Cookbook Giveaway: Little Kitchen - CLOSED

 Today (well up until Monday when I announce the winner) I'm giving away one copy of Little Kitchen! 

 This book has a photo of every recipe, and little images of all the equipment  you'll be using.

The recipes are organized into two sections - savory and sweet. It also has a section at the front that talks about safety, ingredients, equipment and tips.

In each recipe it has in bold when you need to ask a grown-up for help - mostly when dealing with hot objects, putting things in the oven, etc., and when dealing with sharp stuff - knives, food processor, etc.

It is recommended for children 6+, although I'm sure you can use it with children who are younger as long as you are more involved in the process ;).

This giveaway is open to everyone that lives in the United States (Sorry no international shipping) - Family, Friends, Followers, Complete Strangers, etc. Winner will be announced Monday (April 23), please check back to see if you won as I will not require you to enter any contact information. Winner will be selected by random.org. Winner will have until April 27 (4 days) to respond after which I will select a new winner.

To Enter (you can enter up to 5 times - you just have to leave a separate comment for each entry!):

 1. Simply leave a comment on this post - say anything you want but please keep it nice and family friendly. Any rude/inappropriate comments will be deleted and not entered in to the giveaway. (If you need a prompt you can answer: What is your favorite thing to make in the kitchen with children?)

 2. Become a follower(Google Friend Connect) of my blog-on the right hand side - and leave a comment on this post letting me know you're a follower.

 3. Like me on facebook here. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 4. Follow me on twitter. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 5. Follow me on Pinterest. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

*Note: if you are already a follower you can just leave me a comment letting me know that you are a follower already. Just be sure to leave one comment for each entry. (I count each comment as 1 entry.)

*Any comments not on THIS post will not be counted toward the giveaway (sorry it's too confusing otherwise!)

Oh and come back later this week for the next & last giveaway! Also if you haven't entered this giveaway, or this giveaway they are still open!

CLOSED - Cookbook Giveaway - Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set

Today (and until Saturday I'm giving away one copy of Paula Deen's Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set. 

I love that this cookbook has pictures of all the needed kitchen gadgets AND the ingredients. 

 It has great versatility with recipes from easy (fruit dip) to harder (Mac & Cheese)

 It's chapters include: Morning Muffins, The Bake Sale, Pool Party, What's New for Lunch, A Sleepover, The Family Cooking Night, Christmas Cooking Party, The Family Picnic Menu and Mother's Day & Father's Day. Each filled with some great recipes.

This giveaway is open to everyone that lives in the United States (Sorry no international shipping) - Family, Friends, Followers, Complete Strangers, etc. Winner will be announced Saturday (April 21), please check back to see if you won as I will not require you to enter any contact information. Winner will be selected by random.org. Winner will have until April 25 (4 days) to respond after which I will select a new winner.

To Enter (you can enter up to 5 times!)

 1. Simply leave a comment on this post - say anything you want but please keep it nice and family friendly. Any rude/inappropriate comments will be deleted and not entered in to the giveaway. (If you need a prompt you can answer: Who is your favorite person to cook with?)

 2. Become a follower(Google Friend Connect) of my blog-on the right hand side - and leave a comment on this post letting me know you're a follower.

 3. Like me on facebook here. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 4. Follow me on twitter. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 5. Follow me on Pinterest. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

*Note: if you are already a follower you can just leave me a comment letting me know that you are a follower already. Just be sure to leave one comment for each entry. (I count each comment as 1 entry.)

*Any comments NOT left on THIS post will not be counted toward the giveaway (sorry it's too confusing otherwise!)

Oh and come back later this week for the next & last giveaway! Also if you haven't entered this giveaway, it's still open!

Menu: April 9-15

Two weeks ago I discussed a bit about how I make a menu... well I forgot to include some items! So the basic way I plan a menu is: 

1. Get my Produce Co-op Basket

2. Make 2 lists - one of what produce that we had leftover and the other of the produce that is new.

3. See if there is anything in my fridge/freezer/pantry that needs used soon

4. Make a list of dishes I want to make to use the produce (and the things that need used up.) Some of these dishes are carried over from the previous week if I did not make them...

