I love low carb day and really love the Transform app with Chris and Heidi Powell. They make it so easy to know what to eat. This tasty Tuesday this is my morning snack. Hi-country beef jerky, cheese, and Blue Diamond almonds. All my favorites and all low in carbs and high in protein. You get 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.
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This week's fun fact for Trivia Tuesday is I LOVE flavored lip gloss and chapstick. When I saw this set up at Big Lots I had to take a picture and send it to my sister. She LOVES bacon and pickles. Ha ha! Seeing this really brought me back to my childhood. I remember having the soda flavored chapstick when I was younger. Many years have passed since then, but I still love flavored chapstick. I wouldn't mind trying the nerds, laffy taffy, or rainbow ice cream one. Which one would you like to try? 
 The nice waitress brought us our drinks and took our order as my son began to watch the football game on the tv on the wall. While waiting on our food, words began to flow from my fingers and a new scene in my upcoming book, Amelia and the Mystery of the White Wolf, in which I mentioned the "Creekside Restaurant", was birthed. After sitting down my masterpiece, Luna, who had been sleeping in my bag ;), pounced on to the table begging me to take her picture. So I did.  Our food arrived and BOY it was YUMMY. I had a pork chop and a baked potato. My son had chicken fingers and fries. He couldn't seem to get enough of their sweet tea too. We topped it off with a FREE bowl of ice cream. After finishing our delicious dessert, Tiny Hermione crawled from my bag ;) and explained how unfair it was that Luna had a gotten a picture in this great restaurant but she hadn't yet. So, I took her picture too. I give the "Creekside Restaurant" two thumbs up and I will definitely be going back again. -Michelle Jetton- Stop by the "Creekside Restaurant" and follow them on facebook and tell them Michelle Jetton sent you. ;) https://www.facebook.com/CreeksideCaveSpring/  With today being National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day I thought I would tell you how I make my kiddo's favorite sandwich. I think he could eat PB&J every!
Ingredients: * 2 slices of bread (My favorite to use is cinnamon raisin bread.) * Peanut Butter (My kiddo's favorite is Jiff Creamy Peanut Butter.) * Jelly (My kiddo loves Bama Grape Jelly.) Directions: * Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. * Spread jelly on the other slice of bread. * Put the two slices of bread together. * I usually cut the sandwich in half in triangle shapes. * Enjoy If you or your kiddos eat a PB&J today take a picture and send it to us and we will post it in a slideshow on here. -Candie & Michelle  I made these on Valentine's Day for my hubby. Even though the holiday has past, these little spheres of goodness would be delightful any time during the year. I followed a recipe that I found online and swayed a tad from the measurements, which may have been my down fall. While forming my truffles, I had a some difficulty getting my cake to stick together. At first, I put in 8oz of cream cheese as instructed, and noticed right away, I had way more cake than what 8oz of cream cheese would cover and the cake wasn't sticking together. I assumed the cake was too dry and needed more cream cheese, so I added another 8oz and, unfortunately, I was still having the same problem. Even though now I had enough cream cheese to coat all of the cake, maybe that was too much or maybe I should have been a smaller batch. So, if you find yourself like I was during the forming process and decide to use the whole cake, I would only add 4oz of cream cheese after you put in the first 8oz and see if that works. Please don't over think it too much and not give this recipe a try because, even though making them sounds a bit tedious, they really are super easy to make and completely delectable. Besides, after the chocolate is on them, they will stay together anyway, and that's the best part.
Ingredients: * Box of red velvet cake. (plus the ingredients that are needed to prepare the cake) *8 oz of cream cheese softened *Alternative Ingredient: cream cheese frosting (for a sweeter dessert) 16 oz of white chocolate *parchment paper Instructions: 1. Prepare the cake according to package instructions. Let the cake cool completely then crumble it into a large bowl. 2. To soften cream cheese place completely unwrapped package of cream cheese in a microwavable safe bowl. Microwave on High for 10 secs or just until softened. Add 15 secs for each additional package of cream cheese. 3, Add softened cream cheese and knead together with your fingers until your cream cheese is completely blended together. 4. Roll about a ping pong sized amount of the mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You will get about 30-40 balls. Set them in the fridge to chill about 10-15mins or until they are firm to the touch. 5. After they have gotten firm. Melt white chocolate according to package. Remove balls from fridge and using a fork, dip them one at a time into the melted chocolate. Make sure to coat the ball evenly, lightly tap the fork on the side of the bowl allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Return the truffle again to the parchment paper, place them back into the fridge, and wait until the chocolate has hardened. 6. Indulge I will assuredly try this recipe again and I think I will use the frosting next time. If anyone else tries this recipe please feel free to share your thoughts and tips with us.  I made this recipe last week for my family and it had mixed reviews. I thought it was absolutely scrumptious, while my husband said it was good, but not particularly his favorite, which I think is more of his personal preference and not a jab at my cooking skills. In saying that, I am by no way an amazing chef like Gordon Ramsey or Graham Elliot, but I give it my best effort. I admit that I like to use frozen and canned foods, which I know might not be everyone’s number one choice, but this recipe as well as many others I have posted can easily be converted to fresh produce for a fresher alternative. This recipe I concocted from two recipes I found. I took the ingredients I liked from each and made my own tasty soup. Yet again, I made this recipe in my crockpot. If you don’t have a crockpot or have never cooked from one, you are missing out. I couldn’t live without mine. It makes meat so tender and cooking effortless. Just throw in all and your ingredients, set the timer, and you’re finished.
Ingredients: *3 cups chicken broth *2 cans 14.5oz diced tomatoes *1 cans 14.5oz diced potatoes *2 can 14.5oz Lima beans *1 can 14.5oz kernel corn *1/2 of a small onion *3 large chicken breast (Fresh or frozen, both work great) *1/2 cup of Kraft barbecue sauce or a hearty tasting sauce of your choice *A couple of generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce to your taste *1/2 or 1 tablespoon of sugar (Of course for a sweeter tasting stew use a whole tablespoon) ½ cup of hot sauce (If you’re brave. Which I am. I think it gave it a great yin and yang of sweet and spicy) *Salt and pepper to taste Of course always feel free to add to or take away any of these ingredients for you and your family’s personal preference. Directions:
6. Set the timer for 4hrs on high or for 8hrs on low (I always go the longer route. The meat seems more tender when you do it this way. Prepare your meal, go to work, come home, dinner is done!) 6. Enjoy! -Candie Bradfield  Vegetable soup is one of my top five favorite foods. I prefer homemade, but have discovered a version at a few restaurants I will crave on occasion. My Nana made a sweet vegetable soup that I mourn not having the recipe for. My mom mourns with me. My mom makes a vegetable soup that I will eat a Tupperware container full of in one sitting, reclining backwards afterwards to make room for my swollen stomach. However, at 32, I've never made vegetable soup. I consider myself the queen of finding weird recipes on the Internet and subjecting my family to their taste testing. Many spur of the moment trips have been made to McDonald's to save us from starvation after a recipe ends up being less than edible. Yet, I've never attempted something as simple as vegetable soup.
