Breakfast Bake

This recipe is from Course Offerings by the Auburn University Campus Club; one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas. I love community cookbooks.  I love all the real, down-home recipes that come from real people.

This is the first recipe that I've tried from the book.  Actually, Chicken Legs made this for us.  It is super simple.  It only has a few ingredients and takes minutes to prepare.  This would be great for Easter brunch next weekend, a baby shower or even tailgating.  We both loved it.  We are looking forward to eating our way through the cookbook!

Cadillac Burgers

Grilling season is in full swing at our house.  We actually grill year round, but we do a lot more grilling during the spring and summer.  These burgers are our new favorite.  This particular burger was inspired by one of our favorite restaurants, P. J. Clarke's.  P. J. Clarke's is one of our must eat at places in NYC.  The atmosphere is great and so is the food.  The last time we were there Chicken Legs tried their Cadillac Burger - a hamburger with a fried egg on top.  He loved it!  Ever since then he has been eating his burgers with a fried egg on top.  This burger recipe is different from our usual recipe.  It uses ground beef and sausage.  The pork really helps the burgers grill up nicely and they taste delicious.  The egg on top is optional, but Chicken Legs highly suggests it.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Recently, I've been noticing that I don't like the flavor of the taco seasoning packets in the store.  The flavor is just off.  I decided to go in search of a good homemade taco seasoning and found this one on allrecipes.com  It is wonderful.  This makes the same amount as a packet of taco seasoning from the store.  It does have a kick from the red pepper flakes, but you can leave that out if you don't want any heat.  I've made several of our favorite Mexican dishes with this seasoning and the flavor is fantastic.  We both prefer it to the store bought stuff. 

Biscoff Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream

If you follow my blog, you know that I had a slight obsession with Biscoff.  I have taken it to a whole new level with these double Biscoff cupcakes - Biscoff cake and Biscoff buttercream.  They are amazing!  They smell heavenly and taste absolutely incredible.  Chicken Legs said was the best cupcake I've ever made.  I brought the cupcakes to work and several people said the same thing.  WOW!  If you are going to try just one Biscoff recipe, make it this one.  You won't regret it!

Meow Monday

Fluffy

Jack

Sherbert

 

The Peanut Depot - Homemade Peanut Butter

In honor of National Peanut Month, we took a field trip to the Peanut Depot in downtown Birmingham.   Peanuts are one of my all-time favorite foods.  I love anything with peanuts, especially peanut butter.  We bought some peanuts from the Peanut Depot and made homemade peanut butter with them.  Oh my gosh, it was so easy and so delicious!  If I had realized it was so easy to make your own peanut butter, I would have been doing this a long time ago.  

Scroll down to learn more about the Peanut Depot and learn how to make your own peanut butter!

The Peanut Depot has been in business since 1907. 

They use three antique roasters to roast over 250,000 pounds of peanuts a year.  

The roasters are originally from Vineland, NJ and Peoria, IL - they were antique when the Peanut Depot acquired them in 1907.

They hand-pack the peanuts daily.  When we were there several business people came in to grab a bag to snack on at work.  They also provide the peanuts for Legion Field, UAB, Birmingham Southern and the Birmingham Barons.  

The tins are popular gifts .  They are a great reminder of The Magic City!

Where's The Crust Pizza

This pizza is low-carb and gluten free.  For me, that usually translates into no taste, but this was really good!   The "crust" is made with cream cheese, eggs and parmesan cheese.  It doesn't sound like it would work, but it does.  You can make the crust ahead of time if you are pressed for time.  It can be stored in the refrigerator or in the freezer.  We were really surprised at how good this pizza was.  We both really enjoyed it, and actually didn't miss the traditional crust.  It is definitely going in the rotation for pizza night.

Italian Herb Skillet Bread - Rhodes Guest Post

It's my turn to to Guest Post over at Rhodes Bake-N-Serve Blog.   I chose to make one of my favorite bread recipes - Italian Herb Skillet Bread.

This bread is SOOO good.   It is the perfect compliment to your favorite pasta.  They are super easy and super delicious!

Head over to the Rhodes Blog and check it out!

 

Chicken Parmesan Wrap

Wraps are one of my favorite weeknight meals.  They are easy to make and taste delicious.  For this wrap we grilled up some chicken tenders that had been marinated in Italain dressing.  You can use precooked Italian chicken strips if you don't want to grill the chicken.  Either way will be delicious.  Next time I am going to add some pepperoni to the wrap and make it like the new Chicken Pizziola sandwich at Subway.  I had the Chicken Pizziola last weekend for lunch and loved it!

Best Steak Marinade in Existence

When I saw this recipe on allrecipes.com I couldn't resist trying it.  I mean, with a name like "Best Steak Marinade in Existence" how could I not test it out?  I have to admit, this actually might be the best steak marinade I've ever had.  It is packed full of flavor and doesn't use any crazy ingredients.  I already had everything in the pantry to make it.  We used this marinade on skirt steak and it was delicious.  I plan on trying it on pork tenderloin and chicken (of course) very soon.

Meow Monday

Jack

Sherbert

Fluffy

 

Irish Soda Bread

My final St. Patrick's Day week recipe is Irish Soda Bread.  I know it isn't green, but it is still keeping with the Irish theme, so I'm going with it.  This bread was super easy.  Chicken Legs actually made it!  It only has 4 ingredients and it tastes great.  It is especially good with some honey butter slathered on it.  I plan on making some cinnamon toast with it for breakfast tomorrow.

Shamrock Cupcakes

Aren't these cupcakes adorable?!  I saw Martha Stewart do a cutout heart cupcake for Valentine's Day, and I decided to make a St. Patrick's Day version.  The cupcakes were extremely festive and a lot of fun to eat!   These couldn't be easier.  Just bake the cupcakes, slice off the tops, frost the stumps, cut out a shamrock shape in the tops and reassemble.  I used the shamrock cutter that came in my Pampered Chef Creative Cutters set and it was the perfect size (about 1-inch).   I used a boxed cake mix and a can of pre made frosting, but feel free to use your favorite homemade cake and frosting recipe. These would be great for a St. Patrick's Day party.

Shamrock Cinnamon Rolls

We are continuing the green theme this week with these cute shamrock cinnamon rolls.  This only requires one ingredient - a can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls.   I unrolled the cinnamon rolls and quickly shaped them into these darling shamrocks.  These were so easy and so much fun to eat!  

I took some play-by-play photos to help illustrate how I made the shamrock shapes - scroll down for more.

Play-by-Play

Unroll the cinnamon rolls and roll dough into a long rope - about 12-15-inches long.  Form rope into a conversation bubble shape.

Make three bumps in the conversation bubble.

Pinch middle of each bump to make little hearts for the shamrock leaves.

Fluffy gives these two paws up!

White Chicken Enchiladas

In honor of St. Patrick's Day this weekend, I am doing all things green this week.  These enchiladas aren't Irish, but they do have green chiles in the sauce.  I found this recipe on Pinterest, my favorite place for inspiration.

The original recipe is from Joyful Momma's Kitchen: it was all the rage on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  I finally got around to making it and it was incredible!  The sour cream sauce on these enchiladas was amazing!  We couldn't get enough of it!  I used full fat sour cream, I wasn't sure how low fat or fat free would work.  Give this a try if you are looking for a good enchilada recipe without cream of chicken soup.

Meow Monday

Sherbert

Fluffy

Jack