Fun Find Friday: Dinner Ideas

Now that we are back to work/school, it is time to get back into nightly routines, dinner being one of those! This weeks finds are easy, one-dish dinner ideas! I haven't tried these yet, so I can't vouch for them, but they look delish!

Honey Lime Enchiladas


White Trash Casserole - loving the name!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Cajun Shrimp Casserole

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings/Chicken Pot Pie

Slow Cooker Thanksgiving

Three Cheese Pasta Bake - Cross between macaroni and fettuccine alfredo

Slow Cooker Shepherd's Pie

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Here is another yummy, easy, [carb-filled] recipe made from scratch. It makes your house smell fantastic and is the only thing I can say that I make better than my mom! :)


1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cups whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semi sweet chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. Set aside.

In large bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

Make a well in the center of the flour bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Pinterest Addiction

I love being crafty and creative...the problem is I lack the creative gene. Luckily, I'm really great at searching the internet and stealing other peoples ideas and putting them together to make something that works for me. My favorites bar is overflowing with bookmarks for all kinds of discoveries I have found, but the downside is when I get a new computer or mine crashes all those wonderful sites disappear.


Pinterest.com is the greatest solution to that problem, but also rocks in so many other ways!! It is basically a website that lets you categorize and "pin" all of your favorites to a "board", along with an image and description to go with the link. What is even greater is that you can do a search on the website and it will bring back only items that other people thought were cool enough to pin to their board, giving you the best stuff on the internet! (And you can follow people who have similar tastes as you, so when they find new stuff it lets you know)



Saying I'm addicted is kind of an understatement. I have stayed up past 2am every night for the past 3 days and already have 213 links pinned...but what is the fun in having these genius ideas if I don't share a few?? Here are some of my favorite finds so far, along with their links.

Sugar Cookie Bowls

would be adorable to serve fruit, pudding, or ice cream in

Glow Stick Lanterns

cut open a glow stick and pour contents into jar; would be so cool for Halloween or evening party

Cupcake Carrier
cut "x" into the bottom of clothing gift boxes


Sifted Flour Grass Decorating
Carson would LOVE this, can work on sidewalk too

Stair Storage
I don't even have stairs, but if we ever get a house with them I want this!

Pom-Pom DIY
These would be gorgeous for a party or shower



Valentine Exchange Idea
"You Rock" printable to attach to Pop Rocks candy

The website says you they will put you on a waiting list when registering. Being impatient, I googled and found this link that lets you join without having to wait. By the way, it's free. :)

If you want to follow me click here:
(If you are my personal friend/family, please don't look under "gifts" b/c you might find future presents to you! I wish there was a way to make categories not public...)

Homemade Friendship Bread

I love summer because it gives me a chance to feel domestic; our house stays cleaner (well, less messy) and I get a chance to work on my cooking/baking skills.

Have I mentioned that Brian makes the majority of our meals?? It's not that I can't cook, it's just that I am one of those people who need to follow a recipe. Who has time to look up recipes and then make a shopping list so that all items are purchased for it?? Brian is one of those people who can look in our pantry and "throw" something together that tastes fabulous. I am SURE my creation would end up in the trash and we would order out.

Anyways, here is something even I can make:



Homemade bread sounds labor intensive and somewhat intimidating, but it really isn't and I promise it tastes a MILLION times better than store bought for a fraction of the price. Even better, it is great to share with friends because each batch makes three loaves of bread!

Since I knew I would be giving some bread to friends I went ahead and used my picniking skills to make a recipe card to attach to the bread along with a jar of starter so they can make their own too (this would make such a great hostess gift to bring to a party in lieu of wine and such). You should be able to click this image and save it as a jpg, then you can upload to any photo place. I printed 50 copies of 4x6 (true fit: 4 x 5.3) from Walgreens for like $6.

A friend gave me a loaf of bread and starter a few years back. We had loved it and made it quite a few times. I lost the recipe card, but remembered it was called "friendship bread" and used instant mashed potato flakes. After searching the internet I found the recipe here. It is a little wordy, and in my opinion slightly confusing, which is why I re-wrote parts for the recipe card.

The only thing the recipe card is missing is the starter, which you only make the very first time. I bought mason jars to store the starter in, just be sure to punch a hole in the top of the lid or it will explode from the yeast! (My mom learned this the hard way driving home with a sealed starter. It exploded while she was driving making her think a gun had gone off and leaving her car smelling like beer...)

Starter Directions-
(again, you only make this the very first time or to give as a gift)

•1 cup warm water
•1/2 cup sugar
•1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
•3 level Tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes

1) Combine ingredients
2) Let ferment on counter for 2 days
3) Start step 1 from recipe card

The only mistake I could see you making in the recipe is to buy the wrong type of flour, so I've included a picture:Here are the results:

Chocolate & Pumpkin

I stole this recipe from my sister, who stole it from Hungry Girl. It is delicious, moist, low-fat, healthy, and best of all CHOCOLATE!!

The ingredient combination sounds so odd, but comes together perfectly. It is too good not to share!

Ingredients:
1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 can of pumpkin

That's it.

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix two ingredients together. (Don't bother looking at the box. You don't need eggs, oil, or anything else, just the pumpkin.)
• Transfer batter to a greased 9 inch pan. (Mixture should be thick, don't worry.)
• Bake 25 minutes.

Consistency is something between brownies and fudge. You can ice, but we usually don't. There is NO pumpkin taste what-so-ever, I promise.

Halloween Luncheon

Today our math department at my school was responsible for providing lunch for all of our staff. Being that it is the day before Halloween, we had a "Spooky/Halloween Theme." Carson also had a party at his school today, and we were in charge of making turkey sandwiches for it as well. For those of you who don't know, I'm not very domestic, but I do enjoy making food for events! I have spent the past few weeks browsing the internet to find entrees that fit our theme & am happy with the results!

Brian had to work last night, so I recruited my mom & Carson to help me make all the dishes. Here is Carson showing off his sticky hands after helping to stir one of the dips.

I am so glad I had them, because with the three of us its still took close to 3 hours to get everything finished and my preggo ankles were so swollen, I immediately went and soaked in the bathtub while my mom graciously cleaned the kitchen.

All the food turned out fantastic and was gobbled up at today's luncheon. I thought I would share a couple of the recipes with you, possibly for Thanksgiving or just so I can remember them next year.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

HEAT oven to 350°F.
BEAT cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans.
BAKE 28 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer.) Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving; top with nuts. Refrigerate leftovers.

This one was my VERY favorite & I will be making it again for Thanksgiving:

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

MIX all ingredients until well blended; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Serve with cookies or fruit.

(*As you can see above I hollowed out a small pumpkin to put the dip into)

Pretty much just deviled eggs with green olives for eyes

Sandwiches cut with Halloween cookie cutters

Hope you have a fantastic Halloween & get lots of treats!

P.S. Are you impressed with my photo editing skills??? I heart Picnik!