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When I first started meal planning a few years back, it was exciting. I was the Rembrandt of meal planning. I was inspired. Every week we tried new things. It was a culinary exploration.

These days I often find myself simply copying last week’s list onto this week’s page. Not so much fun.

I needed to put the pizzazz back into meal planning. And that’s how I found myself at Pinterest.

Now, here’s a quick warning. Please use Pinterest responsibly. Do not use Pinterest while driving. Please limit your consumption. I have many friends who have stopped cooking altogether because they spent so much time on Pinterest.

But, if used in moderation, Pinterest can be meal planning godsend. It doesn’t take me long to surf around Pinterest and find a week’s worth of inspiring food photos. You may want to start on SayMmm’s very own Pinterest page. Those boards alone could keep you busy for a few weeks at least.

When I see something I want to cook or eat (or cook and eat before anyone catches me) I simply pin it to my own boards. Don’t worry if you’re not on Pinterest yet—it only takes about two minutes to sign up and it’s totally free.

I’ve organized my boards according to meal type, but you could also do days of the week. Or you could just keep everything on one glorious inspiration board. Once I’m done pinning, I skip over to my Say Mmm page and plug these ideas into my weekly plan.

You can also click directly on a photo in Say Mmm’s Pinterest page and usually find your way right to the recipe.

If a pinned meal is a big hit, I keep the picture pinned so I’ll remember to be inspired by it again later. If it isn’t a big hit, I simply delete it and look for further inspiration.

Have fun, be inspired, and enjoy the praises your family will sing! Happy pinning!

Posted by Robin

Ever wish there was a better way to save an online recipe you find from your phone or iPad? Now it is easy with the new Say Mmm Mobile Recipe Clipper.

Whether you are searching for a new recipe on Google or see an idea from a friend on Facebook, you can save the recipe to Say Mmm right from your phone or tablet. You don’t even need to install or open an app because it all works within the browser, and you can save recipes you find anywhere on recipe websites.

The new mobile recipe clipper has all the features of the Say Mmm regular Recipe Clipper for desktop and laptop computers. In most cases it will automatically find the recipe name and image, and then create a shopping list for you. Then it will save the recipe on the Say Mmm mobile site, which is optimized for viewing your recipes on your phone along with your meal plans and shopping lists. Once it is in your Say Mmm account you can see it from any computer or phone with a mobile connection.

To use the mobile recipe clipper, you just need to create a special bookmark in the browser of your phone or iPad. For instructions how it works, here are the links for different devices:

• Android Recipe Clipper
• iPhone Recipe Clipper
• iPad Recipe Clipper
• Other Phone Recipe Clipper

My six-year-old daughter recently had her first sleepover birthday party. I’m still reeling from it. You see, I’m not really the party-planning type. Or the plan-ahead-at-all type. Or the be-prepared type. Or the crafty-know-how-to-entertain-a-house-full-of-little-girls type. I was almost sunk before we even began. How would I keep these little princesses entertained? (No really, they were dressed as princesses.)

My party-planning muse spoke up in the ice cream aisle. I had no idea what kind of ice cream to buy. How to make everyone happy? Then the muse whispered, “What if you made your own? This would keep them busy and kiddos could choose their own kind of ice cream.” And, I didn’t have to buy anything, because I had all the ingredients at home.

Here’s what you need to make your own ice cream at home:

• 1 gallon-sized sturdy zippered storage bag
• 1 quart-sized sturdy zippered storage bag
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• “Flavors” such as vanilla, mint extract, lemon extract, orange extract, coconut extract, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, root beer flavoring, peanut butter cups, frozen fruit, crushed nuts, cocoa powder, or anything else you find in your cupboard. 
• Lots of ice!

Fill the gallon-sized bag about halfway with ice. Then, pour the other ingredients into the smaller bag and seal up tight! Place the quart-sized bag into the gallon-sized bag and then seal that up tight too. Now, start shaking! 

