Irish Champ - Pinterest Recipe Review

Irish Champ - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I forgot this holiday was coming up so soon! I ended up remembering late last Sunday night, so I didn't feel like running out and buying a ton of ingredients since my fridge is already bursting at the seams, so I googled Irish recipes using some ingredients I had on hand and this awesome recipe for Irish Champ popped up!

Crispy Oven Baked Wings

 Crispy Oven Baked Wings- Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Today I have another post based on my YouTuber obsession, this time I was inspired by Chef John from FoodWishes.com. As the name suggests, he's a chef and he's a YouTuber, I've been subscribed to him for a long time now and I've tried several of his recipes. (All of them worked out great.) Yesterday I found a bag of chicken wings in my freezer, and I figured I might as well try out his method for making oven-baked wings that are (nearly) as crispy as fried ones. The results? SUCCESS!

Pistachio Cherry Meltaways- Pinterest Recipe Review

 Pistachio Cherry Meltaways- Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Happy Holidays! It's been a really long time since I've done a Pinterest recipe review, I think my last one was back in April, but I'd like to start doing them a bit more often.

My annual holiday cookie party/swap was this weekend, and we had a really great turn out! I made my gingerbread bats, like I do every year, and I picked another random cookie recipe from my cookie board to try out, this time I went with these festive little Pistachio Cherry Meltaways.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo!

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo!

Check out THIS POST from last year to make some yummy churros and horchata to celebrate.

I'll be finishing up a few Easter item posts today, but I'm not sure what I should make tomorrow for Cinco de Mayo. 

~Any suggestions?~

Mini Carrot Cake- Pinterest Recipe Review

 Mini Carrot Cake- Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Happy Easter Everyone! If you're like me, you need to make two carrot cakes for two separate Easter Dinners. This has been my favorite carrot cake recipe for a few years now, it's really moist, flavorful, and the batter comes together really quickly. (Especially if you have a standing mixer.) 

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf - Pinterest Recipe Review

We ate ours with homemade garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Sorry I don't have any glamorous photos of this one, although I've made this recipe made twice, both times I was over my boyfriend's place. That means no light set up and no real camera. (I really ought to build a second set up and leave it over his place. Maybe I'll do that later this month and post a how to video. Is anyone interested in my lighting set up?)

Like I said earlier, this is a recipe I have made twice now, and it's absolutely delicious.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup (a Panera Copycat) - Pinterest Recipe Review

Broccoli Cheddar Soup (a Panera Copycat) - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

We got a few more inches of snow, so I thought it was the perfect time to make some homemade soup.

I looked through my Pinterest recipe board, since I am still trying to make all of the recipes I've pinned, but I wanted to use ingredients I already had on hand. (Why go out and buy more food when I have a full pantry?) I had 2lbs of frozen broccoli and a full bag of shredded cheese (both from Sam's Club), so the most logical soup choice would be broccoli cheddar, and since I am a total Panera fangirl, I just had to try this copycat recipe. 

Honey Teriyaki Hot Wings - Pinterest Recipe Review

Honey Teriyaki Hot Wings - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

If any of you are on Pinterest, you know how easy it is to get carried away and pack your boards with fancy recipes you never end up using. (Or is that just me?) My Food & Recipe board is out of control! I want to clean house and make sure that all of the recipes I'm hoarding are keepers, so there are going to be more Pinterest Recipe Reviews posted in the future.

To kick things off, one of my favorite foods ever, hot wings! These aren't your typical take-out buffalo wings either, these are Teriyaki style.

(More) Homemade Pizza!

Tonight's Dinner - Homemade Pizza

Surprise, surprise...I made more pizza! I have used this pizza dough recipe over 20 times, and it is definitely a keeper. All of you should really give it a try. (It's a lot easier to make your own pizza dough than you'd think!)

