I'm not exactly how to express myself properly when it comes to these cookies other than OMG! These are hands down my new favorite cookie. Yes, they are that good and I suggest that everyone make them. Just enough salty sweet goodness to satisfy whatever you might be craving. Also, I've never made dough that was such a perfect consistency. Naturally all of the kids loved them and I can't stop talking about them to everyone! You might want to just go ahead and double the recipe right from the start because they really don't make enough. There isn't any sarcasm to that either. It made about 2 dozens cookies... not enough for my household lol.
When I was first putting the dough together, my son made a weird face and I said "I don't know about those". Well moments after biting into one, his eyes lit up and the first words out of his mouth were "you have got to send grandma this recipe so she can make them when I'm there". He's too precious at times.
Ok enough reading, go get baking!!!
Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
As far back as I can remember I've always loved honey butter. Its no secret that Texas Roadhouse has some of the most addicting around! Once again Pinterest sucked me in with this copy cat recipe and I just had to try it... All in all it was actually really good. My son asked me to always have rolls on hand if I planned on making this often. He's so funny. Now this is just a personal preference, but my only suggestion would be to cut back on the honey just a pinch. I know that sounds odd because its honey butter BUT the honey almost overpowered the flavor of the butter and cinnamon. Either way, you can count on me making this time and time again!
Again to make it easy for you, the recipe calls for:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
The real Starbucks Frappecino's are one of my favorite drinks and I wish they weren't so expensive, as I'm sure many of you share that opinion. So when I came across a copy cat recipe that claims to be "identical", naturally I had to try it. Now either I need to go buy one from the store to truly compare side by side OR they don't taste quite like I remember. Don't get me wrong, the copy cat was good buy holy cow it was sweet. I'd suggest cutting back on the sugar just a pinch. If its fresh out of the fridge cold, its definitely when it tastes the best. Will I make this again??? Probably, but with my own little tweaks. Oh and for the record, I used a full 12 cups of coffee so I can only imagine how sweet only using 10 cups would be.
To save you the time, the recipe simply calls for the following:
10 cups of coffee
1/2 cup vanilla creamer
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
I'm really not sure what I was thinking by taking on a recipe like this considering I've never made jam before in my life. Growing up, jam was always something that I could count on being in the cupboard because the women in my family seemed to make it a whole lot. I'm not complaining though, I love jam!
Being that this is my first jam experience, I read the entire recipe thoroughly and I even took the time to read all of the comments. The original author said that it was really runny but still tasted amazing. There were several people who commented that if she would have used pectin it would have thickened up like she needed. There were also a few people that mentioned putting apples in it because they have a natural pectin. Since I'd already gone to the store and didn't know to get pectin, apples it was! I cut an apple in quarters, cut out the seeds, and just dumped them in the crockpot. Possibly some of the more experienced jam makers are laughing at me right now, but hopefully that wasn't wrong.
I followed everything perfectly and let it cool over night in the fridge. When I checked it in the morning I noticed that it was still pretty runny, BUT I've gotten jam from my grandma's pantry that has been this runny. Now I don't prefer it this way, but it helped me feel better. Now let's get to the best part... the taste!!! I will definitely be making this again because its hands down my new favorite strawberry jam. I'm really hoping that the pectin truly makes that big of a difference. Making this jam just made that day so much better. My house smelled amazing and afterwards I had this wonderful jam. I've been eating toast like its going out of style just so I can have more jam.
Crockpot Strawberry Jam
I really liked these a lot. Very easy to make and that's always a huge hit. These would make a great appetizer at a party or bbq or any gathering. It really is hard to eat more than one or two. However, I have a few complaints about the recipe. It says to use a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch, but in the link it never mentions it again so I had to guess where to use it. Also, I felt that it didn't make it very clear about how much cream cheese to use because it simply said "a large block of cream cheese". In all reality, my large and your large could be two totally different things.
