{Yum.Yum.Yum.}

It's no secret that I am not the world's best cook.

Let's face it - I am the farthest thing from that actually.

It's pretty sad when I can't even make pancakes that only require water + the mix....ha,

but that's a story for another time.

For the record,

I have been good about keeping a list on the fridge of all the meals for the week

{...and yes, following through on cooking them}.

My hormones are kinda nuts right now,

and it must be the "inner-mom" in me trying to come out or something,

because lately, like, this past week I have been..................experimenting......and trying NEW things.

{GASP.OF.HORROR}

I know!

Soooooo weird,

and not like me.

But I've been having fun with it,

and have been {gulp} liking it! {and Kevin has too!yay!}

No,

this will never turn into a "food blog" or anything crazy like that,

but let me show you what I've been concocting.

Because I am kinda proud of myself and want my posterity to know that at one point in my life,

I tried.

Test Product #1

{mini cheese sticks}

via pinterest

Kevin even liked them!
They were sooooo easy and fast {and yummy},
but next time I want to try and bread them a bit more - maybe make them normal size too.
They are best hot out of the oven with a dipping sauce.
We love our marinara.


Test Product #2
{homemade fries}



I had about 4 small potatoes left in the bag and wanted to get rid of them,
so I chopped them up,
sprinkled some onion salt and Italian seasoning on them,
and stuck 'em in the oven at 350degrees.
I just watched them till they looked good and done.
They turned out okay - but not amazing.
Kevin said next time I should chop them thinner.


Test Product #3
{caramel popcorn}
via pinterest



So I actually started making my mom's yummy vanilla popcorn,
but found out that the "butter" I had {bluebonnet} was not actually 100% butter.
I was ticked because I wanted a sweet treat for tonight when Kevin got home,
so I started searching pinterest for anything yummy to do with popcorn.
{and because i had already popped 3 bags, and they were sitting on my counter...}
I came across the above pic and found a good-looking recipe.
{just click the pic to go to the original site}

Because I didn't have 100% real butter - turns out that really makes a big difference in the finished consistency of your desired product - I modified the recipe to fit my needs:

1/2 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk

1/4 tsp. pure vanilla

Combine all ingredients (except vanilla) in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Once boiling, cook for 2 1/2 minutes (just until soft-ball stage). Remove from heat, add vanilla. Allow to cool slightly.

I started stirring everything together and realized I didn't have any cans of sweetened condensed milk!
The "old" me would have said "Forget this!" and stopped making anything all together,
but the "new/momish" me said "Okay....there's got to be a substitute. Go look online!"
So I did,
and found this:



I hurried and mixed up that recipe and scooped 1/4 cup out and added it to the above recipe.
It worked!
{please applaud now}
It was an epic moment for me.



Instead of making balls because I didn't have any sticks,
I just laid it all out like so.
And here's my little leftover "can" of sweetened condensed milk:




Test Product #4
{grilled chicken}



It's always been Kevin's job to do the grilling around here,
but since he now gets home so late,
I decided that I needed to man-up and learn how to work the darn thing.
He showed me how start it {yeah, that's really all i needed to know...} on Wednesday when he grilled up our hamburgers,
and then Thursday....
tada!
I grilled chicken all by myself.
This was yet another epic moment for me,
especially because Kevin said it tasted great.

Okay,
last one:

Product Test #5
{homemade Reese's}
via dad



So these weren't really a "test",
but it was the first time I've made them for just Kevin and I.
Here's the recipe:
{they really are SO good, easy, and fast!}

1 1/2 c. Peanut Butter {crunchy is best}
4-5 whole Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 c. Powdered sugar
1 cube Butter {melt}
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix all ingredients and pat into a 9x13 cake pan.
Melt 1 bag {12oz} of chocolate chips,
and frost them over the "peanut-butter cake".
Cut into squares BEFORE chilling{freezer}.

Enjoy!