DIY Coffee Creamer

Posted by jennmann

If you’re anything like me you love your morning coffee and if you’re even more like me you can’t drink it black. I stumbled upon this process on Pinterest the other week and I thought I’d give it a try, and boy am I glad I did. Of course I love the fun flavored creamers, but 1. they’re expensive and 2. they’re a lot of unnecessary calories. For me, using plain milk or half and half just isn’t sweet enough so this option is perfect for me. It’s super easy and I really recommend giving it a try if you’re like me and need your creamer!

I will warn you though that 1. you may need to use more to get to your desired sweetness and 2. it’s not going to create the same color that regular cream would. I know some people that measure they’re creamer based on the color change, so I wanted to warn you on that. I will say that this method has helped me ween my self off using SO much creamer because it’s not as sweet, I also don’t add any sugar to my coffee.

Step 1: Prepare your containers. I used mason jars, but you could really use any type of container with a lid.

Step 2: Prepare your ingredients. The original recipe calls for raisins or dates. I tried the date version and did not like it. I also tried using dried cranberries but when I poured the milk into my coffee it immediately curdled. I’ve also experimented with strawberries, and that didn’t work very well either. I have been successful with my experiment of dried cherries though, that version I LOVE.

Step 3: I fill my jars about 1/3 of the way up with raisins/cherries. The original recipe calls for a 1/3 cup fruit to 1 cup milk ratio but you can adjust that according to your container/desired sweetness. I tend to include more raisins than 1/3 cup.

Step 4: Fill your containers with milk! I use skim milk but you can use any type of milk that you’d like.

Step 5: Give your jars a shake and then place them in the fridge for at least 24 hours. After 24 hours strain your raisins/cherries out, don’t be afraid if they stick together. I’ve noticed if I leave them in for longer than 24 hours the milk in the bottom gets thick and gross, I just throw that part out with the raisins and drink the rest. Also, if you think of it any time you open the fridge give them a shake, this will help prevent that from happening.

I wouldn’t make a HUGE batch as I’m not sure it would stay good for that long. I do one/two jars at a time and it gets me through the week just perfectly.

Let me know if you try it, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Recipe adapted from SkinnyMs.

What are some of your favorite food DIY’s?

Happy coffee drinking,

Jennifer

Vacation – Southern Style Food

Posted by jennmann

If you read my post from yesterday you know that I spent this last weekend down in North and South Carolina. Instead of giving you one long overwhelming post I decided to split the trip into “what we did” and “what we ate,” because let’s face it, you can’t go to the south and NOT eat tons of amazing food.

First up, Bojangles. I had never even heard of Bojangles until we passed one on our way to Renee’s from the airport at 11pm. That settled it, we had to have Bojangles for breakfast then, and that we did before we set off for the beach. As far as fast food (which I’m not a huge fan of) is concerned it was quite delicious, you can never go wrong with a biscuit sandwich in my mind.

Our first night at the beach we ventured out to Bimini’s Oyster Bar and Seafood Cafe, probably the second best decision we made on the whole trip (keep reading for the first!). We ordered the Steam Pot and a bunch of crab legs and they didn’t last long before we had inhaled all of it. It was so fabulous and the weather was perfect for sitting on the patio.

For breakfast the next day we went to Mammy’s Kitchen. This was a place Renee’s family had eaten at for years and it was the perfect southern breakfast. I even tried out grits for the first time, not bad!

Since we ate a big breakfast we just took snacks with us to the beach and then hit up River City Cafe for dinner. It was the greatest little place where they encourage you to write all over the walls, tables, etc. The food was absolutely fabulous, so much so that I didn’t even get a chance to take a picture. I ate one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, absolutely wonderful.

The next day before we left to head back to Charlotte we lunched at Lulu’s Cafe. It was the most adorable 50′s styled diner near our hotel. I had the chicken and waffles and it was delicious, though I’m still partial to the one’s here in Minneapolis at the Uptown Cafeteria.

On Monday we had the best meal and greatest decision of the entire trip at the King’s Kitchen in downtown Charlotte. Not only does the restaurant have the greatest mission as a non-profit to help feed the hungry in Charlotte but the food was incredible. As you can imagine it was an all around southern style meal, fried chicken, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes & gravy and corn, it was more delicious than it sounds. My diet didn’t exist for this trip let alone for this meal, I regret nothing.

Then before heading to the airport we stopped by Amelie’s French Bakery. It was the most adorable little place that’s open 24/7, if I lived in Charlotte I’d certainly stop by there frequently. I had the best little Vanilla and Strawberry cake-thingy, my mouth is watering just writing about it.

And of course, every meal was met with sweet tea, I miss it already.

If you’re planning to visit Myrtle Beach or Charlotte I certainly recommend that you stop by any of these places. They wont disappoint.

Where are you favorite places to eat?

