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Warming up Winter

Posted by Jenny on December 16, 2011
Cold

photo by RachelEllen on flickr

Winter is my least favorite season.  I know I am a total buzzkill, but I hate snow.  Sure, it looks nice, but what it does is keep me and the kids cooped up in the house and make it dangerous to drive anywhere! I hate cold even more.  I really, really, really, hate being cold.

So, every winter, every dang nervewrackingly-cold day, I try to warm things up for myself.   From the practical to the comfortable, I am always trying to keep things above freezing in my life!  Here are a few ways I try to get my warm on:

  • Pre-heat the car.  I cannot stand to put kids or myself in a freezing cold car.  In the winter, I make a mad dash out in the cold ten to fifteen minutes before we have to leave so the van will be nice and toasty and frost-free before we leave!
  • Cloak myself in fleece.  I likes to wear the warm snugglies in winter, and I like my kids to have them on too! I wear fleece-lined clogs in the house, fleece PJ pants, a nice fleece pullover, you get my drift!  The baby lives in fleece PJs all day long, he can get away with it!
  • Cook up some WARM comfort food.  In my house, winter is the season of slow cooked soups and stews.  I have several beloved recipes that I never get sick of and make again and again.  But, they are all really simple.

When I want a warm comfort food that’s more than simple, I turn to the frozen foods department at my grocery store.  I don’t cook lasagna, meatloaf, or pot pies, so I gotta go to the experts!  When I want a creamy, flaky, delicious pot pie, I go with Marie Callender’s.

Now I’ve had Marie Callender’s pot pies dozens of times, but I reviewed one for this post, just to *ahem* remind myself how awesome they are.  It was just as good as ever!  Filled with yummy meat, veggies, and with lots of choices of flavors, they are a great time-saving solution for that busy time of year when it just happens to also be f-f-f-freeezing cold outside.  I especially love the Creamy Parmesan and Cheesy Chicken pot pies.  Mmmmm…they are delish!  Food like that keeps me very warm on the coldest of days.

So, those are some ways that I warm up winter.  I will definitely be employing them again as the cold and snow rush in.  How do YOU warm things up for your friends and family?

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I was compensated for my review of this product by Marie Callender’s and the Motherhood.  All opinions about the product are my own.

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Slightly Obsessed

Posted by emily on November 29, 2011

With sweet potatoes. I am obsessed with sweet potatoes – this is a new low.

But they’re not just any sweet potatoes, they are the Pioneer Woman’s Soul Sweet ‘Taters and they are quite possibly the best things I’ve ever made.

Photo from the Pioneer Woman on Flickr

A delicious concoction of sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, sugar, pecans, butter, flour, and salt.

Amazing.

Make them for Christmas, you will not regret it. I know, I know, you don’t like sweet potatoes. Well, friends, these are not your grandma’s syrupy, marshmallow-laden canned yams. They are heaven on a plate.

Make them. And then invite me over.

And while you’re at it, whip up some of these pumpkin pie cupcakes:

Photo from Une-deux senses

White cupcakes with a graham cracker crust, iced with pumpkin pie. Yum. My I-don’t-like-sweet-stuff diabetic husband ate four.

It’s no wonder I gained 40 pounds this weekend.

Did you discover any amazing recipes this Thanksgiving? If so, share them in the comments!

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Recipe Swap

Posted by emily on October 19, 2011

I’ve tried a number of new recipes lately (thank you, Pinterest) and while they haven’t all been hits, I’ve found two I absolutely loved and wanted to share.

The first is “Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast” from AllRecipes.com.

Photo by AllRecipes user amandak23k

This pork roast is so good, I can’t even do it justice. Andy and I absolutely loved it; he said it was better than any steak he’s had in a long time (and the kids ate it too – I told them it was chicken). And it was so easy. As you may recall, I shy away from slow cooker recipes that require more effort than tossing everything in together. If I see I have to sear the meat or some such business, I move on to the next recipe. With this one for pork roast, all I did was slice an onion, put the meat in the slow cooker, and mix together an easy marinade. I served it with egg noodles and broccoli… holy yum.

The other recipe that I loved is from Cooking Light – chili corn chip pie.

Photo from CookingLight.com

It’s an at-home, slightly-less-fattening and sort-of-classed-up version of our swim team season staple, the walking taco. As I was cooking it, I said to my dad and Andy, “I have a feeling what I’m making is really complicated taco meat, and if it doesn’t taste any better than when I through a packet of Ortega seasoning in there, I’m going to be mad!” (Note: It wasn’t complicated – remember, this is me we’re talking about.) Fortunately, it was worth the (minor) effort. It was great – we all gobbled it up. I recommend making a double batch to ensure leftovers!

Those are a couple of my new favorites, but I want to hear from you. What recipes have you stumbled upon lately, or what are your old favorites?

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