he would get at a subterranean, little Italian restaurant in Cambridge.

For me, it's chicken salad.

Now, I will say that Panera's is good - really good. But I can't shop at Panera every day (even though it's now walking distance), so if I'm gonna enjoy it, I've gotta make it myself. And now that I've found this mega-yummy recipe, make it I shall:

   

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (about 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast halves)
• 1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, such as Craisins, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Sliced bread, for serving (here is a great recipe)
Dressing
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp prepared yellow mustard (optional)
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl toss together shredded chicken, celery, pecans, dried cranberries and Parmesan cheese, set aside. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together all ingredients listed for the dressing until well blended. Pour dressing mixture over chicken mixture and toss to evenly coat. Serve over sliced bread, croissants or rolls. Store in refrigerator.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

It's not too moist and not too dry. The pecans and craisins add such a great texture, but can be left out for the allergic. It's great on regular wheat bread, but really excels on fresh, crusty French bread. Mmmm, hmmmm.

Cookie Dough Dip

For the last minute pot luck, the summer barbecue that you've had no time to prepare something for, or just for something to munch on in front of a movie, may I humbly suggest some Cookie Dough Dip with pretzels or graham crackers? It'll add no heat to your kitchen, though I make no promise about the calories to your diet...

8 oz cream cheese
half a cup of butter
1 cup powdered (icing) sugar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips/candy bar pieces, etc.
1 cup toffee pieces (could always use another cup of choc chips)

I've only served this with the pretzels or graham crackers, but would be interested to see how it works with fruit or some other dipping option.

Enjoy, however you have it!

Pretzel bark

Since Abigail's had braces, we've needed to rethink the whole movie-snack thing - popcorn is a no-no, and I have been faithful not to make it if she can't join in. So, when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew we had a winner.

I was not disappointed.

Have a go at making it yourself, but I must warn you:

1. You will probably eat the whole thing in one sitting.
2. Melty chocolate is messy.

So long as we understand one another...


You'll need:

½  bag of mini pretzel twists

2 sticks of butter (1 cup total)

1 cup of brown sugar

1 bag of chocolate chips (2 cups)

Sea salt or table salt

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

• Then line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lay a single layer of pretzels down.

• In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to stick to the bottom and it forms a nice smooth caramel. You’ll want to let it bubble a little and get really thick.

• Remove from heat and pour evenly over the top of the pretzels (don’t worry if every single pretzel isn’t covered). Put in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes.

• Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. You can let the caramel melt the chips, but I prefer to put it back in the oven for one minute.

• Spread the chocolate chips around with a spatula until mostly melted.

• Sprinkle generously with salt (but if you're like me, you'll probably forget).

• Let cool on the counter top for a few minutes and then pop in the freezer for at least two to three hours.

• When it comes out of the freezer, break it up into uneven chunks with your hands and serve.

Wet wipes are an optional, but helpful, extra.

Parmesan Chicken Bake

It's been a while since I've shared some recipes, so here is one I've made several times. It's easy, it's very delicious, and it makes leftovers - all get top marks in my book.
I found the recipe, as I've found most of my favorite recipes, on Pinterest. The blog it came from, My Kitchen Escapades, has a load of other yummy recipes. I shall share the recipe here for your enjoyment:

Parmesan Chicken Bake(adapted from Food.com)
6 chicken breasts (or one large pack)
1 C light mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
1/2 c fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for the top
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of a 9x13 glass pan.  Lay the chicken inside the pan.
2.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over each piece of chicken, being sure to cover all the exposed raw meat (so it doesn't dry out.)  Sprinkle on a bit more fresh Parmesan over all the chicken.
3.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

And there you have it. We've been enjoying it recently with baked sweet potatoes and a salad. All the flavors go so well together!

Glassified Roughage...

...otherwise known as "salad in a jar".

Have you tried this yet? If you haven't, you really ought to. I've seen the ideas in a couple of place on Pinterest, but since I'm not on there for Lent (and I haven't been!), I was able to remember this clever blog, aptly named Salad in a Jar. Her recommendations are great starting off points, though I've been able to make this thing work even without a vacuum sealer. I'd certainly suggest checking Pinterest for other people's genius, but I think the general principle is as follows:

• a couple of tablespoons of dressing on the bottom
• toppings that can stand up to dressing, like bacon, nuts, carrots or mushrooms
• any other veggies you like until the jar is half full
• fill the rest of the jar with as much lettuce as you can pack in.

