Happy 2021! It’s a new year and I know we are all so thankful for that. I didn’t publish any blog posts in 2020. It’s kind of hard to believe, but honestly I was just trying to survive a very trying year as many of us were and not feeling overly inspired to write. I am feeling so much more positive about the new year and with that comes some much needed inspiration! I’m getting back into the swing of things with content creation and I’m excited to share my first recipe of 2021!
My husband and I really fell off the healthy eating train in 2020. I think a lot of us did. We were home more, had more time on our hands and I used that extra time to bake lots of goodies! In the last couple months, we’ve been getting into a much healthier routine. I’ve been working out every day, eating healthier and my husband actually started doing the Keto diet. I personally am not a huge fan of Keto, but I know it works for a lot of people including my husband. So when he started his new diet, I was forced to get really creative in the kitchen and come up with some Keto inspired dishes.
We both love Buffalo chicken and luckily most Buffalo sauce is low in carbs. I’ve also been on a cauliflower kick in the new year. Cauliflower, cauliflower rice, cauliflower mash, the cauliflower list goes on and on and I just can’t get enough cauliflower. So in my head I dreamt up this amazing Keto Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Casserole. I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but it was GOOD! My husband went back for seconds, so that’s how I know it was a hit. Spicy buffalo chicken combined with a creamy cheese mixture, mixed with cauliflower is my new guilty pleasure that isn’t really all that guilty because it’s relatively healthy. Also, to make things super easy you can use your slow cooker to do a majority of the work and then just throw the mixture into a casserole dish and bake right before serving. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
In your slow cooker, add 2 large boneless chicken breasts and pour 1 cup of Buffalo sauce over top of the chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Once cooked, shred chicken in the slow cooker. Add 8 oz of cream cheese, ½ cup of sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and blue cheese crumbles to taste to the chicken and combine until creamy. It should look like Buffalo chicken dip when you are all done mixing.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
Steam cauliflower and drain out any liquid. Add cauliflower to creamy Buffalo chicken mixture and combine.
Pour Buffalo chicken cauliflower mixture into the greased casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees F.
Remove casserole from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve up with a side salad or veggie.
Well Hi! It’s been a hot second since I’ve written a blog post. Sorry I went MIA for a couple months. Life has been a tad hectic. Let me catch you up to speed.
My husband and I
moved out of our house temporarily so that he could do some major renovations.
We are back in our house now and I have brand new kitchen! My husband did an
awesome job! He painted our kitchen cabinets, we extended our counters, had
granite counter tops installed, added some pretty back splash and got a new
fridge. I have a lot more counter space now which has been a God sent. Meal
prepping just got so much easier. Since we had to move out, I decided to take a
break from blogging since I wasn’t doing too much cooking.
BeforeAfter
While we were away, I started a new endeavor and launched my own YouTube channel! I hope you will check it out and subscribe! My channel is beauty and lifestyle focused. My video content includes makeup videos, travel vlogs and soon I will be posting some food videos. It’s been fun to throw myself into creating videos. It’s another creative outlet for me to share my interests with others and meet new people.
My husband and I are super busy at work and still working on getting settled back into our home. In the meantime, I’m so happy to have my kitchen back. I’m enjoying getting back into a routine of cooking and baking on a regular basis. Fall is in full swing and I’ve been fully embracing it with some fall inspired treats. Today’s recipe is a super soft and sweet Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie recipe that is sure to be a fall staple in your household.
This post is inspired by one of my favorite restaurant chain
meals of all time…LongHorn’s Parmesan Crusted Chicken. That’s right folks my go
to meal at a steak house is chicken, but it’s literally so good! This marinated
chicken is topped with a cheesy panko bread crumb mixture that is pure heaven.
I like to marinate the chicken overnight, but you could probably get away with marinating it for just an hour or two. This is a perfect dish for a quiet date night at home or for family dinner. I like to serve this paired with creamy mashed potatoes and a veggie.
Combine all marinade ingredients into a gallon Ziplock bag, seal and shake to combine. Add chicken cutlets into marinade, seal bag and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to a low broil.
Sear the chicken breast cutlets over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side and place onto a greased baking sheet.
Mix together ranch ¼ cup of ranch dressing and 1/4 cup of shaved Parmesan.
In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt 4 tbsp of butter. After melted, add in the panko breadcrumbs and the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese.
Top each chicken cutlet with 1 slice of provolone.
