Rain Rain Go away..or at least slow down a little

We are drenched in Houston, TX and the rain just keeps on coming. Needless to say, this rain is interfering with my running and laying out. Boo! On the positive side, our yard looks very green!
For those visual learners out there, I have lots of pictures to share : )
We celebrated July 4th all weekend this year! Our neighbors had a party on Saturday which included a lot of fireworks! Very fun! Our church service on Sunday morning had fireworks! Crazy! Then we went into town for my friend Dinah's party before heading to the Freedom Over Texas celebration that is Houston's big July 4th. There we got to see Pat Green and lots of fireworks!
Then Monday, my mom and Mamaw came down for a few days!! We cooked shopped, watched movies and ate lots of food! Love love love these women!

Toy Story 3 with our awesome 3-d glasses

Our 3 Gen. pic!

Since summer school is over, I've had a little more time to cook....
2 Breakfast Recipes:

Fruit-filled Puff Pancake
From Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet
Ingredients
1 T butter
1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
3 T Sugar, divided
¼ t salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
1-1/2 cups blueberries
1 medium ripe banana, sliced
¼ t ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Place butter in a 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 4-5 minutes or until melted. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt. Add eggs and milk; whisk until smooth.
2. Pour into hot pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges are puffed and golden brown. Meanwhile combine blueberries and banana.
3. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar. Spoon the fruit mixture onto pancake; sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Cut into wedges.

Strawberry Crepe Roll-ups
From Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet
Ingredients
1-1/4 cup milk
¾ cup egg substitute (or 3 eggs)
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup strawberry spreadable fruit
3 cups chopped fresh strawberries
2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar and salt; add to milk mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Coat a 7- or 8-in. nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium heat. Pour about 2 tablespoons batter into the center of skillet. Lift and tilt pan to even coat bottom. Cook until to appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer. Remove to plate; keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, coating skillet with additional cooking spray as needed.
3. Spread each crepe with about 2 teaspoons spreadable fruit. Top with about 3 tablespoons strawberries. Roll up. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Desserts

Slim Lemon Squares
From Fitness Magazine
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
2/3 cup granulated sugar plus 3 tablespoons
1/2 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Directions
1. Coat an 8-x-8-x-2-inch baking pan with nonstick spray; set pan aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour and 3 tablespoons sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Pat mixture onto the bottom of prepared pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in the same bowl, combine egg and egg white. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add remaining sugar and flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water, and baking powder. Beat on medium 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour mixture over baked layer in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes more or until edges are light brown and center is set. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
4. Sift powdered sugar over top. Cut into 16 bars. Store in refrigerator.

Oreo Truffles

1 package of regular Oreos (not double-stuffed or anything)
1 bar of cream cheese
Chocolate or white chocolate almond-bark coating

Directions

1. Grind all of the Oreos until there are no big chunks of cookie. you can use a food processor or anything similar-do like 3 or 4 at a time
2. Mix all of the Oreo with the bar of cream cheese
3. Refrigerate mix for about an hour, then roll the mixture into little balls
4. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl-I usually start with about 4-5 bars of the bark chocolate and then add more later if needed
5. Drop the balls in the melted chocolate one or two at a time, fishing them out with spoons
6, place on a wax-paper covered cookie sheet
7. When they're all dipped in chocolate, put the cookie sheet in the fridge for about an hour at least.

Pizza Pockets
From Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet
Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 can pizza sauce
12 slices pepperoni
1 package fully cooked sliced pastrami, chopped
1 package fully cooked sliced ham, chopped
¾ cup shredded mozzarella
1 egg, lightly beaten
Directions
1. In a large bow, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, butter, salt and 2 ¼ cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead for 6-8 minutes. Rll the dough into a 14-in. x 10 in. rectangle. Cut with a 3-in. round cook cutter. Reroll scraps to cut a total of 24 circles. Place 1 teaspoon pizza sauce and slice of pepperoni in center of 12 circles.
3. In a large bowl, combine pastrami, ham and cheese; place equal amounts of pepperoni. Top with ½ teaspoon of pizza sauce if desired. (Save remaining sauce for another use or for dipping.) Cover with remaining dough circles; pinch edges or press with a fork to seal.
4. Place on greased baking sheets. Brush with egg. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-2 minutes or until golden brown.
*I had a lot of trouble getting the insides to stay in, so I'm thinking that next time, I might make a bigger circle (Like 6-in.), fill the middle, then fold up the sides. It will look different, but I think it might hold more.

3 Bean Salad
Ingredients:
1 (14.5 ounce) can green beans, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can wax beans, drained
1 (15.25 ounce) can red kidney beans,
drained
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans,
drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1 red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon ground dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 1/2 teaspoons dried cilantro
(*To be completely honest, I just threw in a bunch of beans : ) Also, you might consider either upping the number of cans of beans or cutting back on the liquid)
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, layer the beans, onion and green pepper. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, mix the vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard, tarragon and cilantro. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour over bean mixture. Stir until all ingredients are coated. This is best if it is left to marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator, and stirred occasionally.