October Feature: Anima Kinsi & Husband Quote

Hey Everyone, today, my personal friend, Kinsi is going to share an awesome recipe with you. She blogs over at Anima Kinsi and Husband Quote! Stop by and show her some love.. and check out this awesome recipe!

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Hey there, Spicy fans!

I’m here once more to lead you on another culinary adventure, except this time, you get to eat it- not read it!

I’m here to show you how to create homemade potato chips with only three ingredients; no frying required!

I whipped these up the other day when my husband was in a funk.  If there’s something that will bring cheer to a stressed-out hubby, it’s buttery, salty, some-are-chewy-and-some-are-crispy POTATOES! 

This is a great way to use up those potatoes that are “on edge” and ready to be used now or else! Waste not, want not.

With only three ingredients, how can you go wrong?

Here’s what you’ll need:

 -          vegetable peeler

-          cutting board

-          knife or mandoline slicer

o A santoku or chef’s knife is prefereable: the bigger, the better for fast and even slicing.

-          paper towels

-          microwavable bowl

-          pastry brush

-          baking sheet(s)

-          spatula

-    potatoes

o   I used 8 baby red potatoes, since that’s what I had on hand.

-          2 Tb unsalted butter

-          kosher salt

Your first step is to peel all of those lovely potatoes.  I wait to preheat the oven until after this step, because it is admittedly the most time-consuming part of the whole process (at least for me).

Don’t worry about getting every single eye out of the potatoes beforehand.  The goal here is just to get the skin off so that your potatoes roast evenly.

Since there is no frying required to get these lovelies all nice and crispy, your oven will need to be hot, hot, HOT for these puppies; about as hot as the 3^rd level of Dante’s hell.  Set that bad boy to 500° and get to slicing!

Now it’s time for slicing!  

Since I was working with a smaller potato, I cut them on the diagonal to give the slices more surface area (and a delightful oblong shape).  You’ll want your slices to be about 1/8 in. thick; this is why a mandoline would be nice.  Forgive my archaic ways.

                                              

As you cut, lay each slice on top of a paper towel.  I’ve found that 1.5 paper towels = 1 standard household cookie sheet.

Now that you’ve covered your paper towels in potato slices, press another layer of paper towels over the top of them, applying pressure and soaking up any residual moisture.

That’s right- no slimy potatoes allowed.  You want them good and dry so that they crisp up nicely!

Next, melt the butter(a couple tablespoons) in a microwave-safe dish.  Increments of 10-20 seconds will do.

Dip your pastry brush in that liquid gold, and brush a thin, even layer over your baking sheet.  This will help your potatoes to 1) come off of the sheet after baking easily, and 2) crisp and brown on both sides.

 Now it’s time to lay your potato slices out on the baking sheet.  If your slices are uneven because you’re an old-fashioned Neanderthal knife-user like I am, then try to put thicker and larger slices around the edges.  Smaller/thinner slices will cook more slowly in the center.

Guess what we do after placing our slices down? Oh yeah, we brush them with butter! You don’t want so much butter that it’s pooling up on the potatoes- just enough to make them good and shiny!

Now place the pan in the oven.  I find that keeping it on the bottom to middle rack is most effective.  Any higher and they WILL burn.

Keep an eye on them: at 500°, your oven is ready to take a perfectly yummy chip somewhere scary in a matter of minutes.  15 minutes or less will do!

 As soon as they come out of the oven, salt them babies! Take a healthy pinch of kosher salt and hold it up high, sprinkling evenly over the chips.  That hot, bubbly butter layer will hold the salt better than if you season them cold.

Scrap up the chipswith a spatula and…

Voila: a warm plate of simultaneously crispy/tender chips.  I usually make two batches, since my husband doesn’t like to share them very much!

I hope you enjoy!

Don’t be afraid to get creative! These chips are so simple, they beg to be messed with.  Heck, I think a good handful of blue cheese and a sprinkle of hot sauce would be great.  Maybe you can season them with freshly ground pepper.  How about rosemary and lemon zest?