A word about doing this with kiddos. There were two sides to this coin. First off, it kept them busy and tired them out a bit, but most of them were a touch impatient. They wanted their ice cream done with just a few shakes of the bag. Of course, this didn’t happen. You need to shake with conviction for at least 10 minutes in order for the cream to turn into ice cream!

But once it is done … WOW! This was the richest, most delectable ice cream I’ve ever had. Totally worth the effort. It was a big serving for the little mouths at my house, but I had no problem finishing my cup of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Posted by Robin

It has happened to most of us. Someone says, “What’s for dinner?” and you realize that 1) it is that time and that 2) you have no idea what’s for dinner.

Even the most organized, best prepared cook will one day find herself staring into an empty cupboard just before dinner time. Maybe it’s the end of the week and you’re out of grocery money. Or maybe you’ve stayed in your pajamas all day and you just don’t want to give up now by getting dressed just to go to the grocery store. No matter what the reason, you may want to try a “silly supper.”

Silly Supper = What to make for dinner when you don’t have any food in the house!

Here is one idea - Pancakes!

You must have a box of Bisquick hiding in the back of the pantry? If not, here’s all you need to make some simple pancakes:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Don’t be afraid to get creative! You’re the cook — you can do whatever you want! Once, I was out of milk, so I used French vanilla flavored coffee creamer in my pancakes! My family raved about my new “secret ingredient!”

There are a few other ways (other than coffee creamer) to snazz up your pancake supper. You must have half a package of frozen fruit in the freezer, right? Or a few leftover chocolate chips? Of some nuts you can crush up? Or some shredded coconut? Or some orange flavoring? Want to make it really silly? Add some food coloring! Silly suppers can be fun!

Think you can’t do pancakes because you have no syrup? Don’t panic. You can make a syrup good enough to fool the kids with just a few simple ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Bring sugars and water to a boil and cook, stirring continuously, for two minutes. Remove from heat.

Don’t want to make syrup? I once topped my impromptu pancakes with a dollop of whipped cream. You can also use fruit, or even make a fruit syrup by cooking all the ingredients above, only adding some fruit (and maybe a pinch of thickener such as corn starch).

So stop staring at the empty cupboard and tell the family to get ready for an adventure!

Posted by Robin

My husband and I recently engaged in a pickled eggs contest. (What can I say? We don’t have cable.) He complained about my pickled eggs (which are awesome) and I challenged him to do better.

He tried. And he almost succeeded. His definitely caused more of a pucker, but mine were sweeter (and prettier). We’ve had several people judge our contest and the results have been split right down the middle. So here are two totally awesome pickled eggs recipes. Don’t forget to cast your votes.

My Awesome Pickled Eggs Recipe:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 8oz. can of cut beets
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ chopped onion
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 star anise
• 3 cardamom pods

Pour can of beets into small saucepan. (Do not drain beets. Use the water they come in.) Add vinegar, onion, sugar, star anise, and cardamom pods and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes.

Place your peeled eggs in a wide-mouthed jar. Pour your pickling mixture over the eggs. Cool and then refrigerate.

In about a week, you will have delicious pickled eggs and pickled beets. The eggs will be pink all the way through, which tends to delight children and impress guests.

These eggs offer that classic pickled flavor, and the star anise offers an awesome hint of black licorice.

(Hint: It may be difficult to find star anise, but persist! I have found it in the spice aisle of a large grocery store and in Asian markets.)

Hubbie’s Pickled Eggs Recipe:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 ½ cup white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 2 tablespoons sea salt

In a small saucepan, bring vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, pickling spice, and sea salt to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Place your peeled eggs in a wide-mouthed jar. Pour your pickling mixture over your eggs. Cool and refrigerate. They will be ready in about three days, but will taste even “picklier” after a week. 

Posted by Robin

These Independence Day Cupcakes were easy to create (if not a bit time-consuming) and my young children had a blast helping.

Here’s what we did!

Follow instructions on generic white cake mix. Then divide batter into three relatively equal portions. Add red food coloring to one bowl and blue to another. I used Wilton gel coloring. I used “Christmas Red” because that’s what I had, but it came out a little pinkish, so in the future I will use “Red Red.” Don’t forget that too much of the red food coloring does cause an odd taste.

