Diddles and Dumplings

Stuffed Mushroom BBQ Burgers

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:57:00 +0000

One of my favorite appetizers in the world is stuffed mushrooms. I don't know why but I rarely make them. I think about them and drool over them often, but it's just not something I end up cooking! This past weekend I was really craving some and hubby was craving a BBQ burger. So, we improvised and created one of our absolute favorite burgers ever -- Stuffed Mushroom Burgers. They are crazy good. They are actually more of a "Deconstructed" stuffed mushroom burger because the mushrooms are on top of the burger, while the "filling" is in the center of the burger. Did I mention the filling has bacon in it? And cream cheese? And Parmesan cheese? And other yummy things? I didn't?! Well, it does. These would be perfect for Memorial Day, since it's coming up so soon! You should probably make them.

[Here's a picture of the filling before the "top" of the burger was put on and sealed.]

Deconstructed Stuffed Mushroom BBQ Burgers Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef (15%)
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
8 ounces cream cheese
3 cloves garlic (minced)
5 slices bacon (crumbled)
3 heaping tablespoons (sliced) green onion
5 ounces (grated) parmesan cheese - divided
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 cup beer (optional)

6 large hamburger buns
Green leaf lettuce
Condiments - mayonnaise, mustard, etc.

Instructions:
In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, garlic, bacon, green onion, about 3 ounces of the parmesan, onion powder and salt. Mix well. Form into a 6" log, place in saran wrap, roll and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until somewhat firm.

Combine ground beef, worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste, and divide into 12 parts. Flatten each piece until very, very thin. Remove cream cheese log from fridge and slice into 6 even discs. Place one disc in the center of one of the flattened patties and top with additional flattened patty. Seal edges and flatten. (You definitely don't want it to be super balled up at this point or your end result will be a huge burger ball.)

Lightly grease the grill and prepare it for direct heat grilling. Place burgers on grill, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and wrap in foil.

Place butter in medium skillet over medium heat and melt. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes and add beer. Cook for additional 4-5 minutes, or until beer has mostly cooked out and mushrooms are a golden brown.

Place your burger on your bun, top with sauteed mushrooms and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Add lettuce and any other condiments you choose. [We, personally, kept them simple and just used the mayo and the lettuce so we could really taste the burger. The filling is very, very flavorful and delicious!]

Mother's Day Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:45:00 +0000

So, it's Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! I hope you are having a wonderful day of rest and relaxation and being spoiled to death, as well!

To wrap up the Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen}series, I thought it would be a good idea to have a giveaway... what do you think? You know those awesome products I have been reviewing? Well, here's your chance to win one of them!

Here's What You Can Win:

(1) Aroma 4 Quart Ice Cream Maker {Walnut color} (See Review Here) - or a...

(1) Mavea Elemaris XL - 9 Cup Pitcher {Eggplant} (See Review Here) - or a...

(1) VitaClay Smart Organic Multicooker - 8 Cup (See Review Here)

How To Win:

Fill out the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win one of the three featured products.

(1) Person will win an Aroma 4 Quart Ice Cream Maker

(1) Person will win a Mavea Elemaris XL 9 cup Water Filtration Pitcher

(1) Person will win a VitaClay Smart Organic Multicooker - 8 Cup

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen} - VITACLAY SMART ORGANIC MULTICOOKER - 8 CUP

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:54:00 +0000

So, I feel incredibly lucky and a little like I'm part of some top-secret club. I need to introduce you to a very special product that is kind of magical -- The VitaClay 8 Cup Organic Multi-Cooker. It seriously does so many different things that it's ridiculous. You can cook your dinner, your rice, and even make yogurt. There are still so many things I need to make with it, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. The next thing i'm making in it is yogurt. Yes, yogurt. I didn't even know you could make yogurt at home! I can't wait to try it.

A few of the things I love most about this MultiCooker are:

1. It's Made of Clay

How cool is that? There's something wonderful about cooking in clay and knowing that there are no harmful chemicals going into your food. The clay part is the "Organic" part of this organic multi-cooker. Even just cooking your food in it makes you feel healthier.

2. It's Programmable

One of the things I absolutely adore about this gadget is that you can set it to cook for any amount of time you desire and once the time is up, it will automatically trigger the "warm" setting, so your food doesn't overcook.

3. It cooks perfect rice -- every time.

So, I'm very used to cooking rice in a regular pot and it coming out slightly mushy. Just slightly. This awesome multicooker/rice cooker makes perfect rice... seriously. I was shocked at how perfect it was. The rice was actually in perfectly individual grains and it was magical.

4. It's Super Easy To Clean

So, I don't know if it's just me, but whenever I use my crockpot, it seems like even after I soak it, I still have to spend a lot of time scrubbing it to make sure every little bit of food comes off. With the VitaClay, it comes off with very little scrubbing... and I mean very little scrubbing. It's almost as if the food is repelled by the clay.

5. It Cooks Food Faster Than Your Slow Cooker
Unlike your slow cooker, you can cook your whole meal in less than an hour. The VitaClay cooks food hotter than a normal slow cooker but still gives it the same tenderness and flavor that a slow cooker does.

Overall, this awesome little machine makes super delicious food and perfect rice. The food comes out perfectly moist and tender every time and the rice comes out perfectly fluffy and tender. The only drawback to this machine is it's size. I would like it to be just a little bigger so I could cook large roasts. Other than that, I have no complaints.

*Make sure to check the blog on May 12, 2013 {Mother's Day!} for a chance to win a VitaClay Smart Organic Multicooker - 8 Cup for yourself!*

If you would like to purchase a VitaClay Smart Organic Multicooker - 8 Cup to make delicious meals, rice and yogurt you can do so here:

Amazon

Check out VitaClay's Website to find out more about the VitaClay Smart Organic Multicooker - 8 Cup

www.vitaclaychef.com/

Follow VitaClay on Facebook:

Facebook

Disclosure: I received a free product from VitaClay for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen} - Aroma 4 Quart Ice Cream Maker Review

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:18:00 +0000

Is there anyone out there that doesn't love ice cream? I didn't think so. Ice cream is by far one of my favorite desserts. And my daughter's... And my husband's. Okay, so we all love ice cream in my house. That's a given. That's what makes the next feature in my "Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For The Kitchen}" so very special to me. It makes ice cream! Amazing, right? I thought so. It's also extremely adorable and fun to use! This awesome ice cream maker from Aroma is not only super cute with it's old fashioned barrel design, but it gives you the option of hand cranking your ice cream or using the electric mixer! So, if you're my daughter, you, of course, want to hand crank it the entire time. But, if you're like me, you really like the option of allowing the machine to do the job for you.