Come visit me over at http://animakinsi.blogspot.com for more food fun. I will soon start a Meat-Free Friday post! 

Also, feel free to drop by http://husbandquote.blogspot.comif you’re looking for a laugh, and more husband-inspired moments.

<3+ Kinsi

Honey Oven-Roasted Potatoes! Yum.

Hey Everyone! Still no baby arrival! No worries, everything is going well and my due date is approaching quickly so hopefully we'll be blessed with the presence of a little one soon. In the mean time, I know I haven't been around the blog a lot! One more day to enter the Knot Genie Giveaway over at My Yellow Sandbox! Check it out if you haven't already. Onto other news...

I found a new favorite food of my husbands and thought I'd share my recipe for 

Honey Oven-Roasted Potatoes!

The best part is that this recipe is sooo easy!

Ingredients: Red Potatoes, Honey, Olive Oil & Salt!

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425.

Wash & Chop up some red potatoes. You can cut them into chunks like I did or you can cut them into wedges if you would like them more like fries! Then put them in a bowl and pour about 2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil & Honey. Pour some salt on them too and mix it around well! 

Dump your bowl of potato goodness onto a tray and place in the over for about 20-30 minutes. They should be pretty crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Make sure you check them and flip over half way through.

Now Enjoy! 'Cause these are a new favorite in our house.. Yummy! 

That's all for now! 

Thanks for stoppin by!
xoxo Jen

Isaac & Crock Pot Meatballs

Well this weekend/beginning of the week, we were dealing with the possibility of being hit by Isaac. Luckily, we received some outer bands and the hubs got a day off work but no harm done. And I was a little worried about going into labor too but that didn't happen either! Tuesday is back to normal with a nice wind and a sunny day!

I also made some Crock Pot Meatballs and thought I'd share my little recipe with you. Thanks to my  special Mom-in-Law & Sister-in-Law who shared the recipe with me!

First, I made my own meatballs... you can also buy frozen meatballs...

but I made them because I had some free time. Here's an easy recipe for meatballs.

Meatball ingredients: 

Ground beef

Bread crumbs

1 egg

Salt & Pepper

Meatball Directions: 

Mix together all the ingredients well.

Form your meatballs about 1 inch in diameter and place on a non-stick baking pan about 2 inches apart. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes on each side until cooked all the way through.

Voila! You made some meatballs. You can let them cool and then put in the fridge for use the next day for your Crock Pot Meatballs!

Now for the Crock Pot part! This sauce is so delicious and adds so much flavor. Pregnancy has been making me crave it a little bit! 

Sauce ingredients: 

2 jars of Chili sauce (I added a little water to get it all out)

2 cans of Jellied Cranberries

2 large spoonfuls of Grape Jelly

2/3 cups of Brown Sugar

Sauce Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in the Crock Pot.

Place on High and let Simmer for about 3 hours. Make sure most of the clumps are out.

Then add your already cooked meatballs! Let those simmer in the sauce for 3-4 hours. At this time, you can turn down the Crock Pot to a Medium. 

I served this on top of rice & it's delicious!

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

xoxo. Jen

August Feature: High Heels & Grills

Hey guys! I am so excited to be here today! Isn't Jenna just the greatest? What a cute girl she is. My name is Sarah and I write over at High Heels and Grills. What is High Heels and Grills? It's a little corner of blog land where we (my husband, Zachary, and I) try to bring you some good eats and recipes. Or at the very least, provide you with some source of entertainment as we try our hand in the kitchen. :) We were married a little over a year and a half ago and since then, I can probably count on only two hands the number of times I've cooked dinner by myself. That's the basis of our blog - the fact that we cook together! I'm the main contributor, but Zachary likes to pop in every week for some Man Mondays. Trust me, you won't want to miss it!

Speaking of Man Mondays, I'm actually here to share a recipe that Zachary made last week. He's really good at whipping things up out of nowhere and they end up being insanely delicious. That was exactly the case with these lil' guys. I present to you, the Mini Philly Cheese steaks.

