Cafe Brazil - Holiday Menu

Yesterday, Miss A and I were invited by Hopsy to attend a lunch at Cafe Brazil to preview their holiday menu. I love all things pumpkin, so when I saw that the menu had pumpkin pancakes AND pumpkin cheesecake I could not wait to sample their new dishes.


We were all given sample size portions of their new holiday dishes - pumpkin pancakes, bananas foster french toast, creme brule french toast and s'mores latte or cocoa.


Miss A's favorite dish was the pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter.... and I have to say, I agree with her. They were delish.


Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter

Bananas Foster French Toast

S'mores Hot Cocoa

Pumpkin Cheesecake

So, if you are in the Dallas area and in the mood for some holiday type breakfast food, head on over to Cafe Brazil and try their new holiday menu!

Hey Good Lookin.... What Ya' Got Cookin

Miss A and I made some yummy Halloween treats for her Preschool teachers and Sunday school teachers. This bark recipe has been floating around the blogosphere so we decided to give it a shot. I am not the biggest fan of candy corn, so I made one tray with candy corn and another with Reece's Pieces instead of candy corn. And then I sprinkled sprinkles all over the top.




Doesn't this make your mouth water?

The recipe is super easy - sprinkle Oreo pieces, pretzels, candy corn/Reece's Pieces/M&M's, etc all over a cookie sheet and then cover everything with melted while almond bark. If you want, you can then top the bark with a little more candy and sprinkles. Let harden and then break up into pieces.

And now onto the main course.

Creamy Pesto Bow Tie Pasta

I have to admit, I completely stole this recipe off the back of a Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup can. It was fast, easy and pretty tasty. I used my homemade pesto, but the store bought stuff would also be great. The next time I make this I am going to toss in some red pepper flakes to give it a little kick. Also, I baked the chicken insteasd of cooking it in the skillet.

2 tablespoons butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup pesto sauce
1/2 cup milk
3 cups bow tie pasta, cooked and drained

1.Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.

2.Stir the soup, pesto sauce and milk in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the pasta and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

**New pictures on Baby M**

Fried Fair Food

As we were walking into the fair today there were people handing out samples of shampoo and conditioner. Granted, I love me some hair products, but they should have been handing out samples of heart burn medication.

Especially when you eat an assortment of fried foods and Diet Coke for the entire afternoon.

Have not made it to the Texas State Fair this year? Or are you wondering what exactly you would eat at the fair?

Well......

Fried Frito Pie

Fried Texas Caviar

Funnel Cake

Fried Grilled Cheese

Fletcher's Corny Dog

Tornado Taters

Chicken Fried Bacon

Fried Chocolate

I think the Fried Frito Pie was my favorite. Followed closely by the Fletcher's Corny Dog. Can't go wrong with Fletcher's. The fried chocolate was basically a gooey brownie and the fried bacon did not live up to my expectations. I love bacon, but this had too much fried batter covering it.

And, let me just say.... I did not eat entire servings of all of this food. Most of these things I just had bites. Had I eaten all of this food, I would be one sick puppy.

Weekend Roundup

We had a pretty great weekend... how about you? As always, it went by quickly, but we had a great time. One of my very best friends was in town for the weekend, so we had a wonderful time just spending time together.

She got in town late Friday night and we spent the evening catching up while drinking wine on our patio. It was perfect.

And then on Saturday she was able to partake in our Saturday morning family tradition - donuts, coffee and Diet Coke at the neighborhood donut shop. This shop has the most delish donuts - light, fluffy and the perfect amount of glaze. Ahhh.... I could eat them every. single. day, but I only let myself indulge in this goodness on Saturday mornings. We have made a couple of friends at this shop and we always look forward to running into them on Saturday mornings.

After that, we went to a local farmers market. They had fresh bread, homemade pasta, organic cupcakes, Texas olive oil and tons and tons of produce. We decided to buy most of the ingredients for our dinner at the market - it was fun to see what we could come up with. We ended up making a pasta dish that we all loved. Garlic basil pasta with spinach, bacon, tomatoes, basil and olive oil. We also had to get a loaf of the jalapeno cheddar bread.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the mall and enjoying a baby free day. The Mr. stayed home with Miss A, so we were able to spend the majority of the day shopping without having to deal with strollers and sippy cups. It was a nice little break.

And then we came home and whipped up this little masterpiece using our loot from earlier in the day. Mix in a bottle (or 2) of wine and it was a perfect day.

I just finished watching the Emmy's and now I am about to crash.

