Bloggiversary: 1 Year Old!

 *****************************

Thanks for stopping by MoMomma!  If you like this site - Please become a GFC follower! Thanks

*****************************
 WOW!

Happy Bloggiversary Everyone!

Can you believe I've been blogging at MoMomma for one year to date?
I began this blog January 6th 2011 - That was a quick year. WOW

Going back to my original blog posts I wanted to show my friends and family different ways to save money while raising their family.  I knew I wanted my blog to be about Family, Food, Crafts and Church.  These are the things that I enjoy every day so they were natural topics for me.

My 2011 family goal was to eat better, plan more meals and make family dinner time a priority.

Even with a small baby in the house, I'd say we did pretty good.

I started 2011 with my first Fry's Shopping Coupon adventure.
I still LOVE to coupon but I realize there are MANY couponing blogs out there who do it better,
so I'm going to leave it to the experts :)

I then started adding into the mix my Recipes and Recipe reviews.
 My first recipe review for Fiesta Chicken.  Not our family's favorite but it was okay.

 Turns out my readers dug the recipe reviews so I kept that as a constant feature.
And hey, who DOESN'T like to eat?  And - eat well!

Here is one of our favorite recipes from 2011:
Waffle Maker Pizza

Through the year I also shared a little about my Family...

Milestones of BabyMo & KidMo

 

Happy BabyMo

Baby Boy -Puppy Dog Nursery Reveal

Then... We tackled some PERSONAL topics...
FIRST- I showed you all the GREY HAIR the baby gave me...

THEN- I chopped it all off!!!

Pretty fun... RIGHT?

I had a few serious posts as well - like THIS one where I shared my Testimony & Conversion story to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

And, celebrated another fantastic year married to MoDaddy

And my all blog post with the MOST hits was:
KidMo's Cars 2 Birthday Party & Cake

I've gained Bloggy-Friends from ALL over!

A quick shout out to my readers in New Zealand, Australia, UK, Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, Israel & Germany!  WOW!  

If you are visiting from another country (or even state) leave me a comment to say HELLO!

Thanks for an AMAZING first blogging year everyone!

There's MORE to come! Stay tuned!
hint: I can tell you I'm working on a HUGE room reveal... you're going to LOVE it!

Mommy Monday with MoMomma

Here are two of my favorite link ups from last week.
(Both are re-purposed furniture creations.... I think I'm feeling crafty!)


The Turquoise Piano- Craigslist  Chair makeover 


Vintage Shabby Chicks - Goodwill Hunting

Dinner: Cream of Wild Rice Soup

Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset

***************************************************************

Last Sunday on Mother's day I made a yummy Cream of Wild Rice Soup.

Ever since then I've been craving this soup.

So, I made it again tonight.

In fact, I made a DOUBLE batch.

Here's whatcha need:

1 box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice

1 Chopped Onion

4 1/2 tablespoons butter

4 1/2 tablespoons flour

 2 cups of half and half

3 cans of chicken broth

The original recipe can be found in this cookbook, I've altered it a bit:  

 First, cook the rice according to the box directions.

 In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender.

Stir in the flour until blended. 

(the original recipe also calls for Mace and white pepper)

Gradually stir in the broth, cream and cooked rice.

Bring to a boil while stirring continually.

I served mine with some yummy french bread.  

SOOO good!

 Enjoy!

The Feedback: 10 out of 10.

Even KidMo ate it!  And, he never eats soup.  YES!

PS- I highly recommend the Taste of Home cookbooks! 

I have FOUR of them. 

They are awesome and easy to follow.

Linking up:
Todays Creative Blog
Whipper Berry
TidyMom

Baking: Mom's Banana Bread

Today I'm sharing with you one of my family's favorite recipes: Mom's Banana Bread

There are a few rules you must know about when making this bread.

If you chose to make our recipe, please abide by the family rules. Deal???

Rule 1:  You MUST make this in a bundt pan

(we grew up eating this out of a bundt pan mold and you must do the same)

Rule 2:  You must use very ripe Bananas -it will make all the difference

Rule 3:  All the ingredients must be room temp

Rule 4:  You must use Crisco! Don't try to substitute butter here folks

Rule 5: Buttermilk is what makes it yummy!

(If you don't have buttermilk on hand, get your 2/3 cup of milk out and fill it just shy of the 2/3 mark. Then, add just enough distilled vinegar to get it to the 2/3 mark.  Let sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients and you have instant buttermilk!)

Let's begin...

