And, we’re BACK!

First of all, major apologies for our total lack of cooking inspirations and blog postings for the last couple of months. The warm weather has spurred an increase in socialization around the city, which, in turn, has kept me off of my computer! This is a poor excuse, and we promise to do better!

This past weekend, I went home for Father’s Day, which of course, entailed cooking a big dinner for my wonderful dad. To be fair, he actually grilled out steak, but my mom and I handled the sides and dessert.

For dessert, I made a chocolate bundt cake. I typically am not a big cake fan (not enough flavor or moistness for my liking). However, I got this recipe from a college friend after she made it, and I ate approximately half the cake by myself. Ever since then, it has become a favorite of my family’s, especially my dad. Also, this cake is super easy to make; it can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes..promise. So, I thought this would be the perfect recipe for Father’s Day!

Ingredients

Cake

1 Devil’s food cake mix ( with pudding in the mix)

A Little Batter

1 small box of choc instant pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

¾ cup water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cream cheese icing:

1 &1/2 box powdered sugar (16 oz kind)

4 tbs butter (room temp)

A Little Icing

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temp)

3 TBS milk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour bundt pan. Beat cake with everything but the chocolate chips until creamy. Add chips and pour into oan. Bake 45 min to 1 hour. Turn onto cooling rack and frost when ready. To make the frosting, you simply mix the ingredients together using an electric mixer. How easy is that?!

Cake post-icing

Cake pre-icing

Katie is back!!

So the past 2-3 weeks have been crazy…lots of “news” in my life. Job Change- I now work at Soles4Souls organizing and leading trips worldwide to distribute shoes to those in need. {click here to sign up and come on a trip with me!} I moved to a loft {lots of fun paint/furniture projects took up my cooking time…I will post the DIY projects on “the rooster” once I get everything completely decorated! and oh yea..My power has had a mind of its own since the flood…so this is really the first time I have been able to sit down to download pictures and talk about all the yummy, simple dishes I have been making.

While all of these things have taken place I realized…when life is busy…you still have to eat…and I wanted to put some EASY recipes on the blog…and I promise they are still GREAT! For many of you who cook a lot I am sorry..but for those of you who have no clue how to cook..these are perfect!

First, I am going to finally show you a picture  of the Blackberry cobbler I made for Jenny’s bday party and the b-day girl herself!! Next..here is some pictures of a Sunday dinner we had…yummy spring time food!

Now on to recipes…

Turkey Tacos

1lb. (or however much meat you need) of ground turkey

1 avocado

1 tomato

1 lemon

1 lime

1 packet of taco mix

tortillas

1 package of shredded mexican cheese

Sour cream(if desired)

Follow the directions on the taco mix packet about cooking the meat(all of them are different..but it is as easy as 1.2.3.) I always squeeze in lemon and lime juice to give it extra flavor!

Slice the avocado and tomato (without cutting your finger like yours truly)

Heat Tortillas in microwave..it is best to put a damp paper towel between each tortilla (heat for about 20 seconds)

Then take your taco and load it with everything you want!

Yes I realize this is SIMPLE and anyone can do it…that is the point of this blog.

Veggie Omelette

2 eggs

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 portabella mushroom

1 packet of cheese(any type will do..choose your favorite!)

S&P

1 tbs of butter

First you put the pan on medium high and let it get really hot. Then take your eggs and put them in a mixing bowl add some S&P and if desired a splash of milk..my dad taught me this trick when I was younger..and it makes the eggs taste better.

Whisk eggs together. Put butter on the pan, and then pour eggs into pan. Once the eggs have been sitting for about 20 seconds add your diced veggies and cheese. Shake the pan gently, take your spatula and gently lift the edges of the eggs. Then if you feel comfortable you can pick the pan up and toss the egg to fold it…OR take your spatula and use it to fold the egg. Press down lightly and then flip the egg over and repeat. WAHHLAAHH!

It is said that if you can cook an egg you can cook anything. When I was 7 I used to make omelettes all the time until I graduated high school. Then I lost my special touch and just not can make them again.

Summer Salad

Summer is SO soon..and I am excited. I love grilled food…if only I had a grill..and new how to use it. Luckily we have some guys in Nashville who LOVE to grill! So I try to do some different sides. Salad is one of my favorite things to eat..There are so many different kind. My favorite is Strawberry Salad that my friend Claire Moses (now Drummond) used to make all the time. I will talk to her about submitting that into FFF..which is coming back.

Salads can be all sorts of fun creations. This is my latest favorite and I hope you enjoy it too!

