Category: Simple Recipes


Nov
2021

Our Thankful Day

categories: Family, Simple Recipes

Hoping you all had a blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Ours was quiet, simple, loving, and filled with thanks that the three of us were together once again this year.

The past two months have been filled with worry since my husband’s cancer diagnosis.

Worries from one test to another, from one hospital visit to the next, with faith getting us through each day.

I am so thankful for family support, my sister and brother have been amazing.

Our Thanksgiving meal was a traditional one, turkey, dressing, my husband’s gravy, but with one new recipe, “La Comedia Sweet Potato Souffle”.

La Comedia is a dinner theater in our area that we try to visit once a year with our good family friends. It’s our yearly “triple date”.

They have a wonderful buffet and Sweet Potato Souffle is their most famous entree.

The recipe was so easy and turned out wonderful.

I have the recipe at the end of my post.

You might want to try it for your Christmas dinner.

More scans ahead and then surgery in December, so for now we are taking each day as it comes.

We are so thankful that we have our faith to get us through this terrible time our family must go through, but with God’s help we will.

We do not know the outcome, but with support and love, we move ahead.

Love and prayers to all of you, and your families, take nothing for granted.

La Comedia Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked sweet potatoes (mashed)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 Tsp salt

1/3 stick butter (melted)

1 Tsp vanilla

Mix well , pour into a buttered pan

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup butter {melted}

1 cup pecans

Crumble topping evenly over potato mixture.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes uncovered

Enjoy!


Oct
2018

Caramel Cream Cheese Apple Spread

categories: Autumn, Simple Recipes

There are so many wonderful apples everywhere right now, so today I thought I would share an apple snack recipe.

So simple, just 5 minutes to put together.

Please don’t let the simpleness of this recipe fool you, it is so yummy!

Perfect for a quick afternoon snack, or maybe a light after supper sweet, caramel cream cheese apple spread!

Also would be a great tailgate treat, or an appetizer on Thanksgiving Day.

Peanut butter with apples is usually my husband’s choice of snacks, but this recipe is now also a favorite in our home this time of the year.

So colorful on a plate surrounded by beautiful apples slices.

Simply place a slab of cream cheese on a serving plate, spoon on caramel sauce, and top off with nuts, toffee bits, or a bit of peanut butter granola, our favorite.

I told you it was simple!

Be sure to use a large spoon to make a well on top of the cream cheese so all the caramel sauce doesn’t drip off.

That’s it!

I have also used this recipe in individual mini Ball jars for fall favors, something fun for anyone in your life that deserves a treat!

Fill mini Ball jars with the cream cheese and caramel sauce, top the jar with a beautiful shiny apple, and place in a cellophane bag tied with a ribbon.

A cute, sweet fall gift!

Enjoy!

Sweet love to all you folks on this Sunday!

 

 


Aug
2018

When Life Gives You Lemons…

categories: Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, My Simple Home, Simple Recipes, Summer

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

That is exactly what I did on one of the many very hot days we have had in the past several weeks.

Hard to find anything more refreshing than ice cold lemonade.

A treat for me and hubby when we are sitting together, on our small back porch, which is most days.

Of course, I made a bright beautiful tray out of a thrift store frame, and a lemon filled fabric swatch.

I suppose it does seem as if I am obsessed with making trays.  Maybe so, but they are just so easy and inexpensive to put together, making just a wonderful addition to any table.

The frame I found at the thrift store for $1.00 was large, perfect for my lemonade pitcher and glasses.

A fresh coat of black paint, and simple black screen door handles, completed this summer project.

If I can find a day when my sewing machine doesn’t hate me, I want to make a few napkins out of the remaining lemon fabric.

Lemon print toss pillows, found at Kirkland’s, helped to brighten up my living room for the summer.

The print on the pillows is so wonderful, soft colors!

I like to use toss pillows in the living room, adding color to any season, and they also allow my old outdated wing back chairs look so much better.

To end my “lemon” post, I want to share a recipe I tried from a sweet new cookbook, Magnolia Table, by Joanna Gaines.

