Making It My Own Way

Where Have I Been?

2011-08-05T15:08:00.002-04:00

So I have COMPLETELY neglected my blog for months. Shame on me!!! It is not that I haven't been cooking and trying out new fun and exciting recipes or searching out major deals at the grocery store. I honestly just got out of the habit and now I am getting back in it. :-)

Maybe if I start out by posting my families menu for next week it will be a reminder to post recipes. (Don't get your hopes up but we shall see)

Weekly Menu 8/7
Sunday: Homemade Pizza & Salad

Monday: Fried Pork Chops, Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Tuesday: Spaghetti, Salad, Bread (great meal for a work night because it is from sauce that I made a HUGE batch of and froze)

Wednesday: Grilled Teriyaki Chicken with Grilled Pineapple Salsa, Roasted New Potatoes, Sauteed Cabbage

Friday: Tortillas (basically what we call tacos with soft corn tortillas), Rice, Corn

Some Recent Cupcakes

2011-03-17T13:10:00.003-04:00

Just some cupcakes that I have made recently for different orders. Some were for the Lynchburg Police Department's Ball, a Super Bowl party, etc etc.

Craziness at Kroger this Week

2011-03-17T12:52:00.003-04:00

My Kroger stockpiling was awesome this week! The original price for this was $252.00 and I ended up paying $25.00!!!

Think that we will be eating pasta for awhile??

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-12-22T09:51:00.003-05:00

So I COMPLETELY cheated on this one. These are mint chocolate chip cookies that started out as a bag of sugar cookie dough mix from Betty Crocker. I get at least 10-15 emails a day from different companies and sites with recipes to try and this one showed up in my Betty Crocker email for a few days in a row. I decided to take a look at it and the reviews were actually good so I figured that I would try them. I already had everything on hand that was needed thanks to some random sale earlier in the year.

First off, these were really easy to make and were so good right out of the oven! They tasted just like a girl scout thin mint, just softer and chewier. I definitely plan to tuck this recipe away for when I have a mint chocolate chip craving. :-)

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Betty Crocker.com

1 bag sugar cookie mix

1 stick butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp of mint extract

6-8 drop green food coloring

1 cup creme de menthe baking chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350

- Combine cookie mix, butter, egg, extract and food coloring until soft dough forms

- Stir in baking chips

- Use a small cookie scoop and place cookies 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet

- Bake 8 - 10 minutes

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

2010-12-17T20:12:00.004-05:00

All that I am going to say for this post is that you MUST make these cinnamon rolls. They are one of the best things that I have ever made and are probably the number one thing that Ree Drummond is known for. I am not going to elaborate about their delicious gooeyness because you should be able to tell from the picture and the ingredients in the recipe that they are SINFUL! Make them today!!

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Monster Cookies

2010-12-16T16:33:00.004-05:00

Yay for snow days! Today Virginia got hit with a small snow storm that kept Mady and Savannah out of school. I have been promising Mady that we would try out the recipe for Monster cookies that I found on The Pioneer Woman's (my hero) website. Of course, Mady had no clue what was even in them. She was more intrigued by the name Monster being associated with cookies.

Since Lindsey and Joel live about 900 feet behind me now, I met Lindsey halfway down the driveway and stole the girls from her for awhile. After warming up from playing in the snow, we mixed up the cookies and got the first batch in the oven while the girls watched Alvin and the Chipmunks (an early Christmas present from Nana). The cookies turned out great! I love that they have oats, pecans and peanut butter in them (to make you feel somewhat healthy). These ingredients are hidden well in the cookies and the girls inhaled them without thinking twice. They normally won't touch an oatmeal cookie with a 10 ft pole.

I changed the recipe just a little bit to adjust to the ingredients that I had on hand. I also read quite a few replies on Ree's recipe and supposedly most "monster" cookie recipes have peanut butter in them, (Her's didn't) so I decided to add 1/2 cup of that in. Her recipe also called for peanut butter chips. I didn't have those but substituted butterscotch chips and the cookies were just fine.

I think that my favorite part of the cookie is the addition of the rice krispies. You fold these in carefully at the end so that you don't crush them. They give the cookies an unexpected crunch that is great!

Here's a shot of the girls with all of the ingredients measured out and ready to start the destruction. Sorry about the blurriness of the picture...I took it with my phone.

Monster Cookies

(adapted from Ree Drummond)

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugra

2 eggs

1 TBL vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 cups oats (quick cooking or old-fashioned)

1/2 cup M&M's

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

2 1/4 cup rice krispie cereal

- Cream sugars and butter

- Add eggs and blend well

- Add vanilla and peanut butter and blend well

- Add the flour, soda, powder and salt and blend well

- Begin folding in the oats, M&M's, chips and nuts

- Add the rice krispies last and blend just until combined

- Bake at 375 until golden brown

I just have to brag...

2010-12-14T13:47:00.005-05:00

I seriously LOVE these kids!

Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing

2010-09-19T19:51:00.002-04:00

I tried out another Bon Appetit recipe this weekend that ended up a big success. This is a chocolate bundt cake with cinnamon and then a rich mocha icing on top and it is a chocolate lovers dream. In the magazine it is under a header called, "cheap chic party dessert" and they say that it is cost friendly because all of the ingredients are things that many people keep in their pantry. (Although I have to say that I bought the instant coffee for this because I am NOT a coffee drinker as much as I would like to be.) My office mates will love this one tomorrow because I don't need/want it sitting around my house.

The recipe was super easy and I made it with a hand mixer instead of dragging out the Kitchen Aid. I did have problems with it sticking to the pan as much as I sprayed it with cooking spray. I will use parchment next time. The glaze is my favorite part because it adds a great moistness to the cake. The flavor of the coffee is very mild (mild enough that I can eat it and enjoy it).

Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing

(from Bon Appetit - month unknown)

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tsp instant espresso powder, divided (I used instant coffee because I couldn't find instant espresso)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups packed golden brown sugar, divided

1 cup vegetable oil

1 TBL vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 1/4 mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1/4 cup butter, room temp

- Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease a nonstick bundt pan with oil

- Whisk boiling water, cocoa powder, and 2 tsp espresso powder in a bowl.

- Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl

- Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup oil, and 1 TBL vanilla in large bowl to blend.

- Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat mixture until smooth, about 30 seconds longer. Beat in half of flour mixture, then cocoa mixture. Add remaining flour mixture and beat to blend.

- Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips and transfer to pan.

- Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes and invert onto rack. Cool 15 minutes longer.

- In a small saucepan, stir remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp espresso powder, and 2 TBL water until sugar melts.

- Remove from heat. Add butter and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Stir until butter and chips melt. Cool slightly.

- Using spoon, drizzle icing over cake and allow to cool completely.

Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper and Kosher Salt

2010-09-19T19:32:00.002-04:00

I made these biscuits a couple of weeks ago to go along with some soup for dinner. I have to say that I was plesantly surprised by these. I have never been a great biscuit maker so these still need some work as far as thickness goes, etc but they were well liked by my family. These are not your typical buttermilk biscuit. These have minced green onions, cornmeal, and black pepper throughout. Although I really liked these, I think that I am still a plain buttermilk biscuit girl (with butter and homemade strawberry jam on top of course). My sister loved them and wants the recipe to add to her collection. I guess that's a good thing. :-)

Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper, and Sea Salt

(from Bon Appetit - Nov 2008)

3/4 cup chilled buttermilk

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3 TBL sugar

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper plus additional for sprinkling

1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, plus 1 TBL melted butter

Coarse sea salt

- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

- Combine buttermilk and green onions in medium bowl.

- Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, and 1/2 tsp pepper in large bowl to blend. Add 1/2 cup chilled butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.

- Add buttermilk mixture and stir until moist and clumps form.

- Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto floured surface and kneed gently just to combine, about 3 to 4 turns.

- Roll out to 3/4 inch thickness (I actually would prefer thicker) and cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter

- Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter. Sprinkle each lightly with coarse sea salt and ground black pepper.

- Bake biscuits until golden, about 20 minutes.

Weekly Menu: 9/19 - 9/24

2010-09-19T10:05:00.002-04:00

Well I guess that it is time to get back to the real world. I have been out of town on vacation so I have been bad and haven't posted in awhile. :-) I am trying a couple new recipes this week so expect some recipe posts later on...

Sunday Lunch - Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage (previous post here)

Sunday Dinner - Jambalaya and 1 hour French Bread (need to post both of these recipes)

Monday - Out for my Dad's Birthday!

Tuesday - Cheeseburgers, French Fries and Green Beans

Wednesday - Chicken Fajitas with Homemade Guacamole, Spanish Rice and Corn

Thursday - White Bean and Turkey Chili, Cornbread

I hope that everyone has a good week!!

Weekly Menu: 8/29 - 9/3

2010-08-30T07:42:00.002-04:00

Lots of yummy stuff planned this week...

Sunday: Balsamic Glazed Short Ribs, Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Cabbage

Monday: Chicken Cacciatore and Salad

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken and Corn Chowder, Biscuits and Scallded Lettuce

Wednesday: Out to celebrate my Brother-in-law's birthday...

Thursday: Fish Fillets, Rice and Brocolli

Friday: Tacos, Mexicorn and Mexirice

Balsamic Glazed Shortribs

2010-08-29T20:52:00.002-04:00

Okay so I know that this isn't the most beautiful picture in the world, but I had to post these because they were too yummy not to. I have wanted to make short ribs for awhile now and I found some at my local store on sale and then the fun began. Short ribs have to be one of the most tender pieces of meat that I have ever eaten.

These shortribs were cooked in the crockpot so I didn't have to heat up my house with the oven. You sear them on the stove first and then make a sauce with the drippings, balsamic vinegar and a saute of garlic and onions that you pour over them in the crockpot. The balsamic vinegar gives the meat a nice sweet flavor as it cooks in the crockpot.

After you pull the shortribs out of the crockpot you take the sauce and skim the fat off of it and reduce the sauce on the stove. I added a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream to it to pull the sauce together at the end. You can serve these over mashed potatoes (what I did), polenta or rice and drizzed with some of the sauce. Yummy! My family is already asking when we are going to have these again!

Balsamic Glazed Shortribs
(I started out with a recipe from I believe Woman's Day and made it my own)

4-5 pounds of shortribs (if they are boneless you will need less)
3 TBL olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced very finely
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken or beef stock (the recipe called for red wine but I didn't have it)
Salt and Pepper
2 TBL heavy cream

- Heat oil over medium high heat.
- Sear the shortribs on each side
- Add shortribs to your crockpot, season with salt and pepper and turn on low
- Remove all but 1 TBL of oil out of the pan. Cook the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes
- Add the balsamic vinegar and broth and scrape any bits of flavor that are on the bottom of the pan. Allow to reduce for 1-2 minutes and pour over the shortribs in the crockpot
- Allow to cook on low for 8 hours. I had boneless shortribs so mine took less...more like 5 1/2 to 6.
- Remove the meat from the crockpot and place on a plate. Skim the fat off of the sauce and put the sauce in a small saucepan on the stove.
- Allow the sauce to reduce on the stove over medium high heat until reduced by over half.
- At the end add 2 TBL heavy cream (optional) and pour over the shortribs when you serve them.

Enjoy!

Happy 6th Birthday Madelyn!!

2010-08-25T09:18:00.003-04:00

Today is a special day for my amazing niece Madelyn! She not only started the 1st grade, but it is her 6th birthday! Mady is so special to me and I love her so so so so much. Mady is a smart little girl that loves to be a big helper and she absolutely loves to play and be crazy. She is a shy and sensitive child and her heart breaks if you look at her the wrong way.

I am so thankful for all of the time that I get to spend with her (as crazy as she can be). One of her favorite things to do is spend the night at Yaya's (me) house. She is obsessed with helping me cook and wants me to play with her the entire time that I am with her. My sister and brother in law are currently building 800 feet back in the woods from where my house is. I am so looking forward to having Mady and Savannah close to me now so that I can see them even more.

I pray for Mady every day that God will protect her not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well. The world is a tough place to grow up in now days and kids tend to grow up a little faster. I don't think that family can do enough to make kids know that they are their number 1 fans and that they are loved.

I included a picture below from Mady's first birthday party. It's crazy how much that she has grown up and how much has happened since she was born. I see my Memaw's arm in the picture beside her and I know that she would be so in love with Mady and Savannah if she was still living.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!!! I love you!

Friday Favorites - 8/21

2010-08-21T07:01:00.003-04:00

Another week has come and gone and I can't say that this one went too fast. I thought that it would never end!! I know, I know, my grandmother would have chewed me out for trying to rush time. But man, I am so happy for a couple of days of freedom! They are going to be a busy couple of days though!!!

The picture that I posted this week is another that my sister took of my nieces. I love all sorts of things about it. She is definitely improving in her photography!

Reading - I finished "Ten Things I Love About You" by Julia Quinn and I stopped reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book just got a little too far fetched for me religion wise and it also spent a chapter in some political stuff that I didn't agree with. No, I am not one of those people that only reads books from my own political opinion...this book was supposed to be a fun read for me and not a learning/controversial read for me. I began looking at it as a not fun read so I stopped. Sometimes I just like to get away from all of the stuff flying around these days. And yes, I know that the author has every right to write about what she wants and I have every right to read what I want. :-)

I also finished Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. Great read about the power and importance of prayer in our lives.

Duchess in Love by Eloisa James
Just the Way You Are by Christina Dodd - Another romance...oh well, I love them. This is the first book that I have read of Christina's and I am pleasantly surprised so far. It's really good!
Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy by Macel Falwell - The book written by the widow of my long time pastor Dr. Falwell. It's very good and funny so far.

Cooking - I tried a couple new things this week for dinners. First off, I made a sweet and spicy apple glaze for some turkey kielbasa kabobs that I made. Then I tried out some grilled barbecue chicken subs with sauteed peppers, mushrooms and onions with provolone cheese. Yummy!! Mady's 6th birthday is this week so I will be making her birthday cupcakes today for her party tomorrow. She wants bright pink icing with stars, hearts and diamonds. I have in my head how I am going to do them and will definitely post them on here. :-) Other than that I am not too sure what I will be making yet. We will see what I come up with next week.

Favorite Thing: My favorite thing this week was my Friday night. I got to go to dinner and hang out with my Mom and then my nieces spent the night with me. We had an absolute blast as always...of course my house that is in shambles now is regretting them ever coming.

Going to: This weekend is a crazy one for me. I have lots of errands to run and then I will be helping to get ready for Mady's birthday party and Chuck E Cheese tomorrow. I can't believe that kid is going to be 6!!!

Praying for: The transition to school for not only my nieces, but all of the other kids out there. I remember how nerve wracking it could be to start a new class and make new friends. This is the first time that Savannah has been to school so it should be interesting. I am also praying for the start of Liberty for the year. We are expecting 10,000 residential students for the fall so I am praying for safe travels for the students coming in, that things will go seamlessly as everyone starts classes and that God will do great things at the school this year.

Quote: "God doesn't promise that there won't be storms, but He promises to walk with you through them."

