Krispy Kreme

A few Fridays ago I took the kids to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. We were still celebrating our house selling. (Okay, to be honest, we're still celebrating and it's been 3 1/2 weeks!)

This was their first visit. I knew Beezy would love to see the big donut machine, and I knew Cal would love a sweet glazed donut. I was right! Every time the machine would flip over the donuts she'd crack up. She also thought the glazing part was cool too. Cal just pointed to all the donuts on the conveyor belt thing and would grunt and show me his "more, please" sign.

And, despite how pretty all the colorful donuts look in the display case, you just can't go wrong with a simple glazed donut. I think those are the best donuts, period, no matter where you're at. Mmm-mmmm.

We all left very happy that morning. Granted, Cal used his shirt as a napkin the whole meal so there were lots of sugar flakes in the car and at home for a few days. Beezy, my sweetie, told me she really liked that place and thanked me for her donut. I love those crazy munchkins.

Cheater pumpkin cookies

Lolabee loves to bake. She loves to help out in the kitchen, period. I bought these cookies to bake simply because they're easy to just open, throw on a pan, and bake. I knew she could do it all by herself. Plus, they are delicious. Granted, in about 2 days they've hardened into disks that could break your teeth, so we have to throw away what's not already eaten.


So, I let her loose, and she was thrilled to be "in charge."

And, as all good bakers know, you must stop halfway through preparing your snacks to make funny faces at your mama.

Every season, I think these little cookies are so cute. I'm intrigued with the way they're able to make the dough with the designs smooshed into the centers. I'd like to watch that Unwrapped on the Food Network. Before & after. Yum!

Thanks Beezy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Lola & Mason & chocolate chip cookie pie

The other night we had supper at the Torreses' house. We love those guys! Our kids are all the same age so Lola has a blast playing altogether. Granted, Mason smothered her with a couch pillow and she clotheslined him with a Nerf golf club, but it all made for good times. LOL And Amanda can cook like no other....mmmm......so delicious! Thanks for having us :) Feel free to cook supper and have us over any time!

She cooked a Pioneer Woman recipe and I was in charge of dessert. Because of a crazy week and lack of planning ahead, I forgot to buy ingredients to make a dessert. Fortunately, this pie is my old go-to recipe so I always have these ingredients on hand. It's not fancy, but definitely easy and delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. flour

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 t. vanilla

1 c. nuts (I, obviously, always leave this out; nuts = yuck!)

1, 6-oz. package chocolate chips

1 frozen pie crust

In a bowl, stir together all ingredients except for nuts and pie crust. Once combined, stir in chocolate chips and nuts; mix well. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until set in the middle.

Pina Colada Cake (my version)

The whole time I was pregnant with Cal Rocco I craved pina coladas. The funny thing is, I think I've sipped on one once in my entire life. I am not a drinker. Not even socially -- ever. We thought it was so bizarre that I was craving them while I was pregnant! Obviously, I never got one while I was pregnant, but while in Playa del Carmen this summer, I broke down and ordered one while relaxing on the beach. It was nonalcoholic. The waitress looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it that way. I just wanted to get a taste of it to see why it seemed so appealing a year earlier. After a few sips, I decided it was definitely tasty -- but if it was in dessert form, like a cake -- not just a slush. I love my sweets.

Tonight we're going to some friends' house for supper and I'm bringing the dessert. Since summer's coming to an end, I thought I'd try to drag it out a tad bit longer. This dessert just doesn't "fit" in, say, January. So, here's my idea of a pina colada. I mixed a church friend's recipe with another cake recipe of my mom's to get this. It's super easy.

Pina Colada Cake

1 white cake mix

8 oz. coconut flakes

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can cream of coconut

1 small container of Cool Whip

1 small box of vanilla pudding

1 small can of crushed pineapple, drained

A dash of powdered sugar

Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the box, but add about half of the coconut to the batter. Bake. Remove from oven and poke holes all over the top with the end of a wooden spoon. In a small bowl, mix together the sweetened condensed milk and the cream of coconut. Pour over the cake. Let the cake cool. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the box of pudding and the pineapple; stir well. Fold in the Cool Whip. Spread over the top of the cooled cake. Sprinkle remaining coconut over the top.