1 packet of spinach salad

1 packet of crumbled feta cheese

1 packet of dried cranberries

1 packet of almonds

grapes

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinaigrette

Use the amount and portions you desire of each.. Mix it all together and you have one YUMMY salad!

Hope you enjoy all of these easy dishes. Sorry for the lack of pictures..I am still trying to find my camera cord from the move. It may be a while.

Also, I want to ask you all to continue to pray for Nashville! The flood has impacted so many lives here and the news coverage has not been that great. Our featured blogs this month will be two families that have lost everything and still have a cheerful heart.

and another note…

Yippee for Katie completing the half-marathon AND moving into her new loft! (which is SUPER cute BTW).

More GREAT recipes coming soon!

Hint: They are Cinco de Mayo appropriate

Whopper Cookies

This past Saturday was the Music City Marathon here in Nashville. I think I might have been the ONLY person not running in it. On Thursday night, I drove, the half-marathon course with roomster Kate, MacKenzie, and Catherine, who were running the half together. For a moment while we were driving the course, I thought, “This would be fun to do…I wish I had been training and could run 13.1 miles on Saturday.” Hmmm…yeah, it was a fleeting thought. Saturday morning I was pretty happy not to have been running, in the rain, mind you. However, that did not keep me from being SO proud of all my friends who did run! Kudos to you!

While I was lazily scooting around my house on Saturday morning, I began pillaging my baking cabinet to see what I could whip up to reward the half-marathoners. I realized I had a lot of baking chocolate and chocolate chips, which led me to make the recipe for Whopper Cookies, from Foster’s Market. (I am also loving all the recipes I’ve made from Foster’s market cookbook, which can be found here).

Makes about 1 dozen 2½ inch- to 3-inch cookies

Ingredients:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (preferably high-quality baking chocolate, such as Valrhona or Callebaut), chopped into large chunks

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped into large chunks

6 tablespoons ( ¾ stick) unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¾ cup sugar

⅓ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Note: I didn’t have any semi-sweet baking chocolate, so I just used some semi-sweet chocolate chips that I had. Also, I didn’t have any espresso powder, and I substitued regular ground coffee beans.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets and set aside.

3. Melt together the semisweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate chunks, and butter in a double boiler over low heat until just melted, stirring occasionally. (Note: Do not overheat; remove from the heat as soon as chocolate has melted.) Stir to blend the chocolate and butter, and set aside.

4. Cream together the eggs, espresso powder, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and mix until thick and creamy.

5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and stir to mix. Set aside.

6. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and blend until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moist.

7. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. (Note: The batter will be very moist—similar to the consistency of cake batter.)

8. Scoop the batter with a ¼-cup (2-ounce) ice cream scoop or by the heaping tablespoon and drop onto the prepared baking sheets about 3 inches apart. (Note: Bake right away, before the chocolate begins to cool and harden.)

9. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, turning the baking sheets once during the cooking time. The cookies will still be very gooey inside and soft, but do not overcook or the cooled cookies will be dry. Cool about 10 minutes on the baking sheets before gently removing the whoppers to a baking rack to cool completely.

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Plum Crumble

I am really excited about this post after the 2 week blog hiatus! It was definitely time to get back on the blogosphere. At least you can be assured that if we don’t have something worthwhile to post and worthy of your reading, it won’t be posted. We only share the best recipes from our kitchen

With all the fresh fruit that is coming in season, I was so in the mood to make a fruit dessert. When I was grocery shopping, I bought a crate of plums and decided a plumb crumble would be the best way to utilize these. Some of you may be like me, where plums are a relatively new fruit for you. I definitely recommend plums, by the way…They are just a little bit sweet and a little bit tart, and very easy to eat, making them the ideal go-to fruit snack!

The recipe below was originally for a plum tart. Seeing as I didn’t have a tart pan, but was still determined to make the recipe at hand, I turned it into a plum crumble, or “plumble” as Ben called it when he ate it.

This recipe is a definite “make-again” recipe! The brown sugar in the crust was so delicious, and the chopped walnuts gave it just enough crunch. Serving warm with ice cream is really ideal, but it was still tasty the next day. Also, it was extremely easy to make, which is my type of dessert recipe!

The Picture doesn't do it justice!

“Plumble” (a.k.a. Plumb Crumble)

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 pounds firm, plums (about 6-7  plums depending on size), quartered, or cut into relatively small slices

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the flour, walnuts, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and the egg yolk. Mix, either by hand or with an electric mixer, until crumbly.

