Sweet Addition to our salad tonight.

Dressed Up Pecans

1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla

Beat egg white and vanilla till fluffy
Stir 1 lb of nuts into egg white mixture

In a seperate bowl mix
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Dump sugar mixture onto nuts coated with egg white and mix. Spread sugar coated nuts onto a cookie sheet and bake at 225 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

***Can use almonds or walnuts too

Wondering how long food is still good?

If you're like me, I'm paranoid about expiration dates & how long meat is still safe to eat. Check out this website.... http://www.http//stilltasty.com It's a great resource and even has an iPhone app! Thanks, Frugal Dr. Mom for sharing!

Check out Frugal Dr. Moms blog. She's hosting an "Eat from your pantry" challenge. Frugal Dr. Mom

Let's all post a picture of our pantry. I know if there was hurricane, we could eat out of mine for a couple weeks. Let me go get my camera...

Pressure Cooker Flop

Well, I tried to use the pressure cooker that I got for Christmas last year. I've always been scared of the darn things. When I worked in the Burn ICU, we would always get someone burned from one so I've always stayed away.

I was late getting the Beef Stew going so thought I'd be slick and pop it in the pressure cooker. When that thing started hissing, I think I jumped to the ceiling. The older kids were laughing at me. I'd never heard one and had no idea they sounded so violent.

When I opened the "thing", my precious beef stew was charred and the meat looked like baby food. Michael was so looking forward to having stew. When he walked in the door, I had a counter full of fish sticks, fries and chicken nuggets. Sorry Honey! I'll try again next week with my trusty crock pot.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

I'm so excited to jump back in "Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!" I mean really....who doesn't like the thought of their tummy being tempted?!

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.
In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour

This is soooo good & got rave reviews at Christmas! It's been requested again this week.

Be sure to stop by Blessed with Grace and check out the other Tempting Recipes!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 12/28

I'm so excited about getting back into Menu Planning and stop flying by the seat of my pants.....Hoping my family will enjoy the benefits of eating before 9pm. :)

Drum Roll.....Tap your Heels together.....

Monday: Left Over Buffet, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesday: Beef Stew, Homemade Yeast Rolls, Best Chocolate Cake Ever
***Celebrating the coming snow with comfort from the kitchen!

Wednesday: Husband's Delight Casserole , Green Salad

Thursday: Family Fondue Night & of course, a Chocolate Dessert Fondue

Friday: Left Over Buffet for Lunch


Saturday: Turkey, Roasted Broccoli, Baked Potatoes, Cake Mix Dinner Rolls

Sunday: Chicken Taco Soup

MIA......

Hello Friends out in the Blog World! Knock, Knock are you still there? I hope I didn't lose you! I promise.....I'm coming back after spending a few months trying to get my life in order or should I just say "controlled chaos."

What should we cook up this week or bake for the family? I know everyone is tired of cookies and sweets..... but we didn't get to do a whole lot of baking since we were all sick with the nasty flu bug that's been going around.

Let's share what's on our menu this week......I need to get back into menu planning.