Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Hey All and Happy Tuesday!! Thanks for coming to another Wonderful Party! In case you missed it, here's some things I've been up to lately:

We are pleased to say last week's hop was so well-attended. It's a joy to have so many stop by every week. But this week we have some exciting news. Many of the most viewed from our last party were newcomers! Love our regulars but it is so special when the newbies get lots of attention, too.

So...
  1. Enjoy our features and pin them (from their blogs, plz.)
  2. Have fun adding and visiting the many many posts this week.
  3. And, before you go, take a little look at the new hop that Ducks 'n a Row is offering on weekends to feature our Facebook posts...which we can all agree need more views.  More information below, right before the hop begins.
MOST VIEWED




VERY POPULAR


About the NEW hop and WHY...
#boostyourpost


The Boost Your Post Party goes live 10:30 pm EST Fridays and stays up all weekend! 
Come let us give your Facebook posts a BOOST!

Please boost this post till all of Ducks 'n a Row's  FACEBOOK fans get to see it? BOOST HERE
"boost" = like, comment and/or share

And now for our Wonderful Wednesday party!
Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop 
 on
Ducks 'n a Row
♥

Simple Guidelines:
  • Please follow our host and co-hosts in as many ways possible (social media links below). 
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like, no giveaways please.
  • Visit three or more others. Let them know you've been there!
  • When you are PINNING, remember to do it from the original post. ♥
  • If you are new, be sure to let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥
  • Thanks for joining us!
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Monday, February 17, 2014

12 Date Nights For A Year!

So I may have mentioned a million times once or twice on here that I'm pretty frugal. What I might NOT have said yet is that I like being that way! When I'm clipping coupons, I'm kind of in my happy place. For those of you that are a fellow "clipper" you know what I mean. Finding a major discount on something I already needed with a coupon code I hunted for for about 20 minutes brings me no greater thrill. When my sister decided to clean out her closet for the first time in eight years and I came home with four huge bags of new (to me) clothes, I was over the moon excited.

So when I told Hub all I wanted for Valentine's Day was a leg rub (I'm a fitness instructor so it is much needed) and dinner just the two of us, and he agreed, I was thrilled. See Hub is not like me in the fact that he feels the need to go overboard any chance he gets since it's just us two right now. We're actually going to start having kids soon and he just wants to spoil me while he can. He knows once the kiddos get here all we'll want to do is spoil them, so he wants to take advantage of it just being us right now. I'm telling you, he's the best one out there.

Although we didn't do actual gifts, we did come up with an idea that was like a gift and that would last all year long. 12 Date Nights for the next year!
Going out to eat once a month isn't going to break our budget, so I was totally ok with this idea. As you can see there are three pink, three blue and six yellow pieces of paper. That means we each picked three of our favorite places to eat that the other one didn't have a say in and six places we both like to go. There are only a couple places I really really like that Hub can't stand and vice versa. This gives us each a chance to go out to places we usually never get to go to. Make sense? :)

The "rules" are simple. The last day of the month Hub gets paid, so that night we'll draw from the jar and head out. Seeing as the jar is see-through, we'll just cover our eyes and reach in there. No peeking!!
This is great for both of us because A: we NEVER go out to eat, B: we can never decide where we're going to eat once we do decide to go out, and C: it's just fun!
I'm sure many of you are thinking "Why just going out to eat? Why not change up the date nights?". Honestly we already do so many fun and new things that don't cost money like car shows, picnics at reservoirs, art museums, fairs, dancing to local bands, and movies in the park. And if we are going to spend $50 we'd rather spend it on awesome food and service than anything else. We're foodies! Plus Hub thinks we won't go out to eat a lot soon after we have a baby and wants us to enjoy it while we can. Always thinking of his family! I'm too lucky.
All I needed was construction paper, markers, scissors and a jar I wasn't using anymore. I cut up the paper into squares and put the names of the restaurants and little doodles about each place on them just for fun. Remember we don't have kids so if I would've coated these with glitter and stickers that would've been a lot and my Hub wouldn't have been anymore impressed than he is with my artwork doodles. :)
Some of the places we picked were chains, while others are just found locally and one will actually require a trip back to my Alma Mater...go IU!
This was so simple and it was a lot of fun talking with Hub about where we wanted to go. Most suggestions we gave were followed by a story about a time we went to that restaurant. Like the time we went to Olive Garden and waited for over an hour for our food and had three servers take our order and two managers come up and apologize. That was an interesting night. Or when we went to Bravo and I met my now mother-in-law for the first time and I was so nervous I could barely eat. It was nice reminiscing with Hub.
Supplies:
Different colored construction paper (or all the same color if that's all you have :)
Scissors
Markers
Empty jar

Directions:
First is the fun part...decide where you want to go.

