The House of Flu

Yup, both of my kids caught a stomach bug.  At least one got better before the other got sick, thank you tiny miracles.  One thing you can count on when kids get the stomach flu is a lot of sleep (for them, not you).  So while they're busy napping the day away, I decided to make no-knead Manchego Bread.  It needs to rise for 12-18 hours, so more on that tomorrow... later gators!    

Red Lentils with Feta and Tomato

As I type this, I'm sitting in my family room staring at large pieces of plywood and plastic covering.  I can't see my kitchen.  Have I mentioned we're redoing our kitchen?  So you'll have to bear with my postings for the next few months.  I might make a lot of peanut butter toast and easy mac & cheese.  Which both sound delicious to me!  But for now lets talk about lentils.  Lentils!  Doesn't that excite you??  Well it should, because while they might have a bad reputation, they're delicious.  I've had a bag of red lentils in my pantry for months, and I finally decided to do something with them over the weekend.  And because my best friend AND her sister are having babies on the same day, which is today(!), and because my mind is being blown over this construction, I am not going to write a recipe...

Take one cup of red lentils and put them in a pot with one cup of water.  Bring to a boil, then lower temp, cover and let simmer for roughly 10 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Meanwhile, sauté halved cherry tomatoes in 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add 1 clove of minced garlic and then a splash of really good balsamic.  Let cook over low heat until all bubbly and delicious.  Once lentils are done, add tomato mixture and crumbled feta cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  A great side dish!  

Rice Crispy Treat Cookies

Sometimes I am smart.  I do smart things, like a smart person.  For example, there has been a bag of mini marshmallows I've been trying to get rid of because I can't stop eating them.  How can I get rid of these, I asked myself yesterday.  Ooo, I know!  I'll put them in cookies.  And now, I have a batch of cookies that I can't stop eating.  Problem solved?  No, problem not solved.  I am a smart person.

Oh well, my son and I bonded and I kept him from watching Mike the Knight.  These were his idea, I kid you not.  A chocolate chip cookie with Rice Krispies and marshmallows - a Rice Crispy Treat Cookie if you will!  They are reminiscent of the familiar snack with their gooey crunch.  A bit messy, because I put marshmallows in the dough as well as on top.  You could plop yours on after they've been baked to avoid the mess.  I just love that gooey, melted marshmallow in the cookie as well.    

Also, sorry for the lack of posts this week.  Every day has been "Go.Go.Go" and every night my brain wakes me up around midnight and keeps me up for a few hours with "To-Do List" thoughts.  

Thanks brain!  You're the bestest.  

Rice Crispy Treat Cookies

(Makes approx. 24)

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups Rice Krispies

1 pkg. chocolate chips

Mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl with a mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla.  Combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Slowly add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Stir in cereal and chocolate chips.  Add roughly 1 cup of mini marshmallows, if adding to dough.  If not, save until after cookies are baked.  Scoop out cookies onto ungreased baking sheet (or lined with parchment paper).  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Immediately out of oven, top each cookie with 2 or 3 mini marshmallows.  Let cool.  

Tres Leches Cake

I don't know very many Spanish words, but I do know that "Tres Leches Cake" means something wonderful.  It means milk, and it means a lot of it - 3 different kinds to be exact - and all of that together means a super moist cake.  And that means bueno, which my computer just tried autocorrecting to Bruno.  Maybe my computer thinks the cake is so good, Bruno Mars should write a song about it?  Or maybe my computer is just a STUPID IDIOT.  Kidding, computer... never break.      

I made this cake for my mom's birthday (which falls on Cinco de Mayo) and it sure was a crowd please.  I used this recipe, because she never steers me wrong.  The pictures are sorta lousy, because I was too busy licking the whipped cream frosting bowl clean.  No bueno, Bruno : ( 

Sriracha Salt

Besides the fact that I don't really know how to say "Sriracha" - I'm obsessed with it.  Now, just yesterday, a friend gifted me a bottle of homemade Sriracha Salt.  WHAT!?!?!?  That was my reaction. Just the smell of it made me do a happy dance in my kitchen (no really, there's evidence of said dance on my iPhone).  She used this recipe, which looks simple enough!  If you're a fan of the spicy condiment, you should probably make a big batch of this salt and put it on everything.  I sprinkled it on my salad last night, DELISH.  Can you imagine a margarita with this stuff rimming the glass?!?  I feel another happy dance coming on... I've gotta go.  

Thank you for the feedback on my new site design!  I'm sort of sick of the "label" section (do you use it?) and I'm trying to brainstorm some new organizational elements.  Ideas are welcome : )    

Cinnamon Roll Cake

A thing called Cinnamon Roll Cake exists in this world, in case you were wondering.  I made it.  And I would love to tell you how crazy delicious it was, but I didn't try it.  I baked it for a Teacher Appreciation Lunch, and I thought it would be rude to present it with a teeny, tiny slice missing.  Hey Teachers, I appreciate you!  But not enough to give you an entire cake?  Yeah, that wasn't going to work.  So I had to fold in the cinnamon sugar swirl and sneak in the gooey, brown sugar filling and drizzle the creamy frosting on top and then give it all away.  Woe is me : (

I used this recipe, and was very curious about the addition of vanilla pudding mix.  You should make it, and tell me what you think.  It's research, for me, so you should probably do it.  (I'm trying to help you out here.)  By the way, if you're a teacher, I appreciate you like crazy!  I wish I could send you all cakes without teeny, tiny slices missing.    

*Update: I snuck into the preschool kitchen and snagged a bite of the leftovers.  Yup, crazy delicious.  I was even told that one teacher had a dream about it last night.  What I like to hear.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Ta da!  A new site!  With the same old dork behind it who says things like, "ta da!" 

It's a work in progress, so bear with me, but I am LOVING the change.  It feels crisp, it feels clean, it feels like me.  (Not that I'm crisp OR clean, in fact, when did I shower last?)  I have to thank Ana at BlogMilk for the template and Alice for designing my wonderful logo.  They were both A JOY to work with and put up with my paranoia along the way (changes freak me out).  I HIGHLY recommend them both if you're doing any web redesign.  

So, what do you think?  Do you like?  Any suggestions as I keep toying with it? 

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