Garden Time!

 

I can't believe it is garden-time already! Could that picture get any cuter? My youngest son cracks me up! It is funny (or should I say sad?) how the older my kids get, the less they want to hang out with me. I knew those days would come but I am sad they seem to be coming sooner than I expected. Everyone wants to be with their friends and the only one left wanting to hang out with Mom is my not-so-baby Blake. What would I do without his smiley face and chubby cheeks with me all the time? Sadly, I know his day will come too when friends will out-win Mom, but for now, I enjoyed a morning in the garden with my little buddy ;) Don't you love the humongous sun hat he is wearing? I bought this to help shade my burned skin and it has become a favorite of mine...and my kids. They think it's an umbrella and like to stand under it by me. It sure makes gardening a little more doable.

 

Well, I have been a little lazy and am a week late for planting my garden. However, it was good to be back up digging in the dirt again. I am still a HUGE fan of the garden boxes we made a couple of years ago. Weeding takes literally 15 minutes and with a little tilling of the dirt with a rake, I was ready to plant in just a short few minutes. I spent $50 at our local IFA store and I was able to buy/plant several different kinds of pepper plants, tomatoes, egg plants, green cabbage, spinach, lettuce, green beans, bell peppers, sweet peas, butternut squash, banana squash, strawberries, zucchinis (TONS--I love zucchini!), yellow squash, broccoli and herbs. The great thing about planter boxes if you plant the different vegetables, set your sprinkler to water regularly, all you to do is wait patiently for everything to grow. I don't do anything from now until harvest season. The dirt creates the magic and helps things grow quickly and well! If you want more info about what type of dirt combination I used in my garden boxes, visit this post for lots of tips ;)

 

(Don't you love his backwards shirt? It looks like I should spend less time in the kitchen and more time teaching my son how to dress himself ;)

 

If you are new to gardening, don't be afraid. Start small. There is no need to be discouraged. You can grow anything from fresh herbs in a pot, to a couple plants along your house or on your deck in a flower pot. I promise, once you begin having fresh produce from your own yard, you will be addicted! I am far from having a green thumb...like I said, it takes a little kick in the pants to get me out there, but once I have my plants in the ground, the rest is easy. Having a garden is a great way to help your monthly food budget stretch in the summer months. With a $50 investment (once you have the boxes built) you will reap BIG money-saving rewards later in the year. Happy gardening!

 (If only the obnoxious weeds around the garden boxes were as easy to pull as the ones inside! I guess that will have to happen another day.)

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Orange Rosemary Carrots

I am always on the look out for simple side dishes to spruce up our meal times around here. My kids eat so much food I am forced to make side dishes along with our main meal. Especially when a meal has a lot of meat like the delicious meatballs from yesterday. I need a way to fill my kids up and give them a little more nutrients and good old' healthy stuff ;) These carrots are my solution several times a month as our favorite side dish. These are not your everyday steamed carrots. They actually have flavor...and lots of it at that. They are sauteed in butter, garlic, rosemary and a little sweetness from orange juice and brown sugar. Together it makes for a delicious combination and a great way to get your kids to actually eat their vegetables! Enjoy!


Orange Rosemary Carrots
1 lb. baby carrots
3 T. butter
2 T. shallots or red onions, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. brown sugar
1 T. orange juice concentrate
1 t. rosemary
Salt & pepper to taste
1 T. fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)
Dice the shallot or red onion into small pieces. Place the butter in a saute pan with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic to the pan. Saute until the onions are tender. Add the carrots to the pan and stir. Add the brown sugar, orange juice concentrate, rosemary and some salt & pepper. Stir together and then place the lid on the pan. Let the carrots cook on medium-low heat for 7-10 minutes, or until they are tender. Once the carrots are cooked through, but still firm, sprinkle with fresh or dried parsley for color.

