My Cup of Creativi-Tea

Making a Big Change

2013-01-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Happy belated new year!

It's been a little quiet over here lately. Partly it was due to the Christmas holidays and partly because I've been sick. I'm still trying to get over this cold.

I'm not sure if you know, but I run/write three different blogs. Whew! I've been juggling three websites since last March 2011. I never truly felt like any the blogs got the attention they truly deserved. For my sanity and the quality and frequency of my posts, I'm making a big change.

I'm merging Cup of Creativi-Tea into my main blog, I'm Not the Nanny. I'm not shutting down this site. You're welcome to come back to it whenever you want, but in the near future, I'm moving the content over to I'm Not the Nanny.

From now I'm posting my food and crafts posts over at I'm Not the Nanny. I hope you'll come visit over there and subscribe to its RSS feed so you don't miss anything. Like the Vietnamese cook-a-long I'm doing for 2013.

You're welcome to join me.

Leftover Turkey=Yummy Enchiladas

2012-12-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Christmas Eve! If you're making turkey for your Christmas dinner, you have to make some turkey enchiladas with the leftovers. I don't make them very often, but enchiladas are one of my husband's favorite food. I made these a few days after Thanksgiving. By this time the kids were already tired of leftover turkey, so I needed to change things up a bit.

The last time I made enchiladas was in college (for my husband), so I scoured the internet for recipes. I had all the ingredients for enchiladas except for one thing: enchilada sauce. A pretty pivotal ingredient, don't you think. Fear not, improvising is one of my favorite activities in the kitchen.

I grabbed a jar of Rose Romano's Italian Red Bell Peppers Marinara Sauce and winged it. Using Jane Maynard's recipe for red enchilada sauce, I made my very first from scratch enchilada sauce in less than 15 minutes. It was good. Really good.

Now that I know how easy it is to make enchilada sauce (especially when you have jar of really good marinara sauce in the pantry), I'm going to make it from scratch from now on.

What's your favorite dish using turkey leftovers?

I received Rose Romano's marinara sauce to review. All opinions are my own.

All You Need for BabbaBox is Imagination

2012-12-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

My kids love receiving mail. Recently, we had a chance to try out BabbaBox, a new monthly subscription service that provides wide range of crafts and activities for children ages 3-6. Each month's box is based on a theme. The one we received was about sun, moon, and stars. The box contains a mix of crafts and activities plus a book and a digital component.

I let the kids help me unbox it (though I opened it beforehand just to see what was inside). Included were two craft projects: a paper mache moon nightlight and a constellation frame using sunprint paper. Each project was packaged separately and included everything we needed to create it. The kids absolutely loved the book Twinkle: Star of the Week. That was the first thing we did.

Also in the box was a gift for parents (a star wine bottle topper), travel binoculars so kids can create a moon cycle chart, coupons for other services and instructions to download the digital component. In this case it was an app: Twinkle by Kimboomu. The app is only for iOS products: iPhone or iPad. I'm not sure if there will be Android apps in future boxes. I loved everything in the box, but I felt like the app was an afterthought. The kids did not like the app at all. Not even Jaxson, who is in its suggested age range.

Jaxson and I decided to tackle the constellation project first. I've never used sunprint paper, but BabbaBox's illustrated instructions were easy to understand and follow. What kid doesn't like stickers? It's been a bit gloomy around here so luckily we substituted a bright light for the sun. This was a great project for my three year old because he didn't have to wait long for results. Little kids love instant gratification!

Jessica Kim, Founder and CEO of Babbabox

Overall, I really like BabbaBox. I like that it's not just craft projects but involves a book and digital content as well. BabbaBox is well rounded. Plus it's a women-owned company. That's Jessica Kim, the founder and CEO.

Here's more info about BabbaBox:

BabbaBox is a theme-based box delivered to your door that allows you to enjoy a little convenience and inspiration! As any parent can attest, the most important thing you can give to your child is quality time. BabbaBox makes this possible by helping you to save time, money, & mindspace.

Just think! Fantastic monthly activities with ALL the materials for kids ages 3-6. Included in the box are 3 projects + 1 bestselling book + digital download + parent surprise gift!

The best part? Babbabox makes a GREAT unique gift during the holiday season.

Act now! Get 50% off your first month when you sign up for a monthly membership using the code, SWAY100. Offer expires December 31, 2012.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BabbaBox. The opinions and text are all mine.

Photo Diary: Carnival Breeze Cruise Food

2012-12-10T08:37:00.001-05:00

I'm writing this from the fabulous Carnival Cruise Breeze ship. Let me tell you, the food on a cruise ship is amazing! So get ready to drool as I show you what I've eaten so far.

