Pumpkin Loaf

1.5 cup oil
2 cup pumpkin
4 eggs, beaten
2 cup sugar
3 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together oil, pumpkin, eggs and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and beat well.

Divide into two loaf pans

Bake 50 minutes or longer until set.

A recipe from my grandmother's collection - noted as being from Betty Burroughs

Easy Drop Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup milk

Preheat over to 425

Stir dry in bowl. Cut in butter. Add milk.

Drop into 8 mounds on baking stone.

Bake approx 15 minutes until golden.

Christmas baking

Orange and Brandy Balls
Peanut Butter Balls
Anise and Orange Shortbreads (GF)
Midnight Mints
Mincemeat Tarts
Marshmellow squares
Cherry and Chocolate Shortbread

Advent Countdown 2013

1 - Write a letter to Santa
2- Make salt dough snow family
3- Baking with Mom
4-
5-
6- Fun afternoon with Daddy
7- Watch the truck parade with Mimi and Papa
8- Go ice skating
9- Go see the gingerbread houses at Country Grocer
10-

hhhhhmmmmmmm......lost count somewhere along the way.

Lesson learnt from this year. Have a big list of possible ideas to choose from. Trying to come up with ideas the night before plus be organized doesn't work well.

Buying some chick, chick, chickens

okay so they aren't for me but still............

 

Joyce lives in the Litein area of Kenya.

She has 4 children and has been working with poultry for 5 years.

Her primary income sources are milk, eggs and tea.

Her biggest challenge is 'Insufficient funds.'

Animals on the farm have been given the names of 'Simba.'

Joyce was asked why she chose Juhudi Kilimo for this loan, to which she replied: 'Low interest.' This client was also asked what was learned during Juhudi's required micro-finance training session: 'It has loans with low interest."

Her highest monthly expense is school fees. When asked how will this loan benefit her family,

Joyce replied, "More income to family."

As part of Juhudi's loan appraisal process, each borrower's assets are evaluated.

Joyce owns the following: a cow and poultry' but does not own a pig, pump, bicycle, motorcycle, or automobile. Juhudi Kilimo also tries to measure any change in living standards based on this loan. This borrower has in the household a mosquito net but does not have electricity,

solar power, running water, sewing machine, TV, or DVD.

 

Kiva - Newest Loan

Milenka is 20 years old. She works knitting wool sweaters and wraps from alpaca wool for women who wear traditional skirts. She has her workshop and residence in the Kalajahuira area. This loan is her first cycle in the institution. Milenka is going to use this loan to buy alpaca wool wholesale to knit her sweaters and wraps since she sells alot this time of year because it is very cold. She also delivers orders to different markets in the city of El Alto. Her reason for asking for this loan is to increase her working capital. Milenka faces challenges in her business such as stocking her merchandise and she is going to use the profits to keep buying her materials wholesale to knit her sweaters.                      

Chocolate Banana Bread

Gluten Free - High in Iron, Protein, Fibre, Calcium & Omega 3s

Wet Ingredients
2 medium sized bananas, smashed
1/2 cup oil (olive, walnut, etc)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Dry ingredients
2/3 cup teff
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup walnuts

To flour pan
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cocoa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Grease loaf pan and dust with sugar/cocoa. Reserve extra to sprinkle over top.

Mix together wet ingredients.
Mix together dry ingredients (except walnuts)
Mix wet and dry together and then mix in walnuts.

Pour batter in pan. Bake approx. 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Kiva loan - Concilie

 

Concilie is a member of the Twizere II group. She lives in Gitega, Burundi. She is 38 years old and married to Leonard, a businessman. Together they have one thirteen year old child who attends school.

She has been in the business of selling beans and corn for four years.

She is on her second loan with Turame. With the KIVA loan, she will increase her capital and buy a large supply of beans and corn to sell in order to earn more.

The income she earns from her business will allow her to feed her family well.

