Herb Garden

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
 After 4 years on the waiting list we finally got a plot at the community gardens.  While we have space at our house for a garden the soil is awful.  We have tried amending the soil, but the results are never what we hope for.

While waiting for garden space we have done lots of container gardening, which I love.  There is nothing like going outside and picking herbs, a handful of sun warmed cherry tomatoes and few bites of lettuce for a salad on the go.
I can't imagine not having my mini garden, so while Mike is at the garden turning over the beds I am getting our containers ready.  This year I am going to put a little more love into the containers - I don't want them to feel abandoned, and am actually going to feed them.  I am going to give Whitney Farms® 100% organic soil and organic plant food a try this year.  There are no additives, nothing artifical just ingredients from the earth.  And, to make it even better no manure odor,  little to no dust and easy to apply.

Check out Whitney Farms® for yourself, they are offering a $3 coupon to try out their product.

Happy Gardening!

Chicken Tacos

Last week was the Secret Recipe Club monthly reveal.  I didn't think I had signed up to participate, and therefore didn't make anything, but it turns out I was signed up.  The result of this mix-up was Ali over at Ali-n-son being orphaned, which I feel awful about.  I had wanted to get something posted last week, but things were crazy last week and the days just disappeared.

So, now over a week late I have finally gotten around to making Ali's Taco Seasoning and crock-pot Chicken Tacos.  Her seasoning mix is wonderful and so much better than anything you could get in a packet.  Making your own mix is super easy, and as Ali points out allows you to adjust heat and flavoring to your family's preference.  My kids aren't super fond of spicy foods, so I toned down the heat on the mix, but you can easily kick it up.

The tacos are also wonderful, and they were inspired from another SRC member.  The adobo provides a slight smoky flavor and the taco seasoning has just the right bite and heat - a perfect combo!   I don't think you can have too many recipes like this.  They are super quick to put together and when you get home a wonderful meal is waiting.  My kids would probably eat these soft tacos every night.

Taco Seasoning
Ali-n-son

Ingredients
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons paprika

6 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

4 teaspoons black pepper

Instructions

Mix together ingredients in an airtight container. Shake to combine.

Add 2-3 tablespoons for every 1 pound of ground beef, turkey or chicken. Use to replace store-bought taco seasoning in any recipe.

Chipolte Chicken Taco

from Ali-n-son

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (regular or fire roasted)

1 tablespoon chopped chipolte pepper (in adobo sauce)

1 teaspoon adobo sauce

1 packet taco seasoning or 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

In slow cooker combine all ingredients, except chicken.  Place chicken on top of mixture.  Cook on low for about 5 hours or until chicken is no longer pink inside.  

Let chicken cool slightly, using two forks shred.  Serve with your favorite taco toppings.  

Trifecta Brownies

I saw these brownies on Pinterest a few months ago and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make them.  They aren't the type of brownie you make just to have around the house for a little snack.  These are a brownie that need to be shared with a crowd.  I made them for my neighborhood Bunco group, a bunch of ladies I knew would appreciate the sweet, salty, peanut butter deliciousness.

This is one of those recipes that looks really complex and time consuming, but in reality is super easy.  You can make them using a package of peanut butter cookie mix and a box of brownie mix, or you can make them using your favorite recipes.  I used my favorite recipes - a super simple brownie recipe and my favorite 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies.

Start by crunching up some salty pretzles, I left some big pieces for a little bit texture. Add a little butter to hold it all together.  Add a tablespoon of this mixture to the bottom of cupcake tins.

Next make your peanut butter cookie dough. Place a flattened ball on top of the pretzel mixture.

Add a miniature Reese's Peanut Butter cup, if you have an assistant watch them very carefully or you may run out of peanut butter cups

Finally top with a couple of tablespoons of brownie batter.  Bake, let cool and enjoy!

Everyday Brownies
Printer Ready

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) Unslated Butter
1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped into small nuggety chunks (or 1 cup chips) 

Directions
Butter a  13 x 9 x 2 inches
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In small bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and pinch of salt, set aside.

