Summer Corn: Recipe Roundup

One of the first things my husband got excited about, as we moved closer and closer to our new home in Colorado, was fresh sweet corn. We both lived in Nebraska for a time and the summer sweet corn was one of the highlights of knowing a lot of farmers. My husband even swears that no other corn is as good as Nebraska sweet corn!
We were lucky enough to snag a bunch from my sister-in-law (she comes from a farming family). I don't mind basic corn on the cob, but eventually, I'm going to need something new and exciting to make it through all this corn! So I decided to round-up some delicious corn recipes from around the web.

Fresh Peaches: Recipe Roundup

Ah! Summertime! One of the great things about Summer is the delicious fruits and veggies. One of the not-so-great things about Summer is watching my toddler refuse to eat those delicious fruits and veggies.
I love peaches. And peach flavored stuff! In fact, I could go for a frozen Peach Daquiri right about now. But that requires rum, which I do not have and I don't want to put pants on to go buy some. I recently bought some peaches for us to eat and **surprise, surprise** the toddler doesn't like them. He's nuts! Well, I had to come up with a way to finish these peaches off before they go bad. And I thought I'd share a few of the recipes I found on Pinterest to use fresh peaches.

How I Meal Plan

Life can be crazy sometimes. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that. Add in kids and/or a job and life gets even crazier. I know it's hard enough to take care of myself and make sure I eat a healthy meal, then add in that I’m making meals for other humans (big and small) and meals can get hectic. 

For years now I’ve been meal planning and it has made a huge difference in daily life. First, I don’t have to worry about what we are having for dinner. And I don’t have to worry about if I have all the ingredients for the planned dinner. Plus, I am saving money because I’m not running to the grocery store (or drive-thru) at the last minute. An added bonus is that if I plan well enough, I don’t buy multiples of items. If I ever get lax on my planning (which does happen, I am human) I always seem to end up buying too many bottles of soy sauce or jars of peanut butter. 

Alright, let’s do this!

Color-Surprise Birthday Cake

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My two-year-old loves Trolls, so for his birthday, we did a Trolls theme (click here to read about the Trolls themed party). To go along with the theme, I decided to make a colorful birthday cake. After a late-night or two (hey, I do my best thinking at night when I should be sleeping), I decided to make the inside super colorful, but leave the outside white so that he would be surprised by all the colors when we cut into the cake. The plan worked because he loved it. He even talked about how he was going to “eat orange now” or “purple now.” I love a mom-win!

Want to make a Color-Surprise Birthday Cake too? Here’s how I did it:

Follow Me!

Life Under Clover Pinterest Screen Shot

I'm on Pinterest all the time!

In fact, it's kind of an addiction. There is so much on there! And if it isn't on there, you can add it!

For those who aren't sure what the hell Pinterest is... I like to describe it as inspiration boards. Each photo links back to a website... sometimes there are instructions for making a recipe or creating an item or buying an item.

It's wonderful if you're a visual person and need to see things before deciding if you like them or not (an example is that when I search for stuff on Google... I usually look at the images that pop up first).

Anyhow, I love Pinterest and you should follow me because I'm always curating wonderful things to share!

If you haven't signed up yet... click here!

Yum

Honey & Vanilla Granola... I also affectionately call it "Yum-Nola"

Baked Potato Salad

Ah! The baked potato. It's an American staple! It's everywhere... restaurants, fast-food joints, your kitchen and your momma's kitchen.
And it's one of Hubby's favorite foods. He, like most, has a special way he likes a baked potato... cheddar, bacon, butter, sour cream, salt, pepper & chives.

A few years back, I found a baked potato salad at a grocery deli. It had all of those ingredients! But... it was awful. It was greasy (insert scared face here) and the potatoes were far from being cooked (still hard!).
It didn't take long for me to pull together my own recipe. After many test runs (with the hubby taste-testing and offering suggestions) we have the best potato salad ever! The Hubby asks for it often and requests I make it for any barbecue/pot luck function.

So, without further ado (and rambling) I present our perfect Baked Potato Salad. It takes a bit of time, so make it the day before an event.

Yum... Tuesday Night Cookies

So... um... yeah.

Tonight I decided that I was craving something sweet.

After a futile search in my fridge & cabinets, I decided there wasn't a thing that seemed like desert (I guess if hard-pressed I could eat jelly by the spoonful).

Then it occurred to me that I was being a wimp. I'm probably a close descendant of Betty Crocker and it would hurt dear Aunt Betty if I didn't whip up a batch of something.

Now let me insert a little bit of wisdom here, I've always been the girl that had flour, sugar, eggs & butter in my cabinets... just in case. You never know when you're forced to make cupcakes in order to win the affections of kidnappers, the IRS or worse, zombies. So I ALWAYS have basic ingredients for baking on hand. Join me, you won't regret the space that flour takes up!

So after a quick search on the internet (remember, I steal recipes all the time) I found an awesome recipe for soft oatmeal cookies.

