Hard Baked Eggs... huh?

So, in the land of Pinterest we often pin things "for later". Occasionally, when "later" rolls around I actually remember to look them up. One of my "laters" is Easter. Pssst, guess what? Easter is TOMORROW! Holy crap, that snuck up on me! So it's time to decorate eggs with the kids. Here's the thing- I really don't like boiling the eggs. It stresses me out! What if I cook them too long, not long enough, they crack, etc. There's a billion different ways to do it if you google and a lot of people just tell me they wing it every time. Whoa! This girl needs a step by step recipe!

So I had repinned this one thing from "Greetings From The Asylum" about baking your "hard boiled" eggs. That's right, BAKING them. I had pinned it (a couple times, I think), in hopes I'd remember o go back before Easter and look into this method. So tonight before dinner I sat down and read the post explaining what this is all about. Thank you, Alton Brown!

There were many comments on the original post asking if baked eggs could be used for dying at Easter time. No one knew! The original Blogger had only ever made them for recipes. Now was as good a time as any to find out! I baked my one dozen eggs according to the directions.

Alton Brown's Baked Eggs

Prep Time: 2 min.
Total Time: 32 min.
Ingredients:
2 - 4 dozen eggs
DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Position the oven racks in the center of the oven.
2. Place the eggs parallel to the bars on the racks.  (see picture below)
3. Place a baking sheet pan in the bottom of the oven (just in case an egg breaks).  I have never had a mess in my oven in all the times I have made this recipe.  I have had eggs break, but they cooked inside when they do so there is no mess
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. When the eggs are done, fill a large bowl with ice water and move the eggs into the bowl.  I do this a few minutes ahead of time to make sure the water is COLD!
6. Peel the eggs as soon as they're cool enough to handle, then return them to the ice water to thoroughly chill.  I think that the eggs are easier to peel if they are allowed to chill in the water for at least 10 minutes.  Also, I peel the eggs under cool running water.  

 This recipe works best with the freshest eggs you can find.

Before I let my Pumpkin & Junebug start dying, I figured I'd try one egg to make sure the process worked for me, just in general. Then I would know if it was the baking that messed up the dying or vice versa. Holy crap! That egg I tasted was amazing! Peeling it under cold running water made it so easy and it was PERFECT. I'll never boil another "hard boiled" egg!

The kids went ahead and dyed the eggs and they look perfectly normal! This pin definitely came through for me!

Bunny Bait

First off, man have we gotten behind on our project 52 posts! Don't worry- good things still happening just need to post. =)

Couldn't resist taking a break to share another Pinterest find! Tonight we made "bunny bait"!  It's so cute and SO easy. I'm assuming it'll be super yummy when we finally dive into it, too!

First gather your popcorn (popping your own would be better, but they only had buttery when I ran into Target), pretzel sticks, m&ms and white chocolate:

Find some helpers, but make sure they don't eat all the ingredients, like mine!

Mix it all in the bowl (break the pretzels in half) and then pour the melted chocolate on top and stir to mix well. Spread it on wax paper to cool and break apart to enjoy!

Thanks to Sing For Your Supper for the recipe!!!

Pancakes!

Tonight we had pancakes for dinner! I made them from scratch with this recipe from allrecipes.com

Original recipe makes 8 pancakes
(I doubled it and got more than 16, but I did make the kids' pancakes smaller)

•  3/4 cup milk
•  2 tablespoons white vinegar
•  1 cup all-purpose flour
•  2 tablespoons white sugar
•  1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1 egg
•  2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla. SO YUMMY! And fluffy!

Veggie Juice

Today after a big trip to Costco to get more produce we were ready to make some more juice! We invested in a lot more veggies this time and I found a recipe on the Omega website. This veggie juice didn't seem to call for all that much, so I didn't think it would make a lot. I doubled the recipe for us:

Veggie Juice

• 1 cup of spinach
• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 carrots
• 1/2 apple

yield: 20oz (WHEN THE RECIPE IS DOUBLED)

Juice cucumbers with their skins on. The dark green skin is a great source of chlorophyll, a phytochemical that can help build red blood cells. Make sure to wash them before juicing.

