Tablescapes and landscapes...presentation is key! Day 1

Basically this post has nothing to do with food, but I was trying to think of a way to connect landscaping to food...all I could come up with is relating tablescapes to landscapes. Both have to do with presentation which is important where food is concerned...when it is presented nicely, is seems more appetizing. My husband and I moved in to our house in September and have been living with a backyard full of dirt...no grass...no trees...no flowers...no nothing! My husband enjoys yard work and we like entertaining in the summer months with barbecues and outdoor activities. While my husband was gone on some business trips, I had some landscape companies come out and give us an estimate on what it would take to get our backyard in shape. The landscapers started yesterday! I'm hoping by this weekend, we will have nice green sod in the backyard and by the end of May I can get out and plant some flowers! Below are some pictures taken after the guys left yesterday. I will post pictures after each day so we can watch the progress.

What is your favorite part of a muffin?

Mine is the muffin top. I love the smooth texture and how at times the top gets a little sticky. When I lived in Montana we had a cute kitchen gadget store downtown called, "Pizazz." I found a muffin top pan, which is basically a very shallow but wide muffin pan. I sometimes forget that I have this pan, but this morning I brought it out to make Raspberry Muffins. I don't typically bake for breakfast unless it is the weekend, but I woke up early this morning and had some raspberries to use up.


Raspberry Muffins
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups with shortening, or line with paper baking cups. Beat milk, oil and egg in large bowl with fork or wire whisk. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just intil flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in raspberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

Taco Salad Bowls

Here's what's on the menu for dinner tonight! It is very warm here today, so the taco salad should be pretty refreshing.

Taco Salad Bowls

4 flour tortillas (8 inch)
1 Tbs chili powder, divided
3/4 lb extra lean ground beef
1 cup match-like carrot sticks
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs chunky salsa, divided
2 Tbs ligh mayonnaise4 cups torn salad greens
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Crumple 4 large sheets of foil to make four 3-inch balls; place on baking sheet. Place 1 tortilla on top of each ball; spray tortilla with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 tsp of the chili powder. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until tortillas are golden brown. (Tortillas will drape over balls as they bake.) Meanwhile, brown meat with carrots and remaining 2 1/2 tsp chili powder in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup of the salsa; cook 2 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Mix mayo and remaining 2 Tbs salsa in large bowl. Add salad greens and tomatoes; toss to coat. Spoon into tortilla shells; top with meat mixture, cheese and cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

Red Beans and Rice with Ham

This week my husband and I are helping with a youth garage sale at our church which is taking place on Saturday, May 3rd. We have a lot of organizing and pricing ahead of us. Luckily we will have a lot of help! The youth group members are suppose to help at the church from 4-7 each evening, which means we adults have to be there as well. Since 4-7 is typically when I would fix and eat dinner, I had to do some advanced planning for meals this week. Today I am fixing a meal in the crock pot so it's ready to eat when we get home. I found the recipe for Red Beans and Rice in a cookbook titled, "The Slow Cooker Bible."

Red Beans and Rice with Ham
1 pkg (16 oz) dried red beans, rinsed and sorted
1 pound smoked beef sausage, sliced
1 ham slice (about 8 oz), cubed
1 small onion, diced
2 1/2 to 3 cups water
1 tsp Mexican seasoning
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

Place beans in large bowl; cover completely with water. Soak 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Drain. Place beans in slow cooker. Add sausage, ham, onion, water (2 1/2 cups for LOW or 3 cups for HIGH), Mexican seasoning and red pepper. Cover; cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours or until beans are tender, stirring every 2 hours, if necessary. Serve over rice. Makes 6 servings.
** I'll post a picture later tonight!

Always room for Dessert!

I love desserts, and I love baking them even more! It was my turn to take dessert to my Sunday night focus group. I've noticed the past two Sundays, we've run out of the dessert and everyone seemed like they would have liked more. So tonight I made two very different desserts to share with everyone. Both of these recipes are found in the Pampered Chef Classics cookbook. I hadn't made either one of them until today and they are definitely ones I would make again.

Chocolate Macaroon Bars

1 pkg fudge browning mix (plus ingredients to make brownies)

2 egg whites

1 pkg (14 oz) sweetened flaked coconut

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 pkg (2.25 oz) sliced almonds

2 Tbs semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted

1 tsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large edged cookie cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Spread evenly onto cookie sheet. Bake 15-18 minutes or until brownie is set. Do not overbake. Remove from oven to cooling rack. In clean bowl, combine egg whites, coconut and sweetened condensed milk; mix well. Spread coconut mixture over top of brownie to within 1/4 inch of edge. Sprinkle with almonds. Return to oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until edges of coconut are deep golden brown. Remove from oven to cooling rack. Place chocolate morsels and oil in microwavable safe container. Microwave, uncovered on High 45 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring after each 10 seconds. Do not overheat. Drizzle chocolate over pizza. Cut into bars; serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Heavenly Lemon Angel Cake

1 pkg angel food cake mix

1-2 lemons

2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups thawed, fat-free frozen whipped topping

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into ungreased deep 9x13 baking pan. Bake on center rack in oven 35-40 minutes or until top of cake is golden brown, cracked and firm to the touch. Do not underbake. Remove from oven. Carefully invert baking pan onto cooling rack; cool completely. Turn baker upright; poke holes in cake about 1 1/2 inches deep and 1/2 inch apart with large fork. Zest one lemon to measure 1 Tbs zest. Juice lemons using juicer to measure 1/4 cup juice. In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest; whisk until smooth. Slowly pour glaze over cake, spreading evenly. Let stand 30 minutes or until glaze is set. Spread whipped topping over glaze, drop raspberries on top as garnish.

I didn't get a picture of the angel food cake because it wasn't very pretty in the pan; however, I do think more people preferred the lemon angel food cake over the chocolate macaroon dessert. I enjoyed a little slice of both! My only suggestion about the chocolate macaroon dessert is to bake it for the lesser time in the directions. Mine came out very chewy and I would have preferred it to be a more soft. Overall, they were both a success!

Personal Pizza

Today for lunch I decided to make a personal pizza. I found personal size pre-made pizza crusts at the grocery store and thought they would be perfect for me when my husband is away on business or for quick and easy meals. I chose to top mine with pesto sauce and tomatoes, but feel free to use whatever toppings you enjoy!



Personal Margherita Pizza
1 personal size pre-made pizza crust
1 small tomato, thinly sliced
4 Tbls pesto sauce
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Spread pesto sauce on pizza crust; top with tomato slices, cheese, and red pepper flakes. Bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 10 minutes. Slice and serve!

Hubby's cooking!

I am very blessed that I have a husband who enjoys cooking. He's been traveling a lot lately so he hasn't had much time in the kitchen. He asked if he could make dinner tonight...like I was going to say "NO"? He is fixing stuffed pork chops, which we haven't had in a while, so I am I looking forward to tasting them! He came up with this recipe himself, although I'm sure there are many recipes out there for stuffed pork chops. We served the pork chops with roasted green beans and jellied cranberry sauce (yes, I know it isn't Thanksgiving...but it's so good!).

The Chef

Stuffed Pork Chops

2 boneless pork chops, thick cut

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

Trim fat from pork chops. Cut the side of pork chop about 3/4 of the way through to make a "pocket". Mix the bread crumbs and cheese; stuff into pork chop. Place pork chops on a stove-top pan with 1-2 Tbls olive oil. Fry over high heat until golden on both sides. Remove chops and place in oven-proof dish. Place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Serves: 2


Roasted Green Beans
1/2 pound fresh green beans
olive oil
salt and pepper


Rinse green beans, place on a cookie sheet with edges. Drizzle olive oil on top of green beans; salt and pepper generously. Place in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until desired doneness. Serves: 2