Tag: homemade food

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Let's Get Cooking

Fall Eats

Hello all! I hope you are all having a great week. As I mentioned before, I love the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving as a time of rest and recuperation before the busy time of the holidays. As the days get colder and shorter and sometimes gloomier, I like to remind myself of all the warm and bright things going on and things to look forward too.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve really enjoyed baking on my days off. From soup, to cookies, appetizers and desserts, it’s been so fun to try new recipes. If you are looking for new things to try, Pinterest is a great place to start or you can check out cookbooks at the library too.

Here’s a few recipes I enjoyed making:

Baked brie-I enjoy brie for a tasty appetizer before a meal or on its own. Whether you enjoy it by itself, cold with crackers, apples or grapes, or warm, there’s so many ways to enjoy it. Here’s one recipe I found on Pinterest. You take a sheet of crescent dough and place your brie inside and then add jam on top of the cheese. I prefer raspberry jam, but you can do whatever you enjoy. Once you add your jam, wrap the rest of the crescent around it and bake at 350 degrees until the crescent is golden brown (about 15-20 mins). Add some pecans and honey for flavor on top and serve! I enjoy serving mine with crackers, bread, or apples.

Apple Crisp-Another tasty fall dessert to make that is super easy and as a bonus, your home will smell divine. Simply slice apples and put in a slow cooker for a few hours with some cinnamon. I typically put it on high for three hours and then let it simmer. Once you are ready to serve add a scoop of ice cream. A warm and tasty dessert that’s perfect for fall.

Apple Crisp

Peanut Butter Cookies– If you are looking for a quick and tasty dessert that doubles as an activity, then baking cookies is a perfect solution. Here’s my go-to recipe for peanut butter cookies. If you want to add some extra sweetness, consider putting a chocolate kiss or part of a Hershey bar on top.

Peanut butter Cookies

​​Ingredients

½ cup of peanut butter

¼ cup of shortening

¼ cup of butter

1 1/3 cup of flour

½ cup of sugar

½ cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

½ teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of baking powder

                     Directions

1) In a bowl beat peanut butter, shortening and butter with an electric mixer until softened.

2) Add half the flour, the ½ cup of sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda to peanut butter mixture. Then stir in remaining flour.

3) Shape dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Use fork to add sugar and make crisscrosses.

4) Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

5) Serve!

These are just a few recipes that are great for fall. From desserts to appetizers, consider trying one of these for your next weekend project. What have you been enjoying cooking or baking recently? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy cooking!

Categories
Fabulous living

Valentine’s Day and Gift Guide

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week’s are moving along well.

I have a two for one today as we are talking about Valentine’s Day which is next week!

Today’s post is a mix of gift ideas and date ideas for you and your sweetheart if you are celebrating a day filled with love on Monday.

Let’s start with gift ideas. 

Valentine’s Day Gifts

You can always go for a box of chocolates or something sweet and flowers. As someone with a big sweet tooth, I would love a big box of chocolates, but if you want to be a bit more creative, here’s some ideas.

-An Experience

If you want to combine gifts and a date in a gift, maybe splurge on an experience or an activity. It can be anything from tickets to a show (movie or concert) or a favorite sporting event (it’s Hockey season!) to maybe a unique date like wine tasting, candle making or a painting night. This gift allows you both to spend time together and do something a little more special or fun that you may not typically do during your date nights. 

-A Memento 

This gift allows you to flex your creative muscles. Maybe try getting your significant other a memento from your relationship. This can be as easy as getting a new frame and printing some of your favorite pictures to put inside. Maybe you saved a special receipt or a hand written letter, consider framing them. Another idea is adding a few keepsakes to a scrap book or even make up a memory box to put some of your favorite memories that make you think of the other person.

-A “Couple” Favorite Things

This is another fun gift idea, put together a little box of gift of some of your favorite things you both like to enjoy. This can be your favorite candies, snacks, or drinks, maybe a favorite movie or activity or a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant or a place that you went to on a favorite or memorable date. Put it all together and gift it. This allows you both to enjoy something together and enjoy some things you have grown to love together. A perfect walk down memory lane together.

Date Ideas

-Home Cooked Meal

I always love this as a date idea. This date allows you and your girlfriend or boyfriend to enjoy a more relaxing night at home and avoid the craziness and crowds of restaurants. Maybe try a new recipe or meal together, you can bond in the kitchen and can enjoy a delicious end result. To make it extra special, use some nice plates and dishes, light some candles and set the mood for a dinner date for two.

-Night on the Town

Even if you have to work during the day, enjoy the big night after work. You can enjoy a favorite spot to eat at or try a new spot to make it special. Then head out to enjoy the rest of the night, whether it’s with a show or maybe a walk in a park or even a drive. . As fun as it is to enjoy the actual day, to avoid the hectic-ness of Valentine’s Day, maybe head out to celebrate the weekend before or a few days after to enjoy a quiet night.

– Day Trip

Even if you don’t celebrate the day of, plan a day trip to either someplace new or a favorite place that holds meaning to you both. During the winter months and being coped up for so long, it’s exciting to try something new and head out for a day trip. Start the day early and get some snacks and hit the open road, set a destination, and make some stops along the way. It doesn’t matter where you end up, what matters is the journey and the memories you make along the way.

