Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

   I have a "If I cant be thin then Ill make my friends fat" Mentality. On that note... I made an awesome batch of cookies yesterday and have to share the recipe with you! They are Nutella Oatmeal Cookies... I looked on pinterest and couldnt find ones I liked so I made up my own
  Here ya go....

Nutella Oatmeal cookies

 

3/4 Cup margarine

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup Nutella

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup Oatmeal

1 tsp baking soda

 

Cream together the marg, and sugars. Add egg, mix and scrape down the sides of your bowl, Add Nutella and mix until well combined. Add flour, oatmeal and baking soda until well combines, . scrape down the sides as needed

 Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes...

 

Try not to eat them all...

  Oh a word of warning... these will spread out... they are a flat chewy awesome cookie.

Cajun Mac and Cheese

MMMMMM... I love food! I am spoiled and get the Food Network Magazine at my house. I love it!! Every month I get tons of new recipes! Its Awesome! Here is one I tried last week and LOVED!!! Its from the March 2012 issue (pg 90)

Cajun Mac and Cheese

12 Ounces Wagon wheel Pasta (I used bowtie)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

6 ounces Andouille sausage, diced (I used some sausage I found in my freezer)

2 bunches scallion, thinly sliced

1 Bell Pepper,, chopped ( I used red for some color)

1 Tbsp Cajun spice blend

2 Tbsp Flour

2 cups whole milk (I used 2%)

8 ounces Chedder cheese cubed (I grated mine)

1) Cook pasta for one minutes shorter then normal. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid

2)while pasta cooks; heat oil in pan and add sausage, stirring until sausage starts to brown. Stir in scallions and pepper and cook until slightly soft. Add Spice blend and flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, Gradually whisk in the milkd and continue whisking until thickened and smooth... about 5 minutes.

3) Add this sauce to the pasta. Add cheese and reserved pasta water and stir until cheese is melted and pasta is coated.

YUMMMY!!!!



Missing Mesa Monday???

ok.. Im sure I already posted the recipe I did on Monday... I distinctly remember writing about how I love recipes with only 3 ingredients... but I cant find it now... so sorry if it somehow got lost in cyber space!
  This past monday was my last Mesa Monday... I have now tried all the recipes I am willing to try. There are a few more that If I went to the restuarant Im sure Id love to try but they require way more effort then I am willing to put in at dinner time...
  So here is the one I did... It was super yummy bytheway!

Chipotle Honey Glazed Rib Eye Steaks

1/2 cup honey

1 Tbsp Chipotle Chili Puree

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp canola oil

dash or garlic

Mix all those together and then pour over 4 rib eye steaks. Allow to marinade for a few hours or over night. Then gril them up to perfection! Super Yummy!

Tomorrow is Mesa Monday!

Ok... so I spent last week up at my parents house in Edmonton. We did do a Mesa Recipe, but it wasnt on monday and Im not typing it out... it was insane! when I say we...I mean mom... bytheway... We did Shrimp and roasted garlic corn Tamales... They were super yummy... but they took like 3 hours to prepare... so I have kept the recipe and may make them... once a year... but there is no way Im taking the time to type out that one for you... it was intense... so if you really want to try them and you have 3 hours to prepare dinner then get the book and turn to page 98.... there ya go!
  Tomorrow I am going to stick with Mesa Monday... I have a few more recipes to try... This time its.....

Red Chili-Honey glazed Shrimip

(bobby flay uses salmon....but I dont have any in the house and I have shrimp... so voila!)

1/3 cup Honey

1 Tbsp Ancho chili powder

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

 (nothing beats a 3 ingredient recipe!)

So since Im using Shrimp Ive had to tweak the method a bit... here is my plan

1)Whisk everything together.

2) Pour over shrimp and allow to marinade 4 hours

3)Grill

DONE AND DONE!

Hmmmm.... what can a tell you about Edmonton... it was fun! My boys always love seeing mama and papa... I love having them baby sit for us! YAY date nights. Tim and I went out and say Captain America... Yep i was just that desperate to see a movie... I really want to see Harry potter 7... Tim say it without me and that makes me sad....after the movie we went to Montanas for dinner... it was awesome! I had this massive burger with Onion strings and deep friend Jalapanos adn Tim got this dinky wrap... I laughed so hard because when the waiter brought it out he totally thought tim had the burger and I had the wrap! BAHAHAHAHAHA

   Owen is starting to talk more... He currenlty can say; Dad, Bro (jaxon), Cracker, Cookie, No, Papa, Pop, Cheese and Holla... oh and his newest two work phrase Im sad... when he is crying and throwing a fit if you are ignoring him he will start whining... Im SAD IM Sad over and over until you acknowledge him. Its cute! Also... no I did not forgot to put Mom on the list... he wont say it... loser

   Jaxon is pretty sick of summer holidays and is ready to head back to school... I told him we still have another month. He  was sad... but I think he will perck back up now that his BFF Krysten is back in town. he sure has missed her.



