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!