Foodie Pen Pal Reveal - November

This is my second month participating in the Foodie Pen Pal.  This time I was bought for Johanne.  If you visit her blog, you can see what I sent her.  Kristen sent me my package.  When she asked me what I liked, I told her that I liked cinnamon and mint.  She went to a local spice store and got me some interesting spices, flavored sugar, and honey powder. 

I've always been a little nervous with trying Chinese Five Spice.  Kristen sent me a bottle and advised me to use in the place of pumpkin pie spice in baked goods. 

I used it in my crockpot cranberry sauce.  So yummy!  I also made some baked oatmeal and put it in.  It was so delicious.

It was also used as a topper for popcorn.  My sons love popcorn so I air popped some and the boys ate some with butter and salt.  My portion had EVOO and Chinese Five Spice. 

Thanks Kristen, I think Chinese Five Spice is my new favorite spice blend.  :)

She also sent me a bottle of of honey powder.  Hubby loves honey so he was intrigued with this.  He was pleasantly surprised by the taste. 

The night I got it, I used it in a mug of hot tea.  It added a certain depth of flavor to the tea.  It was delicious! 

The next two items are my favorite!  I love mint.  In fact, I order lattes with peppermint when I go to coffee shops.  My favorite tea is Tazo's refresh tea which has different types of mint in it.

I had some on air popped popcorn.  It was so good.

  The last item was Ceylon "True" Cinnamon.  I love the smell and taste of cinnamon.  I make Snickerdoodles every Christmas as part of my holiday baking.  The Wee One needed cookies for a Thanksgiving feast at school.  He asked me for Snickerdoodles.  As we were making the dough and then baking them, he told me it smelled like Christmas.  He identifies the smell of cinnamon as a Christmas smell.

After I opened the bag with the cinnamon in it, I kept smelling it.  At one point, I let the Wee One smell it.  He then wanted to take it outside for his friend to smell it also. 



Kristen also sent me a card with a cow on it with a wonderful note. 



Thank you again, Kristen!

What are we having? Week of November 5

As soon as I walk in the door, the boys ask me what's for dinner? This occurs at least 4 dozen times in the short time after I get home and before we sit down for dinner.

They also try to sneak in snacks because they are so hungry!!!! I keep telling them dinner is going to be on the table shortly. Mysteriously they forget.

This week starts a new/old challenge. I requested a transfer at work. I didn't think they would allow it. Lo and behold they did. I'm going back to the elementary school starting Tuesday. I'll be getting off of work at 3:30 instead of 2:25. An hour difference. I've got to be on too of my game.

I'm going to be following one if Eat at Home's menus this week with a few changes.

Monday . Pork carnitas, corn, tortilla chips and salsa (me), Pringles (the rest of the family)

Tuesday brown sugar chicken, stuffing, veggie

Wednesday Chicago style deep dish pizza pot pie, salad

Thursday south of the border skillet, salad

Friday lemon pepper chicken, bowtie pasta with feta, veggies

Saturday all veggie soup, cheddar biscuits

I thought I had blogged about this before but when I was looking for it, I couldn't find a blog entry about crockpot chicken.  If there is one, I apologize.

Cooking for a semi-picky eater is a challenge.  The Imaginative One is often fearful about trying new foods especially if he doesn't know what ingredients are in the meal.  This is one of his favorite ways to eat chicken and he has requested it for a birthday dinner before. 

I wanted to post this recipe because I have a few future recipes that are going to use some of the left-over chicken.  Any of the other left-over chicken is put in the meal size portions and then frozen for future meals.

Crockpot chicken

Star of the recipe:

• 4-5 pound chicken, giblets and neck removed and washed


• spices

Steps:

1. If there is any gibblets and neck, remove those.


2. Wash the chicken.


3. Place the chicken in the crockpot.  Breast side up.


4. Season with salt, pepper, or any other spice - it's your choice.


5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.


6. Once cooked, save the juices for stock.

Two days ago, I posted about the Foodie Pen Pals, I participated in.  Shania who sent my package lives in the area stricken by Superstorm Sandy.  She is a reader of my blog.  I just want to let her know that my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal - October

This month I participated in a Foodie Pen Pal through the Lean Green Bean. You are given a name of a person you buy goodies. Then you mail it. Another person gets your name and they buy you goodies and mail it to you. There is a spending limit of $15. Lindsey, the coordinator, is very organized and has specific directions.

