Thursday, April 28, 2011

Shrimp Fajita's with a Tangy Cilantro Lime Sauce






I am kicking it to you old school today with some old facts about my life, why not I share all of my little Indigo’s stories..might as well embarrass myself too!


I am from Florida, my daily outfits consisted of booty shorts and tank tops. I have been 6ft tall since the day I was born (sorry mom). I got sent home all the time for my skimpy shorts! Ha Yes, in Florida they have a short shorts rule, must reach to your finger tips.









I also danced to booty music “whoomp there it is, WHOOMP there it is!”


*shakes booty*


I was on the school dance team, this involved lots of sparkles and one time I had to dance on a toilet that was 6ft high.... to the song “Push it”.


I lived on Ramen and Grilled Cheese sandwiches, and I LOVED it.


I was obsessed with being popular, I was obsessed with having bigger tata’s, I was obsessed with anything but school.









INGREDIENTS Marinade
Delightfully borrowed from Gina, albeit cooked a lil differently
{Full Printable Recipe}


1 lb Shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 ½ cups cilantro
3 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
Salt & Pepper









DIRECTIONS

In your food processor blend together your Olive Oil, Cilantro, garlic, and lime juice. Pulse until well blended.









Place your shelled and deveined shrimp into a bowl and coat with salt & Pepper and your marinade. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.









Once marinated, we are ready to pan fry. Heat up a pan over a medium high heat, place the shrimp in a single layer in the pan. Each side will take about 3 minutes. You should get a nice little product if I do say so myself...and I do.


Set your shrimp aside whilst we prepare the rest..yes you can sample 1 or two.









INGREDIENTS Tangy Cilantro Lime Sauce


1 ½ cups plain greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic
¾ cup cilantro
Lime juice
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)









DIRECTIONS

 

Place all ingredients into your food processor and blend, add cayenne pepper to your spice love level.


And what is the last step? Glad you asked…here is what you will need


1 Onion, sliced
1 cup Roasted Red Peppers, diced
Whole Wheat Tortillas







Pan fry the onions and peppers, then layer into your tortilla with all the rest.


Obviously you can assemble with any ingredients you have on hand! Feel free to stuff these babies any way you like because you totally have my permission.


Tortilla + pan fried onions & peppers + Shrimp + sauce = World Peace




Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Egg Hunt Yo'






The night before Easter mom does her work
Stuffing 55 plastic eggs is a heck of a lot of work
The 99 cent store provided the fun
After all this candy was consumed the kids would weigh a metric ton









The very next morning the kids were all gathered
Dressed in cute dresses, gel in their hair was slathered
I yelled out “GOOOOOO” and sent them out for the eggs
The kids were running rampant like they had been drinking from a keg









Each egg found in the grass was promptly plucked
And out of it the chocolate candy was shucked
It was all over their faces as each child smiled
The sugar was spreading and driving them wild









And that when the parents realized their fault
For the next few hours there would be a sugar assault
The couch was a victim to thick chocolate layer
For the carpet to survive would take some great prayer









So we decided to do what all parents would do
Cracked open the red, and hit up the booze (moderately of course!)
Grilled up the burgers & busted out the cake
In 4 hours time the loss of sugar will put on the kids hydraulic brakes









And that is what happened just a little time later
The lack of sugar hit them, just like a freighter
Piled them into bed, and read them a story
Dinner tonight was chocolate but tomorrow is chicken cacciatore.








- All rhymes courtesy of Jennifurla-dog yo to the shizzle wizzle

Sunday, April 24, 2011

White Chocolate & Strawberry Muffins






Hi ya’ll


Guess what, I saw Alvin and the Chipmunks for like the 87th time this weekend! Word. There are things in life, especially when you have a toddler that you are surely going to repeat a few times. Indy has a nice list of repeats.









Below are a few things.

1. See above (Alvin and the Chipmunks)


2. Chocolate Milk, this is a serious obsession that I am having trouble not using as a coercing item. Basically if I need the mini-me to move, I offer up the dark chocolate juice that calls her name. Please tell me I am not the only mom to do such things?? Anyone… *taps mic* Is this thing on?









Also while typing this out I just fed my girl a Cadbury Egg, her favorite and #1 reason she is potty trained. It’s starting to look like I have a serious problem with begging my daughter to do things with chocolate…she has it SOOOOO good.


Below is a chocolate recipe fit for begging a toddler or adult to do your bidding. So ladies..and gents – Make out that Honey do list and get your baking on.









PS. 2nd week of P90X completed

PPS. Thanks for all of your prayer requests, it was an honor to incorporate you & your family and friends into our Easter. I kept all your names on the chair next to me.









INGREDIENTS (makes 12)
{Printable Recipe}
Recipe delightfully borrowed off the back of a Ghirardelli Bar



¼ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbs baking powder
1 cup flour
8 oz White Chocolate, chopped
¾ cup, diced strawberries









DIRECTIONS

Pre-Heat your oven to 375.


Butter and Flour your muffin pan, add parchment to the very bottom of each muffin spot. This makes for very easy removal.









In a medium sized bowl, cream together the sugar & butter. Next, add in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.


