Manic Monday- Lemon Herb Chicken Ring

Wordless/Repeat Wednesday :)
Such an easy, yummy, fast meal.

Lemon Herb Chicken Ring, but in bundles.
Zesty Lemon Chicken is perfect for this, make extras when you're making dinner, use the leftovers for the Lemon Herb Chicken Ring!
Other chicken recipes
Roasted Garlic Chicken
Truss Your Chicken



Wordless/Repeat Wednesday's are now posting on Monday's under the tag Manic Monday*

Isn't This Clever- GIVEAWAY

I've known this company and about Finders Key Purse for years now. I've used my Isn't This Clever Finders Key Purse and given them as gifts. Being that I have an "old lady bag" as my DH calls it (yet no one complains when they have something for me to hold) it comes in handy to hang my keys on the side of my purse and have them handy at all times. Such a simple product, but it is so handy and makes so much sense.

The Finders Key Purse goes on your key ring, there is a design and hook on one side that hooks on your purse. 

See? No more digging around your purse for your keys. And the decorative part is the only thing that shows, so no one knows that they are your keys. They have so many different designs, they also have Finder Key Purse that hold lip balm, you can also purchase personalized ones that hold photos.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Chip Scones

This basic scone recipe that I use as a base for most all of my scones is SO FORGIVING. Diva and I made two variations Orange Caramel and these Buttermilk Cinnamon Chip Scones. I forgot the egg in BOTH batches. I also forgot the butter in this batch of Cinnamon Chip Scones, so I had to stir it in at the end before adding the cinnamon chips. The scones still came out so light, tender, and fluffy. I think I like the Buttermilk better than the heavy cream version *gasp*.
This is such a good scone, you can find cinnamon baking chips in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.

Manic Monday- Pork Carnitas

Ok, obviously I talk to darn much to make this a Wordless Wednesday posting, so Repeat Wednesday it is. These Pork Carnitas can be made with beef, or chicken. I'm not a fan of chicken. I made this in the crock pot. I served this with Black Beans and Rice (I'll blog this soon, but try the Grilled Confetti Rice linked below), and a Simple Cabbage Salad. The Carnitas are served on lettuce with vegetables. You can use or tortillas also.
 Leftovers are great for lunch or breakfast. Make a soup, stew, enchiladas, burritos, sandwich on Torta bread. I love this heated up with a fried egg and sliced jalapenos on top. Such an easy meal to make.

Wordless/Repeat Wednesday's are now posting on Monday's under the tag Manic Monday*
Find more "ManIc MoNdaY" posts here.

Anatomy of a Blessing Bag

Have you made blessing bags? I've seen them on Pinterest. They are great to keep in the car for people you see asking for help/handouts on the street. Putting them together is easy, and it's a great activity for children. Kids can help you fill each bag, just like Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes. Keep them in your car, and hand them out when you see someone holding up a sign and asking for some help. (Public Service Announcment- The paranoid mom in me wants to remind you to use common sense and not drive up and down dark alleys at night, rolling down your windows and such. PSA over.)

What can you put in these bags? So many things! (You can see what I had this go around in the pictures.)

I have a list below of some ideas that can be put into gallon sized bags for giving out, if you have other ideas share them in the comments section!

Cascadian Farms- GIVEAWAY

Cascadian Farm Organic is not a new company. You may recognize the label, I know I've seen their products in grocery stores. They have been around since 1972. That's 41 years of yummy, organic before it was "cool" to be organic, wholesome foods. Bon Appetite listed their frozen peas as a pantry must have. They also participate in the Box Tops program for education!
Here is a little more about Cascadian Farm Organic from their website

4 Ingredient Pull Apart Bread

Sometimes it's just nice to take a shortcut don't you think? Christmas morning when you didn't think to make cinnamon roll dough, throw a casserole together the night before, or even put one in your crock pot, is the perfect time to use a shortcut. Because all I want to do on Christmas morning is snuggle with my babies and take pictures of their cute little faces.