A Big Pizza Pie

It's not often that we have a Saturday at home with just us 4 with nowhere to go. KJ has always enjoyed making homemade pizza, so that's what he did. Cal snuck bites of cheese while Lolabee added the toppings. She really enjoys helping out in the kitchen and I/we want to nurture that. I've promised her that when she gets older, she'll be allowed to cook supper each week all by herself. This thrills her! She likes to come up with her menu while we're in the car driving somewhere. Out of the blue, she'll start talking about, "Someday, when I'm big, I'm going to cook you some chip tacos," or whatever. (FYI: "Chip tacos" is her idea of crunchy tacos.)

The pizza was delicious.

Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake

Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake

8 oz. spiral noodles, cooked
1 T. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, prepared
3 c. cooked chicken, diced
2 14.5 oz. cans Italian diced tomatoes, drained
8 oz. chive & onion cream cheese
salt & pepper
6 oz. shredded mozzarella, plus a little extra for the topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Saute onion in olive oil. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients and add the sauteed onion. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9x13 and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Fuzzy Navel Cake

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law back when KJ and I started dating. She had baked it for a get-together one evening, and after I tried one bite, I was in heaven! It was so moist and peachy. Earlier this week I baked one to share with my BFF, but I was so stingy that I only gave her half! I took the other half with me to my parents' house where I was going to be staying that night. I had it planned that I'd give them a sliver after dinner, then save the rest to eat while I watched Real Housewives of New Jersey. But, my brother showed up to eat supper too and helped himself to my cake. So, I guess I'll have to make one for myself next week.

The funny thing about this recipe is that it calls for peach Schnapps. I don't touch alcohol in any form, ever. EVER. It's not a judgment I have against others, but just my own personal conviction. So, the first time I baked this, I was too embarrassed to buy the liquor to go in it that I had to have KJ buy it for me. I'm still using the bottle from, like, 3 years ago. I'm such a weinie. Normally, I just leave out the liquor in recipes or substitute them, but this just tastes so good with it that I don't want to mess it up.

Fuzzy Navel Cake

Liquid Mixture:

1 16-oz. can of peaches, undrained

1/2 c. peach schnapps

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. orange juice (I squeeze it fresh)

Cake Batter:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix

2/3 c. oil

4 eggs

Combine the liquid mixture and refrigerate overnight. (Sometimes I forget to do this part and just pretend I didn't, and the cake still turns out good.)

The next day, preheat your oven to 350. Stir up the liquid mixture and reserve 1 cup. (The sugar tends to settle on the bottom, so stir it up good.) Remove the peaches from the liquid and puree them. Prepare the cake batter. Add the pureed peaches to the cake batter. Add the 1 cup of reserved juice. Mix it up good. The batter will be thick. Bake for about 40 minutes or until done.

I meant to make a simple glaze with some of the remaining liquid mixture and some powdered sugar, but just forgot. You don't need it, but I was curious what it might taste like.

Green Bean & New Potato Salad

I made this recipe last night for supper. I guess it's been kind of a green bean kind of week around here. This is the second time we ate them. It worked well with the Chicken Tortellini Bake we were having. (Thanks, Ashley R. for the tortellini recipe!)

Green Bean & New Potato Salad

2 lb. new potatoes, quartered
2 T. salt
2 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
Rosemary Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Boil potatoes in salted water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and let cool. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil with the 2 T. salt; add beans. Cook for about 6 minutes until beans are crisp-tender. Drain. Plunge beans into ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain again. Combine all the veggies in a large bowl and top with rosemary vinaigrette; toss to coat. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Rosemary Vinaigrette

1/2 c. white balsamic vinegar (regular brown balsamic vinegar works just fine, though)
1/4 c. honey
1 T. minced garlic
2 T. fresh chopped rosemary leaves
1/3 c. chopped purple onion
1 T. dijon mustard
1/2 t. salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

Process all ingredients except for EVOO in a blender or food processor for about 15-20 seconds. With the blender still running, gradually add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Process until smooth. Pour over veggies and toss to coat. *I didn't use the whole cup bc I didn't want my potatoes getting soggy. I saved it in a little jar in the fridge and it tasted very good on just greens.

Cookbook

This is my current favorite cookbook. I love it! It has recipes for all year based on what's in season. Southern Living's cookbooks are, in my opinion, the absolute best. Everything I've ever made from them is delicious. I love homestyle cooking, nothing too fancy or complicated, and SL always delivers! I highly recommend this one. I have one other on hand; the rest are packed up in storage with all of my cookbooks. I miss those guys so much...

