Quesadilla Casserole

I tried a new recipe last night from a blog I found off of pinterest called Joyful Momma's Kitchen.  Here is the link to Quesadilla Casserole at Joyful Mama's Kitchen.  It was so delicious!! I'm not a great chef by any means, and this meal looked easy to make so I gave it a shot.  My husband commented twice on how good it was!  You should definitely give it a shot!  Here are some of my pictures from last night:

Before the second layer of cheese.. It's semi-healthy with all those veggies right? :)

And there goes the healthiness right out the window with the 2 cups of cheese!

Delicious and easy for a weeknight dinner!

St. Patrick's Day Decor

This weekend Brian and I returned to my hometown for a friend's wedding.  I was in the wedding and didn't get a chance to take any pictures at all, sadly. The bride looked beautiful and everything came together in the end.  I felt honored to be a part of her special day. 

We drove back home on Sunday afternoon, and I decided when we got back that it was time to take down all my Valentine's Day decor and put up St. Patrick's Day. I love to decorate for holidays!  But, I should have thought about a) the lack of sleep I got this weekend from wedding activities and b) how long it would take to put Valentine's away and St. Patrick's Day all up.  Here are some pictures of the after:

In addition to taking all my decorations down, I also decided to bake some banana bread as I had some bananas that were quickly going bad.  It was a busy night for me!

I used a recipe from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook that my mom got me for my wedding, but I was disappointed in the lack of moisture in the banana bread.  Maybe that is typical of banana bread in general.  I guess I will have to try another recipe to find out!

Andolini's Pizza & Blueberry Muffins

Last night Brian and I met our good friend Todd at Andolini's Pizza last night for a short study break.  He is in his second semester of medical school at OSU.  It was my first time there and the pizza did not disappoint! We did have a good long wait, but it was worth it.

We ordered the smoked mozzarella (their specialty) and pepperoni on half and the supreme on the other.  That pizza was huge!

We got home at a decent hour, and I decided to make my husband his favorite blueberry muffins that he has been pestering me to make.  They are from Cooking Light so only about 150 calories each if you don't add the extra lemon-powered sugar glaze.  Here is the recipe:

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind ( I used lemon juice)
1 cup blueberries
Cooking spray 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine buttermilk, egg, and rind; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries.
4. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack to cool.
5. Combine lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze evenly over cooled muffins.



I didn't glaze my muffins as my husband doesn't want any extra sugar on them, but they are still good! I highly recommend this recipe!

French Silk Pie for Valentines

For Valentine's Day this year, my sister and I decided to cook a meal for our men instead of fighting the crowds at a restaurant.  Well this turned into me cooking the meal since my sister was running late, so it was nothing too special.  I just made spaghetti, ceasar salad and garlic bread served with sparkling cider.  But the dessert was heavenly!  I borrowed this recipe from one of my mom's friends and it is oh so good!!  I forgot to double the chocolate part so it didn't come out quite as well as when she makes it, but it was still delicious!  Here is the recipe:

French Silk Pie

**Triple pie recipe for 9" or 10" springform, graham cracker crust or pecan crust is used for springform. Topping does not need to be tripled.**

-1 stick butter softened- not melted
-3/4 cup of sugar
-1 1/2 oz. square unsweetened chocolate-melted
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 chilled eggs

Topping:
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
Chocolate sprinkles, mini toll house morsels, chocolate shavings or dusting of unsweetened cocoa for decoration 

Use electric mixer, cream butter and sugar, add chocolate and vanilla.  Continue to mix on high beating in eggs one at a time, beating for 10-15 seconds after each egg.  Mixture will thicken to a nice consistency.  Spoon into baked pie shell. 

Mix whipping cream in clean deep bowl on high, slowly add 1/2 cup sugar as it mixes.   Mix until firm.  Spread on top of pie.  Decorate with preferred topping.

Pecan Crust lining for spring form pan:

1c. flour
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1c. finely chopped pecans

Press into bottom and up sides of springform.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Cool before filling with pie mixture.


