Day 71 : 03-11-12

Day 71 : 03-11-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

A simple and delicious Sunday night dinner...

Day 64 : 03-04-12

Day 64 : 03-04-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Dim sum at home... 

This is our ghetto fabulous version of dim sum on pajama Sunday. I love it! I keep a variety of Trader Joe's offerings in the freezer for just this type of day. A day when you're too tired and lazy to leave the house, but you still want a lovely savory breakfast. It was the perfect beginning to a relaxing and wonderful day.

Day 56 : 02-25-12

Day 56 : 02-25-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Sushi for dinner...

Day 51 : 02-20-12

Day 51 : 02-20-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Norm's BBQ Ribs... They are THE BEST!!

Pancake Breakfast

Another lovely weekend breakfast... My family loves pancakes, and especially Oatmeal Pancakes! They have a wonderful texture and are just plain YUMMY! We always have different variations depending on what fruit and nuts I have on hand. A favorite addition is always chocolate chips! 

Today I had bananas, blueberries, pecans, and of course the chocolate. It made for a beautiful AND delicious pancake! (Here's the pancake on the griddle prior to flipping! I love how they look... that's why it ended up being my photo of the day today too!)

Now for the recipe!

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Oatmeal Pancakes

ha! designs, adapted from Cooking Light

Yield : 12 pancakes

1/4 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg
cooking spray

1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. 

2. Combine buttermilk, butter, and egg in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Let sit a few minutes.

3. Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Stir batter. Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons batter per pancake onto griddle. (Stud pancakes with any extras you’d like: banana slices, blueberries, pecans, chocolate chips.) Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles; cook until bottoms are lightly browned.

Easy Print HERE!!!

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does! 

Day 50 : 02-19-12

Day 50 : 02-19-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Oatmeal pancakes studded with bananas, blueberries, chocolate chips, and pecans.... Just about ready to flip!

Post with recipe, here!

Freshly baked...

There is something magical about bread baking in your home... It doesn't hurt anything when it happens to be baking in that most miraculous of home appliances: the AWESOME bread machine! All that deliciousness and fragrance with hardly any effort! Ahhhh!

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Cami requested that I make my Apple Oat Bread. I'm so glad she did! The smell of apples, cinnamon, AND bread... it just transports you into fantasy land! (Maybe that's just me! *smile*) It's super simple... You're going to arrange all your ingredients in your bread machine like so...

And here's the recipe!

Apple Oat Bread (Bread Machine)

ha! designs (adapted from Zojirushi)

Yield: 2 lb. loaf

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups apple juice

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoon dry milk (baker’s special dry milk)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup oats (old fashioned)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup diced dried apples

Preparation:

Add to your bread machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add dried apples at your addition time. Separate apples prior to adding. 

NOTE: I LOVE King Arthur Flour and use their flours as much as possible. The baker’s special dry milk is also from King Arthur. 

Easy Print! Click Here!

Enjoy... I hope you're transported to some magical fantasy land while your bread machine does all that work! 

Day 44 : 02-13-12

Day 44 : 02-13-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

There's nothing like the smell of baking bread... I love how the aroma fills the house! Tomorrow I'll post an entry with the recipe. {Posted! Click here for link!}

It was a baking day today. I also made individual Oreo Cheesecakes to have for Valentine's Day dessert. I know that Norm and Cami will love them!

I am so happy and grateful for so many things... Simple things... Like feeling good and having the ability to make things and play in my studio... And big things like my family... my heart fills when I think of them and I know that I couldn't be luckier.

Day 36 : 02-05-12

Day 36 : 02-05-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Yummmmmyyyy!!!

Norm barbecued some delicious burgers! It was nice to have our very own Super Bowl BBQ... The weather was perfect in the mid 70's. We spent the afternoon outside and then came in to watch the last quarter of the game. It was exciting and fun!

slowwww dowwwnnnn

It’s Saturday morning... Time to fix a nice breakfast for the family! I LOVE weekend breakfasts! It’s a chance for us to take our time and prepare a wonderful meal... not the rush of the weekday morning breakfasts! This morning I was thinking of the great meal my sister, Heather, prepared for our family when we visited them over the holidays. I decided I would make my own variation with items I had in the fridge and pantry. (Today I actually used a package of dehydrated potatoes I have from Costco... these are the best! Once rehydrated (10 minutes) it’s set to go! These are pretty handy to have on hand!) You could make so many terrific variations of this meal... it’s as endless as what’s in your fridge/pantry or imagination! 

Here’s how I fixed it today: 

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Weekend Breakfast Casserole  

ha! designs (inspired by Heather Cox)

Yield: 6 to 9 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups hash brown potatoes (use frozen, or rehydrated, or layer hash brown patties)

2 cups shredded cheese

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled into 1/2” slices

1 or 2 chicken sausages, sliced into bite size pieces

1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

pinch chipotle pepper

pinch garlic powder

pinch black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray or butter/grease dish. Place hash browns in a single layer and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle with cheese, meats, jalapeño, and green onions. In a bowl beat; eggs, milk, salt, mustard, chipotle, garlic, and black pepper. Pour over layers. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until edges are golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. 

