Cranberry and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

When I was young Admiral would occasionally make us raisin oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar. I learned from him that the trick to great raisin (or cranberry) oatmeal is to add the raisins (or cranberries) to the water at the very beginning. that way they plump up as they soak and come to a boil. And BONUS: They slightly sweeten the water so that you need less sugar!

Crock Pot Pineapple Chicken

We have been fortunate this week to have Aaron home with us during the day. First he had a four day weekend, then it rained him out of work part of this week. Needless to say, Bailey has been thrilled to death. She really enjoys having him home during the day, though it is a bit more difficult to get her to go down for a nap.

Dinners have been easy. Tacos on Tuesday, pizza on Wednesday, and tonight...

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Toddlers get bored with foods so easily.  Bailey loves yogurt one day, but refuses to eat it the next.  Sometimes I put a plate of green beans in front of her and she scarfs them down as fast as she can, other days she throws them on the floor.

Peach Cobbler

We spent another lovely evening at the lake with Aaron's sister-in-law, celebrating her birthday.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I have been wanting to do some fruit muffins for awhile now, especially since I have all the fresh (and affordable) fruit I could ever want.  I keep buying way more fruit than Bailey and I can eat anyway.  I have a freezer stocked full of the "leftovers" to use for smoothies, but this is another perfect use for all that extra fruit!

Red, White, and Blue Smoothie

I really wanted to post this for Independence Day, but things got so busy that I never did get my camera into the kitchen while making one.  This is kind of a go-to breakfast here.  I've been getting lots of fresh fruits at the store since they're in season, but we can never finish all of the fruit.  I'll buy two pints of blueberries, but only use one before they start to go bad.  I work fruit into the menu whenever possible.  Still, sometimes the fruit goes bad and I feel so lousy throwing it away.

Fried Apple Fritters

Hands up everyone who loves a delicious fried confection for breakfast!  I know I do.  I have an unhealthy relationship with doughnuts as it is, but apple fritters have always been a favorite of mine.

Blackberry Cobbler

One of my favorite things about summer is the fresh produce.  You get strawberries, green beans, corn, blueberries, cherries, and of course blackberries.

When I was little, my Nana would can and freeze vegetables and she made her own jams and jellies (and apple butter, yum) and we would have delicious homemade goodies all year round.  She canned green beans and tomatoes, froze fresh corn off the cob and fried okra, and made blackberry jam and apple jelly.

Strawberry Buttercream

Tomorrow will be the last time I see my cousin Z for 6 months.  He will be in Kenya doing mission work, helping build schools or something like that from what I understand.  It's a shame he has to leave right now because Bailey is at the perfect age to play with him.  She will miss him so much, but it's a good thing he's doing and I'm proud of him.  He's the youngest of Nana and Grandpa's four grandchildren and this is one of the most independent things he's done so far.

Banana poke cake

This week I have been completely swamped.  Monday afternoon as I was making dinner, on the phone with my friend, discussing the tea cakes and petit fours for her cousin's wedding shower/tea party, I got another call from a woman who is a sales rep for 31.  She asked if I could make her 8 dozen black and pink, purse shaped cookies by Thursday.  I should have turned her down, especially knowing what all I had on my plate (the wedding shower food, Aaron's mom's birthday cake and dinner, and ya know, all the stuff I normally do during the week) but she said she would pay me double, so I couldn't bring myself to turn down the money.