Monday, April 30, 2012

Foodie Pen Pals April 2012




Last Month, I remember seeing a post over at the Spiffy Cookie about Foodie Pen Pals and the neat stuff that she got in the mail from another foodie. After more reading, I found out that there is a great Foodie Pen Pal program run by Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean.

For April, I got sent stuff from Mary who is from Portland, OR. She also picked out the BEST stuff for me! I miss Trader Joe's so much and can't wait for one to open near me soon! Mary (and her boys!- she has two boys as well!) sent out some Lemon Tea Loaf, Lemon Heart Cookies, Vanilla Meringues, Cocoa Almond Spread, and some homemade organic raspberry preserves. I actually used the preserves the very next day when I made shortbread. Everything that Mary sent quickly disappeared and we loved everything!

I sent items to Jackie. (I totally forgot to take pictures!) I mailed Jackie some Wickles Pickles, some BBQ rubs, and Moon Pies. Moon Pies are actually a local food for me!

I'm so happy to have joined Foodie Pen Pals and if you are interested please be sure to contact Lindsay!



The Lean Green Bean





Sunday, April 29, 2012

Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Sunday!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are still enjoying what little of it is left!! We are still catching up on Laundry and getting ready to start grilling dinner!

I also want to say a BIG and HAPPY Congratulations to my friend, Krystal, who had  a baby girl last week!! She was team green so it was a big surprise!!

I am having to carry over the pork tenderloin from last week because I didn't read that it needed to marinate for 12-24 hours before cooking. HA.. this is actually pretty typical of something I would do but not to fear it is marinating now! and we will cook it tomorrow!

Sunday---Penne with Roasted Tomatoes and Corn-- Hubby is actually grilling everything for this as I type. Adding Chicken and grilled onion to the mix as well and not roasting the tomatoes but grilling them

Monday-- Hoisin Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Tuesday---Quick Veggie Fajitas from the May 2012 Issue of Everyday Food

Wednesday-- Beef Stroganoff

Thursday--This night will be pick your own bag of frozen meal in the freezer -- there are probably 6 bags of Voila, PF Chang, and Zatarain Meals in the big freezer and they need to be eaten!

Friday--Out to eat


Monday, April 23, 2012

Classic Shortbread -- April Secret Recipe Club



Here we are again for another venture into the Secret Recipe Club!

This Month I had the privilege of getting to know the girls over at Feast on the Cheap!
They actually had my blog in February and did a great rendition of Pretzel Bites!

Something I absolutely loved about this Mom and Daughter Pair, Mary Anne and Mariel, was that for each recipe they cost out what it would typically cost you to make it and also have a WONDERFUL guide on what to have in a Well Stocked Pantry.

There is nothing better than a classic cookie or bar and this Shortbread was an absolute treat. You could taste the butter and it was a great cookie to put some raspberry jam on that I had received for the Foodie Pen Pals!

Classic Shortbread
recipe adapted from this recipe at Feast on the Cheap



Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder 

¼ tsp. salt (regular table salt)
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest




Directions:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.



2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the confectioners sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract.


3. Remove the bowl from the electric mixer and stir in the flour in two additions using a wooden spoon, alternating with the lemon zest. Stir until everything comes together in a thick dough.


4. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 


5. Preheat the oven 325 degrees.


6. Butter a 10 by 10 square baking dish. Press the dough into the pan.


7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bottom of the shortbread is just turning golden.


8. Cool on a wire rack and cut into bars/cookies.


9. Enjoy with your choice of jam. (I served with Raspberry Jam and Lemon Curd).










Sunday, April 22, 2012

Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Weekend! Yes, it is still the weekend-- I'm back in town and extremely tired of eating out like I did last week! No particular order to what is planned--  many are crock pot meals because who doesn't love the crock pot!!?!?!??



