Boys and Joys: PINNED IT AND DID IT: Pinterest Recipe Round Up

Not to many kids' crafts going on around here right now, with traveling and birthdays. But I'm definitely not neglecting Pinterest. Thought I'd share a few of the many Pinterest-inspired things I've done over the past few weeks... basically a listing of really awesome recipes. We've had some great luck, these are some of the best recipes I've ever tried. But it's not all recipes...

For starters, much of Tobin's Knights and Dragons birthday party was ideas I found or got instructions for through Pinterest.

And there's always this idea, which I can't even find the pin for anymore - but you should TOTALLY pin it, or at least remember it next time you're boiling:

Did you know that when you are boiling something - pasta, potatoes, etc. - if you put a wooden spoon over the pot, it won't boil over? I've been doing this for months, and I've only had a boil-over one time. In that case, I already knew I had way too much water in the pan (I was making noodles), and was in the process of grabbing a hot pad to pour some of the water out. So if you don't overfill your pot, it works like a charm. Amazing.

If you are facebook friends with me, you know I've been looking for kid-friendly fish recipes. I've been reading at Raising Healthy Eaters that most kids don't get nearly enough DHA, so I'd love to serve more fish. I pinned this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, The Frugal Girl, and it was the first fish recipe I introduced to the family.

This was a HIT. You should totally make this. It's actually a LOT like our favorite Asian dish, Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken, so I think my boys were preloaded to like it. Tobin is not picky at all (he'll try anything) but hasn't ever liked fish. But he asked for seconds of this, and said, "I LOVE THIS MEAT!" I served it with brown rice, and doubled the sauce because I could tell from the recipe that the boys would love it.

Speaking of hits...

This little baby went viral on Pinterest a few months ago. I've made a few chicken enchilada recipes, and we haven't really loved any of them. But this:

...was INCREDIBLE. So very yummy. Matt ate the leftovers the next day and texted me: "Leftover chicken enchiladas tasted SO GOOD. Make a double batch next time please." I highly recommend this recipe!

I was a little sad I didn't try it earlier... Primarily because I've been limiting Micah's dairy intake. I'm not going totally dairy free, I just think it's hard on his system, so we're using alternative milk, yogurt, and cheese, and have cut out sour cream (wish I could find some non-dairy yogurt that wasn't fruit flavored, because I'm sure I could substitute that for sour cream. But so far, no luck.)

BUT...I was able to make this for Micah, and he liked it. I put 2 of the enchiladas in a smaller container, and instead of mixing grated cheese into the chicken as the recipe calls for, I used goat cheese.

The sauce started with a white sauce/roux, then you add in chicken broth, green chilis, and sour cream. After adding the broth, I separated out a fourth cup, added some green chilis, then melted another medallion of goat cheese in there. His sauce was a little thicker than ours, but he still gobbled his enchiladas up, both for dinner and then leftover for lunch the next day. WIN.

I did the same thing with another viral-on-Pinterest recipe, Baked Chicken Parmesan.

I'm not really a fan of Chicken Parmesan - I don't like how the breading on the chicken gets all soggy in the sauce. But I liked this. I didn't love it (not like the enchiladas, at least), but the rest of the family did (which is what I expected.) And I'm likely to make this again, whereas I'm not ever going to go to all the work of making Chicken Parmesan the normal way, because I don't care for it.

I did the same thing for Micah with this one... I made a smaller portion with one chicken breast for him. I crumbled up the goat cheese instead of all the shredded cheese in the original recipe. I only used one medallion, but if I made it again, I would use two - I think it could use more cheese. This one wasn't quite as easy to adapt as the enchiladas, but yet again: Micah was perfectly happy.

Next up... Cookie Dough Dip. We have a meeting of our college leaders every few months, and they've come to expect queso & chips and M&Ms. For our last meeting, we were in the mood for something different. So I made my friend Emily's AWESOME buffalo chicken dip (which has become MY buffalo chicken dip), and this yummy dip, which I'd noticed in my friend Sally's instagram feed.

It was delish, although a little sweet for me. I think when I make it again (because I WILL make it again) I'll leave out the heath bits the recipe uses, I think I'd like a more pure cookie-dough flavor. But that didn't stop me from finishing off the leftovers the day after the meeting, so....

Lastly, two Pinterest standbys. I make these oven fries once a month, maybe?