Sweet Lemon Treat

I have always been a fan of lemons, I love the tart sweetness they bring to food and how they can change any meal. Of course my favorite food group is the  "fats, oils and sweets" category-so eating dessert with every meal is not rare for me. Truth be told, these  oooy gooey lemons bars would make a delicious breakfast!

Pairing two of my  favorite things together, this is bound to be a winning combination!

 

 

 

What you will need:

 

2 sticks (1cup) room temperature butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 pinch salt

4 room temperature eggs

2 lemons

1/4 cup powdered sugar

 

 

 

Here is how you make it:

 

Before the fun gets started, be sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

 

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the butter 2 cups of your flour, 1/2 cup of sugar and a pinch of kosher salt. Mix together with an electric mixer until you see little pea-sized chucks as seen in picture 2. Press the mixure into the bottom of your pan (I suggest using a 9x13inch). Stick the crust into the preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until it turns a light golden color.

 

While your crust is cooking you can start working on the lemon deliciousness!

In a small bowl grate the zest of two lemons, be sure to zest your lemons before juicing otherwise you might have a hard time! Cut your lemons in half and get all the juice you can possibly get out of them without getting any seeds into your bowl. Mix in the lemon zest with juice and set aside.

 

In a medium sized bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour, add eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust and cook for about 20 minutes. Let your lemon bars cool on the counter for about an hour and then cover them with plastic wrap before sticking them in the fridge for another two hours. The longer you can have them cool, the better off you will be!

 

Once you have let your lemon bars cool, cut them up and sprinkle with powdered sugar.. ENJOY!

 

Not Your Mama's Meatballs

Who doesn't love a good meatball? I am not sure I personally know anybody who doesn't enjoy them, except for maybe one of my vegetarian friends back on the west coast---those kinds of people don't tend to last too long out here in the good ol' midwest.

It may seem a little strange to be blogging about a hearty Italian comfort food during the first official weekend of summer, but these meatballs are so good you will want to eat them for breakfast! A good staple recipe to have, turn them into meatball subs, throw them into your pasta sauce (or as the true Italians like to say, "gravy"--- weird) or serve them as appetizers at your next party!

My favorite part of cooking Italian food for dinner? Sipping on some dry red wine while I am making it! Please excuse Red's camio appearance in a few of my pictures! :)

makes approximately 15 meatballs depending on size :)

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (if you're not a fan of spicy foods, take this down to 1/2 teaspoon)

1 squirt Asian hot sauce- preferably Sriracha

1/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup grated italian blend cheese

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup diced white onion ( the smallest you can possibly chop it)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 glass dry red wine for drinking while you cook! :)



First things first, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F

Combine salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes and set aside.

Chop onion as smal as you can possibly cut it, so that you don't get any overwhelming pieces of onion in one of your delicious meatballs. Measure 1/2 cup  of onion and set aside. Mince garlic and combine with onion.

Combine bread crumbs and cheese and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together ground beef, spices, sriracha garlic and onion. Add milk, worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs and cheese. For best results mix with your hands so all the ingredients get evenly distributed.

Form mixture into balls with your hands and be sure to pack tightly, Tom tried making these and didn't realize you needed to pack the meat together! :)

Place you meatballs on baking dish and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

For best results, when your meatballs are done cooking in the oven pop them into your pasta sauce and let them soak up the tomato goodness! :)

ENJOY!!

Kicked Up Tuna Salad

Tuna salad was a childhood staple in my house, and to this day it is one of my favorites. I guess this is a little strange considering the fact that the thought of any other fish makes me gag!

One day I was at a little market by my office that has a fantastic deli section, and I spotted "Cancun Tuna Salad" YUM! Two of my favorite things combined, tuna salad with mexican food- why didn't I think of this sooner?!

Serves 3 for lunch

2 cans tuna in water 
2 limes
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 large jalapeño, diced 
1/2 white onion, diced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix together 1 can tuna (do not drain) onion, and mayonnaise. Stir together, drain a tiny bit of water out of the second can of tuna and add to mixture. Once tuna and mayonnaise is evenly mixed add tomato, cilantro and jalapeño. Season with salt pepper and lime and you are ready to go!


Spoon some of the tuna salad mixture onto a toasted english muffin and top with pepper jack cheese. Stick it in the oven on broil until the cheese starts bubbling! YUMM!

Slow Cooker Chili and Jalepeno Cornbread

After coming back from our honeymoon in Mexico all I was thinking about was delicious traditional homemade American food that I couldn't wait to eat. Don't get me wrong, Mexican food is truly my favorite kind, but after being away from home, there is really nothing better than biting into a big old bowl of hearty chili.

So hear it is... the easiest and best chili ever!

2 pounds ground beef

1 yellow onion

2 cans tomato sauce (15 ounce)

1 can light red kidney beans (15 ounce)

1 can dark red kidney beans (15 ounce)

1 yellow bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

3 Jalepenos

1 jar of salsa (8 ounces)

1 can of green chilies (6 ounces)

4 tablespoons chlii seasoning mix

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Here is how you make it...

Over medium heat brown the ground beef with the chopped up onion and bell peppers, this usually takes about 10 minutes or so. After the meat is browned I recommend draining the grease before moving it to the slow cooker, but you don't have to.

In the slow cooker, or a large pot over low heat, add all of the rest of the ingredients... it is that easy!

