Fall favorite App Alert: Fried Mac and Cheese Balls

Comfort food, portion-sized. Gotta love it! Not to mention, your guests will love you for it!

Ingredients:

 (Per 8 servings)

 1 3/4 cup Velveeta Cheese cubed

2 1/2 cups Milk

1/2 stick Butter

1 tsp Garlic powder

3 Eggs

Panko Bread Crumbs

Salt to taste

Ground Black Pepper to taste

Cayenne Pepper to taste

Smoked Paprika to taste

Old Bay Seasoning to taste

1 Box of Elbow Macaroni

Vegetable or Peanut Oil for Frying

                                                              Deep Fryer

Heat in a large pan milk, garlic and butter until all the butter has melted. Then add all the velveeta cheese and combine until melted and smooth.

Boil macaroni and strain when finished. Mix macaroni into cheese sauce and spread out onto extra large flat baking sheet.  Put the sheet into the fridge for about 30 minutes, lightly covered with aluminum foil.

 Whisk eggs to create an egg wash in a bowl. Combine bread crumbs, salt, pepper, paprika, and old bay seasoning in a seperate large bowl.  After oil is hot enough in the deep fryer, use an ice cream scoop to create mac and cheese balls, and dip in egg wash, and crumb mixture. Then place in deep fryer for about 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.  I found after some time, I could place about 4 to 6 balls in the fryer basket and carefully move them from side to side with a fork to evenly fry them.  I also found that although the ice cream scoop could help score the amount evenly, my hands make the best shaped mac and cheese balls.

Make sure to place the fried mac and cheese balls on a paper towel in a foil pan and toss some salt on top to taste.

Last step:  Cover with aluminum foil and enjoy being the star of apps!

Did u know...

Random Facts...

DID YOU KNOW......

Moms and dads memorize more children's shows after their kids sleep for lack of changing the channel.

Frustrated moms develop blood pressure spikes from toddler daughter's hair being yanked out of perfect pony.

Whales and dolphins - babies and mothers go without sleep for an entire month in order to keep an eye out for predators and to keep warm.

Babies can breathe and swallow at the same time up until 7 months.

According to Utah law, a husband is responsible for any criminal act that his wife commits while in his presence.

The voices of Mickey and Minnie mouse were actually married in real life.

The movie 40 year old virgin shows a scene with Steve Carell getting his chest hair waxed. It really did happen in one shot. He has officially moved up a rank higher in my opinion.

**Some of these statements may not have enough research or proof to be backed. ;)

5 tips on exploring Holiday recipes

Since Thanksgiving and the holiday season is fastly approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to visit ideas of creating new and borrowed recipes.  I also spoke to the well-recognized chef in our family, who gave me some tips to share with you.

#1: When in doubt, add garlic.  It makes almost everything better.

#2: In Indian cooking, turmeric is a key ingredient in almost every recipe.

#3: If you are going to spend money on anything in a kitchen, spend it on sharp knives before anything else.

# 4: When ever coming up with a recipe,  try to find balance between sweet, sour and spicy.  Usually, it's a success.

#5: Most good recipes only require about 5 to 6 ingredients.  More than that often only creates more opportunities to mess up.

Thanks, Shaji Thomas! What great advice!

The only thing I can add is to not make a brand new recipe for a big holiday party without testing it out first ahead of time. You definitely don't want to make your guests guinea pigs of something that possibly could go wrong.

Good luck !!

App Recommendations for Mommies (Hopefully still free)

I married a tech guy. This was gonna make its way somewhere on here...

the-Lilypad.com:

a great app for scrapbookers that are looking for inspiration, ideas, digital templates, and forums.  Especially when you have time for it before kids and are preparing those baby journals!

Contractioncalculator.com (Android) or contractionmaster.com (iPhone):

a great app for pregos that are just about to have that baby. Tried and true story: Yelling to your husband "Time!" everytime you have a contraction and end one, so all he has to do is move his finger on the mouse. Lucky bastard.

FeedBaby or FeedBaby Pro:

a great app for after finally having the watermelon and needing to know how much of what of how long the little monster is having. This is an even better app when you have had less than the supposed 2 hours of sleep in between feeds. Oh! The app also does this for diaper changes, sleep, baths, growths, and pumpings. So, really, you can just have time to sit and smile and coo at the baby:)

Baby Tracker:

a great app for tracking baby's developmental milestones, weight, height, etc. Also, you don't have to wait till you get to the pediatrician's office to make sure.  For all you DIY'ers.:)

ABC Toddler Game/ BabySitter2Go/I Hear Ewe/Baby Scratch:

a great app for keeping the obnoxiously loud one quiet while in line, or in a quiet area (if you dare).  Obviously, try to limit how often this would be used, but definitely comes in handy for a few minutes.

CloudCam (iPhone) or Cloud Spy Cam (Google Play):

Use your phone like a monitor at home with the babysitter or while baby is sleeping. I did hear it does eat up battery, so plan on charging your phone ahead of time.

The Potty Show App from Preschoology.com:

a great app for potty training and preschoology.com also gives great advice and tips for introducing new siblings in the family.

Meetups:

a great app to find a group of humans similar to you since you have been incubating with someone that does not speak longer than 4 words at a time and tantrums often. There are usually hundreds of groups specific to moms of a specific region or specialty.  The best thing is that they do not hold it against you if you are not able to meet up, especially if the lil one decides to poop all over their outfit and yours at the last minute.

Activitytree.com:

a great site ( I don't know if they have an app yet) to find nearby children's classes, camps, activities with ratings.  Bonus: there are ways to score free classes through the site!

Starfall:

a great app for keeping that preschooler sitting still perhaps at the doctor's office or during that horrid drive-thru line that is 3 blocks long.  It came highly recommended from my son's teacher and it surprises me how advanced his thinking can get.

Mommaps.com:

a great app to find kid-friendly restaurants, parks, and museums. I wish I found this sooner so those people didn't give me that dreaded look that one time.

Instantplaydates.com:

a great app to set up play dates on a spur of the moment letting social media help you connect with your friends.  Or you can just text all 30 of your mom friends:)

Hopefully this helps all of you.  I know it has helped me from move to move, baby to baby, and work friends to new friends. Extra suggestions or comments always welcome!

Easy meal idea: Teriyaki Chicken

Hungry for a quick meal?

-4 pieces Chicken drumsticks/thighs

-1 tsp Sugar 

-1 tbsp pepper

-1/2 cup Teriyaki marinade

-3 tbsp Poultry seasoning

-1 tbsp Seasoned salt

-1 tsp Powdered ginger

Use ingredients stated above to do a wet rub on chicken, with no skin.
Cook on medium heat in a pan for about 5 mins each side. Then place chicken on a non stick  or aluminum foil-covered baking sheet for 30 minutes at 400 degrees in an oven. Then turn over pieces for another 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Cover with aluminum foil until last 10 minutes to keep chicken moist.
Add rice or sticky rice or lo mein noodles, mixed with your favorite steamed vegetables and voila! Easy chicken meal.

Sorry, no picture of my completed meal! We ate it up too fast!;)

Fall Favorite Dessert alert: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

If you are like me and love pumpkin anything, you will love this. It was a hit at my latest party!

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Mix:

1/4 cup  Heavy cream 

1/2 cup  chocolate  chips 

Pinch of nutmeg 

2 tbsp vanilla extract 

1 Pumpkin bar mix

Bake according to mix directions.

Enjoy!!

P.S. This is also a great kid-friendly prep recipe.