Quinoa - Who Knew?

Southwest Quinoa

I feel like I missed the boat on this stuff.  It's a lot like rice and you can put it with just about anything and it takes on that flavor...much like tofu only not nearly like tofu.

I couldn't stop eating this recipe.

Southwest Quinoa and Burritos!

Last night I made this and this.

Both were really really good!

This week is a crazy busy week with sports and sports and sports all in the evenings.  I am using up leftovers on Monday and Tuesday.  Hoping to make some Pinterest recipes later this week!  My daddy brought me a huge bag of fresh asparagus and I'm going to roast it using this recipe tonight!

Pinterest Recipe Week

Last week I made some Pinterest Recipes...but didn't take pics.  Sorry!

Edamame

Roasted Green Beans

Mushroom Green Beans

Dr. Pepper Brisket

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

All were super yummy except I didn't really enjoy the Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken.  My Man did though!

Easter Cupcakes

My mom got these darling cupcake liners and picks last year on clearance and I could not wait to use them this year!

Just a simple vanilla cake mix.

And vanilla buttercream frosting.

I took the entire tier of cupcakes outside for the kids to enjoy.

And boy did they ever.

and we found a snail while we were out there.

And then it started getting dark and buggy so we went inside for showers and baths.

The End

Pinterest Idea: Peep Smores

Pinterest sure kept me busy this year!

One of the darling treats I could not pass up were Peep Smores!

We made them for #4's preschool Easter party and then had enough left over for us at home.

Super yum!

The peeps melt into something heavenly that is much better than just a jumbo marshmallow in the microwave.

Easter Sugar Cookies

This year, once again, I made Easter sugar cookies.

I had new food coloring.  This is strictly for icings and frosting and is a "gel coloring."

It's much more bold.

I was going for a soft yellow and plopped some gel into the royal icing and got pumpkin orange.

So, lesson learned...a little bit goes a long way.

Guess how long these lasted?

About one day.

Guess how many I ate?

6

I also saved a few to take over to my in-laws for Easter dinner.

But we didn't even get into them because I'd also made a strawberry cake and my SIL had made cheesecake.

So...My Man took them to work with him and shared with his amigos!

Resurrection Rolls

Another idea I'd heard about from other moms and had seen several recipes for was for Resurrection Rolls.

The day before Easter I saw it all over my Pinterest board and then decided it was something I wanted to do with the kids before church on Easter morning.

You take crescent rolls (the tomb) and put in a marshmallow (Jesus).

Dip the marshmallow in oil (butter) and spices (cinnamon and sugar) for the burial anointing.

Sometimes, we're just naked in our house.

Little Miss ate Jesus before I could wrap him in the tomb.

We had to try again.

Then wrap the tomb around Jesus and bake for 15 minutes or so.

My advice would be to either seal the edges of the tomb very very well next time or just use a couple of mini marshmallows instead.

Our marshmallows ended up all over and leaking out of the crescent rolls.

But we ate them anyway!

Oops

I accidentally posted an Easter cooking idea on my other blog.  Check it out over there!

Pinterest Recipe: Strawberry Carrots

Pinterest, once again, was my motivation behind this little trick.

Simply drop a couple drops of orange food coloring into some melted white chocolate and dip strawberries in.

Then lay on wax paper and drizzle a little more on top.

I think the Pinterest picture was a bit more "lifelike" but my kids fell for it.

They gobbled them right up.

I put a few on each child's plate at dinner and it wasn't until dinner was almost over that #3 said, 

"Hey Mom, these strawberries look like carrots."

I looked at him, sure that he was kidding, he wasn't.

Then another child said,

"Hey, that's funny.  They're really just strawberries."

And another piped in,

"You just put orange stuff on the strawberries to make them look like carrots."

(Did you kids actually think you were eating carrots?  And that carrots taste like that?  Do you live in a box?  Are you crazy?)

I met My Man's eyes over their innocent (clueless) heads.  We exchanged a look that telepathically said,

"I swear I did not smoke crack when I was pregnant." 

and

"I swear I did not smoke weed and damage my little sperms."

And then, we just laughed.

And My Man commented that I was so sneaky and clever.

Easter Pizza

I love Pinterest.

I really do.

For each holiday, I have a list of goodies/crafts to do with the kids but Pinterest has taken it to a whole new level.

I've stressed myself out about making sure I do each and every single stinkin' craft/goodie there is to do.

It's like...my competitive sport.

The boys are into them, My Man coaches them and so now I've developed my own.

My goal:  Pin awesomely fun stuff.

My goal:  Do/make the awesomely fun stuff.

I had to draw the lines though on difficulty level.

The things I've been making with the kids this year are on the "easy" level.

For instance, below is the Easter Pizza!

Refrigerator sugar cookie dough, pressed into a foil pizza pan.

Baked.

Immediately after taking it out of the oven, sprinkle Easter marshmallows and Easter m&ms's all over.

Stick back into the oven while it's still warm to puff up the marshmallows a bit and make them stick.

My kids gobbled it right up!

Pinterest Recipe: Mongolian Beef w/ Rice

I found this recipe on Pinterest, duh.  It boasted of tasting better than PF Chang's mongolian beef.  I was skeptical because we LOVE PF Chang's.

And while the recipe was good...and easy (my two requirements), it was not better than PF Chang's.  Give it a try though!

Mongolian Beef Recipe:

makes 2 servings

You will need:

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise

1/4 cup of cornstarch

3 teaspoons of canola oil

1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Prepare the meat:

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch (see picture bellow).

Make the sauce:

Heat half of the oil in a large wok at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later. 

Cook the meat and assemble dish:

Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice.

Pinterest Recipe: Crockpot Cube Steak

Crockpot Cube Steak and Gravy

Cube steak   (I used a family size pack)
2 cans (10.75 ounce size) cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
3/4  cup water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low all day. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes or with your favorite side dishes.

Made this last night and it was a hit with My Man and #5.  The boys thought it was too saucy.

I made these the other night and they were maaaahhhvelous!


I just copied and pasted straight from my Pinterest Page.


The carrots were amazing!  They roasted 2 pounds of baby carrots in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes with some seasoning and a little olive oil.  They were pulled out of the oven and drizzled with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of honey, and about 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.  Pop them back into the oven for about 5 more minutes.  They were still a littlecrunchy, roasted to perfection & tasted wonderfully.