Roasted Tomatoes with Shrimp and Feta

Found this recipe on Pinterest. Our entire family loves tomatoes (especially Brent), and I was craving shrimp, so this was the recipe for dinner last night. Easy recipe to make, people!

Ingredients

5 large tomatoes, cut into eighths
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup Feta, crumbled
crusty bread, for serving

Directions
Heat oven to 450° F.
Place the tomatoes in a large baking dish and spoon the olive oil and garlic over them.

Sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon each salt and pepper and toss.
Roast on top rack of oven for 20 minutes.
Remove baking dish from oven and stir in the shrimp, parsley, and lemon juice. Sprinkle with the Feta.

Return the dish to oven until the shrimp are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with the bread.


A light recipe with lots of flavor!

Into the Future

Ashan stays after school one day a week for a program called Drama Kids. This week was 'Into the Future' week which meant you needed to wear something to Drama Kids that you thought was 'futuristic'. I'm sure a lot of children will be dressed as robots, knowing as the parent that aluminum foil goes a long way with this project...HA! But Ashlan and I thought a 'jet pack' would be pretty cool for everyone to have in the future. We could get places much quicker!
So we set out to make our own jet pack!

We bought two large water bottles, two sheets of silver scrapbook paper, streamers, and elastic.

I used a hot glue gun to cover each water bottle with the silver paper we picked out

Remove the tops of the water bottles and glue, just on the inside, some shiny streamers. We used gold, orange and red. Paper streamers might have been easier to work with, but I liked the shine these streamers had!

Glue or staple (or both) your elastic strips to each side. And make sure you glue the bottles together.

And there you have a pretty awesome jet pack!

She is ready for take off!

Beer Chili

One of our favorite things about the Fall season is watching football and eating chili. So this year, I decided to be brave and adventurous and cook a NEW chili recipe each Sunday.

The first football Sunday, I opted to NOT try a new recipe and just begin the season with a yummy chili recipe that I always enjoy. Yes, that's the Beer Chili. It is ALWAYS a winner.

Here is the recipe for Beer Chili

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion diced (vidalia onion if available)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5-2lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
1 cup beer (dark preferred) *I used Guiness beer
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp curry powder
3 Tbsp hot pepper sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg (10oz) frozen corn
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup diced mild green chiles
3 beef bouillon cubes
1-2 Tbsp flour, to thicken
Garnish with cheese, sour cream, etc..

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes
-Add beef or turkey to skillet. Cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Drain fat and discard
-Pour into crockpot. Add remaining ingredients, stirring until mixed.
-Cover and cook LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH 4-6 hours.


And here is the chili recipe I made this past weekend


1 pound ground beef (I almost always use turkey)
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10.75 ounce) cans tomato puree
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans with liquid
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Directions

Place the beef in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease.
Place the beef in a slow cooker, and mix in onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato puree, kidney beans, and cannellini beans. Season with chili powder, parsley, salt, basil, oregano, black pepper, and hot pepper sauce.
Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low.

Brent enjoying this week's chili


I found this week's recipe to be just as good as the Beer Chili. You could definitely taste the tomato puree!

Now I have a week to research for next Sunday's chili choice! Check back then to see what I chose!

Blueberry Lemon Bundt

I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to make it. I love lemon, so if anything calls for it, I'm making it! It's a very moist Bundt cake with lots of flavor and it's not overly sweet. I can't imagine anyone NOT liking this Bundt.

Lemon Blueberry Bundt

What you'll need...

-One box vanilla or white cake mix (or do what I did and use LEMON cake mix)
PLUS
Whatever ingredients the cake mix calls for
-1 cup of plain yogurt (you can also use blueberry yogurt to really up the blueberry flavor!)
-1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
-zest and juice of one lemon
-1 teaspoon of turmeric (optional, for bright yellow color - don't worry, your cake won't taste like turmeric!)

Special equipment: 12 cup bundt pan, small sauce pan, hand blender or food processor


-Preheat oven to temperature according to boxed mix for a bundt pan
-Liberally grease your bundt pan
-Add blueberries and water to a small saucepan to simmer for 5 mins, or until thawed (if using frozen) then allow to cool

Mix all cake mix ingredients according to directions, folding in the cup of yogurt, lemon juice and zest and optional turmeric

Puree your blueberries using a hand blender or food processor/stand blender
Pour puree into your cake batter, but do not stir
Pour batter into your bundt pan and bake according to box instructions (your cake may take a little longer because of the additions)

Remove after baking and allow to cool before inverting and removing
Glaze with a simple syrup, honey or simply dust with powdered sugar!

Homecoming

This past weekend was the Homecoming game/dance for Nick. I only have a couple pictures of him and I SO SO wish I had more.

The boy looked so handsome!





Next year I'll be sure to get more pictures of he and his date before the football game (with their mums/ garters on)... As well as group pictures before the dance! I think his mother has a lot of those pictures though.

Salty/Sweet Cookies

I'm pretty sure these cookies will be a dessert choice in Heaven! They are THAT good!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces
Preztel Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour.
Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and preztels.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball.

Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.


For more pictures/description on this recipe, visit Sugar Cooking!!

Kiss Pies

Kiss Pies

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed
14 Hershey Kisses of choice
1 egg white whisked with 1 Tbsp water
Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out pie dough onto a lightly floured counter top. Place 10 kisses around the edges of pie dough, about 2 1/2 inches apart

Take a knive and cut a 2 1/2-3 inch circle around kiss.

Fold half of pie dough around top of dough and pinch edge around top of kiss. Now, fold up both sides of remaining dough up to the tip of the kiss pinching edge.
Now press together edges and form criss cross. Continue cutting dough around kisses until all dough is used up. I got about 14 rounds cut when I re-rolled my scraps **
2. Brush all little pies with an egg white wash then sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 20-28 minutes or until little pies are golden.

Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Dust each with powdered sugar and serve.
about 14 little pies.


Very tasty! For more information on this recipe, go to the Picky Palate

Crescent Peanut Butter/Choc Rolls

Ashlan and I found an easy, sweet recipe to bake on Pinterest. You only need three ingredients: Crescent Rolls, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chips!


Separate your rolls into the triangles they are in. Spread some peanut butter on each triangle. Place some chocolate chips on top of the peanut butter. Then roll up the triangle, beginning with the bottom


Set the oven to 375 and bake for 10-11 minutes.


These were so easy and SUPER YUM right out of the oven! To see more pictures and descriptions of this recipe, visit For the Love of Baking

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Nothing like the smell of apples baking in the crock pot on a cool, overcast, breezy day!



Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons trans-fat free margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
2 tablespoons orange liquor (optional) (I used Grand Marnier)
Directions

Preheat a large crock-pot on high heat and preset it for 3 hours. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, margarine, and cinnamon. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the apple juice or cider and the liquor, if using. Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

Second Grader

Ashlan started second grade this year! Time is flying! Unfortunately, she woke up SICK on the first day of school, so she had to stay home. This picture below was taken on the second day of school, which was her first.



Even though she was home sick the first day, we still managed to have some fun. We got out the baking supplies, made a mess, and came up with some fun cupcakes!

School Bus Cupcakes and Chalkboard Cupcakes!