So, without further ado (and rambling) I present yumminess.

SOFT OATMEAL COOKIES

1 c. butter (I used low-cal margarine with awesome results)

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. white sugar (or sugar substitute if you're saving calories for a rainy day)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. salt

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsps. ground cinnamon (I put two whole teaspoons, because I'm a rebel)

1 tsp. baking soda

3 c. quick cooking oats

Optional: Cup of Raisins or Nuts (this step is not allowed in my house... Luke Skywalker might be upset if he takes a bite of a cookie and a raisin is staring back)

Directions:

In large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar & brown sugar. 

Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. 

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture. 

Slowly mix in oats.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet (I used pan spray). 

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (obviously, I think walnuts are huge!). 

Place dough balls approx. 2" apart on cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. ALWAYS try 8 minutes first... if the edges are browned but center looks undone then they are ready. This makes for a super soft, chewy cookie.

Allow cookies to cool completely on rack (this step is the hardest for Luke Skywalker).

BET 'CHA DIDN'T KNOW: Eggs are so important in recipes! For example, in meatloafs they help all the ingredients stick together. In the cookie recipe above, they also help the ingredients stick together and keep the cookies yummy-moist.

Kraft Helps Me Cheat in the Kitchen

I love to cook!
I am a foodie, if you will... a genuine "yummy, put it in my mouth now!" kind of person.

But more importantly, I'm lazy & cheap. I may like food, but I can't afford the finest cheese around and I sure as hell don't have time for 8 hour pot roast every Sunday.

What I can afford and do have time for is what I call cooking cheats. For instance, 8 hour pot roast takes an hour less when I use canned potatoes.
Is it the way grandma made it? No! But grandma was crazy, so that's a poor example.

And the best place to find cheap, easy recipes that I can steal... Kraft Foods!

Oh! How I love thee... and let's count the ways!

1. They use basic, everyday ingredients.
2. Most recipes can be done in 30 minutes or less.
3. It's easy to substitute or find new ways to make it tastier (just read recipe reviews).
4. The recipes feature products from Kraft, but it's easy to substitute off-brands of similar items.
5. Wife tested... husband approved. Good recipes for families (a.k.a. hungry husbands).

Seriously, this place is the bomb. They use to send out a free magazine/cookbook every 3 months, but they started charging for that (and remember, I'm cheap). But you can still find all the old recipes and new recipes on the website for FREE!

So sign up... get yourself a virtual recipe box and start your ovens. You won't regret it.

DISCLAIMER:
I know it sounds fishy, but Kraft did not pay me to say all these nice things. 
I really do think they're awesome. 
And I'm gonna prove it by sharing one of my favorite recipes from the site.

FRESH CORN SALSA 

What You Need
4 tomatoes (1-1/2 lb.), chopped
1 cup  cooked fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
1/4 cup  chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
1/4 cup  KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing 

Make It
COMBINE all ingredients except dressing in large bowl.
ADD dressing; mix lightly. 

Mara's Tip: I always use one can of corn instead of making fresh corn. It's easier. Go me!

Why Reveal All My Secrets?

Hubby & I moved from Nebraska many years ago and we did it for many reasons. The top three reasons are: we wanted a more exciting place to spend the rest of our lives (nothing against boring ol’ yellow Nebraska); we wanted to live around people that are more open-minded (my insincere apologies to small-town Nebraska); and I was sick of everyone knowing or thinking they know my business (damn gossip-hounds).

Nebraska... in all it's yellow glory.

After moving to North Carolina I became quiet & secretive. I lack a large number of friends... I keep in touch with some back home, but in general, I keep to myself.
And this is a no-brainer, but it’s hard to trust your inner-most thoughts with just anybody.
So I live the life of a loner (and I love it).

I just have to warn you... this next part is sad. It’s depressing. You might cry... I might cry. And you might feel sorry for me. But don’t... please. That always makes it worse. And I sure as hell don’t want you worrying about my mental health. That will just piss me off... and I don’t want to be mad at you.

Carrying on now...

Days became dark. Not because I was alone, but because I was diagnosed with severe infertility. Hubby and I wanted children, but couldn’t have them.

Expensive & failed medical treatments led to depressing thoughts of “what will happen to my legacy when I die?” It became all too real... when I die who will remember me? Who can say they knew me? Did I pass on any information? Who will make my favorite recipes? Who learned how to sew from me? Who was touched by my presence on this earth? Without children, who will carry on my name & heritage?

I only came up with one bleak answer... no one.

Now, listen up, I haven’t completely given up on having kids. I hope it will still happen, but I’ve decided that I’m too cool/awesome/bad-ass to go down in history as “just some lady... nothing to look at here... move along... just some dead lady.”

So why am I revealing all my secrets? Because I gotta tell someone... just in case.

Now stop your sniveling... we’re gonna learn how to make muffins or something.

FAST FACT:
Approximately 6.1 million couples in the United States have difficulty conceiving. That's like... a lot.