Slacking Off

It's happened again. I cook, cook, cook, and then leave this blog be for weeks on end. But, as with last time this happened,  I have a good excuse. Actually, I'm going to use the same excuse I used last time.

We moved.

Except it really is true. Damarise and I have settled into our 17th home (yes, we counted). And hopefully this one will be a bit more permanent. Hopefully a year if not more. It is a lovely home and we are excited to see what adventures will take place in this new home.

In the meantime, I have 15 more recipes to complete my goal. Here we go.

Carrot Cupcakes (Recipe 35)

Thursday I got to go into work at noon instead of 10am. That meant I had the whole morning ahead of me to do whatever I wanted. I woke up and wanted to make. I knew I had at least 6 over ripe bananas that would be begging to be made into some banana chocolate chip muffins. So, I moseyed into the kitchen, settled down with a bowl of cereal, a hot cup of coffee, and some Psalms to start my morning. 

After feeling refreshed and ready to start the day, I looked up on top of our pantry to find the bananas. Only, there were no bananas to be found. Damarise, bless her heart, had thrown them away the day before because they were attracting fruit flies, and she had every right to! However, I was in a baking mood, but didn't know what to make. 

I opened up the fridge and saw an enormous bag of carrots. And I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. Mmm. 

The Recipe: 

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder 
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda 
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt 
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup Sugar 
• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar 
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 1 1/2 Cups peeled, shredded Carrots 

Mix it all together. Pour into greased and floured muffin tins. Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes. 

When cooled, pull out of the tin, and ice. I whipped together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and some vanilla, and sprinkled the top with carrot shavings. It satisfied my baking crave, and left me with a delicious treat (that almost feels healthy too...).

Fajitas, Swirl Veggies, and Family! (Recipes 33 and 34)

This past week was a fun one and a full one. Our humble abode for the summer was filled to the max with Damarise's and my family coming for a visit. It was fun to have all seven of us under one roof again. I knew that while they were visiting I wanted to make a new recipe for them to try and have all our friends over so that our family could meet the friends we talk so highly about and vise versa.

However, as Wednesday dawned and the heat was exhausting (our air conditioning is still broken), I was clueless as to what I was going to make. I scoured Pintrest's food section hoping something would pop out at me. But alas, nothing did. And then, Wednesday morning, as I was waking up it hit me that I had plenty of chicken breasts in the freezers and too many tortillas not to make something Mexican. I've never made Chicken Fajitas and it seemed like an easy meal to prepare, plus a meal that would feed lots of people.

It did both.

The chicken was simple to prepare.

The Recipe:

• 12 Chicken Breasts
• 2 Green Peppers sliced
• 2 Red Peppers sliced
• 2 Onions sliced
• Pepper
• Salt
• Chili Powder
• Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Fajita seasoning
• Water

Slice the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Then slice up the veggies as well. Throw everything into a crockpot and fill half way with water. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. When the chicken is cooked, drain the water and add in the package of Fajita seasoning as well as other spices to taste. 

While that was cooking, I was trying to come up with a fresh summery side dish. I came across a picture of a cucumber, strawberry swirl dish that was beautiful to look at. I had a lot of cucumbers and strawberries and put them to use.

The Recipe:

• 3 Cucumbers sliced
• 1 Pint of Strawberries sliced
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• A pinch of Rosemary

Slice and arrange in a swirl and then drizzle the dressing over the swirl. Mmm. 

The meal was simple, easy, and fed a dozen people. I made some mango salsa to go on top of the fajitas. It was colourful and tasted good. 

The eaters for this meal are fabulous! All of my family (Dad, Mom, Damarise, Sarah, Ian, and Andrew), Jimmy, Matt, Faith, Janessa, and Sonya. It was such a joy to be able to have all of the family meet my friends who have been family to me. Before Dad prayed for the meal, he told our friends how thankful they are for each one of them and how much it means to them that Damarise and I have them in our lives and what a blessing they are to us. And how true he is.