Roasted Chicken

I stock up on whole chickens when they're on sale. I caught them one time at Target for $2.99 each so I bought 5 of them! My mom thought I was nuts. What's new?! At home, we get one whole meal from a chicken and sometimes enough leftovers for 1-2 people the next day. I use the leftovers for other recipes later in the week as well. Roasting a chicken is extremely easy and pretty much mistake-proof. I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman's website, but have learned a few things on my own after doing it so many times.

Here's what I do:

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken aka "fryer," rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel

Chop up some fresh herbs (whatever I have on hand; this was rosemary)

About 1-2 T. kosher salt

A good dash of pepper

A good dash of garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic when I feel like it)

About 1-2 T. canola oil

Chop up a couple spare veggies or certain fruits I have on hand (this time it was a lemon, part of an onion, and half of an apple)

Stuff the bird's "buns" (as Lola called it) with the fruit/veggies. Mix everything else together and rub all over the chicken.

Place on a foil-lined pan and create a "nest" around the chicken. Don't let the foil touch the chicken. This will serve as a barrier from all of the juices popping up and splattering all over the inside of your oven. Pioneer Woman didn't mention that; I learned it the hard way. Like this.

Throw in a preheated 450-degree oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. Wait for it...

When it's ready, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before you cut into it. Don't eat the veggies/fruit that you used to stuff it. They just add flavor and keep it moist. You're all done!! The best part is that you don't even have to wash your pan when you're done bc it stayed nice and clean from the foil.

Green Bean, Grape & Pasta Toss

Green Bean, Grape & Pasta Toss

1 c. chopped pecans (I left this out; nuts = yuck!)
8 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 lb. thin fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
8 oz. penne pasta, prepared and drained
1 c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1 t. salt
2 c. seedless red grapes, cut in half
1/3 c. diced purple onion

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Cook beans in salted boiling water to cover for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Plunge beans in ice water to stop the cooking process. Whisk together the mayo and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; add pecans, green beans, pasta, grapes, and onion, stirring to coat. Cover and chill for 3 hours; stir in bacon just before serving.

That's How I Roll

Every weekend, I make out the upcoming week's menu. I love, love, love cooking and baking so planning this way makes it easy to always try out new recipes. It also saves our family SO MUCH money bc we can eat at home all week for about $65 each week. About $25 of that weekly budget goes to fresh fruit and vegetables. When the time comes and we have a house that allows for us to garden, we hope to grow a lot of stuff and live off of its bounty. Until then, I shop mostly at SuperTarget. They always have a good produce area and lots of great sales. I like Walmart too, but I'm usually disappointed in their produce selection. I'm just a big fan of Target.

I make out the menu, fill out my Grocery Store spreadsheet that I made which matches my menu (nerd alert!), and we're all set for the week! We eat supper at 6:00 everyday. My goal is to always have that happen. Extracurricular activities are not going to be a priority in this house. Family meals will be.

As you can see, though, there are times that I grab lunch out somewhere. This week we went to Sonic on our way home from grocery shopping. I make one dessert each week and rarely ever buy snacks. We were in Kansas City over the weekend, so it sort of threw off our usual routine of Monday morning grocery shopping.

And, since I love to craft, I made a little clipboard that holds the menus. I just Mod Podged some cute paper to a little clipboard after I scalloped the edges, and then Gorilla glued some magnets on the back. Easy! And, that's just how I roll...

I'm Back...Again...For now...

I'm not even going to bother updating since my last post. It's been way too long and way too much has happened, but here's a quick rundown: Cal Rocco Jones was born last year. Lolabee is now 3. I'm a stay-home mama and am thoroughly fulfilled in my new life. Court reporting and my career was my focus for ten years and now that's on the backburner. We're in the process of trying to sell our house to accomodate my lack of income. Plus, we have a desire to live simply and hopefully get a little chunk of land. Our current cookie cutter home is in a wonderful neighborhood, but just doesn't have the outdoor space Kendall and I would like to have. Growing up on a ranch, there literally were no limits to where I could roam; now that I have kids, I see how awesome that was! We want to garden, play, and just have wide open space to let the kids enjoy. I'm currently researching the possibility of home-schooling. I decided to blog again bc I love reading others' blogs and seeing how other people live; thought I'd contribute as well! Now on to the good stuff...

