Eats of the Week

Chase, so generously, offered to make brownies for a Superbowl party. As we were getting ready to leave he said, "we're never buying Aldi brownies again. Brownies are supposed to be flaky on top and these are fluffy like a cake. I even tried to flatten them down with my oven mitt!"
Having more faith in Aldi brand than my husband's cooking I asked, "well did you make the cake that was in the cabinet?" Checking the cabinet we found the brownie box quietly untouched!! LOL!!
He made one delicious cake...even though his heart was set in brownies, poor fella.

P.S. I love how loyal he is...still sporting the Brown's gear!

Monday at work we had a SOUPerbowl party. Over the past three years this has become one of my favorite school days. I always get to see some different faces when we potluck. It's nice to see how some of the other teachers are doing and chat with them. Plus these ladies know a thing or two about soup! I tried the Taco Soup and a Cream Cheese Chicken Chili. Our wonderful PTA made the goodies...red velvet cupcakes-yum!!

After mastering self-control over my Sweet Frog addiction by not going at all in January I have returned to fro-yo. It will have to be on a more limited basis than before...but gosh it's just so good! I shared Sweet Frog with two friends from church who also are amazing volunteers at Xalt!! We had a blast be-bopping along to some Jamie Grace and chatting about life.

Times with friends and good food cannot be beat!

Jogger's Baked Salmon

Since my parents introduced me to Advocare several months ago, I have been trying to cook more lean meats and veggies.  About a week ago, I found a recipe on cooks.com that turned out just right for our post jog appetite.  We've had it twice now and really liked it!!

Jogger's Baked Salmon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking pan with olive oil.
Start off with Salmon fillets or steaks, as many as you will need to prepare.
Spread a light coat of mayonnaise over each piece (you cannot taste it once it's cooked).
Sprinkle the following over the fillets:
            garlic powder
            onion powder
            Mrs. Dash
            Paprika
Be generous with all of the spices but add to your own taste.  

Bake for 10 to 20 minutes.  I baked mine between 15 and 17 minutes and they were perfectly done.


 

I had a frozen summer vegetable medley from the frozen veggie aisle at Wal-Mart that I boiled.  Then I added to some cut up green peppers and tomatoes and sauteed all of that for a few minutes in a small amount of olive oil.  I tried sauteing tomatoes for the first time and we both loved the flavor they added to the vegetable mix.     
   

Let me know if you have any tasty fish or chicken recipes or how it goes if you try this one.

Breakfast for Dinner

Who can resist french toast for dinner? 

Definitely NOT us!!

Last night after swimming a few laps 

we cooked up some french toast.

Swimming for exercise and french toast for dinner...

probably cancel each other out but oh well!

My legs were jello but my stomach was full of goodness!!

 

There is just something about breakfast food 

during a relaxing weekend

that puts the icing on the cake! 

Maybe it's because growing up and still when I travel home

we eat an amazing weekend breakfast

or just the word "SYRUP" (say it to yourself a few times)

Weird, huh?

What I do know is I love breakfast foods!

They remind me to stop and smell the rose shaped pancakes.

What do you do to top off your weekend?

Somalian Cuisine

Each day for lunch, we are served a taste of Buffalo. Today we broadened our cuisine horizon with Somalian food. I'm not sure what any of it was called but it tasted good.

My tongue burns when I eat mild salsa so that says it all for my spice tolerance. From what I could tell the breaded triangle pocket was filled with chicken, that had the spiciest kick of all but I could still handle it. There was a spinach chicken dish, French fry looking potatoes but bright red, rice, and a salad with lime slices in it. I really enjoyed the flavorful but mild spice meal.
thanks chefs

Today being 7/11, 7/11 gave out free slurpees. Yay!! We drove up to an inner city (limited parking) 7/11 in our rockin' church bus and were able to get 17 free mini slurpees. Perfect quencher for a day spent out in the sun working hard!!
thanks 7/11!

 

Smith Edible Creations: Spring Edition

For the family reunion/grad party we went to for Chase's family, his mom saw the idea of making a fruit bouquet.

She cut the bottom of a watermelon off, about the size of a bowl. Then we put a variety of pieces of fruit on shish-kabob sticks. Once it was filled up with fruit we stuck the pointy end into the watermelon so it stood straight up. We stuck the first one in the middle of the watermelon then placed the following sticks around it covering the entire surface of the watermelon.

Final Product: