Blog Parties!

Who doesn't love a party?  What about a Blog Party?  For those of you who haven't heard of it, a Blog Party is hosted on blog and invites everyone to post a picture and a link to your own blog.  Granted, that explanation doesn't really sound super exciting, but it is a great way to bring more readers to your own blog and also get some really great ideas from other Bloggers!

Here is ongoing list of Blog Parties that I participate in:

Monday:

Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Monday
Make a Food "e" Friend Monday


Tuesday:
Made From Scratch Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table

Wednesday:
Recipes I can't wait to try
What's Cooking Wednesday


Thursday:
Making it with Allie!
Recipe Swap Thursdays
It's a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday


Friday:

Sweet Tooth Friday
Friday Potluck
Feature Yourself Friday
Foodie Friday
http://www.bigklittlea.com/
Bake with Bizzy

Saturday:
Sweets for a Saturday
Whatcha Got Weekend

Sunday:

  Just click on the buttons to be taken to that party! 

   



Dinners - Round 2!

My husband and I really prefer homemade meals and try to avoid fast food and prepackaged foods whenever possible.  This can be a bit time-consuming, but I don't mind because I love to cook!  However, if I am going to take the time to cook from scratch, I like to cook in larger quantities.  This results in a lot of leftovers for just two people. 

Until recently, we might have eaten the same thing two days in a row, but by that third day...we are pushing the leftovers to the side in search of something more interesting. 

For example...A few days ago, I made Italian Beef in the crockpot (3 1/2 lbs).  It was really good that night and Terry even shared some with his work crew the next day for lunch.  But we were still left with a good sized Ziploc container full of the stuff and fairly tired of eating it anymore.  I knew that I wanted to use the leftovers to create a new dinner, but wasn't sure what direction to go!  I checked out the pantry and found Pace Picante Sauce and taco shells.  Perfect!  I was going to make beef tacos with the Italian Beef leftovers.

It was simple.  I just added the leftover Italian Beef and some Pace Picante sauce to a saucepan and heated it through on the stovetop.  I baked the taco shells and gathered all of the fixin's for tacos.  It literally took me just under 10 minutes to make a really great dinner!

This meal inspired me to find more "redos" for my recipes!  I hope to add this as it's own section on this blog as I create more  "Dinners - Round 2".

"Drumstick" Ice Cream

My husband is slightly addicted to ice cream.  I am more of a cake & cookie girl, but I decided to try making his favorite Dreyers Drumstick Ice Cream.  The price in the store keeps going up to the point that I refuse to buy it if it is not on sale.  I will not pay $5 for a half gallon of ice cream!!

I have made my Decadent Strawberry ice cream last summer using my old rock salt/ice (and really loud) ice cream maker.  This was just like the one that I grew up with, so it was good enough for me!  Until, I found a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker at Costco for just $29!  This is a cute countertop model that doesn't need any of the extras (ice, rock salt) that traditional ice cream makers need.  You just pop the bowl in the freezer for at least 12 hours and you are ready to make 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream in about 30 minutes!

I mixed the ingredients and added to the machine to work while dinner was in the oven.  It was super easy!  And my husband said that the ice cream was hands-down better than the Dreyers!!

Ingredients

4 whole Sugar Ice Cream Cones

1 bottle Magic Shell Chocolate Ice Cream Topping

2 cups Heavy Cream, divided
¾ cups Sugar
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Whole Milk
3-¾ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
⅓ cups Salted Spanish Peanuts

Directions

 

Place your 4 sugar cones into the freezer for several hours or overnight so they are nice and cold.  I would recommend putting them in a ziploc bag.

Then, when you are ready to prepare your ice cream, squirt a bit of Magic Shell chocolate ice cream topping into each cold cone and swirl it around. You can also use a butter knife to spread the chocolate layer evenly inside of the cones.  Return to freezer while making the ice cream to allow the chocolate to harden.

Pour 1 cup heavy cream into a saucepan with the sugar and salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the remaining cream, whole milk, and vanilla extract. Chill the mixture thoroughly in an ice bath or in the refrigerator. 

Tip: Pour the mixture into a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator.  It will make pouring the liquid into the ice cream maker MUCH easier...and cleaner!

When cream mixture is chilled, pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Remove ice cream cones from the freezer and break into pieces.* Return to freezer until you need them.

During the last few minutes of churning, add the Spanish peanuts and broken up pieces of chocolate-lined sugar cones.

*The only complaint that my husband had is that they sugar cone pieces were a little soggy. I think that next time, I will break up the cones and cover completely in the chocolate before freezing. It is my hope that if they are completely encased in the chocolate and frozen, it will keep them from getting soggy!

Transfer ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze until ice cream reaches the desired hardness. If you’d like an additional swirl of chocolate throughout, you can swirl extra Magic Shell ice cream topping into the ice cream before putting it into the freezer.

Enjoy!!


Recipe from http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/nutty-buddy-ice-cream/
can also be found at http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/nutty-buddy-ice-cream/#comment-5909

My cooking "To Do" list

I have to admit that I spend much more time that I should reading and searching other food blogs for cooking ideas and recipes.  I really get tired of making the same things for dinner over and over. 

