Fry Cocktail

Last night I made french fries with supper.  Brandi got a little tupperware, filled it with ketchup, and stuck her fries in it.  She came over to me, and said:

"if shrimp can be a cocktail, so can french fries."  She's 8, and completely adorable!

Turtle Cheesecake

Not the best picture, but O...M...G!  The best cheesecake I have had.  Ever!  I was having lunch at a little "out of the way" place, and this was in their dessert case.  I had to have it.  And, the best part?  It was only $1.50!  I might just have to go back there for some more!

Applebee's Cheesecake Shooters

This was seriously the best little glass of cheesecake I have had in a while!  I have this friend, and we have been eating out for lunch quite a bit lately.  It seems like every restaurant we go to, we have cheesecake for dessert.  Wait until you see the one I had yesterday...I'll post that picture soon.  For now, drool over this little beauty!

My TiVo Would Be Full Of Cooking Shows

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TiVo. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love watching Food Network.  My favorite shows are the cooking competitions.  Iron Chef America and Chalenge are two of the shows I try hard not to miss.  I am excited about the new season of "The Next Iron Chef" that is starting soon.

I also love Top Chef, which is on Bravo.  This past week the new series, Top Chef Just Desserts started, and I liked it.  It will be interesting to see what kind of yummy goodness the chefs come up with. Of course, if the desserts look good (and easy!) enough, I might just have to try recreating them at home.  To do that, I am going to have to watch whichever episode a couple of times to get the recipe down.  This is where TiVo would come in handy.

I say "would" because I do not have one.  I want one.  Badly.  Not only can I catch up on all the Fall TV premeires if I had TiVo, but they have so many pretty cool features that I want to try out.  For instance, with TiVo Search and TiVo Collections, I can search for and watch past episodes of my favorite shows on Netflix, Amazon Videos On Demand, or Blockbuster On Demand.  They also have this thing called TiVo Premeire, which allows you to find past shows and movies that your favorite actors and actresses have been in.

I am also drooling over the Slide Remote.  This remote slides open to reveal a keyboard, which makes typing quicker, so you can find your favorite shows easier.  You can even Enter to Win a Slide remote in TiVo's 30 Slides in 30 Days Sweepstakes.  All you have to do is become a Facebook Fan or follow them on Twitter.

I want to win the slide so I can make sure I never miss an episode of Challenge, Iron Chef, and Top Chef.  Oh, and Survivor.  I do watch regular television, too.  Sometimes.

Smiley Cookie Giveaway!

I am hosting a giveaway for these super yummy Smiley Cookies on my main blog, My Kids Are My World.  You can win a box of 12 sugar cookies with cute little multi-colored smiley faces on them.  You can enter here.  Hurry, though, because Friday is the last day to enter!  Good luck!

Cheesecake

Last Friday, a friend of mine took me out to lunch.  It was her birthday, so she wanted to eat a Capri's (a local Italian restaurant).  We shared a fried ravioli appetizer, then I had a chicken Parmesan sub, and she had the baked spaghetti.  After we finished our meal, she told the waitress that it was her birthday, and she said that it is company policy to give the birthday girl free dessert.  We ordered cheesecake.  It was the thickest, richest, yummiest cheesecake I have had in a long time.

My Version Of Sloppy Joes

This is the easiest recipe in the world.  Ready?

Brown ground beef in a skillet.  Drain grease.  Add a jar of Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa. Stir.  Put on buns and enjoy.

My family loves this, and it is a great, easy meal for those nights that you don't have time to fuss in the kitchen.

Banana Crumb Muffins

For muffins:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 large bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 tsp cinnamon

For topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Spray muffins tins, or use cupcake liners.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, egg, sugar, and butter.  Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture, and stir just until combined.

Spoon into muffin pan (the recipe said 10 muffins, but I made 12 easily).

In a small bowl, mix together ingredients for topping.  I actually use my fingers to get it mixed together good.  Sprinkle over the top of the muffins.

Bake 18 minutes.

I only had enough butter to make the muffins, not the topping.  For the topping, I used a spread, and as you can see, it melted all over the place.  I am not sure if butter would have done the same thing.  Either way, these muffins were yummy.

Pigs In Blankets ~ My Way

Here's another simple ~ but time consuming ~ dinner idea.  I bought a package of little sausages, and cut them in half lengthwise.  I then made a batch of biscuits (I use Jiffy baking mix) and shaped them into little rectangles.  Kasi helped me do that.  Then I added either cheese sauce or bbq sauce to the biscuit mix and wrapped it around the sausage.  I baked then at 450 degree for about fifteen minutes, and they were delicious!  I preferred the bbq ones, and the few that I put bbq and cheese sauce on.  The plain cheese ones tasted bland to me.

They look good, don't they?

Top Droppers ~ August

It's that time again, where I thank the people who dropped here the most last month!

Slightly Sarcastic ~ Sarcasm, stories and lots of BS

Teen Suicide Talk ~  Teen Suicide and depression is such a huge problem in our society today. I'm trying to raise awareness and make resources available to anyone facing this huge dilemma.

 comatised ~ Dreaming in digital

Crimsonsparkle.net ~ The view from my window.

bethere2day ~ bethere2day is a personal blog about anything and everything, fun, humour, randomness and rants.

Start A New Business ~ all about business

Daily War News Blog ~ Daily War News Blog

Cooking Japanese Style ~ Here's my blog about Japanese Cooking, Recipes, and Japanese Foods. That I like to share with everyone.

I Luv Norfolk ~ Norfolk, VA, is the home of the world's largest Navy base, exciting restaurant and nightclub districts, nationally recognized museums, a zoo. There's always something fun to do.

My Small Business Blog ~ My Small Business Blog

Add Sweetness As A Side Dish

To me, there is nothing better than pineapple, hot off the grill.

Chili-ish

Here's my versions of chili with beans, and my family loves it.  I brown some extra lean ground beef in a pan, then add a can of Hunt's Chili Mix (I know...I cheat!) and a couple of cans of beans.  I think these were northern and pintos.  I serve with crackers, and they love it!  Simple to make, yet yummy.  It's my kind of meal. 

Egg Rolls - The Most Perfect Food

I could eat Chinese food every day of my life and die a happy woman.  There is such a variety, from chicken and broccoli to sesame chicken.  Egg rolls and spring rolls.  Fried wontons and dumplings.  Fried and white rice.  Sweet and sour chicken and ribs.  The list goes on and on...

A few weeks ago while at Jack In The Box, I ordered some egg rolls.  (I never knew they had such a wide variety of food...they even had tacos on the menu)  I asked the cashier for ranch dressing, and dipped my egg rolls in it.  It was yummy.  Now, I would never do this in a Chinese restaurant, though.  I wouldn't want to give a Chinese woman a heart attack.

And It Wasn't Even My Birthday!

This is what happens when you leave food unattended around my husband. 

I have recently discovered the yumminess of ordering burgers that come on sourdough bread.  This one was from Jack In The Box, and it was delicious! 

I wish I could eat these every single day, but I settle for once a month or so.

New York Cheesecake Donut From Krispy Kreme

Go ahead and drool...

Lamb Chops

My mom loves lamb chops.  I've never had them.  The other night I threw a couple on the grill for her, and I was kind of grossed out when the blood started pooling on the bones.  They did look and smell really good when they were done cooking, though.

London Broil On The Grill

First, I marinated the steak in this Parmesan Asiago dressing for a few hours. 

Then, I slapped it on the grill, on low, for about an hour.  (30 minutes on each side) 

It was delicious!  The marinade really gave the meat great flavor.  usually, I have to dip my steak in something, whether it be more dressing or bbq sauce, but this time, the meaT had enough flavor on it's own.

My New Favorite Snack

Have you guys tried these new almonds?  I actually found them on Facebook.  Someone posted a link to the Mr. Peanut fan page, and from there I was able to print $1.50 off coupons.  Walmart has these for about $2.50 a bag, so I was able to get them for $1.00 each.  (I had 2 coupons)  This was a few weeks ago. 

Wednesday before last, I was able to print off another 2 coupons, and this coming Wednesday, they will have more coupons to print out.  This isn't the only flavor, or nut for that matter.  I think they have cashews in these bags, too.  I can't remember all the flavors, and I am seriously too lazy to look them up, but I believe one of them is a chili lime.  And I think there is a pepper one.  Either way, you should definitely "like" Mr. Peanut on Facebook so you can get these coupons, too.  Trust me...if you like nuts, you'll love these!

Parmesan Chicken

This is my husband's favorite chicken that I make, and it is pretty simple.  I take a container of Parmesan cheese and add a bunch of stuff to it, like parsley, garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper.  The other night, though, I only had half a container of cheese and no parsley, so I added a bunch of panko bread crumbs instead, and I have got to tell you, this chicken was just as good as the other.

I usually pound the chicken breasts pretty thin, and then coat them in egg before throwing them in the cheese mixture.  This time, I happened to find thin cut breasts at the store, so I used those.  (In the future, I will pound them a even thinner though)  Sometimes I will just bake them, but most of the time, I will fry them on my grill pan with a little olive oil.  Check out how yummy they look:

I try and make enough at one time for Junior to take some to work for a few days.  If he had his way, though, I would make these everyday.  He thinks he could live on them.  Yeah, they are that good, especially when you dip them in ranch dressing.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I have never made one of these before, but last weekend I was in charge of dessert for a dinner at my mom's house, and this is what Junior wanted.  (I made the cupcakes from the last post for me :))  I think it came out pretty good for my first attempt.  The cake mix came from a box, and Junior said it was a little dry, so next time I am going to try and find a completely homemade recipe to try.  Anyone have a good recipe they would like to share with me?