Italian Bread Bowls

My sweet little family went through the plague last week that has been tormenting our neighborhood. It was an awful experience and the first time I've been sick this whole pregnancy {thanks stomach bug!} anyways after that nightmare my body was ready for some sustenance and nutrition! Soup it was and I've been meaning to try these bread bowls for quite awhile! {I make a personal goal to try 1 new recipe every week. Pinterest really helps with this and I love changing things up!} 

Needless to say this recipe is amazing and super easy as well. Easier than rolls even because this recipe only makes 8 bowls. That are the perfect size I might add!! And they were just heaven with our cream of broccoli soup! Here's the great recipe I found from allrecipes.com!

Ingredients:

2 pkts. Yeast {that's 5 Tbs.}

2 1/2 c. Warm Water

2 tsp. Salt

2 Tbs. Oil

7 c. Flour {I didn't use that much though}

1 Tbs. Cornmeal

1 Egg White

1 Tbs. Water

Directions:

1. Combine the warm water and yeast and let set for about 5-10 minutes until foamy.

2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. {I used my whisk attachment to thin out the lumps.}

3. Using the dough hook, beat in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. You may not need all of the flour just keep adding until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

4. Once the dough has pulled together, let the dough hook work its magic for about 5 minutes before putting the dough in a well oiled bowl, covered with a damp cloth to rise for about 45 minutes.

5. Cover a pan with parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal and divide the dough into 8 equal and round loaves. Let the dough raise once again for 30 minutes.

6. Pregeat the oven to 400. Mix the egg white and water together then brush over each loaf.Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Take the loaves out and brush them again in the egg wash mixture and return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes until nice and golden.

8. Let cool, then cut off the tops and scoop out the delicious insides and fill with soup!

St. Patrick's Day Theme Dinner

I LOVE making holidays fun for my kids, I also love cooking and baking so holiday theme dinners are kinda my thang!! 

My kids go wild for these dinners {even though they have to wait ALL day for it. Haha} and my husband appreciates the effort I put into them to make even the smallest holidays memorable for our family!

Here is my St. Patrick's Day Dinner for 2015! 

Green Goddess Salad- okay this one is pretty simple! {you need a few simple sides to balance out the more time consuming ones!} What I did was combine a Very Veggie Salad Kit with some additional Romaine lettuce, shredded Parmesan, cherry tomatoes and croutons. The most important part is using The Green Goddess salad dressing {sold at grocery stores}! It is divine! It reminds me a lot of ranch actually! ;)

Roast Beef- don't throw stones at me but I used a pre cooked one from Costco! Seriously the best roast I've ever had! I believe it's by Morton's. Yall should go try it because seriously it takes 10 minutes to re heat and what a time saver! 

If you prefer to make your own roast I would absolutely recommend the Pioneer Woman's roast! 

Shamrock Rolls- I used the bread recipe from my guest post on Lemon Baby Designs blog and just improvised them into shamrocks! It worked great!!

http://lemonbabydesigns.blogspot.com/2015/02/twisted-italian-bread-sticks.html?m=1

Rainbow Jello- this yummy side has become a family favorite and a st Patrick's day MUST!! I will set a link from my old blog for the recipe! 

http://shimmersandglitters.blogspot.com/2012/03/rainbow-jello.html?m=1

Cream Golden Nuggets- more commonly known as cream corn! Now I grew up on the canned stuff and thought that was pretty amazing but just wait until you've tried it homemade!! It's also a quick side made in under 10 mins!

 Here is how I put it together: place 2 cans of corn in a skillet, add heavy cream until it almost covers the corn {no more than 1 cup} add sugar to taste (3-4 Tbs), add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and add 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch. Remove from the heat once it's thickened. Easy!

Pinch Me Potatoes- better known as Twice Baked Potatoes! I stumbled on this recipe from allrecipes several years ago and it's my go to! BUT I've twisted it! I substitute the sour cream for 4 oz cream cheese, I cop out and use bacon bits, and I sub the green onions for parsley for color!

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/24332/ultimate-twice-baked-potatoes/?page=0

Lucky Brownie Mint Trifle- I made up this little diddy last year and it was such a success I brought it back this year! Also super easy! I made brownies the night before to help with time. I used individual trifle bowls I bought from wal mart for $2! {I love those things!}

For the mint cool whip all I did was mix a little mint extract and green food coloring into Half a container of cool whip. 

I layered brownie, crushed mint cookies {for a crunch. Optional.}, chocolate pudding and mint cool whip. Make sure to have 2 layers of each and top with a cookie, or Andes mint if you forego the cookies. 😄

  And that winds up this years St Patrixks Day Dinner!!🍀🍀🍀