These are just a few ideas to enjoy Valentine’s Day. Whether you like to go all out or like to keep it low-key, what’s most important is showing the people in your life that you love them. And yes, these ideas work just as well for a girl’s night out too!

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Let's Get Cooking

Let’s Get Cooking: Southwest Chicken Salad

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is off to a good start. As we embark on a new year, it’s time for some new and fresh content. Every year when I work on my blog, I always like to add new pieces and content. The closer I get to living on my own, the more I like to try out new foods and recipes. Get ready for some fun recipes that I plan on making and adapting. 

One of my favorite types of food or meals to make are ones with things I already have at home, not only is it resourceful since you aren’t wasting food but it’s also a creative outlet with cooking. 

This week’s recipe is Southwest Chicken Salad. This is so easy to make. I started with making some barbecue chicken. I just make regular chicken breasts and put barbecue sauce on top and cook them. Pretty simple, right?!

Southwest Chicken Salad

As far as the salad goes I start off with a simple garden salad. I added lettuce, celery, and onions. I then had little bowls for all the sides, but if you like them all you can just put it in the large salad. In smaller bowls I put black beans, corn, cheddar cheese, and taco chips. I also had dressing like Ranch and French available for toppings. 

All the ingredients

For my meal I added salad with black beans, corn, chicken, chips, cheese and dressing. 

This meal was fast and easy to make. I had all the ingredients in my fridge and it was very filling and healthy. I  was even able to have leftovers for other meals. 

This meal will definitely be on rotation for my meal planning. I can’t wait to learn more meals and share them with you too. 

What are some of your favorite go-to meals?!

Categories
Fabulous living

Fall Recipe-Apple Crisp

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and your week is off to a great start. Last week I shared my fall bucket list and one of the things on it was make a fall recipe. When I was home last week for fall break, I made one of my favorite recipes, homemade apple crisp. It is so flavorful and warm for fall. I am sharing how to make it today.

Before

What You Need:

6 large apples

1 and 1/4 cup of Sugar

1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

1 cup of Flour

1/4 teaspoon of Salt

2 Tablespoons of Butter

1 Egg

1 teaspoon of Baking Powder

The original recipe

First slice all your apples and place them in a pan or dish that has cooking spray on it.

Then mix your 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon and mix that with the apple mixture. 

The sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon

Combine your flour, salt, butter, eggs, and 1 cup of sugar and mix thoroughly. Then spread over apple mixture. 

The completed mixture

Once your mixture is complete place in the oven for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. 

After it’s done in the oven, take it out to cool.

I like to serve mine heated with caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. There is so much flavor and it’s a warm dessert for fall, plus you don’t feel as guilty since you are eating apples. Haha! This is an easy dessert to make for family or friends, it’s simple to put together and easy to serve. All things I am looking for when I am cooking or baking.

Coming out from the oven

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe, I will have more recipes coming soon. Have a great week!

Ready to enjoy!

What are some of your favorite fall recipes to cook or bake? Do you prefer apple flavored things or pumpkin flavored things?

Categories
Fabulous living

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

Hey guys! Happy Tuesday! 

I don’t know about you but I LOVE a good recipe to kick off my week. Back by popular demand I will be having more of my favorite foods on the blog in the next coming months. This summer my go to order whenever I was out was seafood tacos, whether it was fish tacos, shrimp tacos, or even lobster tacos…I loved mixing my two favorite foods of seafood and tacos together! After I ate and tried A LOT of tacos this summer, I decided to make up my own version of shrimp tacos.

  • Lobster roll
  • Fish tacos
  • Shrimp Tacos
  • Lobster flatbread

This is a light and flavorful meal, that can be assembled in less than 15 minutes depending on the prep. It was perfect for summer but still could be enjoyed in the early fall or even late spring. Plus, making this recipe now reminds me of the carefree days of summer!

Here’s what you need:

White flour tortilla shells

Grilled shrimp (for extra flavor)

Salsa (I love the peach salsa for something extra fruity)

*Lettuce

*Tomato

*Cheese

*Sour cream

*Guacamole 

*all of these are optional for extra flavor

Homemade Shrimp Tacos

To Prepare:

To begin you need to prepare your shrimp. I typically buy a frozen bag of shrimp and use it when I need it for a recipe. I begin to thaw it the night before I need it, then in the morning I boil them in a pot full of water with sea salt until they turn a light pink, typically between 12-15 minutes, once they are cooked to my liking, I drain the water and rinse them with cold water before storing them in the fridge with a few fresh cut lemons for flavor. 

Now, if you prefer to just have shrimp that’s not grilled you can begin to assemble your tacos, but I personally like extra flavor, so I remove the shrimp from the fridge and season it with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. I mix in a bowl with shrimp and olive oil.  Then begin to grill them for a few minutes into the are golden brown.

Once they are done on the grill, it’s time to assemble the tacos. I personally like a few pieces of shrimp, peach salsa, and a pinch of cheese. 

Who doesn’t love a flavorful taco?!

If you want a healthier version, ditch the tortilla and make a shrimp salad with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and shrimp. 

In retrospect, I should not have been writing this post when I am craving shrimp tacos and can’t make them at the moment. But, if you are a seafood lover or loves to try new tacos then this is the recipe for you!

What’s your favorite meal that’s fast and easy?