Seven Links Game

I saw this fun game over at Jenn's blog, and some others, and usually it is an invite kinda challenge, but Jenn left it open to anyone to participate, so I jumped on it! I've been wanting to play this game! I love games... I'm a kid at heart.

1. The most beautiful post - While I don't find any of my posts particularly beautiful, or as beautiful as I would like I guess, it would definitely have to be one of my more recent posts, when my photography improved. I'd probably have to say this Chocolate Chip Blondies post because I like my photos. I took the photos in natural light, which makes a big difference of course, and though they're not as in focus as I'd like and not taken with a dslr, I'd say I like these pics the best. A close second would be these colorful Cereal Treat Easter Eggs, they are adorable, and oh-so-tasty too!

2. The most popular post -  Blogger "Stats" says it's this delicious Loaded Baked Potato Dip, which I had no idea was so popular. Thanks for letting me know, and making it easy for me, Blogger :)

3. The most controversial post  - I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to write here? I don't really talk about controversial topics on my blog.... um... um... I'm stalling... Look, over there! {points far off in the distance}

Hopefully you've lost your focus and forgotten about that question...

4. The most helpful post - Hmm... I'll say this post for Baked Creamy Chicken Flautas because I taught you guys a little Mexican terminology lesson, with the help of my good friend Wikipedia.

5. Post that's surprisingly successful - Garlic and Lemon Roasted Asparagus, because it's a super simple recipe that I'm surprised has been so successful with pageviews. But sometimes the basics are the best recipes :)  I'm not really sure if that's what the question was asking, but that's how I interpreted it.

6. Post that did not get attention it deserved - Creamy Lime Cilantro Ranch Dressing... since it didn't get any comments at all  :(  I loved loved loved this recipe the first time I made it. The second time, I'll admit, it tasted a little too mayo-y. Not really sure why. So please make this recipe but keep my comment in mind and maybe cut back on the mayo.

 
7. Post you are most proud of - My First Award because I was so proud to win an award. I used to wonder if I'd ever earn a blog award, so when I did I cherished that like it was my baby. I've got the badge proudly displayed on my sidebar :)



Hope you've had fun getting to know me! You didn't really have a choice, now did you? 

:)

Peace, and bacon grease!

Menu Planning - Week of 9/12/11

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was sick with  a cold so I was resting up a bit and just lounging around the house, cleaning at times, and watching football. Go Bengals!!! Who Dey!!! :)

I'm excited for this week's menu plan. Food always excites me, actually. Trying new recipes excites me, as well as remaking meals that I know we already love! While I was perusing over at Cassie's blog, I saw her recipe for biscuits over creamed chicken on her menu plan, and knew we'd be making it. Got some refrigerated biscuits to use up. And we are also having homemade cornmeal biscuits as a side this week, to use up some leftover cornmeal in the pantry. To go with the cornmeal biscuits, we'll be having alfredo lasagna roll-ups to use up some lasagna noodles we have leftover. I love finding recipes that use up ingredients I already have on hand. I'm usually not great at selecting recipes based on what we need to use up, and we end up wasting things sometimes... I hate that! So I love when I can find some delicious-sounding recipes that also don't require me to spend more money that I don't need to, and also save me a trip to the grocery store to pick up more ingredients.

I'm also adding Martha Stewart's Chicken Fried Rice to the menu plan, as it was my pick for Martha Mondays, and I've got some rice to use up.

Oh, and we're just having that chili because I can't pass up beer, bacon, and chocolate all in one dish. Just sayin.

Monday 9/12/11:  PJ works late, pick something up

Tuesday 9/13/11:  Chicken Fried Rice

Wednesday 9/14/11:  Biscuits over Creamed Chicken

Thursday 9/15/11:  date night out

Friday 9/16/11:  Alfredo Lasagna Roll-Ups, with cornmeal biscuits

Saturday 9/17/11:  Beer Bacon Chocolate Chili

Sunday 9/18/11:  grill out with family?

I didn't get to go over my family's last week for Labor Day to grill out and play cornhole, so if the weather is right (and I think it's supposed to be!) we may go over this weekend.




Peace, and bacon grease!

Vote for My Mac & Cheese Recipe.... please, and thank you :)

I've got a favor to ask.

I don't ask for those often, do I?

So could ya help me out? I knew you would!

Alls it takes is a tiny bit of work. And I'll even walk you through it.

I'll need you to go on over to my Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese post, read it fully, of course. Then scroll to the bottom where you'll see a blog hop. My recipe is #16 - Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese.

Then click on the "Like" button to vote for my recipe.

We're trying to see who has the best mac and cheese recipe in this Crazy Cooking Challenge we are doing. So everyone must vote for their fave recipe. Sorry, I don't think I made that very clear in my original post. So I thought I'd plug it again and get yalls' votes!

