I Pinned It, I Did It: Homemade Taco Seasoning

I'm not really a creative person in the sense of coming up with my own ideas. I do better to come up with ideas with another person or to take another person's idea and go with it. This is probably the reason I love Pinterest so much. I use ideas I find on there all the time.

Since I do things I find on Pinterest a lot, I figured I should post about my experiences from time to time. Some ideas from Pinterest work great while others don't work out as planned. I know that other people post about trying out Pinterest ideas, and I find them helpful. So, I'm going to do some of my own.

Several months ago, I discussed on the blog how I was beginning a journey towards eating more real food. This journey has had its ups and downs, but I've not given up. I'm trying to get back on the path to eating less processed food. So, this pin I recently tried out came from my Real Food Recipes board. The source of the pin and the place where you can find the recipe is Rachel Cooks.

What is it? 
Homemade Taco Seasoning

Why I pinned it: 
We eat tacos and similar Mexican food a lot. I want to work on eating less processed food and this seemed like something easy to put together. 

Why I did it:
I wanted something simple to cook this past weekend and we had limited ingredients at our house. I figured I could cook tacos. I went to my small spice drawer and remembered that we had no taco seasoning. I purposely didn't buy any the last time I went shopping for groceries because I wanted to make my own. Luckily, I had all the ingredients I needed to make my own.

The process:
I followed the directions from Rachel Cook's blog except I accidentally put 1/2 tablespoon of paprika instead of 1/2 teaspoon-oops! In the end, it didn't make a difference. So, a good thing about this recipe seems to be that the measurements don't have to be exact. This blog has even been updated to include a recipe for a larger batch of taco seasoning so you don't have to do a lot of math and figure it out for yourself.

The verdict:
Tacos tasted fine to me. I couldn't tell a difference between seasoning the meat this way and seasoning it with the store bought packet. The recipe basically makes enough for one pound of meat (you might could get two out of it). So, you can either make it as needed or make a larger batch. This took me less than 5 minutes to do between finding my ingredients, measuring them out, and stirring them together. So, it's really no more difficult than opening a store bought packet. I will definitely do this again.

The finished product:

Yummy quesadilla!

What's something you make yourself rather than buying the premade version?

Peanut Butter Balls-Recipe

This week, I have something very special to share with you. Jo from Jo, My Gosh! (How cute is that blog name?!?) is sharing a YUMMY recipe. My mom made these at Christmas time and they are irresistible. If you're on a diet, you might want to stop right now. Otherwise, keep reading and pin this for future reference. I know I am!

*   *   *

Hi! I'm Jo! I'm so excited that I'm on Megan's sidebar and that she's allowed me to share a recipe on her space on the web! I blog at Jo, My Gosh! where I'm chronicling my fiance's year-long deployment to Afghanistan, recipes, crafts, care packages, wedding planning, and everything in between. I'd love for you to join me!

When I was in elementary school, our cafeteria would make chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. That was good, but it didn't hold a candle to the lunch that came the next day. Without fail, it would be peanut butter ball day. That's right. Lunch's dessert would be a plastic cup with a giant ball of peanut butter frosting in it. That icing was worth trading Gushers and Dunkaroos for. Yes, it was that amazing.

I found the recipe on Pinterest. It's one of those viral recipes that really have no credibility other than that it's been shared a trillion times, but it looked intriguing, so I just had to try it! I halved the recipe simply because I didn't have enough of the ingredients and it still made almost 40 truffles. I can't even imagine what I would do with 80 truffles, other than gorge myself and give up on fitting into my wedding dress.

But here's the best part: When I tried one, I was back in my elementary school's cafeteria. The taste was exactly the same. Exactly. Try a little bit of heaven and make these for yourself!

You'll Need: 

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cup Rice Krispies
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 cup melted butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• oil to add for melting chocolate

 Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix peanut butter, cereal, sugar, and melted butter until completely incorporated. Add a little bit of extra peanut butter if you need the mixture to stick together more firmly. 
2. Roll mixture into balls and place on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes
3. In a microwavable-safe container, mix chocolate chips and about 1/2 teaspoon of oil. Mix and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until chips are completely melted, stirring at intervals. Add oil for a thinner chocolate consistency.
4. Dip truffles into chocolate and place back on tray. Chill in the fridge until chocolate is hardened. 

Homemade Chips Experiment

Last week, I shared how I wanted to change my diet to include more real food and less processed food. So, I decided to play around with making my own chips.

I kept it simple this time and just made chips out of potatoes, but this is something that can be done with a variety of vegetables.

