I found this craft over at Deloop and knew I wanted to give this a try. I mean who doesn’t want glitter magnets to put all over their fridge. I always seem to be running low on magnets to hang up important notices, artwork, etc. This project seemed like a win-win to me. Dani and I get to have some fun with glitter and I get some more magnets.
Earlier this summer, Jen and I went on a long trip to deliver a wedding cake, and on our way home we stopped at this little whole in the wall barbeque place we found. They had this Jalepeno Cornbread that was absolutely to die for. We ended up taking two orders to go because it was just that good. It has been a mission of mine to try to find a recipe for it since then. This recipe was close, I think I may try it again with some honey added to it. I found this recipe over at The Hunger Struck .
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk, can be substituted with whole milk
1 cup sharp cheddar, grated
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 cup canned jalapeno’s, diced
Preheat oven to 400 f. Grease a standard sized muffin tin and dust with flour. These have a tendency to stick so I will sometimes use vegitable spray if I have some on hand.
In a small sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter. Once completely melted remove from the heat and let cool.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Beat the eggs in a medium sized bowl and add the buttermilk and cooled melted butter and stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the grated cheese, corn and diced jalapenos and mix gently until the mixture just comes together.
Divide equally in the muffin tin.
Bake for 30 minutes or until muffins have risen a bit and are golden on top. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.
One of Dan’s coworkers went deep sea fishing and brought us back some fish. Now Im no expert when it comes to identifying fish…but I guess it was cod…by the color. Now I’ve cooked haddock and salmon plenty of times over…but cod, that’s a whole different story. I found a recipe Butter and Herb baked cod from Grandmothers Kitchen. I followed the recipe and I knew something was wrong when Dan took one bite and asked how much salt I had put in the seasoning. I told him none. I knew exactly what he was talking about once I took my first bite. It tasted like a whole shaker full of salt. So I don’t want to call this a complete fail, but maybe I lack of knowledge of how to prepare cod. I asked Dan to ask his coworker if we were supposed to soak it before cooking…I have yet to hear back…$10 says Dan forgot.
But I say give this one a try…besides to overwhelming salt taste, the recipe wasn’t bad. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.
Butter and Herb baked cod
Ingredients
4 cod fillets (or white fish of choice)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 a lemon, juiced, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 clove garlic, minced
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Line a large baking pan with parchment paper and place fish on it.
3) In a medium bowl whisk together the butter, lemon, mustard, parsley, dill and garlic.
4) Divide the sauce between fish. top evenly
5) Bake for 15-16 minutes depending on the size of the fish, Then broil for 1-2 minutes or until top turns golden, checking every 20 seconds. Serve immediately with additional lemon
I love making things for my daughter for her birthday. This year, with everything else that went on I didn’t get to take on a bigger project like I did last year, but decided to paint her a picture to hang in her room. I fond this image online and I just knew that she would love it in her room. I paint a canvas black since I couldn’t find a black one in the size that I wanted. I then used a fine point paint marker to trace the image onto the canvas before painting. Of course now I just need to get around to actually hanging it in her room, but other than that I would say it came out awesome.
Things have been crazy around here the last week or so. Between two jobs (I now teach kickboxing) and home stuff I feel like I haven’t had a chance to breath a sigh of relief. Dan and I finally set a wedding date…for 2015…and the venue just cashed my deposit…so I guess we have to go through with it, only kidding.
So with all that going on, I’ve been MIA for a couple of blog posts…sorry. But I think this recipe will make up for my absence. Dan keeps asking what my obsession is with Mexican food…somehow we end up having some sort of Mexican cuisine at least once a week. But I don’t think he was complaining too much about these Mexican stuffed shells I picked up from Six Sisters Stuff…he went back for thirds….enough said. This would be a great meal to serve during football season, easy enough to make AND different enough that your guests may be nicknaming you Martha.
Mexican Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
4 cups chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
6 green onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened (not melted)
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained (Rotel or store brand)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups salsa
40 large pasta shells
Directions
Directions:
1) Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente (still have a little bite to them- if you cook them too long, they will be difficult to stuff). Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling.
2) For the filling, add diced chicken, drained black beans, green onions, diced peppers, and cumin into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
3) In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken broth and undrained tomatoes with chiles. When thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix well (if you have trouble incorporating the cream cheese and tomatoes, you can heat it slightly in the microwave).
4) You will need either 2 9×13″ baking pans OR one large baking sheet. Spread 3/4 cup salsa in the bottom of each 9×13″ baking pan.
5) Using a spoon, fill each of your cooked pasta shells with chicken mixture, setting them into the salsa-covered pan. Continue until all shells are filled and arranged in the pans.
When the pans are full, drizzle the shells with the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa (1/4 cup per pan) and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese.
3) Cover the baking pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
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