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Monday, June 4, 2012

Help! {Monday Me}


I can’t make a decision to save my life. I have $275.00 to spend and I can’t decide if I want to buy one big ticket item or several small ones. So I need your help. Listed below are the two options I am looking at right now. Originally I wanted the Camera Bag. Then I got some more money and decided to go for the lens. Now that it’s time to buy, I can’t make up my mind!!

*Prices already include shipping and tax.

Option 1: Total $226.62

Rose Sugar Plum Camera Bag $104.95

SanDisk Cruzer 16 GB USB Flash Drive $11.38 each Want four for $45.52

Norpro Silicone Pastry Mat with Measures $11.79

New Battery Grip for camera $31.54

Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card $13.88 each Want two for $27.76





Option 2: Total $279.00

Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens $279.00








Friday, June 1, 2012

Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup {Foodie Friday}


Last week I posted about the rolls I made for this soup. It is really amazing to dip the rolls into the soup. I dare you to dip it and not like it. Go ahead.


Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup
*Note: this recipe calls for already cooked chicken. I usually cook the chicken breasts in the crockpot with a little chicken broth the morning I make this soup, but you could also go ahead and cook the chicken in the first step with the onions and other vegetables that cook together.
*Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (about 2 regular carrots or a handful of baby carrots)
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced (I like to leave the peels on red potatoes, if using them)
1 cup milk (1% is my milk of choice)
4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent. Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to ensure the soup doesn’t burn. Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty. I usually place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave it for one minute at 30% power. I like it really, really soft so it doesn’t leave lumps in the soup. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well. Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
Source: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/10/cream-cheese-chicken-and-vegetable-soup.html

Monday, May 28, 2012

Weekend Recap {Monday Me}

This weekend was marked most notably by my cousin Jake's wedding. I tried not to get too trigger happy, but here is a picture of the lovely couple that I stole from facebook:
Congrats Jake and Paige!

Can you believe D and I have have been married for almost 6 years? That seems crazy to me. It still seems weird to see Mrs. in front of my name.
Let's not even talk about the fact that Jake (my cousin) is the same age as my sister.

While we were there, we had breakfast with the whole fam. We only get to see them once or twice a year. I decided to take some pictures of their mugs and post them here for all to see =)

This is Caroline's cousin Addison. I think she is really cute!
And here is Addie with Maggie. Too bad Caroline's name doesn't end in -ie. Then we could all be really confused =)
Sunday it was really hot so we went swimming. Caroline and D had lots of fun playing in the water. Caroline even learned how to splash! Well...maybe she already knew how..

Gosh, my kid is so cute--even if she doesn't look like me.

Today we stayed home and napped. Sorry no pictures for that...lol.
We had a great Memorial Day weekend. How did you celebrate?

Friday, May 25, 2012

Sweet Dinner Rolls {Foodie Friday}

OOooh... aren't they pretty? When time allows I try to make homemade bread as side for our dinners. I made these on a night I made an awesome chicken soup recipe that I will be sharing with you shortly. Yes...I know it's not soup season, but trust me you will want to make these rolls and the soup anyway. You'll thank me later.

 

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened
Directions:
1) Place water and milk in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until liquids reach (110 degrees F/45 degrees C). Pour liquids into mixer bowl; add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add in yeast and let set for 10-20 minutes to proof (the mixture will be foamy).
2) Mix on low speed adding the salt, butter and egg. Once well mixed add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. With the machine, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
3) Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into desired shapes (I cut the ball of dough into quarters, and then quartered each of those, and then rolled each piece into a ball). Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Gently brush the tops of the rolls with half of the softened butter.
4) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removing the rolls from the oven brush them with remaining softened butter once again.
Source: Brown Eyed Baker originally from  Amber’s Delectable Delights

Monday, May 21, 2012

trying...{Monday Me}

I’m trying to keep up...I really am. I know that all I have really posted lately is for Foodie Friday-- A girl still has to eat! The only time I usually have to post is at 10 PM and I am just not in the mood. I have lots of ideas…they usually just get stuck in my head.  I am sure you know the feeling.


The good news is that classes are almost done! I have 7- 4 hour class sessions left until I officially get my degree! I am hoping to spend much more time watching Oscar winning movies, baking cupcakes, planning parties and taking pictures!
I still have editing to do from the wedding I took pictures at earlier this month. Whoops!


What do you like to do in your free time!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Bacon and Broccoli Quiche {Foodie Friday}

 My mom cooked for us all the time when the four of us kids were growing up. I hardly remember eating out at all. She never made us quiche. I have forgiven her for that. Her cooking taught us that things don't always have to be pretty to taste good. The running joke at our house for a while was that the uglier the food was, the better is tasted. Things fell apart or didn't set and we still ate it like crazy because it tasted so good. We learned that things don't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

 That brings us to this quiche. I used frozen broccoli and boiled it slightly before adding it to the mix. The problem was that despite my best attempts, the broccoli did not drain well. This made for a very wet quiche. Did I mention it overflowed in the oven? Nice. But it tasted amazing! If you are going to make this plan ahead! Make the crust and bacon ahead of time. I made this on a night when I had several hours to cook dinner, but it was very labor intensive for my tastes. I work and am in school full time. (I'll be done June 7th. Yippee!!) That doesn't leave a lot of time for multiple steps of cooking, bacon, onion, and making a pie crust. But this was sooo worth it.
**Also I left out the mushrooms..


