Ground Beef Shepherd's Pie [PCL]

PCL = Pinterest Come to Life

Tonight for dinner I made ground beef shepherd's pie. The beauty of Pinterest is all I had to do was search for 'ground beef' and I pinned about half a dozen recipes to try next time I have a pound of meat without any ideas of what to make.


The shepherd's pie was pretty good and easy to make. I used Idahoan Loaded Baked Flavored Mashed Potatoes for the topping - one of my favorites and so so good. I also used those for the meatloaf cupcakes I made a few weeks back. Actually, the shepherd's pie was pretty similar to the cupcakes except I mixed carrots, peas, celery and onion in with the meat.

Two pluses were that I got to use my new pie pan I got from Santa, and Bella was super excited to eat pie for supper. I should have let it sit a little longer before "slicing" into it, or maybe use less beef broth. So the presentation wasn't great, but it tasted good - which is what really matters!

Overall I rate this as a dish good enough and easy enough to add into our normal rotation!

Frozen Slow Cooker Meals [PCL]

PCL = Pinterest Come to Life

Quite a while back, I completed my very first Pinterest inspired task - creating several Frozen Slow Cooker Meals. I didn't take a picture of my own, so I stole this one from the original blog.

I tried five different recipes. It was a lot of work to create so many at once, so next time I'd narrow it down to two or three. I went to the grocery store only for the supplies I needed and spent about $175 to make 9 meals. At $20 a meal, I'd say the task was more for saving time rather than money.

You can find the recipes here and here. This is what I made and what I thought of them:

• Stephanie's Goulash - good, would make this again
• Chicken Curry - would add more curry next time, but overall good and would make again
• Chicken N' Cherries - SKIP IT. Flavor is 'off' and the chicken felt sticky.
• French Beef Dip - very good, even better the next day!
• Orange-Beef Stew - alright...flank steak is more expensive than I'd like to spend for a freezer meal so I probably won't make again.

There are still a few in the freezer, but once they are used up I'll make more. It is really nice to have a back-up plan to throw in the crock pot in the morning. Just leave enough time for it to thaw enough to fit in the pot - take it out right when you get up and put it in the crockpot as you are heading out the door.

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese and Baked Parmesan Tomatoes [PCL]

PCL = Pinterest Come to Life

Yum and Yum!

Tonight's dinner was totally Pinterest inspired. Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese was amazing and Baked Parmesan Tomatoes was an easy, delicious twist on a vegetable I normally don't like.

The Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese took a little prep work - chopping and measuring everything - but was totally worth it. So, so good. Not good for me...but next time I may try to make a lighter version. I used canned chicken and made a batch sans hot sauce for the girls.

I'm normally not a huge tomato fan, but the Baked Parmesan Tomatoes were really good. I think I cooked them a little too long, so make sure to watch the time, but just 1/2 tbls of Parmesan cheese on each slice added great flavor. I'd do it again, but I guess Jeremy isn't a fan of cooked tomatoes...the things you learn after 11 years together!

My First "Original" Pin [PCL]

PCL = Pinterest Come to Life

I put "original" in quotes because I'm sure I saw this somewhere and it inspired me today. I doubt I'm the first to think of this but I didn't have a Pin to repin, so I took a picture and uploaded my work directly. Someone already repinned it!

I was inspired today as I continued to clean up Christmas aftermath. I cut up an empty wrapping paper tube and used it for all of Bella's hair binders, clips and bows.

It's not pretty, but it'll do the job. We'll see how long it lasts. My work already paid of, however, when Jeremy gave me compliments for organizing. He's usually the one coming up with 'solutions' for things...so he was impressed with me. It's the little things in life. <3

Magic Milk Paint [PCL]

[PCL = Pinterest Come to Life]

Bella and I tried Magic Milk Paint this past weekend. The end result? Eh. It LOOKS cool, but other than that wasn't very exciting. 

The "magic" part is when you touch the food coloring with your toothpick dipped in dish soap - the food coloring "runs away" from it. That IS cool. But lasts about a second and then the thrill is gone. After that, Bella had fun stirring the colors around in milk but it ended up being too messy and wasteful for what it was worth.

My advice would be to skip this project. Save the milk for dinner and the food coloring for cookies.  

Juice Me!

I really wish I had a reason to attend The Creative Connection -- how fun does it sound? It's like everything that I WISH I was wrapped into 3 days.

But for now I'll admire from afar. Oh and I'll be wishing that I win a LaLanne Juicer via this contest!

Back for selfish reasons

I'm back for a selfish reason - I want to win a prize! Go check out my friend Daphne's blog for your chance to win a cool taggie blanket!