Double Chocolate-Chip Muffins

My kids love chocolate...they take after their mommy in that way!  My daughter is always asking for chocolate muffins and I'm always telling her I'll make them for her "soon".  I'm not the type of person who cringes at a chocolate muffin for breakfast.  Give me pie, cake, cookies...you name the dessert, I'll eat it for breakfast!  It's a curse, but I've learned to embrace it.
This is the first recipe I came across for chocolate muffins and it was VERY SIMPLE!  She pulled up the barstool and my little Ella helped me make them.  It's one of those recipes that can be put together and baked in less than 30 minutes.  She thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of her labor, as did I, with a nice hot Americano!

Double Chocolate-Chip Muffins {slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson}


INGREDIENTS:  {Makes 12 muffins}

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour {you could substitute half whole-wheat flour if you like}
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 heaping Tbsp. good quality cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, and 3/4 cup chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, combine the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Whisk to combine.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed.  Try not to over-mix batter.   Evenly scoop batter into muffin tin and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.  

Bruschetta with homemade pesto

I decided to go simple for dinner the other night.  Salvaging through the refrigerator, I found some mozzarella and I immediately felt like bruschetta. I knew I had tons of fresh basil from my garden and I recently planted arugula, so I decided to make a pesto to go with the bruschetta.  The only bummer was that I had to buy tomatoes since my plants are taking a while.
Bruschetta can be served hot or cold, really however you like, but I decided I wanted mine warm.
This is how I made it...


Bruschetta with homemade pesto {serves 4-6 as appetizer}


INGREDIENTS FOR BRUSCHETTA:

• 3 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp. fresh basil, torn
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• homemade or purchased pesto {recipe for homemade pesto below}
• 8 oz. mozzarella, cut into thin slices
• 1 loaf french bread or baguette, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for drizzling on bread

DIRECTIONS:

 Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Gently mix the tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.  Slice the bread and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle or brush with some olive oil and bake in oven for 5 minutes, or until crispy.  Remove from oven and place one slice of mozzarella on each slice of bread. Place back in oven for about 4-6 minutes, or until cheese has slightly melted.  Remove from oven and top with 1 tsp. of pesto and 1 Tbsp. of the tomato mixture.  Serve immediately.  

Homemade Pesto anyway you like
*Now arugula is a little bit on the spicier side.  If you prefer a more mild-flavored pesto, then choose basil.  I combined arugula and basil for my pesto.  Some recipes call for pine nuts or walnuts in their pesto recipes, but I decided to leave the nuts out.  Feel free to experiment!


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups fresh basil OR fresh Arugula {I used 1 cup basil and 11/2 cups arugula}
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts {optional...I left the nuts out}
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more if desired
• salt
• freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

  Place basil or arugula, peeled garlic, and parmesan cheese in food processor.  Turn on processor and blend for 1 minute.  While processing, slowly add the olive oil and process for 1 more minute.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and pulse for a few seconds.  If the pesto seems to thick for your liking, you may add more olive oil.

Frittata Caprese

Frittata's are fun and easy.  Any combination of vegetables, or meat, or cheese can work in a frittata.  There's no rules...which can be really freeing for someone who doesn't do well with following a recipe {like me}.

I wanted to use the basil from my garden, which is growing in abundance, along with my zucchinis.  A little mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and voila...it tasted like a caprese salad, only warm.  Which is why I named this frittata caprese.  Frittata's are great to make for breakfast, lunch or even dinner.  I made this frittata with my blueberry buckle and it made for a perfect lazy saturday breakfast.

Frittata Caprese {serves 4}

INGREDIENTS: 

• 8 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk or half and half
• 1-2 small zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 Tbsp. fresh basil, divided and roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 oz. mozzarella, cut in chunks
• olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

  Whisk eggs and milk together in a bowl and set aside.  Heat a 10 inch non-stick {oven-proof} skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.  Once pan is hot, add zucchini and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper and let cook about 2 minutes.  Add garlic and stir until tomatoes have softened, just another minute or so {you don't want tomatoes to get too mushy}.  Remove the vegetables from pan and place on a plate.  Add 1 more Tbsp. of olive oil to hot pan.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add whisked egg mixture.  Let eggs cook for a couple of minutes and then place the sautéed vegetables and mozzarella chunks evenly into the eggs.  Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of the fresh basil and then place in oven.  Cook in oven 5-10 minutes or until eggs have fully set and feel slightly firm to touch.  You don't want the top to brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbsp. fresh basil.  Slice into large triangles and serve warm.  If you have leftovers, it also tastes great re-heated for lunch the next day!  

