There’s a $.75 Off a 10.5 oz or larger bag of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Coupon available.

Thanks, Hip2Save!

You can make your own Homemade Muddy Buddies with this recipe: Note: I usually use Crispix Cereal, but you can also use Chex Cereal:

1) Melt together 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 stick of butter in a medium saucepan. You’ll have to stir frequently or it will burn on you quick. I’d recommend keeping it on a low to medium heat.

2) Once melted, pour over Crispix cereal. (1-12oz. box) Stir the cereal mixture (gently or you’ll break them) until all the cereal is covered.

3) Immediately put it into a brown paper bag that’s been filled with 1/2 bag (1lb.) of powdered sugar. Close up the bag and shake it until the sugar covers the cereal.

Here are a few recipes that I’ve seen recently that I thought were cute ideas:

Scissors & Spatulas – How to Make Jelly Bean Bark

All Things Heart & Home – How to Make Chocolate Cookie Nests with Eggs

Our Best Bites – How to Make Silly Cupcakes, such as Spaghetti w/ Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Peas and Carrots, Popcorn and Corn on the Cob. (All sooo cute!)

Just thought I’d share in case you needed a little cute inspiration added to your tables.

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn.

This last week, I wanted to try a recipe that I could make in my new Cuisinart Cast Iron Dutch Oven. I found it on a great deal on one of those daily deal sites. While I knew the pans tend to be heavy, I wasn’t quite prepared for just how heavy. I was off balanced grabbing the box from my front step and almost fell off of it as I was bowled over by its weight. I keep telling myself I’ll have to continue to keep cooking with it more so I can build up those biceps!

Anyway, when I was checking out reviews for it on Amazon, I saw that several people also bought the Glorious One-Pot Meals: A Revolutionary New Quick and Healthy Approach to Dutch-Oven Cooking book. So I had to check it out to see what kind of recipes it offered. When I was flipping through it, the one that caught my eye was one titled, “African Peanut Butter Stew.” Hmmm, a peanut butter stew sounded like something I might be able to get the kids to try—so I chose that as this week’s adventure.

Here’s the recipe and some pics to follow:

Canola oil or 2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup white rice
3/4 cup plus 1 TB broth (chicken or vegetable) or water
1/2 to 3/4 lb chicken breasts or thighs
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
2/3 cup milk or water
2-4 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1/2 tsp cayenne
Sea salt, to taste
3 TB peanut butter, chunky or creamy
3 to 4 tomatoes, diced or one 14 oz can diced, drained
1/2 sweet potato, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 handful of fresh spinach or 5 oz frozen

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2) Spray the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with canola oil or wipe with peanut oil
3) Scatter the diced onion in the pot.
4) Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold water until the water runs clear. Add the rice and the broth/water and stir to make an even layer.
5) Place the chicken on the rice. Add the bell pepper.
5) Whisk the milk, garlic, cayenne, sea salt, and peanut butter in a measuring cup until the peanut butter dissolves. Pour over the chicken.
6) Layer in the tomatoes, sweet potato, and spinach.
7) Cover and bake for 45 minutes or “until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully cooked meal escapes the oven.” Serve immediately.

Here are a few pics from ours:

This is how the pan looked after it was done.

This is a picture of the meal, though not a good one as the veggies all seem to be hidden on the bottom.

VERDICT:
I did enjoy the stew but I think I will do a couple things differently next time. I put the chicken breasts in the pot whole, and I think they’d be better cut-up and spread out across the stew as it will be easier for the kids. I also will add more spinach to it. While it looked like a lot when I put them on there, I forgot how much spinach wilts down and it didn’t seem like much after they were cooked. (If you don’t like spinach much, though, stick with the original recipe!) And lastly, I will definitely check my rice before taking it out of the oven. Only some was completely cooked, while the other was only halfway done, making it a crunchier stew.

So this was my cooking adventure for last week. (Side Note: Jenn won’t have recipes up for awhile. While she’s continuing to make one each week, she’s in the process of moving–and with three little kids. So you can all imagine just how busy she is and hasn’t been blogging much! ) Did any of you try to make anything new? I’d love to hear about it!

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

My apologies on getting this posted late. I got caught up in some other projects and forgot to post it this week! This week’s recipe challenge was a fun one. One that was several months in the making. Oh, it didn’t take that long. But I’ve just had the book about that long with the intent of “someday” hopefully happening. My dear friend, Christy, put up a posting on how she makes homemade bread using Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients. I left her a comment saying it looked like fun and I’d have to get the book sometime. Well, immediately she sent me a text message saying, “Jaycie, No! Don’t buy it! It’s already on its way to you.” The sweetie sent me a surprise copy. We do this sometimes when we come across something we love. We’ll surprise the other one with something just to brighten their day. I am so truly blessed to have her as a friend.

I couldn’t quite get to making the bread as I didn’t have any of the supplies that I wanted to use. Well, over the holidays, I watched for deals on a Baking Stone, a Pizza Peel and worked on finding the right sized container for the bread to rise. (Found a set at Sam’s Club) You can make it without the stone or peel, I’m sure,  but I planned on making this frequently enough to make it worth the investment. The Pizza Peel I found is so gorgeous that I just hang it up as a wall decoration in my kitchen, when it’s not in use!

