Crab Cakes In A Muffin Pan

This is one of those posts that I couldn't decide on a title for right away. I spent the day getting sidetracked yesterday with intentions of posting, but totally forgot I had somewhere to go, so I had to ditch the blog and get ready to go. I was going to see Lexi & Mary perform in their bible school program. Lexi lives to perform and this was Mary's first time going.

This post an assortment of photos taken over the past couple of days. I didn't include everything, but I did try to use the more interesting things.

Ok, so a bagel with cream cheese and coffee is not so interesting, but it was really good and I tend to leave out breakfast shots when I have several days to blog about. 

My fruit & yogurt cereal bowl was yummy and it looked so good, I included it also. There's cheerios, GV's Crunchy Oat Squares (their version of Life cereal), & Crunchy Honey Oats (like Honey Bunches of Oats) plus chopped walnuts under vanilla yogurt, granny smith apple and dried cranberries. Usually the store brands of cereal are pretty close to the Name Brand cereals, so if I can get the same cereal for less, I'm going for it. I can use the extra money for things that don't come in a generic version.

One more piece of that Rich Creamy Chocolate Pie.

Salsa and Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos

The last of my strawberries.

Tai Pei vegetable egg rolls and broccoli salad with Makoto Ginger Dressing.

Toasted everything bread, Stouffer's Mac & Cheese, and steamed broccoli with Worcestershire sauce.

I also made an updated version of my Cajin Crab Cakes*, which we put in a muffin pan and baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. They did stick a little because I being out of cooking spray, I used vegetable oil instead.

I had one with seasoned fries, hushpuppies, and a salad of spinach, tomato, cucumber, onion, and spicy ranch.

This is a shot I got of the girls watching tv. I was enjoying the quiet time. Quiet time....lasted all of about 5 minutes, then Lexi realized Mary was sitting on her lap, lol.

*I'm having trouble seeing the photos on the crabcakes recipe page. If you can't see them either, please let me know. I am going to try to update them to see if that helps. Thanks! Have a great day!!!

Food Recap Collages

It's been a while since my last real post, unless you count the chocolate pie recipe post. I did a few collages of the food I've enjoyed this past week which included a couple of food splurges. I sort of played around making the collages trying to see what looks the best so please excuse me, if they aren't so great.

I've enjoyed lots of salads and sandwiches lately. We went to Casa Grande for dinner one night. I got the taco salad, which isn't really one of their vegetarian options, but I was hoping for something lighter. I always ask them to replace the meat with refried beans & rice. I also ask them to hold the guacamole, but they didn't get that part right unfortunately. I don't hate it, so I just took what I could off. For me their taco salad is hit or miss. This time it was a miss, but not so bad, just not as light as I'd hoped. It was mostly beans, cheese, & rice and very little salad.

I also did my own slightly lighter version of a taco salad at home. My salads lately have included, fresh mushrooms, iceberg, spinach, carrots, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, and onion. My taco salad was topped with a few crushed Doritos, nacho cheese sauce, light sour cream, and taco sauce.

Another salad I enjoyed with vegetable egg rolls, was a broccoli salad mix with Makoto Ginger Dressing. I could drink the dressing it is so good. It's also great on rice, but it's a little more expensive than my regular salad dressing, so it's a splurge for me.

Here are some of the sandwiches I've had, two on slices of everything bread and one on an onion roll. They all included veggie burgers and spinach. I think the one with mushroom and white cheddar was the best.

Another splurge was for a jar of JIF Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Spread. This is the stuff. It's really not much more expensive than a jar of regular JIF peanut butter, but these days, buying name brand anything is expensive. I do love that it comes in a glass jar. I like collecting wide mouth food jars for food storage. The peanut butter and salsa jars make great storage for trail mix, dried fruits, nuts, etc. and look great on open shelves, which I hope to have some day.

Well, this was my week in food. I hope you see something you like. Today I plan to catch up on cleaning and take advantage of our slightly cooler temperature for the day, although I'm not looking forward to the heatwave predicted to follow. Have a great week and if it's hot where you are, stay cool!!

Rich Creamy Chocolate Pie Recipe

This is a recipe I threw together because I couldn't find one exactly like I wanted. It is made with cream cheese, no layers to make. All the ingredients are blended together for a smooth, rich, creamy, chocolate pie that's quick & easy to make.

Forgive the photo. My pie crust was sort of a flop, but aside from the look of it, the pie was a winner.

Ingredients:

2 small pkgs. of instant chocolate pudding mix

1 - 8oz. pkg. of lite cream cheese

2 Cups + 1 Tbsp 2% milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Cup of thawed Whip Topping (Cool Whip, etc.)

1 pie crust of your choosing ( I used a refrigerated pie crust, which I baked before adding the pudding mixture.)

Directions:

1. Put cream cheese into a small bowl and microwave at 10 second intervals until it can be stirred. Approximately 20-30 secs. total. 
2. Blend cream cheese with 1 Tbsp of milk + 1 Tbsp sugar and set aside.
3. Blend pudding mix with 2 cups of milk in a large mixing bowl until it starts to thicken.
4. Add cream cheese mixture to pudding mixture and blend thoroughly. It will be thick.
5. Fold in 1 cup of whipped topping until thoroughly combined.
6. Fill pie crust with pudding mixture and refrigerate until chilled. 

Enjoy!

A Trip To Sams

This is another Tuesday Update, a summary of what I've been into for the last few days, a little late as usual. 

I haven't been feeling too good, sort of sluggish lately and today was no exception, but I did have a pretty good weekend. I made a couple of picture collages so, there wouldn't be quite as many to post, one of the breakfasts I've had, one big cup of coffee everyday, Cinnamon French toast sticks, toast with cream cheese, apple slices, & warm peach preserves, and a fruit & yogurt cereal bowl with life cereal, honey crunch flakes, cheerios, vanilla yogurt, & chunks of apple sprinkled with cinnamon.

My favorite meal was a MSF riblet with red potato salad and a slaw type salad mix from Walmart. It was the Marketside Southwestern Chopped salad. A spicy salad of cabbage, romaine, cilantro, carrots, green onion, jalapeno, cheddar cheese, chipotle ranch dressing, and crunchy tortilla chips.

We got the potato salad from Sam's. I also got a big container of fresh strawberries among other the other things.

I also got a big soft pretzel with mustard before leaving Sam's. It was super soft and salty. It was a pretty good pretzel. I was glad it wasn't sourdough. Sourdough pretzels aren't my favorite.

I had a few great sweet snacks here and there as well. A big slice of German chocolate cake with coffee being one......

......and a slice of Edwards chocolate pie as another.

I have plans for those strawberries as well, that I intend to take care of today. I guess I'll get to that now. Have a great evening!!!

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Flat Bread Pizza

This post is more like my usually posts. I had extremely good food yesterday. Breakfast wasn't my favorite, but I forgot to get any of my usual breakfast stuff last week and it wasn't too bad despite the fact that I'm not big on milk & cereal. I basically just had banana on my honey nut cluster cereal, because DH bought more bananas than he was capable of eating by himself and I already and banana slices in the freezer. I really miss my hand blender and my smoothies. Hopefully I'll be able to get another one soon.

The highlight of my day (and this is sad) was my Buffalo Chick'n Flat Bread Pizza made with MorningStar Farms Chick'n Strips. I also used 1 frozen whole grain flat bread (I bought & then put in the freezer) for the crust & GV spicy ranch dressing for the sauce.  I thawed my chick'n strips in the microwave and sprinkled them with Texas Pete.

Then I topped it with some Pizza blend shredded cheese and popped it in the toaster oven to bake for about 8-10 minutes.

It was awesome, but I did have to add a little more Texas Pete.

I will be making this again. It was the best way I've tried to eat the chick'n strips and the flat bread makes the perfect mini pizza crust. The picture is making my mouth water thinking about it.

My afternoon snack was a few salted almonds and some raisins, a great sweet/salty snack.

I had a broccoli cheese stuffed baked potato for dinner and a big salad on the side. I had an early dinner.

I had iceberg, green pepper, tomato, & cucumber with light ranch and black pepper. I used a little butter in my potato, then added some steamed frozen broccoli, and a slice of white American cheese. I baked my potato in the oven. I just don't care for a microwaved potatoes. It never cooks evenly and you don't get that crispy skin on the outside, which is really the best part.

I just noticed yesterday that Lucas also eats the potato skin. DH does not. He is not the most healthy eater and unfortunately for him there's no changing him apparently. He has always been a meat & potato man, mostly meat.

Since dinner was early, I needed an evening snack, so I had half an apple with a few peanut butter crackers. I've really been craving the sweet and salty stuff.

Well, that's it for this week. I'd love to hear your favorite way to eat MSF chick'n strips or maybe some more ideas for flat bread pizza? Stay tuned for Tuesday's update. Have a great weekend!!!

Have A Snicker Biscuit

Snicker Biscuit? It sounds like a pet name for your sweet heart, right? Oh, my little snicker biscuit......Well it's really a snack or a dessert, however you choose look at it. It's a creation of Lucas' which I perfected a little. I tried his version and then made a slight improvement.

You start with a Peanut Butter Snickers candy bar and a leftover Grands canned biscuit. You could actually make two with one candy and 2 biscuits.

The PB Snickers bars come in squares, which I love. I almost never eat a whole candy bar. In Lucas's version, you take one square and place it in the middle of a biscuit which has been cut in half, then put it in the microwave for a few seconds to heat until the candy is melted. I found this method can make the biscuit a little chewy.