I was super excited to make my first batch of ice cream, but I was kind and allowed my husband and daughter to pick the first flavor. They chose their favorite... Rocky Road. The instruction manual for the ice cream maker came with a recipe for rocky road, so it was perfect! After you mix your ingredients to make your ice cream base, you pour them into the large metal canister {pictured above}. The next step involves putting the metal canister into the wood bucket and attaching either the hand crank or the motorized top. Love that I have the option to hand crank or sit back and relax!

Once your canister is in place and you have your mixing top locked in you fill the surrounding barrel, alternating layers of ice and rock salt {pictured above}. My daughter loved this part. Yes, it may have taken an extra 20 minutes for her to pour everything in, but she enjoyed every minute.

The last step is to pour water into the bucket and use the provided stirer to mix the ice, water and salt together. Then, if using the electric mixer, you just press the "on" button and let your ice cream churn away for 40 minutes. This was the hard part -- the waiting period. It was fun watching the canister spin around and around!

Once the time is up, you can turn off the machine and check out your fresh, creamy, frozen treat. The ice cream will be the consistency of a very thick milkshake at this point. You can either serve it as is or you can put the lid on the canister and place it in the freezer until it reaches your desired consistency. We put it in the freezer overnight and by the next morning it was absolutely perfect. And yes, we did eat it for breakfast. Homemade rocky road is 1,000x more delicious than any other rocky road on the planet. Hands down.

We completely loved making homemade ice cream in this super cute and super fun ice cream maker and have vowed to make some at least once every few weeks. My daughter has already decided that the next ice cream we make has to have nutter butters. I completely agree!

The Aroma Ice Cream Maker was super easy to use and the instruction manual was really helpful (unlike some instruction manuals that leave you confused and angry). We followed the steps and in the end we wound up with a ton of delicious, homemade ice cream... which is exactly what we were looking to do! Plus, the entire process of making the ice cream makes it an extra special tradition that I know we are going to love having in our house!

*Make sure to check the blog on May 12, 2013 {Mother's Day!} for a chance to win an Aroma 4 Quart Ice Cream Maker {Walnut color} for yourself!*

If you would like to purchase an Aroma 4 quart Ice Cream Maker to make delicious homemade ice cream, you can do so here:

Amazon - Target

Check out Aroma's Website to find out more about the Aroma 4 Quart Ice Cream Maker and other Aroma products:

www.AromaCo.com.

Follow Aroma on Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook - Twitter

Disclosure: I received a free product from Aroma for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen} - Mavea Elemaris XL Review

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:48:00 +0000

Have I ever mentioned how much I love water? No? Well, I like water... a lot. It's my drink of choice for any occasion. Unfortunately, the water that flows freely from my kitchen faucet smells and tastes like it was meant to swim in. I have toyed around with getting some kind of water filtration system for a while and was absolutely thrilled when the opportunity to came up to try out this Elemaris XL Water Filtration Pitcher from Mavea. I liked it so much, in fact, that I decided to include it in my "Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen}" series.

This colorful beauty uses a filter that can be easily replaced to filter out chlorine, limescale and other things that make your water look and taste funky. It holds up to 9 cups of extremely delicious water. That's actually what we call it in our house -- delicious water. "Honey, could you bring me a glass of delicious water?"

The pitcher is super easy to fill, you just simply place the top 'opening' under your faucet and fill {see above picture}. It takes a little time for the water to completely go through the filter, but that's how you know it's really working!

The Elemaris XL features an awesome, well, feature... it has a meter that tells you exactly when you need to change your filter! It measures how much water has been filtered through, the hardness of the water that has been filtered and the amount of time you have been using the filter. Pretty cool, right?

The Elemaris XL is the perfect mom-friendly gift as it comes in multiple colors, allowing you to match your kitchen perfectly! The ruby red and eggplant are my personal faves!

*Make sure to check the blog on May 12, 2013 {Mother's Day!} for a chance to win an Eggplant Elemaris XL pitcher for yourself!*

If you would like to purchase a Mavea Elemaris XL for your every day water needs, you can do so here:

Amazon - Bed, Bath & Beyond - Macy's

Check out Mavea's Website to find out more about the Elemaris XL and other Mavea products:

www.mavea.com - www.inspiredwater.org

Follow Mavea on Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook - Twitter

Disclosure: I received a free product from Mavea for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen} - Yonanas Review

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:05:00 +0000

What you see pictured above is known as the "Yonanas" Maker. It's basically a machine that turns frozen bananas and other frozen fruit into soft serve-style "ice cream". I had the opportunity to test out the Yonanas maker and immediately after trying it knew that it would be perfect for my "Mother's Day Gift Ideas for the Kitchen" series. Mom's will completely fall in love with this cute little machine because, well, it's a great way to get you -- and your kids -- to eat healthy snacks! My 6-year-old daughter helped me test it out and she thoroughly enjoyed the entire process...Especially the part where she got to eat it. Our family absolutely loves fun and unique kitchen gadgets and this one is definitely fun and unique! Next we are going to be trying out some "sorbets" by using only fruit and leaving out the bananas! I'm thinking pineapples and mangoes!

Here are a few of the things I absolutely love about this little gadget:

1. Healthy Snacking

This awesome machine is a great way to get your kids excited about eating healthy snacks! Frozen fruit that tastes like ice cream. Do I really need to say more?

2. Easy to use

Basically, you freeze your fruit for 24 hours, put it down the chute, push it down and your frozen treat comes out into your bowl. My 6-year-old can do it!

3. Easy to clean

To me, the best part about this machine is how easy it is to clean! It disassembles very easily and there are only a few parts that need to be washed after use. If you clean it right after you make your frozen desserts, everything slides off easily and makes clean up a breeze. It's also dishwasher safe! Woo!

The only real drawbacks to the machine are that it's a little loud, but making your frozen dessert is really fast, so it doesn't really matter. Also, if you want to get every last bite of your delicious dessert you should disassemble the machine and scoop out the last few spoonfuls. Other than that, there's nothing else to say!