Sake infused beetroot carpaccio with blue cheese and greens

Alligator Fritters with spicy salsa and homemade potato chips

Lobster tail with shrimp

Chocolate melting cake with vanilla ice cream

Brany infused cherries jubilee with vanilla ice cream

Carnival Cruise is hosting our family on the cruise. All opinions and gorging on delicious food is all my own.

Hack-y Holidays! A Make-It-Yourself #STEMchat December 6: Join Me!

2012-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Are you making gifts or thinking about creative gifts this holiday season?

My friend Kim Moldofsky of The Maker Mom (and other fabulous blogs) hosts a monthly Twitter chat about STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math. This month's chat also includes Arts. Don't let "Arts" scare you. Everyone has a bit of creativity in them. I love making and receiving handmade gifts. What I love more are gifts that inspire creativity.

Thanks to this month's sponsor, littleBits, we'll be talking about #MakeTheHoliday- sharing tips and ideas for homemade gifts and gifts that keep on giving. Join in on Twitter on this Thursday, December 6 at 9 PM Eastern, 8 Central, 7 Mountain and 6 Pacific using the hashtags #STEMchat and #MakeTheHoliday.

Check out the panelists for our chat:

Kathy Cerceri @KathyCeceri is the brains behind Crafts for Learning and is co-creator of the GeekMom blog and book, author of "Robotics" and other activity books for kids, About.com's Guide to Homeschooling, and mom to two sons, 17 and 20.

Lisa Nelsen-Woods @condoblues When her technical writer, instructional designer, and DIYer powers combine she builds computers, fixes what's broken, and teaches you how you can do it too on her blog Condo Blues.

Thien-Kim Lam (That's me!) @ThienKim is a former costume designer who now channels her creative energy by upcycling clothes, sketching, and crafting with her kids. Check out her tutorials and general crafty goodness at My Cup of Creativi-Tea and her parenting adventures at I'm Not the Nanny.

littleBits, invented by a woman, are (cute!) little electronic modules for prototyping and play. The bits snap together with magnets, so you can't mess up with them. These colorful bits take crafting projects to a new level allowing people with little or no electronics knowledge to add lights, sensors or other bells and whistles to their projects. Ayah Bdeir set out to put the tools of engineers into the hands of artists and she's succeeding. Seriously cool stuff, people.

littleBits is hosting a creative holiday challenge. It's kind of like Design Squad for adults- dream up a creative project incorporating littleBits, sketch it out and submit the sketch to win. How easy is that?

Want to see how easy it is to use littleBits? They sent me their Holiday Kit, a seven bit kit designed to light up your life, to test out. It's so easy, my 3 year old can do it. While my 7 year old daughter made the paper propeller to attach to the motor, my little guy is assembling the pieces in the background. Sorry the video is so dark, my kids wanted to turn off the lights so they could see the LED light piece in action.

As a panelist, I received a littleBits Holiday Kit to try out before the chat.

Starbucks Perfect Pairings & Christmas Tree Decorating

2012-12-03T00:50:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago as newlyweds, my husband and I decided to start a new Christmas tradition. Every year, we would buy a ornament for each person in the family. I know many families have a similar tradition, but my parents didn't make a big deal about decorating for Christmas. I wanted to make Christmas special for us by creating our own traditions.

The kids have been ~~hounding me~~ waiting for two weeks to put up our Christmas tree. Finally over the weekend, we unboxed our brand new pre-lit tree. My husband and Sophia were very serious as they put it together. He was adamant about reading the instructions first. Just one of these annoying things I love about him.

After all that hard work assembling the three pieces of the tree, it was time for a snack break. In fact, the kids practically jumped for joy when I told them they could finally eat the Artisan Fresh cinnamon rolls. I even warmed them up in the oven. Plus, for the first time ever, we picked up some Starbucks ground coffee to brew at home. I'm a huge fan of Starbucks but have never bought their ground coffee. It's silly, isn't it?

We do a lot of our grocery shopping at Sam's Club (budget friendly, yay!) so I was not surprised to find a great deal on Starbucks Limited Edition Holiday Blend. At Sam's Club, the 28oz bag was $16.98 while a 16oz bag on the Starbucks website is $14.98. I was pretty surprised. We also picked up a the tray of Artisan Fresh cinnamon rolls to go with the coffee.

While the kids chowed down on the cinnamon rolls and their hot chocolate, I poured myself a cup of the holiday blend. The fresh, hot coffee smelled heavenly and reminded me of walking into a Starbucks. I know that sounds silly, but buying coffee at a Starbucks cafe has been more of a treat these days. For the tasting, I took a sip the black coffee. The holiday blend is bold and dark with a hint of cinnamon spiciness at the end. The spice was a pleasant surprise. When I took a bite of the cinnamon roll and drank the coffee, the cinnamon spice was more pronounced in the holiday blend. I absolutely loved it and it definitely is a #DeliciousPairing.