Taco Seasoning

So after trying several different recipes out there on the net this is my favourite so far.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons chile powder

2 teaspoons corn starch

2 teaspoons Mexican oregano

1 + 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine/table salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

1. Combine all the seasonings together in a jar and shake until well mixed.
2. Use 2 tablespoons seasoning mix for every pound of ground beef plus 1/2 - 2/3 cup water.
3. You can tweak the seasoning to suit your own tastes. I went easy on the salt so you can salt and pepper to taste

Go to Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice to find the original posting and much more yumminess from Reeni

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 lb. broccoli (including upper stems)
• 2 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup half and half (or use 2 cups total of milk)
• 1 cup milk
• 8 oz. mild cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, on medium-low heat, in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, to sweet the onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli, vegetable stock, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder to the pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

As the broccoli cooks, make your roux by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and whisk constantly until the flour has turned a pale color, about 1 to 2 minutes. Keep watch as the roux will quickly turn dark and take on a different flavor. Add the half and half and the milk and allow to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add the cheese, stirring to combine. Set aside.

Using an immersion blender, or a regular blender, blend the broccoli until your desired thickness. Add the cheese mixture and salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too creamy for your desired taste, simply add a bit of stock to thin it out.

Source: The Way to His Heart, inspired by Panera Bread
Thank you Maeghan for sharing this recipe with the world.

Wilson

Wilson is 35 years old and has two children, ages ten and five. He works managing a flower nursery located in the Pedregal area. This loan is his first cycle within our institution. Wilson is going to use this loan to purchase construction materials to build a larger space which he will add on to his nursery. The reasons he is requesting this loan is so that he can make some needed repairs and because he needs working capital. Wilson faces challenges in his business, mainly being able to expand and grow a great variety of indoor decorative flowers. He will use his profits to expand his business. He wants to eventually purchase a larger lot so that he can have about three different nurseries and continue growing a large variety of flowers.

Ecra

Ecra is a resident of Changamwe, Kenya. She is a clothes dealer; a business she began 5 years ago. She is married and has three school-going children. Ecra was introduced to Milango by her friends; she joined in order to access funding for her business.

Ecra is glad about the progress that her business has made. The new clothes she purchased from her recent loan enabled her business to repay the loan quickly. She is grateful to the lenders for such great support and for the impact on her life and business.

Her clothing dealership has continued to progress well and she now intends to increase the stock. Ecra is applying for a loan of 128,650 Kenya shillings to purchase new clothing. She will use the extra income from this loan to educate her children.

And this is who are newest loan is going to.

And Our Family Grows....

We have decided to add to our family.

 Perhaps not in the conventional sense but in the sense that works for our family.

 

As I have not been doing the Christmas present thing on my side of the family I figured this was a way I could give without more materialistic items being bought.

 

So Mom and Dad meet your new grand-daughter.

 K, P and A - meet your new niece.

C, R, T, A and D meet your new cousin.

 

I hope you all understand and appreciate why I have chosen to do this.

This is a way we can help others.

And we can expand our ever growing family.

 

I now present our sponsor daughter - Eddah

 

PK has said he wants to paint more cards to help pay for his new sister - so sweet.

So if anyone needs cards for anything you know who to call.

If anyone wants to contribute to her upbringing just let me know.

 

Also an update on Ayyumen.

He is doing great. Goes to school now.

Loves football (our soccer).

I have a couple letters and some drawings at the house if anyone wants to see them.

 

That's it for now.



Newest Kiva Loans

Amazing how fast the repayments can come in.

We are now able to start a new loan from the repayments

So here she is

Ayisha

 

Ayisha is married and has four children. All go to school except the youngest who is three months old. She usually sells shirts for men and skirts for ladies. She has spent six years in the business. With the loan, she wants to add more shirts and skirts to sell.

 

PK painted the cards for Papa's Christmas concert. With the money he was paid for doing the cards we were able to fund a new loan.

