Vegetable Frittata

This was hands-down, the BEST frittata I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! My aunt Jolene and I made it in Houston over Memorial Day weekend for our breakfast and loved it! Jolene said it even beat the frittata she had at a wonderful bed-and-breakfast (and you know they have good food!)

I can say for the very first time ever that this recipe is a creation of my very own…it is not borrowed, it is truly my own recipe! Of course, I can’t take all the credit, Jolene is a far more experienced cook than I am and it was her idea to create this frittata. Our Vegetable Frittata was extremely flavorful and healthy due to the vast amounts of vegetables including mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and greens in our frittata. I think the savory flavor comes from cooking the bacon in the same skillet that you bake the frittata in. Just make sure you drain the bacon fat once the bacon is cooked, or else the frittata would be very greasy…not what you would want for breakfast!

Enjoy and let me know what you think! Feel free to experiment with and substitute your own favorite vegetables in this recipe.

Question for my readers: What are your favorite toppings in either an omelette or frittata?

Prepare your fresh frittata ingredients by chopping the mushrooms, tomatoes, scallions, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and spinach.

Cook the sliced bacon in a saute’ pan over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, cream, cheese, and salt and pepper.

When bacon is browned, remove from skillet, and drain on a paper towel.

Pour out bacon fat, and then add the onions and peppers and cook until onion starts to brown and is tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the chopped spinach tomatoes, and mushrooms, and cook until spinach is just wilted, about 30 seconds more.

Return bacon to pan.

Pour egg mixture on top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes (using a 10-inch skillet), or 15 to 20 minutes in an 8-inch skillet, or until eggs are just set.

Slice and serve.

Vegetable Frittata
Ingredients
1/4 pound bacon (4 slices), sliced crosswise into 1 inch slices
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 Tbsp. minced jalapeño pepper
2 mushrooms, chopped
1 Roma tomato, chopped and seeded
2 Tbsp. Red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup spinach, packed and coarsely chopped
6 eggs
2 Tbsp. milk or cream ( we used cream)
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
4 oz. Swiss cheese, grated

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook the sliced bacon in an 8-inch oven-proof saute’ pan over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan.
3. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion starts to brown. Add the jalapeño pepper, mushrooms, Roma tomato, and spinach for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a whisk. Stir in the scallions and shredded Swiss. Add the bacon back to the vegetable mixture in the saute’ pan and pour the egg mixture on top.
5. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes (or 12 minutes for a 10-inch oven-proof skillet), or until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Serve hot directly from the pan.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie

If you love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, then you MUST try this pie! With 5 ingredients and only 10 minutes of prep time, what is your excuse for not making this? Instant chocolate pudding mix, cold milk, whipped topping, and chopped Reese’s makes up the pie filling, and a pre-made Oreo crust tastes just as good as a homemade one.

When I was in Houston this past weekend for Memorial Day, my aunt Jolene and I made this pie for our family. It was halfway gone within a matter of minutes, and was voted the favorite dessert of the night (it beat the 4-layer Hershey’s chocolate cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries and covered in a chocolate buttercream frosting that we also made that night.)

Feel free to substitute different chocolate candy bars such as Butterfingers, Milky Ways, or Snicker’s if you are not a fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Enjoy!!!

Question for my readers: What is your favorite candy bar?

Mine would actually have to be the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. When I went trick-or-treating as a little kid, I would get so excited to see that bright orange wrapper in my Halloween basket. Unfortunately I received hundreds of hard candy pieces and only about 4 or 5 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups each year. I would eat my Reese’s as slowly as I possibly could just so that I could savor each and every bite I had!

Unwrap the Reese’s candy and chop into small chunks.

Whisk together the pudding mix and milk. Let stand for 2 minutes. Fold in 1 cup of chopped Reese’s and whipped topping.

Spoon into crust. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Remove from freezer 15-20 minutes before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and…

more chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Enjoy.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 package (3.4 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped Reeses peanut butter cups, divided
1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 chocolate crumb crust (8- or 9-inches)

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set. Fold in 1 cup chopped peanut butter cups. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Remove from the freezer 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Garnish with the remaining peanut butter cups.

Yield: 6-8 servings
Taste of Home: Pies

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

I went to Houston this three-day weekend to visit my aunt and cousins. We brought in fajitas from my favorite Mexican food restaurant, Escalantes on Saturday night. Unfortunately for me, Escalantes only has locations in Houston…maybe someday they will expand to Dallas!

