Favorite Foods

I recently came up with a list of my favorite foods - why? Well, I don't really know why I did, just know that I did!  I thought I would share it with you... I have a hard time answering my favorite to a lot of questions - I mean do most people have a favorite movie? Because I certainly don't! 

Let's preface this with I know these foods are unhealthy... but let's face it if they were they probably wouldn't be on the list to begin with.

1. Chili - I love love love chili
2. Donuts - um, how can you not like them?
3. Breakfast sandwiches - this has been one of my favorite foods for way too long...
4. Ice Cream - Even though it upsets my stomach at times, it's worth the risk every time
5. Pizza - do I need to explain that?

Kind of a funny story (or maybe not) as a kid for a long time I would not eat pizza, I didn't like it (what a weirdo) and then before I really jumped on the pizza train I would get the pizza and take off all the toppings... cheese included... What was I thinking?  I finally came around to the pizza thing!

Weekend in Review - Fourth of July

It was so amazing to have a four day weekend... sure that's only one additional day than I normally get, but it felt like so much more.  Maybe it was because we did something every day of the weekend... or maybe it was because everyone else was off too - so it just felt more like a vacation, but either way you slice it - it was amazing to have all that time off.

We'll start out on Wednesday - since no one had to work the next day we decided to go out on the town.  Dan, me, Andy, Dave, Caleb, and some of his friends all went to Nick's Pub.  I had been here once before a long time ago, but didn't really remember too much about it.  It's a cool bar and has a ton of beers on tap.  I was excited because they had Woodchuck Pear Cider on tap - so so tasty - light and fresh a delightful summer drink.  I had been drinking a lot of beer lately but in the last couple of weeks decided I didn't really want it.  So I've been drinking other things - when I decide to drink that is.  We spent a good portion of the night there.  It was a lot of fun - although it was smokey and loud too.  They had a musician come on later in the night and that just makes it hard to talk to people.

On Thursday - Fourth of July - we mostly spent time at home, but I got food for a barbecue.  Summer holidays always seem right to grill.

We had bratwurst burgers (although I will probably just get actual brats next time).  I had mine on an onion cheese roll.  We also had potatoes (cut up with onion and garlic with butter and grilled) and asparagus.  Very tasty.

After we ate we headed over to Chesterfield to see the fireworks.  I was soooo excited to see fireworks this year since they had been cancelled last year due to the drought.  Chesterfield was an amazing place to see them too - we had great seats, weren't crowded by other people and was easy getting in and out (although we did have to wait to get out but still).

The firework show went on for so long (like 30 minutes) and the fireworks themselves were huge - so big!!  It was really amazing!!

On Friday during the day we took a trip to the bird store to get Quina some new toys.  I know I need to talk about that dang bird, but let's just say I'm not her biggest fan.  But this weekend she let me hold her - so a step forward... of course she was distracted playing with my hair elastic... but hey - still a win in my book!

That night we went out to John and Amanda's place in St. Charles where they grilled.  It was quite yummy and I got to have my first s'more of the year - I looove me some s'mores.  I also tried this new drink - Mikes Hard Punch - I had the mango and the strawberry pineapple - they are really good and 8% alcohol!

On Saturday night we went over to my cousin's house where we watched the NASCAR race and (surprise surprise) grill again.  I made Dan get chili cheese brats which he thought would be gross but they were the biggest hit - so I win!

Sunday was mostly a low key sort of day, but after all the going out over the weekend we deserved it!

How was your Fourth of July weekend??

Cupcakes - Part 2

Fair warning - totally stupid post... but whatever... you may remember when I posted about cupcakes before... and who not do it again??

Michelle's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and she buys us cupcakes (probably something I should buy her, but I did get her the mini magnum gold ice cream bars so I did bring her something sweet)  And she lucked out b/c Jilly's had two of her favorite cupcakes in her birthday month.

Here they are in all their delicious glory

Is your mouth watering?

The one on the left is Space Monkey - which happens to be the cupcake they made to win Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  Michelle tells me they usually just feature it for a random week here and there, but never for the month... but for her birthday they did - haha.

Space Monkey
Cake: Banana Toffee
Filling: Dulce de Leche Toffee Caramel
Topping: Caramel Swirl Cream Cheese Icing, Astronaut Ice Cream, Chocolate Star

This cupcake was delicious - almost tasted like banana nut bread, but without the nut.  The filling was sooo good too.

