Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at The Better Baker

Recently Marsha at The Better Baker invited me to stop by her blog.  She is another blogger "of a certain age" and has been blogging since 2009.  If I had run across her blog a couple of years ago, I might have started blogging sooner myself.

Marsha's cooking is a lot like mine.  She makes good American comfort food.  When I asked her to suggest any particular posts from her blog, she said that Baked Waffles with Raspberry Cream Cheese and Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake were two of her most popular posts.  I thought that I would check them out for myself.

Baked Waffles with Raspberry Cream Cheese  Don't these look delicious?  I love that these can be made ahead.  Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits.  Marsha says other fruits could be used as well.  She used frozen waffles in this, but the waffles could be made from scratch also.  I am adding this to my special breakfast ideas list.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake  I love a dessert that can be made in a slow cooker.  It is so nice when your oven is busy cooking something else.  This one uses cake mix and also includes toffee bits and chocolate chips.  Yum, Yum.  Just mix the ingredients, pour into a slow cooker and be willing to wait a few hours.  That is the hard part.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake  This is a recent post, but like she says Yeah! Baby!  Just keep some crescent rolls and some cream cheese in the fridge, and you can make this up anytime.  This is another breakfast that can be made ahead.

Well, after finding the three luscious recipes above, I figured that I should look for some soup, veggies, or main dish recipes.

Marsha has posted 15 different soups on her blog.  I have some chicken I need to use, and this soup caught my eye.  Cheesy Chicken Chowder  Oh, Boy does this look good!  This has everything that a good chowder should have:  Chicken, potatoes, celery, carrots, milk, and cheese.  I will be making it this week.  It is perfect for this early fall weather.  The only thing I might add to this is some chopped red pepper, but then I've mentioned how I put it in everything I can get away with.

Next I looked for some veggie recipes.  Marsha certainly has a number of different recipes, but this simple one looks good.  Sugared Asparagus sounds delicious.  I will have to wait until next spring to enjoy this, but that will give me something to look forward to when asparagus season rolls round again.

Stew is such a wonderful comfort food, and this Old-Fashioned Beef Stew can be made ahead and then cooked in a slow cooker, which gives it two pluses for me.  This is another recipe that is going on my "Try Very Soon" list

Marsha cooks for a diabetic so many of her recipes are suitable for people following those diet restrictions.

Marsha also blogs at Country Cooks Across America, has written her own cookbook (available on her blog), and won a recipe contest at American Profile, that magazine many of us get with our paper each Saturday.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit at The Better Baker, and was reluctant to leave, but I came away with great new recipes to try.  I subscribed to the blog and will check back often.

Note:  All photos in this post were taken by Marsha, used with her permission and remain her property.

If you are reading this and would like me to make a stop at your blog while I'm Skipping through Blogland, just send me an email.  I do all the work, you get all the credit.  How easy is that?

Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at Domestic Engineer Extraordinaire

Today I am stopping at Domestic Engineer Extraordinaire.  J-Lee is another Washington State blogger who is an Environmental Engineer by day.  Engineering anything is way beyond my limited talents.  She started her blog last year.

A few of the recipes on her blog that I want to try soon are:

Turkey Barley Soup
Like me, J-Lee did not take photos when she first started blogging, but the ingredients in this soup sound good without the need of a photo. This is a slow cooker recipe.  I can never have too many of those.

Hot Oatmeal and Rice
This combination intrigues me.  This is another slow cooker recipe.  Since I am the only breakfast eater at our house, and I like oatmeal and rice; I am going to make this soon.

Potato Soup
OK, I know that this is another soup.  J-Lee just calls this Potato Soup, but with soy sauce, nutmeg, and dill weed in the ingredients, I would hardly call it ordinary.

 

Well, I tried to get these photos to line up across, but they did not.  Don't these all look delicious?  They are all breakfasts.  I think anyone, maybe even my hubby, would eat breakfast if they could wake up to one of these.  From the top Pumpkin Pie Baked French Toast,  Finnish Pancakes, Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal.

J-Lee also include her weekly menus with links to the recipes and does a Friday's Five to Try.  She links to Finding Joy in My Kitchen's Friday Favorite Finds.   I always find another recipe to try when I check out her Friday's Five.  If you are ever even a little down, go here to see the wonderful pics of J-Lee's adorable little daughter jumping in puddles.  That's something we should all consider doing at least once in awhile.  It will make your day!

This is a delightful blog to spend a little time visiting.  I will return often.

Skipping through Blogland and Taking a Rest

Since my stubbed toe is still hurting from last week, I am taking a rest.  I will be back next week when I will be stopping at Domestic Engineer Extraordinaire.  Please plan to join me then.