While it was still a good juice, it wasn't my favorite. The cucumber smell and taste were very noticable. I think if we make it ahead I would double the apple or maybe even add another fruit. Also, drink it right away because if you let it sit you'll notice the juice brown the way a cut apple would.

Juice #3

3rd day of juicing!! Another winner. We keep upping the amount of produce we use and today we sort of made the pitcher overflow. Oops. Maybe we'll scale it back just a wheeee bit next time.

CarPearWi Juice
Carrot, Pear, Kiwi Juice

• 8 carrots
• 6 pears
• 6 kiwis

yield: 40oz

Juice #2

Since our first attempt at juice went so well, we increased the amount of fruits & veggies we used, in order to get a higher yield of juice. It was another yummy one!

CarStrawEarWi Juice

Carrot, Strawberry, Pear, Kiwi Juice

• 6 carrots
• 6 large strawberries
• 6 kiwis
• 1 pear 

yield: 25oz

Adventures in Juicing!!

Due to some recent health issues of mine we've revisited the topic of juicing. It'll be good for weightloss, but also just an easy way to incorporate more fresh fruits & veggies. And avoiding added sugars and carbs. It's not going to be easy, since I love food...and junk food. But I'm really committed to getting better things in my system!

Yesterday we went to Bed Bath & Beyond, and using one of their awesome 20% off coupons we purchased a Breville juicer! We used it for the first time tonight... ah-maz-ing! First, that thing has power! Second, we have NEVER juiced before so we weren't really sure on fruit/veggie combos to make a yummy juice. It was SO simple!

Here's our first step into juicing:

CarAppEar Juice

• 4 carrots
• 1 large apple
• 1 pear

yield: 15oz of juice

It turned out so fantastic, my husband chugged most of it and I whipped up another batch right away! Our Pumpkin & Junebug even enjoyed a few sips =)

p52 | Week 3

I don't know if I should count this, because it's technically not so 'random' but I made dinner for a co-worker's family. He's been in and out of the hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy and it's been a rough few weeks for his family, especially since they have little ones. A few co-workers signed up for days to make meals for the family, so I jumped on the opportunity.

I made what has become my go-to make ahead meal for other families. (I've also given it to families with new babies.) I made cheesy chicken enchiladas, a recipe I found on Pinterest over a year ago. It's pretty easy and SUPER yummy. In fact, I made a double batch, so that my own family could have it for dinner the next night, too!

It's super easy to give as a meal paired with chips & salsa. I also threw in a cake for this family that I had picked up in the bakery when grocery shopping. =)

So, that's all. Nothing major but I think it's great to help out whenever you can!

p52 | Week 1

Project 52: Week 1

As I posted previously, I was really excited to start this Project 52: 52 Random Acts of Kindness. I've been talking it up a lot with my Pumpkin (Junebug just stares at me and laughs...) and trying to explain to her why were doing this. At first she was confused,  thinking we were giving Christmas presents, but now she's starting to understand more and getting excited, too! She's even come up with a few ideas of her own for the Random Acts, which I think is just awesome.

For Week 1, it was a little last minute, but I'd planned it that way. I wanted the first one to be for the kids' teachers at their school/daycare. We didn't go back from break until the 7th so that's why it was the tail end of week 1.

I created this printable of cards. There are lots of free printables out there already, if you just do a search for 'project 52' or 'random acts of kindness', but I wanted to create an original =) and it's available for you to download, as well.

So, I cut up the cards and mixed up some goodies (Tastefully Simple's Blue Ribbon Blueberry Bars, yum!) and in the morning we delivered them to the kids' teachers. Pumpkin was so excited and spent the whole day asking each teacher she saw if they'd had a special snack from us! Week 1: success!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I pin, literally, hundreds of recipes on Pinterest. Obviously, I don't have them time to make them all, but I do feel accomplished when I get the time to try one! Tonight for dinner we had Parmesan Crusted Chicken. My favorite part about this one? EASY!!! Only four ingredients and so quick. I pinned the recipe from The Enchanted Cook and I highly recommend this one for a quick go-to flavorful dish.