The one on the left is Key Lime

Key Lime
Cake: Vanilla
Filling: Key Lime Curd
Topping: Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing, Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Wafer

This one was really delicious too... it was a lot lighter tasting than the Space Money, but in a good way.  I actually really like light tasting desserts, like lemon cake... so this one was delicious, the filling was so good and that green around the edge was like sugar or something and gave it a delicious crunch.

Here's a picture of the inside...

Space Monkey on bottom, Key lime on top

Jilly's really does have wonderful cupcakes, I highly recommend trying them... and as you can see the monthly ones are big!

S'more Brownies - New Recipe

This past weekend I went to a trivia night with my dad, step-mom, brother, his girlfriend, his friend, my friend Liz, and boyfriend Dan.

It seemed like a good time to try a new recipe.  I looked trough part of my Pinterest recipe board (by far my most full board with 273 pins as of this entry)

I limited it down to these three recipes:

S'more Brownies
Slutty Brownies
Peanut Butter and Jelly Squares

I asked some opinions and Lindsey was the only decisive one and picked the S'more Brownies - here's the recipe site.

What was particularly easy about this recipe is you use a box brownie mix - thank goodness for easy!

I also didn't buy the milk chocolate bars and instead got semi-sweet Hersey (or was it Toll-House I can't remember) chunks... I bought everything else generic.  I added some extra marshmallows and some extra graham crackers... b/c why not?!?

Here's a picture of them... I should have taken a picture of them in the pan - the picture on the linked blog is better

I got some good compliments on them at the trivia night and I finally had one last night.  They are pretty tasty - but how can you really go wrong with brownie, chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker?

I will say that letting them cool even longer than I did (like two hours in the pan, in hindsight I should have removed them from the pan that would have helped them cool faster I'm sure.)  It was semi-difficult to cut b/c they were so gooey.  But I'm totally happy with how they turned out... totally yummy!

Cupcakes!

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I go to my friend Michelle's house about once a week to watch some crappy television and eat pizza.  Currently the television shows we are watching together is Dance Moms and the Joe Schmo Show.

Anyway... this week Michelle surprised me with cupcakes from Jilly's.

The one on the left is Blueberry Cobbler.  Here's the description from their website:

Blueberry Cobbler
Cake: Fresh Blueberry
Filling: Lemon Curd
Topping: Vanilla Buttercream, Blueberry Compote, Brown Sugar Streusel Crumbs

The one on the right is Cinna-Bon Appetit.

Cinna-Bon Appétit
Cake: Cinnamon Swirl
Filling: Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Caramel
Topping: Cream Cheese Icing with a Sticky Cinnamon Swirl

Michelle and I decided they both sounded good - so we cut them in half so we could try them both.

While I really liked the Cinna-bon one.. I have to admit I liked the blueberry one better.  There was some I really liked about the lemon center (love lemon) and the brown sugar streusel crumbs were so good.  And honestly while I was eating it I didn't think the icing was buttercream (don't really love buttercream) but it was delicious and light, almost like a whipped topping.

Yum yum... just wanted to share some deliciousness

Dinner Last Night - New Recipe

This might be a totally lilly thing to post about - but whatever!

Last night Dan and I cooked dinner together.  Let me start off by saying that Dan is a really good cook.  He makes some super yummy things and likes to make different things for dinner.  Like one night we were just going to get a frozen pizza for dinner and then he decided that a home-made breakfast pizza would be better.  He's really great at it and (so far) hasn't made anything I didn't like.

He also makes fun of me because my skills in the kitchen aren't as great.  I really do like baking more than cooking... but even so I can cook, it's just never been anything I super like to do... I do want to get better at it though.  I think my biggest problem is figuring out what to make.  I alway go-to three or four different meals and can hardly ever think outside of that little box.  I am very indecisive - something I'll hopefully get better about.

Last night, since the weather was so nice it seemed like a great time to BBQ... and BBQing it totally a man's job (haha).  So I told Dan he should BBQ and then I would make the sides.  Here's the meal we had.

Dan BBQed the brat... yum.  He even toasted the bun... what a nice touch!

I made the other two sides.

First up the green beans.  I kinda half winged them half looked at a recipe.  I got some fresh green beans (although I did not buy nearly enough).  I boiled them with just a bit of water.  Once they were at a boil I turned down the heat (this part I got from the recipe.)  After they had cooked long enough (and Dan thought my method was completely stupid, but whatever I've done it this way before so I somewhat know what I'm doing).  I drained them and then added them back to the skillet with three cloves of garlic that I chopped.  I cooked them like that... I also added a bit of garlic salt (what can I say? I love garlic).  When they were almost finished I added a little splash of lemon juice and some course black pepper.  They were pretty good in my opinion.

