Spon | Fake Ginger

Planting the Herb Garden #digin

May 21, 2013 in spon

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Remember how I went shopping at The Home Depot and bought a bunch of beautiful herbs and then told you I was keeping them inside until the cold weather finally passed us? I actually managed to keep them alive and they were big and healthy and loving life. Well, it kept snowing and kept snowing – I swear we had more snow in the past month than we had all winter. Eventually the herbs did make their way outside and I planted them without any help from my husband so they weren’t exactly beautiful but they were planted. And they lasted approximately 2 days outside before this happened:

She was all “#digin? Don’t mind if I do!”

The funny thing is that my husband and I previously had more than one conversation about how he didn’t trust her to stay away from the herbs and I kept saying “Psssh, she’s a DOG! She’s not going to eat lavender!” I was so wrong. After she was done destroying everything, she ate every herb she could find.

So it was back to Home Depot for me.

They didn’t have the huge selection they had last time but I got most of the herbs I use on a regular basis: cilantro, mint, thyme, parsley, chives, sage, cilantro, and a couple kinds of basil.

I came home and got them planted almost immediately. In the front yard so you-know-who can’t get to them!

We still had some potting soil leftover and plenty of slow-release organic fertilizer so we should be good to go now. Our biggest issue when it comes to keeping these babies alive will be the sun. Since we’re at about 6,000 feet here, the sun is ridiculous and you can literally spend 5 minutes outside in the summer and smell like burnt skin. The herbs are on our porch now where they’ll get lots of shade in the mornings and then lots of sun in the afternoon so hopefully that keeps them alive and growing.

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need to #DigIn for Spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, they have great values on all you need. They’re ready to help you with renovation ideas and expert advice, too.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to homedepot.com/gardenclub to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Home Depot from amanda livesay on Vimeo.

Tags: gardening
3 Comments »

Cheese Stromboli

May 14, 2013 in breads, spon

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve blogged about something doughy. I’m really weird about blogging and sometimes start to think that I’ve blogged everything there is to possibly blog about. Which is silly because there’s an endless supply of recipes and ideas out there.

So today I’m sharing something I’ve never blogged, never made, and never even eaten before now! I was always kind of confused about stromboli because it seems like every time I see it at a restaurant it looks just like a calzone – folded over pizza dough with stuff inside. But as it turns out, a stromboli is actually rolled up, cinnamon roll style, once it’s stuffed with your choice of toppings. This one is only cheese (smoked gruyere!) but you can pretty much add anything you want. Meat, different cheeses, and veggies.

This dough recipe from Red Star Yeast is pretty fantastic. It’s light and airy and the perfect compliment to all the cheese. I’m a big believer in waiting for a bread to cool completely before cutting for the best texture but with something like this, you just gotta cut into it as soon as it comes out of the oven and the bread doesn’t suffer at all for it.

I’m still obsessed with Platinum yeast and if you haven’t given it a try yet, you absolutely must. It makes baking with yeast completely foolproof! I was able to skip the first step of the recipe (softening the yeast) thanks to the magic of Platinum.

One year ago: Provencal Olive Fougasse
Two years ago: Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
Three years ago: Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Four years ago: Walnut Sticky Buns

Cheese Stromboli

from Red Star Yeast

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

For the filling and topping:

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 clove garlic, minced

5 ounces mozzarella, cubed

5 ounces smoked gruyere, cubed

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

olive oil, for brushing the dough

Instructions

In large bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water (110-115F). Stir in Active Dry Yeast; let stand for 10 minutes, or until foamy. Whisk in 1 cup flour, oil and salt; beat until smooth.
Using wooden spoon, gradually stir in enough of remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead for 7-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary.
Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough tests ripe.
Punch down dough; cover with tea towel; let rest for 10 minutes.On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 16- x 12-inch rectangle. Evenly sprinkle oregano, basil, garlic and cheeses over top, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Starting from long side, roll up into cylinder; pinch along edges and end to seal. Place onto lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until indentation remains after touching.
Remove plastic; lightly brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and rosemary.
Bake in center of 375F oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; let cool on rack.

http://fakeginger.com/2013/05/14/cheese-stromboli/

This post sponsored by Red Star Yeast.

Tags: bread, cheese
4 Comments »

Home Depot Kids Workshop #digin

May 13, 2013 in spon

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

One of the great things that The Home Depot does is their Kids Workshop. They host a workshop for the tiny ones on the first Saturday of every month – you can check the schedule here, just click the “Kids Workshop” tab up top. The workshops are a lot of fun for both kids and parents and did I mention it is completely free? We did a Kids Workshop almost every month while my husband was deployed – it was really nice to have something to do that didn’t cost anything and kept the kids occupied for awhile.

May’s Kids Workshop was a kids herb planter! How fitting, right? We are growing a huge amount of herbs at home right now so my kids were extra excited to find out they would build their own.

We got their as soon as they started and there was already quite a lot a people. My two older boys (the baby isn’t big enough for the workshops yet, unfortunately) each grabbed a yet-to-be-built planter, a couple cups to plants their herbs, and a screwdriver. Yep, another great thing about the Kids Workshops is that they usually don’t require anything more than a screwdriver or a tiny hammer. We already had Home Depot aprons but the store does provide them to any kid that participates.

