sunday six: what's cookin'?

I spent a fair bit of the weekend puttering in the kitchen.  It occurs to me that maybe I should include the recipes, but well, I'm a bit on the lazy side tonight and don't wanna.  Maybe later?  If you want one in the meantime just let me know and I'll get on it post haste.  Post haste.  I haven't heard anyone say that in a zillion years.  Where on earth did that come from?
  

1.  Pretzels.  I dipped 'em.

...a lot of 'em.


2.  "Pecan Tassies."  As is usual for me, they were incredibly ugly and messy and I ate approximately 7 of them before they were even cool.  I KNOW, right?  It couldn't be helped.  They're best when slightly warm, ya know.  

This is one of those recipes that never, ever turns out right for me and are a major pain in the neck to construct, and also no one in my family eats them except me.

And yet I make them every single December.  

They remind me of Mamaw Honaker and Bluefield and the littles playing on her organ and the snow that seemed to come down every year.  For the life of me I can't figure out why hers were always so neat and mine are such a mess, but I have faith that if I keep practicing maybe someday I'll master 'em.  Or not.  
The pretty hardly even seems to matter :)


3.  Sausage pinwheels.  They freeze so beautifully that it only seemed right to get some put together and tucked into the freezer.  Now I can nap on Christmas Eve (HA!).


4.  Amelia's lemon tea.  It had nothing to do with the impending holiday; I simply had a craving. 


5.  Southwestern Stuffed Peppers.  Try as I might, I can't get past one unchanging truth.  

I am not a fan of ground turkey.  

After this one last attempt I've decided to just own my persnickety-ness and accept the fact that I'm a ground beef prefer-er.  I liked this recipe with ground beef but found it downright yuck-o due to the presence of said turkey.  Truth be told, though, this would likely be great without any meat at all.   Come to think of it,  I believe I'll give that a try... 


6.  POPCORN(!) popped in coconut oil, stove-top style.   Since my latest move I'm kickin' it old school as I meander through my days without a microwave.  (Remember way back in July when I was simplifying and scaling back and getting rid of large quantities of STUFF?  Yeah, well...)  I really haven't missed it so much.  Nuking my leftovers is certainly faster but I'm pretty sure my food tastes better these days.  We'll see how long that lasts :)



And that, my friends, is about it for this putter report...other than when I fried up the sausage for our Christmas breakfast pizza.  I do always love getting that done ahead of time and tucking it away in the freezer.  It simplifies the chaos, and let's face it, Naynay needs all the chaos-simplification possible!


What do you do to get a head start on all the Christmas cooking?  Do tell...

 

because we could all use a little energy on a monday

Source: smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com via Renee on Pinterest

I can't remember if I told you this already or not, but I took a quick look back and don't see it, so I'm going to tell you now and hope I'm not being repetitive and redundant.

These are pretty great.

Elijah and I dubbed them "Power Balls" because I explained how they contained things that would give us energy and make us strong and what-not, as opposed to you know, processed snacks that I'm mostly SO OVER unless I have a hankering for something like salt & vinegar chips!  or honey barbecue chips!  or sea salt & cracked pepper chips!  or maybe some M&Ms.  Other than that I'm not so much into snacks that are processed to death.

(And remind me to share my tangent sometime about KFC's honey...sauce?  Their honey has minimal, you know, honey in it?  Aaargh!!!)

Where was I?

Oh yeah.  These are pretty great.

They've been floating around Pinterest for quite a while now and I actually tried them last year with Elijah.  He liked them enough to go home and ask his mom to make some.  She of course had no idea what Power Balls were and it seems only right to get the word out.

Power Balls.  They're easy-peasy to make and you don't have to cook anything.

Power Balls.  They're better than they look.

Maggie's No-Bake Energy Bites, aka Power Balls

1 cup oats

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix it all together.  Chill for around 1/2 hour and then roll into balls.  Store in fridge for up to one week.  (Ha!  Like they'd ever last that long ;)

(You can click over to her page for more detailed instructions and to find a myriad of other good recipes.  You wont be sorry.)

