dirt don't hurt

Admission:  In the past I have posted recipes on this blog just to keep them in a place where I won't be able to lose them, because I lose a lot of things.  (My mind, included.) At a recent Girl Scout campout, we made this cobbler and I just kept thinking in my head that s'mores and pie irons had better move over-- this is my new favorite campfire dessert! And to make the recipe available to myself wherever I am, I'm posting it here.  As a bonus, You guys can have it, too. Campfire Crisp -- this makes about 4-6 crisps Heavy duty foil in 12x12 or so pieces Pie filling of choice Cooking spray Topping Topping ingredients: 1 cup quick cook oats 1/3 cup flour 4 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup brown sugar Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and cut in butter to form the crumble.  Set aside. Spray foil with cooking spray, because no one likes to chisel their food.  Spoon desired amount of pie filling in the center of each foil piece.  Top with cr...

It's hard being an anti-chocolate person. Even harder as a woman. But when I came across this snack mix (or something similar), my inadequate feelings flew out the window. This is like Rice Krispie treats on steroids. I admit that I often post recipes on this blog so that I have a place to keep them safe from certain irresponsible members of my family who continue to lose things.  It's me, by the way. So after perfecting this recipe this morning, i thought it wise to quickly taupe it here for safe keeping. And sharing, of course. This doesn't have a good name.  Suggestions accepted! Mia together in a large bowl: 4.5 cups golden Grahams 6.5 cups rice chex 2 cups shredded coconut (unsweetened is best, but sweetened will work, too) 1 cup sliced almonds In saucepan combine: 1 stick butter 3/4 cup Karo syrup 3/4 cup sugar Cook and bring to a boil.  Continue to simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from hear and add in 1 tsp vanilla.  Pour over cereal mix and sti...

The world of Pinterest is a good one, although I can see what was once an online place for your favorite things can turn into a bunch of garbage with people being mega-pinners. (If this stuff doesn't make any sense to you, ignore it and head down to the recipe!) But there are wonderful things to learn from Pinterest, and here is one that I found, tweaked, and instantly found crock pot bliss. The beauty of meals like these is that the ingredients are realistic, simple, and quickly go together. So when you wake up one day and the sun is shining and you just want to head out to enjoy what's there, plug this in and come home, adventure-worn, and walk into a house full of deeeelicious smells. Very grateful for the original post, here is my take on this "I can't believe this was made in a slow cooker" fajitas... Slow Cooker Fajitas 1 good sized onion, sliced 3 sweet bell peppers, sliced (those packs of yellow, orange, and red? perfect.) 1 1/2pound...

All it takes is a day of sunshine and I start to get spring fever.  And for whatever reason, spring fever for me inspires me to eat real, wholesome, from-scratch food.   I usually make granola in the oven, in huge batches and it takes all day.  I tried a new recipe and with a few alterations found a great combination of flavors for my kids.  And me.  It’s sinfully delicious.   Ingredients: ▪    1 Tbl olive oil ▪    2 cups rolled oats ▪    1/3 cup butter ▪    1/3 cup brown sugar ▪    1 Tbl honey ▪    1 tsp vanilla ▪    ½ cup chopped pecans ▪    2 graham crackers, broken into pieces ▪    milled flax seed (optional) Directions: 1. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Add oats and cook until oats are toasted but not burnt, about 5 minutes.  Remove oats to a cookie sheet to cool. 2. In skillet, melt butter.  Add brown sugar, honey, ...

NO NO NO! It's not that kind of ice cream in a bag. This kind is much more fun and probably tastes better, too. You will need: 2 T sugar 1 cup half and half 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup ice cream salt or rock salt ice cubes 1 gallon-sized ziptop baggie 1 pint-sized ziptop baggie In the small bag, combine sugar, half and half, and vanilla. (That's it. Then go read the ingredients on your store-bought ice cream...yikes.) Seal the small bag well and set it aside. In the large bag, add the rock salt and enough ice cubes to fill about half of the bag. Place the small bag inside the large bag, seal well, and shake, shake, shake for at least 5 minutes. I suggest having a towel handy because it gets pretty cold. Check the ice cream periodically and stop shaking when it's done. Grab some spoons and eat right out of the little bag, or squeeze into a bowl and add all the fixin's. We think it tastes like McDonald's soft serve, which we think is pretty delicious. Give it a w...

