Citrus Wild Blueberry Compote

I recently purchased an enormous bag of chia seeds. I've been incorporating them into smoothies, grinding them into a powder for pancake mix and adding them to yogurt. I'm always trying to think up the next way to get those little extra proteins and omega 3's into foods we eat often. Both of my kids eat fruit.

New idea: compote. 

Wild blueberries are one of my favorite fruits because they can be purchased frozen at a great price (and therefore used all seasons!), are rich in color, flavor, antioxidants and they're adorable. Okay, that last one is true but totally not a prerequisite.

Wild blueberries + chia seeds come together in this recipe to soften the seeds and fruit and marry them both together in perfect harmony. Bam. Power food that the kids might actually eat. The citrus adds a sophisticated flavor that even adults will totally dig.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen wild blueberries

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 tsp. vanilla

zest of 1/2 orange

Method:

In a small saucepan, add the ingredients and cook down on low until the fruit has completely softened and most of the moisture has evaporated. The fruit should remain in a somewhat whole state, but if you'd like it more preserves-style, cook down and smash the fruit a bit. I like it somewhere in between with some whole fruit pieces and some pureed in. Chia seeds thicken the mixture so if you leave little liquid in your cook down, it will resemble more of a pectin-based preserve (without the pectin) when cooled. Store in a mason jar in the fridge.

Substitutions:

Agave for honey, pure maple syrup, sugar

Orange for any citrus (lemon, lime, clementine - I actually used a mineola)

Chia seeds for flaxseed

This makes a great topper and mix-in for so many things. I've tried it on waffles in the place of syrup and my one-year-old gobbled it up! I've also mixed it into plain Greek yogurt. 

More possibilities: ice cream topper, replacement for pancake syrup, incorporated into pancake batter, smoothie addition, oatmeal topper, replacement for jam/jelly/preserves on toast or in sandwiches, by the spoonful even. It will totally jazz up a brunch spread in that cute and totally trendy mason jar.

Foodie Resolution: Blueberry Biscuits & Red Lentil Tacos

We had a small amount of blueberries in the fridge and I wanted to be creative with breakfast one morning. And ironically, my boys just kept sleeping and sleeping. To the point where I woke them up!

I saw a recipe recently using up blueberries and biscuits. Two things I love. Confession: I could gobble up KFC biscuits and I don't miss the gravy one bit.

Apparently in the south, there is a restaurant called Bojangles. I think I've seen these in airports, but otherwise I'm unfamiliar. Pretty sure it's chicken... right? Either way, that is what inspired the recipe from its creator.

We thought they were nom nom, 5-stars delicious. {Recipe here} With or without the glaze, but I personally like any excuse to slather something with a sugary glaze. These would also work just fine using frozen blueberries. Or chocolate chips. Or...

This next one is totally an inspiration from a friend. She posted a photo of her lentil tacos on instagram and I immediately went to Pinterest to find a recipe. I pinned it and weeks later, we were eating some delicious tacos. Lentils are a great alternative to beans, refried beans, or meat. They're high in protein and iron and hearty.

I cooked them just as the recipe called, but left them just a little runnier than hers appear on the recipe. I used the tomato sauce, onion, garlic, cilantro... all things the recipe called for and they were quite tasty. If you cook red lentils longer, they'll break down and become smooth like mashed potatoes. If you cook them with less time, they will resemble lentils, but will still be soft and smooth. Red lentils are unique in this way and other lentil varieties keep their form.

This recipe makes enough for two meals, easily. My friend topped hers with roasted veggies, but I went the traditional taco route and used taco toppers. You can also add in your favorite meat and just used these as a bean substitute with a little in your tacos for a new flavor.

Another nom nom, 5-star recipe. {Recipe here}

Foodie Resolution Week #13 of 52: Chickpea Salad

I recently talked about that Starbucks chickpea salad that was amazing, but needless to say, I had no luck finding the recipe. However, I did find another recipe that sounded equally appealing.

Not difficult by any means. I went out and bought the ingredients. I planned to make it last weekend for a healthy lunch. Then I got severely sick Friday night and am finally feeling 95% as of now. Nearly a week later.

