My Little Berries

I love berry picking.  Recently, my husband decided he loves berries too (keep in mind, this is after he hated them for the last 36 years of his life).  We picked 2 gallons of blackberries, 1 gallon of blueberries, and 1 gallon of strawberries.  I have made a fruit tart (pictured at the bottom), 3 blueberry cobblers, blackberry jam, strawberry muffins and just eaten a TON of fresh fruit.  My boys can't eat enough berries.  We will be going back later this week :)

Last day of elementary school

 JMS is finishing up elementary school and will be home with me next year as he goes to the online campus.  We celebrated his last day of elementary school by starting it off with Krispy Kreme.  The neighborhood kids end up the school year with a celebratory breakfast, but this was my first year to be able to go with them :) All 3 of the boys enjoyed it :)  Daddy was working but we were in his district, he was able to swing by and we could all enjoy it as a family. 

JMS is now a middle school kid... when did I get that old... 

Not sure about LPS's face in this one

The little ones love watching the donuts be made!!!

Look at that smile :)

So Kool on Not Kool? Mexican Flatbread Pizzas

So Kool or Not Kool?  Kool

Picky Eater's Opinion?  Not home for dinner that night

Will this make the Future Chef's Menu?  Definitely (Although to be honest, he loves all Mexican food)

This was really easy to make~ which I love.  We used ground turkey instead of ground beef, but we almost always do when using it in a recipe that is not hamburgers.  I apologize that the picture is not good, but I am taking a photography class this weekend and am hoping to learn how to improve the quality of these pictures.  We'll see how that works.

 

This to me is the most ingenious part and we will TOTALLY use this idea again.  Using refrigerated biscuit dough to make mini pizzas.  I try not to use too many of those refrigerated products, but this was fast and brilliant.  I would love to see if it would work with regular dough to make a whole bunch of these at one time and freeze them and thaw and use as necessary.

 

These were very easy to assemble as we just followed direction.  We didn't have shredded lettuce, but we don't normally eat that.  We used shredded kale instead.  We always have some of that in the fridge and we use it in everything.  We recently got a new food processor (our should I say our first).  We will keep 4 cups or so shredded in our refrigerator in a Lock-N-Lock Container.  We used to do this with spinach, but Kale is a much hardier leaf, so it holds up better, chopped up or not.  Next time, I will not use re fried beans, I don't love the texture of them and there is not a whole lot of nutritional value in them.  But, as I said... this is a recipe that can make it into our rotation because of the simplicity and deliciousness.

So Kool or Not Kool? Orange Sweet Rolls

So Kool or Not Kool?  SO Kool

Picky Eater's Opinion?  Great... Please keep them out of the house because I am on a diet

Will it Make the Future Chef's Menu?  Yes... as a breakfast item

This is a time consuming recipe to make just because of allowing the dough to rise a couple of different times, but it was easy to make.  Mixing some flour and yeast in warm, but not boiling water and then let it rise for over an hour.  We ended up having this as a mid morning snack because my boys wake up early (before 6 AM) and need to eat VERY early :)  However, we need a snack in the morning, so this was a special treat. 

We rolled the dough out on the counter top and I was pretty pleased with the overall shape of it.  If I make these again, I will split this up into two smaller more manageable rolls for my own sanity. 

 

I covered with butter as it called for (1 stick) but next time, that will be reduced immensely (1/4 of a stick) or eliminated altogether.  I also added a little more marmalade than it called for, so when I rolled this into the log, it was a M.E.S.S.  There was a nice warm concoction of butter, marmalade and brown sugar oozing out of the roll and all over my hands.  Next time, I will use the proper amount of marmalade.  

Now, let it rise for another half an hour and then bake it.  While it is baking, I made the icing (which I would be more likely to call a glaze).  This icing got poured on the rolls when they were done baking.  This was a delightful way to spend my Tuesday morning breakfast.