Becka's blog

We have plans for several projects around the house this summer. One big one is underway this week -- we are having a new kitchen floor installed. We moved into this house six years ago and have been eagerly anticipating the day when we could finally replace the white vinyl floor in our kitchen. I've been keeping busy emptying out the kitchen and preparing a few things ahead for us to eat while the kitchen is off-limits.

Here's one of the recipes I made up and stuck in the freezer:

Pizza Sub Rolls

6 sub rolls
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 jar pizza sauce
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain off accumulated fat and then add green peppers and onion and cook until tender. Add pizza sauce and Italian seasoning. Let cool a bit and then stir in about half of the cheese. Spoon into the sub buns and then top with additional cheese. Wrap each one individually.

I wrapped each one in foil since I will be heating them in a toaster oven in our temporary kitchen in the bathroom. Heat in the oven for about 10-15 mins. If you want to heat them in the microwave wrap them in plastic wrap and microwave for about a minute.

Stay tuned for before and after pictures of our new kitchen floor!

Becka

I don't know what the weather is like in your area, but we're having a heat wave here in South Carolina. At temperatures like this you need to have a frozen dessert on hand.

This Peanut Butter Pie is a specialty from my friend Linda.You know you have a true friend when she invites your family over for dinner right before a major kitchen remodel! This pie is delicious and I hope you will keep it in mind the next time you need a cool dessert that can be made up ahead of time.

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
1 sleeve graham crackers, broken
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
Combine crackers, sugar, and cocoa in food processor and whirl to make crumbs. Add the melted margarine and whirl again until the crumbs look like wet sand. Press into a 10" pie plate.

Peanut Butter Filling:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
8 oz. cream cheese
Soften cream cheese and then cream together with the peanut butter. Add the powdered sugar and milk alternately and beat until smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip. Pour into the crust and freeze. This looks pretty garnished with chocolate syrup.

This chocolate crust could be used for a number of desserts:

Enjoy on a hot summer day!

Becka

While DD Megan and grandson Drew were here Megan's friend Shannon invited us over for dinner one evening. She served these pretzels along with the meal and none of us could stop eating them. They are simple to put together and the ingredients could be kept on hand for a quick and easy snack.

I'm not sure what the name actually is, but I will call them:

Ranch Pretzels

1 pound pretzel twists
1 packet dry ranch salad dressing mix
1/2 cup Orville Redenbacher buttery flavor popcorn oil

Place pretzels in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the dry salad dressing mix. Pour on the popcorn oil and stir to coat. Stir periodically until all the oil is absorbed the the pretzels look sort of dusty. Try to pace your eating!

Here is a picture of the buttery popcorn oil:

Becka

If you read my previous post you may remember that our daughter Megan and grandson Drew were here visiting us recently. When we drove up to Michigan we made the trip all in one day since it was just DH and me. When we returned home with Megan and Drew (who is three years old) we decided that we needed to spend the night in a hotel to break up the trip.

One of my favorite activities while staying in a hotel is watching programs on the food network. The night we were watching in the hotel we happened to catch a program — Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives — featuring various restaurants and their specialties. They mentioned a place in Knoxville, Tennessee called the Pizza Palace. Since we would be traveling through Knoxville the next day we decided to stop and try it out. We were not disappointed!

The Pizza Palace is not a fancy place, but the food was very tasty. We actually stopped again on our way to take Megan and Drew to Cincinnati this past weekend and then again on our way home. Here are a few pictures in case you would like to try it sometime when you are in Knoxville:

Here's a picture of the restaurant:

Here is Jerry tossing pizza dough:

Here are the onion rings prepared by Chef Monroe :

The spaghetti is one of their specialties.

This pizza was delicious.

Our waitresses, Vanessa and Pat were exceptionally friendly and helpful. It was a fun little adventure and we plan to go back in the future when we pass through the area. It's right down the street from the Knoxville Zoo. I would encourage you to give it a try and then let me know how you like it.

Becka

We recently spent a week up in Ohio and Michigan visiting family and then Megan and Drew returned home with us. We have been having a great time and I hope to share some of our adventures with you in future posts.

While we were in Michigan we spent a day in Toledo, Ohio, and went to the zoo, ate supper at Tony Packo's and went to a Toledo Mud Hen game. Here are some pictures from our adventures that day:

The zoo has several polar bears, including this adorable 5 month old:

When we walked up to the gorilla enclosure this fellow ran up to the glass and banged on it giving us all quite a scare.

Drew really enjoyed petting and brushing the goats.

We ate supper at Tony Packos. We had heard about this restaurant for many years, but this was our first visit. We enjoyed it very much.

The restaurant was right across the street from the Toledo Mud Hen ball field:

Here are Meg, Jim, and Drew at the game:

Here we are at the game:

And, finally, here is Drew meeting the Mud Hen Mascot, Mudonna:

Becka