  

Blueberry Buckle. Summer is here.

I couldn't resist.  Our first official day of Summer vacation and I'm in the kitchen making breakfast.  I had to celebrate with something that we love...food.  More specifically...breakfast!  I rolled out of bed at the crack of 8:30 {a miracle for me}and came into the kitchen with an idea.  Blueberries and cake. 

Fresh blueberries are one of my favorite fruits.  They have to be nice and firm with a tiny bit of tartness.  I bought a pound of organic blueberries at one of our local grocery stores to use for baking.  

The smells throughout the house were amazing!  I made a frittata {I'll blog about that later}, a big pot of coffee, and sat down with my plate of food.  What a nice way to start off our vacation! 

Blueberry Buckle {recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour}

INGREDIENTS: 

Topping:

• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into chunks

Batter:

• 2 Cups All-Purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk {you can use regular milk instead}
• 2 cups fresh blueberries {you can use frozen too}

Directions:

  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter and flour 9 inch square baking dish or a 9 inch cake pan.  

To make the topping, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Add cold butter chunks and crumble with your finger tips until the mixture becomes very crumbly.  Set aside.

To make the batter, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk thoroughly.  In another bowl, or your electric mixer, combine butter and sugar.  Beat until nice and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until creamy.  Alternately add the milk and flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture.  Mix gently, just until combined, ending with the flour mixture.  If you used your electric mixer, you will want to do the rest using a spatula.  Add blueberries and gently fold into your batter, making sure not to break up any of the fruit.  

Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over the entire cake batter.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit at elate 5 minutes...if you can wait that long!

Baked Mac and Cheese

This is a simple recipe.  Probably most everyone has a recipe for mac and cheese that they love.  This is mine.  Well, it's the one my mom used to make when I was growing up and it's the one I still make to this day.  I've tried jazzing it up different ways but honestly, I love it simple.  The only thing that I have changed is that I have added some gruyere cheese.  It gives the mac and cheese such a great kick!
My kids beg me to make this every week and one pan is barely enough for our growing family!  The other night was our only night last week that did not include baseball practice or baseball games, so I cooked for my family and enjoyed our night at home together.

Baked Mac and Cheese {family recipe}

INGREDIENTS: {serves 4-6 as main dish, 6-8 as side dish}

• 1-lb. box small pasta {I used shells, but I've used everything from elbow to penne}
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Cups milk, warmed
• 3 1/2 Cups sharp cheddar, shredded {try not to use pre-shredded cheese}
• 1/2 Cup gruyere cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

 Grease a 9 by 13 baking dish and set aside.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.

 Heat a large pot of water to boiling.  Once the water has come to a boil, season with salt and add pasta. Be sure to under-cook the pasta by 1-2 minutes because it will continue to cook when it's baking.  When pasta is cooked, drain and lightly rinse.  Pour pasta into greased baking dish and set aside.  

To make the sauce, heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  When butter has melted and become bubbly, add the flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute.  Slowly pour in a little milk and continue to whisk, breaking up the flour mixture.  Keep pouring the milk slowly and whisking constantly until there are no more lumps.  Heat this mixture for about 5 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken and coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Do not let it come to a boil!  Turn heat to low and add about 3 1/2 cups of cheese.  Stir with a spoon until the cheese has melted.  Taste, then season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir completely.  Now at this point you can cover with foil and put in the refrigerator to bake at a later time.  Or if you'd like to bake immediately, sprinkle with the remaining half cup of cheese and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.  

Enjoy!!

cheese, milk, and butter...what more do you need?

shredded cheddar and some shredded gruyere

this is the part where I have to resist taking a big bite...

Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

So the picture above was taken on one of my iphone apps, which is why it looks a little different.  Our camera needed a re-charge.

