.summer salad.

will you forgive me for not giving you a play by play of this recipe? 

i did not consider blogging it until i saw how pretty it was after making it.  you're going to be glad i did. this mix is summer sensational! 

here's what i put together:

mixed greens (and purple) salad

roasted pepitas (can substitute sunflower seeds)

raspberries

blueberries 

goat cheese 

grilled chicken (can substitute vegetarian chicken)

balsamic glaze

vinaigrette dressing 

use the quantities and flavors that you like best. 

this salad has such an interesting mix of flavors and textures. the taste is absolutely fresh and flavorful. 

enjoy!

.cute caprese.

you've probably tasted these flavors together before. whether as a salad, on a margherita pizza, or as a bruschetta topping, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella are as classic together as peanut butter and jelly. if you need a go-to summer appetizer, this is it!

slice a handful or a bowlful of cherry tomatoes in half. one of the beauties of this recipe is that you can make as little or as many of these bite-sized caprese stacks as you'd like to share.  

one of my all time favorite flavors and scents is fresh basil. because you will be using tiny tomatoes, you will need smaller pieces of basil. tear your bigger leafs in half.

fresh mozzarella! make sure you say that with excitement because it sure tastes exciting. i got a big hunk-a the stuff and used my melon baller to scoop little balls. you can obviously just tear or cut what you need if you don't have this teeniest tiniest scoop in your kitchen drawer.

pick a pretty plate and lay your cherry tomatoes flat side down. if you did it the other way, they'd be rolling all over the place. 

blanket each tomato with basil.

place a piece of FRESH MOZZARELLA! on top and don't let go.

poke a toothpick through all three components and now let go. ta da! you have yourself the beginning of what will be a beautiful display of fresh yumminess. these will be a hit at any summer soiree. 

p.s. i drizzled balsamic glaze on mine. so terribly delicious. 

.southwest salad.

potluck!

the word alone either makes you cringe or gets your juices flowing. babycake's daycare celebrated teacher appreciation week with a different treat every day. one of the days was a potluck provided by the parents.  this was the perfect opportunity to try out this colorful salad i found on pinterest.
as long as you get all the necessary ingredients, it is easy to put together and the dynamic flavor palette is so worth it. here's how!

chop chop chop a head of rinsed romaine lettuce.

shuck an ear of sweet corn and then run your knife down its sides to get all the kernels off. throw in a bowl with your lettuce. wait- i didn't cook the corn first? nope. use the fresh corn. 

now, add a hefty handful of roasted and salted pepitas. this is the first time i've ever put pepitas in a recipe and yummy! if you can't find these little crunchies in your grocery store, use sunflower seeds instead. 

take a beautiful red bell pepper and dice it up. toss it on in your growing salad bowl. 

rinse a 15 oz can of black beans. these beans will add the protein to the salad to make it a complete meal. 

cut in half about one cup of cherry tomatoes. yep- add those in too. are we done yet? no! 

get your eye guy to dice up a huge block of pepper jack cheese and then only use a fraction of it. or, use all of it you want. cheese, glorious cheese!

you now have this colorful, gorgeous salad. if you're more ambitious than i am, make your own salad dressing. i went with this store bought variety and it was absolutely delicious! 

toss. 

add some crunchy tortilla strips and dive in. this picture doesn't do the taste factor justice. i sent the full salad away to babycake's school for the potluck. and then the next night, i made the whole thing all over again for our dinner at home. 

i added grilled chopped chicken to my eye guy's bowl. we both love it and will be having it again.

southwest salad

inspired by this recipe

put all of this in a bowl and enjoy. 

one head chopped romaine lettuce

one ear sweet corn kernels

one chopped red bell pepper

one 15 oz can of drained black beans

about a cup of halved cherry tomatoes

one cup (or more) of shredded pepper jack cheese

a big handful of pepitas

tortilla salad strips for topping

avocado ranch dressing or your favorite southwestern dressing

.one pot mexican skillet.

i like easy meals. i like rich flavors. i like delicious. i love this dish.

brown a pound of ground beef. (i used vegetarian ground for this one). 

         

once your ground is browned (try saying that three times fast), add a packet of taco seasoning. 

 

add a can of tomato sauce and stir. complicated so far, right? 

 

plop in two cups of cooked corkscrew pasta or any pasta of your choice. 

add one cup of rinsed black beans. 

 

now pile on a cup of yellow corn. as opposed to neon pink corn. 

finish it off with one chopped roma tomato and one half to one cup of cheddar cheese. stir all of these ingredients in a skillet on medium high heat until hot, simmering and ready to eat. 

 

top your filling bowl with your favorite mexican yummies. i added guacamole.  if i had cilantro, i would have added that too and maybe a little more cheese if i had thought about it. cheese. more. mmm.