Let's make it a great Monday!

Baby It's COLD Outside

Source: tumblr.com via Renee on Pinterest

 I'm just sayin' :)

Pinning Can Be a Productive Endeavor From Time to Time...See?

Ah Pinterest.

What did I do with myself before I discovered I could spend way too much time
filling my mind with great ideas that will likely go nowhere?

Source: food52.com via Renee on Pinterest

I feel I might as well just tell you.  You're bound to find out somehow.


My follow-through is broken.


It's been in need of repair for years now.


However, I have actually, in real life standing in my very own kitchen, tried a few or a couple
of the recipes I pinned, and I thought you might like to know how they turned out.  

I'd hate for you to waste your time finding something I've pinned only to find out YUCK.


I'm here to serve.


I aim to please.


(Cause I love ya.)




I shall refrain from talking about things like the home-baked banana chips that in my humble opinion were a Big FAIL.  Mainly because that would be mean.  Also, yummy is somewhat subjective, and if we're really honest with ourselves we know we can't blame the author for the buttered cabbage tasting like...buttered cabbage.  




That being said...

Source: eatingwell.com via Renee on Pinterest

These baked Parmesan tomatoes were a big hit for my discriminating palate.  They were easy as pie to throw together and I'm not lying when I tell you I made pan of these and called them dinner.  

Verdict?  Two thumbs up.

Source: inspiredtaste.net via Renee on Pinterest

Now the Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Banana and Chocolate was kind've a mixed bag for me.  It was actually quite tasty.  The flavors blended well, and I really liked the chocolate chips thrown in with the fruit...but I did have a couple of problems.  First off, it makes quite a bit.  I halved the recipe but still ended up throwing half of it out.  It had a pretty short "shelf-life," and I do live alone, ya know.  

This would be much better if you aren't all alone in the world.

(insert melodramatic, woe-is-me music here.)  

Also, I've tried and tried, but as it turns out I'm not a big fan of baked oatmeal. 
Which is weird because I really, really love oatmeal.  

Verdict?  Thumb up/thumb down.

Source: thekitchn.com via Renee on Pinterest

Speaking of oatmeal, I've mentioned this one before so I won't bore us all with repeating myself. 

(But don't forget the blackberries is all I'm saying.) 

Verdict?  Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Renee on Pinterest

I've baked this tasty delight twice...and enjoyed it about a dozen times.  These spinach lasagna rolls are allegedly on the healthier side, AND I can freeze the rolls individually.  Win/win in my book. 

Verdict?  Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Renee on Pinterest

This crock pot chicken concoction also freezes beautifully, and therefore I've enjoyed it several times.  It actually makes a lot.  When I first made it I put in in a tortilla, burrito style, and it was just...okay, perhaps a touch bland and dare-I-say boring.  When I pulled some out of the freezer later I heated it on the stove, added some more salsa to jazz it up a bit, and then served it over brown rice.  NOW we're talking.  The rice and salsa transformed it into just right, propelling it to favorite status. 

Verdict?  I'd say a modified two thumbs up. 

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Renee on Pinterest

I've said it before but it bears repeating...PW's pumpkin smoothie is quite possibly the tastiest thing I've come across in recent history.  It both fills me up and makes me feel like I've indulged in a treat.  This is hands down my favorite new recipe of the last year or so.


(p.s.  I really like most of her recipes, but in case you were wondering I'll just tell ya that I found the cheeseburger salad to be just okay.  This is quite possibly my fault.  I probably should have used sweet pickles, ha!  I'll probably give it another try eventually.)

* * *

I also really found the tip about putting together smoothie packets for the freezer very handy.  Again, living alone it's often hard for me to eat up fresh fruits and what-not before they start to get old.  I even froze the yogurt in ice cube trays & then popped them out.  Easy peasy!


So what's next on my list of things to try?

Source: perrysplate.com via Renee on Pinterest

Well, I've had my eye on this dish full of goodness for a while now.  

(Roasted vegetable enchiladas!)

(I'll let you know how it turns out)




In the meantime, have a swell Friday!