Melt the butter over a gentle heat in a medium-sized saucepan.  Keeping over a low heat add sugar and stir until blended.  Add dry ingredients, stir until combined then remove from heat.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract and then mix into the flour mixture.  Stir in the chopped chocolate and quickly pour and scrape into a prepared pan, spreading the mixture with a spatula.  Cook in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. It will look set, dark and dry on top, but when you feel the surface, you will sense it is still wibbly underneath.  

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg


Preheat oven to 350.Combine all ingredients, mix until combined and smooth.  Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes.

Gardening

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

With the weather being so unseasonably warm I have been itching to begin our garden.  It isn't much of a garden and I don't have anything even resembling a green thumb, yet every Spring I like to give it a try.   We have a smell bed that we plant a few tomato, some peas and squash.  Then we have lots of pots filled with herbs and flowers, I have the best luck with these, but it is still nothing to brag about.  

This year though, I have decided to put a little more effort in to the garden.  To begin with I am going to actually provide some nourishment in the soil.  Instead of just using the same dirt that has been in the pots for the past two years I am going to add some new soil.  I had thought I would just get some regular potting soil, but I recently received some information about  Expand ‘n Gro™.  It can be used in the garden or in containers resulting in beautiful luscious plants.  It claims to produce up to 3x the flowers or vegetable of native soil, significantly improves the soil for years, feeds for up to 6 months and holds up to 50% more water than regular soil.   My favorite thing about it is that you can buy just a small bag and and it covers the same amount of space as a large bag of potting soil.  

Miracle-Gro has offered to send a free sample to me and to one of my readers.  Leave a comment letting me know what you are planning on planting this year and I will randomly choose one reader to receive a free sample.  I am excited to give Expand 'n Gro a try and hope you check it out as well

Happy gardening!

Yummy Life Meatballs

I love having a batch of meatballs waiting in the freezer.  They are easy to make and are very versatile. I make them often, but I rarely follow a recipe.  I use the same basic seasoning - basil, onion powder, garlic, ect. - each time, but the quantities often vary.  The liquids also vary from batch to batch.  Usually a little milk, sometimes I add some wine, other times a little beer.  One thing I have never added is buttermilk and that is why I chose to make Monica's Classic Italian Meatballs for this month's Secret Recipe Club.

Over at the Yummy Life Monica not only offers a wonderful assortment of recipes, but she also has some great gift ideas and suggestions for around the house.  Her dry rub and taco seasoning look wonderful and might make an appearance under many trees come Christmas.

I really liked the meatballs with the buttermilk.  It enhanced the flavors and kept them super moist - there is nothing worse than a dry meatball.  The other thing I really liked about Monica's recipe that I had never done before is mix everything together prior to adding the meat.  She creates a wonderful "sludge" of the buttermilk, water, eggs and seasoning.  This ensures the flavors are mixed in without overworking the meat.  The only change I made to Monica's recipe was omitting the pork.  Combining beef and pork makes for a much more flavorful meatball, unfortunately my husband is allergic to pork so we all sacrifice with meatballs that are not quite as flavorful as we would like.

We got many meals out of this recipe and still have some left for one more dinner.  We enjoyed meatball subs the first night, a couple of nights later a few made an appearance on a wonderful meatball pizza and a few more popped up in some Ziti.  The rest are waiting in the freezer, and I am sure will be consumed very soon.

Here is Monica's recipe, she has great step-by-step pictures so go check out her site, Yummy Life, as well.

Monica’s Classic Italian Meatballs
Printer Ready

4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup water
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 medium onion, finely minced or grated
1 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
4 lbs. ground beef

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine eggs, water, buttermilk, and breadcrumbs in a bowl; let rest for 10 minutes. The mixture will thicken as the bread crumbs absorb the liquid. To this thickened mixture, add garlic, onion, parsley, cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper; stir until combined. In separate large bowl, combine ground pork and beef. Mix meats with fingers or a large fork using a light touch until 2 meats are combined throughout. Add bread crumb mixture to meats. Mix these together, again using a light touch with fingers or large fork. Combine ingredients well, but do not overmix. Form meatballs with hands, or use a scoop. For larger meatballs, use 1/4 cup meat per meatball or use a generous 2" scoop. For mini meatballs, use 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons per meatball or a generous 1-1/4" scoop. Place meatballs on baking sheets. Bake large meatballs for 30 minutes and mini meatballs for 15 minutes, until no longer pink in center.