Pull Apart bread is something I've seen a lot, they all look good. Savory or sweet. I keep meaning to make a loaf or two- throw ingredients into my bread machine for  the dough and ta daa! Easy enough. But I decided to make this processes even faster by using refrigerated biscuit dough. You know the kind in tubes that pop and freak you the heck out when you open them? So easy. Really this sweet version is 4 ingredients. Depending on spices you use. I'm also listing some variations at the bottom of this post. I love this shortcut, I wouldn't use it everyday- making your own dough is going to cost less and be better for you. But in a rush? This is perfect. The bread was yummy, though under baked but really, that's an easy fix!
I used four tubes of biscuits, my pan is a 4x11 inch pan, you may have to adjust this recipe for a standard loaf pan.

Free Friday- Top 5 Posts on GPAC

Crepes filled with raspberries, bananas, Nutella, fresh whipped cream, and nuts.

I thought it would be fun to do a post that links the top five most looked at posts here on GPAC. I had a giveaway post in the top five but decided not to include it, however it was for a Plumbox from Pick Your Plum, I have another one of those open also! Go enter if you haven't already, and check the left side tab for more giveaway links.

Here are the top five posts here on GPAC, with date and number of views. Pictures are below, and above.

Manic Monday- Fruit and Nutella Crepes

Wordless/Repeat Wednesday post. These crepes are easy to make, with minimal ingredients. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them between sheets wax paper. They also keep in the refrigerator for a few days if you want to make them ahead of time for a meal. I don't put sugar in the batter, but it can be sweetened easily. I like to keep the crepes pretty neutral, I've wrapped them with savory fillings (chicken, cheesy spinach, ground beef and cheese, ricotta, etc). I have also filled them with fruit, fresh whipped cream, Nutella, chocolate sauce, cream cheese and cinnamon, chopped nuts, and fruit preserves.
These crepes have strawberry, banana, Nutella, and fresh whipped cream. I sprinkled them with chopped almonds. MMM.
Find more "ManIc MoNdaY" posts here.

2013 Bento 1, 2

Whew I'm behind on lunches, which means this isn't really a 2013 lunch. It's from 2012, but there you go. But woot! 2013 lunch! Can you believe it? The first lunch I posted was in 2007!

Tortillas with Sunbutter and Blueberry Vanilla Bean Preserves

Cheese
Strawberries

Jello 

GPAC Warming Sugar Scrub

If you have tired hands, sore muscles, this Warming Sugar Scrub is perfect. You can make it with items you probably have in your pantry. At the end of this day you can use this rub on your hands, knees, calves, shoulders, tired feet... just no where near open skin, your eyes, mucous membranes. Really, just use common sense. If you wear contacts, use gloves to rub this onto sore muscles, but don't use it on your hands. Don't put it up your nose, or use it on sensitive areas, open skin... you get my point? Let's just put it this way, I use this on my hands, and on sore muscles- you should use it at your own risk. I am not responsible for how your skin may react to it, as I am not a doctor. Am I safe to continue? Read on.

Free Friday- Valentine's Day

Last year I made these photo Valentines for the girls to share. You can see the post HERE.

This year, I have a few ideas. But I'm just not sure how much I'll get done. So, just in case I looked over Pinterest to see if there was anything I could do last minute if I had to. I haven't found anything that has caught my eye yet, what about you? What will you be doing?

Manic Monday- Double Pan Fried Noodles (Mee Korb)

Welcome to my first Wordless Wednesday here on GPAC. As you can see, it's not wordless. It's more of a "Repeat/Wordless Wednesday". I'm going to try to post some oldie but goodie recipes/posts from GPAC on Wednesday's. I'll take new pictures of some items if we happen to have it on our menu. I'll also post those pictures I find in my "not yet blogged" folders on my hard drive. Some will actually be wordless, I don't know how many though. I'm not even sure how many Wednesday's I'll be posting.

If you're blogging do you have certain days you post things? Meatless Mondays? Wordless Wednesday's? Do you find it easier to blog this way? More challenging? What about "cooking clubs" do you belong to any of those? Let me know about them!

Perfectly Posh with Stacy- GIVEAWAY

What an awesome deal!!