Photo credit: The Enchanted Cook

Merry Christmas to ME!

So for Christmas my hubby's 2 brothers chipped in and got me a breadmaker like I requested. YAY! Tonight I made my first loaf! I went simple, just plain white bread to make sure I couldn't screw it up. I really want to try some cinnamon raisin bread next ... yum! =)

Life style changes

Things have been changing around our house! Last week my husband watched "Food Inc" and "Food Matters" and immediately made the decision to become a vegetarian. I already am a semi-vegetarian, have been since I was 12. I don't eat red meat, but I do eat chicken and fish. Now this was a condition placed on my becoming a vegetarian by my mother. Once I moved out I no longer ate these items. Once I married my husband, though, I began re-integrating these proteins into the recipes I made, simply so that I wouldn't have to cook multiple meals. Now, I'm excited by the prospect of natural, healthy (organic when possible) meals for my entire family!

I'm also getting into sewing a lot. I would love to one day be able to make a majority of the clothing for my children. For now, I'm keeping it simple with small patterns and crafts, but the prospects excite me!

Tatefully Simple

I cannot believe I have not yet posted about Tastefully Simple!! I absolutely LOVE their products. If you don't know, Tastefully Simple is a home based business (like Tupperware) that sells easy to prepare food. All of their things only require 1-2 basic ingredients to be added and then you're cooking! It's SO wonderful. And, seriously, the food is SO yummy! Here are some of my top picks:

"Our signature bread mix is so simple to make - no kneading, no rising time, nothing to add but beer or any carbonated beverage. In a matter of minutes, your house will be filled with the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked bread. The perfect companion to our dips and soups. Kosher. (0g trans fat per serving)"

"Smooth, gooey warm dip with Cheddar cheese and a hint of chives. Just add cream cheese, heat gently, and enjoy with bread, crackers or chips. Also makes a deliciously cheesy topper for baked potatoes. Kosher. Each packet makes about 1 cup dip."

"Two flavor favorites come together! Just add mayonnaise and sour cream. Serve as a dip with chips and fresh veggies, or spread on chicken sandwiches, BLT wraps and grilled burgers. Also delicious stirred into crab or chicken salad for summer entertaining. Each packet makes about 1 cup dip."

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

I made this for dinner tonight, and true to its name, it is an easy recipe!

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut up, skin removed *I used 1 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin package from Costco
2 Tblsp. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 Tsp salt
1 jar (16 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
3/4 cup carrots
1 cup elbow macaroni or rotini *I used bowtie pasta =)
3 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
In a 10-inch skillet, sauté chicken in butter until golden brown. *At this point I also seasoned the chicken with seasoning salt, garlic salt, chicken bouillon and poultry seasoning. Add onions and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Drain off any excess fat; add salt, spaghetti sauce and water. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add carrots and pasta. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes longer, until carrots are tender and pasta is done. *At this point I added a little more of the previously mentioned salt and seasonings, to taste.
Garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6

5 Ingredient Chicken Fingers

I got this recipe from my 5 ingredient recipe cookbook, which I LOVE! Super simple and super yummy!

Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2-4)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup mashed potato flakes
1 egg*
olive oil

Flatten the chicken breasts and then cut into 1-inch strips. First roll the chicken in the egg or egg substitute [*I ran out of eggs so I actually used low fat ranch dressing, which turned out awesome!]. Then roll the strips in the bread crumb/potato flake mixture. Cook in the oil in a frying pan. Yum!

McCormick Bag 'n Season

I always try to have a home cooked, heathly and well rounded meal on the table for my family- but I gotta tell ya, finding the time between chasing a toddler, grading and doing my own homework for grad school can be tough!! So, this post is going to sound like a commercial, but last night I made a chicken and rice dinner with a McCormick Bag 'n Season mix. SO easy!!! Especially if you're a lacking in the creativity when it comes to cooking. Anything else I can do, seriously, but if I don't have a recipe.... oy! Anyways, these things are great!

Fruity Sweet Potatoes

Here's a super duper yummy slow cooker recipe I tried out for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it and of course it was so easy for me, since I just threw it in the crock pot!

