Royal Gameday Treats

 

 

**Disclaimer: I am a member of the Petit Jean Meats Blue Diamond Club. Through this affiliation, I get to sample products, try new recipes and share them with my readers. Sometimes I give my opinion on new products and packaging. My opinions are my own. I was given Petit Jean product in exchange for promotion in the following post.  **

 

 

 

The original title of this post was Football Fanatics. It's true that this time of year you would normally find me posting about Razorback football and all the fun that goes with it. In  fact, this post was going to be about kid-friendly Razorback tailgating treats. That was my plan...until our Kansas City Royals ended up in postseason play!

 

Suddenly, we found ourselves in the strange position of having a Razorback football conference game and Game 1 of the ALCS on the same day; overlapping times, even. We decided to go with a blue-and-white party to celebrate the Royals' success. My family managed to watch both games and cheer hard for both of our teams! 

I used most of the Petit Jean Deluxe Sampler to create our game day menu. There is so much food in the sampler, that I just couldn't prepare it all at once. And, I have to be completely honest, the bacon never even made it to the table. We had it for breakfast instead of putting it in our game day spread! When it's that good, you just can't wait for it.

 

Lee really enjoyed the Petit Jean Smoked Sausage; it was the first time we'd tried it. I cut it into bite sized pieces and simmered it on the stove in BBQ sauce. The kids like eating anything using toothpicks, so this was perfect for them!

I used Petit Jean hot dogs to make pigs in a blanket. The rest of our menu consisted of bologna bites, mini ham and cheese sandwiches and a snack platter with Summer Sausage, sliced cheese and crackers. All of that, combined with a fruit plate and some fresh popcorn, set us up for excellent game day snacking.

 

With the holidays coming up soon, you can find a great variety of gift baskets and samplers at the Petit Jean Meats website. 

*This is a sponsored post.

Check out the photos of our yummy game day feast!

Pinterest Made Me Do It

It's no secret that I like to cook. It's also no secret that Pinterest has been the cause of many of my kitchen experiments  in recent years. Chicken & Dumplings is one of those recipes that seems impossible to perfect. I'd always used my family recipe for the dumplings, which are made from (gasp!) flour tortillas. I love the recipe because it's easy and pretty fool-proof. If you've been reading here long, you know how my family cooks--pretty much without a recipe for anything, just guesswork.  Remember that time my mom tried to tell me how to make dressing? Pretty hilarious.

 

Over the years, dear hubby has experimented with different ways of making homemade dumplings, but we haven't been blown away yet. When I found Cracker Barrel Chicken & Dumplings on Pinterest, I knew I had to try them.   

 

The ingredients are simple: flour, milk, baking powder, broth, butter and chicken, of course. Hint: always keep the broth from boiling your chicken, too.

 

Mix all the dry ingredients first. Then add the milk and stir with a fork to make a dough.  Roll the dough onto the counter and cut into strips.  Drop the strips of dough into boiling water/broth combo.  Cook for about 20 minutes, then add in the cut up cooked chicken. There you go! It's even easy enough for a weeknight dinner; just be prepared for a little floury mess.  See the exact recipe in the link above.

 

Home. Run. 

 

 

 

Pinterest Made Me Do It

In a noble effort to avoid a dinner rut, I'm always looking for recipes that I think Lee will like.  He is a much more adventurous eater than I am, and he's usually willing to try just about anything.  He likes foods with gravies, sauces and lots of spices; I do not.  But I do like to cook.  I don't mind making him something that I won't eat because I'm usually trying to count calories or eat a light dinner anyway.  

As I was pinning like a madwoman one night, I ran across this Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe and immediately knew he'd love it.  Also, the girl who posted the recipe said her husband loved it, too.  And supposedly it was an easy, quick recipe to make.

The main ingredients are smoked sausage, onion, garlic, chicken broth, Ro-Tel, cheese and heavy whipping cream.  I even got to use the ole iron skillet, which I'm sure will make my mama proud.  You basically brown the sausage with the onion and garlic, mix everything together and bake long enough to melt the cheese.  It didn't take long at all!

