Wow! 8 months since my last post!

I'm seeing a trend. I post 5 times a year on my blog. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. I'm at work and a friend needed a recipe that I remembered was on my blog. So...I signed in to get it instead of waiting until I get home to get it out of my recipe box. Yep, I haven't posted anything since September 2010.

Today is the last day of school!! Yippee!! I plan on doing a lot more cooking this summer since we don't have sports practices, piano lessons, girl scouts, etc. I only work about 1 day a week in the summer so it leaves more time for going to the pool, I mean cooking! My goal is to post more on my blog. Claire and I already have big plans to make homemade bread and some other things we've never made.

This past weekend, Memorial Day, I made cake balls. They were Red Velvet with white coating and blue sprinkles. Get it?? Red, White and Blue!! Here's the recipe:

Cake Balls

1 cake mix (any flavor) prepared and baked in a 9x13 pan

1 tub frosting (any flavor)

1 block almond bark (white or chocolate)

Make the cake like the box says. Cool completely (I mean completely!). Crumble cake in a large bowl and stir in frosting. Shape mixture into balls (I use a cookie scoop) and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Refrigerate for a couple of hours (they did better leaving them overnight). Melt almond bark in a measuring cup. Dip balls one at a time and place on wax paper to harden. It might be necessary to zap the almond bark again if it cools off to much and gets thick. Yields: 52 balls

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Next time, I will use chocolate almond bark as it's hard to keep every crumb out and red velvet really shows up in white. I'm thinking German Chocolate Cake...hmmm, sounds yummy. These can also be made into cake pops by putting them on a sucker stick (Let dry in a block of Styrofoam so all sides are pretty). I think I'll try using sucker sticks next time.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...blog more often!

Poor Folk Food

Dan and I both grew up in modest homes (ie: the moolah wasn't flowing). So our mothers were creative on putting food on the table. My mom taught me how to cook less expensive cuts of meat and still make it fabulous. Dan's mom can stretch any meal to feed extra guests (being missionaries, they never knew who might drop by around dinner time). And both of our moms could cook a mean pot of beans, the ultimate cheap food!

Tonight... it was 5:30 and I had no idea what to fix and didn't have any meat thawed out. I did have some staples: milk, flour, butter, eggs, and a couple of cans of salmon. So I made one of Dan's childhood dishes. Creamed Tuna - did I mention I never follow a recipe completely - I didn't have tuna, but I did have salmon...close enough! There's no recipe card with this recipe written down, so I'll just tell you how I made it, with the new name of course.

Creamed Salmon over Biscuits
5 Tbs. butter (the real stuff)
5 Tbs. flour
4 hard boiled eggs
1 - 6oz. can boneless, skinless salmon
Milk
salt
pepper
Biscuits - I make them from scratch, it's almost as fast as popping a can and much better :) (the recipe to Stir & Roll Biscuits are in one of my previous blogs)

Melt the butter in a skillet and then add the flour. Stir and let bubble for a couple of minutes (if you don't cook the flour it will taste bad). This is also called a roux, like you make gravy. Add milk and stir, stir, stir until all of the roux is mixed into the milk. Sorry, but I never measure the milk. You can always add more if it turns out too thick. Heat until bubbly and thickened. Add salt, pepper, chopped eggs, and drained salmon. Serve over biscuits.

**you can add more milk if it's too thick, you cannot add more butter or flour if it's to thin - it doesn't work that way.

I made a double recipe of biscuits, good thing. Our family likes to have some with honey after dinner. I also cooked some frozen cauliflower (white broccoli as Claire calls it) and peas. The kids loved it and I have to say, I liked the salmon better than doing it with tuna.

You might be saying this is the grossest thing you have ever heard of, but don't knock it till you try it. I was a little skeptical when Dan told me about it when we first got married, but I really like it.

To keep it fair, here's one of my mom's cheap-oh no-I don't know what we're having for dinner recipes.

Chili Mac
1 pkg. angel hair pasta
1 large can Wolf Brand Chili (I use 2 cans of Wolf Brand Turkey Chili to keep calories/fat down)

Cook pasta. Drain and return to pot. Stir in chili and heat thoroughly.

The best part of tonight - besides a cheap, quick dinner...we sat at the table together and talked about the day. Dane told us a couple of riddles he heard at school today and Claire made some up which were hilarious!

Summer Storms

Sometimes you need a rainy day in the summer...so you can stay inside and get things done. That's what I'm doing today! If it had been 100 degrees and sunny, we probably would have packed up and gone to the pool. But, since it's cloudy and on/off rain (although it is sunny now~Texas weather!) we stayed home and I'm doing some much needed laundry. I also took the time to put dinner in the crockpot (red beans for red beans and rice) and I have a loaf of banana bread in the oven. On another day, I would have just thrown those over ripe bananas in the trash. Since I had some time between loads of laundry we will now get to enjoy some banana bread this evening after dinner.

