mango salsa... and taco night

taco night is epic at our house. I am known for my obsession with condiments, so we always have about 8 different types of sauces or dips whenever we do mexican food.

Here is an easy, and all-time favorite at our house.

mango salsa

taco night!

guacamole

cilantro lime sauce

yum.

Mango Salsa
2 ripe mangos, peeled and chopped
1 avocado, pitted and chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

Throw all the ingredients together in a bowl, and stir well. Serve right away or let the salsa sit for a couple hours so flavors blend.

toasted coconut cake

toasted coconut cake with homemade vanilla cream icing

birthdays are the best.
especially 30th birthdays for my sister in law. Over the holidays, we got to throw Danielle a surprise 30th birthday party. It was a great night... My oldest brother played bartender, my sister was the DJ, and by the end of the night, my entire family busted out into a dance party in the middle of the living room. It was grand.
We had a huge assortment of appetizers and snacks, and did a toasted coconut cake with homemade vanilla cream icing. So good.

yum. let's eat cake.

toasted coconut cake:
box of duncan hines vanilla cake mix.
1 cup toasted coconut
Follow the directions on the back of the box and mix in toasted coconut. Pour batter into 3 greased round cake pans. Bake until set in middle. Remove cakes from oven and let them cool completely. Meanwhile, make the icing.

homemade vanilla cream icing
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
6 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups toasted coconut
Cook flour and milk in a saucepan until so thick that you can't stir it. Let it cool.
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth. Add milk mixture and vanilla and beat for about 8 minutes, or until very thick and creamy.

Place 1/3 of icing on 1st layer of cake. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of toasted coconut. Repeat layers, adding the extra coconut to the top of cake. Top with sliced strawberries.

{almost} the best thing i ever ate

a london fishcake... so amazing.

I was in London during the month of December. London gets a bad reputation for their food... but I have to say I was remarkably impressed with their cuisine. I practically ate my weight in clotted cream and scones, inhaled ridiculous amounts of shepherds pie, and fell in love with their assortments of chocolates and treats.


On a lovely Saturday afternoon, I went to a darling french cafe with a friend Toby. While there, I ate one of the most delicious things ever... It was called a Fish Cake, and was drizzled with Hollandaise sauce and on top a bed of baby spinach. It was all topped with a poached egg. They cake was crab, salmon, and all other kinds of phenomenal. I don't think I am going to attempt to recreate this masterpiece. Un-believable.  

honey rum chicken.

honey rum chicken

Roommate dinner is back.
I have MISSED them.
Seriously, I have the best roommates ever, and though I was gone for only two weeks, it felt like so much longer.
After countless stories, and lies about the happenings of the past few weeks, we sat down to a great meal of honey rum chicken. Its so easy, and fast, and warming for the winter.

honey rum chicken
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 large carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tablespoons Honey
1/4 cup rum
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon Italian seasonings.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Coat the bottom of a 13x9 pan with 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
Arrange the chicken in the bottom of the pan.
Toss the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour over chicken. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. It may be a good idea to shake the pan halfway through to evenly distribute juices.
Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5-7 minutes. 

This is a great dish served with rice. 

honey and banana crunch pancakes.

honey and banana crunch pancakes

back to breakfast.
always.
it's my thing i guess.

honey and banana crunch pancakes:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons honey
2 sliced bananas
2 Cups Honey bunches of oats cereal, crushed slightly

Blend all the ingredients except for bananas and cereal.
Heat skillet, pour half cup of batter onto the skillet and top with sliced bananas and cereal. After golden and bubbly, flip and cook for about 2 minutes on the other side.
Serve with a honey glaze (2 Tablespoons honey, 1 cup powdered sugar, milk to desired consistency)

with a scrambler

glazed with a honey sauce

easy cinnamon multigrain coffee cake

cinnamon multigrain coffee cake

Holidays are foodie times. Here is an easy brunch recipe to throw together last minute for family guests or Christmas morning.

crumbly

with homemade icing

easy cinnamon multigrain coffee cake: 
2 cups multigrain pancake mix 
1/2 cup melted butter 
2 eggs 
2/3 cups brown sugar 
2/3 cups milk


Mix all ingredients and place in a greased pie pan. 
 

1/2 cup butter 
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats


Mix all ingredients until crumbly. Pour over coffee cake.


Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Top with a homemade glaze. {powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon butter, and milk until desired consistency}

roasted potato salad

We had a lot of leftovers from various Thanksgiving dinners. As I was  meandering through our refrigerator for ingredients for roommate dinner, I stumbled upon some leftover roasted potatoes. I re-tossed them in a bit of olive oil, added some spices, and made them into a delicious side salad. Easy, and so far from wasteful.

roasted potato salad:
5 cups spinach
Two cups roasted potatoes
chopped carrots
chopped celery
chopped onion
chopped cucumbers
Sesame soy vinaigrette from Trader Joes

Divide all the ingredients, except potatoes, evenly among five salad bowls. Broil the potatoes until golden and crispy. Evenly distribute among salads. Drizzle each salad with sesame soy dressing, or dressing of choice. This makes a great side salad. Add chicken or beans for extra protein.

egg stars

I am all over Pinterest. I love it. Its the best for gathering and collecting ideas. I found this idea on while browsing, and am sure it will become a regular in my book. It's a great recipe for the winter, because they kind of look like stars... A good Christmas brunch idea?

Eggs cooked in pepper rings. Made for a lovely Friday morning breakfast with the girls.

egg stars:
1 Red pepper, or any color really, sliced in 1/3 inch slices
5-6 eggs
salt an pepper

Heat a skillet and spray with cooking spray. Lay the pepper slices flat on the skillet. Break and egg into each slice, and cook until desired consistency. I tend to like the yolks a bit more runny, but you can cook them until solid if so desired. Serve with toast, or a croissant, or chocolate swirled french toast.
Breakfast is honestly the best.

white artichoke pizza

Roommate dinner always consists of using whatever we have laying around in our kitchen. These week was one of our last roomie dinners for a while, as I left Saturday to spend December in London. We had a leftover container of asiago artichoke dip left, so we go creative and made a white artichoke pizza. So amazing, and seriously so easy.

 white artichoke pizza:
1 premade pizza dough
1/2 container of artichoke dip (ours was artichoke asiago)
1 jar of artichoke hearts
2 cups cheese
1/2 onion, sliced thinly

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Slightly dust a pizza stone with cornmeal
Spread the pizza dough out to make a 12" circle.
Top with spread, onions, artichokes, and finally cheese.
Bake at 400 for 12-14 minutes or until pizza is golden and edges are browned.
Remove from oven, let it cool for 2 minutes, then slice with a pizza cutter.

parmesan sweet potato crisps

parmesan sweet potato crisps

It is {still} the season of sweet potatoes. 

I think I eat {at least} one a day. I'm literally enthralled by them.

I might even place them in my top five most favorite foods.

Here is an easy and great recipe to throw together as a great side, appetizer, or simple snack.

parmesan sweet potato crisps

1 large sweet potato, sliced thinly

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp melted butter

2 Tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 425. Grease a large baking sheet.

In a shallow bowl, mix parmesan, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and butter.

In another shallow bowl, pour the milk.

Dip the sweet potato slices in the milk, and then in the crumb mixture, coating lightly. 

Place in a single layer on the cookie sheet. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden and crispy.

Serve warm.

the perfect side dish

line in a single layer on a cookie sheet

candybar fudge swirled cupcakes

candy bar fudge swirled cupcakes

With a group of girlfriends on a Tuesday evening, we had the chance to celebrate a dear friend. For her birthday, I was running short on time, so I threw together some candy bar fudge swirled cupcakes with cake mix from a box, red piped frosting, and leftover chopped halloween candybars. They were a hit.

with red piped frosting

the perfect birthday treat

candy bar fudge swirled cupcakes.

1 box of fudge swirled cake mix (I used duncan hines)
Ingredients that the cake mix calls for (eggs, oil, and water)
1 tub of frosting (I used red)
Plastic ziploc bag
4-6 chopped candy bars (I used reeses and butterfingers)

Make the cake mix according to directions. Fill cupcake holders 3/4 full and swirl. Bake according to directions on box.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely.
Place the frosting in a ziploc bag and cut off a 1/4 cenimeter off one corner. Pipe the frosting onto the cakes in a swirled fashion. Top with candy bar pieces, pressing lightly to make sure they stick.

Hooray for birthdays.

stuffed squash boats

stuffed squash boats.

I love roommate dinner. Mostly I love my roommates and I love any excuse to spend time together. We have this produce store near us called Stanleys. It is the best because it carries every type of produce you can imagine, and their prices are unbeatable. I always walk out of Stanleys, loaded with colorful assortments of goodness, and excited about trying new recipes. For this dinner we made stuffed squash boats. They are a halved squash loaded with flavorful fillings. Beyond health and color, they are simply fun to make, and eat. 

color!

stuffed squash boats

2 yellow squash

1/4 feta

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 sour cream

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 peanuts, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp italian seasonings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the squash in half length-wise and scoop out seeded portion into a separate bowl. Thinly slice a piece of the bottom of the squash off, so that it will lay flat on a cookie sheet.

Place the four-halves on the greased cookie sheet.

In the bowl with the scooped out squash, add remaining ingredients and mix together. Spoon evenly into the 4 "boats" and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until squash is tender and tops are golden.