Wonderful Food Wednesday

Wonderful Food Wednesday - Week #26

 

I'm so excited to be joining in as a co-host for Wonderful Food Wednesday!!  I can't wait to check out all of the recipes y'all have been creating! 

 

My favorite creation from my kitchen this week:

 

 

Smurf Bars

Thank you for last week - so many wonderful recipes - 70 fantastic ones linked up.

 

This week we are pleased to welcome Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen as our permanent Co-Host.

Jessica and I are thrilled to have Jaime join us every week. We hope you'll love the delicious creations her readers bring.

 

 

With St. Patrick's Day around the corner we were inspired by Couponing & Cooking's Lucky Leprechaun Bark

 

Be sure to stop by their blog and check out this recipe and lots of others.

Come back next week to see if you are our Wonderful Food Wednesday featured recipe!

If you've been featured grab this button and place it on your sidebar:

 

Rules:

1. Follow your hosts Kerrie @ Family Food and Travel

and Jessica @ AtHomeTake2 and Jaime at Mom's Test Kitchen

*If you are a new follower please leave us a message/comment so that we can hop on over for a visit.

2. Visit as many blogs as you can, leave comments, follow and grab their recipes.

 

If you are interested in guest hosting for a week, please send an email to twinstravelblog (at) gmail (dot) com

'D' is for Door #toddlertime

It's been awhile since I shared an educational activity that Princess P & I have done so I thought it was time to hit y'all with a little knowledge.  A little ABC knowledge.

Princess P is really into her ABC's right now!  She loves walking around singing the Alphabet Song!  And then once she finishes, she'll look at me and say 'do it again mommy, do it again!'  And she'll start right back over!  So I've been looking for fun ways to continue to teach her the letters & to introduce simple words that start with each letter.  This was a fun activity we did for the letter D!

 

D IS FOR DOOR

SUPPLIES:

• 2 sheets of construction paper, 1 white, 1 any other color
• crayons
• 1 sticker ~ an uppercase letter D or a picture of something that begins with D
• scissors
• marker
• glue

LETS CREATE:

1. Start by writing a lowercase d with the marker on the white piece of construction paper.
2. Have your little one color the d
3. Cut out the d. You also want to cut out the round portion of the inner circle but do not cut the straight line. Fold the circle carefully back to make your 'door'
4. Glue the lowercase d to the second piece of construction paper ~ be sure not to glue down any part of the inner circle, that needs to stay an open flap.
5. Add your sticker to the second piece of paper inside the circle of the lower case d. I used a capital D sticker to help with the letter recognition between uppercase & lowercase letters.

 

ACTIVITY INSPIRED BY: No Time For Flash Cards       
 

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies #SRC

I am so excited for today's post!  I finally get to join the Secret Recipe Club!!  Joining this group was one of the first goals I set for myself when I started my blog.  I was so thrilled when I got my invitation last month!!

My first assigned blog was Fearless Homemaker!  This was a new to me blog and I loved spending time exploring Amy's site!  Amy's blog isn't just a foodie blog ~ she covers entertaining & throws in some DIY crafting too!  Plus she's such a stinkin' cute pregnant lady!  {CONGRATS AMY!!}

So, I was given about 2 & 1/2 weeks to explore Amy's blog, pick out a recipe, make it & blog it.  You would think with over 2 weeks, I would be well ahead of the game & my post would be ready to go days, maybe even a week, in advance.  I'm just going to be honest with y'all and lay it out there ~ I'm writing this post Sunday night, with about 12 hours to spare from my deadline.  I found so many great recipes on Fearless Homemaker that I couldn't decide.  I debated all the way up until Saturday night on recipes until I finally said holy crap, I'm about to run out of time!  Go with peanut butter and chocolate ~ you can't fail with peanut butter & chocolate!  So I give you Amy's Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

YIELD: about 4 dozen cookies

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 & 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars on medium speed. Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour, being sure not to not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.        
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drop chilled dough by 1/2 tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will be soft and may appear not completely done, but they will firm up as they cool.        
3. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack and enjoy!        

 

 

A Few Features & A Few Changes {+ A Giveaway}

 

Happy {almost!} Monday!!

 

So, I have some sad news but some fun news all at the same time!  I know y'all are probably wondering where the heck the linky party is for Mom's Test Meal Mondays ~ well, sad news first, Mom's Test Meal Mondays has come to an end.  I'm wrapping things up today with some features & that's all she wrote.

 

But the exciting news now ~ instead of hosting MTM Mondays, I will now be co-hosting Wonderful Food Wednesdays with Jessica from @ Home Take 2 & Kerrie from Family, Food & Travel!  I adore both of these women so I am so thrilled to be joining forces with them to host an amazing foodie party!  So now instead of partying with me on Mondays, you'll be hanging out with me on hump day!!

