Category Archives: Adventures in the Kitchen

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

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Mother’s Day 2016

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Reading to my little girls each night in bed is something I still miss to this day. I miss hearing them beg for one more book or one more song or one more prayer.  Trace Adkins hit the nail on the head when he sang “You’re gonna miss this”.  My eyes well up with tears each time I hear it…

You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

Today my girls did many things to make my day special.  One of the sweetest things was to give me a book I read to them as a child.  Each of my girls picked out the book that reminded them of me when they were young.  They wrote a note inside and told  me why this book was special to them and the memories they have of me reading it to them when they were young.  That touched my heart!

They also made me lunch so I could put it on my blog!  They were so thoughtful!  They made a delicious healthy lunch.

Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers  Recipe Here
Strawberry Pecan Salad
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Pink Lemonade

 And last but not least they gave me a new hand mixer for the kitchen.  They know me so well! I love the pink…so pretty. KitchenAid 
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Thankful today for my wonderful daughters and so blessed that God allowed me to walk through this life with them!

Breakfast at Kristy’s

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I love that these simple ingredients can turn into something so tasty!

A healthy dose of avocado, egg, lime, whole grain bread and a dash of salsa

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I enjoy the mornings that I do not have to be somewhere early. My daughter and I were able to actually have breakfast together.  That doesn’t happen very often these days. 

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I searched quite a few recipes for this breakfast delight.  While it is pretty basic, I wanted to see what ingredients people were using to make it stand out.  I find that sometimes the easiest thing to do is just do what you like.  Here are the ingredients I used this morning.  You can’t go wrong with this one!  It was an energizing way to start my day!  Here is the recipe. Sunny Side Up Egg and Avocado Sandwich

Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

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I am not a big chocolate fan…but I do love chocolate and peanut butter!  In fact, these peanut butter balls are one of my favorite things to make.  I usually only make these treats at Christmas, but I had an opportunity to work with a friend who is a wonderful baker.  She needed 600 peanut butter balls for a 40th birthday surprise.  Wow!

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Thankfully she only needed me to make 200!  I was happy to help her and glad that it was something I have made many times…it’s so much easier when I know what I’m doing!

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Find the recipe here for Peanut Butter Balls. Enjoy!

25 Reasons we love Hannah

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APRIL just flew by for me!  It is a month of celebrations in our home.  My husband, daughter, best friend and anniversary are all celebrated in this lovely month.

My daughter turned 25 this year.  Happy Birthday, Hannah!  My family thought of things we each love about Hannah and had a friend of mine (who is my “go to” for graphics) design this for me.  I thought it turned out so cute!

I framed this for my daughter as one of her gifts.  I hope this always reminds her that she is special and unique, loved by her family and a precious young woman that has an amazing journey ahead of her!!  We love you, Hannah!

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Hannah’s Birthday Cake

I have teased my daughter that she is “practically perfect in every way”, since she was a small child. So this “Mary Poppins” cake was perfect for her!

Love this Mary Poppins quote for my office. "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.":

 

 

 

Since she had this poster hanging on her wall the first year of teaching,  it seemed appropriate for me to run with this theme!  Happy Birthday Hannah!

I don’t think 25 is too old for Mary Poppins…do you?

 

 

One Cupcake goes a long way

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One Cupcake can say a lot of things:
I am thinking of you
You are sweet
We are friends
You are worth it
I care about you
and last but not least…Happy Birthday!

One of my most precious friends has a birthday in April. She is so kind and always willing to taste my sweet creations and give me her honest opinion…too dense, too sweet, not sweet enough, etc. I love her feedback and trust her palate!! I asked her what type of cupcake she would like for her special day and she requested Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes.

I had made these previously and really liked them, so I was happy when she chose this flavor cupcake.  My husband was too!

This little cupcake says so much more than Happy Birthday.  It says “you are special” and “I am glad we are friends”.

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One last thing…does anyone else out there have a kitchen that looks like this while you are baking or is it just me???

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Spinach,sun dried tomatoes & goat cheese frittata muffins

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen, Uncategorized by

 

I have only posted my photos and stories of trial and error from my own experiences on my website. But I saw these lovely Frittatas and wanted to repost here. I am assigning my daughter the job of making these and will post our pics after. Even if you don’t love eggs, these just look delicious!

foodbycamilla's avatarfoodbycamilla

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The recipe I want to share today is frittata muffins. Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche.Frittata muffins are pretty easy to make. You just will up the muffin cups with eggs, milk and whatever vegetable and cheese you prefer. Frittata is one of those recipes that you can hardly call as recipe, as you can use what you have one hand ( although there is a specific ration eggs to vegetables). In this recipe I used sautéed spinach, dried tomatoes and goat cheese frittata muffins. These turned out even better than I expected.

Frittata muffins makes the perfect dish to bring along to a picnic , since they are just as good warm as they are cold. Making frittata muffins requires much the same effort as making an omelette or scrambled eggs, but somehow the end result look fancier.I have just been making frittata muffins for…

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When the moon hits your eye…

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…like a big Pizza Pie
that’s amore!

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My daughter, Claire, loves Pizza!  She loves all Italian food, but Pizza is her absolute favorite.  She wanted to make a healthier version of this wonderful slice of heaven.

