After a Year of Thinking....

This blog is going to be revamped. A total overhaul. A new outlook on life. New segments, new ideas, new everything! Get ready, because on January 1st your life will change! Well.... maybe not that extreme, but I got some thing up my sleeve!

Dinner Updates!

So they black bean casserole was yummy!

Then, we went a little off the menu plan and made asian chicken burgers on the fourth of July. They were topped with a asian red cabbage slaw that was soooo good, it could have been on it's own. Then we had a little grilled zucchini with it, and sweet potato fries. It was Asian, but still yummy enough to celebrate our independence. :)

Next on the dinners was the 5 spice tilapia with the cauliflower couscous. It was my first time having couscous, and they were good! I wil be making couscous more often now! And the 5 spice on the tilapia was delicious and really enhanced the flavor of the fish.

Last night I made the broccoli 3 cheese casserole, but forgot to take pictures. And as I was making it, I realized I have already made it! It must have been for the last time we went vegetarian. So, not a big loss that you don't get to see it. It was good though! Needed chicken! Haha.

Tonight we are having the mac and cheese soup with zuchini and feta fritters. And for dessert... Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes that are just so freaking good! The cinnamon brown sugar glaze that melts together with the cream cheese frosting on top of a moist yellow cake swirled with cinnamon and brown sugar... Yum. Some chopped pecans would be really good in it too. Maybe next time.

Well, I'm trying to keep up with the cooking a photos and the writing. I've just been trying to do some soul searching as to what I really want to be doing, and where I want to go. At 24, it doesn't seem like I should really think about it all, and just enjoy what I have and where I'm at now. I'm just impatient. I want something to happen now. But who doesn't? Until next time... I will leave you with a preview of the yummy cupcakes.....

Enjoy!!

My Parents Top Secret Dinner Review

Since this was a while ago, I forgot all that I was going to write about it. I had some good words, too. But, since I put everything off, this review is not going to be good. Well, the review will be good, but the words and whatnot aren't really critic quality. All I'm going to say is, it was fantastic. Very flavorful. The chicken was beyond moist. The potatoes had flavor from here to the moon. The little bacon wrapped, asparagus stuffed potatoes were super cute and super yummy. And I would like the recipe for the sauce my dad put on the chicken, but he wouldn't tell me. Shows how much he loves his only daughter. Haha! I know it have smoked paprika in it though.

It was all very yummy. But I think my banana fosters cream pie stole the show! (Sorry mom and dad...haha.) I'm kidding. They made an excellent dinner. But, this war isn't over. I have some trick up my sleeve... Dinner at my house very soon!

What's for dinner this week?

Yes, I made all these promises weeks ago, and never followed through. But if you know me, that's how I am. I put things off and other things are more important. I have been super busy at work now that I actually have to run it. But, I have some free time right now and I'm gonna try to bang out some blogs.

So, I've been wanting to go vegetarian again. Not strict, but I want to focus more on veggies than meat. Chuck agreed and we have a weeks worth of meals planned. Well, probably two and half since he closes a few times next week and I won't make dinner for me and Teito. I think we have a pretty good line up, and the grocery bill was considerably cheap. 

Tonight I am making a Black Bean Enchilada Casserole. We've made it before and it was so good, and I finally found the recipe. I excited about that. It's pretty easy. Layering cheese, green enchilada sauce, black beans and corn between corn tortillas. There's some jalapenos and garlic and cumin in there too, oh, and an onion. So, once I get that going after I'm done entertaining you fine folks, I get some pics up to show you the deliciousness.

Now, for the rest of the week we have a broccoli and three cheese casserole, cream zucchini soup with a salad, mac and cheese soup with zucchini and feta fritters, three bean veggie chili, fire roasted ziti with sausage (there's sausage in the freezer that's been looking at me funny, so it's time to cook it and kill it), five spice tilapia with cauliflower couscous.  That all sounds delicious right? So I'm crossing my fingers that I will take pictures and post about them all because I'm really excited about this. I like looking for new recipes and challenging myself and chuck to think out side the box.

Thanks for waiting patiently.... Although I'm sure you all have other blogs you read to get your fix. I know I do! Hahaha!

Happy Belated Birthday To My Sous Chef's Mom!

