Ham and Cheese Gnocchi

Happy Friday! Have you had a good week? I sure hope so! And that you can stay warm this weekend - I'm cold today! :)

Today's recipe is for Ham and Cheese Gnocchi from Kevin & Amanda. (Just click on the website's name, on any post, to go to the recipe! :) )

This is a YES, PLEASE! It's good, warming comfort food - and I thought it was even better warmed up for lunch the next day. :) I cut back on the cheese on top, because Kenn has an issue with cheese. :) I also used about half of the onion - and it was PLENTY!

It's easy to put together. I try to keep a package of gnocchi in the freezer, and we had ham in the freezer from an earlier meal. Poof! :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend. BE BLESSED!

Harvest Pear Crisp

Welcome to Wednesday! Are you having a good week? I hope so! Kenn and I are still gone. :D

Today's recipe is for Harvest Pear Crisp from My Recipes.com.

This is another YES, PLEASE! recipe - it's originally from COOKING LIGHT, which means my mom won't groan too much about its ingredients. :D And we used oat flour instead of white/wheat, so my dad could enjoy some of it, too.

Mom put it together for me, because I got crazy busy the day I was going to do it - and the pears my friend, Maria, brought over needed to be used before I had another free day. Thanks, Mom and Maria!!! :)

Mom used pecans, even though the recipe said walnuts - and it was SOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!

Let me know if you've tried anything I've shown you yet! :D I hope you have a wonderful day. Be blessed, friend!

Overnight Yeast Waffles

It's FRIDAY! Are you ready for the weekend?!? :) Do you have big plans? I need to make sure I have some cookies baked by the end of day tomorrow; I need them for Sunday! :D

Today's recipe review is for these Overnight Yeast Waffles from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

This recipe really interested me; one of the things that stops me from doing more breakfast recipe reviews is that I just don't get going well in the mornings. :D By the time I'm able to think clearly, it's later in the morning and I'm HUNGRY, and it's easier to make a peanut butter sandwich than to take a long time making something else. With these waffles, you mix them up the night before and let them sit in the fridge until you're ready to cook. I LIKE that.

What I, personally, didn't like was that they tasted like bread. Waffle-iron-cooked, but yeast bread nonetheless. Kenn liked them - but he likes waffles, and he likes it when we get a chance to eat breakfast together. :D

SO. I am putting this into my category of "Good Recipes to Have", but I'm still on the lookout for a tasty waffle recipe that can sit in the fridge overnight! :D

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy your day - and be BLESSED, my friend.

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad

Welcome to Wednesday! Are you having a good week? Is your heart breaking over #Ferguson? Mine is. But that's another blog and another topic. Today, I'm sharing with you this recipe for Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad from Fit Foodie Finds.

My family decided to try this salad for our Fourth of July celebration; we all love Caprese salad, so thought this looked delicious enough to try. :)

The truth? While quinoa is really getting a lot of hype right now, I still really have to watch the carbs on it. Even though it's "full of protein", some of it's still high carb, which kind of negates why one would want to eat it in the first place, in my shoes. :D

They salad was really fresh, really easy to fix. I think everyone enjoyed it as a different change of pace, with the texture of the quinoa. HOWEVER. I doubt we'll make it again. As a side salad only, I think we'll probably stick with a regular (or deconstructed!) Caprese salad, and leave the quinoa for another place. It's just a personal preference with this recipe; if you absolutely adore quinoa, you'll probably love this salad! :)

OK, that's if for me for today. Have a wonderful day, friend! Be BLESSED! (And if you didn't enter for the drawing in Monday's post, it's got EXTREMELY low entries right now!)

School Lunchroom Cafeteria Rolls

Happy Friday!!! I hope you've had a wonderful week, and are looking forward to celebrating Christ's resurrection this weekend!!!

Today's recipe is for these School Lunchroom Cafeteria Rolls from allrecipes.com.

(That's funny. I got these off Pinterest, but it's the second allrecipes review in a row!)

These are a DEFINITE YES, PLEASE! It does make a LOT; I made them to take to a family who needed a meal, and I'd been wanting to try them. I mean, who doesn't remember with deep fondness those wonderful rolls?!?! :::::::::::::sigh::::::::::::::: :D

I made FIVE of these tins, and put three in the freezer. That was February 22. I pulled the last pan out of the freezer Wednesday! (And I'll be making another batch this coming week, for company and for the freezer!) Seriously. If you take a lot of meals to other people, or you have unexpected company, or you'd like to have fresh bread quickly on any given day, this is a great way to do it. To freeze it, I just formed the rolls, wrapped the pan, and put it in the freezer. On the day I want them, I pull them out and let them thaw on the sideboard, then cook them off according to directions.

