Quick update!

Hello everyone! I'm down to the last week of my pregnancy...I can hardly believe it! I just wanted you to know I'm still here and will (hopefully) be back in the full swing of things soon. My next post should contain some fun news.... :)

-Chloé

Teriyaki Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Teriyaki sauce or marinade
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted
1 small can of Mandarin oranges, drained and cut in half
1 small can pineapple tidbits
1/2 c. mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Croissants or pitas
Lettuce leaves

Directions:
Marinate chicken in teriyaki sauce for several hours. Grill, cool completely and chop. In a bowl, combine chicken, celery and green onions. Add mayonnaise and 2-3 more tablespoons of teriyaki sauce to taste. Stir well, cover and refrigerate for several hours.
Right before serving, add oranges, pineapple, and nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on a croissant roll with lettuce leaves. Serves 4-6.

Notes: I've never made chicken salad sandwiches before (not sure why!) and when I came across this recipe in Our Best Bites I book marked it and saved it for a hot summer day. I'm glad I did! These were so delicious, flavorful and a nice twist on the average chicken salad.


1 Year Ago: Iced Chai Latte

Avocado Pesto

Ingredients:
12 oz. pasta of your choice
1 ripe avocado, diced
3/4 c. loosely packed basil leaves
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. olive oil

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the avocado, basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt  and pepper until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the food processor, add the parmesan cheese and pulse just until blended. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is running. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and place in a serving dish. Pour the pesto over the top and toss to coat. Makes 4 large portions.

Notes: I've had this recipe saved for a long time and I finally got around to making it. I make this pesto quite often in the summer so I was excited to try a new recipe....I loved it! The avocado added a really nice creamy texture and the lemon juice gave it a nice zip! I will definitely be making this again :)

Mango Sorbet

Ingredients:
3 large mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 c. cold water
3/4-1 c. sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
2 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. vodka (to keep from freezing solid)

Directions:
Place diced mangoes and water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl (preferably with a lid) and add sugar, lemon juice and vodka. Stir for several minutes until sugar is completely dissolved. Cover tightly and chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Pour mango mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Store in a sealed container in your freezer until frozen.

Notes: I looooove mango and I loooooove any frozen dessert! I've been meaning to make this sorbet for a while now so when I saw mangoes were 50 cents this week at my grocery store I knew it was the perfect time! Plus being huge and pregnant in 90 degree weather, I can always go for something cold and refreshing :) I loved how this stuff turned out! It wasn't overly sweet like store bought kinds I've had in the past. It tasted just like eating a frozen. smooth, creamy mango...mmm!

Update....

So sorry for my continual lack of posting lately...I hope I haven't lost anyone! I know I said I'd be better about it but I'm due 6 weeks from today with our second daughter and I can tell you without a doubt that is the reason I haven't been cooking, creating, blogging, etc. Some days I have zero energy (probably due to my insane "nesting" attacks) so sometimes cooking is out of the question!

Life has been full of other things, too! My brother got married on May 20th which was also Randy's and my 5 year anniversary. We took a 3 day trip to Santa Fe before the wedding to celebrate. A couple weeks before their wedding I had a vintage tea party themed bridal shower for his wife, Jacki. Also, our first daughter turns 2 weeks from today so I've been planning a little family party for her. In between, I keep myself busy getting the house ready for the new baby, cleaning things I haven't touched in years and trying to rest and enjoy these last few weeks before our family of 3 becomes a family of 4.

So there's a quick little update. I promise I will try harder to keep everyone up to date on things. Thanks for staying faithful and following my little blog :)



Here is a shot of the casita we stayed at in Santa Fe. I took this on my cell phone walking back from breakfast one morning. The place was called Los Polomas and we really enjoyed it!

Here is the food/tea table from Jacki's bridal shower



Here's Margot the flower girl peeking out from behind my dress at Stefan and Jacki's wedding :)



Spinoccoli Pizza

Sauce Ingredients:
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp flour
3/4 c. half and half
1 garlic clove, smashed
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan

Pizza Ingredients:
1 ball of pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
Olive oil, for brushing
1 c. chopped fresh spinach leaf
1 c. small broccoli florets
4 oz. shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)
Grated parmesan, for sprinkling


Directions:
To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling, about 1 minute. Whisk in the half and half and garlic clove and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from the heat and whisk in the grated Parmesan until completely melted and smooth. Discard the garlic clove.
To make the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the perimeter of the dough with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of the white sauce over the crust, leaving a border around the edge for the crust. Sprinkle the chopped  spinach leaves over the white sauce followed by the broccoli florets. Top with the shredded cheese. Finish with additional grated Parmesan. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Notes: I came across this recipe in Annie's Eats a long time ago and bookmarked it...I finally got around to making it this week! We have pizza night once a week and I've gotten lazy and have mostly been buying frozen pizzas and I want to try making more from scratch. This was a great one! I would have never thought to have broccoli on pizza but it was a great combo with the cheese sauce. YUM!

