Fish Tacos

With the first week of summer it calls for an updated blog post of Fish Tacos! These tacos are meant to be done on the grill but I did them in the oven and worked out great! I chose to set up all the toppings and let everyone fix their taco to their liking! This is a light meal that is great to serve during the summer. This recipe is originally from blogchef.net For dessert I served Key Lime cupcakes! Recipe from Bon Appetit! Enjoy and feel free to share your cooking adventures with me!

Grilled Fish Tacos
Ingredients
1 lb tilapia fillets
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Marinade
1 cup white onion
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 teaspoon oregano

Lime Sour Cream Sauce
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lime juice

Corn tortilla tacos

Toppings
1 cup onion (diced)
1/2 cup cilantro
2 avocados (peeled, pitted, and diced)
1/2 small head of cabbage (thinly sliced)
Salsa verde

Instructions
Step 1: Combine 1 cup onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, olive oil, 3 tablespoons lime juice, 3 tablespoons orange juice, garlic, and oregano. Mix well. Sprinkle fish fillets with salt and pepper on each side. Pour half the marinade on the bottom of a large casserole dish, lay the fillets over the marinade and pour the remaining marinade over the fish. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes flip the fish over and cover and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
Step 2:Whisk together the sour cream and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Cover and set aside. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and put the fish in for 15 minutes until fully cooked. Alternate Option (technically the oven is the alternate option from the original recipe) heat the grill to medium-high heat and put the fillets on the grill for 3-5 minutes per side. Place corn tortillas onto the grill and grill for about 10 seconds per side.
Step 3: Chop cooked fillets. Let everyone fix their taco with their choice of toppings!






Key Lime Cupcakes
Ingredients
1cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 tablespoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk

Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350. Line standard muffin pan with paper liners.
Step 2: Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs one at a time, then the next 3 ingredients. Don't worry if the batter looks a little curdled here it will smooth out. Beat in flour mixtures in 3 additions alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Step 3: Bake cupcakes 20-25 minutes (until tester comes out clean). Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool.
Frosting
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes. Again, if using an icing tool remember to increase the frosting amount by to 1 1/2 or 2x the recipe!



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Cabbage Soup

This is a great low-cal recipe for anyone trying to eat healthier or jump start your diet with a tasty meal. Another great thing about this recipe is that you can make it for the week and be set to take your lunch to work for the week so not only are you feeling good about your meal but you are prepared to start the week. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 head of cabbage
1 package of dry onion soup (I used Lipton Recipe Secrets onion recipe soup &dip mix)
2 bell peppers
6 green onions
1 celery stalk
1 large can of Stewed tomatoes (original recipe)

Directions
1. Add all ingredients to the pot and cover with water.
2. Boil for 30 minutes.
3. Cover the pot and let it simmer until the vegetables are soft.
4. Enjoy your healthy meal!



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Would you like your eggs scrambled, fried, or perhaps an omelet in a bag?

My mom is genius on all things involving entertaining large groups (she comes from a family of 6 children). Well, last week we were having about 20+ family members over for brunch and mom wanted to serve omelets but we also wanted everyone to be able to eat together which just isn't the case when you are trying to individualize 20 omelets to each person's desire UNLESS you make an omelet in a ziplock bag! It is a fantastic idea and works wonders! You need ziploc bags, toppings of your choice (but remember if you're serving it to a group of people have a variety of toppings so your guests can choose their favorites), eggs, boiling water! Ok, let me elaborate on that, I wish i had taken a few more pictures of the process but next time!
First, when fixing these omelets for a large group or really anyone other than yourself I would take the ziploc bags (sandwich size) and write names on each bag! This will help you keep everything organized.
Then, take one egg for each omelet and beat in with a fork in a bowl and pour into the bag and add any of your desired toppings. It doesn't matter if you dump the egg in the bag first or the ingredients, we tried it both ways and it works no matter the order.
Add all the bags to boiling water for 13 - 15 minutes and enjoy! You can put all the bags in one pot together.
If you are serving buffet style then I would suggest laying the bags out on a serving tray with the names showing so everyone can pick up their individual omelet and enjoy brunch together!