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Teriyaki Sesame Meatballs

So, it seems that the past few weeks I have been on a Mexican-kick since coming back from Cancun. We have practically eaten Mexican nearly every day and I can hardly get enough of it's cheesy, spicy goodness. Today however, I decided to branch out of my Mexican-rut and made a little Asian to swtich things up a bit. I had a batch of teriyaki sauce in my freezer so I decided to throw some Teriyaki Meatballs together. Serve these meatballs over sticky white rice and this is a meal all kids will love! My kids gobbled these up and I had to hurry and put a couple aside for lunch tomorrow. They were sweet, have a little kick and the saltiness of the meat makes for a great combination. If you want to always have teriyaki sauce on hand and are too cheap to buy it by the bottle at the store, just double this recipe and keep some in the freezer for another meal (you know...like these Gorgonzola Teriyaki Burgers that are to die for!!!). It's much less expensive and tastes better than anything you can buy at the store!


Teriyaki Sesame Meatballs
Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 t. sesame oil
1 c. water
1/2 t. fresh ginger, ground
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
Mix all of the ingredients together except for the 1/4 c. water and cornstarch in a medium to large saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 c. cold water and dissolve. Add mixture to the sauce pan. Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness. Add water to thin the sauce if it becomes too thick.
3 stalks green onions, sliced (garnish)
Sesame seeds (garnish)
3 c. cooked sticky rice


Meatballs (You could use pre-cooked meatballs from Costco if you are in a hurry):
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 lb. spicy pork sausage
1 t. paprika
1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning (or salt & pepper)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 medium red onion, chopped fine
Dash cayenne pepper
2 T. teriyaki sauce
Make one recipe for the teriyaki sauce (above). Begin cooking the rice. For the meatballs, dice the onion into small pieces. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ground beef, sausage, onion and the remaining ingredients until well combined. For the meat mixture into 1 1/2-2 inch in diameter meatballs. Place the meatballs into a large saute pan and heat to medium-high heat. Let the meatballs cook until the bottom side of each meatball is cooked and dark browned. Turn meatballs over and cook the other side, about 5-7 minutes. Once the meatballs are mostly cooked through, pour the teriyaki sauce over the meatballs and let them simmer until the rice is cooked. Serve the meatballs and sauce over sticky rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

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Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Many of you are familiar with our favorite corn bread recipe. To me, there is nothing really better. However, my sister the other night made a Jalapeno Cheddar version of our cornbread and they were the tastiest muffins around. You have the sweetness of the cornbread with the spicy jalapenos and the melted cheese and it was a match made in heaven! Ever since then we have loved these muffins served with any of our favorite Mexican dishes or soups. These muffins are amazing dipped in a spicy tortilla soup or served along side some pulled pork. No matter what you serve them with, they will be a hit with your whole family!

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. butter

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. cornmeal

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon salt

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

8 oz. bag frozen whole kernal corn

1/2 cup jalapeno peppers, diced in small pieces

1-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, diced in small cubes

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients. Pour batter into a greased 9x9 pan or this batter will make 12-18 muffins. Bake 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (time will vary depending what pan you cook these in--the muffins will be more like 13-15 minutes, or until light golden brown on top). This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9x13 for approximately one hour if you prefer.

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Spicy Strawberry Mango Salsa

Strawberry season is in full bloom and I just can't enough of them! If you are watching the ads carefully you can get a pound of strawberries for anywhere from .99-$1.25 a pound. Our family has loved throwing them in smoothies, topping our desserts with them, putting them in salads, eating them with yogurt and cereal in the morning, or just eating them plain by the handful. Strawberries are definitely one of my favorite fruits. They are not only delicious and sweet but they are so cute to look at! I love their deep, dark red color and how beautiful they look in many of my favorite recipes. This Strawberry Mango salsa is no exception. I know it sounds strange, but this salsa is super fresh, tangy and has that sweet/spicy flavor that I love so much. Serve this salsa with regular tortilla chips or you could make cinnamon chips (by buttering a tortilla, sprinkling with cinnamon and sugar, cutting into triangles and then baking until light golden brown). This salsa makes for a great appetizer or a fun side dish to any summer parties or dinner's this year. Enjoy :)