Dirt Cake

Ingredients:
32 oz. Oreo cookies
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
2 3.5 oz. packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 c. cold milk
12 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
Gummy worms

Directions:
In a food processor, chop the Oreo cookies until they become crumbs (white parts will disappear). You should have about 8 cups of crumbs. Set aside.
Beat together the butter, cream cheese and powedered sugar. Separately, beat together the pudding mix, milk and whipped topping. Combine the cream cheese mixture with the milk mixture until smooth.
To assemble, simply layer the crumbs and pudding mixture in a round serving dish (or a brand new flower pot) starting with the crumbs. Place a few gummy worms on top of each layer of crumbs. Its up to you how thick or thin to make each layer. Makes 10-12 servings.

Notes: I've made this cake a few times before and it's always a hit! It's really fun and easy to make, too. This time I made it for Easter to share with my family and some of our friends. Recipe found here.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey
15 oz. can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. large egg noodles
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/4 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, brown the meat. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well and allow to simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook noodles until al dente. Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. Once noodles are cooked, drain and stir into the sour cream mixture.
To assemble, place half the noodles in a greased 13x9 baking dish, top with half the meat mixture followed by half the cheddar cheese. Repeat this layering process, ending with the last of the cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Notes: This is a fairly simple recipe so I honestly wasn't expecting too much out of it but I was pleasantly surprised but all the flavor it had and I couldn't get enough! I will definitely make this again. It was simple and delicious!

Recipe adapted from here

Yarn Wreaths

I kept coming across these really fun looking wreaths on Etsy and in some blogs I subscribe to and they looked like something I could easily make myself. So I read a few simple tutorials and got the supplies! All I needed was a straw wreath, yarn and felt. I already had everything else I needed. I didn't even spend $9.00 on the first one and I had a blast making it so I've made several more since! So let me show you the wreaths I made and then I'll tell you how I did it....


This is the one I made for my front door. I picked colors that matched my door, rug and other outdoor decor

Our  church is having a silent auction this week so I made a couple wreaths to donate to the auction. This first one is entirely black and white

This is the other one I made for the auction. It's chocolate brown with lots of bright, fun colors

So basically all you need is a plastic wrapped straw wreath (leave the plastic on!), yarn, hot glue, ribbon and whatever decorations you like. I chose buttons of course :) and I thought the felt was fun with it.

You start by attaching the end of the yarn with a small dot of hot glue to the back of the wreath and then tightly wrap it around. If you notice small gaps as you go, wrap the yarn around an extra time to cover it. Every few inches, add another dot of hot glue just to keep the yarn in place. You may find you don't need anymore hot glue until you're finished...the yarn stays put pretty well. If you want to change colors, just cut the yarn and glue it in the back then start your next color.

Once you're done, cut and attach the yarn to the back with a dot of hot glue. Decide where the top will be and tie a ribbon around, securing with hot glue if you like. Leave about 1-2 feet hanging on each side to tie into a bow to hang on your door.

Decorate with whatever you like! I sewed buttons to felt and then glued them right onto the wreath. For the black and white one, you can see I used a white daisy at the bottom and buttons on their own all the way around. If you have any questions about how I made these, please feel free to ask! I realize this was kind of a quick desciption. Thanks for reading :)

Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. whole milk
2 tbsp. instant espresso powder
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
4 egg yolks
3/4 c. white sugar
1 c. pumpkin puree

Directions:
In a medium or large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the heavy cream, milk, espresso powder and spices and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, using a mixer on medium speed, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture becomes light in color and falls from the beaters in ribbons.

Remove one cup of liquid from the cream mixture and gradually pour into the egg yolk mixture, beating the entire time, to temper the eggs. Add tempered egg mixture back to the saucepan and whisk well. Add the pumpkin puree and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the custard has thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Transfer the custard to a large bowl, preferably one with a pour spout, and cover tightly. Chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 3-4 hours, or until ice cream has hardened.

Notes: I was really excited when I came across this recipe back in November and I just now got around to making it since I had some extra cream on hand. Pumpkin spice lattes are one of the few things I can't resist! This ice cream turned out great. In my opinion it needs more of an espresso taste though...the pumpkin really over powers it. Next time I'll add an extra tablespoon of espresso powder and I think it'll be perfect!

Recipe adapted from here