A few hints when prepping for a large group (again, wonderful ideas from my mom, I take in so much from watching her host and entertain our family and friends). These hints will help you not feel as rushed the day of your party.
Go ahead and beat all of the eggs separately in small Dixie cups and cover with Saran wrap and refrigerate. We put that cups in a mini muffin tin to make it easy to transport in and out of the fridge. That way each guest just picks up a cup and dumps it in the bag with their toppings.
Split all of your toppings into individual bowls and cover with Saran wrap and keep in the fridge until the morning of.
Then set up an omelet station with all your bags laid out, the eggs set out, and all the toppings. Each guest comes through and assembles their bag (be prepared people may decide after they see some omelets that this is the coolest idea and now they want to make one too so you may have a few rounds of omelets going on which is fine, at least this is what happened last week with my family!) Kids will love watching the process and getting their individual omelet out of a bag!
Also, double check the lock on the bag to ensure it is sealed completely!

Some of the toppings we included were cheese, mushrooms, ham, peppers, green onions, sausage, and salt and pepper to taste!

Here are a few photos I took, I wish I had some of our omelet station just so the separation of each component made more sense, but that will have to be included next time.


The omelette are cooking away!



The finished product! I am still amazed by this process! Good luck trying it.

And because this blog is about trial and error on any cooking adventure I would like to share my first successful scrambled egg experience! Yes, I haven't mastered scrambling an egg before now and I'm very ashamed by that but now I know and it is so easy to make, breakfast, lunch, dinner here I come! I have attempted before but never got them just right and they were awful to me! I love scrambled egg sandwiches so it is imperative I learn how to scramble an egg! Most kids in elementary school longed for the day their mom would bring them McDonalds or Wendy's for lunch but for me I always loved the days my mom would bring me a hot scrambled egg sandwich that she had just made! It was always so delicious and such a treat! Ok, enough rambling about the sandwich. In order to scramble your eggs, beat 2 eggs with a fork before dumping them in the pan and once it heats up for a little continue to beat while it is over the heat. You can always add a little cheese to the eggs for something extra. I was just excited so I had to share!



And being the nerd I am I took a picture before eating!

So how do you like your eggs best?

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My Cupcake Obsession

I have a new obsession...cupcakes...ok really I think it is more the process of icing the cupcakes than the actual cupcake itself that I'm obsessed with! This probably comes from the increased amount of Food Network's "Cupcake Wars" I've watched lately! My recipe board on Pinterest ("In the Kitchen") contains more cupcake ideas than anything else... So lately I come up with any excuse I can to bake cupcakes and share them with others. Red velvet, carrot cake, and next up hopefully lemon blueberry!

As I mentioned previously, I think I love the icing process more than enjoying the cupcake itself and that is saying a lot! I give the credit to my icing tool I bought a few months ago. I believe I've already touch on the beauty of the tool in a previous post so I will keep it simple here by saying I love it. So far I have only experimented with the star tip but look forward to using some of the other tips very soon! This tool makes it so quick to ice each cupcake, they look prettier than I could ever do freehand, and you probably get more icing on each cupcake which is always a good idea! I do advise you make 1 1/2 times the recipe so you have plenty to ice all of you cupcakes. For the most recent cupcakes I used my mom's carrot cake recipe with cream cheese frosting! Usually when I make the carrot cake with this frosting I mixed pecans into the cream cheese frosting but for the cupcakes I decided it would be better to leave the pecans out and sprinkle them on a few of the cupcakes instead.
Ok, before I post the recipes and pictures I thought I would post the icing tool I use because often when I talk about people seem to be very confused! I have the Nordic Ware icing decorating set and got it from Target.



