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All posts by Diane

Chocolate Bark with Coconut Oil

I’ve been experimenting with the coconut oil I received from Tropical Traditions. I found a really simple recipe for chocolate bark.  Yummy cocoa flavor, the oil gives it a mild coconut taste. I used sucanat. You can use any type sugar. It took 20 minutes tops to

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Bean and Ham Soup

Have you ever wondered what to do with that leftover ham bone?   I took my doggies to get a summer haircut. Meet Lily and Emma.I have just finished simmering the bean soup.It smells so good in the house today. It’s chilly outside and a perfect

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Sugar Snap Peas with Fresh Parmesan

I can’t believe it’s Thursday already! Sometimes it feels like there are not enough hours in the day. I usually have to remind myself to slow down… I wanted to post this recipe for sugar snap peas before I left for work today. We had them

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Easy Slow Cooker Short Ribs

I use my slow cooker year round. It’s a little chilly today so instead of cooking the boneless short ribs on the grill I am cooking them in the slow cooker. This is so simple. You can use a bottled sauce or make your own.

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Growing my Easter Center Piece

  We usually have the family over to our house on the holidays. I like to look to the outdoors for things to decorate the table. Pine cones, flowers, twigs, things like that. This year I came across a post on growing Easter grass from regular grass seed. So I

Cabbage Rolls

    It’s my week for my mom to be staying at my house, which makes it a good time to make a big batch of cabbage rolls. I used to love watching my mom make the neat little rolls. I’ve been making them ever

Whole Wheat Brownies

Happy Sunday! I came across this verse from the bible this morning. It is one that reminds me to not be so controlling and worry about everything…who me??? It brings me great comfort and I hope it does the same for you.  “Trust in the

Deviled Eggs

Easter is just around the corner so I am starting to plan my dinner. I like to have a buffet-style dinner. That gives me more time to be with my family. I try to pick things that I can prepare ahead. I am sharing my

Simple Sweet & Tangy Coleslaw

Since today is St. Patrick’s Day I decided to post a recipe using cabbage. Not sure how cabbage got to be a favorite at St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe because of the corned beef and cabbage you hear so much about.  Coleslaw is a summertime favorite

Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

Cabbage has been on sale this week ( $.15 lb ). I decided to look up recipes using cabbage. It also is one of my favorite vegetables. It is high in vitamins K and C. There are several different ways of cooking cabbage. I found

Identifying Different Cuts of Beef and Pork

Identifying Different Cuts of Beef and Pork                           Over the years I have altered what I eat many times. One day you should eat this, then the next day you find out they were wrong and you should not be eating that. Confusing sometimes. For 15

Whole Wheat Snickerdoodle Bars

Whole Wheat Snickerdoodle Bars                                              I’ve been outside today enjoying the 70-degree weather. Starting to clear out all the beds and pull the weeds that are already growing! Even the weeds have flowers. Kind of pretty until they take over the place. I came

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Oven Baked Chicken Breast

I am a big fan out fried chicken. Picking up a bucket of chicken on a Sunday afternoon when you didn’t feel like cooking. Yum! Since I have changed my eating habits, not so much take out chicken. That’s alright because I make this oven baked

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Cooking Whole Grain Brown Rice

I started buying my whole grain brown rice in bulk last year. It saves me money and it’s easy to prepare once you learn how. I confess I was used to making Minute Rice. The cost was so high compared to bulk rice. So I decided I

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Homemade Playdough

Homemade Play Dough I have tried to make playdough at home before with no success. It was a terrible failure and the grandkids were so disappointed. That recipe did not have me heating the ingredients. I decided to look around and came across several different

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Making Vegetable Stock

Pustynny nie odczuwać nie~ Waste not want not…one of my mother’s favorite sayings. “pustynny nie odczuwać nie” (think I have my translation right) is how she would say it in polish. I can still hear her many polish sayings running through my head from time to

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Milling Your Own Grains

I love bread, especially white bread. I know it isn’t the greatest thing to eat, but it is so darn good. As I’ve gotten older things kind of stick with you more then they used to ( if know what I mean ). So as

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Streusel Filled Coffee Cake

Homemade coffee cake is a great way to warm up a chilly winter morning. When my children were young we would make this recipe for coffee cake. They would have so much fun helping me make it. And the best part is they didn’t have