Macaroni and Cheesecake

Strawberry Blueberry Agua Fresca

June 18, 2013 · 2 comments

Ever since I had agua fresca in a taco shop when we went to San Francisco a couple of years ago, I’ve been wanting to replicate it at home and it’s the perfect time to do it with all the fresh fruit in season! And in case you were wondering, Agua Fresca is spanish for “fresh waters.” This drink is light & refreshing and not super sweet, and you can customize it to your taste with whatever fruit you would like! Try watermelon, raspberry, blackberry, etc. It’s a fun drink that doesn’t require many ingredients.

Strawberry Blueberry Agua Fresca
Source: Adapted from Eat, Live, Run & Food & Wine

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lb. strawberries (approx. 3 to 4 cups), tops cut off & sliced in half
1 pint blueberries (approx. 2 cups)
3 cups cold water
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
1/2 cup sugar (optional)*

Directions:
In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup sugar & 1/2 cup water and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place cut strawberries and blueberries in a blender or food processor and blend until completely pureed.

Pour fruit puree into a pitcher and add the sugar syrup, water and lime juice. Stir to combine. Taste and add additional sugar if needed.

Store in refrigerator to chill before serving. Serve over ice, if desired, with a slice of lime.

Notes:
*I like my drinks pretty sweet, so I added the 1/2 cup sugar at the end and Adam thought it might’ve needed a tad more. My berries weren’t super sweet, so if you have super sweet fruit or berries you shouldn’t need to add more sugar.

**Can add an additional cup of water if you would like to thin it more.

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Strawberry on Top: Anniversary Fun & Pregnancy Update

June 14, 2013 · 18 comments

in Restaurants

Sorry for only one recipe this week! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks! I’m hoping to get back in the kitchen this weekend. At the end of May, Adam & I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It’s been a wonderful 7 years, full of ups and downs but the best 7 years of my life for sure! To celebrate we took the weekend and just spent time together around where we live. We took a picnic and went up to an overlook. The view was gorgeous!

Then we went to dinner in Chattanooga to The Terminal. We started with pizza rolls which were a great twist on the childhood favorite. I got the roast beef nachos and Adam got the burger and then we split each in half. Seriously one of the best restaurant burgers that I’ve had! And the cheese sauce on the nachos was super addictive!! Definitely returning there very soon for sure!

Then we ventured to Milk & Honey for the most amazing gelato!! The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at the pool and we also went to see Iron Man 3, which was an awesome movie!

And in case you are curious, here is a quick pregnancy update. I’m now 23 weeks (picture was taken at 22 weeks) and feeling great! I’ve been a bit fatigued but I think that’s more from being busy than anything. I’ve been trying to stay active and go to Turbo Kick, Walk or do the Elliptical but I’m MUCH slower than I used to be and get winded much easier! But I’m determined to stay active! No crazy cravings, although my love of chicken tenders has returned in full force but I’m trying to keep that under control and only indulge every few weeks. Thankfully with summer here fresh fruits & veggies are readily available so I’m trying to eat more and more of those. Though I am a bit of a chip aholic and had to enforce “no chip week” last week to get it under control!;)

The ultrasound pictures are at about 20 1/2 weeks and she is perfectly healthy! She was super active during the ultrasound and turned and looked right at us! We are so blessed and thankful for this little miracle God has blessed us with! I have started to feel her move and kick which is the most surreal and coolest thing!

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Baked Macaroni and Cheese

June 11, 2013 · 20 comments

in pasta

I have professed my love for stovetop macaroni & cheese many times in the past. It’s my favorite way to eat mac & cheese. Shockingly, I realized I had never even tried making a baked version of mac & cheese before, and I thought it was high time! This was AMAZING!! It was kind of a lot of work, and required lots of attention and stirring on the front end, but TOTALLY worth it! It’s a good thing I took this to a potluck meeting or I think I might’ve polished off the entire dish! Right out of the oven this was creamy and comforting, and the panko on top added such a nice crunch and texture (I had to taste test it, of course ). En route to the potluck it did set up a bit and lose some of the creaminess, but it was still wonderful then too.

