*Note: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review with my own personal opinions.



I jumped at the chance to review this product because it's something I've been wanting to try for a long time. The PhatMat is a food-grade silicone baking mat made to replace parchment paper or to use in place of oils and sprays on baking sheets. It retails for $39.99 on Amazon (currently on sale for $24.99) and comes in a nice storage tube with two silicone baking mats and one grill mat -- perfect for grilling smaller items that you don't want falling through the crack or just as a barrier between your food and the grill grate. It cleans up easily with water and soap. It says that you can put it in the dishwasher, but you have to be careful about it. Probably best to quickly hand wash.

I tried out the baking mats tonight while I made these (amazing) Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction.  I must say, I am truly impressed with these baking mats. They are about the size of a half sheet pan, but worked okay on my slightly smaller cookie sheet, too. It truly is a no-mess way to bake.



When I took the cookies out of the oven, I tried lifting up one of the cookies right away, and it just slid off the bottom with zero stick. And, yes, the cookies are delicious! Thanks, PhatMat, for encouraging me to bake!
I'm really excited to give these mats a try with some other baked goods and to get the grill mat going. If only it weren't the middle of winter... oh well, there's always pulling the grill right against the slider door!

The other thing I like about the PhatMat is that it  helps keep your cooking sheets from getting gross. You know what I mean? Eventually, mine always tarnish or get something baked on that just will not come off -- to the point that they look nasty and I have to kind of wonder about baking on them.

Plus, stuff does still stick to a plain baking sheet sometimes, even when greased. Parchment paper I tend to use most for bread or pizza, but this could even replace that, I think -- it's at least big enough for my thin crust pizzas when I make two smaller ones. And, the grill mat would work for grilled pizza and might not require the oil I normally use (which tends to flare up the fire below...).

I may have more PhatMat adventures soon and more feedback to share, but from my first experience, I am giving this product two thumbs up! Who knows, perhaps I'll start baking more now!

I just wanted to post a few of the recipes that I've made recently.  I've tried a couple of my own and found a couple online that I've tried for the first time.  Let's start with the holidays, because that always brings out something fun and festive!  We spent time with family around the 4th of July, and actually had a family reunion the following weekend.  This was just cause for TWO festive desserts in one week.  The first one is my favorite...

American Flag Ice Cream Cake

4th of July Flag Ice Cream CakeIngredients:

Ingredients:
- 1/2 a box of graham crackers
- 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
- 1 quart of vanilla or fruity ice cream, softened (I actually used blueberry frozen yogurt)
- 1 small tub of whipped cream, thawed
- Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Directions:
Crush the graham crackers into crumbs (I actually used my food processor this time -- it's less messy than by hand!).  Spread graham cracker crumbs in bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.  Pour melted butter over top and mix well, until butter is thoroughly mixed throughout. Spread evenly into a thin crust along the bottom of the pan.  Place pan in the freezer to let the crust set -- wait at least 15 to 20 minutes before starting the next layer, otherwise the crumbs will stick to the ice cream.  Once the crust is very cold, spread the ice cream in an even layer over top.  Place back in the freezer again until set, then spread the whipped cream over top.  On top of the whipped cream, arrange blueberries in straight rows and columns to form a square in the upper left hand corner.  Cut each strawberry in half, lengthwise, then cut each half into slices.  Place the strawberries in horizontal rows to represent the red stripes, leaving a space between each row to represent the red stripes.  I didn't think I'd actually have enough room for 13 stripes, but I did!  I think I was short a few "stars", however.  Anyways, place the cake back in the freezer until completely frozen.  Thaw for a few minutes before serving to make it easier to cut.  This was a big hit with our family, though we had a few pieces left over....which we readily ate for breakfast the next day!


