Tag Archives: holiday

Food

Have Hard Boiled Eggs? Now What?

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Hard Boiled Eggs

I love hard boiled eggs. They are a great source of protein and just plain delicious! Whether you boil them or bake them (325 degrees for 30 minutes) I am sure that we will all be rolling in hard boiled eggs by next weekend! After the baskets and the egg hunts, what are we to do with all those eggs?

1)Deviled Eggs! This is the most common hard boiled egg recipe. Peel, cut in half, scoop out the yolk. Mix with mayo, salt, pepper, a little mustard and paprika. Put the mixture back into the whites. There are many variations but this is the basics.

2)Egg Salad Sandwiches: Chop up the eggs, mix with mayo and mustard. Add celery, paprika, salt and pepper. Put on your favorite bread!

3)A regular salad (Cobb style) is a perfect use of hard boiled eggs. Lettuce, bacon, chopped eggs, tomatoes, cheese, carrots and what more do you need?

4)Spring Asparagus that has been lightly blanched. Then top it with chopped egg with a splash of vinegar along with salt and pepper. The crispness of the asparagus with a touch of fat and acid is just decadent.

5) A shredded brussel sprout salad. You can either shred the brussel sprouts or peel the leaves. Then lightly saute them (with bacon if you like) then pull it off the fire. Add it to chopped eggs, slivered almonds, corn and season it with salt and pepper! A yummy and great way to eat brussel sprouts!!!

There are my 5 ways. What recipes do you have to utilize hard boiled eggs? Share the links!!!

Food

Come Live in My Neighborhood

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gingerbreadneighborhood

This year I hit the gingerbread gold for our family!!! The house I got for me from Costco was already built and the frosting was made. Score! Then I found a kit that is made exclusively for Michaels with 4 little houses in it. They are small but perfect for the kids to each decorate and eat. It also came with premade frosting too! Oh, did I mention that mine came with a tree too?

(By the way, I am back!!! I will be posting some new great recipes on this, my much abandoned food blog;)

Food

Chocolate Chip & Raisin Rice Pudding

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So NerdDad and I recently went wheat free (not so much the kids) and I am still trying to emotionally deal with that;). When I started thinking about making holiday food I quickly realized that I didn’t really have much in the way of fab desserts. So I decided to resurrect the rice pudding. But the problem is that I knew that NerdDad wasn’t a big fan. He said it tends to be dry and not sweet. Well, I rectified those problems! I also made them smaller by cooking them in souffle ramekins.

NerdDad says they are very tasty and have almost a bread like consistency that may come from the Jasmine rice that I use. But I am sure you can use any kind of white rice.

The batter!

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
4 cups cooked Jasmine rice

Prepared Custard Cup
Procedure:

Preheat your oven at 325 degrees. Butter your ramekins and the add sugar and cinnamon. Turn until it the cinnamon and sugar covers the butter and dump the excess. Beat with a whisk the eggs until slightly frothy. Then whisk in the sugar until smooth. Then add the cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Then whisk in the milk. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Then ladle everything into your ramekins and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife placed 1/2 way toward the center comes out fairly clean. The same procedure if you bake it in one large baking dish.

 

Our Wonderful Ingredients

So I was lucky to get all my great dairy for this recipe from Smart and Final! But why am I talking about that now? Well because of Smart & Final’s “Help Our Teachers, Help Our Kids” (#SmartFinalSupportsSoCalSchools)!

Students & families collect Real California milk seals from select First Street products, then teachers submit seals. Each seal counts as one sweepstakes entry. Teachers who submit 100 seals get 25 Scholastic books or $25 school supply gift card. Each teacher entrant gets one Scholastic book. The California Milk Advisory Board is going to announce winners in February.

Tadah!!!

(This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for#collectivebias #CBias. While they provided the subject all the words and thoughts are mine;)

Food

Bacon Wrapped Turkey

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At Thanksgiving, I made a bacon-wrapped turkey breast and it must have left an impression with NerdDad. He requested a bacon-wrapped Turkey for Valentine’s Day dinner. So I made my first bacon-wrapped turkey. It was super easy and a huge hit!

First I rinsed the turkey inside and out (after removing the neck and giblets pack). Then I dried it with paper towels and placed it on a v-shaped roasting rack in a roasting pan. If you don’t have a v-rack, just make a snake out of aluminum foil and put your turkey on top of it!

I mixed up some Pappy’s Seasonings, minced garlic, and olive oil together in a bowl and made a paste. Then I place it under the skin on the breast, leg, and thigh meat while being careful to not tear the skin. Pour some water into the roasting pan.

Then place the turkey in a 500-degree oven for 30 minutes. Then take the turkey out and cover it in bacon! Then place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. Then put the turkey back in the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Then continue cooking the turkey for 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until the thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Rest the turkey 15-20 minutes. Then carve and serve!

Food

Valentine’s Dinner Menu

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Every year I make a special Valentine’s Day dinner at home. Traditionally NerdDad picks dinner for me to make and then I pick out dessert. Since NerdDad got me a torch I think you all can figure out what I am making for dessert;). I just need to find a recipe first!