The other thing I made was oven mac and cheese.  I love mac and cheese...  I just Googled around and found this recipe which I particularly liked b/c it did not involve a rue.  I always mes up rues so I like to try to avoid them (know your strengths right?).  I cut the recipe mostly in half, but added extra cheese b/c I was lazy (I just used the whole 2 cup bag).  It turned out pretty good.  Not the best mac and cheese I've ever eaten or anything, but it was simple and I'd make it again.  My second helping I added hot sauce and it was really yummy.

I just wanted to share my meal - hopefully I'll begin to share more.

A couple of recipes

Everyone by now has heard of Pinterest I'm sure (and if you want an invite just let me know)

Well, I've made a couple of the items off of these... well, actually ones I found online and then pinned.

A few weeks ago for a food day at work I made Chocolate Chip Cheesecake dip and it was super duper yummy!!

Source: newtoveggieworld.wordpress.com via Jenn on Pinterest

And I made these brownies for a trivia night that are supposedly 'like crack' and there were also super delicious... chocolate, brownie, peanut butter... um yes please

Source: howsweeteats.com via Jenn on Pinterest

I really enjoy making new things!

Super Bowl Sunday

This past weekend was one of the greatest food days of the year... Super Bowl Sunday. Since we've moved into this house (almost 4 years ago - can you believe it??) we've had a Super Bowl party. So this would be the 3rd one. We have a good sized TV (42 inches) and a pretty sweet sectional couch so it really makes our house perfect for a smaller party.

We had 10 people total, including Chad and I. It was mostly paired off in couples - Sam and his fiancee Meg, Patrick and his girlfriend Kara, and finally Ryan and Kyle - brothers. We made everyone bring something to share... I mean it's Super Bowl Sunday, you gotta have a good selection of food.

So what was included in our spread?? Well Sam brought wings, Meg brought Rotel dip (I love love love Rotel dip), Patrick brought hummus with pitas from the place he works, Kara made some sort of dried meat dip thing, Kyle brought veggies and dip and Ryan brought corn bread and cookies.

Chad and I provided our award winning chili (seriously our chili is the best... the BEST... I wish I could share the recipe but it's our little secret... Chad and I both contributed to the recipe... and we tweak it every time... but it's delicious.

We also made Buffalo Chicken Dip. That stuff is soo addictive and yummy. It kinda looks like cat puke, but it taste amazing... and it's super easy. The first time I ever made the stuff I thought it was weird to use canned chicken... heck I didn't even know canned chicken existed. I was honestly pretty creeped out by it... like Spam or something. But it works wonderfully and doesn't taste any differently than fresh chicken breasts (we've tried). So why waste the effort of fresh when canned will do??

And finally I made Monkey Bread for the first time ever. It turned out SO good and everyone was excited and happy I made it. I wasn't sure if people would be interested but they were all really excited and started picking at it as soon as it came out of the oven. It was easy and fun to make and I think I'll make it again - maybe for work sometime. The best part is all I needed from the store was butter and biscuits. Since I used store brand biscuits they were only 42 cents per tube... how awesome is that??

Yeah, I should have taken pictures of our spread... that should go along with my new years resolution of taking more pictures... still need to work on that - I'm not happy with my current camera... I need a new one (or two... ideally I would get a DSLR and a new point-and-shoot)

Oh... I didn't talk about the game... the game was great... a good exciting game. The commercials were funny and it was just a fun time with friends. I love Super Bowl Sunday - I'm already looking forward to next year!!

Christmas Cookies

I know this is late, but I just had to post about the cookies I made this Christmas. I made the most I've ever made - 5 different kinds. It was a lot of fun.

First I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Chad requested this type of cookie. I googled a recipe and came up with this one - all of the comments seemed positive. They did not disappoint. They are crunchy and chewy at the same time. It did make way more than I expected. I will share my baking fail... the first batch I made I forgot the egg and vanilla... whoops... those didn't turn out so good.
A baking secret: I took my grandma's method and hand mixed the batters... it really ended up being a lot easier - maybe a little more messy, but easier in the long run.

Next I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies - I found this recipe while Stumbling. Here's where I tell the story that I had wonderful pictures of all of my cookies weeks ago, but I messed up when I was uploading them to my computer. Before I took replacement pictures Chad managed to eat all of these cookies. I'll go out on a limb and say these were Chad's favorite.