Those fresh vegetables were just asking to be used and I hated the thought of wasting them. But honestly, I didn't feel like making a thing! I wanted plain bread and water. Spices? Flavor? omg. no.

But, I made it. And had it a total of twice. As I stare at the leftovers I know I'll never eat despite it being a delicious salad, I just don't know what to think. Being sick kind of ruined it for me. Even though it wasn't the salad that was at fault. But if you were in my fridge during Sickfest 2013, I wanted you gone immediately. The state of my fridge at this current time is barren. Quite like my uterus, ehhhm, Dad. Or whoever else was wondering.

Don't you just want to make this recipe now? I know. Sorry.

I mixed two recipes. I sort of threw in what I wanted and omitted what I didn't. That's how I cook. I added bulgur wheat (which is delicious, btw), omitted dill and cucumber and mint. I followed the general dressing from this recipe and the bulgur addition from this one.

Anyway, that's it. Not the best foodie week, but what are you gonna do?

Foodie Resolution Weeks #8 & 9 of 52: Easy Salsa & Sprinkles Birthday Cake

I have made quite a few new things in the last couple weeks, but either didn't take photos or was too busy to blog about them. Or both. I did manage to snap some photos of salsa I made from my Blendtec recipe book recently, and obviously, week 9 was all about birthday cake. I made both cake recipes from scratch and that may have been the first time I'd ever done that.

First up, Easy Salsa. 

I'm still wary of using tomatoes from cans to make salsa. It almost feels like why bother when I can just buy jarred salsa if the ingredients aren't going to be fresh, you know? I do have PW's salsa pinned and just might consider someday... but for now... it's salsa with real tomatoes. I actually prefer the cheap Roma tomatoes over the others to make salsa because there are less insides and therefore the salsa will be less runny, because I use the whole thing.

For this recipe, I substituted about 6 tomatoes in place of the can of tomatoes, added 1/2 jalapeno instead of the green chilies, and way more cilantro. Because 2 Tbsp? I mean, really. We're talking about salsa here.

I've made this recipe twice in two weeks and it's a great way to clean out the produce.

Next up, Birthday cake. 

I don't have a single photo of the cooking process, but man did that take forever. We ended up with like 72 mini cupcakes and a smash cake, all from scratch. I don't own a mini cake pan for the smash cake and asked all of my local friends if they had one and none of them did. I ended up using two of my Pyrex 1 qt. glass storage containers to make the two layers of the cake. I have this set. Got the idea here. My mom has way more baking skill than me and suggested we heavily butter and flour the insides to prevent sticking. I filled each of them with even amounts of vanilla cake mix (see below), added sprinkles to make it my own funfetti mix and baked until done. Then I plopped them out immediately onto a wire cooling rack for cooling. The next day, I cut off the top of each cake to make them flat, added icing to the middle, a sliced strawberry, and iced the rest before adding the sprinkles. Sprinkles cake inspiration here.

Steps: starting top right and going clockwise

Steps to the Sprinkle Number Process:

1. Bake layers, cool, slice off tops using bread knife, ice center, stack, icing all around (shown in 1st step).

2. Let icing harden for about 30 minutes. When no longer sticky, place number piece of paper in the center. We printed to size - many images available on Google images & using Paint, you can shrink them.

3. Use a butter knife to ruffle the icing around the number so it's sticky again, because you want the sprinkles to adhere and stay.

4. Sprinkle all around, being careful to keep that number down without pushing too hard that it stick too well when it comes time to pull it off the cake.

5. Quality control. The key is to get into the corners of the number (with sprinkles) so it's sharp. You want the number to be distinct when you pull it off the cake. Peel number off once you feel the sprinkles are good to go!

Recipes:

I used two cake recipes-- one vanilla and one chocolate. And the recipe for the vanilla buttercream frosting. I planned to make cream cheese frosting, but I forgot to buy the cream cheese at the store. But the butter? Yeah, I didn't forget that... so buttercream frosting it was!

They were okay, but the only thing I'd probably make again was the frosting. It was extra vanilla-ey and I like it that way. Otherwise, the cake was just... cake. I did add chocolate chips to the chocolate cupcakes, so that made them pretty yummy, but the cake itself was just okay. I loved the sprinkles top and plan to make that again for sure!