It seems to me that the less air there is in the jar, the longer the lettuce keeps, which is why the vacuum sealer is so effective. I've found, though, that stuffing it in nice and tight does pretty much the same thing. Just make sure that the lettuce and dressing don't touch one another, or the lettuce will turn slimy.

In the jars above, we have ranch dressing on the bottom, followed by almonds, bacon, cous cous, cucumber, tomato and the lettuce. I've found they last for about a week, if they're not eaten before. Toby's been stealing them for his lunch, which works out really well - it's so much easier (and just as filling) to grab a prepared bit of green on a busy morning.

And I can assure you, every morning in this house is busy.

Make Your Own

I like convenience cooking, I admit it. It's not so much that I don't like chopping and whisking - quite the contrary - but sometimes I'm tired, hungry and out of time (actually, I'd say that's probably accurate most of the time). I do not, however, like to pay money for substandard ingredients, especially when I can make my own (insert food here) cheaper and better than the store's version.
So, for any other convenience-but-conscience-stricken cooks out there, here are a few suggestions for some good make-your-own box mixes:

• Better Than Bisquick Drop Biscuits 
• Pancakes
• Waffles
• Brownies
• Vanilla Pudding Mix (vital for Amish Friendship Bread)
• Cake in a Box

In each case, it's pretty much a matter of mixing up the dry ingredients, sticking them in a labelled Ziploc bag with the wet ingredients you'll need written on the front, and storing them in the freezer until you need them (freezer storage keeps longer and protects from critters).
I've even managed to have my girls make some goodies by handing them the bag and having them follow the instructions. I'm all about making it easy for my kids to cook!
Once you try these, I dare you to look around your kitchen and see what you can do some advance prep for - I wouldn't have even thought about the pudding mix except for the fact that I was in the middle of making the Amish Friendship Bread and didn't have the boxed stuff to hand.
"Necessity is the mother of Invention", right?

Right now...

• My girls are making cookies. All by themselves.  They look great.
• Daniel is on day one of potty training. So far, he's peed a few times on the potty, twice on the floor and once down the vent in his bedroom. Lord, help me...
• I'm reading a book that's making me want to get rid of most of my clothes and eat better. Kind of.
• Toby preached on Sunday, and of course, did an excellent job. One of the nicest things I can say about my husband's preaching is that I enjoy sitting under it. How often does a wife say that?! If you want to hear, visit here - he preached on "Jesus, the Great High Priest".
• Dan had a great birthday last week. We had dinner at Chick-Fil-A and the kids played in the play place, then we came home for cake. He was so cute - he got so excited about his "3" cake! I didn't tell him how easy it was - bundt cake cut roughly in half and "arranged", iced and covered in m&ms - because he wouldn't have cared.

• Speaking of cake, Toby made this one a couple times recently. It is so good, you must try it. Besides, there's something exciting about making a cake in a cast iron skillet.
• I'm going to my very first ever book club this evening. I'm very excited, which makes me sound kind of geeky, but I don't care - if "geeky" means hanging out with cool people talking about books and eating baked goods, then that's a label I'm happy to wear.

Caramel Apple Cake with Apple Cider Frosting!

I have been collecting a lot of recipes. My pinboard has well over 500. My bookmarks tab is loooooong. In the interest of serving others (of course), I feel duty-bound to try out a few of these recipes, just to see if they're any good.

This one was very good.

 

Recipe found at a hint of honey

INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups light brown sugar
¾ cup canola oil
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup caramel sauce (homemade or jarred)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1½ cups buttermilk

 (if you don't have buttermilk, measure out the same amount of milk minus 2tbsp, then add 2 tbsp of lemon juice)

Apple Cider Frosting:
7 1/2-8 cups confectioners’ sugar (to desired consistency)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice

(I had to add a bit more, a tbsp at a time to get the right consistency - be prepared to play with it a little)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two (8 or 9 inch) round cake pans and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a second large bowl, beat sugar and oil together with an electric mixer until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add applesauce, caramel and vanilla, beat for 30 seconds, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk, and continuing to beat until well combined.

3. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of each cake comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Set aside to let cool for 10 minutes, then gently loosen cakes and turn out onto a cooking rack; set aside to let cool completely.

4. For the frosting, put sugar, butter, cider, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Arrange one cake on a large plate and spread about 1 cup of the frosting evenly over the top. Arrange second cake on top then frost top and sides of entire cake with remaining frosting. Set aside at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow frosting to set before serving.

Makes a tall 2-layer, 8-9 inch round cake.

 

Tall. Rich. Nice, subtle spice. How can you go wrong with caramel?

We gave it a two thumbs up, for sure.

The Best Pork Roast. Ever.

That's a pretty bold claim, isn't it? I don't care - I stand by every word. The only reason it's not "The Best and Easiest Pork Roast" is because the easiest food is the food that someone else makes. Can I get an amen?
I've had Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader for a while and have made a few things from it, but not many. While I was flipping through it during Christmas break, I thought it would be a good idea to rectify the situation. And while the book calls this recipe "Emma's Pork Roast", I think my name is more descriptive. :)

Emma's Pork Roast, from Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader

4tsp seasoned salt

2 tbsp flour

2tbsp dried thyme

3-4 lb pork roast

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cups chicken or beef stock

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 onions, peeled and quartered

1 cup sliced button mushrooms (I omitted these)

1 1/2 lb new potatoes, quartered

1 cup baby carrots

 

Mix together the seasoning blend, flour, and thyme and rub it all over the roast. Warm the oil in a large pot over med-high heat. Place the roast in the pot and brown. Add stock and vinegar, then the onions and mushrooms (if using) and reduce the heat to a simmer (about 3 on my stove). Cover and cook for about four hours.

Add the potatoes and carrots, cover and continue to cook for another 30-45 minutes. When it's done, remove the roast and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes before slicing.

So much yum.

Better late than never!

It took a while to get around to, but here's what some of our Christmas vacation looked like:

Dan and the Doggie-Guitar

The Princess Castle

Our delicious Merry Berry Trifle and Double Chocolate Christmas Pudding - yum!

A White Christmas!

Our totally cool snowman. We didn't have any carrots, so he had a celery nose. It doesn't make him wrong, just special.

My first Cookie Exchange!

Sunday night was my first cookie exchange! I'd seen the idea online and decided (almost last minute) that it would be such a fun thing to do.

The seven of us enjoyed cherry almond cookies, pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip, chocolate chip & pretzel, peanut butter reindeer, cookies & creme cookies, red velvet brownies, chocolate-covered saltines, and gingerbread.  So much yum.

Toby printed out a bunch of little number for each (kind of) cookie and some voting ballots for ladies to vote on best looking, most unique & overall favorite. They were so cute, and a much better job than I could have done! 

While each of the winners got a little something special, each lady was able to take home a little homemade ornament as a "thank you for coming". The pattern is here.

It was so much fun and definitely something I'd do again. Perhaps a new holiday tradition?

One thing's for sure - 6 dozen cookies don't go too far in this house...

Caramel Cake

Like everyone else, I read Kathryn Stockett's The Help last year and loved it, followed by taking the Man to see the movie. Even he enjoyed it.

So, when I saw this recipe for "the" caramel cake, I had to give it a try.

One Sunday morning that saw Dan poorly enough to keep him home from church but not poorly enough to keep him in bed, we decided to surprise the rest of the troupe by having this for dessert.

 It's not a difficult recipe, but it is time consuming, since you're making your caramel sauce. As you can see, mine is a bit runnier lighter in color than it was supposed to be. I also had to make it in two layers, rather than three, as I am currently lacking a third cake pan.

Who cares, though? It was delicious. Everyone was so excited, especially when they found out that it was "famous". I hadn't thought about that, but it's true - how often do we eat food that's been featured in a movie?

A total aside - I love that face.

