Savory Scone

by igameals Posted on May 16, 2012

Let’s talk about beautiful things.

A clean car (inside and out)
Fresh cut flowers from your own yard
Baby fat rolls
Dinner rolls
Rainbows
Diamonds
Mountains

Annnd this omelet PP made me for Mother’s Day:

Yeah, it was pretty much ‘up there’ with diamonds it was so good. He even attempted to keep it all together while flipping with a huge spatula. He did forget the cheese, but who cares when someone else is making breakfast besides me??? Thanks PP. I heart you big.

Ohh I wish I had my fancy camera for these scones. They would have made the beautiful list. I love scones and this savory rendition was over the top. Should I ask PP to whip these up for Mother’s Day next year? Aim high friends. Aim high.

 

 

 

They don’t take long and don’t let the whole-cutting-the-butter-into-the-flour scare you. It’s easier than it sounds. Just do it.

Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Scones

2 C All Purpose Flour

1 TBSP Baking Powder

1/2 TSP Salt

1/2 C Cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 C whipping cream, divided

Stir in 1/4 C shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese

1/4 C finely chopped cooked bacon

2 TBSP Chopped fresh chives

1/2 TSP Freshly ground pepper with the cream

Wax Paper

1. Preheat oven to 450. Stir together first four ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Freeze 5 minutes. Add 3/4 C plus 2 TBSP cream, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto wax paper, gently press or pat dough into a 7-inch round. (Mixture will be crumbly) Cut round into 8 wedges. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush tops of wedges with remaining 2 TBSP cream just until moistened.

3. Bake at 450 for 10 – 12 min

Peace, Love and PP.

Posted in Breakfast | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not so healthy breakfast/ healthy breakfast

by igameals Posted on May 9, 2012

Hiiiiieeeee.  It’s meeeeeeeee!

Almost at day 10… no handfulls or bags of chocolate chips, no zone bars and no sugary almonds. I’ll have to say going to Vegas for the weekend helped since we were busy.

I want to do another 10 days. Because then it will really get challenging. Who is in?

Did you win any money at the Derby? This is pretty much how PP watched horse racing all weekend:

Me? Derby-schmerby. I want to pet the horses, not bet on them. So this is how I spent the Derby:

 

SO. My Mom clearly missed the blog post about how much sugar I’ve been inhaling because she invited me over for a sugar-laden breakfast of sour dough french toast topped with crumbly-sugary-goodness.

 

However, I had filled up on a healthy breakfast and opted to have just a bite (in the name of this blog, c’mon) and take pictures with my phone.

If you’re having company or want to make a fabulous Mother’s Day brunch … this is the recipe for you.

If you are doing the sugar challenge, here’s what I’ve been doing:

Go shopping for all omelette ingredients. I bought mild pork sausage (we need fat in our diet, just not cookies and such) cheddar cheese, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and cilantro. I browned the pork sausage and stored it in a Ziplock bag. Dice up all your veggies and store in a container. THERE. Now in the morning all you have to do is crack your eggs, season and toss in your veggies. Takes less than 6 minutes. Close to 5. ;)

This french toast will be great on a day when I can enjoy it with a hot cup of coffee. Here’s the recipe link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/05/cinnamon-baked-french-toast/

 

Peace, Love and No Sugar. Well sometimes. Just not for 10 more days!

Posted in Breakfast, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Challenge

by igameals Posted on May 2, 2012

If you looked between the recipes I post on this blog you’d find a lot of chocolate chips. Just good ‘ol fashioned Nestle Semi-Sweet chocolate chips. A handful here. A handful there. You get the idea.

Not only would you find chocolate chips but mint chocolate flavored Zone bars. And lot’s of them.

And as of late, you’d find an entire bag of cinnamon almonds I consumed in 24 hours.

Thank God I have nervous energy. Thank God I’m burning a lot of calories in a day, but this simply isn’t good.

So. Because I truly believe I’ve picked up some bad habits and because I truly believe you can become addicted to sugar, I’m giving it up.

I don’t want to set myself up to fail. So, let’s start with 10 days.
For 10 days I’m not allowed chocolate chips, zone bars and cinnamon almonds.
Or any sugary treats for that matter. No sugar. No sugar. No sugar.

Where I work out you’re held accountable by this:
It’s a huge white board with your name on it. Every day you post your  time …  how fast you completed the workout. If you decide not to go to the gym, everyone  knows because there are huge blanks next to your name. ((For the record the “Wise” is PP and this was taken when he started back at CF. I’m “Court” and for some reason you can’t see my name at the bottom.))

Anyway, how’s that for making you get up and go to the gym? It works.