 

So I hope y'all will join me starting this Tuesday evening for a brand new beginning!!

 

Now lets get to some features!

 

In honor of the last set of features, I decided to pick out some favorites that are on my bucket list!

 

 

RED VELVET BAKED DONUTS by Flavors by Four

 

CRANBERRY ALMOND QUINOA by My Pinterest Reality

 

TRADITIONAL GREEK PITA BREAD by Half Baked Harvest

 

EASY CREME BRULEE by Real Housemoms

 

 

and now the most viewed link...

 

 

CROCK POT RANCH POTATOES by The "Home Girl!"

 

 

 

All of y'all feel free to 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!

 

<a href="http://momstestkitchen.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r558/jailynmtk/featured1.jpg" border="0"/> </a>     Again, thank y'all for joining me these last 30 weeks & I hope to see you Wednesday!!

To make up for the sudden changes, how about a giveaway?!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let Me Pintroduce You!

Good morning everyone!!  Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama and I are so happy to have you here for our second ever Let Me Pintroduce You Party! :)
Last month we had 91 Pinterest accounts linked up!  Can we reach over 100 for the month of February??

<a href="http://www.momstestkitchen.com/p/let-me-pintroduce-you.html"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTcwB-0ep2Kf0xWMBCKrY3LigrVE-3MUVQfEZR_Ut7jMq8riSM3ht37HeEJdGZgT9pqFRJ8Bjw7fpsT0zuVI4sJY1Mj95Riluz9mglnmvE6JK02Umz3HZi3L3Y6zhtGvyr_KH46DEky-0/s1600/PINTRODUCE.png" border="0"/> </a>

Carrie and I originally brainstormed the idea for a Pinterest linky party when the two of us were emailing back and forth one day after discovering how much of our blog traffic was a direct result of some of our recipe posts being pinned and then repinned and repinned again on Pinterest.  We thought why not host a monthly Pinterest party? And thus, Let Me Pintroduce You was born! 

While we're speaking of growing our Pinterest followers ~ if anyone is interested in joining in the It's Beginning to Smell Alot Like Cookies group board, just leave a comment and I'll send you an invite :)

And Carrie is happy to announce that starting March 1st she is offering a brand new ad spot to her sidebar that is ALL about the Pinterest love!  Her brand new A Pin-t ad spot is a 250x175 ad that runs for 30 days and includes organic pins to her Pinterest boards and/or group boards she belong to with Twitter amplification.  This spot is perfect for the food blogger, the DIY blogger, the crafty blogger, not to mention small shop owners!  Pinterest has been the #1 driver of traffic to her blog for the past FOUR months.  And with over 3300 Pinterest followers and counting, you can be sure that your blog or shop is going to get tons of exposure with Frugal Foodie Mama.  Best thing about this ad spot? The price!  Just $6 for 30 days, but for the week of the Let Me Pintroduce You Party you can get it for just $5!  Just visit Carrie's Sponsor Page here, click to purchase the Pin-t ad spot, & use promo code pinning at check out to get your discount! :)  She will only be offering 6 of these spots each month, so go grab your's for March before they are all reserved! 

And now, let us pintroduce you to this month's special party co-hosts...

Say hello to Rosie from Craftbotic!  Rosie is not only crafty, but she also gives lots of awesome blogging tips on her blog.  (Psssttt... Rosie was also the winner of the first ever Spiked! Recipe Challenge with her Champagne & Blackberry Cheesecake.)

Our second co-host for this month's party is Lisa from Paintbrush & Screwdriver.  Lisa & her husband have been working on some major renovations on their home, and her blog is chock full of budget friendly remodeling ideas.  She also just may have guest posted on Carrie's blog this past week sharing her DIY Glass Tile Mosaic Tray Tutorial & giving away a $15 Starbucks gift card.  (There is still time to enter her giveaway, friends so click on over! :) )

So, how does the Let Me Pintroduce You Party work?  Easy!

• Please follow Carrie (Frugal Foodie Mama) and Jaime (Mom's Test Kitchen), and this month's co-hosts Rosie (Rosie Quinn) and Lisa (Paintbrush & Screwdriver) on Pinterest.
• Try to follow at least two other Pinterest accounts that have linked up and maybe repin a few things that catch your eye while you are at. ;)
• Grab our button above and slap it on your sidebar or your party page on your blog.  Help us spread the word! 
• Be sure to link up your main Boards page of your Pinterest account only, not individual board pages or individual pins.
• Send out a tweet & let the Twitterverse know that we would like to Pintroduce them to everyone! (Just use that handy little Tweet button below. ;) )

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Twittering Thursdays Twitter Hop

Welcome to Twittering Thursdays Twitter Hop!