As I'm mixing everything in a large bowl, I'm noticing that its just not mixing together. I know that cream cheese can be tricky to work with, even when softened, so I started mixing with my hands but it still was just too dry. I then added a spoonful of sour cream and that helped a ton. It's probably not fair that I did that, especially because I'm giving my opinions on the recipe and not on my twists. Those were really the only hang ups though.
Luckily my daughter had her friend over and that gave me an extra opinion. My children don't like cream cheese at all. Sometimes I can sneak it by them if there are enough other flavors to cover it up, but there weren't in this recipe so my children vote that they just didn't like it period. Personally I thought they were really good! My daughters friend loved them as well, but she likes cream cheese. I ended up sending the rest home with the friend because at least I know they'd get eaten there.
Chicken Roll Ups
This recipe was kind of destined to fail from the start and that's my fault. When I first saw this on Pinterest, I was excited because I didn't have to even click on the recipe. It simply said "wrap in egg roll wraps, bake 350 for 15-20 minutes". So naturally I figured why would I need to click on the link when you don't get much easier than that. Well, that's what I get for thinking. I've never worked with egg roll wraps and it shows. I quickly got them all rolled up, placed on a pan and placed in the oven. I set my timer and patiently waited. I was so excited because mozzarella sticks are my daughter absolute favorite!
Timer goes off and when I open the oven door, they look exactly the same. No golden brown as the picture indicated and the middle was still firm. Finally I decide to be smart about it and click on the link to see where I went wrong. Oh I went wrong in a lot of places. Inside the link it says absolutely nothing about being able to bake these. They have to be fried in a pan or deep fryer, especially to get that golden coloring. I fried them for a minute on each side as directed, but none of us were impressed honestly. Maybe I will give it one more shot doing it correctly the first time.
I'm kind of losing faith in Pinterest again though. My kids suggest that I post my own recipes because they're tired of eating the "yucky Pinterest food". Now that's a compliment...and I might just do that.
Mozzarella Sticks
This last Sunday I had a little Cinco de Mayo get together at my home. Most of the recipes used were all my own, but that wasn't my intention. I really wanted to have a full blown Pinterest experience and take advantage of being able to get so many opinions at once, but it just wasn't coming together. I searched and searched, but none of the Mexican dishes were really grabbing my attention. Then I came across these cute little taco bites and thought they would make a great appetizer.... they did! They're actually bigger than I thought and my daughter just ate them as her meal.
I may have cheated on this one because I didn't follow the authors recipe. I figured I've made tacos a million times before, so I can do this. I'm sure there might have been an easier way, but I started out by buying the small flour tortillas and then trimmed them down a little more so they weren't overflowing out of the muffin pan. After that I simply added the cooked and seasoned hamburger meat, topped with cheese, and placed in the oven. Once the tortillas were to my liking (medium crunch) I transferred them to my serving tray and then added the rest of my toppings. It doesn't get easier than that and all of my guests loved how hard I worked on everything. Oh if they only knew!!!
The kids loved these so much that I'm thinking in the near future of just having taco bites for dinner. I have no complaints about this recipe. It tastes great because you can fill it with whatever you please and its pleasing to look at because it looks like you took the time to add that special ingredient, love.
Taco Bites
This is a must try for anyone who likes orange creamsicles!! Yep, its that good. For the first time in any of my recipes, I altered it right away and that's probably not fair. Well, I didn't really alter it, but I cut the recipe in half. I didn't think the kids and I needed two cookie sheets worth of a dessert just for us. Then again... I probably could have eaten it.
When reading the recipe I was a little confused on one thing and that was how much ice cream to use. It said 3-1/2 quarts of vanilla ice cream. This might sound silly to some, but go with me on this because everyone writes things differently. I wasn't sure if the author meant 3 half quarts or 3 AND a half quarts. Hopefully I'm just not an idiot by getting confused, but it wouldn't be the first time. I ended up using one container (1.75 qt) for the record and it fit into my one cookie sheet just fine. I'm thinking by doing that though, maybe next time I will only use a third of the frozen orange juice. I admit it was a little strong. Again, I'm sure it would have been perfect if I would have stuck to the original measurements though.
