Pinnacle's Orange Whipped Vodka ~ Creamsicle in a Glass

I have taken some time this summer to really "test" out a few more of the Pinnacle Vodka flavors.  I have discovered yet another delicious combination that creates a drink that tastes just like a creamsicle, which are the orange and vanilla flavored popsicles.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Pinnacle Orange Whipped Vodka
• Crystal Light Lemonade 
• Ice

Fill your glass with ice.  Pour orange flavored vodka over the ice.  Fill the glass with lemonade.  Stir.

This is a delicious, refreshing drink we have enjoyed all summer!

Chocolate Kahlua Trifle

I know this picture has nothing to
do with this dessert, but I
figure since my kids are dressed in
their Patriots clothes, I can use it
until I get a picture of the dessert!

This recipe is one of the easiest dessert recipes I have that is always a crowd pleaser!  There are so many versions of this recipe online, but this happens to be the one I use and love.  (Pictures coming soon - I will be making this for the Super Bowl this weekend!)

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1/2 c. Kahlua
• 4c. Milk
• 1 pkg. Toffee Bits (if your store doesn't carry these, crush 3 to 4 Skor bars)
• 2 pkgs. Instant Chocolate Pudding
• 1-8oz. Cool Whip

1. Prepare and bake the cake according to package directions for a 13x9 size cake.  Cool to room temperature.
2. Pierce holes in the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour Kahlua over cake.  Let stand for 2 hours.
3. Cut cake into 8 pieces.
4. Place 4 pieces in the bottom of a trifle bowl.
5. Prepare one package of chocolate pudding according to directions.  Pour over the cake in the trifle bowl.
6. Cover with one 8oz. container of Cool Whip.
7. Sprinkle half the toffee bits over the Cool Whip
8. Repeat steps 4-7 until all ingredients are used.
9. Chill until ready to serve

I recommend giving this at least an hour to sit before serving to give the pudding plenty of time to set.

Easiest Chicken Crock Pot Recipe ~ Garlic Chicken

Photo from Sears.com
Hamilton Beach 6-qt Crock Pot

One of the things I have tried to do recently is make better use of my crock pot.  Using the crock pot gives me the opportunity to make dinner in the morning when two of my three children are in school.  Plus, it makes dinner time an easy clean up!  One of children's favorite recipes is also by far one of the easiest I have created.  The prep time is less than 10 minutes, and even better, I always have these ingredients on hand.

Garlic Chicken in the Crock Pot


Ingredients:

Surprise Your Valentine-Make Your Own Take Out

As you know from my previous post, My Top 5 Rachael Ray Cookbooks, I love that Rachael Ray's cookbooks feature "make your own take out" recipes.  We love to cook and it is a great family activity, since the kids like to join in on the fun too.  Around here, and I am not exaggerating, there is no good place to get take out.  So we either have to drive quite a distance or make our own.  Luckily, we have found a few recipes to make our own Chinese food feast.  Not only is this a money saver, but also a great way to make sure the food is healthy and fresh.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes.  With just the five of us, we usually make two of the items, but last week, we made all these and easily fed 6 adults and 5 children. Even better, all the recipes use a lot of similar ingredients, which means you can cut once for two or three different dishes and save time getting dinner ready.

My Top Rachael Ray Cookbooks

During the holiday season, I shared a few recipes with Natalie over at Meet the Magic (if you haven't checked out her site, you should.  Great Disney tips and stories!  Plus, every Tuesday she gives a new strategy to save for Disney and ways to save in Disney!).  She asked where I got the recipes and I explained my collection of Rachael Ray cookbooks and how I taught myself to cook (see my previous post A New Recipe ~ Blueberry Almond Buckle).  When she asked what my favorite Rachael Ray cookbook was I was inspired to post my favorites.  Initially, I planned to post my top three, but I couldn't leave some off the list, so I ended up with my top six. 

A few things to know about Rachael Ray recipes.  First, they sometimes make a lot more food than it says.  A lot of recipes say they feed four, but we could feed four a couple times on some of the meals.  Second, she loves food spicy.  Our family loves spicy food, but not like Rachael Ray.  I have learned the hard way to reduce the ingredient which causes the heat to about 1/4 or 1/2 of what she suggests.  So, beware!  Next, she loves pasta.  Many dishes include a significant amount of pasta.  I am not such a big pasta person, so I do sometimes reduce the amount the recipe calls for.  Finally, these really are 30-minute meals, though it does take me a couple times of making a recipe to complete it within that time.

