MSIH: Ham and Lentil Soup

I'm betting my sister is down right starving it's been so long since I've sent food home for her to review hahahha. I found this one from last year that I never posted - and with the leftover hambone from Easter dinner I'll be making it again. It's so good. Here's her review, recipe below:

Ham and Lentil Soup.  Catchy name.  Perhaps needs some work.  Would have scared the husband off with just the word “lentil” so had to not tell him what it was called.

This soup was amazing.  loved it. 

Almost had the texture of beef stew so if you like soup that’s very “brothy” you may not like this one.  I on the other hand loved it.  The flavor was delicious, loved the lentils, quite filling due to its thickness. Very good. 

Jill here - I read a bunch of recipes and got a good idea of what to do, then I winged it with my own amounts and seasonings. I'll give you approximate amounts of what I used but I didn't measure when I made it - so adjust to your taste and/or what you have on hand, and what looks right. It was brothy the day I made it but after sitting overnight a lot of the liquid was absorbed and made it very thick and more stew-like. If you want it thinner just add water or more chicken stock. 

• 1 hambone with meat still on it
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup lentils
• 6 cups chicken stock (low-sodium)
• 1 1/2 t. Italian herb blend
• 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves

Put all ingredients in a large crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the hambone and pick off any meat that's still attached, chop and add back to the pot. Note, I look thru the soup for any large pieces and break them up, and remove any grizzle/bone/fat/etc. that you don't want to leave in the soup. Remove the bay leaves before serving. 

🔥Around the Campfire (week 14)

Dear Campers ~

Happy Easter!! I'm busy getting ready for dinner later, I bet you are too - so I'll keep this weeks recap short and sweet! 

Posts ~

3/28: 🔥week 13

3/29: Reese's bunny racing cars

3/30: Tip-sy Tuesday: deviled eggs

3/31: chocolate peep pops

4/1: meatloaf cake

4/2: godzilla rampage

4/3: Easter bark

What's Cooking ~ 

• crockpot boneless pork chops, mashed cauliflower, green salad
• grilled tuna, greek salad and roasted garbanzo beans
• grilled chicken, rice pilaf, baked cheesy spinach
• pork tenderloin, cubed sweet potatoes, roasted green beans
• meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies
• bbq ribs, veggie tots, chopped kale salad

To make this cute flower arrangement I put the daffodils in a skinny vase and set into a larger clear vase. Then add jelly beans around the inner vase, top with plastic or edible grass, then a layer of peeps. 

I got a funny text from Janis after she read my little April Fool's Day post - she wrote "okay...you got me!!! Good one! I was so upset that you were quitting your blog!" Awwwww - sorry for scaring her but that was a nice text hahah. 

That's all for now - hope you had a great week! Stop back often for more recipes, crafts, projects, whatever else I think of to make at camp - bye!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

4.4.20: virtual Sunday supper

4.4.19: thousand island dressing
4.4.18: april challenge - water
4.4.17: using up postage stamps
4.4.16: how to make refrigerator pickles

Easter White Chocolate Bark

This bark is super easy to make - I'm planning to break it into pieces and stick in the top of mini cheesecakes for our Easter dinner. Brooke is coming over and has requested ham and cheesy potatoes  - usually I'd make a bunny cake for dessert but since it's only the 3 of us and 2 of us don't love cake, I'm making cheesecake instead (and I know that B loves it!). I'll do mini versions so the 3 of us aren't tempted to eat the whole cheesecake in one sitting hahahha - portion control and all that.

Melt white chocolate according to package directions (I used Ghirardelli melting wafers). Spread on a wax paper lined baking sheet, spread it pretty thin so you'll be able to break it up once it's set. While still melted add whatever toppings you want - I used some Easter sprinkles, along with 3 different other kinds of sprinkles that were all different sizes to add variety. I thought about adding mini m&m's but just went heavy on the sprinkles. Turned out so cute!

I'll probably make this recipe for the cheesecakes again, but without the fruit topping. I'll add a dollop of whipped cream and a piece of Easter bark to the top. 

4.3.20: neighborhood messages

4.3.19: sheet pan pork chops

4.3.18: peeling potatoes tip

4.3.17: K-cup bunnies (fun Easter craft!)

4.3.16: chicken soup

Godzilla Rampage (and a Peep house)

My sis sent me this inspiration idea like 3 years ago and I kept forgetting to make it until now - I didn't come up with the idea but I love it so much and it made me laugh, and I really dislike Peeps so this plays with my twisted sense of humor LOL. 

You should have seen Dave's face when he saw that I was sticking gooey marshmallow and sugar on his Godzilla statue/toy (he has a bunch of different ones and I promised to wipe it clean hahahhaha). 

Now if you don't want to have a Godzilla rampage, here's a much nicer thing to do with Peeps from my friend Lisa - make a Peep gingerbread birdhouse, so cute! 