You know it's summer when:

1. You have 5 kids at your house (when you only birthed 2)

2. There is more time to cook

3. No worries about bedtime and if the kids bathed (heck, we'll probably go to the pool tomorrow so forget the shower!)

4. Family time

5. You get more sleep! That's one of my favorites.

Here's the recipe for the Banana Bread, in case you were interested. It's from Mom Rasmussen. I'll give her exact recipe, although I add chocolate chips instead of nuts and also add a little vanilla.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

5 Tbs. sour milk (that's milk with a little vinegar added)

3 mashed bananas

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup nuts

350 for 60 min. (Check it at 50 minutes) Makes 1 large loaf pan or 2 small

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, milk and bananas and mix well. Add flour, baking soda and salt a little at a time stirring after each addition. When combined, stir in nuts (or chocolate chips). Pour into well greased loaf pan and bake. Cool in pan a little and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Great for breakfast if it lasts that long!

Girl's Night - KENO

Last week was busy with cooking for Dan's Monday night Life Group and hosting my KENO group on Tuesday. We had so much fun at KENO...it's not really about the game, it's about getting away from the husbands and kids and hanging out with the girls. Everyone brings a $5-$10 gift and $2 cash and we take turns hosting. It's like BINGO only with cards. But, in the end everyone goes home with a gift. I have been playing KENO with 'the girls' the 2nd Tuesday of every month for almost 10 years!! It started in Arlington with a group of girls from church. We moved in August 2005 and I drove back to my group for a couple of months, but in October '05 my current group was formed in our new town. There is always an ebb and flow of players. People drop out for different reasons and new people join.

I, of course, chose November to host at my house since fall if my favorite time of year. I got to use my new white and brown dishes and set the table with fall colored candles and glass rocks in a large rectangle white tray.

The Menu
-Bruschetta (from the movie "Julie & Julia")
-Green Salad
-Spinach Ravioli Lasagna
-Eclair Cake (Claire thinks this is named after her!)

I don't even like raw tomatoes, but this Bruschetta is to die for (pronounced bra-sketta, not bra-shetta per Giada from Everyday Italian - one of my favorite shows). I'm posting the recipe for the main dish, let me know if you want the recipe for the bruschetta and dessert...

Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna
1 (6-oz.) package fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed
1/3 cup pesto
1 (15-oz.) jar Alfredo sauce - I used Bertolli
1/4 cup vegetable broth*
1 (25-oz.) package frozen cheese or beef-filled ravioli (do not thaw)
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Italian six-cheese blend
Garnishes: chopped fresh basil, paprika
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Chop spinach, and toss with pesto in a medium bowl.

2. Combine Alfredo sauce and vegetable broth. Spoon one-third of alfredo sauce mixture (about 1/2 cup) into a lightly greased 2.2-qt. or 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Top with half of spinach mixture. Arrange half of ravioli in a single layer over spinach mixture. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining Alfredo sauce.

3. Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Garnish, if desired.

*Chicken broth may be substituted.

I also used a little fresh parmesan on the top and turned on the broiler for just a minute to give it a touch of color.

Fall is Here

When I ran this morning, it was wonderful to see the leaves falling. I like the crunch of the leaves between my shoe and the pavement. This is my favorite time of year by far. I love the crisp mornings and evenings (even if it does get up to 75 during the day - it is still TX!).

Thinking of fall, it makes me think of comfort food...like homemade biscuits. Yumm. This is my mother-in-law's (Anne Rasmussen)famous biscuit recipe, perfect for every biscuit occasion. Here are a few ways my family eats them... hot out of the oven with honey or jelly, on top of chicken pot pie, underneath cream gravy for breakfast, underneath creamed tuna (Dan's favorite), or with grated cheese and garlic mixed in topped with melted butter (like Red Lobster). You can make them on a moments notice, because who doesn't have these ingredients in their pantry all the time.

This is a picture of my in-laws, Tom & Anne Rasmussen. She isn't making biscuits, but she is cooking. (They are making lefse, a Norwegian favorite)


Stir & Roll Biscuits
2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add oil and milk and stir until a ball forms. Knead lightly and pat onto a lightly floured surface. Cut with a small glass. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. Makes 10-12.

First POST ever!!

Well...I didn't ever think I would go into the blog world, but here I am. No making fun, because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!

Creative Nest was 'hatched' out of my businesses Creative CAKES and Creative Memories. I also think of myself as a creative person and love to cook, entertain, decorate and do crafts.

I'll try to post pics of crafts, scrapbook pages, etc. and write some of my favorite recipes.

Check back often to see what's happening in the Nest!