Wordless Wednesday

Oatmeal Breakfast Cereal

Recipe Makes 1 serving

When I eat Oatmeal Breakfast Cereal, I don’t get hungry mid-morning, and I have plenty of fuel for my new workout program, plus I have enough energy to chase after my grand kids (when their here).....but then I don't have time for the workout program!

Quaker Oatmeal has been clinically proven to be an important source of whole grains and fiber which contributes to heart health. I like that Quaker Oatmeal does not contain fillers and preservatives. The unflavored oats are pure unadulterated oats. This is definitely a healthy food stable that can only benefit anyone’s diet. The nutritional facts gave it an "A"

Ingredients:
1/3 c dry oatmeal unprepared
1/4 c frozen blueberries
1/4 c pecans
1/2 medium apple, sliced, no skin
1/2 T honey
1/2 c skim milk

Directions:
Mix everything together and enjoy

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 265.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 317
Calories from Fat 178

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19.8g

Saturated Fat 1.8g

Cholesterol 3mg

Sodium 53mg

Total Carbohydrates 33.3g

Dietary Fiber 5.1g

Sugars 26.7g

Protein 7.1g

Vitamin A 6%
Vitamin C 12%
Calcium 18%
Iron 5%

Love the new website that BFF gave me that will calculate all this information for you ~ with your very own recipe! http://caloriecount.about.com/

Wordless Wednesday/Happy Birthday Halie

Cabin Progress

The cabin is progressing nicely. The latest additions are the rails for the loft area. Grandpa Jack is spending all summer working. When I see pictures like this I want to jump in the car and head to the canyon. Now that I'm retired.....guess I can do that just about whenever I want to.

Cauliflower & Pea Summer Salad

Cauliflower & Pea Summer Salad

1 head cauliflower broken into small florets

1 bunch green onions chopped

1 10 package frozen peas

1 small can whole cashews

1 package buttermilk ranch dressing

That's it........all you need to do is mix everything together and enjoy.

It keeps well for a couple of days if it lasts that long, before I eat the whole bowl full.

I thought using all of the ranch dressing was going to be to much but it was perfect. What did we ever do with out "Homemade" ranch dressing? Frozen peas right out of the bag are delicious.....who knew you could eat them without cooking them first! I love fresh peas, hate cooked ones! And cashews.........yummy! Seriously I couldn't get enough of this salad.

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

My 4th trip to Craters of the Moon, and I'm thankful it was on earth and not in space. I like adventure and my parents made it a habit of always taking a summer vacation, for which I am very grateful. Craters of the Moon was on our list when I was about 8 years old......1958! It was a side trip on the way to Yellowstone Park (a beautiful National Park). Craters of the Moon was an eerie looking place to me back then and today it is still eerie looking! I certainly don't think I have the adaptation skills it takes to live even one day in this harsh environment. However, our visit was certainly educational....hot....and exhausting for "the girls" the "Dad" was loving it and hated that we had to leave to come back to "the girls" idea of what makes life worth living! I took lots of pictures, so just zoom through them. Then if you feel the need.....make the trek to visit Craters of the Moon yourself someday...........but for Hell sakes...don't wear FLIP-FLOPS! ~Sorry just want you to be prepared~Visitors Center.....Ali read the signs that said SNAKES live here. Not a good idea for girls that hate snakes....that's the 2 of us for sure.

View from the visitors center overlooking the valley


Pretty much sage brush, rocks, and dirt! Lucky for us we saw no snakes!

This is stop #3 on the Loop Drive - Devil's Orchard

This was an amazing shot I got of Ali on top of Inferno Cone.

Ali thought this tree was a little to close to the edge, but after venturing over she could see that the mountain of fine lave continues on and on and on!

A spectacular view from the top of Inferno Cone. I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the top. There were lots of ladies older than I am making it (as in hiking) so................I gave it my best effort~.....lol!

When you first arrive in the parking area of Inferno Cone it looks like there is one tall mountain to climb....not so! When /IF you get to the top of it there is another one right there in front of you. Here Ali is standing on the top of the second peak.... on our way back down!

The next stop is Spatter Cones. This is the trail going up to the cones. It was an easy hike and only took a few minutes to reach the incredible formations.

This is looking down into the cone. It doesn't look all that deep from my picture, but it is!

This is another view into the Spatter Cone

So many volcanic features are up close as you hike each of the trails.

The trail winds through lava flow and what a spectacular view you get from the top of

Spatter Cones.

My dad loves rocks, I took this picture for him. We still have many pieces of volcanic rock in our collections that we have made for many school science projects.

More formations........just to show you I really did hike the trails.

Yes....that is snow in the bottom of the cone. It was dark, deep, and surprising to see snow on a 100 degree August day.

I loved the look of this formation. I thought it kinda looks like an elephant......petrified.

Broken Top......what a name for a volcano formation!

Inside Buffalo caves.....I have no idea who these tourist are, but they were nice to allow their picture to be taken. Ali was getting a little tired of having me snap the camera.

The Caves Trail................total desolation! Give me the city life.....girl! I call the bug man when we have ants and earwigs! Get my point??