Have a great week!

Rolo Pretzel Bites

2010-08-16T08:06:00.003-04:00

Okay so I know that these don't look like the most appetizing thing in the world but let me tell you, looks can be deceiving! My nieces and I made these on Sunday afternoon and they had so much fun with it! (Yes, these are easy enough for a 3 year old to do.) I have a feeling that these will be added to our repeat list and the fun thing is that you can do several variations on these.

I got the recipe out of a cookbook that the pastors wives and church workers did recently at my church. I thought that they sounded so fun. Basically they are mini pretzels with a Rolo candy on each. You bake them for a few minutes and push something on top or down in the middle of them to spread the ooey gooey caramel and chocolate over the pretzel. I guess it's a dummies (yes I am calling myself a dummy) version of a turtle.

We decided to use the M&M's because my nieces aren't big fans of nuts. The "prettiest" thing to do for these would probably be a pecan or walnut half (which is another suggestion that the recipe makes). Let me tell you, these things disappeared in no time. I know that I didn't eat all of them. I have a feeling little fingers were reaching up on the counter and snagging them.

Rolo Pretzel Bites
Mini Pretzels
Rolo Candies
M&M's or pecan halves

- Preheat oven to 275
- Put a piece of parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet
- Spread out the pretzels
- Place a Rolo candy on each pretzel
- Bake in the oven for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes
- Remove from oven and immediately top with the candy or nuts
- Place in the fridge to cool completely

Enjoy!

MSC Cupcake Club - Triple Citrus Cupcakes

2010-08-16T07:48:00.003-04:00

The 15th quickly snuck up on me again this month so it is time again for another post for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club! Marthe from Culinary Delights chose the yummy Triple Citrus Cupcakes for our August posts. If you like citrus, these are just for you! I especially enjoyed the change from the buttercreams that are typically on our cupcakes to the simple citrus glaze that we used for these. This made them a lot faster to make as well!

The cake resembled a pound cake to me. There was lots of butter and eggs which are some of the main ingredients that go into my pound cakes. They ended up being a lot denser than I am typically used to with a cupcake as well.

I also loved how the recipe called for 3 different types of citrus zest. I quite honestly get tired of just doing lemon or just doing lime, so having the opportunity to do 3 at a time was great!

I halved the recipe as usual and made 18 instead of the 36. My office mates will be happy this morning. I warned some of them though, if you don't like tart and tangy things then avoid them at all costs!

Will I make these again? Probably not, but as always I had a blast trying out something new!

Friday Favorites

2010-08-13T10:18:00.002-04:00

Well it has actually be a fairly uneventful week for me. It is so nice to have those sometimes. I included a picture above that my sister took recently. I think that it is so beautiful and peaceful and oh how I dream of that kind of peace and quiet sometimes. I am actually considering printing it and hanging it at my house...of course she would just love that.

Reading: I am still working on some of the same books, but I finished Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts. It was so good and I can't wait for the fourth and final book in the series to come out. I think that if I didn't have so many books going at once I would actually get some accomplished. Oh well...

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - still trudging along...it's going to take a lot of restraint for me not to go and see that this weekend.
Duchess in Love by Eloisa James
Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn - my all time favorite author
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala - I totally forgot to mention this one last week. I hope to finish this up this up today. Very powerful book!

Cooking: I made a super yummy pasta dish earlier this week that you can see the post of below. I also made homemade chicken pot pie which is always a big hit. I am looking forward to our monthly installment of the MSC Cupcake Club this weekend. I believe that the pick from the group is Triple Citrus Cupcakes or something like that. Sounds delish...

Favorite Thing: Okay this sounds completely stupid, but my one of my favorite things this week has been the sleep that I have been able to catch up on at night. I have taken advantage of some additional sleep time and it has been soooo nice! I also enjoyed some time that I was able to spend with my niece Madelyn over last weekend. I love that kid so much.

Going to: Well my list of things to do at home continues to grow and grow. (Maybe I shouldn't have enjoyed my favorite thing above so much). I plan on tackling a few things this weekend at my house that I have been wanting to get done. I would also like to work on making some cards (hobby of mine) so that I will have a stock of them for later this year. Christmas is coming you know! I plan on baking and cooking some this weekend as well. I already mentioned the MSC Cupcake Club and I have some new recipes cut out as well that I would like to try. Finally, I imagine that a late movie will be thrown in either Friday or Saturday night which is just dandy with me as well.

Praying for: Several families in the TRBC and LU community that are mourning the loss of loved ones. The community has been hit hard recently with deaths and is such a hard time for these families. Also praying for God's strength for myself as I am struggling with some things in my personal life. I need constant reminder that I should trust in Him and not only in trying to make things better by myself.

My Quote for the Week: I have a book that I am constantly writing down my favorite quotes and verses. What an awesome place to share them!

"Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and to change the world" - Harriett Tubman

I hope that everyone has an awesome and productive week!

Accidental Dinner (and it was delicious too!)

2010-08-10T18:29:00.002-04:00

Well, the inevitable has happened as usual...my dinner plans fell through. This usually happens at some point during the week no matter how well that I plan. So instead of going out and getting pizza or some other sort of horrible for you fast food, I decided to make an everything but the kitchen sink pasta. And it turned out oh so good. I didn't have any chicken or shrimp in the house so I decided to use up a bunch of vegetables. I will definitely be making this again! I actually can't wait for lunch tomorrow so that I can eat the leftovers. :-)

This is what I did. By no means does it mean that you have to do it that way. Use what you have on hand and be creative with it!

Creamy Veggie Pasta (because I can't think of a better name for it)

3 TBL olive oil

1 TBL butter

1 small onion, diced

6 large mushrooms, sliced (I actually had to slice mine in half first because they were so big)

1/2 zucchini, sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 small tomato, with the guts scraped out (seeds and liquid) and diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3 TBL flour

2 cups chicken stock (1 can)

1 cup water

1 TBL balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1/2 - 2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Pasta of your choice

- Heat a large skillet over med-high heat.

- Add olive oil and butter

- Saute onion, zucchini and mushrooms until softened and onion is translucent.

- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, basil and pepper. Saute for about 30 seconds.

- Add the flour and stir everything to coat. Just before it begins to burn, slowly add the chicken stock and water in 1/2 cup increments. Stir constantly.

- Once all of the liquid is incorporated, let it cook until the sauce starts to thicken. I let mine simmer for about 10-12 minutes. During this time, add the salt and sugar.

- Start your pasta water and cook your pasta. Make sure that you salt that water!!!

- Add the balsamic vinegar, peas and tomatoes and stir well. Let cook for about 2 minutes.

- Lower the heat to about med-low and add the heavy cream and Parmesan.

- At this point your pasta should be close to done. Drain the pasta and add directly to the sauce and stir to coat. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water and it will thin right out.

Enjoy!! Other things that you could use in the pasta if you have it on hand are, shallots, broccoli, asparagus, yellow summer squash, bell pepper, etc etc etc.

Weekly Menu: 8/8 - 8/13

2010-08-08T09:39:00.002-04:00

It's a boring week in recipe land, but I have a crazy schedule ahead of me...

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie and Salad. Trying out a new pie crust recipe for it...

Monday: I won't be home, but the rest of the family will have Barbecue Chicken, Mashed Taters and Green Beans.

Tuesday: Salmon Cakes, Fried Potatoes and Cabbage made some way or another.

Wednesday: Spaghetti Carbonara, Salad and Bread

Friday: Hot Dogs, Baked Beans and Chips

Friday Favorites

2010-08-07T07:00:00.003-04:00

I decided that I would like to start doing a recap of my week every Friday or Saturday on here. I am unashamedly stealing this idea from my food blogging friend Kayte over at Grandma's Kitchen Table. I have enjoyed reading her posts and I hope that I will enjoy revisiting some of the items that have happened in my life over the past week.

This picture is of my niece Savannah. She was at my house yesterday and I became concerned when things were just a little too quiet. This is how I found her...not only was the bathroom soaked, but she had bathed herself and her clothes as well. :-)

Reading: I am currently working on three different books depending on what my mood is at the moment.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - Yes, I am reading this because the movie is coming out next week. It's a good book so far even though I don't necessarily agree with everything in it.
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts - This is the third book in her Bride Quartet Series. I am loving it so far. I must also note that I got to meet Nora Roberts at the RWA Literacy Autographing that my sister and I went to last week at Disney World. Nora was soooo nice (for a catrillionaire haha).
Duchess In Love by Eloisa James - I have never read anything by Eloisa so I wanted to try her out. It's a historical romance (my fav). I am only about 30 pages in but so far it seems promising.

Listening to: My current favorite is the Glee soundtrack. Yes...I am a Gleek.

Cooking: I didn't get a chance to cook too much new this week. I did try out a Key Lime Cake that turned out great. I actually ate out most of the week because my best friend, Elisabeth was in town and I spent a lot of time with her and her kids. Last night I made potato leek soup and that was yummy as always.

Favorite Thing this Week: Getting to hang out with Elisabeth and her kids Tyson and Jenna. I miss them sooo much and I enjoy getting to see them.

Going to: I don't have too many plans for this weekend. I am taking my niece Mady to see Ramona and Beezus today. I am sure that my Sunday afternoon will be filled with couponing and attempting a new recipe.

Praying for: A family at my church just lost their husband/dad this week to ALS. Praying for peace and comfort for them.

Key Lime Cake

2010-08-02T17:36:00.006-04:00

I am famous for cutting out loads and loads of recipes out of magazines so I decided to pick a needle out of a haystack and try one this past weekend. I made a Key Lime Cake out of the April 2010 issue of Redbook Magazine. I believe that it is Tricia Yearwood's recipe but I didn't write it down.

The cake is 3 layers of lime green tangy moistness. It definitely has a tart to it...but totally in a good way. The lime flavoring and coloring comes from a package of lime flavored gelatin and then a syrup of lime juice and powdered sugar that is poured over the top while the cakes are still hot. This extra syrup makes the cake so moist!!

My one complaint about the cake is that the recipe didn't make enough cream cheese icing for a nice thick coating. In the picture from the magazine it is clear that they either 1 1/2 times the recipe or maybe even doubled it. The taste of the icing is great though...it's a traditional cream cheese icing flavor.

One last thing that I thought was interesting about the cake is that it wasn't the typical mix your wet ingredients and then gradually add the dry. It calls for you to mix the dry ingredients and add the wet and combine. So I made the cake in one bowl so it was nice on the clean-up side as well!

Key Lime Cake

from the April 2010 Redbook Magazine

1- 3oz package of lime-flavored gelatin

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

5 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3/4 cup orange juice

1 TBL lemon juice (I actually just added a little more orange juice)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup key lime juice (or lime juice)

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

- Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 3 -inch round cake pans

- In a large mixing bowl, mix the gelatin, sugar, flour, salt, powder and soda. Stir to mix well.

- Add the eggs, oil, orange juice, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well and divide the batter evenly among the 3 pans and bake for 35 to 40 min. (I don't know if it is my oven or what, but my cakes only took about 30...this may have helped with the moistness)

- Cool the layers in the pans for 5 minutes and turn out onto racks.

- While the layers are still hot, mix the lime juice and confectioners' sugar and pour it over the layers on the racks. You can pierce the layers with a fork to allow the glae to soak in better. Allow the laters to cool completely as you prepare the icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1- 8 oz package cream cheese, room temp

1- 1lb box confectioners' sugar

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the confectioners sugar until the mixture is smooth and easy to spread. Spread the icing between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

Weekly Menu 6/27 - 7/2

2010-06-29T10:41:00.002-04:00

I'm late posting this!!! I guess better late than never right?

Sunday - We had California Pizza Kitchen Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad Copycat that I was supposed to make last week.

Monday - We had a Chicken and Stove Top Stuffing Casserole, Corn on the Cob, Scallded Lettuce

Tuesday - Chili and Cornbread

Wednesday - Baked Ziti, Salad, Bread

Thursday - Pizza Turkey Burgers (we shall see how that goes), Tator Tots

Friday - Fried Salmon Cakes, Fried Potatoes, Broccoli

Enchilada Lasagna

2010-06-23T14:17:00.009-04:00

I tried out a new recipe last night for dinner. It is from the July 2010 issue of Taste of Home.

The recipe is called Enchilada Lasagna and it was actually really good! The "noodles" in the lasagna are actually flour tortillas. It is full of enough cheese to choke you, but it is yummy!! My Dad and Brother-in-law loved it!

I do have a few changes that I would like to make next time that I make it, but overall it didn't need changing.

Enchilada Lasagna

adapted from Taste of Home Magazine

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce

1 to 2 tsp ground cumin (I used 1 1/2 tsp)

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

3 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

8 flour tortillas (8 inch) cut in half

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, salt, pepper and cumin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine egg and cottage cheese; set aside. Spread 1/3 of the meat sauce into a greased 13x9 baking dish. Layer with half of the cheese blend, tortillas, cottage cheese and remaining meat sauce. Repeat layers and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Top with sour cream, guacamole or pico de gallo.

Changes that I would make next time...

- Add small can of chopped green chile's

- Add half of a packet of taco seasoning to the sauce. It needs some more flavor.

Amazing Chocolate Cake from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

2010-06-21T09:42:00.003-04:00

**WARNING** If you are on Weight Watchers or any other program to lose weight...DON'T READ THIS POST!

I made this cake a couple weeks ago and I HAD to post it because it is that amazing! One of my pet peeves is a dry cake and this cake was nothing of the sorts. It is a rich chocolate cake with a cooked chocolate icing. You will notice from the picture that the frosting isn't thick and fluffy. It is more fudgy and you pour it overtop of warm cake while it is still hot. The frosting then seeps down into the cake and down the sides. You can see in this picture that some of the icing made it down to the bottom of the cake and oozed out. I am typing this out now and dreaming of the time that I MUST make this again.

I got this recipe out of The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. You can access the recipe here. Ree makes this recipe in a large jelly roll pan. I made the cake in a 9x13 pan, so it was much thicker and I will definitely make it that way again.

Enjoy! Enjoy!

Marinated Ribeye's & Twice Baked Potatoes

2010-06-21T07:42:00.003-04:00

In typical fashion, my Dad and brother-in-law wanted meat and potatoes for their Father's Day dinner so I decided to spice things up a little bit. We had marinated ribeye's and twice baked potatoes. I have been making twice baked potatoes for years and I cut the ribeye marinade out of Taste of Home magazine recently.

The twice baked potatoes are just what you expect. Creamy, cheesy, potatoey goodness in a potato skin boat. I don't really follow a recipe for this but here's the basic gist of it.

Twice Baked Potatoes
4 baking potatoes
5 TBL softened butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 TBL minced chives

- Bake potatoes at 350 until done. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to be able to handle them.
- Slice the potatoes in half and scoop the potato out into a large bowl. Place the potato shells back on the pan.
- Add the butter and mash by hand to incorporate the butter.
- Add the sour cream, 1 cup cheese, chives, salt and pepper and continue to mash until combined
- Scoop the potato mixture back into the potato shells and top with the remaining cheese. If you like them extra cheesy then by all means add the more!!
- Bake at 350 for another 15 - 20 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

**I have added bacon to this before as well and it was a big hit.

The ribeye marinade was super easy and I was actually really surprised at how many ingredients were in it. It had a sweet undertone to it and I personally really liked it.

