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Monday, May 2, 2011

Blueberry Scones, Chili and What We Did Today

I've just tucked my kids into bed and am ready for a little quiet blogging time before my husband, Jamie, gets home from work.  The kids and I are all feeling very accomplished today as we got a lot done and each had an enjoyable day.  I'm hoping that Jamie will have had a happy day as well!
First thing this morning, I cut up two cantaloupes and served them in my new cabbage bowl.  I found this at a yard sale in Pendleton, Oregon Friday when I was visiting my mom.  I saw one similar on a blog a couple weeks ago and loved it!  (In case you're wondering:  one cantaloupe fits in the bowl.  I served everyone and then cut up the other one for the fridge! :)

Then I cut up a bunch of fruit and vegetables so we will actually EAT them while some of the kids played a fun game they made up.

They made paper pizzas and opened their own pizza shop. 

The living room was trashed but they had a lot of fun!

After I finished my produce-cutting adventure, I made 3 batches of blueberry scones.  Two batches will be eaten at breakfast tomorrow while one went into the freezer.  Recipe at the end of the post...

Avalon said, "Take a picture of me, Mom."  After I took it she said, "Me see Avi."

Then, because the kitchen wasn't quite hot enough, I decided to make 5 loaves of banana bread!  Recipe is Betty Crocker's...just a basic one.  All of these went in the freezer.

While the bread was baking, I made the rounds with my camera again.  Here Avalon is feeding her baby some cereal in her high chair.

Cainan is making more messes pizza...

Elisha's got his pizza baking on books from the kids' bookshelf.

A Ha!  Here's Miss Lynzie Mae, the dedicated artist, busy copying a painting from an encyclopedia.  She spent the afternoon in the kitchen working on her paintings.

I believe Michael said this was a Papa Murphy's Cowboy Pizza....

More by Lynzie...

Oh!  More by me too!  I made chili and cornbread for dinner.  Cornbread recipe came from the side of the box but I'll put my chili recipe at the bottom of the post too.

Avalon said, "I just LOVE tornbed!" (That would be "cornbread")

Because we had some strawberries in the freezer, I decided we needed a quick batch of strawberry jam to go with our cornbread!  You can make this delicious freezer jam in 15 minutes!  You can find my easy tutorial here

After I got all the other little ones to bed, I had a chance to go in and look at the paintings Lynzie did today.  This is her favorite of her hero, George Washington.  Looking good, Lynzie!

I love being a homemaker and am so thankful for the opportunity to be home with my kids and care for my family.  This beautiful day in the life of our family was made possible by the selfless sacrifices of:

and ultimately, the Lord Jesus.  Thank you, God, for this blessed life!

Blueberry Scones

(makes 8 scones)

1 cup blueberries or other fruit
1/3 c. + 2 Tb. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, in cubes, slightly softened
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk **TIP: (I mix a couple TB. of bottled lemon juice with regular milk and let it sit about 10 min. for easy cheater buttermilk)

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar (I used coarse decorator sugar)

Preheat oven to 400.

Sprinkle bite-sized fruit with 2 TB sugar; set aside.

Mix the rest of the  sugar with the flour, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, mix in the butter until it looks crumby...(not CRUMMY...there's a difference!! :)  Stir in fruit and then buttermilk.
 

When it's all mixed together, set it in a big blob on a cookie sheet and form it into some semblance of a circle about 3/4 inch thick or so.  Cut into 8 wedges and either space them out on the sheet or bake them in the cut circle and recut on the lines after they're baked.  Sprinkle with coarse or regular sugar.  Bake 15 minutes or until golden in places and no longer doughy.


Chili


(makes about 10 servings...you can half this or freeze the remaining if you don't need this much)


6 cans beans (We like to use black beans)
2 cans refried beans
1-2 pkg. taco seasoning
1/2 c. bbq sauce
1/4 c. dijon or spicy mustard


Rinse 6 cans beans in strainer.  Place them in a pot with the refried beans and all other ingredients.  Add 2-4 c. water.  You want to start out with the chili quite a bit runnier than you like it.  Cook and stir often until it has reached your desired thickness.  This could be anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half...depending on how much water you add.  The more water you add, the longer you have to cook it and the more flavorful it will be as the beans absorb the flavors from the other ingredients.  If you're in a hurry, just add a couple cups of water so there's a buffer there to keep it from sticking to the pan while it's heating up and dissolving the seasoning and you'll be good to go in about a half hour.









Bubbly Nature

13 comments:

  1. Enjoyed reading your blog. Sometimes I dream about being a stay at home mom and cooking and all that stuff. I envy you sometimes and definitely admire you!

    Gonna check out your freezer jam recipe . . . bought a bunch of strawberries a few weeks ago and froze them, but jam sounds like it would be yummy!

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  2. Oh Sarah how I envy you these days. The pass by soo quickly - enjoy each and every moment!

    Loved all the photos of your children. George Washington is amazing!

    Enjoy your week and came by soon!

    Leann

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  3. Sarah, I will definitely save the blueberry recipe. When the grand girls come in June we will go blue berry picking and then we can make the scones. What fun! Love the pizza shop your kids opened. :)

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  4. I like the sound of your recipes - in fact, your whole day sounds utterly delightful!!

    I'm a stay at home mummy too, and I LOVE it!! I count it as such a privilege to be able to spend this time with them while my children are small.

    Sarahx

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  5. Good morning Sarah,
    My goodness, you have been busy! Reminds me of just a few years ago at my home. I too was fortunate to be able to stay home with my little ones. There were sacrifices to make of course, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Your little ones are so cute!
    What a beautiful ring you received from your mother and yes, it is very much like Diana's/Kate's. Actually, it's nicer because it onced belonged to member of your family! Thank you for stopping by my blog and I wish you a delightful day.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  6. Oh, Sarah - you have so much energy! Thank you for sharing your recipes too. I'm always looking for something new to make for my husband and I. Hope you have a lovely week with your beautiful family.

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  7. I am exhausted just reading your post, how in the world do you do it? There is noway I could have watched kids all day or cooked all day and both together...Out of the question! Thank you for entering my giveaway, I am wish you luck!

    Carol

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  8. Oh Sarah, it was a pleasure reading about your happy family and seeing them go about their day. You truly are a woman richly blessed. Have a great week! Terri

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  9. What lovely recipes. I made 3 batches of scones this Tuesday before 8AM and it was so fast and easy. I just wish my kids liked them. Maybe if I made blueberry scones. I will have to try them next. Looks like my little Sofie would love to play with your little girl. Feeding their babies :)
    Thank you for sharing.

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  10. Thank you so much for linking up as well as the very sweet and encouraging comment. Comments such as yours mean a lot to me and was the highlight of my evening. Thank you!

    I am so happy that you have been blessed by my blog, and hope that your family will be as well.

    Many Blessings to you!
    Miss Grace
    gracesgardenwalk.blogspot.com

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  11. Co cute! I love the paper pizzas!

    These scones look amazing!! Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday. I hope to see you again next week!!

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  12. Your recipes sound so good! I've never made chili like that, but it sounds delicious! I want to try the scones, too. I made cheese scones recently, but the blueberry ones sound wonderful! :)

    Joy @ Yesterfood.blogspot.com

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  13. I am so happy you have this peaceful time with your children while they are little!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! I read each one of them and love to respond back to those who visit! Please consider signing up for EMAIL NOTICES so you'll have a reminder of our weekly HOMEMAKING PARTY---and more! Have a wonderful day!

Mrs. Sarah Coller

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