Amish Friendship Bread

Lots to post about tonight!

Let’s go in chronological order, shall we?

I arrived home to find four packages on our front porch… along with our garbage can. 😀 I think the FedEx guy put our garbage can in front the packages to prevent anyone from seeing our goodies, but it was quite a strange sight to see!

Package number one included our first wedding present!

First Wedding Gift!

The present was from quite the unique gift giver.

Love, Lily

The gift was from Lily, my orthodontist’s dog who some of you may remember I found wandering around the streets near our apartment when she escaped from my orthodontist’s backyard. I had no idea Lily was her dog when I brought her home to call the number on her dog tag and get her back to her owners! It was quite a crazy coincidence.

Lily did a great job selecting our first wedding gift and bought us a cookie jar filled with cookie cutters that we registered for at Williams-Sonoma last weekend.  Thank you Lily! 😉

Sadie’s Package

The next package made Sadie quite happy!

A new frisbee toy!

"New Toys are the BEST!"

Yes, the blue frisbee in the picture above was brand new. Sadie is a toy destroyer!

"THROW IT!"

In my feeble attempt to play with Sadie and throw the frisbee to the farthest point of our backyard, I accidentally threw the frisbee on the roof!

"Uh oh."

She was devastated. We cannot open our bedroom (it’s sealed shut), and we tried stacking chairs and using broomsticks to get it down without luck. A ladder sure would’ve helped. 😉

Dinner

Since playtime was cut short by my frisbee faux paux, dinner was served a bit early this evening!

Before I left for work this morning, I placed a pound of ground chicken in the crock pot with a packet of reduced sodium taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water. The forethought made assembling slow cooker chicken tacos (one of the first recipes I ever posted on PBF!) a breeze once we were ready for dinner.

I used the chicken to create a big taco salad with shredded lettuce, salsa and two crumbled hardshell tacos.

Taco Salad

Chicken + Taco Shells + Lettuce + Salsa

Fiesta in a Bowl

 This taco salad was cool and crisp… perfect for a summer night!

Dessert

As Tina would say, HOLY YUM.

This evening’s dessert was a long time coming. Seriously.

I’ve been waiting 10 days to make it!

Ten days ago my sister gave me a bag of dough and a piece of paper with instructions. The paper informed me that the dough I received was the “starter dough” I would need to create Amish Friendship Bread.

I absolutely love the concept of Amish Friendship Bread. Once you receive the dough for Amish Friendship Bread from a friend, it becomes your duty to make the bread and pass along your own “starter dough” to three of your friends.

Tonight I finally got to make the yummy bread.

Amish Friendship Bread

Cinnamon Sugar Bready Carby Goodness

As the bread was baking, the smell in our apartment was unbelievable. It smelled like coffee cake and cinnamon!

I enjoyed one small slice fresh outta the oven!

Moist. Sweet. Perfect.

Okay that was a blatant lie. I definitely had three pieces. And the piece pictured above was definitely the smallest of the three. 😉

I am planning on passing along my starter dough to two of my friends but thought it might be neat to pass it along to a blog reader, too! If you live in the Orlando area and would like a bag of starter dough to keep the Amish Friendship Bread chain going, shoot me an email at pbfingers@gmail.com and I’ll pass it along to ya! (First come, first serve, to be fair. 😉 )

If you want to create this bread and pass it along to your friends you may click here for instructions!

Now I’m off to watch the second half of So You Think You Can Dance before hittin’ the hay! (How good was Robert’s dance about Travis’ mother? Eeeeemotional!)

G’night all!

Sauerkraut Stinks

This just in: Sauerkraut is just as stinky as tuna salad.

I learned this valuable lesson as I assembled my lunch in the breakroom today and I heard several people proclaim, “Ew, what is that smell?”

I heated up my ‘kraut and headed on my merry way, making a mental note not to enjoy lunches that include sauerkraut during peak lunchtimes.

I served the stinky sauerkraut on top of an aidells Italian Style chicken sausage which I enjoyed in a super-soft Nature’s Own Whitewheat hot dog bun.

Sausage + 'Kraut

The sauerkraut/chicken sausage combo was delish!

I know sauerkraut isn’t for everyone, but for a German girl like me, it’s the jam!

Alongside my protein-packed sausage I enjoyed fresh grape tomatoes and cucumber slices for some color.

Nutrients!

Hump Day Lunch

Pre- lunch I also enjoyed an iced green tea from Starbucks that I picked up after stopping by my orthodontist’s office to get my permanent bottom retainer in. (How cool am I? 😉 )

An Intimate Look at PBF

(Wow. Can’t believe I just posted that pic. We’re all officially best friends now.)

Iced Green Tea

Sad news though… the green tea quickly went from this:

FULL!

To this:

G-O-N-E!

I seriously inhale any cold beverage other than water. Water is the only thing I seem to struggle chug-a-chuggin’.

Snikiddy Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to the following winners of the Snikiddy snacks giveaway:

• Diana: “My face cheese dish will always be twice baked potatoes… Seriously! Drool!”
• Yummy Sushi Pajamas: Her “tweet” was actually the entry that won… But here’s her yummy-sounding comment: “Oh these sound great! My fave cheese dish… is spring mix salad with dried berries, Italian dressing, and goat cheese. So good!”
• Meagan: “Grilled cheese is the best comfort food ever! Cheesy, Gooey, Deliciousness!”

Please email me at pbfingers@gmail.com with your mailing address so you can get your hands on some of this delicious grub for the free-zie! 😀

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for an AMAZING giveaway soon! I get excited about pretty much every giveaway I do on the blog (because I am a freebie-loving freak), but the upcoming giveaway is my favorite one to date! 😀

Woop, woop!

Question of the Afternoon

What nationality are you? Do you like foods that are typically associated with your nationality?

I am German and Swedish (right, Mama?). I adore foods associated with my nationality, including brats, cabbage, apple strudel and pretzels.

Houston, We Have a Problem

…A peanut butter finger problem.

This morning after I came home from my walk with Sadie, I was cravin’ peanut butter like nobody’s business.

Naturally, I popped open a jar of the good stuff and helped myself to a peanut butter finger.

Step One

Step Two (Three, Four, Five...)

Now when I say I helped myself to a peanut butter finger, I clearly mean five peanut butter fingers. 😉 That’s just how I roll.

I made sure to share some of the peanut butter with Sadie (she’s a pb fiend like her mama), which put her in quite the peanut butter trance.

"Mmmm. Peanut butterrrrr."

She snapped out of her peanut butter daze when she heard the pop of a cup of yogurt being opened in the kitchen.

Though calorie-wise, five peanut butter fingers probably add up to a significant breakfast, I knew I wouldn’t feel satisfied if I didn’t make myself a real breakfast.

I got to work preparing a simple yogurt bowl, topped with a sliced nectarine, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Yogurt + Summer Fruit

On the side I enjoyed a ‘naner. (How many of your just groaned when you read that? Cutsie food names = Pretty darn annoying… but sometimes I just can’t help myself. 😉 )

Hump Day Breakfast

Question of the Morning

What food can you not seem to stop eating once you’ve started?

I have several:

• Peanut butter
• Cereal/granola (especially homemade apricot granola)
• Ice cream
• Brownies
• Cookie dough