Monthly Archives: November 2011

Friendly Friday 11/11/11

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Welcome to Friendly Friday!

It begins at 8pm Central Thursday nights. Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

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Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select a blog at random and will feature a link and a write-up for that blog in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight one of those each week. Say hello to the lucky one for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):
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Taryn, the blogger at It’s the Thought That Counts, lives in Michigan with her husband and four children. She started her blog to promote her business and many others in the handmade community.  She wants to be able to items and artists she discovers with her readers. She loves handmade things and has her own Etsy shop, and loves photography, too. When you visit her blog you’ll also find a ton of giveaways – her blog is a great mix of a lot of different subjects. Stop by and say hello!

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Now that you know about this wonderful blog, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can get the InLinkz code to share Friendly Friday on your blog!
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All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – be sure to leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don’t forget – Friendly Friday now begins at 8pm Central on Thursday nights!



Slow Cooker Meals & Tips

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Who doesn’t like to come home from work or from a busy day running errands and have dinner waiting in a slow cooker. Just walking in the door and smelling the aroma of a delicious home-cooked meal is so inviting. Well, Food Network has eleven tips for slow cooker meals that are definitely worth checking out. I already see one tip I need to remember, the one that talks about how it’s better to fill a slow cooker halfway to two thirds full.  Also, here are eight simple slow cooker recipes from Food Network that sound so good!

With the holidays coming up, a lot of us will be taking desserts, dips, snacks and appetizers to parties. What better way to keep them warm than in a slow cooker. If any of you have eaten at Qdoba’s and love their queso, here’s a recipe for a lower-fat version of Qdoba’s 3-Cheese Queso.

Don’t have a slow cooker?  Check out these from Amazon.  I’ve started ordering from Amazon more and more the past couple of years after realizing how easy and convenient it is.  And I nearly always find the best price on something at Amazon plus a lot of items qualify for free shipping which saves money! A lot of you probably figured this out a long time ago..
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Menu Plan Monday & Recipe for Qdoba’s 3-Cheese Queso (Healthier Version)

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Can you believe holidays are getting close?  For those holiday get-togethers, I’d like to share a recipe.  This is a great recipe to fix in a Crock-Pot/Slow Cooker to take to a holiday party or pot-luck.  By the way, the Cook ‘N Carry Crock Pot is great for traveling in the car.  We gave one of these to my mother-in-law for Christmas one year.
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So many people love Qdoba’s 3-Cheese Queso, so much that you can even find the recipe on Food Network‘s site. We always order it when we go to Qdoba’s, but I would like a healthier version to fix at home.  So here’s a lower-fat version plus some substitutions in case you need them:
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Qdoba’s 3-Cheese Queso, Lower-Fat Version:

  • 1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese, reduced-fat
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, reduced-fat
  • 1 cup American cheese  (Alpine Lace has 25% reduced fat)
  • 1 cup Fat-Free Half & Half
  • 3 roasted poblano peppers, finely chopped  (or canned chipotle peppers or green chilis, drained)
  • 8 ounces tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground garlic  (or minced garlic from a jar)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients, cover, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 2 hours.   Stir occasionally.  Add just a little bit of milk if you need to thin it.

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Hope you enjoy this if you make it. At Qdobas, they serve it with tortilla chips flavored with a touch of lime. So good! Talking about all of this is making me hungry for Mexican food, so I think I’ll incorporate some into our menu this week!
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Monday:  Chicken tenders cooked in olive oil & fajita seasonings, refried beans, avocado slices, tortilla chips & salsa

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Enchilada Soup (This tasted so good last week and I think it helped me get over my cold a little faster because of the onion, garlic, and spices in it.)

Wednesday:  Leftover Chicken Enchilada Soup

Thursday:   Chicken Italian Pasta

Friday: Pizza & salad (haven’t decided what kind of pizza  – have any ideas?)

 

Winner of $25 Visa Gift Card from Crizal Lenses

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Congratulations #11 which is Steff.   You are the winner of the $25 Visa Gift Card from Crizal Lenses which are made by Essilor.  I will be sending you your gift card.

Essilor is a great company which is the creator of progressive lenses.  I have some glasses with their lenses, and their non-glare coating has lasted longer than that of lenses from other places.

Friendly Friday 11/4/11

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Welcome to Friendly Friday!

It begins at 8pm Central Thursday nights. Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

.
Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select a blog at random and will feature a link and a write-up for that blog in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight one of those each week. Say hello to the lucky one for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):
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The author of two novels of supernatural suspense, Vanessa Morganhas been hailed as a ‘female version of Stephen King’ for her talents. With both books rankings as Amazon bestsellers and currently being turned into movies, this Belgian writer knows how to draw you in with her suspenseful words. If you’re a fan of horror and getting spooked, you won’t want to miss this blog and her books!

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Now that you know about this wonderful blog, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can get the InLinkz code
to share Friendly Friday on your blog!
.
All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – be sure to leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don’t forget – Friendly Friday now begins at 8pm Central on Thursday nights!



Cooking Tip: Substitution for Squares of Baking Chocolate

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Have you ever been right in the middle of making something and then suddenly realized you didn’t have squares of baking chocolate for your recipe?  You can substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon oil or melted butter for each one ounce square of chocolate.  Those are ingredients that most cooks have in their kitchen all the time.  Those ingredients can save the day!