Yum, yummy, yum.

First I want to share with you all one of the best discoveries I have ever come across!  Popovers people!!  If you are a carb-aholic like me, you will want to run to your kitchen to make these precious puffs of heaven. 

 

Popovers

3  Eggs, Room temperature

1  Cup of milk, room temperature

1  Cup of all purpose flour

1/4  Teaspoon salt

Vegetable or Canola Oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, add 1/2 teaspoon of oil into each muffin tin.  Place muffin tin into the oven and let the pan get really hot.  When the oil starts to bubble then it is ready.  You want the pan hot!!  Using a blender add the eggs, milk, flour, and salt.  Mix until blended.  Set the batter aside.

When you pan is hot, carefully remove in from the oven and quickly start filling the muffin cups 3/4 full of batter.  You will hear the batter sizzle as it goes into the cups.  That's what you want!  Lower the temperature to 400 degrees and place the pan on the center rack in the oven.  Bake for 30-40 minutes WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR!

Remove the pan from the oven and immediatley pierce the side of each popover with the tip of a sharp knife to allow steam to escape.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Serve with butter, jelly or honey.

DON'T PEEK - I know its hard, but popovers are leavened by steam, heat is required for the rising of popovers.  If you open the door, the heat escapes, the oven cools, down, the steam inside the popovers condenses, and they collapse.  So, don't peek!  You won't regret it!

 

Oh. My. Word.  I ate about 10 of these, they are just too good!


Next was an experiment.  I am obsessed with balsamic vinegar and I found some AMAZING balsamic at TJ Maxx, its by Napa Valley Harvest and its barrel aged.  Usually I have to do a reduction to get my balsamic the right consistency and sweetness, but this one is already there, right out of the bottle.  AMAZING people, I'm not even kidding.

This was just a simple appetizer. 

Cherry tomato cut in half, chunk of fresh buffalo mozzarella, drizzle of EVOO, and drizzle of balsamic, then a sprinkle of basil, i used dried, but would have been awesome with fresh.  WOW!  This was so good, such big flavors in one small bite!  You could secure it all together with tooth picks and it would be a great hors d'oeuvre. 

Deliciousness

Spicy Thai Shrimp and Noodles

1 jar of garlic chili sauce (found in your asian food aisle)
1 pound of shrimp
1 box if linguine
  rice wine vinegar
  desired veggies, i used fresh broccoli and zuchinni
  
Boil your pasta.  Cut your veggies and sautee them in some olive oil, i used about 2-3 tbls of oil, then throw in your shrimp and cook until the are pink.  next, toss in a couple of spoons of the garlic chili sauce, a few dashes of rice wine vinegar to taste.  This is my sister's recipe, but I tweaked it a bit.  it tastes great either way.  I put some honey in with the shrimp and veggies, and also some sesame oil and a couple of splashes of soy sauce.  then drain your pasta and toss the shrimp and veggie mix into your pasta.  add more garlic chili sauce until you have the desired level of spicyness, I was cooking for our whole family so the hubs and I just added the sauce to our individual helpings.  This is so good and fresh tasting!  


Thanks Libby for sharing it with me!



 

Cheesy Sausage and Tomato Manicotti

Tonight I made the fam a super yummy dinner. This dish doesn't call for fresh basil, but I had some on hand tonight from a tomato bisque that I made this past weekend.

I love fresh basil. I cannot wait to plant my garden this year, I want some basil! Its way to expense to buy as often as I would like, so I plan on planting a lot! Basil, fresh tomatoes, oooh my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ok, now for the recipe. I made some modifications, but it is good either way. Chad doesn't like italian sausage, so I used ground beef. I am way lazy, so I didn't blend anything in a blender, I also added fresh basil and fresh minced garlic to the tomato mixture.

Igredients:
1 (8 oz) package uncooked manicotti noodles
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with garlic oregano and BASIL!
1 lb Italian pork sausage
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley -optional

Preparation:
Cook pasta according to directions.

Process tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in a blender 20 seconds or until smooth. Set aside.

cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until the meat crumbles and is no longer pink. drain grease from meat. in the skillet, stir cream cheese, ricotta cheese and 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese into the meat. Spoon into manicotti shells. (I use my fingers to do this, but I got a tip today. you could put the meat mixture into a plastic ziplock bag and then cut the tip off and squeeze meat mixture into the manicotti.)

Arrange stuffed shells into a 9x13 greased baking dish.

Pour the tomato mixture over the shells and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle the top with fresh parsley or if you are me, fresh BASIL!!!

I served mine with some yummy foccacia bread and a salad. Bon appetit!

Chicken Taco Soup and Yummy Lemon Bars

Yesterday at my MOPS group I listened to a caterer talk about how she cooks for her family. She offered some great recipes and fabulous cooking tips, but she also spoke about how as mothers and wives, we can minister to our families by the food we serve. I love that perspective! I love to cook for my hubby and kiddos and I love it when they are so happy when they see what I've prepared.

The speaker shared some scripture that she keeps around her kitchen and they all were good, but this one spoke to my heart.

Colossians 3:23-24
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

This is such an encouragement to me. Everything I am doing, is for the Lord!

Please enjoy a few recipes of mine.

Chicken Taco Soup

1 small onion (chopped)
1 16 oz can chili beans
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 15 oz can of whole kernal corn (drained)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 12 oz can or bottle of beer
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 packet taco seasoning
4 chicken breasts
Optional: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips.

1. Place onion, chili and black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and tomatoes in a crock pot. Add taco seasoning and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered. Cook on low for 5 hours.
2. Remove chicken breasts from the soup and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Shred the chicken. Stir shredded chicken back into the soup and allow to cook for 1 -2 hours longer.

I serve my with a dollop of sour cream and sheddar cheese with tortilla chips on the side.
Enjoy!

The best Lemon Bars Ever!

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup (2sticks) butter, at room temp

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (you can use the lemon juice from a bottle, but I highly recommend fresh squeezed juice, its a much better flavor!)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Make the crust: Combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press mixture into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice with a wisk. Pour this over the baked crust and bake for 25 minutes longer. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and enjoy!
*Note - watch closely while bars are baking, if cooked too long, they can develop a crisp top, which you don't want.

Chicken Enchilada Tutorial

This is my first tutorial, so I picked something very simple, my yummy chicken enchiladas. Not only are the yummy but they are in-expensive, which is always a very good thing!

Here is what you will need for these:

2 cups cooked chicken breast
1 package of burrito size tortillas
1 can cream chicken soup
1 -2 cups of sour cream
1 -2 cups of any salsa that you like
2 cups of cheese - whatever you prefer, I use cheddar

First shred your cooked chicken. I use a couple of forks and just tear the little chicky up.
Next, you add the sour cream, salsa, and cream of chicken soup to a bowl.
Now dump all your beautiful shredded chicky into the bowl and mix up.
Now, take a tortilla a put a couple spoonfulls of the chicken mixture in the middle, then top it with some cheese, roll it up like a burrito.
Next, put all the rolled up tortillas in a greased dish. You can use an 8x8 dish, or double the recipe and make a 9x13 pan, it just depends on how many you are feeding.
The last step is to spread the remaining chicken mixture on top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden bubbly!
Here they are on my table, I serve it with some type of rice. We had chicken fajita rice this night, and it was super good! My husband and kiddos love this meal! Enjoy friends!