Everything And Nothing

Five Favorite Things

My five favorite things for this week...

1. Google Plus - I love it! It's like the early days of Twitter. Lots of great conversations and I've even met some cool new folks too!
2. Spotify - My playlist addiction is in full force again...making them AND listening to others too.
3. Sopapilla Cheesecake - This recipe tastes like King Cake. My son and I are already plotting our Mardi Gras version with green, yellow and purple sprinkles on top. But, regardless, it's perfect just the way it is already!
4. Dark Chocolate Banana Babies - Yum! I just found these recently. I know I could make my own too, but I don't know if they'd be much better than these!
5. My parents - This coming Saturday I'm taking my son for a weeklong visit with his grandparents. (I'm picking him up the next Saturday. It's a lot of driving.)  But I'm so thankful he has grandparents who he wants to spend a week with and who are excited to be spending a week with him!

Dinner Tonight

Sweet-Hot Chutney-Grilled Chicken

This recipe was courtesy of Serious Eats. And I couldn't find mango chutney at the grocery store, so we used a mango salsa instead. I think the chutney would have clung better to the chicken, but it was still good. (It does have a bit of heat though!) Quinn threw some ears of corn on the grill too with the chicken and I made zucchini fries too!

Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries

This recipe, courtesy of Confections of a Foodie Bride, is a great way to sneak in some veggies with the kids. (If your kids are like my son, dipping anything seems to make it taste better too.)

Philly Cheesesteak Pizza

We had a cookout on Sunday and had steak left over, so I was searching for something different besides steak and eggs or steak quesadillas to make with the yummy leftovers. So, here it is...

This recipe + this recipe =

(Shawn's) Philly Cheesesteak Pizza

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Ranch dressing
12 slices of provolone cheese
Leftover steak (about 2 cups, sliced thinly)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
10 oz. baby bellas, sliced
4 c. mozzarella cheese
Steak seasoning (I used McCormick's Montreal Brand seasoning)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll crescent rolls into rectangles. Place in ungreased 11 1/2 inch x 16 1/2 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Press dough over the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust.  Bake at 375 oven for 11 to 13 minutes or just until golden brown.

While the crust is baking, lightly saute the onion, mushrooms, and green pepper with a small amount of butter or margarine and garlic. (Do not over cook.) Drain and set aside.

Drizzle Ranch dressing on top of crust and spread out with knife. Layer the provolone cheese on top. Spread the steak around and then the veggies on top. Put the mozzarella cheese on top of that and sprinkle with steak seasoning.

Return to oven for 3-6 more minutes until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.  Makes 12 main dish servings or 48 appetizers.

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes

This recipe + this recipe =

(Shawn's) Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the asparagus and tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Mix together the minced garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and drizzle over the asparagus and tomatoes. Toss to coat completely.

Roast for 25 minutes, until tender but still crisp.

After removing sprinkle with the goat cheese. Serve immediately.

I served it with Sesame Beef. Yum!

Friday Family Fiesta Night

We had this for dinner and dessert tonight. It was all delicious. And a fun Friday Family Fiesta Night.

This recipe is courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen blog. The basic recipe could be easily changed up, and I've already been dreaming up Mediterranean Pizzas and Greek Pizzas. I think cream cheese would be a great base. But this Mexican rendition...I KNOW it works. It was delicious.

Dessert was Sopapilla Cheesecake (another Real Mom recipe). And my son, who loves cheesecake in any and every form, says that this one is his favorite yet. Quentin says this tastes a lot like king cake - so at Mardi Gras we're gonna try it with green, yellow, and purple sprinkles instead of cinnamon sugar!

I didn't plan this, but, somehow, tonight, I have used more Pillsbury Crescent Rolls than I have in the last five years combined! (Obviously Real Moms use refrigerated crescent rolls often!) ;)

I found both of these recipes on Pinterest. Want to see more recipes? Browse through my Yummo and Let Them Eat Cake pins (where these recipes wait permanently now).

It wasn't cheating. It was research...

I can't have candy, unless I've never tried it before and it's a review for this blog. And it's on sale. And last week, the coconut M&Ms were 2/$1 at Kroger. I had been avoiding them for a while. I'm not a big fan of coconut and I just couldn't even figure out how M&Ms could possibly taste coconut successfully.

But, luckily, I was wrong. These taste like mini Almond Joy bars. And they are much softer on the inside than the other M&Ms, so I'm guessing they would do well in baking and in ice cream. (I love mini M&Ms in ice cream but they do get hard as a rock!)

I think I'll have to try this Chocolate Coconut M&M Cookie recipe and report back!

Angel Food Cake with Strawberries

Quinn's father loves angel food cake - and I don't. Which is not really a problem except that I obviously tend to lean towards making sweets I love and I had never made an angel food cake.

Well, now I have. I used this recipe, and, from what people tell me who like angel food cake and think it tastes yummy, it was delicious. (I had some too. It tasted like angel food cake.) ;)

I did think the strawberry sauce I made up on my own was pretty good though. The container was about a pint but seemed a bit larger. I cut the strawberries up in small bites and then put them in a pan with 1/3 cup sugar over medium heat. After they got a little mushy I added a tsp of vanilla and a tbsp of butter and served it warm over the angel food cake.