With that said, here are my top 6:

My Top 5 Viewed Posts of Home

It is amazing how fast a year can go by and I think 2010, by far, has gone by the quickest of all!  Of course, my dad tells me the older I get the faster it will go, which is somewhat concerning! :-)

As a little recap of my blog, I figured I would share my 5 most viewed posts for the this year.

#5 Family Room Renovation is Complete! Pierre and I are lucky to have my dad, our personal handy man, living just 2 miles away!

#4 Warm Apple Crisp For a Cold, Crisp Fall Day There are so many amazing cookbooks and food shows out there that when I find a recipe my family likes, I just have to share it.  This recipe not only is delicious, but I love that my kids love to help make it too!

Football Food for Monday Night Football

As you may recall from my previous post Patriots Day ~ According to Hayley, we are big New England Patriots fans.  So tonight's game against the Jets is not only a big game (both teams are 9 and 2), but it should be a great game to watch for all football fans no matter who your favorite team is.  So I decided to share my two favorite football recipes.  What better way to enjoy the game than to make nachos and stuffed jalapenos with a Sam Adams Winter Lager on the side?  Now if you are looking to control your calories, sorry, these aren't those kind of recipes.  These are not your healthiest foods, but they are delicious!

Crescent Jalapeno Poppers
Pillsbury ~ Summer Appetizers ~ June 2007
4 jalapeno chiles (about 3 inches long)**
⅓c. Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs (from 5.2 oz. container)
8 slices packaged, precooked bacon (from 2.2 oz. pkg.)
1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
½ c. pineapple or fruit salsa (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375º. Carefully remove stems from chiles; cut each in half lengthwise and again horizontally to make 4 pieces. Remove and discard seeds. Spoon about 1 t. cheese into each chile quarter. Wrap half slice of bacon around each.

2. On cutting board, unroll dough, separate dough into 8 triangles. From center of longest side to opposite point, cut each triangle in half, making 16 triangles. Place chile, cheese side down, on dough triangle. Fold one point of triangle over filling; fold 2 remaining points over first point. Place on greased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve with salsa.
Per Appetizer:
Calories 90
Total Fat 6g
Sodium 220mg
Fiber 0g

**One can (4oz.) Old El Paso whole green chiles, drained and cut into 16 pieces can be substituted for the whole jalapeno chiles.




Game Time Dinner

 Super Nachos
Rachael Ray ~ 30-Minute Meals-Get Togethers

Since Food Network lists the recipe, here is the link for Super Nachos by Rachael Ray, which also includes photos.  Just to give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, the first ingredient is 2 bags of tortilla chips.  This recipe is definitely for a crowd, though I will admit that my husband and I have made these on many an occassion for just the two of us . . . though there were a lot of leftovers!

Good luck to the Patriots tonight!

What is your favorite football food recipe?

Patriots Day ~ According to Hayley

2010 Season ~ Joey, Hayley and Emily

Here in our household, Sundays during football season are days that we spend the day watching our favorite team, the New England Patriots, wearing our Patriots clothing and making football appropriate foods.  Since childhood, my family has been Patriots fans, even during seasons of just a handful of wins and the Super Bowl against the Bears, though no need to bring up that memory!  Luckily, Patriots have been very successful and have given us some exciting Sunday afternoons over the years.  This morning my daughter Hayley asked what day it was and when I told her it was Sunday, she let me know that Sundays are Patriots Days.  She loves to wear her Brady shirt.  Princess Emily, my youngest, would not wear anything but pink, so I had to get her a pink shirt.  Well, I figured I would use my blog to today to share a couple of my favorite recipes and just some cute pictures of my kids over the years in various Patriots outfits.