Foodie Resolution Week #2 of 52: A Smörgåsbord of Deliciousness

This week was nuts. I mayyyyyybe went a little crazy in the kitchen getting all excited about my new foodie challenge. I possibly neglected my husband and kid on Sunday because I was in the kitchen for three hours straight. It could've happened. From the pictures below, I'm sure it will be proof enough that I should've cut out something and spent more time with the boys...

Skin-on, Stovetop Applesauce

Lowdown: Used organic apples, so decided to wash well and leave the skin on. Turned out perfect. Except the part where I put them in my Blendtec to make sure those skins were pureed enough and pressed the pulse button one too many times, ending in quite the scene on my cabinets. 3lbs of organic apples + 1 spoonful of cinnamon + 1/2 cup water  + 30ish minutes on low heat = about 2 quarts of applesauce

Inspiration

 Repeat Recipe: Pretzel Rolls (so good that it's worth sharing)

Lowdown: These are phenomenal. I made them a couple weeks back and those who follow me on Instagram know all about them, but if you don't, these might be new to share. I've made pretzel bites before and we almost ate every single one while they were still warm. So, I thought I'd try my hand at pretzel buns because we love them just the same. And of course I decided to skip the egg wash on top (ick) and instead add butter (yum) so they'd taste like Auntie Anne's. I mean... why not?

Inspiration

 Sweet Potato Cakes

Lowdown: Pinterest says I pinned these 44 weeks ago. It's about time I get around to them. They were more labor intensive than I like for something that seems so simple, so I probably will just stick to my sweet potatoes as fries from now on. Also, this calls for pan frying them in lots of oil/butter. I wasn't down with that, so mine came out still soft with more fat. Meh. Taste was great. I didn't add sour cream to the top or the black bean salsa, but instead added the black bean salsa to the inside by adding cilantro, black beans, red onion, and 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce to the mix. Aren't sweet potatoes ugly? Finished product wasn't photographed, but they are pretty tasty.

Inspiration

 Grilled Romaine Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Lowdown: We had friends over for a raclette dinner and started the dinner off with a grilled romaine salad with homemade balsamic vinegar & shaved parmesan. The picture is terrible, but I loved it! It also looks super fancy on a plate and so simple to throw together. I'll definitely be making this again.

Salad Inspiration & Dressing Inspiration

More randomness in the photo below: 

• I finally bit the bullet and bought a big bag of pinto beans. I do believe next week's recipe (hopefully just one!) will be homemade refried beans. And no, Alison, I cannot and will not use bacon fat {Nic told me... gross me out!}. 
• My mom recommended this English cheddar with caramelized onion and we used it with our raclette in addition to the traditional raclette cheese (also from TJ's, seasonal). I liked it, but I'm not a huge English cheddar fan. The onion is delicious though! 
• My first ever can of chipotle peppers in adobo below... and what I did with the extra! Excited to have that in the freezer to use in recipes to come. Anyone use these in their cooking? What do you put them in?

 Basic, No-Knead Artisan Bread

Lowdown: Favorite. Love. OMG. 

I grabbed my big ol' bag of Costco Active Dry Yeast (um, cheapest place ever to buy yeast, people!) out of my freezer and mixed the 4 required ingredients together, covered with plastic wrap for 18 hours, and came back to a nice, easy dough in the morning. Flipped it out of the bowl onto a well-floured cotton towel, covered again, let rise for 2 hours, then flopped it into my Le Creuset dutch oven, put the top on, and baked that baby for an hour. Results below. You can probably smell it through the computer. It was that amazing. Also, I subbed 1/4 cup regular flour for rye & 1/4 cup for wheat as well. I love the bite rye gives bread and the wheat for added nutritional value.

Inspiration

 I mean... honestly.

Phew. I'm tired. Until next week...

I Bet You've Been Wondering if we Still Eat

I mean, it has been awhile since I've posted about food. Which is abnormal. And unacceptable.

