How to Make Your Own Baking Mix & What to Do With It

For years, I purchased pancake mixes or Bisquick from the grocery store until I rediscovered this recipe for baking mix.  This is easy to make and will store in your refrigerator for a long time even without the artificial preservatives you see in the ready-made mixes.  I've adapted this recipe from the original found in La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family cookbook, which can be found at LLLI or at any of the major bookstores.  I'm also including a few of my family's favorite recipes incorporating the baking mix.

Baking Mix

Combine 4 cups flour (white or whole wheat or a combo) with 3 Tablespoons baking powder, 1/2 Tablespoon salt, and 1 cup dry milk powder.  Cut in 3/4 cup vegetable oil or softened butter until the mix is crumbly.  Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Recipe 1: Drop Biscuits

Stir 1 cup milk or water into 3 cups Baking Mix until moistened.  Add some shredded cheddar cheese and Italian herbs and mix together.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Recipe 2: Waffles 

Beat together 3 cups Baking Mix with 2 cups milk or water and 2 eggs.  I use an old-fashioned hand mixer, but you could also use a blender.  Pour into waffle iron.  Makes 8 or 9 large waffles.  This recipe also works for making pancakes.

Recipe 3: Crustless Quiche

In a blender combine 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup Baking Mix, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup melted butter, and a dash of pepper.  Blend for 15 seconds.  Pour into a greased pie pan.  Sprinkle crumbled cooked bacon or leftover chopped ham or shredded imitation crab meat on top of egg mixture.  Add 1 cup of shredded cheese (either cheddar or Swiss) and gently press the meat and cheese below the surface with a fork.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean (sometimes it takes longer than this.)  Let stand for 10 minutes.

Recipe 4: Coffee Cake

Beat together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 2/3 cup milk or water, and 3 Tablespoons melted butter.  Stir into 2 cups Baking Mix just until moistened.  Spread batter into greased 8" square pan.  In a small bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1/4 cup Baking Mix, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 Tablespoon butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over batter.  Bake at 400 degrees 20 minutes.

Since I am not a morning person until I've had a cup or two of coffee, I usually mix up the coffee cake the night before and put it in the refrigerator until the next morning.  Likewise, I either do the same for the other recipes or I make them for lunch or dinner instead.  I use the crustless quiche recipe quite a bit this time of year since I need a number of meatless recipes during Lent.  After using this baking mix faithfully over the past few years, I can honestly say I've had no need to return to the commercial boxed mixes in the store.  Just keep it replenished and in the refrigerator at all times, and you'll have it on hand whenever you need it.

Simple Valentine Treats to Make With Your Peeps

I know this sounds un-American, but while most of the country was preparing for the Super Bowl, my children and I spent Saturday creating Valentine treats.  Some things were inspired by Pinterest, but others were my traditional sweets.  Everything is super simple to make and requires little time and few ingredients.  All of it was well-received.

Valentine Pretzel Treats

This is one I did find on Pinterest and was a huge success because it is colorful, bitesized, and only requires 3 ingredients.  Simply put square pretzels (I used the butter flavored ones) on a cookie sheet, and top each one with a Hershey's Hugs chocolate.  Place in a 300 degree oven for about 2 or 3 minutes until the Hugs have softened, but not completely melted.

As soon as they come out of the oven, place a dark chocolate Valentine colored M&M in the center.  I couldn't find a good way to do this without getting messy.  It was a bit too tedious for my smaller children.  Maybe using a pair of tweezers would be a good idea.

Just look how cute these turned out.  The Hugs eventually firm up once cooled and the treat is no longer gooey.  Perfect for classroom parties or just to have at home.

Raspberry Filled Sugar Cookies

These heart shaped cookies are something I've been making for years.  Sometimes I fill them with creme frosting, but this time I used Smuckers Natural Raspberry Fruit Spread.  Simply roll out your favorite sugar cookie dough and cut out with heart shaped cookie cutters.  For the top cookie, cut a smaller heart out of the center and bake everything in the oven according to the directions.  I used refrigerated Pillsbury sugar cookie dough and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 11 minutes.  After they come out of the oven, let cool for a minute.  Then spread the jam on the solid hearts and sprinkle powdered sugar on the cookies with the center cut out.  Place the tiny heart shaped cookies aside.

