Crock Pot French Dip

Pinned From:  Baking Bites

Don't you just want to bite right into this RIGHT now?  I do.  And I just did.  That's how yummy it is.  My husband said, "I'm not usually a french dip guy but this is a good sandwich."  The "dip" is subtle, flavorful but not overpowering.  Part of getting this sandwich right is choosing the right roll in my opinion and I was walking all around the bakery at Harmons touching and testing every candidate.  I settled on Hoagie rolls and they were perfect.

Pin Worthiness:  And How

I'll for sure be making this again...in fact I look forward to it.  It was easy, dump, dump, dump, crock pot and yum.

French Toast Bake

Pinned From: Rach's Blog

This was pretty yummy.  I will do it differently next time but there will be a next time.  Rach cut her crusts but said it wasn't necessary but as you can see from my photo without cutting the crusts the middles sink.  It still tastes fine but I think It would be better if it were all uniform.  If you have very senstive and strong aversion to soggy bread you might not like this.  I mean, I don't like soggy bread but I can handle a certain level.  I have a sister who can't even stand tres leches.  TRES LECHES!  So...if you're like that then you probably won't like this recipe.  If you can handle tres leches then you'll probably like this...a very similar texture.

Also, you really wouldn't want syrup with this because the whole bottom is butter and sugar...I'm contemplating putting a big layer of syrup down next time instead because I really like maple with my breakfast carbs...

Pin Worthiness:  You betcha

I served this up with bananas and strawberries and it was a hit.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

Pinned From: Eating Well

This was my first attempt at stuffed shells!  I can hardly believe it myself.  And it was a healthy recipe.  Whoa!  No complaints here.  I mean, you could tell it was low cal but it was still good.  Sometimes that low cal taste and light feel is good.  The stuffing goes a REALLY long way.  I boiled a whole box of jumbo shells and stuffed mine quite full and had so much left I made an entire 9x13 pan and a 9x9 pan which ended up being fine because we were having company.  I did have to open another jar of sauce but I've survived worse.  

Pin Worthiness:  Sure, and I mean that in a good way.  Like, a Sure.5 if you will.

Mine looks cheesier because I added a bit of mozzarella to the top.  My SIL is a vegetarian and she liked it so if you're looking for a good meat free meal five this one a go.

Chicken Artichoke Lasagna

Pinned From:  Tasty Tidbits

Gooey, creamy, cheesy, artichoke-y lasagna.  This recipe made my mouth water.  The dish itself was kind of disappointing.  Not entirely disappointing but kind of.  The sauce is really thick so it doesn't go down as easily as it could.  One small piece of this and you're good.  If you want to make it I would definitely suggest sides.  I mean, I usually have sides but I was in a hurry this day and thought there were enough veggies in there to be fine.  I was wrong.  A small piece with a veggie or a salad and maybe some garlic bread would make this a fine meal.  Just having a big piece on your plate it gets to be a bit much.

Pin Worthiness:  Sure

It was good.  It was fine.  But I'm not sure I'll make it again.  Also...I'm not sure if I love sun-dried tomatoes. I think I used to but whenever I have them anymore I find myself picking them out of the dish...you?

Red Lobster Biscuits, Sign Me Up

Pinned From:  Pennies On A Platter

I think we all know why everyone goes to Red Lobster.  And it ain't for the reheated dried up "fish" or to pick our own rubber banded creature from the salt water tank.  It's for those biscuits that go down like potato chips!  Salty, cheesy goodness that they are.

Guess what guys.  This recipe is good.  I mean really good!  I really liked it.  Super fast and easy and really delicious.  As long as you don't have an aversion to Bisquick you're gonna love 'em.

Pin Worthiness:  And how

Great.  Now that I've blogged about 'em I need more.

A Recipe for a Happy Kid

Pinned From:  Taste of Home

The whole idea behind this is an Octopus and Seaweed...mine is an Octopus and Seashells (and cheese) with mixed veggies...it doesn't matter though because your kid is sure to love it.  When my boy sat down to lunch he exclaimed "an octispus?!"  Sheer excitement, utter joy all from 30 seconds with a knife and a mustard bottle.  Please pretend you don't notice that we're focused on the legs and not the face.  How embarrassing.

 Pin Worthiness:  And How

We have had octopus for lunch on many occasions now and it doesn't get old.  This is a really fast, easy and simple idea.  Why not bring a smile to those cute little faces?

Bon Appedon't

Pinned From:  Bon Appetit

Linguine, crab, lemon, mint...sounds too good to be true.  Too delicious and flavorful and light for words?  Well, let me assure you, this recipe was a MAJOR disappointment to me.  I love crab, I love pasta and even now as I read the list of ingredients it sounds so delicious to me but it just wasn't.  

Pretty much anytime they tell me to reserve some pasta liquid I don't like it.  I feel like it gives the whole dish a chalky, starchy flavor and texture.  This whole dish was bland and I didn't even finish my portion.  Maybe I haven't mastered the technique, maybe the fault is all mine.  It doesn't matter.  I won't be making this dish again.

