Sweet Cornbread

     I got to hang out with my mom in Ocala for a few days this week!  I helped out with St. John's superhero VBS! Luckly we were blessed by the school board providing the kids with breakfast and lunch all three days!  Hallelujah! That made my job a lot easier, I made a little lunch for the adults. Wednesday I decided I was going to make chili and cornbread! In all of the excitement, I forgot to pick up jiffy corn muffin mix! Luckly, mom had some cornmeal on hand and I set out to make some sweet cornbread from scratch! This recipe is going to be my new go to! Pastor Christine said it was the best cornbread she's ever had!! That is some pretty high praise!

Sweet Cornbread 

Ingredients: 

- 1 cup of flour

- 1 cup of cornmeal

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 3 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder 

- 1 teaspoon salt 

- 1 cup of milk or half & half 

- 1 egg 

- 1/3 cup of oil (I used olive oil)
- 1 (14 ounce) can of whole kernel corn, drained

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the corn and pour batter into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

    Boy oh boy, we needed the rain that we got this week! It's going to be a hot and dry summer in Florida. I woke up early on Tuesday morning and cleaned the dust off the ole' crockpot! It was pouring rain as my chicken chili simmered away for a few hours. It has just enough kick! We really enjoyed this recipe!

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

- 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast

- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder

- salt and pepper to taste

- 2 large bay leaves

- 3 cups of chicken broth

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 1 whole fresh jalapeño, diced
- 1 (4 ounce) can of diced green chilies
- 2 (15 ounce) cans of great northern white beans
- 1 (15 ounce) can of whole kernel corn
- small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
- 4 ounces (half a brick) of cream cheese, softened
    Place the raw chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker. Top it with the chili powder, cayenne, cumin, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and chicken broth. Cook on low for 2 hours. Then, add in the onion, jalapeño, green chilies, and white beans. Let cook on low for 4 hours. By now, the chicken will be fall apart tender and ready to shred. Shred the chicken and add back to the pot. Next, add the corn, cilantro, sour cream, and cream cheese. Stir well, let cook for another 30 minutes, and then serve warm.

   

Mint Watermelon Salad

    Frankie and I were watching the Kid's Barbeque Championship on Food Network this weekend! One of the little boys grilled some watermelon slices and topped them with feta, mint, and balsamic, it blew me away. I said, what a good idea for a salad!! So, we picked up a seedless watermelon on or Sunday trip to Trader Joe's! We bought the balsamic glaze already made. If you can't find it, you can easily make it. This fresh watermelon salad just screams SUMMERTIME! I love it and it took me five minutes to make!

Mint Watermelon Salad

Ingredients:

- 1/2 of a medium sized seedless watermelon, cut into chunks

- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of fresh mint, finely chopped

- 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese

- 1 tablespoon of balsamic glaze (balsamic reduction)

    Mix together the watermelon, mint, and feta. Top with a drizzle of balsamic reduction and serve cold. Top with an extra sprig of fresh mint for garnish.

Our fancy Sunday dinner! haha!

Enchilada Pinwheels

    These little pinwheels are so good! They're perfect appetizers or could even be a great make-ahead lunch! Oh, and they are so ridiculously easy to make! I use canned chicken breast chunks just to make it that much easier but, you could also use fresh cooked shredded chicken. I whipped this up for my birthday weekend, Frankie really liked them and you will too!

Enchilada Pinwheels

Ingredients:

- 2 (12.5 ounce) cans of chunked chicken breast

- 2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened

- 1 (10 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with green chilis, drained

- 1 package of taco seasoning (about 2 tablespoons)

- 1 cup of shredded Mexican four cheese

- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic

- 1/4 cup of chopped green onion

- 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

- 8 large tortillas

    In a large bowl, mix together everything (except the tortillas lol). Spread the mixture evenly onto each tortilla and roll them up. Place them in the fridge until chilled. Slice into pinwheels and serve!

Beet Salad Bites

    So, this last week has been a super busy one! Between work and prepping for our little class of 2006 reunion party, I am completely worn out! I wish more of my classmates had made it this weekend but we did have a nice time visiting with the friends that were able to attend! If you know me, you know that I am a goat cheese fanatic! I got a little excited when I found this recipe! Be generous with the honey and make sure your beets are roasted until tender!

