Pinterest Challenge for March

Do you ever log in to Pinterest and feel overwhelmed by the amount of recipes, crafts, or outfits you’ve pinned?  I know I do.  In fact, for a while I was avoiding Pinterest partly because it was too much, too fast!  Well, that and because I had a baby that was taking up 99.9% of my time.

I use Pinterest predominately for finding awesome recipes.  There are so many people out there that blog about food, not to mention all the professional recipe websites, that I can easily find handfuls of recipes to pin each day.  The problem with that is I pin way more than I can make in a given week, month, or even year!  In fact, when I do my menu planning, my Pinterest has so many recipes on it, I more often than not find myself bypassing Pinterest and looking at Allrecipes instead.  My cookbooks are angry at me for this reason as well.

I made a resolution with myself to cook at least one new recipe a week for the month of February.  I failed miserably. It’s time to try again.  I am going to try to cook one new thing each week from now on instead of limiting myself.  My mom did it when I was growing up and I believe it is a good practice to get into.  This way, I may find a go to recipe like my Brown Sugar Meatloaf (which came around the last time I resolved to add new recipes into my repertoire).

I spent a good amount of time on Pinterest this morning and have found the following five recipes I am going to try to work into my cooking between now and March 31.

In the spirit of sharing, I challenge all of you to make the same recipes so we can compare at the end of March.  I’m always interested in how people changed the recipe and what side dishes they chose to serve alongside.  If you would like to take pictures of your dishes and email them to me, I will feature you in my conclusions post.

1.  Chicken Adobo by Crepes of Wrath

2.  Parmesan Chicken Bake by Food Wishes

3.  Frito Pie by Steamy Kitchen  *I will probably make this with ground turkey*

4.  Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms by Kalyn’s Kitchen

5.  Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings by Polish the Stars

BONUS RECIPE CHALLENGE:  Nutter Butter Bars by Keep It Sweet

For those of you who don’t share my same recipe tastes, I would be interested in hearing which dishes you’ve tried in the last month or so that you just loved!  I’m always looking for those recipes that will stick with me for years to come and I find suggestions from others are a great place to start.

Progression

I was talking to one the pharmacists at work about our babies the other day. Her little boy is two months older than Jake so it’s neat to compare milestones and progress and whatnot. I also like to be able to bounce ideas off her and just talk about our little munchkins in general.

When we got to talking about tummy time, she mentioned her boy wasn’t a fan. As Jake is usually asleep when I’m home, I had no idea if he liked it or not. This morning before work, I decided I would see how Jake was doing, if he could hold his head up, and if he liked tummy time at all. This is what happened:

11 Things Tag Post

Rules

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or their blog.

My 11 Things:

1.  News, for the most part, bores me.  At least politics.  I can get behind entertainment news however.
2.  I never thought I would enjoy nursing.  Turns out it is one of my favorite things about being a mama.
3.  My best friend, Carolyn, and I can text each other random lines from Friends or Big Bang Theory and the other person will text the following line back to the first.  It can happen anywhere at any time without notice.  We have nearly a 100% success rate.
4.  I own approximately 20 cookbooks.  I can’t remember the last time I made a recipe I didn’t find online.
5.  I start and stop couponing at least once a year.
6.  Every time I hear a new Zelda game is coming out, I could the days down until I can get a copy for myself to play.  I have yet to complete an entire game.
7.  I am addicted to amazon.com.  I’d be surprised if you receive a gift from me in the future that did not come from said website.
8.  Barenaked Ladies are my favorite band.  I will do whatever I can to see them in concert as they put on the best show I’ve ever seen.
9.  I was anti Twilight for a very long time until one day I decided to rent it from the library.  That night I sat riveted on my couch as I watched the love story between Edward and Bella unfold before my eyes.  I watched the movie again the next morning before I had to return it to the library.  Following this, I read all four books and rented the movie again within a week.  Needless to say, I’m in love with the series.
10.  People think I’m very talkative, but making small talk is one of the hardest, most intimidating things I can think of.
11.  My favorite place in the entire universe is Maui.  Every time I get the chance to visit, I always say I’m going home.  I believe in a previous life I was Hawaiian.  It’s really the only explanation. 
11b.  (Bonus thing about me.)  I have a tendency to overuse emoticons.  I just can’t help myself! 

1. Which states have you visited?  Hawaii, California, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine (24/50)
2. What’s your favorite talk show and why?  It’s a toss up between Rachael Ray and The Chew.  I have been watching Rachael Ray for the last few years, but The Chew is new and so far I really like it.  I’m a huge foodie and both of these talk shows center around that theme.
3. If you could live abroad, where would you choose?  Italy.  No question.  I’m half Italian and love the culture.  I would love to study Italian cooking there.
4. If you could change something about your home/where you live, without worrying about expense or mess, what would you do?  I would like closer to the beach (preferably I’d live on Maui).  The only bad part would be visiting my friends and family.  That’s honestly a big reason why I haven’t seriously considered moving to Maui in the past.
5. What’s under your bed?  I don’t think anything.  Jeff doesn’t like to store things under there.
6. How far away from your birthplace do you live now?  I was born in Strongsville, so about 3 hours. 
7. Do you sing in the shower?  Depends on my mood.  We have a TV in the bathroom too, so if there is something good on I’ll be too busy watching it to sing.
8. Would you rather swim in a pool, lake, or beach?  I would prefer to swim in a pool, but I like playing in the ocean (bobbing along with the waves). 
9. What was the last movie you saw?  Contraband.  It was just eh.
10. Who was the last person you received a text message from? Why are they important to you?  Carolyn.  She is my absolute most bestest friend ever. 
11. Do you like to ice skate?  I wouldn’t know.  I’ve never been.  I have, however, been roller blading and I’m guessing based on that I would not be very good at ice skating.

11 questions:

1.  What is your favorite ingredient to cook with?
2.  Do you like mayonnaise?
3.  Which season do you love the most?
4.  What singer/band is your favorite?
5.  Do you like board games?  If yes, which one is your favorite?
6.  What was your most memorable vacation?  Why?
7.  If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you bring with you?
8.  Are you a stomach, back, or side sleeper?
9.  How many times a day do you check your email?
10.  What is “your drink” at Starbucks?
11.  If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you have as your last meal?

11 Tags:

Abby @ Sugar and Spice
Carolyn @ Perfectly Imperfect
Kristen @ Baby Makes Three
Jamie @ Food in Real Life
Alison @ The Next Big Adventure
Jenna @ Eat Live Run
Megan @ What’s Megan Making
Brittany @ A Healthy Slice of Life
Emily @ Daily Garnish
Ashley @ (Never Home) Maker, Baby
Ashely @ The Edible Perspective

Such a fun tag!