Once they assembled their planters (with a little help from mom) they moved on to painting which was probably their favorite part. Both boys were paint crazy and we ended up with a couple very brightly colored planters. While we let the planters dry, we ran into Home Depot so the boys could pick out some herbs to plant. The oldest picked dill and rosemary and my purple lover picked lavender and purple basil. We got them all planted when we got home and the boys have been diligently watering them. Hopefully we get them to actually grow a little!

And of course I couldn’t leave Home Depot without buying some pretty flowers!

In my next post I’ll be telling you why we had to go back to Home Depot for more herbs for the big herb planter. Someone in the house took the #digin hashtag a little too literally!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Tags: home depot
4 Comments »

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

April 30, 2013 in spon

I got to thinking about casseroles the other day. And you guys know I love some casseroles. But I was trying to figure out what it is that makes casseroles so scrumptious. For me, it’s definitely a crunchy, buttery topping. I’m horrible about standing over a bubbly casserole and picking all the topping off. Horrible!

Country Crock recently asked me to talk all about casseroles (which is what got me thinking about it) and to share a favorite recipe. I have been making this macaroni and cheese for years now. Seriously, probably 6 years, but for some reason I haven’t shared it on the blog yet. It is my husband’s favorite and the kids eat it without complaint even though there’s mushrooms in it. I’m telling you, it’s the crunchy topping!

For this recipe, the topping is made up of crushed Ritz crackers and then you drizzle a little Country Crock over the topping so they get even more crunchy and buttery.

The rest of the macaroni and cheese recipe is pretty basic. I use Canadian bacon and mushrooms but you could switch it up with bacon or another vegetable if you want. And I know I’ll probably get some comments about the canned mushrooms but I swear they’re a lifesaver when you just want to make something quickly. Of course you could use fresh mushrooms if you have the time (and another pan!) to cook them.

Country Crock is currently hosting a contest all about casseroles! Go here and share a photo of your favorite casserole, and share in 100 words how you demonstrate creativity and resourcefulness in the kitchen.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

8 ounces macaroni, cooked according to package

6 tablespoons Country Crock, divided

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 (6-ounce) package Canadian bacon, chopped into bite-size pieces

1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms

1/2 sleeve Ritz crackers

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F.
In a large saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the Country Crock. Whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the milk, whisking the entire time to make sure the flour is incorporated. Bring to a boil and cook about a few minutes, until it's thickened slightly. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted. Stir in Canadian bacon and mushrooms. Add drained macaroni and stir to combine.
Transfer to a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with the Ritz crackers. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of Country Crock and drizzle over the crackers. Bake for about 20 minutes or until bubbly.

http://fakeginger.com/2013/04/30/baked-macaroni-and-cheese/

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

4 Comments »

Shopping for my Herb Garden #digin

April 23, 2013 in spon

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Remember how I told you guys I was working with The Home Depot to beautify my yard? Well I’m back with an update! I was hoping to have everything planted by now but yeah, I live in Colorado and it likes to snow in the middle of April here! We have snow in today’s forecast and then hopefully we’ll be in the clear to plant.

I thought I’d let you know how shopping with my kids went in the meantime!

My assignment from The Home Depot was to build an herb garden with my kids. This means I won’t have to get my hands too dirty since the kids will be more than willing to do the digging.

What I really wanted to tell you, though, is that my husband has been so excited about this project! He couldn’t even wait to get the assignment so a couple weeks ago we all headed to The Home Depot and he came up with his own project (above photo). The Home Depot had the most beautiful flowers and I picked out all the ones I loved and he lovingly planted them in a big cedar barrel for me. It turned out beautiful. And then it unexpectedly snowed for an entire day and they’re not wanting to come back to life. Boohoo.

Now you see why I have a barrel for of herbs living in my dining room waiting to be planted outside.

So this weekend we headed back to The Home Depot to grab the supplies for our real assignment. We decided to do another barrel because I just really like the look of them. We also got some potting soil, a trowel, scissors, watering can, and some slow-release organic fertilizer. But we hardly found any herbs! The lady working there told us that the herbs have been slow to come in because of the weather.

We weren’t going down without a fight so we headed to the next nearest The Home Depot where we definitely hit the herb jackpot!

My kids were so excited to find all different kinds of herbs and wanted to smell all of them! They were particularly excited about the purple basil since all the others are very green.

All in all, we ended up with the purple basil, Thai basil, sweet basil, flat-leaf parsley, grapefruit mint, sage, chives, garlic bulbs, tarragon and cilantro! A pretty good haul! Everything but the garlic was $2! That’s less than I normally spend on a single pack of fresh herbs at the grocery store! Crazy, right?

I wanted to remind all the military people that The Home Depot does a 10% military discount. Before you shop, stop by the customer service desk to register your military ID.

The kids and I will be headed to The Home Depot on May 4th for the free kids workshop that they do on the first Saturday of every month. If you’ve never been to one, you should definitely check it out! My kids always love them and I won’t lie, I enjoy them too!

Hopefully I’ll be able to do another herb garden check-in soon because I am so ready to #digin!

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here (http://thd.co/ZNbhDj) to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to homedepot.com/gardenclub to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

5 Comments »

Fake Ginger

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Planting the Herb Garden #digin

Cheese Stromboli

Home Depot Kids Workshop #digin

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Shopping for my Herb Garden #digin

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