Taste Testing Tuesday – #25 Cornbread

What’s your favorite way to eat cornbread? It’s one of the most versatile dishes there is! Some people like cornbread with a little sweetener added in and some think it’s ruined if you add sugar! I like my cornbread a little on the sweet side. It can be added to other dishes for great combinations…like bean soup and cornbread or chili and cornbread or even vegetable soup and cornbread. Some people make their stuffing for Thanksgiving using cornbread. Whatever your favorite way is, maybe you can find another way to enjoy cornbread today. Let’s look at 6 different suggestions.

The first way we’ll look at is maybe the most popular way to eat cornbread…

#1.) Maple syrup…and milk. This is the way I usually eat cornbread. But I may find a new favorite today.

#2.) Topped with an egg. I actually hadn’t tried this way before but it’s very tasty together!

#3.) Butter and Jam. Pretty good together on cornbread!

#4.) Butter and Molasses. This is probably my hubby’s favorite way to eat cornbread. But not so much for me… 😉

#5.) With some cheese melted on top. Quite tasty!

#6.) Butter, Honey and Cinnamon. This is really good! It might be contending for first place in my book!

If you google ways to eat cornbread, you might see putting chipped beef gravy over it. That sounds wonderful! I also saw a recipe for cornbread pizza, using cornbread for the crust. I’m betting taco ingredients would go great too! However you try it, I hope you enjoy taste testing some cornbread! Let me know your favorite! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #23 Toast

This week we’re bringing you ways to taste test toast! First of all, there are MANY kinds of bread you can use for toast – white, wheat, rye, oatmeal, raisin, cinnamon, Italian, French, etc, etc. And then there are bagels…but today we’re going to talk about what you can put on your toast so pick your favorite bread and let’s get started! I toasted 2 slices of bread.

Then I spread them with butter…which is a great way to eat toast! Just butter!

I cut each slice into 4 pieces so each sample will be fairly small.

Here are the 8 things I put on my samples of toast:

#1.) Butter and Honey.

#2.) Butter and Peanut Butter

#3.) Butter and jam or jelly. I used my favorite – strawberry! But of course, there are many kinds of jam/jelly.

#4.) Butter and Yogurt. This is Coconut Greek Yogurt but you can use whatever type and flavor you like.

#5.) Butter and Apple Butter. Apple Butter is great on toast and so is applesauce. Try both!

#6.) Butter, Sugar and Cinnamon. I know this version isn’t as healthy as some of the other suggestions, but it is very tasty! I loved having this when I was growing up. 🙂

#7.) Butter and Cheese. Use your favorite cheese or whatever cheese you have on hand. I used Co-Jack or Marble cheese.

#8.) Butter and a Fried Egg. Or whatever is your favorite way to cook an egg. Scrambled eggs could be cooked like an omelette and folded over to fit the toast. A hard-boiled egg could be sliced and placed on the toast.

And there you go! Those are my suggestions for our Taste Testing Tuesday #23! What do you think? Make a chart for each person doing that taste testing and make a box for each type of toast. What’s your favorite way to eat toast? Which one would you rather feed to your dog? haha! 😉

Hope you found some ideas that taste yummy to you! Have a great Taste Testing Tuesday! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #21- Oatmeal Toppings

We’re back for the latest episode of Taste Testing Tuesday! Are you ready to see what we’re taste testing this time? It’s oatmeal! Ok, ok, I know oatmeal can be REALLY bland and boring, but it doesn’t have to be! There are many, many ways to liven it up and please your taste buds! We’re going to look at 5 toppings you can try adding to your cooked oatmeal and I’ll mention several other ways you might try it.

Mmmm! Now don’t those look worthy of a taste test?! 😉

#1.) Oatmeal with butter and maple syrup. Those are two of the best ingredients ever, right? I’m guessing you’ve eaten them on pancakes or French toast, so why not on oatmeal?

#2.) Oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon. These are two more top ranking foods, am I right?? They are scrumptious on oatmeal!

#3.) Oatmeal with raisins and honey. This is probably my husband’s favorite way to eat oatmeal. If you don’t care too much for raisins, try some other kind of fruit. Think about other dried fruit like blueberries, cranberries, cherries, etc. Or even fresh, frozen or canned fruit. Do your kids have a favorite fruit? Try adding it to oatmeal.

