OK, that’s not exactly the topic we agreed on.  We were going to talk about desserts.  If you must know, I’m projecting.  I eat too many sweets.  I like to skip the bread and rice and potatoes and all those evil empty carbs not so I can have a healthy diet, but so I can eat more dessert.  There.  The truth is out.

I occasionally serve a healthy dessert, but to be quite honest they just don’t go over well.  I try to serve a healthy and well-rounded diet, but when the healthy invades the desserts, worlds collide and bad things happen.  I don’t want to be responsible for a tear in the time-space continuum.

When it comes to desserts, we don’t serve them often but we have a few favorites that we always come back to.  I asked the kids if this was because we were boring or because those particular treats were so amazing, and was relieved to hear them answer correctly.  Yes, we love our Chocolate Peanut Butter No-bake cookies, toffee candy, brownies, and wacky cake.  We also love chocolate chip cookie dough, homemade, with or without the chocolate chips.

Since I have already shared the first 2 recipes, today I’ll share my own personal brownie recipe and my grandma’s Depression era Wacky Cake.

Moist Fudgy Brownies from scratch

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, opt.

Combine eggs, butter, cocoa, sugar and vanilla.  Stir until combined.  Add flour, salt and walnuts and stir again.

Bake in a buttered 9×13 for 25-30 minutes at 350, just until done in the center.  Serve warm.

Grandma’s Wacky Cake (also called Crazy Cake)

A rich, delicious Depression era recipe that contains no eggs, milk or butter.  I think everyone’s grandma had a recipe like this.

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 Tbs. cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup oil
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tbs. vinegar
• 2 tsp. vanilla

In an ungreased 9×13 pan, combine dry ingredients.  Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined.  Be sure to get the corners!

Add water, vinegar and vanilla all at once.  Mix thoroughly again.

Bake 35 minutes at 350 or just until cake tests done.  Don’t ice it, because the soft moist top is the best part! To make it special, dust with powdered sugar.

The other moms are offering serving up sweets too:

• Smockity Frocks
• Common Room
• Raising Olives

Got desserts of your own to share?  Share in the comments or link up with us!

Please remember to follow the linky rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms blogs.
3. The post you link to must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

• Nuthin’ here. I admit it.  I am a deadbeat.  Hit me with a rotten tomato.

Recent topics:

• February 2 - 4 Moms share encouraging verses and stories
• January 26 - 4 Moms Q&A: Life with littles, dating, happy helpers
• January 19 - 4 Moms on buying and storing all those clothes {linky}
• January 12 – 4 Moms: snacks and appetizers for a crowd {linky}

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

Snacks are a Sunday evening tradition for us.  After a big weekly fellowship meal at church, we just aren’t in the mood for a formal dinner.  We would rather share snacks and appetizers, and if we do it right we find that we have a party even when it’s just the 12 of us!

A big part of what makes it a party rather than an evening snack is variety.  Instead of making enough of one dish to fill up 12 bellies, we like to create a variety of appetizers.  This may be a little more work, but work can be fun and the results are more appealing.  It also makes it easier to feed a crowd when you don’t feel the need to have/find enough ____ to feed everyone.

Just picture it: one bowl of popcorn and a movie = family night.  Sausage balls, bacon wrapped jalapenos, apples with dip, cheese & cracker platter, veggie tray = Party!

We love to work together in the kitchen as a family, with knives flashing, food flying, and music playing.  If we make a mess, we have enough hands to clean it up.

I already shared our recipe for sausage balls.  Here are some of our other favorites:

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

Relax, and don’t let the jalapenos scare you.  With seeds removed, they’re just not that hot.

• 12 small or medium sized jalapenos
• 6 slices bacon
• 6 oz. cream cheese

Carefully slice jalapenos in half lengthwise.  Cut out center with seeds and webbing.  Wear gloves if you have very sensitive skin.  Use a gentle touch if you don’t like too much heat – it’s on and around the seeds, so the more they touch the walls of the jalapeno the hotter your end product will be.  If you like a little heat, let the 5yo do this job, but warn him not to pick his nose, rub his eyes,  or put his fingers in his mouth afterward.  Do you think it sounds mean to even let a 5yo touch a jalapeno?  Relax.  I’m probably just kidding.

