A Pinterest Favorite

Raise your hand if you love Pinterest?  Right, who doesn't love Pinterest?  If  you haven't tried it, you should!  I must admit, I have a pinning problem.  If I like it, I pin it.  It does have it's benefits and we have tried many new things found on that treasure trove of awesomeness.  I thought it would be fun for me to share here so I can be encouraged to keep trying out the tips, tricks and recipes I keep pinning. 

I really enjoy Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  She has so many great recipes!  This particular recipe has become a stand by in our house.  It's quick, easy and everyone loves it!  That's not an easy task for this household of five! 

Kicked Up Ramen - Kung Pao Style - picture via mel's kitchen cafe

It's not super spicy and yummy as is.  Also, depending on what you've got in your fridge, it's even yummy with a lot of veggies.  We've even had it without the nuts and it still is a fav.  We recommend!

Follow me on Pinterest!  You can follow by Food Adventures board on Pinterest here and I recently started a "I've Done This!" board here to record my opinions. 

My Review :: Portuguese Fry Bread

A few weeks back, we needed a quick and easy meal for dinner.  Fortunately, my neighbor was making Navajo Tacos with Portuguese fry bread for the base.  Of course, we copied and made a dinner that was a hit with the kids.  This bread is quick and easy!

Kem's Portuguese Fry Bread
2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
3/4 milk
vegetable oil

Heat oil in skillet.  Mix together all ingredients well.   Divide dough into balls.  Pat out on a flat, floured surface to 1/2 inch thick.  Fry in 1/2 inch hot oil, browning on each side.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve immediately.

We top it with vegetarian chili, greek yogurt, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.  My tiny daugther who eats like a bird inhaled four of them.  My picky son preferred them with honey and butter.  All in all, it was a win-win.

Yummers!

I like this site. 
I like their recipes.
I want to eat some of those recipes right now.  
I want that potato soup. 
I make a mean broccoli soup that my kids adore.
And ask to eat the leftovers for breakfast.
It's not like their recipe but their's looks good too. 
But I am awesome because I make my own
and my kids love it.
That is all.

CSN Stores and a recipe

As I mentioned before, I am thrilled to do a review for CSN stores.   The item that I wanted was on backorder, so it's still a little bit of a wait until I can do the full review, but I wanted to quickly pop on and tell you about my experience so far.   CSN.com has everything that you could possibly imagine!   I feel that I am only scratching the surface of this fantastic site.  I found wallpaper and found wallpaper that I want so badly I can taste it.  I found rugs that were fab!  So many that I wanted.  I found pretty dinnerware, mixing bowls in all shapes and sizes and even dutch ovens.

Speaking of dutch ovens, my husband recently made us some dutch oven peach cobbler that was delicious and super easy to make.  Simply layer one can of sliced peaches with juice (bottled peaches are even better!), 1 yellow cake mix, 1 stick butter cut in chunks and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Cook on your campfire or in your oven at 350 degrees for an hour.  Mmm! 

Look for my review coming soon!

Yummy Strawberry Cupcakes

For Mia's friends birthday party this year, we made the most delcious cupcakes in the whole land! They were a huge hit with kids and adults alike. My love for strawberries have only been stregthened by this confectionary delight. Many thanks to my sister Sharmyn for finding the recipe and sharing it with me. Recipe courtesy of Conversation with a Cupcake.

Wild Strawberry Cuppies

16 oz. strawberries, destemmed
4 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. flour

Mia loves to cook and she is a good cook too. All I do is tell her how much of what and she does the rest. It's fun! (When did she get so big looking??) Here, she demonstrates the first step:

• 
  
  Place first four ingredients in a blender. Blend until fully pureed.

We only have a knock-off Magic Bullet. It works pretty good, but you have to do it in stages. The batter smells so good and is perfectly pink. Mmm!

• 
  
  Pour into a large bowl and mix with remaining ingredients. Spoon into cupcake wrappers. (We made just 80+ mini-cupcakes out of one batch.)

• 
  
  Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched. (Mini's were done by 18 minutes.) Allow to cool. Frost with recipe below.
  ************

Sweet & Pure Strawberry Buttercream
3/4 c. fresh strawberries, destemmed
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 lb. powdered sugar

Over a large bowl, crush the strawberries in your hands. Allow juice & pulp to fall into bowl. Add remaining ingredients & beat well with an electric mixer. Frost cooled cupcakes. Allow to set at room temperature. This makes a huge batch, so don't be shy about loading the frosting on your cupcake. We wanted to top them off with a slice strawberry, better yet, a hunk of strawberry, and that made the whole cupcake go from good to heavenly.

Enjoy!!