Our review:  I, of course, did not eat it.  I know, I know.  Lee really liked it but did offer one nugget of advice for next time.  He thought it was a bit too spicy, as did 2/3 of the kids.  Next time, I will make sure to buy the MILD flavor Ro-Tel instead of the regular; I think that will make a big difference.  Otherwise, make sure you have a gallon of milk and some Tums on hand for a chaser to this dinner.

Pinterest Made Me Do It

Ham & Mozzarella Pizza Bites

As you probably know by now, we have a certain affection for Petit Jean Ham here in the Bramell house.  After eating ham about 10 different ways, and in 10 different dishes, I ran across this recipe and thought it would be perfect for us. It didn't have any real directions, only photos, so I had to make it up as I went along.

Upon looking at my finished product, I declared this experiment my first real "Pinterest fail," strictly based on how it looked.

But then we TASTED IT.  Yummm. Not a Pinterest fail at all, my friends.  We gobbled it up and I even made it again for a potluck at work earlier this week.  Enjoy!

I used only diced ham slices and mozzarella, but you could easily adapt this recipe and use veggies and other meats, too.

Pinterest Made Me Do It

 

 

I love, love, love to eat chicken Parmesan; in fact, that's what we had for Christmas dinner last year. But I don't love to cook it.  It's a little bit more time consuming than I like, especially on weeknights.

 

SO...when I saw this little gem on Pinterest, you bet your hiney I pinned it.  When I clicked the link and saw that the blog title was named "Chicken Parmesan Casserole--HOLY CRAP!" then I knew it had to be good.  You can't just blindly make that kind of statement without backing it up.  The blog is very cool too; these girls apparently spent an entire summer making recipes from Pinterest and blogging about it. 

 

The only thing I modified in their recipe is that I used thawed chicken breast tenders and cubed them, instead of whole breasts.  Put a little olive oil and garlic in the bottom of a baking dish, then put in the chicken pieces.  I covered it with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese and crushed croutons.  Repeat the layering process. Bake on 350 for about 45 minutes, I think.  I was so surprised that the croutons gave it the taste of breading on the chicken.  I served it over bowtie pasta because that's how we roll.  Add a salad and some bread and it's done.  DELISH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I'm remembering right, even the kiddos ate this one.

 

Sorry, Blogger is giving me fits today so my photos are jacked up.  Oh well.

My (sorta, kinda) Random Act of Kindness

When I think about what "random act of kindness" means, I immediately think of someone paying for my meal or drink at a drive through.  That's just what I've always associated the term with, until recently.

 

As part of my work with Petit Jean Meats, I was given the opportunity to perform my very own random act of kindness.  In the process of brainstorming what I'd like to do, and for whom, I thought about many things.  Above all, I wanted to do something nice for someone who needed it.  But I also knew it might be a tad awkward to approach the homeless man outside our nearby grocery store and hand him a ham.  And, if I cooked him a meal, what would he do with the leftovers?  I'm being serious.  I'm practical like that.

 

So, I decided to make a meal for the youth at our church.  Each Sunday, the youth groups meet for dinner and Sunday evening events at church.  They often need the adults to provide dinners for them, so I thought this would be a perfect chance for me to pitch in and help.

 

With my trusty little kitchen helper, we made enough hammy sliders with cheese to feed a small army.  I also made a double batch of Rotel dip, and some homemade chocolate chip cookies to go with the sammys.   I threw in a few bags of chips, and it was done! I kept it simple because I know what I would have wanted when I was that age...and it wasn't a casserole! We delivered the goods to a very happy and appreciative group of kids and adult helpers.

 

 

 

 

This was a fun way for us to do something to serve others. I had to admit, it felt a little bit strange spending so much time in the kitchen that wasn't for my own troops.  But it was also quite soothing.  I love that it was a good lesson in being a servant that I could teach to Big Sis while she helped me in the kitchen.  Strangely, I didn't get her picture until we got to the church. Her reward for helping was getting to try out the brand new playground that just opened last week.  She gives it two thumbs up!

 

 

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Petit Jean Meats Blue Diamond Club. Through this affiliation, I get to try out products, and give my opinions on new products and branding for the company. My opinions are my own and honest reflections of how I feel. I was given product for this #PJActs, so that I could have an opportunity to pay it forward to someone else.  No money was exchanged.

