Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp and sides

We really enjoyed these shrimp. I think next time I would add a bit more red pepper flakes. I didn't taste the spice in this, just the yummy butter, lemon and garlic goodness. That Pioneer Woman and her butter. Seriously. This was a lot of butter. BUT I think I do need to follow her suggestion next time and get some great crusty bread to soak up all the extra drippings.





We are recent shrimp converts. No more precooked frozen shrimp for this family. I am now comfortable with uncooked (fresh) frozen shrimp. These shrimp even had the shells on them! It makes for a messy meal but Jim agreed it was worth it.


We made half the recipe.


The sides were leftover mashed potatoes and cauliflower soup with bacon bits and cheddar cheese. You know how some foods just go together? Like you should have a vegetable, a protein, and a starch? I didn't think these were perfect together but we were using up our fresh vegetables and leftovers in the refrigerator. We are economical :)



Click here for the stolen recipe for Pioneer Woman's Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp.

Chili

I can never find the recipe for this online, even though that's where we got it originally, but this is our staple chili. We have never looked for another recipe- why mess with a good thing?

On Friday I came home and this was simmering on the stovetop. I love when my husband makes dinner :)



Do you want the recipe? Leave a comment and I'll know to just type it out later.

Asian Marinated Flank Steak

Excuse my half eaten plate! I forgot to take a picture and I knew this was a recipe that I wanted to blog about.

This marinade combines a bunch of ingredients that we love, and it's very easy. It is so nice to mix up the marinade, throw it in a ziploc with the flank steak, and then grill it the next day. I love my grill pan :)




Quick mashed red potatoes (potatoes, butter, half and half, a bit of cream cheese) and steamed asparagus with lemon.


Really, it looked more appetizing when it was freshly dished out!







Click here for the stolen recipe for Asian Marinated Flank Steak.

Chocolate Waffles

I love breakfast for dinner. My son and I tend to do this on the nights that Jim is out (he has a weekly pool league night). I don't think I would have experimented with chocolate waffles on a regular dinner night. Also, chocolate waffles sound more like dessert. Well, when it's just the two of us I go a little nuts :) It's like a special Mom/Son thing or something.

It's not often that James actually LIKES something new. I was glad he was willing to try the waffles and then he LIKED them!! Success. He dipped them in syrup and was happy.




I ended up only eating half of mine and I put strawberry jam on top. It is a pretty big waffle. I also made one for Jim and froze it. I know he'll enjoy it tomorrow!

The waffle recipe is from the waffle maker manual. I'm going to copy it here since I don't know if it's available anywhere online.

Chocolate Waffles

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients (milk through vanilla) in a medium bowl. Whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Let batter rest 5 minutes. Spray both waffle grids with cooking spray. Pour 1 cup batter onto the center of the bottom grid. Close top and flip waffle maker. Bake until set, about 4 minutes. Serve topped with your choice of topping- whipped cream, syrup, fruit.

Makes 3 waffles

I made regular Belgian waffles too and talked about my waffle iron in this post.

My Cookbooks

Hi CRMS Students,
I'm going to be reading an entry from my cooking blog. I keep this blog just for fun. I have a lot of friends and family members who like to look at the pictures of the food that I cook and bake. I started to bake after I took a Home Ec class in junior high- that's like your FACS class that you have or will have here at CRMS. Back then you had to cook from cookbooks, recipes that were from your family, or recipes that you created on your own! Now you can find almost anything online!

I've always been a cookbook girl. Actually, I've always been a book girl. I used to stay up really, really late at night without my Mom knowing (Hi Mom!) and hide under the covers with a flashlight and book. We didn't have many cookbooks laying around so my love of cooking was on hold for several years.

Books! They were everywhere when I was a kid. I went to the library a lot. Now my family has our own library in our house.

Here is my son's library. He has a great collection of Spanish books, picture books, and he still holds on to his baby board books. He loves to read. We read him books every night. I'm strict and will usually read "just two books" because otherwise he doesn't know limits. I love the time that I get to spend with him.



