Foodie Pen Pal Reveal - Feb 2012

So this last month I came across something that I thought was such a cool idea! Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean started this up last fall and it has really taken off! This was my first month to participate and I was sent an awesome package from Courtney!

Here are all the super sweet things she sent to this on the go mommy!

• Williams Sonoma hot chocolate
• Sunbutter packets
• TJ’s Tempting Trail Mix
• TJ’s Dark Chocolate Cookie Butter bar
• TJ’s Boysenberry Fruit Leather
• Peanut Butter Cookie LARABARs
• Cappuccino LARABARs

I have to admit I was pretty dang excited to see that there was stuff inside from Trader Joe's as we don't have one here in San Antonio (yet!). Everyone is always talking about it and I feel so left out. :( I sure did gobble up my Dark Chocolate Cookie Butter Bar in about 5 seconds! And everything was so thoughtful for a prego mommy on the go dragging two other little  one's around. I have been able to pop a Lara bar in my bag and edge off my need for food NOW cravings! I can't wait to play again next month!

To see what I sent my foodie pen pal this month you can visit Racheal over at Running with Racheal.



If you’re interested in participating for March, please send  an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT. – this is SUPER important so you get on the right list!
You must submit your information by March 4th as pairings will be emailed on March 5th!

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Callah Bread

As I have said before, I homeschool my kids. This week we had a whole big lesson on how bread is made and we must have made 6 different kinds of bread! This is one of my all time favorites. It always reminds me of my grandmother every time I smell it and take a bite of it's sweet honey taste. My oldest daughter loves helping in the kitchen and I love to know that I am passing on old family traditions to her.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 packages yeast
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg 
• 1. teaspoon water
• sea salt
• poppy seeds

Directions:

Combine warm water and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water and let stand until foamy, about 10 mins.

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and add eggs, oil, honey, and yeast mixture. Mix until well blended. Place dough onto floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Grease large bowl and add dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and let rise again until double in size.

Punch down dough and divide into half.  Divide each half into three equal parts. Roll each piece into strips of equal length and braid together to form one loaf. Repeat with second half. Place loaves on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double. Beat one egg with water and brush lightly over the loaves. Sprinkle with salt and poppy seeds. Bake at 375 for 45 mins. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - I love the taste of homemade bread and my house smells amazing for it too.

Daddy F: 10 - Homemade breads are the best. I love how the honey gives it a slightly sweet taste.

Fuller Kids: 9 - The little carboholics loved helping make and eat this bread. My 4 year old was a little weary at first of the poppy seeds but decided they were ok.

Lucky the Dog: 10 - Bread is good. Mommy says to make sure that I dont get a hold of any of the dough cause it will make me sick and gassy when it rises in my tummy.

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Cast Iron Cornbread

I love, love, love cornbread. I dont know why. I feel like it really doesnt go with much except chili. But sometimes I just bake it anyway and just eat it all on its own. Or you know, with gobs and gobs of honey and butter. Or honey butter. Yum. Needless to say this craving has not gotten any better with the pregnancy. Fortunately, the whole family likes it too so win win for me! 

 

Ingredients:

1 (14.75) ounce can cream-style corn
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey (optional) 
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon shortening

Directions:

Process corn in a blender/ food processor until smooth. Beat butter and egg yolks in mixing bowl with electric mixer until smooth.  Add pureed corn and whipping cream (and optional honey), stirring well.
Combine cornmeal and next 4 ingredients. Add to corn mixture, stirring until blended. Heat shortening in a 10 inch cast iron skillet in the oven at 375 for 6 minutes.  Beat egg whites at high speed until peaks form. Fold into cornmeal batter. Remove skillet from oven and pour batter into hot skillet. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until golden.

We drizzled some on top to give the cornbread some extra yummy sweetness!

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - I LOVE LOVE LOVE warm from the oven corn bread. And the honey and cream in this recipe just put it over the top!

Daddy F: 9 - Likes the cornbread. Gave me a great idea to use it as a topper in a future casserole recipe. Yes, and thank you honey. :)

Fuller Kids:  10 - They are their mama's babies! I think they may have eaten a whole other iron full themselves if I would have had the mind to let them!

Lucky the Dog: 8 - Was yummy. Needs to have pork crackling on it......

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Slow Cooker Sundays - Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Ingredients:

1 (3 pound)whole chicken

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over chicken. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush chicken with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

The Slow Cooker Sunday Link Up, hosted by Doggie at the Dinner Table, is a place for other foodie lovers to share links to their blogs. Every Sunday a linky will be posted with recipes from my own kitchen. The linky will be open for 24 hours and you can link up to posts you’ve posted in the past. 

