March in Review

The Recipes
Favorites are noted with an asterisk!

Beverages

• Honey Wheat Ale
• Nut Brown Ale

Breakfast

• Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles*
• Spring Asparagus & Gouda Quiche [Secret Recipe Club]

Tasty Treasures

I've decided to end both Sunday Social & Tasty Thursday. I am becoming a little overwhelmed and these are the two things I can cut without sacrificing too much and giving me somewhat of a break on the weekends.

Time to show off the most clicked from last week's Tasty Thursday.

These recipes will be pinned to my Tasty Treasures board.

#1 Most Clicked: Chicago-Style Pizza

from Amy's Cooking Adventures


#2: Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs

from Real Housemoms


#3: Loaded Chicken & Bacon Tator Tot Casserole

from Hot Eats & Cool Reads


The Eye-Catcher: Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

from Pink Recipe Box

Easy Italian Sausage Soup

My husband, for some reason, seems to have the best power over making me like new foods that I don't like...or maybe I'm just a whiz in the kitchen and all the recipes I make are delicious. I think we'll go with the latter :) I hated sausage up until about a year ago. Would not touch it with a ten foot pole. I'm still working on breakfast sausage, but I will devour some Italian sausage! It's my favorite in meatballs and soups.

I love a soup that has spinach and zucchini in it as well. They are my two favorite veggies. I could eat them every day for the rest of my life. They are amazing veggies. This soup was everything I could've asked for and more.

My husband is usually a stickler for breaking up meat into smaller pieces (which his mom is like an expert at)...but I didn't bother to try and microcrumble this sausage and he didn't complain.

Chicken Cheesesteaks

I was very fascinated by the idea of chicken cheesesteaks. I didn't think it would really work either because I mean..it's Philly cheesesteak...ya know...STEAK! But it did...oh these were so unbelievably tasty. So so tasty. The cheese sauce was probably my favorite part :)

Let Me Pintroduce You {A Pinterest Party}

I'm happy to be co-hosting for the third Let Me Pintroduce You Party! :) Pinterest is my biggest source of traffic to the blog and I love pinning. I love finding new people to follow! This party has been especially nice because I have found some awesome pinners to follow and support (as most of you all are bloggers).

Last month there were 83 Pinterest accounts linked up!  Can we reach over 100 for the month of March??

<a href="http://www.momstestkitchen.com/p/let-me-pintroduce-you.html"> <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tt_4weUimd0/UP8BK9xNznI/AAAAAAAAD8A/Xv7UMvc8YiU/s1600/PINTRODUCE.png" border="0"/> </a>

Jaime and Carrie originally brainstormed the idea for a Pinterest linky party when the two of them were emailing back and forth one day after discovering how much of their blog traffic was a direct result of some of our recipe posts being pinned and then repinned and repinned again on Pinterest.  They thought why not host a monthly Pinterest party? And thus, Let Me Pintroduce You was born! 

And this month, they have decided to add a special Bloglovin linky seeing as how Google Reader just announced it's July 1st exit.  So after you have linked up your Pinterest accounts below, be sure to scroll down a bit and add your Bloglovin link as well! Just remember to give your hosts and co-hosts a follow. ;)

This month's party co-hosts are...

Julie from White Lights on Wednesday   

& Sarah from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes

 

Today is the LAST DAY to enter the ~One Lucky Blogger Giveaway~!!  $70 in gift cards, 12 ad spots on 12 different blogs, & a custom photo watermark are all up for grabs to one very lucky blogger!  Be sure to get entered. :) 

So, how does the Let Me Pintroduce You Party work?  Easy!

• Please follow Carrie (Frugal Foodie Mama) and Jaime (Mom's Test Kitchen), and this month's co-hosts Julie (Julie Espy {WLOW} and me (Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing}).
• Try to follow at least two other Pinterest accounts that have linked up and maybe repin a few things that catch your eye while you are at. ;)
• Grab the button above and slap it on your sidebar or your party page on your blog.  Help us spread the word! 
• Be sure to link up your main Boards page of your Pinterest account only, not individual board pages or individual pins.
• Then hop down to the Bloglovin linky & do the same! 
• Send out a tweet & let the Twitterverse know that we would like to Pintroduce them to everyone! (Just use that handy little Tweet button below. ;) )

Tweet

Link up your Pinterest accounts here...

And link up your Bloglovin pages here...

Pass the Cook Book Club: Cherry Cobbler Pizza

Last month, a few of the bloggers on my blogroll were posting a recipe with something called Pass the Cook Book Club. I was really intrigued and found out that Kita of Pass the Sushi had started a really awesome little club. Basically each month a new cookbook is chosen and members get to choose one recipe from three to make and review.

