Almond butter

4 oz unsalted almonds
1 t melted coconut oil
1/4 t kosher salt

Blend in food processor until creamy.

Next time I want to try adding in a handful (or more) of chocolate chips!

Sweet Corn and Caramel Frozen Yogurt

This recipe is a big experiment! But I have to document it so I know what I did if it turns out great!  Or so I know what not to do again if it's a big flop!

But so far I think it's gonna be just fine.

For the frozen yogurt:

I used 3 cobs of corn. Shuck and wash the corn, and cut all the kernels off. Scrape the cobs to get as much of the liquids as you can.

Put the corn kernels in a sauce pan with 2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.

Bring to a simmer, and let simmer for 5 mins.

Remove from heat and let the mixture sit/cool for a bit... 5-10 mins? longer is fine too. Depends on whether you are distracted or impatient!

Puree the corn mixture in a blender or food processor.  I gave it a good minute or two. Then I kinda felt like it wasn't doing anything more, so I called it done!

Put the mixture in a bowl in the fridge to let it cool for an hour or so, and move on to the yummy caramel!!


For the caramel:

1/2 cup white sugar
4 T unsalted butter
1/4 t fresh ground sea salt
1/4 cup whole milk

Melt the sugar in a dry sauce pan, stirring to break up lumps and help it melt evenly. By the time it's melted it should be a nice brown color. Remove from heat, stir in butter until it's all melted. Stir in salt and milk (or heavy cream), and return to the stove. Bring back to a simmer and cook another minute or few until it's a good caramel color. Don't stick your finger in it for a taste. It smelled so good I just wanted to eat it out of the pan. But don't do it.

I put a sheet of parchment paper in a bowl and sprayed it with cooking spray. Then poured the caramel onto the parchment paper and set it aside to start cooling. (Put it in the fridge if necessary, but not for too long. You want it to still be liquidy, but not warm.) We will return to this yumminess in a little bit...


Back to the ice cream... I mean frozen yogurt:

When the corn mixture is cool, stir in 1 t vanilla, 1/4 t sea salt, and 2 cups of greek yogurt (or regular yogurt that has been strained overnight or 8-12 hours)

Whisk this mixture until it's smooth, and add to ice cream maker.  Freeze for about 20 mins or according to manufacturer's instructions.

When it's frozen, put it in a freezer safe container and pull out the caramel.

Pour/scoop the caramel onto the ice cream, and swirl it gently to mix it up.

Put the whole thing in the freezer for an hour or so to firm it back up.

The verdict is still out... It's good, but I wouldn't say it's great. I like the idea though!  And I mostly wanted to experiment with the yogurt! I think it worked great, but it definitely adds a distinct yogurt taste to it!

Menu Plan Monday (or thursday!)

Thursday is better than nothing, that's what I have to say :)

And I did actually cook dinner the last two days, I just didn't plan out my week, so it's not as bad as it could have been!!

Monday - doctor's appointments - take out from the local italian place

Tuesday - Pork Shoulder and Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes

Wednesday - Grilled Rib Steaks seasoned with shallots and garlic

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Pasta Alfredo

Saturday - Out for the day - going out to eat

Sunday - Picnic/Barbecue after church

Menu Plan Monday Aug 6th - it's been a while!

Well, it's been a while, but I'm actually gonna cook dinner this week!  My LO is 8 weeks old and I'm finally feeling ready to get back in the swing of "normal" life!  Maybe I'll actually get something done if I can quit staring at this sweet face :)

Here's my attempt at getting back in the saddle:

Monday - Returning from out of town - eat on the way home

Tuesday - Cheesy Cornbread Chili Casserole

Wednesday - Marinated Grilled Chicken and Crock-pot Mac 'n' Cheese

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Smoky Skillet Cacciatore

Saturday - Rotisserie Chicken, corn on the cob, and salad

Sunday - Leftovers again or out to eat with friends

Pomegranate Ice Cream

Today I decided to try pomegranate ice cream in my ice cream maker. Mine is only a 1.5 quart maker so I had to keep it about a quart of liquid. Unfortunately I never took a picture of the end product...

I wanted to keep it super simple, so here it is:

1 cup 100% pomegranate juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 cups half and half
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Mix everything together. I measured and mixed in the same bowl.

Add to ice cream maker and churn 20-30 mins.

If you want it to be soft, eat it right now!  Otherwise, spoon it into a freezer safe container and freeze for an hour or two until harder.

