A Recipe I can't wait to try - Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Cilantro is one of those foods that people either love or hate. 

How true is this statement?!?!  It seems as if most everyone either hates Cilantro or loves it, there is no in between.  For me, I absolutely love it.  I could eat it in most anything and can toss lettuce with cilantro and a little lime juice and consider it the best salad I ever had.  So for those of you who hate it you may not want to continue reading as this recipe boasts Cilantro as a main ingredient.  For those of you like me who love Cilantro grab a napkin as you may need to wipe the drool off your face.  I stumbled across this recipe on a tweet from the cooking light magazine.  It is a healthy recipe that could even be modified for even lower carbs by serving it on lettuce and make the avocado cream into a dressing.   It sounds like a light, fresh meal, perfect for summer.  By the way I'm on my way to New York and I'll be going on a food tour while I'm there - jealous yet?  I can't wait and plan on posting the best dishes and where they're from so be on the lookout fun posts to come.  Have a wonderful week!

A recipe I can't wait to try - Light Chicken Potpie

"Food is the most primitive form of comfort" - Sheila Graham

cute Etsy travel mug!

I love chicken potpie.  There is just something so comforting about such a warm filling dish.  However, after I eat a chicken potpie I usually do not feel so comforted anymore.  The calorie content seems to flash before my eyes right before the guilt settles in.  So when this light chicken pot pie recipe came up in my twitter feed I knew I couldn't wait to try it.  I haven't gotten a chance to attempt it yet but I knew I had to share this.  While the nutritional information may not make it the newest recipe recommendation on Biggest Looser it definitely allows me to feel better about a "once in a while" indulgence of something I love.  Many thanks to Food Network for coming up with this recipe! I hope you enjoy cooking up a great dish of this for an easy evening at home filled with great comfort food.

Friday's Interview - another New Yorker

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

Ok, so the last Friday interview I posted was from a New Yorkers  perspective and so is this one.  Can you tell I'm slightly obsessed with New York?  I'm actually going for my third visit in about 6 days and can't wait!  For those of you who don't know one of my closest friends moved to New York last year to immerse herself in the Asian culture that exists outside Brooklyn.  She is going to be leaving this fall to be a missionary in Asian and thought it would be best to learn the culture and people before she left.  Currently she works for an organization called Urban Impact, below is a video about them or you can find out more information by clicking here. 

Tuesday's Tip - Cooking Pasta

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'cooking' but I can make noodles. That means I can boil water, put the pasta in and wait until it's done"

- Devon Werkheiser

fun bowtie pasta

For those of you who don't know my alltime favorite magazine is Real Simple.  I also love to follow them on twitter because they post so many great tips throughout the week that are short and simple but really great ideas.   A while back they posted some tips for making pasta well.  Pasta is such a versatile food and can be used as a quick way to put together a meal.  Most everyone knows how to make pasta but if you follow a few simple tips you will get perfect pasta everytime.  I thought their tips were wonderful and wanted to pass them on to you. 

A recipe I can't wait to try - cake ball cookies!!!!

"COOKIES!!! UMM-NUM-NUM-NUM-NUM!!!"
-Cookie Monster

get ready for a fabulous recipe!

I've got to admit when I stumbled across this recipe I completely agreed with cookie monster.  As you may have figured out from two previous posts (here and here) I am a fan of cake balls and cake pops.  If you aren't sure what they are make sure to read this post because you are missing out!!!  A while back I was looking up different food blogs to try to find a new recipe for dinner and I got a little sidetracked, thanks to a whole blog dedicated to chocolate!  During my sidetracked adventure I found a few blogs dealing with desserts only and stumbled across an amazing one called SugarDerby.  She has come up with what I believe to be one of my favorite creative desserts ever!  The cake ball cookie!  Yep you heard right.  Imagine a fabulously gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed with an extremely moist cake ball.  Oh, I can't wait to make this.  I just need to find something to make them for otherwise I'll eat them all myself!  So I just absolutely have to share!  I'd love to hear your thoughts or see pictures of how they turn out for you.  I promise I'll post pics when I make them as I can't wait to see what they look like!

Cake Balls for the guys...