This month (the second month!) the cookbook was Guy Fieri Food [the one pictured above] and we got to choose between Cherry Cobbler Pizza, Asian Fried Quinoa, and Snake Bite. I decided immediately to go with the Cherry Cobbler Pizza.

Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus

I'm a big fan of roasting stuff in the oven. I'll go ahead and tell y'all it's because I can throw a piece of foil on my pan and then it doesn't get anything dirty - it's awesome! I hate dirty dishes. It's also awesome to have a side dish that takes little to no effort to prepare and is tasty. This asparagus is definitely all of that and more - I'm sure that this would be just as amazing using different spices to fit with different meals. Lemon-garlic is calling my name already!

Crazy for Cookies

I wish I had some of the newer cookie recipes up - I have about 4 sitting in the queue...I may have to do a second cookie week! Cookies are one of my favoritest things in the whole world to eat...and to make. Your whole house smells so good AND they are the perfect portion. Unlike cake, they don't go bad in a few days, which prevents gorging. You can freeze them both baked and unbaked for later. I often send my husband cookies during deployment and I am gearing up for his third very soon, so I figured it was time to share some of my favorite cookie recipes!

Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies

Probably one of my all-time favorite cookies...although I could say that about all of these for different reasons. I am a cookie snob - and by that, I mean, I am super particular about what cookies I like...they have to stay soft and chewy. If not, chances are, I won't eat them. This was a fantastic M&M cookie recipe that stayed soft and chewy, just like the name states.

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest
  Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies These are my favorite chocolate chip cookie. No matter how many I have tried, these are my favorite. It's the recipe from the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag and seriously...they just rock. They stay soft and chewy, but they are best fresh from the oven, all ooey and gooey. They are also Santa's favorite! We make them each year for Christmas.

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  Molasses Cookies While I do have a mega sweet tooth and love chocolate, my mom's recipe for Molasses cookies is something that brings me back to my childhood and will always remain one of my favorite cookies in the whole world. These gingery delicious cookies stay soft in the middle and are crunchy on the outside.
Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  Cookies 'n Cream Cookies I'm not sure why I've only made these once, but they are very much like the other Oreo cookies in the round up. Just without the pudding!

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  Snickerdoodles I had actually never had snickerdoodles prior to this recipe, but had always heard good things about them. I seem to have forgotten how much I like them until I made them again recently!

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  Oreo Pudding Cookies If you asked anyone in my house, these cookies would probably be dubbed King of the Cookies. Everyone loves them. I also made them for a Secret Santa cookie operation for the single soldiers in the battalion and I think it's safe to say they were a favorite!

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  Peanut Butter Blossoms Another classic childhood favorite from my momma, these were made each year at Christmas time. My favorite thing is to eat the cookie around the kiss until all that's left is the kiss and the piece of cookie underneath it. My husband thinks it's a weird practice, but it's the best way to eat them!

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

  White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies I definitely saved the best for last. This is easily my most favorite cookie. I think I may have said favorite too many times in this post, but please ignore any other attempts to convince you of my favorite. These are it. My most most most favorite of all the cookies I have made to date. My husband ate about 4 or 5 hot out of the oven, so I know they are good! He claims to not be a big sweets fan (lies, I tell you!). If any of you are familiar with Subway's version of this cookie, these are just like it, except instead of two, you get a couple dozen!

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com viaSarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest   What are your favorite cookie recipes?

Fried Mozzarella

We like to have pizza on Friday nights...pretty much every Friday. Sometimes we'll do football game type food instead or with it and fried mozzarella is one of our favorites. I've tried a few different recipes, but this one is definitely my favorite. They turned out so perfectly!

The original poster also shared a marinara sauce that I attempted, but it was a bit too tomatoey for my liking. So we're just going to stick to the Classico spaghetti sauce for dipping!

Secret Recipe Club: Spring Asparagus & Gouda Quiche

Oh yes, it's time once again for Secret Recipe Club. This month I got Laura of A Healthy Jalapeno as my assignment. Laura is a fellow army wife and she has a boatload of amazing recipes on her blog. I actually made two of her recipes.

The Slimmed Down Turkey & Spinach Meatloaf and this Spring Asparagus & Gouda Quiche - both were so good and everyone in the family loved them, but with the first, I got the worst pictures known to mankind! This quiche's pictures are passable, so I decided to share it. I've been on a huge asparagus kick lately and I had a ton of gouda in my fridge - thanks to Gouda's new biggest fan, my husband.