I researched online and basically found the same directions on every site. So, what I'm sharing with you isn't anything revolutionary or new. But...here's what I did.

1. I bought 3 fairly large potatoes. I didn't buy too many because I didn't want to waste them if this experiment went wrong. Next time, I'm buying smaller potatoes.

2. I scrubbed and washed the potatoes. Next, I had to slice them by hand, but I've added a mandoline slicer to my wish list. I cut them up as thin as I could manage.

3. Then per many tips I saw online,  I soaked them in water for 10 minutes. That water was cloudy and gross after 10 minutes.

4. I put them out on a paper towel and patted them dry.

5. I preheated my oven to 400 degrees and placed the slices single layer on a cookie sheet. Then, I covered them in extra virgin olive oil.

6. I baked them for 20-25 minutes. I like things to be crispy.  So, I kept them in as long as possible without burning them. After they came out of the oven, I sprinkled them with salt. The thin, extra crispy ones were my favorite.

I look forward to experimenting with different veggies and different seasonings.

For now, I know that I can successfully make homemade chips.

Now, my problem is figuring out the best way to store them and what their shelf life is. Any suggestions or tips?

Austin Family Diary's Baby Shower

I've been following Tiffany at The Austin Family Diary for  a while now.

Her link up 10 Day YOU Challenge which evolved into Tuesday Topics with Life.Love.Lauren quickly became one of my favorite link ups to participate in. It changed every week and it was a great way to get to know other bloggers better.

She even used the 10 Day YOU Challenge link ups final topic {One Photo} to announce her pregnancy to the blogging world.

Several bloggers worked together to throw a virtual baby shower. I've never done anything like this before, but it sounded like fun. 

Here's what we fixed for the shower:

I originally wanted to make a mustache cake to go along with the mustache "little man" theme, but that was a huge disaster. Me and icing cakes do NOT get along!

So, I went with a plan B that was more suited to my dessert decorating abilities.

Mustache Brownie Sundae

Since I couldn't make the mustache cake work, I made a mustache brownie. I've never had a brownie sundae at a shower, but I figured why not?!

I'm sorry I don't have a fancy recipe to give you. It was really simple. I made brownies as I normally do-from a box. This one is my favorite. 

Then, I used something round to cut a circle out of the pan of brownies.
Next, I cut it like this:

via

Then, I formed it into a mustache, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and drizzled it in chocolate syrup.

I thought I'd end this post by showing you the kind of baby gift I like to give.

I like giving gift baskets because they're fun to put together.

I also like to give practical gifts.

These are pictures from a gift I recently gave to a friend of mine, but for the sake of this post-we'll pretend it's my virtual gift to Baby Austin.

I found these books at a local book store. I think books are a great gift that the child can use for many years. These are such classics!

I started off with the wipes, baby Q-tips, and baby lotion.

Then I added the books, Desitin, baby nail clippers, monkey toy, and teething rings.

 Here's the completed gift basket with tissue paper.

Congratulations Austin family!

Sweet Southern Comfort Food with A Beautiful Mess

I am very excited to be offering sponsorship on my blog now. It gives me a chance to help other people which is one of my favorite things to do. It's also a great way to get to know other bloggers even better.

Today, I'm happy to be hosting Ricci (one of my amazing sponsors) on my blog today. She is sharing with us a very yummy looking recipe. I will definitely have to try this one out soon!

***

Hey there! I'm Ricci from a beautiful mess

I like to blog about my life...the good, the bad, and the ugly. And my dog. I LOVE my dog. I think she is the CUTEST but then I am biased...LOL!

I also LOVE cooking!! Today I am going to share with you one of my FAVORITE comfort food recipes! This time if year I tend to make more soups, crock pot stuff, and good ole comfort food! If you live in the south and have ever been to a church pot luck, had a baby, or been sick and had someone bring you food you have probably had this recipe before. It is SUPER EASY to make, GREAT to take places, and is even better when re-heated! What am I talking about?? 

Poppyseed Chicken! YUM!

Lets get to it!!

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts

16oz sour cream

2 cans cream of chicken

poppyseeds

1-2 tubes of ritz crackers, crushed

1/2 cup melted butter

Instructions:

1. Boil chicken breasts and either cut int or cubes or shred

2. Mix sour cream, cream of chicken, and poppyseeds(there isn;t really a certain amount of poppyseeds I just shake then in there until I feel like it's enough...I also threw a can of cream of mushroom in there too) in mixing bowl.

