whats cookin in my kitchen

So if you've ever read my blog you know I usually love to cook and bake. And that I love Pinterest. And well lets admit it The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. Love her!! And her cook books! Ohhhh Ahhhh.  Plus I just love to try new recipes. I get bored with the same old some old. Yawn.
I'm not creative enough to create my own recipes, and I don't have time for that either.  That said I recently made Pioneer Woman's Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice! Soooo good! I never would have thought to put pineapple in my fried rice.
If you want the recipe go check it out on her blog, or buy her cookbook! I love how her recipe's are for a crowd. I have a family that loves to eat. A LOT.
Here's a couple pics to tempt you :)

Rice on the left frying the rice part. The pineapple that is pan fried in the back. and on the right are the pork chops cooking in a yummy sauce.

 Pineapple Fried Rice. It's so good. If you like pineapple. And that just so happens to be my favorite fruit. Fresh pineapple, not the canned stuff.

Here it is on the plate. I'm working on my food picture taking skills, or lack there of... it looked better in real life! LOL!
I served it with a fresh green salad. So good!
Have a great day ya'll!

good quote

"The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence."
Denis Waitley

whats cookin in my kitchen

I don't know if I've ever shared this before. But I'm going to. Again, maybe I don't remember!  Grape Nuts. They are easy, but a bit time consuming to make. But so worth it. They are so good. Cooked, in yogurt, homemade yogurt of course! Or just in a bowl of milk. Or just by the handful out of the container they are in!
Here is how to make them. I hadn't made them in a while, so when I did and then ate them I was back in love with them. Plus they are homemade and have none of the bad stuff in them! I don't even know where I found/got the recipe.

Whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda. Mix in a bowl.

Add. Butter milk, vanilla, butter, and maple syrup, then mix until all the dry is wet. Press it into some 9x13 pans and bake it for about 35 minutes at 350. Then when it's cooked let it cool then,

Break it up and blend in in the food processor until it's kinda crumbly. See the chunk in the processor? Then the loose stuff under in the pan?

The pan on the left is baked, and cooled. It looks like an ugly cake. The one on the right has been through the food possessor. Once you have it all crumbled it needs to cook for another hour at 250, being stirred every 15 minutes.  Once that is done it's hard like grape nuts and lightly sweet!

There it is. All cooked and ready to eat.

Have a great day ya'll!!

sunrise

Here is a beautiful sunrise on the farm. My oldest daughter took it through her bedroom window! She didn't want to go out yet, but thought it was pretty. I do too.
She is getting quite good at taking pictures.

Have a great day ya'll!!

the family 2016

Well now that Christmas is over and the New Year is here!! YAY! maybe things will slow down. Hardy har har. That even makes me laugh!
But really. I've been busy with farm chores, cooking, cleaning, home school and laundry.  Just the normal everyday stuff. :)
The weather has been good here. Not real cold and only a little snow.  Enough for the kiddos to bomb around the fields on the snowmobile. Personally I'm loving the mild winter we are having. Last winter was well...not enjoyable.
So this year 2016 we are looking ahead and making plans. Not sure what will happen as the year goes on but we have some plans. I hope it works out for us. Hoping to make some improvements on our haying, raising some more critters, hopefully adding some turkeys to our list of animals! And a nice garden... as opposed to last years disaster. I need to look into getting rid of snails. Wow did we have some last year. I've never had that problem before. Any natural suggestions? I'm not into chemical spraying.  I've been looking at Pinterest to see what I could find too. Hopefully something will work out. 
The cows are doing well. The hay feeder is just wonderful! They are not waisting hay! The horses are fat and lazy. Per usual. Belle is just a wonderful addition to our farm. She has a huge heart and loves to "help" with everything. Sometimes she is not so helpful. LOL. She is very much loved here. And her herd instincts have really kicked in too. Now that she is getting older (9mo) I need to figure out how to get her to obey herd commands and teach her those. She is real smart and seems to know.
The kiddos are great too. Growing and eating lots! They keep me busy in the kitchen, and doing laundry! Home school is going well. I just wish they would not grow up so fast.
The man and I are well too. We are moving the farm along best we can, and making improvements/changes here and there. Funny, the longer we farm the more we think of things to make better or easier!
Well I'm signing off for now. Gonna chillack with my girls and watch a movie!
Have a great day ya'll!!