Writing about all the big & little things

Category: Food (Page 4 of 6)

My new favorite snack

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I guess I’ve made this into the week to post about food.  🙂

I’m always amused by the number of things we now eat in our house because someone else introduced them to us.  We tend to gravitate to the same foods every time we go to the grocery store (we’re not adventures when it comes to food.  When we like something we just stick to it!), so it takes having friends or family over and to bring something new and (most often times) delicious!  Take for example my new favorite snack:  Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

Apparently I really really like hummus.  But I didn’t know that until a friend of ours brought it over.  And I ate it all.  🙂

So, it’s now my new favorite snack.  And the best part is that I’m eating vegetables with it–so it’s a win win!

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken!

This post is for Kristen (or anyone else who wants another recipe to try!).  I was telling her about this recipe we tried this week and really liked.  It was crazy easy and super delicious!  I’ve linked the actual recipe below, but here it is written out… (with my comments)

 

This was not our actual sesame chicken... but I wanted a picture.  :)

This was not our actual sesame chicken… but I wanted a picture. 🙂

Slow cooker Sesame Chicken

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts  (we used 2.5 pounds and agreed that we could even do more–the sauce goes a long way)
1/2 c honey
1/4 c soy sauce
2 Tbsp dried onion
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Put chicken into crock pot.
2. Combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce.
4. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
5. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and return to crock pot – can leave chicken in and simmer on low or serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.
(Tim said he skimmed out some of the fat before step 4 since it was easy to take out at that time, and who needs to eat extra fat?  😉  )
Oh, and we ate it over steamfresh rice with vegetables mixed in… like this.. and it was great!
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Party Success(es)!

Well, I’m happy to report that everything went just smashingly well this weekend.  Fun was had all around and I even have delightful pictures to show for it!

Note: the pictures were not taken by me–again I’ve taken them from my friends at church.  Hehe!  In this case I think Tara took most of the pictures on Brittany’s camera who then edited them (if they needed editing which I have no idea if they did…)  So, I want the credit to go where credit is due!  But, hey, it is my house in the background, so I’ll take credit for that!  Haha!

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Red Velvet Brownies and Spritz cookies

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The food counter. Isn’t it beautiful!?!

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Gift Table

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Yummy yogurt and fruit “parfaits”!

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Playing pin the mustache on the groom!

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Goofing off with our mustaches! (In case you’re wondering the Bride is next to me)

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Another view of the gift table

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Cucumber & Feta cheese Bruschetta

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Mini Quiche

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Donut holes with my fun cake toppers

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French toast kabobs

As you can clearly see, we had a lot of delicious food–so my diet went right out the window this weekend, but BOY WAS IT TASTY!  😉

 

Too busy to stick around long

I’ve been running around like crazy today getting ready for tomorrow–I have the Baker’s coming for piano lessons in the morning, then I’m hosting a Bridal Shower here for a friend at church at 1:00 then I’m also co-hosting a ladies-nite-out event at Church at 6:30.  Of course both of those events require tasty treats and a clean house… and decorations… and ice breaker games/questions… gah!  So much to do!  But here’s a taste of what I’ve been up to today…

Little Decorations to poke into some of the dainty food--the theme of the party is French/Eiffle Tower

Little Decorations I made to poke into some of the dainty food–the theme of the party is French/Eiffle Tower

Lemon Spritz Cookies

Lemon Spritz Cookies

 

Red Velvet Brownies

Red Velvet Brownies

Some of the decorations I've been working on... those poofs are fun to make!

Some of the decorations I’ve been working on… those poofs are fun to make!

 

Curly Apples!

For Christmas this year I got an apple peeler/corer/slicer.  Let me tell you, it’s the best thing ever.

This is what it looks like and what it does.

This is what it looks like and what it does.

It makes eating apples fun for the kids.  Okay, let’s be serious, it actually makes eating apples fun for EVERYONE!  Who wouldn’t want to eat an apple that resembles a spring?   We eat a lot of apples these days and it’s so easy to just crank it right out.  We call them Curly apples.

I think the kids might have more fun playing with them than they do eating them….

curly apples!

Sorry, it's a bit washed out--I forgot to change the setting on my camera...

I remember using one when I was growing up (do you still use yours, Mom?) and thinking it was so fun and easy to use.  I’m sure it will become a memory my kids will have too.

Gearing up for Valentine’s Day!

(EDIT:  Whoops I linked the wrong year in my post!  HERE is last year’s Valentine’s Day pictures….)

I admit I’ve had my ups and downs with how I feel about Valentine’s Day.