Press 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture in an even layer into the bottom of a 9 1/2-inch springform or tart pan. Arrange the plums in the pan, so that the surface area of the pan is covered in plums.

Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture evenly over the plums. Bake the tart for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it’s lightly browned and the plum juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm with cold vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Enjoying the plumble! (And Katie, was enjoying a Blue Moon, apparently )

Salmon Bagel

Good Morning!

With my new work schedule, moving, and decorating projects, I have not had much time to cook. I am trying to start cooking large meals and just eating off of those for the week…{yummy leftovers}!

Jenny and I were talking about how we need to incorporate our “everyday cooking” into the blog.

So today I am going to tell you all about one of my favorite “anytime” meals.

Salmon Bagel

The ingredients needed include:

-Bagel (I prefer whole wheat)

-cream cheese (low fat)

-smoked salmon(you can find this in your grocery store already packaged and sliced)

-capers

-salt and pepper

-tomatoes and onions (optional)

 

Now this is just as easy as making a PB&J…ANYONE can do it!

You toast your bagel, spread cream cheese, add: salmon, capers, s&p, onions and tomatoes….AND YOU HAVE A YUMMY, DELICIOUS BAGEL!

Restaurants serve this for breakfast and charge about $9 bucks around Nashville….but if you make it yourself…you save some cash..and who does not like being thrifty?!

Now get ready because Jenny made this PLUM CRUMBLE and it was AMAZING!!

 

 

Have no fear..we are still here

Eat This jk took a little break last week. {we will try not the let it happen again} But great recipes are coming soon…we are trying to do some healthy dishes that we create ourselves….lots of trial and error before posts can occur…

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the outdoors!!

AND THE LUCKY COOKIE CONTEST WINNER IS…..

YAYAYAY…The winner was selected by RANDOM.ORG and it is:

SARAH VIRGINIA SMITH!!!!

All of these comments were amazing, and we appreciate each and every one of you and your love for spring and food!! I hope you all have a great weekend and don’t fret ..I am sure we will have another contest soon.

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!!

FFF #4

Our 4th Featured Friend is…..MOLLY!

Molly and her adorable pup, Wilson!!

She is such an incredible cook who does not give herself enough credit on her cooking abilities. I have had both the recipes featured below, and they are fabulous! The mint ice cream dessert is on the top of my dessert list. I promise that if you make it, you will NOT regret it (although, you might regret how much you eat of it…ahem, not that we did that)

Pasta, Cheese and Peas Please

This is a REALLY EASY, REALLY QUICK, very yummy, summery pasta dish.
My mom used to make it for us all the time when we were in a hurry and now I do the same! It’s really good cold the next day too!
This is so easy I’m almost embarrassed to submit it but it’s just so good I can’t resist!

Ingredients:
19 oz. Bag of three cheese frozen tortellini pasta

Please note: Molly used grated parm, but says its better to use shredded parm!

14 oz. Can of Sweet Peas
Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
Salt
a wee bit of butter (optional-but I always add it-yummm)

Cook the tortellini according to instructions on the bag. Once the tortellini is cooked, drained, and cooled down a bit, add about a TBS of olive oil, about a TSP of butter, and a pinch or two of salt. I usually add a little more salt than that because I love salt (bad girl, Molly). Mix all that up. Then drain the peas and add them to the tortellini. Mix it all up again and then load that baby up with parmesan. The more parmesan the better in my opinion!!! That’s it. That’s all you do. Enjoy.

Mint Oreo Casserole

I also want to submit the also VERY easy, delicious desert I made for BigJen’s (J’s) birthday last Thursday! It’s usually best to make this the day before you want to eat it because it needs to freeze overnight.

Ingredients:
Bag of Oreo s (or Kid-O’s if, like me, you’re cheap and buy the Kroger brand)
Carton of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Carton of Cool Whip
Jar of Chocolate Syrup
Stick of Butter
You will need an 8×11 (I think, I’m bad with sizes) casserole dish

As you can see by the ingredients, this is REALLY unhealthy. HaHa. BUT if you’re worried about it, you can use reduced fat oreos, low fat or sugar free ice cream, fat free cool whip, sugar free chocolate syrup, and smart balance butter.

Okay first things first you find the easiest way to crush those Oreos into tiny pieces. I usually put them all in a plastic bag (double up the plastic bag) and then go to town on them. This recipe can be quite the stress reliever in more ways than one. Pour the crushed up Oreo’s in a bowl. Melt the stick of butter and then add it to the crushed up Oreo’s. Mix it all up until you have a creamy Oreo concoction.

