National "love your pet day" {recipe!}

Guys!

It's national "Love your pet day!"

Although I celebrate my love for my pups everyday, I plan on making today extra special for them!

We're going to take a trip to Petsmart, (Melvin needs a harness), then go play at Walnut Creek Park.

I have another surprise up my sleeve for them, Frosty Paws! We just picked some up last night (for free I might add, Thanks Floyd)! Dog ice cream, imagine that! We don't even buy ourselves ice cream! They're going to think it's their Birthday or something! 

If you're an Austinite, 365 things to do in Austin posted a fun list of things you and your pet can do together. Check it out!

And if you're feeling extra generous, you can make these very easy Dog-I-Y treats!

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• 1/2 cup milk, low or fat free
• 1 cup peanut butter, natural or organic
• 3 cups rolled oats

Combine milk and peanut butter.

Stir in the oats.

Scoop out the peanut butter balls with a cookie scooper or ice cream scoop. With wet hands, roll into a ball.

Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for one hour! 

Red Velvet Cream Pies

Can you say YUM!?

So I've made these a few times now, and OMG they are to die for! I'm not a huge fan of red velvet, but boy, people love these things. They are SO easy and take about 30 min. And just in time for Valentine's Day!

This is what you need to make the cookie part...

1 box of red velvet cake mix(don't follow instructions on back)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

• Preheat oven to 350
•  add all ingredients together by hand until combined
• spoon out dough and roll into balls
• Place about 2 inches apart
• Cook for 10 min.

*Will make about 30 cookies or 15 sandwiches

I made the cream cheese filling the first time I made these and I still have some left over. The recipe will make enough to make at least three or four batches of cookies. Just freeze the rest until next time. This is what you need:

1/2 cup of butter, softened to room temperature

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 1lb. Box of confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla 

• Use mixer to mix butter, cream cheese and vanilla
• gradually add sugar and mix until smooth

When cookies are ready for the filling, just spoon some on to cookies and twist on. I found that twisting the other side on spreads the filling out more even. 

Your finished product will look like this

They are Oh so yummy, people will love them and won't believe you made them! Try them out for your next get together. Enjoy!

XOXO Brooke

recipe inspiration

Mini Football Rice Krispies Treats

Guys, get ready to hit the pin button, or write a note in your iPhone. This is a recipe you don't want to miss out on. I mean who doesn't like the chocolate/peanut butter combo?! I don't! OK, so I don't really like peanut butter and chocolate mixed, it's too rich for me. But these rice krispies are just the right amount of both and not over the top!!!

You need:
3 tbsp butter
1 10oz package regular marshmallows
4 cups mini marshmallows.
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
6 cups cocoa krispies  

How to:
Melt butter over low heat. Add all of the marshmallows. Once completely melted, remove from heat and mix in peanut butter. Pour in both kinds of krispies and mix with marshmallow sauce as best you can. I suggest using your hands to mix together(if it has cooled down enough). I also sprayed pam on my hands to prevent the mallow sauce from sticking.

I will say this was the MESSIEST thing I have ever made, but ooooohhhhhhh sooooo worth it! You must try it. 

OH... And the title of this post says football... They were supposed to turn out like this:

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They are so cute! But lets be honest, ain't nobody got time for all that. So I just kept them in football-esk shape. Mine look more like eggs. Oh well! These bad boys don't need any decoration or cutesy stuff. They are the bomb just as they are!

CBAC quesadillas

Chicken, Bacon, Avocado, Cheese...Need I say more?

I've made these quesadillas a few times before, but I originally got the recipe off ...you guessed it, pinterest! They are SO easy to make and super delicious! 

I've made them in both burrito size and the soft taco size. Serving size is debatable but it feeds 3 normal people pretty well :) I was able to get 5 out of the burrito size and 6 out of the soft taco size.

Ok, this is what you need:

tortillas (burrito or soft taco)

1 lb chicken 

salt and pepper

1/2 cup scallions

8-9 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped

1 avocado diced

mild cheddar cheese, shredded 

2 tbsp butter

 

First off, cook the bacon. The best way and the cleanest way is to cook the bacon is in the oven. I use a slotted broiler pan, but you could use a drying rack on top a sheet pan just the same. Set the temperature to 400 and cook for 10-15 per side. Keep an eye on them!

While the bacon is cooking, prepare your avocado and dice it up. When the bacon is finished cookings and cooling, slice it up! This is what mine looked like. 

Put the bacon and avocado aside and your next step is to sauté the scallions. You will want to use a tbsp of bacon drippings so don't get rid of it right away. You'll cook for about 2-3 min until soft. Then you'll add in your chicken chunks in a single layer. Cook for about 5 min, flipping once during cooking.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and rinse it out. Add a little butter to the clean skillet over medium heat. When the butter is foamy, add the tortilla and swirl it around. Then you can start adding in all your bacon, avocado, chicken and cheese. Start to fold tortilla and smash all ingredients in. 

Flipping it can be kind of tricky, but if you use tongs it's a bit easier. The other side should look like this:

When it's golden brown and super delicious looking on both sides, then it's ready!!

Enjoy!

Taco Seasoning

The other night was taco night at our house. As I was cooking the meat, it dawned on me that we didn't have the little taco seasoning packet that we always use to season the meat... Well I went and searched google and found a recipe that I wanted to share. Needless to say I won't be using those little packets anymore...

What you need:
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp flour

These are all things most of us already have in our cabinets. Some minor adjustments I made that you may consider is lessening the sea salt. I used regular salt, and maybe half of what it called for. Also, I used just a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. If you're spice sensitive, use less! Next, mix all the spices together. I also added 1/2 tsp of flour to the mix for thickening.

Once the meat has been cooked and drained of the fat, sprinkle the seasoning over it. I recommend 2 tbsp of seasoning per 1 lb of meat. Add 2/3 cups water and let simmer.

This recipe is delish! You won't want to go back to the prepackaged stuff once you try this!

Penne pasta with prosciutto & vodka sauce

This dish is seriously to die for!!!

I got the recipe years ago from an ex-boyfriend but he originally found it in The Sopranos Family Cookbook under Penne all Vodka. Needless to say, this dish is the bomb! 

It happens to be Scott's favorite dish I make, so I'm excited to share the recipe :)

This is what you need: 

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 1/4 thinly sliced prosciutto ham, chopped
• 28 oz diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Saute olive oil and garlic. Combine tomatoes, chopped prosciutto, vodka and crushed red pepper. Let simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat. I leave it uncovered. 

While you're combining those things, start boiling water for penne. Cook and drain while ingredients are simmering. 

Add the heavy cream and cook for 2 minutes on LOW heat. 

Mix penne and sauce together, while adding the parmesan cheese throughout. 

Serve and enjoy! 

p.s. I love how Mac always makes an appearance in my pictures. Pretty funny if you ask me.