Pinterest Food Reviews

Week 1 of Pinterest Food Reviews

Since I have become OBSESSED (more or less) with Pinterest, I decided I could do some good with my new obsession!! So, I plan to do weekly reviews of main dishes, desserts, snacks, candy, etc. on Pinterest. I will always link back to my own Pinterest page so you too can find the recipes and enjoy them along with my family. So, here’s my week 1 reviews:

I tried two new recipes for our small group last week (they are often my guinea pigs for new recipes – and such good sports too!). First, I made the Chubby Hubby bars. I originally intended to make these as my 4^th dessert for Thanksgiving, but since that didn’t happen, I made them for our small group. (You see…it’s a win-win making new things for my small group! 1) If it’s good, they usually eat most of it, so I don’t have the leftovers to tempt me at home and 2) they will be honest with me & I can taste things to see if my kids would actually eat it & not be left with ¾ of a recipe for leftovers they won’t eat!!)

Anyway…the Chubby Hubby bars were SUPER easy to make and oh-so-yummy!!! I followed the recipe exactly and they were WONDERFUL!!! Here are a few tips that I think will make them even better!

1) Be sure you allow the top layer of chocolate to completely harden. It wasn’t completely hardened when we took them to group & they were a bit gooey. We had some leftover & kept those in the fridge overnight and BOY HOWDY were they even better the next day!!

2) I would increase the amount of pretzels you use to 2 cups (at least). They were super-dooper yummy when you got a good bite of the pretzels & chocolate!! I just think there needs to be more, so you can experience that goodness with each bite!!

I’m all about the sweet & salty combo and these absolutely deliver!!! I can’t wait to have an excuse to make them again!!

The 2^nd recipe I tried this past week was the Hawaiian Sweet Roll Sammies. I was so excited to make these for our small group. I was able to eat them at a women’s event a couple weeks ago, but honestly wasn’t that impressed with them and I just knew they had to be better than that! So, I decided to make them myself and try them again. And, boy was I right!! They were DE-LI-CIOUS!!!!! And, they were GONE in a matter of minutes! I even had several ask me for the recipe before we left small group! They were super easy to make too! (I say that a lot, don’t I? But it’s true – I promise!)

The only thing I changed was that I used dried, minced onion rather than fresh. It was a short-cut & out of necessity with 4 young children not in cooperating moods that afternoon. I just used 4 TBSP of dried, minced onion per recipe. However, I would recommend using fresh onion if possible! Ours tasted GREAT, but I don’t think the onion was quite strong enough & the mixture didn’t spread as well as hers does in the picture! And, that irritated me – yes, because I’m super silly about things like that. If I see a picture of them I want mine to look just as good (if not better, which is rare)!!

Anyway, those are the two we tried last week and as you can see – they were a complete success!!!! Check back here next Monday for the Bacon-Chicken crescent ring review and more!!

Blessings friends!

Annette

Maple-Butter Dressing

Here is the dressing recipe I promised in the last post:

Maple-Butter Dressing

Ingredients:

Corn bread (2 per roasting pan)

Loaf of bread (1.5 per pan)

Celery (approx 1.5 stalks)

Onion (approx 1 ½ yellow)

Poultry Seasoning

Sage

1 egg

salt & pepper

Turkey drippings (2-3 cups)

Can of broth if necessary

Directions:

Have cornbread made & dried

Dry out loaf of bread (we broil both the cornbread & white bread to speed up this

process. My grandma leaves it out for a day or more)

Chop celery & onion in a food processor. You want it pretty fine, but not mushy. Then fill a 3qt. pan ½ full of celery, then add onion until ¾ full. Add water until covered. Cook on low for 10 minutes or until tender. Pour over bread & mix. Pour in broth & dripping until desired consistency is reached. Make sure you don't over fill with liquid & make it runny. It needs to still have some consistency to it. Otherwise it will not cook right & come out mushy. YUCK!

Add egg & mix well.

Add Poultry Seasoning to taste (start with 2 tsp).

Add Sage to taste.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

To Heat:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Put in oven uncovered to heat until HOT (approx 45-60 min)

If you premake the dressing: Remove from fridge & heat in oven COVERED for 45-60 min, then UNCOVER and continue to heat until HOT (approx 30-45 min).

ENJOY!!!!

Be sure and let me know if you try this recipe! I'd love to hear what you think!!

