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Friday, August 31, 2012

Mom's Test Meal Mondays Features #5



Thank you again to everyone that linked up this week! I loved seeing all of the slow-cooker recipes!  All of the recipes gave me tons of new meal ideas to get me through the rest of the 'summer' without heating up my kitchen!! I <3 it!!! I'm pretty sure I pinned all of them for myself!

And a huge thank you to my co-host, Kimberly! Go stop by My Pinterest Reality and show her some love!!

So now lets get to the features!!! Remember, these are all decided based on what you go out there and view, so make sure you are checking out those recipes!!

 
#3
Slow-Cooked Beef Burritos
from Posed Perfection


 
#2
Five Spiced Adobo Crock Pot Chicken Thighs
from Frugal Foodie Mama

 
 
#1
Crockpot Beef & Broccoli
from Love Bakes Good Cakes

 
 
 
All three of you please grab a features button! And congratulations!!
The features will be pinned to my MTM Monday's Features Pinterest Board
which you can check out HERE, tweeted & posted on FB
 


 
 
Thank you all again for joining me this week! And I hope to see y'all again this Monday as we celebrate Labor Day & share our favorite potluck & cookout dishes!  I will also be joined by my amazing co-host, Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama!  So make sure you take a few minutes out of your celebrating and come party with us!!

And remember, if anyone is interested in being a co-host for Mom's Test Meal Mondays, please email me at momstestkitchen (at) yahoo (dot) com! I'd love to have you!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

BlogLovin' Blog Hop

If you're looking for Whimsy Wednesdays you can find it here. Otherwise, continue on down to mingle with some amazing bloggers!
 


 
I am super excited to be co-hosting a Bloglovin' Blog Hop with Jenny from The NY Melrose Family, Barb from Second Chance to Dream, Jacqueline from The Detox Diva, Tabby from Shipwrecked on Fabulous Island, Kimberly from Here's What I Think About That, Jennifer and Nicki from Practically Perfect Princess, Stephanie from The Slogans, Ang from Juggling Act Mama, & Niki from Glossy Blonde for the month of August.

What's Bloglovin' you ask? Well, only the greatest way to keep track of the blogs that you love. With the discontinuation of Google Friends Connect (GFC) for non-blogger blogs, I decided that I needed to find another way to keep up with all of my favorite blogs that are not hosted by blogger. I stumbled upon Bloglovin' and I am in love! It is very similar to Google Reader, in that you can see the beginning of the post and the first picture attached to the post. Plus, Bloglovin' automatically updates your posts. Another added bonus is there is a Bloglovin' application for IPhone and Android devices. Woohoo! Like I don't spend enough time reading blogs. Now it's a simple touch. Love it! In order to participate in this hop, you need to have Bloglovin set up for your blog. You can find a super easy tutorial here. I promise it'll take you less than 10 minutes and you'll thank me down the road. 
 
There’s only a couple of rules:
 
1. Please follow your host – The NY Melrose Family and your co-hosts Second Chance to Dream, The Detox Diva, Shipwrecked on Fabulous Island, Here's What I Think About That, Practically Perfect Princess, The Slogans, Juggling Act Mama, Glossy Blonde and Mom's Test Kitchen (They are the 1st ten blogs linked)
 
2. You MUST link up your Bloglovin' url to participate.

3. Post our button for the blog hop on your page to promote the fun. You can grab the button from my sidebar. The more the merrier so shout outs about the party on Twitter or Facebook would be greatly appreciated.
 
If you're interested in co-hosting next month shoot me an email at russej10{at}gmail{dot}com. I also have some sponsor spots still available for September, which you can find here. Alright, so let's have some fun and mingle! Please remember to ONLY link up your Bloglovin URL.

Anthills

AKA brownies with sprinkles...

I made these brownies as a snack during the week Princess P and I were talking about the letter A.  She loved them and they were a very easy way to introduce another A word.