Then! Drop a glob of each batter into each baking cup. My kids really enjoyed this part. Bake as instructed. Already, you will have some cool looking cupcakes. You could just plop one down beside some vanilla ice cream and be a hero.

But, if you want to keep going … Mix one package of cream cheese with one bag of powdered sugar. Separate a small amount of the frosting into two containers. Add red to one and blue to the other.

Then use any large piping tip to frost cupcakes. I used Wilton tip #5 for the stripes and Wilton tip #18 for the “stars.” The kids also enjoyed this part, maybe even too much.

It took a few hours from start to finish, but I was indeed a hero. Isn’t the power of cupcakes amazing?

Happy Fourth of July!

Posted by Robin

My friend lives on a farm and has nice big rolling lawns for her kids to run their little hearts out. She recently asked me and my kids to help her pick some dandelions. I thought she’d gone mad. While I appreciate any opportunity to exhaust my children, I thought that sounded more like a job for an ambitious lawnmower.

She laughed at me. “No silly,” she said in her wise outdoorsy voice, “I’m going to use the dandelions.”

“For what?” I said in alarm.

Well, she was going to make dandelion syrup and dandelion pizza. What on earth?

We picked the dandelions. Lots and lots of them. My hands turned yellow. Then we brought them inside and rinsed them off. Then:

Dandelion Syrup:

We separated the pretty yellow parts of the flower from the boring green parts. You can save the green parts for a dandelion salad if you’re feeling particularly ambitious. Then:

• Put about 1 ½ to 2 cups of dandelion petals in a saucepan.
• Add 2 to 3 cups water, till the flowers are just covered.
• Bring to a boil, then cover, cool, and refrigerate overnight.
• In the morning, put mixture through a fine strainer, putting the golden liquid into a new saucepan.
• Add about 2 cups of sugar (to taste).
• Simmer on low heat for about 90 minutes.
• Taste test. Then store in fridge in airtight container
• Serve over pancakes or biscuits for dandelion goodness.

My friend’s kids are obsessed with pizza, so dandelion pizza seemed like a natural choice. She made her own dough, but I would obviously buy the premade empty shells at the grocery store. Then:

Dandelion Pizza:

• Chop dandelions (both flowers and greens) into bite size pieces. Then sauté with garlic and a little butter for 2–3 minutes.
• Create pizza as you normally would with your favorite pizza sauce and cheese. Then top with the dandelions and garlic. Then bake at 375 for 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and crust is done.

There you have it! Someone told me dandelions were just an obnoxious weed, but that was just a vicious rumor. Dandelions have been promoted!

Posted by Robin

The rhubarb patch came with the house. I was shocked that first spring when this tenacious plant sprung forth from the ground.

The first few years, I watched the rhubarb patch go to waste. So much potential, so little time. It’s not like I stood in the middle of my kitchen twiddling my thumbs longing for new projects. Processing plants from the yard into edible concoctions takes time. I didn’t have much to spare.

I needed something quick and easy to do with the rhubarb.

And, after a little trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned.

Rhubarb Harvesting for Dummies:

The nice woman at the farmer’s market taught me that I can harvest my rhubarb three times each season. That ends up being a serious rhubarb abundance.

The stalks are ready when they are about 10 inches long. To pick, reach to the bottom of a stock, twist and pull. (Cutting can damage plant.) Leave about a third of the stalks behind to keep plant healthy. Here’s a nice little video to help: http://youtu.be/HgvGrIIDi-c.

Don’t forget that the leaves are poisonous. They do, however, make wonderful contributions to the compost pile.

Rhubarb Sauced Cheesecake

Did you know that rhubarb and cheesecake make a positively heavenly combination? (Right, what doesn’t go with cheesecake?) To make a simple rhubarb sauce cheesecake topper, I brought ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of water to a boil. I then added about a pound of rhubarb, cut into small pieces. I continued to cook and stir for about 10 minutes. Then I removed from heat and let stand so sauce could thicken a little. You can put this sauce on just about anything. I’ve also poured it over fresh biscuits and breakfast oatmeal.

