Murder Mystery Food--St. Patricks Day Coconut Green Pie

Hey Foodies,  It's back murder mystery food.  The place where we cook those recipes found in our favorite murder mysteries.  Today we are revisiting the Sugar Cookie murder mystery by Joanne Fluke.  Can you tell we love this author.  If you haven't checked this book out you really need too.  Besides a lovely Christmas time murder mystery it has over a dozen recipes in it.  You'll find links to some of the others we've cooked in the past.  For now, we are cooking for St. Patricks Day.  This is a really easy recipe no mixing bowls were harmed in the making of this pie.  No bowls are needed just your blender and pie pan.  Don't you just love it. So lets get cooking.  Here's what you'll need.

In the blender add  note: do not attempt in bullet blender not big enough
1 1/2 cups water
one can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
1/2 Bisquick (I used jiffy baking mix)
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
3-4 drops of green food coloring (I used the green pastel and you can't tell but this is optional)

Blend on low for 3 minutes

Pre-treat your pie pan with cooking spray.  Pour contents of blender into pie pan.  What really neat about this recipe your going to let it sit. The baking mix forms the crust while its sitting on the counter at room temperature.

Almost forgot this step as you'll see in the pictures sprinkle a cup of coconut flakes on top of pie.

Here comes the fun part put the pie on a cookie sheet so you don't spill then place in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Test for doneness using knife with comes out clean pie is done.

Cool on a wire rack.

You can serve this warm or room temperature.  Personally I like it cold.  Remember food safety when not eating put it back in the fridge.  Bon Appetite and enjoy.

                                             This is where I almost forgot the coconut.                                                

Here's the links to the Joanne Fluke recipes.

http://lorrainesresources.blogspot.com/2013/06/love-smell-of-banana-bread-in-morning.html
http://lorrainesresources.blogspot.com/2013/06/lets-continue-party.html
http://lorrainesresources.blogspot.com/2013/11/chocolate-candy-cane-cookies-for-cookie.html

Overdose of Cuteness or Frankies at it again

Good Morning dear readers,  Here's Frankie's wordless Wednesday. What do you think he's saying?

The Secret To Conquering Procrastination

Good Morning dear readers,  Do you have trouble getting motivated to do things.  Are your house keeping chores behind or do you have projects piling up.  I'm guilty of this affliction and I've found a way to get motivated.  I use to follow fly lady and I learned a few tips from her website.  One of my favorite tips is you can do anything in 15 minute increments.  You will be surprised at how liberating this can be in helping you get motivated.  Do you have an area that's the family dumping ground papers, toys and odds and ends?  Set the clock and start clearing it out.  Another way to do it is make a list of areas that you just look at and throw your hands in the air.  Set the clock and go to it.  This will get some of the little things done and motivate you to do more.  Kids having trouble getting home work projects done set the clock and tell them to work for 15-20 minutes.  This really does help.    Another tip I love and gets the kids involved is the 15 minute room rescue.  You set the clock and the kids run around in the room you pick and put their things away.  You would be surprised at how much gets done.  So hope this helps because less clutter means less stress and means a more healthy momma.

                                                       
                                                    This only took 10 minutes to go from this
                                                           

                                                             to folded

and put on hangers and another 5 minutes to put away

Frankies Corner-Box Love

Good Morning dear readers,  It's Friday and time for Frankie's Corner.  He found out we had shoe boxes in the house and he's had fun putting is little body inside them.  He also took his first selfie this week so check it out.

                                               Gotta Love those Blue Eyes
                                           For easy pining  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207469726943/

                                                     Do you mind I'm napping here

Hurray My First Selfie

For easy pining  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207469726935/

CVS-2 Transactions with one saving 95%

Good Afternoon dear readers, I did a CVS run this week.  I did two transactions and did a good job. So here's what I got and the breakdown.

1st transaction

3-12 pack 7 up deal   3/$11

3-Friskies canned cat food

2-M&M Big Candies

2-Circus Peanuts

Total before coupons/sales/ecbs  $27.64              O.O.P $17.78     Saved  36%  and received  $4.75 in ecbs

2nd transaction

2-Scott single roll toilet paper

1-Xtra Laundry Soap

2-JTB Liquid Dish Soap

Total before coupons/sales/ecbs  $9.89         after sales/coupons/ecbs   O.O.P.  $.97
used $4.75 in ecb and CRT coupon for the Scott $1/2

Frankie's Wordless Wednesday--My First Selfie

Here we go Frankie Fans his first selfie.

Shepherd's Pie Soup in the Crock Pot

Good Afternoon dear readers,  I'm doing more crock pot recipes.  This recipe just begged to be adapted to my crock pot.  It's shepherds pie in soup form and it can be made in a regular soup pot at a fraction of the time(30 minutes).  But like I said I wanted to experiment and put it in the crock pot so here we go. I found this on the Mr. Food website and changed it for my purposes.