The 2006 NFL Season - Hayley & Joey



Of course, like everything else in our lives, we have a Disney story to go along with this.  My husband wears Patriots things pretty often and when our son was born, he was, of course, given many Patriots outfits as well.  I have a few Patriots items, though I save mine mostly for football Sundays.  One day while making our way from Frontierland to Adventureland, my dad veered away from our group and said hello to someone and shook his hand.  When I glanced over to see who he was talking to, it was Bob Kraft.  I couldn't believe it!  I especially couldn't believe that my dad walked over to talk to him.  In all our trips to WDW, we have seen many celebrities, though my dad made it very clear to my brother and I we could smile or wave to them, but they were on vacation and we were not to interrupt their time with their families.  So let me tell you I was quite shocked that my dad went against his own advice.  My dad introduced himself and thanked Bob Kraft for all that he has done for the Patriots and Patriot fans.  He then said he would let Mr. Kraft get back to his vacation with his grandkids.  The great part was, Mr. Kraft continued to chat with us about the Patriots.  My son Joey was 14 months at the time and wearing his Patriots hat.  My Kraft commented that he didn't even know that they made Patriots hats that small.  He gave my son a pin which had the Lombardi trophy and Patriots symbol on it.  He was such a nice guy and was so sweet to my son.  This just endeared me to the Patriots even more.  My dad and my husband talked about it the rest of the trip and even called my brother, who had left WDW just the day before, to let him know he missed Bob Kraft.  I will say my brother was quite disappointed.  Needless to say, we didn't get a photo, I was the camera carrier, because I felt like we were intruding on his vacation, but the men in my family will not let me live it down that I didn't get a picture of them with Mr. Kraft. 

2009 Season ~ Joey, Hayley & Emily

During every trip to WDW, we try to dress the kids in similar clothes each day.  One day of every vacation is always Patriots clothes. In 2008, my three kids and my nephew were all decked out in their Patriots shirts.  As we stood in line for Playhouse Disney Live, a cast member came up to us and said our Patriots shirts caught their eye and we would be the first family into the show.  This was a huge relief to my sister in law and I, since the men were on Tower of Terror and here we were with a 3.5 year old, 2 year old, 1.5 year old and 10 month old.  We couldn't wait to get in and get them all contained in one spot!  Luckily, my mom was there to help out too!

Each Sunday my kids help cook some special football snacks.  One of my favorite football recipes is Rachael Ray's Super Nachos.  This recipe is definitely for a crowd, but worth every second of prepartion!  I sometimes make the meat topping ahead of time and just heat it up before serving.  Normally, it is well paired with a Sam Adams, particularly a Sam's Octoberfest.  But if you are having people over who may not necessarily be beer drinkers, a nice drink for a group would be Guy Fieri's Fish Bowls.  This is a great football drink, but also we enjoy it a lot during the summer.

So good luck to the Patriots today! 

Disney's Family Cookbook ~ A Review

As you can, see, my copy is well-used!

When I am in the kitchen, my daughter Hayley is usually right by my side.  She tells me all the time she wants to be a chef and own a restaurant like Princess Tiana (for my non-Disney friends, Princess Tiana is from the movie Princess and the Frog, a must see if you haven't seen it yet!).  She always wants to help cook dinner, make lunches or bake something.  She and Emily use their pretend kitchen and dishes all the time to prepare meals for their dolls.  Their specialty used to be tea, but they have expanded that to much more and recently treated their dolls to what looked like possibly a 5-course tea party.  One day Emily was pretending to cut something.  I asked her what she was cutting and her response to me was, "Mommy, I am not cutting, I am mincing."  For those of you who haven't seen Princess in the Frog, Princess Tiana teaches Prince Naveen to mince.  I won't give away more details than that, but it is pretty cute.

This is an example of the pages with visual directions

Being a Disney fanatic, when I found the Disney Family Cookbook years ago, before kids, I just had to have it. The recipes are simple and at the time that was what I needed (see my post A New Recipe ~ Blueberry Almond Buckle to read about my learning to cook). But, now as a mom, this book has become even more valuable to me. Not only are there healthier recipes, but there are pages with visual directions so your child can cook with you. We have tried several recipes and loved each one of them.

The Table of Contents is actually what caught my eye.  There are the usual cookbook topics, such as breakfast, soup and dinner chapters, but also after school snacks, lunch specials (something I am always looking to be more creative with) and holidays.  I have found so many great recipes, but also they include many tips to get more vegetables and fruits into your child.  Basically, it makes food fun.  In addition, there is even a section on homemade play dough.  This has become one of my most referred to cookbooks in my collection.

One of the recipes I make the most often is the Mean and Lean Meatloaf which replaces your typical bread crumbs with oatmeal.  When I first read the ingredients list, I did not think that would be very delicious.  Well, let me tell you, this is the moistest meatloaf, with excellent flavor I have ever made.  If you want the recipe, just leave me a comment and I'll send it along.

So if your looking for a cookbook with recipes that lean toward the creative and healthier side, this should be a definite addition to your cookbook collection.  My kids love to help cook and this book has many fun activities for them to do in the kitchen.

