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Recipe of the Week: Black Bean Spirals

January 26, 2009 19 Comments
With the Super Bowl coming up here soon, I thought it would be a good time to post an appetizer. Last year one of the appetizers I made was Black Bean Spirals. Actually I did the recipe for the filling, and I used about half of it for the spirals, and I used the other half of the filling as a dip for nacho chips. You could also skip the step of cutting them into spirals and have black bean wraps (adding toppings if you so desire).

I really like these. I can’t really think of a good way to describe them other than to say that they’re just different. There very light compared to a lot of appetizers out there, which also makes them a great snack for summer time parties. And this is another great recipe that you can use as a base and then add other ingredients or serve it in a variety of ways.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 ounces of Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of sour cream
dash of salt (optional)
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed & drained.
3 flour tortillas

Directions:
-Mix cheeses, sour cream, and salt until well blended.
-Place beans in food processor and process till smooth. Add beans to the mixture and spread on tortillas.
-Roll up tortillas and chill for 30 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and serve.
-Optional: Garnish with pico de gallo or a little salsa, or serve salsa on the side for dipping.

I took these photos as I went through the process of making them:

This is the filling mixture…again, I LOVE this as a dip!

Spooned out on a tortilla.

Wrapped up.

The final product: Black Bean Spirals

Tips & Suggestions:

-Try adding shredded chicken to the filling mix….everything’s better with chicken!
-The filling mix would be a great topping for tacos, taco salad, and other Mexican dishes.

-It could also be used for filling in finger sandwiches, pitas, and other bread items.

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Please visit the following sites for more great recipes & other ideas:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Making A Happy Home Monday is hosted by As For Me and My House….
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays is hosted by Tammy’s Recipes
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Forever Wherever.

-Jerri

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, party ideas, Recipe of the Week

Menu Plan Monday for January 26

January 25, 2009 Leave a Comment


As you’ll see it’s a very easy week for me in the cooking department. I had a whole week planned out, and then my husband reminded me that he’s going out of town for a couple of days, so I had to take a couple of menu items off, and I moved the poulet to Monday & Tuesday. On Wednesday we’re supposed to go to a business conference. And then he’ll be gone Thursday and Friday, so I’ll just kind of be winging it those days, grabbing something that’s quick to make, or else driving up to Subway. Luckily he’s back on Saturday. (I hate it when he’s gone!) And then hopefully we can get back into a good routine for next week!

Happy Monday!

Breakfasts: waffles, banana nut muffins, cereal
Lunches: Leftovers from last week, chicken noodle soup, chicken salad sandwiches

Dinners:
Monday – Chicken Poulet
Tuesday – Leftover Poulet
Wednesday – going to a conference, will probably eat out afterwards
Thursday – Husband’s out of town—I’ll round up something quick.
Friday – Husband’s out of town—again something quick.
Saturday – Cheeseburger Macaroni
Sunday – Superbowl; we’ll probably have appetizers or order out whatever my husband wants to eat, probably chicken fingers, pizza, or subs

Join us for MPM at over at Org Junkie.


-Jerri

Filed Under: menu plan Monday

The New Simply Sweet Home

January 25, 2009 3 Comments

Welcome to the new Simply Sweet Home! Hope you guys like the new look! As many of you know, I’ve been looking around for blog designs for several months, and last week I finally purchased one.

It’s still not completely finished; I have to customize and install all the sidebar graphics, which I’m having a little technical difficulties with right now, but hopefully in the next day or two I’ll have all the kinks worked out and the new design will be complete.

I want to say a big, HUGE thank you to Emily over at Polka Dot Pixels for this awesome design! I found her shop on etsy and decided to inquire about one of her listings. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy she was to work with. For someone like me, who loves blogging but is totally clueless about the aspects of graphic designing, she made it a very pleasant experience and her communication was very prompt and easy to understand. I had a lot of questions, and she was very patient during the process and was a BIG help.

She did an excellent job customizing her design and making it into exactly what I wanted, including all the elements I wanted, and creating graphics that, I think, go perfectly with the image, ideas, and concept of Simply Sweet Home.

If you are currently in the market to purchase some graphics, a new blog design, or etsy banner, I highly recommend Polka Dot Pixels. Her work is of a high quality. The prices are very reasonable. And Emily is a real pleasure to work with. And I would gladly do business with her again in the future!

Thank You So Much Emily For Your Great Work!


-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements, Design/Buttons

Happy Valentine Crafts

January 21, 2009 5 Comments
As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I figured it was time to post some crafts for the occasion. I love posting craft ideas, because I know that we have a lot of readers who are moms and like to do projects with their kids, and we also have a lot of teachers and home school moms as well. Plus, it’s just fun!