I can't even tell you how many Philly Cheesesteaks I've had in my lifetime. I love them! I've had some really great ones and some really not so great ones. *shudder* And I know that it may seem like I'm a little biased in saying this, but just know that I am giving you my complete, 100% honest opinion - these are the best Philly Cheesesteaks I've ever had in my life. I'm really not exaggerating one bit! After I took my first bite, I literally sat there, with my eyes closed, and my mouth hanging wide open, completely overwhelmed with how good these things were. (Wow, that is not a pretty picture.) You get my drift though! They are amazing. You will love them, I just know it! So here's everything you need to do to get these little pieces of heaven in your mouth:

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 white onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 lb. thinly sliced roast beef
• salt and pepper, to taste
• mushroom slices (however many and whatever variety you like)
• 1/2 Tbsp. oil
• 6 small french hard rolls, cut in half
• 6 provolone cheese slices

Directions (According to Zachary):

1. Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper - let the veggies simmer in the butter while you work on the meat, stirring occasionally.
2. If you went to the deli and got super thin slices of beef, then cut this step out. If you are like me and buy the cheapest stuff out there, you will probably need to pound the meat into oblivion. (Super thin beef = awesome Phillies.) Pound until meat is about 1/8 inch thick.
3. Season your beef with salt and pepper. (Trust me, it's all it needs.) If you insist on seasoning it with something more, try a little Allspice. It will do the trick.
4. Add the 'shrooms (mushrooms) to the veggie skillet when the onions and peppers are getting soft - season also, with salt and pepper.
5. Cover the bottom of another skillet with your oil and get it nice and hot.
6. Put a couple of the meat slices in the pan. (Since it's so thin, you only need to cook it for literally 30 seconds on each side. I promise that's all it takes. Don't overcook it or you will have one unhappy sandwich.)
7. Put it all together by adding your hot meat to your rolls, putting the provolone slices right on the meat, and topping it off with the veggies.
8. Enjoy your nice, juicy, perfect sandwich.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Be sure to stop by our blog and let us know what you think! Thanks again to Jenna for letting me guest post over here. It was sure fun to be able to hang out with ya'll! Until next time...peace.

-Sarah 

Choco-Banana Soft Serve Ice Cream

I've been dying to make this. I've seen many different recipes for ice cream made from bananas on Pinterest. Here are a few: 

Chocolate Covered Katie

52 Kitchen Adventures

the Kitchn

Use Real Butter

You can make this so many different ways and each of these blogs demonstrate that. Chocolate/Caramel... but they all have one thing in common! Bananas!

:: this makes enough for 2 to 3 people.

Ingredients:

[need food processor/blender]

4 Bananas (cut up and frozen)

3 heaping teaspoons of Cocoa

1/8 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of Peanut Butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoon of sugar/honey/any sweetner you choose

Directions:

Place frozen banana in food processor & blend well.

Then add the rest of ingredients... Keep blending until smooth.

Then pour in your favorite serving dish...

And Enjoy! Yummy, Easy to make and somewhat Healthy. You must try!

That's all for today! Thanks for stoppin' by

xoxo. Jen

Linking Up:
Rolled Up Pretty, Rae Gun Wear, Polka Dots on Parade, Ginger Snap Crafts, The Trendy Treehouse, Seven ThirtyThree, Sew Much Ado, Creations by Kara, My Girlish Whims, Momnivore's Dilemma
My entry into the Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles is sponsored by Appliances Online and their best Range Cookers.

Tasty Summer Salad

Ok... its been a while since I've had an awesome recipe on here. I'm absolutely loving this salad. I've known about it for a few years now... long story short, a friend taught me the recipe and now I crave it randomly! 

On fourth of July, my family had a little cook-out. My brother made steaks, my mom and I made some sides and my sister-in-law made delicious cherry pie. I made this salad and it was a hit... my family enjoyed it too! So now I know that I don't just have crazy weird taste buds because this salad is indeed, tasty. 

Here are the ingredients that you need: 

 You can use canned or regular sliced mandarin oranges. I've been lazy lately and used the canned kind. Shhh... haha. Also, i cut up some fresh strawberries. You can add as much or as little of each ingredient. No dressing on this salad is necessary! The juices from the fruit already present a tasty concoction!

