Happy birthday to Blair!

This past Saturday, we celebrated the birthday of our niece Blair. Blair turns two this coming Friday! I can't believe what a big girl she has become! Jessica, Eric's sister, did a wonderful job planning the soccer themed party that was held at Extra Innings in Plano. The kids enjoyed running around in the enclosed field space and the adults enjoyed not having to run after the kids!

Blair was running nonstop the whole time!

 Cute thank you tags to go on the bags of homemade cookies. Yum!

Blair's soccer ball cake, which was made by Eric's mom. She did a great job!

The birthday girl and Libby posed for a photo shoot.

 Happy parents of the birthday girl!

Blair showing off her green frosting face

 Uncle Eric showing Blair how he was filming her.

 She really was loving petting this baby's head!

This super cute dry erase place mat was part of our gift to Blair. I ordered it from Milo Paper when they were having a 50% sale!

 Uncle Eric also served as the entertainment for the children and they thoroughly enjoyed beating him up. He was a sweaty mess by the end of it!

Some quality Uncle and Niece time!

Pressure Cooker Recipe #2 : Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Happy Monday! I am back to using the pressure cooker this week. I have four meals planned this week using it and I am excited to try them all! I have started quite the buzz about the pressure cooker. My dad wants to borrow it when we go on vacation in a couple of weeks and try it out. It really is so easy to cook with. Tonight we made Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli Florets. Easy meal to make using staples you have around the house.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli Florets from Bob Warden's Great Food Fast

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 5 min Temperature: High Serves: 4

Shopping List
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
1 1/3 cups long grain white rice, rinsed well
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
3/4 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used 2% sharp cheddar.)
3 cups frozen broccoli florets (It calls for 2 cups but we decided it needed more.)

1. With the cooker's lid off, heat oil on HIGH or "brown", and saute until sizzling. Add the chicken and onion,  and saute until chicken is lightly browned and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add rice, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, securely lock the pressure cooker's lid and set for 5 minutes on HIGH.
3. Perform a quick release to release the cooker's pressure.
4. With the the cooker's lid off, set to high or "brown". Whisk together flour and milk, add to the cooker, and simmer for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in cheddar cheese and broccoli florets and let simmer 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and broccoli is warmed throughout. Serve immediately.

This recipe made a ton. I am taking my left overs to my grandmother tomorrow because she loves broccoli cheese casserole and I will definitely be eating this for dinner tomorrow night! When you need some comfort food, this hits the spot.

Oh and a confession. You know how I professed my love for QVC's In the Kitchen with David. Well, we were watching the show on Sunday morning and we made another purchase.

Kuhn Rikon Soft Edged Flexible Spatulas

Eric just had to have them and "has been wanting something like that forever" so I used my convenient QVC app to order them. They should be here shortly! He just had to have them because he got a new pan this weekend (Macy's was having 25% off).

 

All-Clad Stainless Steel Nonstick French Skillet, 11 inch

What can I say? The guy likes his pans....

Have a good week!

Paper and Poppers

Tonight's dinner was one of the best we have had in a while! This recipe has so much flavor and it just all combines so perfectly. I picked out the recipe, but the final product is brought to you by Chef Eric. He was quite proud of himself tonight, as he should be. This recipe was not a pressure cooker recipe, unfortunately. As I said yesterday, I meal planned this week and bought the ingredients for tonight's meal. I actually was over visiting with my friend Casey and by the time I got home, Eric had already started the meal. This leads me to the first word of my post title. Paper.

I wrote out our meals on new note pad from Milo Paper. I love it! The thing is huge and will hopefully last forever! As you can see, we have switched it up a little. We had Wednesday nights dinner last night which was a fail and Thursday night's dinner tonight.

Also on the subject of paper are two new notebooks I got from May Books. This website is awesome. They have so many different patterns and monograms you can personalize your own notebook with. They come hand sewn with a super soft canvas cover. So great for yourself or gifts!

