Thursday, October 20, 2011

Kyle's 24th Birthday!!


Kyle woke up to this lovely display from his wife:)


Muffins for breakfast




I gave Kyle a sweater, a movie, cologne, and Reeses for his birthday:)


This is the famous delicious chocolate black birthday cake my aunt Suzie always makes that I made for Kyle's birthday. Soooo good.



Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Spaghetti, Potato Wedges, Chicken Chile Verde, & Cream Puffs

Raquel's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:

So this is like thee best spaghetti sauce in the world. And I'd like to take credit for it:) I found a recipe in a book and didn't have/like some of the ingredients, so I decided to make my own. Kyle said it was the best spaghetti sauce he has ever had. I thought it was pretty dang good myself. 

(Note: This recipe, along with most of my others, are meant to feed just the two of us:) So you'll probably have to quadruple it)

1 t olive oil
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 t garlic & herb seasoning
italian seasoning, or oregano or rosemary is good!
salt 
pepper
1 t sugar
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 c water

*seasonings are to taste*

**Pout olive oil in pan on med heat. Add chopped onion and simmer 5 min. Add roma tomatoes, garlic & herb seasoning, italian seasoning, and salt & pepper. Simmer 5 min. Add tomato sauce, sugar and water. Simmer 10-15 min (if adding meatballs, add them right now and simmer the meatballs in the sauce to help soak flavor in. I had extra meatballs from my Sweet & Sour Meatball recipe that I froze and pulled out to use in this recipe. SO AMAZING). Top on freshly cooked spaghetti and garnish with parmesan cheese. 



Fresh Potato Fries:

My Mother-In-Law gave Kyle and I 2 bags of potatoes last week, so we decided to try different ways to use them. One of the ways we decided was to make homemade Potato fries. And they are soo easy and soo good! We just used 2 potatoes. Cut them in wedges. In a bowl pour some olive oil and mix seasonings in it example: rosemary, oregano, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Dip each potato in the olive oil mixture and place on prepared cookie sheet with tin foil. I lightly crunched tin foil on my cookie sheet so that the potatoes cook evenly, they don't stick, and it's easy clean up! Bake 400' 25-30 min depending on how thick the slices are so just watch them until they're golden brown. 
Enjoy:)


Another reason why I love crock-pots:
Chicken Chile Verde Tacos with Fresh Pico de Gallo:

The recipe I found for this tells you to make your own chile verde.. However.. I just bought salsa verde and added to it and it still tasted amazing. I first sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in olive oil in a pan. Then added salt and pepper, chopped cilantro,1 cup chicken broth, and 1 T sugar. I put a few chicken breasts in the crock-pot and poured the sauce on top. Cook on hight 3-4 hours. It was very delicious but I thought it needed some garlic. 

Pico de Gallo:

Chopped roma tomatoes
chopped onion 
chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt
pepper
-I usually do more tomatoes then onion but just mix everything until taste. We put this right on our tacos and also just ate it plain with chips. So good and sooo easy. 


DESSERT!!

the easiest CREAM PUFF recipe:

From Our Best Bites:


Make sure you WATCH the puffs in the oven so they don't over cook!! I think mine over cooked a tad but they still tasted amazing!




It says to use mouse in the middle but I had a small carton of whipping cream I thought would be good.. And it was great!

I just whipped the cream, added some vanilla and some Splenda and there you have it. Amazing fresh whipping cream.



When the puffs cook they all have a huge air bubble inside. So I filled a plastic bag with the whipping cream, made a small hole in the bottom, and filled them easily. Then I melted chocolate chips and dipped the tops in them. They're not that pretty, I was in a rush.. Ha but they sure were good.

Monday, October 3, 2011

50 Cent Bathroom Door Wreath


I've been wanting to make a wreath for such a looong time and my cousin Jessalyn Romney finally inspired me to after she made the cutest one for her door. So.. I went to the DI and found this piece of plastic (not sure what it was) for 50 cents and pulled out scrap fabric to make it. I first cut a long strip of fabric and hot glued it around the plastic.

I made sure the strip was long enough so that it had a scrunch effect when it was done. So cute!


I didn't have any green fabric (our bathroom is green and cream), or any green paint, so I mixed blue and yellow to make green paint and feathered it on a strip of cream fabric. 


It was a little two bright so I added brown streaks on it.


Then, between that strip of fabric and other cream strips, I bunched each one individually to make a flower and glued it on the corner of the wreath. I had extra little cute flowers I glued on top with a button to finish it. 

Love it! What do you think?


Finished:

Santa Fe Chicken Fajitas, Popcorn Wrapping, & Homemade Corn Chowder Soup


Crock-Pot: To use when you want an amazing meal that does all the cooking for you. 

I haven't used a Crock-Pot before but have come to love it because of how EASY it is. You pour ingredients in and let it do the cooking for you. It's great. So.. to test it out Kyle and I decided to make fajitas and they are soooo good! My mom always made them and they are just the best.

Santa Fe Chicken Fajitas:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can northern beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup salsa
3/4 cup corn
1/4 cup water
2-4 chicken breasts
cheese
Tortillas 

*Pour ingredients except chicken, cheese, and tortillas in Crock-Pot. Mix. Lay Chicken on it's side in middle of mixture. Cook on Low 2-3 hours or High 3-4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Shred chicken and  put in tortillas with cheese.

Sauce:
1 bottle Taco Bell Hot Sauce 
(Sold at your local store; however, I went through Taco Bell's drive through and they gave me two handfuls.. ha that works too:)
1/4-1/2 cup ranch dressing
*Mix together and drizzle on top of fajitas



Simple visiting teaching treat:

1 cute paper bag ( I found colored ones for 25 cents at Walmart)
tissue paper
saran wrap
ribbon

I made fresh kettle corn and wanted to wrap it cute for the girls I visit teach, so I tucked tissue paper in the paper bag, wrapped the kettle corn in saran wrap to keep it fresh, and put it in the middle of the tissue paper. Then I folded the top of the bag down, poked two holes, then threaded ribbon through to make a bow. It was really quick, next time I would probably thread the ribbon through a cute card or something.





Creamy Corn Chowder - Our Best Bites Cookbook 
(And Breadsticks we bought :) Try putting some rolls out to rise before the soup!)