Natural Dyed Eggs

April 14, 2014 By Anne

I’ve been wanting to color my eggs naturally for several years now. This is the first year I’ve tried and I wanted to share with you! I’ve read several websites with ideas and several of the items we don’t normally have in our house. So instead of going to buy items to use – I decided to use only what I found in my house.

So I hunted around and came up with these 12 items to try…

(Not everything is shown in this picture, after I started working I found more stuff.)

Paprika
Yellow Onion Skins – I only had about 3/4 of an onion left.
Red Wine
Green Tea
Grape Juice
Coffee
Strawberry Milk Mix
Red Cherry Juice
Green Cherry Juice
Emergen Vit. C Drnk mix – Pink Lemonade
Grape Jelly
Orange Nerds

My favorites are the Orange Nerds and the Red and Green Cherry Juice. Oh and the Green Tea and Coffee! The Strawberry Milk Mix came out pretty too.

All I did was mix the ingredients in a different cup with water (if needed) and added a few tablespoons of vinegar. It was really easy. Not all the eggs came out pretty and some came out weird (wine and grape juice).

There are so many ways to dye eggs. We will be doing a marble egg swirl in a few days with the kids.

What is your favorite way to color eggs?

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

April 9, 2014 By Anne

I was sent a nice little package of goodies to make a delicious recipe of my choice. I looked through the Pillsbury Bake-Off, 100 Winning Recipes and chose a previous winning recipe – Cream Cheese Brownie Pie.

In my package came Watkins Vanilla, Reynolds Parchment Paper and Foil, flour, baking cups and slow cook liners.

My daughter had fun rolling out the pie crust. The parchment paper came in handy.

Instead of using pie crusts I used Gluten Free Dough. It comes in a small container and you take out what you need and save the rest.

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

Recipe Type: Dessert

Ingredients

Crust:
1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, softened
Cream Cheese Layer:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Brownie Layer:
1 box Pillsbury double chocolate brownie mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 pecans ( I left them out)
Topping:
Reserved chocolate syrup packet form brownie mix
3 tablespoons hot fudge topping

Instructions

Heat oven to 350. Place pie crust in 9 inch glass pie plate.
In medium bowl, beat cream cheese layer ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, set aside.
Reserve chocolate syrup packet from brownie mix for topping. In larger bowl, place brownie mix, oil, 1 tablespoon water and eggs. Beat 50 strokes with spoon.
Spread 1/2 cup brownie mixture in bottom of crust-lined pie plate. Spoon and carefully spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Top with small spoonfuls of remaining brownie mixture, spread evenly. Sprinkle with pecan if you add them. Cover crust edge with 2 inch wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning , remove foil during last 15 minutes of bake time.
Bake 40-50 minutes or until center is puffed and crust golden brown.
In small bowl, mix chocolate syrup and hot fudge topping. Drizzle on top, cool 3 hours. Cover and refrigerate and remaining pie.

Anne

Southern Living – Comfort Food Made Easy

April 3, 2014 By Anne

Love to cook? Check out Southern Living’s New Cookbook – Comfort Food Made Easy. I received this new cookbook along with a jar of LouAna’s Coconut Oil. As soon as I received this I started using the coconut oil in my recipes. I made cupcakes and replaced vegetable oil with the coconut oil and no one could tell the difference. I’ve also replaced my margarine with this when I fry up my green beans.

There are so many delicious recipes that it was hard to just choose just one to make. But I knew desserts would go well with my family so I made Oatmeal Cookies, page 273. It calls for pecans and toffee bits but I used chocolate chips instead.

Very easy to make and a bit different than the oatmeal cookies I’ve made in the past (from the box).

Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe Type: Desserts

Author: Southern Living

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups uncooked regular oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
optional –
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/1/2 cups toffee bits

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter at medium speed with electric mixer 2-3 minutes or until creamy. Add sugar, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.
Combine oats and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, beating juts until blended. Stir in chopped pecans and toffee bits. ( I added my chocolate chips here)
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto lightly greased baking sheets. ( I used parchment paper instead.)
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

All the recipes in this book contain a “Make It Easy” tip. For this recipe the tip was to, “Microwave the butter for 20 to 30 seconds on medium heat to soften it.”

Would you like this cookbook and a jar of LouAna’s Coconut Oil? See details below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Anne

Fresh Express 30 Swap Challenge

March 27, 2014 By Anne

I was given information and coupons to create this recipe.

