Popsicles

It's about 1 million degrees here so I eat these every day. I got my popsicle molds on clearance for $2.99. They're sailboats. It's cute. 


Ingredients:
Sliced fruit (peaches, kiwi, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, etc.)
Fruit juice

Fill your molds with as much fruit as you can. Pour juice on top. Put the sticks in the middle. Freeze. The hardest part is waiting to eat them. 

Koffee Kubez

The K's and the Z are just a joke. My husband made it up. We had this really great idea (adapted from someone else's great idea) for a coffee shop. You know how when you order an iced coffee they fill the cup almost to the top with ice? So then if you drink it before the ice melts, you get 2 sips and if you don't drink it fast enough, it's all watered down. So I read somewhere (I don't remember where. I'm sorry, stranger, I can't give you credit) that you can freeze extra brewed coffee and put it in your iced coffee so it doesn't water it down. Then we decided that we would have a coffee shop (Koffee Kubez) and we would have cubes of all of our drinks frozen and we would use those instead of frozen water. We're never actually going to open our shop so I'm posting it on the internet. I'm sure in a few years someone else will have come up with it and we'll regret never doing it ourselves. At least I'll know that we had the idea first. 

Directions (I'm sure you can figure it out):


Fill ice cube trays halfway (or all the way) with milk, or half and half, or creamer, or lemonade, or soda, or whatever you want to drink. Freeze about an hour. Pour coffee (room temperature) on top and freeze again. Put your kubes in a glass and pour your drink on top. 

Roasted Red Potatoes

Ingredients
3 lbs red potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 tablespoons thyme
2 tablespoons minced garlic


Preheat oven to 425. Spread the potatoes out in a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Pour olive oil, salt and pepper over the top. Toss with your hands until the potatoes are all coated. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with thyme and garlic. Use some sort of utensil (because it's hot) to toss again, until coated. Roast about 30 minutes longer or until the potatoes are brownish and tender. 

Tomato and Pesto Grilled Cheese

I picked some yummy basil and tomatoes from my garden today. No big deal, really. My basil is actually pretty out of control so I've been eating a lot of pesto. On everything. This recipe is adapted from several different recipes. It's also an "ish" recipe so it's never exactly the same but it's always delicious. 

Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves 
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup hazelnuts (or pine nuts but hazelnuts are about half the price)
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2-1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
black pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. I like mine a little chunkier.

For the sandwich I used pesto, mozzarella and tomato. Obviously you can add any vegetables or use a different type of cheese.

Heat a pan over low heat. Brush one side of a slice of bread with olive oil. Place it olive oil side down on the pan. Add cheese and tomato. Spread pesto on one side of your other slice of bread. Set it pesto side down on your sandwich. Brush the top slice of bread with olive oil and flip your sandwich when it's a nice golden color. 

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

It looks better in real life. I got my ingredients at Fresh & Easy. Today is the first time I've ever been there. It's a dangerous place. My blackberries were halfway gone before I even got home. 

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

Fully cooked chicken

Barbecue sauce

Mozzarella cheese

Olive oil

Most pizza doughs need to "rest" for awhile. Use this time to preheat the oven to 450. Then, slice up your chicken and pour barbecue sauce on it. Mix it up really well. Slice your mozzarella into thin slices.  

Once your dough is rested, stretch it out into a crust. Pizza doesn't have to be round to taste good. 

Now just put your toppings on. Start with barbecue sauce. Spread it out just like you would with pizza sauce. Then cheese, then chicken and onion if you remembered it. I didn't. Brush a little olive oil onto the crust. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned and the cheese is hot and bubbly. Eat it for dinner while you watch the Mavs beat the Heat. Sorry Sarah. 

One Bowl Cupcakes for Two

I love anything mini. My mother in law sent me this cute little mini set.

Loot at these scissors! I'm a giant!

Obviously I had to make something mini with my new mini things. And I just happen to have mini cupcake pans. How convenient. How convenient that my husband also happens to be in Vegas for the night and I don't have to share. I didn't want 48 mini cupcakes (yes I did) so I found this wonderful little recipe. I also made cream cheese frosting. I don't have an exact recipe but I'll include the "ish" recipe. 

Cupcake Ingredients

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup flour

heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350. Line a standard sized cupcake pan with 2 liners or a mini sized cupcake pan with 8 liners. You could also just spray the pan with baking spray. Whisk together egg white and sugar until combined. Add vanilla and melted butter. Stir until mixed. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until smooth. Stir in milk. Keep in mind that this is a mini recipe and a mini whisk or spoon is more fun. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 tablespoon softened butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Beat the butter and cream cheese together until well mixed. Add the powdered sugar. Maybe start with 1/3 cup, taste it, and add more if you want it sweeter. Beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Keep beating and adding powdered sugar until you get your desired flavor and texture. Add food coloring if you want. 

Let your cupcakes cool before frosting. Look at this perfect mini cupcake!

And you only use 2 bowls so you just have this mini mess. 

After dessert, make dinner. Use your mini colander. 

Caramel Nutella Brownies

I'm posting this from my phone. We're on our way to Arizona. Obviously I packed brownies. My husband was really upset at me when I took one out and said I had to take a picture before he could eat it.

Ingredients
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 box German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
1 (12.25 oz.) jar caramel ice cream topping
1 cup (or five) Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 12x9 inch pan. I like to use baking spray with flour in it. Mix evaporated Milken, cake mix, and butter. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. You want it to be firm enough to support caramel and Nutella but not baked all the way. While that's in the oven, be sure to lick the spoon. There's no raw eggs.

2. Remove from oven and pour about half of the caramel topping over the crust. Spoon Nutella on top of caramel. Spread the caramel and Nutella carefully over the top with a spatula until every bite will have an even amount of everything. Press the rest of the cake mix on top of that and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.15 minutes will give you more fudge like brownies. The longer you bake them, the more cake like they are. My mom's recipe says to let them cool and then refrigerate before serving. Don't do that. Pour the rest if the caramel topping on them and eat them as soon as they won't burn your tongue.

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