A Recipe Round-Up

And...we're back! We've been cooking at home a lot more lately, so Pinterest and I have been frequent friends. I've found some recipes that we like quite a lot!

A few random tips:

• Before trying any Pinterest recipe, always read the comments. I won't make any recipe from Pinterest without reading the comments on the original post first. Often, I won't make it at all after reading the comments. Other times, I find really helpful hints from other people who have tried the recipe. 
• Looking for a great seasoning? Use Darcy's Seasoning! This is my family's all-time favorite. We use it on chicken, in twice-baked potatoes, in sauces, on cottage cheese on top of Ritz crackers. The uses are limitless. Mmm. 
• I have only found it at Harmon's grocery store. If you're into the buy local movement, this is a Utah product! TRUE STORY...one day I went to buy Darcy's at Harmon's and they didn't have it! I pretty much had a panic attack in the spice aisle and marched straight to customer service to find out what the heck had happened. I told them that Darcy's seasoning was one of the reasons that me, my mom, and a bunch of our friends even go to Harmon's and that they had to keep carrying it. Thankfully, it was back on the shelf the next time I went back. (And I may have bought five or six bottles just in case a similar disaster occurred again.) 
• Use frozen chopped onions! Whoa! In my reading of recipe blogs online, I saw someone mention that she never chops onions. She just buys frozen chopped onion from the freezer section of the store. What!? I didn't even know that was a thing! I bought a bag, and I'm never going back. No mess, no smelly onion hands, no watering eyes. Just open the bag, dump some in the pan, and voila! Chopped onion. 
• One Pot Dishes are. the. bomb. One pan, 20-30 minutes. If I can make something yummy, fast, and only have one dish to clean afterwards, sign me up! I click on and read about pretty much every one pot recipe I see on Pinterest. 

WINNER: Pepperoni Pizza Pasta (One Pot Dish)
We really like this one. It is simple, easy, inexpensive, and all three of us are fans.

Find the recipe HERE.

Hints: I think that the Basil, Garlic, & Oregano Diced Tomatoes are key to the flavor of this dish. Don't go with regular diced tomatoes! I typically use whatever kind of noodles and cheese I have on hand (bowtie and cheddar jack are usually what I use in this one). I also cook my own sausage (about half a roll of Jimmy Deans regular or reduced fat) to use.

WINNER: One Pan Cheesy Smoked Sausage Skillet (minus the smoked sausage)
I've made this one a bunch of times. I actually do not care for the smoked sausage, so I usually make this for a meatless dinner. I haven't wanted to tweak the recipe at all, except for leaving out the meat!

Find the recipe HERE.


WINNER: Pull-Apart Pizza Bread 
We LOVE this one. I have made a few key changes to the recipe.

Find the original recipe HERE.

My Hints:

• Dough: Matt really dislikes the Pillsbury-style dough (biscuits, crescent rolls, pizza dough, etc.). I don't totally disagree. The unexpected POP of the can is terrifying, and there is some kind of weird taste in all of it. I use frozen Rhodes rolls for this recipe. Set them on your counter on some wax paper sprayed lightly with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap sprayed in cooking spray. Let them sit for a few hours until they are thawed and have started to rise a little bit. (For a 13x9 pan of this, I thaw 20 rolls...a lot, I know.)
• Italian Seasoning: I stumbled upon Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning, and this is what makes the recipe. 
• Pepperoni: I've used both turkey pepperoni and regular, and they both taste good. Might as well go with the lower-calorie turkey, right? (Matt didn't even notice it wasn't "normal" pepperoni.) ;) 
• Don't use the bundt pan. We did it this way the first time, but I don't think it cooks as well. Mix the ingredients really well and dump into a sprayed 13x9 glass baking dish. 

MIXED REVIEWS: Broccoli Rice & Chicken Casserole 
Coleman and I like this one. It's kind of a "Mormon mom meal," but it is warm, comforting, and yummy. Matt doesn't like most casseroles and he doesn't like Cream of ________ soup, so he doesn't love this one.

Find the recipe HERE.

Hints:

• Cook the rice and chicken first. 
• The comments on this recipe said that lots of people have had problems with the rice still being crunchy. I use regular white rice (not instant), and I cook it first. 
• I cube the chicken and cook it in a skillet with a little olive oil. I let it get a little brown and yummy on the outside, and I always season it with Darcy's. 
• Add some seasoning to the sauce (I like Darcy's)!
• Decrease the cooking time because all the ingredients are cooked (or thawed) already. I pretty much just consider the oven a way to get it warm and bubbly and crisp the top a bit. 