Thanksgiving food review

When my family said we were all going to get together again this year, I was beyond thrilled!!! First, I haven’t seen my cousins since we were together 2 years ago and I always have fun with them! Second, I was excited to try out some new recipes! Truth be told, I could cook for everyone all the time if I just had the money!! I have really grown to love cooking and I enjoy my time in the kitchen! (Provided I give myself adequate time to prepare everything. Made that mistake more than once, let me tell you!)

Anyway, as I signed up to bring a dessert (or 2 or 3 – because I couldn’t decide), I began searching through my Pinterest board to find some great options. After getting the “approval” of my husband, I set out to make 4 desserts, 2 green bean casseroles, homemade dinner rolls, Ramen noodle salad while my husband made the turkey & dressing. Time ran short and I only got 3 desserts made (I made the other this week for our small group, so its review will be up in a few days). So…here are my reviews on the food we made.

Turkey & Dressing

A couple years ago, my husband found a turkey recipe (Maple-Butter Turkey) he wanted to try. It was A-MA-ZING!!! He found it in a Taste of Home magazine. You can find the recipe here. After trying the turkey, he decided he wanted to make dressing. But, not just any dressing – my grandma’s dressing! (You can imagine the brownie points that earned him!) So, 2 years ago my grandma came over to show him how to make the dressing. I have submitted my recipe to be posted on Cooks.com, but its still awaiting approval. I will post it immediately following this post so you all can have it if you like. When it asks for the drippings & broth – you’ll pour in the Maple Butter drippings, which make it absolutely YUMMY!!!! Our family has requested we bring this dressing on several different occasions! Even if we don’t bring the turkey, they want the dressing. So, we make a small turkey just for the broth & drippings and then we’re able to have TONS of turkey leftovers!! Find some great leftover recipes here.

Pioneer Woman’s No Knead Dinner Rolls

This is only the 3^rd time I’ve made these rolls. They are SUPER easy – just time consuming. However, since the rolls take a while to rise, you can do other things in between. Here are a few tips I’ve discovered when making these.

1) If you’re not cooking other things, turn your oven on low (200⁰) while the dough is rising. It will help it rise quicker (& better, in my opinion).

2) We use a large stock pot to mix our ingredients & it seems to work VERY well for all steps (including the rising process).

3) When mixing in the flour, don’t be afraid to use your hands! GET DIRTY!!! It helps get it really worked in there. Although, its true you don’t have to knead the dough, I find it rises better and makes fluffier rolls if you just use your hands a tiny bit.

4) Absolutely brush some butter on the tops of them when they come out of the oven!!

Pioneer Woman’s Green Bean Casserole

The hubster REALLY liked this casserole. We had a TON of it leftover though. And, here’s why (at least why I think…):

1) we did not cut the green beans – I recommend doing this. The long green beans were a little difficult to spoon out of the pan.

2) It was different – not the “usual” green bean casserole. I know that’s probably a given, but I thought I should write it anyway. Their loss I guess!

3) Also, you don’t have to use the brand of bread crumbs she mentions. I have found them at Aldi’s for waaaay cheaper!! Speaking of bread crumbs – make sure you get them nice and golden brown. Ours were a little whitish & I think that contributed to the skidishness also.

Chocolate Coma Brownies

OH. MY. YUM!!!! These were absolutely DE-LI-CIOUS!!!! Very chocolate-y as you can imagine. In fact, be forewarned that you may go into a chocolate coma just reading the ingredients!! But, seriously, these were ooey-gooey yummy!!! I would make these again! They were super easy too! Don’t be afraid to give ‘em a try!

Creamy Almond Bars

These were/are my absolute FAVORITE dessert of the day!!!! They take a little bit more time to make, seeing as you have to bake the crust for 20 min, then the filling for another 15 – but trust me, if you like Almond flavored things…these are totally worth the wait!!! Here are a few tips:

1) Make sure your crust doesn’t get too done. You want it lightly golden, not brown!!

2) When you bake the filling, make sure it is firm before you take it out. You don’t want it too stiff, but it can’t be runny either. We made this for a 2^nd time yesterday & actually had to cook it about 7-8 min longer than suggested. Not sure why, but we just watched it & checked it every couple minutes. The edges were a little bubbly & over-done, but it was/is still YUMMY!!!!

