Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp

Tonight was a first in our kitchen. After Dan ate, he went to the store and bought ingredients for a SECOND ROUND of dinner. I didn't try to stop him, and I can't blame him, because these shrimp really were that good. And they are the easiest shrimp to make. Shrimp and 4 ingredients most people always have on hand. While I was making round 1, I wasn't sure how they would come out. I've made a few marinated shrimp recipes where they came out kind of bland. Not this one. They were full of flavor eve after being marinated for only 15-20 minutes and they are pre-frozen shrimp. And the shrimp was on sale! If you marinate these for even longer they would have an even more intense flavor. Next time around I want to try these with fresh shrimp and marinate them longer.

Seriously, this recipe was just bonus after bonus. Not to mention that I made a batch of brownies and Dan also brought home some ice cream, so round 2 even gets a brownie sundae dessert. Happy Monday!

Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp
from The Cooking Jar

1 lb. shrimp, de-veined and tails on
2 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
canola oil for cooking

White rice for serving if you'd like. I suggest adding veggies to make it a really full meal.

1. Combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic. Pour half into a large plastic bag with the shrimp and let marinate for 15-30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat a small bit of oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the shrimp and cook on each side for a few minutes. Turn the heat down and let the sauce thicken up a bit as the shrimp continue to cook.
4. Serve the shrimp over rice and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

As everyone knows (well, everyone who reads my baking posts), I don't eat a lot of baked goods. I also never eat an entire bunch of bananas, which works out well for making breads and muffins. As good as plain banana bread is, I tend to like to make "flavored" banana breads. Well, yes, banana is a flavor, but you get my point...

My usually stocked pantry has been running out of some items lately, so I had assumed I'd be making a plain old banana bread. I was even running low on chocolate chips. However, I found this recipe, and had everything for it, which made me one happy baker. I made this earlier this week. I had a couple of slices for breakfast, and then brought the rest to work. Needless to say it was gone in under 5 minutes after I put it in the staff room. This recipe is a keeper.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
from Back for Seconds

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter + 2 tbsp. for the topping
1/2 cup canola oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 and 3/4 cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the peanut butter, oil, bananas, cocoa and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and milk and mix. Mix in the baking soda and flour until just combined.
3. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. (Mine took about 65 minutes...)
4. Let cool completely. Remove from loaf pan.
5. Once the bread is cool, heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and pour into a small plastic bag (like a Ziploc). Cut a corner of the bag to make it into a piping bag and drizzle the peanut butter over the bread.

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

I made something with peas in it that Dan ate!

Okay, well he ate a couple and pushed most of the others aside, but I'll take it a step towards converting him into a veggie lover! I made this recipe early last week, but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. Being back to work has me really learning to manage my time and juggle getting out of work at 5 (yeah, longer day now) and feeding, changing, loving Peyton while getting dinner made and prepping for work stuff. I've been into finding easier recipes and prepping stuff the night before if I can, which I did for this meal. It's very simple to make and came out really well. I love a good hearty (unhealthy) creamy cheesy pasta. This isn't cheesy, but the creaminess was perfect and it had more flavor than I expected. I thought we had mustard at home, but we didn't so I used some ground mustard. I just whisked into the cream. The recipe below includes the mustard as intended.

I have planned out our meals for the month, which grocery lists ready to go so I can shop on Sunday and not worry the rest of the week. I've been mixing in some new recipes like this one with some easy basic meals like chicken and veggies or steak and cheese. So far I've got a good system down. BUT, Peyton can't move around too much yet...we'll see how this goes when she's mobile...

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

1lb. pasta
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
3 cups chopped ham
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cup frozen peas

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, start your sauce. Sauté the onions in the butter until translucent. Add ham and continue cooking to heat through.
3. Add white wine and cook until liquid reduces slightly
4. Whisk together the cream and mustard and add to ham and onions.
5. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese, stirring.
6. Add peas and cook until they are warmed through.
7. Add sauce to pasta and serve.

S'Mores Trifle

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was a fun first Christmas for Peyton with lots of Christmas parties and events. While I did do a bit of cooking, I didn't document most of it. We were busy and Peyton really likes to wake up from a nap right when I'm in the middle of cooking something, so the clean-up and photo at the end get rushed...or forgotten. I did manage to snap a couple of photos of this prepared. It was a huge hit!

Usually I bake for the holidays, but this year I looked for really simple recipes. I made some easy gingerbread fudge and cookie dough fudge (completely forgot to take photos), my cheesy potatoes, a creamy corn side dish, this, and a mint lush desert for different parties. We had two stops on Christmas Eve, two stops on Christmas day, and then two more parties over the weekend. We were busy, busy, busy, but we enjoyed every moment!

If you make the brownies and pudding ahead of time this recipes comes together very quickly. The trickiest part (if you can even call it tricky) is "toasting" the marshmallows. Like I said, if you prepare each layer ahead of time, this comes together in a matter of minutes. I recommend having you brownies made, pudding made, graham crackers crushed, and mix the whipped topping and marshmallow cream before hand. Then it's just some layering and toasting and you're done.

S'Mores Trifle
from Mom Endeavors

1 box brownie mix, prepared according to package
2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding, prepared the quick way
1 package from a box of graham crackers, crushed
1 container whipped topping
1 small container marshmallow cream (Fluff if you're from New England!)
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 Hershey bar

1. In a trifle dish, place half of the brownies, cut into chunks. Top with half the pudding then top with half the graham crackers.
2. Combine the whipped topping and marshmallow cream. It may be a little chunky and that's okay. Spread on top of the graham cracker layer.
3. Repeat with remaining brownies, pudding, graham crackers and marshmallow.
4. Place the mini marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Set your oven to broil and place them in the oven. Leave the door slightly open and don't go anywhere. They take maybe 30 seconds to "toast". Remove and let cool briefly.
5. Top trifle with broken Hershey bar pieces, toasted marshmallows, more graham crackers if desired.
6. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Mashed Potato Bread

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed our, as we usually do, by doing our usual two dinners with each side of the family. It was also Peyton's first major holiday. I think she was just as tuckered out as we were by the end of the night. I love looking up recipe for leftover holiday foods. I found this one on Thanksgiving night. The irony of it all is (is this irony? I feel like I always use that term wrong) we didn't have any leftovers this year. Well, there were leftovers but we didn't take any home, other than ham. The amount of ham my husband eats weekly is reaching a sickening level.... Anyways, since we didn't have any leftovers, I made mashed potatoes last night with our steak tips, so I saved a cup for this.

When I saw this recipe I almost skipped over it. "Real bread" intimidates me. I like my wet breads. You know like banana breads. Recipes that don't require yeast, kneading, rising, punching, flouring everything, etc. I like the "add all of this to a bowl, mix it, and bake it" breads. They make a batter, not a dough, and it's easy-peasy. While this recipe does require yeast, kneading, rising, punching and all that jazzy bread stuff it's still easy. It's also quick, it's not hours of rising, just a half hour.

As I was making this bread I was staring at the disaster that was my counter top. Dan always makes fun of me for being a messy cook. I'm like a toddler you give a marker to. Of course it will end up on their body, the walls, the dog, up their nose....
That's me with flour...and most of my baking ingredients. It's on my hands, in my hair, on my face, some falls on the dogs, it's on the outside of any container near it. I'm a messy baker/cook. If you're gonna get in the kitchen, make it worth it. That's what I say.

That sprinkling of flour used to knead the dough extends far past the edges of my cutting mat....

This recipe was so easy and another one that you will probably have everything you need to make it already in your pantry. I always have potato flakes for mashed potatoes and to thicken soups, so even if we didn't have any leftover from a meal I can whip some up in about 10 minutes. The bread came out fluffy, soft, and tasting of garlic mashed potatoes. I always add minced garlic and garlic powder to our mashed potatoes. The taste of mashed potatoes isn't super strong, but it's there, and it's wonderful. I need to finish this post so I can go eat some more...

The last thing I need to mention is that I found this recipe on Tasty, which runs quick videos of recipes on Facebook and includes the recipe in the comment section. Go check it out if you're on Facebook because they're recipes are always fun and pretty quick.

Mashed Potato Bread
from Tasty

1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup milk
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1/2 cup water

1. Add all ingredients, except flour and water, to a bowl and mix well. Slowly add the flour and water, alternating. Mix until dough starts forming a ball. It will still be a bit sticky, but you can sprinkle more flour on it when you knead it.
2. Lightly flour your surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some more flour on if it's too sticky.
3. Place dough in a bowl and lightly cover. Let sit for a half hour to rise.
4. Halfway through letting the dough sit and rise, preheat your oven to 350.
5. Grease a 9x5 bread pan. Punch down the dough and form into a rectangle. Place into the bread pan.
6. Bake 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

Nutella Caramel Coffee

Today was Peyton's two-month checkup and she had 3 shots and a liquid vaccine. Talk about a tough morning. Peyton is the most mellow baby, doesn't fuss much, but today she shrieked through most of her appointment. That was before the vaccines. After, she cried all of two minutes. It a gloomy looking morning and I was excited to make this fancy coffee when I saw the recipe yesterday. Right before we went to the doctor, a friend invited me to meet her for coffee, so I decided to have Starbucks over making my coffee drink. My Caramel Brule Latte was delicious, but not delicious enough that is satisfied me and let me put this recipe on hold. As I prepped some ingredients for tonight's dinner, I couldn't stop thinking of making this coffee. I was motivated because it was a gloomy day (it was sleeting when I left Starbucks....), but I had all the ingredients! If you regularly read my blog, you know how excited I get when I find a recipe that requires what is already contained in my pantry.

It's the little things in life...

I love flavored coffees. I'll drink a plain old coffee if the coffee is really good. I haven't found anything to compare to the coffee we had in Costa Rica. The coffee we brought home came close, but I could drink the coffee we had when we were there black. I'm a milk and sugar or flavored creamer girl. I like my coffee sweet. Not Dunkin Donuts sweet however. When I order coffee now,  get Pumpkin Spice (yes!) with half the amount of pumpkin and skim milk. Have you had their pumpkin coffee....it's disgustingly sweet if you get the full amount, which I learned is 3 pumps. So I get 1 and a half pump and no added sugar. It's perfect. When pumpkin isn't in season, I'll get another flavor with skim milk and 1 sugar.

Fancy coffee drinks are great when I can afford them. However, (and why did I never think of this before?) I have everything I need for this coffee at home all the time. Well, okay not exactly. I only have Nutella from a recent recipe I made, it's not a household staple. The whipped cream and caramel sauce is however, because ever since I became pregnant I have been an ice cream sundae fiend. Seriously. Almost every night, still (this is where the ashamed emoticon would be if this were my phone), I have a bowl of ice cream with strawberries, marshmallow, caramel and whipped cream. Yeah, I'm really concerned with losing that baby weight...

Back to coffee. I used hazelnut coffee because why not? I buy flavored coffee variety packs on Amazon. We just received a shipment of 80 coffees for our Keurig, so I can have a different type each day. I will definitely be playing around with more coffee drinks in my last month of maternity leave freedom. Why did I not discover this sooner??? You can use hazelnut, plain, or any flavor you'd like. If you use a Keurig, I use the smallest ounce button (6 oz on mine) twice to make the 12 oz of coffee. This gives you two drinks worth, so if you just want one, I'd choose the middle or largest ounce setting ( 8 and 10 oz. on mine).

This is so simple. If you want to make it even quicker, say in the morning before work, you can even heat the milk and Nutella together in the microwave and stir together and then stir it into your coffee. For the fully blended effect, I used my bullet blender and heated my milk and Nutella on the stove top.

Brew some coffee. I used some Hawaiian Hazelnut from my selection.

Gather your milk, Nutella and caramel sauce.

Brew some coffee. While it's brewing, heat some milk and Nutella together and mix.

Then, add your milk mix and coffee to a blender if you choose and add a big squirt of caramel.



See that delicious caramel at the bottom??

Then pour back into a coffee mug and top with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.

Starbucks baristas have nothing on me!

Enjoy it while your baby and two dogs sleep and you watch the gloomy day from the warmth of your home. And while you tackle a new baking project (to be revealed soon!).

Nutella Caramel Coffee
adapted from Around My Family Table

12 oz. brewed coffee
1/2 cup milk (any kind)
2 tbsp. Nutella
Caramel sauce
Whipped cream

1. Brew some coffee.
2. In a small saucepan heat the milk until scalding, but not boiling. Whisk in the Nutella.
3. Add the coffee and milk mixture to a blender and add some caramel sauce. Blend.
4. Pour into a coffee mug and top with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Snickerdoodle Bars

I have been dying to get back into baking lately, a task that is not easy to do with a baby. I've been able to find a few quick recipes lately to make, but I need to save my bigger baking projects for when Dan can be home so someone can focus on Peyton. I was able to make these in about 15 minutes, with Peyton being awake, so that is quite the accomplishment. I thought she had fallen asleep for a nap but about a minute into making these, she was wide awake. Luckily she's mellow and enjoys letting me bake...I hope....

These are quick, easy, and don't require any fancy ingredients, except maybe the cream of tartar. I always have some, but almost never use it. I use it so rarely, that the bottle I had, expired 3 years ago. So I had to buy a whole new bottle and cream of tartar is not cheap! I was amazed that it was 5.99 for the tiny little container or 7.99 for a larger one. The price of spices and things is insane these days. This recipe whips up in minutes, bakes pretty quickly, and then you just have to wait for them to cool.

They came out perfectly moist, soft, and chewy. It's like the perfect snickerdoodle cookie, but even better. I would reduce the cinnamon-sugar topping. The original recipe stated that it sinks into the batter during cooking, so having more is better, but I had a lot of spaces where it was just piled on, so when I cut them up and tilted them, a whole bunch just poured off. I would try maybe half the amount. You can always add more if you find that's not enough, but when I ate a square I was practically inhaling the topping. Maybe try pressing it into the batter a bit before baking. Either way, these are ridiculously good!

Snickerdoodle Bars
from Averie Cooks

1/2 cup butter melted, and slightly cooled
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt (optional) (I didn't use any)

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil and grease.
2. Whisk the butter, egg, sugars and vanilla together until well combined.
3. Add the flour and cream of tartar (and salt if using), and stir to mix until just combined.
4. Spread into the baking dish and smooth the top of the batter.
5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the batter.
6. Bake for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut and eat!