Breakfast for Dinner

Sloppy Joe's








Saturday, April 21, 2012

Top This- Bays English Muffin Pizza Challenge


I met the wonderful folks of Bays English Muffins at BlogHer Food last May. 

Bays is currently having a contest to create the best English Muffin Pizza for a chance to win a trip to Italy! The contest runs until May 31 so you still have plenty of time to submit a recipe!

I've made English Muffin Pizzas for years and they are a great alternative to a regular pizza crust!

I created a Popcorn Chicken Parmesan Pizza definitely with my boys in my mind!





Bays was also kind enough to send me a case of their English Muffins to pass along to my readers so you can create your own pizza and submit it to win a chance to Italy! If you would like some Bays English Muffins, just leave a comment to let me know and I will send some your way! (US only please)



Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post just provided with English Muffins for my readers and myself.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Happy Anniversary to us!!

4 years ago I married my fabulous husband!! We honestly have never been happier and I am so glad that he changed his mind about marriage and decided to get married again! (When we met, he kept saying he was never going to get married again, yet wanted more kids!?!?!-- only a man!)

We got married in the park where we had our first date and it was truly the best day of my life!

I love you baby!



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Garlic Knots- What's Baking? April



After totally forgetting about last month's What's Baking?, I knew I would definitely have to join in for April as our challenge was to bake with yeast! Lindsay, at Peace, Love and French Fries, is our host for this month!


While I am no stranger to yeast and working with it, sometimes it can be very temperamental! Cameron actually had asked for homemade bread and I decided to oblige him one day when I got off of work early. I love my boys and if they request something I definitely want to try to make what they want! (Now if I could only figure out a good way to make blue ice cream that Cole always wants!)

Soft Garlic Knots
recipe adapted from this recipe at Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. instant yeast
1¼ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup milk
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. lukewarm water
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp. melted butter
½ tsp. Italian seasoning
Directions:

To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients.  Add the olive oil, milk and water.  Mix until ingredients have formed a dough.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a 10-inch long rope and tie into a knot.  Take the end lying underneath the knot and bring it over the top, tucking it into the center.  Take the end lying over the knot and tuck it underneath and into the center.  Transfer shaped rolls to a baking stone, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes, until puffy.
To make the glaze, finely mince the garlic or press it through a garlic press.  Mix with the melted butter and Italian seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Brush the glaze onto the shaped rolls.  Bake until set and lightly browned, about 15-18 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.






Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Peep Stuffed Cookies


If your house is anything like my house, Easter means an explosion of candy! 
Which means trying to use up that candy in fun ways!


We have Peeps left in every single color (except maybe orange!) and this was a perfect and fun way to eat them as well!

These cookies only require 2 ingredients -- unless you want to make some homemade cookie dough!

The cookies are ginormous! and be prepared for melting Peeps! But they are sooooo worth it!!


Peep Stuffed Cookies
recipe adapted from this recipe at  Keep it Sweet

Cookie dough, chilled
Peeps

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Place a large scoop of cookie dough on parchment paper and press down to flatten.
  3.  Place a peep on top of the cookie dough.
  4.  Top with another large scoop of cookie dough and use your hands to mold the dough around the peep, making sure the Peep is completely covered with dough. (It will look almost like a softball!)
  5. Repeat process with six cookie dough balls on each sheet about 3 inches apart. 
  6. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. 
  7. Allow to cool before serving.
  8. Enjoy!







Sunday, April 8, 2012

Weekly Menu Plan

Here's to hoping this is an easy week! Cameron is back with his dad :( and I am getting ready for two weeks of training in Birmingham and a few days off this week before starting my new job!!

I'm excited to have a little bit more free time in the evenings to cook this week since I won't be able to cook for 2 weeks!

No specific order just going to go with what the mood strikes!

Chicken Rice A Roni Casserole

Macaroni and Cheese with Leftover Ham (from Easter)-- (I am hosting a 31  party on Thursday so this will probably be Thursday's dinner)

Breakfast for Dinner

Garlicky Baked Shrimp

Taco Pancakes

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Happy Easter!


