Snow-pocalypse Recap

If I've learned one thing in the past few weeks it's that snow is overrated.

Highly overrated.

Sure it looks pretty in pictures and the Christmas songs that mention snow are all up beat and fun. But snow is cold. And wet. And prohibits you from leaving your front door for days.

No thanks.

Charlotte usually doesn't get much snow. Except for this year. Of course, the year we move up here they get the biggest snow and ice accumulation in 10 years. These Florida people were cold folks! Initially it was fun. We took Josh out in it and made our cute little snow man and watched the flakes fall. And then we were done. But the snow kept coming down. For days.

So, I ate chocolate. I watched movies. And I thanked God that my husband wasn't stuck downtown somewhere and was allowed to work from home. And when the sun finally came out again I decided to never complain about it being too hot ever again!

Snow…it's overrated. But it sure is pretty!

Heading out to look at the snow

Just starting to fall

Our street being blanketed...

Hubby building a snowman

He looks cold don't you think?

Cutie boy

The view out our front door

The sun is FINALLY peeking through!

Our street

Josh and Mommy...brrrrr

He wasn't too interested in this snow stuff

Fun for a while...then we all wanted to get warm!

Here's to spring showing up real soon!

Easy Breakfast Egg Cups

The husband and I are embarking on a new eating plan this week! We are still going to be gluten free but are taking the extra step and cutting out simple and complex carbs and sticking to a high protein / low sugar plan. I have about 10 pounds of baby weight that I want to kick and the husband just wants to get back in a good workout/ healthy eating routine.

So, in order to streamline my cooking efforts a bit I decided to try making a high protein breakfast for the hubs to eat every morning, but didn't require me to wake up with him each morning to cook it. I mean I love him and all, but his 6 a.m. alarm comes way too soon for this tired mama who has usually been up 2-3 times with the 6 month growth spurting offspring. (seriously...give me ALL the coffee today).

The result of my desire to feed the husband well but still get another hour of shut eye resulted in these little babies. They are delicious, quick and can be kept in the freezer during the week. The husband just pops them in the microwave for a couple minutes and voila...homemade gourmet breakfast! Ok...maybe not gourmet...but better than cereal or pop-tarts. Here's the handy dandy recipe!


Breakfast Egg Cups

What you need (makes 14)

- 12 large eggs
- 1 Cup milk
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1/4 C diced red pepper
- 1/4 C diced onion
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper







Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin. This recipe makes 14 "muffins" because I wanted them to last a whole week so you'll have a little extra after the first batch. If you only want to make 12 just reduce the eggs to 10 and 3/4 C of milk.

This is my new best friend. I love it!

- Beat the eggs slightly and add the milk. Continue beating until smooth and slightly frothy

- Add in the bacon, peppers and onion

- Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese and the salt and pepper

- Evenly distribute the egg mixture into the muffin cups

- If you're feeling fancy, top with a little dried parsley flakes.

- Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, until the eggs have set and are puffed up

- Run a knife around the edges to release and invert them onto a cooling rack (this will prevent them from collapsing too much)

- I wrap 2 "muffins" in a piece of foil and place them in a freezer bag. The husband eats 2 every morning which is equivalent to 2 eggs and along with the bacon in there it's a pretty filling and hearty breakfast.

- You can easily add whatever combination of vegetables and cheese/spices you like. Ham, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, parmesan, feta - hard to mess these up!

Potatoes with Sausage and Arugula Sauce

I love watching cooking shows (when I can!) and this recipe looked so good I had to try it for myself. It turned out pretty well and the husband liked it! The original recipe said to serve the sauce over baked potatoes, but we both thought it would be better over pasta so I'll try that next time.


What you need

- 4 baking potatoes, cooked
- 1/2 lb sweet or spicy turkey sausage with casings removed (I chose spicy)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar tomato sauce (whatever kind you like)
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 3 C baby arugula (or spinach)
- 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Scrub, prick and cook the potatoes at 400 degrees for one hour

- Halfway through the potatoes cooking time, start on the sauce

- Heat up some oil in a large skillet or dutch oven

- Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions begin to sweat

- Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks

- When the sausage has cooked completely, add the tomato sauce and stir well

- Add in the arugula and cook until it wilts down. I know 3 cups seems like a lot but it does shrink considerably as it cooks

- Once the arugula has wilted, add in the cream cheese and stir

- When the cream cheese has completed melted, add in the grated parmesan

- Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary

- Serve on top of your baked potatoes and enjoy!

Bananas Foster Pancakes

One of my favorite things to do on Saturdays is make breakfast with and for my husband. These days, he spends time with Josh on Saturday morning and I get busy in the kitchen cooking up something more special than just the usual cereal and pop tarts. This past weekend we had bananas and pancake mix on hand so I decided to be creative and "dress up" our pancakes a bit. They turned out super yummy and SO easy!

