Papa's Bread (or rolls)

For Thursday's home economics class, we made bread!  This is my dad's recipe.  My dad made bread a lot!  He always made the rolls for any holiday.  I'm pretty sure he took his mother's recipe and added the wheat, molasses, honey, and flax seed. Don't worry, he'll correct me if I'm wrong. My mom always liked to make food healthier, so I'm sure she was behind adding all of those things, and subbing the honey and molasses for regular sugar.  

This bread is dark in color. It actually is not because of the wheat flour, because I use white wheat flour because it gives bread a little bit of a lighter texture.  It is this color because of the molasses.  My grandparents raised their own sorghum and made their own molasses. The molasses that I buy in a store now is darker than their molasses, maybe even called "black strap molasses," which they and my dad would say "isn't fit to eat." 

Don't worry, if you don't have molasses on hand, you can sub with all honey.  If you don't have honey on hand, you can sub with sugar. 

I did not have any flax seed to add either. You can leave that out.  You can make all white bread if you want with this recipe too, leave out the wheat flour.  

I'm too lazy to type up this recipe, so here it is from my cookbook, and I'll add some other notes below. 

Notes/Tips: 

As you can see, this recipe is for rolls, but we made bread. 

Don't heat the water and sweeteners very hot, just hot enough to activate the yeast. You don't want to kill the yeast. 

Before you get to the kneading part, you want to touch the dough with your finger. Does a lot of dough stick to your fingers? If so, add a little more flour.  You keep doing this until you can touch the dough and barely any dough comes off on your fingers, or none at all.  But don't over do it or it will be too dry.  

I don't knead bread by hand anymore.  I make it in my kitchen aid with a bread hook.  Once I get to the kneading part, I turn that sucker up and let it go to town for a while.  Even though kneading dough is pretty stress relieving and builds muscles, I just don't have time for that. 

Where it says raise 20 minutes - I raise until double.  For bread, you punch down, then put into two loaf pans, and raise until double again.  

It raised double the size of the first picture

It raised about double the side

I always brush my bread with butter when it comes out of the oven

I was taught to let bread cool on it's side, I tried to look up the reason why, but I din't find anything.  So, who knows?

This was a great home school lesson, because they were able to see the yeast activated, see how they rise, and eat the finished product, of course. Enjoy! 

Home School Home Economics - Day 1

Monday started my kids being home from school because of the Corona Virus social distancing. I let them have electronics or basically whatever they wanted that day.  That got old real fast, and I decided I had to get my butt in gear to keep my kids off the couch, off the phone, Xbox, and TV. Yesterday, among other things, we did Home Ec.  I had some granola that my sister made me from a little while ago, and thought it would be easy to show them how to make their own granola bars (and to finish off the granola).

You can find my recipe HERE, as well as a recipe for my home made granola.  Super easy, add whatever you have on hand, and enjoy!

Turkey Taco Boats

My family fell in love with this recipe this summer when my sister in law made these at our family reunion.  This is a healthier (and in my opinion, more delicious) option to regular ground beef tacos. You guys, seriously... I make this at least three or four times a month, it's one of our favorites!  They get devoured every time.  The recipe is from Skinny Taste. I revised it a bit simply because I'm lazy and don't feel like cutting green peppers and onions. I've actually never added green peppers, but sometimes add onions, or if I'm lazy will just add onion powder.  I also buy turkey in 2 lb. containers, so I just went ahead and did a new recipe using four pounds of turkey, and use just a little less water.  I also forego a tortilla and use romaine hearts to hold my taco.  My daughter even does it! I don't even miss the taco shell! You want to add this to your meal rotation - you won't be disappointed. Enjoy! 

Turkey Taco Recipe

Adapted from Skinny Taste

2 lbs. lean ground turkey

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. onion powder (or 1 small onion diced)

1 c. water

8 oz. tomato sauce

1.  Brown turkey in large skillet until no longer pink.  

2. Add seasonings, water, and tomato sauce. Mix well. 

3. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.  

4. Serve in a lettuce wrap, tortilla, or taco shell. 

How I assemble my taco boats:

Christmas Ornaments - A little piece of our family history

You might ask, "Why is there an underwear ornament on your Christmas tree?"  Or, one day, my kids might ask that question, or my grand kids might ask their dad why there is an underwear ornament hanging on their tree. (I'll tell you why at the end of this post...)

A few years ago when I was lying in a hospital bed being treated for blood clots in my lungs.  I realized, if I were to pass away, my kids wouldn't know the history behind the ornaments that were hanging up on our tree every year. (Obviously, that wasn't my main concern, but you have a lot of time to think when you are by yourself in a hospital room thinking you could have, or could die.) So, I decided that year I was going to record the history of every single ornament on our Christmas tree.  If it didn't mean anything to me, the ornament got tossed. It's taken a few years to finish every single ornament, but I can now say I have completed my task!

My kids receive a Christmas ornament from us every year.  You can see more about that tradition HERE and HERE.  We try to choose an ornament that kind of sums up their year, or if there was a big event in their life that year, I choose an ornament that goes along with that.  I started with recording the reason why I chose their ornament, but I needed to print them off and place them with the ornaments. 

Also, when I travel by myself, or we travel as a family we usually try to get a Christmas ornament as our souvenir. We began that on our honeymoon.  So, our Christmas tree is a bit of our family history. 

Another great reason to record a history, or a have a bag or box for each ornament, you know if there is one missing.  With a real tree, as the month goes on the branches start to sag and ornament slip off, or children move them, etc. At the end of putting up the tree if you have empty boxes or bags you know to keep looking for an ornament.  This happened to us this year.  We finally found it kind of towards the back of our tree.  It blended in, and had I not known it was missing, it would have been taken out to the street with the Christmas tree. 

Here are a few examples of how I have recorded the history of some of the ornaments:

1.  You can simply write the history on a piece of paper and slip it in a zip lock bag.  Some of them, I have taped on a zip lock bag. 

2. I prefer to type up most of the histories of each of my ornaments, but I was too lazy to get my laptop during some of this.

3. For ornaments that have boxes - I hot glued the history on the inside of the box lid, or packaged taped over the history on the outside of the box.

I feel so accomplished after having finished this yesterday! It only took a few years to fully complete, but we have a ton of ornaments.  I love that when I'm not around, my kids will know where the ornaments came from and know a bit of our family history. I have ornaments on my tree from John and I's childhood, our travels, ornaments my mom made, ornaments we were given as gifts, and ornaments from friends weddings.  I love that that is all recorded! 

That underwear ornament is Jonah's from the year he was potty trained.  The easiest kid to potty train by far, and he always just hung out in his underwear all year.  The Charleston ornament was from my first trip to Charleston with my sisters.  The paw print was Trevan's ornament this year from starting high school, it's his high school's mascot paw print. The Nutella ornament is also one I made for Everett because he was a Nutella monster.

Hello Dolly Cookies

My mom made these cookies when I was growing up.  This summer, I had a random craving for them and pulled out the recipe I wrote down as teenager.  This is how dated the recipe is -  it called for margarine.  (I just sub all old recipes that called for margarine with butter.) This is a super yummy and super easy recipe. 

This is the original recipe below in my ugly teenage handwriting that would flip flop back and forth from all caps to lower case.  It's not much better to this day. But, this recipe card is one reason why I need to blog or record all of my recipes somewhere... I pull up my blog almost on a daily basis to pull a recipe from because it's so much quicker than looking through my cookbooks or pins. And, I love hearing that my friends and family do it too! Yay! But, also most of my cookbooks and recipe cards are covered with food or ruined with liquid, so it's good to have them in a place where they will be protected from my messy cooking and messy children.

Most Hello Dolly cookies have butterscotch chips in them, but my mom's recipe didn't call for them.  When I was at the store, I saw these salted caramel chips, and thought they would be a yummy addition... and... THEY WERE!  Will always use them in the future - or until they no longer sell them.

Hello Dolly Cookies Recipe

1/2 c. melted butter
2 c. graham cracker crumbs (I make mine in a mini food processor)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. caramel chips
1 c. grated coconut
1 can of sweetened condensed milk


1.  Melt butter and mix with graham crackers.  Press into 9x9 square pan.

2.  Sprinkle pecans, chocolate chips, caramel chips over top of the crust.

3. Sprinkle coconut over the top.  Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top, covering evenly.

4.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.  To cut perfect squares, wait for them to be cooled.

My Tree Skirt Project

Before/After

I got a new tree skirt this year to match my stockings.  However, I just wanted to add a little bit of red to it.  I can't knit or crochet, but I really wanted some popcorn thingys on it to match my stockings.  Well, I came up with my own solution and did it yesterday! I love it so much!!

I couldn't get a complete before picture, because I was just too excited to sew on my first pom pom ball.

How I did it:

I wanted my pom poms to be the same texture as my tree skirt, so I didn't want to make poofy yarn pom poms.  I had some sleeves of a red sweater from my craft room that I used to make re-purposed stockings years ago (thankfully not in the storage unit).  They matched perfectly! All I needed was, thread, scissors, and I used those packaging pillow things as the stuffing of my pom poms.  Reduce, reuse, recycle - bonus!

I used a fourth of each square in one pom pom

I used a spool of thread for the size of my circles.

I rolled up the plastic, placed it in the middle of the circle, and stitched around the outside, then pulled the stitch closed to form my pom pom. 

Then, I sewed each pom pom on the tree skirt. 

If you can't knit or crochet, now you can make your own pom poms to add texture to a fun project!

Merry Christmas!

Full disclosure - We were late to church on Sunday, Bailee didn't even get her hair brushed. So, I made everyone stay in their church clothes after church until I did my hair and makeup, Bailee and Mallary's hair THEN took a picture.

‘Tis the time of year you can expect in your mail,

Greeting cards, pictures, and letters of tall tales –

Of grand adventures, and that straight ‘A’ kid,

And all of the fabulous things they did.

Well, friends, this is not one of those,

Just a little bit of our year written in prose.

