Ooops.....

Oh no!! My computer crashed!!!. Isn't that the worst thing that could possibly happen to a blogger? Well, it has happened to me:-(

It may be unfortunate for me but it is going to benefit you:-) I am going to extend my Red Gold Tomato giveaway until the end of the day tomorrow!! That gives you 24 more hours to sign up and win that great Red Gold Tomato package. So, don't miss out! Head on back to my Friday post and comment and follow and stalk to your heart's content:-)

And don't forget to bear with me this week. I am blogging with one computer tied behind my back.

Survial Seeds

I was recently introduced to the term "survival seeds" by a new site called Hometown Seeds. The idea is that if you have a stockpile of seeds, you will always have enough food to feed your family in the event of a crisis. Now, I am not quite as alarmist as that but I do like the idea of having the means to have a full garden for years to come. And for a new gardener, it is a great way to have a variety of things to try in your climate and soil. So, check them out and see what you can grow in your garden this year:-)

Disclaimer: Hometown Seeds is providing me with seed packets as a thank-you for this feature and some ad space. No other compensation was provided and the information and opinions are solely my own.

Yet Another Cake

Well, it doesn't look the greatest but it was soooooo good!!

Chocolate cake with Martha's Peanut butter frosting. Yummo!!

North African Meatballs

I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners and putting them together with great recipes:-)

This is the week filled with activity for my youngest daughter. In recognition of her 6th birthday, at school she is going to reign as Student of the Week. I will be doing a presentation in the classroom about her, chaperoning a field trip to see a play, and volunteering in the classroom three times. This is in addition to picking up Girl Scout cookies and a doctor's appointment. It's all good so, I should survive:-)

It's a good thing Pick N Save is helping me out with my menu planning. They have ground beef on sale again for $1.99/lb. (normally $2.93/lb.) !! That helps because...

In addition, I am still playing along with I Blame My Mother on The Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge (FNCCC). This week, the chef of choice is Melissa d'Arabian. I am making her North African Meatballs. Check out the recipe below and come back Wednesday for a picture and our review:-)

Here is everything that I am serving this week:

Sunday: North African Meatballs (Come back Wednesday for a picture and my review)

Monday: Spaghetti(Cleaning Day/Classroom Presentation)
Tuesday: Leftovers (Pick up Girl Scout Cookies)

Wednesday: Tomato Basil Chicken (Doctor's Appointment)

Thursday: Honey Dijon Pork Loin Roast (Field Trip)

Friday: Eat Out (Volunteering 3 times:-)

North African Meatballs
Ingredients:
For the North African Sauce:
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lemon, zested
1/2 cup pitted and chopped briny olives
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
1 (14-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 tsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
pinch ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Meatballs:
1 egg
2 Tbs tomato paste
3 Tbs finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch ground cinnamon
3/4 lb ground beef
1/3 cup finely ground rolled oats or fine bread crumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 Tbs vegetable oil, for cooking
4 Tbs chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions:
1. To make the North African Sauce:

2. In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and olives and cook for 1 more minute. Add the white wine, deglaze the pan, and let it reduce for a 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, canned tomatoes, sugar, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon, and simmer to blend flavors, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. To make the Meatballs: In a medium bowl, add the egg and tomato paste and stir until smooth. Add the cilantro, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon and mix until well blended. Stir in the ground beef and oats, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and combine gently after each addition. Do not overmix. Rolling with your hands, make about 32 meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter.

4. In a large saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat, and brown the meatballs in batches until golden on all sides. Add more oil, as needed. Transfer the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley

Servings: 4

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (8 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients. 8 of the recipe's ingredients were not linked. These ingredients are not included in the recipe nutrition data.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 566.77
Calories From Fat (59%) 337.08
% Daily Value
Total Fat 37.34g 57%
Saturated Fat 9.32g 47%
Cholesterol 116.66mg 39%
Sodium 213.71mg 9%
Potassium 757.65mg 22%
Total Carbohydrates 34.84g 12%
Fiber 6.71g 27%
Sugar 5.17g
Protein 21.82g 44%

Recipe Type: Beef, Main Course

Source
Author: Melissa d'Arabian
Source: The Food Network
Web Page: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/north-african-meatballs-recipe/index.html

Menu Cost: $6.38 ($5.44 on sale)
Serving Cost: $1.60 ($1.36 on sale)

Also, check me out over at At Work, At Play or At Home All Day talking about girlie stuff:-)

