Fantastical Sharing of Recipes: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February in Review

I loved doing a wrap up last month, so I'm doing it again! Hopefully, I'll do these every month.

The Recipes

Breakfast

Main Dishes

Breads

Cloverleaf Rolls

Snacks

Teddy Graham Trail Mix

Desserts

I reviewed a few cookbooks this month: Fix-It and Forget-It and Food Network Magazine's Great Easy Meals.

I participated in both the Crazy Cooking Challenge and Secret Recipe Club this month. I posted Triple Chocolate Cake for CCC and Hamantaschen for SRC.

I want to revisit my resolutions again and update on how well/awful I'm doing on them:

Drink more water - I went from 16 oz. a day in January to between 16 oz. and 32 oz. each day. Recently I've been downing 32 oz more regularly. For March, I want to try and get up to 40 oz. daily.
Eat more fruit - I still haven't done well with this one. I need to start utilizing my blender and make smoothies or something.
Exercise 5x a week - I started the 30 Day Shred on the 20th. You can follow my "journey" over on my personal blog.
Get on a schedule - I would like to be a little better about this one, but overall much better.
Read more - I read 9 books in February and would love to read even more in March!
**new** Catch up on adding the printable feature to old recipes.
**new** Keep organizing my recipe arsenal. I would like to at least finish the master recipe document that has all my favorite recipes that we've tried (or rather get it completely updated).

If you missed them, you can find Sunday Social, Oh, How Pinteresting Weds., and Twisted Thursdays by scrolling all the way down and finding the little label cloud. Click on whichever you want to see :) Some great recipes were shared this month, as usual. The foodie world never ceases to blow my mind!

Oven-Baked Steak

I've never been really good at making a steak that didn't turn out well-done. My husband prefers his medium, so I've been trying to get it right for him. This recipe worked out perfectly. I was able to make mine the way I like it...and coincidentally the way I'm good at cooking it: well-done and his the way he likes it. The marinade was the best I've ever had and Nick raved about it too.

(Printable Version)
Recipe from Ehow.com

What you need:

Steak
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. Montreal steak seasoning

Directions:

Mix your marinade together and put it with the steak into a baggie. I marinated mine most of the day. Take your steak out 30 minutes before cooking.
Bake at 450 for 10 to 12 minutes or bake at 325 for 25 to 30 minutes - this should bring it to a nice medium. You can cook it longer if you prefer a more well done steak (like me).

Linked up at...

Oh, How Pinteresting Weds. #33

Grilled Cheese with Bacon, Avocado, and Ham I still have yet to try avocado (other than guacamole Doritos which I don't think count) and I really would love to. These look so good!

Source: hoteatsandcoolreads.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Cheddar Chicken & PotatoesYummy! SnoWhite always has such good meals on her blog. This one looks fast and easy!

Source: joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Cake Batter Muddy BuddiesI was on a super cake batter binge while searching for recipes...and muddy buddies binge too.

Source: chef-in-training.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Chicken TetrazziniThis is similar to the recipe I have with a few adjustments. I think it'll be much more successful and then I can finally have tetrazzini all the time again.

Source: thebloomingdaisy.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Milky Way Muddy BuddiesOMG. I have my mind going for 8 billion other types of Muddy Buddies.

Source: angelastrand.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Garlic Bread PastaI can't stop thinking about this one...it looks super delicious!

Source: amuse-your-bouche.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Open Faced Hamburger PhilliesI'm really into phillies right now. I think these look awesome!

Source: saving4six.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Cake Batter PopcornMmmmmm! What's better than popcorn...and cake batter...together?!

Source: mrsschwartzkitchen.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Butter Pecan Popcorn BallsAhh! I love popcorn balls. I bet the butter pecan makes them extraordinary!

Source: loveonhighheat.com via Sarah on Pinterest

S'mores CakeThis looks so cute - like a Little Debbie cake, right?

Source: lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Mint Chocolate Cookies 'n Cream FudgePerfect for St. Patty's Day...or any day!

