Potato Breakfast Cup

Just wanted to start this off first stating how I hope you all had a fabulous Mother’s Day yesterday! It sure was a nice to see all of our fam and get a little bit of a relaxing myself. My husband was so exhausted at the end of the day, poor guy. But it sure was nice to kinda kick it back slightly and not chase the kid of ours every single second. I just couldn’t let my husband do it all day though! (This was the best picture we could get together, oh well, at least we got one?)

I am fortunate enough that both our parents live close by. It was nice to be able to visit them and enjoy each others company. Eat some yummy food, play games, talk- doing family things. We had brunch yesterday which is my favorite. It was mainly breakfast foods so I made this real yummy somewhat ‘quiche’ recipe. It was quite enjoyable and not too heavy filling. Which, that I love too. Hope you all enjoy! (Original recipe was a spicy mexican frittata, which I will want to try next time).

Ingredients for Potato Cups:
2 ten ounce Idaho Russet Potatoes

1 tbsp flour

1-2 tbsp oil

salt & pepper

Ingredients for Frittata:

6-7 eggs

1/2 c. cooked crumbled bacon

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1 10 oz. frozen spinach rinsed & drained

1/4 cup cream (half-n-half)

1/2 cup crumbled or shredded cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Peel and grate two, ten ounce Idaho Russet Potatoes. Rinse shredded potato and squeeze or strain to remove excess water. TIP: A squeeze of lemon will keep your potatoes nice and white.
2) Toss shredded potato with flour, olive oil, pepper, and salt. Add other seasonings or shredded cheese to suit your taste.
3) Brush or spray a 12 cup muffin pan with oil.
4) Press the potato mixture into the bottom and up the sides to form cups. It’s OK if the potato pieces stick up, because the cups will shrink while baking.
5) Bake the cups in a preheated 375(F) oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on how crunchy you want your cups to be.
6) While the cups are baking, prepare egg mixture.
7) Beat the eggs vigorously and add all the other ingredients.
8) Take the potato cups from the oven and distribute egg mixture. Return to the oven and continue baking until eggs are set 10-15 minutes.
9) Share and enjoy!

(Adapted from Average Betty)

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

Peanut butter and chocolate. I’m sorry, you can’t go wrong when you hear those words together. That’s why I just had to make these…

I hosted a party that has the BEST cleaning products ever. I know, I am sounding like a dork. It’s called Norwex. If you haven’t heard if them, you better soon. It’s ahhhmazing. I would hear people talk about it, most of course moms, and go on and on about it. So, I ended up going to a party to see what all this jibber jabbing was about. I was like yeah yeah, one of those things. Well, I ended up buying things and loving it. Enough to host a little party myself. That is where this yummy dessert I found came in hand.

Of course I needed a few food items and was looking for something small and easy to whip up. I saw this recipe on the fabulous food blog Annie Eats, one of my go to’s, so thank you as always. It was a hit!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

Yield: about 2 dozen truffles

Ingredients:

For the filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups crushed pretzels

For coating:
12 0z. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the drizzle:
1 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp. milk
4-6 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

To make the filling, combine the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, butter and pretzels in a medium bowl. Mix well with a spoon until evenly combined and all ingredients are incorporated. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 2-3 teaspoons worth each. (You may need to clean your hands between batches to keep the mixture from sticking to your palms.) Place on a baking sheet lined with foil, parchment, or wax paper. Transfer to the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a bowl of simmering water. (Temper if desired.) Dip chilled peanut butter-pretzel balls in the chocolate, gently shaking off the excess. Transfer back to the lined baking sheet. Chill to let chocolate fully set.

To make the peanut butter drizzle, combine the peanut butter and the milk in a small bowl. Microwave briefly, about 15 seconds. Add in the confectioners’ sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Adjust consistency as needed with additional confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle over the coated truffles. Let set before packaging or serving.

Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Has anyone else heard of this so called ‘Meatless Monday’ thing? I never did until today so I thought why not? Quite honestly, sometimes using meat can be quite a process and today I wasn’t feelin in the mood so I thought I’d start this. So for all my vegetarian friends, look for more posts! But no worries for my meat eaters, I will be doing that too. I’m no hater.

