Breakfast Food. Delish.

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Have you seen these on Pinterest? The Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares (longest name ever...) looked pretty good (and EASY) to me! I actually had some quiet time around the house today (what???) and decided to try them out! Our breakfasts have been pretty boring lately so I hoped these would be a nice little change for the next couple mornings. The recipe is found on a cute blog called Gingerbread Bagels. My bananas are WAY too green right now to even try and mush them so I had to improvise. I used 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin instead AND added a couple sprinkles of nutmeg. I was worried about the flavor of pumpkin mixed with peanut butter, but it was pretty good! I will say that they taste healthy, which means they are not really sweet. I ate one with peanut butter spread on top (like she suggests) AND some chocolate chips. That sort of defeated the purpose of "healthy"... but I'll eat an apple later. That evens it out right?? Anyway, I will definitely make these again mostly because they were SO easy. Maybe 10 minutes tops. Most of that time was spent digging through my messy spice cupboard...

Another great breakfast food we've tried recently... also a popular pin on Pinterest:

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Two ingredient Pumpkin Muffins!

This links you to a blogger that said she got it from another blog that made it into a cake instead and that blog says she got it from someone else... so I wasn't sure who to give actual credit to... whatever... I gave SOMEONE credit... back to the muffins:

They are SO easy. AND delish. And if you want to make them three ingredient muffins, add some chocolate chips into the batter. You will NOT regret it. The longest part of the recipe is just putting the batter into the muffin tin! We made the whole batch, ate some for breakfast, and then froze the rest. They tasted just as good reheated! This recipe is SO worth it...

Now I'm going to eat another square...

Yummy Breakfast. Or Dessert. Synonomous, right??

I have expressed my love for Pinterest before and I'll do it again... I LOVE PINTEREST. There. I got it off my chest... I can't tell you how many lovely, awesome, beautiful, and most importantly, tasty things you can find! Today, I'm going to share a recent find in the tasty category:

I found a pin that took me here. Sopapilla cheesecake. Doesn't it even SOUND yummy?? I thought so, too. So here's my take on it:

Sopapilla Cheesecake:

Ingredients:

1 can crescent rolls

1 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. butter (melted)

Cinnamon & Sugar

(The original recipe calls for just white sugar, but we love the taste of brown sugar... so we split it!)

Just for looks, I bought the seamless dough. It cost just as much as the perforated Pillsbury dough so it didn't really matter. If I had found a Kroger brand of cresent rolls, I would have used that... but I didn't see any!

Preheat oven to 350!

First, step is to mix cream cheese and sugars.

Add vanilla and mix.

I could eat just the cream cheese mixture. Mmmmm.

Her directions say to spread the first layer of crescent roll dough in an ungreased pan, but I didn't want to take a chance on a crusty mess. So I greased it up. You will just use half of the roll for the bottom.

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bottom layer of dough.

And the most crucial step? Lick the bowl, beaters, and spoon. Trust me. You won't regret it!

Cover the mixture with the second half of the dough.

Spread the melted butter over the dough...

...and sprinkle your cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes and...

Look at that! YUM.

Both times I've made it, I've had to leave it in for the whole 30 minutes.

Serve it as soon as you can possibly stand to put it in your mouth without burning it! And since you will already be dealing with a sugar-overload, pair it with an iced coffee. You're day will be MUCH better because of it. OH. And then eat the leftovers (if there are any...) for dessert that night. Or an hour later.

Ok, that's all. Enjoy.

Iced Chai.

I mentioned in this post I mentioned trying this:

Now for my review... it's a winner! All you do is pour half chai and half milk over ice and mix. It ends up being A LOT cheaper than buying one at Starbuck's (or Highpoint), and it's not bad!

If you tend to want to stop by Starbuck's and buy an iced coffee or iced chai latte, I challenge you to try it at home and see how much money you save!! And truthfully, I like mine better!

Seven Layer Tostadas!

This is a pinterest inspiration! It's obviously not a very hard "recipe", but sometimes I need a little push in the right direction. It's so easy for us to get stuck in a rut of the same meals over and over again... so it's ALWAYS exciting to try something new! Tostadas are basically open-faced tacos... here's what we used:

Tostada shells (not pictured... they were just the Taco Bell brand. OR... you can pan-fry your own!)

Refried Beans

Sour Cream mixed with Taco Seasoning (I loved this idea!)

Homemade Guacamole

For lettuce, we just used baby spinach since we already had it.