As always there are lots of great recipes in this month's SRC.

Last Minute Valentine's

Valentine's Day is one of those days I have big plans for, but never actually execute them.  Last night at 8:00 I realized all I had were some red and white gumdrops, and the only reason I had those was because they called my name earlier in the week when I ran into the drugstore to pick-up a few odds and ends.   So, last night after the kids went to bed I rummaged through the kitchen and came up with some stale marshmallows, chocolate chips and decorating sugar.  Twenty minutes later the kids Valentine's were done and I was on the couch ready to veg out to The Voice.

The kids loved their treat and I was able to send three kids off to school all sugared up. And my Valentine's treat is the kids being returned non-sugary.   The girls' school has a no candy policy for Valentine's Day and Will's class is celebrating the 100th day of school instead of Valentine's Day - that is the best way the teachers can show their love.

Sushi and Lego

We just finished a wonderful 7th birthday celebration and like last year the birthday boy requested a sushi and lego birthday.

This year the Lego aspect was fulfilled by a trip to the Lego store.  My boy loves Lego.  He plays with it constantly and has many sets on his wish list, but in his opinion no set compares with the wall of bricks and the create a guy station.  He can spend a crazy amount of time selecting just the right pieces to fill up a huge cup and even more time creating the perfect guys.  I find Lego an absolutely fascinating toy and I love hearing all the different approaches with which it is used.  There is the buy a set, put it together and leave it together to play with approach. There is the Lego as a puzzle approach where all the pieces to a set are kept together and built over and over.  And then there is the throw all the pieces together and build new creations each time approach.  I think it would be very interesting to study how Lego is used and personality types, but that is a study for another day, for now lets just study some of the yummy birthday treats.


As I said sushi was the other aspect of the birthday celebration and this year Will decided to have lunch at Wasabi rather than a birthday party.  Yes my boy chose eating out over a party with friends and presents.  But, the restaurant he chose wasn't just a regular old sushi place.  Wasabi is in the middle of a mall and the food is served on a conveyor belt and really how can you say no to food served in this style.

This is Bolt, the mascot for Will's class, he came home for the weekend to help celebrate.  

The birthday cake was simple this year.  The girls helped me decorate the cake and while I had envisioned a simple finish  with just a few sprinkles this is what we ended up with.  I was fine with this final product as I love sprinkles and this cake reminded me of my favorite summer treat  - a soft twist sprinkles, oh how I love soft serve ice cream.  

For the school treat we continued the sushi theme with Rice Krispie sushi treats.  I love krispie treats and don't usually like messing around with their simple perfection, but the addition of a Swedish fish is pretty yummy.  The Fruit by the Foot and Gummy Worms were too much for me, but the kids loved them and that's what's important.

Nigiri Krispies
Printer Ready

¼ cup butter
32 large marshmallows (or 4 cups mini marshmallows)
6 cup crispie rice cereal
½  cup white chocolate chips
1 bag Swedish Fish

Butter 9x13 sheet pan.  

In a 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat melt butter.  Once butter has melted add marshmallows and stir until smooth.  Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until combined.  Pour mixture into prepared pan, lightly butter hands and press mixture to evenly distribute.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes.  

While treats are cooling melt chocolate.  Fill bottom half of double boiler with water, bring to a simmer.  Put chocolate in top of boiler pan and place over simmering water.  Gently stir chocolate until smooth.  

Cut the krispies into 2"x1” pieces.  Dip the top of each piece into chocolate, top with Swedish Fish  

Family Fun has a great tutorial on the rolls and the kids had a great time making these.