Then spread a spoon full of the ranch and Parmesan mixture over each chicken cutlet.
Lastly sprinkle each chicken cutlet with the panko breadcrumbs.
Place the chicken into the oven on a low broil until cheese melts and the panko breadcrumbs are golden brown. Remove and cut into one of the chicken cutlets to ensure it’s cooked all the way. Enjoy all the cheesy chicken goodness!
Happy Spring everyone! It has been way too long since I last
posted. I had to take an impromptu break from blogging because life got crazy. Like
really crazy. Adulting is so hard. Things haven’t quite settled back down yet,
but I’m going to try my best to at least post once a month.
Since our schedule has been so jam packed lately, I’ve really had to dial back my cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still cooking. I’ve just really simplified my approach to cooking. Time is of the essence, so I’ve been trying to cook things that don’t monopolize my entire day. As much as I would love to spend my entire weekend cooking and meal prepping, I’ve had to prioritize other things above cooking for the time being.
As a result, I’m falling back on fail proof, time saving recipes that I love! They don’t cut back on flavor, but they do cut back on time and that is a huge plus. Remember that Zesty Taco Seasoning recipe I shared? I use that handy dandy seasoning in my Taco Pie. This recipe is so easy because almost all of the ingredients are pre-made. For the pie crust, I just use a store bought pre-made pie crust you can pick up from the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store. I use canned enchilada sauce and refried beans, so that cuts back on time. And my homemade taco seasoning is just sitting in my pantry on standby, so the only thing that needs to be prepared is the ground beef. I love this Taco Pie because it’s a nice alternative to taco night. It’s so easy to prepare and makes for good leftovers. You can top your pie with lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, salsa or sour cream.
To make the taco meat, brown 1 lb of ground beef over medium to high heat. You can also substitute ground turkey or ground chicken. Add 3 tbsp of taco seasoning and ½ cup of water to the taco meat. Stir and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then turn heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Spray a pie dish with cooking spray. Lay the pie crust in the pie dish, press gently into the dish and poke holes into the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake the pie crust at 450 degrees F for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
Spoon the refried beans into the bottom of the baked pie crust. Top the refried beans layer with the cooked taco meat. Pour the enchilada sauce over top of the taco meat. Finally, top the pie with 2 cups of shredded cheese of your choice. I like cheddar or a Mexican blend. Return the pie into the 375-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until beans are warm and the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into the pie.
Top pie with any desired toppings, such as lettuce, tomato, sour cream, green onions or salsa.
I just got home not too long ago from Walt Disney World! My
best friend Sarah and I spent a long weekend over the Martin Luther King
holiday, exploring the parks and eating so much good food! For those of you who
may not know, I’m a huge Disney fan. I participated in the Disney College
Program in 2012 at Walt Disney World, I got engaged in the Magic Kingdom in
front of Cinderella’s castle and I’ve traveled to Disney World nearly every
year since I was born. This girl was born and raised on Disney and it continues
to be a huge part of my life. Needless to say, I’m always excited when I get to
go back and visit the mouse.
Meeting our crush Gaston.
Sarah and I had a wonderful trip! We hit all four parks, got
to explore Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the first time, which
by the way is AMAZING! We hit all of the rides and of course we indulged in
some good eats. Not all food at Walt Disney World is created equal. And what I
mean by that is when I travel there, it’s been hit or miss when it comes to
food. When I visit Disney there is usually a handful of meals that are great
and others not so much. However, everything we ate on this trip was fabulous!
For this blog post, I decided to do my own version of “The Best Thing I Ever
Ate” inspired by the well-known TV show and share some of my favorite meals
from my trip. Again, not all food at Disney is created equal, so I am picking
my two favorite meals, one at the quick service level and one at the table service
level.
Let’s start with quick service. For those who may be
unfamiliar with some of this wonky Disney terminology, quick service is just a
fancy way of saying “Fast Food.” Some of us Disney peeps use quick service and counter
service interchangeably. All that you need to know is in most quick service
restaurants you don’t need a reservation, it’s reasonably priced and you order
your food at a cashier and pick it up at a counter.
The best quick service meal that I ate on this trip was the Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Pulled Pork at Flame Tree Barbecue at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I’ve been a huge fan of Flame Tree BBQ for years. For one, it’s very reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. Also, its real food meaning you can order something other than chicken nuggets and fries. I’ve eaten here many times over the last couple years and this is the first time I’ve noticed the Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Pulled Pork on the menu, so I decided to give it a try. And oh my goodness I am so glad that I did because it was literally incredible.
Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Flame Tree BBQ at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
I’ve had various macaroni and cheeses at quick service restaurants at Disney and historically they are more of a creamy, soupy texture similar to Stouffer’s frozen mac and cheese. Because this mac and cheese had a bit of a crust, I immediately knew it was baked as well as homemade. I really appreciated that it wasn’t overly cheesy because it let the amazing flavors of the pulled pork shine through. The pulled pork was super tender and flavorful. Lastly, two crispy onion rings were plopped right on top of the pulled pork and mac and cheese, which added some depth and texture to the dish. This dish also comes with coleslaw on top. I don’t like coleslaw, so I opted to omit that from my meal. Instead, I drizzled some BBQ sauce right on top and it was perfection. The best part about this meal? It was only $11.99! This meal was very delicious, very filling and so inexpensive. I will definitely be ordering this again on my next visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Onto my favorite table service meal. Table service essentially means a more formal sit-down restaurant. For the first time ever I dined at the Flying Fish, which is a fine/signature dining restaurant located on Disney’s BoardWalk. This restaurant is known for contemporary American cuisine and I would classify as a bit more upscale than other table service restaurants, which is why this falls into the fine/signature dining category.
My friend Alex and I snap a photo in front of Disney’s BoardWalk Resort after our dinner at the Flying Fish.
My friend Alex and I dined at the Flying Fish on the night I arrived. Alex and I originally met on our Disney College Program in 2012, so it was so fun to catch up with her over dinner. I had very high expectations for this dinner since she is a server at Disney and it’s one of her favorite restaurants. She recommended that I try the Wagyu Filet Mignon, which is what she ordered, and I followed suit. The Wagyu Filet Mignon is priced at $57.00, which is very pricey. However, I can report that this steak was worth every single penny.
Wagyu Filet Mignon at the Flying Fish located on Disney’s BoardWalk.
I am not exaggerating when I say this is literally the best steak I’ve ever eaten. Quite frankly, I think this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life. The steak was seasoned perfectly, had an amazing crust on the outside and yet the inside was incredibly tender. The steak literally melted in my mouth, which Alex attributed to it being cooked on a wood-fire grill. The steak was served over a creamy mushroom risotto, which was very rich and filling. It was also drizzled with a truffle and red wine demi glaze that was to die for. I’m literally drooling just talking about this steak. This meal was incredibly expensive, however if you are willing to splurge on a fancy meal for a special occasion, I would highly recommend the Flying Fish. The service was amazing and in my opinion the food was worth every dollar spent. I’m most definitely going to take my husband to this restaurant when we return to Disney. So that wraps up “The Best Thing I Ever Ate: 2018 Disney Edition.” Gosh, I’m literally still drooling thinking about that steak…until next time.
Happy new year everyone! It’s already been a super busy
start to the year, but I’m feeling very positive and optimistic about 2019. In
the new year, I’m focusing on spending more time doing things I love, which
also includes cooking things that I love. Mexican food is hands down my
favorite type of food. I love dining at authentic Mexican restaurants. Let’s be
honest, queso is life.
I also love cooking Mexican inspired dishes at home. We probably eat some sort of Mexican food at least once a week. That being said, I always have taco seasoning on hand in my kitchen. When I was in college, I used to just buy the taco seasoning packets and taco kits. Now that I’m older and wiser, I’ve learned it’s a lot healthier and cost effective to make taco seasoning in bulk using spices from your pantry. Another reason I like making my own taco seasoning is because I have more control over the flavor of the taco seasoning.
This Zesty Taco Seasoning is perfect to stash away in the
pantry for taco night. And beyond tacos, you can use this for burritos,
enchiladas, burgers, chilis and in soups like my Slow
Cooker Chicken Verde and White Bean Soup. You can easily store this seasoning
in a pretty mason jar or a tightly sealed Tupper Ware container. I highly
recommend making a batch of this taco seasoning! Having this seasoning on hand in
my pantry is so convenient and allows me to whip up tacos in a pinch. “Taco bout”
a win win. See what I did there?
Measure the spices and dump into a mason jar or tightly sealed Tupper Ware container. Seal with lid and shake to mix all the spices together.
