Apartment Gardening

Apartment life means limited gardening space, if any, so we 


turned an old a frame shelf into a 

garden center. We planted 

green beans in the top basket and an 

array of flowers on the 

bottom 2 shelves. Old egg crates 

make pretty great seed 

starters btw!

Also, did you know that using 

cinnamon is a great guard 

against that white or yellow fungus that sometimes like to 

grow on potting soil?! We noticed some creeping on our 

seedlings and after some research, I found the nifty 

cinnamon tip. We sprinkled some on and it worked great. 

No more fungus, and my seedlings are now perkier than 

ever! ~JennJenn ♥

A traitor in our midst

In reference to Nom Nom Palace on Facebook:

SO, it seems our former admin abandoned us on the grounds that she was the creator of Nom Nom Palace. I'm going to say this only once: I, JennJenn, am the creator of Nom Nom Palace. This page is linked to My Personal Facebook page (Jenn Jenn Lajoie). Myself and K.k. choose and add the admins. We are and have always been the page managers, From Day One, anyone else is a content creator. K.k. and I both have messages from our former admin stating that this is our page and she doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. I learned today that she has taken "her" recipes and posts to creating her own page. More power to her. BUT after reviewing whats left of our page's content, I'm finding that a good majority of what has gone missing are posts made by me, including recipes that are mine, such as my Cinnamon Oatmeal Chocolate Chips that I adapted from my own grandmother's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe that I grew up with, and my Meatball recipe. Honestly I'm more than happy to have them shared since I'm the one who originally chose to share them, but to just up and take off with recipes that are not yours so you can claim them to be is just petty. I'm not even mad about that. What upsets me the most, is that this is a person who was supposed to be a friend, a person I thought I could trust and, until now, had no reason not to. I do not appreciate being accused of stealing work that I put a ridiculous amount of effort into and I don't appreciate being accused of changing a password that no one but me has ever had access too, and I really don't appreciate being accused of disrespectful to a person who is deliberately trying to muddy my name with absolutely no grounds to do so. If there was some misunderstanding or miscommunication, that's fine, but that can not be fixed unless you speak to me. Don't accuse someone of being shady when you yourself just cleaned out my page, blocked me, K.k., my boyfriend and who knows who else without a single word or heads up about any supposed problem.
For those who choose to follow our former admin, be aware that a good portion of what she has posted never gets linked to wherever it was found. I search for interesting ideas to share everyday and I do my very best to post credit where its due, and if I should miss anything I'm happy to remedy that when someone gives me a heads up. I do not, under any circumstances, claim anyone else's work as my own. I am mother to 5 children, and as such I have to lead by example, so anyone who chooses to believe otherwise about me is in dire need of a reality check.
Yes, this ran a bit longer than I expected but I thank you for your patience, your interest in our page and your support. I don't hold grudges, but I will be much more careful about who I choose as admins in the future.
~JennJenn 

Should anyone discover Michele's new page and find it contains any of recipes that belong to me, such as my Cinnamon Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Meatballs, or even the infamous Nom Nom Jello Shot list, please inform me if she is trying to pass these recipes off as her own. I can be reached here or on Nom Nom's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NomNomPalace?fref=ts. It really would be much appreciated!!

Thank You!

Pretty Girl Locks

My 5 year old loves having her hair done. I'm pretty sure I spend more hours styling her hair than I do my own. What can I say, I'm a sucker for that sweet face!

There's nothing special or fancy about this style, but she likes it; no matter how short lived it may be.

*divide hair into 4 or 5 small ponytails on each side of head, then braid each pony tail into the next and secure with small rubber bands.*

~JennJenn <3

JennJenn's Cinnamon Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups quick oats
1 12oz bag chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350
in medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cream of tarter & salt and set aside.
beat together butter & both sugars until creamy. Add in eggs, vanilla & almond extract and 1 tsp water; beat well, scraping sides of bowl. Slowly incorporate flour mixture and blend until smooth. Stir in oats & chocolate chips, mixing well. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden. Don't over bake or you'll end up with crunchy cookies! Let cookies cool in pan for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

*For Bar Cookies: Add 4 tsp water, press dough into 13 x 9 " baking pan and bake 30-35 minutes.

Beer Can Cowboy Hats

These were pretty popular back in the 70s, so when I found a photo of one but no pattern, I had to improvise. 

I ended up making some cardboard templates to cut the cans down to the appropriate size I needed for each section.  I then used a hole punch to punch holes around the edge of each piece, crocheted 1 round of hdc stitches around each piece, then stitched the pieces together to shape the hat. 