I'm not actually giving you full measurements for this recipe.  I just used what I needed to cover the brownies. 




INGREDIENTS:
1 box brownie mix
eggs, oil and water to make brownies
chocolate frosting
graham crackers, crushed
rainbow/chocolate sprinkles ~ only the brown ones if you are using rainbow


LETS COOK:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a mini muffin tin with baking cups.
2. Prepare the brownie batter as directed on the package.  Spoon into the muffin tins filling about 2/3 of the way full.  Bake 10 - 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.
3. Icing your mini brownies with the chocolate frosting.  Use as much or as little frosting as you would like ~ you just need this to hold the graham cracker crumbs.
4. Cover the icing with the graham cracker crumbs.
5. Lay the chocolate sprinkles in rows on the tops of the graham cracker crumbs ~ think ants marching in a line into their anthill :)


Enjoying her Anthill :)





Don't forget to link up your
favorite slow-cooker recipes to this week's
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Polka Dot Cake

I don't know why I attempt to make frosted cakes. I'm horrible at it. I am never happy with how the finished product looks. The icing is never smooth & even like you see in the recipe pictures. It irritates me. 

This cake I actually think is a really cute idea and would be great for a kid's birthday party, especially if you were going with a simple color theme. I would also like to point out that I was able to make this cake for under $5 (not including the ingredients needed to make the actual cake - I imagine most everyone has them in their fridge already)!!


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INGREDIENTS:
1 box cake mix of choice ~ I used French Vanilla
1 can icing of choice ~ I used Cream Cheese
eggs, oil & water called for on box
3 premade pudding snack cups ~ I used Vanilla
1 package Fruit Roll-Ups in a variety of colors
round cookie or biscuit cutters in multiple sizes


LETS COOK:
1. Prepare and bake the cake according to package directions for the size of pans you are using. I used two 8 inch square pans. I thought the square cake would be more fun with the fruit roll-up circles.
2. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes before removing from the pans and allowing to cool completely on wire racks.
3. Spread the pudding between the layers of cake. I had a thick layer of pudding.
4. Apply your crumb coat to the cake and allow to set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  A crumb coat is simply a very thin layer of icing applied to the cake as its almost cooled to seal in any crumbs so they don't show up when you are frosting your cake.
5. Reserving about 1-2 tablespoons of frosting, spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Allow to set in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
6. Unroll the fruit roll-ups. Using the cookie cutters, cut out circles. I also used a decorating tip to make some smaller circles.
7. Apply a small amount of the reserved frosting onto the back of your fruit roll-up circles. Arrange the circles on the top and sides of the cake.






NOTES:
*I can't remember where the original idea for this cake came from.  I don't take credit for coming up with this idea

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Bacon Wrapped Chicken & Green Bean Bundles

This dish has been a family favorite!  Princess P ate 2 bundles herself!  There definitely weren't any leftovers.


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INGREDIENTS:
1 pound chicken tenderloins
6 ounces turkey bacon
2 cups frozen french style green beans
1 cup butter, melted
1 & 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce


LETS COOK:
1. Working with one chicken tenderloin at a time, gather a small handful of green beans.  Lay the green beans on top of the tenderloin.  Wrap a slice of bacon around both the chicken & green beans.  You will probably lose some green beans during this process.
2. Lay your chicken & green bean bundles in a 9x13 greased dish.
3. In a small bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, garlic & soy sauce.  Pour over the chicken, cover & refrigerate for several hours up to overnight.
4. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
5. Bake the chicken uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken & bacon are cooked.


NOTES:
*The dish is not going to be pretty when you take it out of the fridge.  The butter will have turned back into a solid and it really looks gross.  I thought at first I had done something wrong.  But no worries, just cook it and everything will be fine!


