Pork Stew with Butternut Squash and Apples Using Nordic Ware 3 Qt. Dutch Oven #Holidaycooking #MadeinUSA

* I received Nordic Ware products to review and share a recipe. All opinions shared are my own.

The holidays are here and as a busy mom who works full time I am always looking for ways to make fancy dinners easier. Everyone always tells me how great a crock pot is but I do not own a crock pot since I am the sort of person who has a hard time leaving things plugged in and cooking when I leave home. But I have been wanting to find an item that can give me a slow roasted taste to my dishes while I am home doing other tasks, a dutch oven was the perfect solution for my family. I have seen them in stores and have always wanted a Nordic Ware Dutch Oven.

The Nordic Ware 3 Qt. Dutch Oven has been a wonderful addition to my cookware and bakeware collection. The red is beautiful and the cast aluminum pot is sturdy without being heavy like cast iron. It even has a self basting lid! Made in the U.S.A. with lifetime warranty this will be a pot I plan to cook delicious meals in for decades. It is non stick, non rusting with efficient even heating from the cast aluminum built. Make sure to use oven mitts with this cookware as the handles do get extremely hot when using for oven cooking.

The Fall and Winter for me are a time I enjoy cooking the most. When it is cold outside there is nothing like a delicious home cooked meal to bring my family together and warm us up. Most people are cooking turkeys and hams during this time of year so I decided to try a new Pork Stew recipe to serve something different.

I love the flavors of apples and butternut squash together, with that in mind I created a recipe that was simple but tastes amazing.

Recipe:

2-3 lbs of Pork Shoulder
2 Apples
3 Potatoes
1 White Onion
1/4 cup of apple cider
1 Can of Organic No Salt Added Butternut Squash Soup

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut into even chunks apples and potatoes, slice onions into long strips. Place pork and apple cider into Nordic Ware 3 Qt. Dutch Oven. Add potatoes, onions and apples. Open can of organic no salt added Butternut Squash soup, add soup on top of ingredients, do not mix. Cover with dutch oven lid, place in oven for 2 1/2 hours. Check to be sure pork is cooked entirely before serving. Enjoy!

You can follow Nordic Ware for great recipes and more on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Everyday Baking with Nordic Ware #MadeinUSA #BundtSquared #PrismBakeware

* I was sent Nordic Ware items for this review. All opinions in this post are my own.

I love to bake! I have been baking cookies since I was a teenager and truly love it. I now love to bake cakes and cookies for my own family. My son is old enough to help measure ingredients and stir the ingredients in a bowl, he is always eager to help with baking. I enjoy the whole process of baking from the bowls I stir in, the freshness of ingredients and the bake ware.  I even have a few favorite items. My favorite pan for baking has been a bundt cake pan but I have been wanting to have something different and special for the cakes I bake.

I have been using Nordic Ware cooking items for many years. I like that they are durable, made in the U.S.A. and BPA-free and melamine-free materials in their products. I recently had the opportunity to try a few new products from Nordic Ware and I am now obsessed with the Bundt Square Pan. It makes the most beautiful square bundt with geometric patterns. I have set aside my round bundt cake pan for now and I will be using this pan for many of my holiday baking creations to come. 

I baked a lemon blueberry cake for my first time using the Square Bundt Pan and I was wowed! The cake came out easily since I followed the directions of putting oil and flour on the pan. It made a beautiful golden crust and the peaks and valleys made from the pan perfectly held the lemon glazing icing I made. There is something about a pretty cake makes me want to share it and eat more of it. Be sure to tap the bottom of the pan a few times on the counter top before placing in the oven to get out any air bubbles. Allow for 10 minutes for cake to cool once it is done to ensure the cake does not tear, do not wait longer than that to remove cake or the sugars solidify and will make cake stuck in the pan.

For my recipe I used a premade lemon cake mix adding in lemon juice and blueberries. I made my favorite lemon glaze recipe from Martha Stewart website with 2 cups of confectioners sugar and 4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The glaze should thick yet pourable. It tastes amazing on the cake.

I also love to roast veggies and make oven baked fries making the new Natural Prism bake ware perfect for me. The herringbone grid pattern of the baking sheet allows for proper air flow to make your food crispier and easier release from the sheet. The rim of the sheet pan is galvanized steel making it resistant to warping during baking. The pans are non stick made of natural uncoated aluminum like pastry chefs all over the world use.  Next on my list to try on the prism bake sheet is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I was sent some of the new Prep and Serve bowls. They are microwavable with slip free bottoms and BPA free. I love the fun lively colors they add to my baking experience. They are great for making and serving cold pasta salads and fruit salads too.

I have my eye on another baking pan by Nordic Ware, the Botanical Pumpkin Loaf Pan. It would be perfect for the fall season.

To see more of Nordic Ware items and learn more about the family owned American based company you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

4 Ingredient Pizza Bake

After all of the holiday food and fun, I wanted to make something simple for lunch the kids would also enjoy. I found this easy 4 ingredient pizza bake, the best part is I already had all of the ingredients. Nothing fancy but it was quick, easy and tasted good!

Ingredients:

2  pouches (7.5 oz each) Bisquick® Complete buttermilk biscuit mix                         

1 cup water                         

1  jar (14 oz) pizza sauce                         

1  package (8 oz) sliced pepperoni                         

2  cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)

Baking Candy Cane Chocolate Cupcakes With Land O' Lakes Butter #HolidayButter #shop #cbias

Holiday baking has been a long tradition in my family, so I'm very excited to be in the kitchen baking some of my favorite treats.

Chocolate and peppermint are a must during the holiday season, so I combined the two and made these yummy cupcakes.

My grandchildren were thrilled when they saw them, and it was a real struggle for them to wait until after dinner to have one.

The key to successful baking for me, is using the highest quality ingredients that I can. Butter is one of those ingredients, and I always like stocking up on it at this time of the year.

Introducing Spice Of The Month

Over my years of cooking, I have invested lots of money in buying spices. Many of those jars of spices ended up being thrown away because I didn't use them. And I certainly didn't need to buy a big jar of a spice I only needed a tiny bit of.

Spices are crucial to creating delicious and flavorful meals. I'm very excited to have found a fabulous way of buying spices that lets you try out different kinds each month at a low cost.

Spice Of The Month is a new subscription service that delivers spices right to your door every month.
The spices come with recipes and cooking tips to help you make delicious and exciting meals.

The Spice Of The Month website makes it easy to sign up and lets you start enjoying your spices delivered to you with free shipping.

Their blog is filled with helpful information, cooking ideas, and great recipes like Nutmeg Cheesecake and Almond Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are one of my favorites, so warm and so good. Naturally when fall comes around and the fact that adding pumpkin to everything seems appropriate, of coarse these babies were going to be made. Pure pumpkin perfection. A simple recipe, but so good.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread



The ingredients (check out the zucchinis, the are from our very own garden!)

I love the way shredded zucchini looks!

Mixing it up.

Chocolate!!

        

All ready to bake.

Ingredients:

2 (1 oz) squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of grated zucchini
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 cups of all purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans, be sure to coat it really good! Combine all of the chocolate and melt it in the microwave, just enough so it is slightly melted and smooth.

In a large bowl combine, eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and grated zucchini, mix well. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Next, stir in the bowl of warm melted chocolate. Last, pour your batter into the loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes and enjoy!!!

*I melt all of the chocolate together, I don't care for the chocolate chips to stand out when I bit into my treat. To me it tastes better when the chocolate runs all the way through, that is why I melt all of the chocolate together, but you can leave out the chocolate chips when you melt the semi sweet and add them in whole.

Cascade Platinum Cleaning Packs #myplatinum #sponsored

*I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating


The more I work the more I realize how I need easy one step items for my life. I do not want extra time spent on silly things that have easier solutions. One of those things is dishes!

Last week we had a couple friends over for dinner and I made sauteed veggies and sauteed potatoes to serve with chicken. I always use a stainless steel pan and a little bit of oil. I do not buy non stick pans so I need a good dishwasher detergent to get my dishes clean. I do a little pre-soaking in the sink and then into the dishwasher.

I use a natural dishwasher soap and it can be a little tough to get dirty pans clean with it. I want to avoid extra chemicals and streaks on my dishes but it does not always get my dishes clean the first time. For my latest food creation I am planning to use Cascade Platinum Cleaning Packs

My pan after cooking!

After cleaning the pots and pans from my dinner party I was surprised how clean the pan was. I do not always like to use a normal chemical detergent for everyday dishes but I can see Cascade Platinum being helpful for those days I need to use many pots and pans.

Cascade Platinum:

•       Delivers Cascade’s ultimate clean for dishes
• Scrubs away tough 24 hour stuck-on food
• Eliminates the need to pre-wash dishes
• Provides exceptional dishware shine
• Contains the Grease Fighting Power of Dawn

Clean Shiny Pots and Pans

As a blogger I love to make my dishes look beautiful. I want the food to stand out against the plate. I want the dishes to be perfect! Plus no extra scrubbing after the cooking!

Do you like to take pictures of your food? Show off your food photography skills for a chance to win prizes from Cascade and KitchenAid in the My Platinum Instagram Contest. Enter here : http://tinyurl.com/PlatBlog 

Gail Simmons the Top Chef Judge and Food + Wine magazine editor uses Cascade Platinum!



I know I will be entering the contest! I love to cook great meals, snap a photo and share on Instagram. I get so many great food ideas from there.

Please be sure to include both the #MyPlatinum hashtag and tag @MyCascade in your entries to the contest.

You can learn more about Cascade Platinum on their Facebook Page.

Easter Egg Rice Krispies Treats!!

Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats!!

The ingredients: All of the standard rice krispies treat ingredients (on the back of the marshmallow package) plus food coloring and plastic Easter eggs.

 Four bowls with the different food coloring added. We chose all the colors red, yellow, blue and green for ours.

Divided the krispie mix between the bowls, stirred them to get the food coloring mixed in really well.

Once they cooled off I let the boys help me fill the eggs. Not pictured was the olive oil spray I used to coat the inside of the Easter eggs so the gooey cereal wouldn't stick to the insides. It worked really well!

My boys hard at work :)

So simple, so fun and a great way to get the boys involved in making this special Easter treat!!

Recipe: Spinach Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes

I LOVE spinach and I have been trying to find ways to get my son to eat more of it. He looks at me odd when I try to get him to eat a salad with spinach in it so I decided I would add it to pasta that he loves.

I made a basic Pesto Recipe with a little Spinach added.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups, packed, coarsely chopped basil leaves
• 1/2 cup cooked Spinach
• 1/4 tablespoon pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 to 1/3 cup olive oil

Boil Pasta in large pot. Saute in olive oil spinach and garlic. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more olive oil and season with salt as necessary.

Add sliced cherub or cherry tomatoes to dish after mixing the pesto mix into cooked pasta. You can add more Parmesan cheese to the top of the dish for more cheese flavor. Serve on a bed of fresh spinach.

Note: I used way too much pasta for my dish, I would have liked way more pesto spinach mix per bite :)

My son LOVED this dish! 

I do it better than Betty

Saw this apron at a local mall and laughed out loud! Kind of lame, but I love cheesy aprons :)

Now that we/I am feeling better I am hoping to get in the kitchen this weekend and start baking up some tasty Christmas treats. I need a cookie fix ASAP!!

Happy weekend to you all!!!!

XOXOXO

- Sam

Welcome Home Brands Review

                                           
~ By Patricia ~

I just love baking, especially as the weather turns cold and I start to crave those warm baked goods. It is also fun to share your tasty treats with friends and family. Showing up to a friends house with a nice warm treat or having someone bring you something is always welcoming. I am always looking for a great baking dish or cupcake liners to take them in. But ever want to take them fresh out of the oven and not have to worry about getting your dish back? Seriously how many bakeware dishes have you left behind at a party?  There is a great and convenient way to bake and take your goodies with you and they even come in so many shapes, designs and colors and patterns! Welcome Home Brands carries Oven-Safe Paper Bakeware. I thought it sounded too good to be true, I had to try it to believe it.