Tomatoes

Cheese

Olives

Salsa

Green Chilies, for a little extra kick

I realize there are more than seven layers listed, but it's the general idea of seven layer dip... we just did them buffet-style so we could make them exactly like we wanted them!

Here's Parker's version:

He LOVES to dip his food in something so this was absolutely PERFECT for him!!

And here's my version:

I think I did tortilla, beans, guacamole, sour cream, spinach, cheese, tomatoes and olives, and finally green chilies. They were delish! It was the absolute EASIEST meal to make.

Don't skip this if you're scared of the guacamole... I know some people that just don't like it because they don't like what they've tasted in Mexican restaurants. Most of the places I go basically just mash up avocadoes and mix them with shredded lettuce. I know I'm not the final word on authentic, but I don't consider that true guacamole! My Gramps makes the BEST guacamole ever, and he's taught us his ways! Here's how:

Ingredients:

(I can't give you measurements... I just play it by taste!)

Avocadoes

Salsa

Lemon Juice

Garlic Powder

You want your avocadoes to be barely squishy. Most often the rind should be black (NOT green). If you squeeze them and they give a little, then they are perfect! (You don't want to be able to smoosh them a bunch!)

Cut your avocado in half (around the pit), remove the pit, and scoop out the green goodness.

Mash the avocado a little bit using a fork. At this point, add a little salsa and mix. (It seems like we do close to 1/4 cup salsa per avocado.) It will turn everything an ugly brownish-green, but trust me... it's perfect. Add a squeeze or two or three of lemon juice (just test it out... if you want it tangy add more... no tang? Add less...). Finally, sprinkle a bit of garlic powder to taste. Mix it all up and enjoy!!

It may take a couple tries to get it just how you like it, but I promise it's the BEST guacamole recipe ever. Kyle hated guacamole until he tried this one! Now we make it all the time!!

Iced Coffee!

Homemade Iced Coffee is all the rage right now... haven't you heard?? The Pioneer Woman had her own recipe, and there are a few others floating around Pinterest. (If you have yet to check Pinterest out, DO IT! If you like to look at blogs for great ideas, but don't really enjoy the rambling on and on... Pinterest is worth your time!)

I found THIS recipe on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it! Then I realized the method she used for making the actual coffee, and I don't have patience for that... SO, I brewed a normal batch of hot coffee and stuck it in the fridge. I made her "sweet cream" using a can of evaporated milk and a can of sweetened condensed milk. Soon enough I had a glass of AMAZINGLY perfect Iced Coffee! I just poured about 2/3 full of coffee, topped it off with the cream, and then added a few squeezes of chocolate syrup (really healthy, right??). And...

Y'all. Don't ever buy Iced Coffee from Starbuck's again. I kid you not. It's literally better than any iced coffee I've ever bought at a coffee shop. I love that you can make it as strong or as sweet as you want, too! Oh, and put it in a mason jar to drink it. All the cool kids are doing it. Plus, it just looks pretty.

Next up??

Iced Chai Tea Latte. I have made them before using a recipe that has you steep chai tea bags, fresh ginger, and peppercorns in steamed milk, but it wasn't quite "spicy" enough for me. I also saw a recipe basically having you make your own chai tea mix (meaning you would have to buy star anise and ground cardamom... and I've never seen them in a store before..). While it's probably delicious, I thought this mix might be easier! Plus, I've actually heard good things about it. I'll be sure to give you an update...

Until then... I'm off to finish my iced coffee.

A Date Night In with Fondue!

I think date nights at home are my FAVORITE. I absolutely LOVE getting dressed up, going out, ordering fun stuff, etc....but it's really fun to come up with a fun menu, cook dinner together, and not having to relieve a babysitter. My absolute favorite part is that you aren't limited to a menu! You get to choose EXACTLY what you want, and prepare it EXACTLY like you want it. Obviously, kitchen disasters happen, but I love experimenting with new recipes and new foods!

When we do date night IN, we usually make an appetizer to have while Parker is eating dinner and to tide us over until his bedtime. Once Park-man is in bed, we get to cookin'! SO. Here's our appetizer from our date night IN this past week:

Hot Crab Dip (from Our Best Bites)

Ingredients:

2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayo

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded crab meat (or Krab, which is what we used! It was under $3 compared to $15 for the real thing.)

juice of one small lemon (1 Tbsp.)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 Tbsp. coarse grain mustard

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350.

-Combine crab and lemon juice in lg. bowl , then add remaining ingredients.

-Mix well and spread into med. baking dish.

-Bake for 20-25 min. or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

-Serve with slices of sourdough bread.

