HOW DO YOU TEACH YOUR KIDS TO BE THANKFUL? FOR EACH REPLY, WE’LL DONATE $1 TO A DESERVING CHARITY! @horizondairy

December 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I would love it if my readers and followers would take just a few minutes to make this great thing happen. 

Please take just a moment of your time to leave a comment on how you teach your kids to be thankful and The Blog Frog will donate one dollar for each comment. 

Charities need to replenish their resources after the holiday season. 

Giving back can be as simple as a comment! 

Thank you and have a safe and Happy Holiday!

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Does Your Family Support Your Gluten Free Lifestyle?

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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Disclosure: I am a community leader in the Udi’s Gluten Free Living Community on The Blog Frog. This post is Sponsored by Udi’s and The Blog Frog. As a community leader I may receive compensation and or receive prizes for sharing information about the Udi’s Gluten Free Living Community and The Blog Frog. All opinions expressed are my own!

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Garlic and Rosemary Bread

December 28, 2011 By 4 Comments
Garlic and Rosemary Bread Recipe

I came across a recipe in a magazine for a Garlic and Rosemary bread that looked very interesting to me. 

I’ve made a Rosemary focaccia using the sourdough focaccia recipe that I am very fond of. Who am I kidding?  

I love that recipe! 

I’ve also bought some very expensive artisan rosemary bread in the past. 

My hopes were to come up with a recipe that is as good if not better than the artisan breads I have bought. So I started playing around with this base recipe.

I think I did a pretty good job but you’ll have to try the recipe out yourself to see how I did.


The original recipe looked good but as usual I made some changes to it based on my experience as a bread maker.  That’s not to say the recipe wasn’t great as it was written but I wanted to come up with something a little different. For one thing my recipe has much more olive oil in it than the original. Olive oil and rosemary pair so well together that I thought it made perfect sense to add more. 

I also love the crackly buttery flavor of the crust after it has been brushed and baked with olive oil all over it.
Garlic and Rosemary Bread
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup warm water, divided
3 to 5 tbs olive oil
2 ½ tbs dry rosemary, crushed
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs active dry yeast
2 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ tsp sugar


Mince the garlic and crush the dry rosemary and place them into a small bowl. Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil over garlic and rosemary. Stir to moisten the rosemary. Set aside.

    Put ½ cup of water into a small bowl and warm to body temperature in the microwave. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir. Set aside.


  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook put the flour, salt and sugar. Turn the mixer on low and mix for about 1 minute.

    Measure ¾ cup of water into another bowl and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Warm in the microwave to body temperature.

   Turn the mixer on low and add yeast and water. Mix for one minute.
   Pour the warm water and olive oil into the mixer and mix for about 2 minutes on low.

   Turn the mixer on medium low and knead with the dough hook for about 5 minutes.  If the dough seems too wet add about a tablespoon of flour to the bowl and continue to knead. If the dough seems too dry dribble about a teaspoon of olive oil into the bowl.

    Knead until smooth or about 8 to 10 minutes in total.
  Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl and set in a warm spot till it doubles in size, about 1 hour. I put the bowl in my oven with the light turned on.

 After the dough has risen punch down and divide in half.
 You can form the dough into two rounds or two small French bread loaves on a greased cookie sheet or a pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal.

 Let loaves rise until doubled. About an hour.

 Garlic and rosemary bread dough


After the loaves have risen if you have been using your oven to keep them warm remove them from the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

 Carefully brush some olive oil over the tops.

Bake the loaves for 30 to 40 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when you knock on the bottom.

Cool on cooling racks. 
Cool completely before cutting.
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Join in on these new discussions in my BlogFrog Community

December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Check out these popular discussions from my community




What did you make holiday leftovers?
So what have you made with your holiday left overs? Today I made
a big pot of beans and ham. I love great northern beans so that is
what I used today. Other times I have used navy beans or even made
split pea soup.
What did you make?

read more…



What kitchen goodies did Santa bring?
Santa brought me a Sunbeam mini pie maker. I can wait to try it
out. My first try at it will be probably cherry pies because I have
a can of cherry pie filling. But I plan on experimenting!
So what kitchen goodies did you get for
Christmas?

read more…
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Homemade Christmas: Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix

December 22, 2011 By 1 Comment
Homemade Christmas: Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix


I’m a little late in getting this posted but I wanted to get it on the blog early enough so you might use it. Sorry I am late!

If you’re running out of ideas and you need an easy gift to throw together then you certainly still have time to get this one made before Christmas Eve on Saturday. It takes only about 15 minute to throw it together and then you can package it however you like.

This hot cocoa mix has been floating around the internet for many, many years and you will be able to find the same recipe with some slight variations all over the place if you do a google search.

