Pinterest Challenge #18-21: Things Baked in Ovens/Microwaves

Remember way back before I had three kids how I started writing about my Pinterest challenge? And then I had a baby and I stopped writing about it? But guess what?! I kept doing it! I'm just way way behind on writing about it. So lets work on catching up, shall we?

Tonight, one of my new-ish favorite things: baking.

Let's start off with this promising-looking item...

18. Microwave brownie in a cup from No. 2 Pencil
worth doing again: sadly, no.

Let me break it down for you. I was home alone, it had been a long day, and there was no ice cream left in the house for some reason. I guess someone ate it all on some night(s) when she was home alone while her husband was at work. Or something. So anyway, I needed a chocolate fix, and I used the last egg in the house to make this.

First, mine did not look like hers. So clearly she has perfected something about microwave baking that I have yet to master. (But this was my first time, so...) Second, it was WAY rich. Probably because of the ratio of sugar/butter to flour/cocoa. Thirdly, it was... I don't even know. Probably a million calories. It was more Weight Watchers points than a Krispy Kreme donut by about DOUBLE. (Do not start worrying because I am doing Weight Watchers--I am going slow, losing only to a healthy amount of weight, and trying to learn to eat more fruits/vegetables. It's all good.)

And I am okay with things being a million calories, but only if they are worth it. And this kind of wasn't. Sad.

19. 100 Calorie Double Fudge Banana Muffins from Yammie's Noshery 

worth making again: maybe

I made these today:

photo from Yammie's Noshery

I made them because they were touted to be healthy (applesauce instead of oil, 3 bananas, only 1/4 c of sugar!) and because they were promised to be fudgy, which is my primary requirement in a treat.

Unfortunately I had forgotten that I don't love banana bread, and that I hate the texture of stuff baked with applesauce instead of oil.

Still, even with that, they were pretty good. If you like banana bread, you would probably like them. My kiddos wolfed theirs down and asked for more.

And then we have the sad plight of the pizza dough.

I have been searching for the last couple of months for the perfect pizza dough. I want it to taste wonderful, be fluffy inside and crisp outside like delivery. I want it all. So I've been trying out tons of recipes.

Like

20. My "Best Ever" Breadmaker Pizza Dough from Food.com

and

21. Pizza Dough from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

Both failures.

Not their fault! Totally fine, acceptable pizza crusts which my family ate happily on separate Friday nights (which is movie + pizza night over here!). But not up to my insane standards.

And there were a couple others I tried that I didn't even bother to keep track of.

But! I am happy to say that I'm really working it out with Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything, which I actually found in that very book and NOT on Pinterest! We're not totally exclusive yet, but I really feel like if I keep at it, this could be the beginning of something beautiful. I'm thinking just a little longer rise, and maybe only dividing the dough in half instead of in thirds.

In conclusion:
1. Microwave brownies are not as good as the Ghirardelli brownie from a mix that I am about to eat.
2. I don't like applesauce substituting for oil, but I do like it just being applesauce.
3. Mark Bittman is a pretty smart guy.

Pinterest Challenge #16-17: Homemade Granola Two Ways

Pinterest time! (More here.)

My kids--especially Charlie--are obsessed with granola, and since (1) it is expensive to buy, (2) I usually have oats laying around (well, okay, they are actually nicely contained in a plastic bin, but you know what I mean), and (3) the recipes are usually easy enough that I can't mess it up too badly, even though I'm not all that talented in the kitchen, I thought I'd try to find a recipe to tweak into perfection.

And if there's one thing you can be sure to find on Pinterest, it is a plethora of granola recipes.

16. Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
source: Savoring the Thyme
worth doing again: Maybe, if I didn't hate peanut butter

I took zero pictures of this granola happening, but here are my kids after they helped me mix it, eating pretzels while they waited for it to bake. Gracie is dressed in pajamas AND a Cinderella dress. :)

So this recipe kind of got an unfair boot from me because all through this pregnancy I have irrationally hated one of my very favorite foods: peanut butter. And there is peanut butter in this granola. Which is genius. Which the kids loved. Which made me want to throw up every time I smelled it, even if I was just sitting by the kids at the table or pouring it into a bowl for them.

We deviated from the recipe a little by using honey instead of rice syrup and omitting the chia seeds. And we added in some mini-chocolate chips that my mama had just sent us in the mail. (She sends fun mail.)

