Bridal Shower Tea Party

Now this post is way overdue, but with summer comes long days and jam packed weekends. With summer also comes wedding season which means showers, bachelorette parties and the actual weddings. I was not expecting to be in one of my best friends weddings but when she asked me I was so excited and honored, this was my first time being a bridesmaid and I knew exactly what to expect. I have planned enough weddings in the past few years which is why I was probably more excited about being a bridesmaid then the normal girl.  Part of a bridesmaids job is throwing the bridal shower. The bride knew exactly what she wanted, so there was no issue with choosing a theme, it was a tea party. Floral dresses, big floppy hats, tea cups, honey favors, tea sandwiches and desserts, which brings me to this post. 

Baking is my thing, yes I like to cook, but baking is what I love. The bride is on pinterest, obviously, so I started there for inspiration, and she gave us plenty to work with!  To me the final details of baking is what makes a dessert, you know, the pretty part, not the technical. When you are hosting an event with lots of food, your guests will first judge what they choose by sight. If it doesn't look pretty to the eye, then chances are they won't choose it and move on to what looks nice. My main project was a tea party Barbie cake.

The bride and I did not meet until high school but learned that we were both obsessed with Barbie growing up. (To think if we were friends in our younger days!) I got to work with the technical part, baking and shaping her gown, and the MOB made the most beautiful floppy hat to finish her off (details!). I then started with the pretty part, frosting! Hand-piped mini flowers, round and round and round until she was perfect! What a hit, everyone loved her and asked when to cut it....hahaha obviously she wasn't going to be cut up until later that night when the shower was over, silly people! Sometimes when things are too pretty you just can't break down and ruin it to soon!

Next I got to work on three different mini desserts served in their own little individual "shot glass". Three flavors, banana cream pie, chocolate Oreo and cherry cheesecake, all with their own little silver spoon. These were quite simple ans they had to be, I made about 100 of them! The secret, pudding! So simple yet so pretty and delicious. The banana cream pie was made with banana pudding, mini vanilla wafers and fresh sliced banana. The chocolate Oreo was Oreo pudding and mini Oreos and lastly the cherry cheesecake was cheesecake pudding and cherry pie filling. The key, serving in cute little individual glasses, neatly layered and finished with a mini silver spoon. Who can resist a cute, little, easy individual dessert. This makes it easy to grab and enjoy. The small portion also allows you to try one of each and not feel as guilty! I'll say it once more, presentation, finishing details to make food beautiful is key. 

So you may be thinking that I was done, well I wasn't. What's a tea party, or any party for that matter, without cupcakes! I decided to make two types, white chocolate raspberry chocolate and also Strawberry Pineapple.  I used basic boxed cake mixes for both cupcakes, chocolate and strawberry.  On the chocolate I then used the white chocolate raspberry frosting flavoring and added that to pre-made butter-cream frosting, topped it with a fresh raspberry and beautiful! On the strawberry I substituted the water in the cake instructions with pineapple juice and reserved the actual crushed pineapple (from 1 large can of crushed pineapple) to add to butter-cream frosting.  Lastly, I picked up some cute little floral cupcake pan liners at Michael's just to make them stand out and go along with our theme.  One last time, making things pretty is the best part of baking! Enjoy!

Grilled Zucchini

There is nothing better in the hot summer months than fresh veggies from the garden!  We have planted a wide variety this season, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, swiss chard, brussels sprouts, corn and lots and lots of herbs.  When veggies are freshly picked you don't want to boil them and lose that fresh picked flavor.  So tonight when we picked our first zucchini of the season we decided to grill it.  In my opinion it is the best way I have ever had it!

So this is super easy, all you need to do is slice your zucchini into fours.  While we wanted to stick to not losing the natural fresh taste we decided to lightly brush it with olive oil and then just add some salt and pepper to taste. Place them face down on the grill and cook until lightly chard. Remove and serve as the perfect summer side.  I decided to serve these with my Sauteed chicken with Browned Sage Butter!  Enjoy!

Sauteed Chicken with Browned Sage Butter

With it being summer most people like to enjoy grilled food.  For us we cook almost every night on the grill, both the meat and the sides.  I am getting to the point that I just can't seem to eat anymore grilled chicken.  So tonight I decided to saute chicken breasts in the house with some browned sage butter.  It was so delicious (and easy) that I plan on making it again this week! Here is what you will need to make this fresh juicy chicken.

2 Chicken Breasts (cut in half and pounded to 1/4 inch)

1/2 Cup Flour

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Olive Oil Cooking Spray

5 Tablespoons Butter

2 Sprigs Fresh Sage

3 Teaspoons Fresh Thyme

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

First you want to salt and pepper your chicken to taste.  Next spray down your saute pan with the olive oil cooking pray and heat your pan.  While the pan is heating, lightly coat each side of the chicken breast with flour.  Now it is time to add your chicken to the pan, cook on medium heat about 4 minutes on each side (or until cooked through).  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.  Immediately add the butter and sage sprigs to the hot seasoned pan. Cook until butter is browned.  Remove the sage and add the thyme to the butter, cook about 30 seconds (being careful that the thyme does not burn).  Lastly add the lemon juice to the pan and throw the chicken back in.  It is now time to serve and top with the butter sauce! 