Warm Apple Crisp for a Cold, Crisp Fall Day

Joey, Hayley, Emily & 678lb. Pumpkin

One of my favorite fall traditions is taking my children apple picking.  We go to Smith's Orchard, which is where my mom apple picked when she was little, where she took my brother and I when we were younger, and now we take my children there.  This year was the first year all three could actually reach apples to pick for themselves, and Joey and Hayley could climb the trees.  We went a little later in the season than usual since all the kids picked up colds (I am assuming it was the back to school sniffles!) and they then decided to share the cold with Grampa.  Usually when we go we are bundled up in sweatshirts and really in a fall mood, but this year it was 80 degrees and we were all quite hot to say the least. 

Hayley getting our apples ready

When we arrived the kids first saw the enormous pumpkin out front, which we were told was 678 pounds.  It was huge!  The tractor wasn't running to all of our dismay, since it was the first year I chose not to bring our red wagon . . . I'll make sure I bring it next year!  It was a lot of fun, though when Emily picked her first apple, she turned to my mom and I and told us she found her apple, so it was time to go home.  After explaining that we would be each picking more than one apple, we all got to work to fill our four bags. 



A few days after our apple picking trip, the weather turned to the regular cool, crisp fall days.  Friday was the perfect day to bake some apple crisp with the kids.  They all chose their favorite apron (all made by my mom) and we got to work.  Hayley and Joey peeled and sliced the apples with a William-Sonoma Apple Peeler/Corer.  I put the apples on, but they did the crank and put the slices into our pan.  Emily helped mix the spices for the apples and then helped make the topping.  It was a really fun morning and the kids had a great time.

Emily mixing the spices for our apples

The recipe I used is a creation of mine from several different recipes I have come across.  I like an even split between the apples and the topping, but many of the recipes I found leaned one way or the other.  So here is what I came up with.  It lists 10c. of apple slices, but really you need to fill the 13x9 with apples or the topping will overtake the apples.

Apple Crisp
10c. apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 c. water

Spices for Apples:
1c. granulated sugar
1 T. flour
1 t. cinnamon

Topping:
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1 c. flour
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
3/8 t. baking powder
3/8 t. baking soda
3/4 c. butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Place the sliced apples in a 13x9 pan.  Mix all the ingredients for the apples spices and sprinkle over the apples.  Pour water evenly over all. 
3. Combine all the ingredients for the topping.  Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Organizing My Recipes

My Recipe Collection

Over the last year, I have been working on one major project.  Now when I say a year, I don't mean I've worked on it everyday, but something I have worked on at night when the kids go to bed or when I have a moment here and there to do something.  As you may have read in my previous post, A New Recipe ~ Blueberry Almond Buckle, I am a self taught cook.  I am always trying new recipes and actually taught myself some cooking skills by watching the Food Network and using Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meal cookbooks.  But what I found was that I would try a new recipe, love it and then could never figure out which cookbook it was in.  Since I make a menu every Sunday night, along with a grocery list, this made it very time consuming to look through all my cookbooks and attempt to find the recipes we liked.  I needed a way to save myself some time.

As a result, I decided I would start typing in every recipe we tried and print them out.  Of course, it had been years of trying recipes, and no joke, over a hundred cookbooks, but I started searching for the recipes I knew we had tried and loved.  I used small post-its to mark each of the recipes I wanted to type in.  Once I had gone through every single cookbook, I started typing.  A year later, I think I have every single recipe I have tried typed up and organized into binders - I had so many I needed two binders!  I sorted them by type of recipe and then alphabetized them.  The best part is I used the plastic sleeves for each recipe, so I do not have to worry about ruining them when I cook.  They are easy to wipe off.  Some of the recipes, especially ones I found in magazines, I could just print from the website, such as from Hannaford, Kraft, and Food Network.  The great part about some of these is that they sometimes include photos of the recipes.  Maybe one day I'll add photos of my own to the recipes I typed, but for now I'll stick with just the recipes - that is a project for another day!

Now when I make my menu on Sunday nights, I can quickly search my binder and have them at my fingertips.  Besides, now when someone asks for one of my recipes, I can easily e-mail it or print it out since I have them all on my computer.  Even better, since I am caught up, when we try another new recipe, it is much easier to type up one at a time, than trying to sit and type 10 to 20 at a time!

A New Recipe ~ Blueberry Almond Buckle

When I was younger I never wanted to learn to cook or try new recipes. Growing up my mom always made big meals that usually were already on the table when I got home from school. Because of my participation in sports, I was never home in time to help my mom, and honestly, I was fine with that. I did love to help out with holidy baking and it was my job every Thanksgiving to make the Lemon Meringue Pie, but I just didn't have any desire beyond that to learn how to cook. Luckily, my husband loved to cook. When we met he always was the one to cook me a nice meal, and even when we were first married, he did all the cooking and I did the clean up. This all changed when I was home on maternity leave for my son, Joey.