For the top, I just crocheted a circle to an appropriate size using sc & hdc stitches and sewed it to the top.  Once the hat was assembled, all I had to do was curl the sides over and the front and back slightly under to get the proper shape.

These are pretty great gifts for the Nascar fan in your life :)

~JennJenn <3

Minion Cupcakes

My 5 year old Daughter's pre school birthday cupcakes needed to be something memorable so after receiving a Photo of a minion cupcake from a friend, I just had to make some of my own!

You Need:
1 white cake batter recipe
1 butter cream frosting recipe
Twinkies (or cloud cakes)
Candy eyes (can be found at Wal Mart in the Celebrations section)
Black decorators gel
clear decorators gel



Directions:

You can really make any flavor cupcakes you want, but I chose to divide my white cake batter into 6 small bowls and add food coloring to dye each bowl of batter a different vibrant color. Rainbow cupcakes seemed more appropriate choice for 30 preschoolers. 
I then tinted my frosting blue then topped each cupcake with a minion decorated twinkie.
Decorating your twinkies are pretty self explanatory. I used a dab of clear decorators gel on the back of each candy eye to serve as the "glue" to hold them on. Then I simply "drew" them glasses and mouths with the black decorators gel.

These were a huge hit with the children and teachers!

~JennJenn 

<3

Pulled Pork Pockets

I slow cooked a pork roast all day until it just 

fell apart on its own, then wrapped spoonfuls 

of the pulled pork in croissant rolls, baked the 

pockets at 350 for 8-10 minutes, sprinkled 

cheddar cheese over the tops of the pockets 

and put them back in the oven until the cheese 

was just melted.

These were so good, especially when dunked 

in some of the sauce left over from slow 

cooking the pork :)

~JennJenn ♥

Brownies Ala Annie

Inspired by my 9 year old daughter, Ann Marie, who really loves her chocolate and cookies! So what better way to honor her than to combine 2 cookie doughs and a brownie batter?! 

Make up some chocolate chip cookie dough & peanut butter cookie dough: drop random spoonfulls in greased baking dish and press evenly, top with fudgy chocolate chip brownie batter, spread evenly. bake at 350 until toothpick inserted comes out clean. just before they're ready to come out of the oven, sprinkle top with chopped hugs kisses. 
let cool and serve alone, with a scoop of ice cream or drizzle top with some warm caramel. Serious Heaven ~JennJenn ♥

Mmmooffies

Mmmooffies (aka muffincookiebrownies)

Ingedients
M&M cookie dough mix
Mississippi Mud Bar mix (minus the cookie crumb crust mix)
Hugs Hershey Kisses

Directions:
make each mix in separate bowls.
grease a muffin tin.
press cookie dough into the bottom of each muffin tin mold.
press a hug into the middle of your cookie dough.
cover each mold with your mississippi mud mix.
top with sprinkles.
Bake for 20 or so minutes in a preheated 325 degree oven.

Honey Mustard Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:

6-8 Boneless chicken breasts

1/4-1/2lb Shaved Honey Ham

1-2 cups Shredded Swiss Cheese

1-2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 - 1 1/4 cups Honey Mustard 

Dressing

3-4 tabelspoons bread crumbs (seasoned or unseasoned, I opted of seasoned)

Directions

Cut a pocket down the side of each chicken breast then stuff with both cheeses, some ham and then a bit more cheese. place stuffed breasts into a deep baking dish then coat each breast with your honey mustard dressing. Sprinkle more of each cheese and a few tablespoons of your bread crumbs over the tops of your chicken, then pop into a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes; depending on size of chicken breasts, the larger they are they longer they'll need to cook. Switch oven to broil for maybe the last 5-8 minutes of cooking to get a nice crust before removing and serving!

Strawberry Margarita Jam

mmmm I love strawberry jam, and strawberry margaritas so this earns a big fat YUM!! ~JennJenn ♥

Strawberry Margarita Jam

Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries (crushed) (6 cups whole berries)
2/3 cup lime juice
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup Triple Sec
4 cup sugar
6 oz pectin

Use a Food processor or just mash up all the strawberries with a fork.
In a large pot, mix together strawberries, lime juice, tequila, and Triple Sec. Stir in sugar, bring to a boil over high heat, then stir your pectin immediately and remove from heat. Skim off any foam.

Ladle or spoon strawberry mixture into sterilized jars to within about 1/4 inch from rim. Wipe rims clean. Apply lids and rings. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Banoffee Pie!!