♥When I was much younger it was all about getting that “one special valentine” from the guy I had a crush on.  (Remember those awesome Valentine’s boxes we got to make to collect our cards in?!?)

♥Then it moved into slightly older where nothing really happened special for me, but those with boyfriends had roses delivered in the classrooms.

♥Then I moved into college and Valentine’s Day became a BIG DEAL.  I was showered with gifts and flowers and let me tell you it was awesome.  🙂

But then life goes by and you get married and suddenly there are other factors in life (a.k.a. budgets, kids, jobs) so it changed again.  I’ve never felt “unloved” or anything but I started to wonder if I would have as much fun with Valentine’s Day as I used to.

And then Chloe got older.  And NOW it’s sooooooo much fun again!  But this time around, not so much for me, but watching how much fun she is having.  I find myself planning activities and foods revolving around “hearts” to make the day special.  Last year was pretty good: ( You can read the post here: 2013 Valentines Day! ) But this year is going to be AWESOME!

So, I’ve started planning and gearing up (keeping in mind we’re still on a budget and I still have to teach that day) to make the day as special as I can.  Here are a few ideas that I’ve found on Pinterest that I really like, but I’m not sure how many of my amazing ideas will actually come to fruition.  🙂

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Remember the expression “My eyes are bigger than my mouth”  Yeah… we’ll see what I actually get done.  But the point is that it is going to be fun, because anything can be fun that you put your mind to!

Superbowl 2014

We had some friends over to “watch” the Superbowl yesterday.  It’s actually pretty funny because I actually didn’t care about the game much this year, but I did want to see the commercials.  But then after everyone got here and I started gabbing and eating I totally forgot about the game or commercials… then when we did finally turn it on upstairs (the guys were downstairs watching) then I was actually worried about what they might show on the commercials in front of all the kids… so we ended up turning away anyway.  No worries, though, because I watched them all this morning online so I really got the best of both worlds!

 

Food and Friends!!!

Food and Friends!!!

Did I mention yummy food?  This was Jalapeno Popper Dip and it was DELICIOUS!

Did I mention yummy food? This was Jalapeno Popper Dip and it was DELICIOUS!

Little Drew stuck in the playpen... hehe!

Little Drew stuck in the playpen… hehe!

 

All of the kids watching Wreck It Ralph upstairs since we didn't trust the commercials!

All of the kids watching Wreck It Ralph upstairs since we didn’t trust the commercials!

Tim’s crazy idea.

Tim saw these online the other day and “just had to try them!”

Mountain Dew flavored cheetos...

Mountain Dew flavored cheetos…

Yup, you read that right.  Mountain Dew flavored Cheetos.  Straight from Japan.

And if you thought, wow, that sounds gross, you would also be right.

I walked into the room and he had left the container open, so I asked how they were.  He just kind of shrugged, so I put one in my mouth.  I then turned to him and said, “WHY DID YOU LET ME PUT THIS IN MY MOUTH!?”

Okay, it really wasn’t that bad, but I definitely didn’t reach back for any more… so now we know.  Mountain Dew is best left in liquid form.

A little Christmas baking!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking goodies with my two friends from church.  We had the idea to make a bunch of things and then split up the goodies so you end up taking home way more variety than you actually make.  We had a lot of fun chatting, snacking, laughing at our mistakes and of course baking.  One of the gals is a photographer, and I know she took some fun pictures of the food, but she hasn’t had time to post them yet, so I’ll post my pictures of the goodies as well as a picture I stole from the other gal.  🙂

Oh, and Tim volunteered to have the kids and husbands over to our house as we baked at a different house–it was great!  No kids running underfoot and a little girl time too boot!

This is the picture the other gal took--it doesn't have EVERYTHING we made showing, but I thought it was such a pretty picture I had to post it.  :)

This is the picture the other gal took–it doesn’t have EVERYTHING we made showing, but I thought it was such a pretty picture I had to post it. 🙂

These are the treats we made:

1. Rocky Road Fudge

2. Pecan Rolo Pretzels

3. Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

4. Candy Cane Cookies

5. Christmas Light bulbs

6. Ginger Cookies

7. Peanut Butter Cookies

8. Homemade Egg Nog

9. Oreo Truffles

Yes, that is a half eaten peanut butter cookie... I realized I only had one after I started eating it but I wanted it in the picture.  hehe!

Yes, that is a half eaten peanut butter cookie… I realized I only had one after I started eating it but I wanted it in the picture. hehe!

Homemade Eggnog--it was DELICIOUS and creamy (probably because of all the vanilla ice cream added... yummmmmmm....)

Homemade Eggnog–it was DELICIOUS and creamy (probably because of all the vanilla ice cream added… yummmmmmm….)

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