More Catching Up

Hi Again,

This past Monday, we used a Pinterest-inspired recipe: beef and broccoli.
I thought it was pretty yummy, and we had no leftovers, so it must have been okay!
The process was pretty easy (especially since I bought pre-sliced beef) and was ready in time.
We had it with rice and mini egg rolls.

Here's the pin:
http://pinterest.com/pin/249457266831418247/

And how it looks online (I forgot to take a picture of ours):

The pin was from: http://www.bsrecipe.blogspot.com/2012/04/crock-pot-beef-and-broccoli.html
And here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 cup beef consomme
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sauce from the crock pot after being cooked
Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)
Hot cooked rice

Directions
1. Place beef in a crock pot.
2. In a small bowl, combine consomme, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and garlic. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. In a cup, stir cornstarch and sauce form the crock pot until smooth. Add to crock pot. Stir well to combine.
4. Add broccoli to the crock pot. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).
6. Serve over hot cooked rice.

I doubled the recipe and it served 7 (and a bit) with some for seconds.  The website says it is too saucy, but I didn't have that issue (besides, I prefer saucy).  My beef kind of fell apart, but it tasted fine.  It just looked a lot less pretty than the photo here!

Result: recommended

Catching Up..

Okay, it's been awhile!  Oops!
We are rather busy this time of year.

A few weeks ago with did another Pinterest craft.

A melted snowman!
Here's the original post for it:  http://eyeballsbydaycraftsbynight.wordpress.com/category/craft-shows/
You have to scroll down quite a bit to find the instructions!

It's a clear bulb filled with salt, peppercorns, and carrot noses.  Our crew used Sculpey for the noses.
An easy and cute idea!

October 29th Verdict - Egg Brunch Casserole

Hi There!

Tonight we partook (is that a word?), of the Pinterest-inspired recipe as seen in the previous post -- Egg Brunch Casserole.
I tweaked the recipe a bit - I omitted the onion and dill, and only put in a little bit of green pepper.
In looking at the comments on the original post, there were many suggestions about it being too bland and that the cooking time was too long.  Taking these into consideration, I kept the seasonings as listed, but did cut the cooking time to 7 hours (not 8-10), and even then the sides were quite crispy.  To take care of any potential blandness, I offered some ketchup, Cholula and salt and pepper to be added as needed.

Everyone said it tasted good, and I agree!  I will make this again, perhaps with more bacon in it! (I used pre-cooked this time around for convenience).  It would be great to make the night before Christmas or some other day when you have company over and want a big breakfast!

We paired it with cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, and turkey sausage!  Yay breakfast for dinner!

Verdict:  Recommend  :-)

Adding all the ingredients together.

After 7 hours in the crock pot.

Tomorrow Night

Hi There (Again),

Here's our recipe for tomorrow night -- it's breakfast for dinner!

Egg Brunch Casserole
(Pinned from: http://www.alattewithotta.com/2010/11/crock-pott-recipe-egg-brunch-casserole.html)

You Will Need:
6-8 Strips of Bacon
1 onion peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (2lb) bag of frozen hash browns
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
12 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp dried dill
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

To Make:
1. Spray crock pot with non-stick spray.
2. Cook bacon until crisp, cool, set aside, and chop into ½ inch pieces.
3. Sautee onion, garlic, and pepper for five minutes.
4. Place 1/3 of hashbrowns in crock pot.
5. Add 1/3 of bacon and onion/garlic/pepper, then 1/3 cheese
6.  Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
7. In large bowl, mix eggs, dill, salt and pepper,  and milk.
8. Pour over ingredients in crock pot.
9. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

(Note: comments on recipe suggested cook time was too long.  Keep an eye on it for your crock pot)

Catching Up....

Hi There!

