Pinterest in the Kitchen, Chapter 4

I've been giving Pinterest a major workout over the past two weeks. I don't have any pictures of my stuff that I made because I just didn't think about it. I forgot that I do these reviews... maybe because I haven't been active on the blog for quite some time. But everything turned out looking pretty much like the pictures from the original sources of the pins that you will see below.

I pin a lot of stuff I will most likely never make/use/buy/etc. But the food and drinks do not fall into that category. At least it's not a complete waste of time... and it comes in handy to have electronic access to a plethora of recipes when I need to make a grocery list on the fly. To get the original recipes, you can click on the title or the link below the pictures. 

Monster Cookie Dough Dip

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Yeah. It was as delicious as it looks. But, let me warn you, make this only when you have a crowd to feed. Or when you don't mind having it in your house tempting you to eat every last bit of it. Because this recipe makes a very full 7 cups of dip. Seven cups is a lot... a lot of cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and chocolate. I'm not complaining. I made this (along with the next recipe) for our game night the other night and it was definitely a crowd favorite. As in, the men crowded around it digging in barely coming up for air. Bryan probably ate about half the dip all on his own. I guess he was making up for all those times wouldn't let him eat the actual cookie dough when I was making actual cookies.

"Skinny Pool Side Dip"

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I have to apologize... this is one of those elusive pins on Pinterest where I don't know who the original pinner was and there is no link to an actual blog/recipe site. So the link will take you to my pin and the recipe. If you know or if you are the original pinner, let me know so I can credit appropriately.

Anyway, this was another dip I made for our game night. This also made a lot... 6 cups. So if you're counting, I provided my guests with 13 cups of cream cheese based dips. And other people also brought dips and salsa. Luckily, we had a whopping 22 people over so by the end of the night, leftovers were pretty much nonexistent. I tweaked this recipe a good deal... mainly b/c there were no jalapenos at the store and I hate olives unless they are in a martini. So I followed the recipe minus those two things and I ADDED about 2/3 cup pepperoni, ground up in my food processor and 1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dried parsley, minced onion, and dried chives. It was good. And gone. 

Hillshire Farm Sausage and Potato Bake

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Talk about an easy dinner. I followed the recipe exactly and it took a total of 45 minutes from prep work to the end of cook time. That's my kind of weeknight meal. And it's relatively healthy. I love meals where all ingredients can be served up in one bowl. Oh, and it looks so pretty when it's all done. So colorful. Oh wait, I lied when I said I followed the recipe exactly. I added some corn to it. I felt like I wanted more veggies. It tastes good when mixed up with a little bit of ketchup. Then I got fancy when I had a bowl for leftovers the next night and I mixed in some Tastefully Simple Bayou Bourbon Glaze... added such a subtle flavor. Mmmm.

Easy White Chicken Chili

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Yet another easy-peasy dinner. I truly did follow the directions exactly this time. I baked my chicken breasts the day before. After rinsing them and trimming the fat, I brushed them with olive oil on both sides and sprinkled salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over. I baked them on a foil lined sheet at 350 for 35 minutes. Once out of the oven, I used two forks to shred two of the breasts (I put the third off to the side to be used in my salad jars - recipe link below). Having the chicken cooked and shredded in advance made making the chili a fast process after work the next day. This was super yummy and was gone in like 2 days. It's a pretty great cold winter night meal. Definitely felt cozy eating a steaming bowl of this.

Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

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Up until recently, I never ever would have made ribs. I just wouldn't think to buy them from the store and I wouldn't know where to start with them. They seemed like a high maintenance dish to make. Well, first of all, they aren't. Especially when using a slow cooker... can't get much easier than that. Secondly, since Bryan and I purchase a 1/2 pig and a 1/4 cow every year, we have parts that we may not have bought in the store, but we certainly don't want them to go to waste. So, ribs. Gotta cook 'em. Gotta eat 'em. So I did this. No tweaking of the recipe. They were fall-off-the-bone delicious. Two thumbs up and a saucy smile from the hubs. 

Jar Salads

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I was skeptical of these. In theory, they are a great idea... but, in practice, would they really not get soggy and awful? I tested it out last week and made two. They were both delicious and crispy. This week, I made 4 and I'm anxious to see how the 4th one holds up. I didn't make 4 different ones. Instead I set up a bit of assembly line and systematically distributed my ingredients to each mason jar. FYI my "mason jars" are spaghetti sauce jars that I de-labeled and ran through the dishwasher. I use a homemade dressing and my spinach to "stuff" ratio is different. As in my toppings take up 3/4 of the jar and the spinach is only 1/4. I like it that way. Each day that I have one of these salads for lunch I find that I stay fuller longer and I have more energy. I will mix it up each week and do a different salad, so I don't get bored. I just love the fact that I spent about a half hour making 4 lunches and all I have to do is grab and go in the morning. Perfect for someone who perpetually runs about 5 minutes late for EVERYTHING.

There you have it. A lot of pinterest action with a little mix of everything. I know that I like hearing others' success stories with recipes before I take the time and spend the money to cook a flop. And since anyone can pin anything... it's sometimes a risk when you decide to make something. I find that I keep referring back to the same 3-5 blogs for dinner/dessert/snack recipe inspiration. They haven't disappointed yet.