Pasta Night!

This week will be my first full week in school, so I decided to pick a few weeks worth of recipes that would be easy to make and wouldn't require a lot of ingredients.  I am also on a mission to help the family grocery bill and learn for future reference when I am on my own, to save as much money as possible through couponing and deal searching.  It is still being perfected but when I have mastered it I will definitely share.  This week we shaved off about 1/3 of our weekly grocery amount for two weeks worth of meals with mostly add comparison and store card advantages and some coupons. It is a process, but I think its worth it in the end!
 

 My family LOVES pasta, bread, etc., so this week I chose a few Italian pasta recipes.  The first recipe I made was Homemade Tomato Basil spaghetti that I found at the Phoenix Farmers Market. (Ironically it was also National Farmers Market Week! I hope you have a chance now and then to get out and support your local growers and vendors. Fresh/handmade is best!!) The lady that sold it to me, gave me multiple recipes that I could use to make the spaghetti, but I chose to just boil the spaghetti and top it with some brown butter and parmesan for the sake of time, and try those recipes later.  It was delicious!!  I am someday hoping to get the spaghetti attachment for my "can't live without" Kitchen Aid Mixer so that I, too, can make homemade spaghetti! Here is the end result for the spaghetti.

 

Another item I found at the Phoenix Farmers Market was this homemade garlic bread. It was from the Jewish bakery.  It was a perfect side dish for our pasta!

 

The next recipe I made was a Baked Ziti.  It was made like a lasagna with multiple different layers.  It is very easy to make and takes very little time.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com under their list of budget cooking.  Of course it is perfect for my week of budget recipes!  Leftovers are also perfect for lunches the next day.  Here is the link to the Baked Ziti: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-I/Detail.aspx?evt19=1.

 

 Here is the final product!  I dished it out and topped it with shredded cheese.

The next recipe would definitely be my brother's favorite! Chili Mac.  I would say that it is probably not as good as Steak and Shake's (one of our Midwest favorite restaurants) chili mac but it is a close second!  The reason my brother loves this recipe is because it has no beans. Of course if your family prefers beans, you can add them in.  Here is the recipe for the Chili Mac: http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2014/05/12/chili-mac/.

The last recipe for this week is for Hand pies!  My mom had heard about a local place that made hand pies and wanted to try them.  The place is called AZ Food Crafters located in Chandler and it has a variety of different sweet and savory hand pies and they are delicious!  We bought an assortment of the sweet hand pies to try.  Here is the link the AZ Food Crafters website: http://www.bakedhandpies.com/about.html.

After tasting the hand pies we bought I decided to try making my own.  I made Caramel-Pecan hand pies.  The recipe I found was on thecafesucrefarine.com.  The recipe made quite a few too many pies for my family, so make your own judgment on how many to make for your family.  They are very good and I would definitely recommended them if you aren't lucky enough to have a local bakery like we have!  Here is the recipe for the hand pies: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2011/10/caramel-pecan-hand-pies/.

 

Here is the final product!  My family compared them also, to store bought hand pies and agreed that mine were the best.  They were definitely more healthier!

 

 

That is it for this week!  I hope you enjoyed my recipes and plan on trying some of them yourself. Next week I will be posting some more budget friendly recipes and farmers market finds!  Thanks for reading and check out my blog next week!

 

Don't forget to check out my Etsy and look for new items!  I will be posting some new headbands hopefully in the next few weeks!  Here is the link to my Etsy business: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations.  This dog tutu is perfect for the upcoming holidays including Halloween!  Check it out!

 

Home Sweet Home

I'm back!  You may have read last weeks blog post where I mentioned that I would be going on vacation and that this post may be a little late.  I took a trip with my family back to my hometown in Illinois last week where I visited my friends and family! It was a long flight but it was well worth it! 

 

 

If you don't already know Illinois is 90% farmland, which means a large portion of the people that live there are farmers! I look up to my grandpa, who loves to garden, and wish that my corn in my garden would be as good as his!  My grandpa shares a garden in his sister's backyard full of lots of fresh fruits and veggies.  While I was there I made sure to visit the garden multiple times.  The picture on the left is from the corn at the garden and the picture on the right is from great grandpas farm where my dad's cousin now lives with his family.