Now that your jalapenos are prepared, use a teaspoon to load them with cream cheese.

Here’s the good part.  Wrap each jalapeno with half a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Bacon makes everything better, right?  Even chocolate, but especially jalapenos.

Place on a cookie sheet with sides or a baking pan.  Don’t use a pizza pan or cookie sheet without sides, because the bacon grease will drip, filling your house with smoke and setting off your fire alarm.  Then you’ll have to open the doors and windows even though it smells really good inside and it’s 38 degrees outside, and your smoke alarm will keep going off anyway while your family alternately laughs at you and complains about their burning eyes.

So…bake on something with sides for 30-40 minute at 400.  When the bacon is done to your liking, they’re ready.  Enjoy, and try to share.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Perfect with apples, or eat with a spoon when nobody is looking.  If they catch you, hand them a spoon and swear them to secrecy.

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Stir and enjoy.  You won’t believe 3 simple ingredients can taste this good.

What is your favorite snack or appetizer recipe?  How do you like to feed a crowd – one mega recipe or several smaller ones?
Link up with your own post!

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms blogs.
3. The post you link to must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

See what the other moms are cookin’ up:

• Smockity Frocks knows her way around a bowl of popcorn.
• Common Room knows how to do nachos the right way – and I’m all for nachos!
• Raising Olives had me at homemade hot wings.

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

• January 19 - How to organize, shop for and maintain ALL THAT CLOTHING {linky}
• January 26 - Q&A
• February 2 - Scriptures and/or stories we rely on for comfort/encouragement as a homeschooling family

Recent topics:

• December 15 - 4 Moms: Gift shopping for a crowd
• December 8 - 4 Moms’ favorite holiday recipes {linky}
• December 1 - 4 Moms: preparing children to share holidays with unbelieving family
• November 24 - 4 Moms: A roundup of thankful posts from the past

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

Today we’re talking about the food budget.  That’s nothing new: I think everyone in the nation is talking about the rising price of food and what to do about it.  Last year I shared 13 tips to manage the food budget.

There’s a common idea floating around that junk food is cheaper than nutritious food, so our diets must suffer when the budget is pinched.  The writer of this article from the NY Times disagrees, and so do I.

As the price of food goes up, the way we eat is undeniably affected, but not necessarily for the worse.  Instead, we have chosen to shift away from many of the prepared foods that lingered in our diet:

• Canned beans are now cooked from dried.
• Spaghetti sauce is made from tomato paste for a fraction of the cost.
• Ditto for enchilada sauce and…
• Pizza sauce.
• I finally kicked the cream-of-mushroom habit and started making white sauce from scratch consistently.
• Cold cereal is more rare than ever in our house, a treat reserved for especially rushed Sunday mornings.

As the budget shrinks, we cook even more from scratch.  If we want convenience foods, we break out the pressure canner.  We do pinto and black beans often, and have also  tried pizza sauce, enchilada sauce, spaghetti sauce, pumpkin, apple pie filling, chili, jalapeno relish, and chicken bought on sale.

We also keep an eye on the cost of individual meals, shying away from those that cost more than others.

We eat far more beans, are learning to love lentils, and God has provided inexpensive sources of other healthful foods that weren’t even in our diet before now.  We still eat a lot of produce, always sticking to what’s in season and what’s on sale.  Red meat has become a rarity in our house, but that’s ok.  Chicken goes on sale often, and we don’t need meat every day.  Many meals are just as satisfying without the meat: bean & cheese enchiladas, taco salad with seasoned beans instead of taco meat, potato chowder and other hearty soups, fried rice with lots of eggs and veggies.

If beans and legumes aren’t enough, we get plenty of protein from homegrown eggs, from Costco cheese, and milk.  We’re even dabbling in quinoa – not cheap, but also not bad as a source of protein, and lots of fun to cook and eat.  Is it just me, or are the tiny spirals adorable?

The result of rising food prices?  We are eating less prepared foods, less corn syrup, more fiber, and more protein.

How have rising food prices affected your household budget and diet?  How have you responded?  Answer in the comments or link up with your own post.