I’ll do my best to keep this letter quite mild,

And, actually, for the first time, we don’t have a straight ‘A’ child.

After reading this sonnet of my angelic family,

I know it will be hard not to get a bit jelly.

For starters, we had to replace both of our vehicles this year.

One died, and the other totaled by someone drinking too much beer.

Luckily, John and the boys didn’t get hurt,

And, now we drive around a huge van that makes people smirk.

For his job, John finally passed his last big test.

Now he can have all those extra letters after his name that shows he’s the best??

I’m just excited I don’t have to be a spring widow one more year,

Him spending all spring studying again was something I feared.

Johnny on the wrong spot is still slow out of the gate,

Always running at least ten minutes late.

I knew John about nine years before I ever saw him angry,

But now with our kids, I get to see it on the daily.

To be honest, our kids drive us crazy, and we wonder if we’ll survive.

And, with our kids shenanigans, they’re lucky they’re still alive.

Well, I turned forty and my body went downhill

I had a basal cell carcinoma and tried to stay chill.

It also turns out, that the meds that keep me sane

Also dry out my mouth and cause my teeth pain.

I lost two pearly (off) whites, and there’s one more to go.

I mean, who needs teeth anyway? They’re just for show…

I keep trying to run again, but my body is crap,

Apparently, birthing giant children put my core out of whack.

Speaking of big babies – dear  Trevan, is my only child who behaves.

And, so his mother would no longer complain, his mustache he finally shaved.   

His voice has gone down quite a few octaves, and he texts members of the opposite sex,

He’s fifteen years old now, and questions if mother really knows best.  

Mallary gives stank faces often, and always rolls her eyes.

If my mom were living, I’d call her and apologize.

We have to beg her to shower - so not quite yet into boys,

She still begs for a phone and all other expensive toys.

Jonah is still me ray of sunshine, but not in real life. 

Because when we go to do something fun, he still gives us strife.

We’re going to Disney, a party, or headed to the shore,  

“I don’t want to go!” he complains, “It will be such a bore!”

Everett pees on the floor and makes my life a delight

I look forward to every afternoon and the homework fight.

He is always hungry, the kitchen he can’t avoid –

But, we just found out it’s because he has hypo thyroid.

My seven year old line backer is pushing one fifteen,

And now wearing the clothes of a much taller pre-teen.

Bailee is an angel most of the time,

But has learned from her siblings a few crimes.

My kids leave markers and pens all over the place,

Which we usually find after Bailee draws on her face.

Her favorite, by far, is now make up and lip stick,

And, she’s really good at laying it on pretty thick.

She still usually sleeps in our bed, and I really don’t mind-

Except when she’s strangling me from behind.

Our bed is usually full of children and laundry, with John nowhere in sight,

Because he falls asleep on the couch almost every night.

Speaking of laundry, it’s a full-time job keeping five kids clothed,

And picking clothes up off the bathroom floor, from where they de-robe.

Aside from the nonsense, we know we are blessed,

To have a home that contains such a mess.

For the yard that contains more mud than grass,

Littered with so many nerf bullets and broken toys we look like white trash.

For the nail polish stained carpet, and the holes in the walls.

For all of the murals, and a half million deflated balls.

For all of the laundry and Legos galore.

I guess we are grateful our lives aren’t a bore.

For our homeless looking children, and the fighting they do,

Even though I feel like somebody always smells like poo.

We know we’ve got so much to be thankful for,

But, mostly when they’re asleep, I adore them more.

For the record, John was worried you might not appreciate this pun,

I just rolled my eyes and said, “It’s all in good fun!”

Of course, we know that we are blessed,

But listing all the ridiculousness is just part of the jest.

Parenting is hard, it ain’t easy being a mom.

So, if you ever need to commiserate, I’ll just say, “Oh, preach on!”

But, alas, I digress… That is not why I am here –

To laugh at our kids or talk about reindeer.

I’m so grateful for this season, and the chance to remember,

Why we actually celebrate this time in December.

I’ve felt so much joy Christmas shopping for others,

My children, my friends, my husband, and brothers.

I walk through the stores with a chuckle – not from passing gas,

But, trying to think of a perfect gift that will cause them to laugh.

I find myself smiling while I shop,

I just love buying gifts, it makes my heart pop!

Why is this so? How could this be?

My bank account says, “Hey, this stuff isn’t free!”

But, I know why it’s just so much fun,

I’m not thinking about myself and what has to be done.

I’m not thinking about my worries or what’s making me sad,

I’m thinking of how I can make someone else glad.

And, I think that’s the magic, this season reminds,

That to really find joy is to forget our self and be kind.

We are reminded of the birth of the One who gave us the best gift,

Of eternal life, and our sad hearts He’ll lift.  

That our hearts can be filled with peace, love, and joy,

When we think of that first Christmas and the One baby boy.

That we find joy when we think of, and love one another,

Because, after all, we’re all sisters and brothers.

This Christmas, we wish you love, peace, joy and great cheer,

And that the feeling stays with you and us throughout next year.