Perhaps it's a certain little nugget of love that's been keeping me away from the kitchen. He's trying. He crawls multiple rooms using only the sound of my voice and proceeds to pull himself up using the slack of my pants. Then he stands in between my legs and whines until I pick him up.

Food critic, maybe.

Two items on the menu tonight. We didn't actually get to the salad, but since we've had it three times this week and my husband is probably screaming, "Alright already!" I figured I'd share my recipe. The other is what we had for dinner. Like an hour ago.

First up, cabbage salad. I'm the type who really does try to save money and buy in season. I also like fresh produce, and honestly, produce in the Midwest can be a little sketchy especially if you shop at Jewel and buying what is in season is your best bet at getting produce that isn't hours away from spoiling. Cabbage is either in season, or particularly cheap these days. It appears fresh, so I bought a couple heads of it recently.

Ingredients:
1/2 head green cabbage (red works, but it bleeds and isn't as pretty when that happens), sliced thin
1/4ish red onion, sliced thin
Handful of carrot matchsticks
Handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 inch ginger, grated

Dressing: (It's basically the recipe on the back of TJ's rice wine vinegar)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
Spoonful sesame oil
Dash of soy sauce
Red pepper flakes to taste

I buy in bulk and freeze it. I love ginger and always have it on hand + it's easier to grate when frozen.

 It's even better 2-3 days later after marinating through, but it can be eaten immediately.

I saw a recipe on Pinterest that looked so good, I bundled up the nugget and headed out to the grocery store just for taco shells. I could've made them myself, sure, but I didn't have the tortillas for that either. And I guess I could've made my own tortillas, but gah. I just wanted the boxed kind, okay? And here you have, oven tacos. The mix should be thick and not saucy at all for either meat or vegetarian filling.

Ingredients for meat filling:

1/4 lb taco meat, cooked & seasoned how you like it

1/4 can refried beans (or if you are better than me and avoid the BPA, 1/4 cup of your own)

1/4 cup salsa

Ingredients for vegetarian filling:

If you eat crumbles or tempeh (I don't), use those here... but I used...

1/2 cup refried beans

1/4 cup salsa

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

Fill taco shells with filling of your choice, top with cheese & bake for 10ish minutes at 400 degrees. When done, top with your favorite taco fillings. Honestly, we thought these were delicious. Like, YUM. Something about the baked shells being sort of crunchy and sort of soft. We will be making these again. I can see myself making these for years to come, especially with kids. The binding of the ingredients means no more crumbly meat on the floor! Well, unless you have a 9-month old and miraculously, everything is always on the floor no matter what.

I love those Crate & Barrel dishes. My food is never tainted by meat juices. I recommend it for long, happy marriages for those vegetarians married to carnivores. The usual suspects: cheese, cilantro, spinach, olives, avocado. Sour cream, salsa, hot sauce are all good things, too, but I didn't include them.

Ready for the oven.

Ready to top & eat!

More depressing posts to come, but until then, how about a happy post all about food?

Mmmmmmmmm.

Food, Family & Travel

It's usually one of those things. And this one is once again devoted to grub. So get those virtual forks ready. {My gosh, I'm such a dork.}

On the way to my cousin's wedding in Michigan, we stopped off at a local grease shack. Well, at least that's what I expected it to be. Redamak's Tavern is located in New Buffalo and gets rave reviews from the folks here in the Midwest. It's one of those love it or hate it places. Judging from the reviews on Yelp and the insane following this place has, we put it on the list.

Honestly, wasn't greasy enough to me. I just expected worse. So when I was able to order a grilled vegetable pita with swiss cheese, I was no longer assuming this was quite the grease-hole people talk about. Needless to say, we liked it enough to put it on the list for future visits up the Michigan coast. It was B's first time of many, I'm assuming. A new tradition. Now we just have to remember to take photos every time we go.

Please go away, mamarazzi.

Our friends threw a Memorial Day party and I brought Margarita Cupcakes I pinned on Pinterest. I'm no stranger to lime cupcakes, as I made a batch of key lime ones for a baby shower (back when I hosted, threw, and attended them). These required about a 1/4 cup of tequila but obviously it cooks off and leaves no flavor behind. What a waste of tequila, I say. One of my friends said these weren't as good as the key lime ones I made a couple years ago. So yeah, off the pinterest board because I found them to be just okay. And for all that work, they needed to be better than okay.

