March 31, 2010

Sour Cream Coffee Cake w/ Chocolate Swirl

You should NOT make this recipe IF you:

-are on a diet

-don’t love a moist cake

-aren’t a HUGE fan of crumble topping

-don’t enjoy toasted pecans

-can’t stand cinnamon

-can’t be trusted with an entire pan of coffee cake

I wish I had a warning like this this before I made this cake. I ate more of it that I had planned to! And to think that I thought portioning some for the neighbors would have been a enough! Little did I know that I couldn’t be trusted with ANY of this cake. One piece was a gateway drug. Suddenly I found myself standing in the kitchen with a spoon scooping out cake like it was going out of style. I totally caught Casey doing the same thing. I really couldn’t get enough and my stomach never signaled my brain to say it was full! Damn stomach! How dare you! Coffee cake is seriously the best excuse to have cake for breakfast. Agreed?

recipes, Uncategorized

March 29, 2010

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Sandwiches

On Sunday we spent most of the day working our garden planting herbs and flowers because the weather was absolutely gorgeous! I had an idea to make an asparagus pasta dish for dinner but gave up that dream when my exhaustion took over. I was already roasting the asparagus for the pasta when I lost my steam. My focus quickly turned towards making a little quick and simple sandwich instead. And this here beauty is what I came up with!

This is really all you need.

recipes

March 27, 2010

Southwestern Pizzas

Awhile back I blogged about my frustrations feeding our son, Cooper. Things have gotten much better since then; although we still find ourselves in a little food rut now and again. I tried this recipe last night because it includes all of the things Coop loves- red peppers, black beans, cheese and tortillas! He also has a penchant for Mexican food so I was hoping this would satisfy him. It totally did!! Cooper devoured an entire half in like 2 seconds. Score one for Team Momma!

So here’s a little recipe that’s now in my arsenal of family friendly foods. It makes me soo happy when we are all eating the same thing at dinner time. It tastes super good with loads of hot sauce, cilantro and sour cream on top! Serve pizzas with a cold beer and it’s all grown up! That’s how we roll.

recipes, Uncategorized

March 26, 2010

No Knead Walnut Raisin Bread

I made this recipe twice before I decided to share it with you. I thought my first attempt was a fluke because there is no way could I have made bread this good. Second time around, it was proved true. I did it! I made another angelic loaf with a crispy crunchy crust jeweled with oooey gooey raisins and toasty chunks of walnuts to boot. It’s so good that it makes me want to cry. It also makes me want to continue eating it and I might have to unbutton my jeans while I type this. Yes there are crumbs on my keyboard. Shut up!

Ever heard of no knead bread? I am pretty sure you have! It’s been a sensation for the past few years on the internet and all across the country. I made my first no-knead loaf before I started blogging and was kind of obsessed. But then out of nowhere my fixation fizzled and I didn’t make a loaf for two years. I think it might have been that low-carb diet I was on. Ridiculous! Recently I saw Jim Lahey (the master behind the No-Knead method) on the Martha Stewart Show demonstrating a carrot walnut loaf from his new cookbook and my love for no knead bread was rekindled. The plain loaf is great but it always seemed like it needed something. I loved topping the bread with salted butter & jam or using it for sandwiches, but I was never satisfied with eating it on its own. So when my brother bought me his new book, I was stoked to see a bunch of recipes that helped boost the flavor of the bread.

recipes, Uncategorized

March 23, 2010

Sticky Lemon Rolls

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You might have caught on that I’ve been on a little health kick lately. I admit that I was purely saving calories to indulge myself with this recipe. How could I possibly tell you how GREAT these are if I didn’t try at least 4 of them??! I am happy to report that the corner sticky rolls taste just as awesome as the ones in the middle! But you might as well find that out on your own!

Now that my confession is out of the way, I need to discuss with you how freaking incredible these are. I have a insane appreciation for sticky rolls and love lemon like you wouldn’t believe, so combining these two faves literally made me see stars. I sent a plate of rolls to my neighbor and immediately received a phone call from her thanking me for her orgasm. I kid you not. And I laugh when I think about it, but it’s seriously true. LEMON CREAM CHEESE ICING. What is better than that???

recipes, Uncategorized

March 21, 2010

Spicy Sunflower Salad with Carrot Dressing

Yesterday we busted our butts doing some spring cleaning in our MESSY garage. A few hours in, I took a break and fixed us this delicious salad for lunch. It was a warm sunny day in our backyard and we sat on our patio steps and crushed these salads. No words were spoken. Just the sounds of our chomping & crunching mixed with several ooohs and ahhhs filled the backyard. You know a meal is good when you don’t hear people talking.

Because our appetites were HUGE, I grilled some bread with olive oil, smothered it with avocado and topped it with some salad. This is totally the way to go!! The toasted sunflower seeds, crunchy sprouts, carrots and bell peppers were a match made in heaven. The dressing is made from a carrot juice reduction and has a very marginal amount of sesame oil in it. It’s extremely healthy, totally vegan, slightly spicy and 100% satisfying on a warm Spring (or Summer) day. I can’t believe I never thought to make a dressing out of stuff I juiced! My juicer is in for a real treat.

Happy Spring everyone!!

recipes, Uncategorized

March 19, 2010

Tilapia and Quinoa with Feta & Cucumber

Thank you for all of your comments on our anniversary! You are too sweet!!!

This is what we ate for our special anniversary dinner. It’s a simple recipe to execute after a long day at work! You don’t have to make special trips to the grocery store to find exotic ingredients either! It’s a healthy, fresh and light meal perfect for the 70 degree weather we’ve been experiencing here in the Bay Area. It’s a shame that our patio furniture is in hiding right now or we would have totally eaten this outside. We have it rough living in California, huh?