My friends thank me a lot for having them over to eat, but I can't show my appreciation for them enough. Food is only a little way to say thank you to them for all they have done for me. They have blessed both Damarise and me in tremendous ways. They listen to us, encourage us, pray with and for us, laugh with us, cry with us, are abundantly generous with their possessions, and time, and continue to care for us no matter what. I am truly blessed and thank God for these friends. 

Waffles & Syrups (Recipes 30, 31 & 32)

Waffles are a breakfast food that is complete with the sweet breadiness of a morning treat, but can be paired with almost anything – eggs, sausage, or a sweet topping. Damarise asked for a Waffle Iron for her birthday and it has been put to good use on the mornings when we eat something other than cereal. 

The other morning I tried a new waffle recipe that turned out very well. 

The Recipe: 

• 1 3/4 cups Flour 
• 2 teaspoon Baking Powder 
• 1 tablespoon Sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt 
• 3 eggs, separated 
• 1 1/2 cup Milk 
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

Mix it together, add in some cinnamon and vanilla to spice it up. And cook it to perfection on the waffle iron. Yum. 

I then made two different toppings to put on the waffles. The first was a Strawberry-Blackberry Syrup. 

The Recipe: 

• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Sugar
• Water

Blend the berries together then throw in sugar to taste and some water and let it boil for five minutes before serving. I put down a layer of vanilla yogurt on my waffle before dousing it in berry syrup. 

The next time I ate a waffle, I mixed up a more chocolaty concoction.

The Recipe:

• 1/2 Cup Vanilla Yogurt
• 3 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
• 4 Tablespoons Chocolate Syrup

Mix it together and pour it on the waffle. Yumm! It was the perfect desert waffle. 

Independence Day Meal (Recipes 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29)

I'm kicking this recipe goal into high gear. My boss has given me more hours at work, which is fabulous, but it also gives me less time to tackle the goal of getting 50 recipes. So, I decided to try out as many new recipes as I could for one meal. Phew!

One of my favourite parts about Independence Day (other than fireworks!) is the delicious Summery food that usually accompanies the day. It's usually a cookout with wonderful side dishes. I decided to try and make a meal that seemed appropriate for an Independence Day celebration. However, we don't own a grill, so I decided to go with Pulled Pork Sandwiches instead and try out as many new side dishes as I could.

And so, without further adieu, six new recipes!

BBQ Pulled Pork.

The Recipe:

• 4-8lbs Boston Butt Pork
• Pepper
• Garlic
• Steak Seasoning
• 1 Chopped Onion
• 3-4 cups BBQ sauce
• Water

This is probably one of the easiest main dishes to prepare. Easy and good is one of the best combinations. Mom has made pulled pork several times in our family and every time I think it is the absolute best tasting pork. Yum! 

I coated the meat in seasonings and then stuck it in the crockpot with water and onions to cover it. Let it cook on low for 6 hours. Then, drain the water, pour in the BBQ sauce, and cook on high until ready to serve. Shred it up and you are good to go. 

While the meat was cooking, I set to work on making the buns. I used the same recipe that I used for Sloppy Joes. 

While in the midst of preparing a meal that would pair well with a fireworks show that night (Chattanooga celebrates a day early) we got news that the fireworks would be canceled due to an enormous amount of rainfall. No fireworks would be a bummer, but the rain was beautiful! 

One of the side dishes that I only tasted recently (and loved!) is broccoli salad. It is a blend of random foods mixed perfectly to make a delectable side dish. Thanks to Megan for giving me her sister's recipe, this turned out beautifully! 

The Recipe:

• 1 lg bunch broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces 
• 1 cup yellow raisins (I used black because yellow were more expensive)
• 10 strips bacon, fried and crumbled 
• 1 cup sunflower seeds 
• 1/2 onion, chopped (or to taste) 
• 1/2 cup mayo 
• 3 Tablespoons sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar

Mix it all together. And you have an impressive side dish that is so simple, yet so good!

After the broccoli salad was in the fridge I went to work on cutting tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes. All while watching The Office. 