RECIPE INSPIRED BY: Amy's Finer Things

 
 
Don't forget to link up your
favorite slow-cooker recipes to this week's

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Mom's Test Meal Mondays #5

 
 
 
Welcome to week 5 of Mom's Test Meal Mondays!! Last week was amazing! We had almost 80 recipes linked up!! If you missed the features, you can check them out here.
 
This week we are testing out slow-cooker recipes.  I don't know about y'all but here in TX, its H.O.T. during the summer.  The last thing you want to do is make it any hotter by turning on your oven or honestly, even the stove is a stretch.  My slow-cooker and I are BFF's during these months.  And seeing that summer tends to stretch itself on into September here, I've got a few more weeks of heat so I thought I would ask y'all for some more recipe inspiration!
 
And to get us started, I've got a great co-host, Kimberly from My Pinterest Reality, who is going to share a fabulous pulled pork recipe with us! (And I can vouch for the fabulousness cause I've made the recipe too) :) 
 
 

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Happy Monday Everyone!  This is Kimberly from My Pinterest Reality. I'm so excited to be co-hosting with Jamie Lyn this week.  I'm a fan of her Mom's Test Meal Monday's since I have two young girls and am always looking for new recipes that will appeal to them but also taste good to my husband and I.
 
After I began staying at home, how I defined myself began to change. I went from being a product developer who created beautiful things to a stay at home mom who changed diapers and thought she'd lost all creativity until...Pinterest.  As I started to become slightly (okay really) obsessed with Pinterest, I decided to make the 'pins' I loved a reality.  The goal I set for myself is to accomplish one of my 'pins' from Pinterest a day and write about it on on my blog My Pinterest Reality.  The idea can be a recipe, educational tool for my girls, photography tips, or a craft/DIY just for me.  The 'pin' just needs to become a reality.

This weeks theme is "Slow Cooker Recipes".  One of my favorite Slow Cooker Recipes I'll be sharing with you is for Pulled Pork. The entire recipe contains 3 ingredients (4 if you include buns) and it's great for sandwiches and freezing. 


2-3 pound pork tenderloin, pork shoulder or pork butt (I used a pork shoulder)
12 ounce can of root beer (I used Pepsi- the soda type doesn't matter it just acts as a tenderizer)
18 ounce bottle of barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns

1. Place the pork in a slow cooker.


2. Pour the can of soda over the meat.


3. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until pork shreds easily with a fork. (I cooked mine at 8 hours)



4. After the pork has cooked, drain and discard the soda.




5. Shred the pork in the slow cooker.

6. Pour the barbecue sauce over the pork and stir to combine.


7. Serve immediately on buns or keep warm in slow cooker until ready to serve. You can also freeze by using a vacuum sealer or placing in a freezer bag with no air.


See, told you it was fabulous!!  Thank you Kimberly for sharing this recipe with us!!

So now lets party!!

Just the reminders:

  • Myself & Kimberly would love to have you as new friends!! Please take a minute to follow us both via GFC, Twitter, FB, or any other social media you prefer ~ you can find my links in the sidebar & Kimberly's can be found at My Pinterest Reality 
  • Please stick to the theme for the week and only link up your recipes that go with the theme.
  • Please feel free to grab the button in the sidebar or add a direct link back to this week's party. 
  • And finally, go make some new friends ~ spend a few minutes checking out some other recipes that you might want to try out yourself & comment! Everyone loves comments!! (& remember, the features are chosen based on views, so go give some recipes some love!!)



THIS WEEKS THEME: SLOW-COOKER RECIPES
NEXT WEEKS THEME: LABOR DAY ~ FAVORITE POTLUCK RECIPES

And remember, if anyone is interested in being a co-host for Mom's Test Meal Mondays, please email me at momstestkitchen (at) yahoo (dot) com! I'd love to have you!

Flatbread Pizza with Cilantro Garlic Sauce #SundaySupper

Summers ending, the pools and playgrounds are less crowded, 20 mph speed limits begin to exist again.  Its that time of year folks.  The kids are back in school.