I’m trying to post these kind of early so that people can use the ideas. And normally I would post on something I have on hand at my house or else use craft projects from around the internet, but this time I have only one source: Oriental Trading

When I got my catalog a few weeks ago I was thrilled at all the post worthy ideas they had. Sometimes I purchase beads and craft kits from their catalog, but I also look at it as a good source for ideas. In most cases, you can look at the photos of their crafts and pretty much tell what materials you need to complete the project, allowing you to skip the step of ordering the kit, and just get the materials from your local craft store (or your own stock).

Here are just a few of the ideas that I liked. Enjoy!

Quilled Heart Valentine Decoration


-Jerri

Filed Under: crafts, Valentine's Day

Recipe of the Week: Easy Chicken & Dumplins

January 18, 2009 23 Comments

For this week’s recipe I decided to post my Easy Chicken & Dumplin recipe. I posted the recipe previously in an MPM post, but for future linking purposes, and because I love the recipe so much and feel that it deserves its own post, I decided to post it again. (not to mention, it’s a good time to do so, considering that I’m making it again this week!)

Originally I had found a recipe for Chicken Noodle Casserole and whenever I tried it, the taste reminded me a lot of these chicken & dumplins that a friend of ours used to make, so I decided to make a few changes to the recipe and relabel it “Easy Chicken & Dumplins.”

This recipe can be made in very little time, and it also makes a great make ahead meal for those of you who like to do all your cooking the day before.

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup milk

2 cans of white chicken OR 3/4 – 1 lb of cooked boneless chicken breast (I like to have some of it in shreds and some it in chunks.)

3 cups of egg noodles

Chicken Broth (optional, I don’t really measure it out, I just pour a little in, about 1/2 cup to a 3/4 cup, but you may put more or less, depending on how thick you want the mixture to be.)

Directions: Cook noodles according to package direction. When finished drain off water. Mix milk soups, and chicken in a large cooking pot. Heat through. Then stir in noodles.


Please visit the following sites for more great recipes & other ideas:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Making A Happy Home Monday is hosted by As For Me and My House….
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays is hosted by Tammy’s Recipes
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Forever Wherever.

-Jerri

Filed Under: casseroles and quick meals, Recipe of the Week

Menu Plan Monday for January 19

January 18, 2009 3 Comments

MPM time again! I had a time picking out all of this week’s items. It’s so funny how some weeks I struggle to come up with stuff for the entire week, and then other weeks I have so many ideas that I have to narrow it down and postpone some of the ideas till later. Hope you like my final choices for this week! Happy MPM!

Breakfasts: cereal, strawberry muffins, waffles & bacon

Lunches: tuna sandwiches, hot dogs, chunk ham sandwiches, vegetable soup

Dinners:
Monday – Easy Chicken & Dumplins, black eyed peas, and Spoon Bread (new recipe)
Tuesday – Sloppy Joes w/ chips or fries
Wednesday – Crockpot Roast Chicken w/ potatoes & carrots
Thursday -Chicken Stirfry (I’m experimenting) with Asian Fried Rice (banquet homestyle bake)
Friday – 15 Bean Soup
Saturday – Eat out
Sunday – Leftovers

Visit OrgJunkie for more MPM!


-Jerri


Filed Under: menu plan Monday

Sweet Thursday: January 2009 Edition

January 15, 2009 7 Comments
Sweet Thursday time! I tried to pick some desserts that were kind of wintery. We have some cute Almond Snow Cookies, and then we have some wonderful fruity desserts that are perfect comfort food on a cold winter’s day.

But my favorite thing in this post is the groundhog cookie. It is so adorable! I’m not sure if the little guy on the cookie can see his shadow or not, but either way, what a cute, CUTE idea!

Cherry Cobbler from Southern Living

Almond Snow Cookies from Christmas-cookies.com

Groundhog Cookies from Gourmet Mom on-the-Go

Pear Tart from Martha Stewart

Fried Pies from Epicurious

If you’d like to submit a dessert and be featured in the Valentine’s Day Edition of Sweet Thursday, send your stuff to me at simplysweethome@hotmail.com.
The deadline to send in your submission is Wednesday, February 4, 2009.
For the rules and guidelines, check out the following post: Sweet Thursday Info.