1 lb ground beef

5 cups of water

3 cups of beef broth

1-16 ounce package of diced potatoes frozen  (if cooking in crock pot defrost them)

1-16 ounce package of mixed vegetables frozen (if cooking in crock pot defrost them)

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups instant potato flakes

Brown the meat in skillet or soup pot depending on how your going to cook it.  While browning meat put other ingredients accept the potato flakes in crock pot.  Cook for about 4-5 hours in crock pot.  Because I did not defrost the vegetables I had to add an extra cup of potato flakes and 1 more teaspoon of onion powder to the soup.   Almost forgot I added 1 cup of diced onions to the soup for a more oniony flavor. Added the flakes last 20 minutes of cooking. It turned out really well after adjusting for the frozen veggies.

If wanting to cook in soup pot brown meat and drain then add other ingredients accept flakes which will be added the last 10 minutes.   This cooks for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy your soup it goes great with sliders. Because my other son doesn't like shepherds pie, we are trying the six sister pulled pork with Dr. pepper sliders today. 

Family Crafts-Sea Glass Bottles Success and Failure Updated

Good Evening dear readers, I'm a little early for my Monday morning post but I wanted to share a fun craft.  I've been seeing all the pretty painted bottle all over  the place and I wanted to give it a try.  I already had clear glass vases from yard sales so all I had to do was get the glue and the food coloring and go to work.  Well, Conor wanted to join in the fun and I had plenty so he made one too.  So here's what you'll need.

Elmer's glue all purpose

Food Coloring

glass bottles or vases--can be found at dollar tree if you don't have any

paint brush or sponges

some kind of surface that it wont stick too real bad i.e. plastic plate

Make sure your bottles are good and clean.  Put a thin coat on your bottle trying not to drip it will make a pool on the bottle if you do.  Also make sure no hair from the paint brush gets left on the bottle that's what happened to mine.  Put has many coats has you want letting it dry in between each coat.  Your done when all dry.  I have not put any sealant on it just keep it away from water until you can find a spray clear sealant. Here's the pics of how they look mine is the round purple and it had issues but Conor's tall blue one turned out great.  This is a fun craft to do with your teenagers so give it a try.  I'm going to redo mine using a sponge will update you with the results later.

Okay I promised to post after redoing the purple vase.  I found the sponge brushes and they worked out beautifully.  So here's the results much better.

                                                       For easy pining http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207469703066/

Energy Savings at Dollar Tree

Good Morning bargain hunters, I have not seen this posted anywhere else.  So I wanted to share an interesting deal at Dollar Tree.  Apparently due to an arrangement between Dollar Tree and your local utility company their is a special rate on CFL light bulbs.  You can get a single bulb for $.50  no coupons needed.  So you can stock up and cut your energy bills by using these light bulbs.  Happy Savings and you don't need the lights for today just candles Happy Valentines Day.

Frankies Tunnel of Love

Good Morning Pet lovers, I finally got Frankie off of the computer.  The boys brought home balloons from the dinner at the church and Frankie's been trying to eat the balloons. We couldn't have him eating balloons.  So I remembered he had his tunnel toy and he loves to play with it.  He had some separation anxiety this week I was gone about eight hours and he was not happy.  Remember now if your getting someone a kitten for valentines day and its a particular breed check on the breeds particular issues.  For example if they live in a small space a Maine coon would be too big.  Frankie's a snowshoe and his particular characteristics are he does not like to be left alone and he needs a lot of attention.  We saw this lovely documentary on Animal Planet that talks about the needs of particular breeds.  So check it out(this was awhile back we saw the video).  It might be available on Amazon.  Frankie says Happy Valentines Day.

Linking up to this wonderful pet party please join us

http://www.jadeoak.com/2014/02/rosie-from-block-pets-are-people-too.html

Happy Valentines Day with a Movie

Good Morning dear readers, It's supposed to be a lovely day in California today.  Perfect for celebrating Valentines day.  How do you celebrate?  Do you have a nice dinner and candy with flowers?  I love to celebrate by watching some of my favourite romantic comedies.  I wanted to share them with you.

The first one is definitely a classic "Desk Set", set in a New York Television station with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.  They meet and of course argue and eventually fall in love.  You can enjoy the antics while  all of this is happening.  Enjoy the retro clothing and something called a floating island. Don't worry I'll be making this soon for the blog.  Another movie I really love is "The Mirror has Two Faces".  It stars Barbara Streisand and Jeff Bridges.  They are two professors who meet through a personal ad and a sister.  They have an arranged marriage and that eventually results in love.  One of my favourite parts is where Barbara's character says that when you fall in love you hear Puccini in your head.  That is just so beautiful.  Enjoy these movies with your loved ones.  Did you know that if you watch 5 romantic movies and discuss them with your loved ones you can make your relationship better according to a study done at UCLA.  I'm game, I love all those movies.  So what romantic movies would you pick?  Happy Valentines Day.