Vote for me or we're not friends anymore.

I'm just kidding! Nothing could break up our friendship!!!!  : )

Peace, and bacon grease!

The Crazy Cooking Challenge - and Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

I'm very happy to be participating in a fun monthly linky party hosted by Tina from Mom's Crazy Cooking, called Crazy Cooking Challenge, where each month there is a different food item featured and we each make a recipe using that featured food item and blog about it on the same day. But it's gotta come from a fellow blogger, which is totally fine by me because I have tons of mac and cheese recipes bookmarked from blogs that I stalk visit. Kinda like the Secret Recipe Club that I'm in, except that it's not a secret, and it's a personal challenge instead of being tied to someone else's blog. Either way, I'm game!

The first month, we are all making macaroni and cheese recipes. I couldn't pass that up, as I'm definitely a mac and cheese kinda gurl. Like, I'll try pretty much any kind of mac and cheese. And I'll expect it to be good, because it's mac and cheese for crying out loud! :) I chose a wonderful mac and cheese recipe from Christy's blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything. Have you guys checked out her blog? If you have, I'm sure you've fallen in love with all of her creations like I have. I love her food, I love her photography, I just love her site! So it was no surprise when I found this delectable mac and cheese dish on her site.

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

slightly adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

• 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 lb (8 oz) elbow macaroni
• 1/2 of a small Vidalia onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/8 cup hot sauce, divided
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 and 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 lb sharp cheddar, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch dish with cooking spray.


In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain. Return pasta to the large pot.


Melt 1.5 tbsp butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked chicken and garlic and cook for 2 minuets. Add 1/4 cup hot sauce and simmer until thickened for about a minute.


Melt 1 tbsp butter in a medium pot on medium heat. Add flour and mustard, stir. Add half and half, and remaining 1/8 cup hot sauce and stir for 2 minutes. Add cheddar and pepper jack cheese, then sour cream and whisk.


In the large pasta pot, add the the chicken mixture and cheese sauce in with the pasta and toss to combine well. Pour into the 9x13 greased baking dish.


Melt remaining 1 tbsp butter in a bowl and microwave until melted. Add panko bread crumbs, blue cheese, and parsley and stir. Pour over the mac and cheese and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Printable Recipe

The only change we made was to half the original recipe, as well as up the chicken amount by a bit. We halved it, and we still got a casserole dish-worth out of it! So it was plenty for the both of us. We loved this macaroni and cheese so much. I love the addition of the blue cheese and panko topping - I always enjoy blue cheese to my buffalo anything, and the panko added a nice texture. I was surprised how much I loved the crunch from the celery, because usually I'm not too keen on celery. But it worked great in this dish. I've tried a different buffalo macaroni and cheese recipe also which I still need to blog about, and this one is my favorite so far. Definitely a keeper!

Won't you come join me at the Crazy Cooking Challenge? October is Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes!  

I'm linking up to a new linky that I was just told about - Simply Delish Saturday. Thanks for inviting me over, KB and Whitesnake! I'm also adding this to Miranda's Mac and Cheese Quest.

Oh, and don't forget to visit these other awesome blogs and click "Like" to vote for the Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Recipe! I'd appreciate a vote.... I'm #16 on the blog hop below :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Bacon Pancakes with Maple-Peanut Butter Syrup

I love breakfast food. The sweet, the savory, the salty, the meaty, the breads, all of it. And pancakes are no exception. I didn't really start eating them until I was older and could make them on my own. I've made them with Bisquick mix, as well as homemade. This recipe comes from Betty Crocker and is a jazzed-up version using Bisquick mix.

I did think these pancakes were a bit too sweet. I know, I'm shocked too! PJ doesn't care about bacon as much as I do. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for being with someone who doesn't share my love of bacon :)  Just kidding, just kidding. But strangely, the bacon inside of the pancakes didn't do much for me, and neither did the sauce. Maybe it was the combination of the peanut butter syrup, which was a bit overpowering and sweet. If I made this again, I would definitely not pour as much peanut butter syrup on top of the pancakes. I'm usually a sauce kinda gurl, but sometimes I'll admit too much can be a turn off.


We cooked the whole peanut butter syrup recipe, since I thought I would love it. And we halved the pancakes recipe. I didn't have an electric mixer - it's on my want list - so I just beat it with my hands really well. Instead of real bacon pieces from a package, I cooked 4 slices of bacon, measured out 1/4 cup, and ate the rest.


What?


You guys knew that would happen :)

Bacon Pancakes with Maple-Peanut Butter Syrup

slightly adapted from Betty Crocker

* Yields: 6 pancakes total ( 2 servings of 3 pancakes each)

Maple-Peanut Butter Syrup

• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Pancakes

• 1 cup Original Bisquick mix
• 3/8 cup milk
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
  

For syrup, in a small microwave-safe bowl, beat peanut butter and butter with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup syrup until well mixed. Heat in the microwave to warm the syrup.

Heat a nonstick 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat.

In a medium bowl, stir all the pancake ingredients except the bacon with a wire whisk or fork until blended. Stir in crumbled bacon.

For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot skillet. Cook 2 or 3 minutes or until edges are dry and batter starts to bubble. Turn, cook other side until golden brown. Serve pancakes with syrup.

Printable Recipe

Oh, and do you see that pic on the Betty Crocker site? Those beautiful, perfectly browned pancakes? And I've seen many blogs that just have gorgeous pancakes that are nice and thick but also golden brown. Mine always turn out thin, they've got the sag and flimsy effect, and when I try to get them golden brown they sometimes burn a bit. Practice makes perfect, I guess. At least I've got some great inspiration from which to improve!

Peace, and bacon grease!

Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

I'll take any excuse to use some delicious but fatty alfredo sauce.

And this recipe was a great reason.

We just kinda came up with this recipe because we had chicken, leftover alfredo sauce, and we love mushrooms. No other explanation needed, eh?

I like to buy the Miller Brand Amish Chicken from our local grocery store. They have way less fatty extra skin on them and I don't have to cut off much fat. Plus they  just make me feel better about myself that I'm getting healthier chicken.

Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

from the kitchen of SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl

• 1 lb fettuccine
• 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and diced
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• garlic powder
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• leftover Alfredo Sauce
• 3 tbsp green onions, chopped

In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions on package.

Saute mushrooms in 1 tbsp butter. Season with salt while mushrooms are cooking, stir.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. In a skillet, melt the other 1 tbsp butter and minced garlic and saute the chicken until done.

Reheat the alfredo sauce in a small pot.

Serve by topping the pasta with alfredo sauce, chicken, mushroom, and green onions. Or you can mix the alfredo sauce in with the pasta, or mix it all together.

Printable Recipe

I could eat this very often. But I probably shouldn't... that danged high-calorie alfredo sauce! But please indulge once in awhile and make this delicious meal. The extra calories are well worth it.

Peace, and bacon grease!

Restaurant Review : Zola Pub and Grill in Covington, KY

 

I'm back in action with the blog design. It's pretty much how I want it now, except for maybe a bolder, fancier navbar. But I hope you all like it, and it's pleasing to the eye :)

PJ and I headed to Zola Pub and Grill in Mainstrasse in Covington, KY for a lunch date a couple of months ago. I had purchased a half off deal from Livingsocial so we were excited for a cheap lunch and to spend time together. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so we decided to sit right out front at a small table right by the front door. I was happy to find a parking spot on the street close by.

I had heard reviews about their burger, some good and some bad. So I needed to find out for myself.  All of their burgers are 1/2 lb burgers made of choice Black angus beef. I ordered The Spicy Jack Burger, a blackened seasoned burger with bacon, banana peppers, and pepper jack cheese, all for $7.25. The burger sounded amazing, but I was a bit disappointed. I did not enjoy the taste of the burger... in fact, I took maybe two bites and didn't eat anymore. It tasted to me more like a sausage burger, but one that I didn't like, which is strange because usually I love sausage. It just didn't taste like a beef burger to me. I wanted to like it, I did. I was excited about the thickness of the burger and that it looked handmade and not like a frozen patty, and the toppings looked beautiful atop that plump piece of meat. But the taste just wasn't up to par for me. PJ ordered the Mushroom Burger with pepper jack cheese. He enjoyed his and didn't think it tasted strange like I did. I just wasn't impressed, since I had expectations for it to possibly be one of the better burgers in Cincy. This burger wouldn't meet my top 5 burgers. It sure did look pretty though. 

PJ's Mushroom Burger

My Spicy Jack Burger

Up-close shot of my Spicy Jack Burger.

I spent most of my lunch munching on our appetizer. We started with the Cajun Cheese Fries. These were thick steak fries sprinkled with cajun seasoning and topped with cheese, bacon, jalapenos, and sour cream. These were delicious, as you guys know I'm a sucker for bacon and potatoes. Not too soggy, and had a nice flavor and the toppings were a nice addition. If I went back, I would definitely order them again.

If you are wanting to try a burger - they've got Burger Mania every Wednesday where you can get a burger with up to 5 toppings and a side for only $6.00. Or stop by on Monday for their $.50 wing deal. I'm not screaming to go back, but if someone else wanted to, I would join along, order those fries again, and try some of their wings. They are known for their burgers and wings, and since I didn't have much luck with their burger, maybe the wings would be better. I'll let ya know :)


Peace, and bacon grease!