Brittany's Pantry

Just a quick note to mention what we have been up to at our house!  The above picture is centered around an idea I saw a long time ago in a parenting magazine and it turned out pretty well.  These are just plain sugar cookies (not yet baked) decorated with those little tubes of gel frosting.  The sugar cookies are from this recipe and I really liked them.  I have it flagged for the day sometime in the future when I finally do one, big, sugar cookie cook off and compare all my favorite recipes and taste them side by side to find the best one.  Until then, I just keep trying them individually and discarding those that are so so and keeping those which I like.

So about these cookies, the gel just kind of sinks into the cookies and dyes it.  If you use a heavy hand, it ends up caramelizing on top.  This ended up being much less messy than I thought it would be and was so much easier than frosting.  We could be a lot more creative with the decorating.  This is what they look like baked:
The original plan was to do just Easter egg shapes and ‘dye’ the cookies for Easter.  But with the timing of a new baby and a national holiday, they ended up being just spring themed.  Still super fun and definitely an idea we will use in the future!

Have fun!

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If you have ‘Liked’ Brittany’s Pantry on Facebook you saw the message I posted about our new arrival!!  We were blessed with a baby boy, Lane Michel Arcand, on the same day that his older brother turned 3.  Yes, my boys share a birthday!  Future celebrations may take some planning…all advice welcome!

But I haven’t been out of the kitchen completely.  Physically, I am a bit limited on my activities for a little while.  However yesterday, I went forth and made Hot Cross Buns.  I know I know.  These were supposed to be enjoyed Good Friday, but that just wasn’t going to happen.  As it was, Easter dinner consisted of our whole family heading to the grocery store and then getting whatever each of us felt like eating and then having a kind of indoor picnic in the family room and watching Transformers and A Veggie Tale Easter Carol.  But anyway, the Hot Cross Buns I made were the same ones I mentioned last year.  I really really like this recipe and need to post about it one of these days.  If you still want to make them, this is the recipe I use.

As I may have mentioned previously, (OK-I mentioned it several times) I have been preparing for these busy days of transition and healing by freezing meals and such for those times when you just want to curl up on the couch and count every teeny tiny little finger and toe on your newborn and then realize you have been doing this so long it is now half past dinner time and your other two offspring and husband come in from the backyard hungry and covered in grass stains.  For those days, I have a plethora of freezer and pantry options that I planned ahead for to limit trips to the grocery store or the local take-out joint.  And we live in a small town so our eat out options are limited anyway.  Much better to just be prepared.
This list is not all inclusive but these are the main players:

Earth Bread-I cannot stress enough how fantastic this is for breakfast or snacking
Double Chocolate Banana Bread-see note above
Mini Meatballs-for quick spaghetti or sandwiches-recipe still needs some tweaking-stay tuned
Pizza Dough
Chicken Tetrazzini
Penne W/Chicken & Sun dried Tomatoes
Freezer Coffee Cake-we actually ate one of these with scrambled eggs and bacon Easter morning
Stuffed Shells
Carne Asada
Steak Fajitas
Chicken Teriyaki-for stir fry
Tilapia-for Baja Fish Tacos
Cream Cheese Banana Bread
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies-these are the super healthy ones but this time I made them with          dried cherries and dark chocolate chips
Indian Chili-just needs some Whole Wheat Cornbread and dinner is done
Matt’s Pancakes & Honey Waffles
BBQ Pulled Pork
Pasta W/Zesty Bolognese
Granola Bars-recipe coming soon
Maple Breakfast Sausage Patties-recipe coming soon (still needs some tweaking)
Granny’s Pound Cake
Cherry Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt-recipe in next post

I also keep pre-shredded cheese in the freezer to top the frozen pasta dishes or make quick quesadillas.  A few bags of frozen tortellini and plenty of good quality chicken broth means I can make Simple Soup in just a few minutes for a quick lunch or supper.  I also have pork chops waiting to be thawed for the Marinated Grilled Pork Chops.  No need to make these ahead of time since they are so easy!

I promise I will have a recipe for you in the next post!  Have a great week!

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