Beet Salad Bites

Ingredients:

- 1 pound of fresh raw beets

- fresh baby spinach

- 7 ounce package of plain goat cheese

- 1 cup of roasted walnut pieces

- honey to garnish

- plastic skewers or toothpicks

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start by peeling and chopping the beets into bite-sized pieces. Toss the cut beets in a little olive oil and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Top them with salt and pepper and bake until tender. If you can't find dry roasted walnut pieces, you can roast them yourself in the oven with some salt. Once the beets have cooled, you can assemble them. Take about a teaspoon of goat cheese and roll it in the nuts, skewer on a toothpick with the beets and spinach. Drizzle with honey and enjoy!

Class of '06!!

Sweet Potato Turkey Meatballs

    It's been a rough couple weeks. I've been battling back problems and it looks like I'm going to have to clean up my diet a bit and loose some weight. So, here it goes! Who would have thought how good healthy meatballs could taste! You are going to want to cook and mash your sweet potato ahead of time. These would be great as an appetizer or served over pasta! You could even make a meatball sub with them! I made a batch and put half of them in the freezer for later.

Sweet Potato Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of mashed sweet potato
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 1 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon of ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
- 1 small onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste 
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients. Form into 2 inch meatballs and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake meatballs for about 35- 40 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

Baked Garlic Ricotta

    This is such an easy little appetizer! I whipped this up in minutes last night for my hunnie and I to enjoy with a glass of wine. I love popping out to the garden and snipping a few sprigs of fresh rosemary! It's funny because I never liked ricotta cheese. I've just recently started expanding my cheese horizons, I didn't know what I was missing! Served warm with crackers or toasted ciabatta, this recipe is a winner.

Baked Garlic Ricotta

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of whole milk ricotta cheese

- 1 heaping teaspoon of minced garlic

- 1 teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary

- 3 tablespoons of olive oil

- 1 teaspoon of lemon zest

- salt and pepper to taste

- ciabatta or crackers for serving

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with non stick cooking spray. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Once completely combined, pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with additional rosemary and olive oil. Serve warm, spread on crackers or toasted ciabatta.

Simple Ham Salad

    My family always ends up with left overs after holidays. This is the way my mom and her mom have been making ham salad since forever. It's really ridiculously simple and a great idea for all of that leftover ham from Sunday's Easter dinner! My mom has one of those meat grinders that attach to the counter top. It's the kind that you hand crank and the meat comes out like ground hamburg. Super useful when making ham salad. Don't worry, if you don't have one of these wonderful meat grinders, you can always pulse your leftover ham a few times in your food processor and get almost the same result.

Simple Ham Salad

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of ground ham

- 1/4 cup of mayonnaise

- 2 tablespoons of sweet pickle relish

    Mix it all together and serve chilled. It's great as a sandwich or serve as an appetizer on crackers.

Caprese Pockets

    I love all things caprese! There's just something about putting fresh basil over tomatoes and fresh whole milk mozzarella. I was fooling around with the idea of making a caprese pizza and I ended up making these little pockets of goodness. They are so simple and delicious!

Caprese Pockets

Ingredients:

- 1 roll of refrigerated pizza dough. 

- 6 pieces of whole milk mozzarella (about 1/2 ounce each) 

- 6 slices of tomato

- 6 large basil leaves, sliced

- salt and pepper

     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the pizza dough and cut in half place the tomatoes on one half, even spaced. Salt and pepper the tomatoes. Place the mozzarella and basil leaves on top of the tomatoes. Cover with the other half of the dough. Cut around each tomato and form into dough pockets. Place onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Cucumber Bliss Bites

    Is Christmas really almost already here?? I can't believe it! So, my original plans for these little dill cucumber bites of bliss were for my cookie swap party on Friday. Needless to say, I may have forgotten about them. Which is not surprising considering the crazy hours I've been working at both of my jobs lately. I'm finally on break for Christmas though! Thank goodness! Anyways, it worked out nicely because Frankie and I drove up to Jacksonville to visit with an old friend of mine on Saturday and I just threw them in the cooler and brought them up North with us. This old friend of mine wasn't just any old friend! DeeDee Hughes was not only my best friend throughout my entire childhood, she was the sister that I never had growing up. It was really nice to have some time to visit and celebrate! She threw an ugly Christmas sweater party, so much fun! You're going to love these cucumber bites, they did great surviving the trip! 

Cucumber Bliss Bites

Ingredients:

- 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

- 1/4 cup of ranch dressing

- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise 

- 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped dill

- 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

- pinch of salt

- black pepper to taste and to garnish

- 3 or 4 large cucumbers

- 1 package of cherry tomatoes, sliced into fourths

    With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, ranch, mayo, dill, white pepper, salt, and black pepper. Cut the cucumbers into bite sized slices and use a melon baller to scoop out some of the seeds. Put the cream cheese mixture into a pipping bag and pipe into the cucumbers. Top them with the cherry tomatoes and black pepper. Chill and serve.

