French Toast Bread Pudding, Hashed Brown Potatoes, Pineapple Upside Down Cakes, Glazed Doughnut Muffins, Chik’n and Waffle Sliders, Meatball Subs on a Stick and Brownie Brittle…made with l♥ve by The Cookie Mama

Happy July! So it’s been a bit since I last posted anything.  It has been super busy over here. In the last few weeks we’ve celebrated the end of the school year, attended a soccer tournament, celebrated Victoria’s birthday, and welcomed a new family member…my niece Willow.  I have a TON of  recipes to share.  In fact, there are so many that I am actually going to save all the cookie recipes for another post.  I have six separate cookie recipes to share, so in homage to my first blog “Cookie of the Week,” I will post them all at a later date. If you are interested, here is the link to my previous cookie blog: http://chris-cookieoftheweek.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-1-wookiee-cookies.html.   Let’s get to the other recipes shall we?

The first recipe was for french toast bread pudding. It was inspired by the french toast casserole that I made for my Easter brunch.  I love this recipe as it is made in the slow cooker. I love love love my slow cooker/crock pot, but unfortunately I don’t use it a ton.  For that reason, I am always super excited to find slow cooker recipes.  I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and couldn’t wait to try it.   I am happy to report that it came out great.  We really enjoyed it, and I’d definitely make it again.  As I am sure it goes without saying, Ryan didn’t care for it.  Here is the link to the recipe:http://www.cookingwithlibby.com/2013/01/french-toast-bread-pudding-slow-cooker.html

The next recipe was for hashed brown potatoes.  We (and I don’t mean Ryan ☺) love love love potato dishes in our house.  I had a bunch of potatoes to use up, so I decided to try a new recipe. I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and decided to give it a try.  I usually cheat, and buy frozen potatoes when I make hash browns, but this time decided to make them from scratch.  It was totally worth it, and I’d definitely make these again.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://www.gratefulprayerthankfulheart.com/2011/06/hashed-browns-potatoes.html

The next recipe was for pineapple upside down cake.  As I have mentioned many times before, I bake every week for the staff of the elementary school office, and for Ryan’s teacher.  This is what I chose for one of the last weeks in May.  I love love love me some pineapple upside down cake, but don’t make it a ton.  I LOVED that this recipe used muffin tins, so everybody got their own individual cake…so much easier than slicing and then transporting it.  It got rave reviews, and I will definitely use this recipe again.  Ryan actually enjoyed this recipe…BONUS!!  Here is the link to the recipe I used: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pineapple-upside-down-cupcakes/c30fa990-ecf3-4664-a8e1-0a50c8c5c0a8?nicam4=SocialMedia&nichn4=Pinterest&niseg4=BettyCrocker&nicreatID4=Post&_szp=124369

Next, I made glazed doughnut muffins.  In keeping with the easily transportable dessert theme, I chose this for the school staff during the first week of June.  It was “super kids day” our school’s version of a field day, and I knew these muffins would be a cute and yummy treat.  This recipe made a lot of muffins so I was able to pass out extras to some school friends, and readers of the blog who follow me on Facebook.  I walked into school  with a ton of mufins and left with zero! Whoo hoo!!  I found this recipe on Pinterest,l and was intrigued by the name.  I love love love muffins, and think they are adorable, so I knew immediately that I’d make these eventually. I am not a huge fan of doughnuts, that said, I do love me a crueller every now and again. On the other hand, my family LOVES doughnuts (especially those little doughnut holes) so I was pretty sure they’d enjoy them. Well enjoy them they did.  Even Ryan gobbled up a few of these yummy muffins.  These got rave reviews as well, and I would definitely make them again.  Here is the link for the recipe I used: http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/glazed-doughnut-muffins/

