Birthday Weekend part 1

The birthday weekend started on Thursday..but I'm going to start with Saturday instead. Bear with me.

Saturday after spending the later part of the morning and afternoon doing some damage on my credit card with Al, I was shipped up to my room until further notice and couldn't come out. It seems worse than it was, really. Since I was on my deathbed it was nice to have an excuse to snuggle in bed and get waited on :) When I got to come out of captivity, the girls had the apartment all decorated and we got to open presents and then dinner was served. Orecchiette happen to be my favoritest type of pasta ever and Mariah being the best roommate ever exchanged the penne for that. 

 

This was so tasty. Yum. Even after having pasta the two days before and this being the third day in a row, I'm still not sick of pasta. Then again, how could anyone ever get sick of pasta? 

Orecchiette with Turkey Sausage, Peppers and Escarole 

adapted from Gina's Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

12 oz Orecchiette

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb turkey sausage, removed from casing

1 medium head escarole, rinsed and torn into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse escarole and tear into bite sized pieces.

2. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water. Reserve 1 cup water before draining.

3. While pasta water boils, heat a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil; when hot add onions, peppers, garlic, salt and pepper.  

4. Cook until soft, about 4-5 minutes.  

5. Add sausage, breaking up with a wooden spoon and cook until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes.

6. Add escarole, cover and cook 2 minutes; remove the cover, stir and cook about 3 more minutes or until wilted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

7. Add cooked pasta, red pepper flakes, reserved water and Parmigiano Reggiano, toss well and transfer to a large serving bowl. Serve immediately.

just WAIT until tomorrow's post. the cake they made me literally is to.die.for.

Life Changing

This summer I found a product that has forever change my life. I regained the 19 years of childhood I lost without peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter cookies and Reese's peanut butter cups.

Enter in Sun butter.

I happen to be a big fan of sunflower seeds, and when I came across this bad boy I just had to try, I wanted to fit in like all the other kids and eat a darn peanut butter and jelly sandwich (10 years too late)

My mother and I pulled a pretty like trick on my roommates and dad and sent them this picture and said, my mother is making me suck it up and eat peanut butter, here goes!

 Silly them. They all got so excited and believed me because I get the "you're faking it, you're fine" on the daily. Jokes on you!!!

Anywho, now that sunbutter has entered my life, I'm not letting it leave. I think I rush to get ready in the morning so I can sit and enjoy my sunbutter and jelly sandwiches, it just never gets old. And how can you not start you day with a smile when you're bread looks like this?

Since I still will never be able to enjoy a Reese's or anything of that sort, we decided to make sunbutter cookies for me and peanut butter cookies for Maria. We used every bowl in our house as we had to separate everything but let me tell you these are the best cookies I have ever consumed OH MY!

Puffy Sunbutter (or peanut butter) Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from How Sweet It Is
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
8 tablespoons of salted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons of creamy sun butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add butter and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second increments until melted. Let cool completely.
2. Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix the cooled butter/sun butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed.
4. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. If necessary, add 1-2 teaspoons of milk, but I did not need this. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Shape the dough into a ball the size of a golfball. Place on a lightly sprayed baking sheet two inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be soft and puffy. Do not over bake. Try and let cool, but it will be hard.

Mud Hen Bars

Such a weird name. Where it came from is beyond me, but these are definitely tasty treats! Mariah and I whipped these up Saturday for lunch on Sunday with my parents.

They are so light and airy from the brown sugar meringue with a touch of chocolate and marshmallow on the inside, yum!

Mud Hen Bars

source: Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs, divided (1 egg, 2 yolks, and 2 egg whites)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I would use 1 cup next time)

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks (put aside the whites for later.) Beat in the vanilla extract.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Blend until just combined. Spread mixture into 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chips.

4. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the brown sugar. Spread mixture evenly over marshmallows and chocolate chips. Bake for about 30 minutes or until bars are a deep golden brown. Let bars cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

The Best Guacamole

My parents are rockstars. My registration for my not so new car finally came in the mail so they hopped in the car and took a trip down to visit us for the afternoon. Before they hopped in the car my mother made a pit stop at the market to load us up on fresh veggies, made us sauce, pesto and roasted red pepper pesto, brought fixings for paninis for lunch for us and Tay, Teresa and Emily and got stuff to hang all our things on the walls since we were sick of staring at white walls.

No more white walls!

 The project  Tess and I did back in June...

Among other things so it now looks more like a home than a prison!

I asked my mother if she would make us lunch because who doesn't love a home cooked meal by their momma? She said of course, and even brought everything to make the food. We decided to make queso and guacamole (aka guac) for the sides because who doesn't love those things?

Guac is a personal fav of Tess, Al and myself and we found such a good recipe I shared it last year and got Mariah and Emily hooked so it seemed appropriate.

The Best Guacamole

source: People Magazine

Ingredients:

3 avocados, peeled 

Salt

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tomato, seeded and chopped

3 Teaspoons minced Red Onion*

1 Jalapeno pepper- seeded and minced*

3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Using a fork, mash avocado, 1/2 teaspoon salt and half the lime juice.

2. Mix in tomato, onion jalapeno and cilantro.

3. Taste and add salt and more lime juice as needed.

Serve with Tortilla Chips.

*use to taste

Thanks momma and daddy for all your help and the delicious food :) I love you!!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Super quick. Super easy. Super Delicious!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat pizza dough

1/2 cup homemade pesto (courtesy of my mother)

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1.5- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Arrange your dough onto a pizza stone (or baking sheet).

2. Cover the dough with the pesto, graciously

3. Add the shredded chicken and top with cheese.

4. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly (or according to package directions)

Low Fat Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

And the baking procrastination begins. Already. Well, kind of. I mean it's Thursday, I can't read for my quiz on Tuesday tonight, I will forget anything that I actually retain from reading an accounting book. 

Living with only two people makes it silly to make a whole batch of cookies. Unless we want to weigh 300 pounds each by the end of the semester. Which, I don't think is looking like a future goal. So I decided to cut the recipe in half, it made 15 cookies. Perfect to leave some out and to throw some in the freezer to save for later.

Low Fat Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

adapted from Gina's Skinny Taste

makes 15

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked

1 egg white

1/8 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°; spray one baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 

3. In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars on medium speed.
4. Add the egg, followed by the applesauce and vanilla extract.
5. stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain; stir in the raisins.
6. Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto prepared baking sheets, flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until cookies become light brown at the edges.
7. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Shrimp Scampi

This past weekend we celebrated Mariah's birthday which was really Tuesday but obviously this was going to be a whole weekend event.

Saturday Emily and I sent her off to do whatever she needed to do and wasn't allowed to come home until we were done decorating, wrapping presents, making a cake, etc. 

We had a nice little dinner party for her with our three neighbors, who just happen to be some of the best people you'll ever meet. On the menu: Shrimp scampi, garlic bread and a salad and for dessert carrot cake! 

This shrimp scampi recipe is a cinch!  The longest part is waiting for water to boil and the pasta to cook.

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs shrimp, shelled, deveined and cooked
8 large garlic cloves
1 cup butter
2 T lemon juice
2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley

1 pound pasta 

Directions:
1.Cook pasta according the package

2.Place shrimp in a single layer pan.  

3. In a one quart saucepan crush garlic cloves with press. Add butter and next four ingredients.  

4. Over low heat, heat until butter melts.  

5. Pour butter mixture over shrimp, turning shrimp to coat evenly.  

6. Broil about 5 minutes until shrimp are heated through.  

7. To serve spoon hot shrimp and butter over pasta.  

8. Sprinkle with parsley and garnish with lemon.   

Of course, I forgot a picture of the meal, but here's the pretty princess of a birthday girl!