Such a fun party! Even our wine had an ugly sweater!

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm sure by now everyone has a fully belly and happy families! My family eats a huge lunch and then naps in the afternoon. I think I had my first glass of wine at 11am! Even though Thanksgiving is finally here, I've definitely been celebrating for the last two weeks. I wanted to highlight some of my recipes so we can pin them for next year!

Mom's turkey feast!

       After Friendsgiving, I was more than happy to throw in the apron and have mom take over for Thanksgiving. I decided that I was only making two things, the cranberry sauce and the appetizer.

 

Here's my recipe for Cheesy Sausage Puffs!

    I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about my Friendsgiving by now. Too bad! It was freaking awesome! We ate so much and it was my first time making a turkey by myself!

A cheese tray is always sure to keep guests happy!

Here's my recipe for The Best Sweet Potato Casserole!

The turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving dinner!

  

Here's the recipe for my Apple Cider Brined Turkey!

And of course, the most handsome man alive carving my beautiful turkey!

Once you're stuffed with turkey, it's time for the sweets!

I made this pumpkin layer cake for our luncheon at church

and everyone loved it! I even had to send a few recipe emails!

Here's the recipe for my Pumpkin Layered Cake!

Here's the link for my Pecan Pie Bars!

Here's the recipe for my Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles!

I didn't go too crazy with my decorations. I did have a lot of candles though.

Our seat place cards came out pretty cute!

I found the chalk board skewers at Michael's!

Then, I just stuck them in some chocolates!

Lots of candles, pumpkins, and pine-cones!

I hope these recipes and tips have been useful! 

And I hope you are all having an amazing Thanksgiving!

Cheesy Sausage Puffs

   I found a similar recipe months ago and I've been wanting to try these! What better excuse to make them than it being Thanksgiving Day! You really can't go wrong with sausage and crescent rolls. My one piece of advise, make sure you pack these little sausage balls really tightly so they don't fall apart.

Cheesy Sausage Puffs

Ingredients:

- 1 roll of Pillsbury crescent rolls

- 1 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 pound of spicy ground sausage

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme

- salt and pepper to taste

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. In a skillet, lightly brown the sausage. Sprinkle the meat with the thyme, salt, and pepper while cooking. Make sure to break it up really good into crumbles. Once the sausage has cooked most of the way through, drain the fat and place the meat into a bowl. With a pizza slicer, slice the crescent rolls into tiny pieces. Add the cheese and crescent roll pieces to the meat. Mix with your hands really well. Form the mixture into tight little balls and place on prepared baking sheet. You can kinda make these as large or small as you'd like, just make sure to adjust the cook time accordingly. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Crescent Pieces!

Happy Halloween 2015

    This Halloween has been pretty fun so far! Since Frankie moved to Orlando this year, we thought it would be cute to go as Mickey and Minnie! I did a lot of celebrating this year! I thought it would be cute to compile some of my treats and ideas!

Spelled out in home made Butterfinger Bars!

Here's the recipe for my Homemade Butterfinger Candy!

Spooky Cakes!

I made some spooky cakes for the cake walk at our Fall Festival last weekend! 

I cheated and used boxed cake mix, but the decorations came out pretty cute! 

Googly eyes made with Oreos, junior mints, and Reese's pieces!

Haunted Graveyard! Crushed Oreos, ghost peeps, and candy pumpkins

My festive Cheese ball!

I made this for a friend's Halloween/Birthday Party! So good!

Here's the link: Easy Autumn Cheese Ball

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

So simple!

Here's the link: Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Haunted Graveyard Pudding Cups

Pudding cups with a little crushed Oreos, pumpkin candy, and spooky Peep ghosts!

Cheesy Ghosts 

Cheese sticks! Just draw on a little spooky face to make it a ghost!

Witch's Hat and Broomsticks!

Take some candy melts and stick a couple kisses on top of some Oreos!

 

Stick some pretzels into the bottom of mini reese's cups!

Scary Cookie Spiders!

Stick some pretzel sticks into some double stuffed oreos and top with some reese's pieces! 

Mozzarella Bones!

Refrigerated Pizza dough + pieces of mozzarella = yum!

Payday Candy Bars!

My favorite!

Here's the link: Homemade Payday Bars

Our spread from youth group on Wednesday!

I made a little plate to bring to work!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!