Weekend in Review: End of February and Beginning of March

I am so totally behind in posting... and it's not like I don't have things to post about - but I totally do!!  I have been baking and I've already checked three things off my baking bucket list that I need to share with you!

Before we get to those recipes I want to talk about what's been going on outside of the baking world and to do this we have to go back three weekends!  Let's see what I can remember.

February 21-23:
On Friday, Lindsey and I had a sister lunch at the King and I - one of our favorite restaurants.  It was a delicious lunch and before we parted ways we stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond to scope out a potential birthday gift for our mom.  I also bought a kitchen gadget I've been needing - a pastry cutter thing.  I can't remember what we did that night, so it must have not been that interesting.

On Saturday we had an impromptu barbecue.  Dan's sister and her fiance came, along with our friend Caleb and Dan's friend from high school and his fiancee. (look both correct uses of fiance!)  I ended up making an item off the baking bucket list.  It was a real fun night and makes me look forward to spring and bbqs!

On Sunday Dan and I went to Stephen and Zoa's (Kyle was there too) to watch the Daytona 500.  It ended up being kind of a bust since the race was mostly rained out - but it was fun hanging out together.

That next week (February 24-28) I had to travel for work to Salt Lake City.  I haven't traveled for work since May of 2011.  I was dreading the trip, especially since I had a friends night planned for Survivor which started that week... but when you set your expectations very low it's easy to exceed them.  The trip went pretty well and I got to eat a lot of fantastic food... one night I even got homemade gelato (salted caramel yumm)  I got to meet some interesting folks too.   Overall the trip was pretty nice and went by a lot faster than I expected.

February 28-March 2:
Friday was my travel home day... not very exciting.  I don't think we did anything that night... oh wait I totally caught up on all the TV I missed and hung out with the cats that were in desperate need for attention while Dan went to a minor league hockey game. 

On Saturday we mostly hung around the house (and grocery shopped) and then it was TRIVIA NIGHT TIME!!  We do it every year - my mom's trivia night at the VA.  I had such a good time and we did pretty well without Keith.  I was the writer which I hate being because I can't spell very well, but it ended up being nice b/c I felt smarter because I could write down the answer real fast if I knew it. 

After the trivia night we went to the Kentucky Knife Fight concert at Off Broadway.  It was a lot of fun and the best part about showing up late is we didn't have to wait as long to see the band we wanted to see - score!  When we left the bad weather hit and it was pretty slick out.  Luckily Kyle drove us in his big truck so we were able to get home despite the ice on everything.

Since the winter storm came in that day we spent a quiet Sunday at home - which I loved since I had been gone so much the past week.

Finally March 7-9:
On Friday we celebrated my mom's birthday!  Since I had taken back my KitchenAid mixer Lindsey, Keith and I went in together to get my mom one of her own!

She loved it!  We then took her to The Fountain on Locust for lunch (and ice cream duh!!)  We were then going to go paint pottery at this place, but got there and it was out of business... So we ended up going to some second hand shops among other places - like getting Lindsey's car washed and Target.  I ended up making a big home purchase too that I can't wait to share with you!

I'd love to talk about how great the rest of my weekend way, but honestly it just wasn't.  I was sick (Friday included) and so I mostly took it easy all weekend.  I feel better today and I'm sure that was because I just relaxed... although I did bake another item.

That catches you up on my weekends - next catching you up on my baking.

Weekend in Review: Valentines/Presidents Day

I had a nice long four day weekend... and it was awesome.  Not only that I actually left a little early on Thursday to go to the doctor.

Thursday night was a low key night - I ate chili, made a dish for breakfast the next day and watched TV.  Dan was out for awhile with his future brother-in-law so I enjoyed having a house to myself.

Friday was Valentine's Day.  I decided to make a fancy breakfast for Dan and me.  I scrambled eggs, fried bacon and made a French Toast Casserole (details to come).  I also bought champagne and we had mimosas.  It was a great start to the day.

Yum can I eat it again?

The rest of Valentines we mostly just hung around the house.  Dan made a yummy dinner of cheeseburgers (my request) and mashed potatoes - yum yum!

