5 Ingredient Sangria #SundaySupper

This week #SundaySupper is featuring food with five or less ingredients. A big THANK YOU to our host,  Gluten Free Crumbley !  I always love it when I can carry all the ingredients at once to the island!  With summer just around the corner, I love having a quick and easy go-to drink available for friends or family who stop by.  This sangria fits all the criteria, plus is delicious! I am not a huge citrus fan in my sangria, so feel free to adjust the flavors to suit your flavor profile.  What makes this sangria so good is starting with a fruity wine.  The strawberry wine I chose is a Missouri favorite: St. James Strawberry Moscato.  I love this wine as there are no additional coloring or flavors added, so the added fruit really shines here! Sweet, refreshing and fruity.  A perfect summer drink.  Enjoy! 5 Ingredient Sangria by  Terri Steffes Prep Time:  5 minutes Cook Time:  4 hours Ingredients  (serves 4) 1 bottle of strawberry wine 1 c apple juice 1 c peach n

#WeekdaySupper Chicken and Veggies Packets

For summer weekday meals, I love to use the grill.  It is so easy to turn on the gas, let it heat up and prepping the ingredients indoors.  The heat stays outside instead of inside my kitchen, which is an added bonus! These foil packets first became popular with my family when we were camping.  We always looked for easy to make, delicious meals with fast clean up.  It occurred to me that I might like those same qualities at home and so we started making these foil packets, especially during the summer. There are endless possibilities for these packet dinners.  Experiment with your family to find their favorites.  We love BBQ and using our favorite sauce makes this a treat for all of us! BBQ Chicken Packets by  Terri Steffes Ingredients 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips 2 c of your favorite BBQ sauce 2 T honey 4 sprigs rosemary, about 2" long 1 onion chopped into large pieces 1 red, yellow or orange pepper chopped into large pieces 4

Bongiovi Pasta Sauce

We were given free merchandise in return for our honest feedback about this product. I had an opportunity review this pasta sauce by the Bongiovi family.  We love pasta at our house and have it regularly.  We enjoy a variety of sauces and sometimes even eat it with just a splash of olive oil or grapeseed oil.  Yum. For those who know us, we also love music in this house.  Bob has been in a band since he was 13 of some form or another and is to this day (check out his band's website at boulevardbluesband.com ).  So when I saw the name Bongiovi, I was curious to see if there was a connection.  There was. The Bongiovi sauce is made by Jon Bon Jovi's dad.  Not his mom, but his dad, from a recipe that has been in the family for ages.  I love good sauces, and an Italian family has to make a good sauce, right?  It seems that Jon isn't the only one with talent in this family! This sauce is all natural, and I knew each ingredient on the list.  This sauce was simply d

Baby Ruth Martini inspired by The Goonies #FoodnFlix

Do you have a craving for a candy bar martini or a chocolate martini?  Try this Baby Ruth Martini inspired by The Goonies movie! Pam at Sidewalk Shoes participated in this great event called Food 'n' Flix where you watch a movie then use it to inspire you to create a food.  Those who know me well know that two of my passions are movies and food, so what a wonderful group to join! This month the movie was The Goonies.  I have a confession to make: I never saw the movie.  In 1985 I was busy having a baby and my mind was occupied elsewhere.  I know it is a cult fan movie and I always meant to watch it... so this was a good opportunity to get 'er done. So I sat down in front of my computer and rented the movie from Amazon.  I can see why it was a huge hit in 1985.  Christopher Columbus and Steven Spielberg combination??  Instant winner!  Then add in cute kids, villians, parents in absentia...all the great ideas in one movie!  The Goonies was one of the top ten movies f

Tomato, Shrimp and Bleu Cheese Pizza #SundaySupper

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  It is tradition in the US that this weekend marks the beginning of summer.  While there is a lot of BBQing and merry making going on, we all remember and celebrate the lives of all those who died in or served in any armed conflict.  God Bless America!

