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…
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…
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…
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…
The Art Menagerie
The Art Menagerie.com is where I display images captured while pursuing my hobby, photography.
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…
Baked Rigatoni
Everyone usually has a favorite dish they love to prepare for company, pot luck or family gatherings, this is mine. BAKED RIGATONI SAUCE: 1 pound ground sweet or mild italian sausage browned & drained. 2 – 24 oz jars of spaghetti sauce (your favorite). 1 – 15 ounce can diced tomatoes. 1 small green pepper…
Cinnamon Raisin Rolls
I cut this recipe in half and I also added raisins. I soak the raisins in warm water first to make them softer and plumper. I used about a half cup of soaked raisins, drain before sprinkling over prepared rolled dough. DOUGH 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 2 eggs, room…
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
My favorite cookies are easy peasy with this mix. They come in handy in a pinch.
Broccoli Salad
A simple salad, easy to make and quick. Unlike potato salad or macaroni salad where there is cooking involved. I am sure that there are many different variations of making broccoli salad, the ingredients I use (most of the time): fresh broccoli cut in bite size pieces, real bacon bits, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a…
Hamburger Rolls
Homemade hamburger rolls, my first attempt at making from scratch, with a little help from my bread machine. Who knew it could be so easy! The machine does all the kneading and rising of the dough for you. All you have to do is take the dough out of the bread machine, cut to the…
Blueberry Banana Crumb Cake Loaf
Good stuff… My concoction I made today, Blueberry Banana Crumb Cake loaf. It turned out really good. I hate throwing away really ripe bananas and fresh fruit that I don’t eat fast enough, (when they get a little wilted). Sometimes I throw fruits like strawberries and blueberries in the freezer to use at a later…
Bread Machine – Whole Wheat Bread
Baking home made bread with a bread machine. This is my first whole white wheat loaf. It actually tasted as good as it looked! I cannot lie they all don’t look as pretty as this one, some look flat on top and some don’t rise as much as they should. I can blame some of…
Yes We Have Some Bananas
Two of my banana trees produced fruit. They are said to produce fruit if the trees are at least eighteen months old. Every spring we cut down most of the trees, we keep about seven of the older trees, to see if they will produce fruit. Banana trees grow like weeds. We kept seven trees…
Chocolate Eclair Cake
One of my summertime favorite NO-BAKE desserts. In the past, when the kids were young, I made this dessert all the time. But, back then everything was chocolate, (made with chocolate pudding) it was a big hit at picnics and get togethers. Now, my taste buds have changed, I like it made with vanilla pudding….
Gluten-Free Cookie Mix
Good Stuff… These are really yum… Just follow the directions… I used unsalted butter… I was really surprised at how good this box mix is… And if you like a lot of chocolate chips in your cookies, you will be happy to know this mix has plenty… While these were baking, the smell gave me…