Mac & Cheese (3 of 8)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Source: Slightly Adapted from Food.com
Makes a 9 x 13 baking dish, serves approximately 8-10 people

Ingredients:
1 lb. elbow noodles
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups milk
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated, plus more for topping

For Topping:
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large pot cook elbow noodles according to package directions, drain and let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, paprika & cayenne until incorporated, set aside.

In a large pot, melt 1/2 stick butter over medium heat. Add in flour mixture and stir until incorporated. Gradually add in milk & heavy cream, stirring continually while pouring.

Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 2 minutes while continually stirring. Reduce heat and cook mixture an additional 10 minutes, continuing to stir mixture.

Remove from heat and add in the 4 cups of grated cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add in the elbow noodles to the cheese mixture and gently stir to coat. Taste test at this point and add additional seasonings if necessary.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with additional cheese (I did enough to lightly coat the top, approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup).

Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a medium sized bowl. Once melted, add in panko and stir to coat. Evenly spoon breadcrumbs on top of macaroni in the baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes, until top is golden and mixture is bubbly. I also broiled for just a minute to get the top nice and crispy, but you have to watch very closely so it doesn’t burn.

Serve warm and store leftovers in an airtight container.

Notes: Can easily half this recipe and bake in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking dish.

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White Texas Sheet Cake

June 6, 2013 · 13 comments

in cake

A co-worker of mine sadly has left us and is moving on to another job, and we threw her a going away party, so naturally I had to sign up to bring a dessert! I wanted to do something a little different and then I found this gem of a cake! This maybe wasn’t the best decision for a super hot day because you have to stand over a boiling pot twice, but it was totally worth it!! This cake was light and moist but rich all at the same time. It has LOTS of butter in it and that gives it such a nice flavor and texture. I cut back the sugar in the icing (reflected below) and it worked perfectly so that it wasn’t too sweet/sugary. Everyone raved over this dessert and kept asking me what was in it. I just kept saying, LOTS of butter, haha! It also called for almond extract, but when I went to my pantry I was out and since I was making this at like 10 pm, I just subbed with vanilla and it worked great. You could also do a combination of almond & vanilla that way the almond won’t overpower the cake. Make this cake and you will make lots of new BFF’s haha!

White Texas Sheet Cake
Source: Taste of Home

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cubed
1 cup water
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda

For the Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed
1/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract

Directions:

For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 15 x 10 x 1 inch rimmed baking sheet (cookie sheet) with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large pot, add butter and water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat as soon as it starts to boil. Add in the flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, salt, baking powder, almond or vanilla extract and baking soda. Stir together until fully incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for approximately 18 to 22 minutes, until lightly golden and a tester comes out clean. Set pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes before frosting the cake.

For the Frosting:
In a medium sized pot, add butter and milk. Bring to a boil and remove from heat as soon as it starts to boil. Add in the confectioners’ sugar and almond or vanilla extract. Stir until fully incorporated.

Spread icing evenly over the cake after it has cooled for 20 minutes. Let set to cool completely, then slice into squares. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

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Hash Brown Casserole

June 4, 2013 · 16 comments

in Side Dishes

This was one of my favorite dishes my mom made growing up! It is such a great side dish and is perfect for a potluck or cookout. I used fresh potatoes, but you can certainly sub with frozen hash browns and save some time. This dish does call for cream of chicken soup, but I used some homemade cream of mushroom that I had on hand. It’s super easy to make from scratch and then you can keep it in the freezer to use in casseroles, etc. This may not look like much, but trust me, your family and friends are going to love it! I halved the recipe below and we got 3 or 4 meals out of it for the two of us.

Hash Brown Casserole
Source: My Mom

Ingredients:
1 5 lb. bag yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cubed & boiled*
16 oz. light sour cream
1 onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom**
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed

Directions:
Peel and cube up your potatoes. Place in a large pot and cover the potatoes with water. Bring pot of potatoes to boil and let boil for 30 minutes. Drain and let cool. (Can refrigerate at this point and then when ready to assemble casserole take out just ahead of time to get the chill off).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray, set aside. (Can also use two 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 dishes).

