{P}Inspiration: Oven Baked Fried Pickles

Since joining Pinterest, I have spent far too many hours on there.  I finally decided after seeing this pin for Oven Baked Fried Pickles that I had to try them.

Verdict: DELICIOUS! 

The bonus, really easy to make.  The only thing that the recipe didn't describe well, you need to dry your pickles first.  I placed mine out on some paper towels while I got the batter ready. 

I used the larger pickle slices and dipped them in a yogurt ranch dressing.  If I was going to save some calories by not frying them, I wasn't going to add them by dipping in regular ranch.  If you haven't tried a yogurt ranch/bleu cheese dressing, definitely try them.  I personally like Bolthouse Farms. 

Colton wasn't sure about the first bite, but as soon as he took a bite, it was all over from there.  He didn't want to eat anything else for dinner.  So, if you like pickles, give these a try.  I will be making them again...soon!

The Redneck Blender

As of writing this, my most viewed post is Redneck Wineglasses, where I showed everyone how easy it was to take a candlestick holder, a mason jar and some glue to make this.

I personally think the redneck wineglass is one of the funniest gifts you could ever give and it just got even better.  I heard that you can take a mason jar and use it on a blender...I had to test this out. 

This is my blender.  Hello Cuisinart.  I hate cleaning you.

Disassemble your blender and set the glass pitcher and lid to the side.  Also, grab your redneck wineglass.

Fill your redneck wineglass with whatever beverage ingredients you like.  I originally thought I would be making a margarita to test this out, but I now have a cold, so healthy smoothie it became.

Screw the base of your blender to the top of your redneck wineglass.

Flip over and place on the base of your blender.

Blend.

It's blending.  : )  Once done, flip redneck wineglass and base over.

Unscrew the base from your redneck wineglass.

Remove blade from the base and clean.  I only had to clean the blade.  The seal was tight enough there was no leaking!!!  Haha!  Take that glass pitcher and lid!

Enjoy your beverage!

Is this not seriously the best news ever!  I just rednecked my blender.  (This will only work with the narrow mouthed mason jars)

I could also see this coming in super useful to make salsa that I can just store in a mason jar in my fridge.  Ahhh, the possibilities seem almost endless.

If you decide to make anyone some redneck wineglasses for Christmas, please include a link to this post to show them just how awesome their gift truly is! 

And if you are curious, my smoothie was made up of orange juice, ice, frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries and blueberry yogurt.  It was tasty!

Linking this post up at these places:

Favorite Photo Tuesday #24

I don't do product photography very well.  I have been working on it, especially since starting a blog.  I am learning the importance of angle, lighting, background, etc.  Some of my favorite blogs also have the best product photography.  For me, it's easy to capture a look, a moment, an action.  All of those have warmth, because they have life.  Taking a photo of an inanimate object, you really have to create the moment.

This week I am showing off the absolutely evil (and I mean evil) brownie cheesecake that was requested of me to make.  Hubby, I love you, and this proves it.  My personal trainer is going to kill me this week.

In order to make my brownie cheesecake, I followed the Better Homes and Gardens Cheesecake Supreme recipe, but folded in half a package of broken up brownies right before adding the cheesecake mixture to the pan.  This actually made two small cheesecakes.  It was so tasty.  It is pure evil.  I will be pawning off one of those cheesecakes on someone. 

Does this photo make you hungry?  I have brownie cheesecake if anyone wants to come over and help me eat it?

Baking With Kids

This past weekend I knew that Maben and I would be baking some cookies.  I scoured the internet and found some cute tutorials for a baker's hat and a child's apron.  Both of these came together super quick. 

Maben was very excited about his apron and hat.  He even slept in the apron the first night he had it.  I made a few changes to the hat, instead of a velcro closure in the back, I opted for elastic.

We had a great time making cookies together.  I hope that Maben continues to enjoy cooking and baking, because I love doing it together.  I have fond memories of spending hours in my Grandmother's kitchen.  I hope that Maben grows up with that same fondness.

The cookies we made had a special place they were heading to.  Because of that, I wanted Maben to be a big part in making them.  I want him to understand what it is to pay it forward and being able to give.

So, those white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies ended up yesterday at a Texas National Guard Armory.  We gave those cookies to those soldiers with the utmost thanks from the bottom of our hearts.

Sharing this over at: 

World Famous Fudge

Last week I showed this recipe off over at Sawdust and Paper Scraps.  For anyone who missed it there, it's being reposted here!  But in all seriousness, Sandra has a really awesome Handmade Christmas in July going on at her blog, you should definitely check it out.  Without further ado...my World Famous Fudge!

This is seriously  the creamiest fudge recipe out there.  This is my go to gift for all those people who are often forgot about in the holiday season.  My mailman gets fudge (Tony the mailman actually looks forward to it every year!) and so do the ladies that watch my kids at the gym, teachers, the guys that pick up my trash, etc.

There are some precise steps that need to be followed in order to get that result.  To me, there is nothing worse than eating gritty fudge.

Ingredients:

1 - cup milk

1 - tbsp vanilla

4 - cups sugar

2 - sticks unsalted butter

25 - large marshmallows

2 - squares of unsweetened baking chocolate

1 - 4oz german chocolate bar

1 - 12oz package of milk chocolate chips

Bring the milk, sugar and vanilla to a rolling boil in a stock pot.  Stir (almost) continuously while bringing it to a boil and while it is boiling.

not boiling

boiling

It MUST boil for 4 minutes.  (That is the most important step of this entire process)  This is what gets rid of the grittiness. 

Add 2 sticks of butter and 25 large marshmallows to the mixture and turn your heat on low.

Once all the marshmallows have melted, add ALL of the chocolate.  Break up the german chocolate bar into smaller pieces.  Stir continuously. 

Once all of your chocolate has melted, pour it into a pan and refrigerate.   If you wanted to add nuts to the top, make sure you have them ready to sprinkle on top right after you pour the fudge, otherwise it starts to solidify so fast that you will not have the chance for them to stick. 

That's it for the fudge!  I typically box the fudge in a small store bought candy boxes.

These were purchased at Hobby Lobby during the Christmas season when they were 50% off.

I line the boxes with waxed paper (and you can find colored wax paper at specialty stores) and put between 10-12 small bites of fudge inside each box.

I wrap each box with some ribbon and a gift tag if needed and they are ready to give out to anyone who deserves a little something during the holiday season.

The fudge is super easy to make, takes about 20-30 minutes and makes a great thank you gift for a large amount of people during the holiday season.

I hope you enjoyed my recipe as much as I do.

Guest Blogging

Go head over to Sawdust and Paper Scraps today!  I am sharing my World Famous Fudge Recipe for Sandra's Handmade Christmas in July!

Blueberries

Just over a week ago, the kids and I went blueberry picking.  It's a nice little family farm that is organically run and you can't beat their prices, $3 per pound.  The Chmielewski’s Blueberry Farm is fantastic.  This is the second year I have gone there.  Last year I had Colton strapped to my chest and Maben stuffed his face with as many ripe blueberries as he could.  This year, Maben picked about 1/3 of a pound and Colton stuffed his face with as many blueberries as he could...ripe or not (we both paid for that for a few days!).

Maben showing Colton how to pick blueberries.

Maben upset that Colton is eating white and
green blueberries, even though he keeps
showing him how to pick the purple and blue ones.

We had a lot of fun, even though it has been nothing but super hot here in Texas.  The boys held out, I bumped into a great friend of mine and we brought home a lot of blueberries.  We got just shy of 3 lbs.  If you are wondering what that looks like, it will fill a kids sand pail (like the kind you find at the dollar store).  So what do you do with all those blueberries, eat them and bake with them of course!

I rinsed them first (and busted out my camera to try out some new techniques).  I think I did an excellent job figuring out flash in low light with a fast shutter speed.  What do you think?

The first thing I made with my blueberries were some muffins.  I have been tweaking recipes a lot in order to make them healthier and lower in fat.  This recipe has a little zing with the added lemon, but it's delicious and refreshing. 

The batch made 24 mini muffins and 7 regular sized muffins and I ended up eating way too many.  Don't they look delicious?  And now...I want to make more.

ABC Recipe Swap: Kid Favorites

I'm a little late getting this one up...but for once, I am heavy in projects needing to post.  Seriously...how did that happen?

Anyways, onto my kid favorites.  I was tasked with coming up with recipes for "H" and "U."  Both of the letters proved to be a little difficult, I mean, how many actual foods that a kid is willing to eat starts with either of those letters? 

Up first is "H."  Homemade Cracker Jacks!  This is such a nostalgia food from my childhood.  I even remember back in the day when they gave you more than a sticker or temporary tattoo.  This recipe turned out remarkable!  Super easy and I don't have a candy thermometer, I just assumed my coating was done after it reached a rolling boil for 3-4 minutes.

For letter "U," this was also another nostalgia item from my childhood.  I LOVE homemade applesauce.  My grandmother ruined me for store bought.  I seriously cannot bring myself to eat it.  It's super easy to make applesauce and that's what I do now.  I use a sweeter apple, so I don't have to add any sugar and it tastes great.  

If you want to take a look at all my other recipe swap entries, check out the links below.

Desserts

Soups

Casseroles

ABC Recipe Swap: Desserts

Last week I got together with lots of ladies for a scrapbook recipe swap.  It was a lot of fun.  We did this before and we all loved it so much (and totally forgot about the last minute crunch to get it done) that we did it again with different themes.  This time the themes were desserts and kid favorites.  Last time around it was soups and casseroles.  Up first, desserts!

I was given the letters J and W.  "J" seems like a really easy letter for desserts, but I have failed miserably at every attempt to make a jelly roll, so I went the route of jello.  They were enjoyed and turned out great.

I decided for "W" to make whipped cream.  Homemade whipped cream is SOOOOO easy to make and tastes amazing.  With this recipe, it will work with 1/3 fat sour cream (if you are being calorie conscious) and you are suppose to use it within a day, but it typically holds up for me for about 2 days.

And for those of you who have never done an ABC recipe swap, you get a bunch of ladies together, randomly assign all the letters of the alphabet and set up your finish by date and hold a pot luck.  Sounds easy right?  This is why we scrap them in 6x6 inch cards.  Makes it look pretty and adds a little element of creativity and difficulty.  Also, in 6x6 size, you can buy scrapbook page sleeves in that size and put them in an album or on a stand.  More on the stands later...I am going to be making some.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

I LOVE baked goods.  Bread, cookies, cake...if you can bake it, I want to eat it.  Pies, cheesecake, biscuits...you get the idea.  This is problematic since I lost 44 pounds last year and hope to keep it off and maybe lose a little more this year.  So, I was on a quest to make a cookie that wouldn't kill me with calories.  So after looking into and baking many different lower calorie cookies, I have compiled those recipes and tweaked them and added ingredients and subtracted ingredients...then I finally came up with a cookie that was healthier and tastes great!  I have decided to share it with you all since there are so many cookies out there that should NEVER be made...EVER AGAIN!

My lovely cookies, shown above with their secret ingredient.  I love apples and after you try this recipe you will love them even more.  Not the prettiest cookie out there, but moist, delicious and my kids devour them.  Also, no guilt when I give them (or myself) these cookies for breakfast.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 stick unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
2 eggs
1 medium to large apple grated
2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not the quick oats)
1/4 cup chocolate chips or walnuts (I do one or the other, usually not both)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Mash together butter, eggs, brown sugar and grated apple until mixed very well.  Then add dry ingredients and mix.  Add chocolate chips or  nuts last.  (If a little dry, add 1 tbsp of water)  Oh and mixing together works best by hand. 

Roll into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls and press down into a more flat shape.  Bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes.  Let stand on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then move to wire rack to cool.  They will be VERY soft until they cool.

Try not to eat the whole batch.

This is an original recipe by me, if you pass this on, please link back directly to me and give me credit.  I would appreciate that...because I am proud of this recipe!

I have been baking up a storm

In the past few days, I have baked bread, made pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies.  I decided I would share with you one of the easiest recipes in my collection, the baked bread.  Home made bread is usually long and tedious to make, but not this bread.  I guarantee you will make a lot of bread after you learn this recipe.  I have to thank my dear friend Jenni for giving me this recipe (to which I have tweaked it just a hair) and am now sharing with you.

There are only 4 ingredients!  That's right...only 4.  There is no waiting for the bread to rise either.  You will have a loaf of bread in an  hour.  It sounds too good to be true, but it isn't.  This is a dense beer bread and oh so delicious!

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

1 bottle of beer (I prefer an amber or stout beer)

3 cups of self-rising flour

1 cup of sugar

Salted butter

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  

Mix beer, flour and sugar together in a bowl.  It will be very sticky.  Place in a bread pan (I prefer to bake it in a ceramic or glass bread pan).  Bake in the oven for 55 minutes.  Once you pull it out of the oven, rub salted butter over the top and let it cool (Don't rub more than 2 tablespoons on top).  Serve with honey butter or preserves.  (I almost exclusively serve mine with honey butter and it is super yummy and requested often by my family)