I love the tangy-ness of adding the lime juice. Next time I will probably cut down on the sugar. Maybe 3/4 cup.
This might be my favorite of the ice creams that I've made so far!


~~~~~

Coincidence? or Sunshine?

Yesterday was rainy and dark, and I spent the whole day feeling sad, unmotivated, and just down in the dumps!

Today the sun is shining and it is absolutely the perfect temperature out! I went for a walk at lunch time with my hubby. And I just feel happy, and ready for almost anything.

Does the weather really have that much power over my mood? Or does it just so happen that I got enough sleep last night and the previous few nights I had been lacking? I got some exercise, so now I have more energy and motivation?

If it really is the sunshine that inspires happiness and motivation, how do I bottle this and use it on cold and/or rainy days?   I hate feeling so depressed and unmotivated, but I can't seem to figure out what to do about it on days when I feel that way.  And on days when I do have motivation, I can't pinpoint exactly what is different.

I don't need or expect to feel happy all the time.  But when I'm not, I would sure like there to be a good reason for it, and a clear path of how to get back to a place where I can be happy, content, motivated, and actually pleasant to be around ;)

So what do you think...  Coincidence? or Sunshine?


~~♥~~

Menu Plan Oct 17th-22

I've been home alone the last two weeks, so I haven't done much cooking. It's no fun cooking for yourself!! I've had lots of wonderful friends invite me over or go out somewhere with me, but the occasional night I've stayed in has consisted of really exciting dinners such as.... toasted english muffin with peanut butter!  Stunning!

This week I'm finally getting back in the swing of things. I am so happy to have my hubby back home. It's been very lonely without him, especially since I could rarely have any communication with him. I don't know how people do it with their husbands gone for months or years at a time. I was going crazy without having him around, and it was only 2.5 weeks!

Ok, on to the menu for this week!

Monday - Lemon-Garlic Chicken with Pasta and Quick & Easy Alfredo Sauce
 --I love this alfredo sauce! It's quick, it uses ingredients I almost always have around the house, and to me, it tastes amazing. It may not be *quite* as good as REAL alfredo sauce, but I love that it is so easy and pretty much fool-proof to throw together! I always add extra garlic... mmmm

Tuesday - Cheese Steak Sandwiches (crockpot)

Wednesday - Gumbo with Chicken & Italian Sausage  (crockpot)
--I looked for a while to find a good gumbo recipe, and kinda pulled several together to create this one. I think it's exactly what I was looking for! dont' forget to add the roux at the end... gives it that something extra special!

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Argentinian Pork Tenderloin  (cooking the pork in the crockpot)

Saturday - leftovers again, or out to dinner with friends!


~~~~~~~

Menu Plan Monday Sept 25th

Happy Fall!  It's only 3 months till Christmas!!! Just wanted to throw that out there! :)

Here's my plan for the week...

Monday - Almond Stuffed Chicken
- I am really excited about this one! Every time I look at the recipe, I get hungry and want to make it right now!  I really hope it lives up to my expectations!
**Ok, update... this was amazing! And it really wasn't that hard either. The cheese I got for it was Alouette garlic and herb brie cheese - I kinda splurged on that cuz I love brie so much but oh my goodness this was great! and it looked so fancy! Served it with couscous with some italian seasonings.

Tuesday - Pomegranate Beef in the Crockpot
 - however, I plan on substituting honey for the maple syrup, and leaving out the golden raisins and the cinnamon

Wednesday - dinner with friends

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Chicken Curry (crockpot)
 - this is one of my favorites!

Saturday - leftovers - whenever I make chicken curry I always have WAY too much!!