Spicy Strawberry Mango Salsa
1 lb. strawberries
2 tomatoes, chopped (you can leave this out if you prefer)
1 large mango
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 whole jalapeno, minced (seeds removed if you like less heat)
Juice of 2-3 limes
2 T. honey
Dash of Tabasco
Red pepper flakes (if you want more spice)
Prepare and chop the strawberries, tomatoes and mango into very small pieces. Place them in a bowl with the chopped cilantro, minced red onion and the chopped jalapeno pepper. Add the juice of the limes and the honey and stir well. If you want more spice, add more Tabasco, jalapenos or red pepper flakes. Serve immediately with tortilla chips. Best the day you prepare the salsa.

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Strawberry Cupcakes & Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you wonderful women out there! This is a great time of year to take time to give a special thanks to all of the amazing women in our lives who influence us for good, and help us be the people we are today. I know I will be eternally grateful for my own Mother and all of the inspiring and loving women I am so blessed to be around on a daily basis. I love you all!

I am sure many of you are busy putting together gifts, purchasing cards and getting some delicious chocolate together for a present. If you are like me however, it will be Saturday night and I will have procrastinated most of those things and will most likely make something homemade for my Mother and Mother-in-law. In the end I always enjoy something homemade anyway better than store bought, so hopefully they are okay with that :)

My dessert of choice this year is going to have to be these delicious strawberry cupcakes. Now, over the past several years I have tried to master the art of cupcakes. Let's just say I won't be making it on Cupcake Wars any time soon! The number of cupcake pictures and recipes I have invented and thrown out is hilarious! I seem to never get the cake to be the right texture or the frosting to hold up to a pretty piped topping. This is until I met my friend Ellen. She is an amazing cook! The other day she brought me over a plate of these cupcakes (below). They were the prettiest cupcakes I have ever seen! Not only that, but the frosting tasted like a mousse that was SO good I had to eat EVERY cupcake on the plate (I'm not kidding...sick, I know!) After eating almost all six cupcakes (well, at least the frosting off the top anyway) in a few hour period I decided I had to try and recreate her frosting recipe. Now, she is such a great cookbook she is going to publish a cookbook one day and so her frosting recipe is top secret. So, I had to do a little research and I think I found one that was pretty darn close. I knew hers had flour and milk in the beginning steps, so I was hoping I came up with one similar. I did bring her a cupcake and she was quite impressed with the results ;) So, this frosting recipe is definitely a keeper! The best part about this frosting, besides the taste, is it can hold up to a pipping job on a cupcake. It can hold stiff peaks (because it is made with flour), although it is able to stay light, airy and the perfect textured frosting. Give your frosting making skills a new twist and try this decadent strawberry frosting on any of your favorite cakes or cupcakes ;)

Strawberry Frosting

5 T. flour
1 c. milk
Place the milk and the flour in a sauce pan and whisk together until smooth. Turn heat to medium heat and whisk continually until mixture is firm and thick, about 4-5 minutes. Be careful that the flour does not burn or cook too high. Remove the mixture from the heat and add 2 t. vanilla. Whisk and then place a piece of saran wrap on top of the mixture and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture is cold. Once the mixture is cold, pour the mixture into a mixing bowl (or Bosche/Kitchen Aid mixer). Beat for 1-2 minutes to soften the flour/milk mixture. Then add:
2 sticks of slightly softened butter
Beat until smooth and then add:
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
Dash of salt
Beat for 7-8 minutes, or until frosting is completely fluffy and soft (the longer you beat, the better).

If you want a strawberry flair, add 2-3 fresh strawberries that have been smashed. Continue to beat. Place frosting in the fridge until ready to frost on a cake or cupcake.

 This frosting is also great in a puff pastry! Here is our recipe for eclairs that can easily be adpated into a puff pastry shape and pipe the frosting inside the middle.

