Pinterest Challenge: Summer Sangria

I mentioned that last week I hosted my bunco group. That meant I was in charge of dinner for 14+ women. I decided that since we were so close to Cinco de Mayo to do a taco bar for dinner. I could cook the chicken in the crockpot all day, cut up some taco toppings, warm up some tortillas and we would be set. I was looking through the most recent edition of Everyday With Rachael Ray and I saw this article:

Pinned here

A sangria bar? Sign me up!

One problem... I have never made sangria, so I started to look up some recipes.

1/2/3/4

I also looked at the sangria recipes Rachael Ray also has on her website. While a lot of those look yummy, they all have a TON of ingredients, besides for the cut up fruit. I wanted simple. Then I stumbled across this

Source

4 ingredient, plus fruit? Sign me up. I did make a couple of adjustments. I don't like red wine. Actually, I don't really like wine, but I tolerate the white kinds much more. So after standing in the wine aisle for way to long, I grabbed a random bottle of white that was under $7. Also, my grocery store didn't have passion fruit juice concentrate, so I settled on 2 cans of Passion-Orange mix.

I had two trays of fruit cut up for people to add to their cups: fresh mango, apples, limes, kiwi,and oranges and a tray of frozen strawberries, peaches, raspberries, cherries and blueberries.

I also made up two non-alcoholic beverages for people who  don't drink alcohol. I thought lemonade and peach ice tea would also be fun to add fruit to. I had a glass of lemonade with berries and mango added to it.

The sangria turned out so yummy! Another lady in the group brought a bottle of peach schnapps to add to the sangria, so we topped our red solo cups off with it. I thought it was a great addition to the punch.

Do you have a go to drink recipe? (this is now mine!) Did you do anything for the Pinterest challenge this time?

Check out the other Pinterest Challenge participants at Katie, Sherry, Renee and Emily's blogs!

DIY Coffee Creamer

I pin a lot of stuff (like most people on Pinterest.) I have done my fair share of trying things out, and unfortunately I have had plenty of Pinterest fails. Sometimes I tread very carefully when I try out new things. When I saw this pin for DIY coffee creamer I was interested but I wasn't getting my hopes up.

Source

I love the flavor that coffee creamer adds. BUT I hate the mile long list of ingredients on the back of the bottle.

Isn't it crazy that milk isn't even an ingredient?

The recipe was fairly simple: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups milk, and a teaspoon of xantham gum. She had a bunch of variations/flavors to add to her base recipe. After looking through her variations, I chose to add 1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make coconut cream. Add all the ingredients to a bottle and shake. Easy peasy.

I decided I had to try it immediately, so I made myself a cup of coffee and poured some in. Almost immediately after I poured it in my mug, I noticed some lumps floating to the top. Not appetizing. I actually threw out that mug and tried again. I shook the creamer more this time before I poured it in. Still, a few lumps, so I stirred it in a bit more. My nose told me that it wasn't curdled, so I went ahead and tasted it. It was delicious. I am not sure what the little lumps were (maybe from the sweetened condensed milk?) but I didn't notice them as I was drinking. The next morning (today) I opened looked inside my creamer bottle and noticed a lump of something floating around. Ew. I poured all of my creamer into the blender (after it passed the smell test) and blended it together. When I poured it into my coffee, it was kind of foamy and thick. After talking with the home ec teacher at my school, I think the culprit is the xantham gum. I have never worked with that stuff before, and I know it is a thickening agent. I didn't notice anything after I stirred my coffee.

I am going to finish off this bottle (or at least try to) and then I will try again, without the xantham gum. I don't think this was much cheaper than the store bought creamers, but I feel better about drinking it. I am pretty excited to try some other flavors. I have been thinking about making vanilla caramel next.

How do you take your coffee? Have you tried to make your own creamer?