Then on Sunday, my aunt Jolene and I did nothing but cook! We started out cooking a new recipe for a delicious Vegetable Frittata. I went to workout, Jolene went to the store, and from probably 11:30 on to 6:30 we prepared for our Memorial Day feast with the family! We made Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie, and Hershey’s Chocolate Cake with Strawberry-Whipped Cream Filling, covered in a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for dessert. We then prepared the meat for our skewers… bacon wrapped shrimp with cream cheese and green pepper, steak, onions, and seasoned chicken. We then cut a large juicy watermelon, made a green salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, and prepared an Amish Broccoli Bake casserole. Sounds like a good meal right? Well, I’m not done. We also had corn on the cob, rice, and loaded baked potatoes with sour cream, butter, scallions, and Cheddar cheese. Guess how many people ate all this food? Only 8 people: 5 adults and 3 kids! haha. You can tell we’re from Texas…”Go big or go home!”

I must say, we were absolutely stuffed, but thoroughly enjoyed our time of eating and visiting again! Take a look below at the delicious food we had. I only wish the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie could have survived the 4 hour trip back to Dallas with me! It is still in Houston with my aunt for her and her husband, Bobby to enjoy 🙂

Memorial Day Menu

Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Steak and Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Skewers

Grilled Chicken

Amish Broccoli Bake

Rice

Loaded Baked Potatoes with Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and chives

Corn on the Cob

Sliced Watermelon

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Hershey’s Chocolate Cake with Strawberry-Whipped Cream Filling with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Steak and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Skewers

Amish Broccoli Bake

Hershey’s Chocolate Cake with Strawberry and Whipped Cream Filling with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Basic Pizza Dough

By now, most people know that I have a food blog and LOVE to cook! A parent at my school knew this, and bought me a gift card to a Central Market cooking class of my choice (If you are reading this, thank you so much AGAIN for the cooking class!) While on the Central Market website, I browsed through the vast array of classes offered including Tex Mex grilling, Baked Pasta Dishes, Retro Paris Bistro, Steakhouse Favorites, and more.

I finally decided on “Pizza: American Regional.” I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the class, the instructors, and the hands-on learning offered to us. The menu for the night including a sampling of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Mystic New England Clam Pizza, California Smoked Salmon Pizza, and New York Thin Crust pizza. The instructors at Central Market even let us make our own pizza! They had balls of dough ready to go for all 22 class attendees. All we had to do was roll out the dough, and pick the Central Market ingredients to top our pizzas. I choose my favorite toppings including grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, Mozzarella, Parmesan, and smoked Gouda cheese (a new discovery that I now love.)

For dessert, we made chocolate Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) or Dulce de Leche (thick caramel-like spread) pizzas with fresh berries. For the dessert pizzas, we used the same “Basic Pizza Dough” recipe as shown below. It is so simple to make… roll out the dough, bake it for about 10 minutes in a 500 degree F oven, and then top it with Nutella or Dulce de Leche (your choice), and then top with fresh, sliced strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Powdered sugar sifted on top would be a nice addition as well!

Below, I made the pizzas using the Central Market “Basic Pizza Dough” recipe and added whatever toppings I wanted. My husband loves pepperoni, so I made that for him, while I cooked up a Margherita Pizza for me. The made two, 8-inch pizzas, and froze the rest of the dough for another time. This is a very simple recipe. Don’t let the detailed steps scare you away from making this. As our instructor at Central Market said, “This dough is extremely fast and easy to make. The only time-consuming part is the clean-up.” Enjoy and tell me what your favorite type of pizza is!

I’ll have to show you the dessert pizza soon with the extra dough I saved! Stayed tuned….

Dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle with yeast. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes, or until foam forms on top.

Combine flour and salt.

Add yeast mixture and oil. Beat for 1 minute with a flat beater on medium speed. Switch to the dough hook, and beat for another 5 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball, and place into a large, well-oiled bowl.

Let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes (if using rapid rise yeast), or 1 to 1 1/2 hours (if using regular yeast). The dough should have doubled in size.

Punch dough down, to stop the rising. Using a rolling pin, place a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Using the heels of your hands, press the dough into a circle, then roll it out with a lightly floured rolling pin until it is about 1/4 inch thick, keeping the edges a little thicker than the center.

Top dough with your favorite pizza ingredients. I made Margherita Pizza and used olive oil, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes, and Italian seasoning.

Bake for 10 minutes in a 500 degree F oven.

For my husband’s Pepperoni Pizza, I used olive oil, marinara sauce, Mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoni, and grated Parmesan cheese.

Again, bake for 10 minutes in a 500 degree F oven.

