I Want To Stir!!!

This is what I hear a lot when cooking with my nephew. He is almost 3 and a great helper in the kitchen. He loves to cook! He has been staying with me and Logan this week during the day while my sister works. Logan has loved having someone to play with and he crawls after Grayson like a little puppy dog!

Today, Grayson and I made blueberry muffins. I had some blueberries in the freezer and was just craving some homemade muffins, but realized I didn't have eggs. My heart was already set and since I had already told Grayson we would make them, there was no going back! Thankfully, I found this recipe for egg-less muffins!!


Honestly, they were not as good as the blueberry muffins I made in this post. These got a little too brown around the edge before the middle cooked and I just liked the flavor of the other better. Of course they called for a lot more ingredients that I don't usually keep on hand. However, Grayson said, "they are very good for my tummy!" So at least they were a hit for him.

Just Needed A Little Inspiration

Hi! Remember me? It has been quite a while since I've made the time to sit down and blog. Even my mommy blog has been completely ignored for months. Of course I have been cooking, since my family has to eat, and I've even tried taking a few pictures, but over all nothing has really inspired me to blog.

Well that is no longer the case. I went out with the girl's last night and had some AWESOME coffee ice cream with oreo pieces mixed in from Coldstone! I have not quit thinking about how perfect it was. I even went on a quest today for a simple coffee ice cream recipe and came across this blog. It was like destiny because it only called for 3 ingredients and I had them all (pretty much).



Thankfully I have the wonderful Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that is so simple I can do it while corraling a one year old. And Yes, my baby turned one last weekend. Another reason I've had no time to post. Baby plus building a business doesn't leave much time for blog writing or blog stalking. To those of you I used to regularly stalk...I've missed reading about your adventures!

And here is the awesome coffee icecream recipe with my additions in italics:



Homemade Coffee Ice Cream
Source: Eat At Home , Italic additions by me

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups half and half (I only had whole milk for Logan, so I used whole milk)
4 tbsp brewed coffee, strong
1/3 package of oreo's crushed


Pour everything except the oreos in the ice cream maker and let it do it's thing until it is almost done. Add the oreo's at the last minute and let them combine. YUM!!!!

I'm a Featured Blogger!

See my badge to the left! Sophia of The Back Burner, the companion blog to Key Ingredient, blogged about my shrimp skewers. Click here to read her post and here to read the original.

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've actually made some great dishes recently, but time has gotten away from me. Some things have changed in my world and the time it takes to upload pictures and write a blog has been put on the back burner for a while. Hopefully I'll be back soon. It is spring after all and summer is on the way, which means my grill is primed and ready. You know how much I love to grill! Check back soon for a new recipe. In the meantime, check out The Back Burner. It's great!!

Go Fish!

I love fish, and pretty much all seafood. But my husband is allergic to a lot of it, so we don't eat it very often. Other than shrimp and crab. He can eat shellfish...odd, I know. Anyway, since he has been working out of town this week, I've been eating a lot of fish. It is good for you and most importantly, it tastes great!

This was actually my first time to have grouper. My favorite fish is mahi mahi, but it is kind of expensive. I also like tilapia, but this time grouper was cheaper so I went for it. I LOVE it! I think it ranks above tilapia in my book.

Also, this recipe only has about 350 calories and it is VERY filling!

Italian Baked Grouper with Brown Rice
Source: Me

1 4 oz. grouper filet
cooking spray
2 tbsp Wishbone Light Italian Dressing
1 pepperoncini, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup cooked whole wheat brown rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup bell pepper, minced (mine was orange, but I don't think the color matters)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place grouper in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Pour dressing over the fish. Top with pepperoncini, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.

While the fish is baking, heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the oil, garlic, shallots, and bell pepper. Saute until tender. Add rice and cook an additional 5 minutes or until heated through.

Plate rice and place fish on top.

