Oh, Cupcake!



We held a baby shower for a co-worker this week.  She's having a baby girl!  I decided to make cupcakes instead of ordering a cake.  I wanted to try lemon cupcakes with strawberry frosting...one of my favorite combinations.  I make the cupcakes with a box of lemon flavored cake mix and prepared them by the directions on the box.  They were OK, but I would have liked a stronger lemon flavor, so I'll have to see what I can do about that next time.  The strawberry buttercream frosting I made was yummy!  I found the recipe at marthastewart.com.  Check it out here. 

The frosting was great, I added more than three tablespoons of strawberries though, maybe about an extra half tablespoon.  Also, this recipe calls for frozen berries, I wondered whether fresh berries would work just as well.  I think that maybe the reason they need to be frozen could be that they may get too mushy or watery if fresh...someone try it and tell me!  Of course, this yummy recipe for frosting went straight to my Pepperplate recipe list...YUM!

The Trouble with Chicken

Tom and I have been on a budget lately...and we've eaten lots of chicken!  Grilled chicken...baked chicken...homemade chicken nuggets (my own recipe that I'll post sometime soon!)...chicken stir-fry...shredded chicken sandwiches...I have a lot of recipes for chicken!

The other night, Tom was working and Hazel and I were hungry. I wanted something fast...and something that called for chicken, of course!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it.  Of course, the "pin" I saw didn't have the oven temp on it, so I guesstimated.  I also didn't write anything down so I just made a mental note and ran to the kitchen.

Here's MY recipe!  :)

Ingredients:
Two chicken breasts (cause that's what I had)
1/2 a container of plain greek yogurt (also what I had)
Some parmesean cheese...the kind in the green container (I think the fancy shredded would be better)
Panko crumbs and bread crumbs (both unseasoned)
Italian seasoning

What I Did: 
I placed both chicken breasts in a glass dish that I had sprayed with cooking spray.  Then, I mixed the yogurt with the parm.  I didn't measure the parm.  Then, I spread the parm/yogurt mixture onto the chicken.  Then I sprinkled on bread crumbs, then panko, then the italitan seasoning.  I probably should have mixed those together.  Oh well!  I set the oven to 350 degrees F.  After thirty minutes I checked the chicken and it was still raw in the middle.  So I raised the temp to 425 degrees F and cooked it about another twenty minutes.

It was OK....the greek yogurt was really tangy, Hazel took a few bites and wasn't very interested after that.  I would probably make it again...but I would follow these directions found here.  This recipe calls for mayo.  The next time I make it, I would use plain regular (non-Greek) yourt in place of the mayo and maybe another type of seasoning.  Let me know if you try it!  Either way, it's super easy to make and it was good enough to give a second try!  I'm still looking for chicken recipes to try...it's a very versatile ingredient!

We've Got Buns

In an effort to save money and use my bread machine,  I decided to make my own hamburger buns.  I've made them twice now and they are yummy!  I think I could probably make these into hot dog or brat buns too, simply by cutting them in a long oval shape instead of round.  I think I'll be trying that for my husbands upcoming college graduation party.  This recipe was Pepperplate worthy, so it went on my recipe list immediately!

Yummy!

The buns were very easy to make with the help of my bread machine.  I think they'd be just as easy by hand.  I got the recipe, "Homemade Hambuger Buns (Bread Machine)" from Food.com, see the recipe here.  Now, I could just go out and buy a pack of buns for less than a couple dollars...but there's just something wonderful about the smell of fresh bread and on top of that, these taste great!  Try them, you won't be sorry!  If you don't have a bread machine, try this recipe for 40 Minute Hamburger Buns Recipe.  It's from the same author (Marie) as the bread machine version.

A Nice Welcome Home

Check out the wreath I made!  A few weeks ago, versions of this wreath were being created by my Aunts, cousins and Mom.  I finally made my own last weekend. 

Cute, huh?!

The wreath was super easy to make, and not very expensive, at least for me!  The wreath came from my Mom's house, a leftover center piece from my sisters wedding.  The "M" was from our wedding five years ago.  I found the flowers at a thrift store for a buck!  My Mom lent me the yellow spray paint for the "M" and I had some glue sticks and glue gun on hand to stick it all together.  I'm prety sure you could find everything you need for less than $15...you may even have a lot of this stuff in your house already! 

I hope to give my wreath a facelift every season...maybe red, white, and blue flowers for the summer, little pumpkins, and orange and purple flowers in the fall.  Once I had everything I needed, it only took me a few minutes to put it all together.  That's my kind of project! What will you put on your wreath?  I keep thinking of new ideas...I may have to write these down!







Pinned and Peppered...How I Got Hooked

Welcome to Pinned and Peppered!  I'm a wife to Tom, a mother to Hazel and I work full-time.  I'm a busy Mom!  I have found though, that I'm not too busy to try something new.

When I discovered Pinterest, I was hooked within minutes.  I love trying new things, crafting, and just dreaming about what my life and my home could be.  Honestly, I never thought I had time to make things, or cook, or bake.  Pinterest has inspired me to finally DO things!  Pinterest is a place where I can see all sorts of great things in one place.  Also, there are SO many wonderful and helpful websites and blogs, how would I have discovered them without Pinterest?! 

After I discovered Pinterest, my sister told me about Pepperplate.  I love it!  It's a place where you can import recipes from supported sites, or manually entered your own, or others.  One afternoon while my daughter Hazel slept, I entered recipes I had written on paper onto Pepperplate.  Not only did this clean up my recipe book, but it made life a lot easier...instead of searching my cupboards and drawers for a hand written recipe, I can locate them using my laptop, Kindle Fire or smart phone!  You can also make a shopping list and the items are separated by sections (like Produce, Meat, etc) making my shopping trips quicker and easier!  I love it and tell anyone who will listen!

Both of these sites have inspired my Blog.  I have made some things I've found on Pinterest and will be sharing them with you.  If you haven't visited the sites before, try it!  I don't think you'll be disappointed! Check the sites out at  www.pinterest.com and www.pepperplate.com.

My first project was making a drip catcher thingy for my laundry detergent out of a soda bottle.  We had plenty of these in our house!  I used magic marker to draw where I wanted to cut and used heavy duty scissors to cut it out...watch it, that plastic can cut you!  It only took me a few minutes and has saved me from having to constantly clean the top of my washing machine. 

Drip Catcher!

Check out one for sale here.  Easy enough, right!?  And cheaper than the 5.99 price tag!  It has worked really well for my detergent and would work for all kinds of "drippy" situations.  Plus, when it gets nasty and filled with goo, I can pitch it and make another!  Sweet!

What was your first Pinterest project?  Tell me about!