OK, I'm outta here! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! be BLESSED, friends!

Fluffy Pancakes

Welcome to Wednesday!!!! I hope you're having a great week! It's BUSY here - and surprise company, two shows to work on, and a desk that isn't cleaning itself off no matter how much I let it have time to do so all add up to lots to do, not much motivation. :D

Speaking of which. I was moaning about wanting pancakes a couple of weeks ago, and my loving, darling husband told me, "If you will make them up, I will fry them for you." Well, I JUMPED at that - I am SOOOOO lazy in the mornings, I really do want the universe to just have my breakfast appear, hot and waiting, every morning. :D

So I turned to this recipe I had Pinned, for fluffy pancakes from allrecipes.com.

They were good!!! (Hubby fried them a bit hotter than I would have, so some of them got a bit darker than makes for a good photo. ;D) They were light and airy, just like a pancake called "fluffy" should be. They went together quickly, and it was really nice to have breakfast together. I have quite the guy; I'm very blessed by him, every day!!

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day, my friend. BE BLESSED!

Baked Eggs

Happy Friday! :) I hope you've had a good week!

Today's recipe is Baked Eggs from UseRealButter. :)

I'm thinking of this for future use as more of a how-to. I really want to experiment with the type of dish, and see if I can't get the egg to cook a little more uniformly. Some of you may not be aware that I have a "thing" with crunchy or browned eggs - I just don't like it. It may be a texture thing; I have lots of issues with textures. :D But this recipe left the outer part of the white crunchy - you could hear it when you put your spoon in!

Overall, it was tasty - what's not to like? :) And I like the fact that you could make one or a dozen in about the same time; it would just take more prep time.

So relax this weekend, and maybe make yourself a lazy breakfast. Or come make it for me - I wish I could have breakfast delivered by the universe, so I wouldn't have to do anything until I come fully awake. (Usually sometime in the afternoon... :D )

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful weekend, my friend! Be BLESSED!

Mexican Rainbow Salad

Happy FRIDAY! :) Got big plans for the weekend? Whirlwind. That's what life is - how can it be he last Friday of February 2014 already?!?!

SO. This is a Mexican Rainbow Salad from What2Cook.

There IS lettuce underneath all those toppings. :) This was a huge hit with our family; we have such different dietary needs and tastes! With this salad, though, we could choose which rainbow stripes we wanted more or less of. Kenn's a HUGE salad fan, period - he loves anything that tastes fresh. :) And he loves corn. :D The dressing is good, too - we left it on the side, because none of us are huge dressing lovers. I highly recommend this salad - leftovers are easy to get rid of, too! (Make fajitas! Eat more salad! :D )

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Be blessed - and thank you for reading my blog. :)

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

Welcome to yet another Wednesday! Brrrrrrr. Will this be the last dip into freezing weather for Middle Tennessee? I don't know - but it's been a long, sustained winter for many people. Everywhere I go, people are talking about how ready they are for spring. And they mean it - they usually only have about a few days, people say it as soon as it drops below 40, and then it's warm again and many people love it. YUCK. :D

ANYWAY. :D

There's nothing like a good breakfast. Although I hate eating early in the morning. And by the time I'm hungry, it's usually too late for me to cook anything. :D I planned, this time, and had everything I needed. When I asked Kenn if he'd like breakfast, he eagerly agreed. So, I made this Bacon and Spinach Quiche from Mr. Breakfast.com.

This definitely gets a YES, PLEASE. I used a store-bought crust. If I had to make the crust and roll it out for breakfast, I'm not sure I'd ever do it!!! :D I'm not sure I used heavy cream; I think I used half-and-half. (I did this one about a month ago, and my memory's not what it used to be! :D ) Other than that, I did exactly what the recipe said to.

YUM. Healthy, for the most part - especially since I didn't use heavy cream :D - with fresh spinach. Warm, and Kenn LOVED it. So did another family member who came to visit! :)

OK. I'm outta here. It's an incredibly busy week - but such a great one! I'm getting to spend time with friends this week. I'm gonna be all tired out, but it will be a GOOD tired. :D

Have a wonderful day, friends! Be BLESSED!

Chocolate Cake Donuts

HAPPY FRIDAY! Have you had a good week? Have you got plans for your weekend? Or are you going to REST? :)

Today's recipe review is of these Chocolate Cake Donuts from Mandy's Recipe Box. :) The one I won the organic coconut sugar from, remember?

This recipe was a definite YES, PLEASE! I loved the fact it was healthier than most recipes, using the organic coconut sugar, being baked, and so little fat in the whole thing!

