I decided to do some favorites from the blog as our dinners this week.
Underneath the menu are the links to the recipes.
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I love energy bites. There are days it is hard for me to eat breakfast. Make these energy balls to have for breakfast with yogurt or another source of protein. These are also great for a quick snack.
These are also easy to put together. All you need is Medjool dates, pecans, vanilla extract, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
Once you blend the ingredients together in the food processor, you roll them into balls and place them in the fridge or freezer to “harden” up. I have used the Souper Cubes cookie trays and an Aldi one ounce container instead of rolling them out. They are less messy that way and portion contral. After I got them into the container, I placed some kosher salt on top for some extra flavor. That is optional.
Stars of the Recipe
- 1 c. Medjool dates (10)
- 1 c. pecan halves
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
- a dash of salt
Steps:
- If the dates are not soft, soak them in hot water for an hour.
- Add the dates, pecan halves, pumpkin pie spice, and salt into a food processor. Blend until a paste is formed.
- Roll into 1 Tbsp. balls. Place in the fridge or freezer until “hardened.”
- Eat within a week if in the fridge or within 3 months if in the freezer.
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This post was originally from August 2010. I’ve updated it with a printable recipe card.
A few weeks ago, I had a MOP party that I was going to attend. I knew I needed to bring some party food to share with everyone. At first, I thought about bringing brownies, but when I got home from work that evening, I decided I was not in the mood to bake, so I went onto the Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen blog and tried to find another recipe. I ended up finding a recipe for cookies and cream cheese balls. It sounded like something different and totally yummy.
Once I tasted it, I knew I had made the right choice because it was delicious (my own made-up word). I had some leftovers, so I took them to work, and one of my co-workers even enjoyed it.
My hubby even enjoyed eating this right out of the fridge with a fork.
Stars of the Recipe:
- 8 ounces, weight Package Cream Cheese, Softened
- ½ cups Butter, Softened
- ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
- ¾ cups Confectioner’s Sugar
- 1 cup Oreo Cookies Broken Into Small Chunks
- 1 cup Oreo Cookies Crushed Fine
Directions:
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Add vanilla and sugars and mix well.
- Stir in the Oreo cookie chunks.
- Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Then form a ball, and roll the ball in the Oreo cookie crumbs.
- Place on a waxed paper-lined plate and drape the ball loosely with plastic wrap.
- Chill for at least 1 hour.
- Serve on graham cracker stix or mini vanilla wafers. (I used graham crackers because that is what I had in the house.)
For more great recipes, please visit Potluck Sundays, Kitchen recipe swap, Delicious Dishes, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.
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We just got back from a quick five day Spring Break trip to Rochester, NY area and Niagara Falls, Ontario. Before we left Niagara Falls, Hubby asked me a question, “What would you have done differently about this trip to Niagara Falls?”
I’m going to address three good things I chose to do while we were there. On Wednesday, we walked almost 20,000 steps. Even with that, we also used the shuttle system called WeGo. They have 3 different lines: green, red, and blue. The green goes north to south from Table Rock where the Niagara River becomes Horseshoe Falls to the Butterfly Conservatory. Actually there are a few stops beyond Table Rock, but I’m not going to discuss those. The red and blue are in town shuttle systems.
Use the shuttle system. When you do, get the App. It’ll save you. Trust me. We were at the Table Rock stop waiting on the blue line. There was signage that told us how much time to the next shuttle. The timing was incorrect. Luckily I had the app and it was fairly accurate with the time.
Walking around Niagara Falls is fun but when you want to get from Point A to Point B without all the people, it’s cold, or your feet/back hurt, it’s worth it to spend the money for the shuttle. One thing about Niagara Falls is that parts of it are hilly. Clifton Hill is brutal at times.
Another thing you should do is walk Rainbow Bridge. You get another perspective of Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Imagine being able to say you walked from Canada to the United States and vice versa. You need to make sure you have your passport when you walk on the bridge. In order to leave on either end, you need to go through Border Patrol. It costs a dollar which isn’t too bad.
See the Falls at Night. It was cold when we went there. However, it was magical seeing them lit up at night. Nothing like I had ever seen before. I wouldn’t replace the cold hands and face for the experience. I had seen the fireworks over the Falls in 2019 which was amazing. However I enjoyed this more. Maybe it was the fact we were squished like sardines and even though we had our perfect spot secured, people squeezed in and took over. I couldn’t see without someone’s phone screen or camera being in the way most of the time.
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- Introduction
- Meal #1 – Creamy Sausage Gnocchi Soup
- Meal #2 – Taco Tuesday
- Meal #3 – Brown Sugar Ham, Mac and cheese, veggies
- Meal #4 – Johnny Marzetti, garlic bread, salad or veggie
- Meal #5 – General Tso’s Chicken or Pad Thai
Introduction
In order to be kind to myself, I’ve created six meal plans that I can use when I’m not feeling very creative.
This week I’m sharing the third meal plan. There are no specific days for each meal. You can choose which meal to cook based on your schedule. I do have one suggestion which is to cook the soup at the beginning of the week. This way you will have it to use as leftovers for lunch.
Meal #1 – Creamy Sausage Gnocchi Soup
Use a gluten-free gnocchi
Meal #2 – Taco Tuesday
- Taco – Instant Pot
- Taco bake – Gluten-free
- Shrimp Fajitas
- Vegetarian Tacos – Not gluten-free
Meal #3 – Brown Sugar Ham, Mac and cheese, veggies
- Brown sugar Ham
- Mac and cheese – Gluten-free
Meal #4 – Johnny Marzetti, garlic bread, salad or veggie
- Johnny Marzetti – Use gluten-free noodles
- Easy Peasy Garlic Bread
Meal #5 – General Tso’s Chicken or Pad Thai
- I get these from Aldi.
Join me next week for another menu.
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I’m a teacher, so there are a lot of things that make me think during the week. From the words that come out of my precious middle school students to whose paper is this because they did not put their name on it.
Some highlights have been why is Arkansas pronounced differently than Kansas during our discussion of the different states. Ar has the typical r controlled blend sound, the second syllable has a schwa, but the last syllable stumped me. So I went to Google. There is a whole history of why it’s spelled one way and pronounced another way. The article I linked will go into the final syllable.
Another thing that made me think is why was I supposed to rush to my allergist appointment but then not be seen until almost an hour after I was supposed to be there. I had a bad allergic reaction at Christmas time. I went to my primary doctor who then referred me to an allergist. I had to be there by a certain time which I made with 2 minutes to spare. Then I waited until I saw him. I need to have a scratch test done. Now I wait until next month to have that done.
I’m sure I can think of more things that made me think this week. I think the biggest thing that makes me think is how do middle school students THINK they are going to get by with something when they are doing the behavior right in front of an adult.
For more writing workshop posts, follow this link.
Stay kind!
Have a magical day,
TraciSharing is Caring
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- Introduction
- Meal #1 – Potato Soup
- Meal #2 – Fish, roasted potatoes, veggie
- Meal #3 – Spaghetti, salad or veggie
- Meal #4 – Sloppy Joes, chips, veggies
- Meal #5 – Chicken breasts or drumstick, mashed potatoes, veggie
Introduction
In order to be kind to myself, I’ve created six meal plans that I can use when I’m not feeling very creative.
This week I’m sharing the second meal plan. There are no specific days for each meal. You can choose which meal to cook based on your schedule. I do have one suggestion which is to cook the soup at the beginning of the week. This way you will have it to use as leftovers for lunch.
Meal #1 – Potato Soup
Meal #2 – Fish, roasted potatoes, veggie
- Salmon
- Roasted Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes – If you want a different type of potato
- Mashed Potato – Another type of potato
Meal #3 – Spaghetti, salad or veggie
- Pressure Cooker Spaghetti – Not gluten-free -If you want gluten-free pasta, cook the gluten-free noodles and add sauce.
Meal #4 – Sloppy Joes, chips, veggies
- Sloppy Joes – slow cooker
- Sloppy Joes
- Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Meal #5 – Chicken breasts or drumstick, mashed potatoes, veggie
- Oven fried drumstick
- Mashed potatoes – Instant Pot
- Mashed potatoes – Slow Cooker
Join me next week for another menu.
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