"My husband and I share work in the kitchen 50-50. I cook and he eats"

in box ready for the office

A few days ago I made cake balls for my husbands office.  They loved them and when my husband asked for the recipe I directed him to my blog.  Apparently, the recipe I have down is "too confusing for the guys to understand" as he puts it.  He said that he wanted it listed as "2 tablespoons of whatever".  So the post of this title is exactly what this specific blog post is about.  A cake ball recipe so easy the husbands could make it.  For you girls out there I suggest printing it out and leaving it laying around the house, oh so subtly, until you arrive home to wonderful cake balls ;-) but even if your husband won't make them it still is a great simple recipe to share.

Cake balls for the guys
Ingredients:
1 box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cup of water
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 container of Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting
2 bags of chocolate chips (1 white, 1 semi sweet)

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare cake mix, water, oil and eggs as directed on the back of the mix box
Cook until done
Remove from oven and allow to sit out uncovered for several hours (or even overnight)
*it is important to not cover it because you want the cake to dry out

One cake has dried out some break up the cake and place into a mixer
Turn the mixer on and mix until cake is all crumbs
Add 2/3 container of icing
Mix until combined well (it will have the consistency of cookie dough)
Scoop out small amounts and role into balls
Place the cake balls into the freezer for a few hours or overnight
When the cake balls are frozen and ready to be dipped melt one of the packages of chocolate
Dip half the cake balls in the chocolate
(the method I like to use is place the cake ball on a fork and spoon the chocolate over the cake ball, then tap the fork until the excess chocolate falls off)
Place cake balls on a greased cookie sheet
Place cake balls in refridgerator
Once half have been dipped set aside the remaining chocolate
In a different bowl (or double boiler) melt the other type of chocolate
Dip remaining cake balls in the other type of chocolate
Once all cake balls have been dipped in the appropriate chocolate drizzle the opposite chocolate cover on top just for appearance sake

You're finished, see guys it wasn't that difficult!

Don't forget you can get posts via email rather than having to check back every day...

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

A simple dinner..

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo da Vinci

this kitchen just screams light, airy and relaxing

I'm sure you know the days.  The ones where you wake up late, rush to get to work on time,  finish work, drive home in traffic, come home to find that your dogs have torn up your house, clean it up, go walk them only to find it raining, then go back inside and realize what you were going to make for dinner is frozen.  Although I love to post recipes pleas do not imagine that every night I come home and make an elaborate dinner!  There are days when I have completely lived out the story above.  A few days ago I had one of these days and ended up throwing together a dinner that was so simple and easy I had to share.  Don't get me wrong I love coming home and putting together an involved dinner, as weird as it may seem I often find it relaxing.  I love the repetitiveness of cooking, it gives me time to think.  But on weeks when I'm extremely busy, or sick, the last thing I want to do is stand in the kitchen and cook.  So I come up with meals like this fast, simple and doesn't require a lot of thinking.  I do have to say I am not an Alfredo sauce fan.  I would much rather have plain old marinara but the husband loves his cheese - so Alfredo is something he really enjoys.  So despite the artery clogging properties of the sauce every now and then I try to make it for him.  So here's to making something your husband loves - despite the slightly unhealthy aspect!!!  Oh and I made it super simple and served it with bread and a side of dipping oil... just to enhance the unhealthiness!  Enjoy!

Tuesday's Tip - What to buy organic?

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?  ~Author Unknown



grow your own organic veggies
with this cool veggie holder



What a cute quote!  So my question/tip for the day is do you buy organic food?  I know some people who are all organic and others who are only organic fruits and veggies and even more that are only organic "products" (such as hair care and makeup).  I however do think that there are some things that taste better to me if they are organic, such as eggs and milk, but I am not a total organic girl.  However, one of the best tips I've found yet is that there are some things you should buy organic and some you shouldn't.  I came across this great list of the "dirty dozen" of fruits and veggies.  Basically these fruits and veggies really hold on to pesticides (some are obvious as to why - strawberry seeds) so you should attempt to buy these organic whenever possible.  Another good rule of thumb is if it has a peel (bananas, mangoes, avocado, etc...) you don't need to spend the extra money, after all the peel protects the fruit from the pesticides.

Greek dinner with friends

“I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".”