Please remember the linky rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms.
3. The post to which you link must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

The other 4 Moms are talking about it too.

• Smockity Frocks
• Raising Olives
• Common Room

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

• October 20 - How do you find time for projects that need to be done, require focused attention and which the children can’t help with?
• October 27 - Q&A (watch Facebook for an invitation to post your questions)

Recent topics:

• September 15 - 4 Moms talk style (parenting style, that is)
• September 22 - 4 Moms Q&A: the attack of the shoe monster, socialized homeschoolers and more
• September 29 - 4 Moms talk about memorization {and 2 giveaways!}
• October 6 - 4 Moms: keeping up with housework in the midst of homeschooling

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

I forgot to warn you that this week’s 4 Moms post would be a linky, mainly because I forgot that this week’s 4 Moms post would be a linky.  That means we’re on a level playing field, you and I.  A little last-minute never hurt anyone, right?  So read to the bottom really quick then start pounding out your post and link up.

But I don’t recommend the last-minute principle for packing hubby’s lunch if there is any way to avoid it.

MAN LUNCH 101

Tip #1: Plan and pack ahead of time

I’m a slow learner, but I have finally realized that morning good-bye kisses go better if hubby is carrying a lunch that was packed with love and care the previous night.  He just doesn’t feel as loved when he is holding a lunch packed with bleary eyes and groggy mind 3 minutes before he walks out the door, and I can hardly blame him.  Of course his lunches are better when I plan and pack ahead, and doesn’t every man measure your love for him in terms of how you feed him?  I jest, but there’s more than a kernel of truth to the old saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Tip #2: Pack what he likes, not what you like

I have also learned that while I might enjoy fruit smoothies and raw almonds, and children might like PB&J, those are not Man Food.  I don’t know how it works in your house, but my man needs meat.  It’s not a meal if it doesn’t have meat.  His definition of meat has recently expanded to include other animal-based proteins like eggs and large quantities of cheese, and he has learned to enjoy beans as a source of satisfying protein, but if I want him to feel loved and happy and satisfied his lunch has to contain meat on a regular basis.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is how his brain works.  It’s not how mine works, but I didn’t marry myself, and we’re not talking about my lunch.  If we were, you would be hearing about smoothies and raw almonds.

Tip #3: Listen to him

I have also learned that just when I get into a lunch groove and I think I know exactly what he likes and how much of it for lunch, something changes.   Lunches have been a struggle for me and it seems so easy once I finally get into a groove, so I sometimes find myself feeling resentful when I get knocked out of it.

Just when I’ve got the amounts down to a science, he wants less – or more.  Just when I figure out how often to buy fresh produce, he decides he doesn’t want salad every day anymore.  When I finally manage to plan ahead a whole week, he announces that he’s going to eat just fruit and veggies for lunch this week.

It can feel like a constant challenge, and I’m easily frustrated.  I like things to be easy.  I don’t want to have to think about it, work on it, or plan ahead.  When this happens, I need to remind myself that this is just one way for me to serve my beloved who serves me and the household in so many ways.  Sarah was commended for calling her husband lord (I Peter 3:6); who am I to complain when my lord requests a change?

Tip #4: Leftovers

This post has turned into the classic, “Do as I say and not as I do,” but here’s the nitty gritty I was planning to blog about.  In simple terms, Perry generally wants and receives dinner leftovers for lunch.  When I plan dinner, I cook extra and plan for leftovers because I know he’s not taking PB&J for tomorrow’s lunch.  This much I have mastered.  When I’m really thinking ahead, I set aside his portion before dinner is served so that we don’t accidentally eat up all the “good stuff” and leave him with nothing but a side dish of carbs.

If I do it right, this means I’m not scrambling in the morning, bleary-eyed and groggy-brained, trying to find a good lunch for a good man so we can enjoy a good kiss on his way out the door.

Tip #5: Relax and communicate.

My impulse is to fret about the budget and take it personally when he goes out to lunch and leaves the lunch I packed sitting in the breakroom, forlorn and forgotten.  Maybe it means he was dissatisfied with the lunch I packed and I need to try harder, but maybe it means he wanted to eat out with a friend.  Maybe it means crispy hot onion rings and a juicy burger sounded really good that day.  I’m learning – slowly again – not to object when he makes a decision that I wouldn’t have made.  I am his wife and helper, not his mother.

How do you feed your man?

Please remember the linky rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms.
3. The post to which you link must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

The other moms are talking about it too:

• Smockity Frocks, who confesses that she has never once packed a lunch for her husband.
• Raising Olives, who confesses why her husband never needs a bagged lunch either.
• Common Room, who sometimes packs the most amazing lunches you ever saw, but sometimes not.

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

• September 15 – Parenting styles
  
• September 22 – Q&A
• September 29 – {surprise}
• October 6 – Keeping up with housework in the midst of homeschooling

Recent topics:

• August 4 - Large Family Logistics linky, part 1
• August 11 – Large Family Logistics linky, part 2
• August 18 – Large Family Logistics linky, part 2b
• August 25 – Large Family Logistics linky (appendices)
• September 1 - 4 Moms practice patience in the midst of chaos

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

This week the 4 Moms are talking about having guests for dinner.  Not in a cannibalistic way – which would be forbidden in the Bible – but in a hospitality way, which is actually commanded in the Bible.

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ~I Peter 4:9

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ~Hebrews 13:2

No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. ~I Timothy 5:9-10

We love to have company: the more, the better!  Perry’s family has always been exceedingly hospitable, having company nearly every Sunday.  My own family has had a midweek fellowship for at least 20 years.  We inherited it when Dad and Mom moved out of state a few years ago, and we have continued to the present, hosting potlucks of 30-60 people nearly every Tuesday.

While it’s no big deal to feed a few extra mouths with our own crew, potlucks are my favorite way to entertain, both at home and abroad.  I love that it lends itself well to large groups, but it also allows everyone to contribute on their own level, sharing their favorites and specialties with those around them.  It’s also a fun way to garner new ideas and recipes, and the fact that the food is generally prepared beforehand allows participants more free time for fellowship.

Nearly anything that can go in a crockpot is a good recipe for potluck meals - mexican casseroles (always a hit, especially if we go heavy on the cheese), homemade creamed corn (just corn in a white sauce; why do kids love corn so much?), chili (my girls are obsessed with one particular recipe that a member of our church brings, chicken of any sort as long as it’s in the shape of a drumstick.  Other shapes will work, of course, but all the drumsticks will disappear first.  It’s a fact of nature.

Mother Hen and her brood often come, though it’s a long drive.  She’s a genius with the crockpot; they’re always good for couple of hearty dishes and some sweets.

No potluck is complete without a salad or three, and you can always count on the health nut to bring one.  The nuttier they are, the better and more elaborate the salad will be!  ;) My sister makes a  killer salad in a 9×13 with lots of mayo, bacon, cheese and other goodies layered over a lettuce base.  Our friends at Plymouth Rock Ranch often bring a huge bowl of varied greens with feta cheese and other treats mixed in and a homemade herbed vinaigrette on the side.

My mom is, of course, the best cook in the world, and when she comes we all rejoice – er, not just because of the food, though that certainly influences us.

BBQ SANDWICHES

One dish I love to serve a group in warm weather is BBQ sandwiches.  It’s almost too simple to call a recipe: just slow-cook nearly any meat til it falls apart.  We often use pork since it’s inexpensive.  We also do this with venison that is too gamy for our taste.  You can throw a big bag of chicken parts in the crockpot and debone it when it starts to fall apart.  Beef is delicious but expensive these days.

When the meat is fork-tender, shred and add BBQ sauce to taste.  I like to add just enough for some mild flavor, then leave the bottle handy so those who prefer a stronger flavor can add their own.

For maximum pleasure, serve on homemade challah rolls.

Now you are invited.  What is your favorite warm-weather recipe for company?

Join us with the linky below.  Please remember your linky manners: Link to a single relevant post of yours, and remember to link back to at least one of the 4 Moms in your post.

The other moms are talking about it too:

• Smockity Frocks
• Raising Olives
• Common Room

Upcoming topics:

• May 19: Losing baby weight. I guess I need to shed a few more pounds by May 18, huh?
• May 26: Q & A – leave your questions in the comments on my last Q&A.

Recent topics:

So…funny story here.  I painstakingly squeezed one hour out of a very busy day because I had to do this week’s 4 Moms post.

I worked on the post, even though there were other things I probably should have been doing.  These weekly posts are important to me, and I feel obligated.  I am obligated, right?  The 4 of us are a team, and our readers depend on us to dispense wisdom.  Wisdom.  hah.

So I carved out an hour and worked very hard not to get distracted.  These posts usually take more than an hour, but I was diligent.  I was focused.  I knew what I wanted to say, and I was determined to make the most of my time.  When I was almost done, I rewarded myself with some chocolate.  I think better with chocolate.  Don’t you?

A few minutes later I finished my post and scrolled down to update the info at the bottom.  You know the part where we list upcoming topics and past ones?

That must be when the chocolate kicked in because I suddenly felt something happening in my brain.  I saw that this week’s topic was not about keeping children still and quiet in church.

See?  Funny story, huh?  Well, I’m ahead of schedule.  I’ve got next week’s post all ready for ya.

So now that you’ve heard this week’s excuse for why I’m a disorganized unprepared slacker, I’ll tell you how we eat when we’re on the road.

First, let me say that the word inexpensive is subject to a wide range of interpretation.  To some, it means not eating steak or seafood.  To others, it means eating somewhere you aren’t expected to tip.  It may mean eating from a grocery store instead of a restaurant.  Some think it applies only to eating food you brought from home in an ice chest.

To me, it means spending about what we would spend at home for a normal meal.  We all know that the tradeoff is often convenience, and on a road trip we might be willing to spend a little more on food than we do at home.  The idea is not to go broke or spend our gas budget on food.

We like to pack foods that can easily be served and eaten in a moving vehicle with a minimum of grease and crumbs.  Some of our favorite inexpensive meals on the road:

• Hard boiled eggs – A cheap source of protein, easy to eat in the car.  Just don’t store them too long, and never hand one to a toddler in a carseat.
• Roll-ups – My 4yo calls these Robots.  Like sandwiches but with tortillas instead.  No crumbs!  This lends itself well to a variety of fillings – tuna, PB&J, bologne or deli meat & cheese, egg salad.  A tortilla also frees you of the expectation of mayo or other spreads which can be both difficult and messy in a moving vehicle.
• Snackage – Lunch on the road may very well be more like a snack: items like carrot sticks, apples, almonds, raisins, bananas, animal crackers and PB, pretzel sticks (cheaper than potato chips and no grease), and grapes are easy to pack, easy to serve, and plenty filling.  They’re also easy to dole out in small portions during a long road trip.
• Dollar burgers – Nobody said this was limited to health food.  After a day or two on the road, everybody is longing for a hot meal and this really isn’t such a bad way to go.  If we’re pinching pennies, we skip the fries (or split a couple of large orders among the 12 of us), drink free ice water, and order a big pile of double cheeseburgers or something similarly substantial from a dollar menu.  It really is a lot of food for the money and doesn’t cost much more than a home-cooked dinner that includes plenty of meat and cheese.
• Green smoothies – Believe it or not, green smoothies travel well – if you’re into that sort of thing.  Just make them ahead of time and store in quart jars in the ice chest.  Drink directly from the mason jar like country folk.
• Water – Except for adult drivers who may need a dose of caffeine now and then, we rarely drink anything but water on road trips.  To avoid buying bottles one at a time at the gas station, we like to buy a couple of gallon jugs and use them to refill individual bottles.  Don’t worry about bringing a funnel.  It’s fun trying to pour water from a jug into the tiny mouth of a bottle in a moving vehicle, and on a summer road trip in the south nobody minds if their clothes get wet.  It’s just a free boost for the a/c, right?

Those are some of our favorite road eats.  What are yours?

The other moms:

• Smockity Frocks
• Raising Olives
• Common Room

Upcoming topics:

• April 21 - Large family & church, part 2: Being still and quiet during worship
  
• April 28 – Q and A: leave your question here.

Recent topics: