October 11, 2011

• Pinterest — YES, I actually do more than Pin

  I know I have proclaimed on several occasions how in love with Pinterest I am.

  I have introduced many of my friends to Pinterest and freely sent out invites.  Some of you have become as hooked as I have.  Last week I even spent a good 1/2 hour doing a on-site tutorial for a friend of my sisters who wanted to get started with Pinterest but didn’t know how.  And believe me…I was happy and excited to do it.

  The initial crack-like addiction has worn off and now it is just more like a weed-like addiction. I don’t HAVE to have it, but it sure makes the day alot better when I do.

  (Ok, that was probably a horrible analogy…especially for someone who has never tried drugs.  And it also probably violates at least 3.2 of my life principles, but hey, its what came to mind.  And who am I to ever try to stop my mouth from saying something my mind is thinking?  — I am working on that. OK?!)

  My friends husbands (and my own, for that matter) give us SUCH a hard time about all of our time spent on Pinterest. I assume that they make fun because they just don’t understand!  We sometimes even have to whisper “I saw it on —shhh…Pinterest” — to avoid being laughed at.  But you know what they say:  Haters gonna hate. We tell them they wouldn’t be eating near as well as they are if we (the wives) weren’t on Pinterest.

  There is this saying on Pinterest that goes something like this:  “Stop Pinning. Start doing.”

  Well…I will have you know…ever since I have started on Pinterest, I HAVE been doing things and following through on ideas and inspirations that I have found on there.  So there!!

  I think I probably started on Pinterest about 10 weeks ago.  I have collected a total of 265 pins…to date.

  And I am going to share with you all of the Pins that I have followed through on and actually done. Along with my little reviews of the idea/product/recipe and a link to the website just in case you want to try any of these for yourself.

  Here goes…

  

  #1 – Nutella coffee.   I made this one morning.  I have to say, I haven’t made it since, because although it tasted WONDERFUL, it was way too involved for me to make very often.  But the homemade Nutella whipped cream that the recipe suggests to make to go with it…I literally ate the leftovers of that straight out of the bowl with my pointer finger.  http://breweddaily.com/2011/03/nutella-coffee-with-nutella-whipped-cream/

   

  

  #2 – Pretzel bites.  I tried some of the regular and some of the cinnamon/sugar ones.  I preferred the cinnamon ones.  They turned out really well.  It was a bit time consuming to make them, but if I remember right, they got eaten up rather quickly. I took some of them along to book club and they were a hit there as well.   http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=932

   

  

  #3 – This book ^^  — A friend thoughtfully bought this for me for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I have not started reading it yet, but it looks really good.

  

  #4 – Avocado/Tomato/Corn salad — I made a batch of this. Of course, in my household, I had this ALL to myself!! I thought it was super yummy.  The tomatoes were from my garden.  The only bad thing was, I ate some and then forgot about it and a day later the avocados were turning brown and the whole thing was a little mushy. Tip:  Plan to eat it right after you make it.  http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/07/grilled-corn-avocado-and-tomato-salad.html

  

  #5 – Bought this book.  Am over 1/2 way through it.  I like it, but I feel like it is going to have a somewhat predictable end, which is probably what is keeping me from finishing it at this point.  I feel like I know what is going to happen and I hate that. But, hey, I could easily be wrong about that!

  

  #6 – Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars – I just made these last week.  They turned out to be very yummy. I took them to a Fun Night at church.  I did have a little trouble with them getting hard around the edges (I baked them in a 9 X 13 pan) but that seems to happen to me a lot with brownies. It is thicker at the edges and bakes too hard??? What am I doing wrong with that?  http://heatovento350.blogspot.com/2011/04/cheesecake-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars.html

  

  #7 – Butterfinger Blondies — Also made this for the first time this past weekend.  They were wonderful and the brownie part turned out SO heavy and moist and chewy and yummy.  Jeremy thought they were great!  They were a tad sweet for my taste, but with coffee…yum, yum, yum.  http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/08/butterfinger-blondies.html

  

  #8 – Totally tried this out. And felt super cool and “Crocodile Dundee-ish” saying this. I also probably told at least 3 other people about it…so they could feel cool too.  Who knew it took so little to entertain me??

  

  #9 – Ok, so I didn’t say this in so many words, but my attitude is pretty much exactly this!