I prefer the toaster oven method. Here you cut the snickers square in half and place one on each half of the biscuit. Then you place the biscuit in the toaster oven to toast, bake, or broil it until the biscuit is slightly browned and the candy is melted.

Now squish the two halves together for a warm tasty little treat. It's so much more satisfying than one little square of chocolate.

Do you have any unusual snack creations? I hope you enjoy this one. Do you think I should add it to the recipe page?

I totally forgot shots of dinner last night, which is why I went with the Snicker Biscuit post. I was a bit overwhelmed last night. DH wanted chicken livers (yuck) for dinner. They are only my least favorite thing to cook. I should have married a vegetarian. I also don't like frying food. I baked them. Maybe that will discourage him from asking for more, lol. Have a great day!!!

Three Days Of Fun

Here are a few pictures from the last few days. They were sort of hectic, but we had a pretty good weekend despite the fact that we had a lot going on. There was a birthday party to attend, grocery shopping to be done and I also had to retrieve my camera. I didn't get as many pictures at the party as I would have liked, but I did manage to get a few.

The girls had a great time and Autumn is such a cutie. We enjoyed be able to celebrate her birthday with her.

 

 There were snacks and sandwich before having the cake and ice cream.

I totally forgot to get a shot of my plate of snacks, but I did get a photo of my cake and ice cream.

The next few shots are of some of the food I had over the last few days.

My toasted biscuit with butter & honey.

My Smart Ground flat breat pizza.

I even had a root beer. I normally just drink water, tea or coffee, but occasionally I have a soft drink. The root beer was really fizzy, so I drank part of it on Sunday & had the rest yesterday.

Cream cheese & vegetable crackers.

Dinner at Dana & Jerry's after picking up my camera.

The girls & I painted with water colors yesterday. Lexi got the idea for a hand puppet after watching Jimmy Neutron. Mary had to have one too.

Mary had fun just playing in the high chair, buckling & unbuckling, painting, eating, putting hair barrettes in her hair, and posing for the camera.

We had 3 days of fun and now I need a nap, lol. I went to bed early last night and 9 hours later was rudely awakened by an unwelcome alarm. I'd love to just sleep until I wake up once, just to see how long that would be. It took a bit to get this together. Trying to fit 3 days into one post is very difficult for an indecisive person. How was your weekend? Could you fit it all into one post, lol? Have a great day!!!

PictSweet Southwest Potatoes, Corn, And Black Beans Review

I forgot to post my Sunday dinner photos and it seems a little late to be posting them, since it's already Friday, so I thought I would just do a regular post for yesterday with a review of PictSweet's Southwest Potatoes, Corn, & Black beans along with a leftover makeover on my Smart Ground spaghetti sauce.

First I will tell you about the breakfast I had yesterday. Nothing spectacular to look at, but it was very yummy. I had my big cup of half caf with one of the guys leftover biscuits. There were two. I ate one and Lucas had the other. Lucas sliced his and placed a peanut butter snickers square inside and placed it in the microwave. I haven't tried that yet, but he swears it's awesome. I sliced mine, toasted it in the toaster over, then spread it with a nice thick later of honey & butter. My biscuit was pretty awesome too. I've added biscuits to the grocery list again. I'm looking forward to another one of these.

For lunch I had an ear of corn & leftover linguine with my Smart Ground spaghetti sauce. It seemed a little better than when I first made it, probably because it was warm this time, lol.

I had a sweet craving so I fished this little snack cake out of the freezer. It wasn't quite what I was in the mood for. It was just too little and dry.

Later I had another snack since the first was not satisfying. I had an apple with the last of my graham crackers spread with peanut butter. It was much more satisfying. The apple was juicy and more filling.

I tried PictSweet's Southwest Potatoes, Corn, & Black Beans in Queso Sauce with dinner last night.

 The potatoes had a great flavor, but the beans were a little under done. The corn was over cooked, chewy and sticky, but the potatoes were just right. I'm not sure I would buy this one again. It seems simple enough to make my own with more evenly cooked veggies and maybe a little more sauce. This would have been great for a quick side dish otherwise. I will generously give this 3 stars. I had such high hopes for this one after eating their Tuscan Vegetable Medley.

As you can see I also had a Veggie Patch veggie dog with chili made from some of leftover spaghetti sauce and a slice of white American cheese wrapped around the hotdog. I added chili powder and chipotle powder to the spaghetti sauce. It was so much better as hotdog chili. I probably could have went for 2 of these had I not eaten the potatoes.

I will probably have to skipped tomorrows post, because I have plans and it's harder to get anything done on the weekends lately. I'm planning an early trip to the grocery store, plus an afternoon birthday party to attend, then hopefully a quiet even at home. We'll see how it goes. You know about the best laid plans, right? Have a great weekend!!!