Here's a demonstration of the fruit going into the "chute" and coming out as strawberry "ice cream"! My daughter loved putting in the fruit and watching it turn into a yummy dessert right before her eyes.

How To Make Strawberry Yonanas!:

Ingredients:

2 bananas placed in freezer for 24 hours

6 strawberries (hulled) placed in freezer for 24 hours.

Instructions:

Place half a banana and 2 strawberries into the yonanas machine, run through the yonanas machine, repeat with remaining bananas and strawberries.

The Final Product - Strawberry Yonanas!

How To Make Hot Chocolate Yonanas!:

Ingredients:

2 bananas placed in freezer for 24 hours

1 packet hot chocolate mix

1 heaping tablespoon mini marshmallows

chocolate syrup

Instructions:

Pour packet of hot chocolate onto a paper plate. Break bananas in half. Roll each half into the hot chocolate mixture and run through the yonanas machine. Repeat with all banana halves. Top with marshmallows and chocolate syrup.

The Final Product - Hot Chocolate Yonanas!

If you are looking to purchase a Yonanas Machine for you and your family you can do so here:

Target - Amazon - Bed, Bath & Beyond

You can also check out the different colors of Yonanas Machines on the website:

www.yonanas.com

You can follow Yonanas On Facebook and Twitter:

Yonanas Facebook - Yonanas Twitter

Disclosure: I received a free product from Yonanas for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chile Verde

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:38:00 +0000

So, I've been a bad blogger. I blame it on the small baby currently growing in my stomach. Well, not technically my stomach, but you know... We have been so busy getting the nursery and the house ready and I have definitely not been spending as much time in my kitchen. My poor family. We've definitely eaten our fair share of take and bake pizza lately. I am actually looking forward to once the baby comes because my dear, sweet husband will be taking over most of the cooking. That means lots and lots of delicious BBQ food. Yum.

The recipe I'm about to share with you guys is one of our go-to weeknight meals. There are only 3 ingredients and it makes a delicious, easy dinner. You really can't beat simple chile verde. Throw it in some tortillas, add a little cheese and some rice and beans and you're set! My favorite!

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chile Verde Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds pork roast (cut into 1.5" chunks)

1 jar Thick -N- Chunky Salsa Verde (16 ounces)

1 can diced green chiles (4 ounces)

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Great with tortillas, spanish rice, salsa and refried beans.

Rock 'n' Roll Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:18:00 +0000

Yesterday was my baby shower and let me just say -- OH. MY. GOSH! It was amazing! It was blue & black, Rock 'n' Roll themed and everything was absolutely awesome! It was held at and catered by a local Bakery/Cafe called Hometown Emporium, that makes the best food and desserts ever! It was the perfect place for a baby shower! My best friend, mom, sis-in-law and mother-in-law all came together to create this fantastic event and It was honestly one of my favorite days Ever! Baby Corbin is completely set now and we are ready for him to get here!

They had a guitar onesie for all the guests to sign (and that I'm going to be hanging in Corbin's Room!), Diaper raffle (we are set on diapers for a while! woo!), and the diaper pin game (whoever has the dirty diaper wins).

Party favors and a station for guests to write their addresses on pre-stamped envelopes for 'Thank You' cards!

The tables had black tablecloths, blue napkins and "record" plates. The centerpieces were records melted into bowls filled with pop ROCKS and ROCK candy! Loved them so much!

Close-up of the adorable centerpieces!

Record banner with his name -- Corbin Paul! <3

My daughter got a "Big Sister" shirt to wear. She even got to open a surprise "Big Sister" present filled with toys, arts & crafts and fun things to do with her new baby brother! (The pic is her and her two BFFs)

Food and dessert tables. This was, by far, my favorite part! (Especially the dessert table!)

Look at all those yummy desserts! There were red velvet cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, strawberry cheesecake tarts, chocolate covered brownies, star & guitar cookies, an amazing cake and chocolate and cherry covered macaroons! I almost died. And yes... I tasted every single thing!

Chocolate cake with bavarian cream filling and chocolate ganache!

Close-up of the adorable cookies! So cute.

Chocolate and cherry topped macaroons. My new obsession!

Food! Sandwiches, fruit kabobs, macaroni salad, salad and veggie trays!

The cutest diaper cake in the entire world with Rock'n'Roll onesies all over it!

A super adorable horse my mom hand painted for baby Corbin! :) She's extremely talented!

Super cute letters painted by my mom to go over baby's crib!

Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:32:00 +0000

Hubby and I were recently talking about our normal every night dinners and something dawned on us. We very rarely have the same thing multiple times a month. Growing up, we both came from families that had their standard meals that they repeated every week and I'm coming to find that that's actually pretty typical. In our house, it seems like we are always trying to come up with a new recipe, tweaking an old recipe or trying someone else's recipe for something we've never had! Of course there are always going to be those nights when I absolutely cannot stand to be in the kitchen and we just order pizza. I like those nights, too ;)

The recipe i'm going to share with you today is for those delicious chicken and cheese stuffed anaheim peppers above! They truly are amazingly yummy. So much flavor packed into one little pepper! I even created a homemade mole sauce to put on top that is... legendary. There, I said it. It's a legendary sauce! It tastes like it was created for these peppers! Probably because it was... So, I guess that makes sense...

*Bonus: If you are watching your carbs... this recipe's a definite keeper!

Chicken & Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Peppers Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
5 anaheim chili peppers

2 large chicken breasts (shredded)
2 ounces cream cheese
1 cup mozzarella (shredded)
3 green onions
Salt & pepper

For the mole sauce:
1 tablespoon oil

1 small onion (chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
4 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chicken broth
8 ounces tomato sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sautee for 5-6 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent. Add cumin, oregano, chili powder and salt and mix with onions. Add chicken broth and tomato sauce and stir well to combine. Allow mixture to cook and reduce for about 20-25 minutes, or until it forms a thick sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.

While sauce is cooking, place peppers in boiling water for 6 minutes, then immediately place into cold water. Make one slice down the front of the pepper and remove seeds with a spoon. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together shredded chicken, cream cheese, cheese and green onions. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide mixture 5 ways and fill each pepper. Place in a lightly greased 9" x 13" baking dish and place in oven.

Cook peppers for approx. 15-18 minutes, or until peppers are soft and just starting to blacken. *Note If you don't like the pepper skin you can peel it off at this point!*

Remove from oven and spoon mole sauce over the top.