The cinnamon rolls were a huge hit as well. They were the perfect amount of yeast dough and cinnamon filling. Sophia gave the cinnamon rolls two hands up, which is even better than two thumbs up. My husband laughed at me because I couldn't stop raving about how much I liked the coffee. I was surprised by how much I liked it. Once I finished the taste test, I added sweetener and milk, then topped my coffee with whipped cream. Yay for decadence on a budget. It's like having a Starbucks cafe in my home.

Once our bellies were full, the kids made a mad dash towards the ornaments. In case you wondered, the bottom front of the tree may be a little ornament heavy because that's as far as Jaxson got. They were moving so fast, most of my photos of them were a huge blur.

As we pulled out each ornament, we took a little stroll down memory lane. We haven't picked up ornaments for 2012 yet, but here's a salt dough ornament I made last year. I made one for each member of the family. Isn't she cute?

Here's the little guy we purchased for Jaxson's first Christmas. There's lots more but I won't torture you with the stories.

This was the first year that we incorporated coffee and baked goods into our tree trimming tradition. It was fun to take a snack break during our decorating. Having the cinnamon rolls and coffee just added to our evening. I also have a feeling that we'll go through our 28oz bag of Starbucks Limited Edition Holiday Blend pretty quickly.

Do you include coffee in your holiday traditions?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. All opinions and coffee addiction are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Pie with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream

2012-11-29T01:48:00.002-05:00

You know what makes a pumpkin pie good? Whipped cream. You know what makes it even better?

Salted caramel whipped cream. (Read to end for the recipe.)

Just saying those words out loud makes my taste buds dance! To make fancy whipped cream, all you need is some Torani Salted Caramel syrup. You can use whatever flavor you want. Torani has syrups in every flavor you can imagine.

It's easy to pick up a can of that whipped topping at the store, but nothing beats making your on whipped cream. All you need is some heavy cream, a whisk, a chilled bowl, and some muscle power. Or you can use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. I put my kids to work, but all they really wanted to do was lick the bowl. So I pulled out my stick blender and its whisk attachment.

I love fancy coffees from my coffee shops, but those are more of a splurge. I have found a super easy, budget friendly way to make my own fancy coffee at home. There was leftover whipped cream after we ate our pumpkin pie so I didn't want to wasted it. I put some generous dollops of the salted caramel whipped cream on my mocha flavored coffee.

I can't believe how a little whipped cream made my coffee immensely better. I felt a little decadent to tell you the truth. At least my wallet was happy. I kinda want to whip up another batch just for coffee!

If you want to make your own fancy (but easy) whipped cream, you can save 10% at Torani.com with code SHESPEAKS. The code is good until 11/30/12, so hop to it! If you miss out on the code, you can enter the Torani Holiday Cheers Contest and win Mr. Coffee prizes and Torani Syrups.

I received two bottles of Torani Syrups to sample and review. All opinions and coffee obsession are mine.

Easy Pumpkin Pie with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream

Makes one pie, 6-8 servings, depending how big you slice it

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1 can or 15 oz of solid pack pumpkin

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ground ginger

1/8 tsp of ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 frozen deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together all ingredients (except crust). Place crust on a baking sheet. Pour filling into the crust. Bake until the filling is set, but still a bit jiggly, about an hour. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours. Serve with salted caramel whipped cream (recipe below).

Salted Caramel Whipped Cream

Ingredients

1 cup of heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 oz of Torani Salted Caramel Syrup (about a shot glass)

Place both ingredients in a chilled bowl. Whisk until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes if whipping by hand. It will be faster if you use a mixer or electric whisk. Serve immediately. Also tasty on coffee, hot cider, or hot chocolate.

Kid Approved Thai Green Curry Plus Win a Jar of Green Curry Sauce

2012-11-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

I joined the Team Maryland of Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign because I thought it would be fun to try out the World Foods Asian style sauces. Having the sauces in my pantry has been a lifesaver. The sauces take the pressure off my "what's for dinner?" rut. I can just saute' some veggies and a protein, then pour in a jar of sauce. Voila! Dinner is ready.

Recently, I used the WorldFoods Thai Green Curry for a quick dinner. I cooked sliced onions, potatoes, tofu, carrots, sugar snap peas, and threw in some leftover chicken. Then I just poured in a couple jars of the Thai Green Curry. We served everything over steamed brown rice. The kids couldn't get enough of the dish.

Sophia even asked for seconds and couldn't stop eating tofu! I'd say that this dish was a definite winner.

Want to win your own jar of WorldFoods Thai Green Curry? I have a secret code for you to win your very own yummy jar! Don't wait because there's only a limited number of jars.

Here's how you enter:

Head over to the WorldFoods Fusion Facebook page and "Like" it.
If you're not there already, click on the USA Sweepstakes tab
Enter using the password MDFTT
Giveaway runs 26th November 9am – 30th November 23:59pm ET

Good luck!