My Mom's Recipes: Pinterest Challenge

Last week the lovely Katie and Sherry announced the Winter edition of my most favorite link-up, the Pinterest Challenge. This time they bringing in Megan and Michelle to co-host with them. The basic idea is to take something that you have pinned and do it. I love this link-up and I have only missed one (the first one) since they started it. However, there has not been a lot of time for DIY in my house lately. During the week, I have just been too tired to do much when I get home from work, and lately my weekends are spent organizing my mom's estate. But it was my mom's estate that actually inspired my project for this challenge.

My mom was a pretty good cook. I can't actually think of anything I really didn't like that she made. One thing I really regret is not spending more time with her in the kitchen. I wasn't really interested in cooking until I moved out on my own. I lived a little over an hour away, and it was never on the top of my list to make it to her house for a cooking lesson. Of course I would call her up when I had a question, but I really do wish I could go back in time and change my priorities. (I think I just got a little too serious for a Pinterest Challenge post...)

While going through my mom's kitchen I found a few of her index cards with recipes written on them. My mom had once joked with me that you could always tell which recipes were the best ones because they were covered in splatters from cooking. Three of my favorites were the most difficult to read. I knew I wanted to do something with them. 

I love this idea from Spoonflower.

Turning hand written recipes into tea towels

But for right now, this is more my speed:

The pin didn't take me to a website. 

I gathered my three favorite recipes, scrapbook paper, frames, paper cutter and double sided tape.

Then I cut the paper, used a small piece of double sided tape to attach the card to the paper and put it in the frame.

Having these in the kitchen is a little way to keep my mom in the kitchen with me.

The three recipes are apple butter, banana nut bread, and her pie crust. I shared her apple butter before. (It's worth the click!) Here is the best banana nut bread recipe ever. (She also has a version with whole wheat flour and honey, but here is the original recipe.)

Mom's Banana Nut Bread
2 1/2 cups flour
1 c sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 TBS. vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts
3-4 ripe bananas

Mix all ingredients  scraping the sides often. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan (9x5x3). Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes.

Do you have any family recipes?

Randoms

*Here is a life changer.

Frozen chopped onions. Some people may think it is silly. Others may think it is a waste of money. Yes, buying an onion and chopping it myself would be cheaper, but 91 cents isn't going to bankrupt us. And this way I don't cry. And the house doesn't stink like onions.  And none of it goes to waste. I've never eaten them raw, but if I have used them in taco meat, chili and stuffed peppers and I couldn't tell a difference.

*Meanwhile in the kitchen:

Do you use a potato masher to cook ground meat? I got the idea from Rachael Ray and it works great to break it up into little crumblies.

*I started the Couch to 5K program again after the first of the year with a friend of mine. I did it a few years ago and it was awesome. I even went on to run a marathon and a couple of halves. It's been awhile since I ran, and I am definitely out of running shape. We just finished week 2 and I am feeling pretty good about it. I've also been going to Zumba pretty regularly.

*Running outside in January sucks. Its cold. And sometime it snows and is icy. Yuck.

*This woman in New York posed as one of the Sandy Hook victim's aunt to raise money for the family. It was a scam. When Anderson Cooper asked her about it, she said she was framed by an enemy she has in the crafting community. Enemy in the crafting community. Yup, those people who craft, they are some evil geniuses.

* And you are welcome:

Pictures of people being blown with a leaf blower

What's going on with you lately??

Eggnog Coffee Cake

Last December I posted 6 times. Right now it looks like I am heading for that number. I want to share a recipe that I posted in late December, because it is awesome. And you will thank me. I think I will be making this for Christmas morning again this year. It was fantastic. The best part? You make it ahead of time and then just bake it in the morning for 40 minutes.

Overnight Eggnog Streusel Coffeecake

Betty Crocker. She Rocks

Streusel Topping 
1/3 cup sugar
1 T flour
1T softened butter
1/2 t nutmeg

Coffee Cake
1 cup  sugar
1/2 cup softened butter 
1 cup egg nog
8 ounces sour cream (1 small container)
1 t vanilla extract (Betty asked for rum extract, I had vanilla)
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Eggnog Glaze 
1/2 cup powdered sugar 
2ish T eggnog 

Mix the streussel topping in a small bowl and set it aside.