From the car window....The Caves Trail formations

Ali was so sick and tired of me taking pictures and her dad yelling at her, because.....she wore flip flops! She wonders why he wears hiking boots...........everywhere.............always!

I begged for a smile....these formations are HOT....well not anymore, but I bet they were 2000 years ago.

More of the same "Old" stuff. The trail winds around seas of lava which leads you to an underground world of a lava tube. For this you need sturdy shoes ...............not flip flops "Girl".

Entrance to "Dew Drop Cave"

Inside Dew Drop Cave...bring your flash light and DON'T WEAR FLIP FLOPS

Indian Tunnel....where are the pretroglyphs?

Boy Scout Cave Entrance

The Boy Scout cave contains ice all year round, the floor is covered by ice and often water too. As snow melts on a warm spring day, the runoff seeps through the cracks and the crevices of the lava and drips into the tube below. Once inside the cold air within the caverns causes the water to freeze again. On this warm summer day the "100" degree temperature cause some of the ice to melt.............along with the tourists!

Beauty Cave....

The walls of Beauty Cave are completely in the dark once you are away from the entrance of the lava tube.

The brochure from the visitors center said there are more than 660 types of plants living in this barren landscape. I think this cute little flower is a mini carnation.....probably I made that name up because I have no idea what it is really called.

There are fields and fields of them growing. So if you know their name....go ahead and leave me a comment. I'd be ever so thankful for the education lesson. For now I'll just call them mini-carnations in a dangnation of hard dirt!

Back to civilization as we leave this weird but scenic world of the craters behind us......

Wordless Wednesday - Movie Location

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing

Apparently there is a story behind the "Red Velvet Cake.....According to legend red velvet cake was invented in the 1950s at Oscar's in New York's Waldorf-Astoria. However, Raven Dennis of Cake Man Raven Confectionery (whose recipe we adapted) claims red velvet cake originated during the Civil War, and that southern ladies made it "to keep their husbands home."

I found a recipe for this delightful dessert in my recipe file box from High School. I even wrote the recipe in red ink! We had so much fun putting it together. The frosting is worth every one of the calories......I don't even want to know how many there are!

I'm posting the recipe mostly for my own benefit. My blog is a quick recipe book for me. Here we go:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.

CAKE: 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 T cocoa unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup butter milk

2 T liquid red food coloring

1 t white distilled vinegar

1 t baking soda

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl beat the butter until soft, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, making sure everything is well blended. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add red food coloring to the cup of buttermilk and whisk until blended.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and level the tops. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and allow cakes to completely cool. Once their are completely cool, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This is done to make frosting the cakes easier.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 - 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 8 ounce tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

Beat together the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioner's sugar and blend until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add powdered sugar enough to sweeten to your taste. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages.

Place one of the cake layers on your platter and cover with frosting. Place the top cake layer and continue frosting the top and sides of the cake.

Makes one - 9 inch double layer cake

Sunday Grounds Crew

Ogden Raptors Jerry Sands and Brian Cavazos-Galvez take a few minutes to clean-up the outfield after Jerry took a huge divet of turf with him as he dove for a ball.

If you have never been to a minor league baseball game, I think you are missing something great. We are in our 13th season as a host family for the Ogden Raptors. Anyone who really follows baseball knows it is a very long way to the top and at the 'Rookie' level finding affordable housing can be a challenge itself. Being a host family gives us an opportunity to make life a bit easier for players who are working so hard every day to someday make the big league roster.

Brian is living with us this season and what a delight it has been. We may be a little biased, but we think he is by far the MVP of the team. Of course other host families will have an argument with that, but Brian is "Tops" with us!

If there is a minor league team anywhere close to your home ---- get to the ball park it may change your life.

Cajun Black Bean Burger

Why oh why can't I simply blog.....? I think about it, I even read other blogs....but I haven't been able to put my thoughts together to post like I really would like to. Food is easy enough for me to blog about. I'm in the kitchen for hours at a time and today we (me...being we) put together a new vegetarian burger. Ali tried it, and said it passed ...but she hates corn, unless of course it is fresh from the farmer and still on the cob!

We had plenty of new cucumbers and tomatoes in the garden today. DIL's mom had zucchini so we had a nice garden fresh dinner tonight!

Joke of the day in Utah: "If you see someone buying zucchini in the store....they don't have any relatives or friends!" Thank goodness I have both.

Here's the new recipe:

Ingredients:

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained

1 orange, red, or yellow pepper finely chopped. Today I had an orange one

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp Cajun spice blend

1/2 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute onion, pepper, carrot, and corn in olive oil until done. About 5 -7 mins.

Combine sauteed vegetables with black beans and mash. I used my small food processor hoping the corn would be disguised but no luck with that! Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Use your hands to blend it all together. It needs to hold it's shape when you put it on the grill.

Shape into patties (I got 8 out of this batch). Refrigerate for several hours.

Place on a greased foil lined hot grill until browned on outside, both top and bottom. By cooking them on foil you can get a seared crust so they don't fall through the grill. Cook for about 3 mins. on each side. Then put them straight on the grill, brushing the patties with a little olive oil so they don't stick to the grill. Top with your favorite condiments. I think this is a keeper!

Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July