Sunday - Argentinian Pork
 - haven't decided if I'll cook this in the crock pot or on the grill... guess it depends on if we get our propane tank refilled! If cooking in the crockpot - cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until the temperature of the pork registers at least 145 degrees.

~~~~~~

Menu Plan Monday

This is one of those weeks were I feel like meal planning is HARD! I'm struggling for motivation. I know that when I do plan meals, everything is way way easier throughout the week, but I still have a hard time encouraging myself to do it!

So... here we go...

Monday - Hamburgers on the grill

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Crockpot Baked Ziti - going to brown some italian sausage instead of ground beef, and add some chopped spinach or zucchini or whatever veggies I have laying around.

Thursday - Garlic Lime Chicken - serving with black beans and sweet corn

Friday - Jamaican Salmon

Saturday - Leftovers or dinner out!

PS Coffee buttercream frosting is amazing!!! I made some ghiardelli brownie cupcakes last night for a co-worker's birthday and frosted them with coffee flavored buttercream. YUM I am drooling just remembering them.

I still have a bowl full of the coffee frosting in the fridge... what else can I put it on? or should I just give in to my taste buds and have a few spoonfuls by itself? ;)










Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday - First week of September!

Happy September! This Labor Day weekend has been a fun-filled and relaxing one! I am sad for it to end.

This will be a short menu this week since there has been a lot of cooking out and eating out this weekend and we have a lot of leftovers to use up in the fridge, but here we go...

Monday - cookout

Tuesday - leftovers & homemade blackberry ice cream for dessert!

Wednesday - Peanut butter chicken (crock pot) - we didn't get to this one last week

Thursday - Tequila Pork Tenderloin - with corn on the cob

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - going out for the day with a friend

Wow, I'm only planning to cook twice this week? I feel like a slacker! ;)

Have a great week!

~Becky~

Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream!

I just bought myself an ice cream maker this week. The end of summer seems like an appropriate time for that, doesn't it?? :-P

Well of course I had to try out my new ice cream maker as soon as it came. I ran across a recipe for blackberry ice cream, and remembered that earlier in the summer when blackberries were in season, I pureed a bunch of them to freeze them for later. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to use them!

Here is the recipe I used... It calls for a custard base, then you add in the blackberry juice/syrup. I didn't strain my puree when I made it, and I didn't feel like waiting for it to thaw before making my ice cream, so I just dumped the frozen blackberry yumminess into the custard base.

...and mixed it all together until it thawed...

...which had the additional effect of cooling off the ice cream mixture enough that I could put it in my ice cream maker and start churning!

It only needed about 20-30 mins of churning to look ready to eat!

We had some for sampling, and put the rest in the freezer to harden up and save for later.

Next time though, I probably will take the time to strain the seeds out of the blackberry puree. I didn't mind them being in there too much, but I think I would like it better without them. All in all, this was a VERY yummy recipe :)

I think I'm going to go pull it out of the freezer and have some for breakfast!

Here's my scaled recipe for my 1.5 qt ice cream maker:

• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• approx 1 cup blackberry puree (see original link for using fresh blackberries!)

Heat half-and-half and sugar in a pan over low heat. Remove from heat when heated through, before mixture starts to boil so the half-and-half doesn't start to curdle.

Beat egg yolks until slightly thick. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper them. Then pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan with the rest of the half-and-half mixture.

Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly (between 5-10 minutes)

Pour heavy cream into a separate bowl. Pour custard through a fine mesh sieve and stir into the heavy cream. Add blackberry puree and stir.

Chill mixture completely. When cool, pour into ice cream maker and churn until frozen (20-40 mins)

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday - Aug 29th

Well now, how about that hurricane! We got hit pretty hard in our area. At my house, we had a window blow in, and just barely managed to keep the basement from flooding. We actually never lost power, and I am so thankful for that! Turns out we got to help out some family who didn't have power too, so all in all, not too bad of an experience with the hurricane! My thoughts go out to all those who had far worse damage than me!

Anyway, on to my meals for the week...

Monday - Spaghetti and homemade meat sauce, with fresh veggies from the farmers market

Tuesday - Brats with grilled peppers and onions (and maybe some mashed potatoes)

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Steak tacos - I will cook a beef roast in the crockpot all day for this

Friday - Peanut butter chicken (another crock pot one)

Saturday - Leftovers or eat out!

Happy *almost* September!!

Hurricane Irene's Indian butter chicken!

I have been wanting to try making indian butter chicken (or chicken makhani as I guess it's actually called) for a while now, ever since I had it at the local indian restaurant.

Here's the recipe I used... it turned out really yummy! Although my little makeshift spice packet didn't really hold up too well. I tried to use a coffee filter tied with a piece of thread but it split open at the bottom, so I had to fish out the cardamom pods. It wasn't too difficult, although I may have missed one!