Tonight's pizza toppings included

• Pepperoni 
• Ham and Pineapple
• Garlic, Tomato, and Mozzarella (with basil)
• Plain/Cheese

I have used this pizza dough recipe to make tons of pizzas and garlic bread. I can't recommend it enough. Seriously, give it a try and tell me what you think.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Shrimp Scampi Flatbread - Pinterest Recipe Review

Shrimp Scampi Flatbread - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

As stated in my last post, I spent Valentine's Day cooking and watching Netflix with my boyfriend. I usually cook something when I'm over his place, but I wanted to make something fancy, it was a holiday after all. My solution was for my boyfriend and I to each pick a fancy recipe from my Pinterest Board and cook it as part of our Valentine's Day dinner.

• He picked this Shrimp Scampi Flat Bread
• I chose the PF Chang's Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

As usual, I had to alter the recipe,

PF Chang's Style Lettuce Wraps: Pinterest Recipe Review

PF Chang's Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps - Pinterest Recipe Review : The PIN The RECIPE

Instead of spending Valentine's Day at a restaurant, or exchanging gifts, I wanted to stay in, make yummy food, and watch Netflix with my boyfriend. I'm a homebody (a nice way to say hermit), and my favorite date nights are the ones where we stay in, spend quality time together, and cook for ourselves.

I may have wanted a low-key kind of night, but I still wanted to make something fancy for dinner. Like most Pinterest users, I have a HUGE board filled with recipes, so I figured the best thing to do was for each of us to pick one for our Valentine's Day dinner.

• He picked the Shrimp Scampi Flat Bread
• I chose these PF Chang's Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

Honey Garlic Meatballs - Pinterest Recipe Review

Honey Garlic Meatballs -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin The Recipe

Okay, so I didn't follow the whole recipe, I only made the sauce, but that was because I had a huge bag of frozen meatballs from Sam's Club in my freezer. I have already made meatballs in tomato sauce for pasta and meatball subs, but I wanted to try something new. 

Crusty Bread - Pinterest Recipe Review

Crusty Bread -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin The Recipe

I was running low on bread, so I decided to try out one of the recipes I found on Pinterest.

Although the author uses this as a base recipe for fancy flavored breads, I figured I should make a plain loaf first. The results? Delicious!

The outside of the bread is very crusty, while the inside is still fluffy and soft. It toasts beautifully too. I used this to make some bruschetta, which turned out delicious, but it’s also a great dipping bread. (We had some garlic and herb infused olive oil on hand.) 

This recipe is super easy and it requires ingredients that are probably in your pantry already. The only possible downside is that it takes a while for the bread to rise (12 hours, or overnight), so you need to plan ahead, and the loaf is a bit small. You might have to double the recipe to get a more sandwich-friendly sized loaf, but that is really easy to do.

I love everything about this bread recipe. It was simple, delicious, and the finished loaf looks like a masterpiece. This recipe is a keeper, and I highly recommend it.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Summer Corn Chowder - Pinterest Recipe Review

Summer Corn Chowder -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin The Recipe

I love Panera’s Summer Corn Chowder soup. When I worked there, I could easily feed my corn chowder cravings. Now a days my career has evolved and I moved on to teaching, so I have been looking for a recipe to make my own supply, and I may have finally found one! It isn’t 100% perfect, but this is REALLY close to Panera’s seasonal soup! 

Like always…I made a few modifications: 

Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake - Pinterest Recipe Review

Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin The Recipe

Happy Birthday Sean!
My friend Sean’s birthday was this week, so I asked him what kind of cake he’d like. He said lemon, so I made this lemon poppy seed bundt cake.

I made a few modifications:

• I switched the yogurt out for sourcream. (Mainly because I had some on hand.)
• I also used half the amount of poppy seeds.  1/4 a cup seemed like a LOT of seeds and I just didn’t have that many in my pantry.
• I topped the whole thing with a sprinkling of vanilla sugar I picked up from Ikea instead of glaze/icing. 

The finished cake was really delicious. It reminds me a lot of the lemon poppy mini bundt cakes that were sold at Panera. (They are sadly discontinued.)

This was a delicious recipe with a bright lemony flavor, and I would happily make it again.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Baked Zucchini Fries - Pinterest Recipe Review

Baked Zucchini Fries -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin The Recipe

Bake it, fry it, mash it into bread…I just love zucchini.
My boyfriend and I had some really yummy zucchini fries at the Amish market the other day, and I was craving some more, so I found this recipe.