I Am a Wisconsin Foodie

I was honored to be asked to talk about our wonderful state over at Blog Trotting. Since I am a foodie, I thought that I would write about the wonderful food that Wisconsin has to offer. There is the obvious: cheese and beer but beyond that, there are many culinary excursions to be had in the Badger state:-)

First and foremost, I am proud to say that Milwaukee is the birthplace of the Iron Cupcake Challenges. These challenges function very much like it's Food Network namesake. An ingredient or theme is announced. The competitors go home and create their best intrepretation in cupcake form and bring them to challenge other like-minded cupcake enthusiasts. The public votes and a winner is declared. The prizes are fun but really, the goal is good cupcaking. There are now 11 franchises (some across the ocean) that host similiar events. I love partipating in these challenges and here is my ode to Milwaukee's lakeside Calatrava in cupcake form:

Beyone the cupcake world, there is much more to celebrate here. On any given Friday, in any given town in Wisconsin, there is Friday Night Fish Fry. Just like every regional delicacies, there are a lot of different recipes and takes on them but the basics include: Fish (cod, perch, walleye) that is breaded and deep fried with tartar sauce on the side, coleslaw, french fries and rye bread. Yummo!! My favorite is Serb Hall on Milwaukee's South Side but ask any Wisconsinite and they can tell you where to find theirs.

The Wisconsin State Fair would not be complete without one of their cream puffs!! Delicatable!!

Door County has cherries and cranberries are grown all over the state. My favorite is the Warren's Cranberry Festival . I go by their every September on the way up to Eau Claire to get my daughter.

And finally, on your way to Green Bay to watch the Packers, stop in Sheboygan for a big juicy bratwurst! It is the quintesential Wisconsin experience!!

So, as you can see, we love our food here in Wisconsin! We are much more than Cheeseheads:-)

Sowing Seeds

This week, I started sowing my onion seeds.


I am hoping to get 18 viable plants. Wish me luck:-)

Mock Rumaki Cupcakes

This week, I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge and this month, the star was bacon. I made Mock Rumaki Cupakes:

Mock Rumaki Cupcakes
Cupcake Ball instead of Chicken Liver
Almond in Place of Water Chestnuts and
Bacon is Playing Itself

UPDATE: These little mock appetizers were the hit of room and I won the celebrity pick! Yeah me:-)

Party Favors

 Last week, we celebrated my youngest's golden 6th birthday. We had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese and devouring that cake! I also sent the kids home with these favor bags:

Aren't they cute and cheap!! Favors for 20 kids for under $10!!! Check it out:

20 plan lunch bags: $0.53
20 pencils: $1.06
20 small toys: $3.17
100 stickers: $2.11
20 sheets of light-weight card stock: $1.06
Total Cost for 20 favor bags: $7.93

And so easy:

1. Have your child help label each bag with his/her guests' names. Fill bags with the pencils, toys and stickers.

2. Use light weight card stock trimmed with scallop scissors to form a 7 X4 inch rectangle to make the toppers.

3. Fold the rectangle in half length-wise and decorate with anything you have on hand (I used a Happy Birthday stamp and some gold glitter glue).

4. Place the topper over the top of the bag and secure in place with a couple staples.

AND on top of everything, it only took about an hour to put together. What could be better than that?

No Gardening Today

I spent too much time moving this around:

Birthday Cake

 This week, I tackled a birthday cake for my 6-year-old.

It was her golden birthday so we did it up! We had a party for her entire class (21 kids!!) at Chuck E. Cheese. She wanted a princess cake that wasn't a Barbie Doll cake. So here is my deconstructed princess:

The top is the crown:


And the bottom is her skirt with lace in the front and ruffles in the back:

She absolutely loved it and I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think?

Friday Foto Fun with Valentines Cookies

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun!

How do you make yummy Valentine's for 25 kids for under $10?

25 sugar cookies: $6.12

25 heart bags $1.06

25 cards $2.11

Valentines for 25 kids= $9.29

And, they look like this:



Now, that's a bargain!

Indoor Garden Clean Up

I was all ready to do my sowing when I realized, I had a giant mess in my indoor garden that I needed to clean up before I could get started. Here is what it looked like before:

After some purging and pruning, this is what I came up with:

Now, I have some more room in which to work! Not a lot..but some:-)

Tackling Valentines Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I made some Valentines cupcakes for a Daisy meeting tonight. Here is how they turned out:


They are just yellow cupcakes with homemade pink buttercream frosting.

I had some embellishments leftover from my youngest's birthday cake (tune in next week for pictures of that!).





The septor is for one of my little Daisies who is allergic to dairy (can you imagine...me...with a Daisy who can't eat cupcakes???)