Day 136: Baked Funfetti Donuts (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

These were all-around bad :(  Super sugary, too many sprinkles, horrible-tasting glaze.  Just trust me on this one -- don't waste your time.  I'd suggest hitting up Krispy Kreme instead.

I did like the blog author's idea of piping the batter into the donut pan.  

After mixing up the batter (it will be thick), spoon it into a Ziploc bag, snip off a side at the bottom of the bag, and slowly pipe the batter into the pan.  Voila!

Baked, but not yet glazed.  Too many sprinkles!

Glazed -- and the ones on the far left were achieved by following her instructions exactly.  Once I tasted the glaze (too much powdered sugar taste, in my opinion!), I just "dripped" some on the top instead of covering the entire donut.  Neither tasted very good!

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 124: Separating Yolks & Egg Whites (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

This is genius -- and eliminates my need to buy separated egg whites at the store, which I never think taste very good.  Start with regular eggs and an empty bowl (or two).

Crack a few eggs in the bowl, and then position a (clean and empty) water bottle over one of the yolks.  Make sure the bottle is upright and that you're squeezing the bottle a tiny bit before touching the opening of the bottle with the yolk to remove; release the squeeze once you've made contact with the yolk and quickly turn the bottle right-side up again to contain the yolk inside the bottle.

The first time I tried this I attempted removing more than one yolk (with other yolks still inside the bottle).  I did not have success with this, and ended up with this mess on my hands...all the yolks dripped back into the egg whites while I was trying to "squeeze" up additional yolks.

However, I did have success removing just one yolk at a time, dropping it into a separate bowl and then going back to get another yolk.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 106: Oatmeal & Banana Breakfast Muffins (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Although I thought these were a little bland, my kids devoured them (due to the chocolate chips, perhaps??) and when I make them again, I'll add another banana or two to enhance that particular flavor.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 ripe bananas (but I'd add 3 or 4 instead)
Chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line muffin tins with silicone or foil liners (I used paper liners, and the muffins stuck to the paper).
2. Place oats in a blender or food processor and blend until oats are smooth.  Add remaining ingredients to the blender, or mix in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer (I chose the second option).
3. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 15-20 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).  

Isn't everyone's kid dressed as a bunny these days in preparation for the Easter Bunny's arrival this Sunday?!  This cute bunny has been eating 2-3 muffins in one sitting!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 105: Refrigerator Oatmeal (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I have only tried one recipe from the original post, but this overnight, refrigerated oatmeal is so good!  This may be my new, easy, "go to" breakfast option!

Ingredients for Blueberry Maple Refrigerator Oatmeal:
1/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt (I used honey Greek yogurt instead of plain)
1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds
2 teaspoons maple syrup (I used Agave)
1/4 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Instructions:
In a small mason jar, add oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds and syrup.  Put the lid on the jar and shake to combine.  Remove lid, add blueberries, and stir until well mixed.  Return lid to jar and refrigerate overnight, or up to 2 days.  Eat chilled.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 98: Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

This tasted gross -- I think it might have been the sour taste of the Greek yogurt overpowering the rest of the ingredients, and if I tried this again, I'd likely use a honey or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt, and then exclude either the actual honey or vanilla from the recipe.  Mine was also not as thick or tan/brown as the original picture pinned -- I wonder if the recipe meant to call for more peanut butter?  Either way, this was not good.

Ingredients:
6 ounces plain Greek yogurt (I would try one with a honey or vanilla base)
1 tablespoon of creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips
Dash of sea salt

Mix ingredients together and serve.

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 97: Kool-Aid Easter Egg Dye (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

After discovering the way to make perfect hard-boiled eggs, we were ready to dye some Easter eggs using Kool-Aid!  This pin worked great, and my kitchen smelled so good while we were doing it -- as a child raised in the 80's, there was a lot of Kool-Aid consumed in my past.  The scent definitely brought back some sentimental memories for me!  

It was so quick and easy for my 4 year old to do this himself without staining his hands / clothing, and each packet only cost 20 cents!  I had only picked up 2 Kool-Aid packets, but before Easter comes, we'll be doing this again with many more colors and the rest of our family members!

Ingredients:
1. Fill a coffee cup or bowl with enough water to cover an egg placed in the water.  We had enough here to fit 2-3 eggs in at a time.

2. Add a single Kool-Aid packet to the water.  Stir until crystals are completely dissolved.
3. Add a hard-boiled egg, and leave in for a few minutes for a deeper color.
4. Remove egg and allow to dry.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 96: Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs (success).

Pinterest pin and website link (by the way, I kind of loved this writer.  She used the term "eggporn."  That's really all the introduction she needs -- go see her post!).

Her trick?  Throwing some baking soda in the egg water.  She made a bigger batch than I did and used 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in her water, so I used 1/4 teaspoon and it worked perfectly.  The eggs were cooked to perfection and the shell easily came off without sticking.

