Apple & Pear Galette

Got a bit of cooler weather this past weekend, and because I have absolutely no chill, and have been hard wired to have the excitement of a puppy dog about EVERYTHING, I made a fall dessert. The high was 84. Not exactly screaming fall, but I'm from Houston.

This is a rustic dessert, the best kind in my opinion, made up of a combination of apples and pears, tossed in apple pie seasonings, and put in a puff pastry. Galettes are free form pastries, hence the rustic look.

You can make this in a tart pan if you like, which is what I did, and fold over the edges to give it that gorgeous "I'm not perfect" look. Otherwise, if you don't have a tart pan, simply put this on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It will still be gorgeous.

I made a quick vanilla simple syrup to put over the top of the galette, but next time, I'm thinking a drizzle of salted caramel.

Super simple dessert, perfect for fall.

Apple & Pear Galette

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

2 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (Red or Bosc)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 lemon

1 puff pastry, thawed, but cool

3 tablespoons melted butter

Raw sugar, or turbinado sugar 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If using a tart pan, lightly butter the bottom and edges. If no tart pan, place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet.

In a bowl, toss the apple and pear slices with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and the juice from half a lemon. Watch out for the pesky seeds!

Roll out the puff pastry to a thin 1/8". If using a 9" tart pan, roll it out so that it is bigger than the pan in order to fold in the edges. Place the rolled puff pastry in the tart pan, or place on the parchment paper.

If using the tart pan, place the apple and pear slices tightly and neatly into the pan. Make it as pretty as you like. If using the parchment method, start placing your apple and pear slices 2 inches from the edge of the puff pastry, to allow for the folding.

Once all the apples and pears are cozied up in the pastry, fold in your puff pastry edges on top of the apples, crimping where they meet. Brush on the melted butter and sprinkle with raw or turbinado sugar.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, rotating the pastry every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking. 

Once the apples are softened, and you have a golden pastry, it's ready!

You can make a quick simple syrup to glaze the pastry, or drizzle on some caramel, or just simply eat with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! 

Enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Butter + Muenster Grilled Cheese

I try to hold out on the pumpkin recipes because they are all over the place! But I discovered pumpkin butter with the help of a friend in book club. She mentioned that she makes grilled cheese sandwiches using pumkin butter and Gruyere. Book club was 3 weeks ago, and it has been on my mind ever since!

I figured I'd pick up a jar from Trader Joe's, but then a favorite blogger of mine, Minimalist Baker, posted a 20 minute pumpkin butter recipe, and I knew, I had to just make it myself.

For those of you new to pumpkin butter, it is a thick, and creamy pumpkin spread . It has the warmth found in anything pumpkin because of the pumpkin spice mix and maple syrup used in this recipe. I could imagine adding this on pancakes or waffles, or incorporating it into desserts like brownies, and cheesecake. I made a half recipe, so about one mason jar worth, which is more than enough for me to last this "fall" season. 

My husband is anti-pumpkin, so I didn't tell him what KIND of grilled cheese we were having. I stood over him while he took his first bite and after he told me how good it was, I let him know it was pumpkin. It was fine. Cheese + butter > pumpkin.

Pumpkin Butter + Muenster Grilled Cheese

Half batch of pumpkin butter 

4 slices of hearty bread

4 slices of Muenster (or any cheese)

4 tablespoons SALTED butter

Turn on oven broiler to preheat.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Spread pumpkin butter inside all 4 slices of bread, arrange cheese slices over the pumpkin butter, one per slice of bread. Close the sandwiches. Spread butter on both sides of both sandwiches and place in skillet. Get a nice LIGHT brown on both sides because we will finish them off under the broiler.

Once the sandwiches have some color to them, stick them under the broiler to melt the cheese and get a golden crust on the sandwich. Flip the sandwiches to do the same on the other side. 

Remove the skillet from the broiler, don't burn yourself, and cut your sandwiches in half.

Enjoy your ooey, gooey, pumpkin-y sandwich!

Lemon Caper Chicken

Hi! I feel like I start all my posts the same way, telling you how crappy I feel that I have waited so long to post. Well, here's another.

The issue with blogging is that in order to post consistently, i feel like you have to be "on," and witty, and maybe inspiring, sometimes all at once before even posting the recipe. I just don't feel like that's who I am as a blogger. Sometimes I just want to post the recipe and scurry off, but since I'm an avid blog reader, I feel the pressure of writing a "piece" before I get to posting what I made in my kitchen.

If it's fine with you, sometimes I may have nothing much to say, but want to share my recipe with you, so on those days, I'll simply post up the recipe with a simple hello.

Here's a one skillet meal for those of us who cook, and also do the dishes.

Lemon Caper Chicken

4 thin chicken breasts (from 2 large breasts)

1 large shallot, sliced thinly

3-4 mushrooms, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons capers

1 cup chicken, or veggie, stock

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano, etc.)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

olive oil

salt 

pepper 

8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved

feta cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Don't forget to take out any pots and pans living in there! It happens. 

Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place in skillet. Get a nice brown on both sides of the chicken. No need to fully cook them because they will finish off in the oven. Remove from skillet to a plate.

In the skillet, add shallots, mushrooms, and capers. Saute for a minute. Add chicken stock, garlic, red chili flakes, fresh herbs, and lemon juice to the vegetables. Scrape off the brown bits (this is good stuff), and let this come to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced. 

Turn off heat and whisk in butter until fully incorporated, and then add in the heavy cream. Place the chicken breasts back in the skillet, covering with sauce. Sprinkle in the tomatoes and place the skillet in the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes until chicken if fully cooked.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle on the feta! 

Enjoy!

 

5-Spice Chicken Ramen

This isn't some gussied up packaged ramen recipe, so please keep reading! I have yet to try "real" ramen from a ramen restaurant, but for some reason I just really wanted to make it myself. When I have a craving, it stays on my mind until I have it. I honestly do think about food all. the. time.

Ramen is known as Japanese noodle soup that uses Chinese noodles in a savory meat or vegetable based broth flavored with soy or miso, and uses an array of condiments such as sliced green onions, cilantro, soft boiled eggs, meats, and whatever else you feel like topping it with.

Making a good, healthy, and flavorful ramen at home is easy peasy and worlds different from those .10 packets that most of us know and maybe even love! I am not one to be beneath eating those old school ramen packets. I grew up on those during the tough times as a kid, I ate them as a college kid as a quick, cheap, haven't gotten paid yet meals, and I even had them post college when I lived on my own, perking them up with meat and vegetables. Those packaged ramens helped me have a meal, and therefore, hold a special place in my food life.

