Peanut butter ice cream

Yet another recipe find from Annie's Eats!  If you like reese's, I will be shocked if you can resist making this ice cream just after seeing the picture :)  We've had our ice cream maker three years now, and I used it for the first time this weekend (apologies to whatever nice person gave that to us as a wedding gift...but better late than never, right?)  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 2/3 cups half-and-half
Pinch of coarse salt
Dash of vanilla extract
1 heaping cup mini Reese’s cups, wrappers removed, frozen and chopped (optional)

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients (minus the candy) in a blender or food processor; and puree until completely smooth.  Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.  When the mixture is chilled through, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  To mix in the Reese’s, transfer the ice cream to a storage container and gently fold in the peanut butter cup pieces until evenly distributed.

I didn't think far enough ahead to put the freezer piece in overnight, so after running the ice cream maker, it was still rather soupy. I also didn't freeze the Reese's, so they sunk right to the bottom.  I think they would have stayed mixed in better if my ice cream was thicker and if they were frozen.  The flavor of this ice cream is great!  Its the perfect amount of peanut butter, and I'm sure would taste good on any cake.  Report back if you decide to try it - or if you'd like another type of ice cream, Annie's Eats has quite a few she's made recently.

Chocolate buttercream frosting

We celebrated my husband's birthday a few times this year, but our first celebration was when my family was in town last week.  He asked for a marble cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, so I went searching for a frosting recipe. (I went box route on the cake - although I'm sure a marble cake homemade would not be too hard!)  I found this recipe, and it turned out wonderful!  Here it is:

Ingredients
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened -I used butter
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted - I used cocoa
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk
Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

Stiff Consistency: In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For Thin (Spreading) Consistency Icing: Add 3-4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

Since we were using it to frost a cake, I added 3 tbsp of water and it was very spreadable.  I wasn't sure how much 3 cups of icing was (the yield) but it was plenty!  I used a very small amount between the layers and I had leftovers.  So, if you use for a cake, feel free to load up the bottom cake layer - I promise you will have enough!  Next, I'm going to try the stiffer consistency on my favorite Magnolia bakery cupcakes. Yum!

German chocolate cake

I'm sure you were all anxiously awaiting this post...just kidding!  Unfortunately, my cake did not look nearly as pretty as this picture....but it did taste good!  The recipe is lengthy, so I'll just point you to it here.  Many of my recipes come from this site, Annie's Eats - you should definitely check it out!

A few notes on this cake...a lot of new skills for me, like cutting 2 cake layers into 4, whipping egg whites into meringue and making a custard.  The only one that didn't go super well was the custard.  I wasn't sure how thick it needed to get and I know now that I did not let it get thick enough.  After assembling the cake, the liquid from the coconut layer soaked into the cake, leaving pretty much a coconut only layer (I omitted the nuts).  It still tasted good, just lacked that typical German chocolate filling.  It will be awhile before I make this again, just due to the time it took, but I will at some point and hopefully will have a perfect cake to report!

Meal Planning Monday 7/19

This week, we're having:

Monday:  tacos, spanish rice, salad
Tuesday:  italian chicken and pasta with a pesto cream sauce, fresh green beans
Wednesday:  grilling out at my sister and brother in law's house
Thursday:  tomato, basil and mozzarella pizza - using fresh basil from our yard!
Friday: out to eat at Smashburger with our friends
Saturday:  marinated salmon, cilantro lime rice, fruit salad
Sunday:  out to eat (using a giftcard, so either Olive Garden or Texas Roadhouse)

I hope you have a great week!  This week, I'm planning to post a great frosting recipe, the results of my first ice cream endeavor and a long overdue coconut shrimp recipe that we loved.  Come back by to check all that out!

Coming soon...

In the process of making this...

Excited to report back!

Homemade Salsa

I made this last weekend and it was so good! I'm planning to make it again this weekend. It makes a TON, so I'm sure you could freeze it if you weren't going to eat it all immediately. Or, you can just be like us and eat it every day for a week :)

Ingredients:
1 bunch cilantro
1 can (28oz) whole peeled tomatoes
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles*
1 onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 limes
*if you use Rotel, you need 3 cans since they are smaller than 14.5 oz

Directions:
In a blender or food processor, put half the cilantro in, then one can of diced tomatoes, then the other half of cilantro, then the other can of diced tomatoes. Layering it makes it blend better. If something gets stuck, you may have to stir during the blending.

Blend thoroughly.

Dump into a big bowl.

Next, put half the onion in the blender, cut into huge wedges, half the big can of peeled tomatoes, the garlic and the lime. (I would chop the onion up itself first, because my onion still had some rather large pieces in the final product)

Blend and add to the bowl.

Put in the rest of the onion and the remaining tomatoes.

Blend and add to the bowl.

Add salt to taste.

Stir everything together in the big bowl by hand.

You should probably use your biggest bowl for this. I did, thinking it would be more than enough room, and it was just right. The end result tastes so fresh and delicious, I'm betting you won't want to buy pre-made salsa again! There is a strong cilantro taste, so if you are not a cilantro fan, you can omit it or just use a smaller amount.

Hope you enjoy!


photo credit

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Menu planning Monday

After a whirlwind week with 6 guests in our house (including our almost 3 and almost 1 year old nieces!), we are ready for a slow, relaxing, quiet week :) We loved our time with family, of course! But this week has a celebration of its own...my wonderful husband's birthday!! Here are our plans for the week:

Monday - out with our friends, the Liggitts - a free dinner at Trece!
Tuesday - broiled garlic tilapia - first time to try this! I'm excited.
Wednesday - sour cream chicken enchiladas
Thursday - Birthday celebration at Texas de Brazil!!!
Friday - probably not eating since we will be so full from Texas de Brazil :) or, soft tacos with mexican rice
Saturday - cookout with Bart's family to celebrate birthdays
Sunday - hosting a party to hear about our friend's time in missions overseas

Hope you all have a great week!

Oreo Cupcakes

Obviously, these cupcakes look good. But I don't think I can accurately express how really, truly delicious they are! You have to try them! For being a 'fancier' cupcake recipe, they were not that much work. Here is the link to the recipe:

http://annies-eats.com/2010/06/02/cookies-and-cream-cupcakes/

Its her photo as well above. Anyone that ate my cupcakes (at my work or Bart's) knows that mine were not nearly that cute! The taste certainly made up for it though :)

Give these a try. I promise, you will NOT regret it!

Back to blogging....Tom Thumb trip

Sorry to have been away from the blog world for so so long! but, I am back and have a great Tom Thumb trip to report on. The Tom Thumb by our house had a grand "re-opening" so they sent a ton of coupons for free items, and a free reusable bag (a cute one!). I'll just hit the highlights, since I didn't take a picture.

Full price $70.75
Saved $44.91 - 63%
Spent $25.85

Some of the best deals:
fresh tortilla soup from the deli - free with coupon
1/2 lb deli meat - free with coupon
organic salad - $1
pineapple - $1
organic white cheddar popcorn - $0.59 (after $2/any organic product coupon)
eggs - free with coupon
peanut butter - free with coupon
apple juice - free with coupon

We ran out of our June grocery money a little early, so I'm so excited to have a new month to get deals! Hopefully I'll have some other deal posts, and some great new recipes to share during July. Happy 4th!