Even the frosting turned out crappier than usual. It was too smooth to pipe, so I just slathered it on. In hindsight, that was so much easier than the piping. Also, something I added caused the cupcakes to pull away from the paper. Weird, huh?

Sticking with our green theme, I finally made another pinned recipe, Avocado Mac 'n' Cheese. And yes, it was just as decadent as it sounds. If it weren't for fat grams that cause behinds and thighs to grow and inhibit proper-sized jean wearing, I'd eat this everyday. But yeah... this was definitely a full day's worth of caloric intake and then some. Either avo or cheese, but not both next time. Or maybe cheese with a few avo chunks on top. It had an avo flavor, but I guess I like my avo straight up and I felt like it was too muted. And considering they're both high in calories, I would rather enjoy them separate.

I did like how creamy the recipe turned out (I know, with two avo and 7 slices of cheese, it better be, right?!) and would definitely use the roux/cheese recipe for a future plain mac 'n' cheese. I used pre-sliced cheese and I think it was just as easy as using shredded cheese. I just added one slice at a time, stirred until melted, then added another slice. I even took B on a walk to the grocery store just for cilantro to make this. I <3 cilantro. For taste, 5/5 stars. For over the fat intake one should have in a day, 6/5. Hah.

I made two bread recipes (I know, shutup woman. That's why I put them last.). I've stuck to my guns and haven't purchased a loaf of bread in two weeks. So for Ray's daily PBJ, he has had homemade bread. And can I say that homemade bread makes the best toast ever? The first comes to you from my Blendtec Blender. That's right. I made bread in my blender. No hand kneading at all.

If you blend a lot (or even if you don't but want a blender that actually works and will be around longer than you will), this is seriously the machine for you. I tell people all the time that it's absolutely the most valuable appliance in my kitchen. Also, it's literally the most costly appliance I own. It has permanent counter space. I will definitely be making blender bread again. It was easy and awesome.

Proofing the yeast -- something I've learned recently that's very important, in addition to the temp of the water.

 Blended dough (pressed pulse a few times to "knead" the dough).

 After allowing the dough to rise.

 Honey Wheat Bread

I'm working on forming my loaves and achieving the sandwich bread shape with the muffin top like I want. I'm almost there. No photos from this week's bread (the best yet and it's half gone!), but it's from this recipe and is definitely the best shape of any bread to date. Mine is slightly shorter, but still really great.

Pinned it. Made it. Loved it.

A couple vegetarian recipes coming at you courtesy of Pinterest.

I have been attempting to get B to sleep in his crib during naptime, which is also a new thing. I've been attempting to put him down for an official late nap around 2 or 3 each day. It's mostly to get him used to the idea and get him comfortable sleeping in the crib on his back. He couldn't hate laying on his back more... but we're breaking him of it, I think. He's not one of those kids I'm going to brag about sleeping through the night, because he's not. We average about 4-5 hours straight and then the rest of the night is sort of a mess. Our longest stint was 7 hours and I woke up worried because it was such a weird occurrence. However, during his naps, I'm sometimes able to get creative in the kitchen before dinner. Here are a few of those instances.

I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill Polenta and really wanted to find a fun way to make it. That, and I love Mexican food and thought it would be a fun alternative to tortillas and pretty darn healthy. I typed polenta into the search bar on Pinterest and viola. Dinner was all figured out.

Source: friendsforweightloss.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Black Bean and Polenta Casserole
INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1 cup organic polenta
• 3 cups water
• Salt
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
•  1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa
• The kitchen sink: whatever else you want to add-- I added chicken for Ray's, diced bell pepper, olives, diced green chiles & cilantro and guac to the top.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Bring 3 cups salted water to a boil in a heavy-duty sauce pan. With water boiling, pour polenta in a steady stream, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Turn down the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. You should barely see individual grains of cornmeal.
2.  Spread half the cooked polenta into a 9×9 baking dish (I used two small casserole dishes I bought at Crate & Barrel which are great for cooking one meatless and one with meat). Add anything you want to the center (black beans, chicken, peppers, salsa, cheese), then add polenta to cover the top.
3.  Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Almost forgot to photograph the result! Hearty, delicious, and on the list to make again. The one change I would make is adding some seasoning while cooking the polenta-- in this case maybe a little chili powder or cayenne. Anyone else have good polenta recipes? I have a whole bag of the stuff...