 

Another one of my grandpa's delicious vegetables are his tomatoes.  He always has so many tomatoes that he puts some out on the side of the road to share with others for free!  The best way to eat them are to slice them and add a little bit of salt.  Of course they also taste good on sandwiches, too!

 

He also grows acorn squash out at his garden! I have never really experimented with squash, but I am sure you can create lots of healthy and delicious recipes with them! My dad likes it with garlic salt and butter and grandpa likes it with butter and brown sugar.  Fresh cucumbers are my sister's favorite of grandpa's veggies.  My dad and I love when my grandma creates her special cucumbers!  For her special cucumbers she adds mayonnaise, sour cream, dill seasoning, and garlic salt.  They are delicious!

 

Here is my grandpa's fabulous sweet corn! He was not sure if he would have some when we came but he was able to put together a pile full of fresh corn!

 

 

While we were in Illinois we also decided to visit a few of our favorite restaurants and Lou's Drive-In was on the top of our list.  My mom used to go to Lou's when she was a kid so it is very special to us.  They are well known for their onion rings and hotdogs, so of course that is what we got: onion rings and hotdogs. I can't wait to go back again!

 

 

 

Since I did not get a lot of time to cook with my grandma, which we had hoped to do, I made it my goal to try and cook some of her recipes.  So as soon as I got home I cooked her noodle recipe, also known as "Nonni Noodles".  It is thin spaghetti boiled in chicken broth.  It was good, but not as good as hers!  

Another recipe I cooked of hers was her peach pie. She cooked it twice for us while we were there, but the first time I did not get a piece so she cooked it for me again and I made sure to get a piece.  This recipe called for 5 yellow peaches but I accidentally bought white peaches!  Lucky mistake though because it tasted just as good as the yellow peaches! My grandma's recipe for her peach pie is:

 

Ingredients: 1 cup of Sugar

1 cup of Water

3 T. Cornstarch

Baked Pie Shell 

1 package of Peach Jell-O

5 sliced (white or yellow) Peaches

1 package of Cool Whip or Whipped Cream

Directions: Cook water, sugar, and cornstarch till thick, stirring well.  Remove from heat and add Jell-O.  Cool.  Pour over sliced peaches.  Mix well and place into baked pie shell.  Refrigerate. Top with cream.

 

 Finally, the last recipe I will share this week is a National Day recipe.  August 6 was National Root Beer Float Day...how could we not celebrate?  We bought regular vanilla bean ice cream and Jones Soda Root beer and BABAM! A root beer Float. My family really enjoyed them!

 

 

That is it for this week!  I really enjoyed going back to Illinois to visit so many people, but eventually I had to come home!  I especially enjoyed the time I got to spend with my grandparents.  I always love to cook with my grandma and love seeing everything my grandpa has grown in his garden.  Hopefully, next time they will come visit me and we can cook up something else! ;) But now that I am home, I am back in school so I am hoping to feature some of my back to school recipes in the upcoming weeks!  So come back next week to see what is cooking! See you later!

 

Don't forget to check out my Etsy business for headbands and puppy tutus!  Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations.  Also my Little Izzy is entered in a local contest called the "Dog Days of Summer".  I would love if you would vote for her in the Best Dressed Category.  Feel free to vote as many times as you want! ;) Here is the link to the contest: http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/dog-days-of-summer-2014/voting/176.

 

Crockpot and Cookie Butter

Hello everyone!  It is getting SO hot here in Arizona.  It is hot enough to bake cookies on the dashboard of the car.  We are going to try it this week and if it is a success I will post it on my blog next week!  Izzy is tired of this heat and would rather be outside playing.  It will be almost 115*! 

 

 

Because it so hot, crockpot recipes are the way to go!  It is very simple, especially when you know you have a busy day, to throw something in the crockpot!  I chose three crockpot recipes this week that are simple and healthy.  The first recipe I made was a slow cooker chicken tortilla soup.  My family loves my recipe for tortilla soup without the chicken, so I decided to try a different recipe with the chicken.  All you have to do for this recipe is throw ingredients in the pot.  It says in the directions that you should take the chicken out prior to serving to shred it and that is up to you whether you do it or not.  I chose not to shred the chicken and my family loved it!  Here is the recipe for the chicken tortilla soup: http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/.

 

The next slow cooker/crockpot recipe was crockpot pizza casserole.  DO NOT forget to spray the crockpot before cooking.  Trust me it is not fun to clean out.  I know from experience...  After spraying all you do is throw in your ingredients and let cook for 5-6 hours.  My brother thought it was the best thing ever.  After all he loves everything pizza!  Here is the recipe for the pizza casserole: http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/2012/12/pinterest-pin-of-the-day-crockpot-pizza-casserole/.

 

 

My last crockpot recipe was for easy crockpot pulled pork.  For this recipe you need to have one 4-6 pound pork shoulder.  It was very tricky to find, however I ended up finding two 2 pound pork shoulders at Wal-Mart.  If you choose to try this recipe know that you will have to wake up early to get it started.  It has to cook in the crockpot for at least ten hours.  I was up cooking at 7:30 am to have it done at 6:00pm.  It was definitely worth it though.  You can eat it as it is or you can put it in a sandwich.  My family chose to eat it in a sandwich, and although it is not the prettiest presentation...it was delicious!!  I placed it in two pieces of bread with a little bit of smoked cheese and ketchup!  Here is the recipe for the pulled pork: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/easy-crockpot-pulled-pork-recipe/. 

 

 

Last week I mentioned that I would be making some recipes with a special ingredient called Cookie Butter.  For those of you who don't know what it is, Cookie Butter is a creamy spread kind of like peanut butter bought at Trader Joes.  My family says it has a taste somewhat like graham crackers!  Here is an article that tells a little bit about it: http://www.neontommy.com/news/2013/10/cookie-butter-spreads-across-so-cal.

 

The first recipe we made with the cookie butter was a milkshake.  It was very good but there was a lot of oats that sat at the bottom of the jar.  It is very healthy and delicious, but too many oats for me!  I will definitely reduce the amount of oats I use the next time I make it!  Here is the recipe for the milkshake: http://hello-homebody.com/2014/01/21/speculoos-cookie-butter-smoothie-recipe/.

The next recipe made with cookie butter was another milkshake but without oats this time.  This one was much creamier but just as delicious.  Here is the recipe for the second cookie butter milkshake: http://www.thedomesticgeekblog.com/2013/04/cookie-butter-milkshake.html.

 

 

Another cookie butter recipe was cookies.  These cookies are very delicious and easy to make!  However, you want to prepare ahead of time because they are in the fridge for about three hours before you can bake them.  The recipe also is very thick and only makes about thirteen cookies.  It is perfect for an afternoon snack, but beware they may be gone before the next day... Here is the recipe for the cookie butter cookies: http://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/softbatch-cookie-butter-brown-sugar-cookies.html.

 

 

The last cookie butter recipe was for cookie butter bars!  These delightful treats are perfect for breakfast or an after school snack!  This recipe was super easy to make.  When making this recipe, don't forget to let them cool all the way before frosting because you will want the frosting to be thick rather than thin.  I believe that the frosting was the best part!  Here is the recipe for the cookie butter bars: http://buttermeupbrooklyn.com/2012/09/frosted-speculoos-cookie-butter-bars/.

 

 

That is it for this week!  I will be on vacation until August 4th.  So my post will be sometime that week.  I hope you enjoy the recipes and can try them out!  Don't forget to check out my Etsy business: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations.  I have a variety of different handmade headbands up including this one-a converse tennis shoe print!  Have a great week!!