I love it when my friends have babies bc it gives me an excuse to take them a meal. Sharing a meal makes my heart happy. Usually, I just double whatever I make them and save half for my family's meal. It works out well bc we either have supper or I freeze it for later. I'm all about freezing. I recently learned some cool tips on the best ways to freeze food. I'll share that later. This post is all about this super simple cake. I'm so glad that I convinced myself that Jami and her family didn't need the whole thing... :) So rather than make a 9x13, I made two 8x8's. Perfect!

As you can see, I can't seem to stay out of this darn little cake! It's such a light, pretty, summery cake!

Cherry Poke Cake

(or whatever flavor of Jello you want)

1 white cake, prepared according to the package's instructions

1 small package of Jello

3/4 c. boiling water

1/2 c. cold water

Cool Whip frosting, recipe below

Prepare your cake. Poke holes all over the top with a fork or end of a wooden spoon. In a little bowl, combine Jello with hot water and stir until dissolved. Stir in cold water. Pour over the cake. Refrigerate for 3 hours and prepare frosting.

Cool Whip Frosting

1 small package of vanilla instant pudding (you can also use your favorite flavor, but this is mine)

1 8-ounce tub of Cool Whip

1/2 c. milk

Pour milk into a medium bowl and add pudding mix. Beat with electric mixer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Gently stir in Cool Whip. Spread over cake. Keep cake refrigerated.

Quiches

This afternoon I made a quiche for breakfast tomorrow morning. Quiches are very popular at my house. We have them a couple times each month bc they're not only delicious, but they are perfect for using up miscellaneous ingredients that there's not enough of for other recipes. For example, I had half of a green pepper left over from my meatloaf the other night; about 1/4 c. of cheese left over from tacos; green onions left over from a salad; and I always keep frozen pie crusts in my freezer. (They always come in handy for something.)

I probably owe my love for quiches to my friend, Cassy. She baked one for my bridal brunch the day of my wedding and I thought it was outstanding! From then on, I've been a quiche girl. They also reheat very well.

Here's the version I made today:

Frozen pie crust
4-5 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 c. milk
1 lb. or so of sausage, cooked
Green onions, chopped
Green pepper, chopped
Any kind of shredded cheese
Garlic powder, paprika

All you do is let your pie crust soften, and then prick it all over with a fork. Bake it at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Once that's done, lower the temp to 325 degrees. Dump in all of your ingredients except for the eggs and milk. In a bowl, beat your eggs and milk together. Pour over the sausage mixture and bake for roughly 50 minutes or until set in the center.

You can even throw in chopped apples, sliced mushrooms, spinach, hashbrowns, shredded carrots, whatever. Just have fun with it!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Recipe

Below is the recipe that I promised to share two weeks ago after my mom and dad's birthday party. I had many requests for the recipe but kept forgetting to post it. It's very simple but so delicious. I received the recipe from Kendall's aunt Dawna. She fixed them once for a get-together and frankly I had to have the recipe. (Thanks, Dawna!) I wish I would have thought to take a pic of the 70 chicken enchiladas I made for the party bc you could see how creamy they are. (The other 70 were beef enchiladas and I just used the recipe off of the Old El Paso enchilada sauce can. It's hard to beat despite how common a recipe it is!) Enjoy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

2 1/2 c. sour cream, divided
1/3 c. chopped onion
2 T. butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 c. cooked chicken
1 small can diced green chilies
1/2 - 1 can of cream of chicken soup
A little milk, optional
12 flour tortillas
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, optional

Cook onions in butter until soft. Add chicken, 1/2 c. sour cream, chilies, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat until heated through. Fill tortillas with mixture, roll up tortilla, and place seam side down in a greased (or Pam'd) baking dish. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 2 cups of sour cream and half ofthe can of soup. I add some milk to this to get it thinned down to the consistency that I like. You can use less sour cream and more soup, or half and half, whatever you'd like. Spread the sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese (if you're using cheese), and bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. Just make sure the enchiladas are warmed all the way through. (You can test this by sticking a knife in the middle of the dish and pulling it out. If it's hot, you know you're ready. If it's not, keep it in the oven a little longer.)