As always, I made a few modifications: 

• I only had white flour on hand, so I used that instead of the whole wheat that is recommended in the original recipe.
• I used 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs and one cup of Italian style. This was done because I just didn’t have enough Panko. The results were still crispy and delicious, but I imagine they are even crispier without the substitution.
• I also added some shredded Parmesan Cheese to the breadcrumb mixture. Parmesan goes really well with zucchini and I had some left over in the fridge.
  

The finished fries were healthier than the ones I had at the Amish market (which were fried in oil) but just as tasty. I really like the look of the finished fries too! These would make a pretty impressive side dish for a summer get-together or BBQ.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Sliders - Pinterest Recipe Review

Sliders - Pinterest Recipe Review  - The Pin : The Recipe

Happy Memorial Day!
This year my family had a lot going on, so we weren’t able to get together for a Memorial Day celebration. Instead, I made a little spread for my immediate family to enjoy.
I made:

• Grilled Hotdogs
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Grilled Zucchini Coins
• A Mini Veggie Pizza
• Strawberry-Lime Smoothies
• And these Sliders

 I originally pinned this slider recipe because these are supposed to be almost identical to White Castle burgers, and I have to say, these are pretty darn close. (I have actually used this slider recipe twice before.)

If you want your burgers to taste just like White Castle’s I suggest using a potato roll for the bun, Velveeta singles for the cheese, and only using diced white onions, a pickle, and ketchup for the garnish. (Like the burger to the right.)

The burger to the left uses a whole grain slider bun from Wegman’s. This was my first time tying these buns and I am not too happy with their overall flavor or texture. They are a little dry and have a strong wheat flavor to them that overpowers the burger. I think I’ll stick to potato rolls in the future, but this recipe is definitely a winner.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Cream Cheese and Crab Wontons - Pinterest Recipe Review

Cream Cheese and Crab Wontons -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin

This is a VERY easy and VERY yummy recipe. (Plus the finished product looks professional and impressive.) Since pinning it, I have completely stopped ordering these from take-out restaurants!

All you need is a package of cream cheese, green onion, garlic powder, and oil. (You can check out THIS recipe for more details.)

The only modification I made to this recipe was adding crab meat. (I just mixed it in with the cream cheese filling.)

I have made these several times, and here are some flavor variations I have done:

Jalapeno Popper: I added shredded cheddar cheese and diced jalapeno peppers to the cream cheese mixture.
Pumpkin Pie: I had some leftover pumpkin pie filling and wonton wrappers from other recipes, so I fried up some little pumpkin pie wontons and sprinkled them with cinnamon.
Cherry Pie: The same as the Pumpkin, but with cherry filling.

Wonton wrappers are a fantastic item to have in your kitchen or pantry. They are easy to use and delicious! (I want to make some buffalo wing and pizza ones)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Cinco de Mayo Snacks

Cinco de Mayo Snacks - Churro Recipe Horchata Recipe

Today was Cinco de Mayo! To celebrate, I made mini churros and a pitcher of horchata.

This was actually my first time making these recipes, and I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out.

Horchata:

To me, the horchata tastes like a delicious rice pudding. It is made with cinnamon, rice, water, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a touch of vanilla. (Which is VERY similar to rice pudding.)

If you watch the horchata recipe video, you can see that they removed the rice, almond, and cinnamon remnants with cheesecloth. I thought it was a waste to just throw that away, so I cooked that mixture on my stovetop with some brown sugar and milk for breakfast. It was delicious! Very similar to cream of wheat or grits. (I am a BIG fan of cinnamon, so the bits of cinnamon stick didn’t bother me at all. I loved it!)

Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

Okay, I fell in love with the pizza dough recipe I reviewed yesterday, so I made another batch. It was just so delicious AND easy! I may have a pizza addiction. (And by “may,” I mean I totally do. And by “problem,” I mean don’t judge me.)

I used the same pizza dough recipe to make the base of these garlic sticks.  Lauren, the original recipe writer, also has a cheesy garlic stick recipe, but I kind of made my own so I could use up more stuff I had in the fridge.