Food - Part 2

As you have read, I LOVE Pinterest.  I love the variety and enjoy trying new things from there.  

In this edition, we have: 

Man-Pleasing Chicken - http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/

Delicious and super easy.  The thing you have to look out for is over-caramelized sugars in the marinade.

Honey Beer Bread – http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/honey-beer-bread/

Super easy and so good!  I am excited because I saw they have a Pumpkin Beer Bread recipe for the fall season!!!

Hasselback Potatoes - http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html

This wasn't my idea, but rather a BBQ-ing friend.  I over buttered these babies and they were so good!!!

Pad Thai – http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/

I am making this almost weekly.  It is a simple weeknight dinner for me.  I typically add frozen shrimp as my protein and can take or leave teh bean sprouts.

Snickerdoodle Poppers – http://www.ohbiteit.com/2012/12/snickerdoodle-poppers.html

I made this for a get-together and had to keep myself from eating them all.  The recipe is very similar to how I made donuts when I was younger.  I used our meat injector rot fill these babies wiht pudding!

Tortellini & Pepperoni Pasta Salad - http://simpledelicioussouthernfood.blogspot.com/2012/08/here-is-delicious-and-refreshing-summer.html

Another super simple meal choice. I like to slice up a cheese stick to add to the mix.

Quinoa Fried Rice - http://www.cookingforkeeps.com/2013/03/27/quinoa-fried-rice/

"Hard boiled" Eggs

Baby Stuff - Car Seat Cover & Stroller Cup Holder

Before my son was born, I had 6 weeks of "nothing" going on, so I was quite crafty.  I was addicted to Pinterest and saw so many things I could make that would help me once the baby arrived.  One of the things I thought would be very helpful was a carseat cover similar to this one:

For mine, I used a monkey pattern and a solid brown cover.  

It was pretty easy to make and fit well on our car seat.  However, I didn't use it much because I had a summer baby and the weather was so warm.  By the time winter rolled around, LBH really liked to see the world so we didn't use many covers.  I kept it in the car for events where I didn't have a blanket.

I also found this cute stroller cup holder and thought it would work well with our Jeep Stroller.

I ordered some laminated cotton from Etsy and chose another monkey pattern because I love Monkeys and I wanted to keep baby things gender neutral since we didn't find out LBH's gender and plan on having another child.  The hardest part of making this was the sewing the circle then adding the "tab" portion.  I ended up sewing the tab on at a slight angle and it is slighly eschewed.  The holder works well for water bottles and some drink to-go cups.  If I choose to make another one, I will make it slightly larger because I rarely used it for baby things.

Here's my version:

(Note, it needs to be repaired as one of the snaps as come loose!)

Bleach Pen Shirts

This was an early Pinterest project as well.  I get inspired by clothing I see in department stores but refuse to pay a high price.  I often look at things and say "I could make that."  This was one such project.  While I was pregnant, I found some cheap shirts in a size bigger than I wore pre-pregnancy and decided to take a stab at bleach pen desigining.  I was inspired by many things on the internet.  I made a green shirt to wear for St. Patrick's day and modified another shirt that was a victim to oil spatter.

I also found a link about making your own maternity pants.  I bought some clam diggers to wear early on in my pregnancy, then modified them after they no longer fit.

Stationary - Announcements

Boy do I love Pinterest for all the creative ideas.  I saw so many things for babies and a few for other members of my family.  I replicated a birth announcement for my godson as well as my son.  I was inspired by the original.....here's my version......

I also found a cute way to announce my parents's 25th anniversary party so I created my own....

Food - its what's for dinner!

Pinterest is known for the many recipes and food ideas.  Here are a few I have tried….Million Dollar Spaghetti, Homemade Pecan Turtles, Brownie Cheesecake Bites, Easy Banana Bread, Pancake Bites, Paula Dean’s Monkey Bread, and Pumpkin Muffins.

Million Dollar Spaghetti

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product before we anihilated it.

Easy Banana Bread - though mine is without the chocolate chips because I forgot to add them.  This was so good, my Mum asked for the recipe!

Pancake Bites - I made this in 2 batches from the original post without adding bacon or banana.  I neglected to factor in that the original poster used a 24 mini cupcake tin and I only have a 12 mini cupcake tin. 

I made the 2nd batch while the first was cooking and figured I would just make "smaller" versions in my regular sized cupcake tin.  Apparently that was the way to go!!!

Homemade Pecan Turtles - this was more effort than satisfaction.  In the future I will simply buy pecan turtles. 

I also did not drizzle my caramel, but rather poured....bad idea

Brownie Cheesecake Bites - delicious and so worth the effort.  They really are reminiscent of the Mini Brownie bites by Hostess

Baby Photo Shoot

Pinterest truly is amazing.  I find myself sucked into its goodness for hours.  It is a wonderful site to look through while feeding my son or pumping.  Once I got the app for my kindle fire, it dramatically increased my Pinterest browsing.  I love how so many people can share their creativity as well as their likes to the world.  Pinterest has had some valuable advice for the new mom as well as advice that I plan to use down the road. 

My favorite part of Pinterest has been anything and everything related to babies.  I got many ideas about the photos I wanted of my son from Pinterest.  I shared those ideas with our photographer and here are the results:

 

Original - Couple Kissing over Baby

 

 

 

 

Our Version - Falynn DialPhotography version

 

 

 

Original - Creative Birth Announcement

 

Our Version - Falynn DialPhotography version

 

 

 

Original - Chalk Names

 

 

Our Version courtesy of our friend Casey

 

 

 

Original - Three Hearts

 

 

Our Version courtesy of Falynn Dial Photography

 

 

 

Original - Couple looking at baby

 

Our Version courtesy of Falynn Dial Photography

 

 

 

Original - Wedding Ring Toes

 

 

Our Version courtesy of Falynn Dial Photography

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

This was the first food project I undertook after discovering Pinterest.....Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes. It was fairly easy and delicious.  I made these treats for "Treat Thursday" at school.  I was inspired by a friend who took treats in for her Resident Assistants (RAs) at the local college.  I told our librarian about it and she began making treats for her independent study students.  Occasionally the students would take over the treat making.

Here was the original post/inspiration:

Here is my version:

As mentioned above, it was easy to accomplish and delicious.  I think I would prefer this method over making a proper cake.