#4.) Oatmeal with your favorite type of jam. This is strawberry jam and it was very tasty!

Do your kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Add some peanut butter to the jam on the oatmeal. 🙂

#5.) Oatmeal with a dollop of yogurt on top. Try your kids favorite yogurt flavor. This one is greek yogurt with peaches. (Though you can’t even see the peaches.)

There you have the taste tests that we did at our house to find some yummy ways to liven up oatmeal. Some other things you can add to oatmeal are nuts or seeds, applesauce, apple butter, chai tea, granola, etc. I read some suggestions to add vegetables to your oatmeal, like pumpkin, butternut squash and carrots. I was surprised to see some suggestions that I’ve never thought of using before like salmon, a fried egg or a soft-boiled egg, avocado, feta cheese or sausage and onions. Oatmeal is so versatile that I hope you’ll give some of these ideas a try and find something new to go in/on your oatmeal. 🙂 Happy Taste Testing!

Taste Testing Tuesday – #20 – Christmas Cookies!

It’s time to rev up your taste buds! Yep, it’s Taste Testing Tuesday once again. And I’m betting today’s taste test will be your all time favorite! What are we testing? Christmas Cookies!!! A special thank you goes out to my daughter, Megan, for sharing some pictures with me of some of the Christmas cookies they made at their house this week. 🙂 Here are some suggestions for yummy cookies you can make and test out:

#1.) Peanut Butter Blossoms. Oohh these are soooo yummy! A peanut butter cookie with a chocolate kiss added on top. Drooooooling…

#2.) Rice Krispies Treats Christmas Trees. These are made just like the original Rice Krispies Treats recipe on the cereal box plus some green sugar and sprinkles added. Then cut them into triangles and you’re done!

#3.) Molasses Crinkles – This is one of my favorite cookies. I remember making them with my mom when I was a little girl. 🙂

#4.) Sour Cream Cookies – I was looking for the recipe that my Grandma used to make for us and these are similar but not quite the same. The recipe calls for adding a frosting glaze to these while they are still hot but I went with sprinkles instead to cut down on the amount of sugar.

#5.) Cut-Out Butter Cookies – Ok, this has to be my all-time favorite cookie! (Molasses Crinkles are a close 2nd.) This is another recipe I made with my mom when I was little. Well, and even after I got “big”. And then I made them with our kids and now our daughter made this batch with her kids. 🙂

I have to admit that decorated cut-out cookies get my vote for at least LOOKING the best! 😉

#6.) Russian Teacakes – This cookie is one of my hubby’s favorite cookies. They rank pretty high with me too. I make them with finely ground pecans but you can use other nuts instead. They are rolled in powdered sugar which helps to make them especially tasty.

#7.) Peanut Butter Cookies – Another one of our favorites! Ok, yes, there seems to be a pattern developing here, doesn’t there? I have a lot of favorite cookies! Haha! One of my jobs when I was little and helping my mom make these was to make the criss-cross pattern on each cookie. I always thought that was pretty cool. 😉

So what is your favorite Christmas cookie? Do you make Christmas cookies at your house? Maybe you buy some from a store? What is your all-time favorite cookie that you would ask for if you could have any cookie in the world? I hope you have a Christmas cookie Taste Testing Tuesday at your house!

Taste Testing Tuesday – #19 – Fun With Pancakes!

We’re back! This week’s Taste Testing Tuesday centers on pancakes! There are so many ways to make pancakes. My Betty Crocker cookbook lists 15 different ways to make pancakes with different ingredients mixed into the batter. While I’m sure many of these are great recipes with tasty results, today we are going to concentrate on what you can do with “plain” pancakes. Just use your regular pancake recipe or mix and then let the fun begin!

First, let’s look at ideas for making your pancakes in fun shapes. Of course, there is the usual way of making them in a nice sized round shape. One of my husband’s favorite memories is from times he spent the night at his grandparents and his grandma would make him a plate-sized buckwheat pancake for breakfast. 🙂 (Yes, he ate the whole thing!)

