Our Fabulous Bites

This is one of those recipes that I make over and over again.  I often make it when we have guests over for dinner.  I love that not only is it easy and quick, you can make it in advance.  I also appreciate that it is a yummy dip that doesn't require cream cheese or mayo or sour cream, which I love those ingredients but they always come with a side of guilt. Don't be afraid of the beans!  Many non-bean fans have enjoyed the dip so give it a try. Note: depending on how strong your garlic is, how powerful your lemon juice, how fresh your parsley, the flavor of this dip can vary.  Sometimes the parsley will be so vibrant and other times the lemon juice shines...as you try this recipe you'll discover what you prefer and you can adjust by adding more or less of certain ingredients.  Or if you are like us, you'll like it every time, no matter how the flavors balance out. White Bean Dip 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans or white navy beans, drained and rinsed 1/4

Okay so since our photos were deleted, my goal is to cook those dishes again so I can get a photo of them. I made Pesto Tortellini last night, and added the photo on the post, but it won't add the photo to the "you might also like" links below each post. And that will just drive me nuts! So this means I need to re-post the recipe as well, so it will show up at the bottom. agh. So when you see a post and feel like, "haven't I seen this already?", you probably have.  What a mess! c'est la vie. If you cook something from the blog, please take a photo of it so we can post! Thanks!

Josh and I are very excited about this pizza dough recipe. We have tried many homemade pizza's and were never in love with the crust. They tasted too much like bread dough, you know, like the dough that turns into homemade bread, and that is not what I want my pizza tasting like. This however, reminded us of good thin crust pizza from some of our favorite gourmet pizza restaurants!  Pizza Dough 1 1/4 c warm water 2 envelopes (2 1/2 tsp each) active dry yeast 2 tsp red wine vinegar 3 tbsp olive oil, plus oil for greasing 4 cups flour, plus flour for dusting 2 tsp sugar 1 tbsp kosher salt (we used sea salt since that's what we had) Combine water, yeast, vinegar, and 3 tbsp olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until just blended, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of the flour and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 3 cups flour, the sugar, and salt until well blended. Ad

This is one of my favorite dessert finds on Pinterest! I love baking with Abigail, but I don't want 24 cupcakes for us. So viola, a recipe for exactly 2 cupcakes! Perfect :) They aren't the most amazing, but I think they are just right for one of those occasions where you just want to make a little something sweet with your kiddos. And there are no eggs! Cupcakes for 2 3 T flour 2 T sugar 1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder 1/8 tsp baking soda Pinch of salt 2 T cold water 1 T Safflower oil (or whatever oil you like to use) Few drops of vanilla Chocolate chips (optional) Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows) Preheat oven to 325. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. In a second small bowl, combine wet ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and stir till combined, whisking well. Divide batter between two cupcake liners. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, if using. Bake for 18 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool before frosting. Chocol

We all very much enjoyed these. Potatoes are a great filler, and we add them to quite a few things as kind of a meat substitute. Obviously not for the taste, but the heartiness. These are quick and easy, and like most tacos, we can eat plenty of them. We generally add our adobo rice to our tacos as well, which adds extra awesome flavor, and makes them even more filling. Find your favorite rice, and use it in your tacos! It helps you use less of your other ingredients, so you can have leftovers! Oh, we used red potatoes, which I think is part of the reasons ours did not come out crispy. But that didn't bother us. This is easily a vegan dish if you omit the cheese and sour cream. Crispy Potato Tacos 4 medium potatoes 1 medium onion 3 garlic cloves 1 small green pepper 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp ground cumin  1 tsp paprika 1 tbsp olive oil (sunflower) 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tomato s&p optional toppings: cheese s

Okay, these are delicious! We made these for our Sunday treat, and they are super easy and quick to make. Got a bit of a lemon meringue pie taste thing going on, without actual meringue. We also added a little E.D. Smith Rasberry Jam (aka: the best store bought jam ever- Costco) on top and that just added to the deliciousness. Next time I think we might swirl it in before we bake, but they are great either way! Lemon Oatmeal Cream Bars 1 can (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk 1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour 1 c. old fashioned rolled oats 1 c. brown sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1 pinch salt 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest 2/3 c. unsalted butter, melted Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking pan.  In a small bowl, combine milk and lemon juice; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and butter. Mix until crumbly.