Rhubarb Smoothies

We drink a lot of smoothies in this house. They are so healthy, fast, and simple. So I began adding a bit of my rhubarb surplus to our smoothie repertoire. However! As you know, rhubarb is very tart, so be sure to add something to balance that tartness. Here’s one recipe we’ve had success with:

• 1 banana
• 1 rhubarb stalk
• A few greens (swiss chard or kale work well)
• A handful of berries for color (my kids won’t drink green things)
• Enough coconut milk to blend
• A few ice cubes

Sounds strange I know, but you’ll thank me later. 

Posted by Robin

Easter morning can be a romp-stomping good time, especially for those of us with little ones running around. But it can also be dangerous. We hide the peanut butter cup eggs, the chocolate bunnies, and the pure-white-sugar-bubble-gum eggs all over the house—then we invite our children to partake in the world’s most toxic sugar high before trying to wrangle them into the minivan to get to church on time. It’s also dangerous for us parents who help take care of the leftovers.

But what’s the alternative? Will our children run all over the house in gleeful abandon for carrot sticks? Probably not. Here are a few ways to make the hunt a little bit less about candy. Scared of going cold turkey? Of course you can mix a little candy into the fun

• For little, little kids—hide 5 plastic eggs per kid. Warn them in advance that the eggs are in fact empty. When they find 5 eggs, they get to return to you and get their prize, which is something fun and awesome that won’t cause diabetes.
• For medium-sized kids—make it a math problem. Pick a number. Then make each color egg worth a set amount of points. They have to find enough points to redeem their prize. Or make it a treasure hunt. Hide the prizes and put clues inside the eggs. Each child can have his or her own color. So, Suzie’s clues will be in the purple eggs and they will lead her to her prize.
• For kids who think they are too old for an Easter egg hunt—fill their eggs with coupons. You know what would tickle your angry teen’s fancy. Make a coupon for “free pass from dishes,” “trip to favorite restaurant,” or “new soccer cleats.”

Remind them that the holiday isn’t really supposed to be about tooth decay and stomach aches and have fun! Besides, if you do go to church, there’s a good chance someone will give them candy there! Happy Easter!

Posted by Robin

Saint Patrick’s Day was always a day of much celebration on the Irish side of my family. I can remember my great-grandmother preparing food and the family gathering together to share it. Most remembered were her desserts. “Irish Gold Cookies” were always a hit and the great-grandchildren loved to help make them. The recipe is super simple. There are only a few ingredients—very kid friendly!

You will need:

• 24 Ritz Crackers
• Peanut butter (about 12 teaspoons)
• 1 bag of butterscotch chips

To make: Spread half the Ritz Crackers (12) with approximately 1 teaspoon of peanut butter. Top with another cracker to make a “sandwich.” Melt the butterscotch chips in the microwave. To do this, put the butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Heat using 70% power for one minute. Stir the chips, recover, and microwave again for 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until melted. When butterscotch chips are melted, dip the cracker / peanut butter sandwiches into the melted chips. Place on waxed paper sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to cool. Once they are cool and hardened, they can be placed in a little black pot to make an edible pot o’ gold.

Another easy, fun, and inexpensive Saint Patrick’s Day treat is a green punch. It looks festive in any clear glass or plastic cups. Add a dollop of whipped cream and a few green colored sprinkles to dress up the drink.

You will need:

• ½ gallon container of lime sherbet
• 2 liter bottle of Sprite or 7 Up
• Optional—whipped cream (in a can is easy!), green sprinkles, or Saint Patrick’s Day themed cake candies

To make: Let the sherbet soften in the refrigerator for 1 ½ hours. Mix the sherbet and the soda in a punch bowl with a hand mixer on low speed until blended. Serve immediately (with whipped cream and sprinkles optional).

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Posted by Robin