So. Here’s my white board. For the next 10 days I’m going to post my progress (and I’ll try, try, try to incorporate a healthy recipe!) And hopefully after those 10 days I can go another 10 days. etc.

Do you have any unhealthy habits you need to break? Think about it. We all do. C’mon. Let’s give it a go for 10 days. Give up what’s eating you. No pun intended. Really.

Thanks for holding me accountable. That Nutella recipe I was dying to make for you is just going to have to wait. ;)

Peace, Love and Vegetables!

Posted in Healthy, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

Almost No Knead Bread

by igameals Posted on May 1, 2012

Mother’s Day is around the corner. I’ve already given PP’s mom and my mom their gifts. Want to see?

Cute huh?

PP asked what I wanted to do for my first Mother’s Day. Here’s the convo:
PP: “What do you want to do for Mother’s Day?”
Me:”You know what? I just want to relax. Like, all day. Like, you bring me coffee and breakfast in bed and I have no responsibility all day!”
PP: Ok.
(Silence)
PP: Will you at least walk to the kitchen to tell me how to make breakfast?

It’s such a typical PP request. The poor guy just learned how to peel a boiled egg this year.
I’ve requested hot coffee and an omelet. If he’s smart he’ll get on my blog and learn how to make one the easy way. Just sayin’.

On another note, many of you will get together with family for Mother’s Day. If you do, tell them you’re bringing homemade bread because, yes, you can make bread!

My friend calls this her “Friday Night” bread. She works full time and whips this ball of goodness up when she gets home. When she wakes up on Saturday she kneads it ever so slightly and lets it rise again 2 hours. Then, pops it into the oven and her family is full of warm, yeasty bread for the weekend. Oh and did I mention she has two kids? Yea, she’s that mom.

May I suggest if you make this on a cool day that you cover it with plastic wrap AND a towel to keep the bread incubated? Make sure there are no air holes in your plastic wrap. Cover and watch it grow.

1 C Wheat Flour
2 C All Purpose Unbleached Flour
1/4 TSP bread machine yeast
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 C room temp water
1/3 C light beer at room temp
1 TBSP Plain Vinegar

1. In a large bowl mix flour, yeast and salt with a plastic or wooden spoon (no metal.) Add water, beer and vinegar. Mix well and form into a ball, scraping up all the loose flour. Cover ball with plastic wrap and let dough rise 12 -14 hours at room temperature.
2. Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold ends into center 10 – 15 times to form a ball. Cover a cookie sheet with Parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Place dough onto cookie sheet, wipe on olive oil and cover with a glass bowl. Let rise at room temp for 2 hours.
3. Pre-heat oven to 400 and move top rack toward the bottom. Place dough covered with glass bowl in oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove bread and glass bowl carefully. The steam will burn. Place back into the oven for 20 minutes without the the glass bowl. Let cool at room temp.

*Serve immediately*
To freeze: cool completely. Cut into slices and freeze in plastic bags.
To thaw: place frozen pieces in microwave for 4 seconds. Place in oven for 10 minutes at 375

Peace Love and bread ;)

Posted in Bread, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

What’s on your phone?

by igameals Posted on April 15, 2012

I know you. You take your phone wherever you go. Tell me the truth. Do you take your phone to the bathroom?

Yeah. I do too. I take my phone everywhere but sometimes I forget where I leave it.
I have to email PP to call me so I can hear it ring. #truestory

I slept in the very back bedroom of our house the other night because I gave PP night duty.

I took my phone.

Duh.

Look what I found!

Do you think the turkeys will find the Robin eggs? Oh dear.

I always drink a little coffee before CrossFit and the rest after. On rest days I can actually sit and enjoy it. Well, I used to. Now, I drink it in between being the baby entertainer and the baby feeder. Oh, and snapping pictures of what I’m doing.  By that time my coffee is cold. The good news is, you can gulp it down that way. And I do.

The bad news is, this blog post is not about how I entertain my baby. That’s for another day. Maybe.  This blog post is about the random pictures I found in my phone from the last week that I want to share with you.

 

Sometimes I get to go cool places and pretend I’m not a mom.  I went to a concert with two other moms. We had terrible seats. But we laughed the entire time. And were yawning by 10:00pm. It was totally okay though because we didn’t know who was on stage. We couldn’t see.

Part of pretending I’m not a mom was wearing my Michael Jackson shirt. Stop laughing, shoulder detail is totally in. Big H would love to chew on my rhinestones.

I made these sausage muffins for Easter morning when PP parents came to town. PP and I ate most of them. We love these muffins and they’re SO easy. I didn’t have muffin tins so I just sprayed the pan instead. They turned out great.