I wish I would have cleaned up the mess in my husband's office but here is our great big bookcase. Most of the books are mine but all the other stuff? His. He has Star Wars collectibles, little gadgets, and other interesting things on the shelves. But we love our books!

My husbands books are about computers, sports, and Star Wars.



The bottom two shelves are cookbooks. Whenever I have a birthday or it's Christmas I ask for books. The last few years it's been cookbooks. I make lots of things from the cookbooks. The books are well loved and well, they are sticky. They get pretty dirty when the flour, butter, and eggs are flying around the room!



One of my favorite things that I've made from my cookbooks are cupcakes. I made these owl cupcakes for my son's 3rd birthday party at daycare. At daycare they were having a "Forest Friends" theme for the week and so I made these cute owls.



They are just basic chocolate cupcakes with oreo cookies for the eyes, junior mints for the eyeballs, and a banana runt for the beak. Lots of chocolate frosting makes it look like they have feathers, sort of.

I found something that I love to do in books. What have you found in books that you love?

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust

In this house we have a favorite chocolate tart-like cake, it's actually a flourless cake called Chocolate Intensity. I did decide to experiment with a new recipe and I'm glad I did. This recipe won't take the place of Jim's beloved Chocolate Intensity because it is different. It's darker with a hint of spice (cinnamon, ground black pepper, and ginger in the crust). Yum.

It uses A LOT of chocolate. 12 ounces of bittersweet, to be exact.


It was a really simple recipe, almost foolproof. I love press-in-the-pan kinds of crusts. Even better when its pure cookie and butter goodness.

I made a little bit of homemade whipped cream, barely sweet because I knew the chocolate tart would be all the sweet I'd need. Small slivers of tart for both my Sweetie and me.


Lots of leftovers. I did consider making small tartlettes and freezing the small tarts for later but I think the large tart pan just really needed to be used. It gets lonely in storage, you know?



What to do with the leftovers... ?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust. It's from one of my favorite bloggers.

Ginger Beef Stir Fry

After being sick for so long it was really nice to try a new meal!

I've never tried this cut of meat, and I found it so-so. I think next time I would splurge with something more expensive. I also probably put too many vegetables (is that possible?) in the dish and so the sauce was spread a little thin. Next time I would stick to the proportions of the recipe or make more sauce! Oh, and the plum sauce was a new ingredient for me too. I found it quite easily in the ethnic aisle of Cub Foods.

Our verdict? Good. We will make it again! We love any meal that incorporates so many vegetables, an Asian flavor, fresh ginger, and my beloved Jasmine rice. Mmmmm.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Ginger Beef Stir Fry.

Mr. Bento

I love my new lunch jar! This was another Christmas gift. My sister Ana has one too, and she warned me that I would cause a lunchroom sensation and I did a little. It is quite amazing that all of these little containers fit into the jar.


I love the little containers because it does force you to consider portion sizes.

In this day's lunch and snacks (I don't eat all of this at once), from left to right: pretzels, blackberries & clementines, leftover bbq chicken flatbread pizza, Greek yogurt with berries and a tiny amount of sugar.

I love my spork!

Belgian Waffles

I received a great gift of a waffle maker for Christmas. Yay! Great waffles are just minutes away now :) I just used the simple recipe in the waffle maker manual.


James won't touch them but the adults love them. With just a bit of butter and syrup. I need to experiment with different flavors... I saw a great looking recipe for gingerbread waffles. Yum.


So I do recommend this waffle maker- It's the Presto Flipside. I did forget to spray it once and the waffles stuck. But with the next waffle I sprayed with nonstick spray and it was perfect.


Classic Waffles

2 cups flour
1 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
2 T vegetable oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Preheat waffle maker. Spray the waffle grids with cooking spray and then pour 1 cup batter onto the center of the bottom grid. Close top and flip waffle maker. Bake until brown, about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes.

Makes 4 waffles.