In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and chopped white chocolate. Gradually add this into your wet items until just combined.









Now add in those gorgeous Strawberries. Stir only enough to evenly distribute them. This batter is quite lumpy, and that’s a good thing.









Fill your muffin cups ¾ of the way full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes for large muffins.


Now I'm off to run our Easter egg hunt.




Thursday, April 21, 2011

Happy Easter & Prayer





Can my family Pray for yours?







If you, your family, co-workers, or friends







Would appreciate a prayer said for them this Sunday







Just leave their names here, me & my family will be happy to say a prayer over each name left in the comments section below...No explanation needed we are just feeling blessed and would love to wish blessings over you too.



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Red Velvet Brownie Bunny with a White Chocolate Frosting






I have one more confession to make about this weekend then I totally promise to move on.



I confess that I ate a whole pan of brownies, a whole mould of brownies shaped like the Easter bunny. Actually I ate a pan and a half because I had to almost double the recipe to fill my mould.



OK, one or two more confession then I’ll stop.









I confess that I would do it ALL OVER AGAIN BECAUSE IT WAS THAT FLIPPING GOOD.



I confess that my husband helped me eat the rabbit, actually he should confess that but I’ll do it for him because this is MY blog, ha.



Indigo confesses that she had only one because well, I made them and their MINE ALL MINE!











I confess that I watched Hoarding : Buried Alive , Teen Mom Part Deux, and House Hunters - while eating this brownie rabbit.



I confess that I liked watching Hoarding : Buried Alive , Teen Mom Part Deux, and House Hunters, but not as much as eating those brownies.











I confess that I should probably be running 5 miles versus watching TV, since I don’t want to run I’ll just eat another brownie.



I confess that my confessing is out of hand but I am really trying to amuse my lovely readers! High five, oh wait I can’t because I have a brownie in my hand.








INGREDIENTS
Delightfully borrowed from How Sweet It Is
{Printable Recipe}

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food coloring
2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional)









DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour your baking dish, I used my bunny mould.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla.









With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.


Isn’t it gorgeous!









Spread in your pan or baking mould. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.  My brownies developed a thin crust, but I inverted mine and frosted the bottoms because I was using a mould.



Tips for RED dye – GLOVES! Seriously that stuff is potent! I used some small gloves I had so I could hand smooth the batter perfectly into my mould









Tips for filling the Mould – Remember the rise of your batter, mine rose a bit above the mould. It was easily trimmed with a sharp knife after cooling. Before you remove anything from your mold, it must cool ALL the way. If you remove it to soon, warm brownies fall apart.








White Chocolate Frosting

1 stick of butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces white chocolate, melted (I used Giradelli)
1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)









Directions


Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated. To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed. 









I realize the picture above is a little sick, I mean I totally dug right into the Easter Bunny! Indigo didn’t seem to mind nor notice the gore of it all.


Open up folks.
Thanks Sarah-Jane for letting me try out one of your great molds!




Sunday, April 17, 2011

Chicken with Spinach & Roasted Red Peppers






You know what? I have to be totally honest with you, this weekend knocked the crap out of me. Not because I was sick, that has passed. This weekend kicked the crap out of me because my fuse must be like .0295 milli-micro-supersmall-nano-seconds long.



Yeah. There were all sorts of challenges. Challenges that made me put on full display mom and wife melt downs, I am so not proud.









So there are those days when your toddler will not take a nap. You know, the ones where stuffed animals get tossed over the railing…by you. Yeah, I’m not proud – Sorry Mickey…and Minnie..and Bear..etc..



There are also those days when your partner sort of rolls their eyes at you, or thinks you lost something of theirs, or thinks you gave the computer a virus…NO IT WAS NOT ME I SWEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes I am pretty sure I yelled worse than that, and rolled my eyes right on back...thrice







Calgon, take me away.

PS..The P90x is kicking my butt.

PPS..I am so glad that Indigo's #2 accident came after everybody else left the park.

PPPS..I am sorry Indigo for letting the world know about the #2 accident.









INGREDIENTS
Delightfully borrowed from Gina
{Printable Recipe}

4-6 Chicken Breasts, thin cut
1 bag spinach, pre-washed from the salad aisle
1 jar, Roasted Red Peppers
2 cloves garlic
Mozzarella Cheese
Cayenne Pepper for a little heat
Salt & Pepper
2 tbs flour
Olive Oil, for sauteing the Chicken and Spinach









Directions

Pre-Heat oven to 350

First you will want to season your chicken with salt ,pepper,and Cayenne. Next lightly drizzle a little bit of flour onto the chicken. In a large pan over a medium high heat, sauté your chicken until cooked through.









Heat a sauté pan or pot over medium heat. Add oil (1-2 tsp) and garlic, sauté a few seconds, add spinach, salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes until heated through.










When chicken is done, lay on a baking sheet lined with foil. Divide spinach evenly between your chicken breasts. Top each with mozzarella, then slices of roasted pepper and bake until melted, about 6-8 minutes.









There, were all done cooking - phew. I am super beat! This weekend took one look at me and gave me a big ole whooping. Weekend, I give up. Take me to Monday.

PPPPS, I can’t believe I just said that.