Pop Goes The Weasel

This song goes round and round in my head whenever the word pop (or the likenesses there of) is involved in any sentence. Maybe it is because I have a 7 month old. Maybe not. ;) Anyway, no weasels were harmed in the preparation of this recipe. Deer however, were not so lucky.

My freezer is full of venison again. Not because my husband went hunting, but because my father-in-law gave us some of his. I've put off cooking it because it isn't my favorite meat, but my husband really likes it. Therefore I went in search of something new and different. I found Deer Poppers! Everyone raved about them (except some guy who was offended that the marinade overshadowed the natural taste of the venison). I really liked them. I do tend to have problems with foods wrapped in bacon though. The bacon just never gets crispy enough for me. In my opinion, bacon should never be chewy. Other than that, they had great flavor and were nice little bites to "pop" in your mouth. The husband LOVED them, and so did his friends. (He took the leftovers with him when they went camping)

I followed the recipe exactly and it can be found here. I did not have toothpicks though, so I had a little trouble with some of them coming apart.

Mama Mia!

I wish I knew some Italian because these little pizzas are amazing!! I love pizza, but don't have it near as often since I've had a baby. We don't like to spend the money on delivery, and even the frozen pizzas (the good ones) are expensive! Before Logan was born, we made homemade pizza a lot. It was easy, inexpensive, and most of all...good!

I was watching a recorded episode of Rachel Ray and she made mini deep dish pizzas. They looked so good and easy I decided I had to make them for dinner. I changed them up a little and made them cheeseburger pizzas. They were so good and the great thing is, you can eat three and it is only the equivalent of 1 biscuit! I do have some hints to make them easier for you, so before you make them be sure to read all the way to the end of the recipe.

Bacon Cheeseburger Mini Deep Dish Pizzas
Source: Inspired by Rachel Ray, my additions are in italics

1 can refrigerated biscuits
1/2 lb. ground beef
6 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
tomato sauce
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese

Cut each biscuit into thirds and press into rounds. Press each round into a cup of a muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook according to the package's directions. Brown ground beef, drain fat, add onion and cook until tender. Add garlic and worcestershire sauce and cook an additional few minutes. Put cooked meat into a medium bowl and toss with crumbled bacon. Fill each mini crust with tomato sauce, about a spoon full in each cup. Not enough to make the crust soggy. Top with parmesan cheese and then fill with the toppings and top with mozzarella cheese. Place back in the oven just to melt the cheese.

My tips: My crusts puffed up instead of spreading around the cup, so about 3/4 through the cooking time, I took them out and used a spoon to mash them back into cup form. Then placed them back in the oven to finish cooking. Also, be sure to spray your pan with cooking spray and use a large spoon to remove the mini pizzas. They come out great!

Getting Creative

I picked up a snack while out shopping the other day called New York Style Focaccia Sticks. I thought they would be great, but they were a little hard and crunchy for my taste. I guess I'm just more of a chip person. I didn't want to just trash the bag, so I decided to smash them up and use them to bread chicken fingers. I am all about getting creative and turning something you don't like into something you do like. This way I wasn't wasting food or money. :) These sticks had a great flavor, after all, just not a good texture. I bought the Quattro Formaggio flavor, and turned them into Parmesan Chicken Tenders. And for those of you with weight loss New Year's aspirations, these are baked, not fried.

Parmesan Chicken Fingers
Source: Me

1 cup crushed New York Style Focaccia Sticks, Quattro Formaggio flavor
1/2 cup bred crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbsp italian herb seasoning blend
1/2 cup parmesan salad dressing (you could also use ranch)
1 tbsp chili paste
6 chicken tenders

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a cooling rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet. Mix the salad dressing and chili paste in a medium sized bowl. Mix the other remaining ingredients (other than chicken) in another medium bowl. Dip the chicken in the dressing mix and then in the breading mix. Place the chicken strips on the cooling rack/cookie sheet. Using the cooling rack keeps the underside of the chicken fingers from being mushy. Bake for about 40 minutes or until browned outside and all the pink is gone from the chicken.