Serve with spanish rice and refried beans and enjoy!

Recipe yields 5 stuffed peppers.

Brandied Mushroom Burgers

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:12:00 +0000

I'm starting to believe that my cravings for this pregnancy were trying to tell me all along that I was having a boy. When I was pregnant with my daughter all I wanted was dessert, fruit and mexican food. This time... all I want is greasy, cheesy, fried man-food. Especially burgers. I could live on burgers right now. And fries with tons of ketchup... mmm. It's been such a struggle not to gain 500 pounds this pregnancy, but somehow I've made it this far and haven't done so bad! Probably because I haven't actually allowed myself to eat said greasy food every single day... Yeah, that's probably why.

The other night my hubby specifically requested a burger for dinner and I was so happy. I decided to use what I had on hand and whip up what can only be described as... a delicious burger. It's true. That's the best way to describe it. I'm going to be making these burgers again very, very soon because we couldn't get enough of them and I have a feeling you won't be able to either!

Brandied Mushroom Burgers Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

1 large onion (sliced)

2 tablespoons brandy

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 beef bouillon cube (crushed)

1 tablespoon ketchup

1/4 cup water

4 large hamburger buns

4 slices swiss cheese

lettuce, sliced onion, tomato (whatever toppings you like!)

Instructions:

Season and form 4 hamburger patties from the ground beef (I use seasoning salt and pepper). Sear and cook burgers in a skillet over high heat, only turning once (about 5-6 minutes per side, or until cooked how you like it). Add cheese during the last minute of cooking. Remove from pan.

Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil to pan and reduce to medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes, or until onions are soft. Add Worcestershire sauce, beef bouillon, ketchup and water. Turn up the heat slightly, bring to a boil, and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Serve over the top of the burgers. Top with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and whatever condiments you like.

Recipe yields 4 large burgers.

Favorite Finds - {Four Marrs and One Venus Edition}

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

So, I have this good bloggy friend... her name is Jen. She is the lady behind Four Marrs and One Venus and she is extremely fun and sweet! Did I mention she's super talented and amazingly creative, also? Well, she is! And guess what else? It's going to be her BIRTHDAY! Which is why I've dedicated this edition of Favorite Finds to all things Jen! I've had so much fun networking with her and getting to know her and I wanted to share her all with you! :) This edition of Favorite Finds is going to feature some recipes that include things that I know Jen loves! Also, I will be featuring some of my Favorite recipes from her blog!

Make sure to head over to her blog and her Facebook page and wish this amazing lady a Happy Birthday! She completely deserves it! Also, take a good look around once you get there because she has some absolutely amazing crafts you're going to want to try and the recipes -- don't even get me started on the recipes! ;) Happy Birthday, Jen!!

Things Jen Loves: {Mexican Food, Shock Top (Beer), Desserts!}

Baked Taco Dip - Closet Cooking

Taco Bake - The Country Cook

Quick Beer Pizza Crust {Made with Shock Top} - Bluebonnets + Brownies

Lime and White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars - Handle The Heat

Lemon Cheese Bars - Chocolate, Chocolate and More

My Favorite Jen (Four Marrs and One Venus) Recipes & Crafts!

Gingersnap-Pear Cheesecake {Four Marrs and One Venus}

Bread Baking: Beer Style {Four Marrs and One Venus}

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas {Four Marrs and One Venus}

Sassy Monster Tooth Pillow {Four Marrs and One Venus}

Chalkboard Kitchen Canisters {Four Marrs and One Venus}

Rollie Eggmaster Cooking System - Review + Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:51:00 +0000

Recently I was given the opportunity to try out a brand new product from Kalorik. The product is called the "Rollie" Vertical Grill, or Eggmaster Cooking System. One of it's sole purposes is to cook perfect eggs quickly, easily and without the use of a frying pan. It can also be used for a number of other recipes, though, and it is in no way limited to perfecting eggs! In the box you will find a cleaning brush, packing tool, skewers, manual (with recipes) and of course, the Rollie. The interesting thing about this product's design is that it uses a vertical, tube-shaped cooking chamber. That, to me, means it's the perfect shape for food on-the-go!

My 6-year-old and I decided to try out the Rollie and make something that she had never tasted before... a Pancake Sausage on a stick. Well, all I can say is that I have never seen her little eyes light up more! It was pretty funny to see her so excited about a snack. Plus, she got to dip it in maple syrup... so, she was pretty much in heaven. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of making it and excited when it came out beautifully. You just have to coat the inside of the Rollie with cooking spray, pour in 1/4 cup of pancake batter, place your precooked sausage on a stick and push it down into the batter. Then you just let it cook for 8 minutes and use the stick to remove it! The end. Pretty easy, right?? Plus, we used turkey sausage, so, really, it was pretty healthy! Minus the maple syrup, of course... That might have taken away from the nutritional aspect just a bit.

We also used it for it's traditional purpose - to make some eggs! Which is really convenient when you only need to cook 2 eggs and you really, really don't want to dirty up a frying pan! It came in handy the other night when we made cobb salad and only needed a couple of sliced eggs for the top! To make eggs you simply spray the cooking chamber with cooking spray and crack 2 eggs directly into the chamber. Allow them to cook for about 6-7 minutes, or until the egg begins to rise out of the cooking chamber!

Overall, I am really enjoying using this product because it is a super quick and easy way to throw together a snack for my daughter, some eggs for a salad, some eggs for breakfast and it's really easy to clean! The only thing I wish is that you could make more than 1 item at a time, but most of the time, that's all I need!

**Thank you so much to Kalorik for providing the Rollie and sponsoring the giveaway for this innovative new product!

Check out this video find out more about the Rollie and ENTER TO WIN a white Rollie for yourself below! If you can't wait, you can order your very own rollie at www.getrollie.com.

Make sure to head to the Rollie Facebook Page and THANK them for sponsoring this Diddles & Dumplings giveaway! Thank you and Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hawaiian Party Desserts

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:20:00 +0000

As I was looking through old pictures, I ran across some awesome ones of a party that I helped my good friend Becky put together for her daughter's 6th Birthday! I figured that with summer coming up, and lots of Hawaiian themed parties being planned, it might be good to post some pictures of the adorable desserts we ended up making! We had so much fun putting it all together and in the end it came out super cute! It so makes me want to throw a luau party now...

