Sweetness Alert!!!

When I was a little girl the only thing I loved about going to ballet class, was that when it was over I got to go to the bakery next door to the dance studio and buy a Blondie for the walk home.  I never did become much of a ballerina, but I did learn how to make a yummy Blondie which I’m going to share with you today.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Heath bar toffee bits
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Here is what you need to do:

Cream together the brown sugar and melted butter and then beat in the egg and teaspoon of vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt. Next add the toffee bits, chocolate chips and walnuts and give it all a good stir by hand to make sure everything is nicely blended. The Blondies I ate as a child didn’t have toffee bits in them, but I love the carmel taste and chewy texture it gives the Blondie.

Pour the well mixed batter into an 8×8 buttered pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let them cool and set a bit before you cut them up. I prefer to cut and serve in smaller pieces since they are on the sweet side.

Hope you love them

xoxo

Jill

I just love it when my kids ask ” What’s for dinner? ” and are happy after I tell them. Quesadillas are definitely one of those meals they are always ready to gobble up. They are so easy to make in the oven or even on the grill.  On really busy nights I prepare everything in advance and just pop them in the oven 20 minutes before dinner time. They are also very easy to customize for any picky little kiddies.

Here is what you will need:

• Pack of chicken breast tenderloins
• Flour tortillas
• 1 large spanish onion
• Block of Colby Jack cheese – shredded (Do not buy cheese that is already shredded. It taste much fresher when you shred it yourself)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Here is what you need to do:

Slice up your onion and caramelize in a hot pan with a little olive oil, salt & pepper. When they are nice and brown remove from pan and set aside.

Chop up your chicken and cook in same pan adding a little more olive oil and seasoning with salt & pepper.

Time to assemble.

Brush one side of your tortilla with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Flip them over.

Add layer of cheese, chicken, onions and top it off with more cheese.

Place another tortilla on top and then brush it lightly with olive oil, salt & pepper.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Its done when the tortilla is nicely browned and crunchy.

My kids love to dip their quesadilla triangles, but I love to pile my toppings all over the top. I usually serve them with salsa and my Sour cream Avocado dip, which I will share with you now.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1 ripe chopped up hass avocado
• tiny handful of chopped cilantro
• salt & pepper to taste

Just add all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together.

So easy!!!

Enjoy

xoxo

Jill

I Love Crab Cakes!!!

I really love any type of fish, but if I am at a restaurant and crab cakes are on the menu you can almost guarantee that I will order them. I will say that I sometimes get disappointed  because they are made with too  much bread and fillings and hardly any crab.  That’s why this recipe that I am going to share is not only easy to make, but you will enjoy yummy crab in every bite.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 lb of lump crab meat
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 tablespoon mayo
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 heaping teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• Juice of half a lemon
• small handful of chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons butter

Here is what you need to do:

Add all ingredients into bowl and gently mix together. Try your best not to break up the crab into tiny bits.

Form into patties. I made 6 patties for sandwiches, but you could also make them smaller to serve as an appetizer.

Next, just melt the butter and fry them up in a hot pan. I usually like to eat them with a lemon vinaigrette salad. Today we had sandwiches, so I am going to give you a quick tartar sauce recipe.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon sweet relish
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste.

Just mix it all together and enjoy.

Hope you like it!!

XOXO

Jill

This is a very popular cake among my family and friends. It is easy to make and comes out moist and delicious. It is often requested and in my opinion the perfect cake to bring to a summer party.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
•  6 eggs
•  1 lb ricotta
•  1/2 cup veg oil
•  1 cup water
•  1/2 cup sugar
•  1 teaspoon vanilla
•   Powder sugar for dusting

Here is what you need to do:

Mix the yellow cake mix with 3 eggs, oil and water. Blend till smooth and pour into a 9×13 buttered pan.

Next mix the ricotta, 3 eggs, sugar and vanilla and pour over top of yellow cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Let it cool completely and then cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. You will see that the cheese mixture will have sunk to the bottom.

Hope you like it.

Enjoy 

xoxo

Jill ♥

This pasta recipe is a great week night meal that is so yummy and easy to make. I just love a dish that you can cook in one big pan and is a hearty meal that will fill your family’s belly.

Here is what you will need:

– Box of linguine

– pack of chicken breast tenderloins

– salt and pepper to taste

– 2 tablespoons olive oil

– 4 whole garlic cloves

– 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

– roasted red peppers- about 3 pieces sliced into strips

– jar of marinated artichoke hearts

– 2 big handfuls of spinach leaves

– 1 cup of prepared pesto sauce ( My favorite pesto is actually from Costco. I didn’t have it today, but it comes in a big jar and you can freeze whatever you have left. If you want to make your own pesto that would probably be even better)

– 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese

Here is what you need to do:

Bring a big pot of water with a handful of salt to a boil and get your linguine cooking. Cut up your chicken tenderloins and cook in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Add the 4 cloves of garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, peppers, and jar of artichoke hearts. Cook to combine and then add the 2 big handfuls of spinach leaves.

Toss everything together and then add your cooked drained linguine, pesto sauce, and grated parmesan cheese. Toss it all together and serve.