Time for recipes and pictures...enjoy and be sure to comment if you try the recipe out.
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups finely grated carrots

Directions
Sift and mix dry ingredients.
Add oil and stir well.
Add eggs one at a time.
Add carrots and cinnamon.
Split into a lined cupcake pan.
Bake at 350 for 18 - 20 minutes. A trick that I've learned is to turn the pan around halfway through baking to evenly bake the cupcakes through. To check your cupcakes Stick a toothpick into one and see if it comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
Ingredients
(Remember this is the normal recipe so if you are heavily icing the cupcakes you should make 1 1/2 times this recipe)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 box (1lb) confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Pecan chips, for garnish

Directions
Soften cream cheese and butter and mix together.
Add confectioner's sugar and vanilla and beat well.

Frost cupcakes, sprinkle with pecan chips for garnish and enjoy! I bought pecan chips but actually crushed them even finer in my hand before sprinkling them on the cupcakes. I know not everyone is a fan of pecans so I opted to do a few with pecans and a few plain.

Here was my final product! I took them into work for a fun Friday treat and then shared the rest with my family last weekend, I'm surprised they survived the drive without me eating all of them myself!


I love that this picture shows the height of the frosting after using the star tip.



With the help of my mom's hosting skills we added them to a cake stand and voila presentation points gained. Thanks mom!

Happy Baking and Happy Icing! You'll be so happy with how quick, easy, and pretty your future cupcakes are to ice!

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Desserts is Stressed Spelled Backwards!

You can never have too many desserts! Ok, maybe at some point but for there can be a such a thing as too many desserts but for now we will pretend that isn't true! Recently, I signed up for Pinterest which has increased the amount of desserts I want to make exponentially. Actually, I have found a ton of new meals from Pinterest but so far have only made the desserts. This weekend I made two desserts, Red Velvet Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies. I've made several different Red Velvet recipes but I really liked this recipe. Also, I bought an icing kit back in December and used it for the first time when I iced the cupcakes, I absolutely love it! It made the icing go so much quicker and be more presentable!! Now I just want to make cupcakes every day just to use my decorating tool! Now on to the recipes! I got this recipe from a blog called "Annie's Eats".
Red Velvet Cupcakes Serves 24
Ingredients for the Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distiller white vinegar

Ingredients for Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
5 tbsp unsealed butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
3. Combine cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.
4. With electric mixer, combine eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended.
5. Mix in dry ingredients on low and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
6. Divide batter evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5-10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Frosting Steps
1. Combine cream cheese and butter with electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in vanilla extract. Gradually best in powdered sugar until incorporated. Increase speed and beat until smooth.
2. I used a star tip to ice these cupcakes (if using a tip I would increase the frosting recipe to have plenty for all the cupcakes.)







Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies Serves 36
I got this recipe from Christina who found it via Pinterest. I was looking to try something new and knew she was the perfect person to ask for dessert suggestions so she sent me a recipe she had been wanting to try! You can never go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter! I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture of one of the bars alone but hopefully this will give you and idea of what it looks like.
Ingredients
Brownie Base
1 box Betty Crocker Original Supreme Brownie Mix
Water, Vegetable Oil, Eggs (specific amounts called for on the box)
Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup of creamy Peanut Butter (May actually want a little more. I used 3/4 cups)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

Steps
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom only of 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray or shortening.
2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, pouch of chocolate syrup, water, oil, and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan. Bake 28-30 mins (the box called for 23-25 but I actually went for 20 and tested it with a toothpick, had experience burning it the first go around). Cool completely, about an hour.
3. Beat filling ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base.
4. Microwave topping ingredients 30-60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes spread over filling.
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.
6. Store covered in refrigerator and remove about 15 minutes before serving (allowing the top chocolate layer to soften a little).

Enjoy. It takes a while just to let the brownie cool completely but is actually a very easy recipe.







Until the next time in the kitchen! Let me know if you try any of the recipes and what you thought about them!
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French Toast with a little Twist

As we grow up and move further away from our friends it is important to make time to see everyone when you're all in the same area. Some of my high school girlfriends and I have an annual brunch the day after Christmas to catch up and make sure there is time to see everyone. Plus no one ever turns down food! This year brunch was simple I made Overnight Orange French Toast, Cheese Grits, and set out some eclairs to enjoy. The Overnight French Toast was a new recipe for me from Southern Living and I'd say it was an absolute hit!
Ingredients for the toast
8 slices of French bread (3/4inch thick)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons orange juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Steps
1. Place bread in an ungreased 13x9 baking dish.
2. Combine eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla, salt, beat well.
3. Pour mixture over bread, turn slices over to coat evenly.
4. Cover and chill overnight.