And that was my weekend.... how was yours?

Playing in the dirt

Last summer I caught the gardening bug. I love to be out in the sun, playing in the dirt, watching something grow from a little seed.... plus, it is fun to eat what you grow! Last year I only did basil, rosemary and sage, but this year I have added all sorts of other plants. In addition to my assortment of flowers and such, I am growing a variety of veggies and herbs - tomatoes, jalapenos, green and red bell peppers, mint, basil, cilantro, sage, parsley and dill.


I have all of the veggies growing along our side yard.

There are also a couple of basil plants over there. I love basil so much, I grow lots and lots of it. And, we have food!

In the backyard, I have the majority of the herbs. I started all of these seeds off in small biodegradable pots and then transferred them to larger pots.

I spruced up the pots by painting and labeling them with the name of the herb.

Now, I won't have to worry about mixing up the cilantro for the parsley.... or making a pesto sauce with sage. And, it serves a practical purpose - keeping Jake out of the flower bed! I planted zinnia seeds a while back and I am just waiting for this area to be alive with color. Unless that dang dog destroys everything first.

**New pictures on Baby M**

Hey Good Lookin... What Ya' Got Cookin?

My go to meal is chicken pot pie.... If you are sick or have a baby, you can assume I will bring you one. My family loves it, so I thought I would share the recipe.

Let me first say, that although this uses canned vegetables and cream of potato soup, I still consider this homemade. Just because I did not chop up all the carrots and celery and make my own white sauce, it is just as homemade as one of Ina's recipes. And it is delish, if I say so myself.

2 - 10 3/4 oz cans Cream of Potato Soup

16 oz can of Veg All (drained)

2 cups diced, cooked chicken

1/2 c milk

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp pepper

1 package pie shells or make your own crust!

Combine first 6 ingredients. Spoon into prepared pie crust (in shallow 2 qt. casserole.) Cover with top crust, crimp edges to seal. Slit top crust. Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 375 for 40 min, until crust is golden brown. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

This morning I tripled the recipe... one for us and 2 for friends that just bad babies - Kate and Lincoln. Notice the K and L??? Also, when I make this for friends I always make it in a disposable aluminum pie tin. The last thing a new mom needs to worry about is returning a dish.

Enjoy!

Food Revolution

My latest celebrity chef crush - Jamie Oliver.

I have become addicted to his Food Revolution show and I LOVE what he is doing with the school lunch system - our kids are eating some serious crap. He has a great message and a great accent. I want to read his Food Revolution book.... Did you see when he did the chicken nugget demo? AWFUL.

I cook all the time for us and lately I have been even more concerned with additives and preservatives in our food.... You always hear to shop the perimeter of the grocery store - I am really trying to stick to it. Our grocery bills are a little higher, I have to grocery shop a little more frequently, but I know that we are eating healthy stuff.

This afternoon I even downloaded Jamie Oliver's iPhone app - 20 Minute Meals with Jamie Oliver. Looks like there are some pretty tasty recipes and he has beat Rachel Ray by 20 min. Take that RR!

My favorite recipe is one that I can make for dinner, and then eat cold for lunch the next day. This generally involves a whole wheat pasta with some veggies and feta. What is your favorite fast and healthy recipe?

Hey Good Lookin.... What ya' Got Cookin?

When the weather gets hot, I like to eat lighter food. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies.... grilled chicken... nothing too heavy or greasy. I know it is not hot just yet, but I am already getting into summer cooking mode.



I was at the grocery the other day and came across some yellow cherry tomatoes.... I had no idea what I was going to make with them, but they were too delicious to pass up. I decided to make some creamy tomato basil soup - kind of like the kind you get at La Madeleine - but yellow. And completely fresh.

I added a couple roma tomatoes into the mix because they were on sale.

All of the tomatoes chopped... approx 7 cups total.

I then added 6 cups of my homemade chicken stock and 1 small can of tomato paste.

Simmer for 30 minutes.

Puree with a couple handfuls of basil. I had to do it in a couple of batches. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Return to stock pot and add 1 stick of butter and 8 oz of heavy cream. Whisk the soup while the butter melts. Let simmer for a minute or two.

Bright yellow soup!

Serve with wine, sourdough bread and some cantaloupe. Enjoy!

I plan on buying more of these sweet yellow cherry tomatoes and making a couple more batches of this wonderful soup... or maybe some sauce. Or some salsa. Baby A even liked the soup!

**New pictures over on Baby M**

I can feed myself!