Fun Thrifting Haul

Good Morning dear readers, I finally got to go thrifting again.  I was starting to have withdrawals. I realized when I was their I had not bought anything for the cat collection in awhile.  Well much to Frankie's horror, I found another little cat figurine.  He thinks I'm trying to replace him.  He tries to break them any chance he gets.  Also went to look for some interesting industrial type pieces i.e. steam punk.  I've fallen love with this craft idea.  I was looking at my blog feed and their was an ad for a birdhouse-steam punked.  So naturally I did a pinterest hunt and I'm hooked.  If you want to see what I mean check out the new pinterest board.  So here's what I got.

lovey tray in green with symbols

coffee mug with cat

little cat figurine

big paint brush 

bag of bead and odds and ends

decorated washi tape

all this for under $5

thoughts on using prayers for health issues

Good Morning dear readers,  I've been very busy this week. I meant to post this Monday but ended up posting the crock pot recipe.  I know some of my readers have similar health issue like me. For those of you who don't know I have MS and I'm dealing with it okay(the blog is a big help).  But sometimes you just need to give it to a higher power and just the act of praying is a big help.  I'm sharing one of my favorite prayers that a dear friend gave to me before she passed away.  

                                                      Prayer for Protection

The light of God surrounds me;

The love of God enfolds me;

The power of God protects me;

The presence of God watches over me.

Wherever I am, God is!

I find that by reciting it to myself it makes me feel better.  So having a bad day give it try.  You never know.

                                            A little visual reminder to believe in yourself.

Crock Pot Love-Herbed Chicken and Shrimp

Good Morning dear readers,  I'm doing an extra foodie post this week. I want to start using my new crock pot more often. I've been reviewing recipes this weekend trying to find some really good ones to use.  Well I still had a supply of the diced chicken from that meat sale and I've been been trying to figure what to do with it.  There was this lovely recipe in my big ole binder of recipes that is perfect for a valentines dinner. Yes we found this recipe from taste of home years ago and changed it to fit my families taste and my physical limitations.  So here we go.

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper or just to taste

1 bag Tyson grilled diced chicken  

1 bag frozen chopped onion

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried basil  

1 lb frozen precooked shrimp

Basically this is a dump and go recipe.  You will put the chicken in 5 qt crock pot and mix salt and pepper with it.  Next mix broth, sauce, onions and herbs together and then pour over chicken.  Let cook 3-4 hours on high in crock pot. Add the shrimp and mix well and cook an additional 20-30 minutes or when shrimp turns pink.   This is so versatile you can serve it over rice or noodles or serve it with a side of mashed potatoes.  Enjoy your Valentines Day.

For  easy pinning http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207469635488/

Frankie's computer obsession

Good Morning dear readers,  It's time for Frankie's corner.  He's become obsessed with laying on the computer.  I can't get him to go back to his blankets even though they've been heated in the dryer.  I wanted to take him out on his leash but the weather has not been cooperating.  Because when ever I come back from shopping and he's near the door he has an asthma attack.  So we don't want an emergency visit to the vet so he's staying in doors for now.  I have a question for all you cat lovers is your cat a bunter (thanks to pawsome cats blog I know what that is now-he head butts me and purrs for attention)  or a biter (he will play bite).  So here's the little nuts pics for the week.  Hope they make you smile.  Oh another new habit he sneaks up behind me when I'm on the computer and yowls really loud--I know he's secretly laughing at me because I almost jump out of my seat when he does it.

Sweets for the Sweet-Valentines Bark

Good Morning dear readers,  Yes we are back to foodie post on Wednesday.  Since Valentines day is around the corner I wanted to make my favourite candy.  I love making chocolate bark.  You can make bark work for any holiday or celebration.  For this bark I found valentines colored candy corn and it makes the taste just pop.  So here's what you'll need.

2 bags semisweet chocolate

1 spring bag chocolate candies in yellow and pink

1 box valentines candy corn

Get a large cookie sheet and cover with tin foil.  Pour your chocolate bits first and then put has much of the candy corn and colored chocolate on the pan and mix together.  Put in the oven at 200 degrees no higher or the chocolate will burn.  Let it cook about 10-15 minutes.  When melted take a spatula and mix around.  Put your pan in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.  When solidified tear off pieces in strips.  You can put this in a gift bag or wrap in cellophane makes a nice valentines gift.  Bon appetite and enjoy.

Here's the pin for your convinence  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207469608535/