4.2.20: cowboy pasta

4.2.19: stringing beads tip
4.2.18: yarn and tulip wreath
4.2.17: BBQ chicken stuffed sweet potatoes
4.2.16: cleaning glassware

Meatloaf Cake

Guys - you've probably known this was coming for some time now, I'm just burned out of blogging every day and have decided it's time to retire from running Make My Day Camp. It's been so much fun and I really appreciate you sticking with it for 5+ years - hopefully you've found recipes, crafts, projects, etc that you've made and enjoyed....and I hope you'll keep being creative even without my sharing ideas (some dumb, some good hahha). Thanks for everything!

Geez I hope you know that today is April 1st - HAPPY APRIL FOOLS' DAY!!! No way I'm quitting the blog, I love it too much - you're not getting rid of me that easily 😉. Now on to today's post - I'm making 'meatloaf cake' in honor of April Fools' day, it's 2 layers of meatloaf with mashed potato filling and frosting. I have the meatloaf in the oven as I write this, haven't assembled it yet so don't have a picture but I'll update after I do. Wanted you to have time to make this today if you're feeling like being silly with me. Here's my inspiration picture from an old All Recipes magazine:

I made my usual meatloaf recipe, LeDonna does a version with mushroom soup on top that I want to try but I went with this chili sauce glazed one since I know what to expect. I'll do the other version and share it next time. 

• 1 pound each lean ground beef, ground pork, and ground lamb or turkey
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (cracker crumbs or oatmeal work too)
• 1 bottle of chili sauce, or 1 1/2 cups homemade
• 2 eggs
• splash of milk
• salt and pepper

Combine the breadcrumbs, 1/2 of the chili sauce, eggs, milk, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the ground meats and mix with your hands until it's evenly mixed together. Divide in half, place each in a 9" cake pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with remaining chili sauce. Bake at 350' for approx. 45 minutes until done. 

4.1.20: American Sign Language alphabet

4.1.19: microwave bowl cozy we still use these just about every day!

4.1.18: Easter and how to make a jelly bean tree

4.1.17: perfect baked sweet potatoes

PS: thanks to Tesha for the funny toilet photo above! 

 

Chocolate Peep Pops

Saw this idea in an old magazine - super easy and cute! I had some Peeps left over from the wreath I made last week and have chocolate squares on hand so thought I'd make them for Easter table decorations. I hate the taste of Peeps (side note - does anyone actually like to eat them?! Yuck!) but dipped in chocolate they might taste waaaaay better - and if not, they're still really fun.

Simply melt chocolate according to package directions. Stick a popsicle stick in the bottom of a Peep (push it in pretty far or else the Peep wants to fall off the stick when you're dipping it); dip in the melted chocolate - I spooned chocolate over the parts that didn't get covered when dipping, shake the excess chocolate off as best you can and add sprinkles. Place on a wax paper covered baking sheet and pop in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.

3.31.20: chocolate sheet cake

3.31.19: 🔥

3.31.18: chocolate covered strawberry 'carrots'

3.31.17: Brooke made a candle holder

3.31.16: creative photography class

Tip-sy Tuesday: deviled eggs

Janis texted me this morning that she was thinking about my deviled eggs hahah. That got me to thinking that I should put them on my menu for Easter dinner. We all love deviled eggs! I posted 3 different times in 2016 regarding deviled eggs and thought I'd share the posts again, along with a tip for transporting them - just in time for Easter (or whenever!). 

First up is how my sis makes her deviled eggs - in her words (and they are terrific!):

Hi- me again. 

Well I don’t cook much but I do like to party.  When my sister is gone I am forced to make my own dish to pass.  I hate that (and the friends I am bringing my dish to hate that also).   That said, one of the things I can make and that taste pretty decent is deviled eggs.  It’s a fairly standard deviled egg recipe what makes them better (and gets me compliments) I’m pretty sure is the “secret” ingredient of spicy mustard.

I add light miracle whip (might as well save the fat where I can) until it looks creamy, a few squeezes of regular mustard until bright yellow (I like mine mustardy) then a few squeezes of the spicy mustard depending how tangy you like it.  like I said, everywhere I take them people rave that they are delish.  Hey I’m no Jill but I gotta do what I can.

 

Next up is how to make deviled egg chicks:

Make traditional deviled eggs (I make mine by mixing the yolks with mayo, yellow mustard and a dash of brown mustard, salt and white pepper in a food processor until smooth and creamy). To make the chicks: cut the narrow top off the egg (instead of splitting them lengthwise down the middle) and scoop out yolk. Fill with deviled egg filling mounding it up a bit on the bottom part - that's where the eyes and beak will go. Replace the top of the egg that you cut off, add pieces of black olive or black peppercorns for eyes and little bits of carrot for the beak. To keep them standing upright I put a dab of filling under each one to help stabilize it.

