May 6, 2012

Chocolate cake in a mug.  Yum. 

April 11, 2012

I invited all of my in-laws over on to my house on Easter for a pot roast dinner. I was really looking forward to it, until someone asked if they could bring ham. I don't like ham. And this isn't a potluck. But, that's exactly what it turned into. People brought devilled eggs, scalloped potatoes, corn, sweet potato casserole, and rolls that I ended up having to bake myself. Of course, I didn't make my pot roast so I had to change my side dishes. I made broccoli cheese casserole and green bean casserole. It was good food, but not what I had planned at all. I also found out that the people that brought ham, didn't come to our last Easter shindig because we grilled burgers and hot dogs. And by the way, they didn't cancel, they just didn't show up.

And as many things as people brought, they didn't bring dessert. That's ok, I think anything would have had a hard time competing with the cake I made. It was a sour cream coconut cake and it was delicious. I really like the fact that this cake is supposed to be made a few days ahead of time. It makes things easier if you're serving it at a get-together. Not that I will be having a get-together ever again.

April 4, 2012

Last night was the first time I made pesto, and it was delicious! Dinner was gnocchi with pesto and a caesar salad. It was great just going outside and picking some basil to whip up a sauce for dinner. Now maybe I should start growing potatoes for the gnocchi!

March 13, 2012

I had French onion soup at Panera Bread this weekend and loved it so much, that I actually made some later that night. I used this recipe, more or less. Allrecipes.com is great because you get to take suggestions from all the reviews. I get a lot of recipes from Allison's site, and I know she has a French onion soup recipe too. I'll have to try hers sometime to compare.

March 1, 2012

When Allison posted funnel cakes on her blog, I commented that it looked so easy that maybe I will give it a try. Well, it took me a year, but I finally gave it a try! And they were easy, and so good that I'm sure I will be making these again soon.

February 22, 2012

More baking over the weekend! Sunday was a brownie mix. Yes, I consider that baking. Billy, his mom, and I had just eaten at KFC for lunch and we ran into the Dollar Tree for a couple things. I grabbed the brownies for dessert and we ate them while we watched Biggest Loser on dvr. Ha!

Saturday was a recipe I found on Pinterest. Mini pineapple upside down cakes. Mine were a little too brown and not very pretty, but Billy said they tasted really good.

February 19, 2012

I'm still enjoying baking on weekends. I made these oatmeal cookies a few weekends ago when my nephews were visiting. Nathan kind of felt bad, so he didn't eat any, and Thomas said they looked disgusting, so obviously he didn't eat any either. Oh well, more for me!

January 24, 2012

As I mentioned yesterday, I was quite the baker over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, I made cinnamon bread. It definitely wasn't a desserty kind of thing, but it was so good with a cup of coffee. It's too bad it didn't last longer - there were only 2 slices left for breakfast the next morning!

January 23, 2012

I don't really enjoy cooking, but I think I actually like to bake. I made a couple things over the weekend, one being a lemon loaf. I'm not a huge fan of lemony desserts, but Billy is, so this one I made for him. Not that I haven't eaten my share - it turned out really good!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

It's Food Friday!

I'm trying to lose a few pounds, ok, more like 15, so I'm trying to eat a little better. It's been going pretty good. Especially with recipes like this. I happen to love brussels sprouts, and I've never roasted them before so with Ina Garten's recipe I made them the other night and they were delicious!

I used frozen brussels sprouts and thawed them first. Since I liked them a lot, then maybe fresher would be even better. Also, I really just eyeballed the rest of the ingredients (salt, pepper, olive oil) as well as adding some balsamic vinager and parmesan cheese at the end. If you make these, I highly recommend the balsamic vinegar. I think I did 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Also, since it's Food Friday, I'm going to post pics of the tacos my sister made for me the last time I visited. I'll have to start thinking of something else from her recipes to request for my next visit.





Ok, bad idea posting these because after these pictures I'm pretty sure no one is even thinking about my brussels sprouts now!

Beer Bread

It's Food Friday!

Hmmm, what should I do with that one lonely can of beer in the fridge? Make beer bread, of course! I can't even tell you how impressed I am with myself whenever I make this. I always think of bread making as difficult - kneading, pounding down with fists, covered in a corner to rise. This is the easiest bread recipe ever, and I love it.



3 cups self rising flour
3 tbs sugar
1 12 oz can of beer (I think the light taste better)

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased loaf pan (or you could use a casserole dish, and I just used some cooking spray). Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pour melted butter over the top. I melted a stick of butter but didn't use all of it (I did use it after the bread was done, though, on the slices). Bake until golden brown - about 10 or 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Apple Pie Filling

It's Food Friday!

I don't like apple pie, but I like apple pie filling. I know it doesn't even make sense, and I have no explanation for it at all. And the fact that I like cheddar cheese on it? I surprise myself sometimes.

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 tbs water

Place apple chunks in a medium saucepan. Mix together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples and mix well. Stir over medium high heat until apples begin to release juice. Reduce heat, add vanilla and water, and heat until apples are soft.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Angie's Chili

It's Food Friday!

I stole this recipe from my sister, but since I changed a few things I'm calling it Angie's Chili now. The biggest difference is that I don't add the ground beef. My boyfriend once told me that I might as well be a vegetarian. I usually don't eat meat Monday through Friday, since I don't like dealing with it raw. But, on the weekends, I will gladly sit and be served burgers, tacos, and boneless chicken wings. Just as long as I don't have to fix it, I'm fine.

