A Happy Birthday.

It's been a great couple of days.  I had a wonderful birthday that started with delicious chocolate chip pancakes (recipe to follow in upcoming blog post), a trip to the fountains with my girl and my guy, and ended with a fun family BBQ!  Thanks everyone for making it special!

Chocolate chip pancakes.  YUM!

My girl loved them!

Off to the fountains to play...

Cousins in their matching shirts and matching blue eyes...

Random pics from the family BBQ...

 The cake was fantastic!

Celebrating the 4th with a little pool time and sidewalk chalk...

Homemade Pizza.

This was my first attempt at a recipe from Shutterbean.  It was easy and very good!  Here's what I learned:

1. I used regular all purpose unbleached flour instead of bread flour.
2. I didn't use the toppings suggested in recipe.  My layers were:  Light layer of sauce, small sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, andouille sausage slices, roasted red peppers, fresh spinach, mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of oregano.
3. I baked it at 500 degrees and it was ready in about 11 minutes.  Recipe states 20-25 minutes which seems really long at that temp.
4. The dough recipe makes two crusts.  I put one ball of dough in the freezer.  We'll see if that works!

 

Recipe found here:  Ahh-mazing Pizza

Quiche.

Quiche.  It's good.  Here's what I learned:

1. I like using the precooked Jimmy Dean crumbled turkey sausage.  Makes for really simple prep!
2. You can easily adapt this to your liking.  Change up the meat, veggies, cheese and it's a whole new recipe.
3. It should be ready between 50-60  minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust.  As you can see mine started to get a little dark.

Recipe can be found here:  Andrea's Quiche

PS  Remember the Habanero Pepper Cream Pasta from last week?  Turns out getting habanero pepper in your eye really hurts.  Like really hurts.

Habanero Pepper Cream Pasta.

My husband said "this is the best food ever".  Makes delicious leftovers too!  Here's what I learned:

1. I add two spicy turkey sausage links.  Crumble the sausage over high heat and when it's almost finished cooking add the shallot/garlic/habanero.
2. I use 1 tablespoon of flour.  You definitely don't need 2 tablespoons if you are using heavy cream.
3. The 1 teaspoon of black pepper adds a lot of spice!  I cut back to 1/2 teaspoon.  But if you like spicy go for the full teaspoon.
4. 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese is plenty!  And we like cheese!  It was way too thick and rich with a full cup.
5. It's really hard finding cavatappi noodles!  We also like penne (mini penne pictured below) or bowtie with this.  Really any pasta will be great!

Recipe can be found here but does not reflect my changes:  Habanero Pepper Cream Pasta

Pictures.

 

 

Chicken and Rice Casserole.

I love this recipe!  My anti-casserole husband and picky 1.5 year old even liked it!  Here's what I learned:

1. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs because that's my preference.
2. I forgot the parsley, whoops!
3. Most of my onions were rotten.  I ended up using half a small onion and 1 shallot.
4. I used the dried herbs (Italian and poultry seasonings).
5. Next time I will use 2 breasts and 1 thigh.  I will pan sear them whole instead of cutting into small pieces and let them finish cooking in the oven.
6. I wonder if anyone has noticed I have one pan for cooking everything?

Recipe can be found here:  Chicken and Rice Casserole.  I can't wait to try more recipes from this site!

Singing.

I can't believe I am posting this.  Please excuse my horrible singing.  It is just too funny not to share.

Bada Bing Bada Banged Potatoes.

Great new recipe for potatoes!  Here's what I learned:

1. Recipe makes a ton!  We halved it and still had enough leftover to feed 4 more people.
2. I couldn't find new potatoes so I used fingerling.
3. When the recipe says to "smash" the warm potatoes they really mean lightly press on them until the skin cracks.  If you "smash" them they will break a part and not turn out well during the baking process.

Recipe can be found here:  Bada Bing Bada Banged Potatoes

Sunshine Song.

Penelope loves the "Sunshine Song" (You are my Sunshine).  She always asks me to sing it and practices herself.  I noticed she would lip sync when I sang it to her.  It's really hard to get a recording of it because the girl doesn't sit still!  Here's a short version...

Chipotle Sliders.

Tried this recipe a few days ago and it turned out great!  Here's what I learned:

1. This is somewhat time consuming.  Maybe too much to tackle for a weeknight.
2. They have a nice bite to them.  Too much for my 19 month old for sure.
3. Tasted even better day two.

The recipe can be found here:  Chipotle Sliders

Lopee Slips.

We are working on saying her full name.  She calls herself Lopee Slips.  Slips is fitting considering the number of bruises on her body.  Girl can't stay upright.

A few pics from our weekend...

Rice Krispy Treats.

I found this recipe in the comments/review section of another recipe.  The person claimed these were the best Rice Krispy treats so I had to give them a try.  Wow, they are GOOD!  Here's what I learned:

1. Definitely melt everything on the stove top.
2. Definitely melt everything on low heat.  If the butter or marshmallows burn the treats will be dry.
3. Definitely splurge for Jet Puffed brand marshmallows and real Rice Krispy cereal.

I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.

Recipe can be found here:  Perfect Rice Krispy Treats