 This is the recipe I have used about 5 times in the past ten years. Like most of my recipes I have tweeked it to suit my tastes and needs.

The recipe as I’ve written it will make 16 cups of dry hot cocoa mix.  One measured cup of the cocoa mix is enough to make 3 servings of hot cocoa. 

Depending on how you package it you can easily make 16 gift bags holding one cup of cocoa mix each.

 I packaged some of mine in a pretty Christmas bag, topped it off with some mini marshmallows and tucked it in a coffee mug I bought from the dollar store.
If you don’t need that many gifts or you don’t want to end up with 16 cups of hot cocoa mix you can easily half the recipe. What I do is make the large batch and the family enjoys the left overs after I have made the number of gifts I need.

This mix can last indefinitely as long as it is stored in an airtight container.
Semi Homemade:  Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix

Makes 16 cups of cocoa mix
10 cups of powdered milk or a 25.6 ounce box
3 cups of non-dairy coffee creamer or a 18 oz container
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 cups of Nestle Quick or a large 16 oz container
2 to 4 Giant Sticks Peppermint Candy or a box of 12 candy canes
mini marshmallows, optional
Sift all of the ingredients together in a very large bowl. I start out with the powdered milk because sometimes I sift it twice to get all the lumps out. You can just sift it once. It doesn’t make a difference in the taste.

After you have all the ingredients sifted stir with a large spoon to mix everything together. You don’t want streaks of white from the milk or the creamer.
Take the peppermint sticks and place them in a large ziplock bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the peppermint sticks into small pieces.

Divide the cocoa mix into two gallon size ziplock bags. 8 cups in each bag.

 To one bag add the crushed peppermint sticks. Shake the bag so the crushed peppermint stick is mixed in with the cocoa mix. 

Package as you like. I used small Christmas goodie bags and added one cup of cocoa mix and a handful of mini marshmallows on top. I tied a chocolate dipped spoon to the handle and hung a candy cane from the cup.

With the second bag of cocoa mix you could add marshmallows and shake up the bag so they are mixed in with the cocoa mix and have two different flavored cocoa mixes.  


Or repeat with the other two peppermint sticks.


Or use a small Christmas container and layer marshmallows and cocoa mix.

Serving instructions: Add 4 tablespoons of cocoa mix to one cup of hot water or milk. 

I prefer the milk myself because it makes a creamier cocoa.


Merry Christmas
Filed Under: Beverages, Christmas Baking, Holiday, Homemade, Recipes, Winter Tagged With: , , ,

International Delight Holiday Traditions Target Giveaway #indelight

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Christmas time is full of holiday’s traditions in our family.  Trimming the tree, decorating the house and family get together’s are the main traditions we have.
 We also enjoy making homemade goodies to share with friends and family. Each year the recipes may change but there is always at least one homemade goodie that we make each and every year.
It just wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t bake Christmas cookies. Everyone gets in on the fun of decorating.  We all have our favorites but the kids love decorating sugar cookies.
When I first started this holiday tradition it was for my children. They loved decorating Christmas cookies. Now my grown children help as they watch their own children slathering on the homemade frosting and pouring colorful sugar on top of the homemade sugar cookies.
This year I have also been working hard in the kitchen preparing homemade goodies to share for the holiday. So far I have made homemade granola, chocolate dipped marshmallows, chocolate dipped spoons and a hot cocoa mix.

 The hot cocoa mix has been packaged in pretty Christmas gift bags, tucked into a Christmas coffee mug with a chocolate dipped spoon to give as Christmas gifts to my 5 year old granddaughters teacher, our friends and family.

On Christmas morning after the gifts are unwrapped and I can relax for a moment I will enjoy a nice hot cup of cocoa with a dash of my favorite International Delight seasonal flavor  Peppermint Mocha.
Happy Holidays from our family to yours! 
Arlene

Tell International Delight what your favorite holiday tradition is for a chance to win a $200 Target gift card from BlogFrog.

Add some cheer to your coffee or baking this season with International Delight’s holiday flavors. 

Enjoy the taste of Peppermint Mocha, Pumpkin Pie Spice,  White Chocolate Raspberry, Vanilla Spiced Rum or Gingerbread Latte and stir up a moment of sweet inspiration.

TellTeTeTell International Delight what your favorite holiday treat is for a chance to win a $200 Walmart Gift Card.
Capture the flavors of the holiday’s in every cup of coffee with International Delight creamers. Available in a variety of flavors, such as Cinnabon, Almond Joy and Pumpkin Spice, International Delight can make everyday feel like a holiday.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the International Delight Brand. 

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