Visit our Team Maryland pinterest board if you need some ideas for dinner!

As a Team Maryland member of Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign I received a hamper of WorldFoods sauces to review. All opinions are my own.

A Field Trip to Heyser Farms

2012-11-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Fresh apple cider donuts.

That was all I had to say to convince the family to change out of their pajamas on a cold Saturday morning. We headed to Heyser Farms looking for those delicious donuts but discovered a lot more. They were having some sort of festival and lots of yummies to taste.

Jaxson and Sophia couldn't keep their hands off the citrus sample station. We bought some of the sweetest grapefruit we've ever had from the farm.

Then we tasted some raw honey and saw how the beekeeper extracts honey from the bees' combs. It was pretty mesmerizing.

My favorite part? A wine tasting from Great Shoals Winery. They produce a sparkling hard cider from the Spencerville Red Apple, Heyser's signature apple. I might have sampled a little from every bottle. They have a peach sparkling wine that our guy, I think his name is Matt, recommend we serve over vanilla ice cream. That sounded absolutely divine.

If you're local, make sure you head to Heyser Farms for apple cider donuts. You never know what you might find! I love supporting local businesses and hope you do the same when you can.

This is not a sponsored post. We paid for all stuff we bought.

Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt with Natural Bliss Creamer

2012-11-16T14:45:00.003-05:00

Looking for an easy way to make some frozen yogurt at home? I don't own an ice cream maker or a blender, so I use my immersion (stick) blender for almost everything I would with a blender. Except for crushing ice. I've never tried by love my stick blender too much to attempt it.

I chatted with the gals at the CoffeeMate Natural Bliss booth during BlogHer and they had created delicious smoothies and frozen coffee drinks using the Natural Bliss coffee creamer. Call me boring, but I've only used my coffee creamers for, uh, coffee. So they sent me some coupons and recipes to try making something non-coffee related with their all natural creamer.

I adapted their ice cream recipe and the kids helped me make our strawberry ice cream. Well, my kids called it froyo. What can I say, I've passed my love for frozen yogurt down to my kids. I wish I had saved some of the frozen strawberries for my finished froyo. They were much prettier than the other ones I dug out of the back of my freezer. After I realized I wanted to put some on top as garnish.

The frozen yogurt came out creamy and just the right amount of sweetness. The best thing is that it only requires 3 ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes! With the Natural Bliss creamer and the greek yogurt, you won't need to an extra sugar. If you want a bit sweeter, just add your favorite sweetener: sugar, agave, etc.

We've made this twice already. First with strawberries and then with raspberries. I still have some blueberries in the freezer for our next batch.

Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

1 cup of frozen strawberries or any frozen fruit of your choice
1/4 cup of CoffeeMate Natural Bliss creamer in Vanilla
1/2 cup of strawberry Greek yogurt (I used Stonyfield Oikos for Kids)

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. It will be thick and creamy. Serve immediately or you can freeze it for 5-10 minutes for a firmer consistency. In our home, whipped cream is always required for froyo, but it's up to you.

I received product coupons to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Make This Cheddar Beer Bread!

2012-11-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Something about the cold weather makes me want to bake more. Comfort food I guess. Yesterday I made my second loaf of beer bread in the same amount of weeks.

On a whim, I threw in some shredded cheddar cheese in this batch and it was oh-so-good!

I hope you try it out!

Cheddar Beer Bread
makes one loaf

3 c. flour

1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c of shredded cheddar cheese

¼ c. unsalted butter, melted
1 bottle of your favorite beer

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix all dry ingredients, including cheese, in bowl. Add beer all at once. Mix as little as possible—batter should be lumpy. Poor batter into greased loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove, brush with melted butter until thoroughly coated—let some drip down the sides. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove from pan and cool. Serve plain or buttered.

Baking a Cake with the Kids

2012-11-12T12:44:00.000-05:00

Last week we celebrated Sophia's birthday. One of her requests was to bake a birthday cake together. Chocolate with pink frosting to be specific. So Saturday, we had some mother daughter time making her birthday cake.

I opted for a boxed cake mix to make my life easier since I planned on making buttercream frosting from scratch. Sophia chose red velvet, one of my faves! We had fun making it together. Though I realized that I need to relax in the kitchen.

Relax in the kitchen. I seem to have forgotten the days we used to cook and bake together. Now that I have to juggle two in the kitchen, It's just too much work to make sure Jaxson doesn't pick up a knife or dump flour on the floor? Or my favorite, tasting an ingredient, hating it, and putting it back in the bowl with the other ingredients.

Maybe I will have to resume cooking and baking with the kids. But just on weekends when there's no rush for homework, dinner, bath and bed.

The cake was delicious! Wish you could have a slice.

Rosemary Lemon Brined Pork Chops

2012-11-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Pork chops make a regular occurrence at our dinner table. My mother-in-law is a fan of those shake-and-bake breaded pork chops but the kids aren't a big fan of it. I usually marinate the pork chops and either broil them or cook them in our cast iron skillet.

I tried something new: brining my pork chops. I've never brined my meat because I'm lazy and it takes a bit more planning ahead. When Holland House offered to send me their cooking wine to use in a brine, I was definitely intrigued. My husband has brined our turkey every Thanksgiving since we've been married (save the two years that the kids were born-dang November babies). Brining makes his turkey juicy and flavorful. I figured I'd give it a try with some pork chops.

Since I've never used cooking wine to make a brine, I browsed for recipes on the Holland House website and adapted the grilled rosemary chicken recipe for pork chops. The brined pork chops were a hit with everyone, adult and kids. I cooked them in my favorite skillet: cast iron. I even made a pan sauce from the drippings. It was perfect served with a side of wild rice and steamed broccoli.

Here's my tips for brining:

Use a plastic ziptop bag to hold the brine and your meat. It's easy to just flip the bag when you rotate or move around the contents.
Place your ziptop bag inside a bowl or similar container to catch drips
For a good sear on your meat, pat it dry on both sides after you remove it from the brine

Happy brining!

Rosemary Lemon Brined Pork Chops

Ingredients
1 cup Holland House White Cooking Wine with Lemon Flavor
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. coarse ground pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. pork chops

Fresh lemon

Directions

In a ziptop bag, combine the cooking wine, vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, pepper, and salt. Close bag and shake or squeeze until the salt as dissolved. Add pork chops, making sure they are submerged in the brine. Refrigerat and let pork chops sit in brine for at least 8 hours, longer if you can. About halfway through, flip the bag over to ensure good coverage in the brine.

When ready to cook, remove pork chops and discard brine. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in an oven safe skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is smoking, add the pork chops, careful not to crowd the pan. Brown on both sides. Remove and repeat with the remaining pork chops.

Once all the pork chops have been browned, return to pork chops to the skillet. Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking. My pork chops were 1 1/2 inches thick and took about 30 minutes to cook.

Sauce directions: If there are drippings or juices in the skillet, you can make a pan sauce. Remove the pork chops. Heat the drippings on the stovetop. Stir in a small pat of butter (less than a tablespoon) as the sauce heats up. Cook the sauce to desired consistency and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end.

Enjoy!

I received Holland House Cooking Wine to review. All opinions are my own.

Making Leftovers Fun

2012-11-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

As soon as I hear the word leftovers my taste buds are saddened. Leftovers never sound exciting, but when the fridge is full of them, someone has to eat them. Last night I didn't feel like cooking so I just pulled out our random leftovers. Not the Sunday supper most of us imagine.

"We're having a buffet for dinner!" I announced. My kids love eating at our local Chinese buffet. They enjoy all the different choices and they can tasted a little bit of everything. As soon as I called dinner a buffet, their lips were smacking and they couldn't wait to eat.

We had roasted chicken and taters, kale slaw with my sesame chili lime dressing, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, takeout chicken tenders, pasta, and sausage kale soup. Whew! I just added a fresh salad and a store bought challah to round out dinner.

Funny how a little spin on something most of us dread can make dinner so exciting. The kids' only complaint was that they didn't have enough space on their plate for everything they wanted to eat.

A win-win for everyone!

Did you eat leftovers this weekend?

Halloween Costume Success

2012-11-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to say that the kids' Halloween costumes came together without a hitch. Remember my costume sketches?

Due to preparing for Hurricane Sandy and my laziness (ok, really doing dishes and cleaning) I did not get to Jaxson's costume until Oct 30. Talk about cutting it close! In less than 3 hours, I had an orange dragon! Not bad considering I sewed the entire outfit: pants, hoodie and dragon tail. Not bad considering I totally made up the pattern for the hoodie using one of his t-shirts.

The best was that Jaxson was so excited by his costume! When we went trick or treating, he ran up to every door and told everyone that he was a "nice orange dragon." So cute! He announced at the end of the evening that next year he will be a yellow dragon.

Sophia was very pleased with her costume as well. She came up with the color scheme and idea. I just executed it. I look at this photo and I can't believe how big she looks. Older than a first grader for sure. Don't cross this warrior princess, she'll shoot you down! We weren't even home from trick or treating yet and she had begun to think about next year's costume.

How did Halloween go for you this year? The kids lucked out this year and got some really good candy. You know I'm hitting that stash!

Steak Salad with Sweet Chili Lime Sesame Dressing

2012-11-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Most of the jars in the door of my fridge are condiments. Both my husband and I love trying different mustards, salsas, dips, spreads, and salad dresses. Right now there are 5 different bottles of salad dressing in my refrigerator door. Some are store bought and some are homemade.