Ribeye Marinade
(adapted from Taste of Home magazine)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
3 TBL steak sauce
3 TBL olive oil
3 Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp steak seasoning
1 garlic cloved, minced
1 TBL red wine vinegar
1 TBL soy sauce
1 tsp hot sauce

- Combine all ingredients.
- This recipe makes enough marinade for 4 steaks.
- Marinade steaks for at least 4 hours and up to 12.

Weekly Menu: June 19 - 25

2010-06-20T11:26:00.002-04:00

Well I was good last week and almost made all of the dishes that I had planned on. Life happens right? Here's the plan for this week...

Sunday - Marinated Ribeye's (have a marinade recipe I want to try), Twice Baked Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Salad (All my Dad's requests of course because today is all about him)

Monday - Enchilada Lasagna (yet another new recipe), Guacamole and Chips

Tuesday - Baked Chicken with Cream of Mushroom Soup, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday - Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Chips

Thursday - Catering a Wedding Reception so no dinner!

Friday - California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad Copykat

Other goals for Sunday afternoon:

- Low-Fat Cheesecake with fresh fruit (recipe from Food Network Magazine) (for my Dad for Dad's Day)

- Zucchini Bread

- Chocolate Cake from The Pioneer Woman Cooks (for my spoiled bro-in-law for Dad's Day)

Teriyaki and Pineapple Glazed Pork Loin

2010-06-19T12:25:00.006-04:00

Okay so I know that this isn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but it's really yummy! And it's something different from the "standard" baked chicken breasts that I feel like we have all of the time. Pork's "bad" rep had gotten better recently because surprisingly, you can get very lean cuts of pork.

Any of you that know me know that I am all about making great food for the best bargain. My menu each week tends to be based upon the meat that is on sale for that week. This week was no exception. Our local store had half boneless pork loin's on sale. They are huge and I probably could have fed 12 people total that evening for dinner with one $6 dollar pork loin. Can we say leftovers???

This was really simple to make. The roast turned out moist and tender enough to cut with a fork. I can't give you a specific on the time that it took because all roasts are different. This is when your handy dandy kitchen thermometer gets good use.

Teriyaki and Pineapple Glazed Pork Loin

1 - 4 (ish) pound pork loin

1 cup teriyaki sauce

1/2 cup pineapple juice (you can buy the real small cans in the juice aisle)

1/2 tsp kosher salt for glaze plus additional for pork

1/4 tsp ground black pepper for glaze plus additional for pork

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- Preheat oven to 315 degrees

- Place pork loin on a cooking rack in a roasting pan

- Liberally season with kosher salt and pepper

- Cover with foil and cook in oven for approx 2 hours.

- Combine teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

- This is where your judgement comes into play based on the size of your loin. According to a site that I found for cooking temperatures of pork loin, it needs to be cooked to 155 degrees. At around 2 hours, my pork loin was within 20 degrees of being done after testing it with a thermometer. At this point I removed the foil, turned the temp to 350 and began basting the pork loin every 15 minutes until it reaches 155 degrees.

- When done, pull from oven and let rest for 15 minutes so that the juices will redistribute. Cut into slices and enjoy!

MSC Cupcake Club - Strawberry Cupcakes

2010-06-14T20:08:00.004-04:00

So I am back with the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club after a few months hiatus. Between traveling during what seems to be the middle of every month and craziness at work, I just haven't had the time.

This months great cupcake pick was from Sherry at Sherry Starts Cooking. The cupcakes are Strawberry cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Strawberries are at their peak in my area so these were an even better pick for me.

The cupcakes themselves were very simple, but yummy. They were super moist and I enjoyed the small chunks of strawberries in them. I do have to say that I was a little disappointed that the cupcakes weren't more "strawberryie". I think that next time I will add in some strawberry puree to make them more like a cupcake and less like a strawberry muffin.

I made the mistake of trying the meringue icing again. It looks all pretty, but the taste just isn't there for me. It's too much butter. I should have stuck with a simple strawberry buttercream. This is solely my personal preference though.

I will definitely make these again with a couple of tweaks. Thanks again Sherry for the pick! I have been anxious to make these ever since buying the book!

Out Of This World Cornbread

2010-06-14T19:55:00.003-04:00

I have been on the hunt for a great cornbread recipe for awhile. I don't want a plain tasting cornbread that is dry and falls apart when you cut into it. I wanted one that was heavy, moist and super sweet. Well the search is over!!!! haha.

Martina McBride, a majorly famous country singer, had her cornbread recipe posted in Good Housekeeping this month in the July 2010 edition of the magazine. When I saw the sugar content, I knew that I had found a match.

This is definitely going on my make again and again and again list. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Beware though...if you don't like a sweet cornbread then this isn't for you.

Martina McBride's Corn Cornbread

- 1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for pan

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 lg eggs

- 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

- 1 cup fresh corn kernels

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish. (The recipe called for a 9x5 loaf pan) Dust the pan with cornmeal.

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a mediaum bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, milk and oil. Stir egg mixture into cornmeal mixture until just combined. Stir in the corn and pour batter into prepared pan. I honestly don't remember how long that I baked this but I believe that it was another 20 minutes or so after the first 15 minutes. Just bake it until it springs back to the touch in the middle.

Bake 15 minutes and reset the oven control to 325. I honestly don't remember how long that I cooked it after this. I believe that it was 20 minutes. It just needs to spring back when you touch it. I will time it next time.

Weekly Menu: June 13 - 18

2010-06-13T10:38:00.002-04:00

I guess if I am going to get back into the swing of things with blogging, I should start posting my menu for the week on here so that I can keep myself held accountable. Here's what we are having this week.

Sunday Lunch - Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches, Mac and Cheese and Peas. I am not making the pork bbq homemade like I normally do. I got 2 tubs of pork bbq for cheap while couponing yesterday so we are doing that. Nice and easy, and I love meals that feed 7 of us for under $10 bucks.

Sunday Dinner - Terriaki/Pinapple Glazed Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Green Beans and Cornbread. (Yes, I know that we are porking it out today but I don't have time to cook a whole pork loin during the week because of the time that I get off of work)

Monday - Spaghetti, Salad and Bread

Tuesday - Grilled Barbecue Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, Corn on the Cob and Scallded Lettuce

Wednesday - Pasta alla Betsy (from the Pioneer Woman Cooks) and Salad

Thursday - Homemade Chicken Veg Soup and Grilled Cheese

Friday - Pizza Night

Where Have I Been???

2010-06-12T19:48:00.006-04:00

So....I haven't posted since January 20th. Shame on me!!! I love blogging so much but I have been so busy with work and life in general. The first half of my year is consumed with Graduation at Liberty. I work what seems like around the clock from the first of April through mid-May on getting that ready. I also took 2 trips to California for work since January. I went to Los Angeles and then San Francisco and tacked on a trip to Vegas. Then you add in vacation and just life and I haven't really had time to try out a lot of new recipes. (Yes, I am soooo ashamed of this).

I do have a few things to post that I have made and that will be coming within the next few days along with a post to the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club that I have been horrible with and neglected. I promise that I am going to make up on all of my posts though!!!

Here are a few pictures of what I have been up to the past few months...

Graduation! - May 15th

San Francisco!

Vegas!

Los Angeles and Laguna Beach!

Myrtle Beach, SC!

Mady's K5 Graduation!

Super Easy Chicken Parmesan

2010-01-30T20:18:00.002-05:00

I came up with this version of Chicken Parmesan last week with the ingredients that I had on hand when I was snowed in for the weekend. This is a really easy way to make the traditional Chicken Parm without having to bread and fry raw chicken breasts. This happens to be the part of making this dish that I hate, but I usually suffer through it for the great results!

I used Tyson's refrigerated grilled chicken breast strips instead of the raw chicken. These are precooked and typically very moist and tender. Now they weren't breaded and fried, but they give you the traditional chicken flavor in the sauce and are also healthier overall. I served it over rotini pasta that I already had open in the pantry. I usually use linguini witih chicken parmesan.

The final thing that I wanted to clarify is that I did NOT pay full price for the refridgerated chicken strips. I got them really cheap with a coupon. I would never have paid $5 for 5 oz of chicken. :-)

Chicken Parmesan

3 TBL olive oil

2 medium or 3 large sized carrots, finely diced

1 large onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

4 TBL sugar

1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp kosher salt

12 oz (2 1/2 bags) of refrigerated chicken breast strips, cut into pieces.

Mozzeralla and Parmesan Cheese

Rotini pasta

- Heat oil in a large stockpot or skillet over medium high heat. Saute the carrot and onions until the onions are translucent, probably around 5 minutes. Add the garlic 1 minute before the onions are done.

- Add the chicken stock, crushed and diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer

- Add all of the seasonings and simmer for 20 minutes

- Add the chicken and simmer for 5 more minutes to heat through.

- Cook the pasta in heavily salted water and top with the sauce.

- Top with however much cheese that you would like and allow to melt

Sausage Balls

2010-01-30T20:14:00.004-05:00

One of the seriously easiest things to make ever are sausage balls. My Memaw, Aunt Sissy and Mom have made these for years. I don't think that there's too much variation in recipes when people make these. Really, how many ways can you make these things? There's just not much to them!

Sausage Balls

1 lb pork sausage
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups bisquick
3/4 cup water

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix by hand until all of the ingredients are incorporated. (Prepare to get messy!!) Roll into tablespoon size balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. When I make these I typically get around 36 out of a recipe. You can make them smaller if you would like...just decrease the cooking time.

Etc Etc...I have made these with a colby/monterey jack before. If you like spicy foods you can use hot sausage instead of regular. Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - 1/30 - 2/4

2010-01-30T16:05:00.002-05:00

Man the weeks fly by!! As of this point, we have gotten over 12 inches of snow here at my house. I have to admit that I have loved the quiet lazy day here at the house. I imagine that I will be stranded here again tomorrow as well. What a perfect opportunity to try out a bunch of new recipes!

Here's what we plan on having this week:
Saturday - Chicken Parmesan, Salad and Bread

Sunday - Grilled Barbecue Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

Monday - Fried Pork Chops, Creamy Rice and Broccoli

Tuesday - Clam Chowder, Homemade Bread and Scallded Lettuce

Wednesday - Hamburger Steak and Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Corn

Thursday - Pineapple Glazed Grilled Ham, Tater Tot Casserole and Steamed Cauliflower

Fancy Mac with Monterey Jack and Chorizo

2010-01-24T21:43:00.008-05:00

Macaroni and cheese is one of America's all time favorite comfort foods. The warm and gooey cheesy noodles are delicious and filling. I decided to make a grown up version of macaroni and cheese for dinner this past week and it was sooo yummy! I cut the original recipe for this out of Rachael Ray's magazine. I am not typically a fan of Rachael's stuff. It tends to be a little over the top for me most of the time.

The original recipe for this called for manchego cheese. I found this cheese while I was grocery shopping the other day and it was $11.99 for enough for a cup! I would have had to spend $24 just for cheese for this recipe!! Any of you that have read my blog in the past know that I am a die hard tight wad and strive to make great recipes with the cheapest ingredients possible. $24 for cheese just wasn't cutting it!!

I did a search online for substitutions for manchego cheese and came up with monterey jack. I can definitely handle that...in fact I already had some so even better!

The recipe makes a creamy cheese sauce that you add sliced pimento's and peas to. To serve it you top it with a sprinkling of some spicy chorizo sausage. The nice thing is that we were able to leave this off for my nieces. One of my favorite aspects of this recipe is the cavatappi (corkscrew) pasta. You could easily make this with rotini or other pastas.

Fancy Mac with Monterey Jack and Chorizo

(adapted from Rachael Ray magazine)

1 lb cavatappi pasta
1/2 lb chorizo sausage, casings removed and chopped
2 TBL olive oil
3 TBL butter
2 shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 TBL flour
1/4 cup dry sherry (if you don't have sherry, add more chicken broth)
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1 small jar pimentos, drained
2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Add water to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain. In a small skillet, add the olive oil and chorizo sausage and cook until done. Crumble the sausage as you cook it. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

In a stock pot, melt the butter and add the shallots. Cook until translucent. Add the garlic about 30 seconds before you are done with the shallots so that it will not burn. Whisk in the flour and sherry. Add the chicken stock and milk and cook until thickened. Stir in the cheese until melted. Fold in the peas and pimentos. Add the macaroni and coat with the cheese sauce.

Serve with about 1/4 cup of crumbled sausage on top.

Etc Etc...You could add canned mushrooms in addition to the peas and pimentos. You chould also also use pepper jack cheese instead of montery jack if you like spicy stuff.

Kroger Grocery Deals 1/24

2010-01-24T14:29:00.003-05:00

Well all that I have to say is that it's about time that Kroger ran a good sale! It's been since early November that I really racked up on good deals. This week was excellent! I know that I am such a tightwad, but I seriously get so excited when I save this much money. If anyone wants to argue that the hour that I spent prepping for this isn't worth the almost $200 bucks that I saved then that's fine!

The sale this week was that if you purchased 10 items, you got $.50 off each item. I got $5 off 10 times because I bought 100 items. In some cases I had 8 coupons because I purchased 8 papers this week because of the sale. The amount that I saved majorly outweighs the few dollars that I spent on papers. The breakdown of everything is below in case you would like to get some of the same savings. The grand total if I had paid full price was $248.85 and I paid $58.20. Stinkin amazing!! All of the prices shown first below are the price AFTER the $.50 is removed for the buy 10 sale.

Rotel Tomatoes - .49 ends up FREE (.30 coupon doubles to .60 (Smart Source 1/24))
Frank's Hot Sauce (great for Buffalo Chicken Dip) - 1.19 ends up .19 (.50 coupon doubles to $1 (Smart Source 1/24))
Hunts Tomato Products - .49 ends up .19 (.45 off 3 coupon doubles to .90 making each can .19 (Smart Source 1/24)
Kraft Cheese - .99 ends up .49 ($1 off 2 coupon (Smart Source 1/24)) Amazing!!
Daisy Sour Cream 16 oz - 1.49 ends up .49 (.50 coupon doubles to $1 (Smart Source 12/13))
Solo Cups - 1.49 ends up .49 (.50 coupon doubles to $1 (Smart Source 12/6))
Ritz Crackers - 1.99 ends up .99 ($1 off coupon (Smart Source 1/24))
Wheat Thins - 1.70 ends up .70 ($1 off coupon (Smart Source 1/24))
Kleenex - .99 ends up .66 (.50 off 3 coupon doubles to $1 making each .66 (Smart Source 1/3))
Snyders Pretzel Pieces - 1.99 ends up 1.24 (.75 off coupon (Smart Source 12/6))
M&M's large bag - 2 ends up 1.50 ($1 off 2 coupon (Red Plum 1/10))
Sara Lee Bites - 2.49 ends up 1.49 ($1 off coupon (Red Plum 10/25))
FiberOne Bars - 1.99 ends up 1.19 ($.40 off coupon doubles to .80 (Smart Source 1/3))
CoffeeMate Creamer - 2.49 ends up 1.49 ($1 off coupon (Red Plum 11/1))
Toaster Strudel - 1.49 ends up 1.21 (.55 off 2 coupon (Smart Source 1/3))
French's Mustard - 1.19 ends up .19 (.50 off coupon doubles to $1 (Smart Source 1/24))
Chi Chi's Salsa - .99 (no coupon)
Jello Pudding - .49 (no coupon)
Kraft Mac and Cheese and Easy Mac - .49 (no coupon)

Email me if you have any questions! I will be glad to answer them!