1 lb ground breakfast sausage (I use mild or hot)
3 C Bisquick
1 1/2 C Sharp Cheddar shredded cheese
1 Can cheese soup (Campbell’s Nacho Cheese soup)
3/4 C water

1. Cook sausage in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and cool.
2. Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
3. Stir together soup and 3/4 cup water; add to sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups.
4. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve. Smile. Hear your family gobble it down.

Peace, Love and cell phone pictures.

Posted in Breakfast, Pork, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Resurrection Cookies

by igameals Posted on April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

I am a visual learner. Do not try to explain something to me. Do not try to make me study from flash cards… and certainly do not try to make me memorize.

Until I found this recipe I had a hard time coming up with a way we will tell the story of Easter to our children. You see, I want Christmas to be more than Santa and Easter to be more than bunnies.

Don’t get me wrong. There will be a lot of ho-ho-ho-ing and hop-hop-hopping. But we will always take time to celebrate the Reason for the holiday in which we are celebrating.

I’m sharing our new tradition with you today. They’re called resurrection cookies and this recipe takes you through the Easter story by way of ingredients and Bible verses. Perfect for people like me who don’t study well from a book.

Big H did not appreciate my Easter Resurrection Cookie production. There’s always next year ;)

 

PP did a great job reading the Bible verses that go along with this recipe.

 

 

Here’s what they look like once plopped onto a cookie sheet.

We taped the oven shut.

I got a little antsy and turned the oven up to get them done faster. Bad resurrection cookie maker. I should have let the oven do it’s job. They got a little brown and crunchy.

Before I let you read the recipe let me tell you what I will change for next year: I will omit the nuts and add chocolate chips. I believe we can still beat them with a spoon and get crumbly chocolate pieces.
I will also omit the wax paper and just spray my cookie sheet with cooking spray. Just trust me on this one.
I really will go to bed and let the cookies rise over night.
I will have the verses marked in the Bible for easy access.

Ingredients:
1 C whole pecans (or choc chips!)
1 TSP Vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1 C Sugar
1 Zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

1. These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F. (This is very important, don’t wait until you are half way done with the recipe. Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Set aside. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the roman soldiers. Read: John 19: 1 -3
2. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 TSP Vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28 – 30
3. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life. Read: John 10:10 and 11
4. Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27
5. so far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus dies because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16
6. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 – 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-2
7. Fold in broken nuts (or chocolate.) Drop by onto cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read: Matthew 27:57-60
8. Put the cookie sheet int he oven, close the door and TURN OFF THE OVEN.
9. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66
GO TO BED
10. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22
11. On Resurrection sunday open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

Thanks www.annieshomepage.com for the recipe!

Peace, Love and Happy Easter!

Posted in Cookies, Holiday, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Tiramisu. Like, from Naples.

by igameals Posted on April 5, 2012

Real life happens.

Real life is missing an important work meeting because it’s on your calendar for the next day.

Real life is forgetting to call a friend back. Okay, forgetting to call all your friends back.

Real life is hectic.

But beautiful.

I’ll be real with you:

I drank wine with friends last week before 3pm. It was needed. And enjoyed.

I made a horrible dinner last week too. PP and I ordered pepperoni and cheese pizza instead. I swear.

I made a goal to do two loads of laundry every day. I’m almost on target. Almost.

PP and I have worked out together three times this week. He’s currently limping around the house. I kind of love it.

PP and I decided to host “Good Friday” dinner for our family. At our house. Talk about winging it. It’s wung. (past tense for winging it. c’mon get with it.)

I made tiramisu from a recipe that pretty much has no directions. And it turned out.

Yes. Life is beautiful.

My Mom and I made this tiramisu together. We tried to write down everything we did, just for you. But, bear with us, sticking our fingers in the sauce and tasting the cream got in the way of paper and pen … and well, you know, life happens. Deal.

Here’s what I can tell you:
Ingredients
Expresso Coffee (I went to Starbucks and got 1 shot of Espresso)
4 Heaping TBSP Sugar (*)
4 TBSP Half and Half (*)
3 TSP Rum (*)
1 Egg
Mascarpone cheese
2 containers of Lady Fingers
Dark Chocolate Cocoa (enough to sift on top)

*Means to taste. Taste it. Add, taste it again. Add. Start small. Taste. Pour. Taste. Pour. You’ll get it.*

1. Brew the espresso and pour into a bowl. Or if you’re lazy, drive to your nearest coffee joint and buy a shot of espresso. Mix in sugar, rum and half and half. TASTE. Add what you think. We added little tsp’s of rum and sugar to get the taste we wanted. You want it to look ‘mocha-y’ … see pic.

