Summer Meal Plan

Head on over to amotherworld.com for an easy 2 week meal {dinner} plan that you can print off and follow. Meals range from burgers to pastas to fancy grilled tenderloins, all of them easy and quick!

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins

I crave chocolate chip muffins almost daily. I can't go to Tim Horton's without getting one. They're so good. Soft and fluffy with just the right amount of chocolate chips. I have been searching for a good chocolate chip muffin recipe for years. They usually end up being too heavy, dry, oily, sweet or tasteless. Then along came Pinterest (which really should be renamed TimeSuckage.com) and my search was over.

The picture drew me in, and the recipe just seemed to make sense, so I gave them a try. These muffins are light and fluffy, buttery and not too sweet. In a word, perfect. I've already made them twice this week (they go fast!) and I'm sure they'll be a regular in our school morning breakfast routine.

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Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins from Taste of Home

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, ombine the egg, sour cream, butter and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients just until moistened.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
6. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

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BlogHer'11!

The wonderful people over at Mom Central Canada are sending me to BlogHer'11 in San Diego next week. For those of you who are wondering what BlogHer is, it's a conference for bloggers (mainly for women but a few men attend too). There are sessions on writing, photography, how to use various social media platforms, etc... and at night, a whole lot of networking and socializing. Okay, I can't lie, there's a whole lot of partying too!

Personally, I'm really looking forward to attending some of the writing sessions and learning how to use some of the social media and statistics platforms (I can't read my Google Analytics!). I'm also looking forward to meeting some of the people I talk to every day, and have become friends with on Twitter and Facebook.

I hope to come back armed with tons of new knowledge and use it to make TBMOTB even better! In the meantime I'm trying to figure out what to pack (gotta look purdy) and make some easy meals for the husband to pull out of the freezer and make for him and the kids.

When you travel, how do you prepare for your spouse/significant other/babysitter to make things easier for them?

Chex Mex Munch

Celiac disease, which is an intolerance to Gluten, affects more than 330,000 Canadians. More than 73,000 of those that suffer are children. While I'm very fortunate that no one in my house struggles with this, I have friends that do. From talking to them I understand how frustrating it has been in the past to find gluten-free foods that taste great, are easily attainable to the general public, and don't cost a small fortune.

When I learned that General Mills Canada (GMC) was going to start offering Gluten Free Rice Chex and Gluten Free Honey Nut Chex I was so excited! You can get them in any grocery store (I live in the middle of nowhere and our little grocery store has them!) and they cost the same as any other cereal. GMC sent me a box to try and I have to say, they taste exactly like regular Chex. For families that have to deal with the daily reality of cutting out gluten (it's in everything! I can't even imagine how vigilant a parent has to be) having a product like Gluten Free Chex that they don't have to worry about, and that kids love to eat, must be such a relief.

I'm the only real "bowl of cereal" eater at my house so I wanted to try using my GF Chex in a recipe or two so my family would try them. First I made Muddy Buddies, GF Chex mixed with chocolate, peanut butter, butter and icing sugar... hello! They were so good they disappeared before I could take pictures! But my husband is more of a savoury than sweet guy so I knew I'd have to come up with something for him. I took GF Rice Chex, butter, Old El Paso Taco seasoning, seasoned salt and mixed nuts and baked them until everything was toasty. What a yummy muchy snack! And on a hot, sunny patio, nothing goes better with a Corona.

Check out lifemadedelicious.ca for more great Gluten Free recipes using Gluten Free Chex!

Chex Mex Munch

4 c Gluten Free Rice Chex

1/4 c butter or margarine, melted

3 tbsp Old el Paso Taco Seasoning

2 tsp seasoned salt

1 c mixed nuts (I used a premium blend that had cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds)

Instructions:

1. Mix the cereal and nuts together in a bowl.

2. Pour the melted butter over top and mix to coat.

3. Sprinkle on the taco seasoning and salt and mix again until evenly coated.

4. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes until toasted.

5. Allow to cool and serve.

please see my disclosure page for information on my Life Made Delicious Partnership.

And the winner of the Summer Prize Pack is...

Comment #8

Congratulations Laurie! You win the Summer Prize Pack featuring products from General Mills!

Summer Prize Pack includes:

Barbecue Utensil Set
Paper Plates
Colourful Napkins
General Mills goodies from:
    Old El Paso
    Cheerios (including NEW Chocolate Cheerios!)
    Fibre 1
    Betty Crocker
    Nature Valley

Your prize pack is on it's way!

Amanda

please see my disclosure page for information on my Life Made Delicious Partnership.

Life Made Delicious Posts ~ A Recap

Hello loyal blog readers! I've been blogging over at lifemadedelicious.ca for a month now and I thought I'd recap what's been going on over there in you missed it and wanted to check it out :)

First up, homemade Pain au Chocolat using Pillsbury Cresent rolls and whatever filling your little heart desires! If your dad/husband has a sweet tooth this would be a great addition to your Father's Day brunch table.

Next up: clever treats for Family Movie Night! These are cute little Betty Crocker cupcakes with marshmallows to look like mini popcorn buckets! Are you dying from the cuteness? They're very easy, don't be intimidated. I even include a free PDF file of the wrappers you can download and printout to impress your kids!

My newest post is an ode to my love of summer and a creative barbeque recipe idea... it doesn't always have to be about burgers and hot dogs...

To find out what this is, check out my lifemadedelicious.ca blog!

enjoy,
Amanda

please see my disclosure page for information on my Life Made Delicious Partnership.

BLT Pasta Salad and a Giveaway!

Our barbequing has been kicked into overdrive the past two weeks. Temperatures are soaring and no way am I standing in a hot kitchen over a boiling pot of anything! I do not enjoy sweating. Thank the good people at Napoleon that our grill has a side burner, it allows me to make this amazing pasta salad outside and not turn my kitchen into a sauna.

I can't wait to take this salad to a picnic or barbeque at someone else's house, I mean, who doesn't love bacon? It'll be the most popular salad on the buffet table! This salad is also great for quick lunches and if you add some grilled chicken  you've got an easy, and totally yummy dinner salad.

I don't recommend adding the lettuce until you're ready to eat as it'll get soggy and you lose the great crunch factor of a nice head of iceburg lettuce.

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BLT Pasta Salad adapted from Betty Crocker's "it's Summer" 2010

8 strips bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
4 c cooked rotini
1 1/2 c grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 head iceburg lettuce, thinly sliced
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/2 c ranch dressing
fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
chives

Instructions:

1. Cook your pasta to al denté in salted water and rinse lightly.
2. Cook your bacon until crispy and chop into 1/2" pieces.
3. Mix the mayonnaise, ranch dressing, salt and pepper together.
4. Combine the pasta, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and dressing in a large bowl mixing to coat the salad evenly.
5. Garnish with chopped chives and keep chilled until ready to serve.

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And now for a fantastic Summer Giveaway from my good friends at General Mills Canada!

Planning on hosting a Barbeque or picnic this summer? Or do you just like to grill for your family? Either way you're gonna love this Summer Prize Pack from General Mills!

Prize Pack Contains:
Barbecue Utensil Set
Paper Plates
Colourful Napkins
General Mills goodies from:
    Old El Paso
    Cheerios (including NEW Chocolate Cheerios!)
    Fibre 1
    Betty Crocker
    Nature Valley

Here are the rules:

All you have to do is head over to http://www.lifemadedelicious.ca/ and then come back here and tell me what your favourite LMD summer recipe is!

Contest is open to Canadian Residents only (We have a crazy postal strike and food items can't be shipped internationally).

Please include a way to reach you if you win (link to blog or website, email address, etc...).

A winner will be picked on July 7th. Good luck and happy Barbequing!

enjoy,

Amanda

please see my disclosure page for information on my Life Made Delicious Partnership.

Homemade {Raspberry} Lemonade

Summ-ah is herrrrrrre! I am beyond thrilled! I'm really hoping it means the end of germies and my kids being sick! If not, that's what patios and cocktails are for right? (mama's "medicine")

I was at the grocery store and a super huge pile of bright yellow lemons called to me. As luck would have it I was pretty thirsty so I grabbed a bag full and came home to make lemonade. There's nothing like homemade lemonade. It tastes fresh and tart and summery. It's very simple to make, especially if you have a fancy electric juice extractor, I don't so I got a bit of a workout but that's okay, just made me appreciate my fruity beverage even more!

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Homemade Lemonade

6 fresh lemons
1 c sugar
6 c water
1 tbsp lemon zest

Instructions:
1. Boil 1 cup of the water with the sugar until dissolved. Allow to cool.
2. Zest one or two of the lemons depending on how big they are to get 1 tbsp zest.
2. Juice the lemons through a sieve to catch the seeds.
3. In a large pitcher add the lemon juice, simple syrup (sugar water), zest and 5 cups of cold water.

Add ice and lemon slices to make it pretty.

{Raspberry} Lemonade



If you made the Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar this is a great way to use the reserved liquid from macerating* the raspberries. Add the liquid to the lemonade and throw in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries for a delicious pitcher of Raspberry Lemonade!

