Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Monday, December 30, 2013
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Oh my these were so good! 
   You have to make 'em! 
Colt and I assembled these little beauties before yesterdays Seahawks game and they didn't last long.
Even Lorna the proclaimed mushroom hater ate way more then her fair share.
When she was little she insisted on the fact she hated mushrooms so I would add them to things like a brown rice and shiitake mushroom soup and tell her they were calamari..
She gobbled the mushrooms right up.. Ha..Ha.. 
I'm probably a little bit evil when it comes to food.
 I've converted several of the kids friends to eating more then spaghetti noodles with butter with the simple explanation that to have dinner at our house you have to try a bite of everything.
One of L.J.'s friends still laughs when he has dinner at our house because he discovered he loves salmon..
Ok any who back to the mushrooms...
Colt had set a few mushrooms aside because the boys were at their friends house playing. 
So when they returned they were rather disappointed when they couldn't find the Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms he set aside for them. 
Fast forward about 10 minutes and Colt grabs the leftover Stuffed Mushrooms and proclaims he's eating the last of the mushrooms since the boys didn't eat them.
 Lorna and I both yell no at the same time and say, "The boys were searching all over for those."
 He had these little delicacies  hidden in the microwave, sneaky, sneaky..
Mas devoured the last of 'em.
These were so good I'm about to go out on a huge limb and say these were the best Stuffed Mushrooms I've ever had!
We've ate a lot of stuffed Mushrooms over the years and we all agreed these were over the top good.
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Christmas Fruit Salad

Saturday, December 21, 2013
Christmas Fruit Salad
Are you ready for Christmas?

Me? Nope wish I was but I haven't even wrapped a present yet! Can you say procrastination. 

This little Christmas Fruit Salad helped start to put me in Christmas mode this morning.We always make a special fruit salad and some kind of protein Christmas morning to help counter act all the sweets we consume.

I love pomegranates, pineapple and kiwi which makes for a pretty red, white and green salad.
We added banana's this morning and a green apple too.. The perfect combo to enjoy with yogurt. So easy and delicious.

It even passed the taste buds of my little Gordon Ramsey's I've raised. My boys hold nothing back with how they feel about someones cooking or what's being served usually to my embarrassment. I don't know how many times I've asked for them to just push something to the side of their plate if they dislike it, but to date it usually ends with them very loudly expressing their dislike of a dish. Sometimes followed with you make this better, me turning beat red, and trying to shoot them the you need to be polite evil eye or no dessert.

Now don't let me make you think this only happens when we are at someone else's house they've had no problem letting Colt or I know if somethings not to their liking. I know if it passes their pallets it's blog worthy. The funny thing is non of my kids are actually picky, as long as the foods cooked to perfection.

They're just particular. Hence the budding Gordon Ramsey's. 
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Saltine Toffee

Friday, December 20, 2013
Saltine Toffee is salty crunchy and sweet. A delicious candy recipe to make for Christmas and is easy to make from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.

Om...nom...nom...nom...nom.. Sorry that was me taste testing another one of these while I type, someone has to handle quality control around here. Have you ever had Saltine Toffee? It is one of the most delicious Christmas candy treats ever!!!!

I love Toffee but Saltine Toffee Barks even better it's a salty crunchy sweet party on the taste buds and won't break your teeth. It never lasts long in our house, I'm pretty sure I made it about 4 times last Christmas and still never ended up with a picture to share the recipe! 

This recipes a little different than most recipes because I use granulated sugar over brown sugar, and then it is cooked until it starts to caramelize for a delicious toffee flavor with a bit of vanilla.

This stuff is like crack once you taste a piece it will be hard to stop, I've had way more then my fair share today and I'm still dreaming of my next little piece of toffee.. If you have favorite neighbors, friends, family or co-workers this is a fabulous treat to give it's bound to be a long time favorite. 

I know it is in our house.