I've used salad dressings as a marinade for meats or tofu. Sometimes they are my secret ingredient for the sauce I cook my meatballs in. I reuse glass salad dressing bottles for my own recipes.

Last week before the storm hit, I was craving steak. Instead of doing a heavy steak and potatoes meal, I made a steak salad. For the dressing, I used World Foods Thai Sweet Chili with Kaffir Lime sauce that I received as a member of Team Maryland in Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign.

The salad dressing is super easy to make and gave my taste buds some new flavors for steak. You can use the dressing for any kind of salad and top it with chicken or even tofu. I think this would especially good for a broccoli or cabbage slaw.

Sweet Chili Lime Sesame Dressing
makes approximately 1/2 cup

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of World Foods Thai Sweet Chili with Kaffir Lime Dipping Sauce
2 Tablespoons of sesame oil
3 Tablespoons of white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Add all ingredients together in jar. Close jar and shake until well mixed. Or you can whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.

As a Team Maryland member of Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign I received a hamper of WorldFoods sauces to review. All opinions are my own.

Yummy, Yummy New to Me Beers

2012-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

In Louisiana, when a hurricane heads your way, we hit the liquor store first. Actually the liquor is in the grocery store, so it's kinda one stop shopping. We didn't worry too much about toilet paper or milk. For Hurricane Sandy, we did pick up batteries, bread, and peanut butter for the impending storm. However, we cannot forget the important stuff: beer.

Hubby took me to this wine and liquor superstore nearby, Total Wine & More. I was in beer heaven. They had aisles and aisles of beer. Microbrews, imports, porters, ales, Belgian style, you name it. I liked that I could buy a six pack or just singles bottles of beer. It was a good way to try out new to me beers. Plus the customer service was fantastic. Everywhere we walked in the store, employees asked us if we needed help. They looked like they actually wanted to help us. And they did.

By the time you read this, Hurricane Sandy should have landed on the east coast. Here's what I plan on drinking while it rains sideways outside.

I picked up a bottle of Heavy Seas Pumpkin Ale. I admit I drank it Friday night while I doodled. It wasn't as tasty as I thought it would be. Don't worry, I didn't waste it.

I searched for beer with chocolate and/or coffee notes, so I grabbed this Rogue Mocha Porter. It's heavy dark beer and was excellent. Especially with a side of dark chocolate.

I'll report back on the other beers we bought. Hubby picked up some Louisiana Abita beers and I have another porter in the fridge.

Pumpkin Beer and Artist Date Doodles

2012-10-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

I still haven't started cutting out or sewing Jaxson's Halloween costume yet. Who knows, Halloween might even be cancelled thanks to Frankenstorm aka Hurricane Sandy. While my husband had a much needed night out with the guys this weekend, I got cozy with some pumpkin beer, episodes of Parenthood, and my travel art kit.

Ok, I didn't pull out my sketching supplies until I got tired of playing Bejeweled Blitz, the ultimate time suck. I'm glad I did though. I couldn't find my sketchbook, so I grabbed my stash of index card dividers. Normally I would have searched until I found my sketchbook but I made myself stop. Why waste art time searching for supplies when alternatives are readily available?

I was inspired by the beautiful fall leaves, so free form sketched one to paint. I left my stash of leaves in the car, which hubby had taken for his night out. Then I started drawing a mandala but I guess I fizzled out at the end. It made me happy to paint bright bold, colors onto a plain manila colored card.

I enjoyed a quiet evening to myself. I really should make these artist dates a regular occurrence.

I can tell the kids have been itching to paint too. I guess that will have to be an activity while we're cooped inside during the storm. Did I mention there's no school for the next two days?

Did you do anything creative this weekend?

The New Cookbook Treatment

2012-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a fun way to get your kids interested in trying new foods and new recipes.

I've always encouraged my kids to help me cook and bake. Sometimes they're interested. Other times, they just want to watch tv. Now that Sophia is an eager reader, I hand her a new cookbook (or dust off a forgotten one) with some Post-It Flags.

She flips through and reads the recipes. Any recipe that she is interested in making or trying, she marks it with a flag. Now we have a system. Anything she absolutely must try gets a pink Post-It. Other ones are various colors. All the ones that I want to try gets a blue flag.

She loves it when I hand her the book and the flags. She finds a cozy spot and flips through the entire book from beginning to end. Sometimes she asks me to help her out with a title or ingredient, but it's all about her.

The one Sophia is currently marking is Weelicious: 140 Fast, Fresh, and Easy Recipes by Catherine McCord. I just recently discovered Catherine's website of the same name, Weelicious. I love her ideas and tips for healthy family meals! We haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I'm excited to see what Sophia has marked.

Do your kids help you cook?