Weekend Happenings

New Town is hosting the Ribfest this weekend and since the main festivities are only about three or four blocks away, we will be spending a lot of time there.  Our daughter and her husband, and my husband's brother and his wife, are all coming down to attend Ribfest with us! Ribfest is sponsored, in part, by Budweiser.  Beer is important to Ribfest.  As is ribs.  Lots of ribs.  A play area for kids is being set up by the fountains and lots of vendors are setting up in the amphitheater.  I am excited for those kids!  Cabela's is also doing a catch and release fishing tournament in the big lake.  I know the kids will love that!  I will love seeing them fish! There is a lot of music during Ribfest and Mariah Broeker and the Boulevard Blues Band is performing Saturday at 12:45.  It is going to be an awesome thing!  I am so glad that Ashley and Eric will be able to see Bob perform!  They also play from 7-midnight on Sunday at the Wine Bar.  So that's all we are doing.  Ea

Homemade Goo Gone

I absolutely despise it when stores use labels that do not come off cleanly. It makes me crazy mad.  What is the purpose of having a sticker that is so tightly attached? When I run into this problem I typically use a product made to dissolve the stubborn glue that adheres to the product.  In this case, it was two plastic placemats.  Cute as a button, I couldn't resist them at the store, so I grabbed them on my way out.  When I got home, I realized that the label was not going to peel off.  I got the paper off and what was left was the glue.  I looked for my product, just to find that I was out. What do you do when that happens? I go to Pinterest!  Sure enough, there was a recipe for getting stubborn glue off products.  So I made it! Take one part coconut oil and two parts baking soda and mix together well.  Smooth the product over the glue and let sit two minutes.  Test the glue to see if it is dissolving.  If it is, scrap the glue off carefully.  Rinse. It worked! 

Cheery Cherry Rocky Road Bundt Cake

Our challenge this time for #BundtBakers was to create a rocky road cake.  Thinking about the flavors of my favorite rocky road ice cream, a chocolate ice cream sundae with marshmallow topping and walnuts and cherries on top, I knew I wanted to recreate that flavor profile in a cake. The cake is loaded with goodness, from the salty walnuts, sweet cherries and chocolate chips.  The marshmallows melt and combine to make a sauce that sticks to the cake.  I added the marshmallows to the top and gave it a quick broil to brown them.  The result was this delicious cake, easy to make but looks like you spent hours in the kitchen. Cheery Cherry Rocky Road Bundt Cake by  Terri Steffes Prep Time:  10 minutes Cook Time:  35 minutes Ingredients  (serves 12) 1 vanilla cake mix 1/4 c cocoa 3 eggs 1 c water 1/3 c oil 1/4 c maraschino cherry juice 1 c chopped walnuts, divided 1 c chocolate chips, divided 1 c maraschino cherries, divided 1 c marshmallows Instructi

Fab Furniture Flipping Contest: Vintage TV Stand Inspired by Mom

I have wanted to try my hand at the latest craze of redoing furniture.  We have a lot of wood furniture in our home, various old pieces that I believe would be enhanced with some painting.  Then I met a group of ladies who do Furniture Flipping a lot, enough to do a contest each month and compete for prizes donated by various sponsors.  This month is the first month of contests, inspired by Mother's Day with the theme: Inspired by Mom.  This month's sponsor is CeCe Caldwell Paints . Two hosts completed a project earlier this month and you should really go see them!  Check them out at  Evey's Creations  and Anatasia Vintage . When the contest and theme was announced, I knew the perfect piece to use.  My mother recently moved from her home of 50 years to an apartment.  This meant she purged over 50 years of stuff, mostly by herself as my sister and I live on opposite sides of the state.  We got a lot of phone calls about various things and so in that way we were able t

Caramel Cashew Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

It is time for the #CreativeCookieExchange and this month our theme is caramel.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make, but the owner of the recipe keeps it a secret and so I searched the internet for something close.  I found these caramel cookies but I tweaked it and boiled the icing and topped it with a cashew.  I hope you like these as much as my family and my DAR daughters did! Caramel Cashew Cookies by Terri Steffes Prep Time: 12 minutes Cook Time: 36 minutes Ingredients (3.5 dozen) For the cookies 1 c brown sugar 1/2 c butter, softened 1 egg 1 t vanilla 1/3 c sour cream 2 c flour 3/4 t baking powder 3/4 t baking soda For the icing 1/2 c butter 1 c brown sugar 1/4 c French vanilla coffee creamer 2 c powdered sugar For the garnish 42 cashews Instructions Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, vanilla and sour cream, beat well.  Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Add slowly to the butter mixtu

Two Gals Giveaway!

One of the most fun things to do as a blogger is to sponsor a giveaway and I have been very fortunate to find two of the most amazing bloggers to sponsor a giveaway with!  Starting today, right now, you can enter to win $450!  All this week you can go to the Two Gals Giveaway link and enter for the chance to win.  What would you do with an extra $450 this summer?  I can think of a thing or two! 

Weekend Happenings

The weekend is almost here!  In my world, the weekend starts at 5 pm on Friday!  We are fortunate to have some wonderful things going on this weekend. Ashley and Eric are visiting.  They will be with friends tonight at the Cardinal's game and then on to Jefferson City to visit Eric's family, but any glimpse of them is a bonus for me!  We will have Huxley to spoil this weekend while they are gallavanting around. I have DAR this Saturday and I am one of the hostesses.  I have already made Caramel Cashew Cookies and tomorrow I am making Mini Egg Scrambles.  We are expecting a large crowd as we will have the CAR and the SAR there as well. Recipe posted May 19! Bob and I are attending a Cardinals game ourselves this weekend.  We have fun seats this year, under an overhang which protects me from the sun.  This is the first afternoon game we will have been to this year. On Saturday Bob will be getting his birthday gift, even though his birthday isn't until May 2

Too Cute Thursday

We received free treats from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest feedback about their products. Truman and Wilson love their treats.  They are picky about them, though, and like a certain texture and flavor profile, mostly fruity with a biscuit type of appearance.  I have given them treats made from a local pet store which they really seemed to love, but the treats contained a lot of moisture and would go bad after a few days.  That meant that I was out from time to time and that means unhappy dogs. I was eager to give the Nature's Variety Prairie Treats a try, because they are a natural product made here in the United States, actually here in St. Louis, with manufacturing in Lincoln, Nebraska. These bite sized biscuits seemed to be a good start, and when I read the flavor profile was pumpkin and cranberry, I knew I had a winner. I opened the package when they arrive and I was pleasantly surprised to smell a fresh pumpkin scent.  I often get a "dog food" smell th

Grocery Shrink Guest Post

Today you can find me at Grocery Shrink with a tasty recipe for a One Pot Meal.  Here's a sneak peak!

Tenacious Eats

For Mother's Day my husband took me to the latest Tenacious Eats production.  Tenacious Eats is a combination of two art forms: movies and food.  Chef Liz Schuster is the creator of this fun dining experience and we just keep going back for more.  It's movies for foodies! The menus are creative, clever and spectacularly executed.  Food comes out fresh, hot, and served with its own cocktail pairing.  Each course is created to emphasize a particular scene in the movie.  The first course mimics the bridge day with cucumber toasts, deviled eggs and ambrosia fruit salad.   The cocktail served with this first group was made with orange juice, lemonade triple sec and prosecco. It was delicious with the fruit, egg and toast.   The second course was based from the Uncomfortable Feeling scene, and we were served ham with a four bean salad.    The cocktail was a gin drink made with lemon juice, bitters and basil.  Refreshing and delicious.  The thi

Around the Garden Monday

Here in mid Missouri we have had some lovely rain and not-so-lovely storms but all that water has meant we have had green plants and grass.  We are mowing twice weekly and weeding like crazy. Our herbs and lettuces have really taken off.  I am eating greens in my smoothies and salads for lunch and I am not keeping up.  I planted a lot of greens this year since I can process several ounces of greens for the two breakfast smoothies I make each day.  Between the smoothies and the salads, I thought I had planted enough.  I had, but I also planted more than enough. The knock-out roses have bloomed.  I love my knock-out roses as they will bloom all summer long.  I dead head them although you don't have to do so.  I think they look better and I think that the plant seems to bloom more often without the dead flowers on them.  Our catmint is huge and going strong. What's blooming in your neck of the woods?  Check out more gardens on What's Bloomin