 

 

 

Finger Foods

This week I am starting off with finger foods! My family loves finger foods because they are easy to pick and grab on busy nights.  All of the meals this week are inspired by recipes I found online but tweaked to make them my own.  The first recipe is for nachos.  My family loves to visit the Rainforest Café for their famous Lava Nachos, so I decided to make my own to see if I could even come close to making a recipe like theirs.  I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website.  In her recipes she uses pinto beans however I used black beans because it is more preferable by my family.  Here is the recipe for the nachos: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/05/loaded-nachos/.  This is the final product.  My family said they almost beat the Rainforest Café recipe.  I'd say that one is a hit!

 

I also found a queso recipe from foodsweet.com.  I had never made a queso recipe so it was something new to try.  It was super easy and I am definitely making it again.  Here is the recipe for the queso: http://foodsweet.com/the-best-queso-cheese-sauce/.  The Pico de Gallo  is attached to the pioneer woman's recipe.  For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a mild salsa.  It is best made with fresh garden vegetables. 

 

 

Another one of my family's favorite finger food recipes is veggie and fruit pizza.  We have had this recipe so long that it can not be tracked back to the original, but all I know is that it is the first recipe my mom ever cooked for my dad.  The veggie pizza is a crescent roll crust with a ranch filling, made with an 8 ounces cream cheese, half a cup of sour cream, and one dry packet of ranch dressing.  It is than topped with an assortment of vegetables and cheese.  Some of our favorite toppings include broccoli, cauliflower,   onions, tomatoes, and carrots.

 

 

Along with veggie pizza my family loves fruit pizza.  This recipe can be made with homemade or store bought sugar cookies. (I prefer store bought because it is just as good and simpler to make.) We then use a homemade or store bought cream cheese frosting.  Then it is topped with an assortment of fruit.  We prefer blueberries, oranges, strawberries, and pineapple. Last but not least, a drizzle of white chocolate! 

 

 

Another fun way to add a creative twist to your meals is to have breakfast for dinner.  It is a big hit in my family.  Tonight we created potato pancakes, fruit crepes, and a spinach and feta crepe.  You may remember our trip to The French Crepe a few weeks ago in Caliornia.  My family enjoyed their crepes so much I decided to create my own. My first crepe was a fruit crepe.  For the crepe I used a recipe from Martha Stewart.  It was tricky at first but with my mom's help I was able to figure it out.  Here is the recipe for the crepe: http://www.marthastewart.com/335089/simple-crepes. For the filling I actually used a recipe from another crepe.  It was SO good. I also opted for cherry pie filling on top instead of strawberries, but you could use any you like!  Here is the recipe for the filling: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/strawberry-creme-crepes.

 

 

Did I mention I also had help from Izzy? :)

The next crepe was a more savory recipe.  It is a spinach and feta crepe.  My mom had something similar at one of our local restaurants and recreated it at home. You can either make it with whole eggs or egg whites - basically create an omelet by scrambling eggs with a bit of milk and salt and pepper to taste.  Add sautéed onions and spinach, and finally some feta cheese.  Fold over and tuck in a folded crepe.  They actually serve it at the restaurant with a side of poppy seed dressing and mom says it tastes very good!

My last entrée for the breakfast for dinner meal is a potato pancake.  Let me tell you these are not as easy as they make them sound.  I made a mashed potato recipe so of course first I had to make the mashed potatoes.  The recipe I used was another of the Pioneer Woman's.  Here is the link: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes/.  I then had to make the actual potato pancakes.  I only ended up making a few because they are kind of tough.  In order to keep them stuck together I had to add a few more eggs to the recipe and about a bit of butter to the pan before cooking each pancake.  Although they are tough they are very delicious!! Here is the link to the potato pancake recipe: http://fooddoodles.com/2011/03/24/mashed-potato-pancakes/.

I also made a fruit salad with some of our fresh fruits.  I used a few melons I had found that farmers market last weekend.  They were very unique and very good. 

 

For all my Trader Joe's fans, don't forget to check out next week's post for a variety of Cookie Butter recipes! Here is a sneak peek at the Cookie Butter Milkshake! YUM.

