The Art Menagerie.com is where I display images captured while pursuing my hobby, photography.
Black Bean & Sausage Soup
Slow cookers, crock pots make the best soups! Just throw in a bunch of ingredients turn crock pot on high for about 4 hours. This soup is now one of my favorites, it is very tasty and the breakfast sausage spices do not over power the other ingredients, they compliment them. I usually add a…
Apple Oat Flour Cake
Apple cake made with oat flour… Easy to grind your own oats in the processor and less expensive. I threw in about a fourth of a cup of raisins this time, sounded good to me. Also chopped walnuts would be a good stir in too. I frosted the Apple Cake with a little buttercream frosting….
Fudgy Oat Flour Cake
Believe it or not… This cake has prunes in it and you wouldn’t know it by taste. I am thinking the prune butter helps give this cake a fudgy texture. I love prune butter in foldover cookies, on toast etc… You basically can use it like apple butter and it is very easy to make,…
Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can grind your own oat flour, it is cheap and easy. Just put oats in processor and buzz away to a fine flour. I use a magic bullet, I have had for years. Easy to clean too. They are still available to purchase and less expensive then they were over ten years ago. …
Orange Bbq Glazed Chicken
This thrown together recipe really turned out good! I search online for recipe ideas to cook with ingredients I have in the fridge or pantry. Needless to say when I find recipes they will be changed to accommodate the ingredients I actually have. I hardly ever shop for special ingredients, I make due what I…
Zucchini & Meat Sauce
Zucchini is good and it can be used in a lot of different recipes, even in baking muffins and bread. This dish is very simple, quick and easy. You can add other ingredients you have in your pantry or refrigerator to suit your taste; ground beef, ground turkey, mushrooms, onions, green pepper, etc… Zucchini…
Fall & Apples
Fall, my favorite time of the year… The cooler crisp air sneaks right in on you, even in Florida, and it’s a welcome relief from the hot humid summer. Fresh apples are one of the best things I love, puts me in mood for baking my recipes with apples and don’t forget caramel apples and…
Chocolate Oat Flour Brownies
These brownies turned out really good and dense. I like that they don’t have much sugar in them and I am pretty sure the oil can be cut down a bit. I didn’t frost mine, but if you like something sweeter the frosting would hit the spot. Depends on your mood. Chocolate Oat Flour…
Oat Flour Pancakes
Something new for me grinding up quick oats into flour… A great easy alternative to using regular wheat and white flour. Why use oat flour, because it’s very easy to make at home and less expensive than store bought oat, almond, rice etc… flours. I like my pancakes with blackberries (I keep some in the…
Spinach & Green Onion Quiche
This quiche is definitely not low calorie… I usually make most of my quiche’s with soy, almond or lower fat milks, this one is made with a can of table cream. I had the cream in the pantry, I have been wanting to try this cream in a quiche for awhile. I’m happy I tried…
Birthday Cakes
Happy Birthday To You, to her to him to them to it… Raise your hand if you & your family and friends take pictures of birthday cakes before you cut them. ✋ I know I have more photos of birthday cakes , I just have to locate them…
California Medley Pasta Salad
Labor Day, most people think it is the end of summer. I guess it all depends on where you live. Pasta salad is an easy dish to make and take to a picnic, get together, or eat at home. This version is what I made, with the ingredients I had on hand. You can add…
Sausage & Tomato Quiche
Good stuff, Another Quiche… I usually make a quiche with ingredients I already have in the refrigerator. I just make sure I have a pie crust in the freezer at all times. I realize I could make a crust from scratch, but to me it is a pain and more mess to clean up. …
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana and chocolate sounds good to me! This recipe is pretty easy and can be made into a loaf of banana chocolate chip bread, if you prefer… Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 2 cups chocolate chip pancake mix 2 small to medium mashed bananas 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup vegetable type oil…
Pea Salad
This dish is easy and quick, great for a summer holiday or picnic, no cooking and no heating up the kitchen. It can be eaten by itself and also is great on top of a greens salad instead of salad dressing. Need something quick for a luncheon or pot luck, this recipe can be thrown…
Chocolate Oatmeal Brownies
I love oatmeal, I eat a lot of oatmeal so I am always trying to come up with new oatmeal recipes, some are hits and some are misses. Best thing about oatmeal is, it is really good for you. Use it in place of bread crumbs in meatloaf. Have a bowl of cooked oatmeal, add…
Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake
This cake taste like a cream cake that you can purchase at the grocery store bakery, very moist and sweet. I actually made a little too much glaze, as you can see in the photo. Spoon excess glaze on your piece of cake if you have a big sweet tooth. The cake looks like a…
Veggie Cups
Sorta like a quiche but no crust. When you don’t have pie crust in the freezer or you don’t feel up to rolling crust from scratch. Or you just want to consume less calories. These do great, if you have any leftover just pop them in a container or bags and throw in the freezer……
Foodie Kids 4
He is eating mini cheddar rice cakes, and no he didn’t eat the whole container! Actually there was only a few left and some small pieces. Hence, the handling of the container and not just a few rice cakes taken out to be handed to the child. I was surprised to see he enjoyed eating…
Spinach Mushroom Quiche
Can you tell I love Quiche? Quiche is good! Also it is a pretty inexpensive dish to make and you can throw in several different ingredients to suit your own taste. Ingredients I used: Frozen deep dish pie shell 5 ounce package fresh spinach 4 Eggs 1 cup milk (regular, low fat, evaporated canned, your…
Prune Danish
I use my bread machine to mix dough, easier on the hands. The prune butter/filling is made from dried prunes, pretty easy to do if you can’t find the filling in the store. I make the Prune filling in advance, that way it is ready and waiting when you feel like baking. Prune Danish 1/2…
Broccoli Quiche
Quiche is good! Also it is a pretty inexpensive dish to make and you can throw in several different ingredients to suit your own taste. Ingredients I used: Broccoli Quiche 1 deep dish frozen pie crust 4 eggs 1 cup milk 4 ounces shredded cheddar jack cheese 1 cup chopped broccoli 1/4 cup diced onions…
Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
My newest made up recipe… I thought orange and chocolate sound good together, right? It reminded me of those chocolate orange balls you see at Christmas time. These muffins turned out really good, better than I thought. Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins 2 cups chocolate chip pancake mix 1 1/2 cup milk (I used a 12…
Nut Roll
I use my bread machine to mix dough, easier on the hands. Nut Roll Dough 1/2 stick butter softened 1/2 block softened cream cheese (4 ounces/half block) 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup warm milk 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour 1 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar….