5. See what food categories are missing

6. Fill in the gaps

7. Make a shopping list for everything I need.

8. Go grocery shopping once per week.

So last time I talked in depth about pretty much everything, except that when I fill in the gaps, I typically like to use the grocery store ad to see what is on sale that week. I especially do this for proteins! If there is a really great sale on meat, even if I don't plan on using it that week, it always gets added to my list. I bring it home and freeze it for later use. Another thing I do is typically look at the managers mark-downs (reduced for quick sale) to see if there is anything that is a good price that I would use. Just because it is marked down does not mean that it is a good price to me. I will not pay more than a certain amount per pound! That amount differs every place we live based on how much things cost.

Before I started getting the produce co-op basket I would plan my menu around the weekly grocery ads. I would look through the whole ad (from multiple stores) to see what was on sale and list the items that I would like to use and then create a menu from that. Most of the time I tried to go only to one store, so I would try to only put items on my menu from one sale. Basically it is because I'm not the best at sticking to a list so I tend to spend more than I planned when I go shopping! Occasionally if there were great sales at two places, I would make an extra trip... 

What tricks for planning your menus have worked best for you?

Here's what we had this week: 

 -Ham & Cauliflower Quiche (2 nights)

-Thai Cabbage Chicken - I actually used a whole head of cabbage this time and it was just fine.

-Roast, green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, pineapple (at my parent's house)

-Ate out (2 nights) *we tend to eat out more when I'm pregnant...

-Leftovers from eating out

What was/is on your menu?

Also - be sure to enter either of the cookbook giveaways happening now! Click here or here.

Ultimate Blog Party 2012

Welcome all those of you who are participating in the 2012 Ultimate Blog Party! Links to giveaways I'm currently hosting are at the end of the post!

Just a quick intro for those of you who are stopping by for the first time: This is a family friendly blog where most weeks I post our menu (not what I planned but what we actually HAD - as plans get interrupted ;)... I also post recipes for meals I really love and hope you will too. I am just transitioning from holding a poll each week to see what to post (which just wasn't working out) to deciding myself - which opens so many recipes that I'm excited to post! However, I'm still getting organized after a break during which I had morning sickness and didn't even LOOK at this blog, or any other food blogs as it made me more sick... (Can I get an amen from any of you who've had morning sickness?) Read more About Me here.

Come check out some of my favorite recipes (that aren't included in the top 5 on the right sidebar):

Baked French Toast with Apple Spice Syrup

Fruit Cheesecake Muffins

Whole Wheat Waffles

Tamales

Chinese Dumplings

Baked Chicken Fingers

Five Cheese Stuffed Shells

100 Grand Cookies

Easy Death By Chocolate Cake

Flan

 and my all time favorite cookie:

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

For those of you who want to join the party, there are tons of giveaways - be sure to enter here. I'm also hosting a cookbook giveaway right now, check it out here and another one here, and lastly one here (second and third are more for baking with children)!

Cookbook Giveaway! - CLOSED

Time for a giveaway! During the course of the next week I'll be giving away 3 cookbooks.

I'm giving away one copy of Baking from the Heart: Our Nation's Best Bakers Share Cherished Recipes for The Great American Bake Sale.

I am also giving away one copy of Paula Deen's Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set. This is a great cookbook that has recipes that children can make!

Lastly, I'm giving away Little Kitchen - a recipe book for chefs ages 6 and up. 

However, for this post, I'm giving away: 

 Baking from the Heart.

They have some great sounding recipes! From Almond Raspberry Bars, Homemade Oreos, Flourless-Butterless Chocolate Cookies, Cinnamon Rolls, to chewy Caramels. This is one great collection of recipes! They also have bake sale tips for every recipe in the book for those looking to hold a bake-sale.

This giveaway is open to everyone that lives in the United States (Sorry no international shipping) - Family, Friends, Followers, Complete Strangers, etc. Winner will be announced next Friday (April 20), please check back to see if you won as I will not require you to enter any contact information. Winner will be selected by random.org. Winner will have until April 24 (4 days) to respond after which I will select a new winner.

To Enter

 1. Simply leave a comment on this post - say anything you want but please keep it nice and family friendly. Any rude/inappropriate comments will be deleted and not entered in to the giveaway. (If you need a prompt you can answer: What was the last thing you baked?)