My ramen starts with a super flavorful broth, which comes from the addition of sesame oil, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic as the base. I then added some spinach, Napa cabbage, and shredded carrots for extra veggies and color. Topped it off with probably the best chicken I have made in a while, using Chinese 5-spice* plus salt, and a soft boiled egg, drizzled with a little red chili oil. Using good quality Chinese noodles I found at the Asian market near my home completed this classic ramen.

This recipe is just my adaptation. Like I said, I haven't had the chance to try a real ramen place in Houston, and these ingredients are just part of how I thought ramen would be made, and or taste. We had these with some light and fresh summer rolls and homemade peanut sauce. I will share that recipe in a different post.

Make this ramen, make it your own, and enjoy!

*Chinese 5-spice powder is a mix of star anise, clove, black pepper, cinnamon, and fennel. Can be found in the spice or Asian foods aisle of your supermarket. 

5-Spice Chicken Ramen

2 large chicken breasts

1 tablespoon Chinese 5-spice

sea salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1" inch ginger, thinly sliced

1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3" slices
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable)

4 large mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
2 cups baby spinach
chili oil, to taste
2 cold eggs
6 oz thin Chinese wheat noodles (best found at Asian supermarket, or Asian foods aisle)
Garnishes: thinly sliced green onion, thinly sliced napa cabbage, lemons, thai basil, mint, cilantro, Sriracha

Begin by cleaning and drying the chicken breasts and seasoning both sides with Chinese 5-spice powder and sea salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and heat up a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle in the olive oil and butter. Once butter is melted and the skillet is screaming hot, place the chicken breasts in. Do not touch and let cook for 3 minutes to form a crust. Flip and cook other side for an additional 3 minutes. Place the skillet with the chicken breasts in the oven to cook for an additional 20-25 minutes until cooked through.

While the chicken is baking, begin the broth. In a large soup or stock pot, heat sesame oil and toss in the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add in the broth, soy sauce, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add in carrots, and simmer for 5 minutes to soften, and lastly add in spinach until wilted. Add in a few drops of chili oil to taste, if desired.

Follow package directions for the noodles. As water boils for the noodles, work on making the soft boiled eggs. Soft boiled eggs have a creamy yolk center, and is a perfect complement to any ramen bowl. Bring a small pot of water (enough to cover the eggs) to a boil. Gently place in the 2 eggs from the refrigerator into the boiling pot of water. Be careful! Cook for 7 minutes for a creamy, less set yolk, or 8 for a creamy, more set, yolk. I prefer the 8 minute mark. As the eggs boil, make a small ice bath. After 8 minutes, drain the hot water and place the eggs in the water bath to stop the cooking process. Peel and set aside when ready to use.

Once chicken is cooked, place on plate and cover with foil. Time to assemble your ramen!

Grab a large, deep bowl for yourself and start by placing in some noodles. Pour over ramen broth to cover noodles and make it as soupy as you like. Some people like more noodles to broth, and some like less, so up to you.

Thinly slice the chicken breast and top the ramen bowls with chicken, a sliced egg, cabbage, more chili oil, green onions, any other greenery, and Sriracha sauce, if you heart(burn) desires.

Enjoy with chopsticks and your best slurping noises!

Remember to follow me on instagram @liveloveatrepeat and/or tag your creations with #liveloveatrepeat

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Finally, finally, finally baked a chocolate chip cookie I was happy with! Give me a thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie, alongside a well made coffee, and I am in bliss. This, after so many failed attempts at baking the kind of cookie I love.

I tried so many different methods like keeping the just made cookie dough in the fridge from 24-48 hours before baking, baking cookies as soon as I complete the dough, less sugar, more brown sugar, no baking soda, only baking powder, melted butter, softened butter, corn starch, etc, etc. but they never turned out the way I liked. Almost every time, they spread and would be flat discs by the time they cooled. Some may enjoy a thin, chewy on the inside, crispy edge cookie, but it just doesn't float my cookie boat.

Which brings me to my point that baking is a science. So many factors can lead to different types of cookies or baked goods.  It's not like cooking, where you can throw a bunch of ingredients together and taste as you go to create a dish. Which, I know to some, sounds daunting. Most of my readers love measurements, so I try my best, but believe me when I say this, it's okay if you are not exact in your cooking!  There is room for experimentation/error in cooking.

Baking however, requires exact measurements and weights. It is mostly the reason I never really enjoyed baking, and loved the creativity of cooking with whatever I had on hand with no measurements as a guide. Basically, I cooked like my dad. Now that I enjoy baking and even have made a small business of it, I am very aware of my measurements and take into account every grain of flour because it is so important in making sure your baked goods turn out.

There are many articles out there in the internet world regarding the science behind different types cookies. If you're a cookie baking fanatic, I suggest you Google "cookie science," or "science of baking cookies," or follow this link to my favorite article about the science of baking your favorite type of cookie.

If you read my blog, you'll notice I posted a brown butter nutella cookie recipe almost 2 years ago, and although great cookies, they too were on the flatter side. I think these are better!

My cookie recipe yields a thick cookie, with a chewy center, and slightly brown bumps on top. I use good quality dark chocolate chips,  salted european butter, toasted nuts, and as always, a sprinkle of sea salt on top.  I just got back from a trip to Napa, and went fan girl crazy in Dean & Deluca. One of my buys was vanilla bean salt. I have been craving chocolate chip cookies since that day almost 3 weeks ago.  And my not so secret ingredient, is instant coffee! It gives the cookies a richer, deeper flavor. Trust me on this. If this sounds like a good cookie to you, definitely give them a try!

I would love to know how they turn out for you. You can tag me on instagram with #liveloveatrepeat.

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: A baker's dozen (aka 13 cookies)

7 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour, unbleached + extra
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso granules
1 cup toasted nuts (your choice, I prefer large walnut pieces)*
1 + 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Sea salt to sprinkle tops (optional)

*To toast nuts, put them in a pan on medium low heat and shake around until they begin to smell nutty. Take them immediately off of the burner and into a bowl to cool

Pop the butter in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 10-15 seconds. You want to the butter to be just slightly melted. Let cool.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and instant coffee or espresso.

In mixing bowl, combine cooled butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Scrape down the bowl, and add the vanilla and egg, beating until fully incorporated.

Add the flour and beat on low speed until combined.  Add a tablespoon at a time of the extra flour until the dough comes together with minimal dough sticking to the bowl. I used about an extra 1/4 cup of flour.

Mix in the chocolate chips and cooled nuts.

Let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out dough, and then with your hands make a scraggly ball. I'm pretty sure scraggly is a word. In order to get the nice bumps in your cookie, you want the top of your cookie to not be smooth when you scoop out the batter. So basically, form it into a rough ball. If I'm not making sense, just make a ball. It'll still be a cookie.

