Bacon & Egg Toast Cups

So my dear friend Leslie sent me the most amazing recipe Friday night and of course I had to try it Saturday morning.

Ingredients:
Bacon
slice bread
cheese
eggs
salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spray muffin pan with Pam and set aside.

Bake 12 slices of bacon for 10 minutes on a cookie sheet. Don't over cook bacon because they will be cooked in the oven again later. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and dab out as much oil as possible (or if your waistline can afford the extra weight leave the oil).

Cut circles out of sliced bread to fit the bottom of muffin pan.

Wrap a slice of bacon around a bread round and place in muffin pan. It should look like a cup. Repeat. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese in the center of each piece of bread. Crack one egg over each piece of bread. Be careful not to break egg yolk. You may not want to use all the egg white. This can be saved to make some scrabble egg (which I feed to my dog. Oops I am that dog owner).

Bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking. I baked mine for about 15 minutes. The bacon egg cups should pop right out of the muffin pan. If not, use a knife around the edges.

I apologize for the bad picture. These bacon cups were just too yummy and where almost eaten before I realized a picture had not been taken. The husband loved them so much that he requested they be made for Christmas brunch.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Poppy Seed Apple Salad

So this salad has become one of my favorite salads to serve at dinner time. This is also the salad I made for Thanksgiving dinner. It's super easy and super yummy!


1 apple
1/2 head of lettuce
1 small tomato
candied walnuts
poppy seed dressing

So ... chop up some lettuce. Cut some apple and tomatoes in cubes. Toss everything with some poppy seed dressing and top with a hand full of candied walnuts and serve. Could this be any easier? I think not!

XOXO

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies

I have been cleaning my pantry and realize that I have some raisins and a overstock of mini chocolate chips. So of course the first thing I think of is cookies!

2 sticks butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and milk and mix until combined.

In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix dry ingredients with a whisk. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins, and mini chocolate chips.

I use a ice cream scooper to scoop out my batter onto the baking sheets. Space the batter about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for about 11 minutes. Let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

I used a small ice cream scooper so my cookies came out bite size. Perfect for snacking.

I really enjoyed these cookies and I normally am not a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies. I am sure the chocolate chips helped.

XOXO

Turkey Chili over Tater Tots

So with the weather outside dropping what is more warming than chili. What's better than chili? Cheese and tater tots. Combine everything and you have a fantastic dinner.

Now the chili I make is beyond easy. Totally semi-homemade here cause after all I am a working house wife.

Chili:

Chili Mix

2 cloves garlic

1 lb ground turkey meat

1 diced onion

3 diced jalapeno peppers (add more or less to your spice level)

1 can pinto beans

1 can diced tomato

Toppings:

shredded cheese

green onions

sour cream

tater tots

Bake tater tots as directed.

Mince the garlic and put it in a hot oil. Brown the turkey meat in the oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the jalapeno peppers, pinto beans, and tomato. Simmer for about 10 minutes on how heat.

Serve the chili over the tater tots and throw on your favorite toppings.

This has become one of my husband's favorite dinners. Of course a salad is pretty necessary in order to get some veggies. But who cares about veggies in the winter when you can eater hearty chili? Ah, just throw some more green onions on and hit the treadmill tomorrow.

XOXO

Pumpkin Snicker Doodle Cookies

With the holiday season here everyone has pumpkin on the brain. Or at least I do. I am so excited to share this recipe because I have gotten such great feedback about it from my taste testers.

Cookies:

2 sticks of butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Rolling Sugar:

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla. Make sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to wet mixture.

Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough becomes slightly firm.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix rolling sugar in a small bowl.

Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a cookie scoop or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they are coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Use a fork dipped in rolling sugar to flatten the balls.

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

This recipe is for about 3 dozen cookies.

I normally love snicker doodle cookies and this is a great spin to them.

XOXO

Honey Beer Bread

What's yummier on a cold night watching a Harry Potter marathon than some honey beer bread?


I have had this recipe for a while and have never had a chance to make it. It was super easy and I will for sure be making this again.

3 cups of all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
1 can or bottle beer (12 oz)
3 tbsp butter (melted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bread pan with the melted butter. Save the rest for later.

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

A great trick for the honey is to microwave it. I microwaved it for about 15 seconds to make it easier to work with.

Add the honey and beer to the dry mixture. Mix enough just so everything is incorporated. Don't worry about lumps.

Bake for 60 minutes. The top should be a nice brown color and a tooth pick insert should come out nice and dry.

This bread was so yummy that I am for sure going to make it again. It kinda has the same consistency as a biscuit.


The husband loved it and requested it be made with chili next time. Who knew bread could be this easy? It also made the house smell incredibly good.

Thank you Leslie Berroya for forwarding this recipe to me!

XOXO

Shrimp & Pork Chow Fun

I have come to the conclusion that Chinese food is yummy because it takes so much more time to make than other foods. There is so much prep time to make Chinese food.

Last night I made chow fun. Chow Fun is pretty much as Cantonese as I get. Good thing my poor Cantonese husband is American born and knows no better.


1/2 pound of Pork (I will be quite honest I have no idea how much pork I really used)
12 shrimp
chow fun noodles
3 cloves garlic minced
oil
1 onion sliced
1/4 pound bean sprouts
green onions
soy sauce
salt

I sliced the pork into strips and then marinated it in the garlic and about 1/4 cup soy sauce. Cook the pork in oil with the onions until the pork starts to turn brown. A good amount of oil needs to be added which will later help in cooking the chow fun noodles. Then add the shrimp and a tablespoon of salt. Once the onions start to turn translucent add the chow fun noodles. Once the chow fun noodles start to become soft in the pan add your green onions.

Now the husband and I love spicy food so I added about 1 tablespoon of Chinese hot chili.

