March Food Holidays

*National Celery Month
*National Flour Month
*National Frozen Food Month
*National Nutrition Month
*National Noodle Month
*National Peanut Month
*National Sauce Month
*National Caffeine Awareness Month

*March 1~ National Peanut Butter Lover's Day
                  National Fruit Compote Day
*March 2~ National Banana Cream Pie Day
*March 3~ National Cold Cuts Day
                  National Mulled Wine Day
*March 4~ National Pound Cake Day
*March 5~ National Cheese Doodle Day
*March 6~ National Frozen Food Day
                  National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day
*March 7~ National Cereal Day
*March 8~ National Peanut Cluster Day
*March 9~ National Meatball Day
                  National Crab Meat Day
*March 10~ National Blueberry Popover Day
                    Pack Your Own Lunch Day
*March 11~ Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day
*March 12~ National Baked Scallops Day
*March 13~ Coconut Torte Day
*March 14~ National Potato Chip Day
*March 15~ National Pears Helene Day
*March 16~ Maple Syrup Saturday
                    National Artichoke Hearts Day
*March 17~ Corned Beef and Cabbage Day
*March 18~ Oatmeal Cookie Day
*March 19~ Poultry Day
                    National Chocolate Caramel Day
*March 20~ National Ravioli Day
*March 21~ California Strawberry Day
                    National French Bread Day
*March 22~ National Water Day
*March 23~ National Chip and Dip Day
                    National Melba Toast Day
*March 24~ National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
*March 25~ National Pecan Day
                    National Waffle Day
*March 26~ Spinach Day
                    Make Your Own Holiday Day
*March 27~ National Spinach Paella Day
*March 28~ National Black Forest Cake Day
                     Something On A Stick Day
*March 29~ Hot Cross Buns Day
                    National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
*March 30~ Turkey Neek Soup Day
*March 31~ Tater Day
                     National Clams on the Half Shell Day
                     Oranges and Lemons Day
                     Baked Ham and Pineapple Day

National Strawberry Day

Strawberry oatmeal for National Strawberry Day!

National Pistachio Day

In loving memory of my Dad, who loved pistachios, Happy National Pistachio Day!!!

National Tortilla Chip Day

What a weekend! National Margarita Day on Friday and now National Tortilla Chip Day just two days later. WOW! Hope you enjoyed this weekend as much as we did!

Happy National Margarita Day!

I love this day!! I tried the best margarita recipe awhile back and it will be the only recipe I ever make again. Low Calorie, easy, and amazing! Hungry Girl is a genius! Its called HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 oz tequila
1 oz lime juice
One 2 serving packet sugar free lemonade powdered drink mix
6 oz diet lemon lime soda

I blend mine and reduce the diet soda to 4 oz for a thicker drink. Try these out, and I promise you won't be disapointed!

You can find this recipe in the Hungry Girl Happy Hour Cookbook wherever books are sold.

National Sticky Bun Day

I don't know if it actually qualifies as a sticky bun, but it's sticky and it's a bun so I'm counting it! Happy National Sticky Bun Day from my youngest daughter, Samantha!

National Chocolate Mint Day

Girl Scout Thin Mints for National Chocolate Mint Day. Nuff said.

Drink Wine Day

I am not a wine drinker but my family is. So when I told them that today was Drink Wine Day, they wanted to celebrate like it's Christmas again. So this picture is actually of my brothers and parents enjoying Drink Wine Day.

Cream Cheese Brownie Day

Valentine Cream Cheese Brownies

In honor of Cream Cheese Brownie Day and Valentine's Day, I made Valentine Cream Cheese Brownies. They look like a hot mess, but in my personal opinion, the best brownies are the messiest brownies. I added food coloring to the cream cheese and then sprinkled Andes peppermint pieces and mini chocolate chips on top. Now the actual brownie part is a box of devils food cake mix, canned pumpkin and half a cup of water. It is the best lower fat brownie recipe I have ever tried. Canned pumpkin should get more credit. It's amazing!