I was able to fit 6 on my first batch, and 7 on my second, on the cookie sheet. Bake one tray at a time for 9-11 minutes. At minute 5, I sprinkled on the vanilla bean salt (or any sea salt) onto my cookies and promptly closed the oven door to cook for the remainder of 5-6 minutes. Once you see small brown spots on top of the cookie, or the edges are BEGINNING to brown, the cookies are ready. Let cool, or eat them straight out of the oven. Up to you!

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Baklava Bites

I hope you all had a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, happy holidays, or just a happy day off from work!

Cannot believe the holidays have come and gone already. I say this every year, but this year just flew by! I am not ready to take down our holiday tree just yet.  It's just so pretty with all the lights on in the dark. Even as I am typing up this post, I have the tree on and am sitting in the dark with the fireplace on.

I wanted to quickly share this recipe because one, I haven't posted something in a while, and two, it was just such a great, quick dessert, and I really wanted to share it with all of you.

This recipe came about completely on a whim because what I thought was a friends potluck dinner tonight, was actually a friends potluck lunch! I went from having all day to make and bring my dessert as promised, to a little over an hour before we had to leave to make it to lunch. My first reaction was to stop by Whole Foods and pick something up, but then I felt bad. I promised a homemade dessert, and I was going to bring one!

I threw on my sweats, hurried off to HEB, and debated between puff pastry or phyllo, and pastry cream or nuts on my drive there. I picked up phyllo shells and nuts. Figured I would make something like baklava with a drizzle of caramel.

If you need a quick dessert, or realize you need to be somewhere at the last minute, these are great to take in hand and share with people you like.

Salted Caramel Baklava Bites

Salted Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
water
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Baklava Bites:
2 packages pre-baked phyllo shells (15 per pack)
1 cup walnut chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs honey
1 teaspoon rose water
zest one orange
juice of half an orange
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

For the caramel, in a small sauce pan, melt down sugar and a couple drops of water. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and become a dark amber color. Add the butter and stir until butter is melted and combined. Turn off the heat, and take the sauce pan off of the stove.  Add the heavy cream, while stirring. The mixture will bubble, but keep stirring until the cream is incorporated and the caramel is smooth.  Add the vanilla and salt and stir until combined.  Let the caramel cool down to a drizzle consistency.

While the caramel cools down, combine the walnuts, pecans, brown sugar, honey, rose water, zest, and orange juice in a bowl.  Stir to coat the nuts fully.

On a large baking sheet, lay out the shells and fill with the nut mixture. Drizzle in a bit of melted butter into each shell.  Pop into preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Let the baklava bites cool a bit until the phyllo is crispy again. Drizzle on the salted caramel.

Enjoy!

Pecan Caramel Tart

Still no pumpkin recipe. Sorry, and, you're welcome, depending on how you feel about pumpkin and pumpkin food things.

The season of lots of eating and holiday mayhem is upon us! It's time to bring out the stretchy pants (aka leggings), sweatpants, and large sweaters, cozy up on the couch with a mug of something hot and a plate of pie. I seriously love pie.

The crust is my favorite part of pie, and I count tarts in the realm of pies because there is a crust, therefore, I seriously also love tarts.

This year, I will be taking part in four Thanksgiving feasts all before the official turkey day. Thankfully the bathing suits I picked up for my trip to Cancun next week all have strategically placed ruching on them to hide my food baby. One piece bathing suits for the win!

For Thanksgiving feast number two, which was at work, I signed up to bring a pecan caramel tart. Although I love me some pie, pecan is towards the end of my list, mostly because I am not a fan of the gloopy corn syrup filling.  I usually just eat the crust and the pecans. This tart gets rid of that gloopiness with only combining pecans and caramel.

I tweaked my cardamom shortbread crust recipe from my Sunshine Lemon Tart by adding a dash of cinnamon, toasted up some pecans, and made a batch of caramel.  All combined to make a beautiful, buttery, crunchy, caramel-y dessert.

Homemade caramel is super easy and can be done without a candy thermometer. I mean really, who has those? And is it different from a regular cooking thermometer? I figure my caramel turns out just dandy without a thermometer, so it's one tool I currently do not need. Homemade caramel takes some patience because the sugar goes through stages, but then some magic happens and the sugar turns into a gorgeous brown color and you're like, whoa, I think I just made caramel.  This caramel is my go to. I have used it to drizzle on grilled bananas, ice cream, baked into chocolate chip cookies, and now, this tart. So keep this in your cooking apron because it is one handy treat.

Pecan Caramel Tart

1 cardamom shortbread crust (I added a dash of cinnamon to the dry ingredients)
3 cups pecans
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons water
4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Demerara/Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare tart pan by buttering or using cooking spray to coat.  Press in the shortbread crust into the bottom and flutes of the pan.  Use powdered sugar to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. You can also use the back of a spoon to press down.

Poke holes into the crust with a fork and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

As the crust rests, lay out the pecans into a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Or, if you smell the pecans, take them out to cool.  They are letting you know they are ready!

Once the pecans are out of the oven, pop in the shortbread crust and bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool. If you are good at timing everything, you can toast the pecans and bake the crust at the same time!

As the pecans toast and/or the shortbread crust cools, prepare the caramel.  In a medium sauce pan, add the sugar and water.  Now you will stir and stir until the sugar goes from granulated, to liquid, back to granulated, and into melting. Once the sugar goes from liquid back to granulated, you must constantly stir and break up clumps. I prefer to use a whisk at this step. Don't worry if you have clumps, but try to break them up as best as you can.  Once there are minimal clumps, and your sugar has turned a dark amber color, add butter, and stir/whisk in vigorously.

Take the pan off of the heat and slowly add in your whipping cream while stirring.  Make sure to fully combine the cream in.  Add in your vanilla extract.  At this point you can let the caramel cool into a nice, thick caramel sauce and place into a jar for use. Now give yourself a high five.

For the purpose of this tart, place the caramel on low heat to keep the caramel runny.

Lower the temperature of the oven down to 350 degrees once the pecans are toasted and crust is baked.

In a mixing bowl, combine toasted pecans, brown sugar, and all of the caramel. Combine fully.  Pour into the cooled shortbread crust. Sprinkle with a little Demerara/Turbinado sugar to give it some sparkle. Place in oven and bake 20-25 minutes, until nice and bubbly.

Let the tart completely cool down before popping out of the tart pan.  And then take a moment to marvel in the fact that you made the best dessert this holiday season has tasted.

Enjoy!

*Cooking tip*
If the caramel is still clumpy after adding the heavy cream and vanilla, cook over low heat and stir. Low heat will help the remaining sugar clumps to melt.

Comforting Broccoli + Cauliflower + Cheddar Soup

I suck at recipe titles.  For now, this is the title you get.  At least it's descriptive?

I'm jumping on the soup bandwagon with other bloggers as they post soup recipe after soup recipe since the cooler weather already exists in most of the nation.  Houston is having this, it's not summer, but it's not fall either, kind of weather.  Basically cool in the morning, and hot the rest of the day. You eventually learn to dress in layers.