So take this chili recipe and add, delete, make it your own!

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can of water

Spray a big pot with cooking spray and saute onions on medium heat. Add everything else and once it starts boiling, turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Easy!

Lemon Pies

It's Food Friday!

A couple weeks ago, I made a lemon meringue pie and lemon icebox pie for my boyfriend's birthday. I actually didn't eat either one, although I made myself sick eating the leftover icebox pie filling. The pictures didn't turn out so great, and I didn't even get to take one of the lemon icebox. I thought he would wait on me before he started in on it. I tried to make the last weirdly shaped piece into a triangle, and smooth out the fork marks to get a halfway decent picture. I think that the lemon icebox was probably the best one, and not so involved as the meringue. I'm all about easy desserts.



Lemon Icebox Pie

12 oz Cool Whip
1 can (14 oz) condensed milk
1 (6 oz) frozen lemonade (thawed)
Graham cracker crust

Mix the first 3 ingredients and pour into crust. Refrigerate overnight.

I eyeballed 12 oz of Cool Whip. Next time I'll get the 8 oz container. That way I won't have pie filling left over. I seriously ate so much of that, I didn't even want any of the actual pie! But, it's really good, and very easy. I'd definitely make it again.

Fruit Dip

It's Food Friday!

This fruit dip was my contribution to the Super Bowl Party. I figured we needed something healthy to offset the boneless chicken wings, smothered fries, taquitos, and cheese dip. Ok, ok, I know the fruit dip is just cream cheese and marshmallow creme, not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but it is FRUIT dip! There's apples and strawberries involved too! That's got to count for something!

8 oz block of cream cheese
7 oz jar marshmallow creme

Mix with an electric mixer. Done!

I guess you could use any fruit you wanted, and if you wanted to make a not so healthy version (ha!), you could use pound cake and cookies.

Enjoy!

Pretzel Peanut Bark

It's Food Friday!

I've had Paula Deen's recipe for Pretzel Peanut Bark bookmarked ever since I saw her make it on her show. It looked so easy, quick, and delicious. I didn't use the exact ingredients because I really wanted to use up the half a package of vanilla Almond Bark that was in the cabinet. So I made a mini version.

Half a package of vanilla Almond Bark
1 cup broken pretzel sticks
1/2 cup (heaping) salted peanuts
1 package of M&Ms

Melt almond bark for 1 minute 45 seconds, stir, add the rest of the ingredients (I was just eyeballing it really, add more or less, whatever looks good) and stir. Spread on foil lined baking sheet and let set. I did put mine in the fridge for a bit. Since it's almond bark it didn't take long to set up. Break it up and enjoy!

Snowman Cookies

It's Food Friday!

I'm convinced that Arkansas still has a big snow fall in it's system before winter is over. Yesterday, I got my hopes up when the sky spit out a few flurries. Nothing came of it, but it was still pretty. It may not happen until March, so in the meantime, I made these cute snowman cookies. I got the idea from Ingrid's ghost cookies back in November. But, instead of waiting until Halloween, or even until a Ghost Hunter's marathon, I improvised.

Nutter Butter cookies
Vanilla Almond Bark (half a package made 13 cookies for me)
M&Ms
Orange Tic Tacs
Black Decorator Icing

After melting the Almond Bark for 90 seconds, I used a spoon to help cover the cookies when I dipped them. The spoon helped to get them on the foil too, since I didn't want fingerprints. I didn't put the Tic Tacs or the M&Ms on until I finished dipping all of them - I wanted the Almond Bark to set a little bit. As for the icing, I just squirted some in a ziploc bag and cut the tip just a tiny, tiny bit.

Easy!

Notice that my glass even has snowflakes on it!

Pasta With Peas

It's Food Friday!

This pasta dish is definitely one of my favorites. It's easy, quick, and a one pot meal. And it's delicious!

1 lb penne pasta
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Milk - fill empty soup can
Frozen green peas
1 pkg of shredded parmesan cheese

Fix pasta according to directions. Leave in colander while making the sauce. To the pot, add soup, milk, peas, and cheese. Cook until peas are done and cheese is melted, stirring continuously. Add pasta.

You can certainly use any pasta you want. It's good with tortellini too. And sometimes I slice up some grilled chicken on top.

Enjoy!

Cottage Cheese Jello

It's Food Friday!

Even though I titled this post/recipe 'Cottage Cheese Jello,' I've never actually called it that. The name I know it by - Green Stuff - doesn't sound very appetizing. And I'm not sure how appetizing my food photography skillz are either. But, trust me, this is really good. My mom and grandma ate this as a side dish, but I always treated it as a dessert.

1 lb cottage cheese
1 3 oz pkg jello
1 6 oz can crushed pineapple
1 8 oz container cool whip

Stir cottage cheese and jello together. Add pineapple and stir. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate to set.

I always use lime jello, but you could use any flavor you wanted. And you can make it as healthy as you want - low fat cottage cheese, sugar free jello, pineapple in it's own juice, and sugar free cool whip.

Easy! Enjoy!

Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits

It's Food Friday!

I love dessert. I can't help it. A meal just isn't complete to me without a sweet something at the end. And, as much as I love dessert, my waistline does not. That's why I love these Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits - no guilt. Of course, you can use any fruit, any yogurt, and any granola cereal you want, the possibilities are endless. Here's what I used:

Light vanilla yogurt
Light mixed berries yogurt
Just Bunches cereal
Strawberries
Sugar Free Cool Whip

So simple and easy, enjoy!