The next recipe was for chik’n and waffle sliders.  Okay, so I have heard about this chicken and waffle craze.  As a vegetarian, however, I haven’t ever eaten chicken and waffles.  When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew it was a way for us to give it a shot.  The recipe uses chicken tenders, and there are multiple veggie friendly alternatives to both chicken tenders and nuggets. I used Quorn Snack Bites, which are an Italian style veggie chicken alternative. They are breaded and we (meaning Victoria and I) love them. Since Dan doesn’t prefer Quorn, I used Morning Star Farms chik’n nuggets for him.  Ryan of course just had waffles for dinner, as he doesn’t like any of the veggie chicken products. These sliders were yummy, and the three of us really enjoyed dinner.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://foodfolksandfun.net/2014/01/game-day-eats-chicken-waffle-sliders/ 

Next for dinner I made meatball subs on a stick. Of course I used a veggie alternative to the beef for the meatballs, so I guess this should be called veggie meatballs on a stick. 😉  I saw this recipe on…wait for it…yep you guessed it…Pinterest!  I swear Pinterest is responsible for 97% of my new recipes lately.  I am totally addicted to the website…as if you couldn’t guess.  Anyway, I saw this recipe and wanted to try it.  It’s like a deconstructed meatball sub, and it looked cute.  I like foods on a stick…think veggie friendly corndogs, and veggie kebobs, but don’t make them all that frequently.  This recipe looked cute, and bonus I got to use wooden skewers. Other than substituting veggie crumbles for the meat, I followed the recipe closely. I never have canned breadsticks though, so I had to pick some up especially.  I am happy to report that these came out great. That said, my subs on a stick weren’t too pretty.  I had a hard time getting the dough to cooperate so my picture definitely doesn’t match the website’s picture.  Dan of course was like “who cares, it tastes great!” I, on the other hand, know that we eat with our eyes first, so I wanted it to be pretty like the picture.  Oh well.  I would definitely make these again as they were yummy.  Maybe next time my breadsticks will cooperate.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://cookiesandcups.com/meatball-sub-on-a-stick/?crlt.pid=camp.TY6Ntd5Fes2w#_a5y_p=1319042

The last recipe is for brownie brittle. I picked up a bag of it at the oddest of places…Family, Farm, and Home. They don’t generally carry food, but as I was checking out with some gardening supplies, I saw a display of brownie brittle.  Ummm…yes please.  So I picked up a couple of bags, and my family literally devoured it. We liked it so much I was inspired to make some at home.  I searched Pinterest (of course), and came across a recipe right away.  It was for M&M brownie bark, but it looked close to the brownie brittle that we had inhaled. The result?  OMG…totally delicious, and totally addicting!  I didn’t have any M&M’s in the house, but the brittle was good even without it.  It tastes like really crispy brownies…almost like brownie chips. My family, including Ryan, LOVED it, and I will totally make it again.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://www.ihearteating.com/2013/12/06/mm-brownie-bark-recipe/

Like I mentioned above, we have been super busy.  That said, we have also been fortunate enough to carve out some family time and just be.  The kids have been swimming a lot, and my work load is pretty light these days.  Of course, I would like to be earning more, but I will totally take the extra time at home with the fam as opposed to the money.  In the last few weeks, we’ve had bonfires, practiced target shooting with Dan’s air rifle, played soccer, and had many laughs just the four of us at home.  Victoria and I have been watching Pretty Little Liars in marathon form.  We’ve rented the first four seasons from the video store, and watch them whenever we can.  Currently we have about 6 episodes until we are caught up with season airing now.  I didn’t really expect to enjoy this show so much as it is totally aimed at a much younger demographic. That said, Victoria and I are really spending some quality time together trying to figure out who “A” is.  Dan and Ryan have been spending just as much time glued to coverage of the World Cup. Unfortunately, Ryan’s favorite player, Oscar from team Brazil, was eliminated just yesterday 😦  We have a few things planned for the rest of the summer, but I am really enjoying not having a strict schedule to follow.  Hopefully in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to experiment with some new recipes, and then share them with you.  Until then, I hope you enjoy the nice weather and a few new recipes.  Take Care ♥♥