Joining Mandy over at House of Rose for the inspire me link up.
Another weekend has come and gone. I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. I had a pretty nice weekend. I recently joined a mom’s group in the area, and on Friday they had a “Boo(b) Bash” to raise money for breast cancer. It was really nice to be around other mom’s and chat. I brought “cake pop truffles” (aka I wanted to make cake pops but realized too late that I had no sticks).
If you have never made cake pops I highly recommend it if you are a fan of sweets. They aren’t hard to make, but are slightly time consuming. Here is how to make them:
Cake Pops “Truffles”
Ingredients:
Baked Cake, 11×13 (you can use a box or do it from scratch, I for one like to bake from scratch.)
1-1 1/2 cups frosting
Candy Coating
Directions:
1. Bake the cake according the the directions, let it cool
2. After the cake has cooled cut it up into pieces and put into a bowl. Add 1-1 1/2 cups of frosting and mix. You should be able to roll the mix into balls without it being too crumbly.
3. Roll the mix into balls, and put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
4. While the cake balls are in the freezer, melt the candy coating.
5. Take the cake balls out a few at a time and dip them into the melted candy coating, then put in a plate or tray lined with wax paper. They should harden pretty quickly since the cake balls are so cold.
6. Let the dipped cake balls sit for about 10-15 minutes on the try to insure they are hardened. You can then take them off and store them however you would like.
So, that was Friday. On Saturday my mother in law came over. One of her coworkers had given her a toy for Annabelle that she no longer needed (this same coworker has given me almost all of Annabelle’s clothes. It is wonderful, I feel so blessed). She also watched Annabelle for me so I could do some cleaning, it was greatly appreciated! We invited her to stay for a dinner of beef stew and dumplings.
I used to always use McCormick beef stew mix when cooking it on the stove. Then one day as I was browning the meat (as Annabelle was screaming bloody murder) I realized that I had no McCormick stew mix! So I hopped on Google and found a bunch of different recipes, and came up with my own stew mix. It turned out pretty well (Matt even likes it better than McCormick), and it will now be my stew mix of choice.
Beef Stew Mix
*This makes enough mix for quite a few stew dinners*
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
4 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
4 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
4 1/2 tablespoons paprika
4 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons celery salt
Beef Stew
Cooking time: About 2 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
2-3 pounds stew meat
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups diced vegetables (I like using carrots, onions, potatoes, celery)
3-5 Tablespoons beef stew mix
Directions:
1. Heat oil in large pot.
2. Dredge meat in flour then brown in the pot with the oil.
3. After the meat is browned, add 2 1/2 cups water and the 3-5 tablespoons of beef stew mix. Bring to a boil, then let simmer covered for about 1 1/2 hours.
4. After 1 1/2 hours add the vegetables and continue to simmer about 45 more minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Serve and enjoy!
I also linked up with The Official Blog Guide, Natasha, and City of Creative Dreams