Basic Pizza Dough
Ingredients
1 Tbsp granulated sugar or honey (I used sugar)
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cups olive oil, preferably extra-virgin

Directions
1. In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar or honey (which “feeds” the yeast) in warm tap water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir gently until it dissolves, about 1 minute. When yeast is mixed with the water at the proper temperature, a smooth, beige-colored mixture results. Let stand in a warm spot until a thin layer of foam covers the surface, about 5 minutes, indicating that the yeast is effective.
2. To mix and knead the dough in a heavy-duty standing electric mixer, combine 3 cups of the flour, the salt, yeast mixture, and oil, if using, in a large mixer bowl. Attach the flat beater, gradually turn on the machine to medium speed, and beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Replace the flat beater with the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
3. Pinch off a piece of the dough and feel it. If it is sticky, continue kneading while gradually adding just enough of the remaining 1/4 cup flour for the dough to lose its stickiness. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add warm water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
4. After mixing and kneading the dough, shape it into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning to coat completely on all sides with oil. (This oiling of the dough prevents a hard surface from forming that would inhibit rising.) Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss, and set to rise in a draft-free warm place (75 to 85 degrees F) until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes for quick-rising yeast or 1 to 1 1/2 hours for regular yeast.
5. With your fist, punch down the dough as soon as it has doubled in bulk to prevent over rising. Shape it into a ball, pressing out all the air bubbles.
6. If you cannot bake pizza within 2 hours after rising, punch the dough down again, turn it in an oiled bowl to coat once more, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. (The dough can be punched down a total of 4 times and kept refrigerated up to 36 hours before the yeast is exhausted and the dough unusable.) Let the chilled dough come to room temperature before proceeding.
7. To make a 15- to 16-inch pizza, keep the dough in a single ball. To make two 12-inch round flat pizzas, divide the dough into 2 equal-sized balls. To make individual 8-inch flat pizzas, divide the dough into 4 to 6 equal-sized portions. To make 3-inch appetizer-sized pizzette, divide the dough into 18 equal-sized portions.
8. To shape flat pizzas with a rolling pin, place a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Using the heels of your hands, press the dough into a circle, then roll it out with a lightly floured rolling pin until it is about 1/4 inch thick, keeping the edges a little thicker than the center. While rolling the dough, pick it up and turn it over several times to stretch it. Continue to keep the outer edges thicker than the rest of the pizza and add a little flour to the surface of the dough whenever needed to keep it from sticking.
9. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F for 1 hour before assembling pizza. Lay the dough round on a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel or a lightly oiled pizza screen. Fill and bake as quickly as possible. Place the peel in the oven, holding the pizza over the stone or baking sheet, then quickly jerk back 2 to 3 times, hopefully leaving the pizza centered on the cooking surface. (It takes practice… I didn’t use a pizza peel. Instead, I placed the pizza on a cornmeal dusted, inverted cookie sheet.) Bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is golden. Slide the peel underneath the crust and remove pizza from the oven. Use a metal spatula to lift a portion of the crust, if necessary, in order to slip the peel underneath. (I did not use a peel. Instead, I slid the pizza off the inverted cookie sheet with a spatula onto my plate.)

Yield: one 15- to 16-inch pizza, two 12-inch pizzas, or four to six 8-inch pizzas.
Recipe adapted from Pizza, by James McNair (I got this recipe from a Central Market pizza cooking class.)

Moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is only the second time I’ve eaten a chocolate and banana combination. My first experience was at my mom’s house when we made chocolate chip banana bread. I’m still not completely sure if I like the combination. Honestly, I think I’d opt for the plain-ole banana nut muffins, sans the chocolate.

However, for chocolate lovers out there who could eat chocolate on everything including steak, you will probably love these. These moist banana chocolate chip muffins fulfill exactly what their name suggests… MOIST! Trust me, you will not be disappointed with a dried out muffin. These are very moist, sweet, and have plenty of banana flavor in them. The recipe calls for chocolate chips, but all I had were chunks, so that is the one substitution I made. The only complaint I have is the lack of “crunch” in these muffins. Next time I would definitely add some toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts!

My little nephew Bear, absolutely loved these. The funny thing is that Bear doesn’t really like sweets. However, he LOVES my White Chocolate Cranberry Dream cookies and these moist banana chocolate chip muffins. I guess I’m a pretty good aunt! haha. Enjoy!

Sift together the flour, salt, soda, and cinnamon.

Mash the bananas.

Add the mashed bananas to the flour mixture. Next add the sugar, eggs, melted butter, and milk.

Stir in the chocolate chips (and next time I make these…chopped pecans.)

