About a month or so ago I found myself struggling with overwhelming anxiety. For a few days I just wrote it off to the very hectic life of a working mom. I came up with a liveable routine for daily life to try to ease my mind. Didn't work. I tried dropping things from my daily routine. Didn't work. I was feeling kind of lost when I had a light bulb moment. Pinterest. DUH!
I had fallen victim to the latest craze on the streets. Like so many ladies I know, I am pretty sure I am a Pinterest addict. For anyone who doesn't know what pinterest is, just know that it is AH-MAZE-ING and it can't really be done justice by trying to describe it. Just log in and start poking around. You'll likely be quickly hooked, but don't give up if you aren't. (I sound like a Pinterest dealer. Oh well. At least it's free. Kind of. I would suggest you start keeping track of sales at Michaels and Hobby Lobby if you haven't already jumped on this bandwagon with me.)
There are so many recipes, parties, crafts, and organization techniques that I was getting totally overwhelmed. I was packing in 5-6 pinterest activities a week and I still couldn't keep up with everything I wanted to try. Good Lord! Luckily I have been able to reign this addiction in by giving myself a daily pinterest time limit. Not Kidding.
Anyhow, I have found there is nothing worse that spending money on a pinterest project only to suck at it or hate it. So I figured I'd share some of my pinterest experiences in hopes that they will help guide my fellow pinners. I've tried quite a few so this may have to be done over a period of time...but here goes...I will start with recipes.
When I decide on which recipes are keepers and which ones are shit I consider the following: price and number of ingredients, difficulty and time to make, nutrition (this one doesn't weigh very much), and what my hubby thinks of it (I have to like something a whole heck of a lot to make it only for myself). Oh - and I grade kind of harshly. I love trying new recipes so something has to be pretty fantastic for me to make it again. Just because I say I won't make it again, doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a shot. Also, I think all of the blogs and sites these came from are fantastic. Usually if I don't like a recipe it is because I screwed it up...so visit the sites even if I didn't like the recipe. You will probably find a plethora of additional recipes you will be excited to try.
Greek Tomato and Feta Dip
My very first Pinterest recipe. Also my all time favorite Pinterest recipe. Scores high in all the important categories. I give this one the coveted "tradition" status. I have made it many times over the past couple of months and I was asked for the recipe every time. Make it as soon as possible. Make A LOT!
Crockpot Angel Chicken
Crockpot recipes always get bonus points in my book. I liked this one and because it is a crock pot recipe there is a good possibility I will make it again. For me it came out a little dry, but that is because I am out of my house for more than 6-8 hours a day so it has to stay on "warm" for a while. It's good, but it will be ugly if you use regular cream of mushroom. Use the golden mushroom like the recipe says.
Hershey Kiss Acorn Cookies
There were none of these leftover and they are SUPER cute, but I probably won't make them again unless there is a super special reason to. Putting those tiny itty bitty little kisses on top was a pain in the ass even for someone who enjoys to assemble things.
Cranberry Salsa over Cream Cheese
Cranberry, cilantro, jalepeno and cream cheese?!?!?! This sounded so yummy and festive that I couldn't wait to give it a shot. It came out alright. It wasn't as sweet/syrupy as I wanted it and I wasn't thrilled with the consistency. Truth be told, I probably screwed the recipe up. For this reason I might give it another shot. But probably not...the excitement is gone.
Hawiian Sweet Roll Ham Sandwiches
These were fun. I like easy game-day entertainment recipes. They won't be a tradition but they might make appearances at my house from time to time. Make sure you cut the bottoms much thicker than the tops otherwise they will become "knife and fork" food, which defeats the purpose in my mind.
Peach, Vodka, Lemonade, Sprite
Not a fan. Probably because I didn't follow the exact instructions and therefore made it wrong. It needed A LOT more peaches (I also didn't puree them long enough so my drink was chunky. boo.). Although I still beleive this is probably delicious if made right I most likely will not try it again. Homemade frozen drinks = pain in the ass with too much clean up.
Rolo Pretzels
My mom was making these before Pinterest came around, but I had to pin them anway because they are fabulous! Tradition status. Enough said.
Cinnamon Sugar White Chocolate Pretzels
Another pretzel recipe, another homerun. Tradition Status. I like this one so much I would make it even if my hubby hated it.
