Quadruple Date for Valentine's Day

We decided to crash Landon and Whitney's Valentine's date plans and join them at Triple J Steakhouse. It was a good choice. We not only loved the company of 3 of my siblings and their spouses, but the food was amazing as well! I am so thankful to have siblings and their spouses that are my best friends. Amazing that I love my "in-laws" as much as I love my blood siblings.

Easter and Burton Turns One

Easter with our community from the Well at the Brown's beautiful place!

 Mimi came to visit for her spring break and was here for Burton's first birthday!

 Aunt Coco made two fabulous cakes! One for Burton and one for Aunt Gini.

 Burton's cake

 Construction themed party.

 Beautiful fruit and veggie trays.

 The cake Cori made for Gini for her bday.

 The fruit and veggie tray Papa made after seeing the ones that we made. Haha.

 Burton was excited about sharing his birthday with Aunt Gini, but not so much his cake!

Crockpot Pesto Chicken

So. This is not the most healthy meal, and thus, I will not be making it all the time. But, it is absolutely delicious and super easy! Matt and I both loved it (and enjoyed it the next day as leftovers!).

Place 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, still frozen, in the crockpot

Mix together:

1/4 cup basil pesto

1 cup sour cream

6 oz cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic 

1/2 teaspoon onion salt (optional)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (optional)

Pour/spread mixture over the chicken breasts.

Then pour 2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce over the chicken. 

Cook on high for 5 hours, or until chicken is cooked through (depends how large the chicken breasts are. I used very large ones!).

Serve with pasta. (We used the excess sauce from the chicken to pour over the pasta).

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Muffins

I made these for breakfast this morning. I wanted something quick and easy that Matt could eat on his way to work without too much mess. These turned out really good! I changed the original recipe because I wanted a muffin that had more eggs and a little less bread. After making them, I think you could even add a couple more eggs to the recipe (although they were really good this way).

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Muffins

8oz breakfast sausage, browned
2 cups Bisquick (If you don't have Bisquick you can substitute using: 1 Cup flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon shortening, oil or melted butter...per cup of Bisquick needed)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Put dough in greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

This recipe made 6 of the large muffins for me.


Here is the original recipe:
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Country-Sausage-And-Cheese-Muffins-Recipezaar

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

My sister-in-law, Whitney, pinned this recipe on pinterest tonight and I immediately had to get up off the couch and make some for myself right then. They turned out delicious. I did not have all the ingredients on hand, so I changed it just a bit.

Here is the way I made it:

1 very ripe banana

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 rolled oats

3 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips

Mash ripe banana with baking powder. Add egg, butter, salt, vanilla, sugar and milk and stir together. Stir in oats and flour. Sprinkle in chocolate chips. Preheat skillet to medium heat. Scoop 1/4 of batter onto lightly greased skillet. Cook 2-4 minutes on each side -- until golden brown. 

You can actually eat these just like they are, with nothing on them! I put some fresh strawberries and kiwi on mine and it was perfect.

Here is the original recipe: http://minimalistbaker.com/chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookie-pancakes/

Spicy Thai Noodles

Can I just say, "yuuummmm". This was a pinterest recipe that I've been wanting to try, and I have to say, it did not disappoint. I used the entire 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes, and it is super spicy! So, if you want less spicy, definitely use less! I changed the recipe a bit. But the original recipe is on pinterest if you want to do the original.

1 box of linguine or angel hair pasta, cooked (I used linguine)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

1 to 2 cups broccoli, steamed and chopped

1/2 to 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon onion salt (or powder)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

6 tablespoons honey

6 tablespoons soy sauce

I did not have any of the below on hand, but am sure that they would make the recipe even that much better.