Pour into prepared muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1 /4 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

2 small eggs

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks because it was all I had)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.

2. Sift first 4 ingredients into a large bowl.

3. Combine bananas, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Mix into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, fill it until 3/4 full.

5. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, for about 25 minutes (10 to 15 minutes for miniature muffins.) Cool muffins in tray for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to cooling rack to cool completely.

Yield: 12 muffins

Recipe from: Curious Foodie

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas sheet cake, the official state cake of Texas, is a huge, pecan-topped chocolate cake with three distinct layers of chocolaty goodness. It has a diverse range of textures created when the sweet chocolate icing is poured over the hot cake. When the cake has cooled, you’re left with an icing layer, a fudgy layer where the icing and hot cake have melded together, and a bottom layer of moist cake. This cake is easy to make (no mixer is required) and is great to take to potlucks and parties because as the name suggests, it’s baked in a sheet pan and serves a crowd.

My sister, Brittany made this recipe for her boyfriend and his Oklahoma State University teammates after (not before, or else they’ll get sick in their 2 mile race!) they run in the Track & Field: Big 12 Championships in Norman, Oklahoma. I know they will love Texas sheet cake, just like our whole family. My husband likes to call these “brownies with icing,” but Texas sheet cake really tastes more like cake, just like the name implies. Brownies are denser, and heavier. These are lighter, and cakey in texture, but no less chocolaty than brownies. Leave these in the refrigerator for a more intense flavor.

Enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups (14 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate Icing
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
3 cups (12 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Directions
1. For the cake: Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs, yolks, vanilla, and sour cream in another bowl until smooth.
2. Heat the chocolate, butter, oil, water, and cocoa in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Whisk the egg mixture into the batter, then pour into the prepared baking sheet. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
3. For the icing: About 5 minutes before the cake is done, heat the butter, cream, cocoa, and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off the heat, whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Spread the warm icing evenly over the hot cake and sprinkle with the pecans. Let the cake cool to room temperature on the wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until the icing is set, about 1 hour longer. Cut into 3-inch squares. Serve. (The cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Yield: 24 servings
The Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2009

Sweet Potato Chips

As most of you know, I hate potatoes! Actually, let me rephrase that…. I hate mashed potatoes and baked potatoes. For some reason, I cannot get over their “mushy” texture. On the other hand, I love roasted and crispy potatoes. Brio Tuscan Grille has the absolute best crispy potatoes, in my opinion. I’ve shown you how to make Ina Garten’s Baked “Chips” using baking potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, and Kosher salt. Now I want to show you how to make Sweet Potato Chips.

Sweet potatoes, just like the name suggests, are much sweeter than their counterpart potatoes and have just recently become popular in burger restaurants as a healthier alternative to french fries. You can now order Sweet Potato Fries instead of traditional fries.

These Sweet Potato Chips are my sister’s recipe. She made them for us this past Mother’s Day Weekend and we all fell in love with them. My husband, who loves Baked Lays potato chips, said “I could eat these chips as my snack instead of the Baked Lays.” I loved them so much that made them the next day at my own house. I must say, I almost ruined them by adding too much olive oil, though. When you do that, your sweet potatoes have too much moisture, thus they never crisp up in the oven. If this does happen to you, transfer your potatoes to a clean, ungreased baking sheet, increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F, and increase the baking time by 5 or 10 minutes. Watch them, though, so you don’t end up with blackened sweet potato chips.

Enjoy! I hope you like them as much as I do. Don’t forget to be generous with your Kosher salt….it really adds the salty flavoring you would expect in a chip.

Sweet Potato Chips
Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
Olive oil for drizzling (use sparingly)
Kosher salt, a generous amount

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub and peel potatoes. Slice into 1/8-inch chips or rounds.
2. Place potatoes on baking sheet. Drizzle, sparingly, with olive oil. If you overdo it, you will have mushy rather than crispy potatoes.
3. Bake for 15 minutes then, using a spatula, flip over each potato onto their other side. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Potatoes should be crispy, and slightly browned.

Yield: 2-3 servings

Kenny’s Tortilla Soup

If anyone has lived in Texas, you know how crazy the weather can get, especially in Dallas! This past winter was extreme! In February, we received over 9 inches of snow and ice, thus school was cancelled…not for one day, but for FIVE full days in a row!!! The temperatures stayed in the 20s for four days, and we did not see above-freezing temperatures until the fifth or sixth day. (For those of you who remember, flights were delayed to Dallas for the Superbowl that was to be held that weekend.) Ask any Dallas resident, and most would say that they were sick of the weather after the second or third day.

