turkey-spinach lasagna

  Yesterday was a frustrating day to cook.  I was trying to find a recipe for some sweet comfort food for a friend, but we were out of sugar and making comfort food without sugar is dang near impossible.

  I randomly picked up a Women's Day magazine we had laying around and there were recipes for using up leftover turkey, which was perfection considering that my mom roasted a turkey last week and we have tons of it still in the fridge! 

It's healthy, tasty, and it keeps in the fridge, so you've got dinner for the rest of the week.

Here's how you do it:

sweet apple melt

We're running out of groceries over here at de casa Browning, so I had to get creative for lunch today.  I've had something similar to this at a couple restaurants (I'm starting to think that I eat at too many trendy places), and so I decided to recreate.  Yum!

bacon pancakes!

this week has been a week filled with pizza, chocolate, ice cream, margaritas, and other unhealthy food items (hey it's my birthday week, don't judge).  i had the morning off today, so i decided, in honor of turning 23 (official adulthood), i would make myself baconcakes, as seen on my new blog obsession, The Londoner.

oh. my. gracious.  best things ever and easier than easy to make.

easy strawberry parfaits

Apparently when I'm bored, I cook.  I almost never get a whole saturday just to relax, but of course I ended up cooking an entire feast just out of boredom.  I guess I'm too type A for lazy Saturdays...

I found this recipe a couple days ago and thought it would be the perfect way to end a meal of pan-fried steak, garlic parmesean green beans, and baked potatoes.

creme brulee french toast

today was gloriously unproductive and lazy. i woke up late and made the most delicious french toast evvvvar.

check out how to do the creme brulee french toast (sorta based on this recipe)

(it's easier than you think)

this is gonna sound super stuck-up, but i swear it's true.

homemade icing is better than store bought. 

you can make it whatever flavor you want and the taste is beyond comparison. luckily it's not hard to make, and I swear that's the truth because I'm someone who thinks "hard" is anything that uses more than one pan.

add a little of this icing to box brownies or cookies and they're 50% more glamorous.

here's how:

6 tbs of real butter, softened (microwave for 30 seconds in a glass dish)

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 tbs of heavy cream

1 tbs of water

flavoring   (I used 2 tbs of raspberry jam here)

dump all ingredients into a big bowl. using a spatula, mix ingredients until all sugar is damp.  beat with electric mixer for 1 minute. VOILA. 

toldya it was easy.

other flavor suggestions:

cinnamon,  lemon zest, vanilla, coffee liquor, pumpkin puree, graham cracker, the possibilities are endless!

winter soup!

Is anyone else relieved that it FINALLY snowed in NC? I'm hoping that was mother nature getting winter out of her system and not a foreshadowing of things to come.

After oohing and ahhhing for a couple minutes, taking pictures of the snow covered cars, and having a brief but intense snowball fight (i won), I promptly lost interest in the pretty white fluff and went back to wishing it was summertime.

One of the redeeming features of the after-Christmas-winter-blues is soup. I've already made 3 or 4 different soups this winter, but this was my favy so far.    Acorn squash-pumpkin soup.

cool coffee

When I was 12, Lacey and I started the tradition of going to stay with her cool older cousin, Sumer every... well... summer.

Those summer beach trips are some of my favorite memories in our friendship, and I'm so grateful to be adopted into their family. I've learned a lot from Sumer, like the proper way to tan (one with the sun!), and as I've gotten older, have picked up a lot of her domestic habits too. Here's one of my favorites:

Cool coffee:

How to:
brew a cup of your favorite coffee (I love Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut).  while it's still hot, add one tablespoon of sugar. stir.   note: even if you don't usually sweeten your coffee (i don't), cool coffee is better with a little suga.

cool in the fridge overnight, or, if you're impatient like me, stick in the freezer for 30 minutes.

add a splash of creamer and pour over ice.

Tada! I make it as a treat on those draggy afternoons before I go pick the kiddo's up from school.

Happy Weekending!

bbq chicken salad

perfect girls night dinner. pair with best friend, a Sandra Bullock movie, and last minute trips to Barnes&Noble

How to:

1. bake boneless/skinless chicken breasts for 45 min (or until white inside) with your favorite BBQ sauce on top. I love Sweet Baby Ray's.

