Scrumptious Sunday #26 - Features

Hello everyone! 

Sorry that I am a little late posting this week's features - it's been a busy week!  After all the birthday celebrations, it was back into the swing of things at work.  It's back to school next week for everyone (elementary, middle, and high school and college and university) and things are going to get C-R-A-Z-Y!!  But in a good way.  Our oldest starts Kindergarten next week and we are all really excited.  He's so ready for school, and I think that the full-day Kindergarten will be really good for him!  Our youngest has settled into his daycare now (yay!) - today he even had a TWO hour nap, which is unheard of! (he's never been a great sleeper).  Let's hope that continues!

Alright...onto this week's features.  You shared an amazing 110 recipes last week - THANK YOU!  And I loved reading them.  So much talent out there!!! 

If you are featured, please grab a BUTTON!

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Congratulations to this week's features!

Drunken Watermelon Slushy from Tartine & Maple

Grown Up Egg McMuffin from Amy's Cooking Adventures

Jalapeno Poppers from Dishing With Leslie

Raspberry Custard from Hot Eats and Cool Reads

Cherry, White Chocolate & Hazlenut Cookies from Pint Sized Baker

All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest account, posted on Twitter, and shared on Facebook!

Just a reminder, this week's Scrumptious Sunday Link Party goes live Saturday - at 8 pm PST. Can't wait to see what you bring to the party!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Muffins are always a huge hit at our house, and we are always happy to try new muffin reipes.  Or variations of recipes, because sometimes one does have to wonder, how many versions of a muffin can there really be?  Regardless, we bake a new batch of muffins roughly every 10 days.  Here is a great recipe to use up those ripe bananas, and add in some of those plentiful blueberries too!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

3 large ripe bananas

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups flour 

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375F. 

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix well.

Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Add in the sugar , then egg, then the melted butter.  Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture.  Do not over mix. 

Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour to coat.  Fold into the batter. 

Fill lined muffin cups ¾ full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.

VERDICT:

These are ever-popular at our house.  Bananas, good.  Blueberries, good.  Muffins, good!!

Guest Post - Pamela from Pamela's Heavenly Treats

Hi friends!  If you haven't met Pamela yet, you are in for a treat!  I've been a fan of her blog for quite a while now, she makes some beautiful desserts!  I'm so happy that she is here today at Addicted to Recipes!

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Hi! My name is Pamela the lovely behind Pamela's Heavenly Treats, where I make healthy cupcakes and cookies mainly, I will dabble in other desserts if need be.  I make all my treats with 100% whole wheat flour and I have a few special ingredients that I also add to give my healthy treats that moist, delicious taste.  I am so excited to be over here at Addicted for Recipes with my wonderful friend Dawn.  Today I am going to make Cinnamon Banana Whole Wheat Mini Muffins, these muffins are so moist and delicious, this is a very simple recipe.  You can have these for breakfast or for a snack.

Ingredients

2 bananas (smashed)

2 egg whites

3 packets of Stevia

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix all wet ingredients together, stir in your dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix together well .  Spray muffin pan liners and fill 1/2 way, bake on 350 for 20 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

I want to thank Dawn for allowing me to guest post on her lovely blog.  Please come and visit me at Pamela's Heavenly Treats and I also have an Etsy Shop where you can get my healthy mixes. 

Italian Cream Soda

At the beginning of the summer, Ann at Sumptuous Spoonfuls shared the recipe for Very Berry Italian Cream Soda.  I picked it as one of my features from Scrumptious Sunday that week...how could I not?  Cream soda, my favourite soda from when I was a kid!  And her photos looked so tasty.  And it was the start of summer, and this summer I made sure we enjoyed all sorts of new summery beverages!  So, not too long after featuring the recipe, we made it....and well...the verdict is below!  Here is the recipe that I used (a little different than the original...we don't have mulberries here, and I didn't substitute any other berries):

Syrup:
Strawberries - approx 1 lb fresh - washed and cut up
Handful of fresh basil leaves - washed
1 cup water
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup sugar (sweeten to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, put the strawberries, basil, water, sugar and vanilla.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Stir occasionally.  Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the berries break down, approximately 15 minutes.  The sauce will be bright red.  Strain the syrup (I strained a few times) and pour into a glass container.  Refrigerate. 