Hayley and Emily Helping in the Kitchen

Being home, I discovered the Food Network. I now find it very comical that I loved to watch the cooking channel, but it never struck me to try to make any of the meals. I mostly watched Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals. Probably the fact that it was "quick" meals was what drew me in. At that point in my life, I had a career that I invested 100% of my time and energy into. I was at work early and stayed late. I brought work home and worked on it at night and weekends. I hadn't worked yet as a mom, though my priorites changed quickly when I returned to work. One night when my husband came home, I told him that he should try one of the Rachael Ray recipes. Now keep in mind he would work all day and come home and cook. Looking back now, I can't believe it never struck me to do the cooking! But I digress, his response to me wanting him to try a recipe was, "Why don't you?" It was that moment that I realized there was no reason why I shouldn't be doing all the cooking. So the next day Joey, only a few weeks old at the time, and I ventured out to the local Barnes and Noble and bought the only Rachael Ray cookbook they had "30 Minute Meals Volume 2." I taught myself to cook from watching different cooking shows, mostly Rachael Ray, and this one cookbook. Since then I have purchased many, probably too many, cookbooks and find a lot of joy in cooking and testing out new recipes. Of all the cookbooks I have purchased that first one is still my favorite and I make recipes from it at least once a week.

So my endeavor today was to find and test out a new recipe. Blueberries were on sale at Hannaford and I wanted to find a way to use them. I had also picked up the free (if you spend $25) recipe book "Fresh" that Hannaford publishes every month or two. If you've never picked one of these up before, I highly recommend it. In this issue was a recipe for Blueberry Almond Buckle. I had all the items on hand, so the decision was made - Blueberry Almond Buckle it would be! The girls helped me make it, and it was delicious! This recipe is definitely going into my recipe book!  Of course, it never struck me that this was a fruit dessert.  I thought it was a type of breakfast bread, so I served it to the kids for breakfast ~ they were quite excited to have "cake" for breakfast!

If you want to try it out, here's the recipe: Blueberry Almond Buckle

The great thing about recipes on Hannaford's website is that you can add the items from the recipe directly to a grocery list that you can then print out for your grocery shopping trip, you can scale the recipe to the right servings for you, and you can save your favorites to your "Recipe Box" right on their site. Of course, that means you have to log in, but certainly it is worth it.

Let me know if you try out this recipe or test Hannaford's online recipes.  I would love to hear what you think!

Hayley's Birthday Cake ~ The Second of Two Little Mermaid Cakes

If you read my previous post, then you know that my kids each get two separate birthday cakes. One is for the day of their birthday and one for their birthday party which usually falls the weekend after their birthday. For this cake, her party cake, Hayley chose the colors she wanted and basically designed the cake. She is a very creative 4 year old, which I love. There are a few mistakes with the cake though. One is the fondant flowers I made, or attempted to make. This summer in New Hampshire was quite humid to say the least and as a result, the fondant flowers did not make it! But, luckily, the candy coral did!

I've made this castle cake using Wilton's Romantic Castle Cake Set, which I have used several times over the last few years. I love it because of it's versatility. There are many ways to build the castles, but the one you see in my photo is as creative as I've been with it. I made the candy coral with royal icing and there is even a piece of coral in the shape of an "H" for Hayley, which she spotted right away. It is the one thing she talked about most when it came to the cake! It always amazes me what my kids find to be the best part of something. It usually isn't what I expect! The bottom layer is a 10" cake and the top layer is a 6" cake. To get the layers tall enough, I torte them and fill them. The bottom layer is 3 layers and the top layer just 2.

I finally found a way to get the towers to stand in the back. According to Wilton's directions, they recommend using candy melts to hold lollipop sticks to the bottom of the towers. I am sure I keep doing something wrong, but that never works for me. So I tried something new this year. I used Royal Icing to stick wooden skewers to the backs of the towers that extended 2 to 3 inches below the bottom of the tower. Now if I were displaying the cake in a place that you could see the backside, this wouldn't work. But since no one would see the back of the cake, this worked perfect. None of the towers leaned, wobbled or fell off (this has happened in previous years!). I was quite excited!

Here are some links to things I used to make this cake:
Wilton Round Cake Pan Set
Wilton Romantic Castle Cake Set
Wilton's Recipe for Royal Icing