Third post is how to get perfectly peeled boiled eggs:

I have been making hard boiled eggs for years the same way (put the eggs in a pan, fill with water, bring to a boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and cover, let rest in hot water for 20 minutes) and they are foolproof, perfectly done everytime. But if the eggs are too fresh then it's always a crap shoot if I could peel them easily (did you know that fresh eggs are the culprit behind difficult-to-peel hard boiled eggs? Yep!) and if I wanted pretty deviled eggs then it was such a pain hoping to get enough nice ones.  I'm making deviled eggs to take to a friends house and of course bought brand new eggs this morning...and then I saw this method with the claim that even fresh eggs will peel perfectly...well of course I'm going to try it!

Bring a pot of water to a boil and then carefully lower the eggs into the pan. Let them boil in a gentle simmer for 15 minutes. Drain; then put the hot eggs into a bowl of ice water and let cool for 5-10 minutes. And sure enough, every one of the eggs peeled super easy - I'm shocked. A couple have a sort of dent on the side (I put them on the top in this picture), not sure what that's about, but when I halve the eggs I'll just make sure to put the dented side on the bottom.

And lastly - a transporting tip for Tip-sy Tuesday: if you don't have an egg carrier (I made and take them so often I have a Tupperware container specifically for transporting deviled eggs!), I've also used an empty styrofoam or plastic egg carton which works pretty good; my favorite way tho is to put them in a mini muffin tin, stick a couple toothpicks in them and loosely cover with plastic wrap. They won't tip since they're being held in the muffin tin and the toothpicks keep the wrap from touching the eggs and messing them up. I don't have a picture of them in a muffin tin, but here's how to cover with plastic wrap: 

3.30.20: April plan

3.30.19: brown rice risotto
3.30.18: shaving cream dyed Easter eggs
3.30.17: desktop organizing
3.30.16: blueberry crumb cake

Reese's Bunny Cars

My sis sent me this idea a long time ago (have no idea where she saw it), I just came across it while looking thru photos and thought I'd finally give it a go - hahahhah so cute! 

Carefully scoop out a bit from the top of a Reese's peanut butter egg - I used a small sharp knife to cut a small oval thru the chocolate top then gently scooped out some of the peanut butter filling. The chocolate wants to crack so go slow and easy. The original idea she sent used m&m's for wheels and steering wheel (stuck on with frosting); I used life savers and small pieces of stick pretzels for the wheels and set a mini m&m in the front of the opening for the steering wheel (I didn't use anything to stick it on, just push it into the opening and it stayed put). Add a bunny graham (or other animal - I bought teddy grahams too but the bunnies are cuter for Easter). 

without pretzel hubs

m&m wheels and a mini m&m steering wheel

3.29.20: 🔥week 13

3.29.19: adding text to photos

3.29.18 butternut bunny

3.29.17: Mark's cowboy casserole

3.29.16: make a kitchen file

🔥Around the Campfire (week 13)

 Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick update in case you missed anything at camp last week:

Posts ~

3/21: 🔥week 12

3/22: Easter/spring wreath with Peeps and plastic eggs

3/23: tip-sy tuesday: air fryer 'boiled' eggs

3/24: beer-glazed sausage and apples

3/25: oatmeal bread

3/26: distressed dresser

3/27: bunny butt pancakes

What's Cooking ~

• grilled bone-in chicken, carba-nada pasta, roasted broccoli
• turkey ruebens on swirled rye, potato salad
• lamb shanks (Costco), mashed cauliflower, steamed green beans
• crockpot ribs, smashed baby potatoes, cole slaw
• beer-glazed sausage and apples
• lasagna, green salad, garlic bread

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 2 John Sandford's Lucas Davenport books - #10 'Certain Prey' about a woman hitman and her evil sidekick that I really liked ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, and #11 'Easy Prey' that is so far my least favorite in the series - plot line just not that interesting (druggy fashion model is killed and that sets off a LOT of other people killed for no good reason - that might sound more interesting than it is hahahah. It was quite ho hum and a snoozer...and the conclusion was such a reach. Sorry John, you let both me and Lucas down on this one) ⭐️⭐️1/2
• had another busy week working outside - cleaned the garage and washed the floor (salt stains!), re-organized a couple of the peg board areas out there...I'm going into spring cleaning mode for sure. 

That's all for this week - hope you had a great first week of spring! Stop back often to see what else we make at MMDC - recipes, crafts, projects, who knows what all hahahha! Bye!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

3.28.20: road trip day 6

3.28.19: how to sew silverware pouches

3.28.18: spring flower upside down wreath
3.28.17: DIY mod podge
3.28.16: make a zipper bracelet

Bunny Butt Pancakes by Brooke

Hey guys! tonight for dinner we had breakfast so i made a bunny out of pancakes! i first made all the shapes of his body on the stove, then i put the pieces on top of each other to make the bunny's body. next cut 4 banana slices and used a straw to poke holes in 2 of the slices. then i put a banana slice and the small banana pieces I poked out on his feet to make it look like paws. then added some whipped cream for his tail!! it ended up looking so good and tasted even better!!

3.27.20: road trip day 5

3.27.19: red, white, and blue berry trifle

3.27.18: Easter nest cake

3.27.17: k-cup bluebird

3.27.16: Easter flower ideas