With an electric mixer beat1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter, or mix with spoon and get your work out in. Beat in 1 cup eggnog, the sour cream, vanilla and eggs until blended. Stir in 2 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Spread in  a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle Streussel Topping over batter. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours. 

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. (If you don't want to keep it in the fridge, just reduce bake time to 30-35 minutes) Let it cool and drizzle the egg nog glaze over the top.

My 13 year old nephew called this "incredible." Mine wasn't as pretty as Betty's but it tasted great. 

What are your holiday must haves??

Weekend (un)adventures

Honestly, we've been having some pretty low key weekends around here. I spend most a completely acceptable amount of time in my jammies. (To be fair, sometimes I shower and then put on a clean set.) That's why I haven't been doing weekend recaps lately. I changed out of my jammies a couple of times this weekend, so I figure I should document it.

This weekend (well Thursday night) I...

played in my bunco group! It was our first get together, and we are planning on doing it the first Thursday of every month. I made an amazing fruit dip. Some of the ladies even thought the home ec teacher made it, which totally made my day.

Pinned via here

I actually found this recipe on Pinterest while shopping for snacks for bunco night.  

Mix on medium speed... 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese until combined.

Add in... 1 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fold in... 1 cup (ish) Cool Whip

Let chill and serve with fruit slices. Or a spoon. It's that good.

This weekend I...

...tried to make this guy feel as comfortable as possible. 

This is Kanobi, my mom's cat. I guess technically he was my cat first. I got him when I was a sophomore in high school, and when I moved away to college he had to stay behind. If you are doing the math right, you will notice that this old man is 15 years old. He actually got out of my mom's house the day she passed away, and it took my brother almost a month to get him back in the house. Last weekend the mister and I headed up to my mom's house and were finally able to catch him and bring him to our house. Currently he has his own room in the house and we are slowly getting the other animals use to him. My dog couldn't care less. My cat on the other hand...

This weekend I...

Pinned via here

...hung out with the BFF and started to make one of these felt Christmas trees for her daughter. She is 17 months old and the idea is that she will play with this tree instead of the big one. We just were cutting out ornaments and I don't have any pictures of what we made, but I will get some once it is all put up in their house. 

How was your weekend? Have you ever played bunco?

A tale of two recipes

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. The princess fancied herself creative, funny and a good cook. In her small world, she was the greatest at all things domestic. Her handsome prince applauded her creative efforts, laughed at her jokes and ate her delicious dinners, often times asking for seconds. One day the princess discovered a website, where other princesses shared ideas, jokes and recipes. The princess realized she could be even greater, by using some of the ideas shared on this website. Some of her creations turned out wonderfully. Some did not...

True story folks. Some things on Pinterest are not as good as you think they will be. While browsing Pinterest last weekend I ran across a recipe for a "skinny" version of chicken broccoli alfredo. I quickly repinned it, and earlier this week I tried it out.

Source

I mean, look at it. Yum. Right? I have gotten more comfortable with using Greek yogurt in recipes, and I was all about trying out a "healthier" alfredo dish. The recipe calls for two cups roasted broccoli and two cups grilled chicken breasts. I chopped up a head of broccoli, sprayed it with olive oil, added salt and pepper and put it in the oven. My favorite way to cook chicken breasts? George Foreman Grill. Hands down. Even though it is the easiest, quickest and in my humble opinion tastiest way to cook up a plain chicken breast, I fell weird when I use it now that I am not in college. After the chicken was cooked and cut up, and the broccoli was out of the oven, I followed the rest of the recipe to a "T." The sauce looked a little weird. Not creamy like I thought it would be. I ate it, but felt pretty "eh" about it.

The Mister had a different reaction. My husband will eat anything I cook. And most of the time he has seconds. (He even had seconds of the crockpot lasagna I made. The one that I deemed inedible and had PB&J instead.) I knew something was wrong as the number of chews per bite increased. 

"What is this?"

"It's kind of like chicken alfredo, but it's made with Greek yogurt."

"Don't make it again."

The next day, I picked out the rest of the chicken and the broccoli and made a wrap for lunch. Then I dumped the rest of it in the trash. This was a Pinterest fail.