The Fine Print: 

• You are free to join the Slow Cooker Sunday link up at any time. You can also skip a few weeks and then come back.But we will miss you! :)
• Please link directly to a post containing a slow cooker recipe— not your main blog URL.
• Please only link to your own blog or photos hosted online.
• You MUST link back to Doggie at the Dinner Table in your blog post. This way, if someone else wants to join the fun, they can. You can either link with text or using the Slow Cooker Sunday photo which can be found in the sidebar.
• I highly encourage you to visit other participants and leave comments. This is a great way to meet new friends and become inspired in your culinary quests! I try to visit all the blogs participating as well!

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Strawberry and Cream Cheese Crescent Hearts

Yes, these are ridiculously easy to make. But my kids love them and on some days (like Valentine's Day) you really just have to cater to their wants. Happy Love Day everyone!! :)

Ingredients:

• 2 packages Pillsbury crescent rolls 
• 1 package cream cheese
• 1 jar of strawberry (or your favorite) preserves 

Set oven to 375F. Unroll your crescent rolls and place a small amount (less than a teaspoon) each of the cream cheese and preserves on the larger end of the roll. Take each corner of the long end and fold it over the cheese to make a gooey parcel (should kinda be in the shape of a kite at this point). Then wrap the remaining dough around the parcel and shape into a heart. Bake for about 15 mins or until tops are golden brown. Share with the ones you love. :)

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - Just a yummy little snack. We had them for breakfast this morning. Crescent and cream cheese??? Yum. The strawberries are a bonus!

Daddy F; 10 - So simple yet so good.

Fuller Kids: 10 - The kids loved helping to make these treats and loved gobbling them up just as much!

Lucky the Dog: 10 - Mmmmmm Valentine's Day! I loves me some cheese!!!

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Pizooki Knock off

Ok, Daddy F is not a big sweet eater but he LOOOOVES the pizookies they make at BJ's Restaurant. I mean, he is kinda obsessed. Like I am with butter cream icing. Yeah - it's that bad. So as a little Valentine's Day treat I decided to try and make my own at home. I think it was a success as the kids and I got to eat about 3 bites!!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside. In another bowl using an electric mixer, cream butter with sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Smush about half the batter into the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan ( should be about half an inch in thickness). Bake in the oven for about 20 mins or just until middle is set and edges are golden brown. You may want to put some foil over the outside edge if it starts to get too brown and your center isn't cooked quite yet. Once it it done, take it out, let it cool for about 5 mins and then top with vanilla ice cream. Eat immediately!! 

Our Ratings: 

Mama F: 9 - Yup, just like the real thing! It is VERY rich I seriously couldn't eat even like half of it if I tried!! 

Daddy F: 10 - The outside was nice and crispy and the center gooey!! Nice to know we can make it at home and save a few bucks!! 

  
Fuller Kids: 7 - Our 18 month old was happy to make a big mess while she ate her treat. Of course, our 4 year old chocolate hater said next time we should make it with raisins. 

Lucky the Dog: 1 - Thought the ice cream was yummy. Was not allowed any chocolatey goodness. :(  

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S.O.S Saturdays - Girl's Night In Feb 2012

I am so fortunate to have some of the best girlfriends a gal could have.  90% of my friends are people I have grown up with since childhood and even though our lives have taken us all over this great Earth, we love to still get together and catch up. So as one of our NY resolutions, we decided to have a monthly "Girl's Night In" where we would all get together at one of our houses one night each month, spouseless, childless, and just give us time to veg and catch up.

Since Jan 23 was Chinese New Year, we decided to do a Chinese food theme for our first official big night! Every girl (there were 5 of us this time) was in charge of a course and we brought what supplies we needed and all cooked together. Next month we will switch courses and houses and do it all again! I can't wait! It was such a fun night!

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Cowboy Breakfast

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!! It's that time of year again when the rodeo comes to town. Every year here in SA there is a HUGE free breakfast to kick off all the festivities. I always want to go. But, did you read the poster below..... it starts at 430am. Seriously??? And it's always the rainiest, coldest morning of the year. As much as I really want to go and bundle my kiddos up and make an annual event out of it I can't help having visions of whining, snotty nosed kids crying about how they are tired of standing in line and have to go potty and don't want to use the port-a-potty (ok, can't blame them on that one).

So instead, we stay at our nice warm house, make our own, and tip our hats to those almost certainly gorgeous cowboys freezing their wrangler wrapped butts off in the cold.

Breakfast tacos are so easy to make it is almost silly to not try and make your own. The secret to great tasting tacos is all in your grease (hey, I never said they were HEALTHY tacos).  First you fry up your bacon, chorizo, or other choice of meats and then cook the rest in the grease. Ohhh yeah.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs (about 3 large) red potatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 6 slices bacon
• 5 eggs
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 fresh jalapeno, chopped (optional) 

Begin by frying bacon in a large skillet over med-high heat. Once bacon is just cooked (dont let it get crispy) removed from skillet and set aside.   Fry potatoes in the same skillet with the bacon grease. Once they become soft and start to turn golden, add your onions and jalapeno and continue to cook over med heat until the onions become translucent, about 3 mins.  In a small bowl, whisk your eggs. Push potato mixture to one side of skillet and pour the eggs in. Scramble your eggs and then blend with the potatoes. Chop your bacon into small pieces and mix back in to the skillet.  Place about 1/4 cup of taco filling into each tortilla. Top off with your favorite toppings! Cheese, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo.... what ever you choose! You can wrap them up in a piece of foil and take them on the go!

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 9 - I love me some breakfast tacos. They fill you up and keep the hunger away until lunch time! Take a bunch to work and watch your coworkers drool.

Daddy F: 9 - Tacos are the staple breakfast food in this part of the world. You could cook them in regular oil if you wanted to omit some of the fat. (But why would you.....)

Fuller Kids: 9 - I made their tacos and then mixed in the jalapenos for Daddy and me. They scarfed them down.

Lucky the Dog: 24 - Ummmmmm BACON!!! Potatoes and Eggs fried in BACON GREASE!! Human Mommy is finally listening to my cooking advice! (hers had the jalapenos omitted as well)

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Woofy Wednesday - Nook Color Giveaway Package!

Lucky is tired of hearing Mommy yell at foster dogs and human puppies about running off with her recipe books and pages. She leaves them everywhere around the house, always jotting down ideas for a later cooking creation.  Human Mommy must not understand that when a little doggie sees paper on the floor we think "Squat and Pee!!". My fellow furry friends should not have to be punished for doing what only come natural for them. So I told human Daddy a good idea for an anniversary present this year. Since he got a magic black box that he loves so much for Christmas maybe he should get Mommy one that she can use to store all her recipes so they dont have to be lost all the time. Mommy really liked this idea and she has been enjoying her new black box. I heard her say that all the other humans who like to read our story would like a magic box too so I, being the good dog that I am, am helping human Mommy bring one to one lucky reader! You can be "Lucky" too!!


The giveaway includes one Nook Color, a $25 Barnes and Nobles Gift Card (for cookbooks!)  and a digital copy of my favorite book:

Entering is so easy, even a cat could do it! Just fill out the form below!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thai Red Curry with Chicken

 Printable Recipe

I can't help myself. I keep craving super spicy foods and then regretting it later from all the heartburn I get. But it's all I really want to eat! What kind of cruel trick is this that this baby wants to play on me!! Please don't let this be a sign of behaviors to come!

Daddy F and I both LOVE spicy food. There is this little Thai place by our house and we love to go there and sit quietly by candlelight, enjoying each others company on date night. Of course, date night hardly ever happens so we usually end up sharing our romantic spot with the two little ones. But the staff at this place are so sweet, and they love our kids so they let them run around with them and keep them occupied so we can have some alone time (yeah, we give them an AMAZING tip!). The only thing that took forever to perfect at this place was them believing us when we said we wanted our food "Thai hot". They look at us as if to say *okcrazywhitepeoplethinkyouwantitspicyyoumakeourfoodcostsgoupcausewehavetoremakeit* whoa, that was a mouthful. But I swear that is what they are thinking and they never make it as spicy as we want it! So I had to learn how to make it at home!

It can be hard to find some of the ingredients, even at an Asian market sometimes (the lime leaves especially) so we have taken to growing our own on our back patio.  Again, I can not wait until we get into our new house (we close March 24 WAHOOO!) and I can have a REAL garden. Bliss.......

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk (400ml)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 fresh kaffir lime leave, torn
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/3 cup thai basil leaves
• 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced 
• 1/2 Japanese eggplant, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 can bamboo shoots, sliced water chestnuts, and bean sprouts
• 3 Thai chillies, thinly sliced (this makes it hot, so more or less according to your heat preference)

Directions:

Place curry paste in large saucepan, stir over med heat until fragrant.  Add coconut milk, chicken stock, lime leaves, fish sauce, and lime juice.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins, stirring constantly to blend ingredients.  Reserve some basil leaves for garnish (about 8) and mix the rest in to the curry with the chicken and vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally until heated through, about 5 mins. Serve over jasmine rice.

Our Ratings: 

Mama F: 10 - I LOVE this dish! We actually added 4 Thai chillies cause we are that crazy for heat. So, so good...... feel the burn!

Daddy F: 10 - Just as good as you would find in any restaurant! Heat factor was good for me! If only we had someone here to do our dishes afterwards!

Fuller Kids: 0 - No rating. Would be WAAAAAAY to spicy for their tastes.

Lucky the Dog: 0 - As much as she REALLY wanted some, we all would have regretted the outcome of her consuming this spicy dish.

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