Though the kids were happy to eat this in granola clusters, I was disappointed that it didn't actually come out in bars when I made them. I had this vision of sending Grace off to school/Steve to work with gorgeous homemade granola bars. But instead we got chunks.

That said, kiddos adored it, so I would try it again if I stop hating peanut butter after baby-peanut #3 makes her debut.

17. "The Best Granola Ever"
source: Buzzfeed
worth doing again: Yes! I'm making a double batch this afternoon. :)

It even looked/tasted good before it was baked!

This recipe was kind of fun because it gave you lots of options to really customize your granola. I am picky about granola, so that was totally my jam.

I used oats, honey, a tiny bit of cinnamon, and some sliced almonds in ours, with a little canola oil and some salt. I never knew that adding oil would help add some crunch, so I was pretty excited to try that! It worked nicely. But be aware that measuring and mixing ingredients over a pregnant belly can be hazardous.

I did at least smell very nice and cinnamony for the rest of the day.

My only complaint was that it came out way too salty with their recommended salt amount. When I make my double batch this afternoon (I'm going to add chocolate chips to half the batch this time) I will be using half (or less) the amount of salt. I'm just more into a slightly sweet granola. But this definitely has the potential to be the "best granola ever" if I play around with it some more.

If you have yet to meet a granola recipe that is "the one" head over and check out their suggestions--they have some great tips on texture and other stuff, too!

Pinterest Challenge #15: Cleaning the Pack 'n Play

Third-trimester(!) nesting has meant a little cleaning-and-organizing twist to my Pinterest Challenge--tonight in particular it meant this crazy little pregnant woman tossed the pack 'n play in the bathtub.

15. Cleaning a Pack 'n Play
source: Mary Organizes
worth doing again: Yes

Okay. This was gross, but I'm glad I did it.

The original (presumably named Mary?) authoress used some mail-order green-cleaning stuff (which she also sells through her blog) to clean her pack 'n play. I opted out of the fancy cleaner but I followed the rest of her ideas.

I started by filling my beautiful shiny bathtub (poor thing didn't know what was coming) with warm water and some Kirkland laundry detergent.

I checked the mattress to make sure it wasn't filled with cardboard (apparently some of them are?) and once I'd assured myself that it wasn't, I plunked it and the rest of the pack 'n play into the bubbles and let it soak. (The mattress was surprisingly buoyant and kept floating up--I had to put the crib on top of it to keep it in the water!)

After about half an hour or 45 minutes, I flipped it over to make sure it got a good soak on each side.

Mary's water was BROWN when she pulled her pack 'n play out. Mine wasn't that bad, but the water was definitely icky/murky/gross. Look at the little floaty things. Gack.

And when I drained the tub, the retreating water left these nasty dirt trails. Ugh. So glad I washed this. I do not want baby girl sleeping in that.

The dirt tracks inspired me to rinse this thing again, so I filled the tub back up with warm water and let it soak some more to rinse, and drained it again.

And, because I'm thorough, I tried to ring the mattress out by walking across it over and over. Aaaaaand gross me out some more: the water that leached out of the double-soaked mattress was yellow. Not okay.

So I pulled the crib out to dry (it is just standing open on some towels in my bathroom to air dry) and ran another detergent bath for the mattress. Another rinse soak and some more stomping around on the mattress to ring it out, and I had a much cleaner pack 'n play for baby girl to sleep in. I am hoping it will dry out eventually, because right now it is pretty wet... and I think Steve may be displeased with a crib hanging around in the bathroom because I randomly decided to wash it... :)

Pinterest Challenge #13-14: Copycat Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Friends:

My biggest cravings this pregnancy (besides the sugar ones... which may also be just regular Jamie) have been meat-related (which is weird, because I am not much of a meat eater in real-non-pregnant-life). First trimester it was bratwurst. Then I started feeling better and I couldn't eat enough hamburgers. And now that we're edging slowly toward the third trimester (26 weeks tomorrow) I have been dying for some Cafe Rio sweet pork.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, I had a copycat recipe to throw in my crockpot. And since it required shredding, I also snuck in another Pinterest tip.

13. Shred Meat in a Stand Mixer

source: a million places, but here is one

worth doing again: Yes.