Feb. 9th, 2012~ Pizza Pie Day

Pizza Pie Day

You should all be so proud of me, I celebrated TWO food holidays yesterday! National Bagel and Lox Day and also Pizza Pie Day! So here's my famous homemade pizza. It was so good. :) Bisquick makes the best pizza crust, FYI.

National Bagels and Lox Day

Bagel with Smear

Happy National Bagels and Lox Day! I got an email from my local bagel joint for a free bagel and smear with the purchase of a coffee. I of course didn't pass up that offer! And even though it doesn't have the lox on it, it still was an amazing bagel and a great way to celebrate the morning!

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

Fettuccine Alfredo by Lindsay

So I hardly ever make my own recipes. I love using cookbooks. They are easy to follow, no guessing, and makes grocery lists a snap. But once in a blue moon, I take my cooking skills and throw my own recipe together. I'm no Tom Kalb (and if you don't know who that is, don't worry, you will someday) but sometimes everything goes just right and I make a masterpiece. Today was National Fettuccine Alfredo Day, and even though I have 3 bottles of Alfredo sauce in the pantry, I wanted to make an homemade sauce. So after looking through some recipes and seeing what I had on hand I came up with this:

Fettuccine Alfredo

* 1 tbsp butter
* 6 oz of uncooked fettuccine noodles
* 1 cup skim milk
* 4 oz fat free cream cheese, at room temp and cubed
* 4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
* 3 laughing cow cheese wedges, at room temp and cut up to small pieces
* 5 oz cooked shredded chicken
* 1 cup bell peppers

1. Make fettuccine noodles according to directions on package.
2. While noodles cook, mix skim milk, cheeses, and butter in small pot on the stove. When they have started to heat up, whisk together. Keep whisk every so often to break up cheese lumps.
3. Cut up bell peppers into strips.
4. After noodles are done, drain. Do not put them back in the pot yet.
5. In the large pot, mix bell peppers and chicken, and then add your noodles. Then pour on your sauce when it is free of any lumps and nice and creamy.
6. Mix all together to get sauce all mixed around. Then serve and enjoy.

Makes 4 servings.
8 PointsPlus per serving

National Chopsticks Day

National Chopsticks Day!

 

Homemade Soup Day

Potato Lover's Soup with Crispy Bacon
recipe from Weight Watchers: What to Eat Now cookbook

Potato Lover's Soup with Crispy Bacon

*3 large (8 oz) baked russet potatoes
*3 strips bacon
*3 garlic cloves, minced
*4 scallions, thinly sliced
*2 3/4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
*1/4 tsp salt
*1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
*3/4 cup fat free half and half


1. Leaving skin on, coarsely chop potatoes; set aside.
2. Cook bacon in large nonstick saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Pour off and discard all but 1 tsp of drippings.
3. Add garlic and half of scallions to drippings saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add broth, salt, pepper sauce and potatoes, mashing potatoes with wooden spoon to break them up slightly. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in half-and-half and return to simmer. Serve soup sprinkled with crumbled bacon and remaining scallions.


Note: I have made potato soup many many times, and every time it is different. But I now have the perfect potato soup recipe that I will be coming back to time and time again. This was wonderful! And you get a huge serving of it! 1 1/2 cups for only 5 PPV! :) The girlies enjoyed it just as much. Two out of three came back for seconds. And if you have small children, getting them to eat one helping of soup is a challenge in itself!

National Carrot Cake Day!

The reason why I love celebrating national food holidays is because things are never boring in my kitchen and I make dishes that I never would of made or even attempted before. So of course today is National Carrot Cake Day and I had never made a carrot cake until now. I used a Weight Watchers recipe and it went over very well with the kids. :)

January 28th~ National Blueberry Pancake Day

We celebrated National Blueberry Pancake Day but.....I forgot to post the picture. :( But here it is, I got the receipe out one of the new Weight Watchers cookbooks What To Eat Now? Oat Pancakes with Blueberry sauce. My husband added the touch of whip cream on top. :)