First of all, I will not reveal where I find my mushrooms, so don't even bother asking. But I will reveal this yummy recipe which is an adaptation on a tiny little blurb that showed up on the bottom of a page in an issue of Cooking Light. Asparagus with morels, bacon, and garlic mustard 2 slices good bacon 1 Tbl butter ~6 oz morel mushrooms, quartered 1 pound asparagus, cut into 1" pieces salt and pepper handful of garlic mustard leaves (or chives, ramps, other oniony-garlicy plant) Cook bacon in skillet. Remove when done and set aside. Add butter to pan and saute mushrooms for around 4 minutes. Add asparagus, salt and pepper. Saute 5 minutes or until asparagus is crisp tender. Remove from heat and sprinkle with bacon and chopped up garlic mustard. I added a bit of olive oil to make it saucier. I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar because I like that flavor with asparagus. I also ate most of it myself because my family is anti-mushroom. :)

Of all places, this recipe came to us in a Smucker's cookbook we got at the local Bunny Trail. I was surprised to find something as "odd" as dandelion fritters, but even more shocked to find a full recipe for acorn pancakes. (We'll have to tackle those later. When we move to an oak forest.) When your son says he wants to cook, you say YES no matter the recipe, and so we gave this one a whirl to make the most interesting after school snack of the week. He ate the whole plate. You will need: 1 cup biscuit mix 1 cup milk 1 Tbl honey + More for dipping Oil for frying Fresh dandelion flowers with no stems/leaves- rinsed and dried. ****MAKE SURE YOU ARE PICKING FROM A SPRAY-FREE ZONE!!***** 1. Mix biscuit mix, milk, and honey in a large bowl. 2. Heat oil (about 1/2 inch) in a skillet until water sizzles when dropped in. 3. Batter the dandelion flowers a few at a time and drop them into the oil, flower side first. 4. Fry until golden brown, drain on paper towels. 5. ...

It's Earth Week and I'm proud to say we'll be knee deep in trash this week, weather permitting. Three community clean-ups on tap for my family and just a general reminder of how important good, clean nature is to us. (Brace yourselves, readers. It's about this time every year I get a little nature crazy. There's a very good chance upcoming columns will be as much about wildlife as my wild life.) But in honor of this step into the summer outdoor season, when the plants all come back to life, I wanted to quickly share one of my favorite recipes. -For those who have used cleaner with bleach and stained their countertops (me)... -For those who have watched their children spray cleanser backwards into their tiny faces (me)... -For those who feel a strong sense of wholesomeness when it comes to things like soap and water (me)... -And for those who go gaga over the smell of pure lavender and tea tree oil (also me)... Make your own all-purpose cleaner In a 16 ounce conta...

Oh, the pigeon. Dirty bird that it is, is most commonly found around cities and farmyards, scratching for seeds and flocking around old ladies who carry paper bags full of stale bread. And what goes in must come out, right? While looking for a "nature themed snack" I came across this recipe where it delighted the folks at the 30 th Annual Project WILD training with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. And if a container of poo can do that, it's a recipe worth sharing. I admit to not knowing much about the biology of pigeon poop, although I did read in one of my favorite books, " The Truth About Poop " by Susan E. Goodman that Ancient Romans used pigeon poop to bleach their hair. Oh. My. Goodness. I also know that bird poop is not really poop, it's actually pee. And thus ends your lesson for the day. Can't say you "wasted" any time reading this-- chances are you learned something. Don't put this pigeon poo in your hair. It's much bet...

This year because life with involved children is absolutely nutso, we celebrated Fat Tuesday on Monday. I made a dash for king cake and paczkis after dropping the kids off at school, and then between everything else ran to the grocery store to buy ingredients for what has become my FAVORITE SLOW COOKER DISH IN THE WORLD. Probably the universe. (I have thrown out slow cooker meals because congealed yuck makes me want to congeal yuck of my own.) It just so happens that it's a perfect dish for celebrating Mardi Gras, or really anything. Next week I might just celebrate Thursday. Or sunshine. Or waking up. Paired with plastic beads, zydeco music, and king cake (the paczkis are for breakfast tomorrow!), this has been the best Fat Tuesday on a Monday I've ever had. And so, I urge you all to celebrate something, sometime soon. This rocks. Fat Monday Creole Chicken 1 pack boneless, skinless chicken thigs 1 pound polish kielbasa, cut into bite sized pieces 5-6 green onions, choppe...