Dessert table! (We didn't make the cake... but it sure looked amazing!)

A tray of super cute nutter butter/frosting sandals! The shells and starfish were made using a shell mold found at Michaels! The sandcastles were made by packing brown sugar into small sand castle molds (found at Dollar Tree!) They were one of my favorite details!

One more tray of sandals... just because ;)

Super cute hawaiian rainbow fruit kabobs! So colorful and festive! Oh, and healthy, too ;)

Beach cupcakes! Some had little beach chairs made from striped Zebra Gum... others had jawbreaker beach balls! Sand was made with ground up cookies! So cute.

Close-up of adorable cupcakes! ;)

And, of course... What hawaiian party would be complete without Tiki Head Cake Pops? I had so much fun making these little guys and they made a great centerpiece for the kids' tables!

And even though this isn't dessert related... I had to share it! We turned her daughter's playhouse into a Tiki Hut using rafia skirts! Isn't it adorable??

Linked To: Back For Seconds

Leprechaun Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 01:19:00 +0000

I completely love any excuse to make adorable treats... and having a daughter in 1st grade gives me that excuse! I love making special things and bringing them to share with her class because at this age they get so excited! As soon as you walk in the room their little eyes light up and they all start whispering to each other: "get your work done or we won't get them!" I love that I can impress them all with something as simple as a cupcake and I am not looking forward to the day when they are "too cool" to even eat a leprechaun cupcake. Right now I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts and realize that I have a baby boy coming soon that is going to be starting school eventually! Yay! I guess that's why I should keep having more kids, right? :)

Leprechaun Cupcake Instructions:

24 baked yellow cupcakes, in liners (cooled)

1 can *already prepared* vanilla frosting (like Betty Crocker) with 1 drop yellow food coloring and 1 drop red food coloring mixed in

1-1/2 cups bright orange buttercream frosting

1-1/2 cups bright green buttercream frosting

3 tablespoons yellow buttercream icing

48 Mini Chocolate chips

Place canned vanilla frosting (with food coloring mixed in) in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, until frosting is melted. Remove from microwave and allow to cool for a few seconds. Dip the tops of all cupcakes in the melted frosting, allow excess frosting to drip off, and place on parchment paper to dry. **Do not discard remaining frosting!

Once frosting has dried (about 20 minutes), use a star tip (I used Wilton Tip #21 to pipe on beard using orange frosting. Using another star tip, pipe on a cute green hat. Place yellow frosting in a small ziplock bag and snip the tip. Pipe a small square on the hat rim.

Place mini chocolate chips in place for eyes. Use remaining prepared vanilla frosting to pipe on a nose.

Ta-da! You now have cute little Leprechaun cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day!

5 Ingredient Irish Stout Corned Beef & Lodge 6 Quart Dutch Oven Review + Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:45:00 +0000

As you all know, St. Patrick's Day is coming right up! I wanted to share my absolute favorite Corned Beef recipe with you because I just know you're going to love it! There's only 5 ingredients (well, 6, if you count the seasoning packet... but it comes with the corned beef, so I don't count it!) It's easy to make, takes very little preparation and it tastes marvelous! Guess what I also want to do? I want to tell you about the amazing enameled cast iron Dutch Oven from Lodge I used to cook the recipe AND give one of you, my lucky readers, the chance to win one for yourself (at the bottom of this post!) Yay!!

So first of all... isn't that a gorgeous dutch oven? Is there anything prettier than this beautiful emerald green? It's really such a lovely addition to my kitchen! I leave it sitting on my stove at all times because it makes my kitchen look ahhh-mazing! There are so many recipes that require a dutch oven nowadays, so it's absolutely necessary to have one in your kitchen! On top of cooking soups and stews and countless other foods, it's also great for frying! I love using mine to fry up a batch of doughnuts, or french fries. But, my favorite thing to use it for is braising! This 6 quart beauty is perfect for cooking your pot roasts and makes a deliciously moist piece of meat every time. The fact that it's a Lodge product let's you know it's sturdy and dependable. I know my Lodge cast iron skillet has been one of my most used kitchen tools for years and it's still going strong!

Here's the Line-up of characters. I mean, Ingredients. Guinness. Corned beef (with seasoning packet). Brown Sugar. Cabbage and Red Potatoes (not pictured)

Rub your corned beef with the brown sugar and 1/2 of the provided seasoning packet.

Next, pour your Guinness beer right along the side and a little over the top.

Watch it bubble and fizz. Ain't she a beaut?

Then you'll put your lid on your dutch oven and place it in your preheated oven for 2 hours. That's one of the things I love most about dutch ovens... they can go in the oven, or you can use them on top of your stove!

After it's cooked for a while, you can add veggies. Cabbage and red potatoes go really well in this dish! Carrots would probably be yummy too!

Then, you'll place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Once time is up, you can remove it from the dutch oven and slice it and serve. Make sure to reserve some of the yummy drippings to pour over. You can even thicken it up with a little cornstarch before drizzling over the top of your corned beef.

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5 Ingredient Irish Stout Corned Beef Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 pound corned beef (with seasoning packet)

1 (12 ounce) bottle Irish Stout Beer

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 head cabbage - quartered

1 pound red potatoes - diced

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Pat corned beef dry and place in dutch oven. Rub corned beef with brown sugar and 1/2 of the provided seasoning packet.

Put lid on dutch oven and place in preheated oven.

Cook for 2 hours. Remove from oven and place chopped vegetables under corned beef. Place back in oven and cook for additional 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

Remove from oven, place corned beef on serving platter and slice. Surround it with the cooked veggies and serve.

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HERE'S HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

(READ CAREFULLY!)

Mandatory Entry:

-Follow Lodge (Lodge Cast Iron) on Facebook and comment on this post letting me know you did! *Make sure to leave a comment on THIS post or your entry doesn't count!!*

Earn Extra Entries:

-You may earn 1 extra entry each for doing the following (leave a separate comment for each one you do!):

-Check out Lodge's site and leave a comment on THIS POST letting me know what item you'd most like to have!

-Like Diddles & Dumplings on Facebook (if you already do, just leave a comment telling me so!)

-Pin this post on Pinterest (use the "Pin it" button on the top of this post!)