Halfway through the copycat recipe (linked/discussed below) for that sweet pork, I found myself with a pair of forks and a big piece of pork to be shredded as a two-year-old who shall remain nameless clung crying to my leg, and I thought to myself, Ain't nobody got time for that!

So I put my pork in my Kitchenaid (loooove) mixer on low for like 20 or 30 seconds, and my pork was all shredded. YAY! One more bowl for my dishwasher to wash, but way less time for me.

You can also do this with a hand mixer and a big bowl or any stand mixer.

There is no picture, because shredded pork isn't super appetizing looking.

14. Copycat Crock Pot Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

source: Favorite Family Recipes

worth doing again: Yes!

Oh snap! This stuff was good!

I think this was officially my third time cooking pork (not counting bacon), and the other two times were ribs. So I was nervous even buying pork at the grocery store because I know nothing about it. I went with a pork loin (great choice) and it came out nice and tender. I also bought a 2L bottle of Coke since it was cheaper than cans.

I followed the instructions pretty carefully, marinating overnight, etc. I opted to cook on high instead of low, and 3hrs 30mins had it cooked but not dry. And I was skeptical because the mixture they have you blend up does not smell sweet at all. And I needed the sweet. But I just kept the faith and let it cook all together, and when I sat down with this salad (you can't see the pork but I promise it is in there, right under the cheese--I took a picture of it by itself and it didn't look very, um, appetizing... even though it was) after my kids were in bed, with an episode of the West Wing on Netflix and my pajamas, I was one very happy pregnant lady. Which, I think we all know, can be a pretty big deal.

Now, was it Cafe Rio perfect? I don't know. I haven't been there enough times to tell a true Rio-phile if it is legit. But it tasted how I remembered it tasting, and that was good enough for me. I am happy that Steve hates it, because it means I get to eat it all by myself! :)

AND if you are a purist, the same website has the FULL recipe for the exact Cafe Rio salad, complete with their rice, their black beans, and either of their fancy salad dressings. I was much to lazy pregnant to care to make those things, though--I just needed the pork. Yummmm.

More Pinteresting stuff here. :)

Pinterest Challenge #12: Gelatin Facial

So I actually set this challenge for myself a while ago, back when we lived at our rental house. Which is why the background of the photo below is our old place. It was a funny one, so I'm posting it now. :)

(And more Pinteresting things here.)

12. Gelatin Facial
source: Petit Elefant
worth doing again: NOOOOOOOOOO.

This magical concoction, made only of milk and unflavored gelatin, is supposed to be a substitute for those awesome Biore strips that somehow pull the blackheads right out of your pores. You heat this stuff up, spread it over your skin, wait a while, and then peel it off.

What they do not mention in this tutorial is that it smells like DEATH.

Seriously. This is the WORST smell in the world, and it is all over your face for at least fifteen minutes while you let it dry, maybe longer. And I'm sure if your sweetheart went in for a kiss afterward you would miss out, because you would still smell of gelatin. (Luckily my sweetheart was working an evening shift when I did this.) Gross gross gross. Looks sooo pretty, too, doesn't it? It spreads/dries in globs.

But, did it work?

Kind of. It definitely made my skin smoother, and probably pulled a lot of tiny hairs off of my face (this stuff STICKS) but I did not pull full blackheads out of my pores like a Biore, which I was looking forward to in that gross-but-fascinated way in which you might look forward to anything zit-removal-related. There are a lot better ways to get a little exfoliation, and it didn't deliver the pore-cleansing promised.

So, full-on official Pinterest fail here. If you want the satisfaction of a Biore strip, spend the $8 and get the real deal, which will smell much better.

Pinterest Challenge #10-11: Desserts!

Ok. Clearly my husband is busy a lot, because I've gotten a lot of my Pinterest challenge stuff done lately. And blogged a lot. And had a lot of people over to hang out with me. :) Also I've been trapped at home with potty-training Charlie, so I have to keep myself entertained somehow.

This time it was with SUGAR!

10. Single Serve Eggless Cookie Dough
source: Cut Out and Keep
worth doing again: Maybe, with modifications

So every day at about 2pm (while my kids are napping or having quiet time in their rooms and I am having MY quiet time downstairs) I start to crave something sweet. For a while I had chocolate stocked up in the pantry, but between Steve and I we worked through that pretty quickly. So I had a sugar emergency, and thought I may as well try a Pinterest recipe.

