Homemade Lo Mein! It's So Easy!

This recipe tastes JUST like the Lo Mein I get from my favorite Chinese restaurant...but better, because I can add only the vegetables we like! In my photo I show this recipe plain, with just some chopped chives on top, but I have made it many times since then and have added chicken, bean sprouts, yellow and green onion and sometimes water chestnuts! It all depends on who I'm making it for and what they like! I make this recipe often, especially when I'm craving Chinese food! Go ahead and try it...I know you'll love it!

The original recipe is from a cooking site, posted by a member known as Yomomma. I tweaked it slightly to suit my family's tastes! I'm posting the recipe with the changes I made!

Lo Mein

A Great Giveaway!!!

Click on photo to enlarge

As I mentioned in this blog post, My 15 Minutes of Fame! I will be giving away a bunch (18 packs) of McCormick Gourmet Seasoning Mixes *click here* to see the selection! But I never imagined how many spice packets the McCormick people would send!

Quinoa Burgers!

I found this recipe on a blog called 
'Eating Well, Living Thin-er' by Linda F. It caught my eye because I love quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) and I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it! It's basically a veggie burger...but it tastes delicious! Most veggie burgers aren't very tasty and the texture is usually too chunky. This quinoa burger is none of those things!

An Italian Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich!

I love hot lunches! I'll heat up leftovers before I'll eat a cold lunch! But when there aren't any leftovers I'll make myself this tasty hot sandwich! I love this because it's quick and delicious! And it's kind of healthy too! Well, except for the butter and cheese...but it does have some veggies in there!

This grilled cheese sandwich reminds me of one of my favorite appetizers...antipasto! So that's what I named my recipe! I hope you like it as much as I do!



Antipasto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Easy Creamy Mac n' Cheesy

I've tried sooooo many mac n' cheese recipes! I've tried some with onions...some with dry mustard...some with cottage cheese! I finally decided to mix and match different recipes until I got exactly what I wanted in a mac n' cheese dish!

 I wanted something super creamy and cheesy but with lots of flavor! This is what I came up with...it's now my 'go to' mac n' cheese recipe because it works perfectly every time! I never have a problem with clumps or dryness! And I love the slight flavor of the mustard! You can add breadcrumbs on top and bake it til browned, if you like a crunchy crust! I don't, because I like my mac n' cheese to be totally creamy!

Meatloaf Muffins!

Lots of my food friends have been making these cute little meatloaf muffins, so I decided to give it a try! You know what? I think I'll make my meatloaf like this from now on because it's so much easier to make and serve in these individual muffin shapes! And I just love the fact that the mashed potatoes are ontop of each meatloaf. I poured brown gravy over the mashed potatoes just before serving! My family loved these! You can use your favorite meatloaf and mashed potato recipe. Below is the meatloaf recipe I used.

Meatloaf Muffins

My Favorite Cocktail - Homemade!

Red Apple Martini

I just love Red Apple Martinis!!! It's so hard to find a bartender that really knows how to make one correctly!

 Well, a few years ago I was out to lunch with my husband at this cute little seaside restaurant...it was a very casual place! The kind of place that you just drive up to in your boat! Flip flops and a T-shirt is the usual attire!

We walked in and sat down at the bar.

Do You Love Almond Joy Candy Bars?

Almond Joy Cake Mix Cookies

Well, if you do, you'll absolutely LOVE these cake mix cookies! They're so VERY easy to make...20 minutes from start to finish! And they really taste like Almond Joy candy bars!

Three Tasty and Easy Recipes!



Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage
Caesar Salad Recipe
**Click Here**

I love these kinds of recipes because I can make a large meal for my family in a snap! That's what I did with these 3 recipes!

An Exciting Birthday Bash!

I recently found out that I, along with 150 other AllRecipes.com Allstar Brand Ambassadors, are invited to an all expense paid birthday celebration for the AllRecipes website! The website will be 15 years old in July! We are all being flown to Seattle for this fun filled, 2 day, birthday party!

My 15 Mintues of Fame!

Well, it will really only be 5 minutes of fame after the video is edited...lol!

 I was recently asked to film a McCormick Gourmet Seasoning Mixes video! It's one of their new products, soon to be released nation wide this spring and summer! 

