My favorites

I get asked all the time about what my favorite products are. I've decided to make the next few posts answering just that question (along with how I use them) to help people find out more about how awesome Tastefully Simple products are.

#1: Classy Chocolate Pound Cake

This is seriously my favorite and the favorite of my family. I love that it is amazing by following the super easy directions (just add butter and water). And it is just as amazing if you add your favorite things. I have added cherry chips for Chocolate Cherry Bread. I have also added some mint chips for Mint chocolate bread. I also added a 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips and topped with a peanut dessert sauce for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for a birthday party. I can honestly say that there is never ANY left! You can bake it in a loaf pan or a mini loaf pan for easy and simple gifts. And there are even slow cooker dessert recipes!

Plus, $1 from each box purchased goes to Share Our Strength, a non-profit agency that fights childhood hunger here in the United States. So, by purchasing this product, you not only feed your family but also a child who is in need in the United States.

To see how amazing and versatile this product is, click here and choose Classy Chocolate Pound cake and see all the recipes that you can make with it!

Sunday Morning Breakfast

It's now a family tradition. I make breakfast on Sunday mornings. I know that this is to be my day of rest. Yet, it seems like this is the one day of the week where I feel pulled to the kitchen and whipping something delish up to fill my family's tummies before we head to church to fill our cups!
This morning's breakfast was another testing of a Tastefully Simple product - the Cinnamon Muffin Melts. Once again, I was not let down by Tastefully Simple. The only ingredients I had to add was a cup of water (actually, my 4 year old son added that) and melt a stick of butter. All the muffins needed to make the batter was a cup of water - who doesn't have that on hand?? We mixed it well (a few small lumps - not entirely smooth) and then scooped them into my Pampered Chef Muffin Stone. They baked for 17 minutes at 400 and then cooled in the pan for 10 minutes. These babies popped right out of the muffin stone (love how Pampered Chef makes it easy for me to look like a pro!). I then brushed on melted butter onto the tops of the muffins and then rolled the tops in the cinnamon sugar mix. It made 11 muffins. I would recommend only melting 1/2 a stick of butter at the most instead of the entire stick of butter that the recipe called for - I only used about 1/3 of the melted butter. On the flip side, the mix came with TONS of cinnamon sugar mix. I saved the extra to have on hand for cinnamon toast or cinnamon rolls. They made a very light muffin that was kinda firm on the outside but soft and moist on the inside. You can also make these as mini muffins or even use to make Snickerdoodle cookies!! I will have to be sure to keep these on hand for sure - my hubby LOVES cinnamon and thought these tasted like a gourmet cupcake!

July Prep Night

This month's Prep night will be on July 1st at my house. The menu is geared towards making your Fourth of July Grilling easy and delicious!

Here is the menu:
Chicken Enchilada Marinated Chicken
Cilantro Citrus Chicken or Fish
Stuffed Salsa Burgers
Grilled Garlic Basil Mozzarella Burgers
Grilled Sausage and Veggies
Sweet Spiced Pork Chops
Grilled Pineapple

If you are interested in joining - just send me a reply!

My Thoughts on the New Sauces

I am so pumped!! Tomorrow is Prep Night - yes!! I wasn't able to hold it last month and missed the fun times! I am so excited about the food that will be served tomorrow. I am making homemade chicken and tilapia nuggets. My guests will be able to dip their nuggets into the four new sauces that came out this month. I cannot wait!! I LOVE the new sauces. I'm a dipper by nature and was a bit leery of some of them. Here are my thoughts:

Sweet Chili Sauce - This is super spicy and so delish! It reminds me of Pei Wei's chili sauce that is served with crab wontons (family fav). This sauce was used to make party meatballs. Instead of the ketchup the recipe called for, this sauce was used. Plus, it was used to marinate the meatballs in the crockpot. This would be great with any type of meat, especially pork.

Brew House Malt Mustard - I am so not a mustard fan. I may partake of a few special honey mustard dressings at select places but I am mostly a Miracle Whip girl, much to the chagrin of my hubby. But this mustard was fantastic!! Good for a dipping sauce. It honestly made me want sausage on a stick! I also think it would be great at a glaze on top of meatloaf, especially our Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf. Can't wait to try that one out!

Pineapple Peppercorn Glaze - OMG!! So sweet with the zing of pepper!! This was used to make a pineapple salsa - killer!! This was great as a dip but would be fantastic with fish. I instantly thought of fish tacos while I ate this. Plus, it isn't too sweet which makes for a really balanced flavor.

Sesame Ginger Dressing - I must admit, this is the one that I was the most fearful of. I am not a fan of ginger (except in gingerbread!!). This was took me by total surprise! What came to mind while I was tasting this one was a spinach salad with crasins, blue cheese, and pecans - YUM! There was none of that funky ginger aftertaste I get. It was very smooth and light. This would be a great grilling sauce for chicken and seafood.

And the best part - the bottles are only $9!! So many uses and all high quality. I am going to ensure that each of these are regulars in my pantry - especially with grilling season approaching! Order yours today at www.homemadegourmet.com/sarah!

Chipotle Cheese Crackers

So, last night was supposed to be my Homemade Gourmet crockpot night. Well, it didn't happen for two very good reasons. 1) I was out of crockpot bags (I am now spoiled by them and hate the thought of crocking without them!!). 2) It was breakfast for dinner night at out church's Wednesday night supper (HELLO!! BACON!!).

So, I am posting about the Chipotle Cheese Crackers that I made Sunday. Hubby had signed up to bring snacks for his team at work. I had never made these and have been wanting to try them for a awhile.

First, you mix together a stick of softened butter, 2 cups of cheddar cheese and the seasoning mix. The instructions say to use either a pastry cutter or your hands. Note to self: get a pastry cutter. It was easy to use my hands but I feel like I could have gotten a more even mix with the cutter.

Once that was once, I rolled the dough into a log. It was supposed to be a one inch log but I stink at estimating. Oh well!

Look at that cheesy goodness!!

Then, I wrapped the log in saran wrap -big mistake!! The buttery goodness made it impossible for the saran wrap to seal. I ended up having to wrap it in aluminum foil.

Next, I placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes as per instructions. Next time, I will probably leave it in there longer since it really didn't harden like I needed it to.

Now came the fun part - making the straws!! I was so pumped! I got out my Pampered Chef cookie gun - love that thing!! But, to my disappointment, the dough was too solid to go through the shapes. Instead, I rolled out the dough and decided to make crackers. I got my tiny star cookie cutter and went to town. My son got into the action also. I gave him a small amount of dough and he had a blast playing with it! He loves helping me cook. I ended up with three batches of crackers (2 large cookie sheets and one small pan).

I baked them at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. They turned out so fantastic! The star shapes were really cute!

All of my family enjoyed them as did my co-workers who are my taste testers. Think Cheez-its with a smooth texture. They are not spicy but full of flavor. These are perfect for any occasion, especially since you can use different cookie cutters! I'm thinking these will be perfect for road trip snacks.

Next time, I will use a pastry cutter to blend the dough. Also, I think I might try shredded Pepper Jack or the Mexican cheese blend to see how that affects the already delish flavor. I will also leave the dough in the freezer longer or refrigerate overnight. I'm hoping that will firm up the dough so that I can make the straws. But, I am kinda fond of the crackers!

Also, at a Homemade Gourmet party that I am doing THIS Saturday, I am going to make a breakfast quiche using this mix as the crust. I cannot wait!! Also, this mix is on sale this month. Usually $10, it is on sale for $6.70!!

Click here for a link to the quiche recipe: http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=10475&fs=False&what=print&type=text

Prep Night March 11th @ 7 PM

Here is the menu for this Month's Prep Night.

Full menu (Serves 6-8+ people)
Italian Sausage and Peppers: $8 (1 1/2 lbs Italian sausage links)Barbecue Taco Shredded Pork Loin: $5 (2 1/2 lbs pork loin)
Cajun Pork Chops: $8 (3 lbs pork chops)
Sweet and Sour Chicken: $7 (3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins)
Cheesy Roasted Chicken : $8 (3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins)

Half Menu (Serves 3-4 people)
Cheesy Roasted Chicken : $4 ( 1/12 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins)
Barbecue Taco Shredded Pork Loin: $3.50 (1 1/4 lbs pork loin)
Cajun Pork Chops: $4 (1 1/2 lbs pork chops)

Please comment for RSVP information. Need reservations by March 4th. Thanks!

Prep Night Info

Once a month, usually the first Friday of the month, I host a Prep Night at my house. This is a great time for you to get meals prepared and ready to either cook or put away in your freezer. This nights were a LIFESAVER for me whenever we had the week of snow and ice - my family ate good!! (But my freezer is a little bare...yikes!!)

Here's how it works:
The week before, I send out an email that lists all of the recipes that we will be making at the Prep Night. People then send me their wish list of recipes they want to make. They can make however many they want to. Each recipe can feed 6-8 people (they usually feed more than that). For those who don't need to feed that many, I offer a Half Menu which are three of the same full menu recipes but will feed 3-4 people. Each recipe lists the amount of meat needed for that recipe. On the Prep Night, people bring the meat for the recipes they want to prep. For a small charge, I provide all of the other ingredients for the recipes. Everyone sits around my dining room table. We then begin to "Smoosh". Everyone fills freezer bags with the ingredients and meat for each recipe. The labels on the freezer bags tell you what is in the bag and the different ways you can prepare it. After the freezer bag is filled with ingredients, we smoosh! Smoosh is what we call it when you smoosh up the ingredients in the bag to mix them up. It is a great stress reliever!! Then, we place that bag in another freezer bag. And that's it!! People leave with meals for their freezer and have had a really fun time!! I usually serve dinner. People who are attending sign up to bring snack foods and drinks. If you want to be added to the Prep Night mailing list, let me know!