This stuff was fairly easy to make, and great because it is egg-free so it is pregnant-girl friendly, but it wasn't fantastic. The only alteration I made was to soften my butter a little. AND I only had milk chocolate chips on hand--I am a die-hard semi-sweet girl when it comes to chocolate chips (but milk chocolate in candy bars, obviously)--so that put a damper on the relationship immediately.

Next time I would use half brown sugar and half white (instead of all white) and semi-sweet chips instead of milk (yuck). I might add the TEENSIEST bit of salt, too, to tame the sweetness. Maybe the little bitterness of semi-sweet chips would do that, though? AND I would chill it. Personal preference. I felt like this COULD be really yummy, if I could tweak it just the right way.

And it looks good perched on a baby belly, don't you think?

11. Chocolate Covered Oven-Baked S'mores
source: Love from the Oven
worth making again: Yes. Yum.

I LOVE S'MORES. But rarely have occasion to eat them. I got invited to a girl's night last night, and we were all supposed to bring a dessert sooo I made these. (I actually made them once before, but it was over a year ago, so I had to go back to Pinterest for the instructions.)

They came out fab, but I think I got overly aggressive with the marshmallow because they were a hot mess between the baking (which only takes 3 minutes) and the dipping-in-chocolate portion. Next time I would use 1.5 marshmallows per s'more, instead of two full mallows. ALSO, space them out well on your cookie sheet, or they will be a mass of marshmallow polkadotted with graham crackers.

So yum. They were a hit last night. And I have several left over for my naptime sugar cravings. I would also share with you, so come visit me. :)

And I only had half a bag of chocolate (the meltable Wilton kind from Michael's). So next time I would use a full bag so I could have more chocolate coverage. :)

Pinterest Challenge #8-9: Potty Training and Such

Ready for more Pinterest stuff?
(Psst. See all the Pinterest Challenge stuff here.)

8. Bathroom Sink Extender for Little Hands
source: Sidetracked Sarah
worth doing again: Eh. I guess. Minimal effort, and handy.

About the third time I had to lift Charlie to wash his hands (during day one of potty training) I realized that my belly is HUGE and this was a ridiculous thing to be doing at 24 weeks along, so I pulled a baby shampoo bottle from the tub (where it was serving as a bath toy) and hacked it up with a pocket knife to fit over the faucet, like so:

Its not cute, but it works great. Another solution, of course, would be a taller stool (or child... jk, jk) but we already have four stools in this house somehow. 6 if you count the two for ME.

9. Potty Train Charlie (yikes!) in 3 Days
sources: Potty Train in 3 Days from Happy House of 5
10 Tips for Potty Training Your Strong-Willed Child from The Pinning Mama
worth doing again: Obviously. But hopefully not for like 3 more years, when baby girl hits 2.5!

Oh man. I have been pinning potty training advice for months gearing up to train Barles. And while I read many, many articles, these two were the ones I drew the most from. I also got some great tips from other moms, my favorite of which was Melissa's idea to put a tarp down in front of the TV since I have carpet(!).

I decided to train during Steve's first month of internship (if he's got a challenge, I should give myself one, too, right?). So I gave Charlie a week to adjust to Daddy being back at work (I'd read that too many changes at once are not easy on littles), and scheduled day one of potty training for this past Monday. I was so nervous the night before that I actually had butterflies/anxiety/trouble falling asleep!

We followed the rules of the 3-day potty training thing: wearing just underwear (no Pull-Ups/diapers except at nap/bedtime, and no other clothes), filling him up on water, and taking him every 30 minutes for the first two days. Then day three just asking if he needed to go. I also used several tips from the second article (about training your willful child) including:

1. Have a plan
2. Be enthusiastic, and DON'T get angry
3. Make the timer the boss
4. Give them choices/avoid power struggles

A couple days before starting we bought a Costco 8-pack of Pixar underwear, a big thing of m&ms for rewards, a new Camelback water bottle with excavators and dump trucks on it (he is in heaven), and a highly-rated-but-cheap potty seat with handles for the toilet. (I decided to skip the gross kid-potty where they have to dump pee from a bucket into the toilet this time. I did it with Gracie and then I just had to re-teach her to use the big toilet later. Plus the pee bucket is nasty.) We also started gearing Charlie up, telling him he would be using the big boy toilet and wearing underwear and getting m&ms and HOW COOL HE WOULD BE!