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Simple Tres Leche Cake

A couple days ago I blogged about a homemade Tres Leche Cake. It was a delicious recipe from America's Test Kitchen. However, there are times I don't have time to make a cake from scratch, and to be honest I can never get the texture quite as light and airy as I would like. I will have to keep working on mastering the perfect homemade cake. Until then, I decided to try a simplified version of a Tres Leche Cake and my family loved it! The flavor was still just as moist and rich, but the cake was much lighter and not as dense. If you are wanting a simple way to make a delicious Tres Leche Cake, give this recipe a try. Enjoy :)

Simple Tres Leche Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 can evaporated milk
1/3 c. butter, melted
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
Mix together and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes, or until center of cake comes out clean with a toothpick. Set cake aside for a few minutes to cool and then poke with a fork or skewer all over cake, about one inch apart.

While cake is cooking, combine together the following:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. evaporated milk 
1 t. vanilla

1 c. heavy whipping cream (or Cool Whip)
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Mix the above ingredients together and pour this milk mixture over the cooked cake. Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. When ready to serve, whip the one cup of whipping cream into stiff peaks. Add powdered sugar and spread over the cold cake. When ready to serve, spread whipped cream (or Cool Whip) over the cake.Serve with fresh berries and/or berry sauce.

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Authentic Black Beans

Along with the Cochinita Pibil in Mexico, they always served black beans that had so much flavor and were so much better than any you can get in a can here at home. I realized I was making a mistake when I make beans at home, that I serve them too dry and draining the bean juices looses a lot of the flavor. It makes sense that this sauce is what gives the beans so much flavor. I decided I much prefer the soft, moist beans in Mexico than the dry, pasty ones here at home. After a week in Mexico the black beans ended up being some of my favorite dishes. Fresh cooked black beans in a homemade tortilla was a highlight of our trip to Cancun! I can't stop dreaming about their food..it was SO good! It works out that we came back to Cinco de Mayo week. I think we have had Mexican nearly all week. That's a good week!!

 

Authentic Black Beans
2 lbs. dried black beans
2 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped and seeds removed (unless you like more spice)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. salt (plus more when serving)
1 T. cumin powder
Juice of 1 lime
Place the dried black beans, water, chopped onions, jalapeno, garlic, cumin and salt into a crock pot.  Turn the crock pot onto low heat and cook 8-10 hours, or until beans are completely soft. If you don't have 8 hours, you can cook on high heat for 5-6 hours. Once the beans are soft, you can season the beans with extra salt, pepper and squeeze with a fresh lime. Serve in burritos, as a side dish, a chip dip or turn into a simple black bean soup and garnish with cheese, sour cream, etc.

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Americanized Cochinita Pibil (Seasoned Marinated Pork)

 
 In honor of Cinco de Mayo I wanted to share one of our favorite recipes we had in Cancun. We ate this dish several times during the week we were there and were in love with the flavor! In fact, on our airplane to Cancun a couple people told us that we MUST eat Cochinita Pibil once we got there. We laughed when the first resteraunt we went to had that on the menu. We were thrilled to order it and were not dissapointed! After returning home I have researched several different recipes and it seems the unique flavor we were tasting was coming from the annatto seed. Now I have to admit I haven't searched very hard for this seed, but was so anxious to try this recipe I just left it out. I found some recipe online that gave some suggestions for substitutions but I will be making this again and trying to find the annatto seed. In Cancun the pork was a really pretty dark orangish-red color and that is caused from this seed. However...even without this spice, it was almost a perfect recreation. The citrus in the marinade and the spiciness of the habbaneros was just what I remembered!

The flavors of this pork are totally different than a Cafe Rio-style pork. This dish is full of more spice and very savory, not a lot of sweetness. Because this pork is marinated over night the cooked pork falls apart and is super tender. My picture doesn't do it justice because we ate this pork for several days before I got around to taking a picture. Once I did, all that was left was the small, shredded pork pieces instead of the large beautiful strips. So, just imagine this pork with large, tasty pork shreds and you will have a pork that will whisk you away to the Carribean! In Mexico they served this pork in corn tortillas with fresh guacamole and salsa (could it get any better than that?!?).