My hubby also surprised me with flowers, a trip to the hair salon to get highlights (yay!), a Brighton charm for  my necklace, and a tanning package.  He is the best!  It was a wonderful Valentines this year!

Our Love Story

Since it's Valentine's Day, I've decided to share our love story!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Brian and I have been together since the summer of 2007 so for 4 1/2 years now.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Brian was introduced to me by my older sister Kate.  She was already at college and picked him out as someone I would be attracted to.  She was absolutely right!  I dated some other guys my freshman year, because Brian was a senior and not sure if he was staying in the area. We officially started dating six months later when Brian decided to stick around town.  The rest is history. 

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We have been married since March 20th, 2010.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We were married at my church back home that my grandfather started.  It's always been a dream of mine to have my Papa perform the ceremony so it was very special.  We had a medium size wedding with lots of family and friends.  It was a special day and even snowed in Texas as we were leaving the reception.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

HB

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

I love that he is a hard worker, a spiritual leader in our family, and very determined in everything he does.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

Brian and I had been dating for about 2 1/2 years and knew we were going to get married so I was kind of pushing him about when we would get engaged.  Needless to say, I didn't realize that he was waiting to propose because he was having my ring specially made for me.  To ease my questions, Brian told me that we would get engaged before school got out in early May.  Well that just made me very suspicious of every date we went on from there on.  Brian tricked me into thinking that he had a large deal come through and I asked if we could go out to celebrate like we normally do when he closes a deal at work.  He agreed and we went out to our favorite restaurant at the time, Outback Steakhouse.  Even though it was my idea to go out to eat, I was still looking at his pockets to see if there was a ring box that evening.  After dinner Brian told me that he was going to hang out with his friend Todd much to my dismay.  He told me that he only had about 30 more minutes then he would need to take me back to the dorms.  Since we had a limited time I suggested we go to our spot (a cute gazebo in a local neighborhood).  Once there we sat and talked about the future and living in a cute neighborhood like that one some day.  Then he told me he loved me and I said I loved him too.  He asked me to prove it to him by wearing this ring for the rest of my life.  I was so excited that my chest broke out in red spots!  My sister appeared from around the corner to take pictures of us and then we went to a surprise party where all our friends were waiting.  It was an unforgettable day!

 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Definitely a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy except normally I get bunnies instead of bears.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Pop in a movie and relax on the couch together.  I'm not a huge fan of the beach.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

We would both love to go back to Costa Rica where we honeymooned someday.  It was gorgeous and we had so much fun ziplining, riding horses, swimming, and relaxing.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

My sister and I are cooking an Italian dinner for our men complete with homemade French Silk Pie for dessert. 

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

A tanning package so I don't feel so pasty!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication is key to keeping any relationship strong!  And it is especially crucial for newlyweds.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

My two loves, Brian and Bear! Happy Valentine's Day!

Goodbye to Good Friends

Last night we were thrilled to be invited to the VIP night for the new Chuy's in town.  Our friend Jordan worked for a PR company that does Chuy's PR and he got us tickets.  It was so yummy!  We ate way too much and had a great night.  The sad part is that our friends Jordan and Kristen are moving to Austin this month for his new job.  We have really enjoyed getting to know them and becoming better friends with them through our young married couples home group at church.  There is peace knowing that God has good things in store for them in Austin, but losing friends to a different city is never easy.  We will get to go visit them soon though!

New Year, New Beginnings

I officially started this blog about a year ago, but never did anything to it.  Well it's a new year, and I'm going to try to blog.  My husband always makes goals at the first of every year and is so diligent about completing them.  Me? not so much.  So this year when we were discussing our goals, I mentioned that I would like to start cooking more consistently, much to Brian's approval. In an effort to follow through on this goal, I will begin documenting my cooking and the recipes on this blog.  Stay tuned for the first recipe this week as my sister and I are cooking for our men on Valentine's day!