August in Review

The Recipes
Favorites are noted with an asterisk!

Beverages

• DIY Flavored Water, Batch 1
• Cupcake Milkshakes*

Dessert

• Pecan Pie Cheesecake*
• Thai Banana Pudding
• NY Times Cookies

Breakfast

• Cinnamon Roll Waffles*
• Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins
• Coffeecake Pancakes* 
• Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread*

Main Dishes

• Crockpot Chicken & Stuffing
• Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese*
• Crispy Cheddar Chicken
• Steak Fingers
• Ranch Crockpot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes*
• DIY Pizza Lunchables*
• Oven Tacos
• Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
• Grilled Lemon & Herb Tilapia Packets 
• Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta*
• Grilled Cheeeseburger Wraps*

Side Dishes

• Baked Oven Fries
• Life-Changing Mac & Cheese
• Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread 
• Mom's Famous Green Beans*

Miscellaneous

• Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix  
• Meaty Spaghetti Sauce*

I participated in both the Crazy Cooking Challenge and Secret Recipe Club this month. I posted Pecan Pie Cheesecake for CCC and Thai Banana Pudding for SRC. 

Also since I now have sponsor spots open - meet my current sponsors {here}

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

• Get on a schedule -I've been doing better here, but school is about to start and I'm sure throw me completely off again.
• Catch up on adding the printable feature to old recipes. -I really need to work on this one.
• Work on emptying bookmarked recipes. - I've made a significant dent!
• Leave reviews {comments} for recipes I've tried where I got them. -Need to do this - and I'm also changing over to a new "system" in September of keeping track, so I'll have to be sure to keep up.
• Look for duplicate recipes in the ones I have in the binders -Done!
• Update Blog Love page. -Done!
• Use breadmaker, cake pop maker, and KitchenAid pasta attachment. -Still a negatory here.
• Update Bucket List page. - Done!
• **NEW** Add tried recipes to my Master List.
• **NEW** Figure out which recipes have been posted that aren't in a binder or on my Master List.

If you missed them, you can find Sunday Social, Oh, How Pinteresting Weds., and Tasty Thursdays by scrolling all the way down and finding the little label cloud. Click on whichever you want to see :)

I really enjoy doing these monthly wrap ups - you can find January {here}, February {here}, March {here}, April {here}, May {here}, June, and July {here} by clicking the links! 

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okey dokey, this recipe here was not my most favorite chocolate chip cookie. By no means does this mean it was bad, because it was really good. I may attempt to chill the dough the full 24 hours or really watch the cooking time, but my only "issue" is that they didn't stay soft (actually a few of them did, but it was like 5 out of the whole batch). I love soft cookies. I will from now on be using the sea salt as a topper to all chocolate chip cookies because that was unbelievable! I also really liked using chunks instead of chips. :)

(Print)
What you need:

• 2 cups minus 2 tbsp. cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 lb. bittersweet disks or feves (or chips or chunks!)
• Sea salt

Directions:

 

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
Cream together butter and sugars together for 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until combined.

Add vanilla.
Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients. Beat until just combined.

Add chocolate disks or whatever you got.

Refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

* I did one hour because Alton Brown had said there was no difference 

between 1 hour and 24 hours. Or 48 hours.

On a lined baking sheet, drop dough with a little scooper. 

 

Sprinkle sea salt on top - this part really made the cookie, so don't forget it!

Bake at 350* for 18 to 20 minutes.

* I had to do 10 to 12 minutes. Probably because I only chilled the dough for 1 hour.
Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removing from oven. Then remove to a wire rack.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Recipe from NY Times

{Click here to see what blog hops I participate in}

Tasty Thursday #75: Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps

Welcome back to Tasty Thursday!!

These were awesome for a quick meal that everyone loved. Plus you can customize the toppings, which is always a plus in our house. My 5 year old doesn't really like any extra toppings, so just cheese and ketchup for him. My 4 year old loves everything traditional hamburgers have! My husband and I prefer spicy toppings. I used my George Foreman grill for these - I didn't want to mess with the gas grill outside.

(Print)
What you need:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1 tbsp. ketchup (I omitted)
• 1 tsp. minced onion
• Salt and pepper
• Tortillas
• Cheddar Cheese
• Tomatoes, diced
• Toppings: pickles, buffalo sauce, mustard, etc.

Directions:

Brown ground beef; drain.
Add Worcestershire, ketchup, minced onion, and salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle cheese on tortillas and add beef.
Add tomatoes and other toppings. Roll up like a burrito.

Grill until browned on both sides.

Recipe from Semi Homemade Mom

{Click here to see what blog hops I participate in}

Mom's Famous Green Beans

I am trying to make more fresh veggies instead of frozen veggies while I still can. But let's face it...fresh veggies in butter can get old pretty fast. We needed a way to jazz them up really quick. I loved these. A LOT.

(Print)
What you need:

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 2 handfuls of fresh green beans
• 2-3 tbsp. chicken broth

Directions:

Heat bacon and cook until almost crispy.
Add onions and cook until transparent.

Drop in green beans and toss to mix.
Add chicken broth and cook for 10 minutes.

Recipe from {Mis}Adventures in Cooking

{Click here to see what blog hops I participate in}

Grilled Chicken with Lemon-Basil Pasta

Another delicious recipe from P.Dub - is that surprising in the least bit?! 