So in the interest of saving paper and printer ink, I am going to keep an on-going list of recipes that I find online and/or want to eventually try.  Hopefully, I will find some keepers and will post them with my usual pictures and descriptions.

Here we go!

Beverages
- Iced Coffee from the Pioneer Woman
- Southern Sweet Tea

Breakfast
- Breakfast Burritos for the freezer
- Banana Walnut Bread
- Buttermilk Biscuits

Main Dishes
- Thin Cracker Crust Pizza (I want to recreate Monical's pizza at home)
- Sliders in under a minute!
- Asian Beef Noodle Salad
- Thai-style Chicken Egg Rolls
- Deep Dish Margherita Pizza
- PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Huli Huli Chicken
- Cheeseburger Cups
- Make Your Own Chili Seasoning
- Pioneer Woman's "Mmm Sandwich"
- Marlboro Man Sandwich
- Portobello Proscuitto Burgers
- Short ribs with wine and cream

Side Dishes
- Gorgonzola Garlic Bread
- Potato Peel Chips

Appetizers


Desserts
- Pecan Pie Macaroons
- Orange/Lemon/Lime Sherbet
- Homemade Chocolate "Magic" Shell
- Honey Florentines
- Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
- Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies
- Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies from Cayucos, CA
- Red Velvet Cake in a jar
- Cake Box Cookies
- Samoas Doughnuts
- White Chocolate Walnut Blondies w/ Maple Butter Sauce
- Cherry Almond Cupcakes
- Homemade "Dilly" Bars
- Biscuit Tortoni

Misc.
- Sweet Potato Dog Treats
- "No Bake" Overnight Oats
- How to make butter in a Canning Jar

Crafts/Homegoods

- Outdoor firepit

Vodka Whipped Cream

I need a new reason to drink, like I need a hole in my head....But, here is a fun alcoholic treat that will be fun to experiment with!

Vodka Whipped Cream!

I first tried it at my sister's bachelorette party in Illinois a few months ago.  We just shot it straight into our mouths in the party bus on our bar crawl.  It definitely made for some interesting and hilarious photos....which I promised would not be posted online!

I finally tracked some down here in SoCal at Total Wines.  They had 5 different flavors - Vanilla, Chocolate, Cherry, Raspberry and Caramel.

They are a bit harsh to try straight if you havent' already had a few drinks to loosen up first.  So, I want to try them out in some mixed drinks or with jello shots.  If anyone has any ideas to try...let me know!

I will update this post after I have come up with some tasty concoctions!

Whoopie Pies

I love Whoopie Pies because they are really just miniature "cake sandwiches".  This is a fairly easy recipe that uses basic ingredients that I actually had on hand!  I just love when I don't have to make a trip to the grocery store just to try a new recipe.  These were the hands down winner in our 2009 Christmas Cookie Exchange (Melissa D.).  Melissa seems to win every year, but I am certainly not complaining!  She always seems to make one of my favorite cookies each year. 

I can't wait to try some variations of this recipe!  I am thinking Red Velvet, Pumpkin Spice, Coffee and Hazelnut....so many options!

Ingredients:

1 package devil's food cake mix (any brand)
1 small box (4 servings) instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 cup water


Filling
1 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups marshmallow cream "Fluff"
2 TB. milk



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the cake part of the Whoopie pies, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, butter, eggs and water in a large mixing bowl until just moistened.

Then beat on medium speed (scraping the bowl as needed) for 2 minutes or until light and thick.

Drop 2 heaping tablespoons of the batter at least 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.  My small cookie scoop is the perfect size for these pies!

Bake for 12-15 minutes.  The pies are done when they spring back when touched lightly.

Let the pies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.


Marshmallow "Fluff" Filling

While the pies are cooling, prepare the filling.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar.  Cream together in electric mixer.

Add in the vanilla, marshmallow cream "Fluff" and milk. 

Beat the filling mixture on high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

You can either spoon the filling onto one pie or you can fill a pastry bag and pipe onto the bottom pie.

Top the filling with a second pie and gently press to spread the filling towards the edges.

This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen Whoopie Pies.

This recipe posted in the "Sweets for a Saturday" blog post at http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/04/sweets-for-saturday-13.html#comment-form .  You should check it out!





 

Also seen here:

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Cake recipe from Melissa D.

Filling recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Whoopie-Pies-III/Detail.aspx

Puppy Beef Treats

I have been holding on to this recipe I found online for Beef Crunchies for at least 2 months.  I look for one ingredient, homemade foods to help ease my black lab's allergies.  What better way to narrow down the allergy than to make one ingredient foods?  And what dog doesn't love beef? 

This recipe is essentially beef jerky cut into small bites.  To keep this affordable, just keep an eye on the discounted meat area in your grocery store.  The meat is still good, but probably needs to be used that day.  Today, I found 3 steaks in the discounted area to finally give this recipe a try!

Ingredients:

Any quantity of beef steaks (ground beef will not work for this recipe)

Directions:

Dice the meat into half-inch cubes, trimmed of fat.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cubes of meat fairly close together.

Put into a cold oven and bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour.

Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees F, and prop open the oven door to allow the moisture to escape.  Bake for another 2 hours.

Allow the beef cubes to dry overnight at room temperature.  Then you can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  They will keep for up to a year!