This was a simple recipe so I let the kids help me with it. I always let them help me in the kitchen when it comes to just dumping in ingredients and stirring. When it comes to hot ovens/stoves, that becomes their playtime and I finish up. Here’s how the process went:

We mixed up all the ingredients in a 6 quart container, put a lid on it (popped a little to vent) and then it rise at room temperature for 2 hours. No kneading involved! It then said it was easier to work with cold and the flavor is best if you wait for 24 hours. So after it was done rising, we put it in the fridge and waited.

Then, I took out the dough, dusted it with flour and cut off a 2 pound piece and formed it into a loaf shape. I placed it on my pizza peel, covered it with saran wrap and let it set for 90 minutes.

30 minutes before baking time, I preheated the oven to 350. After the 30 minutes were up, I placed the loaf onto the baking stone and let it bake for about 45-50 minutes.

When it looked nice and golden, I took out the loaf and let it cool on a Cooling Rack. We had warm bread for some sandwiches and more dough in the fridge for more loaves later in the week.

Now the reason I’m not sharing the recipe with you is because there are so many recipes in the book. This particular one was for soft whole wheat sandwich bread. Also, Amazon has a great video clip of How To Make The Bread. They used a different recipe than I did but it’s one you can try.There are far too many varieties to post. The book is well worth checking out at your library–and then purchasing if you find it’s right for you.

I’m excited to see that they are also coming out with a pizza and flatbread recipes book that is scheduled to release October 2011. And they also have another book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking.

This was a fun little adventure for me and the kids. They got the biggest kick out of watching all the steps in the bread-making process. We are going to be adding this to our weekly routine as there’s just nothing like the taste (and smell!) of homemade bread.

Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s adventure this last week, too. Did any of you try a new recipe this week? I’d love to hear about how it went.

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

This week, I wanted to try something that  my son could help me make–and that I could turn into a Dinner & a Movie night. I have never made homemade spaghetti sauce before–always just dumping something out from a store-bought jar– nor have I ever made an attempt at homemade meatballs. So this was my “challenge” for this week.

Up until this point, I didn’t allow my son to help me cook anything involving raw meat. But I figured if I watched him closely, he’d be just fine. I’m glad I did as he had a blast rolling up some meatballs with me. I spent quite a bit of time stressing the importance of washing your hands very well after handling raw meat and how he shouldn’t touch his face, etc with his “grimy” hands. I had to laugh when the rest of the week he kept asking me if it was “good meat” or not whenever I’d make something. And we chuckled as he explained to his Daddy that it goes in yucky meat and comes out new cooked meat that we can eat. Just when you think they aren’t listening to you, right?

So for this recipe, I just followed a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com. My favorite part was how the house filled up with a delicious smell of garlic. The least favorite part (which was my own fault) was not reading the recipe completely to see that the sauce simmers for 90 minutes, and then takes another 30 minutes after you add the meatballs. I really just skimmed it too quick.  The plan was to make this and then watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs but we ended up starting the movie and then pausing it when supper was ready. It worked out just fine, though.

Here’s a picture of the meatballs my son and I made:

And here’s a picture of our meal:

VERDICT: I am definitely adding this one into my monthly meal plan as I thought it was a fabulous recipe. It makes a lot of food so we had plenty of leftovers for another meal, or two. Had I been thinking, I would have saved some of the meatballs to make meatball sandwiches the next night. I actually want to try to freeze them, and the sauce, so I can see how it tastes for a night I need to make a quick meal. Next time–we’ll probably watch Lady and the Tramp , as I love the scene of the dogs eating the spaghetti and the kids haven’t seen it yet!

Next week, I’ll be sharing a recipe that goes very well with this one! Did any of you try to make anything new this week? I’d love to hear about it! Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s latest adventure this week –she made a Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal Recipe. You can also check out some of the past recipes I’ve tried this year.

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

I didn’t feel very adventurous this week. So when I saw that All Recipes had a recipe of the day for Baked Chicken Nuggets, I knew that would be what I’d make this week—something simple yet still something I had never tried before.

I have two toddlers and they are in that big chicken nugget phase. So I like the idea that I can make my own and I’ll know exactly what ingredients are in it. When I made this, I picked up some Organic Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts. The first thing you do is to cut them into 1 – 1/2″ pieces. I made some of ours a little smaller since the kids are still fairly young.

Next, you mix up the spices and Parmesan Cheese. The cheese is what makes these taste really good! You’ll keep those in a separate bowl from the chicken pieces.

Then, you’ll melt your butter and keep it separate from the other two bowls. After that, spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. When your prep work is done, it will look like this:

Now begins the process of coating the chicken pieces. You’ll first dip them in the melted butter. Then coat them in the spices and Parmesan cheese mixture. After this step, lay the coated chicken pieces on the sprayed cookie sheet. Continue doing this until all the pieces are coated. It will look something like this:

When I was reading the reviews on this recipe, a lot of the commenters recommended flipping the chicken pieces halfway through. So I set the timer for 10 minutes instead and then flipped them over and reset the timer for another 10 minutes. I had no issues keeping the coating on and they didn’t seem to be greasy that way, either. (Don’t forget to check that your chicken pieces are fully cooked!) This was what ours looked like when we were done:

During the cooking time, I had chopped up some watermelon and I also steamed some Organic carrots in one of those microwave steam bags for our side dishes. It worked out perfectly for time!