When I saw this week's #SundaySupper was about quick & easy 30 minute meals ~ hosted by Nicole of Daily Dish Recipes, I knew I had to get involved.  Even though Princess P is not school aged yet, anyone that has or has had a toddler in the house knows that standing in the kitchen slaving over a time-consuming dinner is probably never going to be a reality.  I'm lucky to pee alone.  Standing in the kitchen cooking for 20 minutes uninterrupted?  That ain't happening.

One of our favorite weeknight meals is pizza.  But not your everyday pepperoni pizza.  We try to find unique sauces or toppings.  And we love using flatbread for our crust.  It just adds a whole new level of easy to the meal.  Pile everything on top of the flatbread, throw it in the oven for 5 minutes or so and ding, you have dinner!  Toddler approved for time & mommy approved for easy!


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INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed, roughly chopped
2 cloves roasted garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/2 of a medium jalapeno, seeded & chopped
juice from 1 small lime
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
flatbread
1 can (11 ounces) corn & peppers, drained
mozzarella cheese


LETS COOK:
1. To make the Cilantro Garlic Sauce: combine the cilantro, garlic, green onion, jalapeno, lime juice & olive oil in a food processor.  Pulse until combined & then blend until smooth.
2. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
3. Top the flat bread with the cilantro garlic sauce ~ there will be enough sauce for at least 3-4, possibly more, flatbread pizzas depending on how much sauce you use on each
4. Add the corn & peppers to the pizza, top with the mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the pizzas are heated through & the cheese has melted.


RECIPE INSPIRED BY: two peas & their pod


NOTES:
*This sauce was so delicious and would work so well with all different types of toppings.  I may try it next with some Garlic Tequila Chicken as a topping!  It would pair nicely with just a simple side salad if you need something extra with your pizza!


And if you need even more back to school menu ideas, just take a look at our awesome line up of recipes made by the #SundaySupper Crew:

Also, please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day today. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 p.m. EST for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about Back to School Meals and ways to make meal time easier!  All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat! We’ll be sharing great recipes and tips all afternoon, and we’ll be talking all things Back to School Meals during our chat!

We’d also love to feature your Back to School Recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!


RECIPE PROUDLY LINKED TO: Couponing & Cooking, Creating My Way To Success, Flour Me With Love, This Gal Cooks, Addicted to Recipes, My Favorite Finds, Twinkle In The Eye, Little Becky Homecky, Happy Hour Projects

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Know what?


Preach it Tina!

I've got 2 more amazing women to introduce you to this week! 
And trust me, they get stuff done!





Hi! My name is Katie. I am a 27 year old wife & a stay at home mommy to an adorable 4.5 month old girl. I am also a Criminal Justice student about to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Corrections. I am addicted to reality shows & tattoos. I blog about my daughter, my life & my struggles to not lose myself with my new job title.  This is my Life!






 

Hi! My name is Julie. I blog over at This Gal Cooks about cooking and the occasional DIY project. You can often find me in the kitchen cooking up tasty meals and goodies or grill side while my boyfriend grills up some of the veggies and meats I've prepared (ok, sometimes he prepares the meats!) I host an awesome Monday party on my blog, Marvelous Mondays. You should stop by and check it out some time. Be sure to stop by This Gal Cooks for some tasty recipes!




I hope y'all will take some time out of your weekend to go by and show these two ladies some love!  Be sure to tell them I sent you!

Have a great weekend!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Mom's Test Meal Mondays Features #4 & A Winner Announced!