I do not buy a bunch of cookbooks, but this one is special.  The recipes are fairly simple, and the photos in the book of Joanna’s farm are lovely.

This lemon pie was so very yummy!  My family loved it!

Definitely a summer dessert.

Here is the link to the recipe.

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, make the best of what you are given, make something good out of a bad experience, turn a negative into a positive.

We are all given bad situations to deal with in this life, but if we ask for God’s blessings, we deal with them, get through them, and move on!

I hope you “squeeze” all kinds of happiness and joy out of this day!

Love to all.

 

 


Aug
2017

Making Fudgesicles and Popsicles!

categories: Simple Recipes, Summer

No little children in our home anymore, just two aging, forgetful, cranky at times, adults.

Doesn’t matter, we still love afternoon treats!

I decided on making some chocolate fudgesicles and very cherry popsicles before the end of summer.

Have you ever read the ingredients on a box of fudgesicles?

Ingredients:

Nonfat Milk, Maltodextrin, Sorbitol, Polydextrose, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Whey, Palm Oil, Contains 1 Percent Or Less Of Each Of The Following: Tricalcium Phosphate, Cellulose Gel, Cellulose Gum, Mono And Diglycerides, Malt Powder, Salt, Guar Gum, Aspartame, Polysorbate 80, Acesulfame Potassium, Polysorbate 65, Citric Acid, Carrageenan, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color, Locust Bean Gum. Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.

Oh my gosh, make your own!

The recipe I am sharing is so easy and so chocolatey.

Here’s the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp corn syrup
  • 1 Tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups of milk

Instructions:

  • Whisk together cocoa powder and sugar in a pan
  • Add corn syrup and vanilla and place over low heat
  • Add milk while whisking constantly until everything is dissolved
  • Pour mixture into 6 molds and freeze until solid

(source of recipe was cincyshopper.com)

For the cherry, really cherry popsicles, I just used a Kool-Aid unsweetened packet adding sugar as directed, but shame on me, I used less water than directed to make the flavor intense. I taste tested as I added the water.

Seriously, they were wonderful!

As kids, we would fill ice cube trays with Kool-Aid to make popsicles, some of you folks might remember.

Now days there are so many different molds on the market that are inexpensive and fun to use. Lots of different shapes.

The one thing I like about using molds is the fact that the stick is plastic.  I hated, and still do, running my tongue across a wooden stick!  Chills!

After my husband finished his very cherry popsicle, I looked over at him and he had bright red lips, as if he had just put away his lipstick. We laughed together.

Where was my camera?

Just a precious “sweet” moment shared.

Don’t let your summer pass without making yummy chocolate fudgesicles and very cherry popsicles.

“Sweet” love to all of you today!


Jul
2017

How to Carve a Watermelon Basket

categories: 4th of July, Celebrate, Simple Recipes, Summer

It’s only the 9th of July, lots of summer still left to enjoy.

I thought you all might need an idea for something to take to a family gathering or cookout.

This is my most popular pin on Pinterest, pinned hundreds of times.

Here are the instructions from a previous post.  http://lovingmynewsimplelife.com/wow-them/

This is seriously so easy to do, and a show stopper on a food table.  Love the scalloped edges!

Can be filled with colorful mixed fruit, or simply cut up watermelon chunks as I did in the top photo.

When putting this post together I thought of my first memory of having watermelon.

I loved to spend time with my grandmother in the summer. There was a truck that would come down the street selling fruits and vegetables, and on one hot day, she grabbed her little black change purse, and we went to the truck and bought a watermelon.  Grandma cut it up, and we enjoyed it that hot summer afternoon.

My oh my, what a sweet memory for me!

Make some sweet memories this summer, and also try carving a “sweet” watermelon basket.

Love you all this July afternoon!

 


Jul
2015

Sunshiny, lemony…..it’s the color Yellow!

categories: My Simple Home, Simple Recipes, Summer

Simple lemonade recipe

Most of my life I have loved the color yellow!