How about making some extra small pancakes? Kids can brag about how many pancakes they ate. 😉

Or you can make them into animal shapes. This could be a bear or Mickey Mouse or a dog…

Probably the most popular way to eat a pancake is with butter and maple syrup. Mmmm!

You can make a funny face by adding some pieces of banana, a few chocolate chips and a piece of bacon.

Now let’s add some toppings to the “bear” pancake. Add a couple of banana slices for his ears and chocolate chips for his eyes, nose and mouth.

Or maybe use a couple of blueberries for his eyes, miniature marshmallows in his ears, a chocolate chip nose and a cheese puff for his mouth.

You can flatten miniature marshmallows with your fingers and then put a chocolate chip in the center of them to make eyes. Apple slices for a mouth finishes him off.

A snowman is our next idea! Blueberry eyes, bacon for arms, mini chocolate chips for his mouth and buttons and then a piece of carrot or cheese for his nose makes a pretty cool pancake snowman.

You can use small pancakes like bread for a sandwich! How about adding a cooked egg, a piece of bacon and a piece of cheese for a tasty breakfast?

Do your kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but hate the crust? Use a couple of small pancakes to make an awesome peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no crusts!

Our last suggestion for today uses an ingredient that I say everyone loves! Can you guess what it is? Sprinkles!! Everything is better with sprinkles on it! 😉

I hope these ideas have gotten the wheels in your mind turning and you’ll come up with even more ideas on your own. What is YOUR favorite way to eat a pancake? Have fun and enjoy those pancakes however you make them!

Taste Testing Tuesday – #17 – Cottage Cheese

Welcome back to another round of Taste Testing Tuesday! Today we’re testing out ways to eat cottage cheese! There are TONS of ways to enjoy cottage cheese! I didn’t realize how many ways there are until I started doing a little research online. What is your favorite way to eat cottage cheese? If you aren’t sure, here are 5 ways for you to explore today.

Before we get started, remember to make a quick and easy chart to record your taste test findings. Any kind of paper will do and something to write with. I used markers and a pen. Draw some quick lines to make a few boxes and you’re all set.

Let’s dive right in!

#1.) Cottage cheese with a little apple butter on top. This was my favorite way to eat cottage cheese when I was a kid. 🙂

#2.) Cottage cheese with some pineapple. I used some crushed pineapple but you can use any form of pineapple you have on hand. You can actually buy cottage cheese in the store with the pineapple already mixed in. My Grandma used to serve cottage cheese and pineapple when we would visit her and my grandpa. Yum!

#3.) Cottage cheese with apple slices and cinnamon. This one is new to me but it sure sounds yummy!

#4.) Mexican Cottage Cheese Dip. This is also new to me and you can try it in so many ways by adding the ingredients your family likes. I used the cottage cheese, an avocado, onion powder, garlic powder, black beans, whole kernel corn, lime juice and tomatoes. Add whatever spices you like and maybe even a little hot sauce, if you are so inclined. I think some cilantro is needed, but I happen to be out of it at the moment. Eat it with some tortilla chips or crackers.

#5.) Last, but not least, is another new-to-me idea. A piece of toast topped with cottage cheese and strawberry jam.

There you have my 5 suggestions for today! What other ways do you like to eat cottage cheese? Just about any kind of fruit is tasty with it. You can add it to cheesy dishes or mix some into your pancake or muffin batter. Google “ways to eat cottage cheese” and you’ll see that the ways are almost endless! Fill in your taste testing chart with a smiley each time you like your sample of cottage cheese. Add a straight face if it’s just ok and a frowning face if you’re thinking, “umm, no thanks!”

Hope you have fun with your cottage cheese taste test! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #8

Hello and a happy Tuesday to you! It’s a GREAT Tuesday for us because 4 of our grandchildren are here staying with us and we are having a super-duper time being together! 🙂 They helped me with this Taste Testing Tuesday but we were having so much fun I forgot to take very many pictures. Oops! So Taste Testing Tuesday #8 is all about tasting different kinds of cheese. We have 6 kinds to try out…Colby, Smoked Swiss, Smoked Cheddar, Swiss, Muenster and American.