Now go pick up these ingredients at your local grocery and enjoy this tasty treat. It so good, its almost like a dessert!

Yummy. Make sure to mix it up well!

That's all for now.

Thanks for stoppin by, 

xoxo. Jen

Linking Up: Pinkapotamus, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Sugar Bee Crafts, Blessed With Grace, Not just a Housewife, Tip Junkie, Lady Bug Blessings, Rolled Up Pretty, Rae Gun Wear, Polka Dots on Parade, Ginger Snap Crafts, The Trendy Treehouse, Seven ThirtyThree, Sew Much Ado, Creations by Kara, My Girlish Whims, Momnivore's Dilemma

Mug Brownie

So I've been slacking on posts. So sorry.
I'm at 25 weeks and my body is feeling so tired... so forgive my absence.
...
A few nights, I was desperately searching through the freezer for ice cream. No luck.

So I started looking in the cabinets for something, anything 

sweet.

It must be the pregnancy cravings.

And I came across this jewel. 

The Mug Brownie.

I'm not the best at food pictures...but it was good and fudgey.

It's easy. You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry. & it comes in single serving size.

from instructables.com

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Flour

4 tablespoons Sugar

2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder (not Cocoa mix)

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil (avoid strong flavors e.g. olive, sesame)

2 tablespoons Water

Dash of Salt

Mug

Microwave

Directions: 

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a mug. 

I used Nestle Cocoa. Yummy.

2. When it looks like this... mixed all together, place in the microwave.

My microwave is 900 watts and I heated it for 1 minute and 30 seconds.. and it was done!

3. Grab a fork or spoon... and dig in. Just what I needed when I had nothing sweet in the house.

That's all for today. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Thanks for stoppin' by: 

xoxo Jen.

Linking Up: 

Amy's Finer Things, My Simple Home Life, While He was Napping, Chic on a Shoestring, Lovely Crafty Home, It's a Hodgepodge Life, The Shabby Nest, Nap time Crafters

Easy Calzone Recipe

One of my favorite things to make is Pizza. My husband loves Hawaiian Pizza and I've shared the easy recipe before here. But the other night I was thinking about something different but similar to pizza to make that's easy. I like to mix it up every now and then.. so I thought, I'll make calzones. 

As simple as pizza and as Yummy. 

So here they are.. topped with some oil and parm cheese. The inside is hawaiian cheese with cheese and pineapple.. Here's how to:

Ingredients: 

Chunk pineapple, Ragu Pizza Quick, Pillsbury Pizza Crust and Mozzarella cheese.

Easy & Quick Directions: 

1. Open your pizza dough and stretch it out. I cut mine in half to have to sections of dough to make 2 different calzones. These were huge so you could probably cut them in half again and make 4 total calzones:

2. I added some Pizza Quick sauce:

3. Then I added toppings. Mine I just put mozzarella cheese.. and Noland's, I added pineapple and cheese:

4. Then I folded then in half from top to bottom and made sure to close up all the ends.. 

so it all stays in while baking:

5. Then put them in the oven to bake. Bake according to the pizza crust directions. Then add about 5 minutes depending on golden brown color. I like to bake it on my pizza pan that has air holes.. It really lets the pizza/calzone cook all the way through.

6. When done, it will be golden brown and beautiful: 

One of mine leaked a little sauce on the right.. 

After they were done, I topped with some light melted butter and Parmesan cheese.. but they are yummy even without any topping... Cut it open and eat some cheesy goodness.

Hope you make some of these cause they were super easy dinner and delicious! I'd love to hear your thoughts! That's all for today!

Thanks for stoppin' by: 

xoxo Jen.

Linking Up: Sugar Bee Crafts, Vintage Wannabee, Not just a housewife, Reasons to skip the Housework, Carolyn's Homework, Mommy by Day Crafter by Night, Chef in Training, Shwin & Shwin, The Winthrop Chronicles, All the Small Stuff, Tip Junkie

Happy Easter! & Resurrection Rolls Recipe!