As a YoGetter, I received a copy of the book courtesy of Stonyfield. I was not required to write about the cookbook. This post contains affiliate links.

Halloween Costume Panic

2012-10-23T15:07:00.000-04:00

"Only 9 more days until Halloween."

That's what they kept announcing as I searched the thrift store for the kids' costume components this Monday. I was slightly panicking. Slightly because I lucked out and found a dress that worked perfectly for her costume. Pending her approval, of course.

Last week, I sketched out the kids' costumes during my PTA meeting.

Jaxson wants to be a dragon. Not just any kind of dragon. An orange one. I thought it would be easy to find an orange sweatshirt hoodie and matching sweatpants for the base of his costume. Then I can just sew the scales (is that what the things on the spine called?) and make a tail to attach to the pants. Not sure sure about the clawed feet. That was just for illustrative purposes.

Here's my sketch with Sophia's adjustment. A longer skirt, of course. How could I have not known? This year she's a princess warrior, complete with bow and arrow. Oh and a tiara of course. No princess is ever without her tiara!

The funny thing was, I thought I would have to sew most of Sophia's costume, but turns out I'll have to sew Jaxson's. At least the pants, scales and tale. I found an orange hoodie.

My goal is to finish the costumes this weekend. Just in the nick of time.

How is your family celebrating Halloween?

Halloween Chocolate Wafers w Peanut Butter Fudge

2012-10-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

Don't panic, but Halloween is next week. Instead of figuring out the kids' costumes (more on that tomorrow), I decided to bake the chocolate wafers with peanut butter fudge cookie sandwiches. Halloween versions of the sandwiches. Yes, there are dessert sandwiches in Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor. Several of my fellow bloggers made the red velvet whoopie pies first, but not me.

Hubby loves peanut butter fudge. Any place we visit that sells peanut butter fudge, he buys it. He even made it for me when we started dating. I was appalled that the required an entire jar of marshmallow fluff. I didn't even know fluff existed until then! Fluff or not, hubby's peanut fudge was pretty tasty.

I'm always looking for an excuse to use my fall themed cookie cutters. (Sophia and I have made ghost and witch biscuits once or twice.) The chocolate wafers were tasty on their own. One of my ghosts broke his arm and Sophia happily gobbled him up. The wafers have the perfect amount of cocoa and just a hint of sweetness, perfect for someone who enjoys dark chocolate.

Emeril's peanut butter fudge recipe did call for a jar of marshmallow fluff. The sweet fudge complimented the chocolate wafers perfectly. Since it's almost Halloween, I added food coloring to turn the peanut fudge orange. Brown and orange are Halloween colors. I think it looks rather striking.

The family gobbled up the sandwiches, but I did manage to save a few for later. Pair a sandwich cookie with a glass of cold milk and you've got the perfect afternoon snack. The cookies were rather time intensive, but totally worth the it!

Want to win your own copy of Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor? Head over to my giveaway post to enter to win your very own copy! Hurry, giveaway ends tomorrow!

As a Serious Sandwich blogger, I received a copy of the cookbook plus a couple of supplies, including the Snapware container in the photo above. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post. All opinions are my own.

Pumpkin Cupcakes Must Mean Autumn

2012-10-18T23:27:00.001-04:00

Almost every fall, I make pumpkin cake or cupcakes with the kids. It's a tradition. My favorite Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe is from Everyday Food magazine and it's a super easy recipe. It's a simple cake recipe and they come out so moist and delicious.

This time the kids weren't interested in helping me make the batter, though they helped me fill the cupcake tins. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger baking makes a home smell so happy. Waiting for them to cool was hard for the kids. After we ate dinner, everyone was ready for the main event. Decorating the cupcakes!

I was cooking dinner the same time the cupcakes were baking. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to make frosting, so I grabbed some new Cool Whip Frosting in cream cheese to try out. The original recipe calls for cream cheese frosting, so the Cool Whip Frosting was perfect.

Well, not quite, perfect. First the frosting had to be color. For each child, I put about 1/2 cup of frosting in a resealable sandwich bag. They squeezed in some drops of food coloring. We closed up the bag (letting out as much air as possible), and the kids had to smoosh the frosting around to mix up the colors.

Once the frosting is the desired color, squeeze as much of it as you can to one corner of the resealable bag. I tied the top with a rubber band to make it easier for my toddler to squeeze. Snip the bottom corner of the bag to start frosting.

My daughter was very precise with her purple frosting. The sprinkles were the final touch!

The cupcakes were delicious and I was impressed with the Cool Whip Frosting. It's a little sweeter than I would have preferred. Then again, I ate two of them. Sssshhhh. Don't tell the kids.

What do you like to bake during the fall?

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Kraft Cool Whip. #CoolWhipFrosting #CBias #SocialFabric You can also see my full shopping adventure on Google+. All opinions and calories are my own. YUM!

