May Foodie Pen Pals

Foodie Pen Pals is probably my favorite activity I participate in. Not only do I get to send cool stuff to another person but I get to send stuff to another person!

This month I received items from Elaine, who blogs at Post Box Love. 

Elaine really hit this out of the ballpark! It was so much fun to see and enjoy what she sent. 

Elaine sent some items from her culture (Japanese) as well as things from Colorado and things she made herself. 

Elaine is making her own lotion and she sent me a container of Orange Honey lotion. She has made stone ground flour and cornmeal (LOVE!)-- already used most of this in fact!

The Ramune drink that you see was probably the neatest because in order to open it you pop a marble down into the bottle. No worries about swallowing it though because the opening isn't big enough for the marble to come out! The mango candy was awesome as well!

 Be sure to check out to check out what everyone else got! I hear participation is up to 800 people!! 

Weekly Meal Plan

Happy Memorial Day!!!!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday and taken a brief moment to remember the reason why we celebrate this holiday.

I'm ready for a short week at work and then next week we have my birthday!!!

Tuesday-- Tilapia Veggie Packets-- doing this one the grill and probably with different spices

Wednesday-- Creamy Taco Mac

Thursday- go eat at the Hubby's resturant

Friday-- Pizza night

Saturday---Chicken Kiev

Island Jerk Burgers with Zesty Lime Coleslaw

I LOVE BURGERS..... did you get that?!?!? 

Yeah, I really love them. 

You see. The official start of Summer is this weekend. Meaning, you need to go and make this burger.

 I go through spurts on food where I will crave something for a long time until my taste buds are finally happy. After about 3 weeks of wanting a good burger, this burger quenched that thirst.

I'm not much of a coleslaw person either. But seriously, make it. It makes the burger. Nikki's original recipe also didn't call for grilled pineapple. That was my addition. Because I like pineapple on my burgers. And yes, you can call me weird if you want to!

Island Jerk Burgers with Zesty Lime Coleslaw

adapted from this recipe at Pennies on  a Platter, who adapted from Sargento

2 cups coleslaw mix

1/2 red onion, medium, sliced thin

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Zest and juice of 1 small lime

1 teaspoon honey

2-3 garlic cloves, minced 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced

1.5 pounds ground beef

4 teaspoons jerk seasoning

4 slices cheese (I used cheddar)

4 burger buns

For the coleslaw:

1. Combine the coleslaw mix and red onion in a large bowl. 
2. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, hot sauce, lime zest and juice, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. 
3. Toss it into the coleslaw mixture to coat. 
4. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours.                                                                       

For the burger:

1. Heat up your grill. 
2. Shape the beef into 4 individual patties. Rub each patty with the jerk seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper as desired.
3.  Grill the burgers until cooked to desired doneness, flipping once.
4. Place a piece of cheese on each burger.
5. Lightly toast the buns on the grill. 
6. While toasting, the buns grill the pineapple. Flipping Once.
7.  Assemble burgers on top of the cheese and topped with a pile of coleslaw.
8. Enjoy!

Cantaloupe Sorbet--- Secret Recipe Club May 2012

Time for another Secret Recipe Club!!!! This month I had Mindy's blog, The World in my Kitchen. She has two little kids and lives in Kentucky with her husband. What I loved to learn is that she started this blog while in France, to share what she was learning there-- what an awesome reason to start a blog!!

Considering we are slowly rounding the corner towards Summer, I couldn't wait to celebrate a little early. Cantaloupe Sorbet friends. Good Stuff my friends and totally worth making. I don't know why it took me so long to make it. Plus I had sorbet on my 30 by 30 list so this helped me to knock something else off it! It almost felt like the world was totally against me when I went to make it because the blender at my mom's house was dead and so I had to go buy a new one. Then when I got home couldn't find all the pieces to my ice cream maker! But I made it work with duct tape and some wooden spoons!

Given my love of burgers, I almost thought about making this burger on her blog but considering the weather and my love for sorbet I went ahead and made the sorbet. My sister and I always want to go to a specific restaurant because we LOVE their sorbet and this definitely hit our craving for sorbet. Plus it was a great treat during a hot afternoon!

Cantaloupe Sorbet

recipe adapted from this recipe at The World in My Kitchen

4 cups cantaloupe, seeded, peeled and chopped (from about one large cantaloupe), chilled
Simple syrup

To make the simple syrup:

1. Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan.
2. Place over medium-high heat.  
3. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and continue to simmer the syrup for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  
4. Remove from heat and let cool.  
5. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least an hour.

To make the sorbet:

1. Combine the cantaloupe and simple syrup in a blender and blend until smooth.  (Mindy found that she used about half of her simple syrup when making this. I had a really flavorful cantaloupe as well and used about 1/3. Use your best judgement and taste your mixture after blending!)
2. Pour the cantaloupe puree into your ice cream maker and churn according to your maker's instructions.  
3. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and freeze for at least two hours before serving. (If the sorbet is too hard to scoop after freezing, let sit on the counter for 5-15 minutes and then scoop.)
4. Enjoy!