 2. Become a follower(Google Friend Connect) of my blog-on the right hand side - and leave a comment on this post letting me know you're a follower.

 3. Like me on facebook here. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 4. Follow me on twitter. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

 5. Follow me on Pinterest. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you've done that.

Oh and come back Monday for the next giveaway!

Orange Cake

This winter I came to a realization - I'm not the hugest fan of oranges. I love orange juice and the taste of oranges, but honestly if I want a citrus fruit to eat - clementines are my one true love. This realization came about AFTER I got a whole bunch of oranges. I hate to just let them sit around going bad... so the first thing I tried was making home-made orange juice. I decided this is NOT worth the effort as I don't have a citrus pressy thing and did it all by hand. EESH. Seriously. Way too much work for me.

I had seen a cake made from clementines where they were boiled so I thought that I could do the same thing with oranges... and tell you what - it turned out GREAT! I could only find a few recipes that actually used oranges, and didn't like any of them (most called for Olive Oil and that wasn't the flavor profile I was looking for). So I made up my own. It worked wonderfully, and can I tell you how satisfying it is to have an experiment with cake (at least for me) turn out great the first time!?! I was elated.  So I have to share it with you ;).

Orange Cake

First you'll need 4 oranges. Tops and bottoms cut off.

Then you'll quarter them, you can even cut them into eights if you prefer...

Bring them to a boil in 5 cups water. Boil for 45 minutes.

Next, add sugar. 3-4 cups of it. I used 4, but it would still taste great with less.

Bring back to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cook until you can easily prick a fork into the orange peel.

See that seed, well - you don't want it! so remove all seeds from the water AND from the oranges.

 These were the seeds from the water... there were plenty that were in the oranges but I didn't photo them!

Remove oranges from pan and place in blender with some of the water (if you have a smaller blender you'll need to do this in batches.)

The leftover water I strained to remove the really small seeds as well. It also strained out a bit of the orange stuff, but I promise it did not hurt the flavor!

Blend the oranges until pureed. (Oh and I apologize about these pictures, I made it on a cloudy day so the coloring is off and I couldn't make it quite right...)

Dump the pureed oranges into a bowl,

add the leftover sugary, orangy water as well.

Then mix and let cool to room temperature (or a tad bit above it... slightly warm won't hurt it - at least it didn't mine!) I refrigerated mine to help it cool off. It does take quite a while so this isn't a recipe to make if you want a cake in an hour!

Once the orange mixture has cooled,

add 4 eggs (I most always break my eggs into a separate container so I know if any pesky egg shell decided to join the eggs - and it's tons easier to remove it!),

 and beat until combined.

 You'll also need 3/4 cup melted butter. Add it and mix until combined.

 You'll also need 4-5 cups flour, 4 tsp baking powder (I used a Tbsp and a tsp which is the same amount ;)

 and 2 tsp baking powder.

 Mix the flour and baking powder & baking soda together.

 Pour the flour into the cake mixture - I added it in about 3 batches, making sure to scrape the bowl in between (the flour wasn't all mixed in each time I scraped the bowl.)

 Mix until flour is fully incorporated.

 Look at how orangy! Yum!

 Pour Batter into baking pans.

I used 2 8-inch pans and a bunt pan for the leftover batter. If you have two - 10-inch pans all the batter will fit in them.

Let bake for 35-40 minutes for 8-inch pans, and 35-45 minutes for the bundt pan.

Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean (I couldn't find my toothpicks and used a knife to check it, hence the hole...)

Let cool, then frost as desired.

Here's what I did: I used a simple cream cheese frosting with orange zest for the filling of the layer cake.

using a knife to make sure it was pretty even... although truth be told I'm not super great at layer cakes!

Then I covered it in a dark chocolate ganache frosting.

The bundt cake I made the cream cheese frosting a little more runny and topped it, then used the ganache frosting as the zebra stripe pattern.

I personally liked having more cream cheese frosting on the cake,

but the ganache frosting was also great - however I would use one that wasn't such a dark chocolate ganache next time.

How to make the ganache frosting coming up next week!

Enjoy!