Beet Me Baby One More Time

2012-10-17T23:17:00.001-04:00

I love beets. The very first time my husband convinced me to try beets, they were from a can. PSA, never ever eat canned beets. Instead, roast them yourself. It's super easy and tastes much better.

To roast beets, wash them and wrap in foil. Place the individually wrapped beets on the a cookie sheet to catch any drips. Then roast in the oven for an hour or so. I usually multitask and would roast beets the same time I baked chicken for dinner. Once the beets are cool, the skin will just rub right now. No peeling required. Tip: Wear gloves or you'll have pink hands.

I usually make a beet salad with goat cheese and basil, but Emeril's Roasted Beets with Pistachio-Goat Cheese Spread sandwich sounded really good. I was very intrigued by the pistachio goat cheese spread. The recipe also called for onion jam but I didn't have any apple cider vinegar to make it. Instead I used fig butter (from Trader Joe's). I think I missed out by not making the onion jam.

I loved the bitter arugula to counteract the beets' sweetness. I will be making this sandwich again.

This recipe is from Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor. His cookbook was just released yesterday and you can win one from me!

Just head over to the giveaway post to enter to win your very own copy!

As a Serious Sandwich blogger, I received a copy of the cookbook plus a couple of supplies. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post. All opinions are my own.

Chicken, Tofu, and Bok Choy Stir Fry

2012-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to share my first post for Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign as a member of Team Maryland. Over the next few weeks, I will be cooking with and reviewing WorldFoods' all natural ingredient Asian sauces. I love Asian food-yes, I'm a little biased since I'm Vietnamese American. I love all types of Asian cuisine.

Sophia doesn't like spicy food and is the pickiest eater of everyone in the family. (Don't worry, her favorite veggie is broccoli.) I picked one of the milder sauces that WorldFoods sent me, the Singapore Xin Zhou Noodle Sauce. We did a quick taste test out of the bottle and she gave a thumbs up. Whew!

I picked up this lovely bok choy from my Asian market, as well as some firm tofu. I love the crispness of bok choy to give texture to a stir fry. It makes the dish more fun to eat!

We had leftover baked chicken drumsticks in fridge so I cut the chicken into strips. I pan seared the tofu in a bit of sesame oil to give it some texture. I think one of the reasons most people don't like tofu is because they hate its texture. When you pan fry tofu, it makes the outside a little crispy to contrast with the creaminess.

I don't own a wok, so I just used a big skillet when I stir fry. I cooked some onions until they were translucent on tossed in the bok choy. Once the bok choy wilted a bit, I reintroduced the tofu and added the leftover chicken. Then I poured an entire bottle of Singapore Xin Zhou Noodle Sauce over it and heated it through.

Sophia absolutely loved the tofu! She had seconds and thirds of the stir fry. This dish was a winner!

Chicken, Tofu, and Bok Choy Stir Fry (makes 4 generous servings)

Ingredients

8 oz block of tofu cut into 1/2 inch thick strips (about half a package of tofu)
2 cups of bok choy, trimmed and cleaned
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup of leftover chicken
1 bottle of World Foods Singapore Xin Zhou Noodle Sauce
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of vegetable oil
1 cup of bean sprouts (optional)

Directions

1. Heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Sear strips of tofu until lightly golden on sides, turning every 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan onto paper towel to soak excess oil

2. Add vegetable oil into skillet and cook onions until translucent.

3. Add bok choy and 1/2 cup of water to skillet. Cover with lid to steam bok choy. About 5-7 minutes

4. Add seared tofu and leftover chicken and heat through.

5. Pour entire bottle of noodle sauce and stir to mix sauce evenly. Heat sauce and let it simmer until it reaches desired thickness.

6. If using bean sprouts, toss in at the very end so they don't become overcooked.

Serve with steamed brown rice and a wedge of lime to brighten the flavors at the end.

As a Team Maryland member of Fusion Taste Team USA Campaign I received a hamper of WorldFoods sauces to review. All opinions are my own.

Emeril's Kicked Up Sandwiches Cookbook Giveaway

2012-10-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

By now I've teased you all enough with my sandwiches from my Emeril #SeriousSandwich cook-a-long. Here's your chance to win a copy of Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor! When you win the cookbook, you can make mouthwatering sandwiches.

Like these Sopressata and Genoa Salami Calzones I made with my kids.

Then I had the Bánh Mì Showdown I held using Emeril's recipe vs. a local mom and pop Vietnamese shop.

We went back to school when I made Emeril's Peanut Butter, Banana, and Honey Grilled Sandwich.

And my personal favorite, Teriyaki-Glazed Pork Sliders with Spicy Sesame Mayo. These are great for entertaining.

Plus I still have two more Sandwiches to share with you!

Are you ready for a chance to win Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor? Just enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway