Pinner Dinner Winners

Raise your hand if you like making new recipes!

In case you're wondering, my hand is raised. I make TONS of new recipes. Probably too many. I'm going to say about one a week. That's slowed down from when we first got married, mostly because I've made specific, intense efforts to come up with "regulars" since these things called children have come into the picture.

But still - lots of new recipes.

As you can imagine, Pinterest has only made my obsession with new recipes worse. The good news is that a lot of it is great. Most of it is great. But some...some are just amaaaaazing. So amaaaaazing that they have joined the small yet powerful ranks of things I make "regularly." So amaaaaazing, in fact, that they are worth sharing right here, on my blog. Whoa.

As I searched through my "Recipes" board on Pinterest, I realized just how many of these recipes I had tried and loved. Consequently, it was pretty darn difficult to narrow it down to these seven. But here they are:

1. Baked spaghetti with cream cheese and french fried onions by Let's Dish.

spaghettibake

This is probably the pinned recipe I make the most often. It's so-o-o good. We love it around these parts. And it is very easy to make. Good news all around!  I usually half the recipe and it's more than enough for our little family.

2. Spicy sausage pasta by Kevin and Amanda

spicysausage

I was afraid this would be too tomato-y (We don't like tomatoes! Actually, Maddy does...) with the Ro-Tel, but it really wasn't. It also wasn't too spicy; the spice comes from the green chiles in the Ro-Tel, but it really wasn't bad at all. The recipe calls for mild Ro-Tel, and I just used original, and it still wasn't too spicy. But it WAS cheesy and delicious, and easy (you'll probably notice "easy" becoming a pattern...). Also, I'm usually a leftover snob (i.e. I won't eat them) but this stuff is awesome as leftovers!

3. Avocado chicken salad by Becoming Betty

chickensalad

I have only recently come to terms with avocado. I decided that what I don't like about it is the texture of slices/pieces. But when it's all mashed up, the taste is actually pretty good! So I'm discovering a whole new world of avocados. And I love chicken salad but despise mayo, so this little number really called to me. The flavors were excellent (lime and cilantro, anyone?) and I used canned chunk chicken so it was (say it with me now) EASY. We eat it in pita pockets with Sun Chips on the side. Yummm.

4. Guiltless alfredo sauce by Our Best Bites

guiltlessalfredo

We love us some alfredo around here, and this stuff is divine. I don't want to go back to the bottled stuff. And, okay, this isn't as easy as the bottled stuff, but it is still easy to make and seriously just delicious. And apparently it's low-cal or something? Awesome! P.S. Our Best Bites has TONS of awesome recipes. Click around over there - it's good stuff.

5. Buffalo chicken pizzas by Baked Bree

buffalochickenpizza

So I've actually only made these once, but I need to make them again. They aren't necessarily "simple," since there's some chopping involved to get everything ready to go on the pizzas, but they are relatively easy. And they're good! The sauce gives a little kick, though, so make sure you're using a hot sauce you can handle.

6. Honey lime chicken enchiladas by Let's Dish

honeylime

Unique but delicious! We loved these. I halved the recipe and we still had leftovers (which were also good). Also, she says the cilantro on top is optional...but it's not.

7. Revolutionary Mac & Cheese by Macaroni and Cheesecake

macaroniandcheese

So, macaroni and cheese is probably my favorite food ever (yes, I'm 5 years old), and this is one of the best homemade versions I've made. I kinda sorta love the blue box stuff (the three cheese shells variety, please), but I feel kinda odd serving that for dinner (not that that stops me sometimes). Also, why is macaroni and cheese often treated as a side dish? I don't get that. It's the main event! Anyway, this stuff gets my stamp of approval. You can taste the mustardy tang in it, but Dallin doesn't like mustard and will still eat this, so it can't be too bad. I looove it.

Well, that's it for now. Let me know if you've tried any of these, or share any others that you think are worth trying! Have a splendid weekend!


The best kind of egg

I don't really like eggs.

I mean, I sort of do. I like them if they're scrambled, and they've got things mixed in (like, at least cheese) and I can put ketchup on them. That's all right.

But my favorite kind of egg? This kind:



Am I right, or am I right? {I'll give you a hint: I'm right.}

But I've got to take this one step further, because you see, there are a few different variations on the joy that is the Reese's egg, and I have a fairly strong opinion about which one is best.

Basically, Reese's eggs are available in the following varieties:

small: eggs are individually wrapped in Easter-y colored foil wrappers, sold in a bag


medium: eggs are individually wrapped in the yellow wrapper shown in the picture with me above, also sold in a bag

large: Very much like the medium eggs, but, well, larger. They have a yellow wrapper and are held in a white cardboard "shell" inside the wrapper. They are sold either individually or in packs of 6.



Personally - and I've put a lot of thought into this - I like the medium eggs.

The small ones are sometimes kind of hard to unwrap, and I think they're often a little light on the peanut butter. Or at least you can't really taste the peanut butter. Or maybe they just have a different taste. Dunno for sure.

And the large ones...well, as hard as it may be to believe, I think they are TOO big. I feel like I get to the middle and it's all peanut butter, which is no bueno.

But in the medium ones, the chocolate to peanut butter ratio is just right. For the whole thing. And I loves it.

I guess this whole post was written for the purpose of confessing to you that I have eaten way more medium Reese's eggs than is healthy. Way more.

Are you a Reese's egg fan?