I will be back later with a recipe.

Skipping through Blogland and Stubbing My Toe

Well, while skipping through Blogland I have stubbed my toe.  The blogger I wanted to spotlight this week did not respond to my emails.  I could probably spotlight a blog without notifying the blogger, but I don't work that way.  The spotlights are only positive with a few links to posts/recipes I especially like.  Soooo, if you are reading this and would like your blog to be spotlighted some Thursday, please email me at loymoore@dishmail.net, and we will "talk."  Thanks a bunch.

If you would like to see a couple of my Skipping through Blogland spotlights, here is Eat at Home and  Jam Hands.

Since I am trying to get enough recipes up to qualify for the next Secret Recipe Club, I will be back later today with a recipe.

Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at Jam Hands

Today I am stopping at what is a, new to me, blog but such a find!  Jam Hands, what a clever title.  There is a little explanation on the right for the inspiration for that title.  I am finding so many great blog titles out there that I am more than a little envious since mine is just "so-so".  Oh well, on to the business at hand which is to tell you about this great blog.

This blog has wonderful recipes and some of the best  food pictures I have encountered  in blogland.  Her photos just make you wish that you could reach through the computer screen and eat whatever it is you are seeing; AND she does those great photos with a point-and-shoot camera.  I like so many recipes it is hard to narrow it down to just a few to feature here, but here we go:

 Smothered Creole Cube Steak.  We eat a lot of cube steak, and I am always looking for new recipes.  This looks like a good one, and I will be making it soon.  Just will use red peppers instead of the green.

 

  
Pepperoni Mac and Cheese.   I always have pepperoni in my freezer since I get big amount of it at Costco.  I am going to try this soon.  I think it would make a great lunch or dinner.  There is a great tip for  degreasing pepperoni here at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

 

Lasagna Sandwiches.  Though I cook dinner only 3 times a week, I make lunch almost everyday.  These look sooooo! good.  I can get sandwich buns at my local bread outlet store for only $1 a package.  Definitely going to make these the next time I go there and stock up.  I am sure that this will be hit with my hubby and a nice change from soup which he gets a lot.\

Bacon Tomato Dip.  I would have to leave out the green peppers.  Otherwise this dip is calling my name.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars. There always has to be a cooky recipe for Cookie Monster's grandma here.  I have zucchini in the freezer so there are being made, like tonight.

These are just a few of the wonderful recipes that can be found at Jam Hands.  Something for everyone.

Ali has other great features, too.  There is Ali's Notepad where there are links to the recipes and information she has found interesting at other blogs that week.  Ali also does The Weekend Dish where she summarizes the recipes and other info posted during the week. You don't have to scroll all through the blog to find something, which makes it nice.  There is a Featured Commenter section, so if you have commented on the blog that week, you and your blog just might get featured.

There is great help for bloggers with posts on organizing your blog parties and the recipes that you post.

Ali will be soon be doing a post on photo tips and how others can produce great photos like she has.  Be sure to watch for it.

This is a blog that you will want to subscribe to and follow.  There is just too much good stuff there for a one-time visit.  I really hated it when my stop at Jam Hands had to end.

 All photos were taken by Ali at Jam Hands, are her property, and are used with permission.

Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at figgs and such

Last week Kelly at figgsandsuch posted a link at Friday Favorites over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  I try to visit all the bloggers who link up there.  So, I found figgsandsuch.  I assumed that Figgs was perhaps Kelly's last name, but that is not the case.  Figgs stands for food, ideas, gardening, and gifts.  Such a clever blog name.  Kelly started her blog at the beginning of this year, and she is sharing the recipes, crafts, gardening ideas, and crafts that she is doing that she has found around the web.  This week is Granola Bar Week, and you can go and see what she is making with links to the recipes she is using.  There is also Weedless Wednesday where Kelly is chronicling how her new garden is doing.  One of the best features of the blog is Kelly's  Friday Finds posts.  There is always a variety of  links on different subjects to go to.   Last week one of the links Kelly shared was to a series of posts on commenting on blogs at Serenity Now.  As a new blogger, I found the series especially informative.  I notice that there is a new series called Blogging Myths there starting Monday.  figgsandsuch is well worth visiting.  Be sure to stop by on Fridays for a look at all the great links.

Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at Eat at Home

Today I am stopping at Eat at Home.  If you have never been to this blog, you should make it a definite stop as soon as possible.  Tiffany started the blog in October 2008 and has provided a wealth of information there.

