Bakers Dozen

As you all know we have a large family and our large family has always enjoyed snacking.  I'm all for the snacks as long as they are healthy and not too close to dinner time.  About a year ago we started to buy a box of apples every 3 weeks to make sure we have plenty of healthy snacking going on.  This really turned out to be a great idea for our family because not only are our children eating them for snacks, I can also use them in recipes including this one for homemade applesauce.  I grew up with homemade applesauce, especially in the fall time.  We would visit an apple orchard in Iowa (where I grew up), and pick fresh apples and buy a few jugs of apple cider (yum!).  My mom would use some of the apples and peel, cut, cook (which by the way is the best smell ever!), then mash them in a stainless steel food mill, love that!  I absolutely loved that applesauce there is such a big difference between store-bought and freshly made applesauce....

I love banana bread anytime of the year and anytime of the day! Ha! Who else is with me?  This recipe has always come out so moist and so yummy and I think that's because of this special ingredient called buttermilk.... yes, I love buttermilk.. in most of my recipes that is. I am going to share this recipe with you and I bet you'll try it and love it! Also, in this recipe, if you're gluten-free you can use almond flour as a 1:1 ratio instead of using all-purpose flour.  You can substitute applesauce for the eggs as well if you like. First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, you can use the avocado cooking spray as well. I used my small loaf pan or you can make muffins too it will be a lesser cooking time if you do use them. Second, in a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar (I use dark brown sugar), for 3 minutes until light and fluffy making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. I ...

Kyle and I are so very excited to be grandparents to the sweetest little girl, Madeline! Congratulations to Kaston and Emily they are doing a magnificent job already, so proud of them!  Children truly are a blessing! No joys on earth bring greater pleasure than a grandchild to love and treasure! We absolutely love and adore you Madeline!

   I truly grew up with these graham crackers and I also remember making these with my mom as a little girl.  Funny story, when I was in Kindergarten my mom made these for my class as a treat for Valentine's Day I believe.  She made them into hearts and made a little hole at the top and ran red yarn through to make them into necklaces.  She also hand piped each child's name onto each individual heart.  I was so excited to bring them to class the next day!  When it came time to pass the treats out I noticed the kids started to put their graham cracker heart necklace on and they started to EAT them!!! I was so upset that they ate them, even though that's what they were for, I knew how hard my mom worked on them and I was so proud of those treats I thought they shouldn't be for eating! Ha! I was a funny girl I know!!  That's my favorite memory of these graham crackers.  I hope you all try this delicious family recipe and make some of your ...

  This is us! We are one big family of 13 plus a daughter-in-law and a grand baby on the way!! Yes, we keep on growing but I absolutely love it! So, let me introduce our family to you, First, my awesome husband, Kyle he’s a wonderful hubby and loving Dad to all our kiddos. Then, there’s me, Michelle a wife of 23 years and mama to 11 beautiful kids. Kaston is our first and he’s married to Emily the only blonde haired beautiful lady in the picture. Mac is second, Collin is third, Elizabeth our first daughter is fourth in line, Kelly is fifth, sixth is Garrett, seventh Christopher, eighth is our second daughter Isabella, ninth is Sophia, tenth is Natty Cate and lastly but ever so sweet is our Audrey who just turned the big 1! I know what you’re thinking wow! That’s a lot of kids how do you keep track?  Well, we love each and everyone of them separately they all have different personalities and along with that they have different needs so we approach each one of them differ...