Voila! YUMMY crab dip. Please, oh, please don't make this for just 2 of you. We ended up eating about 1/4 of the dip! This would be PERFECT for game night, football game, or for family gatherings!

Kyle enjoying his first bite! :)

Then came the FUN. FONDUE! We registered for our electric fondue pot when we were engaged and were so excited to receive it! Unfortunately, until now, we'd only used it one time for chocolate fondue. We can't wait to have fondue for meat again! I googled "fondue recipe for meat melting pot" and found a recurring recipe so we went with it.

Coq Au Vin Fondue

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup burgundy wine (we used merlot)

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1 Tbsp. garlic, minced

2 green onions, sliced

Directions:

-Heat vegetable stock in fondue pot until it begins to simmer.

-Add all other ingredients, bring to simmer.

-Place individual pieces of desired meat or veggies on fondue fork and put in pot until correct temp. is reached.

That's it!! So simple. We ended up having to add some soy sauce and pepper to the recipe to give it a little more flavor. We may use chicken broth next time and play around with some spices to give it a bigger kick.

Below you'll see our fondue choices:

We used portobella, broccoli (my favorite), salmon, and yellow squash. And here's a recipe for the dipping sauce we made:

Lemon Teriyaki Dip

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

-Combine all ingredients in a small pot.

-Bring to a boil and ensure all sugar dissolves.

-Serve with fondue.

(The longer the sauce boils, the thicker it will get. We wanted it be a little sticky so we let it boil for a couple minutes.)

Kyle working hard.

Our yummy meal!

We have had a couple very special dates at The Melting Pot in Memphis so i guess this was our attempt to recreate it! Anyone else have any luck with fondue at home? I would love to hear your tips and recipes!

Summer Meal Ideas!

I LOVE Summery meals! I am a big fan of fresh vegetables, and both of the meals I'm sharing with you include them! I have gone on and on about my FAVORITE food blog called Our Best Bites... and here I go again! :) Their Greek Style Pitas are amazingly fresh and so, so tasty!

We change just a couple things about the recipe to fit our taste... we both LOVE fresh baby spinach and almost always have it in the fridge so we use that instead of a lettuce leaf. We also add feta into our sauce to give it a little texture. In the greek pico, we also used green onions instead of red onion. The red onion flavor is too strong for me, and Kyle is sweet to put up with my pickiness! Finally, we like to use a couple different varieties of tomatoes. I am in love with the orange tomatoes (I can't remember their name!) and you can never go wrong with Roma tomatoes... together they are perfection.

Kroger has had a 3 for $1 deal on corn on the cob, and it was a PERFECT pairing for our pitas! We put our corn straight on the grill for a few minutes, and it is delicious! I can't get enough of fresh corn... I even love the taste of corn on the cob right out of the fridge!

Our second summery meal is Teriyaki Chicken Salad Sandwiches. Chicken salad is SO easy, and it can be made SO many different ways! Eat it with a side of....what else, corn on the cob!

We have been going the lazy route and buying a rotisserie chicken from Kroger (pretty inexpensive, though!), and using the already cooked chicken. We didn't have any teriyaki sauce this go 'round, so we added a little Captain Rodney's (a sauce used for a baked cheesy appetizer) instead. I would even suggest a little honey if you needed extra flavor! Along with mango, we also put a handful of chopped grapes for another texture. Sunflower seeds were also pretty good in place of the almonds. Like I said, chicken salad is SO versatile that it's hard to go wrong! OH. And please, please eat it on a croissant. Don't just use sandwich bread like we did this time... you won't regret it!

Just for fun...

If you've read this blog before I'm sure you recognize this face... haha, this is the "CHEESE" face!

Parker wanted to pose with Mama for a picture!! I was so happy to accept! :)

What are some of your favorite summer meals? I would LOVE more fresh ideas!

Other fun meal ideas:

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Tortellini Spinach Bake with Creamy Lemon Sauce

Spinach and Feta Pasta

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas

Grilled Honey Lime Pork Chops (I shared them with you HERE)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie!

I told my sister about this one, and she said, "Gross." Haha, I understand that sentiment. Smoothies are normally fruity and sweet, right? If you remember my last smoothie post, I talked about Real Simple's February 2011 issue having a bunch of different smoothie recipes. This is another one! What made me try it? I wanted a smoothie, I had all of the ingredients already, and I like pumpkin! So...here it goes:

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup ice

1/2 cup whole milk (I assume any milk would do..)

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 Tbsp. honey

pinch of ground nutmeg

pinch of cinnamon (I added this!)

Directions are simple.

