Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am a huge fan of the blog Comfy in the Kitchen. Her recipes are easy and homestyle, which I love. Janelle has a wonderful food ministry and is a Christian wife and mother. This recipe is from her blog. I'm always on the search for the perfect recipe and this one is it! Not one cookie was left over and they were gone in about 3 days. That's amazing in this house!

The only changes I made to the recipe was that I used milk chocolate chips and that I made my cookies a bit smaller using a cookie scoop, so I got about 24 instead of 18. The bake time was the same. These cookies were soft, which I prefer my cookies to be. I failed to take a picture of these beautiful cookies, but if you visit Janelle's blog, you can view a photo there.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (18-24 cookies)

2 1/2 c all-purpose Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375
Combine flour, baking soda and salt..set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugars, vanilla, and pudding mix. Beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour. Place heaping Tbsps of batter onto un-greased cookie sheet and bake until golden appx 10-12 mins. Take out of oven and let sit 2 mins on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Christmas in JULY!!

My new sign for Christmas

My Celebrating Home Consultant is cleaning out her "case" and had this goodie up for sale. I love it and thought it would make a great addition to an evergreen wreath.

Happy Christmas in July!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Cousins

Yesterday, we took the kids and their cousins to a nearby amusement and water park. Our niece and nephew live a few hours away, so it was a rare opportunity for all of the cousins to get together for some fun. The above photo is for my MHH friends! Happy Christmas in July!

After a long day in the wave pool, we snapped some pics of our boys....



...and our girls waiting for pizza!




Walking to the water park section








We stopped at one of our favorite ice cream shoppes for a snack before heading home.




Thanks for stopping by!



~peace and blessings~

Lisa

The Retaining Wall

The area where the retaining wall will be placed.

The wall in progress

J using the skidsteer to backfill the wall.

The wall is just about complete and steps are installed. Next step: sidewalks!

Thanks for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, July 25th

Welcome to Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie. It looks like the massive heat wave is going to retreat for part of the week. What a relief! When it's that hot I don't feel like cooking or eating. Here's our plan:

Sunday~Crescent Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Green Bean Bake

Monday~Beer Battered Fish, Pierogies Au Gratin, Salad

Tuesday~Amusement Park Day

Wednesday~Homemade Pizza and Tossed Salad

Thursday~Cheeseburgers, Waffle Fries and Baked Beans

Friday~Mountain Pies

Saturday~Grilled Hot Dogs with choice of Toppings, Steakhouse Potato Salad, Baked Beans

Thanks for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Cream Cheese Croissant Squares

I made this yummy treat for our Sewing Group. They were very good and well received. Rich, but not over the top!

Cream Cheese Croissant Squares

2-(8-oz.) cans Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Directions
1 Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll 1 can of dough; place in ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Press in bottom to form crust; firmly press perforations to seal.

2 In medium microwave-safe bowl, combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Microwave on HIGH for 30 to 45 seconds or until warm. Stir cream cheese mixture until smooth; spread evenly over dough in pan.

3 Unroll second can of dough on work surface. Press to form 13x9-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Carefully place over cream cheese mixture.

4 In small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle with pecans. Pour melted butter evenly over dough.5 Bake at 375°F. for 20 to 27 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve warm or cool. Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Linking up to Feasting in Fellowship Friday at Comfy in the Kitchen!

~blessings~

Lisa

Little Dresses for Africa

Create your own digital collage

We gathered today to sew some dresses for girls in Africa. The dresses are very easy to sew, even for a beginner like myself. We made 7 dresses in little over 2 hours. We'll meet again in August to sew a few more. The website is www.littledressesforafrica.org

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Colbie Callait

I just bought this cd and love listening to it in the car. I highly recommend it. If you visit her facebook page, you can print a coupon to buy it at Best Buy for 7.99.