Also linked to Tasty Tuesday!

Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Sunday!! I am completely stuffed from our dinner tonight and can't wait to share the recipe with you guys! and it's a crockpot recipe!  Another wonderful Weekend around here-- we celebrated a friend's birthday last night and walked around downtown Chattanooga for a long time and then this morning got up and enjoyed Brunch and the Market. Super excited for this week as well! Cam is with his dad during June so I am trying to get some cookies made this week to send to him. Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!



Monday--- breakfast for dinner--- sausage, eggs, and pancakes--

Tuesday-- Fish and Chips---- Yes frozen fish baked in the oven and baked fries as well--- Cole and my sister both love fish and we haven't had this in a long time

Wednesday---Spinach Lasagna Rollups

Thursday-- going to Lookouts game and out to eat

Friday-- Chicken and Veggie Pasta using Kraft Cooking Cream-- I really like this stuff and it makes dinner a breeze!

Saturday-- Cheezit Chicken Fingers--- these will be will goldfish instead because we seem to have an insane amount of them in the house!

Sunday-- BEAST FEAST!!! at our local Market--- We always have something come up and can never seem to attend but I am going this year!

Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar

Ahhh, Strawberries.....

Our local market is celebrating this weekend with a Strawberry Festival and what better way to enjoy strawberries than with this combination.

It is not a new combination by any means. I saw this popping up on blogs everywhere about 2 years ago and finally decided to try it for myself.

You don't need any measuring equipment.

Just some...

Sour Cream

Brown Sugar-- I've even seen this done with turbinado sugar

Strawberries

Dip the strawberries first in the sour cream and then the sugar.

See. Easy Peasy. You would probably want to wash the strawberries as well.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Adapted from this post at Savory Sweet Life

Make-Ahead Muffin Melts

So, you know we love Breakfast around here.... and this was another great breakfast! One awesome thing about this breakfast was it gave us breakfast leftovers as well! I could grab one I was walking out the door and then heat it up at work! I used sausage instead of bacon in these as well. Mainly because my mom's school slaughtered a pig in one of the classes and the resulted in lots of sausage for our house! 

I guess this shows you how country I am ha ha--

These actually come from Pioneer Woman's new cookbook but the recipe is posted on her blog as well.

I received a copy of her new cookbook to review and am so happy I got the opportunity to do so! The new cookbook definitely has a bigger presence than the first cookbook. I really like it because it has more recipes from the blog in it as well as ones that aren't in the blog. I know a lot of people aren't into her cooking because it is definitely heavy on rich things like bacon, butter, and cream but I also believe in moderation! I don't know if I will go to the new cookbook like I use the first one but I am glad I have it in my collection!

Disclosure: I received a copy of The Pioneer Woman: Food from Frontier in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Baklava Tartlets

Happy Monday!  

Yes, I feel like I can officially say Happy Monday! We've been in Tennessee for one year now and I can honestly say that the job I have now been at for 3 weeks is MY job! I love my new job and I love that I can be closer to Cole and I don't have to drive to Chattanooga every.single.day. 

Plus with him starting Preschool soon, I wanted to be closer to him and I am working for a company that I already knew about and love that I am working for them know! When I got my offer letter from them, I almost thought all of it was too good to be true but once I had my training and am now working,

I can see that it isn't! 

Anyway... back to the dessert...

Baklava is one of my favorite things. I saw this simple and fun recipe in Food Network Magazine a few months ago and made it quickly thereafter. 

These tartlets are super simple because they start out with a pre-made phyllo pastry shell. The original recipe also calls for pistachios but I went with walnut because I like walnuts better! These would be a great treat to your Memorial Day picnic because they won't melt and are super simple to make!

Baklava Tartlets

recipe adapted from this recipe from Food Network

Ingredients:

5 tbsp. butter

15 mini phyllo shells

1/4 chopped walnuts

1/4 honey

1/4 sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. lemon zest

1/4 tsp. allspice

Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat.
2.  Place 15 mini phyllo shells on a baking sheet and brush with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. 
3. Bake at 350 degrees until just golden, about ten minutes.
4. Add chopped walnuts, honey, and sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, allspice and a pinch of salt to the butter in the skillet; cook, stirring until thick, 5 minutes.
5.  Divide among the phyllo shells and sprinkle with grated chocolate.
6.  Let cool.
7. Enjoy!!

Weekly Menu Plan

Hello All! I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend and for the Mother's a wonderful Mother's Day! I had a wonderful day with my boys and a great brunch at my husband's restaurant! Most of the time I avoid his restaurants on Holidays but I'm tired of being without my husband on Mother's Day as well!

No real order as to when everything will be served-- I never really know--just depends on my mood and how much time we have and how hungry Coley is when we get home!

Baked BBQ Pork Taquitos-- I normally keep some sort of BBQ in the freezer and can't wait to make these!

Burrito Cups--- going to make some chicken to go in these as well

Breakfast for Dinner-- Sausage, Eggs, and probably biscuits or these waffles

Kraft Fresh Takes-- the new packages in the cheese section going to put chicken with them-- I got a free coupon for this and am excited to try it

Friday-- Date night with my mom! Going to Chattanooga and to buy a new bathing suit!eek!