In these woods, we've got winter. Lots of winter. With snow and ice and frigid temperatures, it's tempting to send the kids out but that only means that you, the mother will have to: properly dress them, go out with them, make everyone hot chocolate, and deal with a mudroom full of drippy snow clothes all stained from road cinders and the gunk that colors our world gray from November through April. So we stay in, couped up in our home, climbing the walls and inevitably I will have pulled out every last hair on my head before the sun shines again. We're in such a vitamin D deficiency that even the kids are dragging and pasty white. Speaking of pasty white, if you've got cabin fever and want to try a few good crafts, here's the ticket to your happiness. (Also, have a glass of wine if it suits.) Pleasant play dough Note: I was never a believer in homemade play dough, but this stuff feels so good in your hands, it's well worth it. Kids tend to just mix the color...

It was a total coincidence, I swear, that I learned the best fart statistics in the entire world the same day I made a delicious un-stuffed cabbage dinner. Seriously. It started when I picked up a fantastic book at our local library entitled "Do Sparrows Like Bach?: The Strange and Wonderful Things that Are Discovered When Scientists Break Free" (found here on Amazon.) Flipping through while my daughter attended story hour I came across a story on farts. Here's a bit of background: I love farts. Well, not smelling them, but I admit to having the sense of humor of a fourth grade boy. It all stems from two things: 1) Farts have been funny in every culture throughout the history of mankind, and 2) When I was little I was not allowed to say the word "fart" which made it all the more fun to sneak into my room, close the door, and say repeatedly into my pillow. (This is sadly true.) So coming across this article brought absolute tears of joy because I have now ad...

There’s a new level of gluttony that we’re about to achieve, and I for one cannot wait. As if the holiday season wasn’t hoggish enough with its gigantic turkeys and heaping bowls of mashed potatoes, there’s a new dessert making news that will send us all over the top. Bulging over the top that is, spilling out the sides, and probably busting zippers and buttons across the nation. The dessert was first introduced to me by my husband (proud follower of the Turduckhen craze) in a simple email. “Saw this in the paper. We’re making it.” I clicked on the link to find the most outrageous, obnoxious, and fantastic dessert I have ever seen. Enter the “cherpumple.” Haven’t heard of this thing? Pronounced “chair-pump-pull” it’s the epitome of holiday desserts all rolled into one frosted mass. A slick combination of a cherry pie, a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie, encased in a blanket of cake and slathered with icing, the cherpumple is quickly catching on as the latest and greatest dessert of...

I was never quite sure why the colors of Halloween were orange and black. Is it the pumpkin that eventually rots on your front porch? Is it the orange teeth of the witch dressed in black? In any case, we're stuck with the color theme which is unfortunate for me because I just bought "rust" colored shoes with black soles that make me look extremely festive in October, but rather goofy the rest of the year. Oh well. If there's one good thing that comes out of this orange-and-black thing we've got going on, it's got to be this: my new favorite soup. Many thanks to my friend, Jennifer, for serving me her leftovers for lunch a few weeks ago. I am a changed woman! The results are in: Says my husband to the kids, "next time mommy gets grumpy, let's make her a pot of this soup because she can't stop smiling when she's eating it." I don't really care what the rest of the family thinks... Pumpkin Black Bean Soup (You can make this vegetarian if...

I knew this recipe was definitely worth sharing when I found myself drooling all morning at the prospect of a leftover lunch. But if that doesn't convince you to try this one, let my kids tell you their reviews. "Wow, I'm super picky and actually like this!" (I'll take it!) "I can't speak-- I think I've died and gone to chicken heaven." (Literally, this is what he said. Goofball.) "Can I have some noodles?" (She's two and 80% of her diet consists of pasta.) Says husband, "it's a keeper!" And says I, "holy moly , if this was any easier someone would have had to drop it off at my doorstep." Without further adieu: Easy roasted chicken and potatoes 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1.5 pounds redskin potatoes, cut into medium chunks 1/3 cup mayo 3 Tablespoons dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (we looooove garlic. I load it up but not everyone likes it as mu...