PF Chang's Mongolian Beef Copycat

2010-01-24T13:40:00.002-05:00

One of my most favorite restaurants to eat at is PF Changs. We don't have one here in Lynchburg so I look forward to going there when I am out of town. The dish has a nice, sweet sauce and the beef has crispy edges to it but is also super tender. My family loved this dish and I will definitely make it again.

One of the main differences that I saw from the PF Changs version is that this recipe produced a lot more sauce than what is on the dish in the restaurant. It also didn't call for as many green onions as what comes in the dish normally. Next time I will add more green onions and will let the sauce reduce a little more. I altered the recipe below to allow for more onions.

PF Changs Mongolian Beef Copykat

2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp minced ginger

1 TBL chopped garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 lb flank steak

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 green onions, very white part removed and cut into 2 inch pieces.

- Cut steak into 1/4 inch pieces. Make sure that you cut against the grain.

- Dip each piece of beef into the cornstarch to coat and shake off the excess powder.

- Heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat in a wok or very large skillet. Add the ginger and the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, water and brown sugar. Mix to dissolve and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes until the sauce reduces. Pour the sauce into a bowl and return the pan to the heat.

- Add 1 cup of oil to the pan and heat on medium/high.

- Add the beef and saute for 2 minutes stiring continuously.

- Remove from the oil from a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate.

- Drain the oil out of the pan and return to the heat. Add the beef back to the pan and cook for 1 minute.

- Add the sauce and cook for 1 minute.

- Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes.

- Serve over rice.

Egg Drop Soup

2010-01-23T20:50:00.003-05:00

Last night was Asian night at my house. We had a PF Changs Mongolian Beef Copycat, Rice that I made sushi style (because I love the sticky sweetness) and Egg Drop Soup. This is the egg drop soup recipe that I have been using for years. It's good too! Traditional egg drop soup doesn't have the green onion added but I like it. The soup can be made really quick as well and doesn't need to sit and cook for a long time.

Egg Drop Soup

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1 TBL soy sauce

1 TBL cornstarch

2 eggs

2 green onions, green ends included

Salt and Pepper to taste

- Remove 1/4 cup broth into a small bowl. Add cornstarch and mix to form a slurry.

- Bring chicken broth, ginger and soy sauce to a boil.

- Add the slurry, reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

- Crack the eggs in a bowl and beat with a fork.

- Gradually add the eggs to the broth. Whisk the broth with a fork while you are adding the eggs to break them up.

- Remove soup from the heat. Add salt, pepper and green onions.

Double Chocolate Cake

2010-01-23T14:55:00.004-05:00

Sin. That is what this cake should be called. Anyone that enjoys chocolate would definitely like this cake. I like chocolate, but this cake was a little too rich for me. It's only suited for you die hard chocoholics out there. My office mates will have a field day with this tomorrow, that is if my Mom doesn't steal it and take it into her folks.

I cut this recipe out of the April 2008 edition of Bon Appetit magazine. It is a recipe from Brigtsen's Restaurant in New Orleans. Here's the recipe...

Double Chocolate Cake

Cake

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1 cup buttermilk, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

Icing

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup whole milk

- Preheat oven to 350. Butter 2 9 inch cake pans and dust with powdered sugar. Line bottom with parchment paper

- Sift flour, soda and salt

- In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup buttermilk and cocoa powder

- In another medium bowl, mix the remaining buttermilk and vanilla

- With an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth

- Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each addition.

- Beat in the cocoa mixture

- Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk/vanilla mixture.

- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes. Cool the cakes completely.

- To make the icing, bring 3/4 cup water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Allow to boil about 2 minutes until reduced to about 3/4 cup. Cool completely

- Using electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

- Gradually beat in powdered sugar and cocoa powder, then add 1/2 cup milk.

- Cut cakes horizontally in half to make 4 layers.

- To begin building cake, take first layer and brush 3 TBL of syrup. Spread 1/2 cup frosting on layer. Repeat 2 more times and then ice the top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing.

In my opinion, I think that the frosting needs some salt to counteract the sweet/bitterness of the chocolate.

Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini

2010-01-23T11:46:00.002-05:00

Lunch today was some yummy grilled chicken pesto panini's that I made on my panini press. There's really no recipe to go along with this. Here are the ingredients that I used. You can change the amounts based upon what you like.

Ciabatta Bread

Grilled Chicken Strips (I took the easy way out and used Tyson Refridgerated Chicken Strips that I got on sale with a coupon)

Pesto

Mozzeralla Cheese

Mayo

The crunch of the ciabatta bread after it had toasted was really nice. The sandwich tasted exactly like I was expecting for it to as I have had similar sandwiches at other places. I would like to try this again in the future with maybe some marinara sauce instead of pesto.

Weekly Menu: 1/23 - 1/29

2010-01-23T10:35:00.002-05:00

Well I didn't do as well this week in making all of the dishes that I planned for. We decided to get pizza one night and then my nieces begged to go to La Caretta so we gave in last night. Thankfully everything is still good and I plan to make the skipped days food today. Here's the plan:

Saturday Lunch - Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini's, Pasta Salad

Saturday Dinner - PF Changs Mongolian Beef Copycat, Rice, Egg Drop Soup

Sunday - Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Buttered Corn

Monday - Fancy Manchego Mac and Cheese with Chorizo, Salad, Fried Apples
**This is a recipe that I am trying from Rachael Ray Magazine that I tore out awhile ago.

Tuesday - Baked Fish Fillets, Rice, Broccoli (aka Dinosaur Trees as my nieces call them)

Wednesday - Pasta Alla Betsy, Salad, Homemade Bread
**My weekly recipe attempt from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Its basically penne pasta with sauteed shrimp and a tomato cream sauce.

Thursday - Baked Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Green Beans
**Our Wal-Mart has been carrying rotisserie turkey breasts. I plan on grabbing one of them on the way home one day this week and trying it out. If they don't have them or carry them anymore it's chicken then. :-)

Sherried Tomato Soup

2010-01-22T09:11:00.002-05:00

Yum yum yum ...this bowl of creamy goodness was a big hit at dinner last week. This is yet again another one the recipes by Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I have been aiming to make a new recipe from this book each week. This was last weeks and I am just now posting about it.

Ree loves this soup and the way that she described it in her book was that it is amazing and a must try, so I succumbed. It is a sweet (or as sweet as you want to make it) tomato soup with cream added to cut the acid. The addition of the fresh herbs gives it a great flavor. It was perfect with a grilled cheese and would also go well with a salad. Anyone that doesn't like "rich" foods should avoid this recipe at all costs. The thickness and deep flavors make this some major comfort food for a cold day.

You can get the recipe here. I hope that you all enjoy!

The Pioneer Woman - Chicken Spaghetti

2010-01-21T17:37:00.003-05:00

The recipe that I decided to make this week out of The Pioneer Woman Cooks was Chicken Spaghetti. It's technically a casserole and is a combination of chicken, cream of mushroom soup, pasta, veggies and some cheese. Overall it was liked at dinner. Will I make it again? Ehhh maybe not...there are too many other things to try. My folder with recipes that I have cut out of magazines continues to grow by the month! I am seriously going to need to use a shoebox soon.

I found the dish to be a little bland despite the amount of cayenne pepper in it that definitely perked up the taste buds (or set them on fire). It's all good though, everyone likes different things and it just wasn't my favorite. My Dad loved it though...and he's usually difficult to please!

You can find the recipe here on The Pioneer Woman's website.

Weekly Menu: 1/17 - 1/22

2010-01-16T21:46:00.002-05:00

I was actually good and made everything that I had planned for last week. We struggle with that a lot because we get busy and grab something out. My goal for the year is to cut way back on that because it adds up so fast. Here's what I have planned for this week:

Sunday Lunch - Zuppa Toscana Soup, Homemade French Bread

Sunday Dinner - PF Changs Mongolian Beef Copycat, Rice, Egg Drop Soup

Monday - Grilled Barbecue Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Tuesday - Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Chips

Wednesday - Chicken Spaghetti (trying another recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks), Salad, Bread

Thursday - Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini's, Pasta Salad

MSC Cupcake Club - Coconut Cupcakes

2010-01-14T19:45:00.003-05:00

Well it is hard to believe that it is time again for our monthly installment of the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. This month Jennifer from Cinema Cupcakes chose Coconut Cupcakes for us. For me, these were much more like a cupcake than the spice cupcakes that we have done the past 3 months. They were yummy!

The cupcake was really sweet and had a mild coconut flavor. Next time, I will probably add some coconut extract to the batter as well to make them a little stronger in flavor. The 7 minute frosting was a whole new experience for me. It was so light and fluffy and it actually reminded me of a less sticky version of marshmallow fluff. I would love this frosting piped into something. I couldn't get my hands on coconut flakes so I lightly toasted some shredded coconut.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their cupcakes! I am looking forward to next months Smores Cupcakes!! Thanks Jennifer for a great pick!

Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo and Guacamole

2010-01-11T06:26:00.004-05:00

My absolute most favorite cookbook right now is The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I ordered it and received it last week in the mail and I have read it from cover to cover since then. Ree started out writing a blog and decided to put a lot of her recipes into a book. All of the recipes look absolutely delicious! She also has many of them posted on her website at www.thepioneerwoman.com

We celebrated my Mom's birthday last night and she wanted mexican food. What a good opportunity to try out The Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo and Guacamole recipe! I have always struggled with salsa type recipes and even with guacamole. I can just never get the right mix of different flavors. I usually end up with way too much lime juice which honestly ruins it for me and as Ree mentions in the book, she used to end up with a too much tomato in her salsa and I also have also had the same problem.

These recipes could not be more simple. There are no exact measurements either which is even better. For the pico, start out by chopping your tomatoes. I went with 4 roma tomatoes. Now chop an equal amount of onion and an equal amount of cilantro. It ended up about 3/4 a large onion and most of a bunch of cilantro. Add a finely chopped jalapeno with the seeds and ribs removed. I just used one but you could do 2 if you like it real spicy. Squeeze the juice of half of a lime in the pico and add salt to taste. Eat within a day or it will get soupy.

To make the guacamole you take your avacados and mash in a bowl. Leave as chunky or as mushy as you would like. Now put in a bunch of the pico de gallo and stir. Add salt to taste and I also added some pepper. Enjoy!!

Crock Pot Barbecue Ribs

2010-01-09T20:18:00.003-05:00

OH we had the yummiest dish for dinner tonight and it couldn't have been easier! I have been trying to make good ribs for years and just haven't had much luck. They have always been okay, just not as good as I would like them. I decided to try them in the crockpot today. Our Food Lion had them on sale for $1.29 per pound (I have seen them as low as .89/lb before and will be stocking up from now on). I fed 5 adults for $5 of meat and had leftovers.

I used Country Style Ribs. These aren't your typical Baby Backs. They are shaped different. This recipe would work fine with the Baby Backs though. The ribs get so tender that they literally fall apart. You have to just pull the bones out of them in the crock pot and be very careful for any small pieces!!

I came up with my own recipe after looking over various recipes online. I am really happy with it and my family approved it for a make again recipe.

Crockpot Barbecue Ribs

4 lbs ribs (I used country style)

1 tsp kosher salt (if you use table salt, go 1/4 tsp less)

3/4 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp paprika

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup cola (not diet)

2 TBL liquid smoke

2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

1 onion, cut in half and sliced

Mix together the salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and brown sugar. Rub this mixture into the ribs and put one layer on the bottom of the crock pot. Top with half of the onion. Layer in the rest of the ribs and once again top with onion. Mix the liquid smoke and cola together and pour around the outside of the ribs and throughout. Try not to pour directly on the ribs so that you don't wash the rub off. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Once they are done, drain the liquid off and top with your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue). If you like them spicy you can add some hot sauce too. Stir the ribs to coat. Continue cooking for 1 hour so that the sauce will stick and thicken on the ribs.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu: 1/9 - 1/14

2010-01-08T20:06:00.002-05:00

I have decided that I am going to start posting our weekly menu each week on here. I think that it will be fun to look back at what we have had throughout the year and to also see what I make way too much of! It also motivates me to do more posting on here of the recipes that I make!

I am starting a day early this week because I plan to do my shopping on Saturday instead of Sunday. I am also going to actually be home on Saturday night so I figured that I should save money and cook instead of eating out.

Saturday: Crockpot Barbecue Ribs, Sauteed Cabbage, Roasted Potatoes

Sunday: Tortillas, Mexirice, Mexicorn

**It is my Mom's birthday on Monday and we are celebrating on Sunday. This is her most favorite meal. It is basically just browned hamburger with various toppings and enchilada sauce served with fried tortillas. You basically build your own

Monday: Steak, Baked Potato, Sauteed Green Beans

Tuesday: Baked Spaghetti, Salad, Bread

Wednesday: Sherried Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese

**The Sherried Tomato Soup is from The Pioneer Woman Cookbook

Thursday: Duggar Tator Tot Casserole, Salad

Santa Cupcakes...way late!

2010-01-03T19:33:00.004-05:00

Well I am way late on this one. I am beginning to feel like all that I bake and cook are cupcakes, but that really isn't the case!! Anyways, Mady and Savannah requested that I make them some Santa cupcakes for Christmas. This is what I came up with.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup Copycat Recipe

2010-01-03T19:10:00.007-05:00

My favorite thing to eat at Olive Garden is not the pasta dishes or even their famous salad, although the chocolate lasagna is pretty high up there! My favorite dish is actually their Zuppa Toscana Soup. It's a potato soup with crumbled italian sausage and kale. I love love love it! I did some research online and there are all sorts of copycat recipes out there for this soup. After looking over these I came up with my own version of the soup. It's so close that I don't think that I could tell the difference. It's not a very thick soup but the flavors are great! My favorite part is actually the kale. I add a lot more kale than what is in the soup at the restaurant.

My version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

3 TBL butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL flour
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 TBL sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
3 large potatoes, peeled, quartered and sliced
1 lb italian sausage (I use the sweet)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups chopped kale
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Parm cheese for garnish

Melt the butter over medium - high heat and saute the onion until translucent (about 8 - 10 min). Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken stock while continuously stirring to incorporate the flour. Add the water, sugar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add the potatoes and continue to cook over medium high heat.