Have you heard of this company? Perfectly Posh. If you're a product fan, this company and their products will be right up your alley. Perfectly Posh has Purely Pampering Products like

• rich moisturizing lotions, butters, and lotion bars
• fantastic softening lip scrubs and body scrubs
• lathering body washes
• fizzy bath bombs, and moisturizing bath bars
•  beauty products like- glitter gels, lip glosses, lip balm

you must check out their fabulous foot products also- I want to try them all 

Bombinator -- You Can Call Me Candy
4.8 oz (come to mama, please)

There's so much more you can check them out here. Perfect for gifts (Valentine's day, Easter Baskets, New Mama gifts, just because gifts and something for a little pampering for yourself!)  The cool thing about the products? Check out these specs-

Quick Udon Noodle Stir Fry

This is so very quick and easy. Pixie and I had it for lunch one day. I just made it with what I had in the fridge, the Udon noodles were in my freezer. I haven't tried this with fried Udon noodles. You can use any noodles you want, even linguine. I used steak, it's what I had but sliced pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu would work also. Any vegetables you like would work also.

GPAC Quick Udon Noodle Stir Fry

Steak, sliced 1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon oil, olive, coconut, or vegetable
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
black or white pepper

1/2 cup of sliced or julienne carrots
1/2 cup of broccoli florets

Serve with Sriracha 
 

Blanch the broccoli and carrots, rinse with cold water.

Heat the oils in a pan or dutch oven, add minced garlic. 

Toss the steak in there and cook until almost done, with the oyster sauce, onion powder, pepper, soy sauce. 

Remove meat and sauce from the pan. 

Don't clean the pan. Toss in the noodles and veggies to heat up. 

Add the steak and sauce to the pan. Heat through. 

*You can add a splash of broth if you need it.
I served with sriracha. A sprinkling of sesame seeds, and fresh cilantro would be excellent.

Free Friday- Christmas/New Year

Diva reading the Christmas Story to us.

Hope you had a blessed Christmas (holiday season) and wishing you a healthy prosperous New Year! I thought I'd share some pictures from Christmas.

One of my favorite things this year was how very excited the girls were to give gifts. We went to a Holiday Bazaar at school and they got to buy gifts for everyone. The way it works is that the PTA collects items, gently used etc, then sells them at around $1.00 each.

Continued prayers for Newtown, CT

 

Hello everyone! As stated before I am posting a name each day as a reminder to pray for the family and loved ones mourning in Newtown. It was such a long list :(. We're nearing the end of the list but the grief these families will forever feel is not something I can grasp. I'm praying for healing, comfort, peace, and hope for them. If you'd like to join here is the final list below

 Please continue to pray for the family and loved ones in Newtown CT that are mourning the loss of their loved ones.

Today please pray for the family and loved ones of   Benjamin Wheeler, age 6.

And if you would like to set a reminder for January 4th- 10th.

  
4.       Allison N Wyatt, age 6
5.       Rachel Davino, age 29
6.       Dawn Hochsprung, age 47
7.       Anne Marie Murphy, age 52
8.       Lauren Rousseau, age 30
9.       Mary Sherlach, age 56
10.       Victoria Soto, age 27

All the names

Charlotte Bacon, age 6
Daniel Barden, age 7
Olivia Engel, age 6
Josephine Gay, age 7
Ana M Marquez-Greene, age 6
Dylan Hockley, age 6
Madeleine F Hsu, age 6
Catherine V Hubbard, age 6
Chase Kowalski , age 7
Jesse Lewis, age 6
James Mattioli, age 6
Grace McDonnell, age 7
Emilie Parker, age 6
Jack Pinto, age 6
Noah Pozner, age 6
Caroline Previdi, age 6
Jessica Rekos, age 6
Avielle Richman, age 6
Benjamin Wheeler, age 6
Allison N Wyatt, age 6
Rachel Davino, age 29
Dawn Hochsprung, age 47
Anne Marie Murphy, age 52
Lauren Rousseau, age 30
Mary Sherlach, age 56
Victoria Soto, age 27

Prayers