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 – #18 – Scrambled Egg Toppings

Aaaaaand here we go with Taste Testing Tuesday #18! Let’s take a look at toppings you can put on scrambled eggs to make them more appealing. Plain scrambled eggs can be quite tasty, but you have to admit, to a kid, they look pretty boring. Here are some ideas of ways to snazz them up a bit! (Is ‘snazz’ a word? Another form of snazzy?) I started out making a batch of scrambled eggs and then dividing them into 6 small sections on a big plate.

See what I mean? Boorrrrriiiiiing! Add a few toppings and check out the difference!

NOW we’re talking! Remember to grab a piece of paper and make a fun chart of your preferences on each kind of scrambled egg. Add a smiley if you like it, a straight mouth if its just ok, and a frown if it’s a “no, thanks!”. Let’s take a look at what we have here…

#1.) Ketchup. This was my favorite way to eat scrambled eggs when I was a kid and even for a long time after I became an adult. Now some of our grandkids eat eggs this way.

#2.) A little sour cream and some herbs…I used our own homegrown and dried parsley.

#3.) Pieces of crumbled cooked bacon. Mmmm! Who doesn’t like eggs and bacon together? (Yea, I know there have to be some people that don’t like eggs and bacon, but that’s just…weird. 😉 )

#4.) Avocado. Did you know that avocados are actually fruit? Yep, that’s what Webster says.

#5.) Grated cheese. This is grated mild cheddar but there are lots of other kinds of cheese you could sprinkle on top. A cheese you already know your child likes might be a good place to start.

#6.) Salsa. Are you kids fans of Mexican type foods or do they love tacos? If so, a little salsa on their scrambled eggs might be a great way to go.

As usual with our taste tests, there are LOTS of others ways besides the ones I’ve mentioned. A few more suggestions would be browned onion and garlic pieces, fresh tomatoes, parmesan cheese, cooked up sweet pepper pieces or even adding 2 or more of the ingredients we’ve used here. For example, what if you used avocado, sour cream, cheese and salsa together? We have a grandson who LOVES adding Kansas City Rub spices to his scrambled eggs. (We buy that at a Cabelas store…not an affiliate.)

Are you still striking out getting your kids to eat scrambled eggs? Then it might be time to bring out the big guns…put some cookie/cake sprinkles on them! Haha! Sprinkles make everything taste better! 🙂 I hope these ideas have helped you and I wish you luck on your eating adventures!

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 – #16 – Pumpkin

Sorry I’m slow in getting today’s taste test posted! It’s been a cooking day here! Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving at your house? We are, but this year I’m sad to say it will just be my hubby and I for Thanksgiving due to Covid restrictions. We will miss our family but we are trying to make the best of it. Back to our taste test – what is one ingredient that is often used around Thanksgiving time and can be eaten many different ways? Pumpkin! (Yes, turkey would have also been a great answer!) Maybe you are having something for Thanksgiving that has pumpkin in it. Today I made 3 different recipes that use pumpkin.

#1.) Pumpkin pie

I actually don’t care for pumpkin pie, but my hubby loves it so I made one for him to enjoy. Some whip cream on top adds the finishing touch.

#2.) Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread is something my mom used to make for us when I was a kid. In fact, the recipe I used today came from her. It’s baked in a loaf pan and then sliced to enjoy.

#3.) Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Bars are made in a cookie sheet. They can be eaten with or without frosting on top. I frosted half of the pan and then other half I froze for a later time.

What other kinds of dishes can you think of that use pumpkin in them? There’s pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin butter, pumpkin waffles…and the list goes on! Pumpkin is considered a super food and really healthy so I hope you will try some soon! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #15

It’s that day of the week again! Welcome to another round of Taste Testing Tuesday! This week’s tasting is a pretty simple one, but these suggestions are for a little bit older kids, not for the really young. We’re testing out different kinds of nuts, so please be cautious of your children’s ages before you try this one. And, of course, if your kids have a peanut or tree nut allergy, please bypass this week’s test. Today we have 5 nuts on hand to try, but the list of nuts you can experiment with is a long one. Hint: to do the same test we’re doing here, just buy a can of mixed nuts and separate the different kinds of nuts out into cupcake papers or into little sections on a plate.

The nuts we are taste testing this week are…

#1.) Cashews

#2.) Hazelnuts or Filberts

#3.) Peanuts

#4.) Almonds

#5.) Pecans

I hope you grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and made yourself a quick chart to record your taste preferences for each kind of nut. Did you like all of the nuts you tried? Which one is your favorite? It would be a close call for me to pick a favorite, but I think I would go with cashews. Do certain nuts make you think of certain foods they are made in? For instance, when I think of peanuts, I think of peanut butter…or Mr. Goodbar candy bars. When I think of pecans, I think of eating them on a salad or in a pecan pie or a sweet pecan roll. Mmmm!

If this taste test seems a little too tame for you, you can find lots of variations of nuts in the store. There are spicy nuts and sweet nuts…honey roasted cashews or peanuts…chocolate almonds…spiced pecans…maple walnuts…and this list could be a very long one! Whichever kinds of nuts you decide to try, I hope you find a new nut or flavor that you really like. Happy tasting! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #14

Hey, there! We’re back for another Taste Testing Tuesday! Today’s yummy food is…..waffles! Ooo, are you drooling along with me? We’ll look at 5 suggestions of tasty ways to eat a waffle.

Waffles come in different shapes and sizes. You can buy them frozen from the grocery store or if you have a waffle iron, you can make your own. For today’s test, I made waffles “from scratch” and cooked them in our waffle iron. In case you’ve never seen a waffle iron, here’s what they look like.

You can mix up your favorite waffle batter…I used the recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook.

A handy-dandy tip is to pour the waffle batter into a container that has a lip for pouring.

Once your waffle iron is hot, pour some batter in and close the lid. 4-5 minutes is how long it took my waffle iron to cook 1 waffle but be sure to check the instructions that came with your waffle iron. Our first suggestion today uses a plain waffle with nothing cooked into it. But there are so many tasty things you can put on TOP of your waffle! Like butter, maple syrup, molasses, honey, jelly, fruit syrups, etc, etc. I love them with butter and maple syrup. Mmmm!

Suggestion #2…sprinkle a few blueberries on top of the batter in the waffle iron before you close it to cook your waffle.

Here’s a picture of the cooked version.

Suggestion #3…sprinkle some roasted pecans on top of the batter before cooking.

It might be hard to see the pecans, but they are there and taste sooo good!

Suggestion #4…sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on top before cooking.

Again, it might be hard to see the cheese after the waffle has been cooked but it tastes pretty yummy!

Suggestion #5…cooked up apples spread on top. I put some butter in a skillet and peeled and sliced an apple. After the apple slices started to get soft, I sprinkled in some cinnamon and brown sugar. Then cooked it just a little longer till the brown sugar melted and everything was mixed together. OH YUM! This was delicious!!

I’m sure you can think of many more ways to eat a waffle. Maybe 2 pieces of waffle with some scrambled eggs and cheese inside? How about some peanut butter? Are you hungry now? 😉 Did you make a chart so you can remember your favorite way to eat a waffle? I hope you have fun with your Waffle Taste Testing Tuesday! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday – #13

Welcome back for another round of Taste Testing Tuesday! What fruit is plentiful this time of year in the United States? Apples! Now is the time to get your favorite apple from your local orchard or grocery store. Wait, you don’t know what your favorite apple is? Then you are in the right place! Today we’ll taste test 6 apples that are available here locally. Make yourself a little chart so you can keep track of who likes what in your family.

As you can see, I made a little sign to keep beside each type of apple. I bought 2 of each apple so one could be cut into slices to taste test and one to look at and see the differences between the apples I chose. Some differences you can talk about with the kids are the color, shape, size, if the flesh of the apple is soft or crunchy and is it sweet or tart? Here are the ones I used:

Gala

Honey Crisp

McIntosh

Ida Red

Paula Red

And last but not least, Golden Delicious.

I like apples that are a little sweet or a little tart and I especially like the softer flesh. What are your favorites? Now I’m hungry for an apple pie or apple crisp! haha! Hope you have fun tasting apples and you discover some new favorites. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

Taste Testing Tuesday – #12

It’s Tuesday again and you know what that means – it’s time for another Taste Testing Tuesday! This week we’re looking at some ideas for eating sweet potatoes. Let’s talk about ways to use baked sweet potatoes. I usually wash the potato and wrap it in foil, then bake it for 1 hour at 350 degrees. The sweet potato is ready to eat when it feels soft when squeezed gently. (Use a hot pad or pot holder when squeezing!)

Although there are many ways to eat sweet potatoes, we’ll look at 5 suggestions today. You can eat the peel of a sweet potato but if you are trying to convince someone that sweet potatoes really DO taste good, I suggest taking the peel off. Some people like the peel and some don’t…I’m in the “don’t like the peel” camp. 😉 For our taste test I took 1 baked sweet potato and made 5 small servings on one plate. I put butter on all the servings because I think it adds a great flavor but also helps the potato be less sticky when trying to eat it.

Suggestion #1: Butter and salt. (Isn’t that a cute salt shaker?)

Suggestion #2: Butter and molasses. This is the way my husband like to eat them. I got a little too much molasses on this small serving…oops! My molasses didn’t want to “turn off”. 😉

Suggestion #3: Butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. (Mmmm!)

Suggestion #4: Honey and cinnamon. (Very yummy!)

Suggestion #5: Butter and miniature marshmallows. (Oooo!) Heating the marshmallows on top of the sweet potato until they are nice and soft or even browned a little, makes it even tastier!

A reminder to make your chart so the kids can have fun drawing in the faces to show what they think of each variation of the sweet potato samples. A smiling face for “Yummy!”, a straight face for “It’s ok.” and a frowning face for “Umm, no thanks!”

If your sweet potatoes seem particularly sticky, adding some milk can help with that and make them more palatable. One more tip for you…after I tasted each sample of sweet potato, I put the leftovers in one bowl, added a little milk and some vanilla and sprinkled a few pecans on top. Delicious!!

Thanksgiving is next month and sweet potatoes are often on the menu. Maybe this year, more of the people in your family will enjoy eating them. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and good luck with your Tuesday Taste Test!