In the meantime, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Remove the sausage from the casing and cook until sausage is cooked through. As you are stiring the sausage, make sure that it ends up in crumbles. Another hint to use to keep the sausage from burning before cooking all the way through is to add some water to the pan and allow for it to boil off. By the time that the liquid is gone, the sausage will have a little bit of time to brown. Once done, drain.

Add the sausage to the soup once the potatoes are just about done. Turn the heat to medium low. Add the kale and cook for 3 minutes until the kale is good and tender. Add the whipping cream and remove from the heat. Garnish with parm cheese.

Christmas Cupcakes

2009-12-18T14:37:00.003-05:00

My nieces K5 teacher asked me last week to make cupcakes for the Happy Birthday Jesus birthday party that they had on Friday of this past week. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go all Happy Birthday, Christmas decorations or all Religious so I decided to go with a little bit of all three. The Christmas tree is for Christmas decorations, the sprinkles are for Jesus' birthday and the other decorations are for Jesus' birth. I made angels, Baby Jesus in a manger, sheep, crowns and crosses.

They were a huge hit with the kids. They argued over who got which cupcakes.

MSC Cupcake Club - Gingerbread Cupcakes

2009-12-15T06:48:00.005-05:00

This time of year is so crazy for me and I feel like I have been living in my kitchen working on holiday baking...and it shows no signs of letting up!! I love it though!

I had a Christmas party at my house last night and I made the Gingerbread Cupcakes to put on my dessert platter and they went over really well. I halved the recipe and made them in mini cupcakes as you can see. Mine got a little bit of a crunchy top on top (maybe because I made the smaller version) and it was actually really nice. It kind of gave an initial crunch like a cookie but then they were super moist inside.

I have never been a big fan of gingerbread but these surprised me. I could handle making these again sometime.

Thanks again to Kayte from Grandma's Kitchen Table for picking a great recipe!!

Ham and White Bean Soup

2009-11-29T17:05:00.003-05:00

Every year for Thanksgiving my family has the traditional Thanksgiving turkey as well as a ham. I reserved the ham bone this year with excited thoughts on how I could use it up. I usually use it to flavor pinto beans for my Dad but I wanted to do something that would be enjoyed more across the board as my family isn't really into just plain beans. (Even though they don't know that a good pot of beans have amazing flavor) It is going to be really hard for me to not do this recipe every time that I bake a ham and have the leftover bone in the future.

Ham and White Bean Soup

1 lb great northern white beans

3 TBL olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups chicken broth

6-8 cups water

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 TBL sugar

1 leftover ham bone with either some ham left on the bone or leftover slices

- Go through your beans and pick out any rocks that remain

- Place your beans in a large stock pot and cover well with water

- Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for 1 hour

- Drain beans in a strainer and set aside

- Heat olive oil over med-high heat and saute carrots, celery and onion until tender. Add garlic when almost done sauteing.

- Add chicken stock and water.

- Add beans, salt, pepper and sugar

- Add ham bone, bring to a slow boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Stir frequently and rotate bone in the liquid

- Remove the ham bone and pull meat off of the bone or shred leftover slices in the soup.

- Continue to cook on low for another hour

Turkey Cupcakes!

2009-11-28T07:41:00.002-05:00

I made these cute little guys last week for Thanksgiving for the kiddos that came to dinner. They were a huge hit!! I used the one bowl chocolate cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart's book Cupcakes and used the Wilton Buttercream recipe tinted orange. I topped them with half of a Nutter Butter cookie, black frosting eyes, fruit rollup nose/beard and candy corn feathers.

I initially was going to participate in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Bonus Challange of Applesauce Spice Cupcakes but I ran out of time and figured that I would post these since they are so adorable. :-)

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie

2009-11-27T08:08:00.004-05:00

I decided to venture away from the frozen Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pie this year. It is amazing that I haven't tried to make a pumpkin pie up to this point. I guess that I just stuck with the tradition of what my Grandmother did for years. She always used the frozen pie and it was always yummy. Truth be known though, I had never been introduced to the deliciousness of a good homemade pumpkin pie. I don't think that I can go back now.

I tried Paula Deen's recipe for pumpkin pie this year. It was amazing!! It has everything that you can expect from a pumpkin pie in it but it has the creamy addition of an entire block of cream cheese in it. My family thought that it was delicious. The only thing that I did different in the recipe is that i didn't bake the pie crust before putting the filling in it. Also, next time I will bake the pie with the crust covered so that it doesn't brown as much.

This is definitely a make again for me!

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

2009-11-27T07:50:00.004-05:00

I had some people over the other night to make Christmas cards and hang out and I decided to make one of my sister's favorite snacks. She absolutely loves these little pieces of yumminess and always makes herself sick by eating alot of them.

My aunt originally gave me this recipe years ago. I am honestly not sure where she got it originally but we have definitely made our share of them over the years. This super simple recipe makes about 40 cheesecakes so one batch makes enough for a small party...or one person if you are talking about my sister. :-)

I recommend that you put the cherries on the cheesecakes right out the oven and that you let them sit in the fridge for a couple of hours after they have cooled. They are definitely better cold rather than at room temp.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

2 - 8 oz blocks of cream cheese

1 cup of granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Mini Nilla Wafers

Maraschino Cherries (stem removed and cut in half)

- Preheat your oven to 350

- In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and cream cheese together

- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended well

- Line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin liners

- Place a mini Nilla Wafer in each liner

- Fill each liner with cream cheese mixture almost to the top

- Bake 15 - 18 minutes

- Top each cheesecake with a half of a cherry after they come out of the oven. Let cool and refridgerate.

Enjoy!

Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberries

2009-11-17T21:02:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to try to make panna cotta for forever. I love custards and I knew that this would be no different. I have surprisingly never even had panna cotta before this.

I was browsing through Giada DeLaurentiis's book, Everyday Italian and I saw that she has a recipe for this. I have had a lot of success with Giada's recipes in the past and I figured that this would be the same.

I was surprised to see how much honey was called for in the recipe and honestly it was too much for me. It called for 1/3 a cup in the batch. For anyone that likes honey, they would love this. I am just not a big fan of honey and will find a recipe with just sugar for next time.

The panna cotta was really creamy and I enjoyed the consistency. I decided to serve this with some blueberries sprinkled on top and am glad that I did. Any type of fresh berry would have been great.

If you would like to view the recipe for this then you can get it from the Food Network site here.

Magazine Monday's - Blueberry Crumb Bars

2009-11-15T12:45:00.006-05:00

Like many people, I have an ever growing stack of magazine recipes that I have collected over the years and it seems like I never have (or make) time to try the recipes out. I read so many food blogs and I came across Cream Puffs in Venice. The creator of this blog, Yvonne does a post every Monday called "Magazine Mondays". She opens it up for other food bloggies (is that a word ha?) to participate with her and she posts their recipes on her site.

This is the first week that I am participating and I decided to try out a recipe from the July 2009 edition of Bon Appetit magazine. I made these and submitted them for a baked goods auction that my Aunt had at her church. I was really happy with how they turned out. I am actually making them again this afternoon for a meeting that my Mom is doing food for tomorrow. I love the shortbread like crust and the yummy fruit filling. I imagine that these can also be made with other fruits and jam's. I would love to try raspberry sometime.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Bon Appetit, July 2009

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds

3 cups fresh blueberries or a 12-ounce package of frozen blueberries

1 cup blueberry preserves (10 - 11 oz)

1 TBL all purpose flour

1 tsp finely grated lemon peel

Prehead the oven to 375. Butter bottom of a 9x13 pan. Whisk flour, oats, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add 1 cup butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in small clumps.

Transfer 2 cups to medium bowl; mix in almonds and reserve for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until golden and just firm to touch, about 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Spread evenly over crust in pan, then sprinkle reserve topping over.

Bake bars until filling bubbles thickly at edges and topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes; cool in pan on rack.

MSC November Challenge - Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

2009-11-14T09:35:00.003-05:00

Well this month's MSC Cupcake Challange really snuck up on me. I have had so much going on that I lost track of time. I am so glad that I stuck with it and made this month's challenge though. Karen from Karen's Cookies, Cakes & More selected this months recipe. They are Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes and they are amazing!

I was very curious to see how these were going to work out and if they were going to end up favoring a muffin in the end. This definitely is a light and fluffy cupcake and didn't favor a muffin at all...at least I didn't think so. I tend to underbake things by a couple of minutes to try to keep them moist and I think that helped in this case. These called for 28 minutes in the oven and I only kept them in there for 24 and they are perfect. My oven might be a little hot though...

The recipe calls for you to candy pecans and create a little marshmallow mountain that has been broiled on top to give it the effect of a sweet potato casserole. I chose to make some cream cheese frosting instead and sprinkled some roasted pecans on top. I would have candied the pecans if I had more time. I am happy that I went with the frosting. The cream cheese is amazing with the sweet potato.

My Mom does not like sweet potato at all typically and she loved these cupcakes. She said that they rank up with the best that I have made.

I hope that everyone had a great time making these and that you enjoy eating them as much as I have. Thanks again Karen for picking a great recipe!

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

2009-11-05T19:38:00.004-05:00

I made my sisters favorite meal for dinner tonight. It's Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce. I adapted this from Rachael Ray's recipe. My sister frequently begs me to make this dish for her. It's pretty good. I am usually not a big fan of Rachael's recipes, but she did good on this one.

It's basically a cream sauce that is made with mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, cream, etc. I always serve it with linguini and a salad on the side.

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

(adapted from Rachael Ray)

3 chicken breasts

3 TBL olive oil

2 12 oz containers of mushrooms

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

3 TBL butter

3 TBL flour

2 TBL of fresh thyme leaves

2 cups of chicken broth (1 can)

1 cup of milk

2 TBL balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup of heavy cream

pinch red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

3/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese

2 TBL fresh parsley, minced

- Clean, and slice the mushrooms. Remove the stems.

- Thinly slice the shallots and mince the garlic

- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Saute in the pan until cooked through. Remove from pan

- Add butter to the pan. Allow to melt and then add the mushrooms.

- Cook the mushrooms for about 3-4 minutes until cooked down and tender.
- Add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots are translucent and tender.

- Add the red pepper flakes, thyme leaves and flour and stir for 30 seconds until flour soaks up the juices in the pan.

- Slowly add the chicken stock and incorporate. It will thicken because of the flour.

- Add the milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

- Add the balsamic vinegar and cream and combine well.

- Slice the chicken and add to the sauce. Allow to continue cooking for 5 minutes

- Add the parsley and parmesean cheese. Stir until melted and remove from heat.

- Serve over linguini or any other pasta that you have on hand.

Easy Green Chile Chicken Burritos

2009-11-04T19:07:00.007-05:00

I will be the first to admit that this recipe is not authentic mexican food or is it the best mexican food that you will ever have. It is so easy though and a great make ahead dinner. I am always looking for items that I can put together over the weekend that I can just throw in the oven and heat up when I get home from work during the week. This is one of those recipes that is ideal for this and my family loves it.

The burritos stay really soft because of all of the enchilada sauce. They also have a ton of cheese in and on them. You start with shredded chicken and have have lots of options for cooking the chicken. If you want to go really easy then you can start with a rotisserie chicken. I have baked, grilled and sauteed the chicken in the past. I actually cooked the chicken in the crockpot this past time while I was at work.

I have never made this with red enchilada sauce, but it may taste good. I also use a monterey jack/colby mix for the cheese, but I imagine that it would be fine with cheddar as well. These are great served with salsa, sour cream and/or homemade guacamole if you have it.

Easy Green Chile Chicken Burritos
7 flour burrito sized flour tortillas
2 cans green enchilada sauce
4 cups of shredded cheese
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 green peppers, sliced
2 onions, sliced
1 tsp of season salt
3 TBL butter

- Saute the green peppers and onions in the butter and season salt. Cook until tender.
- Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray
- Pour about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce in the pan and spread on the bottom.
- To build your burritos, take a flour tortilla and place about 1/4 cup of chicken in a line in the middle and about 1/8 of a cup of peppers and onion mix on top. Cover this with about half a handful of cheese and then about 2 TBL of sauce on top.
- Roll into burritos and place in the pan.
- Once you finish then you take the rest of the sauce and pour it overtop of the burritos. Then cover with the rest of the cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
- Uncover and then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until cheese is good and melted but not burnt.

Yay for Comfort Food!

2009-11-02T19:36:00.003-05:00

Nothing hits the spot for me on a cold day like a bowl of steaming hot soup and a grilled cheese. My soup for this week was a pot of hearty Vegetable Beef soup that I made out of our leftover pot roast from Sunday night. I always make extra pot roast when I plan that meal so that I will have some extra for soup. It's a great soup to freeze for future days too. You can also easily use this recipe and not add beef if you would rather have a vegetarian version.

I believe that one of the key ingredients in the flavor of this soup is the leftover broth/cream of mushroom soup mixture that comes off of the pot roast after you bake it. For two pot roasts, I typically take a large can of cream of mushroom soup and add a can of chicken stock. Then I season it with salt and pepper and also cut up an onion in the pot roast. This all adds to the flavors of the leftover soup mixture at the end. I always make this the day after the pot roast so that I have time to refridgerate the leftover soup mixture overnight. This allows for the fat to collect on the top and gives me a chance to remove it.

As with all soups, you have a million variations that you can do with this. Here is the recipe for how I made this one...it makes a large stockpot full.

Vegetable Beef Soup
2 large carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBL olive or vegetable oil
2 cups of leftover pot roast broth (fat skimmed) or 1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 large and 1 small can corn
1 large can of green beans, drained
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 large can of V8 juice
6 cups of water
3 cups leftover pot roast (or whatever you have)
4 TBL sugar
1 TBL kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp season salt

- Heat the oil over medium high heat
- Saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic until tender
- Add the pot roast broth/cream of mushroom soup and mix
- Add all of the remaining ingredients and cook for approximately an hour on low/medium until the vegetables are tender.
- If you would like pasta in the soup then add that about 15 minutes before finishing cooking so that it won't get too done.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2009-11-02T19:31:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite desserts that my Memaw used to make for us was a Pineapple Upside Down cake. I love the moist cake that has absorbed a sweet combination of pineapple juice, brown sugar, and butter. She usually made one in a 9x13 pan with a cake mix. It was always so good.

I wanted to try to make a cake from scratch for mine so I went with the Pineapple Upside Down cake from The Joy of Cooking. It's really good!! Mine ended up very moist and the pineapple fit on top of it perfectly. I saw Paula Deen make a cake like this on her show before where she actually made a double layer cake with two cakes like this. I can see this cake going well at bake sales and baked goods auctions.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

7 slices canned pineapple

3 TBL butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

13 maraschino cherries

3 large eggs

2 TBL buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 TBL butter, softened

6 TBL buttermilk

- Preheat oven to 350. Place 3 TBL butter in the cake pan and place the pan in the oven until the butter is melted. Tilt the pan to coat all sides with butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan.

- Drain the pineapple and place one ring in the center of the pan and arrange 6 more around it. Place the cherries in the center of each ring and in the spaces between them.

- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 2 TBL of buttermilk and vanilla.

- In a mixer bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, powder, soda, and salt. Add the 6 TBL of butter and the 6 TBL of buttermilk. Beat on low speed just until the flour is moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for exactly 1 1/2 minutes.

- Add 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time and beat for exactly 20 seconds and scrape the bowl after each addition.

- Scrape the batter over the fruit in the pan.

- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, about 35 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before inverting.

Cinnamon Spiced Nuts

2009-11-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

I love walking through some malls and/or a fair where they have booths set up with different vendors that sell various snack foods and smelling the yummy cinnamon scent coming from the spiced nut stand. There is something about a roasted pecan, almond or walnut with a cinnamon sugar glaze that smells amazing. I always enjoy getting a small bag of these roasted nuts when I have a chance.

I had some pecans on hand the week before last and decided that I would search for a recipe for Cinnamon Spiced Nuts to see if I can get anywhere close to the roasted ones that you can buy at various places. I used the recipe posted at Smitten Kitchen and it turned out really good! The nuts cooked perfectly and ended up light and tender. The glaze was perfect! I love a good combination of sweet and salty. These weren't too sweet for my liking, but they had a great blend of cinnamon, salt, and sugar. The only thing that I did differently from the recipe is that I used light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar. I tend to not like a strong molasses taste.

So the verdict is that I will make these again. They make a great snack for work or at home. Unfortunately they didn't last long enough around my house for me to take them to work for too many days. My self-proclaimed nut hating Mom actually ate a snack bag full.

MSC Cupcake Club October Bonus Recipe - Halloween Cupcakes

2009-10-30T20:48:00.006-04:00

OH my word I had an absolute blast making these cupcakes! I was really excited when I found out that we were having another bonus recipe for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I decided to get creative with what I had on hand instead of decorating the cupcakes with all of the candy that we could have used for the cupcakes in the cookbook. I guess I used my artistic freedom ha.

I chose to make the One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes from the book. I have to say that these are my favorite cupcakes that I have made out of the book so far. They are amazing! The chocolate is just right and they are so moist! I was surprised to see how watery that the batter was after mixing them. I actually used a measuring pitcher to pour the batter in instead of scooping it in. I loved how this recipe only used one bowl too. It took less time because you just throw everything together in the mixer. This cupcake recipe is definitely going into my file for a make again.

I decided not to use Martha's icing recipe. I haven't been a big fan so far of her buttercreams...they seem a little too buttery. I used the Wilton Buttercream recipe. It was good and very easy to work with. I haven't given up on Martha's recipes...I just decided to do my own thing this time.

My nieces are going to go wild over these tomorrow on Halloween. They love cupcakes and when you add the decorations, it will send them over the edge. I hope that everyone had as much fun making and decorating your cupcakes!

Duggar Family Tator Tot Casserole

2009-10-26T19:30:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite shows on TV is 18 and Counting. It's a show about a family called the Duggars and they have 18 children and 1 on the way at this point. Their oldest son and his wife Anna just had a baby as well. I have so much respect for this family. They are such a good testimony on how we should live our lives and I am not talking about having tons of children. I am talking about how their lives are centered around living for Christ and doing all that they can to honor and glorify him.

I have heard them mention this favorite recipe of the family called Tator Tot Casserole. I have been very curious and decided that I would try it for myself. I got this recipe off of their website. The recipe was great! And it was sooo simple to make...it really kind of freaked me out at first because I was worried that it would be too simple and wouldn't be that good. I tend to lean towards more complicated things to try to make. It was definitely yummy though and I plan to make it again sometime.

Duggar Family Tator Tot Casserole
1 lb ground turkey
1 bag of frozen tator tots
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

- Brown ground turkey in a skillet and season. (I used salt, pepper and cayenne pepper)
- Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour in ground turkey to line bottom of pan
- Line the turkey with the tator tots. Do not just pour them in there...line them up.
- Mix together the 2 soups and the milk
- Pour the soup mixture over the tator tots
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour
- Let sit for 10 minutes to thicken

Amazing Pumpkin Bread

2009-10-21T09:38:00.002-04:00

I have used this pumpkin bread recipe for years and I absolutely love it! I love the fall of the year when this is appropriate to make due to the time of the season. (Of course...I do make this once in awhile during the rest of the year because it's so yummy)

I read on a couple of other blogs that there is a pumpkin shortage this year. This is the first time that I heard this and of course went straight to Wal-Mart and bought 6 cans of pumpkin. Maybe this was a ploy by the canned pumpkin companies to drum up business. Because heavens, we can't live without our pumpkin bread, pie, cheesecake, etc etc!!

This bread is super easy to make. As with a lot of other quick breads, you mix together the wet ingredients, combine the dry and then mix them together. The people that eat your "masterpiece" think that you are just the greatest cook ever. :-) I made this for a group of people that I was meeting with at work the other day. It was a big hit and didn't take long to disappear. I think that this would also make good muffins if that is what you prefer. The recipe that I have tweaked is listed below:

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

3 cups white sugar

2/3 cup water

1 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1 15 oz can pumpkin

- Combine the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves

- Beat together the oil, eggs, water, pumpkin, vanilla and sugar

- Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients in thirds

- Bake at 350 until bread springs back when touched. The amount of time that it takes is really dependant on the size of pans that you are using.

**This made 2 large loaves and 3 very small loaves

Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage

2009-10-17T12:25:00.003-04:00

This week I decided to pull a recipe out of the ever growing folder of random magazine clippings that I always cut out with recipes that I want to try. This recipe is from the March 2008 edition of Bon Appetit (which happens to be my most favorite magazine...big surprise). This soup was amazing!! It's very simple and also good for you. I made a couple of tweaks, but I basically stuck with the original recipe. I also made this for under $10 so that made me happy too. :-) This is going into my recipe library to make again in the future.

Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage

4 TBL olive oil, divided

12 oz fully cooked chicken sausage, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2 thick slices

4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

3 leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise

2 cups baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise, then halved crosswise

2 TBL tomato paste

2 TBL chopped fresh italian parsley

1 TBL sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1 - 15 oz can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained

- Heat 2 TBL olive oil in large pan over medium high heat.

- Add sausage and saute until brown around edges, around 5 minutes

- Add cabbage; saute 2 minutes and transfer to bowl

- Add remaining 2 TBL olive oil to same pot and heat over medium heat.

- Add leeks and carrots and saute until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes

- Add tomato paste, parsley and stir 1 minutes

- Add broth, sausage-cabbage mixture, sugar, salt, red pepper, pepper and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.

**Chicken sausage comes in different varieties. The one that I used had mozzarella and artichokes. This recipe called for chicken-apple sausage but they didn't have that at my store. The variety that I got was great though

**I imagine that this could also be made with turkey kielbasa or even regular kielbasa if you can't find chicken sausage.

**I garnished my soup with grated Parmesan cheese. It was so yummy with that. I think that this would be awesome served with a loaf of crusty french bread.

MSC: Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

2009-10-13T15:21:00.006-04:00

For this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club entry, Kim from What the Whisk selected for us to make Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. The 15th definitely snuck up on me this month!! These were pretty good. My coworkers definitely enjoyed them.and it didn't take them long to disappear. Will I make them again? Ehhh probably not until I try a few more recipes. There were a couple of things that I wanted to make note of that I found when tasting them. They were really moist but mine ended up very very crumbly...almost crummy. I don't know if this was from overmixing, undermixing, or what.

I found that mine were similar in taste and texture to the zucchini spice cupcakes. These were a little more "muffin like" than my zucchini spice ones. I am looking forward to trying some other more cupcake like flavors in the future.

As with last time, I liked the flavor the icing. Cream cheese frosting is my weakness! My only wish with the frosting is that it was a little more firm. All in all though the people that ate them enjoyed them and that's what matters I guess! I hope that everyone enjoyed making these as much as I did!

Sausage and Pepper Penne

2009-09-17T20:33:00.004-04:00

As you have seen from my previous posts, I love to create cheap recipes and to find ways to use leftover ingredients so that they don't go to waste. This recipe was no different. We had a catering one saturday and we had a ton of tri-colored peppers leftover from the veggie display. I have used the peppers in the past to make things like fajitas, quesadillas, etc.

I used items that I have stockpiled like pasta and pasta sauce and it basically cost what the sausage and cheese cost. (Prob around $5) I got the pasta sauce for $.09 a jar and the pasta $.25/box on sale at awhile back. If you had to buy all of the ingredients it would probably cost you $10 - $12 to make.

Sausage and Pepper Penne

1 lb box penne pasta (you can use rotini, bowties, etc too)

1 1/2 lb ground italian sausage

2 TBL olive oil

Approx 2 peppers sliced (you can use assorted colors)

1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 jars pasta sauce, like Ragu or Prego

1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

3 TBL sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 lb mozzeralla cheese

1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese

- Saute and crumble sausage in a skillet.

- In a deep skillet or pot over medium heat, saute the onions and peppers in oil until softened. Add the garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes.

- Add pasta sauce and tomatoes

- Add all dried seasonings and let simmer for 20 minutes.

- Cook pasta until very al dente. The noodles will continue to cook in the oven so you don't want to overcook them.

- Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Mix well and add half of the mozzeralla cheese. Stir until combined and pour into a deep baking pan that has been coated with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

- Cover with the remaining mozzeralla cheese and parmesean cheese.

- Bake covered for about 30 minutes at 350 and uncover for 5 more.

Giada's Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabiatta Sauce

2009-09-17T20:28:00.003-04:00

I watched Giada make this recipe on her show a couple of months ago and I knew that I had to try it at some point. The recipe is called Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabiatta Sauce and you can get the recipe here. They were really good! They are basically shells stuffed with a mixture of ground turkey, artichokes, ricotta, parmesean cheese, etc. They are then topped with a sauce called Arrabiatta Sauce which is basically just jarred marinara sauce with some panchetta and lots of red pepper flakes. The next time that I make this I will definitely use a lot less red pepper flakes. This recipe calls for 2 teaspoons and it lit my world on fire! ha

This recipe calls for frozen artichokes and I could not find frozen artichokes here for some reason so I just used canned that I drained and rinsed. I don't think that they turned out any different because of this.

I am also not sure if I will use panchetta next time either. It was really expensive here where I was able to find it. I tend to like to make recipes with cheaper ingredients.

I have had good experiences with Giada's recipes so far. I will definitely try more as I see things that I like.

Until next time...

MSC Club - Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

2009-09-14T20:55:00.003-04:00

This month is the first month that I have participated in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I have to say that I was happy with the selection that Tracey's Culinary Adventures made for us this month. The recipe that we made was Zucchini Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. I have never had a zucchini cupcake before and I was plesantly surprised with the outcome. I make a TON of zucchini bread over the summer when zucchini is at its peak. This was a nice change from that, although I have to say that the method and texture of the batter reminded me of my zucchini bread recipe.

The cupcakes themselves turned out super moist and very dense. They have a lot of "spice" to them as I guess the recipe title suggests. :-) I may cut back on the amount of cloves and nutmeg that the recipe calls for if I make them again. I especially liked this recipe because I didn't have to drag out my mixer. You mix the batter by hand. The recipe also doesn't call for butter so there is no patiently (but most of the time impatiently) waiting around while the butter gets to room temperature.

The cream cheese frosting is fabulous. I over did it on the vanilla in mine though (note to self: use measuring spoons for vanilla ha). I actually had some frosting leftover that I put on brownies later in the week.

My colleagues at work love it when I make new recipes because they usually reap the benefits from them. This was no exception. They were a huge hit.

I am looking forward to making the Banana Pecan Cupcakes Bonus recipe for this month. It will be a week and a half from now before I can make them though because I will be headed to the beach in 3 days!!!

Crockpot Chicken Vegetable Soup

2009-09-02T20:07:00.005-04:00

As you have seen from some of my other posts, I love making soups, stews, chili, etc. I imagine that I will be making more and more of them now that Fall is coming upon us. I love it when the temperature begins to drop!

I make this soup all of the time. I used rotisserie chicken in this soup but I have also made it in the past with leftover pot roast. The nice thing about vegetable soups is that you can really do your own thing with it based upon what you have on hand. Here is what I put in this soup...

Chicken Vegetable Soup
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, sliced in half moons
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans of corn
1 14.5 oz can of green beans
1 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce
1 small can of cream of mushroom soup
4 cups of chicken broth (you can do half water if you like)
1 - 4 oz can of diced green chiles
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp season salt
3 TBL sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 half of a rotisserie chicken, shredded

Combine all of the ingredients in the crockpot except for the chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours. Add the chicken about 30 minutes before serving to heat through.

Use the leftover chicken to make something fun like chicken salad.

Chili's Salsa

2009-08-30T20:46:00.003-04:00

We don't have a Chili's in Lynchburg so it is a big treat when we are able to go to one out of town. My favorite thing about Chili's is their salsa and chips. The salsa is really simple and isn't chunky at all. I don't have a big tolerance for spicy things and their salsa burns me up! My Dad sits there and practically eats it by the spoonful while I am barely dipping the chip in. It's so good though!

This recipe is really close, but isn't exact. The raw onion taste in this version isn't right. I don't know how Chili's gets by with not having that. I also think that mine turned out a little bit more spicier than Chili's version. I will use less jalapenos next time.

I got the recipe from RecipeZaar. The only adjustment that I made to the recipe is that I added 1/2 tsp sugar instead of 1/4 and as I mentioned above, I will add less jalapenos next time. Enjoy!

Key Lime Cupcakes

2009-08-21T11:42:00.005-04:00

These are by far some of the best cupcakes that I have ever had. My Mom has done nothing but beg me to make these again since I tried them a few weeks ago. The cake was extremely moist and suprisingly heavy. The recipe made plenty of a delicious cream cheese frosting. One of my biggest complaints about recipes a lot of times it that they don't make enough frosting for the cupcakes/cake. I will definitely be doing this one again.

The recipe is from Bon Appetit's September 2008 issue. I cut it out last year to make and just now got around to it. You can view the recipe from their website here.

Change of Plans

2009-08-21T11:30:00.003-04:00

Well, I recently posted that I am going to make my way through Martha Stewart's book "Cupcakes" by making and posting about the recipes. I was planning on just doing it on my own, but I found an online club that I joined that is going to go through the book together. I am very excited about being part of this! The group has already posted their first recipe. I will join in for next months, Zucchini Spiced Cupcakes.

Cupcake Recipe #1 - Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy White Icing

2009-08-16T16:22:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to make my way through Martha Stewart's cookbook "Cupcakes". I hope to make one recipe a week. I stuck with a fairly easy recipe for this first try. I figured that the easiest way to feel out the cookbook would be to try the very common combination of a simple vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting.

I was not disappointed in the cupcake at all. The cake is very light and actually reminds me of a pound cake flavor. This is probably because of the acidity of the buttermilk that you typically get in a pound cake from sour cream. They are moist, but not super moist. It wouldn't hurt for them to maybe cook a minute less or have just a bit more buttermilk. I also plan to add more vanilla to the batter if I ever make them again.