Fold the construction paper in half vertically then horizontally. Cut along the folds and use these to write down the restaurants (or any fun place) you want to visit.

Add your artwork and flare, fold up the paper and put it in the jar.

Done! 12 Date Nights waiting patiently for you to choose one!

Did you have an amazing Valentine's weekend? Are you a clipper like me? If you know any coupon sites I should know about I'd love if you'd share!

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to nifty thrifty tuesday, metamorphosis monday, the diy'ers, give me the goods, a frugal crafty hop, much ado about monday, amaze me mondays, busy mondays, think pink sundays the best of the weekend, weekend potluck, tickled pink, thursday style, friday flash, kitchen fun and crafty friday, wicked awesome wednesday, inspire me wednesday, whats cookin wednesday, wake up wednesday, SoMe2, creative muster, tutorial tuesday, link party tuesday, tuesday talent show, share your stuff tuesdays, titus 2 tuesday, the scoop

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Homemade Corn Dogs!

Well I've decided I don't care what the weather is outside...inside my house it's going to be summer! I got the itch for some good old fashioned fair food the other day and whipped up a few yummy favorites of mine I normally only get one time of the year. That glorious time of year that has almost been forgotten due to the 73 four feet of snow we've had dumped on us this winter.

It's called Summer. Do you remember it? That amazing time where you could still feel your face if you were outside for more than five minutes. That happy time when you actually liked being outside and driving a car. That time when the wind blowing was welcome because the sun was not only out...but was warm. None of this trickery where the sun is out for days but the Weather Man says -12 was the high. I dream of those days and hope they are here again soon. But for now, I will make food like it is summertime to tide me over. Which is why I made Homemade Corn Dogs!
Corn Dogs are one of those foods that takes me back to Indiana summers as a kid. Weekends consisted of any festival or fair my Dad could find. If there was a flea market or country star showdown or bonfire within 30 miles of us, we were going. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of summer nights with fried food on a stick, fireflies in a jar with a leaf (its obvious meal of choice), hot air balloons popping up everywhere at sunset, teaching my sister how to swim in our little above ground pool, and setting off fireworks with my siblings while camping in some random town. All things I can't wait to do when I'm a Mom. May sound weird, but corn dogs remind me of all of that. It's funny how the little things in life can mean so much more :)
So to make these just mix up your dry ingredients, add in your wet ingredients, dip the dog, fry the dog, then eat! Yum! I made four whole corn dogs and two cut into bite size corn dogs but had plenty of batter left over to coat at least two or three more. So based on these measurements I will say you could make eight whole corn dogs.
These were actually pretty fun to make...and easy! The results were amazing! They tasted just like the ones I get at the Indiana State Fair every summer. I couldn't decide if the big ones or the bite size were my favorite...so I ate both!
I had to keep slapping Hub's hand away as I was taking pictures of the little bite size ones because he couldn't stop devouring them.
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
10 Tbsp (1/2 Cup+1/8 Cup) Flour
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1 Egg, slightly beaten
3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 Tbsp Honey
6-8 Hot Dogs, two cut into pieces (We use Hebrew National)
Wooden skewers (optional, not needed if you're only making bite sized)
Oil for frying

Directions:
Preheat the oil in a medium sauce pan to 350 degrees, on medium. Cut up two (or all) of the hot dogs into bite size pieces.

In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and garlic powder until mixed well. Add in the slightly beaten egg, milk, vegetable oil and honey. Stir everything together and pour into a tall and skinny drinking glass. Put the bite size pieces into the bowl that just had the cornmeal mix and set aside.

Skewer the remaining hotdogs and dunk them one at a time into the glass, making sure to coat well and let some batter drip off. As soon as you dunk it, drop it in the fryer. Let it fry on each side for about two minutes, then pull out with tongs and transfer to a paper towel.

Once all the dogs on sticks are done, pour the remaining batter back into the large bowl over the cut up hot dog pieces. Using a fork, scoop out pieces and add them to the oil, making sure to turn after about 30-45 seconds, or until golden brown. Grab the bites out of the oil with tongs and transfer to a paper towel. Get out your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!




Want an actual deep fryer?

Got all your supplies?