I received a donut pan for Christmas, which was such a great thing! (It was on my Amazon.com wish list. :D ) These were the first donuts I'd made in it.

I don't keep much frosting around in the house; I really don't like most premade frostings anymore. They taste all chemically to me. But for this one, I did have a can of coconut pecan frosting in the closet - and German chocolate cake is one of Kenn's favorites. So I put about half a tablespoon of frosting on half of them, and spread it thinly. The donuts were a tiny bit dry without anything, and that amount of frosting was perfect for us!

Kenn said they were "VERY TASTY!!!" :D I love it when he actually says something like that; he's not too descriptive when it comes to food. :D

I hope you'll get a chance to try these. I think you'll enjoy how easy they are, how quickly they come together, and how tasty they are without causing too much guilt. :D

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Be BLESSED!

Spumoni Biscotti

Happy FREEZING Wednesday!!! Brrrr, is it cold!!! That air coming in the front door is enough to make me gasp. LOL!!!

Today's recipe is for Spumoni Biscotti from Recipe Gold Mine.

I won't make you wait. This was a definite YES, PLEASE! from everyone who ate them. :)

My sister and my mom, both, were pretty vocal about how much they enjoyed these. The cherries, even though you pat them dry, make this biscotti moister than most. So if you really enjoy that crunch, you won't QUITE get it with these, but they are good.

Spumoni is the classic Italian combination of pistachios and cherries. And that makes this cookie fit under the "Christmas cookie" classification. But I have the stuff to make another batch, whenever Mom feels like she needs a special treat. ;)

I drizzled white chocolate over the tops of these, to decorate them up a bit. Mom feels better about eating them if there's no topping on them. And these honestly didn't need the added flavor. Although I'm not saying white chocolate ever HURTS the taste of a cookie... :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day! Stay warm, and be BLESSED!

Movie Review: GIMME SHELTER

GIMME SHELTER (Click this link for synopsis, more pictures, etc. )

Good morning, friend! Welcome to Friday. It's beautiful here, but cold - wind chills overnight were crazy low for Middle TN! But I was out in it; I got a pass to a screening for this new movie, GIMME SHELTER.

I had seen the trailer on BuddyHollywood.com and wanted to check it out - but Kenn's busy shooting again, and I wasn't sure we'd get a chance to go together. Plus, free is always good! :)

How do I tell you about this movie? :) It's based on a true story. Rated PG-13 for a bit of language and violence, the subject matter - teenage pregnancy and the limited choices these girls have, and the backgrounds they come from - is also not for little ones.

It's got a star-studded cast, with Rosario Dawson, Brandon Frazier, and James Earl Jones to name a few. As an audience, we laughed, we cried, we ooh-ed, we recoiled - it's quite an emotional movie, as you can guess, with the subject matter.

The sets are beautiful - you won't ever question if you're "where you're supposed to be". Costumes, too, show the difference between the "haves" and the "have nots".

The movie was under an hour and thirty-five minutes. I felt like it needed to be a little longer; I have a feeling there were a lot of Brandon's re-connection scenes that ended up on the cutting-room floor, because there just wasn't enough developed there for the ending to make sense - except that, as a movie-goer, you suspend your disbelief. :D

Go see this movie. Take friends with you. Although there are Scriptures quoted by the priest, the movie isn't over-the-top Christian. But it IS a movie that should have us talking!

OK, I'm outta here! :) Enjoy your weekend! Be BLESSED!!!!

"Outback" Black Bread: Copycat

Happy Wednesday! Are you having a good week? Are you staying WARM, people?!??! :D

Today's recipe would be a good recipe to try today - what's better when it's below freezing outside than a warm loaf of homemade bread?! It's "Outback" Black Bread: Copycat from Freida Loves Bread.

Now, first let me tell you: finding caramel coloring locally is nearly impossible. I put a bottle on my Amazon wish list and got it for Christmas. One bottle will last me a long, LONG time - it's huge! So you might want to consider splitting a bottle with a friend or five...

When I finally had all the ingredients in one place, I made this bread. It's a YES, PLEASE!

Mine made two whole loaves and one tiny one. I love having things like this in the freezer, for when someone I care about needs a meal delivered. So we cut into the tiny loaf, and then one of the big ones - and I put the other loaf in the freezer as soon as it cooled, because we really did love this bread! :) My mom is still mentioning how GOOD it was... :D

Now, I didn't use the cornmeal. I sprinkled oats on top of the loaf before it baked, instead. I have to be in the right mood for the grittiness of cornmeal. :) The oats were a nice textural contrast without being too much so.

