The old Gary Cooper movie, Sgt. York, is a family favorite with our entire team. In one scene Ma asks the blessing and says, "Lord bless these vittles we done got...". Hence, the name of our recipe collection.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Spearmint Tea

Sheryl Campbell

5-6 12"-18" twigs of spearmint leaves
generous 1/4 C. evaporated cane juice sugar
2 quarts of water

Cut the twigs of spearmint leaves. Pull leaves off stems and wash leaves. Put leaves in a glass 4 cup measuring cup and pour boiling water over leaves. Add evaporated cane juice sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Let steep for 20 minutes. Strain tea into a 2 quart pitcher. Fill pitcher up with water. Serve. Yummy!


The last time we went to Virgina (Nov. 2008) Rob & Sheryl Campbell graciously opened up there home to our family.  While we were there, Sheryl made this tea.  I have wanted to plant spearmint ever since!  :)  We just put our spearmint plants in the ground a couple of weeks ago and I just made our first pitcher of spearmint tea.  It is SO delicious!  Hannah and Daniel love it just as much as I do!  Really great stuff.  Yum!

Love Always,
Mommy

Barley Crackers

From: Wow! This is Allergy Free and Sugar Free by Deborah Steiner and Mary Yoder

2 ½ C. barley flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tb. Evaporated cane juice sugar
¼ tsp cumin
¼ C. coconut oil, melted
½ C. pear juice

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in coconut oil. Add pear juice and mix well.

Roll out thinly on a cookie sheet. Cut into squares. Poke each square with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 min. Cool and eat.

Can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Mommy made these for Joshua for the first time today and all the children really liked them.  I'm not sure there will be any left at the end of the day.  These are "ack-shink" pretty good!  :)  (Ack-shink is a Team Southerland word for actually.  I believe it was Daniel who used to say it when he was little and the word ach-shink stuck around!)

Love Always,
Mommy

Monday, February 8, 2010

Hot Cheesy Chip Dip

Mommy creation

1 lb. hamburger, fried and drained
2 lb. block of Velveeta
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 can Hormel meat only chili
Lots of tortilla chips

Fry and drain the hamburger; set aside.  Cube the Velveeta and place cubes into crock pot.  Add soup, chili, and hamburger to the crock pot and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 2 hours or until Velveeta is melted.  Stir well and put crock pot on warm to serve.

This recipe started out as a recipe on the back of a can of Rotel tomatoes and it has evolved into something completely different; so, it has become a Mommy creation.  This is a yummy one to take to parties.  This was also one of the famous Germany NASCAR party dishes.  So yummy!

If there is any left over, this freezes really well.  To serve from the freezer, run hot water over the container to loosen dip and place the frozen chunk in the crock pot.  Turn crock pot on high for 2-3 hours or until melted.  You can break up the chunk after about a hour to speed up the process.  After dip is melted turn the crock pot to low.

Love Always, 
Mommy   

Hot Artichoke Dip

Marjie Davis

2- 14 oz. cans of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/2 C. mayo
1/2 C. parmesan cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients.  Spread in an ungreased 9" x 11" baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes uncovered.  Serve hot or cold with chips, celery, crackers, etc.

Mommy was given this recipe by a lady named Marjie when we were stationed in Turkey.  This is a wonderful recipe to bring to get togethers.  We used to make this all the time for our "NASCAR parties" in Germany.  Sometimes we would have a big NASCAR party at our place but there wouldn't be any NASCAR race showing that day!  That's how it went with our military TV programming.  We still had tons of fun.  Uncle Jean-Luc, the Heise's, George Chapman, and the Stuits usually showed up for our parties.  Those were wonderful days! 

Mommy just made this yesterday and took it to Uncle Jean-Luc and Aunt Jill's house for our Superbowl get together.  It was still as good as we remembered it to be.  I think we will keep this recipe around!  :)

Love Always,
Mommy

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Cream of "Whatever" Soup

Sheri Graham Nourishing Heart & Home
Cream Soup Substitue

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour until mixed well. Add in the water, milk, and bouillon. Stir constantly until it comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and use in place of a store-bought can of cream soup.

Mommy has used a Cream of "Whatever" soup substitute for several years now but I wasn't completely happy with the recipe I was using.  The old recipe broke down to "yuck" in the crock pot so I couldn't use it there.  Sheri Graham shared her recipe with me and it is a winner!  I haven't found a recipe yet that doesn't work with this substitute.  I use the MSG Free Chicken Bouillon for this recipe to make it even better for our family.  Yum!  This is another one of those great recipes that you may want to make a staple in your own pantries.

Love Always,
Mommy

Onion Soup Mix

Tina Jenkins from MOMYS

3 C dried, minced onion
1 C chicken bouillon
1 TB garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed
1 TB sugar

Add all ingredients together in a blender and grind into a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.

Use a 1/4 cup mix as you would a pouch of the store bought onion soup mix.

Dip: Use 1/4 cup mix with 16 oz. sour cream for a chip dip.

Children- This is another staple in our pantry.  Store bought Onion Soup Mix has MSG in it so this is a great alternative especailly when we use the MSG Free Chicken Bouillon.  This is the basis for a lot of our homemade meals.

Love Always,
Mommy

Eating More Veggies

One way we have been able to get more veggies in our diet is to buy a big bag of organic carrots and a big bag of organic celery.  If we wash and cut all of it up at one time it is now ready to just grab and eat from the refrigerator.  One tip from the MOMYS board was to put out cut veggies and THE DIP about a hour before the meal.  If the children fill up on them- great!  If the veggies and the dip are set out with the meal they are less likely to be eaten.  Works for me! 

Love Always,
Mommy