NOTE: Use whatever left over meat you have... steak, etc. This is a great way to liven up any leftovers... Basically whatever you like in an omelette will be delicious here! Add more veggies: spinach, sautéed mushrooms, leeks, etc., if you like! 

Easy Print... Click Here!

You'll love how you have a complete breakfast in an easy to prepare, easy to serve, casserole. It's fantastic served with some nice seasonal fresh fruit! Double it for that nice spring brunch or big family gathering... or simply prepare it with your family when you slowww downnn and enjoy the weekend and the time you have together with loved ones.

Day 19 : 01-19-12

Day 19 : 01-19-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

I made this soul warming chili for dinner tonight. I served it with homemade bacon cheddar cornbread muffins. Delicious!! The perfect meal for a cool day with leftovers ready for a stormy weekend!

I'll share the recipe soon! :)

A Delightful Summer...

A delightful summer... SALAD!!!! 

It was the perfect way to end a hot day! I found this recipe in the August 2011 Cooking Light and I did make a couple of substitutions/additions. You can find the recipe on my recipe page (click here!). 

The salad is called, Herbed Shrimp and White Bean Salad. Don't like shrimp? Substitute chicken breast strips! Lazy?! Get the chicken breast strips from Costco and just flavor them up a little with some lemon pepper and a little kosher salt before proceeding with the rest of the recipe! Easy AND delicious! 

I like having a bottle of roasted red bell peppers in the fridge. This came in handy because I didn't have to roast the red bell pepper... no heating up the oven! I just pulled some of those handy strips out of the bottle, drained them, and chopped! Wah lah! 

Arugula not your thing? Substitute baby spinach or your favorite lettuce! I LOVE baby spinach so that was our green of choice. I find shrimp's always yummy with spinach! I have a Thai shrimp curry dish I like to make that has baby spinach... ooohhh I digress. (I'll add that recipe later!) 

Ooops... Just remembered, I did heat up the oven... but briefly so that I could toast the pine nuts for 5 minutes. I would definitely not skip this step, it adds a lovely dimension to the nuts! They were the perfect addition!

Whenever I'm cooking something I always look in the fridge to see if I can use up anything. Well, today I had some corn on the cob from Costco. I grabbed one of those fresh ears and cut off the kernels and added that to the salad! YUUUMMMMYYY! I will keep that as one of the ingredients for sure! It added a nice little sweetness.... mmmmm... summmmeerrr!

The herbs are a very integral part of the flavor of this salad, definitely don't skip them! The red onion... FABULOUS! These bright tastes remind me of the flavor profile of a nice Thai salad. In fact, next time I make it I may chop a few mint leaves along with the other herbs... Oh yeah... that would be gooooood! 

A perfect way to end a delightful summer day... 

What could be better...

...than a delicious meal of hearty soup and crusty bread...

It's just sooo satisfying!

Harmony turned me on to this recipe! I substituted fat free half and half for the heavy cream the recipe called for. It was wonderful! I did have to serve an "appetizer" of lactaid pills for Norm because of the dairy addition, but I think he thought it was well worth it! (Thanks again Harmony!) 

Cameron loved dipping the wonderfully fragrant rolls into the soup. I think I may have to try that dough as a pizza crust one day... I think it would be scrumptious!

I again made this little photo collage with the photos I took on my iPhone along with the app. As you can see I had a shadow on the soup and not quite enough lighting for the rolls... but I think it still looks yummy!

I have a break from cooking tomorrow... Norm's talking about picking up Versailles (cuban food) or maybe ordering some Wood Ranch (BBQ). It's going to be a hard choice!

H O T and delicious

It's been SUPER hot! The last few days have been hitting high 90's and up to 105!!! The worst part of it is our air conditioner is broken! It won't be replaced for a couple of weeks... (sip, sip -trying to stay hydrated!) I think this heat wave is supposed to subside in a day or two, thankfully... I feel like I've been sweating non-stop!

Our break from the heat was to take a drive over the "hill" to have dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in Malibu. The temperature was a lovely mid 70's and the best part was, as the sun started to go down I actually was able to put on a sweater! It was refreshing! :) We shared a couple of pizza's and a salad. It was so nice to eat out on the patio and not be panting from the heat! I really enjoyed the food... the pizza was DELICIOUS, as was the salad! This pizza (photo) was called "Three-Three-Three" because it had three types of cheese (fontina, mozzarella, feta), three fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme), and three toppings (mushrooms, olives, tomatoes). It was very fresh and light, especially with the salad. The perfect dinner after a very hot afternoon...

We then took the "long way around" and drove along PCH before heading back home. It was lovely to watch the sunset over the ocean. A beautiful ending to a very hot day!

mini summer holiday

It felt great to play some volleyball this morning. The exercise was great! I'm looking forward to Wednesday volleyball... my team made playoffs and that will be the first playoff game. I love the competition of playoffs! The play seems to go up a notch.

I didn't get to work on my purse at all today. Cami, Norm, and I enjoyed sitting in the jacuzzi this afternoon and then went to the mall (where I found sunglasses) and had dinner at "The Cheesecake Factory." We ordered their appetizer sampler as our food to share. It was perfect! Little bites of lots of flavors and we didn't leave overstuffed. We sat outside and it was just lovely.

This weekend felt very relaxed. I love how the weather contributed to making it feel like we were on a summer holiday.... (ahhhh)