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One Pot Tortellini With Sausage Spinach & Artichokes

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

One-Pot-Tortellini-Sausage-Spinach-Artichokes.jpg
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group ™ and Barilla, all thoughts and opinions are my own. #pmedia #JoytotheTable http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO
Do you need something easy to make, healthy and with as little mess as possible?
What's that? How did I know? Because I can totally relate.
Right now our days seem to fly by.
We have basketball practice a few times a week for the kids, I have physical therapy that some day's just kicks my booty and did I mention the never ending amount of homework they always have but some how seem to forget until it's bed time.
One Pot Tortellini with Sausage, Spinach & Artichokes is so easy to make and the dishes are minimal.
Double score! 
Leaving a little more time to make sure the kids have homework completed before bedtime or just to snuggle up to watch a movie.
Oh wait a minute I almost forgot the best part..
It's super de duper tasty! 
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Caramel Sauce

Tuesday, December 17, 2013
How to make easy Homemade Caramel Sauce that is delicious drizzled over ice cream for a sundae, put in your morning coffee, over cakes, cheesecakes, over these Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumb Bars, and Caramel Dutch Apple Pie.. You really can't go wrong wherever you use your Caramel Sauce. 

Homemade Caramel Sauce being drizzled over a chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This Caramel Sauce recipe has been long over due for a few updated pictures. 

I still haven't perfected the perfect drizzle caramel drizzle for a photo, but it's an ongoing work in progress.

We are total Caramel Sauce addicts in our house, Colt thinks he needs to live on the stuff.

Can I blame him? Heck no, it's my all time favorite treat too and who doesn't like a little caramel sauce drizzled in their morning coffee, it's better than Starbucks. His drink to make at home using Caramel Sauce is a Snickers Iced Coffee.

We also love it in brownies like these Fudge Brownies with Caramel Swirl and of course drizzled over yesterdays Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate AlohaMac Brownies .

Mmmm and in or on top of ice cream like Caramel Ice Cream with Caramel Swirl it totally speaks my love language! 

Here's how I make this easy Caramel Sauce Recipe:
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Dark Chocolate AlohaMac Brownies

Monday, December 16, 2013
Hawaiian-Host-Dark-Chocolate-AlohaMac-Brownies.jpgThis post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group ™ and Hawaiian Host, but all opinions are my own. #pmedia
 #HawaiianHoliday http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.
Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate AlohaMac Brownies are so fudgy, chocolaty and sweet. Filled with chunks of macadamia nuts taking me away to memories of vacations in Hawaii when I was a kid to visit my Grandpa and Tutu when I first enjoyed chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

During the dark and rainy days of winter Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate AlohaMac Brownies remind me of warm sunshine, sandy beaches and warm water.

These are so quick, easy and delicious to make.

A perfect treat for any night of the week to enjoy just with family or to bring to your next holiday gathering.
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Friday Favorites

Friday, December 13, 2013

I'm so thankful it's Friday! 
I thought the best way to end the week would be to sip eggnog by the fire and browse through some of my favorite things and recipes I came across this week.
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Cranberry Orange Sauce Recipe

Sunday, December 8, 2013
Cranberry Orange Sauce is a Thanksgiving staple in our house. It's incredibly easy to make Cranberry Orange Sauce from scratch that even the most novice cook can master it and the flavors are so much brighter than the canned stuff you find at the store. It's very possibly one of the easiest Thanksgiving side dishes to make.

Cranberry Orange Sauce is a delicious must for Thanksgiving along with Cheesecloth Turkey, or Cajun Turkey Recipe if you like a little kick, and of coarse you can't forget the Crock Pot Stuffing.

A down shot of Cranberry Orange Sauce in a crystal bowl.

I've loved Cranberry Orange Sauce for as long as I can remember. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas with out a large bowl of zesty Orange Cranberry Sauce. When I was a wee little one my Dad tells a story of one Thanksgiving I climbedup on the table and polished off the entire dish of cranberry sauce before anyone realized what was going on.

Oops! Thank goodness I was so cute or they might have been mad at me.