More Mesa Monday

Ok... so I know its really a few days past monday and I havent posted how monday went. Life has been a little insane the last few days. Tim got home late-ish on Monday... in time to put the kids to bed. Then tuesday Tim had to work a 14 hour day (boo) and didnt get home until 10pm and then Wed we had an ice cream date night (thx Ashley for watching the boys) and I had a YW Pres. Meeting... and top it all off... I am supposed to be writing my talk for sunday... Keywords;Supposed to be. if only I could find the time! HAHAHAHA I better work on it soon though... Sunday is right around the corner.
So.. Mesa Monday.. last monday was the grilled prawns with Habanero-Toasted Garlic Vinaigrette. It was ok. I enjoyed it... but I wasnt blown away like I was with the other recipes Ive tried. So I probably wont make that one again... So onto This coming up monday....
Grilled Shrimp Brushed with Smoked chili Butter
1 1/2 lbs large Shrimp, shelled and deveined.
1 Tbsp Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
juice of 1 lime
1) Heat oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
2) Put butter in a food processor and add shallot mixture, chipotle chiles and lime juice. process until smooth. Scrape chipotle butter into a bowl
3) Brush shrimp with oil and put onto the grill. grill shrimp brushing with chipotle butter every 30 seconds. (should take about 1-2 minutes per side)
Sounds good to me!
While tim was away on his "Dudes reunion" I had the boys all to myself. it was exhausting and we had some pretty long days... but we all survived and even had a little fun! One day we went to get slurpees... yes it was a rainy day but we went anyways. This was Owens first Very own Slurpee... he wouldnt let go of the cup!

this is his "Touch it and Die" look

Also while tim was gone We went to Jaxons buddy Elizabeth's bday party. That was an adventure. They had a bouncy castle with an Elephant on it... While owen is terrified of cartoon elephants (yeah I know totally weird) So he was in hysterics the entire time we were outside. it was not awesome at all. Then we went in for cupcakes and to make a craft. The kids made masks. Ashley had Princess ones for the girls and pirate ones for the boys. But Jaxon insisted on doing a princess one.. I was a little worried about my boy until he said "if I make a princess one I can bring a girl home with me" now Im worried but for a whole other reason!

Another Great one

Mesa Monday yesterday was another real good one. I think i still like the Yucatan chicken better. But those two I had last night were awesome too! Plus i made use of my Mandoline which is always fun! Oh I will say... when I made the Potatoe Gratin... there was no cheese... so I added a layer of grated cheese on the top of it... I know I know... Im sorry Bobby Flay... but it needed CHEESE!
So whats on the Mesa Menu for next monday...

grilled Prawns with Habanero-Toasted garlic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup, plus 3 Tbsp canola oil
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 habanero chile, chopped
2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 pounds large prawns

1) heat 1 tbsp oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. add garlic, season with salt and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes)
2)Transfer garlic to a blender and add vinegar, habanero, honey and thyme. Blend until smooth. With blender running slowly add the 1/2 cup of oil and blend until emulsified. (hmmmm I wonder if I should use my blender or my food processor....)
3) Preheat grill to high. Toss prawns in remaining 2 Tbsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 minutes on each side.
4) Transfer to a platter and immediately drizzle with the vinaigrette.


So these pics may be repeats... I can remember if I added them here or on facebook or both... But I love them!

Jaxon at the zoo!

Jaxon making paper towel butterflies. When we made them he insisted on making to take over to his friend Krysten. He Adores her and reminds me every day that she is his best friend!

Owen enjoying a popsicle. My Kids LOVE LOVE LOVE popsicles and freezies. Owen (the non talker) actually busted out Purple when I gave him this popsicle... has he said it again... of course not

Summer Success

Yesterday was our first Mesa Monday. It was awesome! I think I am really going to love Mesa Mondays! I started by making the BBQ sauce... it was amazing... then I marinaded the chicken and man... that combination of Chicken and BBQ sauce was AMAZING!!! i even used the left over bbq sauce for dinner tonight! It was wonderful! So Next monday I am making Ancho Maple glazed roast turkey and Potato, sweet Onion and sage Gratin.
Here are the recipes
Ancho Maple Glazed Turkey
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp ancho chili powder
1 (18 lb turkey) Ok... Im not cooking a turkey... so I will lower the recipe quantities and do it on chicken breasts!
20 Sage leaves
8 Tbsp butter, melted
1) Whisk together the maple syrup, mustard and ancho powder.
2) loosen skin on the turkey... or chicken... and place sage leaves under the skin. Rub entire surface with melted butter... I may not do that... hmmmm...
3) They do a bunch of different stuff here since they cook an entire turkey... but Ill place chicken and glaze in a baking dish and back at 350 degrees... basting every 5 minutes until cooked through.
Yes I know Im altering this one alot... it makes me nervous.. wish me luck!

Potato, Sweet Onion and sage gratin

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 large sweet onions
3 tbsp finely chopped sage
4 large idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cups heavy cream (I always cheat and use whole milk)

1) Preheat over to 375 and butter a 9 inch baking dish
2)heat oil and butter in a large saute pan. Add onions and cook until soft and caramelized. Stir in sage
3)Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom of baking dish. Top with 1/7 of the onions and 3 tbsp of cream. Repeat for 7 or 8 layers. Press on top to submerge potatoes in teh cream. Place dish on baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil.
4) Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes.

