Tortilla Breakfast Casserole

The last recipe I'm sharing with you from our Galveston vacay is this DE-LISH tortilla breakfast casserole. You may recall from past posts like this one that I have a deep love for Mexican food. It's real, ya'll. 

So when I come across meals that are breakfast + Mexican....It's a no brainer. I doubled this tortilla breakfast casserole recipe from Macheesmo. The casserole turned out great and I even drizzled some leftover avocado cilantro sauce from our dinner the night before. 

When you get a chance, you should really check out Macheesmo's site. He offers some really fun recipes and some awesome meal plans. I will definitely be trying out other recipes and report back!  

Fish Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Sauce

While in Galveston, we all chose different nights to cook dinner. We usually make really fun recipes, like my SIL making this Peach-Whiskey BBQ Chicken, which was amazing! 

Of course Jake and I were no different. I have a terrible habit of trying new recipes on occasions like this. So we were crossing our fingers that everything turned out well, and it did! Here's what we made: 

Fish Tacos with an Avocado Cilantro Sauce. These tacos were amazing! Besides sno cones, fish tacos are my #1 favorite summer (or any season) food. We even used fish that Jake had caught during the trip. And the sauce. Let me tell you how much I LOVED the sauce! We used it to dip tortilla chips while snacking and for the meal and it was gone in no time. It's a good one to keep on hand when having guests over.

Grilled Cilantro Lime Sweet Potatoes. Sweet potatoes are my jam...but not Jake's. So it's pretty rare that I get them. I've never really had sweet potatoes as a savory side dish, so when I saw this version, I knew I had to try it. The natural sweet of the sweet potato paired with the cilantro, lime and salt was a great combination. It still didn't convert Jake, but I'm a fan!

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon Zest. This Zucchini recipe is from Pioneer Woman. I knew that I could trust it (she has yet to steer my wrong) and it of course was delicious. We've grilled zucchini before, but the added lemon flavor was a nice addition. 

As good as our trip and this food was, I am 100% ready for Fall! 16 days til OU Football! 

Strawberry Peach Danish

Over the weekend I made my first summery dessert this year. Peaches. Strawberries. Check and check! 

I meshed this Rustic Strawberry Peach Tart and this Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Danish to make one EASY and summery dessert. 

Ingredients:

2 peaches, peeled and pitted

2 cups of sliced strawberries

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tube crescent rolls

1 pkg cream cheese (room temp)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp flour

for the glaze-

1 cup powdered sugar

4+ tbsp heavy cream

splash of vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven the 375 degrees.

Take your thinly sliced strawberries and peaches and combine with 2 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla until coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. 

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, flour and 1 tsp of vanilla and set aside. 

Open the crescents and unroll, leaving them attached as a big rectangle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure there are no holes in the dough. Cut 1/2 inch diagonal strips up each side of the dough with a pizza cutter. Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of the dough, avoiding your strips. Top with the fruit mixture. 

Fold the 1/2 inch dough pieces up over the filling, alternating sides to form a braided pattern. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the filling is set and the crescents are golden. Let cool for about 20 minutes. 

While the danish is cooling, combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and a splash of vanilla. Add more cream if needed to get your desired consistency. Pipe over the cooled danish a serve!

I honestly intended on taking my own pictures but seriously...this dessert went so fast, and I doubled it! This is 100% a crowd pleaser! 

Cinnamon Roll Knock Off

God was thinking of me {and my fam} when he came up with cinnamon rolls. I've had several over the years and I'm very picky...which is unfortunate because the ones I LOVE take forever to make....but Pioneer Woman got it 100% right!!! You can see my post of them here.

One day {or night, or while at work, or while at a stop light, or while at the store, basically every moment of my life} As I was cruising through the bountiful pages of pinterest, I stumbled upon "Cinnamon Roll Cake". WHAT?!?! Had to pin it!! Well, I tried it and it is the bomb{dot com}! I still love PW cinnamon rolls, and they can't be beat. BUT this is a lovely "cakey" alternative that is super easy!! 

Here is the Link: Cinnamon Roll Cake 

Another thing I loved was that I didn't have to buy anything! It was all in my cabinet!! LOVE!! 

Try this. You'll love it. Make sure you have some extra milk, this is very rich!!! 

