Sweet Corn Bread

I made BBQ Beef the other night and decided that it would be nice to have some cornbread to go with it.  I like sweet cornbread and since I was making it I decided to go with that!  (So there!)

In my quest to find some good cornbread recipes I ended up on the Tasty Kitchen website, which is run by the The Pioneer Woman.  This was easy to make and the only thing I had to buy was the can of creamed corn.  I call that a win.  Mr. T enjoyed it too (as you can see by the missing corner).

Sweet Cornbread:
(Tasty Kitchen- asweetpeachef)

Ingredients:
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup Yellow Cornmeal
½ cup Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
2-½ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 whole Egg
1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
½ cup Creamed Corn


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt) in a large mixing bowl. In a separate, smaller mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients (egg, milk, oil and creamed corn). Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Be careful not to over-mix.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick or knife to the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Crock Pot BBQ Beef

I had a day of vacation recently but didn't have the luxury to sit around all day and plan a fantastic dinner.  I decided to put my effort into my sides and use my crock pot for the main dish.

Crock Pot BBQ Beef:

1 beef roast
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon steak seasoning
1/2 cup favorite BBQ sauce

Sprinkle ginger, pepper, garlic powder, and steak seasoning on a non-frozen beef roast.  Put the roast in a crock pot on low for 5-7 hours. (I put it in before work and take it out when I get home).

Drain the fat and juices that cooked out of the roast.  Add the BBQ sauce and continue cooking for 20-30 minuets.

This also makes great left overs.

Lemon-Chive Tilapia

In my quest to use some of my old cookbooks and cooking magazines I found this recipe for tilapia, and you all know how much my household eats tilapia.

This was easy to make and except for the fact that my fish stuck to the pan it turned out great.

Lemon-Chive Tilapia:
(Clean Eating Magazine- June 2011)

4 boneless tilapia fillets
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch chives, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Juice of a lemon

In a small bowl mix together lemon juice, chives, and salt. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and let lightly brown. Add the tilapia and cook for 3 minutes then flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until it's opaque.

Serve each fillet with a tablespoon of the lemon chive sauce on top.

Key Lime Pie

I love Key Lime Pie.  There have been many birthdays where i've had key lime pie instead of a cake.  It's one of my favorites.

Here are two very important things to know about key lime pie.

#1: Key lime pie should NEVER been green.  If it is, run far far away.
#2: Nellie & Joe's is the best key lime juice to use.  Don't use store brand.  It's not worth it.

Key Lime Pie:
(Nellie & Joe's)

9" graham cracker pie crust
14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
½ cup Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice

Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating. 

Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream and garnish with lime slices.

Cake Mix Cookies

I found these on the interwebs.  It's a fantastic idea and since cake mixes are BOGO all the time I decided that this would be a good recipe to keep in my "Holy Crap I forgot that I need to bring something to work/school/church tomorrow!" file.

Cake Mix Cookies:
(Pillsbury)

1 (18.9-oz.) pkg. Cake Mix (I used chocolate, because I had chocolate)

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

Bake at 375 for about 6-8 minutes.

Meal Plan for 8/22

This isn't my strongest week when it comes to my meal plan. I only have 5 days done but it's better than nothing.

1) Clean Eating Sauteed Fish Sticks

2) Turkey Black Bean soft tacos

3) Red Beans and Rice

4) Clean Eating Crispy Chicken Sandwich

5) Mexican Chicken with yellow rice


What are you eating this week?

Leonardo's Pizza By the Slice

Leonardo's Pizza By the Slice

1245 West University Ave

Gainesville, FL 32601

352.375.2007

 Check out their menu here .

Every town has their "go-to" pizza joint.  In my opinion this is Gainesville's.  It's been around since I was a child and pretty much has stayed the same.  It's a counter service restaurant and honestly, the staff isn't going to go out of their way to help you, but the food is good.  You can't have everything.

They have all the traditional pizzas: cheese, pepperoni, meat lovers, etc.  They also have a pretty good vegan slice, portobello mushroom, and greek slice.  You can get a thick slice or a thin slice.  Talk about options.  One must have when you're there are the garlic rolls.  They're amazing (and come with a side salad).