Here is a little about Welcome Home Brands from their site about the Oven-Safe Paper Bakeware:

Welcome Home Brands Paper Bakeware replaces metal bakeware with style, offering a whole new way to bake, serve, store, and give in one unit. It’s oven safe to 400°F and freezer safe, so consumers can bake and freeze in the same paper pan. Because it cuts down on cleanup, it streamlines the baking process and makes home baking easier and more fun. Manufactured in partnership with Temma Shiki of Japan, a global leader in paper bakeware, the Welcome Home Brands collection includes a variety of shapes, styles, designs, including everyday and seasonal collections.

I made brownies for a shower I was going to attend with the Festive bakewear pattern. It was so great and so easy. I made my brownie mix, poured it right into the paper bakeware, cooked them (just be sure to watch them because the cooking time varies) and served them nice and hot to my friends. The pattern is fun and festive, they were a big hit and everyone loved how convenient they were. I had no idea these even existed, and now that I do I will be using them again!

What's for dinner tonight?

With the weather feeling like fall outside, this is what I made for dinner tonight. I just love how it comes to the top of the dish and is so golden brown!

Paula Deen's Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients: 

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
1/2 cup frozen green pea
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups instant biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1 stick melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a greased 2-quart casserole, layer the chicken, eggs, carrots, and peas.
3. Mix the soup, chicken broth, and season with salt and pepper, if desired; pour over the layers.
4. Stir together the biscuit mix and milk, and pour this over the casserole.
5. Drizzle butter over the topping.
6. Bake until the topping is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Serves: 4-6

** I love this recipe and serve it to my family at least once a month. It is so easy and so good! I follow the recipe pretty closely, the only changes I made is I don't put in the hard boiled eggs. It tasted strange to us the first time we tried it so we took it out. And I use half a stick of melted butter, have to cut the calories out somewhere right? ENJOY!!!

Top 5 Cookbooks I Love

I love cookbooks. I blame my mother for this. She used to buy them and read them cover to cover, and then put them on the shelf, never cooking one single recipe.
 
I also collect cookbooks but on occasion I actually cook something that comes from one of them. I am trying to cook one recipe a week from different books, so I have pulled some of them down from my shelf. I have made a list of my Top 5 favorite cookbooks, so here they are, in no particular order:

1. Barefoot Contessa Family Style
I adore Ina Garten, I have for years. From her pretty house, to her fabulous garden, to her devoted husband Jeffrey, she is wonderful. You have probably seen her on TV on her own cooking show. Her food is elegant but simple, and any average cook can be comfortable using her recipes.
I have all of Ina's books, but this one is my favorite. Her Parmesan Chicken recipe is heavenly.

2. The Fannie Farmer Baking Book
This book has been a beloved classic for so many years. I would love to cook everything in it! There are recipes for pies, cakes, breads, cookies and more. The peanut butter cookie recipe is the one I always use. There is also a wealth of information about cooking and baking that is extremely helpful.

3. Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food
Alice Waters is the queen of eating organic and local foods. I love this philosophy, even though it isn't always practical or affordable. But this cookbook is for all cooks, and all types of food. It really is simple to prepare and eat these wonderful recipes. Her roasted chicken and roasted root vegetables are so yummy, and the aroma of the chicken in your kitchen is a dream.

4. Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.
Up here in the Seattle area, Tom Douglas is a famous name in the food and restaurant business. He has five restaurants at my last count, each of them different and special in their own way. His book is filled with many items you will find in his restaurants. I have eaten crab cakes several times at one of them, and they are super delicious. If you want a taste of Seattle, buy this book and try any of Tom's amazing dishes.

5. The Joy of Cooking
A gem of a cookbook, one that many of us learned to cook from. Originally published in 1931, there is an updated version that incorporates all of the new equipment and methods available for cooks today. From stuffing to cookies to beef stew, this cookbook can be the best source for good, old fashioned food, just like your Mom made.

I hope you like my Top 5 list, and I could have easily added more cookbooks to this list.

Do you have an absolutely favorite cookbook? I would love to know what it is.

Happy Cooking!