Peppermint Bark Ice Cream

I almost didn't post this one. It has good flavor but it took a long, long time to completely set up. It isn't a custard based ice cream, but one that is a simple mixture of heavy cream, sugar, milk, crushed candy canes, chopped bittersweet chocolate and chopped white chocolate.
+

Again, good flavor but I think next time I would make a traditional vanilla ice cream and add the separate add-ins.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Peppermint Bark Ice Cream.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Turtle Cookies

I usually stick to recipes, not changing one little detail. I found this recipe and I loved the idea of making a spectacular, different kind of thumbprint cookie. The original recipe used melted caramel candies but I knew that I have a salted caramel recipe up my sleeve that kicks that idea's butt.

I'm going to just announce that this recipe stinks. I think maybe then I won't have to share with anyone else. Okay, maybe my husband will get a cookie or two :)



Seriously, these are great. I don't even like pecans. You know, I keep saying that about nuts. I think I may have changed my mind after my husband's pecan pie. I think I just don't like plain nuts but if they are encased in sweet gooeyness or coupled with chocolate and salted caramel... well, what's a girl to do? EAT IT!

In this picture you can see that I didn't even wait for the caramel sauce to cool and harden a bit before putting it together. I need to learn patience!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chocolate Turtle Cookies.
Click here for the salted caramel recipe. This sauce is included in one of the best brownie recipes ever.

Tortilla Soup

The food blogger described this soup as easy and one pot (low mess in my mind) so I was on it. I'm glad that I tried a new recipe today. A soup was a great idea for a very cold, wintry day. And I love an enchilada/tortilla taste. Yum. I do need to say that this isn't very authentic Mexican. It felt like cheating but that's okay.

I think maybe I didn't use enough chicken. I'd probably add more vegetables of some sort too. I guess I'm used to a chunkier soup but the flavor was there. I used a mild canned enchilada sauce. I wonder if hot would have been too hot?

I garnished with avocado, baked tortilla strips (strips with oil and salt, baked at 400 for 10 minutes), cilantro, lime, sour cream, pepper jack cheese. Yum-o!

I've noticed that I don't print out a recipe until I've committed to making it again. I did send this recipe link to my husband so he can print it out tomorrow. I need to add it to my binder for future meal rotations.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Easy One Pot Tortilla Soup.

FAIL?

Well, Jim is eating his but maybe he's just being polite?

I made these "apple pies". I followed a recipe for the caramel apple pies and then just sauteed apples with butter, sugar, and cinnamon for James' pie. I call them pies but they're not really. Well, they have pie crust but only on top. I made little star and moon cutouts on the tops, so I knew that the star was James'. I guess I didn't figure that the caramel would ooze up and out of the ramekins.





Well, the crusts were fine. I think I'd make that recipe again. The caramel filling? Well, I didn't have Southern Comfort so I substituted another liqueur, Jim's ginger stuff. It seemed very thick and rich, but I thought it would bake up thick and rich too like a pecan pie filling. Well, no. It ended up kind of gloopy, for lack of a better word. The consistency of a raw egg white, you know, when you let it drip from the egg shell. It just hangs there, not really breaking off but just hanging on. Gloopy.

I didn't care for it.

Click here for the recipe for Spiced Caramel Apple Pie.
Click here for the recipe for Martha's Perfect Pie Crust (Pate Brisee). (I would make this part again. I am imagining using this for pot pies, minus a bit of the sugar.)

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

I made these cookies, thinking they'd maybe make it on my Christmas cookie plate later. Yeah, maybe. There are just so many cookies I'd like to make, so now that I've made these they might be out of my system, no matter how good they were. They were good! I found the recipe because I knew they'd be similar to Panera's cookies.

The first batch came out too dry. I overbaked. They were so soft to the touch that I kept adding minutes and more minutes to the baking time. Mistake. I guess they set a bit after you pull them out, more so than other kinds of cookies. So I learned. I made them smaller with the next batch and took them out earlier. They were crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside. Yum. And so minty!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies.

What's for Dinner?

Well, I was by myself tonight. I hadn't planned anything but I defrosted a salmon fillet quickly and then baked it with this dry marinade. I like this stuff a lot- it's sweet and tangy. I found Wee Willy's at Cub, in the spice section.

The salmon is from Sam's Club. You can buy a package of them (10?) for like $19. It's a nice, quick option to have in the freezer.

The coleslaw is leftover from last night's dinner.