Pin Worthiness:  Not Really

I'll admit I did replace the chili's with red bell peppers because I had to serve it to my children but even still...the heat wouldn't have helped this hopeless heap.

Mmm...Breakfast for Dinner

Pinned From: Bachelor In The Kitchen

Seriously though, I love breakfast for dinner.  Especially savory breakfast.  Bring on the pig meats n' potatoes, feel me?  

This recipe is relatively simple, its flavorful and the whole family enjoyed it.  If I were to change on thing I might dial back the seasoned salt a bit but other than that I really liked it.  I was really surprised at how the super liquidy egg/ evaporated milk mixture set up in the oven and that this still sliced pretty well.  

Sure, their picture is prettier but we had fruit salad with ours so it wasn't exclusively a heart attack on a plate.

Pin Worthiness:  You betcha

This simple, kid friendly dinner is worth a try!

Steak Marinade

Pinned From: 1 Fit Chick (no link because her blog has been deleted!)

I'm sorry to say this blog has been deleted because this steak marinade was actually quite yummy and I, of course, did not write it down!  I kind of don't even want to waste my time reviewing it because you all can't try it but since I went through the effort of making it and taking a picture I'll at least let you see it.  

I mixed mine with an immersion blender and it got really creamy as a result.  The flavor was still fantastic though so I think it was fine.  We had elk steaks which can taste a little gamey and wild but I think they were great with this marinade.

Pin Worthiness:  You betcha....unless of course you take into consideration that the link is obsolete...

Carpet Crease Decreaser

Pinned from: Rent Fluff

The tip itself is pretty simple.  If you have a dent in your carpet place ice in it and let the cubes melt slowly and naturally.  Whey they finish melting gently lift the fibers with a spoon.  I pinned this baby right away because our Christmas tree stand left a ring that wasn't going anywhere, I would vacuum it over and over again but nothin' doin'.  

Here's what it looked like:

 And here's what it looked like after:

Not a total Betty but a vast improvement.  (Anyone?  Anyone?)

If I'm being honest those cubes took soooo long to melt I kinda forgot about it until the next day so the carpet wasn't very wet when I got to fluffing but still, I was pretty pleased.  It took a deep dent to a manageable one that was gone a few vacuums later.

Pin Worthiness:  And how

If you've got a carpet dent give this a go.  It's worth a shot, I mean what do you have to lose?  An ice cube?

Grapefruit Brulee

Pinned From:  Running Foodie

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say home girl's grapefruit is photoshopped.  That crap is PINK.  Anyhoo...this guy only has a few ingredients which combine in a tiny bowl and it cooks up quick as a whip.  But guess what.  Meh.  I thought it would be delightful.  I thought it would change the face of grapefruit as we know it.  Meh.

Pin Worthiness: (drum roll please...) Meh

If you love grapefruit then you might love this.  Grapefruit and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the idea of it.  I hate the actual consumption of it.  OK, maybe not hate but I certainly don't enjoy it.  Grapefruit flavored Vitamin C Halls though?  Those bad boys are delish!

Tots in Tulle

Pinned From:  Treasures For Tots

If you've ever wanted to make your own tutu then you must use Ms. Treasuresfortots' cutting method!  It goes so fast and it turns out that one of the top flaps on a Huggies wipes box from Sam's Club is the exact measurement for baby tutu size strips.  In all the chaos of Christmas I didn't get a great shot of Sovie in her ensemble but below you get the general idea.  Adorable girl in foofoo girliness.

Pin Worthiness:  And How

The original plan was a red and green tutu.  Apparently they run out of red and green tulle in December, who knew?  Black and silver glitter dots looked darling with her red tights and I used a green glittery ribbon to attach all the tulle together and it was a big green bow in the back.  Ugh.  I'll have to take another picture!

Chicken Parmesan...BAKE

Pinned From: Food Wishes

This recipe got RAVE reviews so I had to try it out.  It really is super simple and fast to put together which is awesome.  But was it delicious?  In a word, yes.  However, I think we all know I have a few more words to say...it was really watery.  You can see in the lower right corner of my pan (below) the wateryness because I always scoop out a bit to cool for my kiddos ahead of time.  My theory for why it was so runny is three fold.  1) It could be because of my particular sauce (I always use Prego, usually the fresh mushroom variety) 2) I cut into it early to get some cooling time in for the kids 3) My croutons were too large and didn't get down into the sauce enough to soak up the juices (I used Texas Toast).... All in all it wasn't a home run per-say, but it was yummy enough and simple enough to try again.  Next time I plan to use a smaller crouton and wait a minute before serving.  

Pin worthiness:  You Betcha

Like I said, I'm going to try again.  I love that this is a simple recipe that I usually have all the ingredients for in my pantry.

A few notes:  I only used 3 chicken breasts because those mothers were HUGE.  I sliced them down the middle, filet style and spread them along the bottom of the pan.  Also, the price of fresh basil was astronomical that day so I bought the kind that's in a tube and you squeeze out and I thought the dish had a lovely basil flavor.  I LOVE basil so I'd love to try it with fresh but that might have to wait until I'm growing my own right outside my front door this summer.