 

take a bite. enjoy!

one pot mexican skillet

what you need

1 pound ground beef (vegetarian ground can be substituted)

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 packet taco seasoning

2 cups cooked corkscrew pasta

1 cup rinsed black beans

1 cup corn

1 roma tomato, diced

1/2- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

toppings of your choice (avocado, cilantro, more cheese, sour cream, etc...)

what you do

brown your ground beef of medium high heat. add one packet of taco seasoning and stir. pour in the can of tomato sauce and then add the pasta, black beans and corn. top with the diced tomato and cheese and stir all ingredients together. cook over medium to medium high heat until hot and simmering.  top with what you like! 

.distressed jeans: how to.

wanna get that distressed look for your little's jeans or for your own? let me show you how super duper simple it is! 

first, go to your local thrift store or garage sale and score a pair of jeans for super cheap. you're going to be "destroying" them after all. i snagged this pair for babycakes for two bucks! 

begin by putting a rolled up magazine down the leg you're currently working on. this is to prevent cutting through the back of your jeans or worse- your work surface. 

then, decide if you're going to leave them full length or cut into shorts. for my first pair, i decided to cut them into cut-offs. that's redundant. 

mark where you want to slice and dice. try to go for where you'd see a worn out look naturally; the knee area and around the pockets. using a thin sharpie, i marked where i wanted the cuts to be.  as a tip, the closer the cuts are together, the more it will look like a patch of distressed-ness. in the picture i'm showing, the marks are pretty far apart. i ended up going back and fitting two more between those to get the look i wanted at the knee area. the beauty is- there is no wrong way to do this.

take your razor blade and slice through where you made your marks. you'll be cutting your magazine that's inside the leg. pretty please be careful with your razor blade. 

p.s. my eye guy walked up to see what i was doing and said he was surprised i knew how to get the razor out of this apparatus. umm...i should be insulted, right? don't worry. i was. 

i forgave him though because i was in a crafty, peaceful state of mind.

bleaching is also a personal preference. i took this sponge and bleached vertically down the front of the leg. you could also just bleach spots here and there or not at all. i then laid the jeans out in the sun for about 30 minutes to let the bleach really work its magic. then, i washed and dried this pair and was stoked with how they looked when they came out. for only 2 dollars, babycakes got to sport a trendy little pair of shorts! have fun with this one. i know i will continue to myself. 

.apple brie eggrolls.

part three of my eggroll series has arrived. as you can tell, i was serious about using up my entire pack of eggroll wrappers. here's the sweet triplet - apple brie eggrolls. 

preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

pick your favorite apples. and by pick, i mean grab a couple from your market; unless of course you have access to an apple tree and then you can truly pick. now i'm jealous thinking you may have an apple tree. i'm apple green with envy.

slice and dice your rinsed apples.

in a roasting pan, sprinkle your apple chunks with cinnamon. bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

once your apples are soft and cinnamony, place them in an eggroll wrapper with a hunk of brie. then, drizzle a blanket of honey on top of it all before you roll up all this goodness. 

before you put your apple brie eggrolls in your oven (still heated from the apples), spray them with baking spray and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. 

crunchy on the outside, warm and delicious on the inside. 

enjoy!

.back to school cupcakes.

going back to school always has brought me flurries for a fresh start. new notebooks, crisp paper, sharpened pencils (i prefer mechanical), and the hope of something new. as a teacher, i still get these same good jitters at the beginning of every school year. i have the perfect cupcake to go with all this freshness. apple buttercream vanilla cupcakes. 

 for the cake to these cups, i used a recipe that i have used before from magnolia bakery to achieve a simple cupcake platform to the apple buttercream frosting to come.

no flavor reminds me of "school" as much as apples. so, to school basic buttercream frosting, i added a quarter cup of apple butter. the end result was a truly autumn-flavored frosting. 

i made several batches of the frosting until i finally landed on one i liked best that had a little cinnamon and a little more vanilla in it. 

while there isn't much taste in decor, there's a whole lot of visual appeal. so let's pretty these up!

raise your hand for sprinkles!

raise your hand for bright color!

raise your hand for back to school excitement! i hope you have fun with these cupcakes. i know i did.

back to school cupcakes
vanilla cupcakes
from magnolia bakery

what you need
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

what you do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

apple buttercream
what you need
1/4 cup apple butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
3-4 cups confectionery sugar
up to 4 tbs milk

what you do

beat the butter in an electric mixer for a few minutes until creamy. add the apple butter and vanilla. sprinkle in your cinnamon. then, slowly add the confectionery sugar and mix on medium-high. you're trying to whip the frosting into a fluffy buttercream. the milk is to add in a little silkiness or fluffiness as i like to say. if it is too stiff, you need a splash more of milk. if it is not stiff enough, add a little confectionery sugar at a time. 


after your cupcakes are cooled, frost and then decorate as you see fit. back to schooly is my suggestion. 

enjoy!