Something you need to know before I continue, I'm a "craver". I must be craving a food before I want to cook it and I must get what I am craving or I will eat a little of everything in the kitchen. My family eats by the whims of my taste buds. My husband doesn't seem to mind and my kids haven't caught on yet. Bully to me. A full day of "what am I really craving" later and you have me to my decision to make vegetable soup. First things first, I call my mom and ask her how to make it. As it turns out, her recipe is a basic vegetable soup recipe of cut up potatoes, boil them til tender, add cans diced tomatoes and whatever other vegetables you want (quantity determined by eyeing how much you want to make), salt and pepper. Voila! Vegetable soup! The first obstacle presents itself quickly. I despise peeling and cutting potatoes. DESPISE! When I was a kid, that was always my job, thus I have come to hate it. I understand why it is sometimes used as punishment in the military. The potato juice makes my fingers feel dry and weird and makes me grumpy and I can never seem to get rid of that raw potato smell. Solution? HUBBY! I am never afraid to bat my eyelashes and humbly express how much better he will be at something if I really don't want to do it. He really is much better with a knife. I wander to the kitchen to find the bag of a day away from rotting potatoes and thus decide the entire half a bag must be peeled and cooked. Yeah, I am pretty bad at eyeing quantities. Half of a five pound bag of potatoes was probably a bit more than a family of two adults and two small children needed to make one pot of vegetable soup. I did realize this as I stood eyeing the potato to pot I'm suppose to add vegetables to size similarities. There was no way in Hades one can of diced tomatoes was going in that pot, let alone anything else. Time to bring out the serious cooking pot. Which brings us to obstacle two. Where the heck did I put the serious cooking pot? It is too big to fit into the cupboards with the other cooking utensils and, thus, I have no clue where I put it so I would always know where it was. One would think there are only so many places a person would put a cooking pot for storage. One would be wrong in my case. I did finally locate it under the stash of juice in the bottom of the pantry. In my defense, I didn't notice it under the 20 or so bottles we store in there. Because, in case of emergency, we will want Juicy Juice. Crisis averted, large pot is found. I transfer the potatoes and add tomatoes, Lima beans, green beans, corn, carrots and rigatoni noodles. A little salt and pepper to taste and I think I am well on my way to a masterpiece. I am, of course, a genius in the kitchen. Next obstacle presents itself, I must season everything! I don't really have a grasp on how most seasonings will effect food, I just like to sniff and sprinkle til I feel a little more like I should have my own daytime cooking show. I did, however, decide vegetable soup would have it's own mouthwatering flavor and I decided to leave the spice rack alone. It was confusing for a minute there, reaching only for salt and pepper, when I really wanted to browse the names I can't pronounce and add something to give it a "that's interesting" flavor. I did it though. I muddled through. At one point, I actually wanted to add sugar, just to see if that was what my Nana used to give her soup that super sweet flavor. Hubby talked me out of it and gave me the "That's nuts, you are kidding...right?" look so I quickly discarded that idea and stirred my magnificent creation. The mention of hubby brings me to my final obstacle. "It needs meat." The hubby said it if not once then a dozen times. I finally threatened to put him in my soup. He took me serious. Especially when I started debating whether or not I should save some bones to put in a pot of pintos later in the week. He got quiet, which means I started feeling like I was being a horrible tyrant. I finally gave in, but he had to brown the meat. I refused. I took pictures for proof in case it destroyed my masterpiece and we had to eat McDonald's that night. Never hurts to have all bases covered in case he tried to use it as a cooking disaster antidote story in a social gathering and blame it all on me. The not just vegetable anymore soup was still really good. Not as good as my moms. Something about hers being soup I didn't have to cook, makes it just all that much better tasting. But it was very good. And we had a lot of it. Like a lot a lot. We had two butter bowls (our recycled version of Tupperware), a jar, and two freezer bags full leftover after dinner that night. That worked. I'm all about days I don't have to cook. All about 'em. -Heather Blanton Ingredients: * Potatoes * Diced Tomatoes * Whatever Veggies you want (I used Lima beans, green beans, corn, & carrots.) * Salt & Pepper * Rigatoni Noodles * Ground Beef  Santa comes this week. Rudolph and his friends will be hungry on their long flight. Check out this recipe for "Magical Reindeer Food". Your kids will have fun making it. :) Ingredients Needed: * 1 cup rolled oats * Red edible glitter (get it on the baking aisle) *Green edible glitter (get it on the baking aisle) Directions