We had almost 80 recipes linked up this week!  I can't even begin to explain to each and everyone of you how thankful I am that y'all are making this party a success! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

I will admit though, I wasn't prepared for the number and let myself get behind this week on commenting on every one's recipes!  If I haven't made it to yours yet, I'm still trying to make my way through!  I'll get there :) 

So now lets get to the features!  Our top three most viewed recipes this week were:

 
#3
Gooey Cookies 'n Cream Bars
from In Her Chucks

 
 
#2
Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
from Mommy's Sweet Confessions

 
 
#1
Homemade Vanilla Extract & Vanilla Sugar
from Adventures of Brad & Kendra

 
 


All three of you please grab a features button! And congratulations!!
The features will be pinned to my MTM Monday's Features Pinterest Board
which you can check out HERE, tweeted & posted on FB

 

 
Now, next week we'll be back to the norm with our themes and a wonderful co-host!  Just in case you've forgotten our theme on Monday is going to be Slow-Cooker recipes.  And I will be joined by the oh so great Kimberly @ Making Pinterest My Reality.  If you've never checked out her site, you really should!  I think I could spend as much time on her site as I do on the actual Pinterest {and we all know how many months of our lives we've sacrificed to the cause of pinning & repinning, but we won't go there today}.
 
And remember if anyone is interested in co-hosting, just shoot me an email at momstestkitchen (at) yahoo (dot) com.  I've got one opening still available in September and then I'm booking for October & beyond!
 
NOW TO THE PRIZES!!! 
 
The winner of the amazingly awesome giveaway that my friends so graciously offered is:
 
Chelsea T!! 
 
YAY!!!!  I'll be emailing you shortly to connect you with all of the women to get your goods!! 
 
Thank you so much to everyone that entered!  Be on the lookout for more fun giveaways in the coming weeks!!




Zillions of Zucchini

I'm so happy to be sharing my kitchen again with Ang from Juggling Act Mama today as a co-host for her Zillions of Zucchini Party!!!
 
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This year we planted two tiny zucchini plants, forgetting that just one tiny zucchini plant will become huge and produce zillions of zucchinis. 
 
This happened last year, too.  You'd think we would have learned....
 
 
Luckily, zucchini is one of those rare foods that is well done both sweet and savory, perfect for appetizers to desserts and everything in between. My coping method for dealing with the zucchini was to bake. Zucchini Bread with Oat Topping! Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting! Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips! Chocolate Zucchini Cake! Mr. Juggling Act began sauteing zucchini with onions and garlic every night. When my family tired of it all, I took to ignoring the zucchini growing in the garden, until they were the size of a small groundhog.
 
That was a bad idea.
 
Now I have zillions of ginormous zucchini.  What the heck am I going to do with it all?!?
So please, dear friends, share with me your favorite zucchini recipes - feel free to link up two or three, after all, I have zillions that need to be used up! 

Two of my favorite foodie bloggers are here to co-host with me -
say hello to
Jamie at Mom's Test Kitchen &

 
Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Google+ ~ BlogLovin'
 

Grab button for Zillions of Zucchini Link Party at Juggling Act Mama

Please note, kindly do not link up giveaways, other parties or shops. Thanks!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Guest Posting & Reminding You To Party (Again)

Happy Thursday!!

I'm just all over the interwebs this week!  Today I am guest posting over at Ms. MommyHH6 with a fun apple craft that Princess P & I did!  Y'all head over there and check it out!


Here's a little preview of the fun we had!


Be sure to swing by The NY Melrose Family to check out my Cake Mix Cobbler recipe!  There's also a Target gift card giveaway for you to enter!

And, don't forget to link up your favorite recipes to Mom's Test Meal Mondays & enter the awesome giveaway!!  Today is the last day to enter!!!  You don't want to miss out on this!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I'm Guest Posting & Reminding You To Party

Happy Hump Day!!!

Today I am over at The NY Melrose Family sharing my yummy Cake Mix Cobbler dessert recipe & hosting a giveaway for a Target gift card!  Y'all be sure to swing on over and check it out!  Say hi to Jenny while you're there!!


You know you want to go check this recipe out!



Also don't forget to link up your recipes to Mom's Test Meal Monday's & enter the AMAZING giveaway going on right now!!  10 prizes are up for grabs to one lucky reader!!