I also made Dan a small gift.  He likes to collect six-pack holders so I thought this would be fun.  One of his favorite beers.  And let me tell you spray adhesive is amazing!  (I got the idea and the print out from this website)

Beery - not berry

On Saturday I spent the day away from the house.  I went over to my mom's house and we headed up to gather my aunt Ruth.  We had a fun day of thrift store shopping.  I got an ashtray for outside (I have to get a picture of it - it's so ugly and I love it) and some baking dishes (from Crate and Barrel).  The one store we stopped at they asked if they could take our picture for their Facebook page - so of course we said yes

We went to a bunch of different thrift shops and then had lunch.  It was awesome to spend some good quality time with my mom and aunt Ruth.

After that I headed up to my dad's house.  He helped me do my taxes which was very generous of him.  Both of my parents are awesome - I got Valentine Day treats from both of them.  I'm so loved :)  We did my taxes (woohoo for getting a return) and started to think about a trip to visit my brother in DC in April.

Saturday night I was pretty tired by that point and we decided to stay in and I went to bed early and it was awesome.

Sunday I don't think I did much of anything.  Oh - this happened.  We finally got moving and I said I wanted to go out to dinner.  So we got ready and headed out to O'Charlies.  We got there around 4:30 and didn't expect it to be too crowded - but it randomly was.  We got sat right away but it took FOREVER for them to come get our drink order.  We waited FOREVER for our drinks to come... finally we just bailed.  I don't know what time we got there, but we waited far longer than we should have.  I hate walking out like that, but seriously?  Instead Daniel cooked us some dinner - so alls well that ends well.  He also made a cocktail with freshly squeezed lemonade and vodka - yum!!

On Monday (holiday woohoo) We decided to go ice skating and Dan found a time at Kirkwood.  So we headed over there and when we got there it was kid city.  Obviously all the parents brought them on the holiday.  I made Dan decide if he wanted to stay, but we ended up bailing.  It was kids that age where you knew it would just be annoying ice skating with them - plus the place was packed.

We decided to head over to Kirkwood Station Brewery (formerly a bunch of other names).  We had a couple of drinks and some fried pickles that were good.  I had the Blackberry Wheat which was delicious.  The really great thing is randomly on Mondays and Tuesdays there they have $3 drafts - holla!  Dan got the call that he would be starting work the next day (Tuesday) so we stayed and had another and then headed home.

Beer

Overall it was a wonderful weekend!

My Baking Bucket List

Last week I had an ephiany... what's that you may ask?  Well, there are a ton of things I want to bake.  There are so many recipes I've saved for later or pinned to my Pinterest board (which I don't ever even look at anymore).  There are things I've always thought someday I'll try to make that.

I've really started to bake more recently.  I've made a ton of cookies... but I want to expand I want to try new things.

Last year I watched the American Baking Competition and just opened my eyes to all sorts of things you can bake, and I'm ready to branch out and try new things instead of always making the same few recipes.

That's why I decided to create a baking bucket list.  I'll probably add to it over time, but here's a place to store all those recipes or things I want to try.  I googled baking bucket lists and it isn't a new concept, but that means I get to look at other people's lists to add things to mine!  I used this one a bunch.

So without further adue here's my list:

1. Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls
2. A 12 Layer Cake (like this)
3. Salted Caramel Apple Pie (all from scratch)
4. Calypso Pie (yes, I've made it before, but never for the blog)
5. Croissants
6. Doughnuts
7. Sourdough Bread
8. Yeasted Coffee Cake
9. Shortbread
10. Peanut Butter and Jelly squares
11. Blondies - DONE
12. Brownies
13. Baked Alaska
14. Souffle
15. Cream Puffs
16. Turnovers
17. Pineapple Upside Down Cake
18. Crumb Cake - DONE
19. Coffee Cake
20. Chocolate Cream Pie
21. Lemon Poppy seed Bread
22. Homemade Ice Cream - DONE
23. Quiche
24. Fudge
25. Strawberry shortcake
26. Tart
27. Tartlets
28. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
29. Chiffon Cake
30. Soft pretzels
31. Fresh blueberry muffins - DONE
32. Sponge Roll (added for mom)
33. Gooey Butter Cake - DONE
34. French Silk Pie
35. Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies
36. Salted Caramel Sauce (here)

So there's 31 - I want to add some kind of cupcakes on there and I'm sure there are cookies and cakes I'm missing...

