Finally Tried Some Pins

I don’t know about you, but I pin away all these fantastic recipes and that is where it stops.  So after being inspired by my sis at Prep Like a Chef to prep for the week, I was armed at the grocery store with a plan.  What a different feeling it was actually going in with a plan!

I definitely started small, only two meals on the plan this week.  We have a busy weekend.  Friday night we are going out to eat before we go see Mythbusters LIVE at the FOX Theatre in Downtown Detroit.  Should be a “blast” – pun intended.  Saturday we are having some Irish fare and Sunday we’ll just have something simple, maybe our standby spaghetti.

Anyhow, Tuesday night we tried a cashew chicken recipe that I found pinning and it brought me over to The Letter 4 blog.  You can get the recipe there.

And last night my daughter and I had Irish dance so I needed something easy.  So I made a salsa egg bake I found over at Crafty Scrappy Happy.  (forgot to take a pic) The great thing about this dish is that you can prepare it ahead of time and just throw it in the oven when you’re ready.  This was a perfect option because my dad hangs at my house on Wednesdays while my mom runs errands and we end the night together with dinner.

But the pin that I’ve been wanting to try for a while, got me all giddy, so I have to share.  You might be like, whoa, this is what makes you giddy?  Yes, yes, it is.   Anyhow, it was popping popcorn in a lunch bag.  I love this tip because I know exactly what is in my popcorn, no weird chemicals, just good old popcorn.  And to my delight, it worked!!  Bye-bye store bought microwave, chemical laden popcorn! I found this genius idea from a pin that led me to Squawk Fox.  If you go there and read all the comments, you’ll find everyone’s different approaches and what worked for them.

I’ve just done it once and followed the directions presented, but I will be tweaking it a bit to make sure every kernel is popped and to get my butter and salt well dispersed.  Please note: keep an eye on it to ensure no burnt popcorn until you find the correct timing for your microwave.  The directions are as easy as one, two, three.

1. Get a lunch bag
2. Put a 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels in the bag and fold over a few times
3. Set your microwave to popcorn (or around 3 minutes, but monitor, listen for the popping to slow down)
4. Dump it in a bowl and put your favorite toppings on (I melted butter and added salt)
5. ENJOY!

Make sure to go to Squawk Fox to see everyone’s tricks in the comment area on how they seasoned their popcorn.  Genius idea!

So now that I’m inspired to meal plan, I’m going to try to do at least one pinterest recipe a week and start collecting the ones I like to be in rotation in my recipe binder.

Let’s hope I can stick to this.  It really would make my life soooooo much easier!