In a very large bowl, combine sour cream, onion, cream of chicken or mushroom, grated cheddar, milk, salt & pepper. Stir to combine.

Add in potatoes and toss to coat, may want to taste and add more salt & pepper if necessary. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

In a medium sized bowl, combine melted butter and lightly crushed cornflakes. Stir to coat cornflakes. Spoon cornflake mixture over top of the potato mixture in the baking dish, evenly distributing.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes, until bubbly and cornflakes are crunchy. Serve warm and store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes:
*Can use 1 large bag frozen cubed hash browns
**Can use this homemade cream of chicken or mushroom soup
***To reheat: Bake in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbly and heated through.

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Disney 2013: Epcot Adventures

May 31, 2013 · 6 comments

in family, Travel

Before I get to our Epcot adventures, let me back up a bit. After the amazing conference and meeting such wonderful bloggers, Adam & I went and had appetizers at Citricos at the Grand Floridian. We had eaten there once before and it was equally incredible this time. We shared the arancini (risotto balls) and then short ribs. They were both mouthwateringly delicious! So full of flavor and very filling!

Sunday we headed to Epcot and brought our appetite to eat our way around the world! Before the World Showcase part opened we rode our favorite ride, Soarin’ which simulates a hang glider flight over California. It’s so fun and they even pipe in different scents to make you feel like you are really there. Our other favorite ride is Living with the Land which takes you through the Disney Greenhouse and you get to see things that are grown there with innovate techniques, so neat!

It was the last day of the HGTV Garden Festival at Epcot, so we got to look at the amazing garden sculptures. My favorite was the crocodile from Peter Pan, looks so animated!

Flower & Garden Festival

This year in conjunction with the Garden Festival, this year they added a Food festival element with different food booths in each country that they don’t normally have. Here’s what we sampled (photos below top left to bottom right).

Food Festival

We started out with a Violet Lemonade that was tart and refreshing.

Next we moved on to Mexico and sampled the Carnitas. So good!

Then we took a trip to China and had a spring pancake. This was by far our favorite dish! So savory and the sauce was a sticky sweet sauce that just made the dish sing. The pancake was a perfect texture too!

We finished up with BBQ in America. This BBQ was awesome and the bun was the perfect carrier for it! And we also got a s’mores mousse brownie. And now we were officially full. We did get some pastries to eat on our flight home when we were in Paris, but sadly accidentally left them at the hotel.

We ended up with a refreshing Berry Slush on our way out.

Such a great trip and I can’t wait to go back! Disney truly is a magical place that brings the kid out in everyone!

And just for fun a picture of Adam with the Iron Man Monorail. What’s your favorite thing to do at Disney?

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S’mores Cookie Cake

May 29, 2013 · 23 comments

in chocolate, Cookies

I’ve mentioned it numerous times, but I am fanatical for anything s’mores. If I see a s’mores dessert or treat, I’ve got to try it. I was trying to think of a fun dessert to make for Memorial Day and I thought of doing a s’mores pizza of sorts, but I didn’t want to fool with making pizza dough so I found a great recipe for a S’mores Cookie Cake. I don’t know about you, but I can hardly resist a slice of cookie cake when I pass by the cookie kiosk at the mall, so I knew this was the perfect treat for the holiday! I actually used cookie dough that I had bought from a neighbor’s school sale, but you can definitely use your favorite from scratch chocolate chip cookie recipe. This was super easy to put together and I actually made it earlier in the day and we just reheated the individual slices right before serving. Warning: this is super rich and dangerously delicious!!

S’mores Cookie Cake
Source: Food.com

Ingredients:
1 recipe chocolate chip cookie dough (enough to make 20 to 24 cookies)*
1 1/2 to 2 cups mini marshmallows
8 Fun Size Hershey Bars, broken into 1 inch rectangles**
2 full sheets graham crackers, broken into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.

Use a rolling pin to spread cookie dough in an even layer onto the prepared pizza pan into a circular shape. Dough should be approximately 1/4 inch thick.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the edges start to turn lightly golden.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top in an even layer, and then place the Hershey Bar pieces & Graham Cracker pieces over top, distributing evenly.

Bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes until marshmallows begin to melt and cookie is golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Cut into pizza slices and serve warm. Can reheat slices individually in the microwave. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

*Can use store bought cookie dough
**Can sub with chocolate chips

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Disney World 2013: Magic Kingdom

May 25, 2013 · 10 comments

in Restaurants, Travel

As I mentioned on Thursday, Adam & I just got back from a trip to Disney World, one of our very favorite places! We are just big kids at heart so Disney is right up our alley! I was going to post about our entire Disney adventures, but this post got a little lengthy so I’m splitting up with Magic Kingdom fun today and then I’ll post about our Epcot adventures next weekend.

Thursday we stayed at the Hilton right across from downtown Disney and had a gorgeous view from our room! We walked around Downtown Disney that morning and laid poolside that afternoon, which was fabulous! We at dinner at Cookes of Dublin and split Fish & Chips, which were delicious (Forgot to snap a picture). That’s one way we saved some money on this trip. We brought our own snacks and then split meals and just snacked in between and were plenty full. We did get a few snacks/desserts in the parks as well, but those aren’t as pricey as the meals. We also played in the Lego store and then just sat by the water and watched the helium balloon take people up and down. It got really windy and let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t on that thing!

Friday, after checking in at the Grand Floridian for the conference, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We watched the “Dreams Come True” show & the street party parade (I’m still singing, “Get Up, Get Loud & Shout, Pumpin’ Up the Party Now!”) at the castle from a shady spot and then proceeded to ride some of the rides. My favorite is PhilHar Magic, which is actually a 3D show, but it’s so cool! And sadly, my other favorite, the Teacups was closed for renovations. Do you like the teacups? My husband hates them so I always have to ride them by myself.

Then came the highlight of the day! Lunch at the new Be Our Guest Restaurant in the new Fantasy Land addition in Magic Kingdom. It’s counter service for lunch and then you need reservations for dinner. We had to wait just a little bit to get in because it’s new, but it was so worth the wait! The atmosphere was so neat! There are three different rooms, each decorated like a scene from the movie (The West Wing, Ballroom & one other). You order at a touch screen and then they give you a little Rose shaped pager and you go and find a table. Then they bring you your food, and that rose muse be some sort of gps tracker because they bring it right to your table and you never tell them where you sit, so magical!!

We split the croque mosiuer, which was ham with gruyere cheese & bechamel sauce, and came with fries. It was SO good! And then we each got a cupcake and then shared both. We tried the strawberry and the chocolate. The strawberry was so light and the icing was so smooth and the Chocolate was rich & decadent, both amazing!

We headed back and relaxed in the room and went to the pool at the hotel and then after the conference Welcome reception, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to ride a couple more rides and watch the fireworks show “Wishes.” I highly recommend the new Ariel ride in Fantasyland, they did such an amazing job with it! About 15 minutes prior to the fireworks show, they project another show on the castle that was so neat (pictured above to the right)! It was all different images from different Disney Movies & characters. They also show it about 15 or 20 minutes after the fireworks in case you miss it the first time.

It was a Magical Day! Stay tuned for our adventures at Epcot’s Food & Garden Festival next weekend!

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Food Blog Forum 2013 Orlando

May 23, 2013 · 30 comments

in Travel

This past weekend I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend my first food blog conference, Food Blog Forum. And Bonus, it was at Disney World, one of my favorite places ever! Originally I went to sign up right when the tickets went on sale but they were sold out in like 5 minutes, literally! So I got put on the waiting list and Praise the Lord, a spot opened up! I was super pumped!! This conference was amazing! I was pretty nervous initially because I didn’t know anyone at all, well I knew some people from chatting online but had never met any of them in person. My nervousness quickly vanished because everyone was so friendly and engaging! This conference was especially great because it was a smaller amount of people so you really got to know a lot of the other bloggers attending.

