Chicken Fingers Two Ways: Part One

We all get our food cravings, right. Well when I get my cravings nothing will satisfy my palate...nothing, until I get what it is I'm after. Hubby enjoys his cookies, but for me (at least for now) it's all about the fried food. I don't know what it is, hopefully just a phase (for my waste line's sake) but it's going strong. My cure? Chicken fingers, who doesn't love a good ol' finger now and again?!

I love chicken fingers (only once in a while) because they are so simple. They cook super quick, go with a variety of sides and dips and are just as good cold the next day with a little mayo, lettuce and tomato slapped betwixt two pieces of bread (drool). And, as if that weren't enough to sell you on the deal, they are completely customizable. This recipe for extra crispy chicken fingers was made using an actual recipe but I promise you can make them yours (more on how to improvise your fingers later).

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Mushroom Orzo Pilaf

Once in a while Hubby winds up working late and doesn't make it home in time for dinner. And while I do miss him to pieces, I embrace those nights with open arms! This gives me one night to test a new recipe that I know he would never even consider consuming. Usually it's something with a new cheese or lots of veggies, because these are things he hates. I would have to say that the top most hated vegetable of his is the mushroom...any and all. I won't even get into his reasoning because it is that rediculous, but I never use them in a dish when he's eating dinner with us. Needless to say, mushrooms are on the top of the list for my once-in-a-while-whatever-I-want dinners.

This week I broke out a full tub of baby bellas (baby portobellos) for dinner. I am not shy of mushrooms and in this recipe I used double the amount. Simple, everyday ingredients are thrown together to mingle - and mingle they do. The onion became sweet and tender and the mushrooms turned out perfect and earthy. This recipe brought together my two favorite ingredients, pasta and mushrooms, so of course I couldn't resist. I looked forward to this dinner for days, tasting it's yummyness before I even cooked it up.

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Beer Cupcakes, It's A Date

It's March, and you know what that means - hellloooo St. Patrick's Day. That means that pretty soon we all get to be Irish for a day. It's a magical thing that happens once every year, a day when we all enjoy green eggs for breakfast, Irish soda bread for snack and green beer for dinner, errr well you know. And to get this party kick started I've whipped up some beer cupcakes for you. They're not green, but they're made with Guinness, which is of course the best selling alcoholic drink of all time in Ireland...so that counts.

My husband said 'I don't know Hun'. My sister (hugs) said 'I don't know Ree'. But that sweet little voice inside my head said 'Do it, do it - beer. cupcakes. do it'. How can I say no to the sweet little voices? So of course I did it, and I'm glad I did, mmmm.

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I'll Show You Mine...

So I feel like after 3 months we should take our relationship to the next level. Well wait now, don't leave, hang around -- I just want to show you guys my pantry. It's no gem, but I thought it'd be a bit of fun. You see, a while ago I found The Perfect Pantry who does this Saturday segment on scoping out other people's pantries. Of course, since I'm such a nosey curious person, I fell in love right away! But it's not entirely fair for me to have all the fun, so now I'm stepping up and letting you all sneak a peek at my cozy little nook in the laundry room.

To start, my top shelf is dedicated to cereal. I'm a bit of a cereal freak...no kidding, I could eat it morning noon and night and be a happy gal - if only Hubby were so open minded. And thanks to the awesome people at General Mills and MyBlogSpark I was able to stock that shelf up! Back in January they sent me some amazing VIP coupons to try out some fabulous General Mills cereals. This was the first time ever that I tried Chex (I bought the Honey Nut kind) and oh my goodness oh my goodness - I'm hooked. But enough about my favorite meal of the day, moving on.

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Peachy Peach Pancakes

Ahhhh, National Pancake Day is only 1 day away and I'm so excited (as if you couldn't already tell)! We've already gotten ourselves started with the basic pancake mix that's hanging on our counters. Then we covered a fun and sweet lemon poppy seed pancake, de-lic-ious! We even threw in some simple syrup recipes to round it all out. And now I'll share with you my Perfect Little Helper's favorite pancakes; peachy peach pancakes. They are...well they're peachy, and super yummy!

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You Want Some Syrup With That?

If you givce a kid a pancake, chances are they're going to ask you for some syrup! I tend to get bored of plain old maple syrup so these two recipes are perfect to change it up a bit at the breakfast table. Serve these along with any pancakes you whip up and you're sure to have a happy crowd. This first recipe for lemon honey 'syrup' goes wonderfully with any pancake variety. Whether it's blueberry, whole wheat or lemon poppy seed pancakes this is a great match.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

Only a few days left before National Pancake Day (hope you've all been preparing)! With the day getting nearer I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite pancake recipes. The first one is a lemon poppy seed pancake. One of my favorite sweet treats is a lemon poppy seed muffin, so when I saw this recipe for the pancakes I just couldn't pass it up.

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National Pancake Day, Are You Ready?

Well we're only days away from National Pancake Day (at least according to IHOP), February 23rd. It's true, and I've been preparing for the day. I'm no pancake fiend, I just wanted to offer you guys some of my favorite recipes so you too can celebrate. Ohhh come on, I know I'm not the only one who celebrates food holidays (seriously...you do too, right??). So I figured I'll get us started with a basic pancake mix that you can make big-batch style so it's ready when you are. That's right, your very own pancake mix, say good-bye to Bisquick because this is sooo simple (and much tastier seeing as how it won't be sitting on a grocer's shelf for a year...or so).

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Gorilla Bread, Where It All Began

There was once a time when Hamburger Helper was my 'homemade meal'. I really can't remember cooking very much...ok at all, until hubby and I moved out of our "bachelor pad" and got pregnant. I think one day it just clicked that real people cook real food all the time. I remember the very first time I watched The Food Network. The first show I watched was Paula's Home Cooking and it was love at first sight. Usually hubby rules the remote, but whenever I got a chance I had The Food Network on. This was my awakening, my kitchen calling, and I was hooked.

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Peanut Butter Cookies, Thank Goodness!

Is it just me or does everyone have that "thank goodness" food that they look forward to? It could be a thank goodness that's over with or thank goodness I saved room for this. Lately I've been in my 'thank goodness it's almost summer' phase where I've been preparing as many meals with fruit as I can get away with. The other day hubby was having one of those days, you know - when everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Since I was home that day and I knew it was a thank-goodness-this-day-is-fi nally-over day I threw together his favorite snack, peanut butter cookies.

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