Then, place them together like a sandwich, and you've got pseudo healthy Valentine sugar cookies.  Yummy!

All those little heart shapes you cut out of the cookies above can be covered in frosting and decorated by the kiddos.  Our favorite butter cream frosting can be found here at my blog post from last July.

Some easy treats that aren't sweet are these Town House heart shaped pretzel thins with a piece of cooper cheese on top---in the shape of a heart, of course.  Cucumbers are also easy to slice and push a small metal heart shaped cookie cutter through.  Somehow even raw veggies are more appealing to children if they're in a different shape.

Valentine Floats

To make some pink non-alcoholic beverages, I used some vanilla ice cream, cranberry Sierra Mist, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries to create Cranberry Floats.

Just put a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream in the bottom of each glass, add the soda, and top with whipped cream and a cherry and straw.

The only problem was that the whipped cream and maraschino cherries kept sinking into the foam before I could get a good picture taken.  Didn't change the flavor though.  The kids definitely want me to make these more often.

Finally, since I've gotten into seasonal chalkboard art on my front porch, the snowman was erased, and a Valentine theme was created.  Although, it's looking like we might get more snow here in a few days.

Now doesn't this look like more fun than watching a football game?

Have You Seen Little Boy?

A few weeks ago when the children were out of school for the day, we sat down to watch a movie together.  As I was searching Netflix for something that looked appealing and worthwhile, I stumbled upon this movie Little Boy.  It appeared to be safe enough for all family members, and it had 5 stars, so I decided to give it a try.  Little did I know then that it would top any other movie I have seen in a very long time.

Despite what the mainstream critics say, I thought this movie was incredibly moving, inspiring, touching, and not at all offensive---and we are Catholic.  The synopsis can be found here at Wikipedia, but I'll try to give you just enough information to leave you intrigued.  Seven year old Pepper is small for his age, but his father has always built him up to be as powerful and capable as a super-hero.  When his father is shipped away to fight in WWII, Pepper wants more than anything to bring his father back home.  Influenced by his older brother, he believes that his father's deployment is the fault of all the Japanese.  There just so happens to be a Japanese-American in their town who is hated by most of the residents, especially Pepper's older brother.  A series of events occur, and Pepper hears this Gospel verse at Church: "For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."---Matthew 17:20.  Inspired by that and an awe for a certain magician/super-hero, he is filled with faith that he can bring his father back home.  Whenever he speaks to his parish priest, however, he is told this will not happen as long as he has hatred in his heart.  He is then encouraged to become friends with the Japanese-American, Hashimoto.  Along with this, he is also given an important list to follow, which happens to be the Corporal Works of Mercy:

To feed the hungry;

To give drink to the thirsty;

To clothe the naked;

To harbour the harbourless;

To visit the sick;

To ransom the captive;

To bury the dead.

It is humorous at times to see how Little Boy completes these merciful deeds and crosses them off his list, and it is inspiring and touching to see how he does indeed try to move mountains with his faith.  His determination, fortitude, and extreme faith end up affecting all those around him.  He continues on even when others make fun of him and tell him it is hopeless.  At one point near the end of the movie, he is faced with what he believes is a choice to let go of one dream for the sake of a friend.  Just when you think the movie's plot has ended, there is a final twist that leaves you inspired and full of hope.

Little Boy was released in 2015 and is now on DVD and Netflix.  I would definitely watch it again as long as I had a huge box of tissues beside me.  This is a tearjerker almost from the beginning, but I seem to cry over these movies more easily than the rest of my family.  I was moved by the film and found it refreshing over the massive amounts of shallow, superficial, cynical tripe that dominates the screen these days.  It also prompted some good historical discussions about the plight of the Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II.  My children were unaware of their story, for the most part. Needless to say, I highly recommend this movie as long as you're aware that tissues are probably in order, and if you're like me, your eyes might be puffy for a good hour or so afterwards.

A Whirlwind of a Weekend

What a weekend!  From a visit from the tooth fairy to hurricane simulators to book fairs and a kickoff for Catholic Schools Week, a lot was squeezed into a few short days.