We went down a couple days earlier and I’ll be sharing more about our actual Disney adventures this weekend, but here is a recap of the actual conference & the amazing food we partook of! The conference was held at The Grand Floridian and it was gorgeous!! They were super helpful and had great customer service, plus they had our room ready when we arrived at 9:00 am, that never happens!

We had an absolutely gorgeous view from our room and it even had a balcony to sit out on! The room was super spacious and they even had robes for you to wear! I love it when hotels have robes, do you? And they had a hamper to put your dirty clothes in, Disney is all about the details!

Friday night was the Welcome reception where we mingled and got to sample some amazing appetizers. My favorite was the pork dish, the polenta with mushrooms and the lobster salad cones! Also pictured on the far left was the fruit display from our Saturday morning breakfast. They had them in these fun cups with lit cubes underneath.

Saturday was the conference and we had some amazing speakers! Scott & Jaden of Steamy Kitchen started us off by talking about Redefining Success & Setting Goals. Then Diane & Todd of White on Rice Couple spoke about photography & videography. We also heard from a Disney Imagineer about how they design their resorts, restaurants & attractions which was fascinating! They take about 5 to 7 years from idea to completion! They are always focused on telling the story.

The main thing I took away from the conference was to be real, be yourself, tell your story and focus on what’s really important.

Lunch was the main attraction of the day! Disney put on an amazing display for us! They themed everything around their new initiative to offer healthier and better options for kids dining in their parks & resorts. My favorites were: (Pictured from top left)

Turkey Pot Pie served with a cheese biscuit from Cinderella’s Royal Table Restaurant

House made Meatballs with Orecchiette Pasta from the Yachstman Steakhouse

Multigrain Grilled Cheese Dipper with Tomato Soup from Whispering Canyon Cafe

Oven Roasted Altlantic Shrimp with Brown Basmati Rice from Narcoossee’s

And the piece de resistance were the desserts!! They had a fun and festive cupcake display with cupcakes decorated with different characters. Loved the Monster’s Inc ones and the Minnie Mouse! And they had a cake pop station where they were dipping them on site. And they also had a chocolate mousse cake with different food coloring that they decorated the plates with. A bunch of us got one of each dessert and then we all shared them, so much fun!

This was an amazing conference! Thanks so much to Julie at The Little Kitchen & Lindsay at Love & Olive Oil for putting this conference together! And we got an amazing “Swag” Bag full of all kinds of goodies from the amazing sponsors!

And I won a fun door prize from King Arthur Flour with cocoa powder, cinnamon and extracts plus an 8 x 8 baking pan.

Disclaimer: I paid for this conference out of my own pocket, but some of the items (swag bag, food, etc) were provided by the conference sponsors.

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Classic Pasta Salad

May 21, 2013 · 17 comments

in pasta, salad, Side Dishes

I love pasta salad! It’s such a light, summery side dish and it goes perfectly with a good burger or some bbq! There are so many different ways to make it, but my favorite is the classic way with some fresh veggies thrown in tossed in Italian Dressing. I just made this with what I had on hand, so feel free to throw in your favorite veggies. I bet it would be great with some red & yellow bell pepper and red onion! My grandmother said this was the best pasta salad she had ever eaten, and Adam & I couldn’t seem to get enough of it. It’s a great addition to your summer or Memorial Day cookouts!

Classic Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 box Tri Color Rotini Pasta
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside to cool slightly.

Transfer pasta to large bowl, add in the carrots, tomatoes, cucumber & Italian dressing. Toss gently to coat pasta with the dressing and evenly distribute chopped veggies. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to marry. Serve cold or at room temperature. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

*I made this for Mother’s Day and it fed 5 of us with lots left over and Adam & I got a couple more servings out of it each, so it would be great for a party.

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← Previous Entries

Macaroni and Cheesecake

Strawberry Blueberry Agua Fresca

Strawberry on Top: Anniversary Fun & Pregnancy Update

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

White Texas Sheet Cake

Hash Brown Casserole

Disney 2013: Epcot Adventures

S’mores Cookie Cake

Disney World 2013: Magic Kingdom

Food Blog Forum 2013 Orlando

Classic Pasta Salad

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