So what food reminds you of something awesome? Have any fun summer memories you're dying to share? Love to hear them! Got another fair favorite I'm attempting that I'll be sure to share with you soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to the best of the weekend, weekend potluck, tickled pink, thursday style, friday flash, kitchen fun and crafty friday, wicked awesome wednesday, inspire me wednesday, whats cookin wednesday, wake up wednesday, SoMe2, creative muster, tuesday greens, tutorial tuesday, link party tuesday, tuesday talent show, share your stuff tuesdays, titus 2 tuesday, the scoop, make it pretty monday, the diy'ers, metamorphosis monday, more the merrier monday, give me the goods, frugal crafty home, much ado about monday, craftomaniac monday, amaze me mondays

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Deep Fried Blueberry Doughnuts

Happy Thursday Everybody! Hope everyone is having a great day. I also hope you've already made your Valentine's Day reservations for tomorrow, cause if not it might be too late :) When Hub and I were dating we were huge on presents. We would shower each other with expensive gifts that we probably didn't need (although I am pretty darn attached to my Ipod). Now that we are married, our priorities on holidays have shifted. Now we focus on spending time with each other and maybe buying each other one or two things that mean a lot.

For example, on Christmas Hub got me a food thermometer. Some people might think that's a crum gift, but for me it was perfect. I'd been wanting one for weeks and the fact that he picked up on that and remembered it was something I wanted meant more to me than any pair of earrings could. So for Valentine's Day I decided to make something for Hub that I know is his absolute favorite treat. Deep Fried Blueberry Doughnuts!
Funny thing happened while I was making these. I had set the food thermometer mentioned above on the side of my pot to make sure my hot oil was the right temperature, turned around to grab something and turned back to find my thermometer floating in the crazy hot oil!! Apparently the plastic clip wasn't melt proof. Duh! It's plastic Elie!! It was entirely my fault and I would've been more upset had I not picked up on the irony of the whole situation. I was using my perfect gift to make my Hub a perfect gift and ended up ruining my gift. Had to laugh, nothing else to do at that point. :) Gift of the Magi as my Dad would say.
And though they weren't necessarily worth ruining my thermometer over, they are pretty darn phenomenal. And I can easily buy a new one so no harm, no foul right?
Best part about this recipe is there is no rise time. You could easily wake up a little early and whip these up for your Valentine. Just combine your dry ingredients, add in some melted butter, stir in some milk, squish in the blueberries, shape, fry and add icing. I used a cookie cutter but could have cut out some cooking time during assembly if I had a doughnut cutter. Having to cut out the middle circle took a little more time.
They are nice and crunchy on the outside and soft and cake like on the inside. If you don't like such a cakey doughnut, try frying a little longer than I did. 
Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cup flour
1/3 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 Cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 Cups blueberries
Oil for frying (about a quart)

Icing:
1 Cup powdered sugar
1-1 1/2 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In your mixer combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.

In a small bowl mix together the egg, milk and vanilla until well mixed.

Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir on low until the texture becomes crumbly. Then add the egg mix and stir until it just about comes together fully. Fold in the blueberries with a spoon, being sure to squash some as you go, and mix everything together completely.

Using your hands, form the dough into a large ball. Flour your work space well and roll out your dough into about a 1/2 inch in thickness. Using a dough cutter, cut out your doughnuts being sure to reroll the scraps. I used a knife to then cut out the hole in the middle.

Heat your oil in a large sauce pan to about 375 degrees. Don't drop your thermometer in the hot oil! Place the doughnuts in the oil two at a time frying for 2 minutes on each side. Remove and place on a paper towel.

Combine all ingredients for the icing in a shallow bowl and dip the doughnuts into the bowl once they have slightly cooled. Ta Da! Best breakfast ever!

Here's a great doughnut cutter!

Need a saucepan?

Here's a waterproof thermometer...but is it hot oil proof? :)


What's your worst oops while cooking? Ever caught your kitchen on fire?! Hope not! Would love to hear about your cooking mishaps (mostly to help me feel better about what I did :)!

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to wicked awesome wednesday, inspire me wednesday, whats cookin wednesday, wake up wednesday, SoMe2, creative muster, tuesday greens, tutorial tuesday, link party tuesday, tuesday talent show, share your stuff tuesdays, titus 2 tuesday, the scoop, make it pretty monday, the diy'ers, metamorphosis monday, more the merrier monday, give me the goods, frugal crafty home, much ado about monday, craftomaniac monday, amaze me mondays, think pink sunday, made from pinterest, anything goes friday, serenity now, weekend potluck, tickled pink x2, foodie friday, freedom fridays, im lovin it, thursday s.t.y.l.e., kitchen fun with my 3 sons, friday flash blog

Recipe adapted from here