OK, I'm outta here! :) Have a WONDERFUL day! Let me know if you try this recipe! :) Be BLESSED!!!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti

Welcome to Friday! :) Are you back in the groove of things? I'm not quite sure I am... :D

So, I wanted to share this recipe for Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti from epicurious.com today! :)

My mom, especially, LOVES biscotti. I usually try to purchase some for her for Christmas, but I made these for our open house - and left some undipped in the white chocolate for her. I think it makes her feel less guilty about eating them. :D

Honestly? This is an easy recipe. I think I need to make my cookie logs a bit thinner, but the biscotti is about the size of a commercial one, and fits into a snack baggie. :) This one bakes up quite nicely, and the classic flavor of chocolate and hazelnuts is a winner.

I'd love to know if you try these! They're definitely a keeper in my book! :)

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!

Microwave Caramel Corn

Welcome to Wednesday! :) We're SLOWLY thawing out here in middle Tennessee; we're RIGHT at 32 degrees for the first time since Sunday. There's still a little bit of snow on the ground, but I suspect it will be gone by tonight. :)

Today's recipe is for a yummy, easy caramel corn - but the website I originally got it from isn't there any longer! SO, I guess I'll just site my source, and give you the recipe. Because you're going to want it! :)

Kenn LOVES caramel corn. I love THIS caramel corn - it's not overly sweet, although I try not to eat more than a few pieces when I do indulge. :) It's super easy, and I do EVERYTHING in the microwave - pop the corn, melt the stuff, and coat the corn! I purchase a brand-new paper sack at Aldi when I do this, so my bag is clean. :D

Here's the recipe. Be sure and come back and tell me when you've tried it. :D You can thank me later... :D

(Original recipe found at rubyglen.com)

Microwave Caramel Corn
By: Joyce Moseley Pierce

Part of the heistation in making caramel corn is the sticky, gooey mess that remains once you've finished making it. You almost need a blow torch to remove the hardened sugary stuff from your pans.

Help is on the way! This recipe can be made in your microwave, and when you're finished, you can just throw the paper sack away.

This doesn't mean that it doesn't take a little preparation time, but at least you can relax and enjoy the finished product without having to worry about a lot of cleanup.

Next time you go to the grocery store, ask for your groceries in paper bags. You'll need one per batch.

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 quarts popped corn
1 stick of butter (no substitutes!)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda - add last

Pop the corn and discard the unpopped kernels. Put the popped corn in the paper sack. While the corn is popping, put the butter, sugar, salt and syrup in a glass bowl and bring it to a boil in your microwave. Stir after one minute, and let it boil for an additional minute. Add one tsp. of baking soda and stir well, until thickened. It will turn light in color and look like taffy. Pour this mixture over the popped corn in the paper bag and shake well. Put the paper bag back in the microwave and cook an additional 1-1/2 minutes (90 seconds). Remove and shake well again. Return to the microwave and cook another 1-1/2 minutes. Shake again. Open the bag and let it cool. You can even tear the bag down the side and speed up the process.

Plan to make more than one batch because you'll want to eat the first one! Great for Christmas or birthday gifts. I gave this as a Christmas gift to my co-workers one year and the next year they started hinting for it again in September.

Once completely cooled, break up the chunks, put it in a plastic holiday bag and tie with a festive ribbon. If you eat a lot of ice cream the containers with lids make a great receptacle for packing the caramel corn. Save your ice cream containers throughout the year, wash them out, line with plastic wrap and stic a bow on the top. Include the recipe and directions unless you want to tell them it's an old family secret, but let me warn you that if you don't share the recipe, they will come back next year begging for more.

Samoa Bundt Cake

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

2014. Goodness, this year - I know when I was little, Y2K seemed SO far into the future... :D Here's hoping and praying that 2014 finds us more at peace with each other, with our lives, and with our paths.

ANYWAY. :D

This CAKE. When I saw this cake, I knew I had to try it - it's Samoa Bundt Cake from *betsylife.

Now, then. You'll notice there are three min bundts on this plate. Let me explain something: as a family, we've cut SO far down on our intake of food, we have leftovers from a regular meal. I didn't want my sister and brother-in-law and niece to leave, and us have almost a whole bundt cake left!

So I make the whole cake recipe, but only did six mini bundts - since that's how many mini cakes were in my pan. And I threw away the rest of the batter. Yes, it was a little wasteful, but better than eating all that cake I certainly could kill myself with, and I only threw away the batters.

