Best of 2012: Pinterest Recipes

Well, here we are! 2013.

I thought about doing a 2012 recap... but to be honest, the majority of my 2012 was monopolized by the adventure of new motherhood. I didn't see a whole lot of movies. I wasn't particularly impressed with much popular music and I didn't go to many shows. I did finish Harry Potter in March! It was so great! But then I didn't pick up another book for the rest of the year, ha! So I wouldn't have much to report as far as a year end review...

However, I was exceptionally hungry in 2012. And subsequently, made a LOT of recipes from Pinterest. While Todd would probably be content to eat the same 7 meals a week-- I get bored, or moreso, curious. I like buying new groceries. And life is to short to eat the same thing all the time. :)

So, without further ado, I present a few of my favorite Pinterest Meals from 2012: a collection of links to recipes that have all become staples in the Genteman house over the past year:


BREAKFAST
I'm a carbs for breakfast (or lunch. or dinner.) kind of person. I just realized that these are basically three variations on the same thing. But they're all delicious. Take your pick-- and if you've got the time, add eggs and your favorite breakfast meat for a more balanced breakfast:

• Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal
• Berry Breakfast Cake
• Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

LUNCH (VEGETARIAN)
Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa and Black Beans- as the linked blog says, if you've never had quinoa (say KEEN-waa, not Kin-NOAH, like I did when I asked for it at the grocery store), this is a great way to try it. These will keep for a few days, and still taste good reheated and topped with fresh cheese.

Superfood Scramble (Quinoa, Edamame, Egg, Avocado)- I'm brand new to the whole runny egg yolks thing, but lately, I'm really into it. This was the gateway recipe for me. It's super healthy and filling. Even my carnivore husband loved it-- but in this house, avocados cover a multitude of meatlessness.

Sweet Potato Burgers- This recipe takes two of our favorite (healthy) things and combines them into a burger so yummy, you won't care that it falls apart while you're eating it. White beans are are more aesthetically pleasing in this recipe, but black beans will work just as well! Yum!


DINNER
Angel Chicken- creamy and delicious. I serve it over brown rice with a side of broccoli and pretend that doing so cancels out the use of a can of condensed soup. I also used lowfat (neufchatel) cream cheese and usually sub chicken broth for white wine, because I rarely have the latter on hand.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta- This is a great one for company. I like to put the toppings (Tomatoes, avocado, etc.) in bowls and let people add their own as desired. If you need some greens to combat the pasta, try this White House Salad-- the vinaigrette is divine.

Southwest Salad- I can't even explain to you how yummy this salad is. You don't even need chicken on it. There's enough going on that you don't even notice it's not there. The dressing makes this salad, for sure. (I assemble mine in a mason jar and shake it up. I also add a considerable amount of water to mine, unless you like your dressing REALLY thick.) It's the perfect summer lunch or dinner. Thanks again for introducing me to this one, Laura. :)


SIDES & DESSERTS
Salsa Avocados- If you like avocado, this is a scrumptious, simple appetizer, light lunch or side dish. And it couldn't be easier. If you happen to have homemade salsa on hand? Even better.

Zesty Italian Potatoes- Cube some red potatoes (leave skin on), drizzle with olive oil, coat with a package of zesty Italian dressing mix and stir to coat. Add a bit of minced onion for flavor, then salt and pepper to taste. Cook in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. (You could also wrap them in foil and throw them on the grill-- equally good.)

Chocolate Mayo Cupcakes- Mayo haters, get over it! You WILL NOT find a better chocolate cupcake-- and believe me, I know. I've looked. You can ask my roommates. Anyway, even if you hate mayo on sandwiches, you could argue that mayo was intended for such things as this, as it's made mostly of eggs. I'm legitimately obsessed with these cupcakes and therefore only make them on special occasions. I recommend the addition of chocolate icing, and if it's your birthday? Dunk the top of that iced cupcake in mini chocolate chips. Then put them in the fridge to get chilly. Annnnd my mouth is watering.

If you liked this list, you can click here to follow my food board on Pinterest. Enjoy!

Design Group Website

Oh y'all.

