TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

OK...This friend? Lisa? You know her. She does the whole "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday" blog carnival.

I love to post things on there and then to follow up with others and see some of their yummies.

For today's entry, I'm doing Fire and Ice Pickles.

They are SO easy.....and I get a lot of compliments on them.

FIRE AND ICE PICKLES

ingredients:

1 jar of sliced jalapenos

sugar

Yep....that's it!

Instructions:

EMPTY all juice from jalapenos.

Cover with sugar.

Let jar sit on counter for a few hours until sugar is dissolved. I turn the jar ever so often. (Sugar is like salt....it will draw out the moisture. So, even though you have drained the juice, a syrup will develop.) You can also reserve the syrup and pour over the next jar of pickles. I promise...they won't last long.

Juice is drained. This is probably about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar.

Tapping the counter a bit to get the sugar to fall down around peppers.

Turn the jar every now and then to get the sugar to fall and dissolve.

I don't know if you can but there is about 2 inches of syrup. If you want more syrup, then just add more sugar (without draining.)

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Hey, y'all. My friend, Lisa, has this cool blog carnival called "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday."

I'm not as diligent as I would like, but I try. :)

Anyway, a lot of us bloggers get together and share recipes and tips for the kitchen. I hope you will join us.

For my entry I would like some feedback. I hope Lisa doesn't mind (email me, girl, if ya do), but I'm going to kind of piggy back on her carnival.

I would like to know what all you do for sack lunches....specifically for school-agers. You can link to some or your blog posts, or just leave comments. (comments may be easier, now that I think about it.)

I have 3 boys in school this year. They are in grades 5, 3 and kinder. My 1st and 3rd are picky eaters (the 3rd being pickier.)

School lunches (through the cafeteria) are expensive. They are over $3 each. Fortunately, we are in a position to not qualify for free or reduced lunch. So that means that anytime my boys want a "hot plate," we must pay. In order to keep from spending a pretty chunk for lunch, we have told the boys that we will buy them 2 lunches per month. Anything else, they must pay for out of their own allowance.

I feel this is more than fair, especially considering that most of the lunches, the boys wouldn't eat. Also, they would more than likely walk away hungry, as they wouldn't eat the whole thing.

That being said, we make a LOT of sack lunches.....up to 15 per week.

I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. Something easy to fix, easy to eat, filling, healthy...I don't mind desserts. We send juice. We don't do high fructose corn syrup. But, it does seem like we fall into a PBJ rut.

Thanks, in advance, for sharing your ideas.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Hey y'all....it's Tuesday, which means it's time to pop on over to my sweet friend's place. Lisa is hosts a blog carnival, with her twin Lana. Come on over and share some yummies with us.

For my contribution, I want to share a super easy, and yummy appetizer:

STUFFED JALAPENO PEPPERS

ingredients:

fresh jalapenos, stems still on, but seeds and membrane taken out

grated "fiesta blend" cheese

bacon

First, wash all jalapenos. Split from stem to end. Open up and take the seeds and membrane out. (This is the hot part of the pepper. But don't worry, you won't remove ALL the heat.

Fill pepper with grated cheese....only enough so that the pepper can close around it.

Wrap pepper with 1 slice of bacon. Secure with a toothpick.

Throw on the grill, split side up, for about 2-3 minutes. Turn over and grill until bacon is cooked.

YUMMY!!!! These are good as they are, but I imagine salsa, or ranch would be good, too. Ranch if the peppers are especially hot.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

I have a friend....her name is Lisa. She is co-host, along with her sister Lana, to their blog carnival called TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY.


This carnival is a lot of fun and I hope you will join us. We share recipes, kitchen tips and other kitchen related posts.


Today, I'm going to share a low fat, low cholesterol dessert.


I don't have a name for it and though you can get some ideas for this online (and I'm certain this has been done to DEATH, I didn't really use anyone for this.)


Well, let me just show you, first, what it looks like, then I'll tell you what I did.

Doesn't THIS look yummy....



First, I sugared the berries...as you can see, I have blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. I actually sugared these with Truvia...an ALL-NATURAL, no calorie sweetener. I used about 2 packets, 1 tsp water and the berries to make this light syrup. (For the record, I don't use Splenda at all...don't allow it in my kitchen...after some of my own research, I do NOT think this is a healthy alternative.)

I also made mini-angel food cakes. You can use store bought, but a bag of cotton may be cheaper and just as tasty. If you have the time, make your own...it is well worth it. Where as this recipe can be made in regular muffin tins, I grabbed the opportunity to "need" the special Wilton mini-angel cakes pan. I mean...wouldn't you?

So, I took this muffin and split it. I put a few berries and syrup over the cake. I put the cake top on and topped it with a few more berries. Then, (because I was really wanting this NOW, I didn't whip the cream, I poured a little bit over it.)

Angel food cake has zero-fat and zero-cholesterol because there are no egg yolks. The only fat in this dessert is in the cream.

Enjoy.

A DANGEROUS ZERO

So this morning, I had to get up a bit earlier to make sure we were all ready.


Not only is it my 3rd son's birthday (he turned 6) but I was going on my oldest son's field trip. That meant that my 2 youngest boys would be going to the babysitter....needing sack lunches. Since I would be there, I needed a sack lunch, as well. Also, I couldn't just pull my hair back and slip on shorts for exercising, I had to do my hair and work on beautifying myself. (some days are easier than others.)


AND, when we are usually leaving (rushing) out the door at about 8:13 to get there by 8:30 I had to be sure we were all leaving by 8:05 to get to the sitter, then get the rest to the school on time.


NO PROBLEM!