In the past, I have had a yellow front door, and when country decorating was so popular, I had a yellow and white checked, wallpapered kitchen.

Even with changing styles, I have not let go of it!

A pop of yellow!I now have settled for using yellow in my living room and dining area.  The white sofa with the yellow drapes works happily, for me, especially with the floral print on my dining chairs and matching toss pillows.

I think I have mentioned and shown you in the past that I absolutely love toss pillows.  Pillows are an inexpensive way to change and update any room.

Bright yellow pillowsI like to bring other simple yellow things into the room when I can find them.

Found this distressed yellow clock at Hobby Lobby when all clocks were 50% off!

Our home is small and our budget, even smaller! I really cannot do a bunch of decorating and updating in every room, but oh how I have learned to embrace what I have in my home, even the messes.  There is beauty in taking care of what you have, and of course, in appreciating what you have!  It took me a long time to realize that!

Yellow flowering plantDuring my growing process, I know that everything doesn’t have to be perfect in life, or in our homes. Much work to be done on the rest of this life of mine, but today I took a big step by sharing with everyone a bit of my home, feeling proud of it….it is beautiful to us!

Today was a perfect summer day, hot and humid, so I made a pitcher of lemonade, photo above. Tall glasses, filled with ice, and garnished with “yellow” lemons. So refreshing, and a treat for us when taking a break from our yard work.  I have included my favorite lemonade recipe at the end of this post. Invest in a wonderful glass pitcher!

Yellow will always be somewhere in my home, it’s brightness, joyfulness, like bringing sunshine into our lives!

Love you all so much, enjoy some lemonade today!

 

Simple lemonade recipe:

Ingredients:

Bag of lemons squeezed to 1-1/2 cups of lemon juice

1-3/4 cups of sugar

8 cups of water

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and one cup of water.  Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to chill.

Remove seeds from the lemon juice, but leave the pulp.  In pitcher stir together chilled sugar syrup, lemon juice, and remaining 7 cups of water.

Enjoy!


May
2015

Simple Banana Pudding!

categories: Celebrate, Simple Recipes

Whenever my mom’s family got together as I was growing up, there was always a banana pudding on the dessert table.

Thinking of those days, as I often do, I decided I would make one for my family on this holiday weekend, no company, just the three of us!

Instead of a bowl, I used small glasses.  Mason jars would also work and be kinda festive!

I used the mini vanilla wafers, which better fit my small glasses.  Some folks use banana pudding instead of vanilla, or even half vanilla and half banana.

There are many variations of banana pudding out there, but for those who have never made one, this is the really simple recipe that I use.

Ingredients:

2 packages of instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz size)

4 cups of milk

4 small bananas, sliced

1 box Mini vanilla wafers

Cool Whip for the top! (thawed)

Instructions:

Mix the pudding with the milk as instructed on the pudding package.  Refrigerate for an hour or so.  When ready, start layering the wafers, sliced bananas, and then the pudding.  Repeat layers until you get to the top, leaving a little room for the Cool Whip before serving,

Refrigerate any extras.

That’s it!

Hope you all make a yummy treat this holiday weekend!

Let all of us remember our troops and all those who have lost their lives protecting and serving this country we love so much.

Blessings and love!

 

 

 

 


Jul
2014

Simple Pleasures – Thank You Grandma!

categories: Random Thoughts, Simple Recipes

When I was a little girl I loved to spend time with my Grandma, especially in the summer when school was out.

So many special memories of those days, sitting on her front porch just spending time together, taking the bus for a short ride to a grocery store, pulling with us her little rolling cart.   Grandma would always let me pick out my favorite cookies to take back with us.

At breakfast she would give me my very own large cup of coffee, I am sure it was mostly milk, which didn’t matter, I loved it just the same.

I loved Grandma’s cups, and there was always a saucer.

Grandma's Coffee Cups

That was the beginning of my love of coffee, which continues today.

Thank you Grandma, for the simple pleasure of a great cup of coffee.