I know I'm missing some and Mom or anyone else - suggestions for my list?!?

RECIPE: Buffalo Chicken Strips and Meatballs

Are these kind of posts even interesting to anyone?  I guess it doesn't matter because it's my own record.  I'm going ahead and combining these since they are from the same website (Skinnytaste)

First I tried the buffalo chicken strips. While the recipe is good this gal needs to learn to cook chicken better.  Honestly raw chicken grosses me out to a degree and I think I over cooked it because it was a bit dry.  Dan said it was good - and I loved all the seasonings on the chicken.



Next I tried turkey meatballs.  My plan was to have meatball subs.  I did eat mine on bread (way healthier I know) but Dan just ate his bread on the side.

I really liked these - they were tasty and delicious and didn't take too long to make (once I got all the garlic sliced up which took me longer than I want to admit)

I bought some french loafs and cut them in half.  I put some butter on each side with some garlic powder and stuck them in the oven to toast - it was really good.

Here the recipe from Skinnytaste.  (I didn't post the recipe for the chicken strips b/c I followed that one exactly while this one I did a bit different - notes in red)

Ingredients:

• 20 oz (1.3 lb) ground turkey breast 99% lean
• 1/4 cup whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs - could not find whole wheat - I used Italian style... oh and random side story, I was in the grocery store and didn't really know where breadcrumbs were and they were next on my short list... I happen to look up and there in front of me was the stuffing aisle... and I'm like I bet they are next to the stuffing and it was... I felt like it was a sign or something... ok that's a stupid story
• 1/4 cup Reggiano Parmigiano cheese, grated - just used regular Parmesan
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped - just used dry
• 1 egg
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp kosher salt + fresh pepper

For the marinara sauce:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (I like Tuttorosso) - I only used one can and it was plenty
• 1/2 small onion, keep whole - cut mine into quarters... b/c that's what I did
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil - dry
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium size pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn. Add crushed tomatoes, onion, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and bay leaf. Stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, garlic and cheese. Using your (clean) hands, mix all the ingredients well until everything is combined. Form small meatballs, about the size of a ping ping ball (1/8th cup each).

Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook about 20 minutes. Discard the onion and serve over pasta or on whole wheat Italian bread for a meatball hero.

RECIPE: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When I made cookies to take the funeral home for my step-mom's mom's funeral I thought the peanut butter chips were on sale... so I grabbed two bags.  Of course when I got up to the register they weren't, but at that point I didn't really care and went ahead and bought two bags.

I was eager to try something new with these chips - so I googled peanut butter chips recipes and starting looking around.  I found this one pretty fast and decided to make them.  What I liked about this recipe is 1) I had all the ingredients on hand and 2) it just gets spread in the bottom of a dish - no rolling balls or anything - score!

They were really delicious and I ended up taking them to the Super Bowl party we went to - and they got eaten (I left them there so I wouldn't be tempted to keep eating them at home)

The one note I'll make before I post the recipe.  I followed the cooking instruction and baked them for about 17-18 minutes.  I took them out when they were done and let them cool for awhile... and then I wanted one!  So I tried to eat it (and this was a crust piece which should be more done than the center) and it felt like I had way under cooked them.  I didn't much care at that point b/c putting them back in the oven would have probably done something else weird (since the oven was off and they were already cooling) so I figured we'd at least eat the edge or whatever and I wouldn't take them anywhere.

By the time they finally cooled and I checked them the next morning they were perfectly cooked.  I guess this is one the things I have to learn about baking and bar type of cookies... they need to cool all the way :)

Recipe from BrownEyedBaker notes in red... sorry I didn't take a picture on this one

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips may have used slightly less because I was finishing up a bag
1 cup peanut butter chips may have used slightly more to make up for the less chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
4. Turn out the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container. (shoot she even says cool completely :))

 

RECIPE: SkinnyTastes Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

Recently I've been trying to be more thoughtful about the things I eat.  Susan recommended the blog - Skinnytaste and I've been trying some recipes off there.