 

 

That's it for this week! Have a good week! Don't forget to check out my Etsy business for more perfectly posh clothing for you and your pet!  Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations.

 

 

 

 

Fourth of July Weekend

It was a wonderful fourth of July weekend and our week was very busy preparing for the holiday.  We had planned on visiting friends in the afternoon for a homemade meal and fireworks but before we headed out I prepared an all American lunch for the family. 

 

The cupcakes on the left were created for the cookout as we had promised to bring dessert.  The recipe and more images are below.  I love chalkboards and for the Fourth I decided to find a quote and write it on a little chalkboard from Michaels.  I found the design and quote on Pinterest.  My family loves lemonade and I decided to make a strawberry lemonade.  It was gone it seconds!  This is the recipe for the Strawberry Lemonade: http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/07/homemade-strawberry-lemonade-recipe.html.

 

Another idea I found on Pinterest was the fruit American Flag.  I used strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and skewers of course!  The lunch meal include baked beans, homemade coleslaw, and Cowboy hotdogs.  My mom is a tough coleslaw critic and she said it was very good so it must be!  The recipe for the coleslaw is: http://www.seededatthetable.com/2012/03/21/memphis-style-coleslaw/.  The hotdog recipe was already a hit in our family so I decided to bring it back for the Fourth.  Here is the recipe for the Cowboy Hotdogs: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/the-cowboy-hot-dog-50400000121902/.

 

 

The friends we were planning to visit in the afternoon on the Fourth had asked us to bring a dessert, so we decided to bring cupcakes.  I had originally seen this idea on Pinterest and honestly didn't think I could pull it off but decided to give it a shot!  I was surprised at how easy it was.  It took a lot of patience and food coloring but turned out better than I had expected.  The original recipe said it would only make about 16 cupcakes so I bought a box of cake mix and canned frosting just in case.  However I was able to get 24 cupcakes out of it!  I ended up making the box mix as well and had a total of 48 cupcakes to share with our friends and neighbors!  It was cupcake overload! Truth be told, the box cupcakes are good in a pinch but nothing beats homemade!!

 

 

 The decorating took the most patience but it was well worth it in the end!  Here is the recipe for the cupcakes: http://www.bakerella.com/snow-cones/.

 

 

We love to support our local farmers market and purchase some of the fresh veggies the local farms have to offer.  This weekend we decided to try a few new markets and this is what we purchased and what it became.

 

I used the fresh strawberries to make a homemade jam from allrecipes.com.  My family and I love to put it on toast and my frozen waffles.  Here is the recipe for the Strawberry Jam: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Jam/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=strawberry%20jam&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1.

 

My dad loves HOT peppers, so I bought some jalapeno peppers.  In order to make them less spicy we took out the seeds and stuffed them with cream cheese and cheese.  It is very simple to make and my family loves them!  Here is the recipe for the stuffed peppers: http://www.marthastewart.com/317501/stuffed-jalapenos.

 

I chose a Vegetable soup recipe to use up some of our fresh veggies. Once again it was a big hit for our family.  Here is the Martha Stewart recipe for the vegetable soup: http://www.marthastewart.com/318100/big-batch-vegetable-soup.

 

 

I love to go out to eat at some of the local restaurants to get some inspiration.  We went out to breakfast on Saturday morning to the Breakfast Club in Scottsdale.  Every thing was amazing from the spicy biscuits and gravy to the Bananas Foster Pancakes!

 

The Breakfast Grilled Cheese sandwich was also a delight.  It had every element of breakfast, like eggs, bacon, hash browns, and cheese!

 

 

My last recipe of the night is a "Quick and Easy" recipe.  Sometimes I just whip things up with thing we have at home and this week I made a chicken Alfredo.  I found the recipe for the Alfredo sauce at allrecipes.com.  Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alfredo-Sauce-2/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=alfredo%20sauce&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1.

 

That is it for this week!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend and you, too, try out some of these recipes yourself!  Check in next week to see what is cookin!

 

Also check out my Etsy business, IzzabelesCreations, for puppy tutus and handmade headbands. Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations .