Drew's Breakfast Tacos

These tacos take a little more prep but are SO worth it!!! They are not easy on the waist line, but are OOOOOOH so amazing!!

1. brown O'brien hash brown potatoes 'n peppers in a little oil. Set aside

2. cut up bacon in small pieces and cook (keep the oil in the pan!!!) Set aside

3. saute 1/2 and onion w/ cut up pickled jalapenos in the bacon fat

4. beat 5 eggs w/ salt and pepper

5. add eggs to the pan w/ the onions. Add the bacon and potatoes back to the mix. When eggs

are almost done add in some cheese

Tacos are best when served in FRESH tortillas. Get the par-cooked ones not the fake plastic

tasting ones! :) YUUUUUM

Death by Chocolate

Cherry Chocolate Cake w/ Ganache Frosting

*Box of choc. cake mix

*can of cherry pie filling

*2 eggs

*1/4 c. veg. oil

*1 teaspoon cinnamon

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*1 bag choc. chips

Mix first 6 ingredients together till blended well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a well greased bunt pan and cook at 350 for an hour.

Ganache frosting:

*8 oz semi sweet or dark chocolate

*3/4 c. whipping cream

*2 tablespoons butter

Crumble the chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Bring cream and butter to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Let stand 5 min and then whisk till smooth. Ganache will thicken as it cools. Place the cake on a wire rack to frost.

Strawberry Cake

Growing up my Gran made this strawberry cake and I always asked for it on my birthday. It might be a sad looking cake but it is amazing!!!



I was very excited about using my Dad's Kitchen Aid! It takes so little with me. I had never used one and I loved it. This recipe is super simple...







Mix: 1 box of white cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup of oil
1 box of strawberry jello
then add 1 cup of frozen strawberries. Lots of juice!











For the frosting, mix a bag of powdered sugar, a stick of melted butter and more frozen strawberries. Just keep adding strawberries until the mixture is thick. I accidentally put too much strawberries and ran out of powdered sugar so my frosting was runny and sad looking.






I lined 3 small square pans with wax paper and then baked them at 350 for about 25 min.




The result was a bit sad looking but boy it was gooooooooood :)

Austin Fun

Last night we went to Shady Grove for grub and some music. Click here for Shady Grove's website. Food was REALLY good. I got the Hippy Sandwich...which is roasted veggies on this yummy bread.














The music was great. It was a band called the Gourds. Nice kind of blue grass-y band. It was a "very Austin" thing to do and I loved it!! Such an odd mix of people...everything from hippies to dolled up college girls. Good food, good music, and good friends! :)

Pizza Time

My brother sent me to the link, http://smittenkitchen.com/ and I loved it!!! Her recipes are SO great!! She has several pizzas, so I decided I would give this a try! I've never even made dough before though so I was really worried.

For pizza dough recipe click here.

Roll out/toss dough into a pizza round. Once dough is tossed, place it on the pizza stone before you add the toppings. Sadly, I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

The first pizza I made was kind of a meatlovers as per request of Drew. I put in:
*Italian sausage
*ground beef (I actually used bison)
*pepperoni
*white onion
*mozzarella
*smoked provolone
*regular pizza sauce







This turned out "eh". I dunno it just left no great impression on me.














For the second pizza I did a BBQ chicken pizza. I put on:
*Rudy's BBQ sauce
*BBQ chicken (from Rudys)
*diced purple onion
*monterey jack/chedder cheese
*once the pizza is out I topped it with cilantro







This one turned out great!! I would def. make it again! :)

Drew's Delicious Bruschetta

I went to McCormick and Schmick the other night for happy hour. They have half price appetizers. I got the bruschetta and it had balsamic vinegar on it. It made me go out and buy some really good quality balsamic...

It was pricey but SOOOO worth it.
*First I cut the bread in small pieces and toasted it with olive oil
*added fresh mozzarella then it went back in the oven to melt
*tossed fresh tomatoes with salt, olive oil and basil
*drizzled with the balsamic

I made this for Drew and I today. SO GOOD! :)

Coho Salmon

I'm not a big salmon fan. In fact...I dont like it much at all. Sometimes I like it but most times I don't!! (i do LOOOVE smoked salmon though) I do, however, want to bring salmon into my diet more since it is so healthy. A good family friend had a personal chef over for her birthday, and the chef made us Coho Salmon. I liked it more than most salmon, so I thought I would give it a shot.


I found this breading for it at central market...












First I seasoned the fish with salt and pepper, then I followed the instructions which said to dredge it in wheat flour, then egg, then the breading...











Then I seared the fish in a hot pan with some oil....I finished it in the oven. I flaked the fish because I cant stomach looking at the whole thing. I served with lemon wedges, brown rice and broccoli. Maybe I should try to eat this more often...I am still not a huge fan of salmon so I hardly ate :) buuuuuut if it's healthy, I will force it down! I'm sure for salmon lovers, this meal was great! :)

The Best Summer Salad

Ingredients:
*Spinach
*Diced Chicken
*Diced Apple
*Sliced Strawberries
*Feta (BE SURE to get feta that is fresh packed in water. Dry feta crumbles are way to strong)
*Poppyseed Dressing

How easy is that!! It's light and refreshing. By far my favorite salad! :)

BBQ'ed Shrimp Tacos

So I've been craving shrimp tacos. The salsa verde gave me an idea.




First: I marinated the shrimp in about a cup of the salsa for 5-6 hours.













Then I placed them on skewers and grilled them. Obviously this is VERY quick. 4 min. a side. Load up the taco with all your favorite toppings. We did sour cream, more salsa verde and lettuce. It needed some lime and cabbage though (for the crunch). Great summer meal! Drew approves! :)

Salsa Verde

This was my first time to ever make salsa. I dont know why i've waited so long! This is DELICIOUS and so easy!

First: Peal and wash about a lb of tomatillos. Slice in half.



















Next: Roast tomatillos and 2 jalapenos with oil and salt at 400 for about 10-15 min. (Make sure to put tomatillos flesh side down)



















While that is roasting, chop a bunch of cilantro, half a large onion, and 3-4 cloves of garlic.


















Add ALL the ingredients into a blender. Add salt and pepper and the juice of 2 limes. Blend until smooth.

Korean Beef and Fried "Rice"

I came across these 2 low carb recipes so I decided to cook them tonight. My review: Fried
"Rice" by itself was pretty good. The flavor just was a tiny bit off but pretty close to the real thing. Together though, it was PERFECTION! ahhhh SOOOOO good!!!!
Korean Beef:
2 pounds top sirloin steak
5 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup granulated Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame chili oil
5 tablespoon water

Partially freeze the beef about an hour or so to make it easier to slice. Slice the beef as thinly as possible against the grain. It should be in very thin slices, but not falling apart. Mix all of the remaining ingredients except the lettuce. Pour over the meat and marinate at least 1 hour. I put the meat and marinade in a ziploc bag, set it in a baking pan and turned it occasionally.

Heat a non stick skillet to high and stir fry beef. This only takes a few minutes.

Fried "Rice"
10-15 ounces fresh cauliflower, grated, about 1/2 head
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cooking oil, 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
3 green onions, chopped
Dash pepper, optional

Heat wok or large non-stick skillet medium-high.First stir fry mushrooms in a tablespoon of oil and set aside. Add additional 2 tablespoons of oil and the cauliflower and garlic; stir-fry until the cauliflower is nearly tender, but not mushy. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil. Push the cauliflower to one side of the pan; pour in the beaten egg. Lightly scramble the egg briefly then mix into the cauliflower. Add the green onion and pepper, if using, and toss.

Here are the steps in pictures: