Friday Fun! April 27, 2012

4/26/12

I am having what I think is a “You know you’re a foodie/food blogger when…” moment.  It is 5:30 am, I haven’t been able to sleep, so I got up, made myself some gourmet oatmeal, began finishing up this blog post, started editing photos, and put on Sweet Genius which I recorded last night on my DVR.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Banana Oatmeal - I'll share when I make it at an hour when the sun is up so I can take a better picture with my camera instead of my iPhone.

Other than the fact that I am exhausted after a couple of nights of not sleeping well, this is not really such a bad thing, since this afternoon, I will be  busy making sauce for the World’s Best Lasagna.  I can’t vouch that it is actually the world’s best – I am sure there are many Italian grandma’s who would disagree wholeheartedly.  That is just the name of the recipe.  But everyone I have made it for has loved it.  I pretty much follow the recipe to the letter, except I use turkey sausage.  This time part of it is for a family of a mom from the mommy group at my church who recently had a new baby.  The rest is for my dad and The Bug, because he will be babysitting on Saturday.  The Hubby will get leftovers on Sunday, and I’ll be making myself an eggplant version, so that it is gluten-free.

It’s been a quiet week.  I spent last weekend doing things around the house and cooking a lot.  I once again had my four generations for dinner.  I am working on writing and editing some amazing recipes from that night.  We had a delicious dinner, and I can’t wait to share all of the parts of the meal with you.

I am so excited for a fun Saturday, though!  As I said, Dad is babysitting The Bug so that The Hubby and I can go to the Rutgers University Spring Football Practice Game, and out to dinner to celebrate our friend’s 50th birthday.  We are going to Catherine Lombardi in New Brunswick, a place I have wanted to try for ages.  I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.

OK, here is what you are all looking for – what I have been checking out this week:

•  I have seen crockpot au gratin potatoes before, but they always seem to be super-rich, with lots of butter and heavy cream.  These from Mom’s Crazy Cooking seem cheesy, but like they may be a little lighter than other ones I’ve seen.  They would be great with some meatloaf.

• Speaking of Mom’s Crazy Cooking, because of next month’s Crazy Cooking Challenge, I have grilled cheese on the brain.  I made a really cool one last weekend, but I may have to try Sweet Onion-Balsamic Jam Grilled Cheese from The Professional Palate, or Green Grilled Cheese from Full Belly Sisters.

Sweet Onion-Balsamic Jam Grilled Cheese

Green Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Spinach, Avocado, and Gouda

• And what better to go with grilled cheese than soup?  And cheesy soup, at that.  Like this Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup from Picky Palate.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup

• Blue Cheese in meatballs – yes, please!   Yumminess from The Healthy Beehive.

Blue and Green Meatballs

• Pancakes!  Yay!  Gluten-free pancakes!  Double yay!  Gluten-free pancakes with bananas!  Triple yay!  Thanks, My New Roots.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread Pancakes

• This Strawberry Rose Sangria from Pink Parsley looks like a lovely libation for the summer.

Strawberry Rose Sangria

• OK, I gotta get a sweet treat in here – Homemade Snickers Bars from Table for 7!!

Homemade Snickers Bars

• And finally, The Bug is turning 2 next week!!  I can’t believe it!  So in honor of his birthday, a gorgeous Rainbow Cake from Chocolate & Carrots in her guest post on Bakingdom (which is giving me an awesome idea for his cake), and some fun sprinkles from I Am Baker.

Rainbow Cake

Homemade Sprinkles

Look out tomorrow for a delicious salmon recipe for Holiday Recipe Club.  And don’t forget my quick, one question survey at the bottom of this post.

I’ll be pretty busy this week with preparations for The Bug’s birthday party.  Hopefully I’ll still get some new recipes out to you, though.  And I can’t wait to share photos of my boy and all the festivities.

And here is the weekly question:

What are your plans for the weekend?  Cooking up anything special?

Enjoy!