Very Proud

This past Tuesday Josh, my oldest grandson was sworn into the Marine Corp. We are so proud of him but miss him very much.

The picture above is Josh and his good friend Jared who also joined. They all look sooooooooooooooo young.

This is a picture of him and his recruiter just before they got on the shuttle to go to airport.

This was taken the night before while we were having dinner. He wanted to have his last steak dinner. :)
This is at the airport, having to say good bye was very hard. And this is Josh sending his last text. They are not allowed to take their phones, oh the withdrawal they will all have. LOLJosh will graduate in October and of course the whole family will be there in CA. Again we are sooooooooooooooo Proud of him and can't wait to see him again.
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day and upcoming weekend. I'll be back early next week with some new recipes.
Remember to Find the Time to Do All the Things YOU LOVE.
Donna

Filled Banana Muffins

 
This was an experiment.  Think I'll have to try them again because the filling was not thick enough to stand on its own.  But I must say they were sure tasty.
I found this recipe here but altered it quite a bit.
Cream Cheese Filled Banana Muffins

filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened *next time I will use 6 oz.*
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
muffin batter:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup milk (used 2 %)
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
 In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, and egg. Put bowl in refrigerator while you make the muffin batter.
 In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, milk, yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl filled with flour mixture then stir with wooden spoon just until the mixture is combined.
Spoon enough batter into muffins cups so that they are just under halfway full.  Add one spoonful of cream cheese mixture into each cup, then top with remaining muffin batter.  Muffin cups will end up being almost completely full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.  Check after 20 minutes, muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
  Enjoy!
When I try them again I'll post some pictures.

 

I really wanted to be able to see the cream cheese when you bit into them but it seemed to just cook into the muffin.  Think if I make the mixture thicker it will be better.  They do taste very good though, moist and lots of fiber too.

Thanks for stopping by,  have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to Do All the things You love.

Donna

Tomatoe Basil Pizza......YUM

This is a simple, but delicious dish.  The pizza crust recipe is the best I've found.  The topping is simple.

Dough

BEST PIZZA

1 1/2 cups very warm water

2 teaspoons yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

16 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) bread flour

3 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) semolina flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tsp. olive oil

you will also need:

a food processor or Kitchen Aide type mixer

about a tablespoon of olive oil

a large bowl

Instructions:             Makes 2 Medium Pizzas

Using your food processor or mixer,   Place very warm water (about 115), yeast and sugar in food mixer stir.  While most recipes will tell you to use lukewarm water when making yeast dough, I find that by the time you take hot water, put it into a measuring cup and then into a food processor, it has cooled significantly.  I always use water that is almost too hot to the touch, and have always had great luck with this dough.  Let sit while you measure out the dry ingredients.

After 2-3 minutes you will see small bubbles forming in the liquid in the food processor, which indicates that your yeast is working.  Dump in the dry ingredients and turn on the food processor.  The machine will go all the work, including the kneading.  After about a minute the dough should form into a ball going around in your food processor.  Open the machine and take a look.  If you think the dough is too wet, you can add a bit a flour, but know that too wet is better than too dry, and the dough will loose some of its stickiness as it rises.

Place about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large bowl.  Take the dough out of the food processor or mixer (putting a little olive oil on your hands will keep it from sticking) and form it into a ball.  Place in the bowl and turn to lightly coat with the olive oil.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm, draft free place for about an hour or until doubled in size, before rolling out and baking.  For a crust with a perfect pizzeria taste and texture, I recommend baking on a pizza stone in a very hot oven (500 - 550EF for about 10 -12 minutes.   You can store this dough in the fridge for up to 5 days.  Just take out and let it come to room temp before baking.

 Topping:

Fresh Basil rough chopped.

you can use either fresh tomatoes sliced and arranged on top, or use you favorite sauce.  I also put dollops of cream cheese before covering completely with mozzarella cheese.

Looks Delish...right?  It does really taste as good as it looks. 

Hope you'll try this.  Let me know if you do.

Thanks for stopping by,  have a wonderful weekend and Remember to Find the Time to do ALL the things YOU love.

Donna

 

New York Trip

I recently went to New York and had a wonderful time.  One big disappointment though, we planned our trip around my granddaughters  dance performance which unfortunately was postponed due to rain and they rescheduled two days after we returned home.  BUMMER.  My daughter in law filmed it so I will get to see it soon.  :)
Here are some pictures from our trip.
This is my sister in law and her son.  He lives UpState

This is my sister in law, her daughter, her grandson and her daughters boy friend.  Her daughter lives upstate NY.

This one  is my my sister-in-law Winnie sitting  in a favorite spot at one of the hotel's we stayed at on Long Island.  She sat out there to smoke.

 This is us having lunch at a very nice place in Little Italy, NYC

 Around Time Square Area,,,,, My daughter in laws parents, my son in law (right) his son, (my grandson) in front of him and my granddaughter.

 

Myself, my daughter (left) her son, my daughter in law and my granddaughter.  We were outside the Hard Rock Cafe.

 The gang .  The gal on the far right is my other sister in law and the guy in the maroon shirt is my brother in law.  The tall skinny redheaded kid is my oldest grandson....my daughters son.

The subway.  We took several rides on the subway.  Quite the experience.

 This last one was a had to take it.  We had just had lunch in  Lil Italy and were strolling back to the subway when we saw this -------------------------------->

Only in NY......hahahahahaha!
Well hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Will be posting some new recipes the end of the week.  Have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to DO ALL the things YOU LOVE

Kansas Sunset

Hi All,
Sorry it's been a while since I've posted.  Life has been busy.  I just returned from a trip to New York.  Got to spend time with old friends and family.  Was wonderful.
I will post some pictures tomorrow of some of the visits, but for now here are some photo's I took when we returned home last week.  The sunsets in KS can be so breathtaking.
 Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful Holiday and be safe.  Remember to find the Time to do ALL the things YOU love.

Donna