White Chocolate S’mores Gooey Cake bars

These were a HUGE hit!! They were SUPER easy (yes, I keep saying that, but these REALLY are!). A little bit of mixing and some layering and you’ve got it! Of course, if you love White Chocolate and S’mores, you are most definitely going to LOVE these!!! The only thing that’s a little tricky is the layering on the top. Be sure not to push too hard or you’ll squish the marshmallows & make an even BIGGER ooey-gooey mess!

Ramen Noodle Salad

This is by far my most favorite salad (other than just a nice green salad). It’s also SUPER simple and fun to make! You get to take out your anger/frustration by smashing the noodles, plus do a fun science experiment of sorts when you mix sugar, vinegar & oil together!!! Oh my…I’m revealing my nerdiness aren’t I? Anyway, you can find the recipe for the salad here. I prefer the cole slaw recipe, only I use chicken flavor packets/noodles instead of the beef. Also, I don’t heat together the dressing, I just put them in a container that I can shake well and go for it! Also, I’ve never put the carrots in there, but it might add some additional crunchy-ness!!

So, those are my reviews for our Thanksgiving feast. I hope you enjoyed reading and will give some of them a try!!! I would LOVE to hear if you try these too!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

Are you carrying on any family traditions that used to be your mom or grandma’s responsibility?

Many blessings & Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a very enjoyable, relaxing and memorable Thanksgiving! We sure did!!! This might get a little lengthy, so I apologize in advance. I’ve got a lot to share & I hope you’ll bear with me.

First, I’d like to say that I’m working on a new routine & blog schedule for the new year. I hope to be able to write more in advance & have a purpose for my posts. I’m finalizing a schedule now & will post it as soon as I’m satisfied with it!

Second, I must apologize for not keeping up with my writings here. Life has been more than crazy around here. My FIL was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October & had surgery the week before Thanksgiving. Praise the LORD they were able to remove the muscle & get the few spots of cancer. It was not in the exterior wall, which means it has NOT spread!! God is GREAT and MERCIFUL!!! The week before his surgery, I had wrist surgery & therefore was unable to write or type for nearly two weeks. It was even difficult to get homeschooling done, but we did it! WHEW!! But, like I mentioned earlier, I have a plan in the works & hope with a more focused goal and vision for my blog that I will be able to keep up with regular posts!

Third, I would like to say that God has once again BLESSED us beyond belief!! We have been without an oven for several months now. The cook-top still worked (thank heavens!), but the heating element had gone out in our “FREE” oven. We didn’t really have the money to pay someone to come look at it & verify that was what it was, so we just prayed about getting a new one. About 4 weeks ago there was a knock at the door & a strange man was standing on my porch. I had never seen him before, but since my hubster was home I thought it was okay to answer. So, I answered the door and here’s how the short convo went:

Me: “Hello.”

Man: “Are you Mrs. so and so?”

Me: “Yes.”

Man: “I was instructed to give this to you in order to bless you and your family.” (hands me an envelope)

Me: “Really? Oh my. Thank you so VERY much!” (I probably sounded like a dork, but I was so shocked that I had no idea what to say.)

Man: “Yes. My wife and I just wanted to bless you all. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” (turns around and walks back to his van & drives off)

Still in shock, I take the envelope back in the house & hand it to my hubster. He slowly opens the envelope (as he is now in shock as well) and starts counting, 1, 2, 3…4…$100 bills!!!! OH. MY. WORD!!!! We for sure thought this was the answer to our prayers and that we would use this money to purchase a new oven. But, we decided it best to pray about how to use this money. So, we did. For weeks!! And, pretty soon it became apparent that our van needed some work. We took it in the week before Thanksgiving & found that it needed about $650 worth of work. (This coming shortly after we just spent $375 fixing something else on it.) UGH!! However, the hubster reminded me that God had already provided the money for this!! What a BLESSING!!!! But, the fact still remained that we had no oven! In fact, we didn’t have one last winter either. (It was the original one in the house & went out. Then, I found one on our local Freecycle chapter & that’s the one that recently went out.) I kept praying, but I just knew I couldn’t go another winter without an oven!! I took up really cooking for our family about a year and a half ago & I have come to really enjoy & LOVE it!! Plus, my kids were not doing well with the fried nuggets & fishsticks. (They get soggy in the microwave & they won’t eat them, so the only way they will eat them is either baked or fried.) Anyway…it was looking rather bleak for a new oven after all these unexpected expenses. However, once again GOD IS GREAT!!! We were provided a BRANDNEW range the day before Thanksgiving!! I was able to finish all my cooking for our big family event in my OWN HOME!!!! What a blessing and JOY that was! (Especially since we went to bed at1:30am!) We broke it in well too!