Now the other judges (my kids) gave me surprising responses. My daughter informs me that it would be good if it were any other flavor but that's only because she doesn't really care for orange anything. I learned something new on that one. My son tells me that the orange was a little too strong but he liked it anyway. The 3 year old only had a couple of bites and then was done, but I'm pretty sure he liked it. I'm thinking my daughter has a point though, I bet it really would be good with any flavor you prefer. As for me, I'm sticking with the orange.
Super easy to make and it keeps for a really long time, so I definitely recommend you make this. It would be especially great for parties or family a get together where a lot of people will be.
Orange Cream Freezer Dessert
Once again we had another night of baseball and needed something quick, but filling. I decided to go with the copycat Chick-fil-A bites. Now this one is a tough one for me to judge because technically I've never eaten their bites before. I have had their chicken sandwich and right away loved their recipe. So, I'm assuming that the bites are similar.
Putting the marinade took all of 5 minutes to put together and letting it sit in the fridge for 2-4 hours was definitely something I could handle on a day like today. Once it came time to actually frying them in the pan, that also took a matter of minutes. I'd say I had my entire meal put together in 20 minutes... perfect!
The bites themselves were really good. I could definitely tell that they were very close to the original. Maybe just a little more pickle juice or more powder sugar in the breading and it possibly would have nailed it. The kids all enjoyed them and said they would definitely eat them again. We have a winner!!!! I didn't make the honey mustard dipping sauce since none of us would have eaten it anyway. I ate them plain while my son dipped them in bbq sauce. I served them with a side salad and baked potatoes. Maybe not the healthiest of meals, but it sure hit the spot. It didn't feel too heavy at all.
Overall I'm giving this two thumbs up and recommend you try it as well.
Copycat Chick-fil-A Bites
Oh we have a winner!!! Talk about crowd pleaser! This was so yummy and everyone loved it. I thought I needed to put more sauce in it, but everyone else thought it was great just the way it was. I guess that goes back to me being picky...
At first I became a little frustrated while making this, but that's only because I couldn't get the dough to work properly. I consider myself new to cooking when it comes to a few techniques and that's hard to admit. The actual recipe was a little vague on exactly what dough to use, but someone had commented saying they used refrigerated dough and it worked fine. To my surprise, when I got to the store nothing said loaf dough. I went for the next best thing and got two things of refrigerated pizza dough... I'm sure someone is laughing at me right about now. Anyway, when I started getting everything set up I realized that one dough wasn't going to be enough and so I opened the second only to discover that they don't really knead together very well. I pulled and stretched and tossed this dough like it was going out of style, but it kept wanting to go back to its original form. After walking away for a minute (out of frustration) I came back to dough that was a little more willing to cooperate. Once I got past that, everything was incredibly easy to put together.
My son instructed me that I definitely need to make this more often and I agree. Finally a recipe that I don't feel I need to change. We all highly enjoyed this. I was going to also serve a side salad, but forgot to get it at the store. It was fine all by itself though and very filling as well. I'm going to sleep well tonight that's for sure. Oh and if you're curious, it goes really well with a bottle of Resling :)
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931746443/
I've had one of those days where I'm feeling like super mom. I've gotten so much done around the house and I've got a wonderful Pinterest dinner planned for myself, the kids, and an old friend. It's just all around a really great day so far. I had the great idea of trying another Pinterest suggestion real quick for the kids... The timing was perfect because as they walked thru the front door, I was just finishing up. Boy were they surprised.