Put all ingredients in a blender (again, my ninja is AWESOME.), and blend until frothy.

I swirled a little extra honey and sprinkled a little more cinnamon on top. Drinks are always more fun with decorations! :)

Next time I will probably put more pumpkin in mine and a little less milk. Or maybe... use plain yogurt instead! I may also use a little extra cinnamon. I love how versatile smoothies are. You can use almost ANYTHING!

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe? I wouldn't mind trying new ones!

Sesame Chicken!

I'm so, so happy to post another recipe!! I haven't posted one in awhile, and that means a few things...

1. I have been busy.

2. I have been making the same ol' meals...BORING.

3. I haven't been cooking at all!

Poor Kyle... I'm sure he was happy to eat a warm meal...

We found this recipe on Low Fat Lifestyle at a point when we were trying to eat a little healthier... and we LOVE it!! I mentioned "making the same ol' meals" and this is actually one of those...but it's delish! We could eat it every week! Now, I'll share the yummy goodness with you:

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in strips or chunks

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes or crushed red pepper (a little goes a long way!)

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

-Cut chicken into strips or chunks

- Heat large skillet to med-high heat, spray with cooking spray.

-Cook chicken until no longer pink.

-While chicken is cooking, mix together all ingredients (except sesame seeds).

-Whisk until sauce is smooth.

-Pour sauce into skillet with chicken...

-...and cook until sauce thickens slightly. (Add a little bit of water is sauce becomes too thick!)

-Sprinkle with sesame seeds. (We forgot this step!! I guess we made Non-sesame Chicken, then...)

-Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

-While chicken is simmering, boil or microwave rice. (Ain't no shame in microwavin'...it took 6 minutes for 2 servings of rice... perfect timing!!)

-Serve over rice and steamed vegetables. (Notice I didn't say "smother"...do as I say and not as I do! Haha, our chicken and sauce definitely SMOTHERED the rice...also, we do NOT have steamed vegetables in there...we DID eat steamed edamame as an appetizer so that counts, right??)

This is literally one of the easiest meals to make. You only have to clean one pan!! NOW I have your attention! :) Enjoy!

P-Dub and Hummus

I can't tell you how exciting it was to see/meet someone who I feel like I know so well (weird) from reading her blog... I think I was a little TOO excited at moments... I got goosebumps. That means A LOT. I'm not kidding. I get goosebumps when I'm nervous/anxious/excited... enough of that. Onto our fun night!!

I told you I was excited.

Before Ree (we are on a first name basis now) came out, we hung out in the book aisles... Ashley found another book she was excited about, so we decided to take a picture?? Ok, this part of the night was a blur...I couldn't think of anything else but The Pioneer Woman!

Roxanne didn't take me too seriously... I don't know the last "normal" picture I have of just us...

Obviously, Aly and Rox worked together on sabotaging my pictures...

(Excuse the terrible quality...a combination of really bad lighting and a 10 year old camera makes for a ridiculous picture.)

Ree came out which sent a wave a cheering across the crowd of women... and then, the announcement of a "special guest" caused a hush through the bookstore. "My husband is here!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not kidding, the screams were hilarious! I think Marlboro Man got a bigger scream than she did!

By the time we got through the book-signing line and took our group picture with Ree, Marlboro Man had a line longer than Pioneer Woman to take pictures and get autographs... so we decided to be sneaky and take pictures from behind him! :) Great idea, Aly! Poor guy. I wonder if he knew he would have to endure such a crazy group of Memphis women...

All the girls! She was so sweet to take pictures with us!!

(Ashley, I'm not sure why I chose to post this picture...we actually have a really good one of us!!)

After the signing, we made our way to Las Delicias to fill our grumbling bellies. We ended up having to wait an HOUR. Yuck. But it was so worth it!! Amazing guacamole! I definitely hope to make a trip there again!

Finally, a good one! I love my seesters.

We had a really fun night! My biggest regret was not saying much about The Pioneer Woman coming to Memphis to my Oxford friends!!!! I'm hoping a trip to Square Books is in her future...

If you haven't noticed, I can't go TOO long without posting a recipe... So here it is...

HUMMUS! I found a recipe/tutorial/how-to for Tahini (for real!) from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice and couldn't help but try it. My sister and I were just talking about how we hate buying Tahini from the store not knowing if we would finish the whole canister. Little did I know, it's not hard to make! (I also used her hummus recipe.) I still need to try my sister's Black-Eyed Pea Hummus recipe... tastes amazing!

I hope you enjoyed my rambling, and I hope you have an amazing day!