Cajun BBQ Shrimp

Recipe from The Catholic Foodie

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion (finely chopped)

1 TBsp dried rosemary

1 TBsp dried oregano

4 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley (minced)

4 to 5 cloves of garlic (crushed)

kosher salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

Louisiana Hot Sauce, to your preference, optional

2 to 3 TBsp Worchestershire Sauce

extra pats of butter

4 lbs large/jumbo shrimp (16/20) count 

warm French bread (for sopping up the juice)

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter together with the olive oil.

Add the onion, rosemary, and oregano, sauté until the onion is translucent (about 8 to 10 minutes).

Add the garlic, sauté for an additional 2 or 3 minutes.

Then stir in parsley, add in the salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

Remove from heat.

Rinse the shrimp and arrange them in rows in a shallow baking dish.

Pour the sauce over the top and put the pats of butter on top.

Put the dishes in the oven and bake 30 minutes, making sure to stir the shrimp up every 10 minutes.

Serve the shrimp immediately in bowls with some warm French bread.

ENJOY!

Laissez les bons temps rouler

     This year for Mardi Gras I didn't get the kiddos all dressed up like I did last year, however they did wear the traditional colors violet which stands for justice, gold which stands for power, and green that stands for faith.  Then added some beads and some masks and they are ready!  So here's a little impromptu photo shoot of the kiddos!

I love this picture!

My silly boy

Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!

March Crafternoon

     It's another month and you know what that means......Time for us ladies to get together and craft at our monthly Crafternoon!  This month my friend Elizabeth hosted and she found some fun for all of us to do!

Since, Margarita Day had just passed we wanted to celebrate it!

She made a yummy spread of chips & salsas, 

avocado ranch with veggies, 

some Skinny Girl Pomegranate Margaritas, 

and I brought some Margarita Cupcakes!

For this month's craft, she found these cute Origami making kits.

I have never done Origami, so I was really excited!

Here's the first one I attempted, The Horse!

It took me awhile, since it was a "medium" difficulty, which I didn't notice at the time....

guess I should have started with an easy instead. Oh well.

Here's one of the easy ones, The Pig.

Then I tried another hard one, The Owl.

This one was my favorite!

The kits came with all the papers, instructions, and these cute backgrounds for picture taking.

So here's my Origami Farm...

My friend Marisa did these undersea creatures!

Elizabeth folded up the Whale and I did the Flounder...

Here's the other two I did, The Love Bird and my Owl.

This was a simple yet very fun craft!

Looking forward to see what is in store next month at Marisa's house!

Margarita Cupcakes

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

What you need:

Cupcakes-

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

zest and juice of 1 1/2 limes

2 TBsp Tequila

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Glaze-

1 to 2 TBsp Tequila

Frosting-

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1 TBsp lime juice

2 TBsp Tequila

Pinch of coarse salt

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 325˚F.

Line muffin tine with cupcake liners, set aside.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium, add the eggs in one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract, and tequila.

Mix until combined (the mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but will come back together)

Reduce the mixer speed to low.

Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.

Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until slightly golden, and when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

Allow cupcakes to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 Tbsp of tequila.

Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

To make frosting, whip the butter on medium-hight speed of an electric mixer for 5 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium-low, gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated.

Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.

Add the lime juice, tequila, and salt, mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy.

(If the frosting appears too soft, add some more powdered sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached.)

Frost cupcakes, garnish with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of coarse salt, and a lime wedge, then ENJOY!!

A Piece of Chocolatey Heaven

Recipe from Desserts for Breakfast

What you need:

Cake-

3 cups sugar

3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

2 1/4 tsp baking soda

3 eggs (room temperature)

3/4 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cup hot coffee (I used decaf)

Frosting-

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

7.5 oz unsweetened chocolate (finely chopped)

12 TBsp unsalted butter (room temperature, cut into small pieces)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How to make it:

Cake-

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Grease, flour, and line the bottoms of three 8" round cake pans.

In a bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, set aside.

In a separate bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs a little, then add in vegetable oil and milk, stir to mix.

With the mixer on low, pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix on low until evenly distributed.

Pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix on medium-low until smooth (the batter with be soupy).

Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Frosting-

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and heavy cream to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture for 6 minutes (be careful NOT to let the saucepan overflow)

Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate and butter until they have completely melted.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Let the frosting cool completely, whisking every now and then during the cooling.