Monday morning I took Charlie to the bathroom first thing and then put him in underwear. We had breakfast, and I laid out a waterproof tablecloth (which we usually use for outdoor picnics) on the floor which I convinced him was SUPER cool to lay on while we watched hours of TV and he drank tons of water from his excavator water bottle. He had two accidents the first day, both in the morning, and the first two times I put him on the toilet we read a book and he said he wanted to get off. After the second book I just asked him if he could get his pee pee out (I know, I know, I am a MOM) and he thought about it for a second, and then just did it. Like it was no big deal. He got really excited, too. He would RUN to the bathroom any time the timer went off SO excited to go again. It was unreal.

We watched like 6 HOURS of TV the first morning...

We had one tiny accident yesterday (like SO teeny) but he stopped himself and asked to go to the bathroom. And today, day three, was the first day without using a timer or going every thirty minutes. I took him at 7, after changing him out of his diaper, and then at 9 I asked if he needed to go, and he said no. Finally at 11 I made him go. This kid has killer bladder control!

We still have some work to do (putting his clothes back ON by himself, not arguing about how to wash his hands, and getting the, uh, non-pee stuff into the toilet, which he so far refuses to do) but all in all this was an awesome and fairly easy experience. I give him full credit--he was totally ready, and took the bull by the horns. We may just try to leave the house tomorrow morning. :)

Pinterest Challenge #4-7: Gracie Things

I'm trying to group these Pinterest challenge things together for continuity's sake. And so you don't read about nail polishing Barbies and freezing fruit in the same post. Weird. So this time I've got a bunch of small and simple Gracie-related things I've worked on over the past couple of weeks. :)

(If you're confused why this starts at #4, see the rest of my Pinterest challenge stuff here.)

4. End Nagging and Negotiating with Three Simple Words

source: Positive Parenting Solutions

worth doing again: Ohhhhh yes.

I saw this charming little title pop up on Pinterest (captioning a little girl with clasped hands and a sad puppy face) and I had to take a peek. NO MORE NAGGING?! What?!?!

And the solution was so simple. When your kiddo starts to re-ask the same question or beg pleeeeeease or otherwise negotiate, you just say, "Asked and answered." And make that the end of the conversation. You already asked, I already answered, and that is THAT.

I tried this with Miss Gracie, and I was shocked that it worked. Sure, she hates it--usually she her brow gets all furrowed and sometimes she pouts a little. But no more whining/begging; she knows its not worth the effort.

The only pitfall, is that it just sounds so motherish. I usually just say, "Already answered." As if that is much better. Still, worthwhile for the peace it brings to car rides, dinner tables, and etc.

5. Mommy and Me Journal

source: Mama Jenn

worth doing again: yes

I've been looking for ways to connect with Grace and make her feel special, and this is right up her alley. We started by choosing pictures of things we like, and Gracie cut them out and glued them to the front of our journal. I like that she chose the chocolate chip cookie and Target on her own. That's my girl.

The original poster made this up as a sort of letter-writing exchange with her daughter, but since Gracie girl is mostly just writing short sentences, we also draw pictures in ours.

We've been trading back and forth for a couple weeks now. We usually each do a picture or two each week, and I always leave it for her to find after she's fallen asleep. So far it is a big hit with both of us. I LOVE the sweet things she draws and writes to me, and I can tell she likes having something special between just me and her.

6. Nail Polish Clothes for Nude Barbies
source: Good Ideas and Tips
worth doing again: yes

I will be the first to admit that when I saw people posting Barbies with nail polished shorts and t-shirts on Pinterest, I thought it was a little much. Who cares, right?! They are plastic dolls. But then Gracie started wanting to change all her princesses' clothes, which meant that usually they all ended up in some stage of undress. And it kind of weirded me out having all these naked (and, hello, totally unrealistic! Are you telling me Belle would have NO muffin top after eating those French palace feasts every night?) bodies laying around ALL THE TIME. Like, they were literally never clothed.

