Puddin'

Over the past few weeks I've been following a YouTube channel BexarPrepper and she has some of the most fantastic tips for long term food storage I've ever seen! Her tips on canning and dehydrating food and many other things are very helpful whether you are "Prepping" (Preparing for disaster or economical hardship) or you are just trying to stretch a dollar by doing things yourself everybody should really check out her channel!

Just today she published this video teaching her viewers how to make home made pudding mix that is shelf stable for long term storage and I couldn't wait to try it! And, it is really super yummy!

I made hubby & I one of these glasses each with chocolate pudding on the bottom and caramel pudding on the top..heaven in a glass! This recipe is super versatile and you could easily add other flavors like mint extract to the chocolate for a minty chocolate pudding, lemon, strawberry or any flavor extract. My next batch of this recipe I think I'm going to experiment with some flavors and see what happens!

If you don't have a double boiler (like myself)...have no fear! Just use a pot of water with a metal bowl that is bigger around than the pan..voila same thing as a double boiler!

Pudding Base:

1 ½ cups sugar

2 ½ cups nonfat dry milk

¾ cups cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

4 tbsp egg powder (or 1 raw egg mixed in after the 5 minute covered cook)

Mix and store in a tightly covered container in a cool place. Makes 24 servings.

Chocolate Mix to add to Pudding Base:

¾ cup cocoa 

¼ cup sugar

Mix and store in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

Vanilla Pudding

1 ¼ cup Pudding Mix Base

2 ½ cups warm water

1/3 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. fat ( I used 1 tbsp. unsalted butter)

1 egg (unless you used egg powder in your Pudding Base)

Chocolate Pudding

1 ¼ cup Pudding Mix Base

¼ cup Chocolate Mix

2 ½ cups warm water

1/3 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. fat (I used 1 tbsp. unsalted butter)

1 egg (unless you used egg powder in your Pudding Base)

Caramel Pudding

1 ¼ cup Pudding Mix Base

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. Molasses
(or instead of sugar & molasses use 2 tbsp packed brown sugar)

2 ½ cups warm water

1/3 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. fat (I used 1 tbsp. unsalted butter)

1 egg (unless you used egg powder in your Pudding Base)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pudding

1 ¼ cup Pudding Mix Base

¼ cup Chocolate Mix

¼ cup Peanut Butter

2 ½ cups warm water

1/3 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. fat (I used 1 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 egg (unless you used egg powder in your Pudding Base)

Directions:

In double boiler, combine the all ingredients except fat (and raw egg) and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remember to never let the bottom of the pan touch the water. Cover and cook 5 minutes longer, then add the fat. If using fresh egg remove from the heat and beat half of the hot mixture into the egg. Blend slowly into the remaining hot mixture. Cook over hot water 1 more minute. Stir in the vanilla and chill.

Thanks so much BexarPrepper for your fantastic youtube channel and this awesome recipe! 

Strawbunny Limeade Cheesecake

Now that the contest is over for the Recipe Riot's Jello Easter Recipe Challenge - I can finally post my recipe for Strawbunny Limeade Cheesecake! I made 3 different versions of this recipe before I was finally pleased with it. I got 9th place - Honorable Mention. Out of 66 entries and winning 9th... I'm pretty proud of myself
So, here it is!