Beside great recipes, Tiffany offers a free weekly menu plan complete with grocery list.  They are in PDF format so can be downloaded and filed on a computer and printed out.  Subscribers to her blog automatically get a new menu most Mondays.  Each menu offers six main dish recipes and a dessert recipe.  You can also find a page with links to many of the menus here.  Even though I don't generally follow a week's worth of recipes as written, I find it very handy to have the information stored on my computer so I can click though them for meal ideas without going on the internet.  Tiffany also has a nice blank menu planner for making out your own menu plan and shopping list here in PDF format.

I have tried many of the recipes at Eat at Home and liked most of them.  It is very hard to narrow down a small list to recommend, but I must try.

 The Stuffed Shells are a very good meatless meal, makes a lot, and freezing instructions are included. 

Enchiladas with Chili-Tomato-Sauce has a great homemade enchilada sauce made of keep-on-a-pantry-shelf ingredients.  My hubby won't eat refried beans so I leave them out and use corn instead.

  

I make a lot of soup for lunches, and I just had to try Virus Killing Soup.  Regardless of the name, this is a great chicken soup.

 On to a few desserts.  I make no secret of the fact that I love cookies.  Just see how many recipes for them are already on this blog.  Tiffany says that Butterscotch Cookies taste like blondes, and she is right.
 

 
Another great cookie recipe is CocoNot Cookies which is made with baking mix and instant potato flakes.  Very quick, very easy.

A delicious non-cookie dessert is Peach Crisp in the Slow Cooker which uses canned peaches.  If canned peaches are kept on-hand, this can be whipped up and put in the slow cooker in no time.  There a lots and lots of other slow cooker recipes on the blog.  Just click on the Recipe Box tab to find them.

Last but not least, my favorite feature on this blog is Ingredient Spotlight.  Each Wednesday Tiffany hosts a linky party in which she highlights a specific ingredient.  There is a schedule of ingredients to be spotlighted through the end of August here.  Come, join the party, and get great new recipe ideas.

Currently Tiffany is offering printable recipes for 5 Pantry Meals in 15 Minutes or Less as a bonus for subscribing to her blog.  Take my advice and visit Eat at Home soon.  I always enjoy my visits there.

All photos were taken by Tiffany at Eat at Home, are her property, and used with permission.

Small disclaimer:  Tiffany interviewed me for her blog, and it is here.

Tomorrow:  Friday Finds and Frugal Tips:  Asparagus

Skipping through Blogland and Stopping at For the Love of Grub

A couple of months ago when I mentioned that I was thinking about doing a blog in the comments section at Eat at Home, Bethany from For the Love of Grub wrote a nice note encouraging me to go ahead and do it.  She pointed out her blog is like an on-line cookbook and doesn't contain pictures.  Her encouraging comments helped me get the courage to go ahead with a blog.

For the Love of Grub.  I just love the name.  Wish I had been as original.  There is a nice category list on the right side, that you can click on to get recipes in a specific category.  Bethany has hints added at the bottom of many of her recipes.  I have found several recipes that I want to try soon.

I have a lot of pepperoni on hand from a big amount that I purchased at Costco, and I am going to do these Pepperoni Muffins this weekend.  I think they would be great to have in the freezer for a quick snack.

I make a lot of soup and this Beef Chowder is really tempting.  I would, however, use the Cream Soup Mix I posted on Monday instead of the commercial Cream of Celery soup.

Of course, I have to include a cookie, and these Sour Cream Cookies would be just down my alley.  I would probably be doubling the recipe.

Whatever else you try, make the Cornbread.  This recipe is in the top 20 of all recipes on AllRecipes, and I can understand why.  I have made it several times.  It is my favorite cornbread now.  Just a note, use real buttermilk, either liquid or powdered,  for the best flavor.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stop at For the Love of Grub while I was skipping through blogland.

Tomorrow:  Friday Finds and Frugal Tips-Celery

A Beginning and a Thank You

Well, here I am.  I'm blogging.  Ever since I discovered blogs I have been thinking about doing a blog to save and share the Tried and True recipes I have collected over the years.  Then I would go and visit all the beautiful food blogs out there and feel that I just would not be able to complete with them.

For the last few months I have been leaving recipes in the comment section of Eat at Home when Tiffany has "Ingredient Spotlight" on Wednesdays.  Guess what?  She liked my recipes and even published a couple.

So I have decided that I don't have to compete with anyone.  I will save my recipes here; and if someone comes by and likes one Great.  If not, that is OK. I owe a big Thank You to Tiffany for giving me the encouragement to finally "get off the fence" and start this blog.  If you have never been to Eat at Home, go there now.  She has great recipes, does a wonderful service providing menus and shopping lists weekly for free, and has "Ingredient Spotlight" which links to great recipes on other blogs.  What are you waiting for"  Go Now!  And, Tiffany, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for taking an interest in me.

P.S. Come back tomorrow.  There will be cookies.