I wanted them to still be fashion forward and able to wear their ball gowns, so instead of shirts and shorts I improvised some nail polish bathing suits instead. Gracie was okay with it and very excited to pick the colors herself--she even watched me paint them and insisted on checking on them several times during the 24-hour drying period. Now the girls (Snow White, Belle, and Rapunzel from left to right) spend a lot of time swimming, and we no longer have to send them to a French beach for that to be socially acceptable.

7. Perler Bead Patterns
source: EK Success Brands Perler Gallery
worth doing again: yes

Steve and I grabbed some perler beads and their matching pegboards at Ikea last time we went (only at Ikea they are called Pyssra or something) and Gracie immediately fell in love. When I was looking up ironing instructions (the Ikea pictographs didn't do it for me) I came across a Pinterest board of patterns, and tried a Hello Kitty for my little HK fan. (She takes it to bed with her!)

Then I copied a rainbow.

Then Steve started hassling me, so now I do my own original bead art, too, when we have our post-lunch crafting sessions. But the copied ones always turn out better. And go much faster. :)

The Pinterest Challenge #1-3: Freezer Meals

Friends, I have 979 followers on Pinterest. 93 boards. 5,537 pins.

This is an accomplishment akin to the "Achievements" Steve gets when he beats a level or finds some hidden thing in Black Ops on the xBox. Meaning, obviously, that it is more a cause for concern than an actual accomplishment.

So here's the deal. I've got 5,537 pins. All I have to do is complete 100 of them. And then I win! Yay!

I've got everything from DIY maternity clothes to financial overhauls to desserts-in-a-cup pinned, so that should lead to a nice variety of big and small tasks I can accomplish while Steve is off being a first year resident. (Won't it be great to respond to his "I stitched up a guy's face today!" with "Cool! I made a life sized horse sculpture out of Home Depot paint swatches!"?) Anyway as I go along I'll show you the hits and misses (I've already had some of each) for your voyeuristic Pinterest-judging enjoyment. :)

Today we start with freezer meals, because in my panic over being alone & pregnant/having to cook during intern year, I for some reason felt that these would be the most helpful thing I could do for myself. Oh, me.

1. Green Smoothie Packs
source: All Things G & D
worth doing again: Smoothie packs, yes. This recipe, NO.

Simple idea. Chop up fruits and spinach and toss them in freezer bags, then just blend up with some juice (though the original poster used just water--ew! Bland!) later. We've done these before, but never a green smoothie recipe.

The kids and I drank this the other morning, and it was pretty gross/watery/weird textured. If/when I did/do it again, I would probably skip the green apples in favor of more berries and maybe some pineapple. The spinach wasn't really noticeable flavor-wise, but it definitely freaked Gracie out to have spinach in with fruit. :)

2. Toddler French Toast Sticks
source: Once a Month Mom
worth trying again: yes

Basically you whip up a huge bowl of eggs, milk, cinnamon, and sugar (she also added veggie purees, which I was too lazy to do), slice pieces of bread into sticks, dunk in the mixture and bake for 15 minutes on each side.

This was pretty easy, and I think they came out good. The ones I baked in glass pans came out a little crisper than the ones on a cookie sheet. I've got probably 6 meals worth(?) in the freezer now, and I plan to just pop these babies in the toaster and serve them with applesauce to dip in. (That's how I justify feeding my kids breakfast foods for dinner rather frequently--applesauce instead of syrup. Mom of the year!)

3. Make Ahead Eggs with Spinach (for Homemade Egg McMuffins)
source: Macheesmo
worth doing again: yes, if I can ever get it right

This is actually the third time I have attempted this. The first time I made the full McMuffins, like the original poster does, and froze them. They were are PAIN to defrost. I am hungry in the mornings. And now that I'm preggers, I really don't like to sit around waiting for food. The second time, and this time, I just did the make-ahead egg step. You whisk them together and bake them in cupcake tins for about 20 minutes, and then freeze.

Would I recommend them? Not yet. So far I have tried PAM and butter, and metal and silicone cupcake trays, and every time these make a huge, unwashable mess when baked. It is almost impossible to get the extra baked egg off of the tins--and even the silicone! I hate cleanup. So I definitely haven't perfected this.

That said, I do like having eggs ready to go on my sandwiches in the morning. I pop one in the micro for 1 minute, then put it on an English muffin in my toaster oven and toast. Yum. Not good enough to eat on their own, but perfect on a sandwich.