Colt and I had made a large container of Cranberry Orange Sauce recipe for Thanksgiving, but it was gone before we could ever capture a picture so we made another batch of the ruby colored deliciousness  to go with a Rosemary Sage Pork Loin Roast we had been keeping in the freezer for the last few weeks. It was so delicious!

Here's how to make Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce:
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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Friday, December 6, 2013
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies are chewy chocolate cookies filled with white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate chips from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.

Today was one of those day's when something really chocolaty was needed. Something chocolaty, filled with white chocolate chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, and maybe some nuts. It was a day calling for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with the fudgy chocolate center, and crispy edges.

I was having one of those days where my mind had a huge list of things I wanted to get done before the kids came home, but my body barely let me load the dishwasher. Forget about washing the piles of laundry from the week to make sure the kids have clean socks for tomorrow mornings basketball practice or cleaning the bathroom. It just wasn't happening.

After I finally finished the dishes I did something I avoid doing. I turned around and climbed back into my bed in my cozy P.J's and slept until the phone rang 2 hours later. It was enough to help relieve some of the pain, and allow me to whip up a batch of cookies to help distract anyone who might step foot in our house and see my living pile of laundry or the tooth paste splatters on the mirror in the kids bathroom.

I usually try to keep our cookie jar full in December but this year I've been behind, my house is messier then usual and I've had to learn to accept some things I just can't get done or that the kids don't clean as well as me.

For today loading the snowman cookie jar with Double Chocolate Chip Cookies was moved to the top of my list and it paid off because as I work on this post the kids are helping wash laundry and are thankful for the cookies.

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Super Juicy Turkey Baked In Cheesecloth

Thursday, December 5, 2013
Juicy Cheesecloth Roasted Turkey covered with an herb butter rub and basted with a wine chicken stock mixture.

Cheesecloth Turkey with herb butter makes the best Roasted Turkey recipe you've ever had.

Super Moist and Juicy Turkey baked in cheesecloth and seasoned with herb butter is a Thanksgiving must make! The flavors amazing from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.

Colt and I finally were able to make our Super Juicy Turkey Baked In Cheesecloth, and take a Turkey worthy photo of the bird this year. Isn't it a beaut?

We had a team effort to tackle the Turkey this year. For the first time in 14 years I didn't stuff the bird. Not only was the Turkey super juicy as always, but it cooked faster which is always a plus. 

I never thought I would say this but I am forever going to make Crock Pot Stuffing. It was so easy to make and tasted just like the stuffing out of the bird. Soo good! 

As for the turkey I promise you the most delicious turkey you've ever had. Moist, juicy, flavorful, and delicious!

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Mint Oreo Cookie Balls

Monday, December 2, 2013
East to make no-bake Mint Oreo Truffles are one of my favorite versions of Oreo Cookie Balls. These easy to make Mint Truffles are so easy to make with only 6 ingredients if we count the sprinkles for decorating. 

Mint Oreo Cookie Balls are a favorite Christmas Candy to make with kids since they are no bake and super simple and a great addition to Christmas cookie trays or gift giving.

Mint Oreo Cookie Balls dipped in chocolate and topped with crushed oreos on a white platter.

If you love Oreos and mint this recipe is for you my friend.

Mint Oreo Cookie Balls taste like a creamy chocolaty minty Oreo cookie truffle dipped in mint chocolate. 

A little bite of heaven for the holidays. Even if you don't like mint this recipes for you, just don't add it. (I promise not to tell.)

I've actually made Mint Oreo Cookie Balls twice already in the last few weeks because the first time Colt and the kids had a taste testing before we had finished the photos.

So you know they were so disappointed when they found out I had to make another batch, not!

 
The best part of making these the second time was the kids and Colt were more then willing to help roll, dip, and sprinkle the Oreo balls. Such a fun treat to make for the Holidays as a family.

I can guarantee you these will be made a few more times before Christmas.

Here's how to make these Oreo Cookie Balls recipe: 

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