Served this over basmati rice. I forgot to add any salt so I had to add some to my dish when we sat down to eat. It was a tad on the spicy side, so next time I may cut down or leave out the cayenne pepper. Next time I make this, I will also be attempting to make some naan!

Key Lime Meltaways

ok, I don't actually know what a meltaway cookie is.... but apparently I made some. They are nice and lime-y! (and buttery!)

Yum! Here is the recipe...

Menu plan August 8-12

Menu Plan Monday (on Wednesday!)

Ok, first of all... how did it get to be August?? It's less than 5 months until Christmas! Hope you're getting ready! I still have garland up over my fireplace cuz it's such a pain to take down! Guess at this point I might as well leave it until December... and yes, I do realize how sad that is! LOL!

Lets see, food for the week...

Monday - French Dip sandwiches (Crockpot) - YUM one of my most favorite meals EVER!
I make a few tweaks to the recipe that's linked - usually only make half the amount it calls for unless we're having company, and the seasonings I use are as follows: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup beef broth, 2 cups water, ~3 cloves garlic, 1.5 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 t dried thyme, 1 t dried onion flakes, & approx 2 bay leaves. Double this juice & seasonings if you're making the full recipe amount.

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - Home made pizza

Thursday - Indian Butter Chicken (Crockpot) - this one is an experiment! I am excited!

Friday - leftovers again...

Saturday - Ziti with Sausage and Zucchini (also found this recipe - I may end up combining the two...)

Homemade pizza sauce

Tonight is going to be homemade pizza for dinner! I like making my own dough, but this time I bought a ball of pizza dough from the store cuz it was barely $1 and that saves me the effort of making it! I had the dough in the freezer, so last night I pulled it out and stuck it in the fridge to thaw. This morning it seemed like it was already pretty much thawed, hooray! (I always worry about things not thawing enough in time.)

Pizza sauce is a big deal to me. It'll pretty much make or break a pizza for me. Especially using store bought dough that's probably very basic and not super flavorful. The last several times I made pizza, I used this basic pizza sauce recipe from food network, and I really liked it. Last time I made it though, I had to make a few tweaks because it calls for oregano and I had just run out and forgot to buy more. So I substituted half and half italian seasoning and thyme, and loved how it turned out! I'm trying my tweaked version again tonight (on purpose this time, haha!) and if I really like my re-creation, it just might be my new standard! So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 can (28-ounces) tomatoes (whole, diced, or crushed, depending on how chunky you want your sauce)


• 1 small white onion, finely diced


• 1-2 cloves garlic (I like garlic)


• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme


• 1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning


• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional - I like my sauce a little sweet)


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 T olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Saute onions for a couple minutes, mince garlic and add to onions. Saute for another minute. Add tomatoes and other spices. Mix well, and cover. Simmer at least 15 minutes until flavors are well blended, stirring often.

Makes about 3 cups of sauce... enough for 2-4 pizzas depending on how big & how saucy you like them! Spread sauce on dough, add your favorite toppings (and lots of cheese!), bake, and enjoy! I will probably bake the dough for a couple minutes before loading up the toppings. Makes it much easier to get it in and out of the oven, at least in my kitchen!

Yum! I am drooling in anticipation! How long until dinner??

Bagels! My first attempt ever

Bread on the grill

Yes, I totally made bread on my grill. Should have cooked it a little longer, I guess it was a little thicker than the example I followed, but still... I was excited! And *bonus* I didn't have to turn my oven on! Next time I will know better, and yes there will be a next time, cuz it was actually pretty simple! (Although it did take me two attempts to make my baguette shape... I should have taken a picture of the first complete flop! Stuck that hunk dough back in the bucket to try again next time)

Homemade seasoning mixes!

I found these recipes today at $5 dinners and I wanted to share because I was very excited!


Homemade Taco Seasoning
Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Homemade Seasoning Salt
Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Enjoy!

Last minute summer veggie ideas

Today is one of those days when I am running out of time to figure out what's for dinner, and all the meat we have is still in the freezer. (Those days happen a lot in my house!)

I have a bunch of veggies we picked up at the farmer's market this weekend so here's what I'm thinking...

Indian Summer Vegetable Stew
I don't have any eggplant so I will just leave that out and add some extra zucchini in it's place. Or perhaps just leave it out and halve all the spices and such. I think I already have the rest of the ingredients at the house. I will probably also leave out the cilantro, since I don't think I have any growing any longer.

Also...might save these for another day if the above idea works but if we need something more...
I saw this recipe for Zucchini-Riccotta fritters in a magazine yesterday but I don't think we have any ricotta cheese, and I wasn't planning on going to the store. So here's my plan B:

Zucchini fritters - I will probably add some corn kernels as well as the zucchini, since I had an extra cob of corn that was cooked yesterday.

Neither one of these should take too long, other than the chopping of the veggies.

Wish me luck! :)