Not everything I make from Pinterest turns out so yucky. One of my first pins has become one of my favorite go to dishes:Zucchini Casserole. Do not be scared off by the name, you can change it up by whatever veggies you have too much of, look good at the farmers market or just feel like eating. It also is a great one to bring to someone with a new baby or illness or what not. I am sharing that recipe today over at  The Life of Two SoKools. Check it out.

Have you had any Pinterest fails? What about yummy successes?

Stuffed Peppers

I realized I haven't shared a recipe in awhile, even though I have been taking pictures of my food. Here is a recipe I I made a couple weeks ago, and was loosely based on a recipe I pinned. Please forgive me, it looks like I only took an after picture of this recipe, but it turned out so well, I wanted to share.

I have always been a little intimidated to make stuffed peppers, and I really have no idea why. I've stuffed zucchini, pasta and chicken breasts before, but never peppers. Me = dumb. This was easy, healthy, yummy and idiot proof. :)
Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Source

3-4 bell peppers, cut in half ribs and seeds removed.
Olive Oil
1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef or chicken or whatever)
1/2 onion chopped (I prefer sweet onions)
taco seasoning
1 can black beans-rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup frozen corn
1 16 oz jar of salsa (I used Mrs. Renfro's  mango habanero salsa)- the sweetness was really yummy in the recipe so I would get some sort of mango or peach or pineapple salsa

Source

cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado for topping

1. Lightly coat the pepper halves with olive oil, and put in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
2. Cook the ground meat and onion together. Add the taco seasoning according to directions.
3. After cooked, drain off any extra fat, and put it in a bowl.
4. Add the rinsed beans, the brown rice and the jar of salsa.
5. Mix in the frozen corn.
6. Add mixture to the pepper halves. If your peppers are like mine, you will have lots left. I froze my filling for another night. And put the peppers in a 9x11 pan.
***I got pretty smart and did all of this the night before and I kept them in the fridge until the dinner the next night.***
6. Top with shredded cheese and put the peppers in the 400 degree oven for another 20 minutes.

Take them out and serve with your favorite toppings (I had avocado and fat free sour cream. I really wished I had made some guacamole for them)

Hee, it kind of looks like a face

The mister and I both really liked these. You can change up the filling to fit your own tastes. These would also be really good vegetarian by upping the beans/rice and adding some cooked mushrooms. I know I will be making these again. I have no idea why it took so long for me to make stuffed peppers.

What's your favorite stuffing for peppers? Any great dinner recipes I should try out?

Recipe Thursday: Crab Chowder

Part of my goals for 2012 was to try out at least one new recipe a month. This was probably my favorite part of my 30 before 30 list, and I am excited to continue. This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light, and of course I found it on Pinterest. This was the dinner I made for Valentines for The Mister and I.

The Ingredients

2 T Butter
1/2 onion- chopped
3/4 cup celery- chopped
1 garlic clove- minced
1 lb red potato- cubed
2 1/2 c milk
2 t fresh thyme
1/4 t nutmeg
1 can cream corn
1 can chicken broth
8 oz fresh mushrooms- chopped
8 ounces lump crab meat
3 tablespoons fresh parsley- chopped
Salt, pepper, & red pepper flake to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, red pepper flake and garlic. Cook until onion is soft. Add potato and cook for about a minute. Sprinkle with flour cook for another minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in milk, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, corn, mushrooms and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for at least 30 more minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in crab, parsley, and salt; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the soup is stirring, open a can of fridge biscuits and cut them with a cookie cutter into a heart shape and bake them according to directions. (I guess this part is optional)

So, how was it?
We both liked the flavor, but we also both wanted it creamier. I used skim milk because its all we had, but using milk with some fat in it, or even half and half probably would have helped that. I loved the heart biscuits too, so even though I said it was optional, you totally should do it.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

It's just about mid-January, so most people have thrown their resolutions out the window. BUT if you are still trying to eat healthier, I have a delicious treat for you. If you are done with healthy eating, these are still a delicious treat. Let's all thank Pinterest for bringing this to my attention.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple

For the Frosting:
1 block reduced fat cream cheese
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple (drained)
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup powdered sugar (I think it was about a cup...)