Ingredients List

• FOR CRUST
• 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• FOR FILLING
• 3 8oz pkg cream cheese
• Zest from 2 Limes
• Juice from 1 Lime
• 1 3 oz box Lemon JELL-O
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 cup cold water
• FOR TOPPING
• 16 oz / 1 lb fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
• 1 3 oz box Strawberry JELL-O
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Prepare crust by finely crushing 2 cups graham crackers and place them in a bowl along with 1 stick melted butter and 1/3 cup sugar, mix well until the mixture is completely moist. Press graham cracker mixture firmly into bottom of ungreased 9 or 10 inch Spring-form pan. Refrigerate crust for 1 hour. Prepare filling by zesting 2 limes and squeezing juice from 1 lime and set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl add 1/2 cup boiling water to Lemon JELL-O gelatin mix; stir for 2 minutes or until completely dissolved, stir in 1 cup cold water, add in zest and juice from limes as well as cream cheese. Mix ingredients with hand mixer until completely combined and smooth. Pour filling into spring form pan, cover and chill in refrigerator until set approximately, 4-6 hours. Prepare topping in a medium sized bowl by adding 1 cup boiling water to Strawberry JELL-O gelatin mix; stir for 2 minutes or until completely dissolved, stir in 1 cup cold water. Puree half of the strawberries and coarsely chop the other half , stir into strawberry gelatin mixture. Place in refrigerator uncovered for 4-6 hours. After the strawberry gelatin has set stir it all up to make a spreadable strawberry gel, if too thick add a tablespoon of water at a time and stir until desired thickness. Remove ring from spring-form pan leaving cheesecake on bottom pan, place on serving plate , spoon on topping, and decorate as desired.

The story of our Rusti Nell....

I'm sure some people think I'm crazy for loving our furbabies the way I do but, until I have human babies of my own to love - my furbabies will just have to "suffer" with all the kisses and snuggles I can give them. 

We got Rusti just over a year ago just a couple months after my Puddy girl aka Sassy passed away after 16 years of being my bestfriend which was also shortly after our happy bubble had burst when our adoption plans shattered so Hubby and I were both in a very dark place.

My sister in law knew that we had talked about trying to find another red dachshund to maybe fill our hearts a little. She had saw a post on a Facebook group page from back home with Rusti's picture seeking a forever home for her. I saw her picture and knew right away she was going to become a part of our little family. We made plans to pick her up the day after Christmas from the sweet lady who had rescued her from a bad situation. I don't think my sister in law or this sweet lady Kathy realize what a gift they had given us when the ball was set in motion for us to bring Rusti home.

The first time I saw her in the arms of Kathy from across the parking lot - my eyes glassed over with tears because she looked so much like my Puddy girl.
We couldn't wait to get her home to meet her new sisters - we drove the 2 hours home most of which she was in my lap with a horrid case of doggy farts so bad we had to roll the windows down several times to keep from gagging!

We aren't sure what kind of life she had before we got her but we know she was chained up outside all the time even in the heat and cold. We also imagine she was abused and pretty sure by a man because she was scared of my husband Dan, wouldn't go anywhere near him and stuck to me like glue for quite awhile. She is scared to death of loud noises and for the longest time acted like she was scared of the dark and refused to go outside at night. My guess is she was afraid we would leave her out there. When we first brought her home she didn't make a peep for two whole days - not a whimper, not a whine and certainly not a bark.
Her eyes were so sad and she was leery of us but that first night she hopped up in bed with us and our 2 other girls but still wouldn't go near Dan and slept on the other side of me.

At first she would not sleep at all during the day and right as the sun would start to set she would crash hard. After day 2 it was as if something came alive in her - she started jumping like she had springs in her feet and doing this little tap dance with her front feet and finally we heard a soft bark!

Her Daddy gave her the middle name of Nell and sometimes we call her Nelly, Russ, Russy or Russel. She now sleeps in between us and her favorite thing in the world is to nap with Daddy's arms wrapped tightly around her. She never lets Daddy out of her sight and he is now her favorite person. She now trusts us enough to know that we won't ever leave her outside for long. She makes this odd sound that mimics a pigeon and she barks in the house only when she wants attention or to alert us that the dog food pan is empty. This girl doesn't miss a meal for sure! She loves her squeaky toys and doesn't mind when I dress her up. We tell her every day that we love her and that she is beautiful because we know she probably never heard those words before. She can't raise or wag her tail very well because unfortunately at some point in her former life her tail had been broken and I try not to think of how that occurred but she still manages to give us a slight little wag.