The excitement in our family began when our youngest lost her front tooth at school (with some help from a teacher) and the tooth fairy visited early Friday morning.  Our daughter not only left her tooth on the windowsill Thursday night (it's too difficult here to locate a tooth under a pillow), but she also left a post-it note and marker so the tooth fairy could write to her.  In addition, there was a mystery bag filled with something white and squishy.  When I inquired about it, she said it was a cotton ball soaked in water so the tooth fairy can clean her tooth more thoroughly.  I love the imagination and wonder of this little girl.  I'm not looking forward to all our little ones growing out of this stage of life.

Friday afternoon the children and I took my future daughter-in-law shopping, and then we met my husband, his parents, and our grown son at a local brewery/restaurant to celebrate his 23rd birthday.  We had lots of food, sampled some good beer, and had some fun looking through a stack of baby pictures of our eldest son that his grandmother found in a trunk at her house.  He looked so much like one of his younger brothers when he was little, and he is looking so much like a younger version of his dad now.

Saturday morning we got up and drove out of town to their cousin's birthday party that was held at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg, PA.  What a fun, interactive, educational place to spend hours on a Saturday afternoon.  Our children were all over the place, but the most popular area seemed to be the hurricane simulator where you could walk in and experience 91 mph winds and have your hair and belongings blown all over the place.  Since I had actually spent time styling and spraying my hair that morning, I passed, but my kids went in there over and over again.  I couldn't get any good photos because they were constantly moving and every picture was blurry, I'm sad to say.

Our youngest isn't just a tooth fairy fan; she's also an artist.  She took up a lot of time on this piece of graffiti art that I was surprised to find later.  She's still young enough to write something like this in front of a bunch of little boys and not be at all embarrassed.  Those little boys waiting in line behind her were quite patient because she took that spot for a very long time.

After getting home late Saturday night and dropping into bed, we awoke early Sunday morning to get to Church to kick off the beginning of Catholic Schools Week.  Two of our children sang with the choir at Mass, and then while my husband and kids had doughnuts and drinks, I helped out at the school's Scholastic Book Fair.  My job was to answer questions, tidy up, and bring out more items.  We'll all be there numerous times throughout the week.  After the book fair and open house shut down for the day, three of us returned to Church for a second Mass because two of our sons were scheduled to be altar servers.

When we left the second Mass at 1:00, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the fifties.  Our foot and a half of snow and ice from Jonas was melting away.  Even though we had homework and studying and laundry and blogging, we had to get out in this beautiful, spring-like weather.

The boys got out their bikes while the rest of us walked behind with our beagle...

...and one of our cats tagged along too.  Sometimes all four of our felines walk behind us and cry when we get to the bridge that they don't like to cross.

Even our older daughter pulled herself away from Pinterest long enough to start training for spring track which will begin in a month.  What a change this busy warm weekend turned out to be from the last when we were all snowed in up here with Jonas.

I can't wait to see what February brings.

How This Cat Threw Out My Back

When I described our weekend with Snowstorm Jonas in my last blog post, I left out the part about our pets and my back.  We took pity on our four "barn" cats and the beagle and let them in for the day while the snow fell and the winds blew outside our farmhouse.

If we don't let them in, the cats and chickens line up on the back porch railing and stare into the kitchen window looking hungry, cold, and pitiful.  I put my foot down with the chickens and other livestock, however.  They must stay outside in the barn.

After playing outside with our children and running the best she could through over a foot of snow, Tippy was content to lie on the kitchen floor in front of the warm coalstove for hours.  She didn't mind the mess of boots and gloves drying all around her.  She was quite well-behaved except that her hound smell permeated every part of the kitchen, but she can't help that.

  But this black cat, Star, is our favorite; or should I say, he WAS my favorite pet.  He is big, fluffy, gentle, the best mouse hunter, and a survivor.  He stands up to loose dogs, brings his prey to the other feline residents, always waits until the other cats have finished before he eats a morsel, and takes the least comfortable chair if he is allowed inside the house.  He even stands at the door and meows when he needs to go outside.  His only flaw is that he hates to use the bathroom in the snow.

On Saturday afternoon, as the snow was winding down and my husband was outside shoveling and making paths for the younger children to go sledding, I was making a hearty beef stew in the crockpot.  Star began walking around me, looking up into my eyes, and being restless.  I gave him water, but he didn't want that.  I gave him food, but he didn't want that either.  I opened a cupboard door to retrieve a measuring cup, and he tried to walk into the cupboard.  I realized he needed to go outside, so I opened the front door and called for him.  He looked me in the eyes, turned around, and ran the other way.  Before I knew it, he sneaked behind the dining room door where the childrens' backpacks were hidden out of sight, and I heard our daughter yell, "No, Star. Noooo!"

As I realized what he was up to, I rushed to the backpacks and lunged forward to grab the cat squatting there, and then I felt it.  Something pulled in my low back, and I could not move.  Our daughter grabbed the cat and put him outside as our teen son cleaned up the mess he made on the brand new backpack and the floor, and I was paralyzed on my hands and knees next to it all.  I felt most undignified, but I couldn't stop laughing at the hilarity of the situation.  Had I really just thrown out my back because this cat would not willingly use the bathroom in the snow?  Really?  It took five minutes, two teenaged children, and a dining room chair to successfully get me back up on my feet.  Even then, I couldn't stand up straight.  For the rest of the day and night, I could only walk very slowly, hunched over, with the assistance of two people.  Lying flat on my back was the only relief I got from the pain.  I went to bed that night with a heating pad, a muscle relaxer, and some ibuprofen wondering if an ambulance would be able to get up our snow-covered lane because I was certain I could never get in and out of our SUV.  I couldn't imagine going another day without a visit to the hospital emergency room.

Believe it or not, after a restful night's sleep, with the exception of a snap and shooting pain at one point when I tried to prop myself up on an extra pillow, I awoke the next morning pain-free.  I was able to get out of bed and walk downstairs on my own.  As the day progressed, I became more mobile and the tight muscle in my back gradually loosened.  As the weekend ended, I felt almost back to normal, and except for a little twinge every now and then, I have been fine ever since.  Our six-year old believes that is due to all her prayers Saturday night.  I certainly did my own share of praying too since I knew I would need to be able to drive children around and do tons of laundry all this week.  I have thanked God numerous times and breathed many sighs of relief that my mishap was short lived.

While I definitely believe in the power of prayer, I'm also not willing to tempt fate.  I'm afraid Star has been banned from the house for the foreseeable future.  Or at least until the next major snowstorm.  Perhaps I should just invest in a litter box.

A Visit From Jonas This Weekend

I know many of us had a visitor named Jonas this weekend.  For us, it was a rare weekend where we didn't have to go anywhere, my husband wasn't on call, and we were expecting no other company.  Since it's already late January, and we'd only received a few inches of snow this winter, we were excited at our house and hopeful that we would get at least half a foot.

This sign I drew for our front porch expressed our sentiments as we went to bed Friday night.  The forecast said we might receive anywhere from 1 inch to 10 inches over the next day or so.

We awoke Saturday morning to a winter wonderland of a foot of snow!

It continued to snow throughout the day Saturday.  The snow got higher and higher until the winds started blowing it around.

It was rather pointless to shovel driveways or paths until late in the afternoon.

All of our children spent a great part of the day outside building forts, throwing snowballs, eating snowflakes, and...

...Sledding!

Lots and lots of sledding.

Even Hubby got in on the action by making paths and sledding too.  He made me promise I wouldn't post any photos of him on the sled though.  It's too bad because those were some of my best pictures.  Sigh...

By the end of the day, we got somewhere between 14 and 16 inches, as far as we could tell.

We woke up this Sunday morning to the sun shining through the pine trees and glistening on the snow.

And the sky was this breathtaking blue.

Snowstorm Jonas was a perfect visitor for us this weekend, and he didn't disappoint.  Our prayers go out, however, to all those stranded on the turnpike, who lost electricity and heat, and to those families who lost loved ones due to the storm.  Here in the Alleghenies, while we did get a whopper of a snowstorm, we were spared the absolute worst of it and were able to enjoy our visitor and a day of being snowed in at home.

I'd love to hear stories from those of you who also met Jonas this weekend.  How did you spend these three days?

Baked Cavatelli, Botox Conversations, and Cookie Bars

In keeping with my earlier attempts to beat the January doldrums, we had some friends over for dinner last weekend.  While the boys took turns riding a dirt bike, the girls chatted and listened to music, and the adults discussed all kinds of unrelated things over some pumpkin beer and white wine.  This family is of Italian descent, but that slipped my mind when I prepared a menu of two full baking dishes of cavatelli, garlic bread, and salad.  Once they arrived, it occurred to me that none of my Italian dishes could possibly compete with what their grandmothers prepared.  But it was too late to change my mind.  I apologize for the somewhat blurry pictures today.  I took these shots hurriedly with my tablet after a few glasses of wine as everyone watched and waited for me to be finished so we could finally eat.  I'm not sure how other bloggers discreetly photograph their subjects for upcoming blog posts.  I always feel rather embarrassed photographing in front of my guests.

Baked Cavatelli

Prepare 1 pound of wagon wheel pasta al dente.  Drain and set aside.  Bake 1 pound of Italian link sausage for 45-60 minutes until cooked through.  Slice approximately 1/2 inch thick and set that aside.  In a small skillet, cook 3 small diced onions and 2 minced garlic cloves in some olive oil until tender.  In a baking dish, combine the cooked pasta and sausage, the onion mixture, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, some oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.  Toss gently to combine.  Bake, covered, in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until center is hot.  Uncover and sprinkle another 1/2 cup of shredded mozarella on top.  Bake uncovered for another 5-10 minutes.  This serves 6-8.  I doubled the recipe to fill 2 baking dishes.

We picked up a couple of frozen loaves of garlic bread from the supermarket and put them in the oven right before it was time to eat.  Along with a tossed salad with a simple oil/vinegar salad dressing recipe I use all the time, dinner was made for 11 people, and there was some cavatelli left over.

There are friends you're just so comfortable around that you can talk about anything easily.  Somehow the topic of Botox came up.  And Botox parties.  And mobile Botox party trucks.  And injections of Juvederm and a host of other mid-life topics.  I don't even know how this all originated except I have only recently become aware of the existence of such things and have been rather curious about their effects.  When I was in my twenties, I thought that when I reached my forties and fifties, I would finally be able to relax about my appearance.  I mistakenly assumed that there would no longer be this pressure to look young, svelte, and...perfect.  But somewhere in the past 20-30 years, it seems that the standards have definitely changed.  I remember when a woman of 50, who could be a grandmother, would still look attractive, but she looked like an attractive middle-aged woman.  She didn't continue to look 30.  Now the checkout aisles are full of magazine covers of celebrities my age and much older who still look the way they did two or three decades ago.  It doesn't seem fair that we women never get to relax.  Not only are these women careful about their diets and exercise regimes, but I discovered a thick magazine in Barnes & Noble that is all about the latest products and procedures and surgeries that even non-celebrities go through in order to still look youthful and flawless.  At what age does this immense pressure to look like the cast of Friends end?  I hate that this exists, that I even think about it, and that my daughters will face this their entire lives.  Anyway, that is sort of what the Botox dinner conversations were about.  Only with good friends can these things be discussed at the dinner table along with politics, religion, and all those other impolite topics.

To finish off dinner, I made these sinful Dark Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars.  Fortunately, they were gone by the end of the evening so there were no temptations for me the rest of the week.  

Dark Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars

Stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  In another bowl, beat (with mixer) 2 sticks of softened butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until creamy.  Add 2 eggs and beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in 1/2 bag of Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 bag of Reese's peanut butter chips.  Spread in a greased baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

As I end this blog post and continue to strive to age gracefully, I share the following quotes that keep me focused on what really matters:

"At the end of the day, you will not remember the person with the most beautiful face, but you will remember the person with the most beautiful heart and soul." (unknown)

"A pretty face gets old, a nice body will change.  But a good woman will always be a good woman."  (unknown)

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."  (Proverbs 31:30)

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile."  (Mother Teresa)

And a heartfelt thankyou goes out to all my friends and family who have blessed me with their companionship over the past few weeks.  You are making winter fly by!