Here's a video of her song Brighter than the Sun

Menu Plan Monday, July 18th

It's looking like a hot, busy week in our household. Here's the Menu Plan for this week:

Sunday~ Spaghetti and Homemade Meatballs, Salad and French Bread

Monday~Citrus Grilled Turkey Cutlets, Salad and French Bread

Tuesday~ Tacos with the fixings, Mexican Rice and Corn

Wednesday~ Slow Cooker Steak with Gravy over Noodles, Green Beans

Thursday~BBQ Jack Chicken, Steakhouse Potato Salad and Fruit Salad

Friday~Pizza and Grilled Wing Zingers

Saturday~Camping!

~Join in the linky party at Finding Joy in My Kitchen~

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I baked this bread today. It's very moist and delicious. I just love the cinnamon swirl in the middle of the loaf. I used to make this bread in the bread machine, but thought it would be neat to attempt it by hand. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread



1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
GLAZE:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. Punch dough down.

On a lightly floured surface, divide in half. Roll each into a 15-in. x 7-in. rectangle. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle with water. Starting with a short side, roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam side down, in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves.

Enjoy!

~blessings~

Lisa

Our Weekend

On Friday, John and I celebrated 16 years of marriage. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband to share this journey called life. On Saturday, we attended the wedding of our friend's daughter. We've know her since she was 8 years old...

Above is a picture of the beautiful bride Heather and her groom, David.

Joe and Elaine, parents of the bride.

John, Virgil and I are at the reception. It was soooo hot!

Drinks in at the club house before the reception

We were also able to do some shopping during our weekend at the Prime Outlets. I got to visit my favorite home store....Kirkland's! I bought the arrangement above for the mantel, but it is too tall. It may just stay on the hearth. The colors are perfect. I also picked up a nightlight and a mat for the porch with a monogram. I just love monograms!

Thanks for stopping by!

peace and blessings,

Lisa

Another Garden Added

The second part of the back porch border garden is in now. Above is the Oak Leaf Hydrangea and some hosta on the side.

The red flowers are Astilbe. In the center is a Bleeding Heart plant and the plant on the right is a perennial geranium. Soon the lattic will cover the stuff under the porch.

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, July 4, 2011

It's another busy summer week here in my little corner of the world. Here's our plan for dinner:

Sunday~Philly Cheesesteaks and Macaroni and Cheese

Monday~Grilled Kielbassi Sandwiches, Baked Potato Salad, and Baked Beans

Tuesday~Hamburgers, Foil Packet Potatoes and Salad

Wednesday~Ham Steaks, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy and Green Beans

Thursday~Summer Sub Sandwiches, Chips and Fresh Fruit

Friday~Our 16th Anniversary~Dinner Out

Saturday~Wedding Reception

Have a week full of blessings!

~PEACE~

Lisa

Funfetti Cookies

Miss M and I made Funfetti cookies for the Fourth of July. They were easy to make and a yummy sugard cookie! The recipe is at the end of the post.

Miss M adding the sprinkles to our frosted cookies.



The finished product!

Funfetti Cookies

1(18.9-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Funfetti® Cake Mix

1/3cup oil

2eggs

1/2(15.6-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Funfetti® Vanilla Frosting.

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

2. Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

3. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.

Enjoy!

~Peace and blessings~

Lisa

More plants!

Uncle Sam hiding out in the deck planter

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

A closer look at the foliage and flowers



Other plants for the shade garden include hostas, astilbes, geraniums and a white bleeding heart plant.

I'll post pictures when they are planted later today or tomorrow.

~Peace and Blessings~

Lisa

Herb Garden

Another free photo collage by Smilebox

The herb garden is finally in the ground! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to get the border put around it and the lattice up along the decking to hide the mess behind it. We planted Echinacea, Black Eyed Susans, two types of Bee Balm, Lemon Balm, Curly Parsley, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Cilantro, Basil, Lavender, Thyme, Garlic Chives and Chives. I think that's it! I can't wait to start using them in my cooking!

~BLESSINGS AND PEACE~

Lisa