 

Abraham

 

Abraham is a carpenter in Mombasa. He has been in this business for the last nine years and he is doing great. He is requesting a second loan to purchase timber for making more furniture. He hopes to use the anticipated profit to repay his loan, after successfully repaying the first loan. He hopes to own a bigger workshop in the future.

 

 

 

Rum Balls

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......... yummy !!!!!

1 cup icing sugar
1 cup ground almonds
9 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp melted margarine
1/3 cup rum (I used Captain Morgan's Spiced)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate sprinkles

mixing icing sugar through vanilla extract.
chill about 15 minutes or firm enough to roll
roll by the heaping tsp into balls and roll in spinkles.
chill and enjoy!

Kiva

My feel good loans

 

 

Léa is part of the group Twizerimana and lives in Gitega. She is a widow of 50 years old with three children aged 11 to 17 years. She has been a merchant selling beans, bananas, and corn for the past three years. She is currently on her tenth loan with Turame. Léa plans to use this loan from Kiva to increase her capital. She will do this by purchasing a large quantity of rice, beans, and bananas and reselling them, thus earning more income.

 

Lorenzo is married with four children. Lorenzo is 37 years old and lives in Namnama, Titay, Zambonaga Sibugay. Lorenzo is a rubber broker to earn a living. He has been doing this for five years. He has requested a loan of 50,000 Philippines pesos to purchase rubber for his business.

Lorenzo is a new member of PMPC. In the future, Lorenzo hopes to expand his business.

 

Mor is a young, 28 year old shopkeeper who sells notions (sewing supplies). He is single and has no children. Mor has a shop in the market in his neighborhood. He has been running this shop for 5 years. This is his second loan, and he's asking for 250000F CFA to buy accessories. Mor is single, but takes care of his mother and brothers. He would like to grow his shop and diversify his business.

Nelly works raising animals, such as chickens and guinea pigs. She fattens them and later sells them in different markets. She also still has a minibus with which she provides [transportation] services to the public. Through these two businesses, she helps her son get ahead. Her dream is to grow her animal-raising business. Nelly is requesting this loan to purchase chickens and guinea pigs and also to buy feed for the animals. She is happy about the loan and committed to making her loan payments.

 

Mzia is 50 years old. She lives in a small village of Dmanisi District with her husband Tariel. Mzia and Tariel run an agricultural business. They have 2 milking cows and sell milk in nearby villages. Also, they have 6 sheep and sell lambs. In addition to livestock, they have bee-hives, with bee colonies which produce honey. They also own a plot of land, where they grow wheat, maize and haricot beans. Mzia and Tariel are especially busy with the plot during spring and summer seasons in order to ensure a good harvest in late summer, which they sell on the local open market. In addition to their agricultural activities Mzia works in the village school as a primary teacher. Total average monthly income of the family is 1000 Lari. Mzia requested credit for expansion of the dairy farm. She will purchase an additional milk cow, and will be able to produce dairy food, mainly cheese and curds. Mzia will sell additional produce on the local open market, where her products are quite popular among consumers. The income of the family will increase. With increased income they will be able to reinvest in the family agricultural business. Due to the above mentioned, living conditions of the family will improve.

Saidikhon has been growing and drying apricots since 2007. She is married and has three sons. Her children and husband help Saidikhon in her business. Every year she buys several hectares of apricot orchard and during the fruit season her and her family drive to the orchard and pick, de-pit and dry the apricots for Saidikhon to sell at the market. The family also receives monthly money transfers from their two other sons who left to Russia for work. Saidikhon's husband raises and fattens cattle for meat sales. Saidikhon would like to take out this loan to purchase an apricot orchard so that she can pick and process fruit from it for resale.