Dump the can of  pineapple (juice and all) into the cake mix.

Stir it until combined and fill your cupcake pan 1/2-2/3 of the way full.

Bake like you normally would (350 for 15ish minutes.)

This picture is awful. At least you know my blog is real, right?

Feel free to lick the bowl/spoon/beaters. There is no raw egg! Let's be real, I would have licked the spoon anyway. BUT my friend who was baking with me is 7 months pregnant, so she could also lick the spoon without fear that her unborn son will have a third eye or 17 toes or whatever raw eggs do to people and fetuses.

For the frosting, mix the coconut, cream cheese and drained pineapple together with powdered sugar. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup granulated sugar. We started with that, but it just tasted like cream cheese, so we pulled out the powdered sugar and added it until it tasted yummy.

When the cupcakes are cooled, frost and enjoy!

So, how was it?
I really liked these and so did the Mister (who doesn't like cake!) Kim also liked them lots. We were brainstorming different frosting options as we were eating them. We both think a mix of a vanilla pudding packet and Cool Whip with the coconut/pineapple would be yummy (that is a Skinny Girl trick!) The original pin said these were 154 calories, but with the change to the frosting I'm not really sure, but they are less than most cupcakes!

What have you been treating yourself with??

Egg Nog Coffee Cake

Hey all! (sheepish wave)

It's been awhile, but the end of school, our Vegas trip and the holidays took all my time and sucked it up into a black hole. I have a ton of posts I need to write, including my final 30 before 30 update because yup the big 3-0 happened.

I wanted to share a recipe with you, in case you have a New Year's brunch or (like us) still have another Christmas gathering to go to. When I made this, I completely forgot to take pictures, but I managed to get one picture of the last piece. My 13 year old nephew called it incredible. This is a Betty Crocker recipe, and Betty did not disappoint! The best part is that you can make it the night before and have just pop it in the oven in the morning!

Overnight Eggnog Streusel Coffeecake

Streusel Topping
1/3 cup sugar
1 T flour
1T softened butter
1/2 t nutmeg

Coffee Cake
1 cup  sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup egg nog
8 ounces sour cream (1 small container)
1 t vanilla extract (Betty asked for rum extract, I had vanilla)
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Eggnog Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2ish T eggnog

Mix the streussel topping in a small bowl and set it aside.

With an electric mixer beat1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter, or mix with spoon and get your work out in. Beat in 1 cup eggnog, the sour cream, vanilla and eggs until blended. Stir in 2 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Spread in  a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle Streusel Topping over batter. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.


Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. (If you don't want to keep it in the fridge, just reduce bake time to 30-35 minutes) Let it cool and drizzle the egg nog glaze over the top.

Mine looks nothing like Betty's pictures. But it was delish!!!

Did you try out any new holiday foods this year?

Recipe Thursday: Breakfast Pizza

I've lost count at what number recipe this is. Oh well.

This recipe jumped out at me from Keeping Up With the Cyperts. Her blog is a fun little read and she has some yummy & easy recipes on it. This one jumped out at me because a) it was a fun twist on breakfast for dinner b) it only had 4 ingredients and c) I had all 4 ingredients. Perfect. (Her pictures are much better than mine)

Breakfast Pizza

1 Tube of Crescent Rolls
3 eggs
Sausage (we used chorizo)
Mozzarella Cheese

Take the crescent rolls out of the tube and arrange them into a half pizza shape on a cookie sheet. Curl up the edges to make the pizza crust.

Brown up your meat choice. Then whip up the eggs in a bowl.

Put the chorizo (or sausage or bacon) on the dough. Pour the eggs over the top then sprinkle with yummy cheese.



Bake in the oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is gooey.

How was it?

Yummy. The Mister and I both liked it and it was a fun and easy dinner. Did I mention it only had 4 ingredients?

Do you have any easy meals with just a few ingredients?