I high recommend using a wok to cook this or a very big pan. I love woks cause they are big and great for Chinese dishes or cooking pasta in sauce.

This dish turned out great for me. Husband ate 3 bowls. What a successful dinner.

XOXO

Spicy Beef Noodles

My cousin has been posting pictures on all these noodles places that he has been going to lately. All these pictures inspired me to make some noodles of my own.


I made a chicken broth with chicken bouillon. Sorry I did not have anything to make beef broth. So 3 cups boiling water to 3 tablespoon chicken bouillon, 1/4 cup soil sauce, and 2 tablespoon Chinese chili sauce. Now 2 tablespoon Chinese chili sauce is pretty spicy for the average person. You can tone it up or down to your taste. Then I added 3 carrots to the pot.

Next is I thinly cubed some beef. I used a non fatty part of beef. Next time i think I will pick something with more fat. I threw the beef in a pan with 3 cloves of minced garlic, a chunk of ginger sliced, and oil. The ginger is to not make the beef taste so "meaty". Hopefully that makes sense. Now this is not to cook the beef. Just to put a nice sear of flavor on it. Once the sides are brown throw the beef into your broth pot. Cook for 30 or so minutes to make the beef tender. Note: fatty beef means not only more flavor but a more tender beef too.

Boil up some Chinese noodles and serve with some green onions. I like a lot of green onions cause I think it makes it taste super yummy.

Such a yummy meal on a cold night. Oh and left overs are awesome cause you just keep making noodles until the broth is gone. (Maybe throw in some extra carrots into the broth too)

XOXO

Spicy Fried Shrimp Sandwich

So coming up with what to eat for dinner is always a struggle. You want to have variety but racking your brain while at work can be frustrating too.

Yesterday afternoon I came up with this idea ... and then executed it for dinner!

So first I made a egg mixture with 2 eggs, salt, fresh ground pepper, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce. Soaked 18 shrimps in the egg mixture.

Then I made a dry mixture with 1/2 cup self rising flour, 1/4 cup corn meal, fresh group pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Put some oil in a pan and lets get frying! So take the shrimp out of the egg mixture and cover it with the dry mixture. I did each shrimp at a time but next time I am going to dump the dry mixture and shrimp into a bag and shake. It will save a lot of time. So I fried the shrimp and let them dry on some paper towels.

Next I made a little cayenne pepper and mayo sauce and what I mean by that is I just put some cayenne pepper into some mayo. Toast my sandwich roll, spread the cayenne mayo, put 6 shrimp onto each roll, lettuce, and some diced shrimp.


Man was dinner good! The husband ate 2 sandwiches! Dinner success and all done in 30 minutes. Whoot whoot!

XOXO

10th Annual Wiggle Waggle Walk

I am so excited to take Khloe to the 10th annual Wiggle Waggle Walk. It will be a great place for us to socialize her with other dogs. I wish I had heard about this earlier so I could sign up for the 5k run. Hopefully next year Khloe and I will register to run the 5k. If you haven't heard about the event check out out the website.

Oh and to top it off Clayton Clark is the MC for the event.

XOXO

http://www.valleyanimal.org/wigglewaggle2010.html

Lemon Cupcakes

So a friend of mine has a lemon tree and gave me some lemons. What happens when you give a cupcake fanatic lemons? You get lemon cupcakes! I followed a really simple lemon cake recipe I found online. You know me, easy means good.

Now since I had real lemons you get zest!

The batter. Which was super easy to make.

My little lemon cupcakes look so cute naked. But lets be honest, who likes a naked cupcake?

Lemon cream cheese frosting! Super yummy! The recipe is super simple. Just a package of cream cheese, some lemon juice, lemon zest, and powered sugar.

I have come to the conclusion that real fruit and imitation makes a big difference. There is definitely more of a fresh taste to fresh fruit.

Mmmm ... the frosting was super yummy. I think next time I might add a package of vanilla pudding to the batter to make it more moist. But over all the lemon cupcakes were a hit with the husband and co-workers. Yay!

XOXO

Icing Shots: Good or disgusting?

Photo from Cupcakes Take the Cake

Apparently some bakeries are trying to make icing shots a new craze. I do not think this is a good idea and my friends at Cupcakes Take the Cake agree with me. Why would you only eat frosting when you can have a whole cupcake. Now isn't the whole point of having a cupcake is to indulge a little and not have a huge slice of cake? (Wait they are cute too!)

Photo from Cupcakes Take the Cake

I know we all try to find ways to cheat on our diet, but trust me skipping the cake and just eating frosting is not the way to go. Plus, my friends at Cupcakes Take the Cake "you wouldn't go to a ice cream shop and leave with just hot fudge".

So do you think? Is this tasty treat good or disgusting?

XOXO

St. Patrick's Day Lollicakes

Since the fun green day is right around the corner I decided to blog about these super cute lollicakes by Lollicake Bake Shop. This is a Chocolate Guiness Stout Lollicake. Now I am not usually a Guiness drinker but this sounds like a must try. Beer ... good ... lollicake ... good .... why not a beer lollicake.

XOXO

Simple Frosting

Bobbie Lloyd of New York's Magnolia Bakery shows us how to frost a cupcake. She makes it look so simple. I need to work on my frosting skills.

XOXO

Cupcake Pebbles

Now cereal is awesome. You can have it for all 3 meals. Heck! That's what a lot of college students do.

Now I have been informed of a new product that I am dying to try.

I have read articles about this new cereal from Post and rumor has it this is fantastic.

Looks like little sprinkles. Yum! So I went to my local Target to find this so I can make my own judgement. Sadly Targt did not carry it. I am so sad. If anyone has tried this please let me know.

XOXO

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2010/02/cupcake-pebbles.html