We started out with me drawing in the faces on the chart for what we each thought of each kind of cheese. Halfway through the kids took over drawing their own faces to express their thoughts so things got even funnier. 😉

Now for some cheesy grins! 😉 Little Miss said she liked ALL of the cheese.

This guy was not too impressed with smoked cheeses but Muenster was a definite YES! Although when his brother tried to give him Muenster with chocolate powder on it, that was a strong NO!

Middle brother liked some of the cheese, but some he could easily leave alone.

This guy was a good sport and let his Grandma talk him into participating. 😉 His favorite is Swiss.

We hope you’ll take a Taste Testing Tuesday Cheese test too! (Wow, that’s a mouthful!) Thanks for stopping by!

Taste Testing Tuesday – #4

It’s Tuesday again! Time for another fun adventure of letting our taste buds try something new! What shall we try today? It’s a light green color and comes in long thin stalks. Can you guess what it is? It’s celery! Wait, wait, wait! Don’t turn up your nose at celery until you’ve tried these 6 ways of eating it. You might just find that you like it! Ok, first we start with some cleaned stalks of celery. I cut each stalk into 3 pieces. You can try it plain first, if you like.

Remember to make a chart of what you think of each flavor. The first way we’ll try is with peanut butter. Yum! If you can’t have peanut butter, maybe you can have cashew butter or almond butter. Be sure to ask mom or dad if you have any food allergies. (I am actually allergic to celery which is kinda sad.)

Just fill the convenient little trough on the celery piece with peanut butter goodness.

Is your mouth watering yet? Eat the celery with peanut butter and mark on your chart what you think about it. Really yummy? Just ok? Not so great, no thanks?

For our second taste test, let’s try adding cream cheese to the celery.

Use a table knife to scoop some cream cheese into the celery.

The white cream cheese looks so pretty on the green celery. What do you think of this combination?

For our next test, let’s use some cheese. We tried a can of Easy Cheese. This one is rather fun because you get to make the cheese squirt out of the can into your celery. Try and keep it IN the celery, if you can! It’s a really warm day here so our Easy Cheese wanted to melt and run all over everything, so watch out for that!

So that’s 3 ways to taste test celery.

Are they still looking a little boring to you? Well, then let’s jazz them up a bit! Let’s go with the peanut butter ones first…we’ll add a few raisins. Looking better already and raisins will add some sweetness!

Let’s see…how can we jazz up the celery with the Easy Cheese? Let’s add some grated cheese on top. Yep, that looks better too!

And for the ones with the cream cheese…you’re going to like this idea…let’s add a few chocolate chips! Now that looks like dessert!

Yum! Now that’s a pretty appetizing looking plate of snacks!

Which one turned out to be your favorite? Leave a comment and tell me what you think of our celery snacks. Hope you and your taste buds had a good time today! 🙂

Domino Cookies!

Let’s do one more post about fun things to do with dominoes. This time we’ll talk about making cookies to look like dominoes! Sound yummy?

I used a recipe that’s in an old Pillsbury cookbook. These cookies are simple to make and the kids could have fun helping you mix them up, bake them, decorate them…and then help eat them too, of course! Here’s a copy of the recipe:

First gather all the ingredients together. We use vanilla in place of the almond extract.

Here we are doing step #1 of the recipe.

Adding the dry ingredients…

Spreading the dough in the pan…

Spread the dough all the way to the edges of the pan. It will be a thin layer of dough. We also added sprinkles which the recipe doesn’t call for, but kids love sprinkles, right? (When decorating the cookies to look like dominoes, the sprinkles do rather take away from the domino effect, so you might not want to use them. But sprinkles are cool, so you decide. Ha!)

The recipe calls for 10-12 minutes of baking time, but our batch was getting a little too brown after just 10 minutes, so you might want to check your cookies at 8 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool, then cut them into rectangular shaped pieces. I used a tube of purchased frosting for decorating. Just make a line across the middle of each rectangle cookie and add some dots to each side. Presto! You have dominoes!

Easy peasy! Domino cookies make a fun snack and go along with our other posts on learning with dominoes. Don’t forget to share your cookies! 😉