Ingredients for Orange Sauce
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
½ cup orange juice

Steps for Orange Sauce
1. Combine all ingredients in saucepan, stirring well.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened.

Cook the toast on top of the stove before serving and drizzle the orange sauce and powdered sugar over the finished toast. I also added a slice of orange to each piece but that is certainly optional. No syrup is needed for this French toast. It has a natural flavor and just a hint of orange in every bite! The photo is a bit blurry but you can still get the idea.




Another dish that is always good for large (or small) groups is Cheese Grits. Being Southern I love cheese grits! My mom's recipe is my all time favorite so I am happy to share it with you.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups grits, uncooked
6 cups water
3 beaten eggs
1 stick margarine
1 pound grated cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons salt
Dash of Tabasco

Steps
*Do not add salt to water when cooking grits.*
1. Bring water to a boil and add grits slowly and cook until done.
2. Add a little of the cooked grits to the beaten eggs. Adding a small amount at a time until eggs are heated. Then add the eggs to the pot of grits.
3. Stir in margarine and cheese until they melt.
4. Turn into a 9 x 13 baking dish, bake at 250 for 1 hour.

Enjoy!
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'Tis the Season

First, I'd like to apologize for not updating the blog in so long. I hope the recipes will make up for my tardiness.
Last year I had started an annual tradition of having some friends over after the Birmingham-Southern Christmas choral concert for Christmas desserts. So this year that time came around again and what better time to spend with friends than the holidays? This year I made Cranberry Bliss bars, Seven Layer Magic bars, Date Rolls, and Icebox Fruitcake.
A little bit about each of these desserts- Cranberry Bliss Bars every year starting in about November, Starbucks puts out their Cranberry Bliss Bars, a little piece of heaven if you ask me! So I was determined to find a recipe to duplicate the recipe, well luckily I was able to find a recipe. I made this last year and it was too cakey but it seemed to work a bit better this year. I was much more pleased with this go around, I was at least able to cut it into bars this year. Last year it was more a dollop of cranberry bliss crumble. Ha! I found this recipe off a blog titled, "Loving' from the Oven" but different variations are easy to google.
Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1–1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1–1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dried Cranberries, minced
1/4 cup plus 1/4–1/3 cup White Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Crystallized Ginger Slices, minced
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1–1/2 cups powdered sugar

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Add the flour, ginger, and salt into the batter. Beat well. Lightly stir in the 1/4 cup cranberries, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and minced ginger.
4. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven.
5. Make the frosting by beating the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until you reach the desired consistency.
6. Spread the frosting onto the cooled cake.
7. Cut the frosted cake as desired into bars or triangles. Sprinkle the remaining minced cranberries and chocolate chips on the top.






Seven Layer Magic Bars
This really is magic, plenty of ingredients and really makes it quite enjoyable. This recipe usually is on the inside of the Condensed milk label but here is one I found from allrecipes.com.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch-flavored chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for glass baking pan). In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan.
2. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.



Icebox Fruit Cake
Now this isn't your normal fruitcake that would make one turn up their nose and this one is a staple from at an Anchors Christmas gathering, this is my GranMary's recipe and I always remember her while making the cookies.
Ingredients
1 box graham crackers, crumbled into fine crumbs
1 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup white raisins
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Steps
1. Mix all ingredients up with your hands, will be sticky!
2. Roll in tubes about two inches in diameter.
3. Wrap in wax paper and store in refrigerator for up to a month.
4. Cut slices off as needed.
If you want to add other candies you can.



I don't have the recipe for the date rolls on hand but I will try to post that in the future. This was a dessert mom helped me make and she just knew the recipe off hand. They are so much better than they sound! Here is a little teaser for you...



Enjoy your Christmas desserts! But remember they can be served any time of year! Maybe that is why I posted this in February! Happy Baking!
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