Cinnamon & Sugar Pumpkin Bread

If you are anything like me you are a rusher...don't look both ways before crossing the street, don't always adequately prepare yourself for the bumps ahead... OK, I definitely look both ways but I NEVER read recipes all the way through before starting them. It has kicked me in the butt several times. Whether I have to marinate that chicken for 24 hours {24 hours?!? Who thinks that far ahead?? NOT ME!!} or dough raising and raising for hours at a time. Also, room temp things like butter, milk or eggs. I'm slowly learning and getting better at it. In time I suppose. :)

So, let me begin this wonderful and delicious recipe off by saying/warning the following:

1. Milk will need to be room temp

2. Dough will need to rise at two separate times: first for 60-90 minutes and again for 30-45 minutes

3. Cook time is about 35 minutes 

4. Have your kitchen clean. I have a pretty small kitchen, and with several recipes I have needed to use my counter tops to roll the dough, etc. Besides the obvious of just working in a clean kitchen, before this recipe I did some major scrubbing to my counter tops. 

The Goods:

Bread Ingredients:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups of bread flour


1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
2 tbsp butter

Icing Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1/8 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Let's Get Started!!!

Brown 2 tbsp of butter over med-high heat in a saucepan {let it bubble and make sure it doesn't turn black}

Once browned, remove from heat and carefully add the {room temp} milk, the milk will curdle if is too cold vs the heat of the butter. Then, return to the stove and heat through. 

Pour that into your mixing bowl {a dough hook would be VERY helpful here, or get ready for an arm workout!!} Allowing it to cool to about 100-110 degrees.

Once cooled add your active dry yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar and allow to proof for about 8 minutes. {It will be foamy and the liquid will be cloudy}.

Now we are going to add the pumpkin, salt and 1 cup of flour. Stir until combined and then add the rest of your flour 1/2 a cup at a time. 

Knead the dough for 6 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and slightly sticky. If the dough is really moist, add extra flour 1 tbsp at a time. 

Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size. 

While dough is rising, you will need to brown 2 more tbsp of butter. 

In a small bowl add your sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. 

Once your dough is finished rising, take it out and punch it down a little bit and knead for about a minute. On your nice and clean counters {sprinkled with flour} roll our your dough to a 12x20 inch rectangle. Take you butter and pour over the dough and spread over all the dough.

Take your cinnamon and sugar mixture and sprinkle evenly onto the dough, then with your fingers, press the mixture into the dough. Now take a knife or a pizza cutter and cut the dough into 6 strips horizontally and vertically.

Stack the strips into a greased loaf pan. {See all that sugar and cinnamon on your counter top? I just swiped mine on top, the more the merrier!!} 

Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. After rising, let it bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown. 

While baking, prepare your icing. 

Heat the milk, butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar. 

Pour icing over the loaf once it is finish and ENJOY!!!

It is such a scrumptious dessert & the pumpkin is not that strong of a flavor. {You could actually add more if you want more of a pumpkin presence}

It's ooey and gooey and great! Its a perfect dessert for the upcoming holidays!

P.W.'s Chocolate Cake

Welp, I've done it again!! I have made the most wonderful and amazing chocolate cake ever. I can't be beat. Ok, Ok, Pioneer Woman has done it again. Tomato, tomaato, right? It has been almost a year since my "unofficial" new year's rez {you can read about it here} and it has been so much fun! I have learned a lot about my taste/preference for certain flavors and this cake has really just pinned it! Now, Don't hit me when you hear this, but I'm not a huge chocolate cake fan....craziness, I know. I'm also really picky on the moistness of cake. Yadda Yadda, I could go on forever.... Well, this sheet cake is moist and the icing is perfection {shockingly another thing I'm super picky about!}.

For you Odessan's it is similar to Rosa's chocolate cake {but thinner} or Mexican Hot Cake.

You can find Ree's recipe tutorial here.

I had to bring dessert to a dinner with Jake's fam and mom was in town. I was making it and mom kept saying "I'll be in to help in a minute". Before she knew it I was mixing the icing. :) To her defense....this cake took NO TIME at all.... you can't go wrong with a 20 minute bake time!!

Cake was a huge hit and it was so easy....a huge recommendation if you are planning to feed a lot of people!

Shirataki Noodles....Dun Dun Dun.

Well I have finally tried them: Shirataki Noodles (aka Tofu noodles). They are used as a pasta substitute and are extremely low in carbs and calories. They are also featured in Hungry Girl. So, why not try them? I decided  to just go for a classic spaghetti dish with beef and tomato sauce on top of the noodles. 

Let me first just start with I am not trying to start eating tofu and/or any meat substitute. But I am open to trying new things. Secondly, I am not posting this because it was a "success". I think its only fair that if I keep posting all my wonderful cooking adventures, I might as well share my, um....more interesting and off-beat meals also. 

I decided to make these just for myself. As you know by previous posts, Hil and Mo are fairly picky and especially critical of my cooking. So I figured I'd do this more daring recipe for just myself... 

So, according to Hungry Girl, to start these off, you need to wash them and "pat them dry". Since they are tofu, they soak up a lot of moisture and for any of the sauce to stick, they need to be patted dry with a paper towel. 