Pinterest Made Me Do It

Time for another edition of Pinterest Made Me Do It.  There's been a whole lot of cooking and crafting going on in the Bramell house lately. I find this odd for a few reasons: 1) I'm not really very crafty  2) How do I find the time to be in the kitchen when I have three little ones always calling my name and 3) It just makes me want to eat more and do more home improvement projects.  Go figure.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of new recipes that we've tried recently.  First up, Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast.  It was a hit! Actually, I cannot take any credit for this one, as the hubby took care of making it while I was at work.  So, credit to the hubby and the crockpot!  To be honest, I was a little afraid of how this would turn out---I didn't want it to have an overwhelming taste of onions. (It didn't). Also, I didn't know what kind of flavor the balsamic vineagar would have. The only thing we'll change next time is not putting carrots in the crock; they tasted bitter and nobody would eat them.

Here's the final showcase:

Next up, our newest sweet treat addiction--the No Bake Cookie Bites. Don't let the name fool you; these are so much healthier than cookies. And what the heck is flaxseed? I was again afraid of the unknown....but another hit! I've made them twice and we can't stop eating them. One batch made about 15 cookies, FYI.

**Click on the links above to direct you to the recipes. Both of these I found on Pinterest.**

Pinterest Made Me Do It

The Bramell family's latest adventure in Pinterest brought us to homemade fruit snacks. Yum! If you have ever lived with kids, you know that fruit snacks are like another food group. My kids ask for fruit snacks every day after we come home, and some days they ask at breakfast.

When I saw THIS RECIPE on Pinterest, I knew I had to pin it. It's so super easy---only three ingredients. I hit up the dollar store for a small candy mold or ice tray (without any luck), but then remembered the star shaped ice trays that my Nanny had given me a while back. They are a little bigger than I'd like to use, but they worked just fine. The trick is to only fill them enough to cover the bottom of the mold.

I only made one batch to make sure we'd like them. I personally liked them better than store bought.  And the kids didn't complain any either.  Today, I bought more supplies so we'll make two or three batches tomorrow.  We are hooked!

Pinterest Made Me Do It

It was hard for me to choose the title for this post, as I had thought of several.  Some of the alternate titles to this post:

Pinterest is Making Me Fat  

or 

Damn You, Pinterest

Anyway, it seems like we've been on a Pinterest binge here lately. Honestly, I don't spend a lot of time on there because I don't have a lot of time.  As for recipes, I tend to fly through the boards and pin things willy-nilly, and go back later when I'm making our weekly meal plan.  I've gotten really lucky with the last few things we've tried.  All home runs, actually.  And now, I will share with you.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread--I got this recipe from blog-stalking Reba at Cooking with the Clouds, who got it from Pinterest, here. I like to plan my meals for the week, and on her blog she does the same thing. So I let her do the work for me!  Ha, ha just kidding....sort of.  Whatever, the bread is freaking fantastic!  It was very easy to make and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen already. The hard part was waiting until breakfast the next morning to slice it.  Two thumbs up!  And I'm making a double batch this weekend.

Photo credit: wiskandaprayer.blogspot.com--we ate ours too fast for a photo.  Oops.

Pepperoni Quesadillas--Are you kidding me?  I've been making quesadillas for years and never thought of this!  Just like it sounds:  pepperoni and shredded mozzerella between two tortillas.  Use pizza sauce for dipping. Genius!  Again, no photos.  But here is the link to the recipe with a photo HERE.  Tip: I used the mini pepperonis and it worked great. I also made a few with the sauce inside, which was fine, but a bit more soggy than I like.  I know Lee liked this dinner because of his reaction:  "These are awesome. You should blog about it!"  

Monster Cookie Dough Dip-- Just a warning: if you make this, be prepared not to stop eating until it's gone. OH. MY. GOSH.  Seriously, I made it for our Christmas festivities and then again for a potluck at work this week.  The recipe just happens to contain a few of my favorite junky snack treats--chocolate chips, M&M's and peanut butter.  Oh, and we ate ours with pretzels, but I bet graham crackers would also be a tasty dipping partner.  Here's the recipe and here's my photo:

This is my photo, as I'm sure you guessed. Not a professional.