Once the syrup is cool, you are ready to make your cream soda!  Here is what you will need:

Glass
Ice
1/2 cup Club Soda
3 tablespoons syrup (we like ours sweet)
2 tablespoons half & half

Fill your glass with ice.  Add in the club soda and syrup.  Pour the cream over top (and like Ann tells us, watch the beautiful art that the cream makes in the glass!).  Stir, and enjoy!

VERDICT:
These were so so so tasty.  A hit with the whole family!  (well, the baby is too young to have soda)  Ann shared a winner!  We enjoyed several of these over the summer (thanks to a wonderful crop of strawberries and basil in our garden!). I liked mine a little more berry-ful than the orginal recipe - so I often used 3-4 tablespoons on the syrup in my soda.

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #26

Woohoo! It's SUNDAY! I hope you've had a great weekend!

Mine was filled with BIRTHDAY fun! Dinner at my parents', breakfast out with my husband and children, friends over for dinner...and today we are off to the water slides!  Speaking of birthday fun, have you entered all the GIVEAWAYS from last week? Here are the links for each day:  Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 - these giveaways are closing soon, don't miss out!

And, speaking of not missing out...don't miss out on my AD SPACE sale!  Until August 31, 2012 you can join all the fabulous blogs on my right sidebar (on every page of my blog), and save 38%!!...PROMO CODE is BIRTHDAY38

It's time to share your fabulous recipes HERE for Scrumptious Sunday #26!

Don't forget, all featured recipes will be shared on my blog, and on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages!

Scrumptious Sunday #25 - Features

Hello friends!  So great that you've stopped by today.  It's a big day in my house...it's MY BIRTHDAY!  I love birthdays - whether they are mine or someone else's, I just love them!  In case you missed it, this week I hosted 5 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS as part of my birthday celebration!  If you haven't yet entered, please do so!  Here are the links to each day of giveaways:

 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

And...please be sure to check out the FANTASTIC blogs that sponsored prizes for the giveaways!  Seriously, these friends are GOLD!

Crazy for Crust      Cups by Kim     Debbie Does Creations     DJ's Sugar Shack 

 

   Domestic Randomness       Inside BruCrew Life       Kathe With an E

Live.Laugh.Rowe     M double M Crafts    My Favorite Finds

Optimistic Mommy        Organized Island      Pamela's Heavenly Treats

Quick Asian Recipes         White Lights on Wednesday

It was another amazing week of recipes shared by you!  If you are featured, Please grab a BUTTON!

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Because it's my birthday, and because I have a huge sweet tooth, I'm picking all desserts this week!  Feel free to whip one up and send it my way ;-)

Congratulations to this week's features!

Birthday Cake Milkshakes from Chocolate, Chocolate and More

Blueberry Pie from Noshing with the Nolands

Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies from Mommy's Sweet Confessions

Easy Candy Bar Dessert from Lady Behind the Curtain

Reese's Overload Cake from Hugs & Cookies XOXO

All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest account, posted on Twitter, and shared on Facebook!

Just a reminder, this week's Scrumptious Sunday Link Party goes live Saturday - at 8 pm PST. Can't wait to see what you bring to the party!

It's My Birthday Week! Giveaway Day 5

OK everyone, this is IT.  TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!  And today is DAY 5 of the giveaways here at Addicted to Recipes.  I am so very pleased that you are here with me today, celebrating my birthday!  THANK YOU!  I have had a great week, celebrating with family, friends, and all of you too!  Week long birthday parties are pretty fun!  Next week all will be back to normal here, with my regular Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party, two new recipe posts, and a guest post too!

If you missed the other giveaways this week, you can STILL ENTER!  Pop on over to each day here:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Here are today's prizes!

$25 Michael's Gift Card from Carrie at

My Favorite Finds

SPECIAL! Carrie has PROMO CODES for ad space on her blog, valid until the end of August!  40SMALL = 40% off Small Ad / 50MEDIUM = 50% off Medium Ad / 60LARGE = 60% off Large Ad!!!

$20 Gift Certificate + Free Shipping from Monica at M Double M Crafts

Ad Space from Amanda at
Domestic Randomness

SPECIAL OFFER FOR ADDICTED TO RECIPES' READERS!  Amanda at Domestic Randomness is offering 30% off ad spaces on her blog to all of us!! 
PROMO CODE = ADDICTED30

And,
PREMIUM Ad Space from Me!!