YUMMY

Another Summer time success... the splash park in Okotoks! LOVE IT!!! We went last wed with some friends and have now decided to make it our Wed ritual. Jaxon LOVES it... owen not so much... but he will get used to it. I was actually quite shocked how much Jaxon enjoyed it. Normally he doesnt like splashy water. but he was all for this!

owen sat on my lap the entire time... wearing my shades no less. I was hoping that tomorrow would be a better time for Owen... but today he burnt his soles of his feet on our deck box... so he cant walk on them.. so I think it will be another snuggle with mommy day.

jaxon was running every where. He LOVES this picture of his running... "Im super fast mom"

Yeppers... we Love summer!

Introducing....

MESA MONDAYS!!!!
   Ok... so here is the back story to my latest and greatest project that I am super excited about! In April I went on a girls trip with mom and Rachel to Las Vegas. LOVE LOVE LOVE VEGAS! It was a blast! We did so much fun stuff and since you know me and my love for food (which is shared by my whole family) you can only image how much I stuffed my face... I gained 5 lbs in a week... yeppers it was awesome. One place that we didnt get to go eat, which we really wanted too, was Mesa in Cesears Palace. For those of you who dont know, Mesa is one of Bobby Flay's restuarants. So needless to say I was a little bummed that I didnt make it to Mesa.
   BUT.... I was on the library website searching for books and I found this awesome cook book called "Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook" I was super stoked to read it! as I flipped through the recipes there was TONS that I wanted to try and so I invented Mesa Mondays. I am going to try a new recipe from the Mesa Grill cook book every monday... maybe Ill get a taste of what the restuarant would have been like!
  By the way I think this is a much better idea then how my mom spends her Mondays... Meatless Mondays... Bleck!
   So then I thought Maybe someone out there wants to play along with me... So Ill post the recipes Im going to try before the monday I try them... then if you want to try them too you can! FUN FUN!
   To start off I needed a recipe that I had all the ingredients for since I had spent out June grocery budget!

Yucatan Chicken with Peanut-Red Chili BBQ sauce

*in the book they make these as chicken skewers...but Im way to lazy to do that... so Im leaving it has breasts

1/2 cup fresh Orange Juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp Ancho chili powder

3 cloves garlic, coursely chopped

4 Chicken breasts

1)In a large shallow baking dish, whisk together everything but chicken.

2)Add chicken to marinade. Allow to marinade for at least 1 hour, or upto 4 hours.

3)Preheat the grill to high

4)Remove chicken from marinade and grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

5) Serve with Peanut red Chili BBQ sauce

Peanut Red Chili BBQ Sauce

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (they use their special BBQ sauce... again too lazy to make it up and then add to this sauce)

2 Cups chicken stock

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1)heat oil in a medium sauce pan over med. heat. Add the ginger and cook until soft, 1-2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the BBQ sauce and stock and cook stirring occasionally until reduced by half.

2) Whisk in say sauce and peanut butter and cook over med heat until thickened, 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

*this can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.

THANKS SO MUCH BOBBY FLAY! Im not looking forward to mondays!

Who out there wants to play with me?

Welcome Summer

I live for Summer. Yes I know I live in Calgary and I know that I will only get summer weather like 3 weeks of the whole year... ok thats an exageration but its close. but i live for the sun and warmth. All my friends know... Amanda HATES winter and cold and rain and wind... I like to lay in the sun and burn and sweat and yeah.... SUMMER.
   Today it was summer! After days and days of rain the sun came out and spread some love! YAY! To celebrate we had an awesome friend get us into Lake Chaparral. Its a glorious thing! but the down side is it makes me miss all my chaparral friends like mad... how I wish I lived in chaparral! Anyways... Thanks Brooke for the super fun morning! My kids and I both had a blast! I wish every day was and beautiful as today. It just makes me happy!
  Another fun warm weather activity that my boys love is water guns. these Pics were taken a few weeks ago... but hey... why not share them right..

owen shoots all gangsta style with his gun all tilted to the side... cracks me up!

Jaxon likes squirting me... I try to convince him that getting the grass, or car, or fence is way more fun the getting mommy... but so far he doesnt believe me

Owen loves his slide.

Oh and an added treat! I have an ice cream maker... LOVE IT! I was lacking the ingredients to make ice cream... but I was craving some soooooo bad... so I looked around and I thought... sorbet would work and I have everything I need for that!

 So I made Peach Starberry Sorbet... yep it is even better then it sounds... and its crazy simple

here is the recipe

Peach Strawberry Sorbet

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups peaches

2 cups strawberries

make a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar in a pot until the sugar is completely dissovled. then add the cut up fruit. (I used frozen... fresh would be fine too) Allow the fruit to simmer in the syrup for a fwe minutes until the are really realy soft and mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend mixture until smooth... I used my blender... but an immersion blender would work too. Then refridgerate for 3 hours... or over night. then just pour into the ice cream maker and press start... Mine took only 10 minutes! YUMMY!!!!!