One of the most popular soups that have been popping up in my blog reading lists is of course, broccoli and cheddar soup. But then....I came across a cauliflower soup from the Pioneer Woman! I seriously love cauliflower in all its forms, sauteed, roasted, curried with potatoes and peas, it's delicious.  Once I saw her recipe, I wanted soup, and I wanted it for dinner that night. So I combined broccoli, cauliflower, and cheddar to make a hearty, creamy, and comforting soup topped off with crisp bacon. Because bacon.

For this soup you must be a liker (a word?), or lover of broccoli and/or cauliflower.  I am already assuming that you love cheese and bacon.  Just please don't tell me that you don't.

I know chopping up broccoli and cauliflower can be intimidating when you see a vegetable that looks like a mini tree.  Don't fret, let me go through an easy, not pretty way to get the job done. Pull off as many leaves as you can off of the cauliflower.  Take a sharp knife, and cut off the hard stalk as close to the cauliflower as possible. Then cut your head (the cauliflower head) in half and just go at it with the chopping, cutting the larger florets into smaller pieces. Do the same with the broccoli, it's a little easier and if you want, you can chop up part of the broccoli stalk since it does get tender with cooking. It won't be all pretty florets and sunsets, but who cares. It's going into a soup and then into your mouth.

I cannot have soup just by itself, so if you would like a bigger meal, then add a side salad or a small sandwich.  I made grilled turkey, swiss, and cranberry sauce sandwiches to go along with the soup. That is literally what was in the sandwich, so no recipe needed.

Broccoli + Cauliflower + Cheddar Soup

5 strips of thick cut bacon (I used Applegate Turkey bacon), chopped

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

3 cups stock (I used vegetable)

1 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

sea salt

black pepper

1 head broccoli, chopped into small pieces

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

1 cup shredded cheddar + extra for topping (sharp, mild, Colby, Wisconsin, whatever you like)

Parsley, chopped

Hot sauce

Heat a medium to large soup or dutch oven pot over medium heat with the oil. Throw in your bacon and let it cook until crispy. Take the bacon out with a slotted spoon onto a paper napkin and leave the fat in the pot.  Add the garlic and onion and cook until softened and fragrant.  

Add butter, and melt. Add flour, and whisk/mix until it turns a light blonde and smells nutty. This is your roux! Cook for about 2 minutes.

Slowly add in your stock, milk, and heavy cream and whisk to break up the roux clumps, if any. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.

Season with salt and pepper, tasting to make sure it is to your liking. Add cauliflower and broccoli, simmering until the veggies are tender.  Turn the heat off, taste for seasoning. Add in cheese and stir until melted and combined.

Pour soup into bowls, top with bacon, parsley, and a few dashes of hot sauce.  

Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Granola

Don't worry, this recipe has absolutely no pumpkin in it! I'm sure you're faced with a million pumpkin recipes now that it's fall and Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks.  Which by the way, contain NO pumpkin. What the heck?

Nope, no pumpkin here. At least not yet.

For now, you get a yummy, crunchy, and sweet granola recipe.  Homemade granola is great, mostly because you can add whatever you want to it. It can be plain with just rolled oats, or as fancy as adding a bunch of dried fruits and nuts, or you can even make a pumpkin version!  The nice thing about this granola recipe, is that you can use whatever mix-ins you have in your pantry. I didn't have any dried fruit on me, but I had some walnuts and cashews that needed to be used and I added sweetened coconut. I hate raisins, but if you love them and have them, then add them in.

Use this granola in your Cheerios like my husband did, or make a layered parfait with fresh berries and greek yogurt, which is what I did. It's delicious any way you have it.

Easy Homemade Granola

2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup nuts (I used a combination of almonds, walnuts, and cashews), roughly chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs coconut oil, melted
1/2 tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbs water
1/4 cup sweetened coconut
1/4 cup of any other dried fruit (cranberries, golden raisins, dried apricots, etc)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine rolled oats and nuts.  In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar,  honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and sea salt.  Whisk together and then add water. Water will allow for proper soaking of the oats with this mixture.

Pour the wet mixture into the rolled oats and mix to combine thoroughly.

Spread out evenly on a large baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes.  Mix the granola around halfway through this time. You want the it to be nice and spread out so the oats crisp up and dehydrate.

Turn heat up to 300 and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Carefully take the granola out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer granola to a mixing bowl and add in coconut and any other dried fruit as you wish and mix around.  Cool granola completely before transferring to a Ziploc or other air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Ginger Sesame Beef & Broccoli

Between my sister coming into town, family time, volunteering, and book club, I have not cooked a meal at home in 8 days.  I am pretty sure that is the longest I have not been in the kitchen cooking something up! But it's okay because all those things were much needed in my life.

My sister paid a visit from Connecticut and my little brother came up from Austin, and we had some major family time this weekend. It was possibly the most fun I have had with my family in a long while. I love them too much. There was a lot of eating, long discussions, and some Jenga. The time went by too quickly.  Monday came along with its usual annoying self, but ended with a good session of volunteering and some takeout Chinese. Tuesday was book club, which I look forward to every month because I get to hang out with a bomb group of women who get together for food, drinks, and chatter about life and sometimes, about the book. It is always a great time connecting with people who have similar interests and are so gracious when hosting.

And now here we are days later, and I put together a yummy beef and broccoli dish. It is pretty quick to put together once the beef has marinated.  Slice up some veggies, start your brown rice, and by then you can stir fry your beef and veggies, and BOOM, dinner is ready.  

Ginger Sesame Beef and Broccoli

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced beef
1-inch nub of ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbs honey
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs vegetable/canola oil
1 tbs corn starch + 2 tbs water, whisked (slurry)
2 tbs toasted sesame seeds (toast sesame seeds in dry pan over medium heat)
1-inch nub of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red serrano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 crown broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
Green onions, whole bunch sliced on the diagonal

Marinate the sliced beef with minced ginger, sugar, black pepper, garlic, salt, cumin, red pepper flakes, honey, and soy sauce in a large bowl. You can leave it in the marinade 30 minutes to overnight.

When ready to cook, pour sesame and vegetable/canola oil into the wok and heat over medium high until it begins to smoke. Drain any leftover marinade, pat the beef with a napkin to get rid of excess liquid, and working in small batches, cook the beef in the oil.  Be careful with spattering.  Cook the beef 1-2 minutes on each side and place in a bowl.

Once all the beef has gone through the oil cooking process, toss in the sliced serranos and ginger into the empty wok along with a dash of vegetable/canola oil if there is not enough oil leftover. Saute for 2 minutes, then add the red bell pepper and broccoli.  Cook until just slightly softened.  Add beef , cornstarch slurry, toasted sesame seeds, and 3/4ths of the sliced green onion. Stir fry all ingredients for a couple of minutes.