This salad is light and crunchy.  The english cucumbers work best for this salad because they don't have a lot of seeds.  I served this inside a pita filled with falafels, hummus, and sliced avocado.  It's easy and delicious...you could even add a little fresh oregano if you want some herb flavor.  Enjoy!

Mediterranean Cucumber Salad 


INGREDIENTS: {serves 4}

• 1 english cucumber, sliced lengthwise into fourths, then cut into 1 inch dice
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

 Sliced cucumber lengthwise in half then slice each half down the middle {I like to cut out any seeds}. Cut 1-inch dice and place in a medium bowl.  Add the tomatoes, olive, and cheese.  Drizzle in the olive oil, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Toss gently. Serve alongside any mediterranean dish or stuffed in a pita.  

Chicken Scallopini with Asparagus

I'm pumped to be back!  I can't promise I'll be super consistent until after school gets out though.
This last month before the end of the school year seems to be jam-packed full of activities.  Baseball will be winding down in the next few weeks and that has taken up a lot of time!  With two boys and daddy as coach, we've been eating, breathing and sleeping baseball :)
It's all fun and exciting, but the down time will be much needed come June.  Needless to say, our meals have been quick and easy, leaving no time for experimenting with recipes or blogging.  But yesterday I managed to dust off the pots and pans to make a nice meal for my family.
This type of chicken is very easy, mostly because the thin cut breasts make cook-time very quick and the sauce is super simple.  The chicken can be served on top of pasta {which is my fav}, rice, or mashed potatoes.  You could also use mushrooms in the sauce instead of asparagus, or no veggies at all.
Try this recipe and you'll love the simple but tasty flavors.  Scallopini refers to any cutlets {usually veal or chicken} pounded thin and coated with flour.  So, you could really make many alterations to the sauce itself as long as you have the thin, crispy cutlets.  Enjoy!


Chicken Scallopini with Asparagus {my recipe}


INGREDIENTS: {Serves 4}

• 1 1/2 lbs. thin sliced chicken breasts {if you can't find these, then pound out your chicken breasts}
• 1/2 cup flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 small shallots, finely diced
• 1/2 lb. thin asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces, rough ends removed
• 1 lemon, juiced {about 3 Tbsp.}
• 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 lb. linguine {optional}

*Can be served with pasta, potatoes, or rice

DIRECTIONS:

*Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

  I bought the Foster Farms thinly sliced chicken breasts, but if you can't find them go ahead and place your chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap.  Pound until they are nice and thin.  Season all chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Pour the flour into a pie plate and coat each breasts liberally with the flour, shaking off the excess.  

Heat a large skillet to medium high.  Add the 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 2 Tbsp. butter.  Let the butter melt and become frothy then place a few chicken breasts into the pan and fry {5 minutes} on the first side, turn over and fry 5 minutes more, or until golden brown.   Drain on paper towels then set aside on a baking sheet.  Once all of the chicken is fried, place the baking sheet into the oven while you prepare the sauce.  This will help make sure they are cooked all of the way through.

Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. of oil that is left over in the pan.  If you find you don't have much oil left, then just add another tablespoon of olive oil.  Add shallots and asparagus and season with salt and pepper.  Saute for about 5 minutes.  Pour in chicken broth and let reduce another 4-6 minutes.  Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the sauce and let cook for a couple of minutes.  Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and finish the sauce with 1 Tbsp. of butter and the fresh parsley.  Season with more salt and pepper to taste.  Remove chicken from oven.

If you are using pasta, I like to add a few Tbsp. of butter to my noodles so they don't stick together.  Pile a big heaping full of pasta on a plate, place a chicken breast on top, then pour a nice ladle-full of the sauce and asparagus.  

Not many ingredients in this dish...I only used one of the lemons!

Season the chicken first then pat into the flour

Trying to be patient and not turn them until they have a nice golden brown color

Here's the shallots and asparagus sauteing in the pan

Here's a little of what we've been up to the past few months...

Go TWINS!                                                      

Jaden's new love...pitching!

Ella turned 6 on Mother's Day

The best Mother's Day gift of all...these 3 kiddos!