What you need (serves 2)

- 2 bananas, sliced diagonally
- 2 T butter
- 2 T brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (or more!)
- GF pancakes

Directions

- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat 

- Add sliced bananas and brown sugar

- Cook until golden and syrupy (about 5 minutes) stirring well

- Add the cinnamon and stir.

- Turn off the heat and spoon over the top of your pancakes

- We added a bit more syrup to ours (splurge!) but powdered sugar would be delicious also!

A fast and easy breakfast that looks difficult and gourmet...sign me up!!

Cheesy Broccoli Orzo

I made this the other night as our side dish for dinner and boy was it delicious! It was so easy and the husband gobbled it up and declared it something he wanted again. Well ok then!

I had never had orzo before but I saw a GF version at WalMart and figured it was worth a shot! It looks exactly like rice in shape and size but it's actually a pasta!

*If you can't find GF orzo you could substitute your favorite rice, and just cook the rice and broccoli separately, and add on some cooking time for the rice.*

 The orzo cooks super quick and this dish took 10 minutes start to finish and I only used 1 pot. I mean does it get any better than that? Here's how to make it!


What you need (from Iowagirleats.com)

- 1 C GF orzo
- 1.5 C broccoli florets (I actually bought "cut broccoli" by accident but it was good too)
- 1/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 T shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 T butter
- 1/4-1/2 C milk









Directions

- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 3 minutes.

- Add broccoli and cook for 3 more minutes or until orzo is tender

- Drain well and return to pot, but off the heat

- Add the cheese, butter and 1/4 C of milk. Stir well and add more milk if you need to

- Season with salt and pepper to taste (I always use seasoned salt and only needed about 1/4 tsp)

- I served ours with some simple baked chicken and it was a quick and easy under 30 minute weeknight meal!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

Can you believe I'm actually posting a recipe?!? I haven't been trying any new recipes lately mainly because I don't have time to sit and look up new ones to try in the midst of keeping my 3 month old alive and moving to our new house in Charlotte. But...I made this the other night and it was good enough to share! Next time I think I will add some red pepper flakes for some spice and maybe try to "doctor up" the meat a little more, but for a first time new recipe it was great! And the husband really enjoyed it as well which is always a good thing!

Please forgive me for not taking as many pictures as I normally do with recipes. My reasons for the lacking photos...see above.


What you need (no picture - because well...see above)

- 4 green bell peppers, cut in half with seeds and ribs removed
- 1.5 lb deli sliced roast beef
- 16 slices provolone cheese
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 T butter
- 4 T coconut oil
- Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees

- In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat the butter and oil over medium-low heat

- Add the onions and garlic and sautee until caramelized, about 30 minutes. You'll want to stir them often to keep from sticking

- Once the onions have caramelized, add in the roast beef and cook an additional 5 minutes to let the flavors combine. Add salt and pepper to taste

- Line each pepper half with a piece of provolone cheese

- Fill each pepper half with the beef/onion mixture and top with another piece of cheese

- Arrange peppers in a casserole dish and bake 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese becomes golden and bubbly

- Serve and enjoy!

I served ours with white rice and we enjoyed cutting up the peppers and mixing it all together!


More new recipes coming soon!

Zucchini Banana Muffins

Still no baby. So I'm still baking! The other day I thought I would try out zucchini bread and it turned out pretty yummy! I decided to make these as muffins to make them last longer (or at least theoretically last longer) but you could make this as one loaf also. They aren't super sweet and I liked that the recipe didn't call for refined sugar and only uses one kind of GF flour. Slap some schmear on these babies in the morning for a delicious breakfast, or serve warm with butter and a cup of tea (for me these days it's raspberry leaf tea all day long). The next time you have zucchini on hand whip up a batch of these and enjoy any time of day!


What you need (adapted from inspired-housewife.com) 
(Makes 1 loaf or 18 muffins)

- 2 C sorghum flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 C melted butter
- 1/2 C honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 C grated zucchini






Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Line your muffin pan or grease your loaf pan and set aside

- In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir well (flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt)

- In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients except for the zucchini (bananas, eggs, butter, honey and vanilla) and stir well (I used an electric mixer to break up the banana)

- In 1/4 C increments, add the dry mix to the wet ingredients, mixing after each addition. Be careful not to over-mix or your bread will turn out tough

- Gently fold in the grated zucchini and stir

- Pour batter into loaf pan or evenly separate into muffin tin.

- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (loaf) or 18-20 minutes (muffins)

- Serve and enjoy!