Happy Easter!

my husband got the basket on the right for me and the basket on the left for our future baby. Haha isn't he the sweetest?

I'm back again and off for most of this week...Yesterday... to celebrate Easter a little early, we made some resurrection rolls. This is a great tradition to start with kids and really demonstrates the empty tomb. Here's the recipe along with pictures and the bible verses that go along: 

Ingredients:

1 can of large crescent roll dough

8 large marshmallows

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

Bible

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven according to the package directions for the crescent rolls. While the oven is preheating, read John 19. (Noland did this while I was prepping)

2. Open the crescent roll dough and lay it out. Melt the butter in a bowl. Pour some cinnamon sugar in a bowl like so: 

3. If you are doing this with some kiddos, explain that the butter represents the embalming oils they used on Jesus' body at his burial. The cinnamon sugar represents the spices that they used to prepare Jesus' body. The crescent rolls represent the cloth that Jesus' was wrapped in. 

4. Each child gets a marshmallow which represents Jesus: all white and pure because he was without sin.

5. Dip a marshmallow in the butter then the cinnamon sugar and then roll in the crescent roll. Make sure to close all holes otherwise this won't work properly. 

6. Make sure they are wrapped up really good.... You don't want the marshmallow to seep out. 

(Forgive the pan.. its old and stained.. but clean, I assure you.)

7. I liked to pour the rest of the butter and the cinnamon sugar on top. This might be over doing it a little bit though because they came out a little sticky... but I love sugar and preferred them like cinnamon rolls. 

8. Here is what they looked like pre oven: 

9. Bake according to the crescent roll directions... 

10. When they come out of the oven (which represents the tomb) The cloths of crescent roll are EMPTY. 

No marshmallow... 

This is really awesome and this represents Jesus' resurrection in a really neat way! Especially for kids. My husband doesn't like marshmallows and he liked the rolls too... 

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On a final note: I'm thinking of starting a link up on Wednesdays... You could link up whatever you want of your posts... even a post on life and family, and I would love to feature my favorites for the week prior. Let me know of your interest in the comments box. 

 I'm also contemplating a blog switch day on Tues or Thursday. This would involve you guest posting on my blog to get more friends and me guest posting on your blog on the same day! Email me at itsjustcalledspicy@gmail.com if you are interested.

This will all begin as of late April/ early May so stay tuned

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That's all for today, Hope you have the happiest of Easter Sundays!

Linking Up: 

Lovely Crafty Home

Nifty Thrifty Things

Sassafras Salvation

Heatherly Loves

I heart Naptime

Wayward Crafts

The Foley Fam

Flamingo Toes

Pinkapotamus

Polly want a Crafter

Reasons to Skip the Housework

Vintage Wannabe

Not just a housewife

The Kurtz Corner

Carolyn's Homework

Creative Itch

SuperBowl Cheddar Bacon Dip

Here we are. I'm pretty sure I have no make up on here... 

Anywho. This past weekend it was the Super Bowl! Ahh! We weren't really leaning toward a particular team. We chose the Giants because the Patriots had a few Ex-Gators & Ex-Miami football boys on their team and we are die hard Seminole fans! I was craving this cheddar bacon dip so I ran up to Publix to grab some ingredients...Here's the recipe! (thanks to my bridal shower)

Ingredients:

1 round loaf of Sourdough bread

1 1/2 cup of sour cream

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 t. Worcestershire

1/2 cup chopped green onion

3/4 lb cooked crumbled bacon

Bread cubes and crackers for dipping.

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut the top of the bread off and hollow out, leaving a one inch shell. Cut the removed bread into cubes.

Next in a large bowl mix with a fork, softened cream cheese, sour cream, & Worcestershire sauce.

Stir in bacon, and onion.

Spoon mixture into bread bowl. 

Wrap the bread bowl in foil and place on a cookie sheet or pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

Serve with crackers and bread cubes...

sooo yummy!

That's all I have for today!

Thanks for stoppin by,

xoxo Jen.

Linking Up:

Very Merry Vintage Style

Its so very Cheri