Patriotic Cupcakes

Patriotic Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Okay, I did not make up the recipe for these...I found that over at Mama's Gotta Bake.  These are supposed to be Red Velvet cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Frosting.  However, when I got home from the grocery store and started to make these, I realized that I only had half the amount of red food coloring on hand as the recipe called for.  So, I called these "Pink Velvet" cupcakes, as they were a lightish red color.  I was disappointed at my local grocery store, too, because I could not find any 4th of July, red/white/blue sprinkles of any sort.  I was hoping for some stars or something cool to put on top.  I searched high and low and all around the store...but I did find these little mini pinwheels!  In the absence of patriotic sprinkles, I thought these would do well.  I almost got little American flags on toothpicks to stick in, but these seemed a little more fun.  I had some regular type sprinkles on hand, so I just used those to add some color and festivity.  The recipe was okay, but it was not my favorite.  I guess I've really only had one red velvet cake that I've been a big fan of, so maybe I just need to try something different next time.  Also, it makes a TON of frosting.  I piled it on pretty good and still had a bunch left.  I saved it in case I could come up for another use for it, but I didn't.  And the frosting is verrry cream cheesy--a bit much for me, but a lot of other people really liked it.  Overall, I think people enjoyed these, but I may try something else next year.

Okay, on to some other fun summery eats.  What's the best thing to eat in summer?  Why, fresh picked berries, of course!  And other fruit, I suppose.  So, here are two great summer (or anytime recipes) that I made in the past week or so:

Fruit Pizza


You may remember my fruit pizza recipe from my post last year.  It's also a favorite at Christmastime.  However, it really is the perfect summer desert.  It's cool, it's light, it's delicious, and you can use seasonal fresh fruit.  I made the fruit pizza pictured here for a get together with our neighbors.  Yum -- it was a good decision.  I did screw up one thing, though.  I didn't used refrigerated cookie dough to make the crust...which would be fine, except that I used a bad sugar cookie recipe.  When I say bad, I simply mean the wrong type of sugar cookies.  The crust was way too hard.  The recipe would have been great if you were using cookie cutters to make cookies and frost them, etc.  However, next time I decide to make the crust from scratch I will need to do more research and be sure to use a recipe for the softer type of sugar cookies.  Lesson learned.  Still delicious.

Blueberry Muffins!


This is not my recipe either, but I think I'll be making it again!  I found this recipe for Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins on Allrecipes.com.  I was searching for a blueberry muffin recipe that was healthier than some but that still tasted good.  I opted to not do the sugary streusel topped ones, even though they taste so good!  This recipe used unsweetened applesauce (which I still had in my freezer form when I made it last year!), fresh blueberries and whole wheat flour.  They were quite delicious and made a great breakfast almost every day last week!  A great way to use some of my fresh blueberries!

And, finally, let's move on to a dinner recipe.  

Stuffed Poblano Peppers


This was a quick, simple dinner that could easily be done before or after making my Queso Burritos or Tacos, as was the case this time.  I had made tacos a few nights prior and had leftover ground beef.  From there, I made some of my cheese queso, and you can find the recipe for that here.  The only difference was that I added Ro-Tel tomatoes instead of just green chiles.  I added my leftover ground beef to the queso sauce and let that warm up on low.  I also made some white rice.  Once the rice was done, I dumped the cheese mixture into the rice pot and mixed everything up together.  I then took some fresh poblano peppers and sliced them in half lengthwise, filled each half with the rice mixture and baked at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  There are lots of variations you could take with this too -- omit the meat and add black beans for a vegetarian dish; add different vegetables, or start with the cilantro lime rice, if you want to use some of the leftovers from queso burritos or vice versa.  Onions would be a good addition, too.  Quick, easy, tasty.  And now I need to grow some poblano peppers in my garden.

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Combine flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.
4. Add dry mixture and pumpkin into the creamed mixture and stir until well combined, then fold in chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars with an electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in syrup and vanilla.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add to the creamed mixture and stir until well combined.
3. Fold in the butterscotch chips until well combined.
4. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. (*note: these cookies REALLY spread out during baking so be sure to adequately space them – about 2” apart)

1. Place popped popcorn in a large brown paper grocery bag.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan and stir in sugar, corn syrup and salt.
3. Bring ingredients to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Remove pot from heat and add baking soda.  The caramel will sort of foam up as you stir it.
5. Once well mixed, pour the caramel over the popcorn in the grocery bag.
6. Shake bag well to coat popcorn.  Stir with a long handled wooden spoon to try to get the popcorn evenly coated.
7. Spread popcorn in a single layer over wax paper to cool.  Once cool, break a part any large pieces and store in an air tight container.

1. In a large bowl, combine olive oil and spices until well mixed.
2. Add peanuts and stir until evenly coated.
3. Spread peanuts out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  Mix, then bake for another 15 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and let cool; store in an air tight container.