• 2 lbs. (about 6 medium sized) sweet potatoes, or yams I only used 3 large and it worked fine
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 tsp. cinammon
• chopped nuts, optional

1. Peel sweet potatoes if you wish. Cut into cubes or slices. Place in slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix together applesauce, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Spoon over potatoes.
3. Cover and cook on Low 6-8 house, or until potatoes are tender. *I was short on time and did them on high 3 hours and it worked out fine!
4. Mash potatoes and sauce together if you wish with a large spoon -or spoon potaties into serving dish and top with the sauce.
5. Sprinkle with nuts, if you want.

prep time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 6-8 hours (low)
ideal slow cooker size: 3- to 4qt.
Makes 6 servings **according to my recipe. BUT mine served at least twice that plus had some left, I guess it depends on how much is considered a serving!!

Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken

We're in the process of moving and since I spend my days packing and cleaning I was looking for a slow cooker recipe to try out today. Found this one online this morning, tweaked it a bit, because I didn't have some of the things (Worcestershire sauce) and hubby doesn't like some (mustard), and it still came out DELICIOUS! I highly recommend this yummy, yummy sandwich recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 c. ketchup
• 1/2 c. maple flavored syrup
• 2 tbsp. prepared mustard (I substituted with Hot & Spicy Mayo)
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (I substituted soy sauce)
• 2 tsp. lemon juice (I omitted because I didn't have any!)
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder (I omitted because I didn't have any!)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 4 boneless, skinned chicken breasts

Directions:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker/Crock Pot and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or until chicken is done. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce. Place on buns for sandwiches or serve over hot rice. Serves 4 to 6. (I cooked the 7 hours, and then shreded the chicken and returned it to the sauce on "warm" for the final hour, came out GREAT and I served it on hoagie rolls, but the hubby also had a third(!) helping over rice) I highly recommend it, this was soooo good.

Recipe taken from slowandsimple.com

Baby food Containers

If I didn't mention it already, I'm a momma who makes all my little one's baby food. It's something I'm pretty proud of and it's so easy and affordable. Anyways! I was doing the easy way of freezing the food in ice trays, which gave me the perfect cube size portions, and then storing them in ziploc bags. It was easy enough because we never went anywhere, lol. Well, now we are traveling a lot more and she will be going to "daycare" at her Lola's house. So, now we need portable food. I've invested in 4 of these. Stay Fresh Baby food containers.

The best baby food storage system you'll find — one that's freezable, portable, and even stackable! These single-serving containers keep homemade baby food fresher than others (and won't pop open in your diaper bag, either). The secret? Secure, screw-on, locking lids. Plus, the cups snap together for space-saving stacking. In fact, the 7" organizer tray even fits in most freezer doors. Microwave and dishwasher safe. Includes twelve 2 oz. containers with lids and tray.

I've just begun using them, but I really like them! They're secure, stackable, and easy to clean! I'm definitely happy with my investment.

Creamy Swiss Spinach Dip

So afterschool today we had a party to reveal our "secret pals". All year we've had secret pals from the PTO and they deliver little presents to the teachers through out the year. It's a neat little program. Anyways, today was the day we found out who our pals were and we all enjoyed a little potluck. I made a Creamy Swiss Spinach Dip, which got rave reviews! This is the second time I've made it and everyone just loves it.

From my Reader's Digest Taste of Home 5 Ingredient Cookbook

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 package (9 ounces) frozen creamed spinach, thawed
• 2 cups diced Swiss cheese
• 2 unsliced round loaves (1 pound each) Italian or French bread

In a small microwave safe mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in spinach and swiss cheese. Cover and microwave on high for 6-8 minutes or until cheese melted, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cut a 4-in. circle in the center of one loaf of bread. Remove bread, leaving 1 in. at the bottom of loaf. Cut removed bread and the second loaf into 1-1/2 in. cubes. Spoon hot spinach dip into bread shell. Serve with bread cubes.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

Personally, I just put it in a bowl, I'm not talented enough to cut a bread bowl!