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 baking powder

2/3 cups soft crisco shortening

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (I used three)

3 eggs (beaten)

( Isn't my mom's handwriting pretty?! She would will kill me for showing her handwriting, but I just love it!)

Directions:

-Mix Dry ingredients & Cut in shortening

-Mix additional ingredients and stir until blended

-Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes

This recipe comes out moist and soft like a cake.

KidMo LOVES it!!!  And, so do all of his cousins!

Enjoy!!

I'm linking to these linky parties:

a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0Vzcawn-OVgaqimh1L4jeBvkrU4qDbax5tzexn3W7RLzRWBAkV-EEi94rd5NjxXDMP8ZNeMwtAJ2HaqMe8FeBBYz51FNuZ-jqbP3tM7-JMtUdif8BBrgUuEaRkdW4L8rpkjSEQGJEzs/s320/SugarSpice.png"/></a>

Dinner: Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Tonight for dinner we made Homemade Macaroni and Cheese in our pressure cooker!

If you don't have a pressure cooker, just cook the noodles and add the cheese at the end. I'm sure it will end up tasting the same.

The recipe is found in the Bob Warden's Slow Food Fast Cookbook. You can purchase it online at QVC (http://www.qvc.com/)


MACARONI
2 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
2 teaspoons chicken base mixed into 2 cups water
(I just used 2 cups chicken broth that I had on hand)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

CHEESE
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a regular sized block)
1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1. Add all macaroni ingredients to pressure cooker, securely lock on lid and set the cooker to high and cook for 6 minutes

2. Perform a quick release to release the pressure. Safely remove lid and slowly stir in cheese ingredients until melted and serve immediately.

THE FEEDBACK: 10 out of 10!

We all thought this recipe tasted really good - 100% times better than packaged Mac n' Cheese!

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Easy Homemade Salsa

Lately I've been craving Mexican Food! And yes, I'm on a kick to figure out how to make it on my own. Because, why should I have to pay $10 for dinner when I can make it myself for less?
Am I right, or am I right.

SO, last week I ordered a Bountiful Basket. Along with it I ordered the Mexican Food pack. It included a bunch of things that I've never EVER cooked with before including some seriously strange peppers.

I really wanted to try some homemade salsa. I was a little intimidated by the idea, but willing to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how EASY it is to make salsa!

This recipe is from my Sister-in-law, Michelle.
(Thanks Michelle!)

Photo: Yummy salsa with mini cheese quesadilla


Recipe:

1 clove garlic

1 jalapeno

2 green onions

1 handful cilantro



Step 1 - chop the above ingredients in food processor.

Step 2 - then add 6-7 Roma tomatoes, 1 tsp of Salt and Juice from 1/4 lemon

Step 3 - blend in food processor until you get your own desired consistency.


THE FEEDBACK: A 10 out of 10 from everyone! Even "Kid-MO" liked it!

Enjoy!! It is SUPER yummy and easy too!

Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie & Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

For tonight's Dinner adventure we had homemade Chicken Pot Pie.

I promise you once you make it from scratch you will never want to eat one of those frozen meals again! This one is SO easy!

Click HERE for the recipe, or read below for the exact steps I took.
(PS- If you have a box of Bisquick - it's on the back of the box!)

For the pot-pie mixture:
1/2 bag frozen Peas & Carrots mixture (thawed)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Campbell's soup
1-2 cups cut up cooked Chicken (ours was from the previous night's recipe leftovers!)
1 cup milk

For the crust topping:
1 Cup Bisquick
1/2 Cup milk
1 Egg

Step 1: Place pot pie mixture in bottom of pie plate or similar 9 inch size baking plate.
Step 2: In separate bowl, mix three ingredients for crust topping until combined. Then, pour over pot pie mixture
Step 3: Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered.




THE FEEDBACK: 10 out of 10 - WOHOO!

KID FEEDBACK: 2 out of 10
We had to fight with "Kid-MO" a little to eat his dinner. He did like the Bisquick topping as well as the chicken inside. He didn't appreciate the "sauce" or the veggies that were touching his meat (he's four - what do you expect). We got him to to try it, and he ate enough to get full. That is success for us!

ESTIMATED COST OF DINNER: $2.00
$1.00 Cream of Chicken
.25 Chicken (leftovers)
.50 Frozen veggies- 1/2 bag
.25 Bisquick, eggs, milk

For Desert: Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

This Cookie recipe came out of the 101 Gourmet Cookies Cookbook.
I got this for Christmas. Yummy cookie ideas!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 4oz package vanilla pudding (mine was 3.5 oz and worked fine)
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream butter and sugars together
3. Add vanilla and eggs along with pudding mix
4. In separate bowl, mix together baking soda and flour
5. Slowly add in flour mixture until well combined
6. Drop small 1 inch balls of cookie dough onto cookie sheets
7. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until edges are just browned.