  

  #10 – Crock Pot girls website.  This is an awesome resource and I have made at least 3 recipes from this site already, including the meatballs I took to church on Sunday for potluck and the Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti I made for guests at dinner last night.  http://crockpotgirls.com/about-us/

  

  #11 – Prayer board.  I did this.  In my little sitting room right beside the chair where I sit to have my quiet time and pray.  And after reading parts of my blog ^^…you just may want to make one and add me to yours.    http://6dukes.blogspot.com/2011/02/for-prayers.html

  

  #12 – Chocolate chip zucchini bread.   I made this two different times…with a HUGE zucchini that a guy from work gave me…upon my request.  It turned out really well and the addition of the chocolate chips made it so yummy!  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-home-cooking/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread-recipe/index.html

  

  #13 – Chokecherry Jam – My Mom used this recipe to make some jam from chokecherries she picked from our trees.  We have lived at our place for almost 11 years and this is the first year I noticed that we had chokecherry trees.  I wasn’t into making jam, but my Mom was and she gave me a little container of it. I think even with lots of sugar it still makes your mouth pucker a little but my Mom thought it was delicious.  http://highaltitudegardening.blogspot.com/2006/08/chokecherry-jam-recipe.html

  

  #14 – This saying has been a help to me at various times.  I think it is so true!

  

  #15 – Rocky Road Chocolate Cake in a crock pot — I took this to a gathering with friends and I have to say…it was not so great.  I got this compliment?? from one enthusiastic eater “It takes just like malt-o-meal.”  I guess it had that texture.  My friends were honest enough to tell me that it wasn’t that great and so I will probably never make it again. But in case you want to go ahead and try it for yourself…http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/rocky-road-chocolate-cake-10000001842447/

  

  #16 – Cinnamon Roll Cake — I made this and took it to church potluck. I thought it turned out very yummy. Maybe a tad dry, but the icing tended to soak down in and helped that out.  I would definitely make this again. http://cookinupnorth.blogspot.com/2011/07/cinnamon-roll-cake.html

  

  #17 – Another gift from above friend ^^ for my birthday.  Added to my list of books to read when I get time.

  

  #18 – I little calendar/diary idea where you write one line for each day on an index card.  I am currently doing this and look forward to a few years down the road when I can look back on this.  (If I keep it up that long.) It doesn’t take much time, it is just a matter of remembering to do it.

  

  #19 – I tried this website. I didn’t think it worked very well because the books it brought up I thought were supposed to be similar in content or type to the one I entered in, and they weren’t really? Maybe I wasn’t using it correctly?  http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

  

  #20 – Rainbow fruit skewers.  I did these for Derrick’s birthday party and then for another gathering. Kids LOVE them and really, I think the adults did too. At Derrick’s party I had one kid who ate 7!!!! of them!!  I would have stopped him if I had seen him. I think I had figured 2 per kid.   I used strawberries instead of the raspberries, just because they are cheaper. The kids helped me put them together, so that was fun too! 

  

  #21 – Veggie cups with dip in the bottom.  I did this for Nicole’s birthday party.  One problem I had is that the veggies that are long enough to do this with are not really veggies that kids like, except for carrot sticks. Most of the kids didn’t eat their peppers or their celery, so a lot of this ended up going to waste. Plus, it was kind of messy to have the dip in the bottom like this because when the veggie sticks got shorter, you had to reach your hand too far down in to get to the dip.  Smaller/shorter cups might help with that.  Anyway…kind of a flunk on this one.

  

  #22 – Slow cooker shredded beef tacos – I made these and they turned out to be VERY yummy. The meat was so tender and juicy and the flavor was great.  http://gimmesomeoven.com/slow-cooker-shredded-beef-tacos/

  

  #23 – Cookie Dough Cupcakes — (As I am scrolling through my pins and boards, I keep seeing more and more recipes that I have tried and have not yet put on this blog post, but I am running out of time and need to wrap this up, so I cannot include them all.)  But…I HAD to put these on because they are SOO extremely yummy. Jeremy  said they were the best cupcakes he has ever had.  I almost think I could win “Cupcake Wars” with these. Yup. They were THAT good.  http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/new-recipes/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-cupcakes.html

  

  #24 – Keeping lettuce in a jar in the fridge to keep it fresh.  I did this and it COMPLETELY worked. I think it was at least a week later when I finished it and it was still in great condition and not slimy.

  

  #25 – The “busy” book — I made this for Nikki.  But then, if you read my blog, you already saw the pictures and heard about all of my woes related to this.  http://atsecondstreet.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-go-book-tutorial.html   Beware: May not turn out exactly as you had hoped in your mind’s eye!

  

  #26 – “I spy” bottle - I did this with rice and little things I found around the house.  It worked ok, but I think the jar/bottle I used wasn’t quite big enough and it was a little too easy to find the items. But it is a very cool idea.  If you want to try it, go to:  http://meetthedubiens.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-spy-bottles.html  These things cost about $20 and if you have a jar around that works, you can basically make one for free. I took a picture of all of the little items before I put them in the jar and then made a laminated sheet with the pictures on so the kids knew what to look for.

  OK — I am out of time.  Gotta run. Hope you enjoyed. Maybe I’ll do a sequel in another month or two.

  • 3:43 pm
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