The Verdict:

I didn’t have any Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs so I had used regular and threw in some Italian Seasoning. I put a little too much but it still tasted really good. I’ll be looking for a sale on the Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs when I make these again. These were very tasty and not one bit greasy. I liked being able to eat chicken nuggets that tasted like real chicken instead of that processed stuff. We’ll be making these for a lot of future lunches! I’m going to have to test out how these freeze so I can just pop them in the microwave on busy days.

Well, that was my new recipe for this week. Did any of you try to make something new, too? I’d love to hear about it! Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s site later for when she posts her latest cooking adventure, too!

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

So I was debating what I would make for my new recipe this week and then the new Taste of Home Magazine showed up and as soon as I saw the cover, I knew I had to make some Crockpot Beef Stew. It’s perfect for this time of year on a cold night.

If you subscribe to their magazine, you’ll find this recipe on page 45 of the Feb/March 2011 issue.

Ingredients
1 lb. of Beef Stew Meat
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can (14.5 oz ) beef broth
1 can (11.5 oz) V8 juice
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TB cornstarch
1 TB cold water
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas

Your prep work will consist of peeling/cubing potatoes, peeling/chopping carrots, chopping celery, chopping the sweet onion and cutting up your meat if you don’t buy it pre-cut. When I made this, I bought a roast and cut it into 3 – 1lb sections. I weighed it out with my Kitchen Scale and then put two of them in their own individual Ziploc bags so I can now easily make up two more batches of beef stew. I saved money by not buying the pre-cut beef stew meat as it cost quite a bit more per pound.

After all your prep work is complete, you’ll put the first 12 ingredients into your crockpot. (That’s everything from the beef stew meat down through the pepper.) Cover it and let it cook on low for about 7-8 hours. Now, my crockpot tends to run a little hot, so mine was good to go soon after 6 hours. So make sure you check to see how yours is around that time, just to be sure.

After this time-frame, be sure to carefully pick out your bay leaves. Don’t worry that your stew is a little liquid-y. It will thicken up soon as your next step is…

Combine your cornstarch with the water and stir it until it’s smooth. Stir it into the crockpot. This will help thicken up your stew.

Next, you’ll add your frozen corn and peas. Turn your crockpot up to High now and let it cook for about 30 minutes or until your stew thickens some. And your end result should look something similar to this….

This was my new recipe that I tried for this week. Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s adventure this week as she made Mini Taco Cups, which might make for a great Super Bowl Sunday appetizer, too! Did any of you try to make something new this week? I’d love to hear about it!

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

Between my son’s birthday party and being at a conference most of the week, I honestly didn’t get to squeeze in a new recipe last week. The night before I left for my trip, I stood there with all my ingredients ready to make this next recipe and I decided that spending that last bit of time with the kids was my higher priority. So first thing when I got back, I whipped up a batch of the recipe I had chosen for last week which was Acorn Squash Soup.

I had some leftover squash from the CSA I belonged to and I was looking for a unique recipe to use it in. My hubby isn’t very fond of squash and when I saw this one, I thought it might be one he might like, though.

You have to start off with some prep work of cutting the onion, dicing celery, cooking the bacon and cooking the squash. Once you get the prep work done, the rest of the recipe goes fairly fast. If you wanted to save a little time, you could probably use real bacon bits from a jar, since the bacon is really just sprinkled on top of the soup for a little extra flavor. (I’m wishing I had chopped mine up finer instead of bigger chunks.) I personally like to microwave my bacon using this Presto Microwave Bacon Cooker so I just had that going while I was chopping up veggies. But here’s a tip: If you are like me and find it impossible to cook and chop bacon without eating it, you may want to cook up 6 slices instead of 5!  I just cooked the whole package hoping to save some for sandwiches the next day but my kids and hubby stole them on me!

To cook the squash, I microwaved mine in an 8×8 pan with a little water in it. (The squash was cut in half, seeds/strings removed and turned upside down.) I want to say it took closer to 12-15 minutes per half. If I had followed the directions on the squash for cooking in the oven, it would have taken 40 minutes.  I was able to mash up the first half while I was waiting for the second half to cook, so it worked out real nice. Just be very careful when removing these from your microwave as the dish, squash and water will be very hot.

After having all my ingredients cooked, chopped and measured correctly, I started sauteing the onions and celery in the butter I had melted in the pan.

Next, I added the flour and spices mixture and stirred them until blended.

Then I gradually added the chicken broth and evaporated milk, stirring frequently, until it boiled for about 2 minutes.

Next I added the salt, pepper and the squash that I had cooked and mashed up with a fork beforehand, stirring that into the recipe. Then came the fun part. You need to blend the soup. I didn’t want to mess with a blender so I looked online for a deal for an Immersion Hand Blender and ended up finding a good price on Amazon for it. (Yup, that’s where that deal came from!)   It was so easy to blend and I’m so glad I picked one of these up. I plan on using it for a lot of soups coming up. Just be careful and follow all manufacturer’s directions when using this. I was very happy with how easy it was to clean and I didn’t have to mess with pouring this into the blender in batches.

The end result:

The verdict:

When my hubby saw it, he wasn’t sure if it was cheese soup or what. After tasting it, he said that if I hadn’t told him it was squash, he might not have guessed that’s what it was. I was in complete shock that he liked it. It just has this super creamy texture and it’s delicious! I think part of why it’s so tasty is that little bit of curry powder. My kids did eat theirs but I think next time I make it, I’ll put theirs in a bread bowl since they like dipping things.