I think I will probably make Pinterest Made Me Do It a regular feature on the blog. This is a fun way to share recipes and document other projects that we are doing (ex: the advent calendar).  Leave me a comment to let me know if you like this idea.  Or if you just want to share in my love/hate relationship with Pinterest.

Righting a wrong in the kitchen....and pie!

If you are a regular visitor here, you may remember back to this post in October when I shared my family's "recipe" for dressing.  Well, I made my second attempt at it for Thanksgiving since we were stuck at home without the real cooks in the family. 

Here's what it looked like:

I'm overall happy with how it turned out.  Actually, on Thursday, it kind of sucked. I got it too dry again! But I was determined not to let it beat me.  So with leftovers on Friday, I added some broth and heated it up. Lee let me know real quick that it was "almost perfect" this time! YES! Sweet validation. 

After our fantastic turkey dinner, we got to have this glorious pie!

I've heard it called a Kentucky Derby Pie, or a Derby Pie, but all I know is that it's delicious with a capital D.  I used a Paula Deen recipe for mine. It was my second time making it, and this was just as good as the first time.  A couple of tips, though:  the recipe makes two pies (I gave one to a neighbor) and you MUST eat it warm with vanilla ice cream.  Give it a try!

I Heart Apples!

Once I got back home with my load of apples from my dad's apple tree, I almost panicked. I think I overestimated just how many apples that we could eat. Don't get me wrong; we eat a lot of apples...but this was a little much. See previous post for the photo of our haul.

Now let me start by saying I've never made an apple pie before. Actually, I don't much like apple pie either. Cooked apples just aren't my thing; I like them juicy and crisp with a little peanut butter. However, I have a hubby who likes apple pie, and I do like to cook, so I just went for it.  

If you have been reading for a while, this next bit won't surprise you at all.  I got my apple pie "recipe" from my mom, who apparently doesn't believe it recipes. Her directions were:  peel and slice the apples, pack them into the crust, add a scoop of sugar, some cinnamon and top with a few pats of butter. So that's what I did.  Oh, and I used a ready made crust from the refrigerated section, because who has time to make one from scratch, really??  And, I was baking during nap time so I needed it to be easy.  My foodie friends are probably rolling their eyes right now.  And laughing at my photos.

Here's what we started with.

My kitchen helper always ready to go! 

Before the top crust goes on.

Ready for the oven!

Finished at last! Isn't she pretty?

After the apple pie and apples for lunch, we still had some apples left for something else. Another pie?  Apple dip? So many things to consider....

I decided on the Apple Nachos from a Taste of Home magazine that I had dog-eared last fall. Yum! These require absolutely NO cooking at all!  You just slice the apples and pour on melted caramels and marshmallows, and top with peanuts and chocolate chips. The kids picked off and ate the chocolate chips; hubby and I took care of the rest. This would be a fantastic addition to a holiday party, but the trick is to make sure you serve immediately or else the caramel gets a little runny and gross.

Our Family Secret

This week, I'm participating in the Blogtober Fest Challenge sponsored by Arkansas Women Bloggers. Today is the last day of the challenge.  The topic is Favorite Fall Recipes.


I live in the South, and come from a family of good cooks and good eaters.  That's really no secret--have you seen me? Our way of doing big family gatherings is that everyone pitches in to bring a dish. Really, this is cool because that way nobody gets stuck doing all the work--we can have up to 20 people at any time. I, however, have been given a pass on the cooking lately since we are always traveling across the state with three kids in tow...but I digress.

Our #1 most popular family dish is my Nanny's cornbread dressing. Now, don't get this confused with stuffing; this is most certainly not coming out of a turkey's butt. Nanny's dressing is not just made for traditional Thanksgiving dinner; we have it during regular Saturday lunches in the middle of May. We can be cooking steaks on the grill and someone will make darn sure that Nanny is bringing some dressing! It's really kind of odd.  But here's the problem: there is no recipe, and nobody can make it like her.

