Photo Class

Ok gals this is not a food post but a plug for Nicoles photo classes. I just finished the online Photoshop class and it was fantastic. Definitely going to sign up for another one. Thinking I might need the tabletop photo class so the food pictures look better - You won't regret it. http://nicolesclasse.blogspot.com

Crepes

I’ve made these Our Best Bites crepes a few times and crepes were a staple in my household growing up! I love them so much! So I decided to make them again (they are surprisingly an easy week night meal). I heart breakfast for any meal. These are sweet crepes (like if you munch on one by itself its mucho sweeto) but if you omit the 3 table spoons of sugar then you can make SAVORY ones!!!! I will be doing this soon. I am thinking chickeny and cheesey. Also, Our Best Bites ladies recommend eating these hot off the pan with butter and maple syrup…Yes please!

Okay well here it goes. First you combine all the ingredients in a blender and whip it up on low (easy) Then you heat the pan to a low-medium heat (the recipe calls for medium-high…in my opinion this was way too high and was making my crepes get too crispy). Then the hardish part where you pour and twirl. You know how we call first borns throw away pancakes…well when you first make crepes there are a lot of throw away crepes. It’s an art I have not perfected, but they are delicious even if they are a little wonky (thank you Otis). Once they are cooked on both sides I like to stack them using wax paper to separate each one (they save in the fridge amazingly this way). Then the amazing part…slather some nutella on then drop some sliced bananas and strawberries, rolled up and pour on some of Our Best Bites Strawberry Sauce.

Awesome part of tonight was I had the Strawberry Sauce in the freezer (freezes for three months) from a past meal. Now this is me multitasking because my sweet guy prefers that I stand while I eat. Also, Jillian as you can see I was definitely a baby and did nothing different with my hair. The end.

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir-Fry

Carter had his shots today so Missy was here rocking a sad little boy and we decided to try this new recipe. It's from Our Best Bites and did not dissappoint. We worried that it might be light on sauce so we doubled it but that wasn't necessary.

Also this is a great recipe to be healthy with whole wheat pasta because the sauce is tasty and you won't notice. You could definitely add alot more veggies than the recipe calls for. Julienned carrotts would be great, yellow squash etc. We stir-fried chicken which was great but all agreed that shrimp would have been better (next time definitely doing shrimp)

Here are the changes we would make to the recipe -

1 1/2 times the sauce

use 1 tsp ginger (we only added 1 tsp. this time and it was plenty)

throw the garlic in at the end because we like my veggies more cooked and didn't want to burn it

cut the brown sugar in half (it was a little sweet)

add more veggies

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/09/quick-easy-noodle-stir-fry/

Monkey Bread

So I made this super delicious monkey bread from the Our Best Bites Cookbook. Unfortunately I only took one picture, and it's not a very good one, but this was so delicious! It was easy and Mike loved it! it's hard to stop with just one serving though, so consider yourself warned!!

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, these are so not healthy. And definitely not part of anyones diet. Except for maybe Papa's. Which is the 9,000 calorie diet. Man, I'm jealous of that diet.

Anyways, I found the recipe on Our Best Bites. Check it out ourbestbites.com

It's kinda the cookie basics and after mixing it all together, you get this....

Voila!

Oh my gosh. It's seriously delicious. I would even put it out there that I like the dough better than the cookies. The toffee just adds a nice extra crunch in the dough.

When you bake the cookies, I think the toffee loses a little of the crunch, but they are still amazing. I didn't put the white chocolate chips in though. Next time I might try them. Make sure you watch these puppies while they are baking, because they tend to go from doughy to burnt in 1.2 seconds. But in the end this is how they turn out....

Don't let them sit on the cookie sheet for too long, or the toffee will make the cookies stick to the pan. So let them cool a rack after a few minutes.

Enjoy!



Grilled Pizza

A few months ago Jill told me that she had grilled pizza and it was delicious. So for dinner tonight I grilled pizza using the method on Our Best Bites Blog - Jill was right! We loved it. If you like a crisp thin crust pizza with great flavor this is something you should definitely try.

We tried a couple of different combinations. This one is Pesto Sauce, chicken (I boiled the chicken and then chopped it small and tossed it in some Pesto Sauce), sauteed sliced yellow squash, fresh sliced tomatoes all topped with fresh mozzarella cheese. We loved this and it was light and fresh tasting.

The other pizza we tried was a barbecue chicken pizza. It had BBQ sauce, chopped chicken, caramelized onions, Gouda cheese and then topped with Parmesan cheese. This was really good too. The caramelized onions really gave it a lot of flavor.