This is a YES, PLEASE! dessert. The cake batters were easy to put together; the cake, as a whole, is just lots of steps. This isn't a cake you can just throw together, unless you purchase premade dulce-de-leche. And I don't think I've seen it around here! I popped my milk into the crock pot and let it simmer away all day the day before I wanted to make the cake. I also toasted the coconut when I had some other baking to do, so the day I made the mini cakes I just baked them off and let them cool. Christmas Day, my baby sister made the frosting and assembled the cakes for me - I really felt awful, and was trying to ration my energy. :)

The other three cakes are in the freezer, waiting to be needed. A half cake is PLENTY for me for a serving! They're fun, incredibly rich, and do taste just like the Girl Scout cookie - although I'd like a little more caramel consistency in there. :D But I'm not willing to put more sugar into it, so it's great the way it is. :D

OK, I'm outta here. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a great week! Be BLESSED, dear friend!

Just Another Manic(ure) Monday! :D

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! :D

I'm sorry I disappeared for so long; the open house totally dominated my time for a LONG time, and the two weeks after it were incredibly busy, too. As I write this, I'm waiting for family to arrive for Christmas! Do you have big plans for Christmas? I'd love to hear what you're up to! :)

So, I apologize for the difficulty in seeing this picture too well. I adapted the two tree nails from the first photo on this page; the other nails have a glitter cascade done. It's been so much fun doing nails for the season! My nails have been in rough shape from cooking and doing dishes - that's why they're so short - but I'm working on taking care of them. :)

Have a wonderful day, dear friend. Be blessed!

Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas

Welcome to another Monday. :D Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new?

I'll get to today's share quickly; with the open house less than three weeks away, time is PRECIOUS, people!! :D It's for Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas from Gimme Some Oven.

First, let me say that I find the name a little misleading. The avocados are in the SAUCE; even though there's a bit of sauce in the enchiladas, I think these are more chicken and pepper enchiladas with avocado and cilantro sauce.

With that being said, these got a YES, PLEASE! from Kenn and me. My mom despises cilantro, so she didn't like them at all. I was happily surprised at how little HEAT the peppers brought, and how much flavor. If you like heat, keep some of the ribs and seeds from the jalapenos in. Not for US, however. :D

I cooked the chicken the day before; when I poach chicken, I always try to give it extra flavor. I used dried minced onion, a bit of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. It gave it a nice flavor without being too cumin-y. :D The recipe made a LOT of sauce. I doubled the whole recipe, because I took some to a friend's family who just had a baby. I gave them a jar of sauce AND had two more jars. I've got a full jar in my fridge; what to do with it?!? :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day!!!! Be BLESSED!!!

Stephen's Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

Welcome to Wednesday! :D

Do you remember last December, when I went to Texas to take care of my niece for two weeks? Well, one of the things my brother-in-law made for dinner during my first few days there was his slow cooker BBQ pork. Oh, MY, was it good. It smelled wonderful almost all day, and was it ever tender!

I asked for his recipe earlier this year, but never got around to making it. Until last weekend.

Not only did I pig out that day (pun totally intended! :D ), but I froze it in ice-cream-scoop-sized mounds. That makes it easier to get out exactly how much I want/need for another meal, and means it defrosts quickly when I want. :)

I got permission last week to share this yummy, easy meal with you!

So, here is his recipe:
Boneless pork butt (picnic butt), available at Walmart*

Sprinkle liberally with BBQ seasoning. (They use the dry rub from THE PIG in Memphis; I used one from the grocery store. His is better. :D )

Add anywhere from 1/3 - 1/2 small bottle of liquid smoke.

Cook 10 hours in slow cooker on low. Drain; pull/shred pork, discarding fat. Return shredded meat to crockpot. Sprinkle layers of meat with more rub. Douse with one complete bottle of Bull's Eye Memphis BBQ Sauce. (I used my favorite.) Have more sauce on hand to serve, if desired.


*I got one that had the bone in, and just pulled out and discarded what needed to go when I shredded it.

That's it! It's super easy - although I will admit that I ate as much unsauced pork as I did sauced that first night.... :D

Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!!!

Bread Machine Challah

Happy Wednesday! :) This is GOOD stuff, people - I'm telling you already it's a YES, PLEASE!!! You want to go make this now. Mom was sad Dad had gone gluten-free, because it would have made incredible French toast. :)

I didn't do anything differently to this. Be sure your yeast isn't too old, and you'll get a great rise out of it! I did butter the top when it came out of the oven, but that's all I did differently from the recipe from Dine & Dish.

OK, I'm outta here - I have SO much to do! :D The show may be over at the beginning of October, but the procrastinating from the last eight weeks is starting to catch up with me, and there's LOTS to do!! Christmas will be here soon! Ho, ho, ho! :D