Spread the Oreo concoction out on the bottom of the casserole dish to make an Oreo crust. Once it is evenly spread, it’s time to add the ice cream. Make sure the ice cream is soft enough for you to spread it out evenly on top of the Oreo crust. This can be kind of messy but trust me, it’s worth it. Okay now for the chocolate syrup. Heat the chocolate syrup up and then pour it, evenly over the top of the ice cream. Now you have three layers to the Mint Casserole. The final layer is obviously the whip cream. Once the chocolate syrup has cooled down a bit, spread the whip cream evenly over the syrup. Pop that baby in the freezer overnight and then be prepared to eat the entire dish the next day because once you take one bite you won’t be able to stop. It’s so good. I love it and everybody at J’s birthday party seemed to love it, too!!

ALSO if you’re not a fan of chocolate or mint, I also think it would be good to use sugar cookies instead of oreos, strawberry ice cream instead of mint, a layer of rainbow sprinkles in place of the chocolate syrup and then the same whip cream on top! Just an idea! I think I may try it next time!

Some of the girls at Jenny's b-day!

Ad Hoc Blackberry Cobbler..and exciting news

1st let me tell you. Jenny’s birthday was SO MUCH FUN. We had a little surprise dessert and wine party for her on Thursday!! Everything was YUMMY…my personal fav was Molly’s healthy oreo, mint choc. chip ice cream goop. IT WAS UNREAL..I am crossing my fingers she will enter it for FFF! I made a blackberry cobbler with a recipe from Thomas Keller’s AD HOC. The recipe called for blueberries, but dear ole Kroger decided they wanted to price them at $4.00 for 6 ounces..so I went with blackberries instead. It was really yummy but a little tart for my liking. I think blueberries would have been better, or maybe a scoop of ice cream. It is definitely a recipe I recommend. So here are my suggestions…eat it right after you bake it and let it cool..and add ice cream! Ice Cream is my fav so I say add it to everything!

Straight out of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc:

Topping

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup butter milk

Filling

4 pints (8 cups) blueberries  (I used blackberries)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Cinnamon Sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

“Having a cobbler in your repertoire gives you great versatility, because cobblers can be made with so many fruits and are easy to prepare. Some have biscuit-like topping; ours is more cake-like, so it really soaks up all the fruit juices. Serve it warm with Ice Cream or whipped cream. With any luck, there will be leftovers I love it warmed, with my morning coffee” Thomas Keller

Preheat the oven to 350*F

Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and mix on low speed to combine, then beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 batches. Scrape down the sides and mix again to be certain that all the ingredients are combined.

Put the berries in a large bowl and toss with the sugar, flour, and zest. Spread in an 11-inch square baking dish or a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Spoon mounds of the batter over the berries, leaving space between the mounds.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and the topping is golden brown and cook through. If the top becomes too brown before it is cooked, lay a piece of foil over the top of the cobbler.

Let the cobbler stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. (leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Serves 6(I say those must be some hungry people bc I think it could serve ten)

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and you ask..why Katie are you not using different colorful fonts or fun pictures? Well ladies and gents..I STARTED A NEW JOB THIS WEEK AND I AM TIRED…well my brain is tired. I LOVE THE WORK….I have been diving right in and really having to using my creative thinking cap in all aspects.  Long story short….I had a job offer from Soles4Souls to plan and lead trips for groups to go distribute shoes worldwide! I am starting this department from scratch and loving every second of it…but yes….I. Am. Tired. I do miss Vandy and all of my interns so much..but hopefully I will still get to see them often since I am staying in Nashville..and really this is my DREAM JOB! I still feel like I am in this glorious dream and someone is going to come and pop my bubble..literally each day I drive to work I just am in shock this is my life….:):). I am so thankful and so blessed and cannot wait to go and put shoes on some needy feet(and hopefully all of you will join me)!

In other wonderful celebratory news…JENNY IS BACK FROM CHAT TOWN.

So let’s add this up…Jenny is back + Katie working regular hours = MORE DINNERS WE COOK TOGETHER!!!

Perhaps next posting I will be fun again and have different font and colors and pictures. For now…it’s BED TIME!

Don’t forget..tomorrow is the last day to enter the cookie contest…make sure you post your comment!

and for the first time I don’t have to remind you kiddos to enter FFF..we have a ton of entries this week!! THANKS SO MUCH!!

XOXO,

K