3/4 cup peanuts, chopped

toasted sesame seeds

Cook pasta, chicken and broccoli and toss together in bowl. Combine vegetable oil, peanut oil, garlic, onion salt and red pepper in a saute pan. Saute for 2 minutes. Strain red pepper out of oil, and set the oil aside. Whisk together honey and soy sauce. Then mix together with the oils. Pour mixture over pasta and toss until well coated. Top with peanuts and sesame seeds and serve.

Childhood Sounds

Today I am pressure cooking pinto beans. We are going to have beans and cornbread tonight and then chili tomorrow night. The sound of the pressure cooker in my kitchen brings back so many memories of my mom's kitchen. Memories of living in Galveston and eating LOTS of beans. We had beans and cornbread, beans and spanish rice, cabbage bean soup, beans and corn tortillas....I do not make them very often now that I am grown. But they are one of my favorite meals. I am not sure if it is because it reminds me of growing up or what. But I do enjoy them! Especially with some cornbread. Although, my taste in cornbread has changed since I was a kid. Growing up I DID NOT like sweet cornbread AT ALL. If it had even the slightest sweet flavor I couldn't stand it. But now, I like it super sweet! Now, if only I could learn to like onions I'd be golden! :)  Having the pressure cooker going just brings back this entire feeling that comes along with the memories. There was such an innocence and a carefreeness when we were young. For some reason it makes me think of building "forts" underneath the dinning room table. We had a HUGE dinning room table. And we would gather up blankets and cover the whole table with them and then all crawl inside. And we would play for hours under there. We would always leave a huge mess with blankets everywhere. I am pretty sure it was Mama's favorite game for us to play! :) One time (this was when we lived in Abilene, in the two story house) we crawled under the table and were pretending that a tornado was coming, and (I am pretty sure it was Tyler) kept calling it a giant "tomato" instead of a tornado. I can't remember exactly, but I think Landon and Tyler may have been defending us with their guns against the giant "tomato". After a while, the name "giant tomato" instead of tornado stuck, and we started pretending there was actually a giant tomato rolling towards us that was going to roll right over our house. So, the boys were would ride out on their "horses" with their "guns" and try to get the tomato while us girls were safe underneath the table. Oh, what great imaginations we had. I am thankful that we did not have a TV growing up! We spent hours, literally, making up games! 

Crazy. Just the sound of the pressure cooker in my kitchen led me through all that.

Boarding and Sauerkraut

 

This weekend Matt and I went snowboarding for the first time this season. We went with a few people that Matt works with and with our friend Ryan. And, I am now soooo sore from head to toe! I took a pretty major wipe out (I wear a helmet...so no major damage), and now my muscles feel similar to having been in a car accident. But, the soreness was all worth the boarding! :)

After boarding we went over to Ryan and Jen's house to hang out and to eat Jen's amazing pork and sauerkraut! I hadn't had pork and sauerkraut until two New Years Eve's ago when Jen made it, and since then I have begged her to make it more often. I haven't braved it and attempted to make it myself yet, but I will definitely have to at some point.

Matt and Hailey getting a little cuddle time :)

Chicken Tacos

Matt and I went over to Devin and Sarah's house to eat tonight. They made chicken tacos. They were delicious. Maybe Devin should open a restaurant :)

Caramel Bread

The other day Matthew went to a game night at a friend's house. He came home raving about this caramel bread that he ate while there. Since then I have been wanting to attempt to make some. Today I finally did. It turned out delicious. Yuummmm! I had no idea I liked caramel so much! After making this recipe I noticed a couple of things that needed to be modified. So below is the modified recipe.