Fantastical Feature: The Madhouse Cookbook

Source: amazon.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

Published 28 February 2013

Synopsis via Amazon:
Oh, how Jo Pratt's life has changed over the last few years! Gone are the days of spending a day or two preparing for elaborate dinner parties, using ingredients she hunted down in back-street markets and fancy deli shops. That was all pre-children - now things are very different. She's a busy mum who has to juggle work, children and all the associated chaos. She lives in a madhouse! Bestselling author Jo has devised a cookbook full of delicious and healthy food that addresses one of the most challenging problems experienced by busy parents: finding time to cook meals for their family. The recipes are simple, easy to shop for and quick to make, with shortcuts and prepare-ahead tips. But there's much more to the book than this - there are also Lifesaver mini-recipes that give you staples for your freezer and store cupboard, and Leftovers mini-recipes too, to show you how to be clever and get more value out of time spent in the kitchen. There are three chapters - 'Monday to Friday Survival', 'Busy Weekends' and 'Cling onto your Social Life'. These chapters feature recipes for every meal and eventuality, including weekday kids' teatime recipes that will go down a storm, dinners that will wow your friends, and Sunday lunches to make the most of those precious moments of relaxation with your family.

One Lucky Blogger Giveaway

Every once in a while it is nice to throw together a group giveaway to show another fellow blogger a little love and support.  As bloggers, we appreciate ALL of our readers.  But we also know that many of our biggest supporters and most loyal readers are other fellow bloggers. :)  

March is known for the luck of the Irish, and leprechauns, and pots of gold at the ends of rainbows.  And this month could also be a VERY lucky one for one fortunate blogger out there.   Frugal Foodie Mama and 17 of her lovely March sponsors have teamed up to give one blogger the ultimate prize pack...

~$25 Etsy Gift Card~

A blogger can find everything they need on etsy from web design services to cute note cards to send with swap packages.

~$25 Target Gift Card~

What blogger doesn't love Target?? ;)

~$20 Starbucks Gift Card~

To fuel all of those marathon blogging sessions

+
~A custom photo watermark from Hummingbird's View~

12 ad spots on 12 different blogs!!

The right exposure & promotion is blogger gold!

There is just one mandatory entry for the giveaway- you do have to be a blogger to win the One Lucky Blogger Giveaway, so the first mandatory entry is to prove that you do indeed have a blog. :) Easy, peasy.  After that, all other entries are optional.

Now, let's meet the lovely giveaway sponsors...

~Kendra from Adventures of Brad & Kendra~ Ultimate Adventure ad for 30 days

~Julie from This Gal Cooks~

~Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama~ A Pin-t Ad for April

~Julie from White Lights on Wednesday~ 250 x 250 ad for April

~Kendra from The Flower Hazard~ The Big Bang ad (250 x 250) for a month

~Raquel from Organized Island~

~Leanne from Top This by Leanne~ 200 x 100 ad for 30 days

~Aubrey from Homegrown & Healthy~ 200 x 200 ad for a month

~Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen~ 300 x 100 ad for a month

~Melissa from Melissa's Cuisine~ an ad spot for a month

~Kathe from Kathe With an E~

~Sarah from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes~ an ad spot for a month

~Katie from Clarks Condensed~ an ad spot for one month

~Lisa from Wine & Glue~ custom photo watermark

~Erin from Wholly Delicious Dishes~

~Laurie from love, laurie~ 150 x 150 ad spot for two months

~Evelyn from My Turn for Us~ 225 x 225 ad spot for 30 days

~Lisa from Paintbrush & Screwdriver~

*This giveaway is open internationally. You MUST be a blogger with an active blog to win. All entries for the winner will be checked and verified, so please make sure you are doing what you are claiming in the Rafflecopter or all your entries will be voided.  No funny business, folks. ;). By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness. Number of entries received determines the odds of winning. One winner will be selected. This is a giveaway sponsored as a group buy, which means the bloggers pooled their money together to purchase this product for you.  Target, etsy, & Starbucks are not sponsors of this giveaway.  Any & all social media outlets used in the Rafflecopter are not sponsors of the giveaway or are responsible for this giveaway in any way.  Gift card prizes will be sent as egifts via Carrie of Frugal Foodie Mama.  Each individual blogger that has provided ad space for the giveaway is responsible for awarding the winner their ad spots in a timely manner.  Protected tweets do not count as an entry method for tweeting. Tweets must come from a public account. Bloggers in this group giveaway and their immediate family members in their household cannot enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Please see the Rafflecopter widget below for additional Terms & Conditions.  Good luck, all! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

In January, I was assigned Lindsay of Life & Kitchen's blog for Secret Recipe Club. I made her cheesy jalapeno corn chowder, but I very nearly made these waffles instead. I saved them anyways because I knew I definitely wanted to make them.

They are so yummy. Bacon is already good any time of the day and especially perfect for breakfast, but it was so good IN the waffles. Loved every bite.

Tasty Thursday #102: Herbed Burgers

Welcome back to Tasty Thursday!!