She requested a cake. The infamous apple cake with peanut butter frosting. Most of you think that is odd, but the flavor combo is delicious. So there. :P

I finally got to use my spinning and tilting cake thing. Ha. And I made gum paste and used my little tool set. :)

Happy Birthday!

Bananas Foster Cream Pie

My parents are having a cookout today. They told me a week ago, but they won't tell me what they are making. It's all so secretive. They only asked me to bring a banana cream pie. So, in an effort to not be upstaged by my dad and his new obsession with the Food Network, I decided to put a little spin on the banana cream pie. I fostered the bananas. Ha. I made the cream all by myself, which is pretty much pudding I have come to find out. But either way, I food processed the graham crackers, made the cream, fostered the bananas, and now I'm waiting for it to set. But I think it's going to be a hit.

And now you're just going to have to wait to see the final product. I think I will also do a food review on my parents cook out. I have to come up with a rating system. Stars are over done, thumbs are stupid, whisks are hard to clean. Hmm.... I'll get back to you on that one.

Bad Baking Mojo

Here's the deal.... Lately, my baking has sucked. Seriously. I don't know what's wrong. I believe that it's Arizona rapidly climbing temperature. Or aliens. Either way, last few things I have baked have just not turned out. I tried making homemade fudge rounds I got from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, but they just didn't look right. Then I tried making a small birthday cake for my niece Selena's first birthday, and it was so fluffy and moist it fell over. So today, after having banana pancakes with peanut butter smeared on them, my helper and I decided to make Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread..... (drum roll please...)

..... And it was a success!!!

Then it was topped off with a browned butter glaze.

And, it was very tasty too! So, if you are wondering, I got the recipe from the food network magazine. It's a really easy, and interchangeable recipe. And I was too lazy to type it all out, but I did scan it so you can all try one yourself!

 

 Give it a try! I think my next one will be carrot and pecans with a cream cheese glaze. And I very curious about a pear bread.

Stay tuned, because I still have to type up the bbq recipe, and tell you what we had for dinner last night!
 

A week or two of leftovers....

Let's break it down... what have I made lately worthy of blogging, and the pictures came out okay? Hmmm... not much! Haha. Well, today I made brownie bombs ( like cake bombs, only brownies). We made some delicious ribs last week and homemade bbq sauce that was sooooo good that I wrote down my recipe to share. We made homemade ravioli with a roasted red pepper cream sauce and crab stuff portabello mushrooms. And before all that I finally made some Ranger cookies in honor of the New York Rangers (yes I know, I was really late on that but they still tasted good!)

And I might become the bulk manager soon if all goes well at my store. Yes, I still don't like my job, but getting the position will give me more freedom and time to live my life outside of Sprouts. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get it. My store manager doesn't really like me, so there's always that chance of not getting it even though I'm over qualified. And I know you're thinking, "who wouldn't like you?" Well that's life. Some people just don't like you.

And Chuck's sister is having a baby girl, and the baby shower should be coming up and I've been drafted for making the cake. And since I've been busy with photography and work lately, I really haven't thought of anything to bake. But now I can get down to business, and put all the great present I got for my birthday to use!

 Our ribs with a yummy rub on it.

 The finished product. The corn was so good, and I am not a huge fan of corn on the cob.

 Our mushrooms.... cream cheese, crab, bread crumbs, and some seasoning. yum.

 Chuck helping with the ravioli. He's such a good helper!

 Teito begging for the ravioli. He did a dance, but got nothing. Haha.

 Mmmm... it was so good. Italian sausage and mozzarella stuffed ravioli. And Chuck's yumtastic garlic bread!

And the ranger cookies. Great for breakfast! (It has oatmeal and cranberries in it, so that makes it okay right?)

And now I'm gonna go eat my turkey sandwich since Chuck is closing tonight, watch the season finale of Glee and go to bed so I can wake up early and go to work so they can tell me I'm promoted. :) And I'll post the BBQ recipe later!

SORRY!