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-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.



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I was paired up with Robin and Shania. For information on what I sent Robin, visit her blog at Red Robin's Nest. Shania from Eden Flour Patch sent me my foodie care package.

Here's a picture of all the goodies in the box.

These cookies look delicious for either a work treat or in my camera bag.


When Shania asked me my likes and dislikes, I mentioned coffee - medium or light roast. This coffee is the best of both worlds. - delicious coffee and Entenmann's pastry. I get the flavor of the pastry without all of the extra calories. When I make coffee at home, I will either drink it black or with Natural Bliss vanilla creamer. This will be good with that creamer.

There were 3 different kinds of Entenmann's coffee - Hazelnut, Chocolate doughnut, and cinnamon pastry.  Yum!

At work, I have a whole basket of magnets so I can hang things up on the whiteboard. In years past, it's been a filing system for me. When students need to finish an assignment for their regular class, I will hang it up on the board. It's so we don't lose it and so it's a visual reminder for me. Some of these magnets will go in the magnet basket. Some will go on my fridge.

More coffee. After my dinner the night I got the box, I made myself a cup of the coffee. It was super delicious !

Another box of cookies. This time with chocolate. Yum!

She also sent me some tea bags.  Those will be great on cool fall days.



Thanks for the great package, Shania.

Facebook

If you are reading my blog and are on Facebook, can you please come on over and like it.  Pretty please.  I've only 38 likes and one of them is my own.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Im-Hungry/148102251895946

Thanks so much!

Ranch dressing is always delicious with salad or for dipping raw veggies.  I had written this recipe down a few years ago and decided to make some to dip my celery in.

This would be a great Christmas gift. 

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Stars of the Recipe:

Mix:

• 
  
  2 Tbsp. dried parsley


• 1 tsp. dried dill


• 1 tsp. garlic powder


• 1/2 tsp. dried basil


• 1/2 tsp. pepper

Dressing:

• 1/3 c. mayo


• 1/4 c. milk

Directions:

1. Mix up all the mix ingredients.


2. For the dressing:  mix the mayo and milk with 1 Tbsp. of the mix ingredients.


3. Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.

 

One of my favorite blogs is Eat at Home. I've been following Tiffany's blog for the past 2 years. Each week she provides free weekly menus featuring recipes she has posted. The majority of her recipes are fuss free or little fuss recipes. The recipes are also delicious.

I got this recipe from the blog. She named it Skillet Chicken with Peppers and Tomatoes. I renamed it Italian chicken because my boys would have told me they didn't like it because it had peppers and tomatoes. When they did their daily ritual of asking me what was for supper, I told them Italian chicken.

I was lucky to find thin chicken breasts on sale when I did my weekly shopping. They were in a family pack for $10 and some change. I was going to be able to use the pack for 3 meals. That is a deal! Even though I told the Imaginative One that I spent a lot on the chicken and he needed to eat all of his serving. LOL!

The chicken needs to marinate overnight so plan ahead.

Italian Chicken

Based on a recipe from Eat at Home

Stars of the recipe:

Chicken marinade:

• Chicken tenders or chicken breasts thinly pounded (pounded between two pieces of wax paper - take all of frustrations out on the chicken)


• 1/2 bottle of Italian dressing


• 1/4 c. of soy sauce

Italian Chicken:

• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


• 3 to 4 pieces of marinated chicken


• 1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic


• 1/2 package of frozen onion and pepper mix


• 1 15 oz. can of crushed tomateos


• 1/2 box of penne pasta

Steps:

1. Cook the penne pasta, drain, and set aside. (This can be done while the chicken is cooking.)


2. Put the olive oil in the skillet. Heat it on med. heat.


3. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook on both sides until browned. (Discard the left over marinade.)


4. Add the garlic and onion and pepper mix to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes.


5. Add the can of crushed tomatoes.


6. Simmer over med. low heat for 10 minutes.


7. Serve with the penne pasta.


8. Enjoy!