I think this recipe is perfect for the fall when squash is in season and the weather typically gets a little cooler. I definitely will be making it again–I am actually looking forward to the leftovers!

So that’s my recipe for last week. I will still have a new one coming at you on Friday for this week. Did any of you try to make anything new this last week? I’d love to hear your stories!

Welcome to my series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

Oh, this week I had such high hopes for new recipes. I had three of them picked out ready to go and then life happened. My family and I all caught a terrible flu bug. And let me tell you, the last thing on your mind when you have the flu is food. Especially new recipes. I was fortunate enough that a few days before the sickness hit, I did get to try one new recipe called Lemon Garlic Tilapia. One of my goals this year is to try to get more fish/seafood into our monthly menu plan. I’m not one to like the more smelly or strong tasting fish varieties so I’m usually pretty leery about venturing out and trying new fish. I had heard a few good things about tilapia so I figured that would be one for us to try. I wanted a very simple recipe—and one that I had all the ingredients on hand–so I choose the Lemon Garlic Tilapia one I found on AllRecipes. (one of my favorite recipe sites)

I was very surprised at how simple the recipe actually was to make. It didn’t require much prep work and while it was baking, I had time to clean up my kitchen. You gotta love multi-tasking!

The Verdict: I think we’ll definitely be adding this into our menu routine randomly. I made the mistake of not cutting back on the lemon, as I only used three fillets but it still tasted pretty good.  I think next time I make tilapia, I’ll try a breaded recipe, possibly this Ranchy Breaded Fillets one.

Well, that’s my small cooking adventure for the week. I’ll have to save the other two I had planned for another week. Did any of you branch out from your typical menus and try something new this week? I’d love to hear about it!

Welcome to my new series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

The whole reason for me wanting to start this series was to push me to make the things I’ve been wanting to make for awhile. Awhile back, I ordered some Tahini and Organic Garbanzo Beans on Amazon when I found a good deal on them. I didn’t realize how long it had been until I went to create the links and saw it say, “Jaycie, you ordered these on September 20, 2010.” Wow. Talk about procrastination, right? This is just one of the many things I’ve bought last year with hopes of trying to create them. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has done this. (and if so, please lie and tell me I’m not alone….)

The original recipe I found was for a Roasted Red Pepper Hummus but when I was at the store and saw the price of them right now, I cringed and debated making a plain hummus. I caved and bought one and I’m glad I did. Not only did the red pepper add a nice additional flavoring but it gave the hummus this amazingly beautiful red/orange coloring, making the dish all the more appealing. So, I did follow the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus recipe this week but first, I had to find out How to Roast a Red Pepper. These instructions were really great and actually fairly easy to do. While it was roasting, I was putting together other ingredients so it didn’t add much time to the process. The skin peeled off so easily and I’ve now found something to add to our sandwiches and such during the week. (when peppers are in season!)

I also wanted to try my hand at making my own Homemade Pita Chips. These are just made from store-bought Pita Pockets so they are only slightly homemade. Here’s how everything looked mid-stream:

Chips coated and ready to bake. This was just batch #1 and I only used half the pockets, overall.

This is my roasted red pepper split up. I am still shocked how easily the skin peeled off and how easily the seeds and stem came off, too.

This is the hummus right before I blended in the red peppers and basil.

And this is our delicious little afternoon snack! The kids got a kick out of how I displayed it on the plate. The side bowl is what I saved for later in the week.

As I mentioned, I only used half of the pita pockets. The other half, I kept to make chicken pizza pockets for supper. I just threw in some leftover chicken from earlier in the week, along with some black olives, pepperoni, tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. I baked them at 400 degrees just until they were heated and the cheese melted. Not much more than 5 minutes. I added some fruit for a side dish and we were all set!

Verdict:
I thought that the hummus might have had a little bit too much Tahini in it. On my next batch, I’ll think I’ll dial it back just a touch. I also liked my pita chips super crispy. So I flipped them over on the other side for just an extra minute and I liked how they turned out. My kids loved this little snack and I thought it tasted a lot fresher than the store bought stuff, which I loved.If you buy garbanzo beans with no salt added like I did, you may have to add a little salt for flavoring later. But I’d wait until everything’s blended in your food processor just to be sure you need it.

This was my “What’s New for Dinner” for this week. Did any of you attempt to make anything new this week? If so, how did it turn out? Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s adventure this week. She made some Slow Cooker Southwestern Chicken Chili this week for her family.

Welcome to my new series called “What’s New For Dinner?” This is going to be a weekly posting sharing a new recipe that I have tried throughout the week. This is my way of keeping our meals from getting boring and attempting to try new foods. I’m doing this fun challenge with my friend, Jenn from Super Jenn. So check her site for what she’s tried this week, too!

The recipe I tried this week wasn’t the one I originally had planned. I found my original one to be a little more involved, like something I should try to make on a weekend when my hubby could watch the kids. But I’m really happy that it worked out this way as I stumbled onto a great recipe.

I had done a search on allrecipes.com for anything I could make using a Beef Rump Roast. Isn’t it great that you can search by ingredients there? I then scrolled through them to find one I could make with what I had on hand, and in the end, deciding on the recipe for Breaded Beef.

This was a fairly simple recipe to make. The kids got a kick out of the big mound of bread crumb mixture and were content to watch me dip the beef into the egg mixture and then the crumbs. If it wasn’t raw meat, I would have let them help.