This post is for all of the momma's out there. I need food advice.

Miss A is at the stage where she hates for me to feed her. Pushes my hand out of the way and gets pretty annoyed with me. Sometimes she will let me feed her yogurt, but other than that she feeds herself.

And this is great! We can go out to eat and not have to bring food for her. She even ordered off the kids menu last week. (Chicken and cheese quesadillas at Tin Star. Yum.) But I feel like I need to add some different foods into her diet. I always make sure she gets a protein, fruit/veggie and a grain, but she needs some more variety.

She is a great eater and will eat almost anything, so tell me what your little one ate at this stage. Not sure if this is important or not, but she is 11 mo old and has 8 teeth.

Cooking Christmas

This year, Santa was very nice to me. The majority of my gifts revolved around a cooking theme which is just fine with me.

This avocado pitter/slicer is a great gadget. I used it tonight for the first time and it made slicing the avocado a breeze. This will definitely be used a lot in our house.


I have yet to try out this Ebelskiver pan. What -- you have never heard on Ebelskiver pancakes? They are light and fluffy pancakes that are usually filled with jam. I also got the recipe book to go along with it. There is a wide variety of recipes -- from sweet to savory. I am getting hungry just thinking about them.

And today is New Year's Day... Happy 2010. Last night we celebrated NYE in a very responsible / parental kind of way. We had a family game night with some friends and were home in bed by 1. And as far as resolutions.... I am just going to aim to get rid of the baby weight. I think it is going to be the death of me.

***New pictures on Baby M ***

Casserole time!

Are you beginning to get in the holiday spirit? I am going to be totally honest and say that I have not caught the festive, holiday spirit yet. But thinking about food always puts you in the holiday spirit – right? Our family Thanksgiving meals are quite the spread. Everyone has their favorite side dish, and these ‘favorites’ seem to multiply each year.

The casserole baking dish gets quite the workout on Thanksgiving. And I LOVE it. I would much rather have my green beans covered in cream of mushroom soup and topped with fried onions…and I want the sweet potatoes baked into a creamy casserole that is covered in a delicious topping of crushed cornflakes, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. I have experienced a boring food spread and I have experienced the casserole spread.... Give me the casseroles!

Here is our family thanksgiving menu:

Cranberry fluff
Sweet potato soufflé
Mashed potatoes
Broccoli and rice casserole
Company casserole
Onion pudding
Corn soufflé
Green bean casserole
Stuffing

Ham
Turkey & gravy

Cheese rolls
Pumpkin bread

Apple pie
Pumpkin pie
Chess pie
Tollhouse pie
Pecan pie
Pumpkn toffee roll
Assorted cookies

Hungry yet? I feel like I have left something off....

I mainly eat the sides – who needs protein when you have a casserole?!?!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving side?

Image from Crate & Barrel

Do you do organic?

I have to confess, I could have cared less about organic foods a year ago. Ever since A came along I have been more interested in what we eat. I try buy our meat and produce at Sprouts and I always use a produce cleaner....meat and produce are our main organic areas. I am not as much concerned about the nutritional value of organic vs. non-organic, but rather all of the chemicals, pesticides and steroids that food comes in contact with.

Since i love to cook, I knew from the beginning I knew that I wanted to make A's baby food. Not only is it easy, but it saves money, you can make a lot at one time, and you know exactly what your little one is eating. I just steam or bake the food, toss it into the Cuisinart and then freeze in ice cube trays. Each cube is the perfect little serving. Just thinking about the chemicals that go into baby food makes me want to gag.

Wholesome Babyfood is a wonderful website that gives you lots of ideas and information on baby and toddler recipes. Right now A is eating peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potato, pumpkin, banana, avocado and oatmeal cereal. We are going to introduce apples this weekend. She is not a fan of the peas or green beans that I make, but she loves the Gerber Organics variety.

According to Health magazine, this is where you should splurge on organic:

Do you do organic?

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was a flurry of family, friends, baking, cooking, cleaning, laughing, and baptising! Baby M was baptised yesterday and afterwards we had about 25 of our closest friends and family over for a little shin-dig.

In preparation for the party, I spent all week making these little cake balls. Extremely time consuming, but totally worth it.

And I got to break out some of the wedding gifts.... loving the marble and silver cheese tray. And Nambe trays.... love.

For more pictures that actually include Baby M, head over to her blog. And you can admire the BEAUTIFUL gown that my mom made.

If I "know" you want and you invite to the Baby M blog, just let me know.....