-Jerri

Filed Under: desserts, Sweet Thursday

Sweet Thursday Revamped/New Format

January 15, 2009 5 Comments

sweet Thursday

I was working on the Sweet Thursday post for January when I came up with a new idea. For those of you who are not familiar with the Sweet Thursday Posts, you can read about the feature here: First Sweet Thursday Post. In a nutshell the feature is devoted to desserts. Usually I feature photographs of different desserts from around the net, and I include a link to the page where that dessert can be found. I’ve also left it open to feature resturant food and product reviews if need be, but the bottom line is that it has to be desserts.

And usually I go around and find between 5 and 10 different items to feature. I love doing the “research” and it’s fun to see all the great sweets out there, but as I was putting it together last night, I had a thought: What if I allowed fellow bloggers to submit their own desserts for the Sweet Thursday post? (just as I did with the Christmas stuff) So I’ve decided I would try it. I figure it can’t hurt anything. At the very least, I’ll get no submissions, and I’ll just go about my business as I normally would…..and at the most I’ll get some great ideas to feature.

So if any of you foodie/baking bloggers would like to see your desserts featured here in the feature, please read the following.

Here are the rules and guidelines:

1. Each month I’ll be doing a different Sweet Thursday Post. Upon publishing the post, I’ll announce when the deadline will be for the next Sweet Thursday post submission, and I’ll tell you if there is a theme for the month.

2. Your submission has to be a dessert or at least something kinda sweet. (Fruit is okay.) There’s no recipe requirement; I’ve featured a lot of recipe links in the past, but I’ve also featured plenty of links to photo blogs and flickr pages. As long as it’s something sweet, it should be okay. (So for example, if you’ve created a cake, cookies, or cupcakes that you want to share photos of, it’s okay to send that in regardless of whether you have a recipe posted for the item.) And you don’t have to have a blog!

3. Also, if you have a blog where you only feature recipes and do not feature pictures, you can still send me a link and the name of your recipe, and I’ll put that up here as well.

4. Try to pick a dessert that goes along with that month’s theme (if there is one). I wouldn’t be very strict with this rule actually….if it seems like it kind of goes with the theme, I’m sure it will be acceptable.

5. Submit your dessert by sending an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com.

6. In the email, include your name, the name of your dessert, your blog’s name, a link to your post, and photo of your dessert. (Or if you’d like, send me your info, and I’ll grab the photo off your site.)

7. In my hopes of getting others involved, I would appreciate it, if you would mention somewhere in the post that you are (it is) being featured on Simply Sweet Home and link back to https://simplysweethome.com/. (You do not have to use the banner or even title your post Sweet Thursday, but you can if you want to. It’s optional, but I would appreciate a link.)

8. Also, it’s okay to send in something from an older post or something that you’ve submitted to other events.

-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements, Sweet Thursday

New Award

January 14, 2009 6 Comments

I was searching on the internet to find which sites have linked to me, when I found out that I had been given an award last summer. I was visiting this blog back in the summer, so I don’t know how I missed the award posting, but nevertheless I am happy to have found out about it now. It is the Arte Y Pico award for creativity, design, and interesting material. It was given to me by
Paved with Good Intentions.

Read below to find out more about this award and see my nominees:

Now, here are the rules and regulations, as well as my nominees for the next five deserving winners of the Arte y Pico Award:

1) Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award (http://arteypico.blogspot.com/ )

So here are my 5 nominees:

Tator Tots and Jello

Imperfectly Beautiful

Lamp Unto My Feet

Faery’s Kitchen

Cooking and the City


-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements

Works For Me Wednesday: Bagel-Fuls

January 14, 2009 1 Comment

If you are looking for a new snack to serve to your kids (or to yourself, for that matter) consider trying Bagel-fuls. Bagel-fuls are one of the latest products from Kraft. A box of 4 sells for around $2, and they come in the following flavors: Original, Strawberry, Cinnamon, Chive, and Whole Grain.

I’ve personally tried the Original flavor, and I liked them very much. You can eat them straight out of the fridge, or you can warm them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Either way, it is great for a quick snack. I totally recommend this product to anyone who’s looking to save time in the morning or anyone who rushes off to work or other appointments and is tired of eating the same old quick breakfasts.

Over the years I’ve eaten a lot Nutri-grain bars, cereal bars, and other quick/instant breakfasts both at school, at the office, and at home, and I think Bagel-fuls are really good for a change. It is true that for just a little more money you can buy a bag of 6 or 8 bagels and a container of cream cheese and just make it yourself, but for a quick, convenient, mess-free, on-the-go snack, Bagel-fuls work just fine for me.

For more WFMW, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

-Jerri

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, breads and sides, casseroles and quick meals, product review, Simple Solutions
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