Simple Yet Gourmet

For Brynlee's 5th birthday (I still can't believe I have a 5 year old!) she wanted an actual cake. I've gotten away with just doing cupcakes up to this point but no longer. So after throwing out several ideas she decided on this one. I'll admit, I wasn't too disappointed :). She is definitely a girl after my own heart. For the cake I chose a classic chocolate layer cake with the chocolate frosting from the Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes . After frosting the cake we just stuck the whoppers on. So easy but oh my gosh, so GOOD!! Extremely rich and fudgy. I could only handle a small sliver at a time, but you better believe we were slicing pieces off for the entire next week. It was that  good.

Ok, so by now you know I love breakfast.  I think that must be my favorite meal to find recipes for.  There is so much out there and so many variations to the simple ols time favorites.  Plus I am always try to make something new and fun for breakfast each week to start the kids off with. These happen to be our weekend treat just because they are on the sweet side. I found this recipe from one of my favorite blogs to visit. These muffins are moist and a little more dense with the ricotta cheese, making them easier to eat because they don't fall apart.  Also, what a great way to use up the extra ricotta cheese from lasagna last night! Great treat on a Saturday morning with some scrambled eggs and a tall glass of orange juice!

This has become my "go to" bread recipe for my Italian dishes.  It takes less than one hour from start to finish to make this recipe.  I serve it warm with a dish of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of roasted garlic salt.  If you are so lucky to have an oil oil store near by, Apricot vinegar is my kids favorite for dipping. Mine happens to be the Garlic olive oil or the Sicilian Lemon vinegar.  Give them a try, you may never go back to plain oil and vinegar again! Added note, the first time I made this I didn't brush the loaves with an egg wash before putting them in the oven (as you can see from the picture).  Not a big deal, but they didn't ever get a nice brown top, so I did this the next time and they turned out picture perfect.  I highly suggest this final step!

Here is a super easy and fun breakfast idea.  My kids love pancakes, but get bored with the same old thing.  Well, what a fun ideas to have a pancake cup, full of fresh fruit and topped with a little homemade whip cream.  Maddie is not a pancake fan, but really enjoyed mixing her favorite fruits and have these for breakfast.  Other ways to serve these would be with scrambled eggs and sausage, butter and syrup, or just plain as an after school snack!  Endless possibilities.

Sorry for the lack of recipes lately!  It's not that I haven't been cooking, I just haven't had time to post the things I have made.  Today I decided I needed to get all my new recipes filed and off my desk! We have had a lot of fun over the last few holidays with new recipes.  I will post them over the next few weeks.  My kids were excited about all we did for Saint Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day so stay tuned for those pictures and recipes. For this dish, I really like Cashew Chicken so I found this recipe in a magazine at the eye doctor's office.  I pulled out a piece of scrape paper and wrote it down, but forgot to get the source!  It was a quick, simple and healthy meal that we all enjoyed.   Not much prep work and a dish that had everything in it, meaning veggies, so I didn't need a side dish!!  Hope you enjoy it!

I try to balance out my treat intake by eating healthy snacks during the day, but finding healthy and yummy snacks that I don't get bored with is a challenge.  I had this recipe on the back burner for a while but didn't get around to trying it for a few weeks after I bought the yogurt.  I didn't have too high of expectations for it so I was taken by surprise by how much I liked this!  Brynlee loved this as well so I am sure we'll be making this quite a bit.  It's so yummy and packed with protein so it will keep you fueled for a while.  If you don't like peanut butter or have allergies, just omit it and you'll  still have a delicious vanilla yogurt fruit dip.

No-Bake Cookies conjure up memories of childhood.  I think these were one of the first recipes I learned to make and would do so any chance I got.  I even got permission from my mom to make these when friends came over.  It's true.  I have always loved sugar, chocolate, and cooking.  Just in the genes I guess.  Anyway, I still crave these occasionally but have found that with my more "mature" adult palate I have had a hard time finding a recipe to really satisfy the need for a deep rich chocolate cookie.  Finally it dawned on me to just make my own. First I browned the butter to add some extra depth of flavor and then I added Dutch Cocoa instead of regular cocoa, for a more intense chocolate flavor, along with a few other changes.  Voila!  These are the cookies I have been looking for.  They are still so simple to make but they met my expectations completely.  I hope you'll try these out next time you need a quick chocolate f...