It's DONE.

www.bwdesigngroup.com

I can now begin to move forward with the rest of my life. :)

So Close...

2.5 more weeks of office work, y'all.

And a flurry of projects on the horizon that are completely un-work-related.

We just got back from an incredible thanksgiving vacation in Texas, during which we consumed roughly 4 gallons of Blue Bell ice cream and Violet grew two teeth. Eventful!

Anyway, I'm beyond excited to enter this new season of life apart from Corporate America. And I plan to kick it off in the following ways:

1) Finishing the task of decorating the Genteman casa for Christmas. There are a bevy of Pinterest items clamoring for my attention.

2) Keeping my sweet friend's adorable 3 month old son one day a week while she works. Violet will have a bestie and once they're a bit older, I'll basically have twins for a day. :)

3) Functioning as the admin for Sidney Street Sales, my hubby's side hustle that is providing the funds for me to stay home with baby girl. And speaking of babies, I'm also SUPER excited to announce that 10% of all profits from our next sale on Saturday Dec. 8th will be going to benefit the domestic adoption of our dear friends Josh and Kim Jones!

(If you want to help bring even MORE babies home, buy this EP from Josh or one of these amazingly comfy t-shirts from our friends Dan and Natalie who are adopting twin boys from Africa!)

4) Visiting the newly and resplendently renovated St. Louis Central Public Library! This dreamy place has been closed since I moved to STL and I cannot WAIT to get in there! Violet (and her eventual siblings) will surely spend a sizable chunk of their childhoods within these walls. Can't wait!

5) And finally, I intend to finish work on the first piece of a venture I've been dreaming about and sitting on for years. That's right. Look for my first works of kids lit to come to fruition in 2013. :)

For now? Back to that grind.

Tis The Season... for Tiny Prints

Having a baby will take up ALL of the memory on your phone REAL quick.

I've gone from having maybe 200 photos on my camera over a span of 6 months, to over 1000 photos in less than 5 months. And the real question is-- what in the world am I going to do with all of those photos?!

Two Words: Christmas Cards!

And when you're talking Christmas cards, holiday cards, invitations or announcements of any kind, the first place you should be googling is Tiny Prints.

Normally, the beautiful selection of cards at Tiny Prints would be a bit outside our budget. Especially since our income is about to be slashed, Christmas cards were definitely a line item that was up on the chopping block.  But the wonderful folks at Tiny Prints are giving me the opportunity to tell you what a great experience I've had with their website and their product-- and in return, they're giving me credits to their website to order my cards again this year! (Which is such a blessing, since Violet's face is just begging to be printed in mass quantities and delivered to a long list of loved ones who live several hundred miles away.)

SO. Let's talk Christmas Cards, shall we? :)
First of all-- the designs that Tiny Prints has to offer are stellar. Check it:

I've only ever ordered their Christmas cards, but they have cards for a variety of occasions and events. And these are designs you'll be proud to share with your friends and loved ones. You won't find any cheesetastic clip art covered creations, nor will you be plagued with card after card printed in Papyrus or Comic Sans. Tiny Prints offers unique, top of the line products in a variety of styles with different options for accessories (labels, envelopes, etc.) and various weights of paper.

Secondly, the service is speedy. Not only will your cards arrive promptly (even in the midst of the wildness of the holidays), if any issues arise, their customer service department does a great job of answering any questions that may arise.

Finally-- the quality of these cards is phenomenal. I can't even tell you how many compliments we received last year. These people are pros and their work speaks for itself. The prices of their cards vary, but they have wonderful sales and discounts during the holidays. Check out their special offers page for great deals on party invites, birth announcements, holiday cards and more! You'll be glad you did.

Thanks for adding an early bit of merry to our Christmas season, tinyprints. :)

p.s. I also just got an email this morning that zulily.com is offering $30 worth of custom tinyprints cards for $15, plus free shipping! If you're not a member of zulily and would like to be, leave me a comment and I'll send you an invite.

Time Is Love

Since my last two posts have been about cookies, I thought maybe it was time for a post with a bit more depth. 

So, to get right to it...

