Tipton Children's Home

Helping spread the word...

(Visit tiptonchildrenshome.com)

Tipton Children's Home will soon be recognizing 91 years of child care.  TCH exists to help those who are in need. It is a residential care facility for abused/neglected children ages 5-18 located in Tipton, Oklahoma. The children are in cottages....homes....each home with a mom and dad who serve as houseparents.

Children at TCH often come from referrals from people such as YOU.  There are current openings available for those in need.  Do TCH a favor, won't you?  Please help share the news about TCH.  So many of those who need our help get caught up in the system and fall through the cracks never knowing of the services TCH can provide. If TCH can help you or anyone you know in any way, please call or have them call the office at 580-667-5221.  And, if you're on social media, please share this post or one of the pictures. Thank you.

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Southwest Hamburger Soup

Yesterday we had lots of ballgames and practice going on, plus I had just returned home after being gone for six days.  I didn't have time to make a huge meal, but since it was cold, decided to make a type of soup....although I'm not sure it's really a soup.  I thought about calling it slop, but that doesn't sound very appetizing, does it??? :)

Anyway, I love creating new things by just dumping ingredients into a bowl! That's so much fun! It's even better when it tastes good!  You know I've told you that the ones that don't taste good, you never read about.  My poor family is just the guniea pigs :).

*I ended up not adding the rice to the soup. If you wanted to add the rice to the soup, then I would do 3 big cans of enchilada sauce instead of just two. I made the rice and served it on the side.


Southwest Hamburger Soup

2 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies...I used mild, but you may prefer hot)
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 - 19 oz. cans Old El Paso enchilada sauce (I used mild.  You may prefer hot and may prefer a different brand.)

Extras:
*Lipton Spanish Rice & Sauce
*Tortilla Chips
*Cheddar Cheese

Brown hamburger meat, along with the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper in large pot.  Drain grease.  Add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.  Serve over broken tortilla chips and rice, if desired. Top with cheddar cheese.

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Toll House Pie

I made this pie for a family dinner we had Sunday after worship.  I found it on Allrecipes.com.  It's rich, but it's GREAT!  We served vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel syrup along side for those who wanted some with their sliver of richness.  It was suggested to serve it warm, so we did, but I actually preferred it cooled.  Others liked it warm.  

Toll House Pie

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the flour, white sugar and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Blend in the melted butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour batter into one unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour or until browned. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

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Chocolate Eclair Cake

Sorry about the way the ingredients were cut off of this post a few days ago! I copied and pasted it, but for some reason, it didn't show up correctly! Thanks to blog reader, Brenda, for letting me know!

A blog reader from Memphis, TN, has been telling me about this dessert she makes and made for her family at Thanksgiving. I hope you will try it soon....that is if your New Year's resolution didn't include cutting out desserts :). I stopped sweets this week, but can have a taste, I think! Thanks, Marsha!

 Chocolate Eclair Cake 

Ingredients

Crust:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter 1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

 Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk

Topping:
1 - 8 ounce container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream
Chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

 Instructions: Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.

 For the Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. (No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).

 For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in.

 Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. ***If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

 Ingredients for homemade whipped cream:

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons white sugar or 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring

Instructions:  Place cream and sugar in a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until soft peaks have formed. Don't whip too much or you will end up will cottage cheese looking whipped cream.

Homemade Chocolate Sauce Topping Yield: 1 cup sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions: Stir cocoa and sugar together well. In a saucepan combine milk, butter, salt, and vanilla. Stir in dry mix. Heat, stirring until it reaches a boil and is thick. You want it to coat the back of a spoon. If you want it to be thicker, for a crepe filling for example, boil it a little longer. I boiled mine for two minutes whisking constantly. It will still be thin once you are done with this step. Don't worry once you let it cool down a bit it will thicken. It will thicken a lot when chilled.   Pin It Now!

Chocolate Eclair Cake

This sounds soooooo good! I think I will make it for a family dinner we are having Sunday at noon. A blog reader from Memphis, TN, has been telling me about this dessert she makes and made for her family at Thanksgiving. I hope you will try it soon....that is if your New Year's resolution didn't include cutting out desserts :). I stopped sweets this week, but can have a taste, I think! Thanks, Marsha!

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Ingredients...
Crust:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk

Topping:
1 - 8 ounce container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream
chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

1. Instructions:
2. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.
   
   
3. For the Eclair Crust: 
   In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. (No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).
   
   
4. For the Filling: 
   Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. 
   
   
   Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. ***If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.
   
   Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons white sugar or 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring

Instructions

1. Place cream and sugar in a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until soft peaks have formed. Don't whip too much or you will end up will cottage cheese looking whipped cream.

Chocolate Sauce Topping

Yield: 1 cup sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Stir cocoa and sugar together well. In a saucepan combine milk, butter, salt, and vanilla. Stir in dry mix. Heat, stirring until it reaches a boil and is thick. You want it to coat the back of a spoon. If you want it to be thicker, for a crepe filling for example, boil it a little longer. I boiled mine for two minutes whisking constantly. It will still be thin once you are done with this step. Don't worry once you let it cool down a bit it will thicken. It will thicken a lot when chilled.
2. Makes around 1 cup of sauce.

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Homemade Christmas Gifts 2015

This year was kind of different for my husband's side of the family.  We were gone the whole break and we had a wedding in Colorado for a niece, so we didn't all get together during the holidays (except the traditional Thanksgiving time).  We usually only have a few hours together for Christmas anyway, but one of my favorite things is the homemade Christmas gifts we all give each other.

This year one of my sisters-in-law (the busiest sister-in-law because she was also the mother of the bride!) made this beautiful ornaments! She used glue and gold glitter.  You can read her tutorial HERE. 

My mother-in-law made these really cute wooden spool snowmen!  I like hanging things like this!  The ribbon is just tied in between the spools, on the top and on the bottom.

I showed you my ornaments last week....the tree stump chalkboard ornaments.

My mom made this cute little embroidered "family" picture for me. She got the idea from one of my other sisters-in-law whose mom had made her one.  Our 16 year old said that next year she had to add two inches to his height! Ha ha!

There's nothing sweeter than homemade Christmas gifts.  I look around my home and see so many cute homemade things that have special memories.


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