Although I am tired of grilled chicken, veggies are still delish on the grill!  While I was making the chicken my husband threw some fresh corn on the cob and zucchini that be picked fresh from the garden on the grill to have with our chicken.  Perfect summer meal, Enjoy!

Corn Bowl

So tonight's original dinner was a mess!! I didn't get home until about 8:30 and then had to cook dinner.  I ran to the store to grab a quick pre-made frozen stir-fry dinner......yes I know, they are terrible for you! Well then, it must have been a sign I shouldn't eat it when I put it in the pan and forgot about it and burnt it....ooopps!

So this means that I needed to think of something quick, since at this point I was starving.  I through a bag of steamfresh corn in the microwave to hold me over.....then I took a look in the fridge to find some tomatoes, olives and kielbasa.  I simply sliced all three and sauteed in EVOO until the kielbasa was cooked.  Threw this on top of the corn and that was dinner!

Honestly, it was DELICIOUS!  I will probably make it again as both Scott and I loved it, this shows you never know what you can do when your starving with what you have in the fridge! Enjoy!

Men Can Cook Too!

Men can cook too!

I texted my husband tonight to tell him I would make American Chop Suey, his favorite, when I got home.  When I get home late he usually will start dinner, the protein at least, so I can just throw together some sides when I get home.  I wanted to make sure he didn't bother tonight.  If you have read my post on American Chop Suey, you know I don't eat it.  My husband texted me and asked if I could let him know when I was on my way, at this point I knew he would be cooking something for me, and I was right! 

He made me an egg sandwich, but not your typical egg sandwich.  There is no bread in this sandwich, the eggs are the bread, and in between them is the kielbasa, tomatoes and taco cheese for a bit of heat. Topped with salt and pepper to finish.  A simple, quick and most importantly, delicious sandwich, without all the carbs of bread! It was so good I had him make me another, might just be a new favorite!

Crispy Spicy Chicken Bits - Baked

So this recipe all started when my husband brought home a new dipping sauce he found by Miracle Whip.  He came home and showed me the SMOKIN' BACON RANCH dipping sauce by Miracle Whip and asked if I could make something to dip in it.  Of course the first thing that came to mind was chicken.  Seeing how the sauce is incredibly unhealthy for you I wanted to make the crunchy chicken pieces as healthy as I could.  I decided to use panko and bake them instead of frying.

1 package of chicken breast tenderloins, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 c. panko bread crumbs

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt 

1/2 tsp. pepper

olive oil cooking spray

3 tbsp hot chili pineapple grilling sauce

2 egg whites

First, mix the bread crumbs and spices together in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the hot chili pineapple sauce and egg whites.

Dip the chicken into the egg white mixture, then place the chicken into the breading mixture.  Place the chicken bits on the olive oil sprayed baking pan and spray the tops of the pieces with the olive oil cooking spray as well.

Bake in a 350 degree oven (I popped them in the toaster oven) for 15 minutes.  Then broil on high for the last 5 minute to brown the tops.

Optional:  Serve the Crispy Spicy Chicken Bits with the SMOKIN' BACON RANCH dipping sauce by Miracle Whip! Enjoy!

Corn Chowder Makeover!

I am not one for depriving myself, I have learned if you do you will just end up eating too much when you actually let yourself indulge.  My mom happened to buy me a new cookbook the other day.  America's Test Kitchen Comfort Meals Makeover.  They teach you how to recreate all of your favorites with half the calories and fat, they even throw in some restaurant favorites as well!  I have only tried two so far, and both have been excellent.  I did make a few changes to them but mainly cut some ingredients out, so the calorie and fat count most likely stayed the same or went down even more.  

I LOVE corn chowder, but when you think chowder you automatically think fattening.  Well this recipe helps you cut the fat from  27g to 12g and calories from 310 to 180 while still tasting delish!  The key, more broth and 1% milk and less cream.  

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 slice of bacon, chopped fine

1/2 sweet onion
2 minced Garlic Cloves

1 tsp. dried Thyme
 3 tbsp Flour

3 cups low sodium, low fat chicken broth

1/2 cup 1% milk

2 cans of baby white corn

1lb baby red potatoes

1 Bay leave

1/2 cup half and half

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

Salt

Pepper

First heat the EVOO in a large soup pan until shimmering.  Add bacon and cook until crisp.  Stir in the onion and cook until softened.  Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in the broth and milk, scraping up any brown bits.  Stir in the potatoes and bay leaf.  Bring to simmer, partially covered, and cook until potatoes are tender.

Lastly, stir in the 1/2 and 1/2, butter and corn.  Simmer gently until corn is tender yet still slightly crunchy (about 5 minutes). Remove the bay leaf, stir in parsely and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve and Enjoy!