Let it cook on low for at least 2 hours, stirring it ever once in a while, and maybe testing it out with some crackers :) and then enjoy with some yummy jalepeno cornbread!

   Jalepeno Cornbread

If you coudln't tell from the chili recipe, I love to cook with heat! I feel like I am always throwing in peppers of some sort to my dishes, and this recipe is no different. This bread gets texture from the little bits of corn, the sweetness from honey and creamed corn and the kick from the jalepenos... a perfect combination!

1 box jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 milk
1 large jalepeno chopped
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup creamed corn
1/4 cup flour

In a large bowl combine dry mix, milk, egg and jalepeno (for the spice) and then the honey and creamed corn for a little sweetness! Mix gently until the batter comes together, add 1/4 cup flour to bring it back to that cornbread consistency!

Grease the pan and throw it in the 400 degree oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, until it is that nice golden brown color on top.

Here is the hard part, you have to let it cool for at least a 15 minutes... i know, it is going to be hard to, but you have to resist. After the 15 grooling minutes are over, cut a slice and spread warm butter over it and ENJOY!

No Excuses French Toast

French toast is a family favorite, I think we made it every Mother's Day for as long as I can remember (take note, Tom!) It pleases every palate and is worthy of the extra carbs/calories/sugar intake (enter whatever diet excuse here). The mere thought of this recipe makes my mouth water, and once you try it you will understand why. It truly is pure decadence!

Serves 4 people, or 3 gluttons!


1 cup milk (the more fat the better)

1 pinch salt

4 eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon white sugar

Zest of 1/2 orange

1 loaf Hawaiian sweet bread (under no circumstances can you substitute another bread)

Raspberry Topping

1 (6 ounce) jar raspberry preserves

1/4 cup orange juice

Zest of 1/2 orange


Whisk together , milk, salt, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, vanilla and orange zest until smooth.

Cut the loaf of hawaiian sweet bread in half and then take each have to cut 1/2 inch slices.

Heat lightly greased griddle over medium heat

Dip, dunk and soak bread slices in mixture until no dry spots can be seen. Cook bread on each side until golden brown.

Raspberry Topping:

 

In a small saucepan over medium low heat mix raspberry preserves and orange juice and orange zest. Stir occasionally while the french toast is cooking. Add raspberries just before serving french toast.

No syrup needed here! Serve you french toast with the raspberry topping and powdered sugar, I promise you there will be no leftovers!
 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

"So, what is it like being married, do you feel any different?"

No, I don't... well, other than the fact that I can't come home and munch on pita chips and hummus for dinner, or eat leftover brownies for breakfast (try it sometime!). The adjustments from single life are few for me, and maybe that is just my newlywed naivety popping though, but for us, it hasn't been too hard, except for when it comes down to the food...

Now, every Sunday I sit down and meal plan for the week before I go grocery shopping, I probably should have done that before I was married too, but oh well! At first, I would try to plan a meal for each day of the week, and before I knew it we were running out of Tupperware, and fridge space to store our leftovers! Not to mention the grocery bill was starting to leave little room for red wine! So, now I am trying to be more "inventive" shall we say. Coming up with meals that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. So far our favorite is quiche, which can be prepared in a variety of ways, but this one really stands out!

Green Chile Spinach Quiche

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 eggs
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese (feel free to replace with what you already have in your fridge)
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilies
1/2 cup melted butter
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Yummy Additions:
1/2 chopped sautéed yellow onion
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F(200 degrees C). Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture until no lumps remain. Stir in shredded cheese, cottage cheese, spinach, green chilies and melted butter until evenly blended. Divide mixture between two pie crusts.

Bake the quiches in the preheated oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 350. Continue baking until quiches are lighted brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Want a healthier option?
This can easily be made without using the pie crust, and is still just as delicious!

*** Big THANK YOU to AllRecipes.com for this recipe!****
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Green-Chile-Spinach-Quiche/Detail.aspx 

Good Old Fashioned Sloppy.... Taco?

The quintessential childhood meal.... sloppy joes. Every mom's secret into hiding some veggies behind meaty saucy deliciousness!

I love sloppy joes, there is just no getting around it, and to be honest, I am not exactly sure why I love them so much. I think I could eat them at least once a week and never get sick of them. Come to think of it, I do make this meal about once a week... poor Tom.

Anyhoo... you may be wondering why this recipe is called a "sloppy taco" and not the traditional "sloppy joe". Well my friends, tortillas are cheap, less calories, and the best part, they hold the saucy meaty goodness mixture in, so that really... the meal isn't actually all that sloppy!

Serves about 4 hungry, but not starving people.

1 lb ground beef

1 jar of your favorite bbq sauce

1 yellow onion

1 green pepper

1 package flour tortillas

A Little Spice Never Hurt Anyone...

1 pinch of red pepper

1 jalepeno (minced)

In a large pan brown the beef and add chopped onion, bell pepper and jalepeno. After the meat is browned and onions and peppers are tender, drain the fat... this is optional, but I recommend it. Add bbq sauce and red pepper, stir and let simmer for at least 20 minutes.. or longer if you need to kill some time.

One your Sloppy Taco mixture has cooked down, throw tortillas into the microwave for 15 seconds to heat up. Add meat to tortillas and wrap just like a burrito... voila, you just made your first not so sloppy taco!


Have some leftovers?
Add your sloppy taco mixture on top of hot dogs for a delicious take on a chili dog...YUM!