This is a Tomato Cucumber Toss. I made it up, sort of. Mom has made something like this before and I'm not quite sure what she put in hers, but this turned out pretty good.

The Recipe:

• 5 Tomatoes diced
• 2 Cucumbers diced
• Vinegar to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley flakes

Mix it up and it's like a salad without the lettuce. Yum!

Here are the finished rolls. This bun recipe is the best I've ever found. My favourite part about them is that they stay moist days later, unlike most bread recipes that turn crusty after 24 hours. 

Another new recipe that I have never made (not even the boxed kind!) is macaroni and cheese. It's a classic, but neither Damarise nor I really like it that much. However, I decided I'd try it out. It was super simple. Just some noodles, cheese, milk, and seasonings. Yum.

The Recipe:

• 2 Cups Macaroni Noodles
• 3/4 lb Velveeta
• 1/3 Cup Milk
• Pepper to taste

Cook noodles as directed on the box. Drain the noodles when they are cooked and mix in the other ingredients. 

I also stumbled upon Martha Stewart's website full of wonderful meal ideas. What caught my eye was a watermelon drink. I decided to try it and regretted my decision immensely. It said to mix watermelon with Sprite and serve it. But it tasted pretty terrible. However, it was another recipe to add to the list... and not one I'd make again.

Dessert covered recipe number 29, thanks to Jimmy. He brought back an icecream maker this past week and after making a Walmart run to buy the special ingredients and stopping by a nifty little ice shack we set to work making it. (also, this picture of the ice getting is the only picture we got of the entire ice cream making process. Ooops). Getting the ice was pretty exciting though and something Damarise and I have been wanting to do for a while.

Jimmy has the icecream recipe so I can't repost it on here because I don't know what it is. Or I could just claim that it's a secret. Either way, it was delicious! We made cream cheese ice cream with strawberry pretzel filling (with Basil! Crazy). It was phenomenal. Jimmy did an awesome job of making it and getting everything to fit in our freezer. It was definitely a good wrap up to the meal and a perfect dessert to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The wonderful eaters for this meal were: Greg, Janessa, Micah, Sonya, Faith, Jimmy, Megan, and Damarise. I love having them all over. Conversation at the table is always filled with laughter and after dinner we all crash around the living room, talking, laughing, playing games, or playing guitar. Getting to relax with all of them is the best part of having them over for meals. It's fun to cook but without people to share it with it would not be near as fun. They all seemed to enjoy the food (except the terrible watermelon drink!) and there were plenty of leftovers for people to take home too! All in all, I'd say tackling 6 recipes in one meal went okay!

Berriness (Recipe 23)

Summer has the best fruits and veggies. Strawberries are still on sale. And this week all the blackberry bushes in the forest around us have burst into bloom. I went out Monday morning and picked over three cups full of blackberries. My legs look like I went through a war zone (thorns are vicious!) but it was worth it. 

Blackerries don't last very long, and I knew I wanted to make some sort of berry dessert with strawberries and blackberries. I googled away and came up empty handed. I was already coming up with my own recipe for dinner (fish tacos) and I figured, why not go all the way and have dessert be a made up recipe too. And that is exactly what I proceeded to do. 

The Recipe: 

• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Apple
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Sour Cream
• Marie Cookies (or Graham Crackers)
• Butter

I'm terrible at measuring when I'm just making something up off the top of my head. So, bear with me. I first mixed together some Marie Cookies (they only sell them in Europe and Africa... I think Graham Crackers would be the closest substitute in America) with butter, vanilla, and cinnamon until it was a good crust consistency. I then smushed that mixture into the bottoms of greased muffin tins. 

Next, I mixed together enough blackberries and strawberries as well as one apple. I then poured in a little bit of sugar (probably 1/2 a cup) and some lemon juice. I also am still on a sour cream roll, so I put in a dollop of sour cream as well. 

I then put them in the over for about 25 minutes on 350ºF. 

When they came out, I let them cool for a while. As they cooled I whipped up a concoction for the top. I basically grabbed everything white in our fridge and whipped it together. 