Happy eating,

Jennifer

Easter Sugar Cookies

Posted by jennmann

I am becoming obsessed with sugar cookies. They’re SO easy to make and incredibly fun to decorate. Unfortunately, I have yet to master the decorating part, but I’m certainly improving. My hope is that one day sugar cookies will be my “thing.” Ya know when people throw a party and say “Oh, Natalie HAS to make her famous pecan pie!”? I want people to say “Oh, Jenn HAS to make her famous sugar cookies!”

I found these adorable Easter cookie cutters at Target on sale and couldn’t help but pick them up.

It included a bunny, butterfly, duck, flower, and my favorite…the easter egg!

One of my oldest and best friends, Ann, got me these Letterpressed cookie cutters for my birthday and I was so excited to use them!

I used them to spell out “Happy Easter!” I found it easiest to stamp them before baking and after. I use this cookie recipe, it’s so simple and delicious! I’ve made it the night before and then baked the next day and it still works great. Just make sure if you leave it in the fridge for more than an hour you give it some time to soften up or it will crack when you begin to roll it out.

Once you’re done baking make sure you leave ample amount of time for the cookies to cool. I usually bake the night before I need to decorating, otherwise if your cookies are still hot the icing will melt, and that’s just no fun. First things first you’ve got to do your outlines! The icing takes some practice to get just right. I use this recipe which is super simple, but mastering the appropriate thickness takes a little more finness. I’ve found that for the first cup of powdered sugar if you use 3 tbsp of milk and 1 tbsp of milk for each cup after that you’ll get a perfect consistency for outlining. You want it to be thin enough to pipe but thick enough to hold. Be sure to test on a cookie before going all out to make sure you have the right consistency. I would also advise that you do the outside outline twice so that it’s thick/tall enough to hold the fill icing.

Once you’ve finished outlining it’s time to fill in! I found neon food coloring at Target and was SO excited, they were perfect for Easter cookies. I added more milk to the leftover outlining icing until it was smooth enough to fill the cookies but not so liquidy that it runs right over the edges. This will take more finness to figure out the perfect consistency for you. Again, make sure to utilize your test cookie.

You can either pipe your filling in or use a spoon. I’ve found it’s easiest to use a spoon to spill some onto the cookies and use a toothpick to smooth it out.

This will take some practice. When you’re starting out remember that less is more! If you get too much icing on the cookie there’s really no going back, but you can always add more in little amounts. I found it easiest to just dip the toothpick into the icing and then dap it onto the cookie for small areas.

Once you’ve finished decorating make sure you allow lots of time for the icing to completely dry, otherwise it will crack when you store them. I usually leave at least an hour or so of drying time and then carefully stack them in a plastic storage container.

Do you like to decorate cookies? Or are you an egg family?

Happy Easter,

Jennifer

Sprouts! I have sprouts!

Posted by jennmann

I’ve wanted my own garden for the longest time, but I’ve just never had the space for one. Over the years I’ve successfully (and unsuccessfully) grow herbs and tomatos in pots but this year I’m getting an upgrade! Our awesome landlord has agreed to let me us the space in our front yard that previously held flowers, which have now died, as a garden this year. I have to tell you, I am beyond excited.

I have very little know-how when it comes to gardening though so I bought the Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, to guide me through. So far this book is AMAZING! It details out things I never would have even though of, and does so in such an incredible way.

According to the book it’s time to start planting seeds indoors. I plan on doing about half of my garden from seeds and the other half from transplants. I’ve never used seeds before so I’m super nervous! Today I went over to check on my plants and saw a few of my lettuce plants have started sprouting!! SO EXCITING!!! I’m slightly terrified that I’m just going to kill everything so this was a very exciting moment for me. So far I’ve only planted my lettuce and bell pepper seeds but there’s more too come and I will be sure to keep you updated on my progress!

I bought a Seed Starting Kit at Home Depot as the book suggested for first-time seeders. It was super easy! It comes with these little dirt pellets that expand when you pour water over them. Then I just planted my seeds, placed labels in to separate the two vegetables and I was done! I ended up having to fold my labels in half so the lid would fit on but oh-well!

Then I just placed the whole thing in my front room window because it gets the most light throughout the day and let it do it’s thing. I check on it daily to make sure it doesn’t need water but other than that it just hangs out there.

I’m so excited to see how this process goes for me this year. I love the idea of supplying my own fruits and vegetables!

Do you have a graden? What’s your number one tip for me?

Happy Gardening,

Jennifer

Recipe Challenge – Queso Blanco Dip

Posted by jennmann

Next up on the Recipe Challenge gauntlet is the Queso Blanco Dip that claimed to be as good as the mexican restaurants, and let me tell you, IT IS! I was a little skeptical since I have high standards for ‘white cheese dip’ but knowing this recipe has changed my life. I no longer need to continue the search for the best cheese dip in the Twin Cities because I can make it in my own kitchen. I should note that I used half and half because I couldn’t find whole milk that wasn’t in a half gallon, and I just don’t need that much whole milk. In retrospect I wish I would have, because the dip turned out a little runnier than I would have liked but it was still delicious!

recipe courtesy of penniesonaplatter.com

What’s your favorite copy-cat recipe?