Thanksgiving

It's amazing how little time it takes to scarf down all that food, all that love, energy, and time spent cooking for two days. Was it worth it? Of course! I was very happy to try so many new recipes. I don't think a single one really disappointed. My cranberry walnut rolls weren't light and fluffy, but kind of dense but still good. It was one recipe I wouldn't repeat as is. I wonder if I kneaded too much? Anyway, lots of good food. And I made my own gravy! Very proud and happy :)


OH! And my husband made both desserts. I can't make any claims on those. He did a fabulous job!


Appetizer-

Stuffed Mushrooms

Meal-

Pioneer Style Herb Roasted Turkey with Sage Gravy

Unfortunately, I didn't get any "after" pictures of the turkey. This is the 20 pounder slathered in herb butter. James declared it "yucky" looking.

The turkey ended up with a fabulous brown crust. It was darn pretty. I am so regretful that I did not get one little picture. Oh well. I have something better- leftovers!

Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes- These were great because I made them ahead of time and just stuck them in the oven while the turkey rested.


Brussel Sprouts Gratin- This isn't a picture from tonight's gratin. I was flying around the kitchen at the very end and didn't take a picture of the gratin or the turkey. Bummer.



Sourdough Stuffing with Carmelized Onions and Apples

Framboise Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Walnut Rolls

Dessert-

Jim proudly serves up his creations.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chocolate Pecan Pie

We are all satisifed and full. Our guests all went home with plenty of leftovers. That 2o pound bird was more than enough for our meal and many others. Happy Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanila-Salted Caramel Buttercream

I finally tried THE chocolate cake recipe that I've seen so many times on food blogs. THE recipe is on the back of every Hershey's cocoa tin. Wow. I am so glad I tried this recipe. I guess I've been a cocoa snob, thinking my Penzey's Dutch cocoa is sooooo much better than plain old Hershey's cocoa. Maybe so. But this recipe reminds me of the fluffy, moist cake that you can can easily make with a boxed mix. Boxed mix is okay, and call me a snob again but I just think a homemade recipe with ingredients that you can pronounce is definitely the way to go.

So moist fluffy chocolate cake. Yum. And then there is a salted caramel sauce. A little bit of it went into the vanilla buttercream. And then a little is drizzled on top of the cupcake. Oh yum! Buttercream is usually a little too sweet for me so the saltiness of the caramel was good, cutting that sweetness a bit.

I'm so glad that (one of) my BFF's birthday is this week and I could make some cupcakes to share. I hope she likes them. Happy Birthday Bobbi! You better be at work tomorrow :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla-Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Best Meal Ever

So I guess we were both really hungry. We both devoured our food. Jim proclaimed this "the best meal ever". It's damn good.

Easy notes: Make this on a Sunday, be leisurely about prep. I made the rice in the morning. I chopped the carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, and green onions ahead of time so when it came time to put everything together it was all just about following the recipe steps.

The sweet and sour chicken takes some effort because you have to pan fry the chicken pieces after they've been dipped in cornstarch and then egg. You brown them up and then put them in a 9x13 pan, pour the sweet and sour sauce over it, and then bake for an hour. You do need to flip the chicken pieces every 15-20 minutes so they don't dry out. In the last 15 minutes I started the fried rice.

Yum.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Vegetable Fried Rice

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Getting ready for Thanksgiving! I tried this recipe out last week, making it into mini cheesecakes that we could munch on all week. I also took two dozen of these babies to work. They were quickly devoured :)





We have declared them a success and will make the full sized cheesecake for Thanksgiving Day. Yay!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust.

Week's Menu

Sunday- Sweet and Sour Chicken & Vegetable Fried Rice

Monday- Tuscan Vegetable Soup

Tuesday- Leftovers

Wednesday- New recipe! Skinny Sloppy Joes & Buttermilk Broccoli Slaw

Thursday- Thanksgiving, baby! Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts Gratin, Cranberry Sauce, Cornbread Stuffing (?), Cloverleaf Rolls (new recipe), Pumpkin Cheesecake, Chocolate Pecan Pie (looking for recipe)

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday- Pizza