Easter story cookies

To be made the evening before Easter

things you need:

1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg white
pinch of salt
1 cup of sugar
zip lock bag
wooden spoon
Bible

Preheat oven too 300       This is important-don't wait till your half way done with the recipe

place your pecans in zip lock bag and let the kids beat them with a wooden spoon into small pieces. Explain how Jesus was arrested and beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3

Let your kids smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30

add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain Jesus gave his life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt in each lids hand. let them taste it and put the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very tasty. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us so much. He wants us to know and belong to him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until soft peaks are formed. Explain the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those who sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts, drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus'  body was laid to rest. Read Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookies sheets in the oven close the oven door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and explain that Jesus, tomb was sealed. Read Mathew 27:65-66

GO TO BED. Explain the may be sad to leave the cookies in the oven all night. Jesus' followers were very sad when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22

On Easter morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surfaces and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty. Read Matthew 28: 1-9

meatloaf Monday

Well here it is Monday again and tonight was meatloaf Monday.

   So about a pound of hamburger or more if your feeding a lot. 1 large onion, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, an egg, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan cheese, extra sharp cheddar (for topping) rice 1 boli in a bag), ketchup.

  mix everything together, except the extra sharp cheese, using spices to the amount of your liking. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes. we had mashed potatoes and green beans with ours. We also had some dinner rolls thanks to a tip from a friend who got a tip from a friend. For our dinner rolls we used our bread recipe
http://5stardishesandbestwishes.blogspot.com/2010/02/bread-yummy-bread-not-store-bought.html  which you can find at this link. Anyways we filled the muffin pans half way with the bread dough and cooked it. I did not do a full bread mix recipe for dinner rolls, I made one loaf of bread and used the rest for dinner rolls. After tonight though and watching my kids down them I will make a full bread mix and use it as dinner rolls to have on hand in the freezer for any time use.

Sweet and sour Meatballs

Sweet and sour meatballs with homemade MAC and cheese
First the meatballs:
Make your own or use a frozen pre made meatballs. It doesn't matter just depends on your time and preferred way.
Sauce: 1 jar of grape jelly and 1 jar of chili sauce. Mix together in a pot and add your meatballs. Cook. Over low heat, the longer you cook the more flavor you get.
MAC and cheese: equal amount of flour and butter cooked together. Don't burn this. I then add milk, I can't use heavy cream, it would hurt my husbands tummy. Now u add half a block of shredded cheese to this as well. Seasoning I use salt,pepper,nutmeg and cinnamon. Boil a pound of noodles when ghetto are cooked mix sauce and noodles together. Place in a baking dish cover with a block in a half of shredded cheese.
a sinner saved by grace

coffee cake

I am not sure why this is called a coffee cake when there is no coffee in it, although it goes really well with a cup of coffee in the morning.

1/4 cup of oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour regular flour for non gluten free

1 1/2 tsp zanthan gum exclude for non gluten free

1 cup sugar, again I used stevia
2 tsp baking powder

In a mixing bowl mix all wet ingredients until well blended then add your dry ingredients and mix together till smooth.
spray a 9 inch pan and put your batter into the pan

1/2 cup brown sugar, I used brown sugar in the raw
2 tbs gluten free flour
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs melted butter
In a small bowl mix all the ingredients together to form the streusel topping. Mix until well blended. And top your batter with it. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

vanilla cookies with nutella

Vanilla crisp

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (use regular flour for non gluten free)
1 tsp zantham gum (leave out for non gluten free)

Creme together your butter, shortening and sugar, add your vanilla, and the eggs 1 at a time. Blend in your flour.

Drop by the spoonful on a non greased baking pan. Or roll into a log and cut, flatten with a dusted cup. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

The frosting

2 cups of confectionery sugar
2 tbs of butter
2 tbs of milk
1 tsp of vanilla
2 tbs of nuttela (or whatever else you have like melted chocolate)

Taco casserole

Simply, yummy, and the kids loved it. I took a pound of ground meat and 1 onion, cooked together on stove top. I then added Taco seasoning mix and spaghetti sauce, and corn. Mixed well. Placed in a baking dish and topped with cheese. Now for the Taco like topping. Half a cup of pancake mix,2/3 cup milk, 1 egg,2 tap oil. Mix and pore evenly over top. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.
a sinner saved by grace

muffins

This was our breakfast the other morning.

I make my muffins a smaller size so that they are perfect for my kids. I made blueberry and chocolate chip muffins out of the same recipe.








So here is what you need:
a bag of chocolate chips
frozen or fresh blueberries
2 cups of gluten free flour (for non gluten free use 2 cups all purpose flour)
1 tsp of zanthan gum
  1/2 cups of sugar (I had to use diabetic sugar)
  3 tsp of baking powder
  1/2 tsp of salt
  3/4 cup of milk (use lactose if your intolerant)
  1/3 cup of oil
  1 egg beaten

So i always mix all my dry ingredients together and put them off to the side. Then in my mixer I start with the egg, get it beaten up and add the rest of the wet ingredients. After the wet ingredients are mixed well I add the dry to the wet and mix it well. When that is all mixed well I add my chips or blueberries. Now scoop your batter into your sprayed muffin pans.. So here is what you do next:

  3 tbs of sugar
  2 tbs of brown sugar
mix them together and sprinkle on top of your muffins
place your muffins in a 400 degree oven for about 15 mins, but keep an eye on them time depends on your oven.
  Let them cool in the muffin pan a few mins before putting them on a wire rack. Then eat them up, they are so yummy. They also freeze very well for another day or for large batches.