Once completely cool at room temperature, frosting will be spreadable.

Stack the cakes, spreading a layer of frosting in between each cake layer.

Frost the outside of the cake, garnish with sprinkles.

Slice it up and ENJOY!

Asian Wings

Recipe from Just a Taste

What you need:

2 1/2 lbs chicken wings (drumettes and wings separated)

1 TBsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp Chinese 5 Spice or other Asian spice blend

1/3 cup Hoisin sauce

1/4 cup blackberry jam

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Rinse wings and drumettes, pat dry.

Transfer to a large bowl and toss with vegetable oil and Chinese 5 Spice until well coated.

Position wings on baking racks in a single layer ensuring that wings are touching.

Bake rotating pan half way through, until fully cooked, about 45-50 minutes.

Remove wings from oven and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small sauce pot, whisk together the Hoisin and blackberry jam over medium-low heat until warm.

Drizzle sauce over wings, tossing to coat well.

Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Dr. Seuss Day

     This past weekend the kiddos and I celebrated Dr. Suess Day (Theodor Seuss Geisel's Birthday)  and National Read Across America Day with lots of fun Dr. Seuss inspired treats, books, and crafts.

     

I found most of these whimsical surprises at last year and 

kept them hidden in mommy's secret stash.

The Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts I found on Amazon and the books

I got at Target on sale!

Looks like the Cat and his Things brought some surprises!

There they are...The Cat in the Hat & Thing 1 and Thing 2

Liam opening his special gifts

Kinley liked all her presents too

I had so much fun making a special Dr. Seuss inspired Breakfast for the kiddos!

A stack of Cat in the Hat Pancakes and Fruit

plus some Green Eggs and Ham!

The kiddos enjoying their yummy breakfast!

After breakfast Liam started on his My Book About Me by Me, Myself and Dr. Seuss

While Kinley got creative with the stickers

For lunch I was inspired by One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Liam had fun eating all his fishes!

Later that day the kiddos had a little snack and watched The Lorax

(Well, Liam saw the whole thing, Kinley sat down for a whopping 5 minutes

then was up and going going again!)

I also made these cute "Green Eggs & Ham" snacks!

At the end of the day, we all had a great time.  It was so much fun celebrating a true writing genius!

I grew up reading Dr. Seuss and enjoy sharing his stories with my kiddos!

I will end with these 5 Life Lessons according to Dr. Seuss!

Nutella Donuts

Recipe from Cooking Classic

What you need:

Donuts -

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

1 TBsp unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp light brown sugar (packed)

1/3 cup Nutella

3 TBsp unsalted butter (softened)

1 large egg (room temperature)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Glaze -

1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)

2 1/2 TBsp Nutella

4-6 tsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Toasted chopped hazelnuts or sprinkles for topping.

How to make them:
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Spray donut pans with non stick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, set aside. In a separate bowl of an electric mixer on medium-low speed, whip together the sugar, brown sugar, Nutella, and butter until well blended, about 20 seconds. Stir in egg and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula and working in three separate batches, add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with half of the milk, mixing until combine after each addition and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Divide the batter among prepared donut pans, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 7 -9 minutes or until a took pick inserted into the donut comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes, then run a butter knife around the edges to loosen, then invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp Nutella, milk and vanilla extract until smooth. Either spread the glaze over the donut or dunk to coat one side. Top with sprinkles or chopped hazelnuts. Allow glass to set at room temperature, then ENJOY!

Friday Foodie Favorites: Kraft Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

     I know it's been awhile, heck...it's been a LONG time since I posted one of my yummy food discoveries.  So here it is.  I recently discovered this tiny tasty treats, Kraft Jet Puffed Mallow Bits!  They are really good by them selves or on top of ice cream or in some hot cocoa, or even better in these yummy Rocky Road Cookies I baked up!

Check out these yummy Rocky Road Cookies!

Recipe from The First Year Blog

What you need:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

6 TBsp  cocoa powder (sifted)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)

1 egg (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

1/3 cup toasted almonds (I used pecans instead)

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla, mix until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture, mix unit flour disappears.

Stir in the chocolate chips, mallow bits, and nuts.

Scoop cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until cookies are set around the edges, but still soft in the center.

DO NOT over bake!

Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes.

Move to cooling rack and cool completely and ENJOY!