-Share this giveaway on Facebook

Make sure to use all entry methods to receive 5 entries. This will give you the best chance of winning! Also, make sure I have a way of contacting you (you can leave an e-mail address in the comments!)

Contest ends at Midnight on Saturday, March 16th, 2013 and is open to U.S. Residents only.

1 Winner will receive an Emerald Green 6 Quart Dutch Oven by Lodge. Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen.

**Thank you so much to Lodge for providing the Emerald Dutch Oven for review and also for sponsoring this giveaway! Make sure to follow the rules of the giveaway and also please "Thank" Lodge on Facebook for sponsoring this awesome giveaway!**

Linked To:

Foodie Friends Friday Tatertots and Jello

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:40:00 +0000

As I'm sure I've stated before... I absolutely adore brownies. Know what else I adore? Chocolate chip cookies. So, it only made sense that I would completely fall in love with a Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie, right? I thought so. I decided to make some in my "Perfect Brownie Pan" which is my favorite thing to bake brownies and bars in (it makes them perfectly even and gives them that perfectly crisp edge that is so desired)! \My daughter was having a playdate the day I made them, so I thought that would be the perfect way to get the children all sugared-up so they would run around like wild animals and burn off some of their energy... because, as we all know, 6 and 7 year old children have a never-ending supply of energy... It's ridiculous.

In order to make these chocolate chip cookie brownie bars even more adorable, I highly, HIGHLY suggest you decorate them with a little swirl of frosting and top them with a Cookie Crisp Cereal cookie. It would be a shame to eat one without it... but, I suppose it can be done! ;)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 box Fudgy brownie mix
Eggs* according to package directions
Oil* according to package directions
Water* according to package directions
2-1/2 cups prepared chocolate chip cookie dough (I made the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli package!)
Non-stick spray
*optional - Frosting & Cookie Cereal to decorate

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare brownie mix according to box instructions. Set aside.

Lightly grease a Perfect Brownie Pan or a 9"x 9" square baking dish. Press cookie dough into bottom of pan. Pour brownie mixture over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool. Cut into 16 equal pieces.

Embellish with frosting and adorable tiny cookie.

“ /

Nacho Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:04:00 +0000

If I can just be honest here... I am completely addicted to cheese dip. I mean, completely addicted. If there's cheese dip around -- I will find it and I will consume most or all of it. Nacho cheese is my absolute weakness and one of my cravings during this pregnancy. I could seriously eat it all day, but luckily, I don't. My thighs wouldn't appreciate that. Plus, I don't want my baby coming out a beautiful shade of orange (can that happen?!).

Luckily, instead of spending $3 on the canned variety, I stumbled across a recipe for homemade nacho cheese sauce! It's made with REAL ingredients! Real ones!! Not those fake, non-real ingredients found in the other stuff! I made a big batch of it for the Oscar's last night using my Cabot Pepper Jack Cheese and it was unbelievable. So unbelievable, in fact, that if I kept eating it at the rate I was eating it, it would have been devoured within 15 minutes. I had to stop myself because I needed to have something to bring to the Oscar party...

All I can say is, If you're a cheese sauce fan like I am, you should make this. But be warned -- It's highly addictive and highly scrumptious.

Nacho Cheese Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
4 ounces Cabot Pepper Jack Cheese (shredded)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 (12 ounce) can of evaporated milk
2 teaspoons hot sauce

Instructions:
In a medium saucepan, toss cheese with cornstarch. Add 1 cup of evaporated milk and hot sauce. Melt over medium-low heat, whisking often, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in additional condensed milk until it reaches desired consistency.

Recipe yields 1-1/2 cups of sauce.

{Recipe adapted from Serious Eats.}

“ />

Beer Mac and Cheese with Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:30:00 +0000

I have another recipe for you... I know, I know... I'm too generous! This one is simply amazing and perfect for any Oscars Night Celebrations, parties or gatherings you might be having. As i'm sure I've mentioned before, my hubby is a craft beer enthusiast and he loves when I use craft beer in my cooking. In order to appease him... Is appease a good word for that? I think so. In order to appease him, I decided to use some more of that delicious Cabot cheese... the Seriously Sharp variety, which is, by far, my favorite one! It's tangy and the flavor is out of this world! It's so good and unique that I can't even properly describe it. You just have to taste it...

So, anyways, I decided to use my Seriously Sharp Cabot cheese and some Blue's Golden Ale from 16 Mile Brewing Company to make a creamy, cheesy, insanely-flavorful macaroni and cheese loaded with bacon. Yes, you heard right... BACON! It turned out absolutely divine. Make this tonight for your husband/boyfriend/fiance and show him how much you love him, because this dish really does scream "LOVE" -- every last cheesy bite of it.

Beer and Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 pound Shell Pasta (cooked to al dente and drained)
12 ounces bacon (cooked, crumbled and divided)
3 tablespoons reserved bacon grease
6 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces beer (amber, golden or lager - I used 16 Mile Brewing Company's Blue's Golden Ale)
1 cup milk
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
2 cups Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded and divided)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a dutch oven (or large pot) add bacon grease and butter and melt over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in beer, milk and cream. Cook for 2-3 minutes, while whisking, or until mixture is thick and creamy. Stir in all but 2 slices of bacon. Remove from heat. Add 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheese, paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir until cheese has melted. If mixture seems too thick, you can add a tablespoon or two of cream until you reach the consistency you want. Add cooked noodles and mix well.

Place mixture in a lightly greased 2-1/2 quart baking dish. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup (remaining) cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Top with remaining bacon pieces.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly and delicious.

Check out these other Academy Award-Worthy Dishes:

Santa Fe Chicken Dip

Buffalo Wings

Chicken Bacon Italian BBQ Pizza

Chicken & Corn Chowder

Cheesecake Brownies

Santa Fe Chicken Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:05:00 +0000

Recently, I was sent some samples of Cabot Cheese to use in my cooking... and oh, boy! I am completely addicted to the stuff now. I honestly didn't know what I was missing out on! The cheese is so amazingly flavorful and sharp and I love it so much! I could talk about it for hours and hours and hours. I could also eat it for hours and hours and hours... But, I won't! I promise.

So, you know how the Academy Awards are coming on tomorrow night? I thought I could use some of this magical cheese to create some yummy food for Awards night! In my family, they're kind of a big deal. We like to get together and have a grand ol' time with lots of yummy food and we even have a cute little trophy for the person who chooses the most winners of the night correctly! It's pretty cool and hip. I'm pretty excited about it...

