Life as a Leach

I love Pinterest.  Where else would you find a recipe for a pie  that tastes just like a good old fashioned s'more?!  I venture to say it tastes even better! I made this pie for our family's 4th of July party, and it was a humongous hit.  I had kids running up to me to thank me for making the s'mores pie!  Needless to say, I didn't bring any home with me! If you like s'mores, you'll love this pie.  But you probably won't love the calories in each slice, or the sugar coma you might find yourself in after you eat a piece.  But I'm pretty sure the extra gym time will be worth it! I am copying the recipe and pictures right off of the blog where I found it.  The pictures are good and that way you don't even have to take the time to go to the blog yourself. Smore’s Pie adapted from  Hershey’s 6 Regular sized Hershey Bars, broken into pieces 3/4 cup white sugar 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 cup salted butter ...

Update:  This is now an award winning recipe.  Yes, folks, it's that good!!!  Ha ha!  Our MOPS group votes on the favorite dishes of the night, and mine won 2nd place... which means a point for our table!!!!   (We're doing a year-long competition to try to win a kid-free date night, and it is quite competitive!) :) ----- I am not a baker.  Seriously.  I set our smoke alarm off on a regular basis, and I'd be lying if I blamed it solely on the fact that our smoke alarm is very close to my oven.  But, I can make these!   And I make them well!  Probably because I don't have to use the oven.   I'm sure it's because my baking skills are improving. I even used some for gifts, as I mentioned in a previous post. The hardest part, by far, was finding the peppermint marshmallows.  If you're local, no store in CC sells them.  Trust me.  I've been in them all!  I had to go down south across the bridge to the Super ...

In my ever-present quest to get my family to eat healthier, I made meatball subs for dinner the other night. No, seriously!  They were healthy!!! You see, they were meat less ball subs!  I know they sound gross.  But they really weren't! I bought a package of meatless balls at Giant (which has a delightful vegetarian section, I might add!) and threw them in my crock pot.  They're meat and soy free, which means they're basically just balled up vegetables.  I try to avoid soy products when possible because of all of the estrogen hype (soy is in everything these days, but I try not to eat it if I don't have to).  I added about a can of spaghetti sauce (I always buy the kind that has full servings of veggies in it for extra healthy goodness...and to annoy my husband) and a can of diced tomatoes.  (I didn't take any pictures of it while it was in the crock pot.  So sorry!) I turned the crock pot on high and left it for about 3 1/2 hours, stirri...

I found these beefless tips at Giant (which usually has a pretty good vegetarian/vegan selection, in case you're looking!) and decided to give them a try.  They're made of non-mechanically engineered soy, which is what's all over the news these days as being unhealthy for you.  My meat-loving husband took the package out of the grocery bag and eagerly exclaimed, "Wow!  These look good!!" and then, "Oh...nevermind" in the same breath. Nevertheless, in a never-ending effort to try to get my family to eat healthier, I made them.  First, I marinated them in a mix of oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper for about half an hour.  They could have used more garlic.  They would also have been yummy marinated in barbeque sauce, which is what I put on the leftovers I had the next day for lunch.  I may try that next time. All you have to do to cook these is just put a little oil in the pan (I used my  yellow Lock & Lock pan ) and heat them on bot...

I have recently discovered my love for homemade salsa...and for making it! You see, I recently received a manual food processor from this awesome parent , who also happens to be a Pampered Chef representative!  I have seriously used it almost every single day.  By just cutting a tomato in half and then fours, you can dice it into a salsa!  I have used it for omelet filling too.  It works really well! My first salsa attempt was a little spicy because I added the whole recommended jalapeno, but yummy for my I-like-it-hot taste buds.  (Did I ever tell you that I once signed a waiver to try a hot sauce and ended up burning my esophagus?  True story!)  I also made a delicious peach-mango salsa that was for the milder ones in the crowd.  The tomato salsa was a real crowd-pleaser, spiciness and all.  Even the kiddos liked it.  Now that I've learned how to make it hot, medium, or mild, I think it will be a little easier to keep everyone h...