“This song explains why I’m leaving home to become a stewardess.”

And this song explains why I’m leaving my perfectly good job in December to stay home with my baby.

I don’t even listen to country, y’all. But the one week I decided to, I heard this song and it just happened to coordinate perfectly with the time of life when I was figuring out how to tell my boss that I couldn’t come back to work full time. Ever. 

It came down to this: I like my job and I'm super grateful for it, but I don't like it enough to continue to do it while paying someone else an obscene amount of money to raise my daughter for me. Not when I don't HAVE to. As it is, even with lots of support from Todd and our friends and family, my brain has been on the verge of melting down for the past three weeks, trying to juggle being a Mrs. while doing ministry, mommyhood, marketing for an engineering firm. I mean, I fancy myself a better than average multi-tasker-- but lately, I just feel like I'm doing four things badly.

I know I'll probably never have the luxury of just doing one thing (I'm not sure I'd want to, actually), but I want to do the things I am doing well-- and it's been especially difficult-- if not impossible-- to do that lately.

So-- we're gonna try something new. :)

It's crazy how I've wanted to stay home for years, only to realize now that it's time, it's going to be totally different than I expected. It will be wonderful. It will be stressful. It will be new in every way-- and I'm so ready to give it a try. I'm also so grateful for my husband's support and enthusiasm regarding this decision/life change. It definitely shifts our financial stress to him and I am humbled and grateful that he's willing to shoulder the burden alone for awhile.

My last day of work is in December. Will I work outside the home again? Probably. Who knows? I have plans for my new lifestyle (which I won't be sharing until I actually follow through with some of them) but I'm not fussed about coming up with a timeline for how long this new way of life will last. We'll take it a day at a time.

Till then? Gotta run... :)

Peanut Butter Cookies

I’m stressed out, y’all.

October is always busy, and this one is no exception-- but these past few weeks have been straight madness. A to-do list that never ends. That pretty little chore list, a few posts down? I haven’t completed the full list in three weeks. (I’m still on the schedule though. I didn’t do laundry on Friday, but I did grocery shop yesterday and Todd and I have every intention of cleaning the bathrooms tonight!)

But, there are always bright spots, even in the most maddening of weeks. This week? Violet practicing her giggling is high on that list. And these are a close second.

There aren’t a whole lot of situations that a good peanut butter cookie won’t make better (unless you have a peanut allergy, of course L but hey, give this a go with sunflower seed butter or something! I mean, why not?)

Recipe and photo props to my favorite magazine ever.

Day Brightening Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 32 cookies | Hands-On Time: 30m | Total Time: 45m
Ingredients

• 2  cups creamy peanut butter (not the all-natural variety)

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

• 2  large eggs

• 2  teaspoons baking soda

• 2  teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1/2  teaspoon kosher salt
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in the eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and salt.
3. Roll heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. With a lightly floured fork, press the dough to a ⅜-inch thickness, making a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie.
4. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the edges are set, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

*Kickstart Your Labor Cookies

Yes, they do exist-- and they totally worked for me. :)

I got the recipe from a college friend (via Shoppingfortwo.com) when I was 39 weeks pregnant. She told me that she made them right around her due date and went into labor after nibbling them for a couple of days. I made them the night before my due date and ate them and went into labor the following evening! Not saying they're magical or anything-- but when you're pushing 40 weeks, it doesn't hurt to try. :) Anyway, I wanted to share the recipe here for anyone who's super prego and ready to pop! I was nervous to try them, but prego or not, they are really yummy. And really spicy! And apparently they work, so bake at your own risk. :) Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
8 T. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. molasses
1/4 c. egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and spices and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the molasses to the creamed butter, then add the egg whites until combined. Addd the dry ingredients slowly. Once incorporated, roll dough into 1 inch balls and place onto baking tray. Bake 8-10 minutes. Once cool eat as many as you can possibly stomach, lay down for a nap and wait for labor to begin!

Visit the aforementioned website for more testimonials-- and good luck! :)

*They were actually called "Break Your Water Cookies", but my water never broke (they did it at the hospital), so I modified it. :)