The frosting is to die for. It is a simple vanilla buttercream with only 3 ingredients. it calls for unsalted butter but I used salted and I am happy that I did. I tend to like frosting that isn't pucker your lips sweet. I think that the salt helps mellow the sweetness of the frosting.

This should turn out to be fun. I plan to take the 34 cupcakes that are remaining (maybe 33 by the time the night is over hehe) to work tomorrow to share with my co-workers. I definitely don't want to leave them hanging around here. Something tells me though that I won't have a problem getting rid of them. :-)

Cupcakes by Martha Stewart

2009-08-14T19:26:00.003-04:00

I love cupcakes. I would usually rather have a cupcake than a piece of cake. The best cupcakes that I have EVER had were cupcakes from the famous Sprinkles Bakery in Newport Beach, CA. When I went to NYC in March, I wanted to find a cupcake that matched Sprinkles soooo bad but none came close. The best cupcakes that I have found in Lynchburg, VA where I live are at Montana Plains Bakery. They are very moist and the icing is amazing.

I made a huge splurge recently and purchased Martha Stewart's new book Cupcakes. I never buy cookbooks at full price. I would rather find them somewhere like a yard sale or used book store. I just couldn't wait to get this one though.

I have decided that I am going to challenge myself and try to make a recipe a week from Martha's book until I get through them all. I read that there are 128 different recipes in the book. I may skip a few if they just really don't appeal to me.

My plan is to try my first pick this weekend. I am most likely going to do make the Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting. Stay tuned!!

White Chicken Chili

2009-08-07T15:00:00.003-04:00

I make this chicken chili recipe at least once a month during the year. It's super easy and it freezes really well. I have altered the original recipe quite a bit as I have found what works best in it. The original recipe called for you to marinate the chicken in tequila, lime juice and other spices. A lot of times I don't have time for this and I don't drink, so tequila isn't a staple in my house. I have found other ways to incorporate the citrus flavors into the dish that the marinade brought to it.

White Chicken Chili
2 lbs chicken breasts (bone in or boneless)
3 cans great northern white beans
2 - 4 oz cans of diced green chilis
6 cups of chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large onions, diced
2 TBL of olive oil
1 TBL cumin
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of one lime and the zest of half.
3 cups of shredded monterey jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

- Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper
- Either bake or grill chicken until done
- In a large pot, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent
- Add the green chiles, lime juice, zest, cloves, cumin and cayenne pepper and continue to saute for around 3-4 minutes
- Add the chicken stock and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer.
- Dice or shred the cooked chicken and add to the pot. Cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.
- About 2-3 minutes before serving, add 2 cups of the shredded cheese and allow to melt in the soup.
- Serve chili with remaining cheese and other various garnishes. You could use, diced scallions, sour cream, cilantro, tortilla chips, avacado, etc.

**If you would rather not heat up your oven or grill, you could substitute the chicken breasts with chicken that has been pulled off of a rotisserie chicken from the store. This is a great way to save time.
**Many times a large block of monterey jack cheese is more expensive than buying a mexican blend of shredded cheese at the store. I have used a colby, monterey jack cheese blend before instead of just plain monterey jack and it has worked just fine.

Until next time...

Even Better Granola Bars

2009-08-03T08:41:00.002-04:00

I posted a granola bar recipe recently and have found another one that is even better. This is adapted from Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) recipe for granola bars. I won't be trying anymore recipes because this one is definitely my favorite. I have found in the past that the recipes that I have tried are either way too crumbly or are too cakey. This recipe also has less butter/oil than the other recipes that I have tried which is a good thing too. I believe that the way that you boil the honey, brown sugar and butter together really helps hold the other ingredients together so that they have enough glue to them.

Granola Bars

(adapted from Ina Garten's recipe)

2 cups oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 TBL butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

- Preheat your oven to 300

- Mix together the oats, coconut, almonds and pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes to toast all of the ingredients

- Combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, salt and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute stirring constantly

- After pulling the oat mixture out of the oven add it to a bowl.

- Add the wheat germ and honey mixture and stir to combine.

- Add the dried fruit and combine.

- Heavily grease a 9x13 pan. If you have it, place parchment in the bottom as well.

- Press the mixture evenly into the pan. Use parchment or wax paper on your hand to do so and it won't stick to your hand.

- Bake for approx 25 - 30 minutes until lightly toasted brown.

- Allow to cool for 2 hours before cutting as the bars need to set up. Loosen the bars around the edges of the pan and flip onto a cutting board. Cut into the size squares that you would like.

**There are multiple variations that you can do with this. You could sub one of the fruits out with dried raisins, pineapple, etc. You could also sub a different type of nut. I may eventually try to substitute some chocolate chips with one of the fruits and maybe add some peanut butter to the liquid mixture to make a chocolate peanut butter bar. (And use peanuts as the nut)

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

2009-07-13T19:17:00.003-04:00

I am a sucker for some great Chinese food. Chinese food and Mexican are probably my favorites. (Not combined though haha). This recipe that I have used for years is better than some Chinese that I have had in restaurants. It isn't the best...but high up there. I don't care for rice so I usually just eat this by itself. It is an adaptation of the recipe that is on the Food Network Website from the Food Network Kitchens. I had a lot of broccoli left over from a catering over the weekend so I bought some chicken tenders and had a meal waiting to go.

Chicken and Broccoli Stirfry
(adapted from Food Network Kitchens)

6 cups of broccoli
1 lb chicken tenders or breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBL sugar
1 TBL plus 1 tsp cornstarch
3 TBL of soy sauce
1 TBL of sherry wine (or cooking wine or chicken broth)
1 TBL of sesame oil (or chicken broth)
1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBL hoisin sauce
3 scallions sliced, white and light green only
1/3 cup plus 2 TBL of water
pepper to taste
3 TBL oil

- Steam broccoli in the microwave or on the stove to where it is fairly tender.
- Create marinade by combining soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, (or broth), half of the ginger, 1 clove garlic, scallions, sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp salt
- Dice the chicken and add to the marinade. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 TBL of oil on high heat and saute broccoli. Add in 2 TBL water, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper to taste, remaining ginger and garlic. Cook 4-5 minutes until broccoli is good and tender.
- Remove broccoli to a plate or bowl and return pan to stove
- Heat 2 TBL of oil and add the chicken and all of marinade to pan. Add red pepper flakes and cook until chicken is beginning to look cooked.
- Stir in hoisin sauce, add the broccoli back in and stir until combined.
- In a small bowl mix 1/3 cup of water and 1 TBL of cornstarch
- Add to cooking mixture and let boil until sauce thickens.
- Serve over rice or noodles or by itself.

So yummy!

Pinto Beans for Dad

2009-07-13T19:01:00.004-04:00

My Dad loves taking soup and/or beans to work for lunch everyday. It is a filling meal and for the most part, I make him pretty healthy stuff to eat. Although beans aren't a lot of people's favorite thing to eat, they are cheap, super good for you and can actually taste good if you do them right. I started with a pound of dried pinto beans and ended up with 4 pints of beans to freeze for Dad's lunches. I estimate that this pot of beans cost around $4.50 to make. You can't beat that for 4 lunches.

Many times (at least in the south) beans are made with a lot of pork fat in them. I have used ham bones, fat back, etc in mine before when I had it on hand. It ended up as a leftover ham bone from a holiday most of the time. Awhile back I came up with a good way to still have great tasting beans without all of the animal fat in them. No, they don't taste like ham but they still have a great taste that isn't just water, salt and beans.

The Way I Make My Pintos

1 lb of dried pinto beans

4 cups of chicken broth (you can do 2 if that's all you have...just add more water)

6 cups of water (estimated...maybe 5)

1 1/2 TBL sugar

2 TBL of Canola Oil

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp of black pepper

2 tsp of salt

Before adding any of the above ingredients, sort through your beans and make sure that you don't find any rocks. I found 2 just in the bag that I had the other day. After this cover them with water in a pan and bring to a hard boil. Let boil for 1 minute and then drain. Put back on stove and add all of the above ingredients. Bring to a slow boil and turn down on low and allow to simmer. It will probably take a good 3 hours for your beans to be mushy enough to eat. You don't want them to be crispy still. If you like a thicker broth then continue to let simmer. If you notice that they are getting too thick and aren't done then you should add some more water.

Spicy Mexican Chicken Soup

2009-07-10T21:44:00.003-04:00

I love coming up with different soup recipes. Soup is such a great opportunity to get rid of the extra canned goods, chopped veggies, etc that you have. I had some leftover chicken from dinner the other night so I figured that I would make some soup in the crockpot today. I love my crockpot because not only does it ease the amount of cooking that you have to do, but it also uses a lot less electricity compared to cooking on the stove. I have made a similar recipe a few times but it is really based on what I have on hand. Here's what I put in it this time and it was a big hit.

Spicy Mexican Chicken Soup

4 cups of chicken broth (you could use 2 cups of broth and 2 cups of water if that is all you have.

1 small can of V8 juice (can shaped like a soda can)

1 onion chopped

2 zuchinni sliced

1 can of rotel tomatoes with chiles

1 small can of diced green chiles

1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 14 oz cans of corn

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of great northern white beans, drained and rinsed

1 14 oz can of green beans, drained

2 1/2 - 3 chicken breasts chopped or shredded

1 packet of taco seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 TBL of sugar

About 1/2 tsp season salt

Cayenne pepper to taste (you can leave out if you don't want it spicy. I probably used 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup of heavy cream

Place all of the ingredients but the heavy cream in a crockpot and cook for 8 hrs on Low. About 15 min before you serve it put stir the cream in.

Other things that you could add to this are garlic ( I actually forgot this in mine), carrots, celery or other varieties of beans. If you like it really spicy you could add diced jalapenos.

Disney Family Food Website

2009-07-09T12:20:00.003-04:00

I found a site today that I love. It's call the Disney Family Food website. It gives lots of great recipes and ideas for family meals. I am definitely going to use some of the ideas for dinners with the girls.

http://family.go.com/food

Catering Photos From The Past Two Weeks

2009-07-06T12:25:00.002-04:00

I just thought that I would post some photos from our caterings from the past two weeks. Both turned out great!

Yummy Granola Bars

2009-07-06T08:37:00.002-04:00

I like to take a mid-morning snack to work everyday. These granola bars are great for energy, are filling and are packed full of stuff that is good for you. I have tried several different recipes for granola bars. Some have come up really dry and crumbly and some more like cake. These stay fairly moist and taste good. I will adjust the recipe next time to add some brown sugar (listed below). The original recipe that I came up with was just not sweet enough.

One of the fun things about this recipe is that it calls for 2 cups of your choice of fillers. I chose to do 1 cup of dried cranberries, 1/2 cup of sliced almonds and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. You could do all sorts of things. My Mom wants me to do some white chocolate macadamia ones. You could do chocolate chips and peanuts or a tropical one with coconut, dried pineapple and bananas. It's really versitile.

Granola Bars

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup ground flax seed

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup applesauce

1/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey

2 tsp corn syrup or molasses

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups fillers (choc chips, dried fruit, nuts, etc)

- Combine all of the dry ingredients and in a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients. Combine the two until mixed well.

- Line a 9x13 pan with waxed or parchment paper. Press mix into the bottom of the pan.

- Bake at 350 for around 20 min or until edges start to brown.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Pasta Primavera

2009-07-02T07:35:00.003-04:00

This is a yummy dish that I came up with to use up leftover veggies and meat that I have in the house. It is super easy and always a big hit when I serve it for dinner. We had a catering this past weekend and had some veggies and shrimp leftover that the family didn't want, so I figured that I would make a yummy and cheap meal out of it. The amounts of ingredients below are estimates on what I used and some of it really depends on how much veggies you put in it and how much sauce that you want/need.

Shrimp Primavera
1 lb cooked and peeled shrimp, tails removed and the shrimp cut in half
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, cut in half and sliced
1 squash, cut in half and sliced
3 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, cut into pieces
1 bell pepper, sliced (I had a mix of colors left from the catering)
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
2 TBL olive oil
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning **only if you are making with shrimp
1/3 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
3-4 cups milk (I used 2%)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese
1 TBL minced fresh basil leaves (optional)
1 TBL minced fresh flat leaf parsley (optional)
1 lb linguini or any other pasta you like

- Steam your green beans and broccoli in the microwave or on the stove to start the cooking process on them. These veggies take a little longer to get good and tender.
- Heat a large skillet with the olive oil. Add the onion, peppers, zucchini and squash and cook until it is starting to get tender. Add the garlic and cook another 2-3 min.
- Add the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste
- Add the flour and stir until items are coated well.
- Slowly start adding the chicken stock and continue stirring. This is creating your thickening agent for the sauce.
- Slowly add the milk and let simmer so that it will thicken
- Add the broccoli, green beans, Old Bay and sugar and continue cooking
- When sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and not separate when you drag your finger on the spoon, the sauce is about ready.
- Add your herbs and shrimp and cook until the shrimp are heated
- Add the heavy cream and cheese and stir until melted
- Cook your pasta and serve the sauce over this.

Some variations that you could do...
- Other veggies: carrots (steam first), scallions, diced tomato (added near the end), sundried tomato, etc
- You could use veggie stock instead of chicken stock or even water. You will need to add more salt and pepper for flavor if you use water
- You could use chicken instead of shrimp...or better yet just do veggies
- If you don't have fresh herbs, the dried will work just fine. Just cut way back on the amounts because dry herbs go a lot farther than fresh.

This recipe is a great way to use up stuff that you have in your fridge without buying special stuff. I usually always have heavy cream, milk, pasta and chicken broth on hand so I can get real creative with stuff.

Until next time...

Food Lion Triple Coupons!!!

2009-06-29T14:50:00.003-04:00

Okay so I hit the jackpot a couple weekends ago at Food Lion. They did triple coupons up to $.99. Amazing!!! lol. Here are my totals...

Total before sales and coupons - $270.00

Total after sales and coupons - $26.00...insane!

Here's the breakdown:

Tabasco - $.50 PROFIT/ea

WishBone Salad Dressing - $.58 PROFIT/ea

McCormicks Grill Marinade - $.81 PROFIT/ea

Alum (to make pickles with) - $.19 PROFIT/ea

Texas Toast Croutons - $.15 PROFIT/ea

Wortsheshire Sauce - $.25 PROFIT/ea

French's Mustard - $.05 PROFIT/ea

Mahatma Rice Packet - $.20 PROFIT/ea

Bounty - $.25/eaLarge Ragu - $.88/ea

Regular Ragu - $.09/ea

Sunny Delight - $.24/ea

Breyers Kids Yogurt - $.25/ea

Sure Deoderant - $.34/ea

Lipton Rice Packets - $.10/ea

Betty Crocker Warm Delights - $.25/ea

Poptarts - $.35/ea

Edwards Frozen Desserts - $.54/ea

Domino Sugar - $2.59/ea (not that great of a deal)

Manwich - $1.02/ea

Dole Pineapple Juice - $.89/ea

French's Honey Mustard - $.24/ea

Velvetta Mac & Cheese - $2.04/ea

Snyders Pretzels - $.74/ea

This was for my trips early in the weekend. I went again on Sunday and got another $100 bucks worth of groceries for $16. I sooo hope that they do this again but I am betting that they will be smarter about it this time.