I chose two different ikat patterns. The one with my monogram is the 2013 planner and the "What's for dinner?" one is a super cute meal planner. Can't wait to use both!

All right, on to the popper part! We made Cheesy Cayenne Popped Baked Stuffed Chicken. The recipe was adapted by Eric from the website SkinnyTaste's recipe for Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken. This recipe is supposed to be just like a jalapeno popper and it is actually on the healthy side! It was sooo good! Please excuse my mediocre food photography skills. At least I am not using the iphone like I usually do! Food Styling brought to you by Chef Eric.

Cheesy Cayenne Pepper Baked Stuffed Chicken

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 slices of center cut bacon, cooked and cubed
1 cayenne pepper (fresh from our garden, seeds removed per my request)
3 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
4 oz cheese - This is what I think made the meal. She says use shredded cheddar jack, but I had picked up a chipotle cheddar cheese that he used and it was so good! We really think a white cheddar is they way to go on this.
2 tsp chopped scallions, which are really green onions. They grocery store calls them that why doesn't anyone else?!
8 thin sliced skinless chicken breast cutlets (3-4 oz each) - Or just cut your breasts thin. I actually found cutlets at Sprouts.
1 cup breadcrumbs (we used plain and more than she suggests)
1 juiced lime
salt and fresh pepper
olive oil and non-stick spray

1. Wash and dry the chicken cutlets and season with salt and pepper.
2. Lightly spray baking dish with non-stick spray.
3. Combine cream cheese, chipotle cheddar cheese, scallions, cayenne pepper, and bacon crumbles in a medium bowl.
4. Lay chicken cutlets on a working surface and spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and secure with a toothpick.
5. Put breadcrumbs in a bowl (we use a pie plate) and in a second bowl combine olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
6. Dip chicken in lime juice mixture and then in breadcrumbs. Place them seam side down on a baking dish. Repeat and when finished, lightly spray the tops of the chickens with oil spray.
7. Bake 22-25 minutes, until the cheese is ooooozing out and serve immediately.

We served the dish with a mixture of corn and black beans. Just open the cans, combine, add fresh cilantro that has been chopped up and mashed up garlic. Let simmer. So easy and good! I promise you this recipe will not disappoint. Eric even said it was one of his more favorite things he has made in a while!

Adventures in babysitting and a dinner fail

Well, yesterday I professed my love of the pressure cooker and how I was going to cook every recipe in Bob Warden's Great Food Fast. When I decided that I had actually already meal planned for the week and so I decided to go ahead and cook one of the meals I had bought all the ingredients for. I will admit I failed. Everything was going great, I was so proud of myself because I was doing it all by myself with no help from Eric. Well, my mistake was using 12 oz of uncooked pasta, instead of 12 oz of cooked pasta. By the time we got it all mixed together, it was evident there was not enough sauce to cover the pasta. The flavors were good, but it just wasn't right and it got cold really fast. Eric, being the "experienced" chef that he is, told me it was okay and that cooking takes time to learn. Oh and that he could definitely make it and anything for that matter better than me. Thanks... Oh well, it is the truth.

The recipe is from Panera.com and can be found here if you want to try do it better than me.

Creamy Bowties with Ham and Broccoli

We went on a walk (it is like cool outside!) with Ollie and now I am having a glass of wine and getting ready to go watch Bachelor Pad. I am over it.

We got to babysit our niece Blair on Friday night and I have to share some of the pictures. We had impromptu photo session and she loved posing. Then Blair decided she needed to be close to her kitty. Poor Leo. I felt bad for the guy! We had such a fun time playing with her before she went to bed. She was so easy to watch and went to bed with no problems. We can't wait to do it again! Can't wait to celebrate her 2nd birthday this weekend! I can't believe she is almost two!!!!!

Pressure Cooker Recipe #1 : Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Ok, if you know Eric and I, you might know we are a fan of David of QVC's In the Kitchen with David. David is the host of a cooking show that airs on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. One of our favorite things to do on Sunday morning is make breakfast and enjoy our coffee while watching David. The show spotlights cooking merchandise and yes, we are guilty of ordering a thing or two (or five). That QVC app makes it so easy!