 - Mitch Hedberg

Ok so the quote has absolutely nothing to do with this post but it made me laugh so hard that I had to use it!  Yesterday we had two good friends come over for dinner, Kaylee and Jay.  We've been planning to get together with them for a while but never got around to it until now.  We decided the best thing to do would be to hang out at our house for dinner and walk over to this cute little gelato shop after for a sweet ending.  

Friday Interview - New York

“They say life's what happens when you're busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you're waiting for a table.”

 - Sarah Jessica Parker

I'll be here soon! (Central Park)

I love New York!  I went for the first time almost three years ago in the middle of summer, my husband took me back to visit his sister while we were dating, and I'll be going for a third time at the end of this month!!!  One of my very close friends (Amanda) and I will be going to visit another close friend, Caitlin.  The three of us have been friends since high school, you may have read the story here, and have been trying to plan a girls weekend for a while.  However, this year Caitlin will be moving to Asia, Amanda will be having a baby, and well I'll still be in Tampa so we knew we had to take our trip soon.  Thanks to the amazing sister-in-law, Micah, we won't have to pay to rent a hotel in the city because she has offered for us to stay with her!  You don't have to tell me, I know I have the best in-laws ever!  Micah and I have talked several times about when we'll be staying there and she constantly mentions that due to the great location she lives in her place is smaller.  Lucky for all of us we don't mind close quarters.  The more I thought about it the more I realized she would be the perfect person to ask cooking questions.  Not only is she a fabulous cook she has to be extremely creative to be able to make everything in her small kitchen.  So here's Friday's interview from a New Yorker's perspective!  (By the way I LOVE her last tip!) 

The evolution of the cake pop!

"Life is unsure, always eat your dessert first" 

I love experimenting with new recipes and decorations.  So when my mother in law mentioned having a birthday party for my husband and his grandfather (they celebrated their birthdays within a week of each other) I knew I wanted to try something new.  I told the MIL I would make the dessert and began to try to come up with something creative that they would both like.  I knew they were both Chicago Cubs fans so I wanted to try to incorporate that somehow.  The Cubs theme combined with my husbands love for cake balls slowly evolved into the Cubs cake pops.  There was definitely some trial and error along the way (I threw out 3 lbs of chocolate!) but the end result was perfect!  The cake pops were delicious and such a difference from your typical cake or cupcakes for the birthday.  This post will be a little different as it will have pictures along the waybut I wanted you to be able to understand what they looked like.  If you are new to the cake ball/cake pop world you are probably wondering what I am talking about.  Imagine a moist cake rolled up and dipped in chocolate and made just the perfect size so that you can eat quite a few without feeling like you've ate a lot - almost sinful right?!?!?  They are definitely an addicting little addition to your baking collection. 

A recipe I can't wait to try...

Prosciutto: dry-cured spiced Italian ham usually sliced thin

What a beautiful tablescape!

I am not a ham lover.  For as long as I can remember my mom has gotten honey baked hams for Thanksgiving and every year she also has to make a turkey because I refuse to eat the ham.  I just do not like the way ham tastes.  However, I do like Prosciutto.  I know, it is probably just a mental thing as to why I like it but not regular ham but for some reason I do.  I think it goes back to 2 year s ago when I went to Italy with the husband's family. While we were there I began to acquire a taste for some of the Italian staples that I didn't like before including olive oil, tomatoes, and prosciutto.  If you have never been on a trip where they serve the local far fresh, you probably don't understand what I mean.  But there is just something about eating the fresh food that really changes your palette.  I began to like pineapples when I visited  markets in Hawaii, began to like plain bread when I visited Paris bakeries, and the above foods when I visited Italy.  I also am madly in love with goat cheese.  I could honestly eat it straight out of the package (but due to its cost, I don't).  So when I saw this recipe that combined goat cheese, prosciutto, lemon, olive oil, and arugula I knew it was a match made in heaven.  I haven't tried it yet but decided to go ahead and post it so that you could have the joy of attempting it also.  This recipe is from Saveur magazine and was passed on to me in an email.  When I opened the email and began reading the recipe I was instantly in love.  Not only is it a great combination of ingredients but it would make a lovely appetizer for a shower, girls party or any other event where someone would enjoy the great ingredients.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I imagine I will.