White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn
I liked it. I think. I would have made it again for Christmastime but it got some seriously mixed reviews. Strangely enough, most of the ladies really liked it while the guys didn't like it at all. I don't like mixed reviews so it's a goner. I do like the idea of trying some more popcorn recipes though.
Crock Pot Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup
I won't make this one again. It was a stretch for me to even try it given the fact that I know my husband isn't a fan of tomato soup. The flavors just didn't blend right for me. Not sure what happened, but I wish it worked out because it sure is pretty.
Artichoke Bread
This was good. My only modification would be less of the artichoke spread. Most of us love artichoke dip but that doesn't mean we would eat it by the spoonful. I like a little more bread in my bite.
Oven Smores
I might try it again if I happened to have the ingredients on hand and no quick goodies in the house. I thought this was going to be ooey gooey but it wasn't. The marshmellows just disappeared. Maybe more marshmellows next time?
Dijon Chicken Linguine with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds
The Hub liked this one. I did too. It wasn't as quick as I like my "keepers" to be but I might make it again on a weekend sometime. Oh...I didn't use fancy Chantaereeeeeeelllllle mushrooms. Button works just fine thank you very much.
Lazy Sunday Casserole
We liked this one very much and it may just get tradition status. I like rustic countryside food. We made this for a crowd on a Saturday with both hot and mild italian sausage and it was pretty well received. Yes, I realize the name is lazy Sunday casserole and we made it on a Saturday. But the name still works. Here is why...the best part of this recipe was when Matt and I woke up hungover the next day (Sunday) we both agreed that it made a nice breakfast as well...which scored it double super bonus points.
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Matt and I both really liked these. Especially Matt...which isn't suprising. This is TOTAL guy food. I think it's a fun concept for game day food so the possbility is out there that I might try them again on a weekend sometime. For the most part I try to keep my dinners as simple as possible (if you haven't heard me say it before...time has become very vauluable to me) and this one wasn't difficult by any means, but it just dirtied one too many dishes and took a few minutes longer to make it onto my tradition list.
Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese
I was so excited about this one...how creative! I won't make it again though. It was alright, but Matt wasn't a huge fan and it wasn't a time saver or as budget friendly as I think a meatless meal should be.
Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
An old friend of mine had a chili contest party one night and her mom made this fantastic chicken chili that I fell in love with. Since then I have modified many a chicken chili recipe to try to come close to that recipe. No luck. This most certainly not that recipe but I like it enough that I might be ok with giving up my search. Matt prefers traditional chili so it's tough to get a positive response out of him for any chicken chili. He seems to like this one though. It's a crock pot recipe. I'll likely make it again.
Pizza Sandwiches
I was scarfing these bad boys looooooooong before Pinterest existed and I hold it sacred because of the many wonderful memories that are attached to it. For some reason I am bothered that this little gem is out on the internet and public. I like to think it was only ours. (When I say "ours"...you know who you are.) For this reason (and because the recipe is pretty obvious) I am not linking to a website for this one. It is a definite tradition.
Banana Boats
See description for Banana Boats. I just can not wait until Miles is old enough to try the things I liked so much as a kid.
Cake Batter Dip
I tried this at a baby shower recently. I made it for a friends party that very night and I have made it again since then. 3 ingredients, no heat, and a crowd pleaser. Go for it and make sure you buy plenty of vanilla wafers. This recipe makes a shit ton of cake batter dip.
Oreo Pudding Chocolate Poke Cake
This was easy and fun, but i couldn't help but feel that it was missing something. Don't get me wrong. We ate the entire thing anyway.
And that is it for now. I haven't done this many of the crafty type projects. I tend to be partial to the recipes since I have to make dinner anyway. I will tell you that I have not had as much success with the crafts. That post will be much more humorous than this one I think. It's been nice to get a post up on here. I have a super fun at-home photo shoot planned for Miles that will surely produce blackmail material for when he is older. I am hoping to get it done this weeken which probably means it will happen in a month and photos will be posted sometime around May or June. I'll try my best to get them up soon...
Lots of Love!!!
Oh. I have also made quite a few of the crockpot recipes found at
http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/. Maybe I'll post those another day, but until then I recommend checking it out. It's pretty good.