The Recipe: 

• Whip Cream
• Cream Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Vanilla Yogurt
• Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar

I mixed enough together to get the consistency and flavour that I wanted. Again, so sorry, but I don't know how much of everything I put in. Oops. 

When the berry things were cooled I put on some of the whipped topping and dusted the topping with a bit of Lime Zest. 

And Vwala. The nameless dessert that was probably terribly difficult to follow. It was good though and had the flavour of Summer fruit. Mmm. If you can come up with a name for it, I would love to hear it!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa (Recipes 21 and 22)

Cooking is like an art. There is a variety of colour to visually appeal to the eye. Yet, the art of cooking goes deeper than aesthetic beauty. There is also the beauty of texture. Knowing that pudding will be smooth and light when you eat it is all in the art of whipping it together. There is art in putting together the right foods to create a flavour that appeals to all the tastebuds. Cooking is an art that appeals to many of the senses. And so I say again, even though I feel like I say it every time I write, God is an amazing Creator. I am thankful that He created a world with colour and taste, smell and texture. It definitely makes cooking all the more fun. 

And with that little shpeel out of my system, here are recipes twenty-one and twenty-two.

It began in San Diego. Our flight touched down a little after lunch time and after realizing we couldn't check into our hotel until 4pm we decided to wander around and find something to eat. We came across this little shack advertising Fish Tacos. I like trying new foods, plus Damarise had eaten one before and said they were amazing. So I ordered one and my tastebuds were rejoicing. They were great. (And yes, I couldn't help it... I wanted to post a picture of my family from our time in San Diego. I love 'em!)

The Fish Tacos led to me and Damarise raving about them when we got home the following Friday. Matt heard us and told me that that should me my next new recipe. I needed no more convincing. I researched the web for a fantastic fish taco recipe and came up empty handed. Correction, I'm sure there are many, but they all called for ingredients I didn't have. Thus began my adventure...

Everything in this post follows no recipe. I just mixed a little of this and a little of that until I got what I wanted. Yikes. 

I wanted to try making a salsa for on the fish tacos. I was searching around our fridge when I realized I had several mangoes that needed to be eaten immediately. Orr...made into Mango Salsa. 

The Recipe: 

• 2 Mangoes (diced)
• 1 Purple Onion 
• 4 Orange, Yellow, and Red Peppers
• 1 Large Tomato
• A pinch of Salt
• Some Lime Juice
• Sugar to taste

(I apologize for the blurry picture, but I only took a picture for Instagram.. not on the camera. Oops). Mix up the ingredients and let it sit in the fridge for a while to get some juice. Mmm. So colourful and delicious. 

Next I whipped up some guacamole. The avocados were ripe to perfection. I added some salt, lemon juice, and sour cream until it tasted just right. I also love the pale green colour of guacamole. 

And then came the fish. Fish is incredibly easy to make. It cooks in under 5 minutes and can be seasoned easily.

The Recipe:

• Fish 
• Lime Juice
• Bread Crumbs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chili Powder
• Paprika

I covered each piece of fish in lime juice, the spices and bread crumbs. Then I let them marinate in the fridge for a bit.  

After they were done cooking I put them in a bowl, cut them up and poured in a packet of Ranch Dressing mix. This added a flavour that blended well with the guacamole. 

The table looked so colourful. And, just like they served them in San Diego, I put a lime on everyone's plate. Thank you, Aldi, for having limes on sale! 

My the time everything (rice, refried beans, fish, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and mango salsa) had been piled onto a tortilla it was a bit hard to close, but tasted so fresh. 

These were my wonderful eaters: Jimmy, Sonya, Megan, Janessa, Faith, and Damarise. I just love them all! If it weren't for their willingness to come sit in our hot house (our A/C still doesn't work) and try whatever new concoction I've made... well, this blog wouldn't exist and I probably wouldn't even want to try 50 new recipes. They are always generous and provide awesome feedback. 

Also, even though everything was made without a recipe... I think it was a hit. I definitely want to make it again!