The best thing about this recipe is that if you don’t like a certain ingredient, just leave it out and it will still be yummy. Pesto just has this ability to make everything taste good.

Hope you like it

xoxo

Jill

I have been blessed with some very special people that have come into my life and my friend Bonnie is one of them. She is a strong, loyal, kind, fun person with a beautiful soul that always makes me laugh and just has this ability to bring a smile to my face.  With that said, she also makes an awesome black bean salsa and I am going to share her recipe with you today.

Here is what you will need:

– 2 cans of Goya black beans drained and rinsed

– 1 can corn drained

– 3 maybe 4 (depending on size) plum tomatoes cored and diced

– 4 scallions sliced one inch into green

– 3 tablespoons olive oil

– 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

– juice of a fresh lime

– small handful of fresh chopped cilantro

– salt and pepper to taste

– big bag of Tostidos for dipping

Just want to add that I learned while making this with Bonnie that she is a Goya snob!!!

The beans must be Goya for this salsa to be good!! 😉

Here is what you need to do:

Rinse and drain your beans. Drain corn. Core and dice tomatoes. Chop up cilantro.

Slice up scallions one inch up into green and add to bowl.

Add olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Give a good stir. And there you have it!!

This is great as a salsa, but you can also serve it with almost anything. It is fresh and healthy and I am definitely going to make it the next time I make tacos for my family.

So Yummy!!

Enjoy

xoxo

Jill

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Any holiday that people associate with food and drinks is my kind of holiday, so today I am going to share with you how I make chicken nachos and my basic guacamole that you can add your favorites too.

First – Chicken Nachos

Here is what you will need:

– package of chicken breast tenderloins

– packet of taco seasoning

– can of enchilada sauce

– can of black beans

– block of colby jack cheese

– 1/4 cup sliced black olives

– 1/4 cup chopped red onion

– 1/4 cup seeded diced tomatoes

– tub of sour cream

– bag of tortilla chips

Here is what you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cook chicken tenders in a little olive oil and 1/2 of the packet of taco seasoning. Remove when done and place to side.

Stir in enchilada sauce to pan with the other 1/2 of taco seasoning and bring to a slight boil.

Shred chicken with two forks and add to sauce. Cook on low for 5 minutes to get everything combined.

Time to Assemble!!

Shred your cheese. Lay a thick layer of chips on an oven proof dish and top with half of the cheese. Then place chicken, black beans and olives all around. Sprinkle remaining cheese all over top and bake for 10 minutes. I did  add a couple of jalapeño slices to one side because I had them and love them with the nachos. My kids are not a fan, so I don’t always add them. When cheese is all melted, take out of oven and sprinkle top with red onion and diced tomatoes and serve.

So Yummy 😉

Now – My Basic Guacamole

Here is what you need:

– 2 ripe hass avacado

– 1 juicy lime

– 1 clove of garlic minced

– 5 dashes of tabasco green pepper sauce

– small handful of chopped cilantro

– salt and pepper to your taste

Here is what your need to do:

Chop up your avocado and squeeze lime over top. Add your garlic, green pepper sauce, cilantro, salt & pepper and mix well. This recipe can be doubled or tripled for a larger crowd.

This  guacamole is fine on its own and even yummier with add ins. I chopped up some tomato and red onion to add to mine.

Enjoy and have a great day!!

Happy Birthday Jeff

You will be forever missed!!!

xoxo

Jill

Whenever I see a fondant cake, I just sit and stare and admire the beauty. It’s a work of art that is so smooth and perfect, but then I get a taste and Yuck!!! That is until I came across a recipe for marshmallow fondant and I was hooked. This is so easy to make at home and taste yummy.

Here is what you will need:

– 2 lb bag of Confectioner Sugar

– 1 1/2 bags of Marshmallow

– 3 tablespoons of water

Here is what you need to do:

Put marshmallows  in bowl with the 3 tablespoons of water. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and creamy.

Keep going.

Perfect

Add 1/2 of the bag of confectioners sugar and mix as best as you can.

Pour about 3/4 of the other 1/2 of the confectioner sugar on a mat and then pour the contents of the marshmallow on top. This is where it gets messy.

Knead with your hands until you have a smooth ball of fondant. If it feels sticky, just keep adding powder sugar until it is nice and smooth.

I am just using it for cupcakes today, so I took half of it and wrapped it in plastic wrap and then placed it in a zip lock bag to store in the fridge.

I mixed the other half with some food coloring and then wrapped it up in plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge for about 2 hours to set.

In the meanwhile I cleaned everything up and took out my tools to roll everything out. I have these really fun cookie molds that I just love to use with this fondant. I got this mold from houseonthehill.net. They make the most beautiful molds and I treasure everyone that I have.

When rolling out the fondant make sure everything is coated in powdered sugar. You must understand at this time water is your enemy, so don’t go washing your hands and touching the fondant.

There are so many things you can do with this fondant. You can just cover a cake smoothly or mold out a flower or maybe even spell something out. Sky’s the limit 😉

I just chose to make pretty cupcakes for my daughters track team.

So Fun.

Hope You Like It .

xoxo

Jill