For my first "Oscar" recipe this year, I decided to create a Santa Fe dip! I love dip. I mean, I really love dip. I could live on the stuff... And this dip recipe just sort of came to me as I sat there staring at a can of Ro*Tel! It's creamy, it's bubbly, it's full of chicken, beans and other yummy things! Plus, it's loaded with Cabot Cheese... so, you really can't go wrong! It makes a ton of dip, enough for a huge crowd, so you could definitely cut the recipe in half if you have a smaller gathering! Enjoy!

Santa Fe Chicken Dip Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts (shredded)
1 (10 ounce) can of Ro*tel Original
1 cup mayonnaise
1 large chipotle pepper (packed in adobo)
2 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese

1 (15 ounce) can of black beans
3/4 cup sweet corn
8 ounces Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor (or blender) combine chipotle pepper and mayonnaise. Set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, place shredded chicken. Add Ro*tel and cook for a minute. Place cream cheese in pan and melt completely. Add chipotle mayonnaise, stir and combine. Turn off heat. Stir in black beans, corn and cheese. Pour into a large baking dish.

Bake, uncovered for 15-16 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Recipe yields about 6 cups.

Mini Breakfast Casseroles

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:46:00 +0000

So, no matter what we do here in our home, it seems like we just keep getting sick! First it was the horrible flu that had us all down for well over a week, now it's a horrible cold that just seems to stick around and never wants to leave! Ever since my daughter started school it seems like one of us is always sick! I feel like i'm going to have to start carrying around the massive bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere I go and squirting it on everything I touch and every person I come in contact with!

Unfortunately, when you're a mom and you and everyone else in your household is sick, that means you're in charge of making sure your family isn't starving to death. So, these mini breakfast casseroles were what I chose to throw together one morning. None of us wanted anything too heavy or greasy to eat, so they were the perfect little light breakfast that we all needed. I even used Cabot Cheese's Sharp Light Cheddar to make them a bit healthier!

So, when you're sick and when your family is sick and you need something quick, child-friendly and relatively mess-free to eat, whip up a batch of these cuties, cuddle up on the couch and cough, sneeze and eat your sorrows away.

Mini Breakfast Casseroles Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
24 frozen potato rounds (Cooked. You can bake them or fry them!)
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
6 ounces Sharp Light Cabot Cheese (shredded)
8 slices bacon (Cooked and crumbled)
Salt & Pepper
Sour cream & green onions (toppings)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place potato rounds in the bottoms of a mini muffin pan. Whisk egg, milk and salt and pepper. Pour over potato rounds, filling *almost* to the top (you may have a little mixture left over.) Sprinkle cheese over egg mixture and top with crumbled bacon. Repeat.

Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until egg is cooked through and cheese is bubbly.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and green onions.

Recipe yields 24 mini casseroles.

Linked to:

Pocket Change Gourmet
Tidy Mom's Breakfast Challenge

Baked Buffalo Chicken Flautas

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

So, you know how my last post was all about buffalo wings and how much I love them? Well, I'm kind of addicted to anything slightly resembling a chicken wing now. Yeah... So, I know we just ate the buffalo wings the other night, but I had a craving for something equally as buffalo-y and delicious. I remembered when I was young and my mom and I used to go to our favorite mexican restaurant and she would always order shredded beef flautas. I always ended up taking at least one of them because they were so wonderfully delicious. Well, I thought it would be a genius idea to roll up some gooey, cheesy, buffalo chicken mixture in a tortilla and make my own flautas! Plus, we had some more of that delicious creamy ranch sauce that I shared in the buffalo wing post and I definitely didn't want that heavenly sauce to go to waste.

In the midst of my buffalo wing madness, I realized that it's only a few days until Valentine's Day! It's crazy how quickly time is passing right now. It seems like it was only yesterday that I took a pregnancy test and found out we were expecting! Now, i'm going to be entering my third trimester on Valentine's Day! My little guy's going to be here before I know it! I can't wait! Anyways, back to the food! If you are a fan of buffalo wings (like I am! woo!) you should definitely give these a try. They will help satisfy your craving if you aren't in the mood to fry up a batch of wings. Enjoy!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Flautas Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

14 (soft taco sized) flour tortillas

4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

3 cups of shredded colby jack cheese

3/4 cup wing sauce (I use FRANK'S®)

3 ounces cream cheese

*Creamy ranch dipping sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Place shredded chicken, cream cheese and wing sauce in a skillet over medium heat. Melt and combine ingredients. Once mixture is smooth, turn off the burner. Dump in cheese and stir to combine.

Place 1/4 cup of chicken mixture slightly off-center in a tortilla. Spread mixture down the length of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Place in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tortillas are crispy and chicken mixture is bubbly and hot.

Serve with creamy ranch dipping sauce!

Recipe Yields 14 Flautas

Buffalo Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:39:00 +0000

So, I'm pretty sure I have a brand new addiction and it looks something like the picture above {Aren't they adorable?} My husband has always been a huge fan of buffalo wings and I always thought they were just... okay. I never knew that they could be one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted! As I've come to learn over the last couple of years, home-cooked meals are 10x better than anything in a restaurant. Really. Truly. I promise! That's one reason I enjoy spending so much time in the kitchen. I love watching a recipe take shape and come together in the end, only to become one of the tastiest things I, or my family, has ever tasted. I just love to cook. And fry. Yes, I said it, I love to fry things! Greasy foods are one of my worst enemies and also my best friends. We definitely have a love-hate relationship. My pregnancy doctor doesn't need to know about this, okay?

I have to share these delicious little fried beauties with you so that you, too, can become insanely addicted and think about them, dream about them and even possibly lose sleep over them. I also have to share the PERFECT buffalo wing dipping sauce with you. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe and I will never eat chicken wings without this sauce. Ever.

{Note:} These are not super spicy! If you want spicier wings, you can add some tobasco sauce, if you'd like. I personally love that these aren't overly spicy, because that means I'm able to eat 20 of them without getting heartburn! Yay!