This is one of those things you think to yourself "why didn't I think of that". The only issue was that I didn't cook some of them all the way through, so watch that. I'm still a beginner with deep frying things, but I'm a huge lover of deep fried foods ha ha. My kids now are in love. I can see this becoming a Christmas Eve tradition. My head is spinning with ideas such as dipped in chocolate :)
I'm suggesting when you've got a sweet tooth and want that "fix" now, make these! I have to admit, I've already snuck 3 of these myself. I'm also confessing that I snuck these AFTER telling my kids no more because I didn't want it to ruin their dinner... they're that good.
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931739971/
I'm starting to think that I'm just a really picky eater. Ok, I've always been a picky eater. I've also always been a trusting person, so maybe that's the real problem. There were so many comments on this recipe stating how amazing it was and everyone seemed so excited about it. Naturally, I HAD to try it for myself. It's not that it was bad by any means, but it definitely wasn't as great as I had expected.
As always, I got overly excited to get back into the kitchen and try yet another new dish. I knew I didn't have much time since it was another night of baseball, so with the time crunch this dish was perfect. It was super easy to make and only took 30 minutes to cook. Another bonus to that was there was very little clean up... a big favorite of mine. I knew I was taking a risk because none of my kids like tomatoes, but they're old enough now that they can just pick out the pieces they don't like. My daughter didn't like it at all, but ate most of it to be polite. She and I both loaded it with sour cream just to give it some extra flavor. My son said that he liked it a lot, BUT he only ate maybe half of it. I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to hurt my feelings. I've told them that I need their honest opinions for my blog, but he's just that type. My 3 year old son mainly picked out the Doritos and wanted to be done, go figure.
For me I just felt that it was lacking something. I enjoyed the crunch of the Doritos mixed in with the chicken and sauce, but it was almost too much of the same flavors. Nothing really stood out to me. Will I make it again? Probably. Just next time I will have to put my own twist to it. I will say that its a very filling dish and that part I love. Usually by now I'm wanting a snack, but I really don't think I'd have room and dinner was 5 hours ago.
I guess looking back, I can see how people would like this and I'd suggest trying it for yourself. Like any food, you can always think of something you'd personally do different.
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931707461/
I'm officially 2 for 2 now. The first two recipes I tried weren't mind blowing, but tonight is a completely different story! From the moment I started setting out my ingredients I just felt good about cooking this. Again, my kitchen is really becoming my zen area or happy place. It seems to be the only place in the house where all I think about it what I'm doing. I don't get distracted with work, bills, household chores, friends drama, or anything other than cooking. I still can't figure out what has all of a sudden made this so enjoyable because I've always loved to cook. Its just now, I'm cooking with passion.
Back to the recipe... Very tasty and all of the kids said they loved the chicken. Several of them didn't even eat their rice that the chicken was placed on, they just wanted the chicken! For me personally, I think next time when I make it I'm going to cut the garlic down to half of the suggested amount though. It was a little strong, but I know there are tons of people who love love love their garlic. It was still VERY good though. I'm also a huge fan of anything I can cook in the crockpot because it just gives me more time to focus on other things. Now this recipe only cooks for 4 hours, so its not something you can just toss in the crockpot before work and expect to come home to a finished meal.
I give my Asian themed dinner a two thumbs up and I highly recommend you trying this as well.
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931721085/
Triumph!!!!!
Finally we have a winner. This is definitely a recipe that I will be making over and over again. For the past several years I've always taken the same salad to social gatherings, but I think I've now found my go to salad! Yes, it was that good. There isn't anything I would change, but now that I think about it... I bet adding some chicken would be amazing as well. Note to self, try chicken next time.
The day started off a little rocky, but definitely ended on a high note. It's amazing to me how quickly my kitchen has become my zen area. My house had its yearly inspection by the property management and that's always a little stressful. Strangers coming into your home and judging things, I don't like that feeling. They said the house looked great though except for a few weeds in the back yard, but I can live with that. Once they left, I immediately wrote out my shopping list and started focusing on my next meal. To add to my joy, my sister and her two boys came over for dinner as well. I also colored her hair, so it was all around a busy but enjoyable day. Then right as we are starting to dish up, the neighbor kid decides to join us. It's actually a good thing because there was a whole lot of food and there are still leftovers!
This salad was quick, easy, and light. One of those foods that leave you feeling just a little healthier, even though I'm really not sure of the whole fat content. Something I've never paid attention to. I figure if it tastes good, eat it!
Don't just take my word for it though.... Check it out!!!
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931718040/
Since almost every child LOVES chocolate milk, I thought I've definitely got to try this homemade Nesquik. The original author claimed that it tastes just like Nesquik, but better because it only has 3 ingredients. Now we all know how expensive Nesquik can be, so once again I'm thinking to myself that this could be a really great thing... I was wrong. It wouldn't dissolve in the milk, it just all kind of clumped up and stayed floating on the surface. I didn't personally try it, but my kids said that it tasted "just ok" and they could definitely tell the difference. It could possibly be the simple fact that it wouldn't mix with the milk though. My daughter stirred hers for so long that her dinner became almost cold, but it still didn't mix.
So I guess you could say that I'm not exactly off to a great start with my Pinterest recipes. At least I'm having a good time while doing it though. Deep down I think the kids really enjoy trying new recipes just as much as I enjoy making them. These will be memories that we all look back and laugh upon. When they're older the truth will come out and they will start laughing by remembering the time their mom got on her Pinterest kick and made them eat some really weird stuff. Ha ha I can almost hear it now.
If any of you try some of these recipes, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.
Homemade Nesquik
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate baking powder
Pinch of salt
I've got to say that I was a little disappointed in this recipe, especially being the first one I've tried from Pinterest. Now it wasn't horrible, but there are definitely things that needed to be improved upon. For starters it was really bland, so I suggest adding salt and pepper... lots of it! And I think putting it over the rice just made it that much more blah. My kids and I agree that it would have tasted better on top some mashed potatoes. If you insist on rice, maybe use some of the chicken flavored rice instead. The chicken itself tasted wonderful though! After soaking up all those flavors in the crockpot for almost 6 hours, yep that was by far the best part.
This recipe fit the tone of the day perfectly though. It was a cool breezy day out, perfect for some warm crockpot cooking! Among the many things that had to be done today, my son also had a baseball game this evening and the crockpot saved the day. As always, we enjoyed a warm meal together at the table and you can't ask for more than that. Overall it wasn't a complete bust and I'm sure that I'll make it again, but with my own twist.
If you want to check this one out for yourself, I have included the link. I will try to do that with all the recipes I'm talking about.
http://pinterest.com/pin/568509152931707489/
Like many out there, I have decided to give this blog thing a try. My little sister actually inspired me, though she blogs for a totally different reason... a better one. She's raising awareness for Cystic Fibrosis, where as I'm just talking about life and cooking.
Quick little back story of me...
I'm a single mom of 4 and I've been blessed with the best children ever! I recently became single once again and I've found myself diving into the internet. I've been looking at anything and everything that might be good for my kids, myself, our house, and just our life in general. Once thing that I noticed really brought a spark back into my life was cooking again and I'm not talking about Hamburger Helper cooking either.
The one thing that has always kept the kids and I close is our meals. Lately I've been slacking in that area and I can tell its affected the kids. Time to dust myself off and get back in that kitchen. At dinner time I make sure that TV's and other distractions are off, so that way we can all just focus on each other. I've always cherished these moments, even from when I was a child. I've developed a routine that not only do we eat together, but I also make everyone point out at least one good thing about their day. That way it helps them see that you can always find something good, no matter what happens.
Wow I'm not sure how well I'm going to be at this blogging because I feel like I have rambled so much already. Let me just sum it up. My intentions for this blog is I've recently discovered Pinterest. I've set a goal to cook every recipe I pin! Sometimes in life the best part of the day can be stepping back in time and making a truly home cooked meal. I will be keeping you updated about my recipes and discoveries...and probably throwing in some life as well.
I hope you enjoy because I'm already very excited!