The first Christmas after the twins were born, we decided it was wise to stay home instead of hauling it across the state (for obvious reasons). My sister and her husband joined us here instead. Immediately, we realized that Nanny would not be here to make the dressing and neither would my mom. Well, my sister did not get the cooking gene, and I do alright, so I said I'd give it a shot.  I emailed my mom for some directions. I will share with you what I got in return (I swear, I am copying this exactly):

"How to make dressing....

I'm like Nanny in that I don't measure b/c that's the way she taught me. THE MAIN SECRET IS THIS--DO NOT OVER STIR AFTER YOU ADD THE BROTH OR IT WILL BE GUMMY.

Start with 1 cup of buttermilk and beat in 2 eggs by hand. Add corn meal mix, a little at a time, until it is still pourable...not real thin, but not too thick or it will be heavy when cooked. If you get too much cornmeal, add a little more buttermilk until you get the consistency you want. Bake until it's nice and brown on bottom. There are also directions for making cornbread on the cornmeal package, if you prefer precise measurements. (duh!)

Finely chop celery (about a cup or so) and an onion. Boil these in chicken broth until almost clear and tender. Meanwhile, crumble the cornbread into chunks in your baking dish. Mash 2 boiled eggs with a fork until very fine and add to cornbread. When celery and onion are done, dip out with slotted spoon and mix into cornbread. Sprinkle on the sage and some black pepper. Mix gently with fork or your hands. Once combined, pour on the turkey broth, a little at a time. Again, you can stir gently with a fork but be careful not to do too much...just until combined.

Here is where you taste a little to see if it needs more sage, pepper or if it needs salt. The broth is usually salty enough if you salt your turkey well.  Shake the pan back and forth to gauge how much broth is in it. You will most likely need to add some of the chicken broth that you used to cook the celery and onion.

It should be moist enough to move back and forth but not be soupy. If you get too much, you can dip some out and you will need to cook longer to dry it up. Normally, it takes about 30 minutes at 450 degrees. Cook until it's brown on top. Save any leftover broth in case you need to add a little when you warm up the leftovers (only if it's on the dry side).

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out......"


I bet you are wondering how it turned out. Would these directions work for you??  Well, I gave it my best shot. Because she warned me 62 times, I was so paranoid about putting in TOO MUCH broth that I didn't put enough! It turned out fairly well, but on the dry and crumbly side. Nobody complained, but only because they knew better. A sleep-deprived, cranky lady cooking her first solo Christmas dinner....just shut up and eat it!

Fun in the Kitchen

As I've said before, we do a lot of cooking--it's just easier and arguably less expensive for a family of five.  The downside to cooking dinner most nights is that you will eventually find yourself in a dinner rut.  We are there now.  It's also no secret that I'm not very adventurous with my eating, so I'm probably not doing a very good job of getting my kids to experiment either.  I am trying to work on that, though.  I promise.  I know it will be helpful now that I've made some new food bloggy friends like Amy at Our Everyday Dinners and Debbie at Dining with Debbie to give me some fresh ideas.

Here is a little something that I whipped up one night last week. It was very easy and quick for a school night.  I will call it Pizza Bites, since I don't have a real name for it.  I also don't have a real recipe; it was just something the gals at work were talking about one day.  We discussed a few different variations, but I decided on this one.

I used canned biscuits, flattened out for the crust.  Next I put one slice of pepperoni down, stacked on a slice of a mozzarella cheese stick and topped with another slice of pepperoni.  Then I folded up the dough over the toppings and pinched it together to close.  Last, I gave it a couple of sprays of butter and sprinkled on some Italian seasoning.  They baked in the oven on 400 for about 10 minutes, until they turned a toasty brown.  Served with marinara sauce on the side for dipping.  It was a hit!

Hint:  I was tipped off not to use shredded mozzarella with this recipe. Apparently, the shredded kind will be too thin or cook into the dough.  The cheese stick worked well because 1) I already had some in the fridge and 2) it didn't melt very much, but still tasted good.

Note: I am not a food photographer, which you can probably tell by these pictures. But, hey, I did remember to actually take photos before we ate the dinner!