Here are the directions.....

NOTICE* I have never heard of needing to cook something to "reduce the authentic aroma". Strange. Anyways, I go and open the package and about fell over. The "authentic aroma" that they refer to is one of the most fowl smelling things I have ever experienced. I wanted to choke. As I'm writing this a week later I can still imagine the smell!! Just EEWWW!!! Trust me! 

Being the trooper that I think I am, I go on with cooking them...

They were a little more rubbery than normal noodles. Just in case you do try them, cooking does actually reduce the smell, but not entirely. 

And I pat them dry. It took more paper towels than I want to admit to soak up all the water.

Here is the final product. To tell you the truth I did not eat it all. I think I mostly couldn't get over the whole smell, and the texture was pretty rubbery. My final say is that if I had to eat them I would and could, but not voluntarily. I would much rather just give up pasta. :) 

So there you go....probably the worst meal I have ever prepared. I'm sure there will be more to come, but it was a risk worth taking. (What if they were amazing and I would never have to waste my caloric intake on regular pasta again?) That, however was definitely not the case! 

Pioneer Woman"s Breakfast Burritos

Attention ALL!! You have to try Pioneer Woman's Breakfast Burritos!! They are wonderful. Nothing fancy and totally easy, and my absolute favorite: GREAT for leftovers!! If you don't have PW's cookbook, then go to her web page: thepioneerwoman.com. Also, here is the direct link for her Breakfast Burrito recipe. 

Here is the recipe in her book. Highly recommended! 

The recipe called for sausage, but I prefer bacon so I substituted them. Hil and Mo thought that was the end of the world so since the first time I have only made it with sausage (which, is actually a ton easier!!). 

It cooks in the skillet and you just mix in the eggs a viola! Its also extremely easy to add your own ingredients, like chives, veggies, cayenne or something!

Final product! I'm addicted!!

New Sweet Obsessions!

Baked Apples....Nothing could be better. Nothing. I. Love. Them. They are EXTREMELY easy and hey, whoever can say the words "baked" and "apples" in the same sentence has to be some sort of healthy, RIGHT?? Well, I know that they are not that great, so I'm going to offer 2 recipes, a normal one that is Awesome and a tad more scrumptious and an alternative one that is still tasty for those of us who are counting every last drop. :)

Bake Apples {Normal}

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of butter

4 large "tart" apples- peeled, cored and sliced, 1/4 inch thick

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup of cold water

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large, covered skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add apples. Cook, stirring constantly, until apples are almost tender, about 6-7 minutes. 

2. Dissolve cornstarch in water; add to skillet. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

You could also do less cornstarch and add nutmeg and vanilla for a little extra something!

Baked Apples {Diet}

Ingredients:

4 apples, cored

2 Tbsp of water

2-3 packets of stevia {or other sweetener}

Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Core the apples, being careful not to cut clear to the bottom, and pare a strip from the top of each. Place in an 8x8 baking dish. 

3. Dissolve the stevia in the 2 Tbsp of water

4. Divide into four portions and pour into each apple. 

5. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each apple and add 1 cup of water around the apples

6. Bake for 45-60 min.

(They also suggest to add Vanilla Creme Stevia, I have not tried that yet, but I'm sure its great.)

SSOOOO, obviously these are both very different ways to prepare, but I'm not gonna lie....I used the {Diet} ingredients and followed the {normal} directions :) Let me know how ya'lls go!! 

These colorful little guys are nothing special. White cake mix and white frosting. I just wanted to play with food coloring. But they are fun to look at!!

Pioneer Woman's Cobbler

Raise your hand if you are obsessed with carbs. {ME} 


Raise your hand if you love cobbler {ME} 


Raise your hand if you require dessert after every meal {I think you're catching on....}


Well, this may be the easiest, fruitiest, sugariest{?} dessert ever! This recipe is of course from my cooking idol Ree Drummond aka Pioneer Woman. I saw it on her show last Saturday. {Which if you don't watch you are missing the second best thing to happen to fall Saturdays....Behind OU football, of course!} 


I can't stress enough at how easy this recipe is. Here is the direct link to the recipe on her blog: PW Cobbler.


On her blog, Ree discusses the different kinds of cobbler. Pie Crusty, Cake-like or biscuit. This scrumptious version is cake-like. I don't think I've ever had "cake-like" cobbler before, and I must say that it just very well be my fave!  


This recipe requires minimal ingredients. When I only have to pick up fruit from the store it is a good recipe!!