2. wash and tear lettuce. crush tortilla chips into bite size pieces and sprinkle over lettuce. add shredded cheddar cheese.

3. strain a can of black beans and corn. add desired amount. 

4. slice the bbq chicken and add.  about half a breast for each salad should work.

4. desired salad dressing. i suggest something southwest-y like ranch or honey mustard. i used creamy parmesean.

5. serve with cornbread and TAY.

sometimes, i'm productive

Remember how I wrote this post about how I was going to get rid of any of my clothes that I didn't wear in a month??? Remember how I forgot about it until two months later and then got rid of bags of stuff and then didn't blog about it because I was too lazy?  Well you probably don't, since I didn't blog about it.

So remember how I posted things i want to make and things i want to cook ???

This time I PROMISE that I won't be so flaky, and I won't leave you anxiously waiting to see what kind of creative things I've been doing in my spare time (because I know you are). Possibly.

ALAS! I made (a) garland for my room, and am debating adding more...

AND! I made the cream cheese pound cake.

AND!was brainstorming stuff for the blogsters the other night...

yes, i did use my extra bible to prop up my laptop... did i just get downgraded to a trailer park in heaven?
ANNNNNNNNNNNNNND! I am perfecting the maple-bacon-heart attack-biscuits tomorrow... so recipe post coming sooooon!

See? Sometimes, I am productive.

sometimes.

re-labelable mason jars

 Is re-labelable a word? Probs not, but you understand the point I was trying to make.  I made these chalkboard mason jars for a couple people for Christmas gifts, and have been thinking about making a couple for myself... I got the idea from A Beautiful Mess, where I've been getting most of my creative ideas these days. :)
How to after the jump!

things i want to cook...

my bakingaddiction
cream cheese pound cake

Eat, Play, Love
maple bacon biscuits... oh my goodness

A Cozy Kitchen
pumpkin pie milkshakes

A Cozy Kitchen
acorn squash soup with cheesy croutons

food republik
twice baked potatoes with shiitake mushrooms
I cook twice a week for the kids I nanny, and the only time I've ever had them totally clear their plates with excitement was when I made twice baked potatoes. It's impossible not to love them.

My grandma pointed out that everything I make on this blog is some sort of dessert... maybe I should start looking for recipes for salads and stuff before I gain too much "after college" weight. 

I promise that, despite my blog and affinity for anything with bacon, i do eat healthy 90% of the time.

things i want to make

Coffee body scrub:

huda beauty

 

 

Handmade garlands for my room:

abeautifulmess

 Reusable grocery bags from old t-shirts:

moredesignplease

Wall art from paint swatches:

abeautifulmess

If only I had a flexible schedule, lots of free time, and a crafty best friend.

oh wait...

awesome craft how-to post coming after christmas time :)

yeast rolls!

salted hot cocoa

I'm addicted to any salty/sweet combo. Also, I've given up coffee again (I know, I know, you've heard this before, but I'm for REAL this time! i think), so I need something warm to drink in the morning.

Ingredients:

1 cup of milk, warmed       (I just do it in the microwave, cause I'm laaaaaazy)

1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder

1.5 tablespoons of sugar

1/8 teaspoon of salt (go lightly with the salt...you can always add more later. the first time I made this, it     was essentially chocolate seawater.)

large splash (or two) of half and half or coffee creamer

mini marshmallows (optional)

How to:

Put cocoa, sugar, and salt in a mug.  Heat milk. Add and stir.  

Add a splash of half-and half & marshmallows. Enjoy :)

chocolate cupcakes with berry buttercream frosting

everytime I make cupcakes, I swear I will never do it again, and then I get a hankering to bake something and BAM I’m standing in the kitchen for 4.5 hours with those little buggers. I can def see why most people prefer to make their baked goods from a box.  I made these for a Christmas party and think they turned out pretty danged delicious. Got the recipe hizzle!

cupcakes (different recipe than the ones I made back here, although, truf time, i think those ones were better)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1.       Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat with a fork (or mixer) till smooth.  Add the boiling water and stir/mix until it’s homogenous. If you don’t know when that is, go back to freshman biology. 