<center> <a href="http://chaos-commotion-emotion.blogspot.com/search/label/Twittering%20Thursday"><img src=http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k44/DeandraBosqui/twitteringthursdays250x250_zps16a1d22f.jpg" /></a></center>

This week's Co-Hosts are Samantha from Hooah And Hiccups and Jaime from Moms Test Kitchen. Please stop by say hi and follow them back!

Are you interesting in Co-Hosting next Thursdays Twitter Hop?  Email Deandra at phillipsdeandra@gmail.com
There is no charge to participate!

Please help spread the news about this TWITTER HOP!
Its only appropriate to TWEET about it!

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RULES:

Please follow each hostess.

Follow @ChaosCommoEmo
Follow @HooahAndHiccups
Follow @MomsTestKitche1

2. Leave a comment if you are new and want us to return the follow.

3. Grab the button and display it on your sidebar or link it to the post.

4. Have fun and meet new friends!

This post is sponsored by:

Smurf Bars #SRS

 

 

I am so excited to have joined in the Surprise Recipe Swap this month!!  I love trying out new recipes & finding new foodies friends!  I feel like I got pretty lucky this month with my SRS partner ~ I got to pick a recipe out from our wonderful coordinator Jutta from Hungry Little Girl!  I was first introduced to Jutta's blog during the Iron Chef Challenges, which she won the chocolate round by the way!

 

 

 

So I knew I had to try out one of the many desserts that Jutta has to offer!  There were a few I was torn between but when I saw her Cotton Candy Bars which she so perfectly called Smurf Bars, I knew I had found my recipe! 

 

These were so good!  Princess P absolutely loved them!  She looked like a smurf after she got done eating them too!! ;)

 

 

SMURF BARS

YIELD: 16 bars

INGREDIENTS FOR BARS:

• 1 box (18.25 ounces) funfetti cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 packet (.1 ounce) cotton candy flavor mix (Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Mix)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

 

INGREDIENTS FOR FROSTING:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 packet (.1 ounce) cotton candy flavor mix (Duncan Hines Frosting Flavor Mix)
• sprinkles {optional}

COOKING DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, oil, eggs and 1 packet of the Cotton Candy Flavor Mix using a large spoon. Once everything is well combined, fold in the chocolate chips
4. Transfer the dough to your baking pan, spreading out evenly
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes
6. Let cake cool completely before frosting
7. To make the frosting, mix together all of the frosting ingredients and beat until fluffy
8. When the cake is cooled, spread the frosting evenly on top. Add sprinkles if desired
9. Put in the fridge for at least one hour before serving

       

 

 

 

 

Wonderful Food Wednesday

Wonderful Food Wednesday - Week #25

 

This week we are pleased to welcome a guest host, Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen

 

 

After all of the scrumptious sweets linked up last week for Valentine's Day we are featuring a healthy meal from Simple Eating Simple Living

 

 

Be sure to stop by their blog and check out this recipe and lots of others.

Come back next week to see if you are our Wonderful Food Wednesday featured recipe!

If you've been featured grab this button and place it on your sidebar:

 

Rules:

1. Follow your hosts Kerrie @ Family Food and Travel

and Jessica @ AtHomeTake2 and Jaime at Mom's Test Kitchen

*If you are a new follower please leave us a message/comment so that we can follow you back.

2. Visit as many blogs as you can, leave comments, follow and grab their recipes.

If you are interesting in guest hosting for a week,

please send an email to twinstravelblog (at) gmail (dot) com

Mom's Test Meal Mondays #30

 

Welcome to another {almost} Monday!!

 

I hope y'all had a good weekend!  We had gorgeous almost spring like weather here, it was so nice! But it makes me dread the fact that it's supposed to get back down in the 50s later this week :(

 

In honor of the great weather weekend, I decided to pick a few favorites that make me wish warmer weather was here to stay!

 

 

OH SO LEMON BARS by This Gal Cooks

 

STRAWBERRY CREME PUDDING COOKIES by The Unsophisticated Kitchen

 

SKINNY OREO MILKSHAKE by Pink Recipe Box

 

POUND CAKE COOKIES SHORTCAKES by In Cindy's Kitchen

 

 

And the most viewed link last week was...

 

 

PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE LOVE COOKIES by Wifessionals

 

 

 

All of y'all feel free to 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!

 

<a href="http://momstestkitchen.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r558/jailynmtk/featured1.jpg" border="0"/> </a>

 

So now let's party!

 

The party is open to any and all of your favorite recipes!!