Enjoy!

THE FEEDBACK: 10 out of 10 - for sure.
The cookies were really yummy. The pudding makes them a little softer and sweeter than a normal chocolate chip cookie (which is fine by me - Bring on the sweet!).

Here is a photo of the Cookbook. I highly recommend it.
The yummy Cupcake to the left is my cookie jar :) SO cute.

Pressure Cookers Are Awesome: Roast Chicken and Veggies

Tonight's Dinner adventure features a chicken and a pressure cooker.
These two things are new to me.

First of all I need to say a big THANK YOU to my fantastic parents who gave us THIS pressure cooker for Christmas! You can go to QVC to purchase your own HERE.

Secondly, I need to let you know I've never touched a raw chicken in my life.

I've been nervous about this ALL day! I know it's something people do all the time, but the thought of touching a raw whole Chicken (Or Turkey) just totally groses me out!

I actually used some tongs to "fish" out the giblets from the inside of the chicken. One of the grosest things I've ever done. YUCK!

Nevertheless, I've overcome my fear in the persuit of DINNER!

Here is the result......



Can you say YUMMMMMMMMMM.

Ok, here are my ingredients:

1 whole fryer chicken
1 can chicken broth (I used about 3/4 of the can)
4 large potatoes
1 small bag baby carrots
1 onion (I used about 1/2 the onion)

I modified a recipe that came with the pressure cooker.
Here are my directions (modify as you wish)

1. Season Chicken (salt and pepper) I used McCormick Rotisserie Chicken seasoning! Turned out great.
2. Brown the chicken either on the stove top or in the pressure cooker (mine has a browning function so I used that).
3. Remove chicken from pressure cooker and add chopped onion to liquid (add garlic if you wish) Saute for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add chicken back to pressure cooker and add largely cut potatoes and carrots around the chicken.
5. Close and cook for 25 minutes on the highest pressure setting (mine is 15 psi).

THE FEEDBACK: 10 out of 10! WAHOOOOO!

KID FEEDBACK: 8 of 10. "Kid-MO" really likes meat. He gobbled up the chicken. He wouldn' touch the potatoes or carrots, but he never eats those so that is not a surprise.

NOTES: I also cooked up some rice and served the chicken and veggies over rice! ForYummy.

UP TOMORROW: I'm going to use the leftover broth and some of the chicken to make chicken noodle soup tomorrow! Come back to see how that adventure goes!

Your Thoughts? :)

Recipe: Fiesta Chicken *

I have to admit, I do LOVE to cook.
I love to BAKE even more. But, more about that later.

One of my 2011 resolutions is to PLAN better. For me that means planning ahead for meals and making less trips to the Drive-thru.

I'm still in my planning phase but my ultimate goal is to have 1-2 weeks of meals planned ahead with all of the ingredients on hand.

What is at stake? TIME, MONEY, FAMILY & HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

This will take me a while to build my "supply" of meat and ingredients that I have on hand but in the long run the TIME I will save from running to the grocery store will really pay off. I will also save my family a lot of MONEY by cooking at home more during the week. We will also eat a lot more HEALTHIER and enjoy FAMILY time together at the table.

Along the way I'll share my recipes and my family's feedback.

Up this week: Fiesta Chicken

I found the recipe online HERE


(photo by Amy)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
8 chicken drumsticks or thighs (8 drumsticks = about 2-1/2 lb) (I used 6)
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 cans (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1 can (8 oz each) Hunt's® Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.

2. Add rice to drippings in skillet; stir to coat. Cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes or until rice browns a bit, stirring occasionally. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, water and about half of the onions; blend well. Bring to a boil. Top with chicken; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 20 minutes or until drumsticks are no longer pink in center and juices run clear (180°F).
3. Sprinkle chicken with cheese and the remaining onions; cover. Cook an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts, liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

THE FEEDBACK: Too Spicy! Rating 2 out of 10

NOTES: I think that the Ro-Tel "original" with green chilies was what made this too spicy for us. If we make this again, I will tone down the recipe by using just one can of Rotel Mild mix.

TIPS: When making this meal, I found that my Chicken Drumsticks were bleeding during the browning stage! YUCK! I did a quick GOOGLE search and found that if you soak the chicken drumsticks in Salted Water prior to cooking you can avoid this! WOOHOO

HERE is a link to more ideas to stop the chicken from bleeding via Yahoo Answers.