To make tacos, brown 1 lb of taco meat over medium to high heat. You can use ground turkey, ground beef or ground chicken. Add 3 tbsp of taco seasoning and ½ cup of water to the taco meat. Stir and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then turn heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
The uses of this seasoning are endless! Add 2-3 tbsp of seasoning to soups, chilis, burgers and chicken for a meal that is packed with flavor.
I cannot believe that December is almost over and 2019 is
almost here! This year has been filled with major milestones and memories that
I will cherish for a lifetime. In 2018, I started a new job, graduated from
grad school and married my best friend.
I also traveled to lots of fun places! I traveled to North Carolina, New York City, visited Walt Disney World for my Bachelorette party, and accompanied Derek on his first international trip to Jamaica for our honeymoon. Although this year was super busy, I challenged myself to find balance and make time for things I love like writing and dancing. I was even fortunate enough to perform in A Charm City Ballet’s production of A Christmas Carol. As 2018 comes to an end, I’m so grateful for all the wonderful blessings the year brought and very hopeful that 2019 will be another great year.
Now that the Christmas festivities have come to an end, I’m
ready for New Year’s celebrations. I always look forward to New Year’s Day.
Christmas is always wonderful, but it’s always busy! New Year’s Day is low key
for us. Typically, I do cook a New Year’s Day meal, but I try to pick simple
dishes since I’m usually still recovering from all the Christmas baking and
cooking.
This year, I’m making these delicious Slow Cooker Southern Green Beans. I made these at Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. They are inspired by Mission BBQ’s green beans. These are super easy to make and are a perfect side dish for any holiday. They also reheat great in the microwave. For this recipe, I use real bacon bits that you can find in the salad dressing aisle of your grocery store. If you are feeling ambitious, you can cook some bacon ahead of time to use in lieu of the bacon bits. However, as I mentioned before I’m still recovering from Christmas so I’m going the easy route.
Melt two tablespoons of butter on medium-high heat in a skillet.
Finely dice 1 onion and then add the diced onion into the skillet.
Add ½ cup of bacon bits to the onion butter mixture.
Add ¼ tsp of cayenne, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp of pepper to the onion and bacon mixture. Stir together and sauté for 5 minutes until bacon is a deep red color.
Open your cans of green beans and dump them juice and all into your slow cooker. Add the bacon and onion mixture to the slow cooker. Stir together the bacon and onion mixture with the green beans until combined.
Cook on low for 4 hours.
Recipe Notes
The longer you cook, the more flavor your green beans will have. However, everything is cooked before you add it to the slow cooker, so feel free to decrease the cook time if you are in a pinch.
Thanksgiving is 2 days away people! If you are behind the power curve and need a last-minute dish to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve got an easy side dish you can throw together in a pinch. I’m going to keep this blog post short and sweet, well because this recipe is short and sweet. Behold! The ever so glorious Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples.
I love this recipe because it has minimal ingredients, most of which are Paleo. If you are on a Paleo Diet, you can simply omit the butter. Sweet potatoes, Granny Smith Apples and dried cranberries, tossed in a honey cinnamon sauce are oh so sweet. The best part is this recipe is guilt free! Naturally sweet and packed with nutrients, this holiday side dish is easy to make and sure to please at the dinner table. Even my dog Oreo approves of this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter or oil of your choice.
Wash, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into bite size chunks. Sweet potato chucks should be approximately an inch and a half in size.
Wash and chop the apples into bite size chunks. Apple chunks should be about the same size as the sweet potato chunks. I like to leave the peel on the apples because it adds some color and it’s packed with nutrients. Feel free to peel the apples if that is your preference.
Add your chopped sweet potatoes to the greased baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. While your potatoes begin to cook, make your honey cinnamon sauce.
Melt 3 tbsp of butter in the microwave in a microwave safe dish. Remove the butter from the microwave and to the dish, add ¼ cup of honey and 1 tsp of cinnamon. If you are omitting the butter to make this a Paleo dish, simply mix together the honey and cinnamon.
Remove sweet potatoes from the oven. Add in the chopped apples and ¼ cup of dried cranberries to the baking dish. Pour the honey cinnamon sauce over top of the potatoes, apples and dried cranberries, tossing with a spoon to ensure all ingredients are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Return the apples and sweet potatoes to the oven for an additional 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Remove the beautiful caramelized Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples from the oven and enjoy.
Since Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I thought it was time to break out the pumpkin. To be completely transparent, historically I’ve never been a fan of pumpkin. Pumpkin spice lattes are not my thing and I find pumpkin pie to be quite overrated. In the last 2 years, I’ve been trying to branch out and I have discovered that I do like pumpkin in cake forms. Pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread have become one of go to recipes around this time of year.