I love to eat, I admit it. I love salad too so I try to get a good salad when we go out to eat. But at home, I just get the basic salad or eat the stuff I’m not supposed to.

So when offered to receive some coupons for Fresh Express and share with my friends, how could I resist? I checked out the Fresh Express 30 Day Swap and so they had so many salads I wanted to make. But I choose to make a Bacon Cheeseburger Salad. So instead of indulging in a juicy bacon cheeseburger, I made a healthy Bacon Cheeseburger Salad.

A Bacon Cheeseburger has 1000 calories
A Bacon Cheeseburger Salad has 420 calories

Here is what you need to make this delicious salad.

Ingredients:
1 package Fresh Express Italian, roughly chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 onion, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup aged cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup dill pickles, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bacon bits

Dressing – 1/4 cup of your favorite reduced Thousand Island Dressing

Instructions
1. To make the burger balls combine ground beef, minced onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl. Then using a teaspoon, form mini balls, set aside.
2. Over medium heat add the olive oil to a large skillet sauté pan. Then working in batches, carefully place the burger balls in the sauté pan. Cook each side approximately 1-5 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Make sure to carefully turn the balls so that are heated throughout. Once all the balls are cooked, place them on a plate and top with cheddar cheese. ( Make sure to add the cheese while the burger balls are hot so it will melt.)
3.In a large bowl, add the romaine, pickles, tomatoes and dressing. Mix well. Place salad on 4 separate plates and then top each plate with 4 burger balls. Then garnish with green onion and bacon bits.

Let me tell you it was delicious! I had invited a few friends over to try it and they all agreed how good it was!

If you’re wanting to eat healthier but not sacrifice flavor, check out the Fresh Express 30 Day Salad Swap. It’s all about: eating smarter, eating better. Feeling better, too.

And you’re going to love Fresh Express’ unrivaled selection of fresh salad mixes, complete salad-making Kits with dressings and toppings, and wholesome organic products. Because they’re the just the tools you need to make delicious, nutritious meals for you and your family.

The Fresh Express 30-Day Salad Swap lets you recreate the flavors of your favorite higher calorie foods, like cheesy pizza and creamy pasta, in lower calorie salads. Swap one meal a day for a month and you’ll not only feel better, you’ll earn money-saving coupons along the way. Watch the video to find out how to get started.

Facts about Fresh Express:

Fresh Express salads are thoroughly washed, rinsed, and gently dried, then sealed in patented “Keep-Crisp®” breathable bags to keep their just-picked freshness, without preservatives.

• Fresh Express has a wide variety of products, including refreshing mixes and ready-to-eat kits. They also have a special USDA-Certified Organic line.

• Fresh Express salad mixes can vary in price, depending on the retailer, but typically cost between $2-$4 per bag

A little history on Fresh Express:

Fresh Express is the market leader in delivering great-tasting, nutritious, fresh products to health-conscious people like you. They’ve been doing it since the 1920s, when they started packing and shipping fresh iceberg lettuce from California’s bountiful Salinas Valley to all of America. Over the years, their produce caused people’s hunger for fresh, healthy salads to grow, and in 1989, Fresh Express fed that hunger by producing the very first ready-to-eat packaged Garden Salad. This pioneering, innovative effort is responsible for “greening up” dinner tables nationwide. Their ongoing dedication to freshness, quality, and creative culinary combinations has made them one of the most popular salad brands in the U.S.

Anne

13 Kid Friendly Sunday Dinners

March 27, 2014 By Anne

This is a sponsored opportunity with Foodie.com. Opinions are my own.

Family dinners are important in our house. But with a busy schedule we don’t always get to sit down as a family. But when do we try to make a great dinner that everyone will enjoy. Sunday is a great day to put together that special meal that everyone loves. Our favorites are Spaghetti, Ziti and Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. Lets not forget Meatloaf and Hamburgers, or Breakfast for dinner. That’s one of my personal favorites. I love to be able to make a great meal that everyone will eat and enjoy. We usually eat the same meals but I do like to try a new side or a new flavor to a traditional meal.

Above is a collection of 13 Kid Friendly Sunday Dinners that I found on Foodie.com. The collection shows what we normally eat. I can’t wait to check out other recipes to try for my family. Foodie.com has so many recipes to choose from.