2.       Line your cupcake pan with those little paper things and ladle the mixture until the cups are 2/3 full. Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes. When a toothpick comes out of the center clean, take out of oven and let sit for 2 minutes.  Take the cupcakes out of the pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.

frosting

1/3 cup butter, room temp

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsb of jam (I’m lucky enough that my gma makes it homemade, but any jam/jelly will work)

1.       Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth. Slowly add the sugar. Tip: no matter how slowly you do this, it’s gonna be obnoxiously messy. I would just do it in two parts and beat for a couple seconds to mix.

2.       Add milk, vanilla, and jam. Beat until smooth.

3.       Gently smooth onto cupcakes with a rubber spatuala.

4.       Voila!

coconut shrimp with tangydeliciousness sauce

Found this at a cozy kitchen and tweaked it to incorporate more ingredients that already reside in my pantry. The smell of the coconut kind of gave me flashbacks to my unsatisfactory experiences with coconut oil (read that thrilling drama here and here),  but I quickly recovered.

Whatchoo need....

18 ish shrimps, cleaned.peeled.deveined

.75 cups of flour

2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp chili or cayenne pepper powder
1 beaten egg
.75 cup of shredded coconut (i used sweetened, cause that's what they had at the dollar store and, well, it was a dollar)
2 tbs of Panko breadcrumbs (i happened to have Panko breadcrumbs, but i'm pretty sure regular bcs would work too)
s+p to taste


if you wanna make the sauce...
2 tbs honey
splash oj
splash soy sauce

1. preheat oven to 450. line baking sheet with parchment paper. i used wax paper and cooking spray, because i'm not a chef and don't carry parchment paper in my pantry, but the little shrimps STILL STUCK.   so, i would recommend getting parment paper OR maybe using crisco.
2. mix flour, garlic powder, and chili powder in shallow bowl. also mix breadcrumbs and coconut in another shallow bowl.
3. sprinkle a little s+p on your shrimps. then dredge them in the flour mix, coat them with egg, and roll them in the coconut mix. then line them up on your pan. see figure 2.
4. bake for 15-20 minutos.  while baking, mix all the ingredients for the sauce together in a ramekin.
5. enjoy with rice/beans/wine.

pb&j oatmeal

Confession: I do the grocery shopping in our household, and sometimes I'm really lazy about it.  So when I woke up this morning, we were out of bagels, good cereal, and bread. I put my coffee on (we would NEVER run out of that), and looked into our near empty pantry and found a lone packet of REGULAR flavored instant oatmeal. Why do we even have that?

And then I got inspired.

PB&J oatmeal. Here's how:

1. Heat a little water to boiling and add just enough to the instant oatmeal for it to be moist.

 

2. Add a heaping spoonful of peanut butter and a normal-ish spoonful of jelly (so precise, I know) to your oatmeal and stir in!

3. Add a splash of milk or any amount to reach the desired consistency.

4. Enjoy with a cup of coffee and reruns of the Fresh Prince.

avocado fries

Recently I've become addicted to the blog, A Cozy Kitchen.
Whilst browsing her recipes, I came across the one for Avocado Fries and knew I had to make them.  Being from NC, there is nothing I love more than taking something naturally delicious and healthy and frying it in oil.
Here's how it went down:
1. Fill your skillet about 1/3 full of vegetable oil and heat it on medium.

2. Take 2 ripe avocados, slice them lenthwise, take out the pit, and use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the skin (in one piece!). Then slice the avocados lengthwise again  into "fries"

 

3. Beat one egg and put it in a shallow bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of water.  Do the same with 1/2 cup of milk and one with 1/2 cup of flour (just the bowl part, not the beating). Dip your "fries" in the milk, flour, egg, then the flour again.   *Sorry I didn't take a picture of this. It was messy, and I was absolutely starving and grouchy!*   

4. When the oil is hot (adding a drop of water makes it "spit"), add your fries one by one, without letting them touch.

4. When the batter starts getting brown, turn them over, and let them cook till they are crispy. Take them out and let them dry on paper towels, like ya do with bacon.

5. Enjoy with something yummy, like a turkey burger!

Tip:  They were a little bland, as avocados tend to be.  The recipe suggests 'Lime Sriracha Mayo', but I bet they'd be good with homemade ranch too. :)

-little j