Fashion Star

So last night was the second episode of a new tv show on NBC called Fashion Star.  It airs right after The Biggest Loser.  Have you been watching?  I have and I have to say I'm hooked.  In case you haven't watched it, the premise for the show is they have a bunch of different designers who make three different looks every week.  During the week as they are designing, the designers are being mentored by Nicole Ritchie, Jessica Simpson, and John Varvaots.  The show is being hosted by supermodel Elle Macpherson.  I think she is a fabulous host and I'm enjoying her a lot on the show. 

Once the designers have their creations ready, they have a runway show which is what you see when they air. There are three buyers from Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and H&M and the three buyers can all bid on the collections.  Only one store can carry the collections.  And the buyers can get into a bidding war.  For those designers who don't get a collection purchased, they are up for elimination that night.

As soon as the show airs, you can go online and purchase the outfits that the buyers purchase, or you can go to Macys, Saks, and H&M today and purchase them.  Last night I saw one collection of dresses I really liked that was purchased by Macy's.  I want to check them out because I'm interested to see how much they are selling for through Macy's.

I'm hoping as the weeks go on they will get more versatile and make things other than dresses and wide legged pants which seems to be the trend for the last two weeks.  If you haven't been watching, it isn't too late to jump in and catch up because each week is different. Of course they will have whittled away and some contestants will already have been taken off the show. 

Are you watching Fashion Star?  I'd love to set up a chat group of some sort to discuss this show with others to see what you are thinking of the fashions and as the weeks progress, do you have a favorite designer.  If you are interested, leave me a comment and I'll let you know if I get something set up. 

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

St. Patrick's Day Menu

We are so excited that St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year.  I decided I wanted to do a family party and have our family come over to celebrate.  So we've decorated the house (I'll share those in another post) and I've been menu planning.

I have to admit I'm not really a big fan of  a lot of the traditional Irish recipes I've seen.  So our menu is going to be very loosely based on Irish recipes and some are not Irish at all, they are green and fit the theme that way.  I thought I would share three of those recipes today so you could try them too.

The first is a recipe I shared in a previous post. I believe I shared it around last St. Patty's Day.  The recipe is from Pampered Chef and it is a Reuben Ring.  It is a rich recipe and for our party, I'm planning on making two of these to feed our crowd. 

Reuben Ring
8 oz sliced deli corned beef, chopped

1 can (8oz) sauerkraut, drained and squeezed dry

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) shredded Swiss Cheese, divided

1/4 cup Thousand Island dressing

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 egg white, lightly beaten

2 can of Crescent Rolls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine corned beef, sauerkraut, 1 cup of the cheese, dressing, parsley and garlic; mix well.
Take the crescent rolls out of the can and put the large ends of the crescent roll triangles so that they are side by side making them into a ring/circle. After you've done this, then do the next step in the recipe.

Scoop filling evenly over desired shape. Once you scoop filling onto the larger part of the triangle, take the small end and pull it up over the filling. If you have a little excess at the small point of the triangle you can tuck it in. Go around the whole ring and finish shape as directed. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown

Yield: 8 servings

When I make this I usually don't put in the parsley and garlic and it still tastes great.

The second recipe I'm sharing today is a new one I've recently discovered. My sister gave me a cook book for Christmas that was published by her MOPS group.  This recipe fits our green theme.

Broccoli Casserole

2 pkgs. frozen broccoli florets
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can french fried onions.

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain well.  In a bowl, combine soup and sour cream.  Mix in broccoli. Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1 cup of the fried onions.  Place ix a 9X13 greased baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and fried onions. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

*Note: when I made this I used fresh broccoli and just cooked it down and substituted for the frozen broccoli.

The last recipe is one I've shared that I usually do for Christmas Brunch.  It is a hash brown casserole.  My brother in law loves this recipe, so I'm making it for this party since he will be there.

Hash brown Potato Casserole
2 lbs. frozen hash browns, Southern style (thawed)1 stick melted butter1 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. pepper1 can cream of chicken soup1 pt. sour cream1/2 c. chopped onions10 oz. pkg. shredded cheddar cheese
TOPPING:1 c. crushed corn flakes3 tbsp. melted butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Arrange in baking dish, 9 x 13 inches. Sprinkle with corn flakes. Top with butter. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
So are you planning on celebrating St. Patty's Day?  Are you cooking, or going to a party?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Clorox Recipes for Fun Website

Today we are getting down and dirty here on the blog.  And it has been so much fun!  The folks at SocialMoms and Clorox approached me to learn and share about a new website Clorox has developed called Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun.  I knew this was something my boys would love, so I agreed to do a review.  

Through the Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun website, you can find different recipes for having fun with your kids in a variety of categories including: Wacky Science, Arts and Crafts, Kiddie Cooking, and Creative Cooking.  I’ve enjoyed looking at the different submissions in the various categories.  Sometimes it is hard to get inspiration, so this website is a great way to do just that and find some great activities your kids will love.  And the projects are for a wide age range of kids.  I was amazed at some of the Wacky Science ideas. 

The other exciting part of the Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun website is that they are having an Ultimate Mess Party contest.  Just by registering, you’ll receive one sweepstakes entry into the grand prize for a chance to win $10,000 toward an Ultimate Mess Party.  With $10,000, you and your family could get everything you need to enjoy the wettest, sudsiest, paintiest, muddiest party of all time.  From a colossal cooking party, to a monumental mud volleyball party, you choose the mess and let Clorox® Clean-Up® Cleaner do the rest.

 I decided my boys would have a lot of fun by participating in the Arts and Crafts category.  Although when you see our project, it does get into the creative cooking as well.

So to give you some background on how I came up with our project, I decided I wanted to do something geared towards St. Patrick’s Day.  We are very excited about St. Patrick’s Day coming up.  We are having a family party and so I’ve put up a lot of decorations and I’ve been talking about shamrocks with the boys.  I thought it would be fun to let them get messy and have some fun finger painting. 

First, I pulled out a box of pistachio pudding and that was mixed up and put in the fridge.  While that was setting, I then grabbed two pieces of parchment paper. I used foam shamrocks to trace shamrock shapes onto the parchment paper.  Once the pistachio pudding set, we then put some in the middle of the shamrocks and the boys went to town finger painting.  The great thing about this is if they put pudding fingers in their mouths, it is ok. Another way I’d suggest doing this recipe is to use cool whip and color it with green food coloring.  The boys had a lot of fun and there were squeals of delight as they got to squish the pudding paint on their papers. This sensory experience was so much fun. 

Here are some pictures of our fun mess. 

Be sure to go visit the Clorox  Clean-Up Recipes for Fun website.  And be sure to "Like" Clorox on Facebook to stay up to date with all their announcements.    

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

"I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun blogging program for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information this program,click here and see the Terms link."