Are you looking to change up your Thanksgiving dessert this year? If so, I have the perfect recipe for you! Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting are a cross between a muffin and a cupcake. The reason I can’t completely classify this as a cupcake is because the pumpkin cake is not overly sweet, so it eats more like a muffin. Maple syrup and cinnamon slightly sweeten this pumpkin muffin. Top this muffin with a rich and decadent cream cheese frosting and then this muffin is transformed into a crossbreed of muffin and cupcake. The frosting is super sweet, which is a nice compliment to the muffins since they are not overly sweet. Perfectly spiced pumpkin muffins topped with a sweet cream cheese frosting will make a perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table. Heck maybe don’t even wait until dinner and indulge in these bad boys for Thanksgiving breakfast. I won’t judge!
Place ½ cup of butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until completely melted. Let it cool while you mix together your dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together all your dry ingredients, 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, a heaping ¼ cup of white sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice and ½ tsp salt.
In a stand mixer, combine your wet ingredients. Crack 2 large eggs into the mixing bowl, add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 cup of pumpkin puree, ½ cup maple syrup and ½ cup of melted butter. Mix on low until combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
Line a muffin tin with liners. Fill each muffin liner up ¾ of the way with the batter. Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remove the muffins from oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool.
Finally, while the muffins are cooling make the frosting. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, combine ½ cup of softened butter (1 stick), 8 oz of softened cream cheese (1 block), 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 3 cups of powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth.
Once the muffins have cooled, frost them and decorate as desired.
Recipe Notes
Muffins must be refrigerated if topped with cream cheese frosting.
October is flying by! Whew! As I mentioned in my last post, October is always an exciting month because it’s a month of birthdays! Almost all of my family member’s birthdays are in October, including mine. It was a very eventful month, so I felt it was necessary to give a recap of the birthday festivities and share some photos of the amazing food we’ve indulged in over the last month. After all, I appreciate eating food just as much as I enjoy cooking it, if not more.
Jurassic Park themed cake by Sandra’s Cake Studio.
My husband celebrated his 30th birthday on Oct. 1 and we celebrated by throwing him a surprise birthday party in Baltimore! Back story, I’ve been asking Derek for months what he wanted for his birthday and he continued to tell me he wanted a surprise party. Who asks for their own surprise party? I think that is a little contradictory to the whole premise of it being a surprise. I continued to shut him down on his request for a surprise party, telling him it was too much work, too expensive and ridiculous that he would ask for his own surprise party. Little did he know that I was going to make his birthday wish come true and he was SO surprised!
Surprise!
All our family, friends and co-workers joined us for a fun night in Baltimore. The party theme was Jurassic Park (one of Derek’s favorite movies). We even had a beautiful Jurassic Park themed cake designed by Sandra’s Cake Studio. The cake was a strawberry cake, filled with strawberry butter cream with fondant accents. It looked and tasted amazing!
Derek’s 30th surprise birthday party.
On Oct. 4, I celebrated my 28th birthday. I unfortunately had to work, but luckily my mom drove out to my office and took me to a birthday lunch at The Grill at Harryman House, a local restaurant in Reistertown, MD. This is one of my favorite restaurants near my office. It’s super quaint, the servers are super friendly, and the food is delicious. I had a cobb salad, topped with blackened chicken that was perfectly seasoned. After work, Derek and I celebrated with dinner and a quiet, relaxing night at home.
Lunch at The Grill at Harryman House with my mom.
My brother Dylan’s birthday was Oct. 13 and his girlfriend Anna’s birthday was on Oct. 11. Finally, my mom’s birthday was Oct. 17. So to wrap up our birthday season, we had one last big birthday dinner towards the end of the month to celebrate all of our birthdays. We exchanged birthday presents, laughed a lot and topped the night off with some yummy desserts. It’s always so wonderful to celebrate birthdays with our family.
Our second annual October Birthdays Celebration.
Now that it is almost November, I am super pumped to post some fall inspired recipes I’ve been working on. Be on the lookout for two new recipes I will be sharing in the coming weeks, which include a fall inspired side dish and a pumpkin dessert that is perfect for Thanksgiving! And soon to come, Christmas treats galore with my annual Christmas cookie baking frenzy. Fall really is the most wonderful time of the year!