 I swear I'm not a vampire!

 refreshing!

How cute is this for a picnic or Barbeque!

* Mascerating just means to mix with sugar and allow to sit so the sugar draws out the juices.

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enjoy!

Amanda

No Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar

 I have been so incredibly busy the past few weeks, blogging, cooking and baking had to take a back seat to family and volunteer obligations. When my schedule finally let up a bit we got struck with a heat wave that lasted 3 days and had temperatures near 40 degrees with the humidity.... cooking was not something that interested me. Sipping a cold bevvie on the patio yes, but slaving over a hot stove, no thanks.

Of course the weather rarely has an affect on my sweet tooth. After barbequing one night I was desperate for dessert (probably cause my 8 month old ate half my dinner!) and ice cream just wasn't going to cut it. I knew I needed a no bake dessert, so I hit pinterest (my new obsession!) looking for inspiration. I came across a picture that linked to My Baking Addiction's Cheesecake in a Jar recipe (I seem to be drawn to her photography). Jamie never fails to impress the hell out of me.

What I loved about this idea was that they're individual little cheesecakes, you can just throw one in your lunch, or grab one to enjoy while your kids play in the sprinkler. But Jamie's recipe was a bake cheesecake (I will be trying it for sure once fall comes!) and I was looking for a no bake option. I've done no bake cheesecake before with a lot of success so I thought I'd invent my own recipe and see what happened.

 I combined cream cheese, fat free Greek yogurt and whipped cream to make a light and fluffy dessert that my friend Laurie described as "a cross between cheesecake and an amped up yogurt parfait". It's light, creamy, cheescakey and totally delish. You can make it in small mason jars, mugs, plastic cups or if you wanted to make one large one that would work too.

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No Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar

For the crust:
1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c butter, melted

For the Cheesecake:
8 oz light cream cheese, softened
1/3 c sugar
1 c fat free Greek yogurt (I used PC Greek Yogurt with Honey)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c white chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 pkg Dream Whip
1/2 c milk (1%, 2% or skim work best)

For the Raspberry Topping:
2 c fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 c raspberry preserves

Instrcutions:

1. Put the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar for the topping and allow to macerate.
2. Combine the graham crumbs, sugar and butter and divide equally between 8 small jars (approx. 3 tbsp/jar). Pack down firmly.
3. In a stand mixer or deep bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add the yogurt and mix until combined.
4. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add to the cream cheese mixture and mix to combine.
5. In another bowl, whip the Dream Whip, vanilla and milk until stiff peaks form (approx. 8 minutes)
6. Gently fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
7. Spoon the cheesecake equally into the jars.
8. Allow the cheesecakes to set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
9. Drain the raspberries (reserve the liquid for a yummy pitcher of raspberry lemonade to go with the cheesecakes!) and add the raspberry preserves mixing to combine.
10. Top the cheesecakes with the raspberry topping and serve.


Tip: Keep the cheesecakes refrigerated or on ice until ready to eat.


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enjoy!

Amanda

Easter Basket Brownies

Easter is upon us. I'm all about the chocolate mini eggs. After the success of the Cream Egg Cheesecake I wondered what else I could do with all these yummy little Easter treats. The Easter Basket Brownie was born!

A fudgey brownie with a mini cream egg sunk in the middle of each one and topped with mini egg cream cheese frosting. I used Betty Crocker products for this cause they're quick (I've got Easter eggs to fill yo!), I had them in my pantry, and I enjoy them, but if you want to use your favourite brownie recipe go for it. I've made them from the box once and from scratch once and both were delish.

They're decadent, they're chocolately, they're Easter Bunny approved! Make these to take to your family Easter Dinner or on Monday to "help" your kids "get rid of" their chocolate haul.

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Easter Basket Brownies

1 box Betty Crocker Chocolate Lover's Brownies
water, oil and eggs according to package directions
1 tsp vanilla
18 cream filled eggs
18 mini chocolate eggs
1/2 c crushed mini eggs
1 can Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Pop the cream eggs into the freezer.
2. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
3. Grease an 8" x 12" pan.
4. Prepare the brownies according to package directions and add the vanilla.
5. Pour into your pan and spread to make sure it's even.
6. Sink the frozen cream eggs into the pan evenly spaced.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the brownie part comes out mostly clean.
8. Mix the crushed mini eggs into the frosting.
9. Once the brownies have cooled, cut them into 18 squares and top with a spoonful of frosting and a whole mini egg.

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enjoy,

Amanda