I got up a few minutes early and was through the water, squeaky clean, before I started to wake the boys. The birthday boy was easy to wake up, excited he was to be 6. The oldest was easy to wake, as he was going on the aforementioned field trip. The 2nd is always easy to wake. The 4th? Well, when in a hurry it's best to just get everyone ready that you can and wake him at the last minute.


With my plan formulated and clothes already chosen, I started on the day's routine.


I always make sure the kids have a good breakfast. ("Good" being subjective.) We don't do poptarts or oreos for this meal, but many items are microwaveable. That being said, I chose one of their favorites.....pancake on a stick.


Now when I microwave, I usually do them one at a time....I don't want them too hot or with any hot spots. I put the first in for 45 seconds, got the syrup and unwrapped some others. I also pulled some juice pouches and other things to get ready to pack for the day.


First stick out. Second put in and buttons pushed. First breakfast delivered. Obligatory instructions reminding kids of teeth, deodorant, hair and clean socks. Youngest encouraged to wake up....all on the way back to my room to don another piece of clothing, apply another coat of mascara and find my shoes.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





A zero, when added in the wrong space, can be a truly dangerous thing.




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On my way back into the kitchen, I hear the microwave running. Seeing as how none of my sons think to take it upon themselves to "reboot" the breakfast, I was a bit concerned. You see, I was gone for a little longer than 45 seconds.


A zero, when added in the wrong space, can truly be a dangerous thing.


Did you know that if you microwave a precooked, frozen sausage wrapped in a pancake for 4 minutes 50 seconds...well, you ONLY have to wait 3 minutes and 34 seconds....yep.....the timer had 1 minute 16 seconds left....and some smoke leaking out the sides.


So concerned was I that there was a fire IN the microwave, that I opened it (stopping the cooking) to check it. Immediately, smoke billowed out! You heard me.....BILLOWED!





I had fans on, door ajar, windows open.....so thick was the smoke that we could not go into the kitchen for a good 10 minutes. SERIOUSLY! I was so concerned about the 3rd son (asthma) that I put him on the floor....you know....the whole "STOP! DROP! AND ROLL!" mentality.


Somehow, we were able to get out the door, with not a second to lose. I had to hold a cloth to my nose and pack the lunches one-handed to even tolerate being in the kitchen.


Thinking I smelled of smoke, I explained my mishap to a good teacher friend. She said I didn't smell. Good....maybe driving down the road in 55 degrees with the heat on high and the windows down kind of aired us all out. (Granted, she was stuffed up, but I was grasping.) My babysitter said that I smelled as if I had had some coffee......OK....I can handle that. Coffee is not unpleasant to everyone.


SO, we make it to the field trip. We are in a gym. The kids STINK! (One hundred fifty 4th graders with budding B.O.......blech!) We are close to the end when a teacher asks a group of us, "Do you smell food?" I started to laugh. I said, "Smoke. It's smoke."


She said, "YES!!! Burnt popcorn!"


Close, but not quite. I explained, to the entertainment of all the teachers around, what had happened and why my entire family reeked of smoke.


We got home and, yep....you guessed it....the house STILL smells. Shoot, there might even be smoke damage somewhere. So here I sit, typing this up, throat hurting (smoke inhalation is painful), windows open, fans going, candles burning, OUST sprayed and contemplating how much laundry I am going to have to do to finally be rid of the smell.


Never, NEVER underestimate the power of one, hollow zero.

ETA: The picture of the microwave is not my own...though the depiction is VERY accurate.

THIS IS THE BEST

Have you seen this commercial? It is one of the funniest I have seen in a LONG time. It is great!

Take a look......(be sure to turn off the playlist down at the bottom.)

SHOUT OUT AND A SHARE

OK...first off, I want to give a shout out to Jane4Girls!

She is a coupon queen....NO...I MEAN....THE QUEEN! Me, and some of my other coupon buds ain't got NUTHIN' on this gal. Go check her out.

Anyway, the main reason I decided to shout out to her is because she shared her own version of the pizza rolls that I did here. She uses a homemade pizza dough along with a variation of my pizza "innards."

Anyway, one thing she posted was that these freeze well. I didn't think about that. How handy! I mean, if you are going to whip these up, then make a double, or even a triple batch. I think I might do that. Some of her readers posted that they do the same thing, but with different fillings. Oh yeah....this could turn into something nice. :)

Along those lines, I was thinking of things I like to do that make my life a bit easier.....my dh and I love to have frozen breakfast burritos ready to grab and go.

BREAKFAST BURRITOS

1 pound breakfast sausage

12 eggs

green chiles

grated cheddar

flour tortillas

In a large skillet, brown 1 pound of breakfast sausage.

Drain well.

Crack all 12 eggs over the sausage. Stir around to scramble.

When eggs are done, add the green chiles and cheese. Stir around until cheese is melted.

Fill tortillas. Roll and then wrap in foil.

Microwave frozen burritos for about 1 minute.

*you can use jalapenos, potatoes, bacon, chorizo

PB & J

***I have checked. Peter Pan Peanut Butter is NOT on the recall list. I just thought this commercial was hysterical.***

If your family is anything like ours, you go through a lot of peanut butter.

Have you heard there is a recall?

Yep....salmonella. Nasty stuff, I hear.

Anyway, you can go here for a list of recalls. There are LOTS.

I went to the database to search for our brand. (We do Smucker's Natural.) It is not on the list...thankfully.

However, there are some things that we DO eat that were on the list.....like Keebler Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich crackers, as well as other various treats.

Most of these items are on total recall, so they should not even be on your store shelves. However, if you do find that they are available, you might want to double check that your brand is NOT on the list of bad nuts!