Americanized Cochinita Pibil
5 lbs. boneless pork chops or roast
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 jalapenos or habbaneros, chopped
1 red onion, chopped fine
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 Tbls. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbls. cumin
1 Tbls. paprika or annatto seeds (ground into powder)
2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbls. chili powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. coriander powder 
For tacos:
Corn tortillas
Fresh Guacamole
Fresh salsa
In a food processor (or by hand) chop the red onions, jalapenos and garlic into small pieces. Place the chopped onion/pepper mixture into a large bowl or tupperware. Add the reamining spices and orange/lemon juice and whisk together. Place the pork loin (but roast works great or pork loin) into the marinade. Make sure all of the pork is covered and then cover the bowl with saran wrap or a lid. Marinate the pork overnight or up to 24 hours. When you are ready to cook, place the pork and marinade into a large slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker to high heat and cook for 4-6 hours or on low heat for 8-10 hours. Check the pork after the minimum hour of cooking time and if the pork does not fall apart, cook for another hour or two. You want the pork to shred easily and be completely tender. Once the pork is cooked, leave in the juices and shred into large pieces. Serve the warm pork in corn tortillas with fresh guacamole and fresh salsa.

Here is a picture of the pork loin in the marinade. Keep overnight to ensure the flavors all meld and give your pork lots of great flavor!

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Tres Leche Cake with Strawberry Topping

 The other night my family and friends got together to watch a video we put together of our trip to Mexico. It's a tradition that when we get home from a trip we all get together to eat the food we enjoyed on our trip. One of my favorite desserts in Mexico was Tres Leche Cake. The one in Mexico had almost a meringue frosting which was really fun and different but I couldn't find that recipe anywhere. So...I went for the next best thing and I found a recipe from America's Test Kitchen. You can't go wrong with any of their recipes and it was amazing! The only thing I found is the milk mixture made a lot! I love soft, moist cake but I was afraid it would turn soggy, so I reserved about 1/2 cup of the sauce and the cake was perfect! If you're not afraid of a lot of moisture, use it all. The other thing I added was in Mexico they would serve their Tres Leche with a fresh fruit topping. I loved this part! It gave the cake a little more dimension and added a little tang of flavor. If you don't have time to make a fresh fruit sauce, just use homemade jam or mashed berries. With the fresh strawberries on top, this dessert is perfect for any spring/summer get together!

Tres Leche Cake
Strawberry topping (optional--you could just use homemade strawberry jam):
1 2/3 c. strawberries, pureed or mashed (fresh is best)
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. lemon juice
2 t. cornstarch
Simmer on a low boil for several minutes until thickened. Set aside and cool.
Fresh strawberries, sliced (for garnish)

Tres Leches Cake (Americas Test Kitchen)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the milk mixture: Pour condensed milk into a medium-large sauce pan and turn on medium heat to simmer milk. Careful not to burn milk, but let slowly simmer until the milk is slightly darkened and thickened, 9 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in evaporated milk, 1 cup cream, and 1 tsp vanilla. Let cool to room temperature. This is an important step or your milk mixture will be too runny! You want the condensed milk to become pretty thick. Be patient because it takes a few minutes to get there (about 9-15 min.)
For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Heat butter and milk in a small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted; set aside off heat.
With electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs in large bowl for about 30 seconds, then slowly add sugar until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until egg mixture is very thick and glossy, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly mix in melted butter mixture and 2 tsp vanilla. Add baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add flour slowly in three additions, scraping down bowl as necessary, then mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.
Using skewer, poke holes at 1/2-inch intervals in top of cake. Slowly pour milk mixture over cake until completely absorbed. Let sit at room temperature 15 minutes, then refrigerate uncovered 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
For the frosting: Remove cake from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat 1 cup heavy cream,powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla to soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Frost cake and slice into 3-inch squares. Serve. (The assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.).

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