Happy 3rd Birthday Buddy!

Henry (who currently asks that we call him Buddy) turned three last week.  And I'll be completely honest...I hated it!  If I could slow down time right now I would!!!  Its an amazing age and I'm enjoying every minute of it.  I think having a 5 1/2 year old (who sometimes thinks shes 12) might help in appreciating the innocence of a toddler.


We had  a wonderful time with friends and family at his birthday party.  Henry had a great time too!

Such a poser!  Buddy was so excited about his robot cookies.  Thanks to Ryan who made the cookie cutter (cause apparently robots aren't "in" this year and the cutters are impossible to find). -- Family pictures are always exciting at our house.  I believe the kids were yelling "I LOVE ROBOTS!"  Makes for great faces. -- I think my cousin and her boyfriend officially decided to wait on a family after this gathering of kids.  They were such good sports in this picture.  This is not all the cousins by the way.  Two were still in Cedar Falls and two are on the way! -- I think Henry was as shocked as we were that he got the candles out on the first try without any help from any of the other kids.  (please excuse the dishes in the background)

So now I will sit back and enjoy my 3 year old...cause I'm sure when he turns 4 I'll be wishing to stop time again.  

God Bless!

Bec

Raspberry Gelato

As you well know, my posting has been a little lax.  I'm being treated for TMD right now and because of that am on a soft foods diet.  Not really my idea of a great thing.  So the cooking at my house as been less than great and thus...no recipes worth sharing.

Except this one...
I came across this recipe and got really excited to make it because...well it was soft...and looked so good in the picture!  Oh my was it worth it!!  I've never had gelato before, and now that I have, I can't imagine having to eat sherbet or sorbet.  This is unbelievable...the most pure flavor I've ever tasted in a dish...you just have to try it for yourself.

Here are the basics...
12 oz bag frozen raspberries
2 T. + 2 t. splenda sugar blend (or 1/3 c. sugar)
1/3 c. whipping cream

Combine the raspberries with the sugar blend and allow to sit for about 15-20 minutes.  You want your raspberries to still be a little frozen.
Combine raspberry/sugar mixture in the blender with the whipping cream and blend until smooth.  It'll take a little time and some scraping and moving of the raspberries (I promise it'll be worth the work and the noise of the blender).
Place in a sealed container in the freezer for a few hours until firm.
Now go at it!

A few notes...
You can certainly skip the last step and just eat it straight from the blender...
You can substitute just about any fruit you want in this too...I haven't done any other ones yet, but I'm thinking mango would be unbelievable!

I definitely don't recommend the soft food diet...but this is certainly one of the positive things that has come out of it.

Update:  Raspberry-peach is a great variation on this.  I'm going to attempt not to finish the bowl tonight.  :)

Half Baked Cookie

You know those days where all you can think about is dessert?  Chocolate...ice cream...something crunchy...warm and melty (yes, I know its not a real word)...Well I had one of those recently and the only thing I could think of to cure it was a half baked cookie.  Crunchy on the edge...warm and gooey on the inside...with ice cream and hot fudge on top...OH MY!!!!

This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the deliciousness of this dessert!

I found the recipe over at Our Best Bites and it is so worth every calorie! (I actually skipped supper just so I could eat this without the guilt.)  The best part is it can be as "semi-homemade" as you want it to be.  You can make your own cookie dough and ice cream or buy them both store bought.  You can prep everything ahead and pop them in the oven when you are ready for dessert.  It doesn't get much easier than that.

Here are the basic directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Fill ramekin about half full of cookie dough.  Bake for 15 minutes (edges should be golden brown, but still look uncooked in the center).  Take out of oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.  Top with ice cream and whatever else you want to top it with.  Sit back and enjoy...because it is SO worth it!  

(Note:  if you do not have ramekins, you could do this is small canning jars or mugs.  You will need to adjust your baking time accordingly if you use a larger size dish).

Chocolate Donut Holes

The icy conditions outside led to a pajama clad morning at our house.  Without church to go to, I thought it was the perfect time to make chocolate donut holes.  I saw the recipe on Smitten Kitchen awhile ago and was just waiting for the perfect day to make them.  They are wonderful!!!  The kids enjoyed theirs coated in powdered sugar...I ate mine with my cup(s) of coffee.

I made a few changes to the original recipe - I only had dark chocolate powder on hand so I used that.  And instead of rolling them out and cutting them, I used a small cookie scoop to make balls and dropped them right into the hot oil.  This resulted in less than perfect "holes", but it was much easier.

Happy Eating!

OAMC: Breakfast Burritos

I'll admit it...I love McDonald's Breakfast Burritos.  DH and I will find just about any excuse to go there to get them.  My waistline, however, does not care for fast food as often.  So, I began the search for a great breakfast burrito.  And while is certainly not "healthy", its gotta be better than fast food...and we love them just as much.  You can customize these to suit your personal preferences and they are great to keep in the freezer for a quick, hot breakfast.

Breakfast Burritos
Adapted from JeriBinNC at food.com


1 16 oz bag hash browns, cooked
18 eggs, scrambled
16 oz salsa
1 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 lb country sausage, cooked
1/3 cup chopped jalapeños
8 oz. shredded cheese
18-24 tortillas
18-24 slices american cheese

After your ingredients are prepped, stir together hash browns, eggs, salsa, bacon, sausage, jalapeños, & shredded cheese in a bowl.

Place about 1/2 cup mixture in each tortilla.  Top with one slice american cheese; roll up burrito style.  Wrap each burrito individually in plastic wrap.  (I then put mine in gallon size freezer bags for storage)

When you are ready to eat, remove frozen burrito from plastic wrap.  Warm in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes on each side.  Enjoy!!