Go Bold with Butter!

This month in the Allrecipes.com Allstar Brand Ambassador Program we're promoting the 'Go Bold with Butter'  campaign to support the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board in partnership with America’s Dairy Farmers! Check out their page for delicious recipes! I tried their 'French Toast with Honey Butter' recipe and it was HEAVENLY!!! The best french toast I ever had! And I just wanted to eat the honey butter by the spoonful! The honey butter would also be yummy on so many other foods...I want to try it on baked sweet potatoes next time! This is a great recipe to serve if you want to impress your guests! It tastes very fancy, but it is so easy to make! Here's my photo of the finished dish...

*Click Here for 'French Toast with Honey Butter' Recipe*

 The recipe makes about 12-16 pieces, so cut the recipe down if you want to make less!

I ate 4 pieces...YUM!!!

 I've loved butter as far back as I can remember! As a child, (3-4 years old) I can remember chomping away on sticks of butter! I would always get about 2 mouthfuls before my Mom would notice and take it away! Around that same time I also remember rubbing butter on my nails to make them shiny...lol! I guess I had a butter fetish! These days I have to be more careful about my butter consumption...everything in moderation! But it's always butter for me...never margarine!

Who Says You Can't Eat Your Cake and Have it Too?

Well, with this giveaway you can because I'm giving you not one, not two, but three free boxes of Entenmann's Mini Cakes and Muffin Tops!

Lots a Wasa!

I recently received a large amount of Wasa crackers in the mail! I won them in a blog giveaway through a blogger named Becky from

An Improvised Appy...

I needed another appetizer to serve to my guests for Easter! I had mini mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes, pesto, garlic and white bread, so I decided to make these cute little Insalata Caprese Bites! My guests really loved them! I think I'll make them more often!

Insalata Caprese Bites

Just Wanted to Share...

My Seattle trip was so much fun! The Allrecipes staff really showed us a great time! It was first class all the way,  from

An Amazing Oppurtunity!!!

I recently found out that I was selected to go on a trip to Seattle to be in a cooking video for the McCormick spice company! They are launching a new line of spice packets. I was sent this very generous selection, as seen above. Plus two bottles of their specialty spice blends.

Update!

I recently found out that I'm a winner in the Chef Boyardee recipe contest! I mentioned that contest in a recent blog post. I almost gave up on that contest, thinking I would never win! Well, I'm so glad I didn't give up because I finally won in week #7 with my SloppyRoni Sliders recipe! I re-entered the recipe that week and won a $500 Amex gift card and $75 worth of free food items from ConAgra foods! At the end of the 10 weeks, all 10 winners will be entered for a chance to win the grand prize...1 years worth of free groceries($100 per week) at the store of your choice! 

                                         

 Now the voting begins for the Chef Boyardee recipe contest!

I'm not going to be asking for votes because I feel like I already won just by making it into the finals! I wanted to show you what a great job the photographer did in recreating my original photo! Here's is the photo that I shot along with their photo.

 

I thought I did a great job until I saw their version...

 My Photo

Photo by Pro Photographer

 

 

They did a much better job, don't you think?

 



And by the way, here is the link to my winning recipe! It was delicious! SloppyRoni Sliders Recipe

I Improved My Copycat Recipe!

I've been on a quest to copy my favorite BBQ sauce...'Sweet Baby Ray's', 
which I showed you in the blog post for Sweet & Smokey BBQ Sauce...

Well, I made that recipe again last night and I think I've come even closer to my goal!
I think this is as close as I'm going to get! Here is my revised recipe... 

Am I the Only Person Who Never Heard of Tomato Pie?

The first time I ever heard of this dish was while looking through recipes on the Internet! I think it's a Southern thing! The ingredients sounded like something I would love, so I decided to give it a try! This recipe was posted by a food friend of mine named Donna Brown. I tried this recipe and loved it! The only problem I had with this recipe was that I couldn't bring myself to wait for the pie to set, after I took it out of the oven, so it was a little messy to cut!  But it was VERY tasty! The creamy basil sauce is to die for! Since then I've discovered other savory pies that I love! I'll post another one tomorrow! Here is the recipe for the Tomato Pie...

Tomato Pie