Be sure to visit all of these AMAZING blogs!

Here is the easy rafflecopter to enter! Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and one more thing! I have a little extra something to offer you too! Since it's my birthday week, I'm offering my ad spaces at 38% off (yes...I'm 38 this year)...sale runs until August 31...book your ads soon! 

PROMO CODE = BIRTHDAY38

THANK YOU so much for joining me in my WEEK LONG BIRTHDAY PARTY!!  Winners will all be announced at the end of next week!

Coconut Shrimp

Our oldest son is a HUGE shrimp fan.  Seriously, huge.  I am pretty sure if we served him a plate full of shrimp he would eat every single piece of it!  So, we try to have shrimp on a somewhat regular basis, especially when I can find sales :-)  Because we seem to be trying panko with a lot of things lately, I did a little search for a breaded shrimp recipe, and I found a Coconut Shrimp recipe over at Skinnytaste that sounded pretty appealing!  Here is the recipe:

24 large shrimp, peeled and devined
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1-2 tablespoons flour
1 large egg
Salt (to taste, likely just a pinch)
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine the coconut, panko, and salt.

In a second bowl, place the flour.

In a third bowl, whisk the egg.

Line up your dishes in order: 1) Flour, 2) Egg, 3) Panko mixture, 4) Baking sheet.  Dip your shrimp in the flour, then egg, then panko, then place on the baking sheet.  Repeat this process until all the shrimp are done.  Lightly spray the shrimp with cooking spray.

Bake for 7 minutes on the middle rack, flip the shrimp, then bake for another 7-10 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked.

We served ours with a sweet chili thai sauce.

VERDICT:
Shrimp are always a hit in our house, and we were "fighting" over the last ones on the tray.  These were great!  We enjoyed them as an appetizer on a hot day, eating out on our patio.  So very good!  A bit of work - so many shrimp to dredge and dip, but worth it!

It's My Birthday Week! Giveaway Day 4

Is it really Thursday already?! This week is FLYING by! Are you having as much fun as me? Thank you for joining me at my birthday party!  Day 4 of the party is now underway...but it's not too late to party at

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Head on over and enter the giveaways from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  So many GREAT prizes to be won!

Today is no different - more AMAZING giveaways from my AMAZING blogging friends!  Here are today's prizes:

Ad Space from Dorothy at Crazy for Crust

$20 Etsy Shop Credit for The Trendy Owl
from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life

Vinyl "Welcome" sign from Debbie at

Debbie Does Creations

Here is the easy rafflecopter to enter! Good luck everyone, and be sure to come back every weekday this week for more giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and one more thing! I have a little extra something to offer you too! Since it's my birthday week, I'm offering my ad spaces at 38% off (yes...I'm 38 this year)...sale runs until Friday August 24th...book your ads soon!   PROMO CODE = BIRTHDAY38

See you tomorrow for the LAST DAY of the WEEK LONG PARTY!!

It's My Birthday Week! Giveaway Day 3

Hello friends! I hope you are well today!  I'm back with DAY 3 of my 5 days of giveaways for my birthday!  Thanks for coming by to the party!  If you missed Day 1 and Day 2...there are the links to go join the fun!

I am having a blast hosting the giveaways each day, and am so happy to be linking you up with my blogging friends.  I'm pretty lucky to have such a great group around me!  Today's giveaway package comes from another 3 fantabulous ladies with 3 fantabulous blogs.  You must go see them! 

Here are today's prizes:

Medium Ad Space from Kelly at Live.Laugh.Rowe

$25 Gift Card to Joann's Fabrics from Kim at Cups by Kim

Ad Space from Kathe at Kathe With an E

Here is the easy rafflecopter to enter! Good luck everyone, and be sure to come back every weekday this week for more giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and one more thing! I have a little extra something to offer you too! Since it's my birthday week, I'm offering my ad spaces at 38% off (yes...I'm 38 this year)...sale runs until Friday August 24th...book your ads soon!

See you tomorrow for Day 4!!

It's My Birthday Week! Giveaway Day 2

Did you enter for the giveaway yesterday?  If you missed out, here is the link!

WELCOME BACK to DAY 2 of five days of Birthday giveaways here at Addicted to Recipes!  Again, I have some fantastic prizes sponsored by my fantastic blogging friends!  Let's get to it, here are today's prizes!

Ad Space from Dawn at DJ's Sugar Shack

$15 Target Gift Card from Raquel at

Organized Island

$20 Wal Mart Gift Card from Ashish at
Quick Asian Recipes

Please stop by and check out each of these wonderful blogs!

Here is the easy rafflecopter to enter! Good luck everyone, and be sure to come back every weekday this week for more giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and one more thing! I have a little extra something to offer you too! Since it's my birthday week, I'm offering my ad spaces at 38% off (yes...I'm 38 this year)...sale runs until Friday August 31st...book your ads soon! PROMO CODE = BIRTHDAY38

It's My Birthday Week! Giveaway Day 1

It's my birthday week!  What the heck, why not celebrate all week long?!  Are you ready for all the fun?  Today is the first of FIVE DAYS of giveaways here at Addicted to Recipes!  I am SO EXCITED to have so many blogging friends sponsor such fabulous prizes for you to win!
Here are today's prizes:

Medium Ad Space and $5 Etsy Shop Credit from Pamela at Pamela's Heavenly Treats!

A beautiful wreath, made by Courtney from Optimistic Mommy!

Medium Ad Space from Julie at

White Lights on Wednesday!

Please stop by and check out each of these wonderful blogs!

Here is the easy rafflecopter to enter!  Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and one more thing!  I have a little extra something to offer you too!  Since it's my birthday week, I'm offering my ad spaces at 38% off (yes...I'm 38 this year)...sale runs until Friday August 31st...book your ads soon!  PROMO CODE = BIRTHDAY38

Be sure to come back tomorrow to enter for more great prizes!

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #25

Hello everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you've been having a fantastic weekend!  We're away camping....always a good time! Except sadly there is a campfire ban in effect (as of Friday)...no roasted marshmallows for us.  That's OK...better safe and forest fire free!
It's that time again, time to get on with the party! Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #25 is now OPEN! Please come share your recipes, and come check out all the great recipes being shared!

Don't forget, all featured recipes will be shared on my blog, and on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages!

PS...have you heard?   It's my BIRTHDAY this week...and starting tomorrow I will be hosting 5 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS to celebrate!  Be sure to come back and enter the draws!!

Scrumptious Sunday #24 - Features

Hello everyone!  Thanks for coming by and visiting me today!

Before I get started...I needed to share with you...it's my birthday next week!  And thanks to some absolutely fantastic, amazing blogging friends, I'm hosting 5 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS next week, starting on Monday!

Make sure that you come back next week to enter for all the fabulous prizes! 

Prizes from...

Crazy for Crust     Cups by Kim     Debbie Does Creations     DJ's Sugar Shack     Domestic Randomness     Inside BruCrew Life     Kathe With an E    

Live.Laugh.Rowe     M double M Crafts     My Favorite Finds

Optimistic Mommy     Organized Island     Pamela's Heavenly Treats

Quick Asian Recipes     White Lights on Wednesday     and ME!

Now, onto today's business....the features from Scrumptious Sunday #24! 

If you are featured, I sure would love for you to grab a BUTTON, thank you so much!

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Congratulations to this week's features!

I'm a big vegetable lover, and this looks and sounds good to me!
Summer Vegetable Bake from Mamal Diane

I've never tried making risotto before, but Sonja makes it sound easy and delicious...and with a slow-cooker!
Crock Pot Risotto with Citrus Prawns, Asparagus and Bell Peppers from Practical Stewardship

Have I ever mentioned that I am a cookie monster? Oh yes...here...and here...
Jocelyn had me at "Cookie"!
15 Back to School Cookie Ideas from Inside BruCrew Life

These sound like the perfect little treat! I want!
S'mores Truffles from Mommy's Sweet Confessions

And, really...who can resist these beautiful creations?!! Joan...can you please send some my way?!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars from Chocolate, Chocolate, And More

All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest account, posted on Twitter, and shared on Facebook!

Just a reminder, this week's Scrumptious Sunday Link Party goes live Saturday - at 8 pm PST. Can't wait to see what you bring to the party!