Here is a slice of their cheese with their organic salad and rolls.  The organic salad comes with mixed greens, feta cheese, dried cranberries, toasted almonds, and raspberry vinaigrette.  It's my favorite.

If you're looking for a good bite to eat stop by Leo's and give it a shot.

Turkey Tacos

We eat a lot of turkey.  It's not just for Thanksgiving anymore. Ground turkey cooks up easily and in my opinion it's just as good as beef.

Turkey Tacos:

1 package of ground turkey

1 tablespoon favorite taco seasoning

1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Chipotle Seasoning

1-2 teaspoons chipotle sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat.  Add the turkey and brown.  When the meat is browned add the seasonings and water.  Stir together and reduce heat.  Simmer, stirring until the sauce thickens.

Top tacos with favorite toppings.

Weekly Meal Plan

Im posting from my phone. My silly computer has decided to kick the bucket.

This week im going through all of my cookbooks to find some new things to make. Here's what I came up with.

Monday: Chicken Fried Steak with Clean Eating southwest cheddar steak fries.

Tuesday: Greek yogurt Chicken Kabobs with garlic mushrooms.

Wednesday: we might be going out to a new restaurant with some friends.

Thursday: Pasta with meat sauce.

Friday: Disney's Honey Sesame Chicken

Saturday: Clean Eating's Lemon Chive Tilapia

Mushroom Cheese Bread

I would like to thank Publix for this idea.

Mushroom Cheese Bread:

1 loaf crusty bread, cut in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup italian cheese shredded cheese blend

1 cup of baby Portabello mushrooms, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.  Brush olive oil on both pieces of bread (on the cut side, not the crust side).  Lay the mushroom slices on top of the bread and sprinkle with garlic and cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Barbecue Shark

Publix sells shark meat.  Did you know that?  I didn't.  We decided to give it a shot and try it out.  We got this recipe from Publix too, it was printed on the label from the seafood department.

Barbecue Shark:

(Publix)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tabelspoons brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons green onion, chopped

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 pound shark fillet

Combine all ingredients, except for the fish, in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Coat the fish with the warm mixture and place on a grill with medium high heat.  Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.  Baste the fish with the sauce as it cooks.

Meal Plan- Week of August 7th

I did pretty well last week with my meal plan.  I'm definitely motivated to continue this planning.  I'm trying to branch out and try some new things as well as use some of the cookbooks that are sitting on my shelf.

Here is this week's plan.

Monday: Crispy Lemon Tilapia with sauteed broccoli
Tuesday: Buffalo Chickpea Patties in a pita with some tzatziki sauce
Wednesday: I'm not sure yet.  Maybe red beans and rice.
Thursday: Buttermilk Turkey Breast
Friday: Probably pizza
Saturday: BBQ Beef in the crock pot
Sunday: Leftovers

Mushrooms and Onions

Whenever Mr. T and I go out to a steakhouse I get the mushrooms and onion add on.  I love them and in my opinion mushrooms and onions are a must have with a steak.

Mushrooms and Onions:

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 carton of mushrooms, baby bellas or button, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon steak seasoning

Heat a skillet over high heat.  Add the olive oil and butter and let melt together.  Add the mushrooms, onion, and steak seasoning.  Cook, stirring randomly, until the onions are starting to turn soft and get a little brown on the edges.

Stove Top Steaks

We don't have a grill.  3rd story apartments don't tend to be big fans of grills.  I had to learn how to cook a steak on the stove top.  It's really pretty easy and the steaks taste pretty good!

Stove Top Steak:

2 New York Strip Steaks (or whatever steak you want)

2 tablespoons of steak seasoning (I use Montreal Steak)

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce

1 large cast iron skillet

Take the steak out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you're ready to cook it. Sprinkle your favorite steak seasoning on both sides of the steak.

Heat a large cast iron skillet until its very hot, it must be cast iron.  Melt the butter in the pan and add the worcestershire sauce.  Once the butter is melted add the steaks.  They should sizzle when they touch the pan.  Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side form medium-ish and longer if that's what you want.