All three of us very much LOVE this soup. So delicious, filling, and very easy to make.  Pesto & Tortellini Soup 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 medium carrot, julienned 1/2 c. onion, chopped 1/2 c. celery, chopped 2 tbsp. butter/oil/liquid (it's for sauteing) 6 c. chicken or vegetable base (or bouillon) 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 2/5 c. tortellini 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (completely forgot to add this last night) 1/4 tsp. pepper Pesto Fresh parmesan cheese (we didn't have any, and honestly couldn't tell) Saute veggies over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, constantly stirring. Stir in water and base/bouillon, then heat to a boil. Stir in pasta and beans, then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally Stir in parsley and pepper. Add a dollop of pesto to each bowl, and sprinkle some parmesan on top. Bon Appetite!

I made this recipe a few weeks ago as an ice cream topping and everyone thought it tastes like regular, yummy cookie dough. It was great that I could partake of some of it too since there are no eggs! (I try not to eat raw eggs while pregnant.) It was also delicious to eat all by itself! Recipe and photo are found here . 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup butter, softened 1/4 tsp. vanilla 1/4 cup milk 1 cup flour Pinch of salt 1/2 cup chocolate chips In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar and butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla and milk. Mix in the flour, salt and chocolate chips until well blended. Chill in the refrigerator or the freezer (I prefer the freezer.) After I let my dough chill for a while, I tried separating it into bite size pieces. I still kept it in the freezer and liked the consistency it kept. It wasn't too hard and kept it from being too soft.

I'll give you the recipe first and then our reviews at the end. Lemon Souffle Pancakes with Berries Recipe: 3/4 cup milk 2 egg yolks Grated lemon zest from either 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp butter, melted 1/4 cup wheat flour 1/2 cup white flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 T sugar pinch of salt 2 egg whites Toppings : Berries, sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries....use them all, or just one.... Honey Powder sugar Instructions : 1. Mix egg yolks, milk, vanilla, lemon zest & lemon juice in medium bowl.  Add melted butter and mix well. 2. Sift wheat & white flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in large bowl.  (I just use a whisk)  Make a well in center of flour mixture and gradually pour in milk mixture and stir.  Mix until dry ingredients are moistened but try not to over mix it. 3. Beat eggs whites in a small mixing bowl with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form.  Fold egg

I've seen recipes for these and most made them called for chocolate milk or hazelnut milk....I tried it with regular fat-free milk and thought it tasted great.  I'm sure a fattier milk would have provided a more creamy texture, but I didn't have any and they turned out plenty yummy. Makes approx 5 Ingredients : 1 Cup milk 1/3 - 1/2 cup nutella Directions : Mix in blender.  Pour in popsicle molds and freeze for at least 2 hours. Enjoy.

You will notice at the bottom left of each post, there is a little printer icon. This is the new button to print the recipe!

well guys, this whole needing to change the blog around thing kind of screwed things up :( you'll notice most of our photos are missing. agh! i'm not sure how many i can fix because i think i have since deleted the photos of these recipes on my computer, so the only copy was on the blog itself. blast! i will work on getting those big black boxes erased, and eventually replaced with photos again. also, making the new blog, it posted our 'drafts'. so if you could let me know if you had any drafts, and what they were called, i can revert them back.  what i did was download our blog, and then upload it to this new one. so i think all those previous posts must only allow the creator (myself) to edit them?.?. but all new posts from here on out the contributors (all of you) can edit as well. does that make sense?  sorry about all of this mess. i wish i new about the storage limit years ago, so i would have created all these blogs under separate email addresses. fr

You can eat this as a salad or eat it with chips.  I find it nice for hot weather meals and quick to make. Ingredients: 1 can, 14 ounces, black beans, rinsed and drained 2 cups frozen corn kernels (you can use canned but the frozen are better for this salad) 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1/2 small onion, chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 lime, juiced 2 tablespoons oil of choice Salt and Pepper Avocado, chopped (optional) Directions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Let stand 15 minutes for corn to fully defrost and flavors to combine.  Toss and serve.  The frozen corn will chill your salad just enough which I think is partly why I like it for hot weather.