Foodie Kids 3
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, yada yada yada now let’s eat cake and ice cream! These two children are the most enthusiastic cake and ice cream eaters I have ever seen. It was a treat to take photos of them, I was smiling the whole time. They never skipped a bite, not…
Vegetable Soup with Butter Beans
I found this recipe on the back of a butter beans can, of course I didn’t follow the recipe. It has been modified to go with the ingredients available in the pantry. The recipe called for two cans of butter beans and more water! Vegetable Soup with Butter Beans 1 can butter beans (approx. 15…
No Bake Cookies
Everybody likes no bake cookies, right? They don’t look that great but they sure do taste good! When I was younger we were only served these cookies at school lunches. I was happy when I found a recipe for them and have been making them for years… At Easter time I shape them like…
Banana Bundt Cake
I like making my banana breads/bundt cake with a baking mix, for me they always turn out better… Banana Bundt Cake 1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana, 2 large 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil 2 2/3 cups baking mix (Bisquick or Jiffy etc…) 1/2 cup…
Chicken Taco Rice Casserole
A friend of mine found the original recipe on the back of rice package. Since then, many years ago, I have passed it on to many people. It seems like everyone who has tasted this recipe, loves it. The reason I say “original recipe” is because it has gone through a few changes. Originally it…
Georgia Peaches…
Good Stuff… Florida has great oranges, but If you want great peaches they need to be from Georgia, and these peaches were sweet and juicy. Plus, they were a great price. Peach Season typically lasts from mid-May to mid-August. The peaches in the photos are a freestone peach, which means the fruit separates from the…
Pumpkin Pie-Cake
It’s not Thanksgiving, but I was in the mood for Pumpkin Pie. I didn’t have all the required ingredients, but I had a pumpkin spice muffin mix in the cupboard. I thought hmm… At first I was just going to make a dump cake with the mix, but I wanted pie! I had a couple…
Tuna Macaroni Salad
Memorial Day Weekend, the official start of summer here… Tuna Macaroni Salad easy to make and tastes extremely better than a store bought macaroni salad. A tasty side dish for picnics, cookouts, grilling out, brai, bbq, whatever you call it in your part of the states or country. Also a crowd pleaser for any…
Foodie Kids 2
The inexpensive way to feed all the kids in the neighborhood a fun summer treat. Freeze pops, Fla-vor-ice, icee, Pop-Ice are basically the same thing they just have a different name, it depends on what part of the country you live. As a matter of fact, many other countries have their own version of this…
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Mother’s Day was for the most part a rainy day, but I had no complaints we needed the rain. I received this beautiful arrangement of flowers in a pretty purple “mason jar” type vase and a half a dozen very large chocolate covered strawberries. Oh yes, and a handmade very colorful card, my granddaughter designed…
Kielbasa & Sauerkraut
This dish is an old favorite and really simple. The only thing I think that has changed, since years ago, are the kielbasa varieties. Now you can choose to purchase kielbasa made with turkey and uncured, without all the preservatives included in the formulas. Kielbasa & Sauerkraut 1 package Kielbasa (approx. 14-16 ounces) 2 cans…
Orange Marmalade Loaf Cake
Orange Marmalade Loaf Cake 3 cups Krusteaz Honey Wheat (or other) pancake mix 1 cup milk 1 Egg 2/3 cup Orange Marmalade Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into the prepared loaf pans 2 loaf pans sprayed with baking spray Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes Cut the loaves lengthwise in half,…
Taco Casserole
I wanted to make something for Cinco de Mayo, but didn’t want to go to the grocery store. I found a few recipes online to get some ideas, so I made this up and used the ingredients I already had in my pantry. My menagerie of ingredients made this a pretty tasty dish. I buy…
Triple Berry Muffins
A package mix, Just add water or milk. Very inexpensive only around a dollar. I always like to try these little pouches. I made a cup of tea and tried one of the muffins while it was still warm, they are pretty good, especially in a pinch, fast and easy. This package is a good…
Lemon Cream Cheese Dessert
Easy-peasy… Lemon Cream Cheese dessert. 4 pack Vanilla pudding cups 4 pack Lemon pudding cups 1- 8 ounce block Cream Cheese, softened 3 or 4 packages Nekot Lemon Cream cookies (enough to line the bottom of pan) I used 2 ceramic loaf pans, I wanted to share one pan. With mixer beat the cream cheese…
Spinach Quiche
Quiche is good! Also it is a pretty inexpensive dish to make and you can throw in several different ingredients to suit your own taste. Ingredients I used: Frozen deep dish pie shell 10 ounce package frozen spinach thawed & drained of any liquid (squeezed out) 4 Eggs 1 cup milk (regular, low fat, evaporated…
Foodie Kids 1
One of the funniest things in life to do is watching people, my favorite people watching activity is watching children eat. I first noticed and started taking photos of children eating about ten years ago. It was at a Mother’s Day Brunch, as I looked around I noticed the kids eating and really enjoying the…