I hope you enjoy making Magical Reindeer Food. If you make your own please take a picture and share them in the comments. I would love to see them! I will make a slideshow of any pictures we get. I will be adding mine later. -Michelle Jetton  It's December. Time to start making fun Christmas foods with your family. I thought I would start with reindeer snacks (Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer). ;) This is a fun recipe that your kids can be involved in. Ingredients needed: * 1 graham cracker * 1/2 tsp. peanut butter (If you have a peanut allergy then nutella would work.) * 1 cinnamon red hot: (I like m&m's better so I used a red m&m) * 2 miniature pretzels * 2 raisins (I used candy eyes. : You can get them in the baking aisle at walmart.) Directions 1. Place graham cracker on plate. (Make sure you break it in half to make a square first.) 2. Spread the peanut butter or nutella across the graham cracker with a spoon. (This is used for "glue" to hold the pieces in place. 3. Place the mini pretzels on the cracker. (These are the antlers.) 4. Attach two raisins for eyes or use candy eyes like I did. 5. Put a red hot or red m&m in the place of the nose. 6. Enjoy! I hope you enjoyed my first Christmas recipe of the season. If you make your own please take a picture and share them in the comments. I would love to see them! I will make a slideshow of any pictures we get. I will be adding mine later. -Michelle Jetton  Do you have a love for pastries? Allison does. We had the privilege of speaking with "The Amazing Allison Hertz". She is a very talented pastry chef at Olga's Cup and Saucer in Providence, Rhode Island. Take a look at what she had to say. :) Candie and Michelle: Do you mind telling the readers a little about yourself? Allison Hertz: I am a pastry chef at a bakery/breakfast & lunch eatery in Providence Rhode Island called Olga's Cup And Saucer. Providence is a very innovative foodie city infatuated with the culinary arts and the fact that I am a pastry chef who went to art school for oil painting and illustration instead of culinary school boggles some people. I believe there are many connections between culinary/pastry arts and fine art. The two subjects are intertwined and I have an intense passion for both. Candie and Michelle: I agree. They go hand in hand. :) Have you always liked baking? Allison Hertz: Ever since I could hold a spatula. Candie and Michelle: :) Who inspired you to start baking? Allison Hertz: My mother and my older sister, Marla. Candie and Michelle: Sweet. :) Besides baking pastries do you have any other talents? Allison Hertz: Painting and illustration, passion for gardening and growing vegetables/fruits, Candie and Michelle: Would love to see some of your work. :) What inspires you to create certain pastries? Allison Hertz: Mother Nature and the changing of the seasons. When fruits and vegetables come in and out of season, my pastries change to reflect this natural process. I aim to highlight flavors when they are in their prime. My challenge is to connect these flavors, to pair them with others that are either unique, surprising, or opposite expectation and please even the most expanded palates. It is this challenge that invigorates me on a daily basis. Candie and Michelle: :) What was your favorite thing to bake? Allison Hertz: I love cakes. I love the sculptural element of a cake, how it can become a piece of art and a symbol of celebration. I love how cakes bring people together. Decorating is one of my favorite things to do. Candie and Michelle: Awww. :) What is the most difficult thing you have ever had to bake? Allison Hertz: I don't like to categorize pastries as easy medium or hard in terms of difficulty levels. I like to think of all pastries as complex science experiments and if you don't understand what is going on chemically with the ingredients, it is hard to understand your product even at a basic level. But, in all honesty, hand-laminating croissant dough is up there. Candie and Michelle: I understand. That does sound tough. Do you have any advice for any aspiring bakers? Allison Hertz: Eat up all the books you can that describe things on a scientific level. Hang out with other bakers. Taste different combinations you think you will not enjoy and aim to expand your palate. Do things that scare you. Get invigorated. Always keep it fun! Candie and Michelle: That is great advice! Thank you so much Allison for stopping by. We've enjoyed having you. We invite you back to showcase your painting and illustrations. :) -Candie and Michelle |
Tuesdays are for.....The Adventures of Tiny Hermione
My son and I have tons of fun in the kitchen. Come join us on our kitchen adventures. Archives
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