Just the reminders:

• I would love to have you as a new friend!! Please take a minute to follow via GFC, Twitter, FB, or any other social media you prefer
• You are welcome to link up any recipe you like but please only link up a total of 3 recipes.
• Please feel free to grab the button in the sidebar or add a direct link back to the week's party that you are linking up to
• 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!!
• Please note that by linking up you are giving permission for your picture & post to be pinned to the Mom's Test Meal Mondays Pinterest board
• Please note that by linking up you are giving permission to use the photos along with a link back to your post in the Mom's Test Meal Mondays Features post & on Mom's Test Kitchen's Social Media Networks
  
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Chicken Parmesan Sliders by Amy @ Not Your Average Crazy

I'm so excited to be guest posting for Jaime today. I'm Amy and I usually blog over at Not Your Average Crazy. You may remember Jaime doing a guest post for me, featuring her Red Hot Fudge recipe. This is officially my first guest post ever, so a great big thanks to Jaime for asking me!

For some reason I've really been into slider sandwiches lately. Pulled pork, buffalo chicken, cranberry BBQ... so I asked myself what kind of slider recipe could I come up with. I have a book club meeting in two weeks and the book focuses a lot on Italian heritage. Plus, I really love pasta and wine. That's when it came to me: Chicken Parmesan Sliders. 

Forgive my mediocre food photography.

And the best part? You cook the chicken in the slow cooker while you handle your business. Genius.

The whole family enjoyed this easy chicken recipe and trust me, that's saying something. I've never met more pickier eaters. And my daughter isn't even the worst one! I hope everyone here enjoys these as well. You're welcome to stop on by my blog and let me know what you think if you try this recipe out.

Chicken Parmesan Sliders

Ingredients:
Makes 12 Sliders

3-4 boneless chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup water
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup of butter
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
12 Sarah Lee brand slider buns (or regular dinner rolls)

Directions:

1. Cover bottom of slow cooker with the olive oil and place chicken breasts on top of the oil.
2. In separate bowl add marinara sauce, water, parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon garlic powder and crushed red pepper. Mix well and pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours if frozen or 4-5 hours if thawed. Shred chicken halfway through cooking time.
4. When the chicken is done, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Place desired amount of chicken on slider buns and top with mozzarella cheese. (I also sprinkled extra parmesan cheese on top of the mozzarella.)
6. Put the tops of the buns on the sandwiches and bake for 5 minutes.
7. While sliders are baking, melt butter and mix with 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
8. Brush sliders with garlic butter mixture as soon as you take them out of the oven.
9. Let sliders cool slightly.
10. Enjoy. (With wine.)

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Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes with Cherry Buttercream Frosting

  Welcome to the first installment of the Behind The Curtain Dessert Challenge hosted by Sheryl at Lady Behind The Curtain.  Every month she gives us two ingredients & we have to create a dessert.  Not that I really need another excuse to make something sweet, but I'm all over these challenges!!  

This month, being that it is Valentine's Day, our combo we got to create with is chocolate and cherries.  Next to peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate and cherries is probably the second best combo.  These cupcakes were a delicious way to pair the two flavors!
 

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CUPCAKES

WITH CHERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Yield: 24 cupcakes

 

INGREDIENTS FOR CUPCAKES:

• 1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's food cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 & 1/3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 24 chocolate truffles

 

INGREDIENTS FOR FROSTING:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 2 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 & 1/2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

COOKING DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with baking cups.
2. Blend together the cake mix, eggs, milk and butter in a large mixing bowl at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Fill the cupcakes liners half full.
3. Add one chocolate truffle to the center of each cupcake tin of batter.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted towards the outside comes out clean ~ the melted truffle could cause you to think the middle is still not baked when its done if you insert the toothpick directly in the middle of the cupcake
5. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.  While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting.
6. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Sift in the powdered sugar and mix on low until fully combined. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and maraschino cherry juice. Mix to combine.
7. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cooled. Top with a maraschino cherry {optional but pretty} :)

 

 

Now check out the rest of the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge Creations:

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Marshmallow Caramel Corn

This is a recipe I've had pinned on Pinterest for about 6 months & I wish I had made it 5 months and 29 days ago.  I already love popcorn, I could probably eat it every day but then when you add in the caramel-y, marshmallow-y goodness from this recipe, all I can say is...

 

Good Lord it was good.

 



MARSHMALLOW CARAMEL CORN

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bags microwave popcorn, popped & unpopped kernels removed
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 large marshmallows

COOKING DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.
2. Add the brown sugar, honey, vanilla & marshmallows. Turn heat to medium and stir until the marshmallows are melted and the mixture is smooth.
3. Spoon over the popcorn & toss to coat.
4. Store in an airtight container.

 

RECIPE INSPIRED BY: Chef In Training

       

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