Busy morning oatmeal

Now that it's colder in the mornings (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, that is), cooked breakfasts in general - and oatmeal in particular - make more sense than a steady diet of cold cereal. However, few of us have time to be standing over a stove to keep the oatmeal from boiling over. So allow me to share three ways to fit oatmeal into your jam-packed morning:

1. Rice cooker oatmeal - if you have a rice cooker, you're sitting on a wonderfully underused gadget. Get that bad boy out and dust it off. Put in 4 cups of water, 2 cups of oats, and a handful of raisins. Push "cook". In about 20 minutes, you'll have perfect oats that cleans up great and serves about four. If you don't have a rice cooker, get one - it's totally worth the space it takes up.
2. Crock Pot Oatmeal - Seriously, there are oodles of recipes out there for crock pot oats. Often, steel cut oats are used. They do stand up to being in the crock pot a bit better than normal oats, but if you can't find steel cut, don't let that stop you. Shave a couple hours off the cooking time and give one of these recipes a try.
3. Make your own instant oatmeal - Dump half a cup of oats into your food processor or blender and pulse a few times. You want it chopped up a bit, not turned to dust. Stick that in a plastic snack or sandwich bag along with some dried fruit. Then, in the morning, empty the bag into a microwave-able bowl with a cup of water or milk and stick it in the microwave. Kids can make their own oatmeal! Easy.

Any good oatmeal recipes floating around out there? Do share!

 

Praline-Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I love this cake. It's not particularly fancy to look at and not so good for the nut-allergic, but it's sweet and moist and yummy without all that icing malarkey. If you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Praline-Sour Cream Coffee Cake (from Mom's Best Desserts)

For the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups sour cream

 

For the Praline:

1 cup chopped pecans

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, beating until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add sour cream and mix until smooth. Fold in flour and beat until blended, but don't over mix.

4. To make the praline, combine the pecans, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

5. Spoon half the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the praline evenly over the batter and top with remaining batter. With a knife, cut through the batter to distribute the praline.

6. Bake for 55 to 60 min until done. Cool for 20 min before removing from pan. Serve warm, if at all possible.

The Cheap Dinner Option

I never grew up eating taco salads and such - ours was an Italian home. We do meatballs and pasta, Italian sausage and lasagna. In fact, I think my first taste of taco salad was after the birth of one of my children, when someone brought it over for dinner. My first thought was how messy it was going to be, but it wasn't as bad as I thought, and the fun of it and ability to customize it for picky eaters can't be sniffed at.
One day I was looking online and stumbled across this wonderful recipe for Mexican Rice at Good.Cheap.Eats.  This totally completes the meal and does a great job of filling up my hungry crew. Follow the link for video instructions, or simply:
Heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add 2 cups rice and toast until the grains are very white. Remove from heat and add 8oz of tomato sauce. Stir will then add 4 cups of chicken broth. Return to the heat & bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
For the full meal, add some taco-flavored meat or heated beans (we like black or pinto) and serve with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, salsa, sour cream and tortillas. Yum.

Making snacks easier

Before Caleb arrived, I was already feeling the need to make my kitchen a little more efficient. It's pretty efficient when I'm in it (I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm kind of a whirling dervish when the need arises), but my kids getting to the age and our family is getting to the size that they are going to need to be a little more self-reliant and less expectant that I wait on them.

Snack time is when I saw this in particular. Coming off teaching, chasing kids into the dining room, pulling things out of cupboards, finding an alternative for the inevitable kid who doesn't like what everyone else is getting (or dealing with the pouts because they won't be catered for)...ugh. They would be more than happy to help themselves, of course, but between the horrible mess they'd leave behind and the knowledge that most of my kids are not graced with much self-control (dreadful gluttons, all of them), I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

I truly think my solution must have been a divinely-inspired, and so I thank God for The Snack Bucket.

I got a bunch of snack bags and put a different type of snack in each: raisins, goldfish crackers, pretzels, graham crackers, cashews, etc.  Then I found an empty 5L ice cream tub, labelled it, filled it with snack pouches and stuck it in the pantry.

Now, when it's snack time, one kid runs and gets the bucket, they pass it round the table and each take their pick of what's available, and back it goes. Everyone gets what they want (within reason) and we reuse and refill the empty bags for next time.

It's such a little thing, but this has been so helpful! I reckon it could easily be adapted for the fridge to store sliced fruit, yogurt, and applesauce cups. Even my husband, who has endured many of my weird-and-wonderful schemes, has complimented me on my excellent idea. :)

What's a good snack I can add to my bucket? What does snack time look like at your house?