Doesn't this look like the perfect way to start a beautiful spring day.
Or, how about a garden themed brunch for a group of giggling girls.
All you need is a metal flower shaped cookie cutter. Pop it into your pan and pour the pancake batter into the center, making sure you spread it into all of the petals. Tip: spray the cookie cutter with a little Pam so that before you flip the pancake you can slip the cookie cutter off first with a pair of tongs.
I love teaching the kids how to cook. I think it's very important to get them into the kitchen from an early age and thank goodness they love to help out. Jayden has no trouble baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch, making fruit smoothies or whipping up whole wheat penne with pesto for dinner.
Marisol didn't want to get messy tonight so she was a little more hesitant to help with this dish, but did give it a go when I told her to make the meatballs just like she would make play-doh balls. Flynn however dove right in.
And the result:
Now I have to give credit where credit is due. I'd had some ground turkey in the freezer for a week or so and was wondering what I should do with it when I happened upon a discussion on Facebook with Cheryl about meatloaf, which turned into a request for one of her friends to post a recipe for turkey meatballs. Unfortunately I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make the ones that were suggested so I decided to throw a few things into a bowl and see how it turned out. I'm also not one for measuring, so if you plan on making these, I apologize in advance.
Ingredients:Ground turkey
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 onion (finely chopped)
2 eggs
thyme (approx 1 tbs)
Everyday seasoning (Trader Joe's have a great one that comes in a grinder)
salt & pepper to taste
Breakfast on a Saturday.
Perfect for Valentine's Day.
Even better for every day.
"I heart you" toast stamper - Amazon $39.95 - unfortunately it has been discontinued according to a lot of gift shops I normally purchases quirky gifts from, so of course the price has been hiked up since I purchased it. If this is too expensive Fred Flare have a "LOVE" stamp for $6
3 cups penne pasta, uncooked
¼ cup KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing, divided
4 small boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
½ tsp. each garlic powder & black pepper
4 oz (1/2 package) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
2 cups grape tomatoes
½ cup KRAFT shredded parmesan cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
My modifications: Whole Wheat Penne, 1/2 cup KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing and Gourmet Garden Basil in place of fresh basil (which was out of stock in my local store)
Prep time: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings
To make:
1. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, cover. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done (165º F). Remove chicken from skillet, cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe out skillet with paper towel.
2. Add remaining dressing, broth, and seasonings to skillet; cook 3 to 4 min. or until heated through. Add Neufchatel; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until Neufchatel is melted. Stir in tomatoes, cook 3 min.
3. Drain pasta. Add to ingredients in skillet with Parmesan and basil, mix well. Serve topped with chicken.
My modifications: I marinated the chicken using the KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing and had Randy cook it on the grill outside.
This recipe rocks. It's super quick to make, especially if you send the hubby outside to grill the chicken while you make the pasta and sauce, and it's delicious. Even the picky twins ate it and for the first time ever Marisol did not request that the 'yucky skin stuff' be removed from the chicken - she normally only eats the white meat and everything around it must be cut off (unless it's chicken nuggets, of course).
The original recipe was provided by the Love My Philly team.
Feel free to follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Disclosure: I was provided coupons and a cookbook by the LoveMyPhilly team.
My contribution to champagne brunch with a wonderful group of women.
FILO PASTRIES
Mini Fillo Shells filled with scrambled egg, spring onion, Canadian bacon and corn
VOL-AU-VENTS
Mini Vol-au-vents filled with scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, tomato and ham.
For each dish, the scrambled egg was made with a little milk and cream.
Once filled, the shells were baked in the oven at 325 for approximately 8 minutes.
All of these mini cupcakes were made using a basic white cake mix. I added one cup of pumpkin puree, an extra 1/4 cup of water and a tablespoon of cinnamon sugar to the mix. This makes a little more than a standard cake mix, but it also makes 72 mini cupcakes.
All of the decorating is extremely easy.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES
To decorate: Apply icing and purple sprinkles. Then, hand-write the letters to spell Happy Halloween on white Necco Wafers using a purple Food Writer marker.
SPIDER CUPCAKES
To decorate: Apply icing and orange sprinkles. Cut inch long strips of black licorice laces and place them on the mini cupcake for spider legs. Top with a black raspberry. To make eyes add 2 spots of red icing using a decorating icing pen.
SKULL CUPCAKES
To decorate: Apply icing and black sprinkles. Melt White Candy Melts according to the instructions on the packet. Pour into a Skulls Candy Mold and leave to set in the refrigerator. Once set, pop candy out of the mold. Put a little red icing into the eye sockets using a decorating icing pen.
*Disclaimer: Necco Wafers provided by Necco
This cheesecake is as easy or as hard to make as you want it to be. Personally I was trying to see what the Jello no bake cheesecake was like. You see, at my kids pre-school you aren't allowed to take baked goods for birthday parties. Instead you can either provide a box of Jello No Bake Cheesecake or a platter of fruit. For the twins birthday I provided fruit, but I also purchased a couple of boxes of No Bake Cheesecake that the teachers are going to use for Halloween. Seeing as I being the slightly OCD party planner that I am, if the school won't let me experiment with the Cheesecake, then I would do it for my own kids at home. Personally, I think this Cheesecake Ghost would be delicious if you made pumpkin cheesecake from scratch. Delicious. Although this little guy is still pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself.
Ingredients:
1. Follow the directions on the No Bake Cheesecake box.
2. Before refrigerating, put the marshmallow creme into a microwave safe bowl and soften for about 25 seconds. Carefully smoothe a little over each ghost.
3. Pop the ghosts into the refrigerator for about an hour.
4. Gently cut the foil surround off each cheesecake.
5. Add the M&M mouth and eyes and serve immediately.
I think I have a small obsession with food.
Anywho, I made these two dishes today.
Stuffed Mushroom Salad: Family Circle Step-By-Step Fabulous Salads
Delicious and so easy to make.
From left to right
All recipes from Martha StewartGoat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Crostini
White-Bean and Caper Crostini (which you may notice I made with Pinto-Beans because my supermarket was out of White-Beans)
I love the summer.
Summer for me means spending a lot of time outdoors with the kids and forcing the hubby to grill. I swear he does the BEST steak and salmon on the grill. Truly he does. Plus, with him grilling it means I only have to whip up a quick side salad. We especially love having people over in the summertime for a barbecue.
This was our dinner yesterday. Yummo. So delish. Hubby grilled corn and steaks and I whipped up a super easy Shrimp Macaroni Salad.
There is a point to this post, aside from me touting my husbands grilling skills.
You see, I am one of the new #GNO (Girls Night Out on Twitter) Ambassadors. #GNO happens every Tuesday night from 9pm-11pm EST and there is always an after party, especially with the girls on the west coast. This week’s topic is Simple Summer Meals and there is going to be an awesome giveaway sponsored by Campbell’s including a gift basket and Flip camera. What could be better, a little recipe swapping, a giveaway and chatting late into the night with the gals.
So please come on over to Mom It Forward to RSVP and get all of the details.
Looking forward to tweeting with you.
Looking for gifts?
Craft for a cause