Ingredients

• DOUGH
• 7 1/2 oz. water
• 1 egg
• 3 cups bread flour
• 4 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. powdered milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. rapid-rising yeast

• CARAMEL
• 3/4 stick margarine
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vanilla ice cream
• TOPPING
• 2 tbsp. butter
• Cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all dough ingredients in bread machine in order given. Set on "Dough" setting and turn on machine.
2. Make caramel: Melt 1 stick of margarine and add 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of vanilla ice cream in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Remove from stove and set aside.
3. When machine has finished cycling, remove dough from pan, place on lightly floured surface. Pat dough into a rectangle, spread with 2 tbsp butter and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Crumble about 1/2 cup brown sugar all over. Roll up dough and place loaf into lightly greased loaf pan. 
4. Let them raise until doubled, about 45 minutes or so. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove bread from oven and pour caramel over bread. Bake additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Chicken Curry

We have found that we thoroughly enjoy some Thai food! The other night I made Thai Chicken Curry that turned out fantastic. I didn't ever eat curry growing up because Mama doesn't really like curry, therefore she didn't make it that often. Actually I don't remember her ever making it :) But, my memory could be flawed! Anyway. I made this recipe up, and Matthew and I both loved it! 

Thai Chicken Curry

1/2 bag grilled & ready frozen chicken breast strips

1 onion, chopped

1 pepper, chopped (I used an orange one)

1/2 bag frozen broccoli

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp red pepper (or as much as you want depending on how spicy you like it)

1 1/2 tsp yellow curry powder

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp ginger

1 14 oz can coconut milk

3 Tbsp sugar

salt to taste

Add all ingredients at one time to large skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to sit and cool for about 10 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Beard Please!!

I love bread. It is probably my favorite food. I like banana bread, pumpkin bread, sour dough bread, french bread, rosemary bread, pumpernickel bread, beer bread....rye bread is the only kind of bread that I have found that I do not like. I had asked for a bread maker for thanksmas. But then, Matthew surprised me with a bread maker for our anniversary!! I am sooo excited. I have a loaf in the bread maker right now to try it out for the first time.

 I decided to try the sweet bread recipe from the cookbook that came with the bread-maker.

The long version of bread only takes 2 hours and 20 minutes! And you can do an express version that only takes 58 minutes. This is amazing because then when I have procrastinated and have lots left to do to get dinner ready, I can just throw the ingredients in the bread-maker and walk away and still have fresh/hot bread for dinner!

Guilty. Pleasures.

Growing up I didn't even like Root Beer. In fact, I wouldn't drink it at all. But recently, my friend Jen, brought over stuff to make Root Beer floats and I decided to try it again...and LOVED it! So, lately I have been a little addicted to them :)

These are Matt's guilty pleasure. Matt loves tapatio. He eats it on nearly everything. 

And the other day he discovered these tapatio Doritos.

We have discovered together that we really enjoy going to a good play together. Fiddler on the Roof is in town right now. I had never heard the story or seen the movie (I'd heard OF it...just never seen it). So, Matt wanted to take me to see it. It turned out to be a fabulous show. We both thoroughly enjoyed it! And before the show we also tried a new Thai food place. Yuummm, definitely the best Thai food we've found in Anchorage so far!

Mixer Please!

The other day there was a coupon for a kitchen aid mixer. I have been wanting one for a while now and was so excited to get it. I have never owned a mixer before. I have always just used my big African wooden spoons to mix, which are great! But I do have to say that I absolutely love having this mixer now. I can put the ingredients in and while they are being mixed together I can walk away and do other things! Amazing :)

The first thing I made was a Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake. Yuuummmm!!!

Sweet Potato Moose Soup

I had some moose meat thawed out that I needed to use and was really craving some sweet potatoes. So, I googled those ingredients and this is the recipe that came up (I changed it a little bit).

1 lb moose meat (or ground beef)

4 sweet potatoes, cooked (pureed or chunks)

2 cans chicken broth

1 can coconut milk

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 cups celery, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, and celery (using olive oil). Add ground beef, cook until beef is done. Put in stock pot and add chicken broth, coconut milk and sweet potatoes. (and salt and pepper to taste). Bring to boil and let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

I cooked brown rice and served this over brown rice, but you can also eat it by itself. i thought it turned out great! I will definitely be making this again! 

I didn't take a picture of the final product because it didn't look that appetizing :)