I don't know about anyone else, but my zucchini plants were a major bummer this year. Sure, I didn't give them the normally needed TLC, and sure I did find the world's largest weed (see photo) planted right next to them, but when it comes to zucchini, I always thought that you shouldn't take care of them because if you do, you'll be swimming in them for a month. But there I was, a failure of a garden year, and left with one gigantic zucchini, and a major hankering for a garden full of them. So I swallowed my pride and went to the store and actually bought zucchini in the months of August and September. It was a sad and sorrowful day. But it was so very worth it. When it comes to zucchini recipes, there are thousands. This one is my new favorite savory dish because a)it's super simple and b) my son's exact words were, "gee, mom, I thought it was going to be really gross but it's actually pretty good. Can I have some more?" And really, you ca...

It was a balmy summer evening. The faint sound of distant lawn mowers and children playing rang through the house loud and clear, for inside the home there were no sounds at all. Not even the sound of a tiny mouth chewing a tiny piece of zucchini. Food battles with children are just about as fun as ingrown toenails. For all of the begging and pleading and attempts to mask even the tastiest of vegetables, they still manage to sit there, arms folded, staring into space and not eating them. “It will make you grow strong!” we say. “It will make your hair curly!” we fib. “It will give you magical powers!” we lie. And eventually we just give in and hold nothing back. “You will eat this because I said so and I’m the boss and whatever I say you have to do.” But they still don’t eat it, because it’s something horrible like a green bean. Or zucchini. It all started during an afternoon of running errands cross county. When the troops got hungry (and maybe their mom was a bit hungry too), I o...

There are about a zillion uses for my favorite french fry topping, but lately I've come upon two new ones that have seemed to revolutionize my life this week. How revolutionary? I'll give you three words: DOLLY PARTON STICKERS I'm a big Dolly fan, for those who don't know. Any woman who can endure that much plastic surgery and stand there and be proud of it (and how amazing she looks at her age!) is OK in my book. Not to mention her song writing talents, of which the world should be envious. So finding an article on her in an old AARP magazine was like gold when I had this new craft project looming around in my head on a rainy day last week. Make your own stickers, Dolly Parton or otherwise 1. Cut pictures or designs from magazines (covers don't work quite as well), craft papers, etc. 2. Lay them out on a cookie sheet, upside down. 3. Mix together equal parts white school glue and white vinegar . 4. Paint the back of each picture liberally. Let dry. 5. Repeat. 6...

I have this terrible habit of asking my kids what they want for lunch. It's a bad habit because they will always, without a doubt, say three different things. I swear it's on purpose just to make their mother frazzle right there on the spot. One such episode happened just recently. "Ham and cheese," said one. "Chicken nuggets," said another. "Tortilla pizza," said the third. I threw down my fists and responded, "I am not a short order cook!" and they looked at me blankly because they had no idea what I was talking about. "Pick ONE" I demanded, still thinking they didn't know how lucky they were I didn't give them old, crusty bread and glass of spoiled milk. After much deliberation, they settled on tortilla pizza, a go-to standard of this house that originated somewhere in the mountains of New Mexico on a backpacking trip where bread would have been squished in my 40-pound backpack. Cooked over a campstove , it's a...

It is upon us, the great season of grilling and picnics. Every evening in small town USA, you can bet your bottom burger bun that there will be the sweet smell of charcoal wafting through the air as you smile, nod, and stir your potato salad. Swing sets will be creaking and soon enough, hoses will be squirting. Someone will yell "tag!" about the same time someone else finally gets close to digging to China in the comfort of their own sandbox. And we'll love it. I always start craving the good grill and macaroni salad when the snow melts, but it takes a few weeks to really get into the groove of remembering your outdoor cooking appliance. This is one of my favorite things to whip up in advance and store until the weather is just right and corn first starts showing up in the grocery stores (and not at outrageous winter prices.) Heat the grill, mix this up, smile, nod, stir your potato salad, and enjoy. Carolina Pork Chops Spice rub: 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp. onion powde...