Next up is a simple one... popcorn. No chemicals added in a compostable brown paper bag even! It wasn't much effort, but I was interested in a snack and being on this no-sugar self-induced diet of sorts, I wanted something healthy. I even emailed Brooke later to tell her it was a success (being the avid popcorn lover that she is) and she told me popcorn is high in fiber. Even better!

Here's the recipe:
Measure popcorn and pour into a paper bag (I used 1/8 cup but for a decent serving, I'd do 1/4 cup per person. Fold the bag twice. Pop in the microwave for about 3 minutes. I then added a dash of cayenne and some sea salt because that's how I like it.

Source: squawkfox.com via Brandy on Pinterest

For dinner last night, I made something that's been on the list for a long time. Here's a saving money tip for you all: buy reduced cost yogurt that hasn't yet expired but will in the next few days and freeze it. It can be used in smoothies (which I drink almost everyday: OJ, yogurt, banana, strawberry) no matter the expiration and you got a deal on it, of course! This is a great way to get cheap Greek yogurt when paying $1/container isn't something that excites you. My Safeway affiliate market always has yogurts on clearance that are a week from expiration.

Anyway, I'm fabulous at tangents. I bought a small container of Greek yogurt yesterday  for 50 cents and knew I was committing to this recipe. Greek yogurt is not only high in protein and all kinds of good stuff, but it's low in fat-- or in this case, fat free. I'm not a cream sauce fan because of the high fat content. While this didn't add tons of flavor (it is plain yogurt, after all), it made a very healthy alternative to a creamy tomato sauce with hidden nutrients to boot!

Source: backtoherroots.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Penne Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce, Spinach, and Whatever Else You Want (because let's be honest... I never follow a recipe entirely)

Ingredients

• 1 package whole wheat penne
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 medium tomatoes (about 1/2 lb.) chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 1/3 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cook penne according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet with a lid, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes or until garlic begins to soften.
3. Add in tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes.
4. Remove from heat, add in spinach and cover skillet. Let spinach wilt for 2 minutes.
5. Remove lid and place skillet back over low heat. Add the penne, Greek yogurt and pasta sauce. Stir until sauce is mixed well and all pasta and veggies are coated. Heat until just warmed through. Divide into pasta bowls and serve topped with parmesan cheese.

And because B decided his nap would be a long one yesterday, I had time to be even more creative. I wanted to serve some kind of bread (because double carbs rock! And we all know my obsession with bread lately) but didn't have any worthy. To Pinterest I went! I typed in breadsticks and searched three different recipes until this one seemed right. And OH WAS IT! This is officially my go-to recipe for pizza dough and breadsticks from here on out.

Source: ourbestbites.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Breadsticks (I recommend visiting the website because he has step-by-step picture instructions)
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

Instructions
1. In your KitchenAid mixer (with pastry dough fork), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.
2. Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.
3. Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
4. Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.
5. Twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it’s okay if they’re close.
6. Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes.
7. When there’s about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a Ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or whatever you want. That garlic bread seasoning is awesome. I used it and loved it.

Just like the pretzels, Ray insisted we have these again tomorrow. Lucky for him, there are 5 left over since it does make 12 breadsticks. I may have eaten 4 myself last night. So much for that self-induced diet, right?

Finally, I'm going to be posting this at the bottom of my posts for awhile because I'm just so dang distraught about this family losing their sweet daughter after losing their son last year. I placed a donation to help cover some of the medical costs and because they are looking into surrogacy since not only did her uterine rupture take the life of her daughter, but she was told that getting pregnant again would be too risky. They desperately want a family like we all do. If you'd like to visit Becky's blog, go here. And for the donation page (also linked through the blog) go here.