Next I made the final "new" cookie - Graham Cracker Snickerdoodles. I loved these. The graham crackers added something extra. Chad said they tasted like teddy grahams. I will say they were very crunchy - so it helped to dunk them in milk. I was really happy with how they turned out, and I think if (when) I make them again they'll be even better.
Then I made the awesome Peanut Butter Cookies from last year. Since they went over so well last year, I doubled the recipe. I also smushed them with a cup to make them more flat which helped (last year I forgot this step.) As you can see below I only sugared half of the cookies. Chad doesn't care for the sugar and I like it so I did some of both. Helpful hint: I always have a hard time (especially in this recipe where you want to end up with a certain number of balls) making the correct size balls. What I did was divide the whole batter into fourth (half and then half again) Each quarter would make 12 cookies. So I divided the quarter into half and then half again. Each of these sections would create 3 cookies. It was much easier figuring out 3 balls from a piece than 48 from a giant ball and dividing in half is pretty easy.
And finally I made cake balls (which I also made last year) What made it easier this year was I covered cardboard pieces (from a box I received in the mail housing my Dad's Christmas gift) in waxed paper. I made all of the balls and put them in the refrigerator for a few hours. This helps keep the balls in tack when dipping them in chocolate. Even though the picture below doesn't show it - I also made red ones. I alternated the chocolate colors in the microwave in containers I wouldn't mind tossing (I HATE cleaning up melted chocolate.) Each time I melted the chocolate it would dip about 8-10 balls. I would put sprinkles on every 3 dips.
And there was something special on the inside (sorry picture is so blurry)
That's right, I used red velvet cake to make it more Christmas-y!! I'm in love.

This little gadget my mom got me for Christmas last year made making the cookie balls for first 3 cookies so much easier!!
I also utilized my stand-up mixer Chris and Fran got me for Christmas last year. Made mixing SO much easier - LOVED it.

Restaurant Rave/Date Day

Yesterday I had the day off work. And since Chad is working a new schedule, we aren't getting to spend as much time together, but yesterday we got to. It was super exciting to be able to lay in bed together and not have to wake up. Luckily weekends will be this way too :)

Anyway I asked if we could try out a new restaurant, and suggested The Shaved Duck. I've been hearing good things about this place for quite awhile, so I had some pretty high expectations... and this place did not disappoint. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich with mac and cheese (I've been hearing how amazing their mac and cheese is for awhile and I LOVE mac and cheese so honestly this was one of the main reasons I wanted to try it out) and Chad ordered the pulled pork with mash potatoes with caramelized onions.

The food was amazing. My chicken was so good and it was really nice to have 3 choices of BBQ sauce. Chad's pulled pork was also too. You could just tell that the meat was quality. The buns the meat was on were perfect. The sides were amazing too. Chad's mashed potatoes had some real onion flavor to them, but they made you want to come back for more. My mac and cheese did NOT disappoint. So yummy and cheese and they put these breadcrumbs on top that add this bit of crunch... SO GREAT.

I believe we had a smaller portions since we went at lunch time (we also had a discounted price, holla!!) But the sizes to me were perfect, enough that I ate everything but didn't feel so full. Chad would have liked a little more food. We wondering if the sizes were indeed smaller at lunch b/c we'd like more food if we were paying full price, but other than that we didn't have any complaints and would totally go back.

After lunch we went over to Chad's friend's automotive shop to get some decals for a motorcycle club that he's trying to join. And the we headed back home, but first stopped and got some Dairy Queen. We ate our ice cream outside on the tailgate of his truck. It was a really nice day. It was fun spending time together outside the house.

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

Last Monday we had a food day at work for a couple of birthdays. I thought it was a perfect time to try out a new recipe. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of StumpleUpon... but you can put in your interests and hit a button and it will take you to a random website. I collect a lot of tasty recipes this way that I bookmark away to bring out at a later date. So I went through all my saved recipes and decided to make these.

So first you line the cupcake pans with liners
And then you add a whole oreo to the bottom (that's right!! these have a whole Oreo as crust!!)
Then you work on the ingredients. I've never made cheesecake before - so once I realized that the cream cheese needed to be at room temperature (like it clearly states in the directions...) we were good to go.
Then you add in all those other ingredients and mix... and when you're arm gets tired b/c the standup mixer is just sucking all the cream cheese into my mixer thing and you have to use your hand-held mixer instead and your arm gets really tired you call in the hubby reinforcements.
Don't forget your pinch of salt
Then you add in some chopped up Oreos (although you can't quite seem them here)
Then you fill up your pans - nearly all the way up
Half full
All the way
And then you bake for about 22 minutes and get these lovely things
As Rachel Ray says... Yum-O!!!
The recipe says it makes 30... I was able to make 33 and then I ran out of Oreos, so I baked an additional 3 without crust just to see how that would go. I probably had enough left in the bowl to make another 1... but I let Chad lick the bowl.

The taste kinda like cookies and cream... very yummy. People at work liked them and since we're trying to lose weight Chad took the rest of them to work with him on his first day back last Friday... this is a keeper

Here's the full recipe:
42 Oreos (~1 package), 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners or grease well with non-stick baking spray. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Cleaning out the Camera

I finally got around to cleaning out my camera and had some pictures I wanted to share.

My mom, brother and I hung out one day, we concluded the day by going to Ted Drewes. I got a pineapple concrete and it was so tasty!!

My mom had never driven over the Ead's Bridge. So we took a drive over it. I scored this picture of the Arch.
We also checked out the City Garden, here's a cool sculpture that moves in the wind.
Just a nice downtown picture
And a goofy sculpture that's a bird with people legs.
And a picture of the sign
Another picture of City Garden
Chad made some yummy stir fry. I mean seriously, how good does it look. I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture.
Here's Chad and the dogs.
And a good one of Bozley
And Rowdy focusing on his ball (not in the picture)
Another one of Rowdy
Another one of the dogs, I uploaded the pictures last night and writing the post today, and accidentally deleted one of the pictures... Bozley was carrying around a piece of bread and here's the picture where Rowdy ate Boz's bread.

Cardboard with Ketchup

Have you seen the new Dominos pizza commercials about their new pizza?

Here's what they've changed...

"Our new cheese is made with 100% real mozzarella flavored with just a hint of provolone"

"Our new tomato sauce has a melody of herbs and a red pepper kick"

"Our new garlic seasoned crust with a rich, buttery taste is baked to golden brown"

We decided to try it last night... I've always enjoyed Dominos but the commercials intrigued me. Chad on the other hand didn't like their pizza and usually orders Chicken Kickers.

I've got to say the pizza was REALLY GOOD... I very much enjoyed it!! The surprising thing was Chad loved it to!! The crust is super duper yummy and the sauce had the hint of spice. I really didn't notice the cheese, but I will be ordering another one of these pizzas!!

On a side note, we had our friend Michelle over and she got her half of the pizza with pineapple. I've always said that I find it weird that you'd put pineapple on a pizza, but I tried a piece last night (I didn't realize Chad would eat 2 pieces of my side of the pizza...) thinking I could just pick off the pineapple if it was horrible... but it was really good, I really enjoyed it... the pineapple tasted really good mixed with the sauce... mmm I'm getting hungry thinking about it.

So... in conclusion, Dominos new pizza tastes yummy... go out and get one today!!

Not what you expect

Have I talked about StumbleUpon! before? Stumble is an add-in for FireFox that will bring you to random websites. You can set your interests and everything cool like that. Chad and I find some really cool sites this way.

Chad Stumble(d)Upon this recipe and we just had to try it.

Ingredients:
Box Cake Mix (I used chocolate)
Add in 3 eggs and a cup of water
And the special ingredient - a pint of ice cream (chocolate) softened
Beat it all together for 4 minutes...
Me beating it
And then Chad wanted a turn beating it (...hot...)
We poured it into a bunt cake pan... look at that... yum yum
And bake for 45 minutes.

In the mean time I made some homemade icing for the cake. I asked my mom for her opinions... and she suggested whipped cream icing... and frankly it was the right choice!!

So I used some whipping cream
I added in some sugar and vanilla and got to whipping... it was thin at first
But quickly became thicker and whip cream like
Soon the cake was ready to come out of the oven
The next day I iced the cake
Then added a little chocolate flecks for embellishment

I guess I forgot the mention why I was making this cake. I made it for my dad's birthday.

The cake went over very well... it's about the most moist cake I've ever had... seriously the sponge-y-ness of it was unbelievable... it was extremely delicious and chocolaty. The whipped cream icing was nice and light and really mixed well with the cake. This recipe is totally easy and very much a keeper. I'm totally serious it was really really good... OMG... this one is worth trying (and we're probably going to vary the recipe)