 

Secret Recipe Club: Thai Banana Pudding

My August assignment was Krista of The Double Dipped Life. Krista is a married mom of three and her blog is full of delicious looking recipes. She has a menu plan tab - yes! I love seeing menu planning because it's such a big part of how I do things in my house - that includes weekly plans where you can download a shopping list and recipes. Krista also does Double Dipped Sweets as a hobby on the side - gourmet popcorn, caramel apples, and dipped treats, oh my!

This month I decided right of the bat that I would do a sweet recipe because I've been hitting up main courses the last few SRC assignments. I noticed that Krista had a whole section devoted to Thai food and was curious about it, as I've never had it. In her Intro to Thai post, she explained that it all started when her husband took her out to Thai restaurant when they were dating. How sweet, right?! So I thought it'd be a good idea to make something that is meaningful to her :)

I decided upon the Thai Banana Pudding - which was the Thai dessert she had on her recipe index. It also looked like a relatively easy recipe and a baby step into Thai cuisine. It cooked quickly and it was so delicious. It was like banana pudding mixed with tapioca pudding. It's a little more runny than regular pudding, but that didn't bother us in the least bit. It was the perfect dessert!

**Sunday Social #77**

{Fantastical Favorites}

What I loved from my blog this week...

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

{Around the Web Favorites}

What I loved from everywhere else this week...
The following pictures are owned by the blogs linked underneath. I have no rights to these droolicious pictures! 

Chocolate-Raspberry Bavarian Torte from Sprinkle Bakes

Source: sprinklebakes.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce & OMG Garlic Bread from Iowa Girl Eats

Source: iowagirleats.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Because I have little to no recipes from blogs I follow - I'm sharing some random ones I've found over the last few years and just recently pinned. I've been going through my bookmarks and finally have gotten up to Sept 2011. Whoopsies!

    Best Ever Carrot Cake from Cooking Classy

Source: cookingclassy.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest
  Jalapeno Popper Steak Quesadillas from 'BS in the Kitchen

Source: bsinthekitchen.com via Sarah on Pinterest
  White Chocolate Macadamia Cupcakes from Aunt Nubby's Kitchen

Source: auntnubbyskitchen.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest
  Tacos from Tips from the Heart

Source: tipsfromtheheart.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest
  Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Diary of Dave's Wife

Source: thediaryofdaveswife.com via Sarah on Pinterest

There is a button to grab on the buttons page if I shared one of your recipes :)

This post is linked up at...

 

Tasty Treasures

Time to show off the most clicked from 16 Aug's Tasty Thursday :)

#1:  Greek Couscous Salad//Hezzi D's Books & Cooks

{image via}

#2:  Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt//Christine's Kitchen Chronicles

{image via}

#3: Garlic Salmon Rice Balls//Morsels of Life

{image via}

You can also grab this nifty button if I featured your recipe!

Just highlight, copy/paste in rich text or compose mode.

This week's Tasty Thursday is still open (and will be until Tuesday), so feel free to stop by and add a few recipes! :) Make sure to check out the other recipes linked up too!

Grilled Lemon & Herb Tilapia Packets

I used tilapia in this recipe because our store was fresh out of salmon. It figures that they had them the week before and I planned for this recipe...to find out they didn't have them when I went back for them. I was really surprised when both kids devoured their tilapia. Neither of them are huge seafood eaters, which is probably because Nick and I aren't either. We eat tuna...and that's about it. But I'm trying to introduce foods that we aren't too familiar with. We will be trying this again soon with salmon.

(Print)
What you need:

• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup carrots, grated
• Tilapia filets
• 1 tsp. lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup chopped chives
• 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

Soak rice in chicken broth for around 5 minutes. Stir in carrots.

On a large piece of foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, place your filets. Season with lemon pepper and salt and top with chives.

Spoon rice around the edges and add lemon wedges, then fold and seal.

Grill on low heat for 11 to 14 minutes until filets flake with a fork easily.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

{Click here to see what blog hops I participate in}

Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread

I have been wanting to make this recipe for so long! It's got a "cheesecake-like filling" and a glaze AND blueberries! Can you say perfect with a cup of coffee? And it was everything that I was hoping for and more. It was like a loaf cake. Super delicious. It kept really well, even though it didn't last that long in the house :)

Tasty Thursday #74: Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Welcome back to Tasty Thursday!!

In the end of July, my husband went out into the field for two weeks. I took advantage of this time and decided to make things that he hates, while he was gone. As a child, I never liked canned soup, but since I'm older and figured out that homemade soups are the bomb dot com - I've been wanting to test out a few of my least favorites. This tomato soup was so much better than the stuff in the can! I loved the croutons too!

(Print)
What you need:

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tbsp. EVOO
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 14 oz. diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 slices bread
• 3 slices American cheese
• Spreadable butter

Directions:

On a foil-lined sheet, place tomatoes. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 400* for 30 minutes.

Melt butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until transparent.

Then add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir in diced tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, broth, and thyme.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 40 minutes.

Prepare one grilled cheese sandwich with bread, cheese, and butter. 

Let cool slightly and cut into cubes.

Puree in a blender or food processor and return to pot. 

Stir in heavy cream.
Serve topped with grilled cheese croutons.

Recipe from Semi Homemade Mom

{Click here to see what blog hops I participate in}