But back to dinner. I often will make filet mignon, new york strip and one year I even made lobster tails. So when I asked NerdDad what he wanted this year I was a little surprised that is asked for a bacon wrapped turkey. I guess my bacon wrapped turkey breast at Thanksgiving was a hit;).

So my line up is simple:
Bacon Wrapped  Turkey (in frig thawing already!)
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli
Gravy
Buttery Rolls

What can I say, he is easy to please! What are you eating for Valentine’s? Eating out? Ordering in? Making something yummy?

Food

Gingerbread Panels

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For the last few years I have made a gingerbread house. But last year I was recovering from surgery and never felt up to doing a gingerbread house so NerdDad suggested that we just have each kid decorate a panel that was then their’s to eat. It was a huge hit so we decided to do it in addition to the gingerbread house I will decorate.

They once again loved it and aren’t they adorable?

Food

Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast

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Got your attention didn’t I;)? So 24 hours before Thanksgiving dinner we had kids with fevers so there was no going to the Mother in Law’s for Thanksgiving dinner. So I pulled a turkey breast out of the freezer and did a quick thaw. So I mixed butter, Pappy’s seasoning and parsley together in a bowl. Then I put it in between the skin and the meat. Then I just covered it in bacon. Where could I go wrong;)?

I then covered it and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes a pound. I then uncovered it for the last 45 minutes of cooking and the bacon finished cooking. It smelled so good!!! And it was super moist!!!! So, so good!!!

Food

Sweet Potato Empanadas

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Yummy looking, eh? I got to participate in a Holiday Recipe Exchange over at Collective Bias. I got this wonderful recipe from Yoly over at Cuponeado! I was looking for a new appetizer and I think this super easy recipe fit the bill!
Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato
½ cup cream cheese
2 tablespoons Parkay
½ teaspoon of ground cinammon
2 pie crusts (or puff pastry)
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation:

Thaw out the pie crusts.
Meanwhile, cut potato in half and place unpeeled in a pot and cover with water.
Bring water to a boil and cook until tender, about 20-30 minutes.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Rub with towel to peel skin off.
Mash potato with the butter. Add cream cheese and cinnamon and mix well.
Pre-heat oven to 400F degrees.
Lightly flour a cutting board, to make handling the dough easier.
Using a rolling pin, roll it out thin (about 1/16 inch).
Cut circles in the dough approximately 3 to 3 ½ inches across, using a wide
mouth jar or glass.
Add a spoonful of the mixture in the center and fold over dough. Use a fork to
crimp edge.
Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Brush the top of each empanada with beaten egg.
Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the turnovers turn golden.
Remove and allow to cool on a rack for approximately 10 minutes.

The only change I made is that I sprinkled Cinnamon Sugar over the empanadas before I put them in the oven! They were quite tasty and a hit at my Sunday School table;).

(Disclosure: While I was compensated by Collective Bias to write this post, all the opinions are mine and mine alone!)

Food

Shutterfly

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I love photo cards, especially for Christmas! So I was stoked to start poking around the Shutterfly to try and pick out our Christmas cards for this year!  I have vowed once again that this year I will actually be organized! This year I will have the cards ordered, address labels printed and be ready to go before December 1st! I hope I am not daydreaming;).

We have always gone with the flat photo card because we have adorable kids but then you wonder if you should send an additional letter. You know, to actually talk about those adorable kids. Decisions, decisions right? No, actually! I was really stoked to see their folded photo cards. You can have additional pictures put in it, sentiments, all your names, whatever. I think there is just enough space to put a simple letter that you don’t have to get to flowery in! You know what I mean, you don’t want to be bragging but upbeat none the less. I think this one might be perfect for the NerdFamily!

So what are you doing for your Christmas cards this year?

(I received some cards as compensation for this post! If you are a blogger and are interested in getting 50 cards from Shutterfly go find out how!)

Food

Hamantaschen Recipe

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Hamantaschen is a traditional cookie for Purim. It is a 3 corner cookie that traditionally represents Haman’s hat. When I make Hamantaschen they have always been the traditional cookie with Mohn (poppyseed) filing. It is a process because you make the dough, the filing and then assemble.

Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups ap flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut up
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Process:
Sift the dry ingredients (including sugar) together. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or forks. Then add in the eggs 1 at a time and mix with the pastry blender. Then blend in the lemon peel. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling
Ingredients:

1 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup raisins
Process:
Combine the poppy seeds, honey, and milk in a saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir constantly, and the mixture should thicken. Take off the flame and mix in lemon juice, zest and raisins. Let cool.
Assembly
Ingredients:
dough
filling
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Process:
Divide dough into manageable portions and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is between 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Then cut the dough out into about 3 inch circles (I use the top of a glass). Then place a teaspoon on filling in the middle. Then pinch the dough around the filling to form a triangular shape. Then brush with egg wash (do this when all of them are formed;). Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
(If I make them for this Purim I will post a picture on this post)