Since the recipe is simple, I’ll let you refer to allrecipes.com for it. But here are the basic steps:

1) Cut the meat into 1/8″ pieces. (no picture on this one)

2) Whip up the egg and water mixture.

3) Mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and salt.

4) Dip the meat into the egg mixture and then the bread crumb mixture and then place onto a foil lined cookie sheet.

5) Fry up the breaded beef in some hot oil. Note: Always use caution when working with hot oils. You’ll fry it up a few minutes on one side and then the other, until fully cooked.

I then needed a side dish. I had a lot of root vegetables left over from my CSA so I decided to make a batch of Oven-Roasted Root Vegetables, but I only used the vegetables that I had on hand. If you’ve never tried Celeriac, it’s an interesting root vegetable that tastes a lot like celery. It was a new one I tried this fall.

I whipped up a little salad from leftover taco filling we had from the night before and topped it with some star and flower shaped croutons the kids had made. (I’ll share later how to make those!) Here’s what our end meal looked like:

The final verdict: Two thumbs up! I turned my head for a few minutes to help the kids with their plates and my hubby had gobbled down most of his. It was decided that this must be worked into our monthly meal plan!

And this is the “What’s New For Dinner?” for us this week. Did any of you try anything new, too?

RedPlum has a new $1/2 Kellogg’s Cereal Printable Coupon that’s valid on Rice Krispies, Crispix, Corn Flakes or All-Bran Cereals.

I thought I’d share as I know several of these cereals are used in holiday baking items.

Here’s one recipe you can make with Crispix:

“People Puppy Chow”

1) Melt together 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 stick of butter in a medium saucepan. You’ll have to stir frequently or it will burn very quickly. I’d recommend keeping it on a lower heat.

2) Once melted, pour over Crispix cereal (1-12oz. box) that you’ve already emptied into a large bowl. Stir the cereal mixture (gently or you’ll break them) until all the cereal is covered.

3) Immediately put the chocolatey mixture into a brown paper bag that’s been filled with 1/2 bag (1lb.) of powdered sugar. Close up the bag and shake it until the sugar covers the cereal. It will look like this when you are done:

I usually put some of these into small sandwich bags and tie with a red ribbon as a little gift for someone.

I shared a link on the Coupon Geek Facebook Page about freezing zucchini and a few of my sweet readers offered some recipes that they use for zucchini. I thought I’d share them with all of you in case you have an over-abundance of zucchini or wanted to try something new.

This one comes from Reader Lisa R.:

BLUEBERRY WALNUT ZUCCHINI CAKE

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350
Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan

In medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside

In large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla and make sure mixture is smooth and creamy. (Next, Gradually stir in dry ingredients mixture.) Fold in zucchini. Fold in blueberries.
Pour into greased baking pan. Top with chopped walnuts

Bake for 55-60 minutes until top is golden brown and toothpick in middle comes out clean.

Let cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Cut serve and ENJOY!

This next one is from Reader Nikki L.:

ZUCCHINI CAKE

3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
3 cups grated Zucchini

Sift dry ingredients into LARGE bowl. Add eggs, oil, zucchini and nuts. Stir until no dry pockets remain. Pour into greased 9X13 pan. Cook @ 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick (or knife) poked in center comes out clean.

Nikki shares that they eat theirs without frosting but that a cream cheese frosting might be a nice addition to it.

A very big thanks to both Lisa and Nikki for taking the time to share these with my other readers. I greatly appreciate it!

I actually made Lisa’s Zucchini Blueberry Walnut Cake tonight, since I had all the ingredients here. I took a picture of a slice. It smelt so good that I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely before I stole a slice. I meant to add the walnuts to half before I baked it and the kids distracted me and I forgot. I gave my son a slice and he said, “Yum, yum, yum!”

Since I posted my last Freezer Cooking Session, I’ve had a quite a few people wanting to know about Freezing Seasoned Hamburger. To tell you the truth, up until then, I had no idea myself that cooked hamburger froze so well. I had made up the recipe for Mini Beef and Bean Burritos from the book Fix, Freeze, Feast: Prepare in Bulk and Enjoy by the Serving. Well, I had run out of shells and decided just to test out freezing the leftover seasoned meat and it worked like a charm!

What’s great is, the original recipe of the mixture calls for 6lbs of meat. You’ll often find that stores will discount hamburger in bulk “family packs” of 3lbs or more. So you’d just pick up two of those at a great price. But you can alter the recipe for any size – just re-figure it accordingly.

What You’ll Need
6lbs of Hamburger
1 cup of Taco Seasoning (around four packets, but measure to be sure, as packet size varies)
3 cups of water

How to Make It

1) Brown the hamburger over medium heat and cook thoroughly until there is no longer any pink–about 20 minutes.

2) Drain and discard properly, any fat. (I even rinse mine to get more fat off.)

3) Add the Taco Seasoning and then stir in the water.

4) Simmer over a medium heat, for about twenty minutes. You’ll want to check it and stir it, if needed. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated.

5)  At this point, I drained off any extra liquid that didn’t evaporate. Cool the mixture completely. This is important or you’ll have more of a chance of freezer burned food if you add the mixture while it’s still a little warm.

6) Label and date a Ziploc Bag, add the mixture and freeze. I lay my Ziploc bags flat to save room in my freezer. (Just make sure they are sealed really good if you do that!)

If don’t want to freeze all of the hamburger mixture but want to make some burritos to freeze, try this:

Spread a 1/3 cup of refried beans and 1/4 cup ground beef onto a tortilla. Wrap the tortilla burrito style and then wrap in tin foil, place them in a labeled Ziploc Bag and freeze. To cook, take them out of the Ziploc bag and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes if frozen or at only 300 degrees for 30 minutes if thawed, prior. These can make for a simple lunch.

It’s really quite simple to make this hamburger mixture. I love doing these big batches and freezing them so I can quickly pull out a bag of it and make some quick tacos or nachos, etc. You just take it out of the Ziploc bag and defrost in the microwave. Or you can defrost it in the fridge the night before and then warm it in the microwave the next day (after you take it out of the Ziploc bag!)

Freezer cooking is a great way to cut down on your time in the kitchen on busy days. I find that making meals ahead and freezing them often helps me avoid carry-out food or the quick processed foods.

If you make this recipe, please use all proper food safety guidelines. I hope that you find this little make-ahead recipe will help you save some time in the future!

My son and I have been watching a lot of Emeril together on the Food Network lately. He’s always saying, “He’s silly, Mommy!” It’s a way for us to spend time together and I’m hoping it’s increasing his love for cooking and baking.

The other day, we saw an episode where they made “Pizza On A Stick.” I was intrigued and Nathan thought it looked like fun. So last night, we all have a blast creating our own Pizzas on a stick. This recipe comes from the Emeril show but I’ll post it in case they ever take it off their site:

What You’ll Need:

* 1 cup sliced pepperoni
* 1 cup sliced Italian sausage
* 1/2 French bread loaf, toasted and cubed
* 1/2 green pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces (but large enough to not fall off skewers)
* 1/2 cup halved fresh mushrooms
* 1/2 cup zucchini slices (or any other veggie of your choice)
* 1/4 cup Italian dressing
* 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
* 1 cup spaghetti sauce, warmed
* You’ll also need a baking/cookie sheet, cooking brush and skewers.

Here’s how you make them:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) The first step is to cut your French Bread Loaf into pieces and toast them. (Just warm them in the oven until they are nice and toasted. Mine took about 5 minutes but our oven heats fast.)

3) Next chop up all your ingredients. I put all of mine in separate bowls so everyone could access them easier. I also microwaved my Italian Sausage so it would cook faster in the oven.

4) Take all of your ingredients and thread them on the skewers, rotating the ingredients. You can do this however you want. We’d pile on meats and veggies and then put a bread layer in between the next layer.

5) As each skewer is finished, lay them on a baking/cookie sheet in a single layer. After all of them are completed, brush each skewer of ingredients with Italian Dressing.

6) Next  sprinkle cheese on each skewer of ingredients.

7) Then they go into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You’ll want to watch them, though. Our oven cooks very fast and they were done a lot sooner. You’ll want your meats cooked thoroughly, your veggies heated throughout and your cheese melted but not burnt. I recommend watching them close, at least the first time you make them to judge how long is needed.

Allow them to cool for a bit afterwards and then serve. What I did was grabbed a new (cooled) cookie sheet and served them right on that. You’ll use your warmed sauce to dip them in if you want.

While these can be a fun activity with the kids, please make sure you use your best judgment and always be extra safe when making them. The ends of the skewers tend to be very pointy. My hubby helped my son make his but I didn’t allow my daughter to use them. She had fun just stealing ingredients from the bowls, though. I also took hers off the skewers when I served them to her and she didn’t mind one bit. She was too busy dipping everything.

What I loved about this recipe is that I kind of just used whatever ingredients we had on hand. Though, I’ll think twice before using cherry tomatoes with the kids next time as they get pretty hot and squirty when bitten into.

I found our skewers at Jewel in their kitchen area. But I’ve also seen them sold at CVS in the summer in their summer section for around $1.99. (Possibly a good “filler item” for your next trip!)

I hope that you have as much fun making these as we did if you try to make them!

This is a series my fellow blogger friends and I were doing for two weeks. (This is the second and final week.) We are sharing recipes and also doing giveaways. Here are their blogs–I’ll update with their giveaway links and their recipes/traditions when they are posted today:

(Please note: You must put the giveaway entries for these on their blogs to be counted.)

Moms By Heart- Cookie Cutters Giveaway HERE
Coupon Gal – A Christmas Story DVD Giveaway HERE (I love that movie!)
A Thrifty Mom – 20 Coupon Inserts Giveaway to Help w/ Baking Costs HERE
Give Me Neither -Matching Set of Aprons Giveaway HERE
Couponing For 4 – Non-stick Cake-scicle Pan Giveaway HERE (looks so cool!)

A couple of years ago, my sister, BIL and I were supposed to go downtown Chicago to the Christkindlmarket. They had already scheduled the day off but as it got closer, they were predicting cold and rainy weather. We decided that instead, we’d bake cookies. Lots of them! My kitchen was filled with ingredients and plans of so many different recipes. About halfway through I realized…I had been way too ambition!

We were all exhausted and there was so much left to do. Each year, I learn a little bit more about how much is too much! Unfortunately this year, I had to do most of the baking myself. But, partway through, my almost 3 year old son decided to join me. We had so much fun together, despite how much work was involved. Here he is after enjoying the spoon from the brownie batter: (and being a goof when I said, “Smile Big!”)