Ingredients:
12-18 eggs (the fresher the eggs, the more the eggshell will stick -- so older is better!)
Water
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Instructions:
1. Put eggs in the pot and cover with cold water.
2. Dump in the baking soda.
3. Heat the water, uncovered, using medium-high to high heat.
4. When the water begins to boil, let the eggs boil for 1-2 minutes.
5. Cover the pot and take it off the heat.
6. Let the eggs rest in the covered pot for exactly 13 minutes.
7. Put the eggs into a cold water bath.
8. When the shells are cool enough to handle, peel them.

Day 45: Heart Pancakes (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Happy Valentine's Day!  I made these today, and they were a hit (as you know, I am not a professional baker, photographer or food artist, so these wouldn't win any awards for perfection, but my kids and husband thought they were fun!).

First, mix up a few batches of your favorite pancake mix.  We were gluten free for a few years and discovered this mix.  It tastes amazing, is very filling, and, although we no longer need to be gluten free, is still our go-to pancake mix.

Then, put some of the batter into a separate bowl to color pink with food coloring.  When it's the pink color of your liking, spoon / pour into a squeeze bottle.  If you don't have a squeeze bottle (like me!), feel free to get creative by dumping out a squeezable food item already in your fridge and filling it with the pink pancake mix!

Add the batter to the griddle / pan and then use the squeeze bottle to draw a heart, to the best of your ability.

 Ready to eat!

Verdict: success!

Day 41: Waffle Iron Hash Browns (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I had such high hopes for this pin, since I love hash browns, waffles and tator tots.  Alas, the combination wasn't meant to be...

I heated my waffle iron, sprayed it with non-stick spray, placed frozen tator tots on the iron, and pressed the lid closed (it took about 2 minutes to be able to clip my waffle iron together and step away to make the rest of the meal).  When the timer went off, the tator tots didn't quite look done, so I left them for 3+ additional minutes until they looked like this:

Then I tried gently extricating the tator tots from the waffle iron.  As you can see, I was relatively unsuccessful :)

I may have still said this was a success, but the taste just wasn't there -- tator tots are so much better when baked in the oven and eaten hot.  These were too hard in places, too soft in others, and just all around icky (my technical term!).

Verdict: fail.

Day 32: The Best Banana Bread (without dirtying a single dish) (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My niece always mentions that my house smells like bananas, and I'm starting to wonder if that's actually a bad thing since my bananas typically look like this...

After she left yesterday, I decided to make a batch of banana muffins to get these bananas out of my house.  I found the above pin that said I wouldn't use a single dish, and I was in!  It's made in a plastic gallon bag, so truthfully, I didn't dirty a single dish, although I did use more measuring cups and spoons than the blog author did.

Ingredients:
3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a large Ziploc bag, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, seal the bag, and shake and squish until combined. Add the sugar and mix well. Dump in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Before zipping and mixing them all the way in, mix them together a little with your measuring spoon. Now add the oil and vanilla and shake and squish until well combined. 

Snip the corner of the bag and squirt the batter into a lined muffin tin.  Don't make the hole very big at all because the batter is very runny.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (mine needed a few more minutes -- more like 25).

I omitted her glaze recipe since I figured my kids would devour them -- and I was right!

Verdict: Delicious!  I loved the lack of dishes, plus how easy it was to squirt the mix into the muffin tins -- usually, I have muffin mix all over the pan!

Day 20: Crock-Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of oatmeal.  However, I do like apples, cinnamon, and (as you know) my Crock-Pot -- and the pinned picture looked much more appetizing to me than regular oatmeal, so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients.

All loaded into the Crock-Pot.  Looking good, right??

Not anymore.  This is after cooking on low for 9 hours.

This recipe smelled so promising while it was cooking today, but the end result was not good -- the taste was pretty bland and the texture was mushy.  Our kids wouldn't try it and my sweet husband, who normally eats anything I make, agreed that I shouldn't make it again.

Verdict: fail.

Day 12: Pumpkin Bread (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My husband loves any pumpkin-flavored food item, but whenever I open a cap of pumpkin for a recipe, I end up with at least 1/2 a can left over in the fridge.  In trying to use up that extra pumpkin puree, I have been trying to find a go-to pumpkin bread recipe that tastes great and also freezes well, and I think I've found it!  

Ingredients.

I made them into muffins this time -- and just shortened the cook time to about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  My kids are more apt to eat muffins than a slice of bread...

Verdict: Success!  The sour cream makes the bread / muffins stay really moist after baking and / or freezing.  My only complaint is that I wish there was less sugar in it.  In the future, I may experiment with using agave nectar (and less of it) -- when I do, I'll post an update here about how it tastes.

Day 2: Crock-Pot Breakfast Casserole (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My modified ingredient list:
3-4 Sierra gold potatoes
1 sweet onion
1 teaspoon of garlic
4 sausages
1/2 cup milk
8 eggs
1/2 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
1 cup cheese

The blog author is right -- this looks gross, but after cooking, is delicious!

Verdict: LOVE! Since this recipe can be prepped ahead of time and then cooked on low overnight, I have made this for large brunch gatherings, Christmas morning, and family birthdays.