I'm gonna be totally honest here...there were two reasons I saved this recipe to try: 1) The picture from the original poster. DROOL! 2) The name of the blogger (scroll down for that one!). I went to the link and was a little weary of the mint, but I have to say, it was a really good burger. I was impressed at how well the mint went with other herbs and worked to make the flavors better.

Hawaiian Ham Quesadillas

I never expected to be blown away by these quesadillas. Pineapple and ham is a great combination, but I think I've only had it on pizza. These were out of this world scrumptious, delicious, and all kinds of other -ious words. I made them with mini tortillas and NOT in my GF grill like I did with yesterday's quesadillas, so you can see all the yummy filling! Very simple ingredients, but a very complex flavorful meal!

Jalapeno Popper Steak Quesadillas

It's no surprise there is yet ANOTHER jalapeno popper recipe, here on Fantastical. We love jalapenos! Add steak into the mix and you are just asking for a delicious meal. I used my GF grill for this one, but I kind of wish I didn't just so they wouldn't be crimped into individual triangles. I had to open them up a little so you could see the filling. I loved the addition of dill in this one!

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Wild Rice soup is a big thing in Minnesota and a staple of my childhood. My grandma gave me her recipe and I finally got around to making it. Oh did it bring me back!

I grew up in a town in Minnesota with 350 people. My great-great grandpa founded the town and it was one of those towns where everyone grew up together, everyone knew each other, etc. You couldn't get away with anything! It's also corn country, so there are a ton of farms. I took piano lessons with one of my classmates' mom and she lived out about 2 miles from my grandparents' house. I would ride the bus to my grandma's house and my grandpa drove me to my lesson. I got to spend the night at their house and then ride the bus back into town to school the next day. I absolutely loved spending the night. I always got the best food and my grandpa always made homemade popcorn with lots of butter :)

I know there are plenty of times my grandma made this soup for me. It's creamy and has lots of different textures and flavors. It doesn't look the most appetizing, but it's so good.

Sunday Social #102

This week has been a little hectic. My oldest turned 6 and my husband went out to the field the same day for a week. Friday, I found out that I was joining up with another company to do a family day and they were in dire need of desserts. I spent the night making 15 dozen cookies (by choice) and then next morning spent the day at the hangar with the soldiers and their families. We're preparing for a third deployment, so there is lots of information changing all the time and lots of thing that the battalion is trying to cram in before the guys and gals are off.

{My Blog}

Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Source: fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

{Awesomesauce Finds}

I do not own any rights to the photos below. They are the property of the blogs linked in the source.

If you are going to pin, please click the link next to the word "Source" and pin from them directly. :) Thank you.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Steak Quesadillas from Bev Cooks
I am once again intrigued by a quesadilla made in a slow cooker.

Source: turvs.net via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Perfect Crispy Potatoes from A Bright & Beautiful Life I can make awesome potatoes, but it's always messy. This method sounds so much cleaner.

Source: abrightandbeautifullife.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Chinese Potstickers from I Knead To Bake My husband loves potstickers. I figured I might as well learn how to make them :)

Source: ikneadtobake.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Gnocchi Chicken Minestrone from Unsophisticated Kitchen We've had gnocchi twice and love it. I'm also a fan of minestrone and I know Nick will like that fact that it has chicken in it.

Source: unsophisticatedkitchen.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Chocolate Nutella Popovers from Shaken Together Ohhh these look too good. I love popovers!

Source: shakentogetherlife.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Strawberry Orange Julius from Yummy. Healthy. Easy. I'm not a huge fan of oranges, but I love them paired with other fruits.

Source: yummyhealthyeasy.blogspot.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Fruit Salsa Yogurt Cups from Inside BruCrew Life Yogurt is one of the only ways I get fruit in my diet. Not that I hate fruit, but it's just the easiest way.

Source: insidebrucrewlife.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Tomato, Bacon, & Spinach Quiche from This Gal Cooks Quiches are the bomb...so is spinach and bacon. That's a fancy looking breakfast!

Source: thisgalcooks.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Crockpot White Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars from The Frugal Foodie Mama That's a mouthful and I would sure love a mouthful of these!

Source: thefrugalfoodiemama.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Salted Caramel Mocha Shake from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom I have just recently begun to embrace caramel/chocolate coffee flavors. Usually I stick to French Vanilla or Pumpkin.

Source: scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Buffalo Chicken Pizza Sticks from Quick 'n Easy Recipes You can never go wrong putting buffalo sauce on anything.

Source: quickneasyrecipes.net via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest


Mega Stuffed Oreo S'more Magic Bars from Lauren's Latest I don't think anything needs to be said about these babies.

Source: laurenslatest.com via Sarah E. {Fantastical Sharing} on Pinterest

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