Meet David:

 David, recently on vacation (pic stolen from his facebook account). And yes, I have that tumbler the is drinking out of. Great purchase! Go order yours today - they are on a special featured price!

One of our favorite purchases (well, actually it was a gift) is our Cooks Essentials 5 Quart Oval Pressure Cooker. My parents gave this to Eric last year for Christmas. We absolutely love it. It is like a slow cooker, but so much faster. And the recipe book we bought to go along with it is filled with TONS of fabulous, yummy recipes.

This is the same model we have, in red as well. Sadly, it looks like they are not currently selling them on QVC, but Montel Williams has a version! HA!

Bob Warden's Great Food Fast is an awesome pressure cooker cook book. Every single recipe (except some with mustard!) looks amazing! We have made quite a few of them and every time I look at it, I don't know why I haven't made more. Tonight we made a rubbed pork tenderloin (recipe to come) and while looking through the book, I have decided we are going to try to make every recipe in the book. I am not going to use any other cook books or recipe sites, until I have finished this one! (I kinda feel like the girl who cooked all of Julia Child's recipes!). So this is my new challenge to Eric and I to cook every night using our pressure cooker. It is great right now that it is hot. It doesn't burn up the kitchen like the oven does. It cooks in a fraction of the time. I am telling you, don't be scared of the pressure cooker! It is your friend! So moving on to the main course! Here is tonight's dinner!

Tonight we made the Rubbed Pork Tenderloin. It is supposed to have a peach salsa with it, but that just didn't sound like something we would like, so Eric made his risotto. I promise this is the best risotto you will ever taste. It is so creamy and rich. I could eat it all and die happy! I will try to get him to nail down his recipe and put on here. It really is out of this world. I am happy I can take credit for the pork. You know it was so difficult to mix the spices, rub them on, brown the meat, and then set the timer on the pressure cooker. Even if you don't have a pressure cooker, you could easily use this rub to cook the tenderloin in the oven. If you are lucky enough to have a pressure cooker, follow the recipe below.

Rubbed Pork Tenderloin from Bob Warden's Great Food Fast

Shopping List
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 (1 1/2 lb) pork tenderloin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chicken stock or broth

1. With the cooker's lid off, heat oil on HIGH or "brown" until sizzling.
2. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub the mixture evenly onto all sides of the pork, and place in the cooker, cooking until lightly browned.
3. Add the chicken stock to the cooker, and securely lock the pressure cooker's lid. Set for 20 minutes on HIGH.
4. Let the cooker's pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before quick releasing any remaining pressure.
6. Remove roast, and let rest under aluminum foil 10 minutes before carving.

There ya go. Easy easy! Check back for more in our adventures in pressure cooking!

Ranching

Memorial Day weekend we headed up to Oklahoma to the ranch to spend time with Eric's parents and our niece Blair. Blair's parents were in Hawaii for a wedding, so the grandparents were in charge of Blair for a week. It definitely was a team effort with an almost two year old!

Ollie in the car - he is ready to go!

Texas back road on the way to Oklahoma

Downtown Durant, Ok

Ollie running down the gravel road. As soon as we get through the gates, we let him out and he runs the whole way to the house. He LOVES it.

Blair playing with the horses.

Driving the Mule

 Blair had pool time with the dogs

I love sitting on the porch in the early morning or sunset. This is sunset I believe. Nothing better than sitting with a cup of hot coffee in the am or a glass of wine in the pm.

Gorgeous view

Ollie and I went swimming. Like actually got in the water both of us. Those pictures are on Eric's phone though. I wish I had them. Eric told me oh there are no snakes you would see them on the top of the water. His parents informed me this was not true. Great...

Dogs in the back of the truck

Donkeys

Mr. Bull

Lucky trying to get the cows

I am a city girl, but I certainly enjoy my time in the country. Wouldn't you?