Anywho, I saw this recipe and it is so easy and delicious and is a great spring/ summer meal I’m excited for it here because it’s definitely taking its merry time, but I guess you just have to make the best of it right? So here is the original post from a fun blog,Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes . Such a cute blog name- also because that is my kids favorite breakfast..Hope you all enjoy!!

Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Serves 4 – 1 pepper/2 halves per person

You will need:
1 cup water + 1/2 cup quinoa rinsed
4 medium green peppers, cut in half & seeded
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup black olives sliced
1 corn on the cob, kernels removed (about 1/2 cup)
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup prepared salsa
daiya optional but highly recommended
oregano for garnishing

Assembly:
Bring water to boil in a small sauce pan, add rinsed quinoa, cover and cook on low for 10 minutes. turn off heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep your green peppers, corn & tomatoes – place in a medium bowl.
slice olives and place in bowl with rest of veggies.

Arrange green pepper halves on a rimmed baking sheet, cute side up. add cooked quinoa to the veggie bowl along with prepared salsa, mix well. fill each pepper half with as much quinoa as you can.

Top with slices of daiya – bake in a 350* pre heated oven or toaster oven for 20-25 minutes.

Garnish with oregano.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing like walking into a home and taking a deep breath and the aroma is of freshly baked cookies. Better yet, how about taking a bite and the chocolate chips melt because they are right out of the oven….bet your thinking about making some now aren’t ya?? These cookies were pretty delish, I can’t lie. Who doesn’t love a good occasional chocolate chip cookie? For real…you’re nuts if not. Okay, I’m really kidding but you haven’t try these. I found this recipe off of this fantastic blog Two Peas and Their Pod, I did make my cookies a little smaller but you obviously can do whichever you’d like…enjoy!

Frozen Yogurt Blackberry Icecream

Seriously. I am now wondering when Spring will come. I feel like in our neck of the woods, we’ve been trying to feel like its coming. Doing some spring cleaning to grilling more and making my summer like dinners now. Especially for dessert, ice cream. How could you go wrong? Better yet, it’s FROZEN YOGURT. All the craze these days.
Honestly though, it is “better” for you. And I feel better with this other than just normal ice cream- since I have weird digestive issues with other ice creams… BUMMER! Hope you enjoy this delish Recipe. It was quite tasty!

….and waiting

Berry Mascarpone Fool

I love this cookbook, The Kitchen Bible. I know I’ve said this plenty of times but I’ll say it again- such fun new recipes in here and can’t wait to share more of them. And the best part of it all…every.single.recipe has a picture. That, I am so happy about. I love having pictures to see the finished product. I don’t know why. It’s just me! Go buy it, seriously.

(just a sneak peak) 

Anywho, I made this scrumptious dessert one night back in summer. I don’t know who came up with the name. But,  it was really good. I forgot I had this one packed away and to share this with you all. It reminds me of summer- so it is making me more & more anxious for it.

Hope you all enjoy!

Prepare ahead- The Fools can be refrigerated overnight.

1. Reserve a few berries for garnish. Puree the remaining berries and sugar in a good processor or blender. Strain through a sieve to remove any seeds. The puree should be quite thick. Add the lemon juice.

2. Whisk the cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk the mascarpone in another bowl to soften it. Fold the mascarpone in another bowl to soften it. Fold the mascarpone into the cream. Stir half of the berry puree into the cream mixture.

3. Divide the berry puree among four glasses and top with the cream mixture. Garnish each with reserved berries and a mint leaf. Refrigerate for at least two hours, until chilled. Serve cold.

Nutella Fudge & sea salt

My dearest husband has a Nutella problem. He can eat it with anything. Seriously, it kinda makes me shake me head and laugh. Nutella with pancakes, french toast, crackers, supposedly he likes to dip in it with oreos?? (I am gagging) So gross! But there are a few things I enjoy with Nutella. For one, this delicious recipe from a fanastic blog Broma Bakery. Does anyone else have an obsession with this too??

For the fudge:

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips (you want to use a good quality)
1 cup Nutella, room temperature
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
Course sea salt
Extra softened butter, for greasing pan

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8×8 baking pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overlap on the sides.

In a medium glass bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, bittersweet chocolate chips, Nutella, and butter.

Form a double-boiler by setting the bowl on a medium pot of gently simmering water. The water level should be low enough that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread the top smooth with a spatula. Refrigerate until the fudge. *After about 1 hour of chilling, I sprinkled the top with course sea salt. If you use fine salt then you may want to wait until the fudge is fully firm or the salt is disappear (many who made this recipe noticed this). Continue to chill for fudge for another hour (making the minimum time needed to chill 2 hours.)