2. Get out two mixing bowls. In the small bowl separate an egg putting the white in the small bowl and the yolk in the larger bowl. Set the small bowl aside. Add a soon full of rum to the yolk and spoon full of sugar and mix until lemon yellow. Add in the cheese and mix well. (With a mixer) Beat egg white …

*If the mixture is thicker than pudding you will only need to beat the egg white until foamy, not stiff. If the mixture is more runny than pudding then you will need to beat the egg white until it is stiff.

3. Add beaten egg white to main mixture. This should be easy to spread. Mix until it is so.


4. Get out a cookie sheet (line with parchment paper) and layer cookies after soaking them in the espresso mixture. I found it easier to use a pastry brush and give them a nice coat. Then spread some of the cheese mixture on top. Don’t be stingy. Layer the rest of the cookie on top and spread the rest of the cheese mixture on top. Sift the dark chocolate cocoa on top and keep in refrigerator uncovered until you’re ready to serve it.

Big H is getting two teeth. It won’t be long before she is enjoying tiramisu with me. Oh yes. Beautiful life in my kitchen.

My Mom and I split one tiny piece of the tiramisu. I gave her the big part. Giver.

This recipe is so simple. I love ‘winging’ it the whole way through. I tried the best I could to remember what amount of whichever ingredient we used. Just try it. Lick the bowl. I totally did.

Big thanks to my friend for sharing her family recipe. She’s beautiful. So is this life. Enjoy it.

Peace, Love and Happy Easter!

Posted in Desserts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mom’s Chicken Salad

by igameals Posted on April 4, 2012

My parents think I only visit their house to see what they have in the refrigerator.  And to eat it. All of it. They are my cooking heroes. Really.

Top 5 things always in my parents refrigerator:

1. Some kind of fresh smoked meat.

2. Tuna, egg or chicken salad.

3. The newest flavor coffee creamer.

4. Boiled eggs.

5. Always salami.

 

These days you can find a pitcher of Spinach Smoothie, energy balls, coconut milk and boiled eggs in my refrigerator on any given day.

What could I find in your refrigerator? :)

 

Here’s to Mom’s that are always prepared with a fresh dish to serve up at any time. Maybe one day I’ll be one of those Mom’s.

 

About 1 lb shredded chicken (not the can!)

Salt and Pepper

1 C Seedless Grapes, sliced in half

1 1/2 C chopped pecans or walnuts

3/4 C Regular Mayo

1/4 C Sour Cream

 

Option 1: debone a whole rotisserie chicken. Shred.

Option 2: Buy 4 chicken breasts with rib meat. Boil in pot for 40 minutes, cool and debone. Shred.

To chicken add salt and pepper and about a cup of chopped celery.

Add a cup of seedless grapes, sliced in half. Chop 1 1/2 cups of walnuts or pecans and add to mix. Then add about 3/4 C regular (NOT LITE) Mayo. Mix 1/4 C Sour Cream. Alter to your taste adding more sour cream if desired. You can also use dried cranberries, chopped apples and a dash of cinnamon if you’d prefer.

 
Peace, Love and Chicken!

Posted in Chicken, Salad, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Ziplock + Eggs = Omelet

by igameals Posted on March 23, 2012

You know what I’ve realized? You can’t make a baby sleep. Or eat. Or smile. Or laugh. Or quit crying. None of that on demand.

You see, I’m a control freak. And when I think something should happen, it should have happened yesterday. Blame my crazy news slam-it-together-in-an-hour background. Blame me for being high strung. Whatev. I can deal with me.

Lately I’ve been frustrated because I simply can’t make my chubby five-month old sleep on demand. Or do anything I want … on demand. So, I sulk because I think it makes me a bad mom. (Sigh) It makes me feel like I’m not in charge. Who is the boss of me?

Uh, right now? I guess my baby.

So, let’s head to my kitchen, where at least I know who is boss.
Me.

I know I can make one thing happen in my life: good food come out of my kitchen.
Oh, and simple tricks to make your meals fab.

Here’s an idea:
Grab eggs. Check.
Grab Ziplock bags (not freezer bags) Check.
Grab fun ingredients like spinach, ham, onions, cheese, salsa. Check.
Grab a pot and boil water. Check.

Grab your kids too. They’ll think this is fun.

Now, all you have to do is form an assembly line of ingredients, everyone grabs a bag, pours in two whisked eggs, salt and pepper and whatever ingredients they want, boil for about 5 minutes and voila! Omelet’s for everyone!
Squish ingredients around. Get all the air out and drop in pot of boiling water.
Always top with avocado. Always. ;)

 

Peace, love and chubby babies!

Posted in Entertaining, Healthy, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment