Monthly Archives: March 2012

Very Pinteresting…Recipes I’ve Actually Tried

Unless you are being held prisoner in a basement or something, I’m sure you have either heard of Pinterest or have already started pinning your heart out.  I admit it, I’m a serial pinner.  Like a pin hoarder.  But, I am happy to report that I have actually made some things I’ve seen on there.  I’m even happier to report that I’ve only had one REALLY EPIC FAIL:  dehydrated strawberries in the oven.  Don’t believe the pictures, people!  Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of the ones I have tried and liked.  I’ve linked to the pin on my board so you can check out the recipes if you like.

LEMON BROWNIES

We really liked these.  Mr. Foodie doesn’t like brownies (I know, right?) so these really worked for him.  They are really heavy and rich, which, in this case, is a good, good thing…

MONKEY BARS

Let me just say that I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for the best banana bar/cake.  I think this is my favorite banana anything recipe.  I loved this and if you like banana stuff, you will too!  Try it, it’s a keeper!

EGG CREAM

Pictured is a strawberry egg cream I made for Mr. Foodie, which he loved.  I made a chocolate one for myself.  I personally think they are kind of weird.  It’s not that they taste bad or anything, it’s just a weird mouth experience to me.  I’m expecting creamy, milky goodness and am met with sparkly, carbonation.  It’s unexpected so I’m not sure how I feel about Egg Creams.  Mr. Foodie is sold on them, however, so they will be making appearances in the house!

GRANDS DONUTS

Donuts out of canned biscuits?  Say it ain’t so?  Oh, it is.  And they are really good!  We tried some dipped in sugar and some in cinnamon sugar.  We much preferred the ones dipped in plain sugar.  These make some tasty, light donuts.  Foodie Jr. and I gobbled them up.  They are a little reminiscent of malasadas to me, a Portuguese donut.

I’m sure I’ll be posting about more winning Pinterest finds in the future, I just wanted to share a few with you today.  Head on over and follow me – I’m on there as Foodie Interrupted!

Foodbuzz Tastemaker: Van de Kamp’s Parchment Bake

The good folks over at Foodbuzz chose me for their Tastemaker program to review the new Van de Kamp’s Parchment Bake product.  The Foodie Family does enjoy fish, from the oldest to the youngest, so I thought this would be a good one to sign up for.

As you probably already know from reading some of the posts on this blog, we are a pretty busy household, especially during the week.  Between our family business and Foodie Jr.’s activities, some days it’s just hectic so a quick meal is definitely much needed.  We try to keep the quick meals as healthy as we can.

I liked the ease of preparation for this product.  And although I prefer fresh seafood when I am making it, this was a good quick meal.  We had the garlic butter flavor and I served it with a lemon veggie rice.  The garlic butter sauce was good and it went well with rice.  The fish was flaky and cooked very well.

Overall, I think this is a good product to have on hand if you have a fish loving audience in a busy household.  If you are interested in trying it out, there is a BOGO coupon here.

Thanks to the Foodbuzz folks for giving me the opportunity!

BLTA with Garlic Mayonaise

It gets plenty busy around here during the week and sometimes we just need a simple, quick dinner.  This one generally pleases our entire family and is not too overwhelmingly processed and unhealthy which can be a problem when you need fast, fast, fast!  This can be thrown together in an instant!  It’s sort of a non-recipe, really… but, hey, I was hungry…

BLTA WITH GARLIC MAYONAISE

Ingredients:

Sliced French Bread (or your favorite kind of bread)

1-2 Large Tomatoes, washed and sliced

1-2 Avocados, sliced

Romaine Lettuce, washed and torn

Your Favorite Bacon, cooked (we like the thick cut Applewood smoked stuff)

For the Mayo:

1/2-3/4 Cup Your Favorite Mayonaise

3 Tsp Garlic Paste

Juice of one large lemon

Salt and Black Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 Tsp each)

Directions:

1.  Mix all the mayo ingredients together well and refrigerate at least 15-30 minutes ahead of time.

2.  Toast French Bread

3.  Assemble sandwiches per your taste.

Thin Mint Milkshake

I’m a Cub Scout Mama but way back when, I used to be a Girl Scout.  My little guy sells popcorn, which is all well and good, but it’s definitely not Girl Scout cookies!  Foodie Jr.’s little buddy happens to be a Daisy and since her mom bought popcorn from him, it was time to reciprocate.  (Who am I kidding, I would have bought Thin Mints from any little girl pedaling them at the store.)  Since you can only eat so many Thin Mints (really?) I thought it was time to make something with them.  So, I made a milkshake for Mr. Foodie, he’s big on the milkshakes.  Plus, I wanted to use the old school, beat up, green aluminum cup my mom gave me in the picture so it all matched nicely.  Make these, you will be happy.  And so will those little girls at the grocery store you bought them from.

THIN MINT MILKSHAKES

Ingredients:

6 Thin Mint Cookies, plus one for optional garnish

1 Cup Milk (your choice, I used almond milk for Mr. Foodie’s needs)

2 Scoops of your favorite Vanilla Ice Cream

Whip Cream

Directions

1.  Throw all ingredients in the blend and blend away until you reach desired consistency.

2.  Garnish with whip cream and whole cookie and serve!