Happy cheese eating,

Jennifer

I love the Pioneer Woman

Posted by jennmann

I’m not even kidding when I say I love the Pioneer Woman. I swear she looks into my soul every time she creates a recipe and her writing style has me laughing everyday. Here are some of my favorite posts she’s posted.

All I Wanted Was a Doughnut - one of the first posts I ever read and I couldn’t stop laughing afterwards.

Fun at Home Depot - this story of her buying her husbands Christmas gifts made me rejoice “that’s exactly how I feel when shopping for my dad at Home Depot!”

White Chicken Enchiladas – Over Thanksgiving we celebrated my mom’s birthday and she requested mexican food so I made this recipe and it was a HUGE hit.

Chicken Florentine Pasta – This is by far my absolute favorite recipe, I cannot praise it enough. It’s so incredible! Make it tomorrow, make it today, MAKE IT NOW! You wont be disappointed!

Who is your favorite blogger?

Happy laughing and eating,

Jennifer

Recipe Challenge – Tater Tor Hot Dish

Posted by jennmann

This is probably my favorite recipe from my Recipe Challenge, yet. I feel like a true Minnesotan now that I’ve made Tater Tot Hot Dish. I should preface though that this isn’t quite the traditional style of hot dish, but has more of a mexican feel. You won’t regret it though, trust me on that one. Also, in case it should concern you as it concerned me this dish isn’t that bad when it come to calories, it’s also quite filling so one serving is more than enough.

Recipe Courtesy of houseofbrinson.com

Trust me when I say this, you wont be disappointed by this dish. So jump in the car, drive safely to your nearest grocery store and get to makin’ some hot dish!

What’s your favorite casserole dish?

Happy cooking,

Jennifer

Recipe Challenge – Autumn Chopped Salad

Posted by jennmann

I am a tad behind on posting things for my Recipe Challenge, please forgive me. As I’m sure you’re aware the holidays can be a bit crazy, and this is infinitely true in my life.

This may be my new favorite salad recipe. It’s so simple! It takes hardly any prep work and is de-lic-ious! I actually didn’t even mix the entire salad together. I chopped up the lettuce and stored it separately to keep it good for as long as possible. Then I mixed all the toppings together in another container and mixed the dressing together in another one. Since I was the only who would be eating this I didn’t want to mix it all together at once for fear it would go bad faster than I could eat it. It actually worked out quite nicely to have all the items separate for me, but I’m not forcing you to do things the same way. ;)

recipe courtesy of espressoandcream.com

As you can see I also used Gouda cheese instead of Feta, mainly because I just really, really love Gouda cheese. So that one is up to you as well.

What’s you’re favorite salad recipe?

Happy Salad Eating,

Jennifer

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burritos – Recipe Challenge

Posted by jennmann

I have completed my first recipe as part of my Winter Recipe Challenge and I couldn’t have chosen a better one to start with. As I mentioned last week I’m completely in love with Butternut Squash right now. I’ve been following Oh She Glows for awhile now but I’ve tried very few of her recipes so when I saw this one I knew I just had to make it. The mixture is completely delicious wrapped in a tortilla, as a salad topper or deconstructed like a fajita! I lived off the leftovers for a week and I didn’t even think twice about a different dinner option.

Black Bean And Butternut Squash Burritos

Recipe Courtesy of OhSheGlows.com

I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t add chicken or beef to the mixture if you desired but I didn’t miss it. As a pointer I would remind you to set a timer when roasting your Butternut Squash, I may or may not have burnt my first batch. ;)

What is your favorite burrito recipe?

Happy Burrito Eating,
Jennifer

Foodie Pen Pals – Month One

Posted by jennmann

I recently started participating in this awesome program called Foodie Pen Pals. It’s this great program where you sign up and then on the 5th of each month are assigned a partner and you are responsible for sending that person at box of goodies. The wonderful Alicia sent me my box this month and this is what was in it:

Pumpkin Stuffed Muffin Mix, a Ready-to-eat Meal, Key Lime Cookies, Mango Peach Salsa, Spicy Cocoa Mix and my absolute favorite Justin’s Maple Almond Butter. I am absolutely obsessed with the almond butter, I used one packet and went out and bought a whole jar! So good!

In my box I sent Organic Minnesota Wild Rice, Minnesota Honey Crisp Apples, Ames Farm Honey, and some Trader Joe’s tea. If you want to participate go to this link and sign yourself up before the 5th!

Minnesotan’s help me out – which local specialties would you send to your Pen Pal?

Happy Eating,
Jennifer

JennMann…

Category Archives: …cooks

DIY Coffee Creamer

Vacation – Southern Style Food

Easter Sugar Cookies

Sprouts! I have sprouts!

Recipe Challenge – Queso Blanco Dip

I love the Pioneer Woman

Recipe Challenge – Tater Tor Hot Dish

Recipe Challenge – Autumn Chopped Salad

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burritos – Recipe Challenge

Foodie Pen Pals – Month One

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