Yes, I know. I'm still a slacker. But I have been super busy this last month. Chuck and mine's birthdays were in April, and I also had a wedding to shoot. So most of my time has been spent editing gorgeous wedding photos and working. And this last weekend we went camping. So I really haven't had any free time to cook anything, and it sucks. I've been reading a lot more, and trying to write, and clean some clutter in my life. I don't really know why... wait, I do. I just turned 24 and it freaked me out that I really have nothing to show for 24 years of my life. Sure, I'm ceative and talented, but so far it's all hobbies. So I guess I got into a funk and didn't really want to do anything. But now I think I'm back and ready to start creating things. I took a lot of great photos this weekend, and spent a good protion of the day editing them and then I actually wrote a little. Now I'm cooking eggrolls for work tomorrow, and I might make some cookies while watching The Walking Dead. I feel inspired and relaxed after our weekend get away, and ready to tackle some new things. The only thing that sucks is my sun burn. 12 hours in the sun... sunblock really doesn't help anymore. But I just wanted to give a little update that I have some ideas floating around in my head, and I'm ready to try them. So have no fear, I will come back strong!

Cake Bombs Road Trip!

I randomly texted my best friend Jeannie a few weeks ago and asked her what her favorite cake and frosting was. She told me Spice cake and cream cheese. I didn't tell her what I was planning.. which was sending some cake bombs her way. Mostly for her to taste, but also to see how well they mailed. So I made giant ones, stuffed them in a box I got at work, wrapped them in wax paper, and tied a ribbon around it and mailed it flat rate 2-3 days to Indiana. I was worried about them falling apart or melting, but she said they were a little cracked but still kept their shape and deliciousness. So that is super exciting. Now I know I can make cute cake bombs for her, and send them to her. (My next ones I want to make are for Easter... which also happens to be my 24th birthday.) Then I want to experiment with sending her cookies, which is probably easier!

I just thought I'd update you all on cake bombing my best friend through the mail... haha!

Practicing Some Food Photography

A Cupcake Frosted with Heaven

I am increasingly not liking my job anymore. I really need a change of scenery. I need a new outlook on life. I don't like being so unhappy at work and then come home to my fantastic soon to be husband (hopefully... hint hint Chuck. :p) and I am just so happy to be in love with him. I want to be in love with a job to. I want to go to work and feel good and create something beautiful. But life makes you wait for that right moment. And I'm waiting. So as I wait, I bake. I find new things to try and somehow that makes the waiting a little easier.

I felt like making cupcakes. And I didn't really have any plan or anything spectacular to use, so I opened the pantry and asked Chuck what sounded good. He immediately said peanut butter. And that's what I went with. A simple chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter frosting. The cake was moist and fluffy, but the real star was the peanut butter frosting. It just melted in your mouth. And I tweaked the recipe a bit so I just have to share it. If you don't put it on cupcakes, chewy gooey brownies are also a good choice. (which I did with the left over frosting...)

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 t. vanilla

Blend peanut butter and butter until mixed well. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add rest of powdered sugar and mix until fluffy.

It is delicious frosting.

I then drizzled some melted white chocolate candy coating on the frosted cupcake and sprinkled some dark chocolate shavings on top to finish it off. And voila! Cupcake Art.

That was worth the wait, huh? Is your mouth watering, because mine is.... mmmmm. At least I have some fresh baked cookies in the kitchen to hold me over until next time.

I'm A Slacker.

Okay, so once again I've procrastinated and now I have a lot to catch up and don't know where to start.

-The Jambalaya I made for Fat Tuesday was delicious. And I forgot to take a picture.
-I made the cupcakes with the cheesecake filling that I got from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I was missing the condensed milk for it, but they still came out okay. And I didn't use any raspberries in it, just raspberry syrup.

Then, around St. Pats Day I felt inspired by a coworker to make a red velvet/cookies and cream cake. But since it was St. Pats Day I decided to do a green velvet. I made a red velvet cake, simple recipe, but made it green and then added crushed oreos into the batter. The batter was so good. Then, I made the cookies and cream butter cream and had a little easier time with it this time since I food processed the cookies. And I wanted to practice making a topsy turvy cake so I made some marshmallow fondant (Super easy, and tastes good.... marshmallows melted with a little water and then just knead in powdered sugar until it's the right consistency) All in all, the cake was fantastic, and I need little more work on carving cake, but for my first time it was a good turn out.