Using the overhanging parchment paper, lift the fudge out. Peel off the parchment paper.Run a knife under hot water, dry it off, and cut the fudge into 3/4-inch squares -the hot knife helps make clean cuts. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.

Original recipe from The Curious Country Cook.

 

Pumpkin & Cream Spice Bread

Well it is officially fall now. And what better to start it off than with a pumpkin recipe? I have been craving this exact recipe and it tasted delicious…I wont lie. Even the hubs enjoyed it and he isn’t a fan whatsoever of pumpkin (high five).

So here it is. This delicious spiced pumpkin bread recipe with this creamy topping that makes your mouth just water. Enjoy!

Pumpkin & Cheese Spice Bread

Yields 3 mini loaves (the mini loaf pans I use are 5 3/4 inches long X 3 inches wide X 2 inches deep)

For the Cheese Batter:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Pumpkin Spice Batter:

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 large eggs

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Other:

Butter, to grease the pans

For the Cheese Batter: Use a handheld electric mixer to beat together all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

For the Pumpkin Spice Batter: Preheat oven to 350F; lightly grease 3 mini loaf pans with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, then stir in the pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to over-mix. Divide the pumpkin batter between the 3 loaf pans, then pour the cheese batter on top.

Bake until golden around the edges, about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Taco Chicken Bowls

This 70° weather here has been fantastic lately. From the humid 100°, it has been so lovely getting that break. I saw this recipe and sounded like the perfect meal for a cooler rainy day. It was delicious and even better than that- you can freeze it and save it for later! ( I’m all for that…).
Funny how you at times revolve your meals around the weather…I also love that too.

(note- we didn’t put the cheese on ours and instead of sour cream, use plain Greek yogurt)!

Taco Chicken Bowls

1.5 lbs. chicken breasts
1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) frozen corn
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
to taste cracked pepper
2 cups dry rice
8 oz. shredded cheddar
1/2 bunch cilantro (optional)

STEP 1: Add everything except the rice, cheese, and cilantro to the slow cooker along with 1/4 cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.

STEP 2: Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.

STEP 3: Near the end of the cooking time, cook the two cups of rice according to the package directions (Bring the rice and 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot with a lid in place, as soon as it reaches a boil, reduced the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving).

STEP 4: After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

Lemon Blueberry Crumble Bars

I love summer- and for some reason lemon and limes have been tasting ohh so good in my recipes lately. So here’s to another recipe I saw that I just had to make and yes, a dessert…! It was delicious and had to share with others ( which is why I made it)!

Thank you to The Craving Chronicles- another cheers to a fantastic blog! Hope you enjoy!
***note: if you click on the Craving Chronicles, that recipe is for half the batch. I have the full which was from the original recipe.

Yield: 24 bars
Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, separated
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries (about 13 oz.), washed and drained on paper towels

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9×13-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the ends. Spray foil with cooking spray- bottom and sides of the pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers), blend the butter completely into the flour mixture. Transfer 2 cups of the crumb mixture to another bowl and reserve for the topping.

3. Blend the egg white into the remaining crumbs and then press the mixture into the bottom of the pan to form a level crust. Use the bottom of a flat, wide glass to tap the mixture and even it out.

4. Bake the crust 10-12 minutes, or until it starts to form a dry top.

5. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk condensed milk, lemon juice & zest, and egg yolk. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes (it will begin to thicken).

6. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over hot crust and then drop spoonfuls of the lemon mixture over the blueberries. Spread gently w/ a spatula to distribute as evenly as you can. Bake until lemon mixture begins to form a shiny skin- 7 to 8 minutes.

7. Sprinkle reserved crumble topping over the lemon-blueberry layer, pressing the streusel between your fingers into small lumps as you sprinkle. Bake until filling is bubbly at the edges and the topping is brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

8. Let bars cool in the pan on a rack until just warm, about an hour. Carefully lift them out of the pan using the foil overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove foil and cut into 24 bars when cool. (If you have time to chill the bars, they’re easier to cut cleanly when chilled).

Tips:
*The bars may be stored at room temperature for a few hours, but otherwise should be stored in the refrigerator.