I am sorry, it's been busy, but here's an update!
We didn't meet on October 15th, but we did on October 22nd...and here is the recipe:

Corn ChowderPinned from: http://crockingirls.com/recipes/nicoles-corn-chowder/

You Will Need:

4 potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 Can of cream corn
1 Can of whole kernel corn
2 Cups of chicken broth
8 Ounces of diced ham
1 Cups of diced onions
1/4 Cups of butter
2 Cups of half and half 

To Make:

Step OnePlace potatoes, both cans of corn, chicken broth, ham, and onions into the slow cooker.

Step Two
Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Step Three
Mash the mixture to your desired consistency and then add the butter and half and half. 

Step Four
Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high, and you are set!
 

(sorry, it's a phone picture, but it was yummy tasting and smelling)

Plans for Tomorrow

 Hi There!

Tomorrow we are meeting and using Pinterest for our craft idea. 
To come up with the craft, I typed in "easy fall craft", and while lots of ideas showed, this is the one that had the supplies available when I went to Wal-Mart - and they were cheap!

http://pinterest.com/pin/249457266831185506/

If you click the link, it's for a button flower.
Very simple and rustic-type chic, in my opinion...borderlining on Dr. Suess style, too! :)
You can do this for any holiday or "just because."  The options are endless - we all have buttons laying around, so just buy some floral wire and you're set!

Here's a picture:

Here's my "sample" I tried to make - it took all of 1 minute.  Now picture a bouquet of these, how cute (especially for those of us with allergies!)

The Verdict: October 1st

Hello there!
I wanted to post right after our first Pinner Dinner, but time ran away from me, and it is still away -but I will do a brief update.

First, the crock pot Italian chicken...
I doubled the recipe, and had a hard time fitting in all the potatoes!  However, after almost 8 hours, they were all mostly cooked through, and the chicken and carrots were good.  I asked everyone to give an honest critique, and all said they enjoyed it.  I personally did, too.  Whenever I make chicken in the crock pot it usually ends up dry, but this was just fine.



In the crock pot (image is cloudy from my daughter's finger prints on the camera).

The final product of vegetables...yum!

The final chicken product.










And for the cookies...
They were weird for me to make, and seemed weird coming out the oven...but they were yummy!  Everyone brought some home, too!  I found they were even better the next morning!

Recipes for October 1st

Here's what we're starting with (hopefully!):

Crock Pot Italian Chicken
Pinned from: http://crockadoodledo.blogspot.com/2012/04/italian-chicken.html

You Will Need:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
16oz Bottle of Italian Dressing
½ Cup of Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning
4-6 Potatoes (scrubbed, cut in halves/wedges, peeled if desired)
½ Bag of Mini Carrots

To Make:
1. Spray Crock Pot with Pam
2. Squirt a small amount of Italian dressing at bottom of crock pot
3. Place 2 chicken breasts in pot
4. Pour some dressing on chicken
5. Sprinkle half the cheese on the chicken
6. Sprinkle Italian seasoning on the chicken
7. Place two more chicken breasts into pot (if possible, not directly on others)
8. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top
9. Pour carrots on top
10. Sprinkle Italian seasoning onto chicken and carrots
11. Place potatoes on top
12. Put remaining dressing on potatoes, as well as seasoning
13. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours

And for dessert....

Nutella Banana Cookies
Pinned from: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/08/nutella-banana-cookies/

You Will Need:
1 ½ Cups of Flour
1 Cup of Sugar
½ tsp of Baking Soda
½ tsp of Salt
¾ Cup of Shortening
2 Large Mashed Ripe Bananas
1 Egg
1 ¾ Cup of Oats
¼ Cup of Nutella

To Make:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl
3. Cut in shortening
4. Beat in mashed ripe bananas and egg
5. Mix in oats
6. Take a knife and "slice" Nutella into batter with a knife. Don't mix it in completely, the stripes are what make them pretty!
7. Spoon "drops" onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes.
(Note: this is a lot softer than normal cookie dough and will not form balls, hence spoon “drops”)