I look in her big brown eyes and try my hardest not to think about what kind of life she had before she came into our family because it breaks my heart to know that anybody would ever be mean to her. You can tell by the look in her eyes that she is grateful for the life she now has. She along with her sisters Ginny, Sophie Mae and her naughty kitty brother MoonPie bring a lot of joy to our lives and while we can never manage to leave the house without traces of dog hair attached to our clothing - we wouldn't have it any other way.

Mama & Daddy love you Rusti Nell, you are beautiful.

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I know a lot of people are afraid of adopting an adult dog because of "an old dog can't learn new tricks" and bad habits. We've had a few moments with Rusti but nothing that a little patience and a lot of love couldn't fix. So open your hearts and minds to the possibility of adopting an adult dog , you will be a hero in their eyes and the result is rewarding beyond measure

Valentine's Day Breakfast Hole in One's

When heart-shaped pancakes are out of the question.. heart-shaped hole in-one's are the answer!

Super easy and quick to make! 

 Ingredients:

• 1 slice of bread white, wheat or whole grain
• 1 egg
• butter
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter or for just a round shape you can use a biscuit cutter or a glass to press/poke out a hole in the middle of your bread.

Then put some butter in your frying pan, place bread in pan, pour in the egg either you can even scramble it if you like. Fry egg/bread long enough to toast and achieve a golden brown color than flip the whole thing over and continue to cook the other side the same until egg yolk is cooked to your desired level of doneness. 

Red Velvet Pancakes

I made these for my Valentine this morning and they were a big hit!
These are very simple to make and chocolately yummy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
• 1 & 1/2 cups cold water
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• Maple syrup
• powdered sugar to sprinkle
• Butter for griddle & to top the pancakes

Directions:

Mix pancake mix, water, cocoa powder and food coloring in mixing bowl with a whisk making sure there are no lumps.

Heat your griddle or skillet with just enough butter to coat the  cooking surface. And when heated and butter is melted place 1/3 cup of mixture onto cooking surface making circular pancake shapes. Cook until bubbles stop forming and is browned enough to flip, allow to finish cooking through. This will yield about 6-7 nice sized pancakes. Top with butter, syrup & powdered sugar and enjoy!

Click here for a printer friendly version!

Chocolate Snow Ice Cream

This winter has been especially mild so we were shocked that we actually got a little snow last night! We got about 4 inches so this morning when we woke up I decided to send the hubby outside to gather snow for Chocolate Snow Ice Cream! And, my husband wanted to make sure that I told all my blog readers to beware of yellow snow! This recipe makes 1 gallon of Snow Ice Cream! 

Ingredients:

• 2 & 1/2 gallons of loose clean snow
• 4 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk
• 8 hot chocolate mix packets
• 2 tbsp cocoa 
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer or hand blender. 

Can adjust amount of cocoa or hot chocolate to taste. Store in air-tight plastic container and freeze immediately. Allow to freeze for several hours before eating. 

Click here for printer friendly version!

Baked Bacon

When you are making breakfast for a crowd and all your burners are being taken up with other things all the while you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to make sure nothing burns and everybody is entertained this will make things a little easier. When I first heard of doing this I had my doubts that it wouldn't be crispy but, it comes out perfectly crispy and nice straight evenly cooked pieces! Score! 

I forgot to take pics of the bacon in the cooking dish but, I'm sure you can get the general idea. 

I like to cut my bacon in 1/2 just to make it easier to handle.
I cook mine in a large casserole dish. I've heard of other people using cookie sheets and I did try that once and it was a huge fail. The bacon stuck badly. With the glass dish it doesn't stick at all!

Arrange your bacon in a single layer and put the bacon as tight together as you can get them if the bacon pieces touch it is perfectly fine because your bacon will shrink up pretty quickly. 

Turn on your oven to 400*, put your bacon (and dish) in the oven and walk away for 17-20 minutes. As soon as your bacon is a nice golden brown but not dark brown, it is done! The exact time will vary depending on your oven and the thickness of the bacon slices so the first time you try this you might want to keep a close eye.