Fourth, brings me to the “real” reason I’m posting today. THANKSGIVING!!! Our family was blessed to join my Dad’s family & some ‘extended family’ (for lack of a lengthy explanation) at my Aunt & Uncle’s church on Thanksgiving day. I baked long and hard for the event. I was making 3 desserts (I just couldn’t decide on one), 2 batches of PW rolls (about 72 in all), 2 green bean casseroles – the “original” one and Pioneer Woman’s (I made them for my parents since they were both working all week) and my husband made a small turkey so we could make the dressing to take with us to our BIG family gathering! WOW!!!! We were busy! But, what FUN we had! Here are some pictures from the event for you to enjoy!

Air hockey is VERY popular with the kiddos!

This is the why I'm glad we DON'T have stairs in our house! My son thought this was just the BEST!!! However, I'm pretty sure if we had stairs there would be MANY boo-boo's!!

My daughter enjoying a riding toy!

I was able to see a couple of my cousins for the first time in 2 years!!! Our kids had plenty of room to roam and have fun without getting in everyone’s way. It was a wonderful day all the way around! The drive home was especially peaceful as all 4 kids slept and the hubster did too! Lots of time for just me and the LORD!!!! I am truly blessed!

If you stuck around to the end here, be sure to watch for my next post where I’ll review the new recipes we tried on Thanksgiving! I've already started working on it, so I hope to post it tomorrow!!

A lesson in worry

A friend of mine just wrote a post about this same subject & it got me thinking about our last couple weeks. You see, hubster’s car died on the way to a meeting at work one Friday. It started just fine in our driveway & then as he stopped at the end of the street it just died. Not stalled – DIED! He called me about 5 minutes after he left and told the glorious – I mean, sad – news. You see my husband got this car the Christmas after he turned 16. I have been nudging him to get rid of the thing for YEARS, but it is sentimental to him and he just can’t seem to part with it. Thus, the reason I try to restrain my JOY when things like this happen. Secretly I hope he will just say it’s not worth fixing, I’ll just get another car. But no…he doesn’t! (I should know better after 8.5 years of marriage, shouldn’t I?) It’s paid for, so that’s a bonus & we’d pay cash for another car, but he just can’t do it. Here’s why it would be good to change vehicles: 1) it’s an itty-bitty Honda Del Sol, 2) I am nearly 6’2” tall, 3) hubster is the only person who can drive it, making some days difficult w/ 4 kids, dr appointments, errands, grocery shopping, etc, 4) only 2 people can fit in it (see also #3) and 5) it stays filthy (or looks that way) because its so stinkin’ small!!! (Did I mention I’m not a fan of this car?) Anyway…back to why I started this post…

After the car died, my grandpa came & tried to jump it with no success. He brought him home & the hubster took our family van to the meeting. When the hubster was finished with his meeting, he dropped the van off in the driveway, walked back to his car & proceeded to push it home – BY HIMSELF!!! (Now do you think he’s crazy about this car??) He even asked for help from the 6yr old to release the parking brake as he pushed it over the lip of our driveway & down the slight slope. My son’s response, “That. Was. Awesome!!” REALLY??? Now we’re passing this unhealthy car-love onto him? UGH!!! Then, hubster laid down to get some more rest before his overnight shift that night. Later that afternoon, after about 3 hours of sleep, my grandparents offered their AAA towing, so we took them up on it. Apparently though, their new policy is to send out the ‘gas truck’ first. Well, after about 30 minutes of him fiddling with it & putting more gas in it (which it didn’t need), he said he would call the tow truck. So we waited some more. Finally, the tow truck arrived and we all piled into the van to follow it to the repair shop. It was around 4:30pm on Friday by this time, so needless to say it had to wait until Monday to be checked. We did not get a call on the repairs until Tuesday & found out what was wrong wouldn’t be too much (thank goodness, cause he’d already replaced the part). Then, he told us it also needed a tune-up. When we had it in for some other repairs 2 yrs ago, he noted that we needed it & we still had not done it, so hubster thought it was a good idea. So the grand total came to $467 & some change. UGH!! What a blow to the budget. We don’t just have that kind of money lying around. But, we realized that the hubster’s semi-annual bonus was coming up the first week of November, so we asked to temporarily borrow the money from his parents so he could still have a car. I went by & paid for the repairs early because I knew we’d never make the 6:00 close time. At 4:30p the shop owner called to inform us that on his “test drive” following the tune-up the car died yet again. SERIOUSLY?? He figured he knew what the problem was but wanted to replace it to be sure & he’d let us know. He called us back around 6:40p that same night and told us it was indeed the part he figured. So, now another $163 out of pocket and we’re back in business.

