Just Jen

There's a reason they're called S'mores...

I'll take a dozen of these, please.

Recipe here. Just give me a call a few minutes before they come out of the oven.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Monkey Bread Recipe

Peanut butter and jelly (that's "Burr-je-yi" in Jack-speak) is a big hit at my house. He's asked for it for breakfast more than once, so when I came across this recipe on Picky Palate the other day, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to grant his wish (and mine, for that matter - I could live on the stuff myself!) It looked easy, not to mention delicious, and ended up being both. I put it together this morning in about 15 minutes, and I'm a little on the slow side when it comes to cooking. Then I baked it in an 8x8 baking dish instead of a skillet. It smelled great and tasted even better. Jack took one bite and said, "Mmm...that's goood!"

Get the recipe here.

Attn: Fellow Ketchup Lovers

I am an admitted ketchup lover, though I do only put it on the normal stuff like burgers and fries (unlike Ranch dressing, which is so much more versatile - but that is another post entirely). I am appalled when I leave the drive-thru and find only 1-2 packets in my to-go bag. Much to my husband’s dismay and embarassment, I require more like 6-8 packets for the average combo meal. So when I went through the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A today and asked for extra ketchup, the guy at the window says, “Oh, but we have these bigger ones now,” and held up the new Heinz Dip & Squeeze packet.  “Still, I’m going to need a couple extra,” I tell him, concealing my excitement. I’ve said it before, I’m a sucker for cool packaging, and I had read about this fancy new ketchup packet some time ago. I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

So here’s my review: I was eating in the car, so I used the squeeze function on my sandwich with one packet and the dipping function for my fries with another. (I don’t recommend trying out both ways on the same packet :) It does hold at least twice as much as a regular ketchup packet. It’s easy to open making it a lot less messy overall, and bonus: the opening is large enought to dip the entire width of a Chick-Fil-A waffle fry! The only drawback: it’s a little on the shallow side, so you can’t dip very deep.  It’s thoughtfully designed in a bottle shape and fun to use. Way to go, Heinz! You just made a ketchup packet cool - who woulda thought?

So long, Frosty!

Unfortunately, the lifespan of a snowman in these parts is very brief - that is IF there's even enough snow to make a decent snowman. I have a feeling these cookies would disappear just as quickly. For the how-to, sled on over to the decorated cookie.

My new addiction

 

I am officially in LOVE with these chips. And the best part is Bret doesn't like them, so I can have them all to myself!

I'm thankful for...

...sweet potato casserole. My mom's specifically - full of sugar and topped with tons of toasted mini marshmallows. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it. I mean, it's practically a dessert, but you get credit for eating a vegetable and you still get to eat a piece of pie after! Greatness. No Thanksgiving table should be without it. Not big on the mini marshmallows? Better Homes and Gardens has a bunch of really great sweet potato recipes to choose from. Find them here. For a traditional marshmallow-laden recipe, click here.

You're a Real Peach!

Seems like lately I've been reading a lot of posts on canning, which of course has made me want to try it too. So when I saw this post on How About Orange on canning for beginners, I finally clicked "add to cart" on this little box of supplies. They arrived on Thursday - perfect timing since I was going to spend the weekend at my folks while Bret was out of town. My sister was going to be there too, so I thought between the 3 of us, we should be able to figure it out. Mom even wore an apron appropriate for the occasion. I had decided on recipes for apricot butter and peach preserves that I found at sweetpreservation.com, an adorable website dedicated to canning. We headed out to the farmers market on Saturday afternoon to pick out the fruit.
Now I wish I could tell you it all went smoothly. The apricot butter came out FABULOUS. Totally yummy. The peach preserves (which I was in charge of) - not so much. I got in a hurry (maybe had something to do with the fact that I had a fussy 18 month old clinging to my legs and needing to go to bed) and the sugar caramelized on me. Boo.  Upside - my mom and dad happened to LOVE how it tasted, so it wasn't a total waste. I was determined not to let this beat me, so on the way home today I stopped for more peaches. I made up a new batch while the little one was distracted with Dinosaur Train and finished up right before nap time. This batch came out just right! I whipped up the little thank you gift (above) for my neighbor who watched Jack while we were out the other night, a couple of jars are going to the office with me tomorrow, and the rest have a date with me, some peanut butter and a few slices of bread in the very near future.
 

It's HOT.

Really, really hot already - and it's only June. I've got a long Texas summer ahead of me, so I'm always on the lookout for ways to beat the heat. This is one of my favorites - Metromint water. It's just plain water with a hint of mint, and totally refreshing (it's best when it's ice cold). Don't be scared of the chocolatemint - it is good! My favorite though is plain old peppermint. I've found it at Market Street, and I would be willing to bet that Central Market and Whole Foods carry it as well.

Tomorrow's forecast: Sunny and 96˚

No sweat.

 

Pizza...On The Grill?! You Betcha!

The other night we had some friends over and I decided to try out a recipe for grilled pizza that my friend Bethany gave me. (Check out her super cute blog!) This pizza is crazy good!
To make the pizza, you need pizza dough, of course. (You can be an overachiever and make your own or take the easy way out and buy the Pillsbury dough in the can - which is pretty good, I might add!) Shape it into an oval and brush it with olive oil. Place the dough directly on the grill and cook the first side for a few minutes on LOW heat. Flip the dough to cook the other side. (This is the only thing that gave me trouble - I think next time I'll divide the dough into two smaller pizzas so it's easier to handle) Add toppings - mozzarella (just pull it apart into chunks and scatter it around), chopped onion, sweet Italian sausage (grilled ahead of time and chopped into links), sliced black olives, canned quartered artichoke hearts and sliced roma tomatoes. I also added salt and coarse ground pepper. It is YUMMY. The amazing thing is that there's no sauce, but you won't miss it, trust me! Of course you can add sauce if you can't live without it and change up the toppings to suit your own taste.
Try it and you'll be hooked!