Source: insidebrucrewlife.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Eggplant ParmesanI really want to try eggplant. I've heard it's really good :)

Source: easyeverydayeats.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Old World Pumpkin BarsI love that these have oatmeal and pecans in them.

Source: mybeautifuldisastersblog.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Green Pomegranate SmoothiesI've never tried a smoothie with spinach, but I do enjoy spinach and pomegranates.

Source: myjudythefoodie.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Cookie Dough Reese's Cups (GF)Tell me that doesn't sound amazing?!

Source: bravetart.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Double Chocolate Butterscotch CookiesI think these look so delicious.

Source: djssugarshack.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Berry CookiesI don't know where to find cherry chips - but I think it's a great idea for a cookie.

Source: juliejewels1.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Double Dipped Oreo Cheesecake TrufflesThe only time it's okay to double dip...

Source: pinkrecipebox.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Creamy Hot PastaIt's spicy, but not too spicy...aka right up my alley!

Source: favfamilyrecipes.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Frozen Slow Cooker MealsA couple recipes + shopping lists...what a great idea!

Source: melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Grilled CabbageI was really surprised when there were 5 repins almost immediately. I was starting to think I was the only one who liked cabbage!

Source: google.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Linked up at...

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Thin Mint Muddy Buddies

I was in the middle of preparing my Pinterest post for tomorrow and I was thinking of how much I really want to make the muddy buddies I'll share {tomorrow}. I was brainstorming the different variations I could make...the first one that I thought of was Snickers and then it dawned on me....THIN MINTS! Almost had a Obi-Wan/Luke Skywalker moment, except Obi-Wan was telling me "Use the Thin Mints, Sarah!"

I used those Thin Mints..

Well..okay, not all of them. I only have one box left and I put half a sleeve in the freezer for later. Now on to how you make these yummy muddy buddies!

Click here to read more!

Philly Cheesesteak Omelets

Two things you may know from reading my blog: 1) I love to cook for my husband, even if I may not like what it is. 2) My husband loves Philly cheesesteaks and eggs. I decided to try and combine the two. The experiment was a success and it was delicious. I'm starting to come around to the whole cheesesteak thing.

Click here to read more!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Secret Recipe Club: Hamantaschen

As with my tradition of switching between meals and sweets, this month I picked a sweet. It was hard though because there were three very good looking sweets on "Oh! You Cook!", the blog that I was given this month. Dena is a very funny lady and her recipes look so great!

My husband has been getting on my case about making too many sweets, so I figured I could hook him in with something that contains fruit (: So between the Almond Cake, Tapioca Pudding, and Emergency Crostatas, it was decided that I would make the Dena's Emergency Crostatas aka Hamantaschen. Say that 10 times fast!

{If you really are attempting to do that, it's pronounced HAH-mahn-tah-shen}

Hamantaschen is a three-cornered pastry with filling that is eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. I am not Jewish, but I did enjoy these anyways. They are a perfect cookie to eat with a cup of coffee in the morning. Cookies for breakfast, if nothing caught you before, that has you sold, right?

{Side note: Hamantaschen is traditionally served with a meat dish and thus is usually made dairy-free}

Click here to read more!

Jalapeno Popper Burger

We're jalapeno monsters! So it's no surprise that we'd test out a little jalapeno popper burger. This was fantastic. I will be trying to get them a little thinner next time, but they were still really good :)

Click here to read more!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sunday Social #52

Last week had a very huge turnout of amazing recipes! I've polished off three of my boxes of GS cookies, so it's a good thing a bunch of copycat recipes are coming out! Especially since there are a bunch of recipes using GS cookies I want to make and there is no way my cookies are going to survive long enough for me to make something out of them.

{Fantastical Favorites this week}

Click the picture to take you to the recipe!

{Around the Web Favorites this week}

The photos below are the property of the owner of the blog that has been linked to! I do not own any rights to these photos at all. I just wish to share the deliciousness with you! All recipes have been Stumbled and Pinned :)

Samoas Pudding Mousse ~ Something Swanky