Saturday-- We normally eat breakfast out and then get pizza at Little Ceasar's

Sunday-- Roger has to work so probably going to throw a roast in the crockpot

7-Up Biscuits

 With Mother's Day quickly approaching, I wanted to share my favorite biscuit recipe with you. We eat a lot of breakfast around here and these easily get made once a month. I've seen them made with club soda as well but always produces a light and fluffy and yummy biscuit. And the other good thing, I can pull them off and my husband can't HA!

It's always fun to be better at something in the kitchen than he is. There are very few things I can say that about. 

We always celebrate most holidays early. Like Mother's Day we celebrated it today. I got yellow flowers from my boys! My husband always has to work on holidays so we celebrate in our own way. 

That's what you do to make it work!

I hope that you all find  a wonderful way to celebrate your Mother's this upcoming weekend.

7-UP Biscuits

recipe adapted from this recipe at Plain Chicken

2 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup 7-up (or other carbonated beverage -- I've found Sprite doesn't work)

1/4 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Cut sour cream into biscuit mix, add 7-Up. This will make a very soft dough.
3. Sprinkle flour on board or table and pat dough out. 
4. Cut Biscuits with biscuit cutter or a glass.
5. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan.  
6. Place biscuits in the pan  with the melted butter and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Grilled Pimento Cheese with Bacon Sandwich

I'm the type of person that normally burns grilled cheese sandwiches. 

There is a new cooking challenge I am joining and it is Mom's Crazy Cooking Challenge. This month the crazy challenge was to find a grilled cheese sandwich from another blogger and make it! Sounds fun right!

But....

I'm the type of person that ALWAYS burns grilled cheese sandwiches. SO, I was really afraid of what might happen when going to make this sandwich! 

As a southern girl, I love all things pimento cheese and how could you go wrong with BACON! This Sandwich was definitely not for the faint of heart! It was fabulous! 

I think the first thing you have to do is start out with a good piece of bread and I used Sourdough. The next thing is butter. Real butter. Then you have to have some good cheese. Even though there is pimento cheese already in the sandwich I went ahead and added a piece of Colby cheese for some action cheese action.

Grilled Pimento Cheese with Bacon Sandwich

adapted from this recipe at Evil Shenanigans

8 slices of bread, good quality

4 slices of bacon, cooked and split in half

pimento cheese

butter

4 slices of colby cheese

1. Prepare the sandwiches by heating a heavy skillet or griddle to medium heat.  
2. Place eight slices of the bread butter side down and divide the spread evenly among them. 
3.  Spread the pimento cheese evenly over the bread and then place two bacon halves on the cheese. 
4. Top with a piece of colby cheese on top of the bacon.
5.  Top with a bread slice, buttered side up.
6. Place the sandwiches into the hot pan and grill until the bread is golden brown, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  Carefully flip the sandwich and griddle for 1 minute more, or until the second side is golden.  (The pimento cheese melts fast so keep an eye on it.  )
7. Allow the sandwiches to cool for a few minutes before serving.
8. Enjoy!

Weekly Menu Plan

And we are off to another week!! It's a busy week for my mom so that means she won't be home so most nights it will be me and Coley for dinner-- which also makes me happy because I can cook with beans and no one will get mad!

Sunday-- Crockpot BBQ

Monday-- Chicken Rice a Roni Casserole

Tuesday--White Bean Salad with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Wednesday-- Hoisin Ginger Beef Skewers

Thursday--Huevos Rancheros

Friday-- Get Cameron for the weekend!!! and I know he will want Mooyah Burgers!

Saturday-- we've been eating at the Restaurant the last 3 Saturdays so I'm sure this trend will continue!

Sunday-- Mother's Day!

Chocolate Banana Bread

During a normal week, we go through 5-6 pounds of bananas. 

Yes, insane I know. But in a household of 6 people, one could totally understand how and why we go through so many. Therefore, it is very rare that there are any leftover bananas to take advantage of with baking! 

I saw this recipe years ago and am so happy that I finally got a chance to make it! This banana bread is not your average banana bread either. Think Cake. Chocolate Cake.

 You can't really taste the banana so if you have a  non-fruit liking child like myself maybe you can sneak this one by them! (Cam is the non-fruit liking Child. Cole will eat anything that is put in front of him. This week his favorite thing being mustard. He eats mustard with everything including baby carrots!)

Chocolate Banana Bread

recipe adapted from this recipe at Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 large bananas, ripened and mashed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbl. cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly spray with non-stick spray a 9×5 loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg, mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla until well blended.
4. Add baking soda, cocoa, and flour.
5. Mix everything until well incorporated.
6. Add chocolate chips.
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. (Insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf and check to see if it comes out clean when you pull it out.)
8. Remove from oven and allow bread to rest in the loaf pan for 10 minutes.
9. Invert the loaf pans onto a cooling rack.
10.  Enjoy!