Having the car fixed took his entire semi-annual bonus check and then some! We definitely had other plans for that money too!! I was so unbelievably frustrated, to say the least. However, I'm going to quote what my mother & grandmothers said, "At least you had the money to fix it!" Which is absolutely true!! The more I thought about why I was upset, I realized it was because I was being selfish. We had not sought God in our decision about the semi-annual bonus usage. We were being selfish. Nothing more - just selfish. I had to do a lot of praying about this because I too was mad. I was mad that we can't get ahead for anything and I was mad that "I" couldn't do what "I" wanted with the money. Shame on me! I am working on my faith and trust in God. Not the wishy-washy faith that I often have, but the complete, full trust – no inhibition – faith that I know my Savior demands of me. It’s difficult - especially when we live in such a monetary-driven society. Its difficult not to worry about money, gas, bills, car repairs or just LIFE in general. But, I rest in the fact that MY Savior knows what I need – even before I do!!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” –Matthew 6:25-34

Sharing...

Okay, so by now you've guessed that I'm not great at keeping my promises! Actually, I usually am...but when you have 4 kids and they ALL get sick the same week as you - well, let's just say...LIFE HAPPENS!!! Yes, you read correctly 5 of the 6 people in this house have been sick all week. BLECH!!! It started out as allergies and mine is now in the horrible morning sore throat-getting ready to lose my voice-phase. The oldest is finally getting better (his started first - lucky dog!), while the younger 3 are still struggling with a viral eye infection. My oldest girl also has an ear infection! So, here was the breakdown at the doctors office on Wednesday: 4 kids with allergies (the 2 oldest can take medication, but the 2 younger ones are still too young - BOO!); 3 kids with viral eye infection and 1 with an ear infection! WOW!! Guess I should expect this from time-to-time, but BOY HOWDY has it been crazy around here!!! I'm doing laundry on a Saturday, which rarely happens. But, we're all getting better (I hope) and we're gonna make it!! Next week will pale in comparison to this one!!

I also want to share with you an email I got from a blog I subscribe to. These two links (here and here)will take you straight to the posts. They are GREAT reminders for us Mom's that want to just let things go or get frustrated when LIFE HAPPENS!! I needed both of these today, so I figured there was at least one or two of you that needed them too! ENJOY!!!

Blessings...

Preschool & Young kids unit studies

As you know, we homeschool our oldest child. I have tried to homeschool the 2 yr old, but as of yet I have not figured out how to keep his attention for more than 10 seconds! Oh the challenges of homeschooling!!! One thing we do know, he LOVES his flash cards! That boy would sit and do flash cards all day if I let him! So, most of the time, that's what we do - flash cards. Now, don't get me wrong, he knows how to count to 10 by himself and to 20 with help and he even recognizes most of his letters, so I don't think we're too far behind. But, it would be WONDERFUL if he would just sit nicely at the table with Tyler and do his color papers! haha Guess I'm living in a DREAM WORLD to expect that from an "all-boy" 2 yr old. (But, my dream world is oh so pretty!!)

All that to say, I'm SO EXCITED about this blog I subscribe to!! I really think this week we might turn a corner!! A while back I found a blog that does unit studies & puts the reproducibles on their blog for you to download. YAY!!! I've been storing them up as they re-do them and this week their new one is PUMPKINS!!!! I can't even tell you how excited I was when I opened my email and saw they had just posted the re-vamp of their pumpkin unit! Why am I so excited? Well, we're going to the Pumpkin Patch this Thursday and now I have a unit and some papers to go with our trip!! I think this may be the turning point for lessons with our 2yo. I think we just might need something tangible to make the lessons more fun and "doable" for him. So, yeah...I'm SUPER DUPER OOPER SCHMOOPER excited (as Sid the Science Kid would say)!!!!

Here's the link to the pumpkin blog post at 2 Teaching Mommies. Take some time to look around their site and see what they have. They've got some GREAT unit studies! ENJOY!!!

Look for an update later this week on how this unit & our field trip may (or may not) have changed our schooling!

Next post: Intimacy in Marriage (a review of a study we're involved in at church)