April 29, 2012

Freezer Meals: Egg Muffins


Another Pinterest-inspired success!  I was looking for something I could make for quick breakfasts as an alternative to cereal.  My inspiration came from a post on Mama and Baby Love for quiche-like egg muffins that could be frozen for individual quick breakfasts.  This sounded perfect!  I also liked it because it didn't require exact measurements and it is another easily modifiable recipe, depending on what ingredients you have on hand.  Of course, I had to try one after they were done and I am thrilled with the results.  It is delicious! Here is a brief breakdown of the steps.


In a mixing bowl I combined 12 eggs, some milk, 1/2 tsp of salt (the only thing I did measure), pepper, some shredded cheddar and queso cheeses, and about 6 slices of cooked bacon that I had chopped into small pieces.  Like I said, everything was just eyeballed/estimated except the salt.



I then divided the mixture into a muffin pan that I had sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  This step is VERY IMPORTANT!!  Once divided into the pan, I baked at 350 for 20 minutes.



This ended up being the perfect amount of cooking time for our oven.  You will want to check and make adjustments to your own cooking time as needed.  After sitting for a few minutes, they were cooked through very nicely.  Because of spraying the muffin tin, all I had to do was slide a knife around the edge to loosen, and they popped right out, fully intact.



 Delish!!



 After they had cooled somewhat, I put them all on a baking sheet and into the freezer.  Then they will be individually wrapped/bagged.  I have not tried reheating one yet, but the recommendation given by Mama and Baby Love is to pull them out the night before to thaw and then give them a quick reheat in the microwave or regular oven if you prefer.

So now I'm thinking about all the variations you could make with this recipe.  Sausage, ham, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, different cheeses, etc.  I can't wait to try more combinations with this recipe.  Enjoy!

April 23, 2012

Pinterest Recipe Success: Baked Chicken and Spinach Flautas



First, I apologize for the crappy cell phone pic.  It definitely does not capture how delicious these flautas were!  So, I finally got around to trying one of the maaaaaany recipes I have pinned over the last several months. Yay! I'm happy to report it was a success!  The recipe is from Healthy. Delicious. blog.  They were a little time intensive, but that could be because I had to stop halfway through to feed/change baby.  Yeah, that was probably why!  I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, but I had to use fajita-size tortillas instead of burrito-size fajitas cut in half.  It still turned out wonderfully.  There were 11 fajita tortillas in the package and it was enough filling for all of them with a little left over, just FYI.  Anyway, they were wonderful and M loved them too.  They had a nice crispness for being baked, and they were spicy without being overly hot.  I had scraped away all seeds and membranes from the jalapenos so the heat was minimal.  You could definitely leave some of that in if you prefer something spicier.  I just chose to sprinkle with hot sauce after the fact :)  Still delicious!  Here is the link the original recipe I pinned.   Enjoy! :)

April 1, 2012

That Is Some Awesome Fried Chicken!



It's not very often that we attempt to make fried chicken.  In fact, this may have been the first attempt at real fried chicken.  Needless to say, my expectations weren't all that high.  I tried to find the easiest recipe I could.  To our amazement, it turned out great!  So I want to share the crispy goodness with all of you.  I found the recipe at RealSimple.com.  Please, if you get a craving for fried chicken, do yourself a favor and head over there to give this a try.  Super easy and very tasty!


Ingredients
    1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    1 1/2 cups flour
    1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1 cup buttermilk
    vegetable oil
      Directions
      1. Pat the chicken dry. Combine the salt, flour, black pepper, and cayenne in a large, shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Set aside for about 15 minutes. Pour the buttermilk into a second shallow bowl. Dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then again in the flour mixture.

      2. In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (preferably cast iron), heat about 4 inches of vegetable oil over medium heat until the temperature registers 360° F on a deep-fry thermometer.

      3. Carefully place the chicken in the oil, using tongs. (Add the pieces slowly, so that the temperature does not drop, and work in batches to avoid overcrowding.) Fry the chicken until golden brown, turning once, 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. Check for doneness by piercing the meat; the juices should run clear.

      4. Drain the chicken on paper towels set on a wire rack. If desired, the cooked chicken can be kept warm in an oven set on low.

      First Blog!

      Okay, so it only took me until 2012 to start a blog.  After Myspace (hehe), Facebook, Youtube, Tumblr,  Pinterest, and whatever other social networking havens were popular at the time.  And really, Youtube and Tumblr only came about as a way to share pics of baby Nicholas in an easier format with family.  So, here I am.    I think I recently realized that we are in the midst of some major changes for our little family.  Not just the addition of N, but also career changes and life changes.  Things are already chaotic, but I think we are approaching warp speed soon... and what better way to capture all the craziness (and preserve my sanity simultaneously) than to blog it?!  I hope this can be an outlet for venting, a place to share neato things that I find, family updates, and many more awesome bits as time goes by.

      Oh, and if you are not on Pinterest, you will need to seriously think about joining because I have a feeling there will be many Pinterest-related posts!  And it's just really cool.