Mady's Graduation

2009-06-04T07:53:00.003-04:00

My niece Mady graduated from K4 this past weekend!! I am so stinkin proud of her. It's amazing to think that 2 years ago when she began preschool we could hardly get her to stay. She has grown up so much in those two years! She even sang the songs at the program! We have begged and begged her to sing at her events and she hasn't made a peep thus far. She did all of the motions and sang everything on Friday night. Soooo cute. I love that kid to death.

Now on to K5...ugh.

Pens Game

2009-05-27T10:29:00.006-04:00

My Dad and I went to a Pittsburgh Penguins game this past weekend in Raleigh, NC. It was sooooo much fun. I have wanted to go to a game for so long and I finally got the opportunity. I am hooked now and I definitely got spoiled with the location of our seats. I absolutely loved the excitement at the game. It was so physical and I was surprised how different the game is in person. TV doesn't do any justice to it.

I love the fact that the team has their big stars locked in for the next few years. They are only going to get better and better as the years go. Since I went to the game the Pens have won another game and are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals to most likely play against Detroit (which is a rematch of last years Stanley Cup). Here are some pictures from our seats at the game.

Until next time...

My New Baby

2009-04-16T14:28:00.003-04:00

I got a new baby this weekend! Her name is Sadie. She is a Maltese puppy and is 8 weeks old. I am so excited to have her...she is already so much fun and so much company. I do have to say that I am overwhelmed at the same time with her. She is very needy because she is so young, but I am enjoying babying her. I only wish that I could spend more time home with her every day. As she gets older it will be easier on her.

Shopping Trip - 3/8/09

2009-03-13T10:16:00.003-04:00

This week was awesome! I was especially excited about the toilet paper deal that I got. I got Scott 1000 count toilet paper for .25 a roll. That is insanely cheap! These deals are a combination of CVS and Walgreens. I am heading to Kroger tomorrow to shop so I hope to have some good deals for then too. Their ad was good. The question is just whether they will have the items in stock or not.

Here is the breakdown of what I paid for everything. It ended up right at $24.00. I saved around $100 total.

Scott 1000 Toilet Paper - $.25/roll
Kleenex Tissues - $.83/box
Arm & Hammer Detergent - $2.50/ea
Herbal Essence - $.38/ea
Secret Flawless - $.99
Vasaline Therapy Lotion - $.44/ea
Palmolive Soap - $.49/ea
Colgate Total Advanced - $.25
Crest ProHealth - Free
Colgate Total - $.62/ea (After I did the calc when I got home I wouldn't have bought this. I don't like paying more than $.25 for toothpaste)

Till next time...

Snow Day

2009-03-04T15:18:00.006-05:00

On Monday we got clobbered by a snow storm. It was the most snow that we have had since 2000 and it was awesome! Not only was it beautiful...we got a free day from work out of it. This snow was the first snow at my new house which was totally exciting. The snow came overnight and when I woke up my room was bright because of the white of the snow outside. I love that it lights up the house like that. I got 11 inches at my house which is insane!!

I pretty much went right outside and shoveled my sidewalk because I was so excited to have the first snow at my house. (Yes, I know that I am a dork) Later in the morning I shoveled my driveway. Now that was a chore...

Maddie and Savannah came over later in the day and we went sledding down my hill. I don't have a real sled so we made a fake one out of a Rubbermaid Container lid down in an IKEA reusable bag. It worked awesome because we were able to hold onto the handle and pull them down the hill.

Needless to say, I didn't get ANYTHING productive done on Monday other than shoveling my driveway and playing with the girls. It was nice to have a throw away day like that. Now if we could only have more snows like that in the future.

How I Shop at CVS

2009-02-15T12:51:00.006-05:00

Many of my friends have asked me how I get the deals that I do while shopping. I typically shop at CVS, Walgreens and Kroger for all of my sale items. Every once in awhile I will go to Food Lion if something is super cheap. Usually they aren't the cheapest though. Chasing sales, cutting coupons and watching ads has become a big hobby for me. I guess that is a good thing since it does ultimately save money. I spend about 2-3 hours a week between cutting coupons and preparing my shopping lists based upon the ads. I usually do this while watching TV at night because I am so ADD that I can't sit and just watch TV. :-)

I figured that I would give an example of a shopping trip to CVS that I had this week to give an idea of how to play the game. I do want to make note that the reason that I get such a large quantity of everything that I buy is because I get at least 6 papers (for coupons) per week and up to 10 if that weeks coupons are really good. You can still get the same percentage of savings though if you just get a couple papers.

Most stores that you shop at now have a rewards card or program. CVS's program is called the Extra Care Card. This is the first step to shopping at CVS. You will not get the sale prices or Extra Care Bucks (described below) if you do not use this. The program is one card per household so you have to stick to that. (I don't know how they enforce that though)

Each week CVS has different items in their ad that if you buy, you will get Extra Care Bucks printed on your receipt. Extra Care Bucks are like gift certificates/coupons that can be used at the store during your next visit like cash. The rewards usually expire 30 days from your purchase so make sure that you use them before they expire or the sale wasn't really that good of a deal. I have seen Extra Care Bucks done two different ways. The first is if you buy a certain quantity of items they will give you money back. For example, if you guy 2 Colgate Toothpastes they will give you $3 Extra Care Bucks. The second way is if you purchase a certain dollar amount of items. For example, if you buy $10 of Suave Haircare products they will give you $4 back in Extra Care Bucks.

CVS also accepts manufacturers coupons that come in the paper each week. You can also get coupons other places like the internet and All You Magazine. If you want to purchase coupons there are websites that sell coupons for a very reasonable price. I have done this in the past if I know that a really good sale is coming up somewhere that I need the coupons for. As with most places that accept coupons, you can only use one manufacturers coupon per item. The nice thing though is if there is a Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale, you can use a coupon on each item even though one of them is free. This means that you are getting the item that you pay for even cheaper.

The way to get the best deals at CVS is to combine the Extra Care Bucks rewards with coupons and sale prices. So if you are able to get Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) back for an item that you also have a coupon for, you are getting the best deal. For example, if an item is on sale for $4.99 and you have $2 coupon for it and you can get $3 ECB's back then you have made a $.01 profit on that item. I love it when a store pays you to take something off of their shelves. :-)

The idea for saving money with ECB's is to roll ECB's over to the next visit and you will significantly lower your cash output for the items. You have to make the initial investment to get the ECB's, but once you have them then you roll them over from week to week and don't pay much out of pocket.

When you go to check out it is important that you have yourself organized before you get up there. Always give the cashier the CVS card first. After everything has rung up then you give the cashier any manufacturers coupons that you have. Make sure that you do not give the cashier your ECB's from the previous visit before the coupons. If you do this you risk that your total will get down too low where they won't let you use the coupons. Always save the ECB's for last because if there's money left over then you can always use it the next visit.

It's also a good thing to note that if you have a $10 ECB to use and your total is $8.50, then you need to get something that will get your total (before tax) to at least $10. You won't be able to use the ECB if not because they will not give you cash back.

Please also remember that even though something is on sale, doesn't mean that it is the cheapest that you can get it. I have seen things at CVS be free one week and then $5 the next. It is important to understand the prices in your store (and not just CVS...comparing with places like Wal-Mart) because it is pointless to pay $3 for something at CVS when you can get it at Wally World for $2.25.

I figured that I would give you the breakdown of what I did to receive the deals today in the picture above. That may help you understand how to do this.

Herbal Essence
- On sale for $2.99
- $1 ECB for each purchased
- I had a coupon for $3.00 off 2
- I bought 4 for 11.96. Used 2 - $3.00 coupons and that took it down to 5.96. The ECB's for 4 take it down to $1.96 for 4. This is $.49 per item.

Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash
- On sale for $3.99
- $1 ECB for each purchased
- I had a coupon for $.75 off 1
- So that's, $3.99 less $.75 for the coupon = 3.24. Then less the ECB that is $2.24. This item is usually 6.89 a bottle.

Gillette Men's Shampoo
- On sale for $4.99 each
- $3 ECB for each purchased
- I had a coupon for $2 off 1
- I used 5 coupons and purchased 5 bottles. This means it was $4.99 less the $2 coupon = 2.99. Then you take off the $3 ECB and you end up making a profit of $.01 per bottle.

Suave Body Wash
- On sale for $2 each
- $2 ECB when you buy $6 worth of the products
- I had a coupon for $2 off 3
- I bought 3 bottles for $6. Subtract the $2 coupon that is $4.00. Less the $2 ECB's and it is $2 for the three bottles.

Colgate Advanced Toothpaste
- On sale for $2.99
- $2.99 ECB for each purchased
- I had a coupon for $1 off 1
- I purchased 2 at $5.98. Minus the coupons and it is $3.98. After you take the ECB's off you end up making a profit of $2.

As I have told everyone, please do not hesitate to ask me any questions about this stuff. It takes awhile to get the hang of it but once you learn it then it is easy to save money.

Shopping Trip 2/7/09

2009-02-13T12:25:00.010-05:00

This week I got a ton of stuff. The total was around $165.00 and I got everything for around $50.00. Here is the breakdown of what I got.

6 bottles of Ocean Spray Juice - $.98/ea

2 Yo-Plus Yogurt 4 pks - $1.00/ea

2 Tostinos Pizza Rolls - $.25/ea

6 jars Ragu - $.87/ea

9 cans Chef Boyardee - $.33/ea

3 Colgate Toothbrushes - $.70/ea

1 Therma Care heat pad - Free

2 8 roll Sparkle Paper Towels - $4.69/ea

2 Kids Yoplait Yogurt - $1.00/ea

2 Quaker Quick Cooking Oats - $.90/ea

6 Grands Biscuits - $.43/ea

2 Gatorades - $.58/ea

2 Triaminic Kids Cough & Cold - $1/ea

4 NyQuil/DayQuil -$1.50/ea

2 Reeses Whipps - Free

So so so so so much fun!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

2009-02-13T10:24:00.006-05:00

I am part of a baking club on a forum that I am a member of and our February baking challange is to bake items with chocolate in them. I am sure that this months chocolate theme has something to do with that lovey dovey holiday that is tomorrow on the 14th. :-) I stepped up to make 3 different chocolate desserts for the month. I have had this recipe tucked away in my "i want to try this" folder for awhile and I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. I love both chocolate chip cookie dough and cheesecake and to put both together was a definite match. I got the recipe off of Bake or Break and I thought that it turned out pretty good. My only complaint is that the cookie dough got really hard after it had been in the fridge. The bars were definitely the best right after they had cooled before I put them in the fridge.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 TBL unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup minature semisweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9 inch square pan and line with parchment paper and butter parchment paper.

- Combine cracker crumbs and butter. Stir in chocolate chips

- Press into baking pan and 1 inch up sides. Bake for 6 minutes and let cool

Cookie Dough

5 TBL unsalted butter at room temperature

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 TBL granulated sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

- Combine all ingredients except for flour and chocolate chips. Mix well. Add flour until combined and stir in chocolate chips. Set aside

Cheesecake Filling

10 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

- Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Pour over crust.

- Drop cookie dough in teaspoonfuls on top of cheesecake mixture.

- Bake about 30 minutes until the cheesecake is set.

- Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.

I'm On Team Edward!

2009-02-11T15:47:00.012-05:00

Okay so I have been sucked into the madness that is the Twilight Saga. My curiosity honestly came out of the uproar that the movie caused when it came out late last year. I hadn't heard anything about the series before then. I went out after Christmas and bought the first book, Twilight. I didn't read it immediately but I sure do wish that I had.

The Twilight Saga is about a teenager named Bella Swan that falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. Edward and his family are different than other vampires in that they restrain themselves from eating humans. They only eat animals so in essence they can be called vampire vegetarians. Edward also falls madly in love with Bella and the story follows them as they try to make a human/vampire relationship work. It becomes very clear early on that they were meant and made for each other.

I have made it through the first three books at this point. I am reading the fourth right now. They are soooo good and I highly recommend them!

Shopping Trip - 1/10/09

2009-01-10T14:14:00.006-05:00

Well I have been at it again. I figured that I wasn't going until tomorrow (Sunday), but I ended up getting some more coupons and wanted to take advantage of a couple other sales. This is a combination of Kroger, Walgreens and Target. Here's what I got:

2 Special K Vanilla with Almonds

2 Frosted Flakes

2 Quaker Oatmeal Squares

4 boxes Electrosol Dishwasher Detergent

5 Softsoap Handsoaps

2 Suave Deoderants

1 Olay Ribbons Body Wash

1 Olay Facial Scrub

1 Crest ProHealth Toothpaste

2 Mentos Gums

5 Suave Body Washes

All for the grand total of $13.53

Coupon Deals 1/4/09

2009-01-04T21:40:00.006-05:00

I love playing the coupon game. I think that it is so fun to see how much money that you can save by chasing sales and using coupons. I have read so many stories of how people actually get paid by the stores for the items. I am very new to this and still have a lot to learn. I am sure that other people have a stack of stuff 3-4 times as large as mine that paid nothing.

My total for all of this stuff above was $12.30. I basically just paid for the Cottonelle and the rest was free when you look at it that way. Here is a list in case you can't see everything.

20 double rolls of Cottonelle

2 Reynolds Wrap foil

2 Colgate Total Toothpaste

124 count Excedrin

2 Special K with Strawberries

2 Frosted Flakes

2 Triaminic Medicine strips for kids

1 Palmolive Dish Detergent

1 Electrosol Dishwasher Gelpacs

1 Playtex Sport Tampons

2 Quaker Oatmeal boxes

More to come next week!

The Last 4 Days

2009-01-04T21:10:00.009-05:00

My Mom and I have a catering business called Savalyns Catering. Yes, I know that it is an odd name. It is a combination of my nieces names, Savannah and Madelyn. We did a catering yesterday for a great lady that I have worked with for the last 5 years. The wedding was so pretty and the couple have such a great story.

We had never done a reception like this before. We set up all of the food on cake plates on each of the tables. The guests then could help themselves at their table.

It took me 3 days to bake the cookies for the wedding...definitely not a task that I want to do on a daily basis. :-) I spent one day making the sugar cookie dough and putting in the fridge to set up. I then baked all of the Mexican Wedding cookies and half of the sugar cookies on the 2nd day. On the third day I baked the rest of the sugar cookies. Whew...

Mexican Wedding Cookies - Memaw's Recipe

1/2 pound butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 TBL powdered sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 tsp salt

- Combine the flour and salt

- Cream the butter and sugar

- Add the vanilla

- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture

- Fold in the pecans.

- Pinch off and form into small balls

- Bake 20 - 25 minutes for 350 degrees until light brown

- Roll in powdered sugar while the cookies are still warm