BANOFFEE PIE

3 Bananas
1 can Dulce de leche (or make your own toffee using recipe provided)
2 cups whipping cream
graham cracker crust ( store bought or home made)
1 tsp vanilla
1 small chocolate bar

Make your own carame/toffeel There's 2 ways to do it and they're super simple!

1. place unopened can of sweetened condensed milk (label removed) in a pot, completely cover with water and boil for 2 1/2 hours. MAKE SURE CAN STAYS COVERED WITH WATER THROUGHOUT BOILING!!!

2. Same deal as option one, only you can place your can into a crockpot and slow cook on low for 8 hours.

or you can just

use canned dulce de leche

Pie Assembly
Slice bananas up and layer all over crust, even the sides.
Open caramel/toffee can (or dulce de leche), mix with knife until smooth and pour over bananas, spreading as evenly as possible. Next spread whipped cream over the entire pie. Grate or shave chocolate onto top of pie and Refrigerate for at least 2 hours

A Beachy Day Off!!

Its Sunday, and its nice and sunny outside, and I love it! I love that its FINALLY getting warmer! I may be Maine born, bred and raised, but my 6 years in the south really spoiled me rotten! Relocating back to Maine was a difficult switch for me, but it was totally worth it to be closer to family and few friends I absolutely love to pieces, even if these northern winters tend to turn me into a hermit!
Spring has finally arrived and its getting warmer everyday, which mean we're that much closer to MANY nice, long, fun and warm beach days & nights. Clearly, I am so much more at home on the beach than I am anywhere else!

In honor of this beautiful day, I think I'm gonna have to take a break from my Nom Nom Palace posts, pack up the kids, hi-jack the boyfriend and conspire with the Wifey to hit up the beach today, and we can all play in the sand like the little children we really are at heart! 
If we're lucky, we'll also hit up the Lisa's Pizza for some fresh fried dough and cotton candy!!

Happy Sunday All!!

~JennJenn <3

Harlow Cakes!!

Named for a friend because I promised I would invent something just for him:) 

After a few hours of work and making a mess of the entire kitchen, I proudly present Harlow Cakes!!! Chocolate Cupcakes with a Peanut Butter Cake center, topped with Nutella Frosting and Rainbow Sprinkles. From Scratch, I don't do the box cake too very often anymore...they just don't taste right. IDK which part of these are my favorite but they are sooooo goooood!!! I'm not going to give you the specific recipe because its ridiculously long but here's the gist of it:

Find a peanut butter cake recipe you like and bake it. then find a peanut butter frosting recipe you like and make it. after baking and cooling your cake, crumble it all up into a bowl. start adding peanut butter frosting to your crumbs until a soft dough has formed that you can shape into balls. Prepare a chocolate cake batter. line your cupcake tin. drop a spoonfull of chocolate batter into the bottom of each liner. place a peanut butter cake ball into the center then fill with more chocolate cake batter until about 3/4 full. bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
I didn't use a recipe for the frosting, I simply creamed together 2 sticks of unsalted butter and 1 cup of Nutella then added confectioners sugar and a bit of milk until I reached the right consistency.
Pipe on your frosting and add sprinkles if desired.

~JennJenn ♥

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

You Need
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt then set aside.
Using and electric mixer, Beat butter and peanut butter until well combined. Next add both your sugars and beat until it gets nice and fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and mix until everything smooths out then slowly add in flour mixture and mix just until blended.
Roll your dough into balls then coat in white sugar before placing on an un-greased baking sheet. you can also opt out of the added sugar and add your cris-crosses here with a fork if you'd like. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not over bake, once you see that they've gotten nice and puffy and are just starting to turn a nice light gold around the edges take them out! Over baking is the most common cause for crunchy cookies.
Let your cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. I'm not gonna lie though, a few warm cookies are a wonderful thing! Store your cookies in an airtight container.

These cookies are great for making PB Cookie Sandwiches! just spread your favorite peanut butter or butter cream frosting on the bottom of one cookie and top with another and enjoy!

~JennJenn ♥

Nom Nom Palace Jello Shot List

If you've visited Nom Nom Palace on Facebook then you've probably come across the Jello Shot list.....Lets be honest, that's probably what brought you there in the first place lol! Many of you have asked for a copy of this list and the requests have been piling up enough that we just can't keep up! Creating a PDF and link seemed the best route of action for easier access for everyone so just copy and paste the link below and enjoy!~JennJenn <3


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6-efxBPAqAua1ozVEV6Vl9QNUk/edit?usp=sharing