There are many things that I could give up, even cookies, but giving up coffee would be very, very difficult.

My son and husband also love coffee.  Some of our best just sitting down together times are with coffee.

We also love a little something sweet with our coffee, especially in the mornings.

Here is a simple recipe for “Banana Cream Cheese Bread with Cinnamon Crumb Topping”.

There are no nuts in this banana bread recipe as with most others.  I am not crazy about nuts!

The cinnamon crumb topping adds a special touch.

It is so good, especially warmed with a little butter.

The recipe makes two loaves.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

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Ingredients for the Bread:
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks, 3/4 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Ingredients for the Topping:
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until very light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and bananas.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
4. In a small bowl, mash together the topping ingredients until combined and crumbly.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with the topping.
6. Bake for around 50 minutes until the bread is nicely domed and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pans for 5-10 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack to cool completely.

***************************

The bread is also great on the side with a salad for lunch.

Try it, I know you will like it.  Good for using up those very ripe bananas.

Hope to see my Grandma again someday, I am sure there is coffee in heaven, also cookies, and banana bread.

Take a few minutes today to think about your favorite special times with your Grandma.

Simple blessings to all of you today.

Love your life!  XOXO

 


Jul
2014

Italian Margaritas

categories: Simple Recipes

Added a small table and two chairs to my back porch and I was thrilled when I found a colorful tray for $3.99 at Michael’s at 80% off the original price.

The colors are perfect, bright blue and also the bright green color of my pillows.

The tray matches some summer Margarita glasses that I already had.

Bright green and blue tray and glasses.

The glasses reminded me of one of my favorite adult drinks, Italian Margaritas.

They are a twist on the regular Margarita by adding a shot of Amaretto to the mix.

You can add salt to the glass edge or sugar.  To get the salt to stick to the glasses you first need to moisten the rim with lime juice, and then swirl glass rim in the salt.

I found that the best Margarita mix, which already has the alcohol in it, is the soft packages sold by Daily’s.  I have tried other mixes but this is by far the best.

IMG_0012[1] You can freeze the packs for frozen drinks, or just serve on the rocks.

Love the addition of the small table and chairs to the porch,.

Love my new inexpensive colorful tray.

Love Italian Margaritas, and I love all of you!

Happy Summer!

 

 


Jul
2014

Shortcake Sundae in a Jar

categories: Simple Recipes

Strawberry Shortcake Sundae in a Jar!Strawberries are on sale everywhere, so for dessert last night I made a really easy treat.

I saw an article in People magazine when I was at the hair salon last week, waiting my turn to be transformed into a younger me!

The article featured easy recipes by the folks from the Today Show.

You can tell by the title of this post that the recipe calls for using mason jars, but just a bowl will do!  It looks amazing when completed.

Strawberry Shortcake Sundae!

Here is what you will need:

1 (16 oz.) carton of fresh strawberries, stemmed and hulled

1/2 cup sugar

1 (16 oz) fresh or frozen pound cake loaf, thawed (Sara Lee’s the best)

1 (8 0z.)  carton of blueberries

Vanilla ice cream or vanilla frozen yogurt

Whipped cream or frozen whipped topping

1. Place mason jars in freezer until ready to assemble sundaes.  Slice strawberries into 1/8″ thick slices.  Toss strawberries with sugar in a medium bowl, cover and chill 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2.  Cut pound cake into 3/4″ cubes.

3.  Toss blueberries with strawberries: set aside.  Place 1 scoop ice cream into each chilled jar.  Layer cake cubes evenly over ice cream.  Top evenly with berries.  Repeat layers.  Top each sundae with whipped cream or topping.  Serve immediately or chill up to 30 minutes.

I bought the blueberries, but forgot to use them.  It was good just the same.

This is a really good recipe for summer, no baking, also good for last minute, unexpected guests.

Today is Sunday, the day of rest, so this would be a simple, easy, not much time or work  dessert, for after dinner tonight.

Hope you all have a blessed Sunday, and a joyful, week ahead.

Enjoy!