Crash Hot Potatoes

These just might be the best potatoes I've ever had. They're Ah-mazing! I can't wait to have them again. Hubby made them so I have to give him credit :) anyone who likes potatoes needs to make these. I am looking forward to having them again next week, they were that good. I'll let you decide for yourself once you make them. Please enjoy! I originally found this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, but it seems like they are popping up all over the place lately so I'm sure many of you have already seen them, and hopefully made them.

Crash Hot Potatoes
12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Generously drizzle sheet pan with oil, place fork tender potatoes on pan leaving enough room between each potato. By enough room I mean make sure there is enough room to smash em all down! With a potato masher, press down each potato until it's slighty smashed. You may have to repeat this step. Brush tops of taters with more oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fresh rosemary..unfortunately I didn't have this on hand, but they were still amazing. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and crispy. Enjoy!

 Okay, so they're not the prettiest, but they taste amazing!!!

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Sweet Chili Fried Chicken with Beans

This post should have been made long ago but I was too excited with other recipes! This one is definitely good and will be made again. It's the perfect Chinese take out, only at home. Even better! Cheaper and you know what's going into it. Or should I say my husband does? He made this one! Our wok finally got some exercise in. It had been awhile since we used it. I've tried many "take out Chinese" at home recipes before and I'm always disappointed. This one did not disappoint! It was sweet, but spicy, sticky and crunchy. I also enjoyed the beans in the dish, it added another nice texture. If you enjoy sticky, sweet, spicy, crunchy Chinese food go ahead and make this. I hope you all enjoy! 

Sweet Chili Fried Chicken with Beans

chicken thigh fillets (about 4 pieces), cut into 1 inch cubes or strips (Hubby used breasts)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup + 4tblsp plain flour
1/2 egg, beaten
vegetable or canola oil for frying
15-20 french beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Sauce (combine in a bowl):
1/2 cup Thai sweet chilli sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Sambal Oelek (or to taste) (I did not have this or could not find it in stores so hubby omitted it)
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup (optional, for sticky-factor)

Method

Combine chicken with salt, pepper, sesame oil, plain flour, and egg. Use your hands to mix everything together until the chicken is well coated. Set aside for 1/2 hour.

Wash the french beans and pat dry. Top and tail them, and then cut them in half so that they are about 2 inches long.

Heat up 3 cups vegetable oil in a wok until it reaches 350F. Drop a piece of chicken into the oil and it should sizzle immediately. Fry the rest of the chicken in batches for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and cooked. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

Once all the chicken has been cooked, use the same oil to deep-fry the french beans for about 20 seconds until it starts to wrinkle and change color slightly. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

In a clean wok, heat up 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil and fry the chopped garlic. Add sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and beans and toss to coat evenly. Dish out onto a serving plate and serve as an appetizer or with steamed white rice. Garnish with some deep-fried thai basil leaves if desired.

**If you can try and find a good quality thai chili sauce!

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Pasta with Creamy Cajun Sauce

While debating on what to eat this week I went back and scrolled through my "recipes" bookmarks, and I won't lie they haven't excited me much lately. Although a few have and I've had this recipe before and knew it was good. I just didn't remember how good. It's very good. My husband had chicken with his, but I ate mine without meat. It's super quick and super easy to make. The perfect week night meal. I also ate mine with a side of broccoli! I've told myself if I'm going to keep eating a bunch of sweets I need to eat fruits and vegetables everyday. I guess it's good I visit the gym! ;) I hope you all enjoy this recipe just as much as I did.

Pasta with Creamy Cajun Sauce
1/2 pound of your favorite pasta (I used orecchiette)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons chili flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese
Boil pasta in heavily salted water. I've always read your pasta water should taste like salt water, I know it's gross but let me tell you it helps! Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add in onion and saute for two minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add white wine to skillet, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Let you wine reduce by half. Stir in cajun seasoning, paprika, red chili flakes,salt, pepper and tomato paste. Add cream and heat to almost bubbling, then reduce heat to low. Allow cream mixture to reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to sauce. Toss with parsley and freshly grated Parmesan.
Source: Cook Like a Champion

 

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Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken with Potatoes

I got this recipe from Pink-Parsley another one of my favorite cooking blogs. It was pretty delicious and I'll definitely be making it again sometime soon. She uses sweet potatoes, and I didn't. I know I'm crazy, who doesn't like sweet potatoes? Maybe I'll give them a try with this recipe next time because it is pretty spicy. I love spicy!!! I also would change the cook time on the potatoes, I couldn't even eat mine :(   I was so upset because they had really good flavor. I guess sometimes you have your flops in the kitchen, at least I know I can fix this one. Anywho, if you like chicken and you like spicy but sweet try this recipe, you won't be disappointed.

Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken with Potatoes
4 sweet potatoes (10 ounces each), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Tbs olive oil
4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs honey, plus more for drizzling
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
chopped cilantro, for garnish (I'm a lover of cilantro!!!)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
This recipe serves 6, I only used 2 breasts and eyeballed the rest. You could definitely make this whole recipe and either have leftovers or freeze the rest for dinner in a couple weeks.Mix together 1tblsp olive oil, chipotles, garlic, honey, vinegar, salt, cumin and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Mix the remaining olive oil with 2 teaspons of the chipotle paste you just made and toss with the sweet potatoes. Place the potatoes on the bottom of a roasting pan, or shallow baking dish and bake 15 minutes or until fork tender, stirring occasionally. Mine baked way longer than 15 minutes. The first time I made this my potatoes were hard and it was such a let down. Just make sure your taters are fork tender! You may want to prepare this ahead of time if it takes longer. While your taters are baking rub the chicken with the remaining chipotle paste. Place chicken on top of the potatoes and roast until the chicken is cooked through. Please make sure your tatos are close to being done. Yes, I said tatos, that's what I call them sometimes, it's not a type-o. :) This should take about 15-20 minutes, just make sure it is 165 degrees in the thickest part of the breast.  Divide the chicken and potatoes evenly among plates and drizzle with remaining honey, and garnish with cilantro, if you so choose to do! Enjoy!

Source:Pink-Parsley

 

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An Award for me? How nice!

I received an awesome email just the other day from a fellow blogger of mine over at Adventures of our fami-ly, Sarah had informed me that she was awarding me with the Liebster Blog. See how pretty it is? It's for up and coming bloggers who have a following list of less than 200. That I do! I have started this blog not long ago and I've already learned so much and loved so much. I appreciate all my fellow bloggers out there and showing my blog support. I've found so many other amazing blogs out there, and so many other inspiring women. I'm so honored and happy to have won this award and now I as well get to share some love and pass it along to five of my favorite bloggers who I think deserve it. It's a great accomplishment for up and coming bloggers. Check out Sarah and her blog post about this award over at And the award goes to... and show her some love! I forgot to mention that Liebster is a German word meaning, favorite, dearest. How awesome. Thanks for all the awesome love Sarah!

#1. Town and Country Living: This is my Mother's blog and yes of course I have to share some love with her as well, not only because she's my Mom and inspiration, and I look up to her, but because she has an awesome blog! She's creative, crafty, a great cook and an awesome DIY-er. She's made so much for my wedding, which you can find on my blog. I know you'll love her blog as much as I do so please check her out!
#2. My Blog Review: I just recently found Hilary's blog and it's amazing. I love her header and her posts. She has lots of great recipes and stories to share. Her blog makes me pretty hungry. Please check her out and show her some love!
#3. Cooking with Karyn: I found Karyn's blog through linky parties, which is how I find most my blogs these days. She also has such a cute header as well, and she has linky parties that I can share my blog with other readers and fellow bloggers. She also has lots of yummy recipes, you should check them out and show her some love! You can also get your recipe and posts out there by linking up to her parties.
#4. Will Cook For Friends: I found this lovely blog and I love her photos, super colorful and really great. She's got some great recipes over here you should check out. I love the name of her blog too. You have to show her some love!
#5. The Weekly Sweet Experiment: Susan totally speaks my language..sweets and treats. You have to check her blog out if you love anything sweet. She has some pretty amazing stuff over here. She's a stay at home Mom who loves to bake and blog. I love here cute cupcake background. Please stop over show her some love, and bake some of her sweets.
Congratulations ladies, you all deserve this! Now go show some fellow up and coming bloggers who have a following of less than 200 people and show them some love. Show your thanks to the blogger by linking back to them like I did in my current blog post. Finally post the award on your blog!!! Hope you all enjoy you're pretty new award just as much as I do! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream sandwiches

One of my favorite things to make in pastry school was ice cream. My favorite kind we made was peanut butter and jelly. So good. I knew when my husband and I were registering for our wedding we had to add an ice cream maker. And thanks to my husband's co-worker we got one!!! :) It took us awhile to make ice cream,  but I've finally made it. Man, was it good!!! I was a little worried that it wouldn't be quite as good as when I made it in school, but it was just as yummy! Very smooth too and so easy to make. My husband wanted to start off with your simple vanilla, which to me is a little boring on it's own, so then I decided why not make chocolate chip cookie sandwiches? My favorite!! I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and sandwiched them with the ice cream. Now that this ice cream worked so well I can't wait to make more. Although, I will have to start hitting the gym hard, you know since ice cream is so healthy and all ;)  I hope you all enjoy this and if you have an ice cream maker..go make some.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
3 cups heavy cream, or 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pour 1 cup of the cream into a medium saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan and add the pod to the pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from the heat and add the remaining 2 cups cream (or the remaining 1 cup cream and the milk) and the vanilla extract.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, rinsing and reserving it for another use, and then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. You can find the recipe to my favorite chocolate chip cookies right here: Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

After making the ice cream and freezing over night I put one scoop of ice cream in between two cookies and rolled it in chocolate chips. I then froze them again overnight and enjoyed the heck out of them the next day! They're so yummy. 

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Penne a la Betsy aka Penne with Tomato Cream Sauce and Shrimp

I recently discovered a new foodie site :) Punchfork. Much more to fall in love with, as if all the blogs I follow and pinterest weren't enough I now have another one. Lets just say I'll be set with food and desserts for a lifetime thanks to all the lovely ladies who blog out there and these other amazing sites I follow. This is one I found, which is actually from The Pioneer Woman's blog. Ever visited? She has some amazing food on her blog and unfortunately this is the first meal I've made from her blog. It was DE-licious!!! I'm talking yummy. I mean how could it not be, it has wine, tomato cream sauce and shrimp. Now I'm not a huge fan of shrimp, I know it doesn't have much of a flavor I think it's more of a texture thing. I chopped it up as small as I could and it worked. I wish I was still eating some. This dish would be really good with a glass of wine too! Anyone who enjoys tomato cream sauce based pasta and shrimp needs to make this now..go ahead I'll still be here! ;) It's not that hard to make either and it's something everyone can enjoy, unless you're a vegetarian like my momma! Enough rambling enjoy the pictures, make the meal, and enjoy it! Blog it to all the rest of the world to enjoy as well. They'll thank you! Oh, and I may not have a punk ass little sister like the pioneer woman does but I'm still calling it penne a la Betsy because for some reason I still think she rocks whether I know her or not. :) I hope you enjoy this!

Penne a la Betsy
3/4 pounds Pasta
1 pound Shrimp
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Fresh Parsley, to taste
Fresh Basil - To Taste
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste

Now I kind of halved this recipe, by kind of  I mean I halved it by eyeballing it. I'm lazy when it comes to weighing and measuring, unless we're talking baking! I also bought pre-cooked shrimp instead of raw, you can chose to do either or! 

Cook the pasta until al-dente. If you bought raw, uncooked shrimp peel, devein and rinse under cool water. If you purchased raw shrimp heat 1tblsp of butter and oil in skillet, and add shrimp, cook for a few minutes or until opaque. You'll see what cooked shrimp looks like in the below pics. Pull off tails of shrimp, you should be able to do this with your hands no problem. Chop those little shrimpies up and set them aside. 

Chop up two cloves of garlic and parsley while you're at it! Heat 2tblsp of butter and 2tblsp of oil, add in garlic and onion and saute. Add in wine and let this evaporate for a few minutes. If you don't like to use wine, why wouldn't you? You can sub with broth. I'd use chicken or vegetable. Add in tomato sauce and stir until combined. Add in 1 cup of heavy cream and let simmer. I never said this dish was healthy did I? Okay, good as long as we're all on the same page! Chop up herbs, I like to chiffonade them. I remember once when an old boss taught me how to chiffonade, he says to me "now roll up your basil like a joint and slice it thinly!" Ha..anyhoo add the chopped cooked shrimp into the sauce and stir, add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in herbs and stir, now you can add your pasta and stir until combined. Now please go enjoy the heck out of this pasta!!

 

Meet Frank, the love of my life other than my husband. He is probably the most spoiled cat out there, but he's cute and he's an only child! Now since I didn't use all my shrimp I decided Frank needed some dinner. He loved it! 

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