3. When chicken is done, mix it in with the sour cream mix.

4. Mix it all up and put in a baking pan.

5. Top with crushed ritz crackers and enough melted butter to wet the crackers.

6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

7. Enjoy!!

Some people put this over rice or pasta but I just eat it alone...YUM!!

***

Would you like to see your button over there on my sidebar? Or maybe you'd like your own guest post at Just a Small Town Girl. Be sure to check out my sponsor page for more info.

Chicken Dance....in the Crockpot

I LOVE cooking things in the crockpot. It's so easy and yummy!

I especially love cooking chicken in the crockpot because it gets so tender. It's so much easier to cook chicken this way to use in a recipe than it is to boil chicken.

Through Pinterest, I was able to find the Crockin' Girls website which is a great resource for finding crockpot recipes.

My go-to recipe for chicken is the bacon ranch chicken recipe. This recipe calls for you to put the chicken in egg noodles, which is yummy, but I often just cook the chicken and we eat it with some sides. This is what we're having for dinner tonight.

We had bacon ranch chicken, roll, butter beans, and mashed potatoes.

What's your favorite crockpot recipe?

Oreo Delight

**If you haven't entered my Diaper Design Giveaway, there's still time!**

I can't let the summer go by without making my all time favorite dessert.

Both my mom and Meemaw make this for me most of the time when I come home for a visit. They know I love it.

It's the simplest thing to make and it tastes so good. It's an easy treat to whip together for a summer get together or just because. The only downside is it needs to stay frozen. If you're like us, you don't have a lot of room in your freezer.

You only need 3 ingredients: 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, an 8 oz container of Cool Whip, and a package of Oreos.

 First, you have to get the ice cream out of the container and let it sit out for a while and become soft.

 Next, you need to crush the entire package of Oreos. I've done this many different ways. I'm very thankful that I now have this handy little device to chop them up. It takes no time at all if you have something similar. If not, you can always crush them up in a bowl by hand or with some other kitchen utensil. 

 After crushing the Oreos, you pour them into the container with the melting ice cream. Then, you pour the entire container of Cool Whip in as well. 

Once all your ingredients are in your container, you need to mix it together really well. Mix it until you can no longer see the yellowy vanilla color, the white Cool Whip color, or chunks of Oreo crumbs. It should blend together.

After it is all mixed together, smooth out the top, close up your container, and put it in the freezer. This is the worst part-waiting. While you can technically eat it now, it's supposed to become hard in the freezer.

 How yummy do I look?

The last step is to scoop out some and enjoy!

Pinterest...it's what's for dinner...

Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest!?!

I love to use it as my bookmarking system. I would always hate when you found something online and you had to add it to your Favorites or Bookmark It. Then, I'd never remember it was there or I wouldn't add it and then I'd forget where I found it. Pinterest solved that problem. I love how you can organize things into different categories and you can see ideas other people have found. 

It has made my meal planning so much easier. I have tried several of the recipes I found on Pinterest. 

Tonight, we are having Ranch Chicken Crescent Pizza. This is the second time I have made this dish. I love it for 2 reasons: It's easy and it uses chicken. (I've been trying to make more things with chicken than beef).

 

You can find the original post with the recipe here.

Here's my finished product ready to be eaten:

Obviously, mine is not as pretty as hers and I won't cook the crescent roll crust quite as long next time.

Mini Reese's + Chocolate Chip Cookies = BEST COOKIES EVER

I follow a blog called Tatertots & Jello which has a lot of great do it yourself ideas. A couple of days ago, a guest blogger posted a recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies involved adding cut up mini Reese's. I LOVE mini Reese's. I knew I had to pin this recipe and try it later.

 You can view the recipe here.

 

How cute is this? She put the cookies in a jar along with a mini jar of Reese's as a gift.

Well, later became this weekend. I had a craving for chocolate and I felt like baking. It just so  happened that we were going to Walmart this weekend, so I felt like that was a sign that I should make the cookies. I already had most of the ingredients. I just needed mini Reese's and a box of instant vanilla pudding.

I was a little worried, though, because I've never really liked any homemade cookies that I've baked. I don't know if I never had a good recipe or if I did something wrong. I've always preferred just scooping out pre-made cookie dough. So, I tried not to get my hopes up too much in case they didn't taste good. 

I baked them on Sunday and this recipe yielded 4 dozen cookies! This could either be a blessing or a disaster. Sunday night, I was finally able to try one and it tasted....DELICIOUS! This recipe was a success! I definitely recommend it. 

 Packed away and ready to share because as much as I want to eat them all by myself...I have a friend's wedding in a few weeks and I have to fit in my bridesmaids' dress.

Look at those big chunks of chocolate deliciousness.