Pinterest and I have been great partners the last few weeks.

Oh my GOD this was delicious~ my 8 year old said "I am mad this is so good" (because he wanted to not like it) http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/07/honey-balsamic-chicken-tenders/ The only modification I made was swapping the chicken for Turkey breast that I sliced.

My husband adored this. Olive Garden copy cat recipe http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/11/olive-garden-copycat-minestrone-soup-slow-cooker/ I swapped the green beans for lima beans, and added quite a few more spices. Most importantly -> Trader Joe's 21 seasoning Salute - gave it a kick!

These lemon zucchini http://lilluna.com/glazed-lemon-zucchini-bread/ bread, was a little earthy for my tastes, but my children fought over the last one.  Even with the glaze it was obvious the zucchini was in there.

I made these carrot / zucchini muffins with the leftover zucchini.  I used the recipe for the lemon bread / minus the lemon, adding 1/2 cup brown sugar.

And here is the Alton Brown Challah Bread French Toast. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/french-toast-recipe.html

Damn straight you've got to eat this.

These Black Bean Brownies give no clue they're healthy for you.  The beans are well hidden.  I've posted my modifications to this recipe:

http://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/2011/09/gluten-dairy-free-black-bean-chocolate.html

Baking -- pinterest and beyond.

 These were so delicious.
Chocolate Molases Cookies.
The only thing I modified from this recipe:
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/03/chocholic-soft-chocolate-molasses-cookies.html
is I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the sugar you roll them in before baking.

Ok, I also didn't make them as large.

 

http://amandeleine.com/2013/05/01/cardamom-crescents/  

I made these from a webiste http://www.kitchenbelleicious.com/2012/05/22/homemade-nutter-butters-html/ and only changed the peanut butter in the filling to smooth because that is what I had on hand.  Everyone loved them, told me I was evil because they were so tasty.  I personally prefer actual nutter butters, but, hey... I'm not nabisco.

These take minimal effort and are so delicious, slightly healthy and great to give.  You'll need a food processor for the nuts. 

If you want an easy and fun dish to serve that is hand friendly, make this.  We used prepared pie crust, fresh (uncooked) spinach and the rest of the ingredients found : http://italianchips.com/spinach-pie/ It was gone very quickly, wish I'd made 2!

Top 10 Favorite Pinterest Finds of 2013

None of the photos are mine.  The credit goes to the link provided.

10. So, I had to make these 3 times in 1 week, as they kept getting gobbled up by my family, and of course, me.  EASY ~ delicious, and fun!

 (link Peanut Butter Frosted Brownies | Plain Chicken )

9.  My mom used this for the entire year, and asked for another one this year.  I made a few modifications, added a notes side bar, so she could write down appointments etc.   We used card stock, glue sticks and printed photos on photo paper.  Any present that gets used for a whole year is a big WIN!  (link An ounce of creativity ~Tutorial: 2011 Star desktop calendar )

8.  Brilliant.  Just needs no explanation.  Do it. a solution for bottles and travel mugs!  obviously this is not the original post - but, again, needs no tutorial.

This is great - no more searching for water bottles, no more avalanche of bottles from the cabinet.  Best $7 I've spent for a shoe rack (not my photo)

7.  Organizing my kids school work (and other "What do I do with this" stuff) Destination Domestication: Boxes  I store them in my walk in closet, and about once a month take a pile up and put in the boxes.  My best guess at the end of 1st grade we will have to start a new box, or I'll have to sift through and see what I can thin out.  I even started one for my husband and I.

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6. This idea, from rainbow themed birthday partyDomestic Goddesque I used this for my oldest birthday party, and the kids thought it was AWESOME that they got to take home balloons.  I loved it because I didn't have to deal with all the leftover balloons floating around my house!

5.  Lego's on the GO! : lego travel box we have used this handy trick so often, I bought another set of boxes last time I was at Ikea.  We have even used it for small super heroes, race cars, man I wish I'd thought of it, but SUPER glad someone pinned it!

4.  Cork circles.  Gorgeous way to display kids art, and when not in use, no ugly cork board to stare at.  -- my post Pinterest Again. | My Life on Standby  ~~> original pin Tablón de notas con salvamanteles de ikea | Muy Ingenioso  For mine, I bought fabric squares at JoAnn's then glued them over Ikea cork circles.  About 10 minutes of work for 1 year of use. 

3. NO more begging your kids to eat "just a few more bights"  We've used this trick quite often.

Dice as Vegetable Counter

Decide how many more bites of dinner your child has to eat before being excused. Let your child roll so he’s the one controlling his fate. You'll end up with a more peas-ful family meal.
Collette Mather
Teaneck, New Jersey

2.  Simply the tastiest Mac and Cheese Ever.  Bacon Mac & Cheese Recipe | Savory Sweet Life   I'm not going to lie, this took some effort.  But, hey every now and then a little effort gains big rewards. 

1. Blessing Bags: KWAVs: Blessing Bags How To This simply has changed the way I look at homeless people.  Having a bag ready in both cars at all times, makes it easy to do a good deed.  Giving money to beggars never felt right to me.  It teaches my kids the wrong message; throw money at the problem.  Instead, we all have learned a bigger lesson; be prepared to help others.  Whenever I am at the grocery or target etc., we keep an eye out for travel sized items.. soaps, razors.. for girls or boys, as men aren't the only homeless.  Also, we add a small bottle of water, apple and a pop top soup (obviously you don't want to include something that requires a can opener.)  Anyway... it's been a Blessing to us as well.  HIGHLY recommend this if you have homeless in your town.

My big pinterest FAIL.

To be Fair; there were no instructions with this pinterest pin, and I made no effort to find the original info.  I used my cheese grater to shred some potatoes and placed them in my preheated waffle iron. Pictured is 10 minutes in... after 20 minutes there were slightly more crunchy spots.  

Having cooked most of my life, what I would do next time: soak the shredded potatoes in water for 20 minutes or so, drain, place between two dish towels (lined with paper towels) and remove as much excess water as possible (this is the best way to make oven fries - crispy every time) and a small grooved iron - ours is particularly deep.

My husband enjoyed them, I did not.  After looking for the recipe to place in this post, I found a LOT of people have Failed at this recipe.

Here is a post with successful results : http://seasonedwithsarcasm.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/pinterest-idea-waffle-iron-hash-browns/

Pinterest Again.

The link for the project is below.  I found in on Pinterest a while back and finally completed it.

http://www.muyingenioso.com/tablon-de-notas-con-salvamanteles-de-ikea/





I used Tacky Glue & Quilting squares from Joann's.
The cork circles were a 3 pack from Ikea.


    Then I used the command strips to hang them on the side of my cabinet in the kitchen.  Pretty and a convenient place to post the kids art work.

There was some sort of error and the second post was lost. :(

Pinterest in real life

Last weekend I decided to open up my Pinterest boards and find stuff for the kids to do.

We made puff paint, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water

Then add your tempura paint or food coloring.

It worked.. But I suggest using recycled ketchup bottles, so you can squeeze the paint out.

NEXT we tried the "car wash" baking soda and vinegar.

 Let them play in the baking soda as loooooong as possible, because the next step fizzles quick.

  

 The kids say their cars are cleaner than ever. So there is that. I'd rather do the old fashioned volcano with the baking soda and vinegar... Because it seemed like a huge waste of both products.