Ajibu is 38 years old and lives in the town of Soroti in the Mbale region of Uganda. She is married and has 4 children with 3 of them currently in school. For the past ten years, Ajibu has been working hard to manage her bar, which sells local beers for drinking. To help expand her business, Ajibu has requested a loan of 3,000,000 Ugandan Shillings from BRAC Uganda. The loan will be used to buy more items for making the local beers like Sorghum for resale, and will help Ajibu to generate greater profits and increase stock. Ajibu hopes that in the future she will be able to get more money from BRAC to improve more on her business.

 

 

 

Christmas Cookie Countdown

So I though it would be fun to keep a log of the cookies I make this year for Christmas just to see what I made. What was loved and not. A little reference for future years.

So here it goes......

Pfeffernuesse - 20 dozen
Rum balls - 3 dozen

Smack Yo Mama Ribs

So I can't claim these ribs as mine.  The original recipe can be found here on the BlackandMarriedWithKids.Com website.A big thanks to them and to pinterest for allowing me the pleasure of dining on such yumminess.  I have copied and pasted it on my site just so I don't lose it. I am making batch number two right now for the gang going camping this weekend.

SMACK YO MAMA FINGER LICKIN GRAND MARNIER BAR-B-QUE PORK RIBS
RIB INGREDIENTS:
Nice Slab of Pork Ribs
¾ cup of chicken broth
Garlic and salt water for brining (brining means to soak in)
Sea Salt (to taste)
Ground Pepper (to taste)
Herb & Garlic seasoning (to taste)

GRAND MARNIER BAR-B-QUE SAUCE:
1 cup ketchup (I use Heinz)
¼ cup Country Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
¾ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier (liquor – you can omit and add extra sugar)
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. ground pepper

READY, SET GO:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Clean ribs
3. Place in huge container and submerge in water and add granulated garlic and kosher salt – cover container and allow meat to brine (to soak in the garlic and salt water) for at least 1-2 hours (the longer the better – you could even let it brine overnight)
4. Remove ribs from the brine and rinse off
5. Lay the pork rib slab on a cutting board bone side up
6. Remove the membrane off the bone (membrane is a super thin layer of skin on the bone – you can just put your finger under the skin and pull it off)
7. Cut ribs into portions between each bone and season with sea salt, ground pepper and herb & garlic seasoning
8. Pour chicken broth in a baking dish/pan (use a big enough dish/pan so you do not over crowd the ribs) and add seasoned ribs
9. COVER and cook for 1 ½ – 2 hours or until meat is cooked through
10. Let’s make the Grand Marnier Bar-B-Que Sauce (yeah baby)
11. Put a medium sauce over high heat, add the ketchup, Dijon mustard, honey, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, ground pepper and Grand Marnier
12. Whisk sauce ingredients together, once it comes to a boil, turn it down to low to simmer for 5 minutes then set aside away from heat to thicken for about 5 minutes
13. Once ribs are cooked remove from oven and base ribs with half of the Grand Marnier bar-b-que sauce and put ribs back in the oven for another 10 minutes UNCOVERED
14. After 10 minutes take the ribs out again and pour the rest of the Grand Marnier bar-b-que sauce over the ribs and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes still UNCOVERED
15. After the last 10 minutes remove ribs from oven and allow to rest untouched for 5 minutes

Meat Loaf

As made tonight. Will cut back on the cayenne next time - a bit too much spice for meatloaf - not burn your mouth but just not quite right for comfort food.

2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 Tbsp Worchestershire
1/3 cup red onion
3 slices bread crumbled
1 egg
2 lbs extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup ketchup

Topping:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp ground mustard powder

Mix ingredients together and place in pan. Bake at 375 for 1 hour. Pour topping over and bake for 10 minutes then serve.

Notes for next time. Less cayenne. Add some garlic.

Easy Play Dough Recipe

So I can't take credit for this recipe but I will say that it really is super easy.
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
1.75 cups very hot - almost boiling water
1 Tbsp oil
Food colouring

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix the liquid ingredients together and add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir until well combined and then put on the table and kneed until cooled. Do not put in sealed contained until completely cooled. Will keep for weeks in a sealed container.