Of course Chris wanted his plain pepperoni and we cooked it in the oven - why mess with what he already knows he loves?

Definitely give this a try. Jill was right - delicious

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Ok, so I have been wanting to try this "Guiltless Alfredo Sauce" from Our Best Bites for a long time, but I just barely got around to trying it on Sunday! We are trying to eat a little healthier, and while alfredo doesn't sound like the way to go, this was a pretty low fat sauce for an alfredo sauce. We also used whole wheat noodles and served it with broccoli to make up for the fat in the sauce :)

First I put skim milk, flour, salt, and low fat cream cheese into a blender

Then I sauteed butter and garlic in the pan....

Then I added the milk mixture and let it simmer until it started to thicken...

Last I added in the parmesan cheese. Now here is where I made my mistake (and thus the pictures end). I used the prepackaged shredded cheese instead of shredding my own. Now trust me the sauce was still incredibly delicious, but it was kinda lumpy and didn't look pretty. It was a little more cheesy I guess you could say, and it didn't totally incorporate into the sauce, but it was still amazing. I one and a halfed the sauce so I would have leftovers and I'm glad I did! This would be great as a pizza sauce, over veggies, with pasta, anything! Definitely easy and everyone should try it!!

Shredded Chicken Tacos

I made these tacos a couple weeks ago and am now just getting around to posting about them. Yes yes I know, procrastination, forgetfullness and laziness are all running through your mind but once I show you the pictures of my tacos you wont care at all. I like to use chicken instead of pork becuase I personally think that it tastes better and plus it is better for you. This recipe is so easy that I look forward to making it. I use chunky green salsa as the base and then Tabasco, Valentina, Cayenne pepper and black pepper for a kick. I put all of those ingredients into the crock pot on low while I am at work and then by the time my husband gets home they are ready to eat.

After cooking in the crock pot all day I shred my chicken and it then looks like this.

There you have it. That's it! They are so easy and so delicious you will be making them once a week.

potato chips

No pictures, just a recommendation that you try Our Best Bites blog homemade chips. Made them for dinner today with our garlic burgers and delicious! Not one leftover. A lot easier than I thought they would be.

Spaghetti Carbonara

So you know when you go to a restaurant and you order something and it's soooo delicious you decide you just have to try and make it at home? Well that's what happened to us in Rome. We sat a a sidewalk cafe and ate the most delicious carbonara (and margherita pizza). I just had to try to make some. I researched several recipes and decided to try the Food Network recipe from Tyler Florence.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-recipe/index.html

I weighed the pasta on my kitchen scale and used only 1/2 pound of pasta but didn't half the sauce amount. I bought my bacon from Snyders and used their thick cut bacon. I also bought a high grade pasta because I knew the Italians use a good pasta (it was dried pasta)

It was easier that I thought it was going to be. I was nervous about the eggs cooking but with the pasta HOT everything cooked perfectly.

Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the finished pasta but as you can see, we finished every last bit - no leftovers ;(

Cookie Monsters!

When cookie, Ice cream, caramel and Chocolate sauce all meet in one bowl my in-laws call it a Cookie Monster! I call it heaven in a bowl, but Cookie monster works just as well. Sunday my mother in-law Lisa and I made the best chocolate chip cookies ever! We took her original chocolate chip cookie recipe and added toffee pieces to it. Yes I know in my previous post about chocolate chip cookies I said that the recipe was so good that nothing needed to be changed or added. This is still a true statement however this time we just enhanced the cookies just a little. When you took your first bite into that cookie you got the gooey chocolate followed by the sweet crunch of the toffee! To top it off we added two scoops of ice cream, homemade fudge sauce and caramel sauce which made it a great cookie monster. one of my favorites actually. I think that these pictures do it some justice. :)

Raspberry Freezer Jam

With help from Riley and Molly, I've made a batch of freezer jam. First thing you need is to pick raspberries. I had the best helper ever. Of course she ate one for every one she put in the bowl.

Molly stirred while I poured the sugar into the bowl. It's so easy that you really can't mess it up. We followed the recipe that came on the box of pectin. Chris commented that it sure has a lot of sugar in there.

Looking delicious!

We ended up with 9 little jars. The look so cute. They have to sit on the counter for 24 hours and then they will go off to the freezer.

Thanks for making jam with me Molly and Riley!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri

Had a slow day today so I thought I would try something new for dinner. This is from the Best Bites cook book. It looked so delicious that I've been thinking about making it for a while. I have so much parsley and oregano in the garden it seemed like a good time to try it.