Bacon, Mushroom and Broccoli Quiche
Ingredients:

1 recipe basic pie dough

For the filling:
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 medium onion, minced and sautéed
1 cup mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 head broccoli, cut into florets and blanched
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups gruyere, shredded
1 tbsp. flour

Directions:
To make the crust, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss with a fork to coat. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it is about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Lift and turn frequently during the rolling process to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface. Transfer the dough a 9-inch pie plate. Trim most of the excess from the edges and use your fingers to create a fluted edge.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line the pie crust with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove the pie weights and foil and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 325 degrees F.
To make the quiche filling, in a large bowl whisk together the eggs and milk. Mix in the bacon, onion, mushrooms, broccoli and salt. In a separate bowl, toss the cheese and flour together. Add the cheese to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie crust and bake 35-40 minutes or until the filling is almost completely set but slightly jiggly in the center. Let the quiche rest for at least 15-20 minutes before serving.
Source: Annie's Eats

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Graduation Photo Card {Monday Me}

Have I mentioned I'm graduating? Oh yea, I have. Yay!
Hip Hat Graduation
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View the entire collection of cards.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Banana Pancakes {Foodie Friday}

If I haven't already said this (and I am sure that I have) I don't like bananas unless they are baked in something. My mom says that I used to eat bananas all the time when I was a little girl and she must have burned my out on them because I can't stand to eat them plain. This is a problem for me because bananas are super cheap and really good for you. The best way for me to get all that yummy potassium is to put them into food. I love pancakes (and who doesn't) so when I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats I made them ASAP. I am an big fan of them, but let me tell you...Caroline loved them even more. She still eats bananas plain so we haven't completely ruined her yet!! She also really loves the banana crumb muffins. Have you made those yet? You should!

Banana Pancakes
Yield: about 8 pancakes
Ingredients:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing the pan
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 small ripe banana, mashed
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Additional banana slices, for serving
Maple syrup, whipped cream, etc. for serving
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200˚ F.  Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl; set aside to cool slightly.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; whisk together to combine.  In a another bowl, combine the mashed banana, milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk to blend.  Add the melted butter and the banana mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix gently with a rubber spatula until just blended (the batter will be slightly lumpy).
Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Grease lightly with butter.  Drop the batter in 1/3 cup portions onto the heated cooking surface.  Cook until a few bubbles form in the top surface and the bottom is golden brown, about 2 minutes.  Carefully flip the pancake over and cook on the remaining side until golden brown, 1-2 minutes more.  Transfer finished pancakes to a plate in the warm oven while you use the remaining batter, re-greasing the pan as needed.  Serve warm with maple syrup and sliced bananas as desired.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Ashley Loves Brandon

On May 3rd I had the distinct pleasure of taking pictures of a co-workers wedding. This was the first wedding I have been able to take pictures at and pretend I am a real photographer. =) I was shooting in conjunction with another co-worker, Kim who has been amazing at keeping me on top of my photography...but anyway. The point here is that I made this banner for Ashley's bridal shower and bachelorette party. It said ' Ashley loves Brandon' and was by far the longest banner I have made to date. I don't have any pictures of it in action as I was not able to attend the shower, so here is the best I could do.

What will your banner say



Friday, May 4, 2012

Microwave Chocolate Cake {Foodie Friday}

This cake was made in my microwave in 45 seconds, I kid you not.  Party trick, maybe… But also not bad for a chocolate cake you can make in less than a minute. Because I was home by myself at the time, I made the cake in a mug. I have never had a problem eating all of my dessert or finding desserts to be too rich, yet I could not eat the whole thing. It was so ooey, gooey chocolately amazing. The perfect dessert for when you are having ‘one of those days’. I also think that this is a great dessert for those who are single and don’t want to keep a whole cake around the house. I always have these ingredients on hand, so it’s perfect for an unexpected visitor or anytime you need a dessert in a pinch. I don’t actually have ramekins, but I do have some 1 cup prep bowls from Pampered Chef that I have been using for that purpose. They are glass and not as pretty as a ramekin, but they get the job done. Plus they are kind of shaped like an upside down cupcake. Serve it with a side of ice cream and you have yourself a little piece of heaven on earth. I also need to be careful that I don’t start eating these every night..
Ingredients: {makes 1 mug cake or 2 ramekin cakes}
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg – beaten
3 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions:
Into a small bowl add: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt, egg, milk, and vegetable oil. Mix to combine.
Pour mixture into a regular sized coffee mug or two smaller ramekins.
Microwave on high for one minute and 30 seconds in a mug, or 45 seconds in a ramekin. If needed (if cake batter is still gooey), microwave on high for additional time, checking every 15 seconds. Don’t overcook or it will get very spongy.
Now the key here is to eat it fast while it’s hot. If you let it sit, it will get rubbery. This recipe is definitely worth a try because it’s so fun and weird. And if you need a very quick chocolate fix, nothing beats it!