Garnish with leftover green onion and sesame seeds and eat over brown rice or noodles.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes + Cookie Butter Frosting for Two

It's Friday, the weather is getting cooler, and it is Live. Love. Eat. Repeat.'s 3rd birthday!! The terrible two's are over I guess. She's getting older, and time is FLYING!

I want to give a big shout out to everyone who takes a minute to read my blog and and an even bigger shout out to those who try out a recipe.  Knowing that my blog gets someone in the kitchen to cook a meal with care and love, means the world to me. Nothing makes my day more then someone telling me they tried out one of my recipes and appreciates my posts, so THANK YOU.

Also, to my number one fan and guinea pig husband, thanks for being so patient while I plate the food before taking my IG/FB picture.  As soon as he hears my camera clicking, he knows dinner is about to be served.  He usually gets the pretty plate, and I just throw my food on another plate and go to town. I know the meal is especially good on the days he goes back for seconds or thirds.

I am very aware that I am not consistent in my posts, and I have so many recipes to share still, therefore, without excuse, I hope this year I can do a better job of getting recipes on the site as soon as possible.

In celebration of another birthday, I bring to you good 'ole fashioned one bowl chocolate cupcakes that I topped with cookie butter frosting at the last moment.  They were supposed to be topped with Nutella, but then I saw the cookie butter in my pantry, and well, you now how much I love my cookie butter. And yes, I made these cupcakes specifically for my blog's birthday because I just wanted a reason to celebrate.  Plus, this recipe only makes two cupcakes, which is perfect for an understated celebration, a sweet treat, or when you don't want to make a whole batch of cupcakes in fear of eating all twelve. Because that really happens...

Chocolate Cupcakes + Cookie Butter Frosting

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon + small pinch of baking soda

pinch of salt

pinch of ground instant coffee

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon oil (I used olive oil)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter, softened

2 tablespoons cookie butter

1/4 cup powder sugar

pinch of salt

1-2 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with 2 liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground coffee. Add in milk, oil, and vanilla and whisk until combined.

Pour batter into liners and bake 15-18 min, until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. I have learned through baking that if the toothpick is clean, the cake has already over-baked. So let there be a few crumbs.  The cupcake will continue baking a little once out of the oven.

As cupcakes are cooling, cream together butter and cookie butter until smooth and creamy.  Add powdered sugar and salt and beat until it comes together.  Add milk a teaspoon at a time until you get it to consistency you like. 

I piped my frosting on using a sandwich bag with a cut in the corner. Sprinkle with whatever your heart desires,  if you wish!

Enjoy :)

Spicy Asian Noodle Salad

Mondays are the one day in my week I make an actual conscious decision to eat healthy. Usually it's because my weekend was an eating spree and we've just gotten groceries.  A fully stocked fridge with delicious goodies always makes my day and gets me motivated to make good home cooked meals!  This sometimes tapers off around fajita Wednesdays at Pappasitos...

Hubby and I both love our vegetables, so we end up buying quite a bit every time we hit up the grocery store. We aren't ones to normally eat a salad as our dinner, and I guess I'm only calling this a salad because it's a bunch of cold vegetables and noodles thrown together with a dressing. We both loved this salad so much.  I used a variety of veggies, coated wheat noodles with a spicy dressing, and then tossed everything together.  We topped it off with a bit of baked tilapia and roasted broccoli. Such a simple weeknight dinner you can feel good about.  I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers Budget Bytes.  She has some pretty awesome recipes, along with costs, so you can make great dinners on the cheap!

It's up to you what veggies you want to use and how little or a lot of them you want in your salad, so take away the method of this recipe and cater to your own likes and dislikes when it comes to the salad ingredients.

And yes, we eat with chopsticks.

Spicy Asian Noodle Salad

8 oz. thin wheat spaghetti
1/4 cup shelled edamame, cold
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cucumber, peeled, diced
3-4 large leaves napa cabbage, sliced thinly
2 carrots, shredded
handful cilantro, chopped roughly
pickled red onions (I already had these, optional)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Sesame oil, drizzle

Boil noodles until al dente.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  The noodles must be completely dry in order for the sauce to stick, so give them a shake every so often as you get your vegetables ready.  I ended up sticking the noodles in the fridge to help along the process, and it worked very well.  You want the noodles to be a little sticky, not wet.

As the noodles are drying, chop, dice, karate chop your veggies and combine them in a bowl.  In a separate small bowl, combine hoisin sauce, Sriracha, and rice wine vinegar.

Once your noodles are ready, throw them in a large bowl, pour in dressing and keep tossing until all the noodles are coated.

Add your veggies and toss to combine. Drizzle with a tiny bit of sesame oil.  Eat with chopsticks for optimal experience.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Butter Ice Cream

I think I may have found something that I love more than Nutella...I can't believe I just said that. But I did.

I discovered COOKIE BUTTER! I've seen it come across food blogs and the occasional food article, and it perked up my ears when someone mentioned it.  Cookie butter is a spread made up of crushed cinnamon and caramel sweet gingerbread cookies with a consistency similar to peanut butter.

I finally made it to Trader Joe's and bought myself a jar. I also bought the cookies. Stop shaking your head! You would have done the same.  All I could think was, I bet these would be great with an evening cup of chai...and they were.

Once I brought the cookie butter home safely, I tasted a small bit from the jar, realized I was in love, and decided I made the right decision that day. First thing to pop into my food-filled mind, was ice cream. So I ran with it. Well actually, I ran towards it. With a spoon.

This is an ice cream without an egg custard base, so as long as you have cookie butter, a few dairy ingredients, and a frozen ice cream bowl (granted, you have an ice cream maker), you can whip this up in no time.  I happen to keep my ice cream bowl in the freezer at all times so it's ready to go when I need it.  I made the base late afternoon and had a bowl of ice cream in time for bed.

To up the awesome-ness, I threw in crushed dark chocolate chips.  I mean, wow. You get the taste of cinnamon and ginger from the cookies, creaminess from the heavy cream, and a slight crunch from the crushed cookies and chocolate chips. I would scream for this ice cream.

 Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Butter Ice Cream

1 cup creamy cookie butter (I used Speculoos from Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup half n' half
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate chips

With a mixer, cream together cookie butter and sugar until combined.  Turn off mixer, scrape down bowl, add vanilla, half n' half, and heavy cream.  Mix on low until combined.

Transfer this into your frozen ice cream bowl for your ice cream mixer and churn according to your mixer's directions.  Once you see it come up to almost a soft serve stage, add in your dark chocolate and churn until you get a soft serve consistency.  At this point, you are welcome to dig in, but I like the consistency of ice cream. So read on if you haven't already gotten brain freeze.