After that, I had to make a cake for Chuck's Grandpa's 85th birthday which I decided to do a "Banana Cream Pie" Cake... A banana cake filled with the cream you make for the pie, which was really easy. I did four layers and put fresh bananas between the layers and covered it in butter cream. Then I wanted to make it look like a present when I covered it in fondant, but about this time, I was running out of time and patience (the day before I made a cake for my nieces 4th birthday... that will be next). So I was low on fondant and didn't want to go to the store to get more marshmallows so I winged it and it didn't turn out too bad, but not at all like I wanted to be.

But it tasted good, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

So, the day before I had to make a cake for Amelia. My mom asked me to since we missed her party because we both had to work. Amelia loves princess stuff, so a princess cake it would be. I did a cookies and cream cake with a simple butter cream frosting and then some more marshmallow fondant. I wanted to make a better chocolate crown, but once again I was getting frustrated and had to deliver the cake in two hours. So I ended up do a flat crown and propping it up. But I think this was a pretty good try. And after all, it was for a 4 year old and they love anything that's just for them.

So in the very near future I am going to talk about the best freakin cupcakes ever that I made a few days ago. Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting.... and let me tell you... the frosting was heaven.... mmmmm.....


Until then, I just wanted to let you know, I'm addicted to brussel sprouts.

It's Fat Tuseday, and I Got a Lot of Food to Blog

Once again, life got in the way and I was just super busy. Well, I was reading an awesome book and there was a huge sale at work so I really didn't have much spare time. Also, Chuck has been closing at work, so he doesn't get home until around 11 at night, so cooking isn't really top priority. But I have a lot of stuff to update you all on, and I even made myself a list so I wouldn't forget anything.

First off, I read an awesome book, called How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal. My best friend Jeannie and I have started a book club to be able to have a common ground in life when we live 1800 miles apart. So this last book we read I loved, and she loved too. There was a little of everything for both of us to relate to. It also had a lot of recipes. Mostly for bread which I'm still working on perfecting. Bread isn't easy, folks! But there was a recipe for muffins that I just had to try! It was supposed to have raspberries and blueberries in it, but I am not a fan of raspberries so I put strawberries in them. And I have to say, for my first time really attempting muffins, these were delicious. They didn't puff up quite like normal muffins, but I think that's because my baking soda and powder are a bit old (which I now replaced.)

These had yogurt, honey, oats, wheat flour, walnuts and fresh fruit. They were scrumptious.

Next up, my aunt from Indiana came to visit, so I decided to do a mexican fiesta. Chuck and I made green chili pork, tortillas, sauteed peppers, and mini polla asada taco cups. I also made some cake truffles for the occasion, even though they weren't mexican themed.

These were made by putting two won ton wrappers in a cupcake pan and baking until golden brown and slightly crispy. While those were cooking, pollo asada was being grilled and chopped into little bite size pieces. The chicken was put in the little taco cup and topped with some shredded mexican cheese and put in the oven to melt. Add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with chili powder and you have an awesome appetizer. We also had some guac and salsa out for people to put on top.

For the green chili pork, we had two pork sirloin roasts in the crockpot that had been salt and peppered. 505 Green Chili Salsa was added with a little water, with diced onion and garlic. After about an hour and half we added 2 Anaheim chilies and one and a half jalapenos that were chopped in the food processor. When the pork was about done, I chopped it up roughly and then added 4 ounces of cream cheese into the sauce. When it was all done, I drained the meat off and left the leftover juices in the crockpot and added some cornstarch to make a gravy. (And this gravy was soooooo good. It was bottle up and sell worthy.)

So all in all, that was a delicious meal and I'm glad that my aunt was there to enjoy it.

On Sunday, Chuck was off early for once so we wanted to have a nice dinner. We got some steaks, some more peppers to saute, and brussel sprouts. I know what you're all thinking, YUCK, but no, brussel sprouts are so good. So for all you haters out there, you can go suck on a brussel sprout if you know what's good for you!  Either way, it was a great dinner to end the work week with.

And this morning I made the absolute best banana pancakes ever, and I had to mention it and take photos because words can't describe how good they were!

Now tonight I am making cheesecake filled cupcakes that I saw on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen Blog, and I've been wanting to try them. Also since it is Mardi Gras, I am making jambalaya to have tonight when Chuck gets home. So now you have more to think about until next time!

Happy Mardi Gras!