From our Family to yours, Hoping that you have a wonderful Easter celebration with your family and friends!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Easter Savings at Aldi

Now that we have gotten back home from our little Spring Break-cation, I am ready to focus on our Easter Brunch! At first, we were going to out to eat like we normally do but have decided to fix something at home instead. Now comes the great debate between Lunch or Brunch!! So many decisions!!!




I know one decision though that won't be hard for me and it is choosing Aldi for my holiday shopping. Their prices cannot be beat and I love being able to get in and out of a store without having to look at everything in between. One of my friends recently started shopping at Aldi and her monthly grocery bill dropped by $200. I told her that it is funny that 15 years ago we were talking about our recent band happening and now we are talking about grocery stores!!


Aldi has also provided me with a Breakfast Casserole recipe from their test kitchens! I haven't had time to test it yet but it seems delicious!


Disclosure: I was not paid for this post just simply passing out some information on a store I love. 


Sunnyside Breakfast Casserole
Recipe courtesy of Chef Michelle Schmidt, ALDI Test Kitchen

           
  • 7 each Season's Choice Frozen Hash Brown Patties
  • 1 bag Little Salad Bar Flat Leaf Spinach, sliced
  • 1/2 bag (9 patties) Breakfast Best Pre Cooked Sausage Patties, Original
  • 1 bag Happy Farms Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  • 12 Goldhen Large Eggs
  • 3/4 cup Friendly Farms Half and Half
  • 5 medium tomatoes, ends removed and sliced into quarters
  • 2 tbsp Stonemill Essentials Parsley Flakes
  • 1½ tsp Stonemill Essentials Salt
  • 1 tsp Stonemill Essentials Ground Black Pepper
Prep time: 15 minutes 
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350° and coat 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.    
  2. Pan-fry the hash brown patties in a skillet according to packaging directions. Once fried and cooled, crumble the patties and evenly spread them into the baking dish.  
  3. Microwave the sausage patties for 40 seconds and then crumble them.        
  4. Evenly top the hash browns with the sliced spinach. Follow with the sausage, and 2½ cups of the cheese.  
  5. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, half and half, salt and pepper. Pour over the casserole and pat down the mixture with a flat spatula.
  6. Evenly top with the sliced tomato and sprinkle with remaining cheese and parsley.    
  7. Bake 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.   

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Whipped Frosting


The Best Whipped Frosting Ever.

Or so Pinterest claims.
Another downfall of Pinterest is sometimes never knowing where recipes really come from either.

While this was a good frosting, I wouldn't claim it the best ever. When living in a house of 6 people, you definitely have some likers and dislikers. My husband and sister were definitely likers while my mom hates anything with cool whip.

It was a definite change from something sweet and did taste good with sliced strawberries and on the above cake. I can see myself making this again but changing up the flavors a little bit!

The Best Frosting Ever

1 box Jello Instant Pudding
1 cup milk
1 container of Cool Whip
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
4 oz. cream cheese (I Used the new Philadelphia Indulgence- hello! Chocolate Cream cheese!)


Mix the Milk, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and instant pudding together until well combined.
Gently fold in the Cool Whip and refrigerate for at least one hour. Frost cake or Eat and Enjoy!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Monday!!!

It's Spring Break so any even better reason to celebrate!! It's an easy week in the kitchen (mainly because we have a picky eater cough cough CAM cough cough)!



Tacos (had these tonight)

Spaghetti and Meatballs 

Going to Atlanta Wednesday and Thursday--hoping to hit up Miller Union for Lunch and Mary Mac's for dinner-- we'll see what happens!

Friday-- planning on dying Easter eggs so will probably pick up a Little Caesar's pizza

Saturday-- wanting to go to Roger's restaurant-- we haven't been since Valentine's Day

Sunday-- Easter Dinner!!
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