Transfer this into a freezer safe bowl, add a layer of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals before closing with a cap.  Freeze the ice cream 3-4 hours before serving.  You should add a Speculoos cookie to round it off  when serving :)   Enjoy!!

Flan de Queso "Cheese Flan"

National cheesecake day was celebrated yesterday, but we didn't have cheesecake at home nor did I have time to make one, so we had leftover cream cheese flan I made earlier this week.  I think that counts?

I'm a firm believer in celebrating as many food holidays as possible!

My husband and I were never huge fans of flan, but my gosh, this one churrascaria we frequent makes THE richest, smoothest, and best flan ever. It's not a thin egg custard that feel water-y to the tongue, which is what I feel is what you get out of those boxed flan mixes.

Those of you new to flan, it's essentially a latin egg custard with a caramel topping that can be jazzed up any number of ways.

We were craving our favorite restaurant's flan, which is a little more dense, and to mimic it, I used cream cheese to give it the smoothness and thickness we wanted. Basically a flan cheesecake sans the crust.

This recipe has a handful of ingredients including a super easy caramel sauce.  I think the hardest part of this recipe is the water bath because I didn't have a baking dish wide enough to fit my baking pan so I winged it and hoped for the best.  Other than that, this is one easy schmeasy dessert that is sure to impress.  The satisfaction you get when you flip that flan out of it's baking dish and into a plate without it breaking deserves a high five.  Luckily husband was around to give me one.

Flan de Queso

1 cup sugar
1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 14 oz. can condensed milk
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Have a 9" circle baking dish ready to go.

In a small saucepan, melt sugar over medium heat until it's a beautiful caramel color, stirring constantly.  Don't worry, the sugar crystallizes into large chunks, but then slowly, but surely, the sugar melts and begins to brown. Voila! You have caramel sauce.  Did you know it is THAT easy to make caramel?

Pour the caramel sauce into the baking dish and spread/swirl around as much as possible before it hardens.  Don't worry if you don't get too far with the caramel.  It all comes together at the end.

In a blender, blend cream cheese until smooth. Add the condensed milk and evaporated milk and combine.  Blend in one egg at a time, scraping down the sides after each egg.  Add in the vanilla and give it one last swirl.

Pour the smooth milk/egg mixture over the caramel.

Now for the water bath...find a large enough baking pan to house the baking dish that contains the flan. I just used a large cookie sheet I had with raised edges.  Soak a dish towel and lay it in your empty baking dish.  Place your flan on top of the towel and then fill your empty baking dish with HOT water until it comes up halfway up the sides of the flan dish. My dish didn't allow it to come up halfway, but I just filled my cookie sheet up with water as much as I could.  It was just fine.

Bake for 45-55 minutes.  The flan should have some jiggle, but if you stick a knife in the middle, it should come out clean.  This is when you know it's ready!

Take the flan out and let it cool to room temperature and then stick in the fridge overnight.

The fun part...post refrigeration! Grab a large plate, place it over the flan dish, and flip the flan dish over. Gently tap the dish until the flan falls out onto the plate (hopefully in one piece). The caramel sauce will come out with it.  Feel free to scrape out every last bit of that sauce, or better yet, just lick the dish. No one is watching you. And then give yourself a high five! Garnish with berries, or sprinkle with cinnamon, or eat just as!

Enjoy!

Lobster Mac N' Cheese

I would like to wish my Muslim readers a very joyous and blessed Eid Mubarak!  I hope that these last 30 days of Ramadan brought peace, granted prayers, community, and perspective to your lives.

Now as we go back to our eating throughout the day lives, I bring for you as an Eid gift, lobster macaroni and cheese. You're welcome.

Disclaimer: It's not healthy.  It's an indulgent, rich, little ginormous bowl of happiness with three kinds of cheese, butter, and lobster.

I was feeling kind of fancy, and I was also fasting, so naturally, I was like, lobster mac n' cheese. Ha, just kidding. I don't even really like lobster! So to say this craving was random, is an understatement.  Lobster is amazing with cheese by the way, even if mixing seafood with cheese is a foodie faux pas.

I figured since I haven't eaten even a quarter of my daily calorie intake since 5am, we could have this for dinner.  This is my logic when I am not eating all day.

To make dinner even more extravagant for a Thursday night, we had it with steak. Sometimes we just have to celebrate a regular ho-hum day with a special meal.

This dish takes some love and good (aka slightly expensive) ingredients.  Please don't use the blue box and add lobster.  It would be blasphemous. Also, if you can find it, use the mini bow tie. Just makes it even FANCIER.  To help with cost, try to grab lobster tails when they are on sale and get the cheese from the deli if they have it available.  You can just ask for a nice chunk that you can take home and shred instead of buying a whole block of cheese for $8-$10 in the refrigerated section of the store.  I even had quite a bit of cheese left from all 3 after I used what I needed. So cheesy omelettes are coming my way for breakfast!

You can have still have champagne tastes on a  beer water budget!

Lobster Mac N' Cheese

serves 2-4
3/4 pound noodle of choice (mini bow tie was mine)
2 cooked lobster tails, chopped into pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup Gruyere, shredded (I used smoked)
1/2 cup Wisconsin Medium Cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup Fontina, shredded
Cayenne
Red Pepper Flakes
Garlic Powder
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles in boiling water until al-dente and drain.

Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat up milk.  DO NOT BOIL! Just get it really hot.

To make the cheese sauce, heat butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Once melted, add flour and whisk until the flour smells nutty and is light brown in color.

Slowly whisk in the hot milk until it's thick and smooth. Now this is important! Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 30 seconds.  Add ALL the amazing cheese in small batches, stirring in between to make a smooth sauce.  Add the seasonings to your liking and taste. I would drink this with a straw if I could...

Pour the sauce over the cooked and drained noodles and combine.  Stir in lobster pieces.  Throw this beautiful sight into a baking dish, sprinkle the panko crumbs all over the top and stick in the oven until you see the cheese bubbling. Mmmmmm bubbly cheese...should take about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Creamy Dreamy Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

This post is dedicated to my husband, who will always be a lover of chicken alfredo from Olive Garden.

Before trendy, farm-to-table, let me milk this cow in our backyard farm for your cream sauce, hipster restaurants were the norm, chain restaurants reigned king.  The Olive Gardens and Outback Steakhouses of our childhood have a special place in our hearts, and sometimes you just want the comfort of hot garlic breadsticks and the brown bread, or creamy alfredo sauce that can only be found in these family friendly restaurants.

Although, I no longer frequent the chains as often as I did growing up, sometimes I just want a fresh basket of cheddar bay biscuits.  Who can't eat a whole basket of these gems?

Every year, husband picks a couple dinners for me to make during his birthday week, and every year, it is the same two things, pot roast and chicken alfredo.  So instead of taking him to Luby's or Olive Garden, I make these things for him from scratch. I am realizing that as I type this, I have a spoiled husband with no fault but my own...I love to cook, and he loves to eat. In my eyes, it's a win-win.

I suggest you make this chicken alfredo on a night where you just want to stay at home in your pajamas and make something special for yourself, instead of going out. Do not attempt to make this a healthy recipe by using the cauliflower recipe. I repeat, don't use the cauliflower alfredo recipe. Pinterest may make it look pretty, but the picture is deceiving.  Unless of course, you like a gritty texture cream sauce, then by all means...

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

serves 4
2 large cooked and seasoned chicken breasts, butterflied and sliced
1 cup raw broccoli florets, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper
sea salt
chopped parsley
16 oz fettuccine noodles

Cook your fettuccine according to package instructions until al-dente.  Once drained, toss with a little olive oil.

As fettuccine is cooking, heat a saucepan over medium heat and melt butter. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook until the garlic is fragrant and not burning.  Slowly add heavy cream and milk.  Heat through.  Add parmesan cheese and whisk until cheese has melted and sauce is smooth. Add lots of black pepper and just a dash of salt to taste.

Add sliced chicken, broccoli and parsley to the sauce. Let all of this heat through and come in harmony, and then toss with your cooked fettuccine!

Enjoy!

Baked Vanilla Bean Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

What had happened was...I ordered a donut pan on Amazon.  So, I made these baked donuts, dipped them in chocolate, and sprinkled them with goodness. And a Sunday morning was made.

Donuts were always a weekend treat growing up, and they still are. I am partial to the chocolate glazed with walnuts, and as you can see in the picture, I made sure to make my favorite.  I especially love vanilla bean anything because of the tiny flecks of vanilla beans that show up through anything it is used in, like vanilla bean ice cream, vanilla bean frosting, vanilla bean cupcakes, and these vanilla bean donuts!  Vanilla bean just adds a gourmet sweetness and touch to everything.  

Obviously baked donuts are not the same as their fried, yeasty counterparts, so I can't even compare. These baked donuts are great on their own merit.  They were pretty much tiny vanilla bean cakes with holes in the middle with chocolate drizzled on top.  Maybe we can call these a little healthy.  Maybe.  I mean, are they still considered healthy when you eat 3 (aka 4)?

I see myself making these pretty often, maybe taking turns with Sunday morning pancakes.  I really want to try some lemon poppyseed donuts with a lemon zest glaze. Or maybe lemon poppyseed pancakes with a lemon zest syrup! Or, dare I, both!

Definitely make these if you own a nifty donut pan!

Vanilla Bean Baked Donuts

1 cup all purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk (any)
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 large egg
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 vanilla bean pod, scraped (use a sharp knife to cut down the middle of the pod and scrape seeds out with a spoon or butter knife)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:

1/4 cup milk (any)
1 1/2 cups powdered/confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
Assorted donut toppings, optional

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.

For the donuts: whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Whisk the milk, yogurt, and egg together until smooth. Add the melted butter, vanilla beans, and vanilla, whisking until fully combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be very thick. 

Spoon the batter into the donut pan.  Or you can do what I did, take a ziplock bag, pour the batter into the bag, and cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling 2 ∕ 3 –3 ∕ 4 of the way full.  This way was much easier!

Bake for 9–10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow the donuts to slightly cool before glazing on a cooling rack. Once the donuts are cooled a bit, they're easier to dunk in the glaze. Mmmmmm, glaze.

For the glaze: combine the glaze ingredients in a medium saucepan over  low heat. Whisk until the glaze is smooth. Remove from heat, and begin dunking the donuts, one by one, into the glaze.  Transfer each donut to a wire rack over a baking sheet to catch the glaze drippings.  If you have extra glaze, you can dunk each donut again to make it EXTRA glaze-y...

Sprinkle with any toppings you wish, or devour them plain jane!  Either way, they are fantastic little donuts to be relished on a Sunday morning with your coffee.  

Enjoy!!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps & Sesame Veggie Noodles

Oh Monday, the beginning of me working towards another weekend!  I put together a pretty great dinner plan through Thursday and I'm super excited for it.  It's pretty heavily Asian inspired.  Maybe I'll go with this and have a weekly theme...maybe. I always have a million ideas, much like my dad, but not equal amounts of follow through.  The flaw of a creative mind. We're dreamers and mind wanderers.  I'm the girl who wants to be a geneticist, a cook, a food truck owner, music festival vendor, bakery owner, event planner, a travelling foodie couple, and the list goes on, all in my lifetime.  Possible?  Perhaps.  But right now, as I sit in my bed, I'll be a blogger for half an hour and entertain you with my tangents.

Today I made a relatively quick and healthy meal, using pantry staples, and lots of veggies that I'll mix and match through the week.

Most of you probably hear lettuce wraps and think appetizer.  At least that is what the hubby thought we were having.  But I think lettuce wraps can be made into a complete meal just by adding a side dish!  I threw together some sesame noodles with veggies in a wok and served alongside these tasty ground chicken lettuce wraps.  I didn't make a dipping sauce because I was lazy.  Sorry! These were great without a sauce though!  Saved calories, so you're welcome. I'm sure a dollop of plain greek yogurt would be great on these if you need a little saucy-ness!

Just like the majority of my other recipes, feel free to use whatever ingredients you have on hand for veggies, meats, and toppings!  I hope I can provide you a somewhat basic "template" of doing things and you can use your creativity to make it your own!

Since we are on the subject, if you make any of my recipes, please take a picture and tag me on instagram with #liveloveatrepeat.  It would make my day to see my recipes being prepared by all of you!  You can also follow me @liveloveatrepeat on Instagram and "like" my page on FB.  Okay done with the promoting, but thank you, seriously.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large portobello mushroom cap, diced
1 lb ground chicken
1 tbs minced ginger
3 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbs chili garlic sauce
fresh crack black pepper
minced cilantro
romaine lettuce leaves
shredded carrots
thin sliced cucumber
thin sliced radish

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic! It happens pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it.

Add diced mushrooms and saute until softened.  Add chicken, ginger, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and a lot of black pepper.  Keep breaking up the chicken and brown.  Once chicken is almost cooked through, turn up the heat to evaporate the liquid. Top with cilantro.  Taste and add any additional seasoning you feel it needs.

Assemble the wraps by using the "cupped" side of the lettuce leaf, spooning on chicken, and topping with carrots, cucumber, and radish.  Chomp away!