I found a recipe from  The Skinnytaste Cookbook made with Lavash bread and homemade marinara sauce.

This recipe is low cal and tastes great.  My daughter went back to college and made it the next night as well. I posted the recipe from Gina’s website here Lavash Bread Pizza and below as well.   You can find it at the top of this post also.  Enjoy!

Lavash Flatbread Pizzas
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 2 • Serving size: 2 squares • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 191.8 • Fat: 4.7 g • Protein: 12.2 g • Carb: 23.9 g • Fiber: 1.4 g • Sugar: 1.4 g

Ingredients:

  • 9×12″ lavash flatbread
  • olive oil spray
  • 3 tbsp marinara sauce
  • 2 oz reduced fat shredded mozzarella
  • pinch dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. If you have a pizza stone, heat it as well.

Spray lavash lightly with oil then top with sauce. Too much sauce will make the bread soggy so don’t over-do it.  

 

 

 

Creative Blogger Award

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I am sending out a big thank you to Taylor at  Peas Romaine Calm for nominating me for the Creative Blogger Award. I love Taylor’s blog!  It is so cute and creative and her photos are amazing.  I love all her little graphic designs on her photos.

Here are my five nominations for the Creative Blogger Award.
It was hard to choose only five as there are so many wonderful blogs I come across and enjoy reading.

~Carolina at Cisneros Cafe.  I love her faith based blog and her encouraging words she shares with others.  Check it out for some daily encouragement.
~Hannah at Love the Little Bakery.  She loves to bake, she is messy in the kitchen and wants to travel.  Her blog is so cute!
~Wee Blue Mixer.  What a cute blog!  She lives in a cottage in Scotland (how cool is that)? She shares lots of wonderful recipes and amazing photos.
~Leen Cuisine.  She is so creative.  She is obsessed with recipes from her family and is cooking through all of them!
~This Happy Mommy.  I love all her photos and her healthy recipes.  Everything looks amazing.  Plus she is a new mommy.  How exciting!

RULES:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.
  2. Share five facts about yourself.
  3. Nominate 5 bloggers and add their links.
  4. Notify the bloggers you included.
  5. Keep the rules in your post.

5 Facts About Me:

  1.  I am a Native Texan!
  2. I love NYC and would go visit every year if I could.
  3. I love to brighten someone’s day with a baked treat, wrapped in cellophane with lots of ribbon!  It  just makes me smile. (and hopefully makes them smile)
  4. I love God, my 3 girls and wonderful husband!
  5. Breakfast Tacos are one of my favorite things to eat. I eat one at a local favorite restaurant at least once a week, or twice.  Okay, maybe even three times!  YUMMY!

Thanks again Taylor for nominating me and love reading your blog!

Chocolate Birthday Pie!

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It is my hubby’s birthday today.  Happy Birthday!

I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday this year.  Instead of cake, he wanted a pie.  His favorite is cherry pie, but we could not find any fresh cherries.  So chocolate pie was second on the list.

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I decided to use a recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

I love my mom’s homemade crust, but after working 9 hours…Pillsbury’s Pie Crust was the obvious choice!

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  I did cook my pie crust a little longer than I needed, but it still was delicious! IMG_3444[1]

I had all my ingredients ready to go and found this recipe was really quite easy.

It calls for bittersweet chocolate.  I used Ghirardelli and chopped fine and added after the pie filling was beginning to thicken. I think this tasted better than using cocoa powder. IMG_3427[1]

 The pie was a huge success, mainly because my hubby loved it!

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 Click here Chocolate Pie for her recipe.  The full link to her recipe can be found there. If you make this, let me know what you think! I have listed some of her cookbooks here for you if you don’t have one already.

      

Skinny Stuffed Bell Peppers or Cake batter?

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It is not easy for me to find the perfect balance in my life.  I am naturally an “all or nothing” kind of girl, especially where food is concerned. If I am eating “bad”, then I am eating bad; if I am eating “good”, then I am eating good!  Sometimes I struggle with having that favorite cupcake or candy and popcorn at the movies.  Usually when I say yes to those types of sweets,  I tend to eat bad all day, which leads to all week, which leads to waiting until Monday to eat healthy again!  Yes, balance is hard for me.IMG_2687[1]

 

 

 

I find this to be true in so many areas of my life, not just with food.  I am trying to learn that there is a good balance out there somewhere that will work for me.

The last two weeks have proven to be better.  I have enjoyed a healthier kitchen while still baking and tasting some of my favorite sweets as well as having a drink, in moderation, of course!  I found the scale did not go up!

Today I made one of my favorite things from the SKINNYTASTE website, Stuffed Bell Peppers.  I love how these taste, they fill me up and don’t add a ton of calories.

 

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I made some with cheese and some without. If I pour salsa on them, I find I can do without the extra calories or flavor from the cheese.  I am not saying it is not better with cheese, because what is not better with cheese?  But I can still enjoy without!

I have used her recipes and cookbook many times and loved everything I have tried.  If you don’t already have her book, it is a great one to have on your kitchen counter!

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Find the recipe here Turkey Stuffed Peppers.  If you are interested in her cookbook, take a peek here and see what you think!  The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor.  I hope you enjoy!