Last week I made her Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

Anyone who knows me... or has read this blog knows I love chili.  And if you don't I'm saying it now - I love chili!  I could eat it all the time it's just delicious.  So I've been trying to branch out from my traditional chili (maybe I should do a post on my chili) and try new ones.  You may remember my post on cream cheese chicken chili which I think I may like better than my 'traditional' chili... but I digress... this Skinnytaste recipe is very similar to that just without the cream cheese.

It was so tasty and delicious!  I'll be making it again I'm sure.

Look I even took a picture!

I love when you can just put everything in the crock pot and let it all cook - so easy!

Here's the recipe with my notes - good for future use!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16-oz can black beans
• 1 16-oz can kidney beans
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 10 oz package frozen corn kernels I used more than this, just b/c I had a bigger bag and why not?
• 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies I usually use one can of hot and one of original
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• chili peppers, chopped (optional) Didn't add them this time, but I would in the future
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro I do not like cilantro - so will never be adding it to my recipes

Directions:

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points).

Weekend in Review: First Part of February

I've managed to get behind again... here's what's been going on the past two weekends.

On Thursday, January 30th I took the afternoon off because I had to attend a wake.  My step-mom's mom (step-grandma if you want to get all technical) passed away.  She had been sick for awhile although that certainly doesn't make it any easier.  My brother came into town and so I was tasked to pick him up from the airport.  Since he was flying through Atlanta and the winter storm wreaked havoc down there his flight ended up being delayed a couple of hours.  Luckily I knew this information before I left the house so my waiting was in my cozy home instead of in the cell phone lot at Lambert.  Before all of that though, I decided to make some cookies to have at the funeral home to snack on.  I decided to make these again... and they turned out just as good as the first time.

Anyway I picked up my brother (finally) and headed up to the funeral home which was in BFE.  We stayed there until the end and headed back home.  It was super nice to have him in the car with me - made all the driving not nearly as bad.

On Friday we headed back up to the funeral home for the service.  Afterwards we had lunch together at a hotel in Westport Plaza.  It was nice and the food was good (especially the desserts).  We went back to my dad's house and hung out as a family for awhile.  Since not everyone could come in for Christmas it was the first time the whole family has been together in awhile (remember I'm the only kid still in town).  Keith and I stayed over there for awhile and then we headed back home.

That night Dan and I had dinner plans with Liz and Ken.  We went to 54 Street and it was a really nice time of connecting and talking.

I don't recall doing anything interesting on Saturday - I made some chili and some cookie bars - I suppose I'll post about that, but don't expect pictures.

On Sunday we went over to Zoa and Steven's house to watch the Super Bowl with Kyle.  It was fun, although we mostly talked and didn't pay too much attention to things.  Zoa made a taco bar which was delicious!  I brought the cookie bars from the previous day.

The following weekend - last weekend - On Thursday I just made dinner and watched TV.

On Friday we went to the bird store... I got to hold one of these adorable guys (yes, throwing the picture in so there's at least one picture in here)

We also tried a restaurant near our house.  Then the rest of the day I didn't do much of anything.  Dan went out with some friends and I enjoyed having a house to myself by eating Subway and watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies (crazy night haha)

On Saturday we stayed in most of the day, except a trip to the Container Store.  That night we went over and hung out with Kyle.  We got some Mexican food and hung out watching Netflix at his place.

Sunday I was productive in the morning - getting grocery shopping done.  Then I met up with my mom and we went to some thrift stores together.  I found one additional chair (up to 5 woohoo).  I also bought some brand new sheets (in the package still) from a thrift store for like $20/set.  I got an extra set for each bed since we only have the set on the beds... I thought it would be a good idea to have extra ones just in case something happens (namely an animal).

I finished Sunday by cooking dinner and watching TV.