Matt really loves Asian food of all kinds, and he has missed it since we've been eating out less. I typically feel really ill after eating most Asian foods I've tried, so I'm not the biggest fan. I have liked these three recipes, though, and haven't felt gross at all after eating them!

WINNER: Ham-Fried Rice
We had ham for Sunday dinner the other day, and I was trying  to figure out what to do with the leftovers. The original recipe for this rice calls for chicken, but I diced up the ham and used that instead.

Find the recipe HERE. I didn't make any changes beyond using ham. This was delicious.

WINNER: Skinny Orange Chicken 
We really liked this. If you're looking for something that tastes like the orange chicken you usually get at Panda (insert other Chinese take-out here), this is not the recipe you're looking for. For me, however, that's a good thing! It isn't as sickly sweet and the orange is there, but not overpowering. This had a really unique flavor, and I loved it.

Find the recipe HERE. The only change I made was that I didn't have rice wine vinegar, so I used the rice vinegar I had in my cupboard (honestly not even sure that those two things are different).

MIXED REVIEWS: Simple Sesame Noodles
Matt really likes these; I think they're fine. We've made them more than once because they're easy, Matt likes Asian food, and I don't hate the recipe. :)

Find the recipe HERE.

Variations:

• I have tried this with rice noodles and with thin spaghetti. I didn't find it remarkably different either way. 
• The first time we made this we cubed and cooked chicken and added it; the second time we went meatless. Again, I didn't find it remarkably different. 
• The second time I made this I added some chopped peanuts and some shredded carrots, and I thought this was an improvement. I didn't have any, but I think some cilantro would have been good, too. 

WINNER: Basic White Bread
I've been on the hunt for a good white bread recipe for a long time, and I think this one might be the one. It isn't overly hard or time-consuming, and it makes a soft, good-tasting, nice-textured bread. I also really like the way the blogger of this recipe describes the stages of the bread and gives pictures of each stage. I think I tend to add too much flour to my bread, and her pictures and descriptions stopped me from doing this. The way she folds her loaves is fantastic, too! I also like that the recipe uses all-purpose flour and not bread flour. That way, I always have the ingredients on hand.

Find the recipe HERE.

WINNER (if I tweak it...): One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls

Matt loves cinnamon rolls. I have found another good recipe that I don't think I've posted about yet, but this morning I saw a recipe that claimed to make cinnamon rolls in one hour that are as good as the long, time-consuming ones, so I thought it was worth a shot! I was super impressed by this recipe. The rolls were soft, light, and fluffy, and it really only took an hour. Holy smokes! 

Find the recipe HERE. 

Tweaks:

• I will definitely make these again, but I think the filling needs adjustment. Other cinnamon roll recipes instruct you to spread softened butter over the rolled-out dough and then sprinkle the sugar over the top. I think this makes a nicer, smoother filling than the way this recipe does it (a fairly small amount of melted butter mixed with a whole lot of sugar). The flavor of this filling is good (I haven't done both white and brown sugars in my filling before), but it was still really grainy after the rolls baked. I think if I did more butter, spread on the dough, and less of each type of sugar, it might end up with a smoother filling. 
• I don't keep bread flour on hand and this was a last-minute thing. I used regular all-purpose flour (probably closer to 6 1/2 cups) and it worked perfectly. 

Happy Pinterest-ing! 

Update to Shellac "Hack" Manicure Post

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was painting my nails the other day and read the back of the bottle of top coat, Seche Vite, which was recommended in the post. It is, without a doubt, the best top coat I have ever used, but it apparently contains an ingredient called toluene which, it says, can cause birth defects and reproductive harm. I don't know if this is actually dangerous, or if you would have to use it in copious amounts for there to be aany likelihood of problem, but there you have it. Research further online if you so desire.

Repeat Recipe Review

Life has become increasingly busy as the school year has ramped up and the holidays have drawn near, so it's been a while since I've posted. This will be random, but here are a few recipes that I have made multiple times!

The BEST Funeral Potatoes (hash brown casserole) 

As a lifelong resident of Utah, I have had my fair share of funeral potatoes. I like them and make them periodically, but I don't love our recipe. I LOVE these. I have made them multiple times. If you like funeral potatoes, these have the extra zing most are lacking--powdered ranch dressing. Who knew!? 