Buffalo Wing Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken wing pieces (about 20 pieces, total)
1 cup flour (split in half)
1 teaspoon salt (split in half)
1 teaspoon paprika (split in half)
2 large pinches of black pepper
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablspoons Wing Sauce (I use FRANK'S®)
Oil for frying

Creamy Ranch Dipping Sauce: {via Pioneer Woman}

Ingredients:
1 package Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
{You can also add blue cheese crumbles if you'd like!}

Instructions:

To make the ranch dipping sauce, combine ranch mix and milk in measuring cup. In a small bowl, add mayonnaise and sour cream. Pour ranch/milk mixture in bowl and combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Divide flour, salt, paprika and pepper between two small bowls. Combine each. Set one aside for later use.

Take one bowl of flour mixture and use it to coat all 20 chicken pieces. Place on a baking sheet, cover, and place in fridge for 30-45 minutes.

In your skillet, pan, or deep fryer, heat your oil to 350 degrees (I used my dutch oven and put in about 2 inches of oil).

Remove chicken pieces from the fridge, and using the other (unused) bowl of flour mixture, coat chicken wings once more, tap off excess flour, and drop in oil. You can cook about 10 pieces at once. Cook wings for about 14 minutes, or until no pink remains and juices run clear.

Repeat steps with remaining chicken wings.

While wings are frying, cube your butter and place into a medium saucepan with wing sauce, over medium heat. Melt until mixture is smooth and no butter pieces remain. Turn off heat.

Remove wings from oil, drain well, place in a large bowl and pour half of the butter/wing sauce mixture over. Stir, shake and turn wings until they are coated with sauce. Shake off excess sauce and place on your serving plate/platter.

101 Cozy Casseroles {Gooseberry Patch} Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 22:24:00 +0000

A while back, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the 101 Cozy Casseroles book from Gooseberry Patch! I absolutely adore Gooseberry Patch and own a ton of their books already! They are always on my anniversary, Christmas and Birthday wishlists ;)! I skimmed through my new book and "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed over all of the recipes it contained. There were seriously so many I knew I would be making for my family! The first one that really caught my eye was the "Pizza Potato Puff Casserole!" I'm a sucker for tater tot casseroles, in any form! Yum. My hubby immediately fell in love with the "Reuben Casserole," so I know I will be testing that one out in the next few weeks! But, when it finally came down to picking a recipe to make for dinner, I asked my hubby to help me pick the first recipe to try and he immediately said "Apple-Pork Chop Casserole." So, that's what I made!

The recipe in the book was so easy to follow and there were only 3 ingredients! Can you believe that? Pork chops, stuffing and apple pie filling is all it took! It was so simple, but I knew the outcome was going to be more than amazing! My hubby is a huge fan of pork chop dishes and he especially loves pork chops with fruit! I, myself, am a stuffing lover! So, really, this recipe was the perfect combination for us both!

After the casserole came out of the oven and I brought it over to my family, I knew we were in for a real treat! It smelled amazing, it looked amazing, and I could tell it was going to taste amazing! After tasting it, my darling husband declared that it was one of his favorite meals, ever. He adored it and he insisted that I make it again very, very soon. My 6-year-old daughter also gave it two thumbs up and even finished her whole plate (she never does that.) As for me, it's honestly one of my new favorite things! I can easily see myself craving it often. The combination of the apples pie filling with the stuffing is absolutely mouth-watering. The pork chops go so nicely with it and give it just that perfect amount of salty goodness that pork chops do so wonderfully. All in all, this recipe is a keeper and the 101 Cozy Casseroles book has moved it's way to the top of my "Favorite Cookbooks" list! I can't wait to try out more recipes from it!

Apple-Pork Chop Casserole Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 T. oil
8 boneless pork chops
2 (6 ounce) packages herb-flavored stuffing mix
2 (21 ounce) cans apple pie filling

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork chops in oil until both sides are browned. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing according to package directions. Pour pie filling into a lightly greased 9"x13" baking pan; lay pork chops on top. Cover with stuffing. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, until pork chops are cooked through. Serves 8.

How to make Brown Sugar

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:11:00 +0000

I can't even tell you how many times I have been wanting to make a recipe that called for brown sugar, only to discover that I was completely out! I wish I had known years ago what I know now. Did you know that it only takes 2 ingredients and less than 3 minutes to make your own brown sugar? I know, right? It's crazy! Once you have made your own, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment and feel like you can take on the world! Well, maybe you won't feel that great, but you will sure feel awesome!

I put together a little picture tutorial above to demonstrate how to make your own brown sugar from scratch! I'll put the recipe below too, but the photo tutorial is definitely cuter ;).

Be sure to Pin this one on Pinterest so you can refer to it later! ;)

Brown Sugar Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

Place ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, or in your KitchenAid mixer. Mix for 2-3 minutes or until there are no clumps left and your brown sugar is a nice even brown color!

Funky Monkey Milkshake

noreply@blogger.com (Devi McDonald) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:16:00 +0000

So, last night, I had one of the most severe pregnancy cravings I've had to date. It was almost as bad as my craving for Jack In The Box's egg rolls with buttermilk dipping sauce. Almost. Great, now I want egg rolls... Anyways... It was a craving for something I haven't had since I was a child. A banana milkshake. A banana milkshake with chocolate and peanut butter, to be exact. When I was a little girl, my mom and I used to make yummy banana milkshakes together and it was always one of my favorite treats. Last night I wanted to relive those childhood memories, only jazz them up and make them a little bit more amazing. I've been on a total chocolate kick ever since I found some Hershey bars up in my pantry, so, I had to throw some of them in the shake! Plus, crunchy peanut butter is one of my favorite things ever, so, of course that had to go in there too. All i'm going to say is that this creamy, chocolatey, slightly crunchy shake is pretty much one of the tastiest treats I've made in my somewhat short little life. My daughter's eyes widened when she saw what went into my food processor (yes, I used my food processor... I was too lazy to get out my blender) and she squealed with joy when I gave her a glass. I asked her and hubby to come up with a name for it, so Funky Monkey Milkshake is what it shall be called.

Funky Monkey Milkshake Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

3 medium bananas (peeled and broken into 3 pieces)

1 (1.55 ounce) bar of Hershey's chocolate (broken up)

3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup milk

Add bananas, peanut butter and Hershey's chocolate to your blender (or food processor!) and pulse a few times to break up the chocolate and mix the ingredients slightly. Add vanilla ice cream and milk and blend until mixture is smooth and creamy and no lumps remain.

Pour into your glass/glasses and enjoy.

Recipe yields 3 cups

Linked To:

Whipperberry