Ingredients:
1 stick of melted butter, plus a little more
1 cup of sugar, plus a little extra
1 cup of Self-Rising flour
1 cup of milk
2 cups of fruit {I used frozen, mixed berries, but she uses blackberries...whatever tickles your fancy}


First, you melt the butter in the microwave


In a separate dish, mix flour and sugar and then whisk in the milk. Mix pretty well, until most of the lumps are out.


Then add in the butter with a whisk. 


In your baking dish, use extra butter to butter the dish, Ree makes sure to mention the more the better {Hey, I only follow rules!} 


Pour mix into bowl and then add the fruit. Take 1/4 cup of more sugar and sprinkle it on top of the cobbler {this makes it a little crispier on top}. Cook this at 350 for 1 hour. 

Pre-cooked...

 Check out that sugar!!

 Final product!! PW's obviously looks better, but mine tasted JUST FINE!! :)

 Serve with ice cream {DUH!!}

Its so easy, and you just pop it in before you eat dinner and voila!! 

Birthday Week Fabulosity!!

I had a wonderful 24th Birthday!! It was cram packed with friends, family, food and lots of crafting!!! I LOVED IT!! 

First off, we had Zoe for the week, which is always great. She is recovering from having ACL surgery on her leg and so we've had to be kind of strict with her (I'm SURE she is missing out on all of the running she normally does, haha). 

I my second batch of cinnamon rolls for the week (Happy Birthday to myself) and they tasted just as great as the last batch, but they were way more appealing the the eye, BONUS!! 

Look at these compared to the ones below, major cosmetic difference!! WooHoo!!

Zoe loves helping out in the kitchen, its like we have our very own catfish!!

And on a personal note....I finished off my first bag of flour!! How exciting!

I also had the wonderful opportunity of babysitting Bryson, overnight at that!! Our night was mostly filled with watching Nemo on repeat.

He is obsessed with footballs and we spent a good amount of time spinning the ball which is "spin it" and throwing it up in the air which is "SKY SKY"

Sleeping situation was very very interesting. For a 2 year old Bryson is a very unpleasant sleep buddy. He kicks and hogs the bed big time!! Well, along with Bryson, I had 3 other house guests for a few days; so when Bryson woke up at 5am crying, so did my house full of guests :/

All in all it was a good time watching him! We went to lunch at Freebirds and he was digging feeding himself.

Christi and I also took him to a scrapbook store. That was a very interesting time. We ended up having to take turns shopping. Lesson learned to only go to places with carts!! Bry also enjoyed showing off his new tattoo!!

He also got me the cutest card for my birthday...

How he spells my name...

My nephew is such a cutie!!

Jake was also in town for a couple days!! He, Keith and Kyle (Odessa guests) became quick buds. While Christi and I scrapped they had fun with my birthday present from Jake!

I can now watch Instant Netflix and surf youtube and hulu on the tv!! Very excited for that!!

Here a are few of the other gifts and notable cards!!

My gift to myself... :)

This doozie is from my "parents" (really just my mom because a few days later I got an envelope in the mail with a blank, white piece of paper that said "Happy Bday Mal, Love Father" with some cash....classic). How appropriate. My mom is always giving me some of the coolest cookbooks too!

I'm excited!! The first one we tried was called Cape Cod Punch

It was very yummy!

I also (and always!!) get cooking supplies...

My bestie Jordan had her mom send my her gift....

I'm excited to wear it to many baseball games this summer!! Her mother works at a dentist office and this is very much like her.....

Thanks Big Carol!!!

The day would never be complete without a bull dog card! Thanks Emma!

Jake's parents Ralph and Lisa got me one of the best gifts ever....H-Lobb gift card!!! Whoop Whoop!!!

And now on to the actual Birthday Party!!! SO MUCH FUN!!! I love that my birthday is on St Patty's Day. I feel like everyone is already in a good mood. We went to Coach's in Bricktown and had dinner and drinks. It was great times. Here are the pics of the night.....

Katie and I 

     Keith and I

 

Emma and I doing the "Mal" pose 

                                  

Me and everyone who traveled from OD!

 Christi and I 

Christi and her BF Kyle

       Me and Bry Cheesin!

 

 Bry loves giving kisses!

 

Doing the "Meatball" Kiss

  Best Nephew EVER!!

 

Dillon, Julie and I  

     I love being John and Katie's 3rd Wheel!! 

                                                                  

Best Sisters EVER!!!  

        Sisters (and sis n law) with BRY!!! 

 

       Molly, John Paul and I                          

 Molly and I 

      We both felt it was our "good side"

 

Her hair is full of SECRETS!

        Me and Hil Pil!!

 

    I loves my boyfriend!!

 

Our ex-American Idol Contestant waiter sang me Happy Birthday!!!

I have wonderful friends and thanks for everyone who came out!!!!