Find the recipe HERE.

**I have tried this recipe with low-fat sour cream and low-fat cream of chicken soup, and it still turns out perfectly. 

Knockoff Swig Sugar Cookies 
I have become quite a lover of sugar cookies, especially since there are a few places around town that sell great ones. My in-laws live in Bountiful, and I have a hard time passing up the opportunity to stop in at Swig every time we head up there. (As a side note, after a taste test of Swig sugar cookies, Straws sugar cookies, and Smart Cookie sugar cookies, the clear winner is the Smart Cookie!)

These knockoff Swig cookies aren't quite as good as the original, but I really like this recipe, and I really like that these don't have to be rolled out and cut like regular sugar cookies. The repeated, messy rolling and cutting process is the reason I don't usually like to make sugar cookies. This recipe also includes a great frosting recipe.

Get the cookie and frosting recipe HERE.

I tried this recipe for eggnog cupackes with eggnog frosting and wasn't blown away by the cupcakes (they spread out too much and didn't bake nicely), but I really liked the frosting. I adapted it a bit and decided to make eggnog-frosted Swig cookies for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie is gross, so this will be my Thanksgiving treat!

Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Frosting 
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
1, 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup pumpkin spice eggnog
1/8 t. nutmeg
approx. 1 1/2 lb. powdered sugar

Beat the butter and cream cheese until combined and smooth. Add the eggnog and beat until mixed. Add the nutmeg and slowly add powdered sugar until the frosting reaches desired consistency.

Southwest Chicken Enchilada Pasta
I like this one! It's a quick, easy weeknight dinner that I've made a bunch of times. I found that I don't love the sauce exactly as written in the recipe, so I have tweaked it a bit.

Get the original recipe HERE.

My recommendations:
This recipe calls for more green enchilada sauce than red. I don't love the flavor, so I typically do 1 1/2-2 small cans of red enchilada sauce and about 1/2-2/3 cans of green enchilada sauce. I also add a bit more cumin and chili powder. Easy and yummy!

A Great Beauty Find!

I have a problem. I am obsessed with nail polish. As evidence, I present the following photo. (My stash has only grown since it was taken.)

The almost bigger problem with this obsession is that I am a perfectionist, and I can't stand when my nail polish is chipped. I don't want to spend the time or money on regular professional manicures that only last a few days, and while I have had and liked the long-lasting shellac/gel manicures, I still don't want to go to the salon that often, and I don't like what shellac/gel does to your nails after you have it taken off. So, I typically paint my nails OFTEN. With a 9-month old baby though, it has become impossible to find long enough stretches of time to paint my nails and let them dry. 

So, in my Pinterest perusal, I came across what claimed to be a shellac hack. It was going to cost less to buy the supplies than it would to get a manicure, so I figured it was worth a shot. And guess what...LOVED IT! 

Click here to read the post on mintarrow.com. I bought everything I needed from the grocery store (Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps + nail polish of your choice) and one quick trip to Sally Beauty (Gelous + Seche Vite Top Coat). 

Manicure just finished

A few days in

The Process: You have to invest a bit of time into painting your nails because there are quite a few steps, and the polish needs to dry a bit in between each coat. 

The Results: LOVED IT! I feel like I was extremely hard on my hands/nails the week after I tried this manicure. I scrubbed my house, used my nails to scratch something off a pan that wouldn't come off (is that gross?), and did a painting craft where I sanded wood and had to scrub lots of paint off my nails. I didn't have one single chip until five days in, and then it was one tiny chip on one nail. With a regular nail polish-top coat manicure, I am 100% sure I would have had chips on multiple nails on the first day, with all the wear and tear that happened on my hands that week. 

This isn't really a replacement for a shellac manicure, which I've typically had last around 3 weeks. A shellac manicure, though, costs you $30-40 and at least for me, leaves my nails in pretty rough shape. I will get many, many home manicures out of the $15 of product I purchased here. Plus, I could do this manicure at home, and it comes off easily with regular nail polish remover (no super long soak in stinky acetone needed). My nails were in perfect shape once I removed it. 

ADDED BONUS: My nails have been terrible since my baby was born. They are flimsy and peel and tear at the slightest provocation. Through this "hack," I discovered Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps. Holy smokes, the stuff is miraculous! My nails are growing long and strong, no peeling and no breaking. They haven't been in this condition for almost 10 months! 