Monday, the first day, was actually kind of fun. I stayed in bed all day, made lots of hot chocolate and baked. After a few hours of constant snow and ice, my husband (Matt) and I realized that we would not be going anywhere. Matt has a small car, with sporty, chrome wheels…not a practical vehicle to drive out in the snow. We couldn’t even back out of our own driveway!

By day two, Tuesday, I was bored. Dallas residents saw rolling power outages, and we were encouraged to stay indoors until the ice and snow melted off the streets. All I did was cook. I think I blogged every single day of my “vacation”. I wasn’t even able to run for three days in a row!

By the fourth day, Thursday, Matt and I were determined to get out and do something. Matt called his friend Kenny, who has a big SUV, to come and drive us around for a little scenery. We ate at Pei Wei. Pei Wei must have been trying to get rid of their extra food, because the portion sizes were enormous that day!

On the fifth day, Friday, Kenny had the brilliant idea that we go sledding. He knew the “perfect” spot in Plano with some great hills. Kenny came over to our house and picked up Matt and I. We had our inflatable swimming tubes all pumped up and ready to go. I should have worn my ski gear, because after only 15 minutes of sledding, I was crying because my hands were so cold! I felt like I was in beautiful Colorado, not Dallas, Texas!

Below: my husband taking off down the hill. Kenny watching…

I’m almost to the bottom…

Kenny about to sled down the hill…

When we returned home, I took a warm shower, and de-thawed my frozen hands. Kenny went home to make his homemade Tortilla Soup recipe, and came back to our house that evening for dinner and a movie.

With the soup already made, we simply reheated it for about 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Garnished with crumbed tortillas chips, Cheddar cheese, and avocado chunks (for those of you who like avocado…not me), and you’ve got yourself a complete meal!

Maybe you’ll be in the mood for soup sometime soon! Sorry, but it doesn’t look like we’ll see any 20 degree temperatures any time soon. Try more like 100 degree temperatures from now until October. Enjoy!

Kenny’s Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 poblano pepper, chopped

olive oil

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 bunch fresh cilantro

tortilla chips

grated Cheddar cheese

avocado

Directions

1. Boil one whole chicken (not frozen) in salted water for one hour. De-bone the chicken and place back in water. Add one large can of diced tomatoes.

2. Saute’ the chopped onion, poblano pepper, and garlic in a little olive oil until onions are tender and clear. Transfer onion mixture into the chicken and water and boil for 20 minutes.

3. Add 1 teaspoon of chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin. Cut up 1 bunch of cilantro and add to soup. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Garnish with tortilla chips, cheese, and avocado.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Mother’s Day Weekend

Happy Belated Mother’s Day for all those mothers reading my blog. I thought I’d show you what my sister, my dad, and I cooked for my mom yesterday for her special day. Feel free to click on the items listed below to get the recipe.

Mother’s Day Menu

May 8, 2011

Chateaubriand Steak

Field Salad with Snow Peas, Grape, and Feta

(we substituted a shallot for the snow peas)

Sweet Potato Chips

Baked Potatoes

(everyone except me…I hate them!)

Fresh cut strawberries

Chocolate Chip Dreams

What did you have for Mother’s Day lunch?

Mustard-Crusted Pork Chops

See that nicely browned crust? Delicious!

I like pork chops, but when given the choice of what to order at a restaurant, I would choose chicken and beef over pork. In my opinion, pork is very similar to chicken, except it has a chewier texture. This pork chop recipe, however, is a restaurant-worthy item that I would order. Tangy and slightly sweet, this dish gains a lovely crust from roasting in the oven. It is savory, extremely easy and can be prepped, baked and table-ready in just under 30 minutes. In addition, this is a very healthy meal. There is no butter, and the only fat comes from the one tablespoon of olive oil which provides you with the healthy, monounsaturated fat you need in your diet.

Who doesn’t love quick, easy, and healthy recipes in the busy world we live in today? These pork chops are well seasoned, delicious, and a recipe definitely worth trying. I found this recipe on the internet when I Googled “pork chop recipes.” Serve with a side salad and drop biscuits. Enjoy!

Mustard-Crusted Pork Chops
Ingredients
4 pork chops, 1-inch thick
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (I used dried rosemary)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Season pork chops lightly with salt and pepper.
2. In a smal bowl, combine mustard, sugar, mustard powder, rosemary, and garlic; mix well. Smear evenly over chops.
3. Heat oil in a large, heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Add prepared chops and brown on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer skillet to oven and cook 20 to 25 minutes, until no longer pink and cooked through. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 servings