My Mom's Spaghetti sauce

Ever since I was very small, my standard answer when asked what was my favorite food,  my Mom's spaghetti was always my answer. It would still be my answer today. In fact, every time I make her sauce, memories of her seem closer. I love how we can tie memories to smells and tastes. I think that is a gift from God- little reminders of someone who has passed.
Anyways, here is my very favorite spaghetti sauce recipe!

My Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
2  cans (12 oz) tomato paste
2 envelopes Italian style spaghetti sauce
3 cups water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf

Cook ground beef, onion, and bell pepper until meat is brown. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover; and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Japanese Chicken Fried Rice and Ginger Sauce- a Benihana knock-off

One of my family's very favorite places to eat is Beninhana- it is a Japanese restaurant that has the cook station at your table, and the chef comes out and turns your dinner into a show to watch. Our favorite thing to eat there is the Chicken Fried Rice. It is so yummy! I watched very carefully the last time that we went there and then came home and searched online for a recipe. So this version is a mash up of all the different recipes out there, and what I observed while at Benihanas. This came so very close to the real deal. It was inhaled by my family. We will be having this often!

Japanese Chicken Fried Rice and Ginger Sauce
3 cups uncooked Minute Rice, cooked and cooled
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2-3 carrots, finely diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
5-6 green onions, finely diced
2-3 eggs, beaten
Butter
1-2 tsp minced garlic
Soy sauce
Sesame Seeds
One lemon- you will need to squeeze about 2 wedges over the rice

In a large frying pan over medium heat, scramble your eggs, add salt and pepper to taste. Chop them into tiny pieces as you are cooking. Remove from the heat. Add 1 Tbsp butter and cook your veggies until the onion is soft.  Add several Tbsp of butter, garlic, eggs, chicken and rice. Cook and stir until everything is heated through and thoroughly combined. Add the soy sauce and squeeze the lemon over the rice. I can't give a quantity of the soy sauce- it really is to taste. Some people are more sensitive to the saltiness than others. Remove from heat and shake the sesame seeds over the top before serving. We like to eat this with the Ginger sauce drizzled on top- it just adds so much flavor!

Ginger Sauce
1/2 onion
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
Place all in a food processor or blender and blend until you have a chunky sauce.

Zucchini Bread

The past few years, I have been getting a lot of my new recipes from the internet- blogs and Pinterest, mainly. However, my very favorite way to get new recipes are from people that I know. Those are the best ones. You know the person and you can trust the outcome. This is from a friend of my husband. He is actually one of his co-workers, and he used to own a restaurant. Thank you to Al for sharing your recipe, and thank you to my dear friends, the Teaford family who shared from their garden this enormous zucchini!

Zucchini or Carrot Bread
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Combine and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix together:
3 beaten eggs
1 cup melted margarine or oil- or 1/2 of each (I did 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup oil)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini or carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained well
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, until well combined. Preheat your oven to 350°. At this point, you can make your batter into a bundt, loaves or muffins. For a bundt and loaves- pour your batter into greased and floured pans. You will have enough batter for one bundt or two loaves. Bake for 60-70 minutes. For muffins- use paper liners, fill cups approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 35 minutes, makes about 2 1/2 dozen muffins.

Baby Blanket- Faux Chennile

I found a tutorial at Aesthetic Nest for a faux chenille baby blanket that I fell in love with. I was just waiting for the perfect person to make one for. When my sister announced that she was pregnant, I knew that it was time to make this adorable blanket.

If you do make a faux chenille blanket, do your hands a big favor and buy a chenille cutting tool! It is so worth the money and time!

Alligator Baby Shower

My sister is having a boy this fall! This is their first child, and the entire family is super excited! I have been working on getting her shower together and making a sweet little baby blanket as a gift, that I haven't really thought much about the blog. Thankfully, life is slowing down a bit and I can share with you her alligator baby shower!
My sister-in-law and I made this awesome motorcycle diaper cake- it was very easy to put together, we just followed the tutorial at sweetaprils.com. I couldn't find a large enough alligator to "drive" the motorcycle, so Mr. Lion got the job, and the biggest alligator that I could find got to ride on the back! I think it turned out really cute!

We made a clothesline full of onsies, one for each month of the baby's first year.

We made these individual veggie dip cups, which eliminated any double dipping, unless it was in your own cup!

We had these delicious cake pop's made by a very special friend.

She also made these cute owl favors!

We had so much fun celebrating the newest boy to be added to our family!

Potato, cheese and Onion Enchiladas

My husband and I are on the tail end of eating vegetarian for a week. It has been easier than I thought it would be. It gave me the chance to dig out old recipes and try them again. This is one such recipe. It has been sitting in my recipe binder for forever, bypassed for more exciting and newer recipes. No more! I really like these enchiladas because they are cheap. They are also really tasty, but there are weeks when I need a little wiggle room in the ole' grocery budget! Potatoes, tortillas, cheese, green onions and tomato sauce- all cheap ingredients. Give this one a try when you need a different recipe and when you need a cheap meal in a tight week!

Potato, Cheese and Onion Enchiladas
4-6 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2- 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 Tbsp oil
12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chili powder (Yes I said 1/4 CUP!)
1/2 cup water
12 - 8 in. flour tortillas
Fully cook potatoes in boiling water until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Transfer to a large bowl, and combine the potatoes with half of the cheese, all the onions and the salt. Mix well. Taste and add more salt if needed. In a sauce pan, combine tomato sauce, oil , chili powder and water. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes on low. Preheat oven to 350°. Spoon enough of the sauce into a sprayed 13 x 8 inch baking dish so that it covers the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Using a pasty bush, brush the sauce on one side of a tortilla, place 1/3- 1/2 cup of the potato mixture in the center and roll up. Place in prepared dish. Continue until you have filled the pan. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Serve with any desired toppings- sour cream, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce.

Star Studded Mini Pies

I know this is a little late for the 4th of July, but these little pies are so good, I couldn't wait to put them on here. I have made these treats two years in a row for the 4th of July celebration. They are so tasty! Perfect size and super delicious! I imagine your could even do mini pumpkin pies with leaves cut out for Thanksgiving! The possibilities are endless!

Star Studded Mini Pies
(Recipe from Our Best Bites)
2 boxes refrigerated pie crust
Canned pie filling
2 T butter, melted
1/4 c granulated sugar
Preheat oven according to pie crust recipe. Roll out your pie crust so it is fairly thin. Using a cookie cutter, or a cup with about a 3 1/2 inch diameter, cut out circles of dough. Place each dough circle center in one of the mini-muffin tin wells. The edge should over-hang a little. Gently roll the edge down with your fingers and then crimp it so it looks pretty. Using a spoon, fill each mini pie a little over half full with filling. Roll out more dough to cut your stars. Use a star cookie cutter that is about 2 inches across. Cut your stars out. Dip the stars (both sides) in butter and then dredge in the sugar. Place a star on top of each little pie. Bake your pies for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.