 

Pinterest. It's What's for Dinner. #1

The best of:

I pinned these because, according to the people of Pinterest, these are the best ever chocolate chip cookies. We're big critics over here at the Wilson household. Cookies are practically a food group-- at least to my husband who was caught eating packaged cookies literally as I was putting these on the cookie sheet. I'd have to say, though...these were not amazing. I'm actually not even sure I'd make them again, but they don't go into the "terrible" category either. Just meh. I brought some over to a friend's house and I asked her what was wrong with them and she told me it was the sweetness factor. Perhaps more sugar needed? The "secret" ingredient of cornstarch gave them an interesting flavor, I think.

Source: kelseysappleaday.blogspot.com via Brandy on Pinterest

The batter was really fluffy-- almost like soft serve ice cream.

Weber Vegetable Grill Basket
I was making roasted asparagus this week and thought of how I needed to own a BBQ veggie basket so I didn't have to roast my small or cut veggies in the oven during the summertime.

I bought this on Amazon and it was on my doorstep the next day. I cannot wait to try it out! I've been wanting one of these ever since my friend's husband made us dinner one evening-- he BBQ'ed the green beans and I think they were the best I've ever had. Apparently you can even put marinated pieces of meat/seafood and marinated veggies in here. I'm also thinking fish tacos, veggie burgers that don't always hold up well on the grill, and pineapple chunks! We will be testing it out this week.

Source: amazon.com via Brandy on Pinterest

These people think I care about this.

Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce
Made this with onions, broccoli, string beans, carrots, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, fresh lime juice, and peanut butter. Mmm. It was good but must add sauce right before eating, otherwise the noodles will soak in the sauce and it will be dry. Unless you add gobs of oil-- which I have a hard time recommending.

Source: foodnetwork.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Frozen Yogurt Drops
I saw these a few times and decided to pin because I had two containers of yogurt with expirations drawing near. I didn't want to waste them and knew I could freeze them in larger discs of yogurt for single-serve use in smoothies. It was hugely successful and a great way to save some cash buying the yogurt that is about to expire in 2-3 days for half price at the grocery store. And a bonus is that it adds the chill and slightly icy consistency I love in smoothies.

Source: onegoodthingbyjillee.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Still in the queue:

No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake 
This is made with graham crackers, a whole lot of whipping cream, strawberries, chocolate ganache, and a few other ingredients. It looks elegant and I cannot wait to make it. I was thinking about making it for our neighbors. I'll keep you posted.

Source: thekitchn.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Chocolate Nachos
These remind me of the nachos we had over Christmas when we visited South Padre Island, TX.

Source: ourbestbites.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Creamy Avocado Yogurt Dip
I love avocados. There are certain foods that I don't consider unhealthy, no matter the fat content. Avocados, nuts, yogurt, and hummus are all on the list. It's loaded with protein as it's made with greek yogurt-- something I don't love plain but it makes a great base to replace the sour cream in many recipes and dips! My only apprehension with this recipe is wasting two whole avocados if I don't like it. Hah.

Source: twopeasandtheirpod.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Sweet Potato Cakes with Sour Cream and Chipotle Black Bean Salsa
I'm just starting to jump on the sweet potato bandwagon. I've been a skeptic my whole life because I always hated how people prepared them so sweet. I'm not one to like my vegetables coated in sugar and marshmallows. I just assumed that was the only way people ever made them, so I avoided. And once again, my friend's husband (also known as "gourmet husband") came to the rescue and made these amazing, spicy sweet potatoes. I loved them. And recently I've had them in the version of french fries and loved them as well. I'll be honest though-- a regular ol' russet potato still tastes better to me, but at least I'm branching out!

Source: lisaiscooking.blogspot.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Roasted, Spiced Chickpeas
Here's another item I don't loooove. Chickpeas. I love them smashed, but for some reason I don't love to eat them whole. I'm hoping this little recipe will bring some edge to the ol' garbanzo bean. Crunchy = good. Spicy = good. Virtually fat free = good. Can't go wrong, right?

Source: wholeliving.com via Brandy on Pinterest

Make anything exceptional based on a Pinterest recommendation lately? It really is my favorite way to document recipes I've made and want to make.