I wasn't sure how much I would need so I cut a bunch, measured and then cut some more.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry - I was using my phone - I wish you could smell this. It smells incredible. The fresh lime and the herbs together, WOW!

I cut back on the EVO. I felt like it was a lot and I really don't need the extra fat. I just used one small pork loin since it's just the two of us. It was plenty. I marinated it for just over an hour and the crust after Dirk grilled it was really tasty. Dirk cooked it to 140 because we didn't want it to dry out.

I don't know if you can tell but it's just a little pink and the ends weren't pink at all. See how the crust formed, it was so delicious. We put extra chimichurri sauce on top and I made wild rice and carrotts with it. We loved it and I'm sure I'll be making it again especially since I still have lots of parsely and oregano in the garden.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

So this is a traditional yet classic recipe! My mother in-law gave me her recipe and it is one that is so good and so easy, why use anything else. Today in the kitchen I had Sous Chef Riley accompany me. Since my Sous Chef wasn't the most experienced, the recipe did take a little bit longer than planned. I think with Chocolate chip cookies everybody has their own variation, but with this recipe you don't need to add any variation. Thanks to my mother in-law for the recipe and especially to my happy Sous Chef Riley. I love her!

Choptle Chicken Taco Salad

Decided to cook today and thought I would try a recipe I saw on the Our Best Bites Blog. It's a lot llike a Cafe Rio salad but isn't as heavy. I marinated my chicken in their Taco Chicken marinade and I liked it and will definitely use it again.

The dressing for the salad seemed a little spicy. I used 2 tsp. of the adobo sauce. I also added a couple tablespoons of mayo because I thought it tasted like flavored sour cream and not like salad dressing.

I cut down the portions and still had left overs. We dressed the salad on our plates so that I can eat the rest tomorrow and not have wilted lettuce. I didn't use tomatoes and Dirk said he would have loved a little shredded cheddar cheese. This is a winner and I will be making this again.

Tim Riggins Brownies

Well I'm not sure if we love Tim Riggins but maybe it's just that people love things that are a little bit wicked - like Tim - and these brownies are wicked. The recipe is similar to the brownie recipe we've been using for years. This recipe melts the butter and has a bit more cocoa which is probably why they are so chocolatey. That plus the chocolate chips. Don't forget to lick the bowl! We couldn't find the flat marshmallows and oops! didn't buy the mini marshmallows so we cut the big ones in half and used them.

The frosting is awesome. Basic butter cream recipe but you melt the butter. It's a really fluffly and once again you should definitely lick the bowl.

Delicious! Wickedly sinful brownies. But maybe we should call them the Vin Diesel or Paul Walker Brownies. Jill votes for the Neil Caffrey (but if a man is gay can you really pick him?) Matthew McConaughey - that's our final decision.

Of course, the guys all ate their brownie with ice cream, chocolate sauce and carmel sauce.

The recipe is on the Our Best Bites blog. Enjoy! - Lisa and Jill

Yummy Chicken!

Tonight I had my sister and her Family over for dinner and we had the best meal. I made Teriyaki chicken from "Our Best Bites" with rice. What was different about my chicken was I actually made my own Teriyaki sauce! I made the sauce the night before so I could have my chicken marinate all night and all day. the sauce was so easy and filled my condo with a yummy

smell.

To go along with this meal I cut up some fresh water melon and my sister brought a delicious Cesar salad and three cheese rolls. This was such and easy meal I highly recommend trying it.

Fun and Easy summer meal

This meal was so easy, it was actually fun! I felt like I should have been on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" making the best burger ever! Tonight I made the BBQ Pineapple & Bacon Burger from "Out Best Bites". The recipe calls for a specialty BBQ so my husband and I used Wingers sticky finger sauce. This was the perfect sauce because it had spice but when it was put with the sweet pineapple the flavors were amazing. Now of course everytime you try a new recipe you are going to have a funny story to go along with it. I was baking the bacon in the oven and started to smell something kind of funny. Well, I opened the oven door and found that my bacon was charcoal BLACK! I rushed the pan outside as fast as I could with smoke filling the room. I couldn't help but laugh. Luckily we were able to salvage a few pieces for our burgers.

To go along with these delicious burgers, we decided to grill some corn. This was SO good and I strongly recommend it. I decided to add a little garlic salt to the corn with fresh ground pepper and it made the corn amazing. When you would bite into the corn you would bet the initial taste of butter, but then a little hint of garlic. It was amazing! I sliced up some watermelon and it was a complete meal. This was an awesome dinner and I highly recommend it.