FINAL REVIEW: Awesome!!!

A Note: No one is ever going to ask me to be a hand model. Just call me sausage fingers... 

Some Souper Soups!

I love soup. All kinds, no matter the weather. I have found some great recipes online that are definitely worth sharing.

CREAMY CHICKEN & WILD RICE-A-RONI SOUP

Everything I've seen on the blog It's Always Autumn looks fantastic. More of her recipes are on my "To Make" list right now. Check out the soup recipe here, and give the rest of her blog a gander while you're there.

I've made this twice now, and I could make it again right now. It is easy, hearty, and quick to make, although I wouldn't file this under "Recipes to Help Your Diet." ;) It also reheats well as leftovers!

My suggestions:

• I made this exactly as explained in the recipe, and it was fantastic. I wouldn't change a thing. 
• The cream cheese melts more nicely into the soup if you let it come to room temperature first. 

Coleman LOVED this soup. I just fed him tiny bites of rice and chicken, and he yelled for more!

FINAL REVIEW: We have had a Chicken & Wild Rice soup recipe in our family cookbook for years. This is infinitely easier to make and tastes just as good. An excellent creamy soup for a cold night!

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CROCKPOT BEEF STEW

Find the recipe here.

Last Sunday we had pot roast for dinner, and I had lots of leftover roast. I found this crockpot recipe online, and it turned out quite well.

My adaptations:

• I cubed up my already-cooked pot roast rather than adding raw stew meat. It worked perfectly, and the beef became so much more tender as it cooked! 
• I didn't have any onion around and I like mushrooms with beef, so I decided to add a packet of Lipton's Onion Mushroom dry soup mix. 
• I wanted the soup to be thick and a bit more "beefy," so I also added a packet of dry beef gravy mix. 
• I left out the celery since I didn't have any, and I used regular Idaho potatoes. 

FINAL REVIEW: I liked it. It was actually a little bit spicy (maybe not quite the right word) and more tomato-y than I'm used to for beef stew. It turned out thick and hearty like a good stew should, but I think I will keep tweaking the next time I make it.

Southwest Pasta Salad

Tonight we're going to have a picnic. I like a good pasta salad to accompany sandwiches, but the Wood family has just two pasta salad recipes that we rotate between, and I'm tired of them both. I wanted something with a different flavor profile than the typical ranch or Italian pasta salad dressings, so I decided to try out the Harris Sisters' Southwest Pasta Salad.

As I post my online successes and failures, I want to be respectful of other people's work and ideas, and I am not trying to steal traffic from anyone's blog. As such, I will be sending you directly to the links I use for each "test."

You can find the Southwest Pasta Salad recipe here.

My adaptations:
- I used closer to 1 T each of cumin and chile powder, and it has plenty of flavor!
- I diced some ripe avocado and mixed it in, too.
- I tore up and added some fresh cilantro.
- I added at least 1/3 c. more ranch dressing. Once it sat in the fridge for a while, I felt like it was a little bit drier than I wanted it to be.

Some suggestions:
- I think sliced olives would make a nice addition.
- I would mix in some grilled chicken and maybe even Fritos corn chips and make this a meal!

The outcome:

Matt said, "Not bad." He doesn't care for "mixed-genre" foods--noodles with Mexican is, for some reason, not a combination he thinks should happen.

I think it was quite good. This is a nice change from the typical pasta salads you taste at summer picnics and potlucks, and I like that it uses ingredients I usually have in my fridge and pantry. One of my litmus tests for a good recipe is whether it requires me to buy and use ingredients that are not typically a part of my cooking repertoire. I don't want life to be harder!

FINAL REVIEW: Worth the time and money! The Blisses will be making this one again.

Pinning It Down

I really like Pinterest; I like that the internet in general is such a treasure trove of phenomenal ideas that can challenge us to try something new. People are so creative, clever, talented, organized, and crafty; I am none of those things, but I am good at trying out other people's ideas. The thing is, not all ideas are created equally. For all the fantastic recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks to be found online, there are probably just as many that are underwhelming, and who has time for that?!

This blog isn't mean to be anything official or impressive, but the other day, it occurred to me that there might be some friends out there who would be interested to know how the recipes, crafts, and ideas online turn out in real life. So, here it is. I will "pin down" the things I've tried, and maybe you will be able to get a better idea of whether something you've seen online is worth your time!