What do I do with everything when I’m done? My hubby works for a smaller company so I make each of his co-workers their own little “goodie bag” of treats. They are all so sweet in that they’ll take it home to share with their spouses and family. I also try to reserve a plate to take over to our librarians. But they are projecting very cold temperatures today so I’m thinking it might not happen.

Every year I look forward to the annual baking fest. I’ll have to plan better next year so I can make sure my family can join me again. But it was fun having one-on-one time with my son. Here’s what we ended up with:

Brownies, Rice Krispies Treats, Sugar Cookies, Oatmeal/Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, “People Puppy Chow” and Cupcakes. I had planned on making Peanut Butter Blossoms but ran out of energy. So those will go in tomorrow or Friday. Here’s the recipe for those:

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 Cup of Shortening
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated Sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. Milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
Sugar (to roll them in)
48 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped

Cream together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add egg milk and vanilla. Beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bakes 10-12 minutes (or until brown) in an oven at 375 degrees. Top each cookie immediately with an unwrapped chocolate piece, pressing down firmly so that cookie cracks around the edge. Remove cookies from cookie sheets to cool.

This recipe came from an insert in the December 2009 Food TV Magazine. But it’s been around for years.

People Puppy Chow

Melt together 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 stick of butter in a medium saucepan. You’ll have to stir frequently or it will burn on you quick. I’d recommend keeping it on a low to medium heat. Once melted, pour over Crispix cereal. (1-12oz. box) Stir the cereal mixture (gently or you’ll break them) until all the cereal is covered. Immediately put it into a brown paper bag that’s been filled with 1/2 bag (1lb.) of powdered sugar. Close up the bag and shake it until the sugar covers the cereal.

This recipe was given to me years ago by a co-worker but it’s been around for years.

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I usually use the Baker’s white chocolate squares. Follow melting directions on bag. You simply just add the pretzels to the chocolate and cover them. But I wanted to share a tip my BIL taught me. Use two forks to hold onto the ends of them after the pretzels are covered. This allows the chocolate to drain from the holes in the pretzels.

I have to add that the Rice Krispies Treats that I made—I used the caramel & vanilla marshmallows that just came out. They gave them just a touch of caramel flavor and were actually pretty good. There should be instructions for how to make these on most marshmallow bags or on the back of cereal box.

Everything else, I took the shortcut route this year and used pre-made mixes. It’s the only way I could get everything done by myself. But next year, I might see if my friends want to do a cookie exchange and each make a few dozen cookies to swap. I’ve always wanted to do that.

Here’s hoping you are able to get in some baking time this year, too!

I happened to see an ad when I was on Tablespoon.com and I’m glad that I clicked through. It brought me to the Betty Crocker Cake Pages. And they are sooo cute! The first one that caught my eye was the Fire Engine Cake, as my son is big into trucks right now. There’s a how-to video on how to make it HERE.

I’m not that great with the hands-on stuff but this one looked like one that I might be able to handle! And the reviews for it were 5 stars.

There’s also one for a Panda Bear Cake that got good reviews. I did watch that one and it looked fairly simple, too. (You can always make it into a Teddy Bear Cake w/ Brown & Tan frosting colors.)

I’m always astounded by how expensive these “cutesy” type of cakes are in the stores. These two recipes that I watched looked like some basic ingredients that if you watch for sales ahead of time, you could probably make these fairly cheap. (Such as cake mix, frosting, candy items and using a Ziploc bag for “piping” the frosting.)

There were more cakes HERE.

These aren’t affiliate/sponsor links but just something I ran across and thought I’d share. I’m really debating making the Fire Truck one now!!

Is your Doritos bag down to the broken crumbled chips? Don’t throw them out! They’ll be perfect for this recipe!

You’ll need:
Doritos, broken up in pieces
Chopped Lettuce
Chopped Tomatoes (Cut grape tomatoes work great!)
Sliced Olives
Ranch Salad Dressing

Now this recipe really doesn’t have “set amounts.” You just basically add equal parts of everything. For the Ranch Salad Dressing, gradually add it little by little until everything is nicely covered. It’s mostly a personal preference recipe. You can always add hamburger or onions or whatever you like to it.

I prefer this dish after it’s set/chilled just for a little bit, so everything is blended and settled. I whipped up a batch this weekend, as I had just a little bit of all the ingredients left. It was a perfect combo to our pasta! It’s a great dish to make if you’ve had Tacos and have just a little bit of everything left. Also, I used Bacon Ranch Dressing and it tasted just as good!

Enjoy!

I found this through a Betty Crocker e-newsletter and thought they were too cute to not share! Here is the direct link to the site and here’s their recipe:

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Fresh blueberries, chocolate chips or raisins

1. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk and eggs until blended.
2. Lightly oil griddle. For each pig face, pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter onto hot oiled griddle. Pour scant tablespoonful batter onto griddle for snout and another scant tablespoonful for ears.
3. Cook pancakes until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.
4. To serve, place large pancakes on individual serving plates. Place 1 small pancake in center of each face for snout; poke 2 holes for nostrils with end of handle of wooden spoon. Cut second small pancake in half for ears; place at top of face. Use blueberries for eyes.

I can see these being especially popular with the toddler-aged kids. Nathan is getting to that picky-eater phase and I bet these would make him love pancakes all the more!

Enjoy!

I was emailed this recipe from Family Fun magazine and thought it was too cute not to share. I also thought it might be useful for those of you with school kids who wanted to bring in treats to share.

The recipe is quite simple, including these ingredients:
Yellow, green, and white frosting
Cupcakes
Red Skittles or M&M’s
Small plastic bag
Rubber band or twist tie
Chocolate-covered graham crackers
White Good & Plenty candies

For the recipe, click here. If you want to get their newsletter in your email inbox, click here to register. It’s FREE and they have such great kid ideas/craft/recipes. (They also send discounts/coupons from time-to-time.)

Happy Crafting!

This recipe is as easy as ordering take-out. You only have to do it 5 hours sooner!

4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
1 16oz. jar of your favorite salsa
2 cups shredded cheese (optional)
rice (optional)

Add chicken breasts to the slowcooker. Pour salsa over the top. Cook on low for 5-8hrs, until tender, but not dry. Top with shredded cheese, upon serving. Serve on a bed of rice. (I say these are optional because I didn’t use either and it still tasted great!)

When I made this, I served it with a side of Fiesta Sides:Mexican Rice. It was a REALLY good combo. The nice thing about this recipe is if you haven’t thought about supper until lunchtime, you can still make it. I only had to cook mine for the 5hr timeframe.

I found this recipe in the book: Fix it And Forget it: 5 Ingredient Favorites. I’ve only got as far as making about 5 recipes from it but so far, I like it! The great thing is, with only 5 ingredients or less, each recipe is usually grocery-budget-friendly! But like with all recipe books, I recommend that you browse through them at the library or bookstore before buying to make sure it’s your style.

Happy Cooking!

Since there are only the three of us (Nathan eating as much as 1/2 a person), we always seem to have spaghetti sauce left over. Sure, we try to have pasta a few times for each jar but you get to the point where you can only eat so much of it! We also seem to have black olives and cheese left over from tacos. If I am not paying attention to what’s in the fridge, I’ll sadly have to throw these out!

Since I’ve become a big fan of my sandwich maker machine, I thought I’d try to make some pizza pockets for Nathan and I with these leftovers. (We would usually try to make “mini-pizzas” on English Muffins but we don’t seem to eat enough of them to make it worth the extra cost.) I wasn’t sure if the spaghetti sauce would make the bread too soggy but it worked, and tasted great!

Bread
Shredded Cheese
Spaghetti Sauce
Black Olives
Pepperoni Slices (if you have them-they keep in the fridge for quite awhile!)

Simply stack the ingredients on your bread and top with an extra layer of cheese. The sandwiches are great, as the sides seal and the toppings don’t fall out as much.

So if you have some leftovers, try to think of a creative way to make a new sandwich pocket! If you come up with a good one, make sure to leave it in the comments for us!

Enjoy!

Dash and Dine are quick little recipes. I make these with my little sandwich maker machine. I bought mine on clearance at JCPenney but Amazon has a similar one here I also have the three plates but have never tried the griddle pieces.

Here’s the recipe:
Bread
Shredded Cheese
Chicken Chunks
Bacon Ranch Salad Dressing

I add a little butter to my sandwich plates and place the bread on. I toss on some shredded cheese, the chicken chunks, salad dressing and more shredded cheese and top with the second piece of bread. Great sandwiches in minutes. The best part is, toddlers can pick them up so easy! (after cooling!)

For a healthier version, be sure to use Whole Wheat bread and low/no fat cheese and salad dressing.

For the chicken chunks: Whenever I buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts, I cook some up right away. I spray a cookie sheet, set the oven to 350 and cook the chicken for 1 hour, flipping halfway through. I allow them to cool and then cut them up in either chunks or strips and store them in Ziploc freezer bags. They are great to quickly add to pastas, salads and sandwiches. Either defrost in the fridge in the morning or use your microwave to defrost.

Enjoy!

One thing we look forward to each summer is corn-on-the-cob from our local farmer’s market. I always wished I could have this flavor of corn all year round. While searching for farmer’s markets in our area, I found this fabulous article on how to freeze corn. I thought to myself, why not?

I picked up 4 dozen ears of corn and started off on the adventure. Nathan had a good time “helping” me husk some of the ears. (I turned my back for a second and he had started munching on some, though!) All in all, the process wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t able to get a FoodSaver machine (We’re on a budget!) so I invested in a Handi-Vac by Reynolds. They run about $9 or less and the bags are around $2 each. How simple are they to use? I let Nathan use it to suction out the last bag. I was very impressed with it. I’ll have to see how well it keeps things from getting freezer burnt. I plan on using this for everything I freeze now! The bags cost around the same price as regular freezer storage bags.

How much of a savings? Well, it was hard to put an exact dollar on this. I lost some from Nathan stealing it and feeding it to the dogs but overall, I ended up with about 24-12oz bags of frozen corn. I did leave some ears for lunch/supper. So in the end, I think I saved about $15 with just this one batch. (I figured low, getting the 12oz bags on sale for $1 in the store.) If I would have done this without Nathan, I probably could have gotten a few more bags but we had so much fun that I didn’t care about our “losses.”

But overall, can you really put a price on farm-tasting corn year-round? I am looking forward to adding some of this to our Taco Chili recipe that we make on the first kick-off game of the Bears!