Enjoy!
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Sesame Veggie Noodles

Ramen noodles (I just used some packets my mom in law keeps in the pantry and only used the noodles)
Sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (discard seeds and/or ribs depending on spice level)
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 yellow squash, diced
1 roasted potato, quartered and diced (leftover potatoes from night before)
2 stalks green onions, large slices
2 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
fresh cracked black pepper
1 tbs sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and drizzle with just a little bit of sesame oil to avoid sticky noodles.  Let sit in the colander to dry thoroughly.

Heat a wok over medium heat, add 1 tbs of sesame oil.  Add garlic, onion, and the sliced serrano peppers, and saute until the veggies have softened. Add zucchini and squash and cook until softened. Add potatoes and heat through for a minute.  Add dried noodles, green onion, soy sauce, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Toss and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Some of the noodles may stick to the bottom.  Feel free to add more oil, but I figured a few lost noodles were worth not risking "greasy" noodles.

Season with more soy sauce if needed.  I kept the seeds and ribs in my peppers, so the noodles were quite spicy, but in a good way :)

Enjoy!!

Barbacoa Tacos

I've never met a taco I didn't like.  I think tacos may be my 2nd favorite food after pizza, really. Soft, crispy, puffy, vegetarian, and meat filled, I love them all! So it's no surprise that I quickly began craving tacos once I came back from my trip to North Carolina,  mostly in part by the fact that I had some bomb ass mini barbacoa tacos at a baby shower! Homemade, straight out of a dutch oven, topped with crispy slaw, and wrapped in a tiny little flour tortilla. Super adorable and extra easy to eat way more than one.

A hunk of roast made it quickly onto my shopping list, along with slaw, onions, and smoky chipotle peppers. I started the roast with a sear in the pan and let it do it's thing in the slow cooker.  The barbacoa is spicy and smokey from the different peppers and so tender from hours in the slow cooker.  The tangy and crispy slaw is perfect for these tacos, topped with cool, greek yogurt and creamy avocado.  Oh my gosh, yum.  Make these!

Barbacoa Tacos

(feeds an army)

1 tbs olive oil
2 lbs roast
sea salt
coarse black pepper
1 medium onion thinly sliced
2 large dried peppers (sold in bulk bins and are shriveled up dried red/black looking peppers)
3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped
2 tbs minced garlic
1 cup chicken stock
juice of one lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Slaw:
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup ready made coleslaw, no mayo
3 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 tbs water

Toppings: slaw, sliced avocado, Greek yogurt, limes

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a skillet.  Dry the roast thoroughly and sprinkle all sides with sea salt and black pepper patting it in.  Place the roast in the skillet and do not touch!  Let it get a good sear and then flip for the other side.  Make sure to sear all sides of the roast.

As the roast sears, add sliced onions and dried peppers in crockpot.  In a blender, blend the chipotle peppers, jalapeno pepper, garlic, lime juice, and chicken stock.

Add seared roast on top of the onions and dried peppers.  Pour chicken stock mixture over the roast and place lid on slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, the roast should be falling apart tender.  Shred the meat with a fork and get it all in the sauce, add chopped cilantro, and continue on warm as you get the fixings ready.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slaw:

Toss red onions with coleslaw, red wine vinegar, sugar, and water.

We had our tacos on fresh made wheat tortillas, and all the toppings listed with a sprinkle of cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Enjoy!!

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup) & Curry Brown Butter Grilled Cheese

Oh myyyyyy, flavor explosion in my mouth!  A hot bowl of spicy, rich coconut soup served alongside bomb-diggity grilled cheese using brown butter seasoned with curry powder.  One of my absolute favorite dinners ever.  Sometimes I just need to give myself a pat on the back.

Please make this tomorrow.  Granted, you must like thai food and cheese and butter.  I mean, cheese. CHEESE.

I almost always order a bowl of Tom Kha from this Thai restaurant in Houston and eat it up with rice.  It's great Thai style comfort food.  I grew up eating my mom's chicken soup with fried rice mixed in and people thought it was weird.  It's not weird.  Don't make people feel weird about what they eat.  Back to the soup, Tom Kha is full of flavor from the lemon grass, ginger, and red curry paste.  There's no need for salt or black pepper in this recipe. I used the curry paste as a cheat because I could not find the galangal and kaffir lime leaves that give this soup it's signature taste.  The red curry paste includes these two ingredients.  Granted, I could have made an extra stop to the Asian market on my way, but I didn't want to.  All the ingredients listed in this recipe can be found at your grocery store.

Feel free to omit the chicken from the soup if you would like to make the soup vegetarian.  Add some extra veggies like sliced red bell pepper, or snap peas, or even tofu to make up for the chicken.  It's a great flavorful soup with an added richness from the coconut milk.  Use fresh ingredients and a good chicken stock. Or vegetable stock.  I adapted the recipe for the soup from Bon Appetit, best foodie resource ever.

Instead of rice, I decided on grilled cheese because cravings.  I upped the ante on the grilled cheese by making a batch of browned butter seasoned with curry powder that was used to coat the inside and outside of the sandwich.  I'll probably use the leftover butter to make my eggs tomorrow morning.  Butter is a good fat.  I hope you all know this.  Moderation is key.

Tom Kha Gai (adapted from Bon Appetit)

2 stalks lemongrass, woody leaves discarded, cut into large chunks

1 in. piece of ginger, peeled, cut in half
1 thai pepper, sliced in half lengthwise
zest and juice of 3 limes
4 cups chicken broth
1 lb. sliced chicken breast
oyster mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbs Thai red curry paste
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (full-fat)
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
cilantro, chili oil, lime wedges (garnish)

Bring to a boil the chicken broth with the lemongrass, ginger, thai pepper, lime zest, and lime juice.  Once boiling, bring down the heat and allow the broth to simmer for 15 minutes.  This will allow all the good stuff to get infused in the broth.

Drain the broth through a sieve/colander into another heat proof bowl.  Discard the chunks.  Carefully transfer the broth into the pot and place back on the heat.

Add the sliced chicken and bring the broth back to a boil.  Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and curry paste and let all of this simmer for 30 minutes so the flavors come together.

Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar.  Allow this to simmer for a few minutes.  Serve hot with cilantro, lime wedges, and chili oil.  Enjoy!

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Curry Brown Butter Grilled Cheese

4 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp curry powder
4 slices sourdough
4 slices Muenster cheese

In a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add butter, let it melt and foam up. Begin whisking continuously until the butter takes on a dark yellow tinge and smells nutty. Once you see the brown bits appear, add curry powder and whisk for 15 seconds. Take the saucepan off the heat and continue to whisk.  

Using a brush, brush on the seasoned butter on one side of all the bread slices. Or use a spoon to drizzle on the slices. Add 1 slice of cheese to each slice of bread. Assemble the sandwiches. Brush one side of the bread with the browned butter and grill over medium heat until crispy. While the buttered side cooks, brush the top of the sandwich with butter. Flip and cook other side until crisp and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!