Pecan Pie in a Jar Label Edit

Oops! I just realized the lid printables were a little too big, so I resized & put all the labels on one 8.5x11 page for easier printing. Another thing to help make the presentation a little prettier is to put the Karo, sugar & vanilla in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. It makes it a much prettier, less murky brown color. And I quadrupled the recipe so I don't have to do it as many times. Thanks, & enjoy! If you have any printing problems, feel free to shoot me an email.

Pecan Pie In A Jar

Tis the season for baking & gifting & crafting! Here's a little bit of everything all in one.

When I was out shopping the other day, I came across this Pecan Pie in a Jar at Williams Sonoma. I love this idea, so I decided to create my own version with my own label. I included the labels as jpg's so you can print on sticky paper, stick to your jar & gift to your favorite friend or holiday hostess! Here's what you'll need:

FOR THE JAR MIX:

Medium sized mason jar

1 heaping cup of Pecans

1 cup Dark Corn Syrup

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp pure Vanilla

1/4 cup chocolate chips (if you have a big enough jar. You can put these in a separate tiny jar too if you want to keep them separate. See photo & additional label below).

TO BAKE THE PIE:

1 pre-cooked 9 inch pie shell (I like Sister Schubert's)

3 eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

First, toast the pecans. I toasted my pecans in the toaster oven with a little vanilla sugar & cinnamon for about 4 minutes. Mix the corn syrup, pecans, sugar & vanilla in a mixing bowl. Then pour the mixture in to the jar and BOOM! Christmas gift! Don't forget to add the directions though because it could get messy without the eggs & butter. You could also add a tiny jar of chocolate chips in case someone might like chocolate pecan pie. The first one I made, I added the chips into the jar, which worked fine, but the jar was too big & it looked weird. But, you can also double the recipe & use a really big jar. If you order adhesive paper online instead of an office supply store, you'll save about 20 bucks. Here's a link to some that will do just fine. 

So simple & so delicious. I got this text after I made it the first time! YES! Thanks, Reid!

I hope you enjoy! Email me with any questions, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Tilapia Tacos

Super easy & delicious summer dinner. I call them "Tilapia Tacos" because "Fish Tacos" sounds gross to me. It's pretty light & a lot of delicious. Even Jonathan loved these, & he's not a fan of fish in general. Unless it's shellfish. Anyway, here's the recipe: 

Tilapia Tacos

Ingredients:

Two Tilapia Filets

Tortillas of your choice

Shredded Pepperjack Cheese

Avocado

Cilantro

One lime, sliced

Santa Fe Tortilla Strips

Sour cream / Light sour cream

Seasoning:

Garlic Powder

Chili Powder

Cumin Powder

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt

Directions:

Spray tilapia filets with olive oil so the seasonings will stick better. Season the filets generously / to taste with the spices. (I do this & chop the cilantro & lime ahead of time so when I'm ready to eat, all I have to do is cook the fish.) Once it's seasoned, you can keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to cook it. Spray a skillet with plenty of olive oil & let it heat to medium / medium high. You don't want it to get too hot as it will cook the fish too fast & it will be gross. So use your best judgement. Squeeze a wedge of lime on to each filet while cooking. I turn them when the edges start turning white. Then squeeze more lime on the other side. Once I think they're finished cooking, I'll flake them open with a spatula (just to be sure!) and break them in to taco sized pieces. 

For the tortillas, I wish I'd had the mini size, but I could only buy them in packages of 100, so I went with the medium sized. Usually to make the shells warm & sticky, I'll dampen a few paper towels & put a tortilla in between each one & microwave, but I didn't have any paper towels so I improvised & they turned out even better! (happy accident :D) I had some Chinet paper plates, so I put a little water in one & dipped the tortillas in there. Not a lot of water, just enough to cover the tortilla. I wet two plates & put the tortillas in between & popped in the microwave for 30 seconds. No more or they'll get hard. PERFECT! 

Once the tortillas are ready, spread desired amount of sour cream down the center. Add fish, cheese, cilantro, avocado & tortilla slices then top with another squeeze of lime juice. 

I'm telling you, these are better than any restaurant fish tacos you've ever had! And SO easy. I usually serve with cilantro parmesan corn on the cob, but didn't have time to toss that on the grill, so we just went with blue corn chips & salsa instead. 

This can serve up to 4 if you're using the medium tortillas, up to 6 with the minis.

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to email me with any questions :) 

Caramel Sauce with Sea Salt

So I know I said I'd be posting meal recipes, but this caramel is just a fun thing to know how to make. And what if you're having ice cream one night, & you're like "This ice cream is so boring. It really needs to step it up a notch. I KNOW! I can make that caramel sauce I saw on Third Bird Mom's blog to put on there!" So you're welcome for that. And it can be used in several different ways. It's pretty simple, but you have to be kind of quick. I wouldn't cook this if there were kids running around underneath me as it gets pretty hot. 

Caramel Sauce with Sea Salt

non-stick skillet

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons of butter

Sea Salt to taste

1. Pre-measure ingredients & have them ready

2. Heat skillet to medium high heat. This may need to be adjusted depending on your stove. Pour the sugar in & begin stirring with a wooden spoon or whisking. The sugar should begin to liquefy. My heat was up a little high, so it got hard in places. I kept pushing the sugar to the center of the pan so it would all liquefy at the same time.

3. Once the sugar is melted, add the butter. The mixture will start to bubble. Stir until the mixture is smooth, then remove from heat and slowly stir in the heavy cream. Once the cream is mixed in, add as much or little sea salt as you'd like. I'd start with a little, then add more as you go so it won't get too salty.

4. Let it cool for a few minutes then do whatever you want with it! I put mine in this cute tiny mason jar. Then drizzled it on some apple slices. The possibilities are really endless. The caramel in jars make great gifts too!

Hope you enjoyed today's recipe! 

Turkey, Gouda Avocado Omelet

This week I'll be posting a variety of simple recipes for busy moms. Or for anyone who needs to cook a quick meal. Some will be more easy meal ideas than recipes, but I just want to share a few things I like to cook, especially when there's not a lot of time. Or if I'm completely exhausted. Which isn't the most rare thing around here.

So, without further ado, here's my first simple meal of the week

Turkey, Gouda Avocado Omelet

What you'll need:

a good non-stick skillet

olive oil or cooking spray

3-4 eggs or egg whites (I used 2 eggs, 2 egg whites)

salt

pepper

turkey

gouda

avocado

salsa

First, spray the skillet generously with cooking spray or olive oil & turn it on medium high heat. I use this Misto olive oil mister. A smaller skillet works best as it keeps the eggs from spreading too thin.  Then, whisk the eggs in a small bowl & season with salt & pepper. Garlic salt is also delicious. 

Once the skillet seems ready, pour the egg mixture in there & just be patient. 

I let it sit until it starts bubbling & looking cooked from the top. If it looks sturdy, try to flip it over so both sides are cooked all the way. if not, just let it keep cooking.

Then layer with deli turkey & gouda on one side, then fold the other side on top with a spatula.

I topped with avocado, salsa & a little jalapeno tabasco for an extra kick. And if your omelet falls apart, you can always just scramble all the ingredients together for an equally delicious breakfast.

Hope you enjoyed!

Halloween Party!

Just wanted to share a few photos from the Halloween party we hosted last night. There were some really great costumes, and we had a blast!


Sangria with spooky eyeballs. Always a hit!

I got a styrofoam head from a beauty supply shop for about $3 then put the cheese toothpicks all over the head. Also added a little food coloring for a little extra gross:)

Little keebler cookies with a Hershey's kiss make adorable little witch hats!

This was my favorite! Buried alive cake. It's so delicious, you won't even believe it! Check for the recipe under my recipes tab:)

Me and my friend Ashley snagged a few branches from the curbs in the neighborhood and stretched spider webs all over then added a few spiders and bugs.

Here it is at night with the green light bulbs.



Spooky old lady shadow made of construction paper

Pumpkin puking Guacamole

Magenta (Amanda), Flapper Gal (moi), and Cleopatra (Ashley)

Such a fun night! Hope you enjoyed the photos:) Happy Halloween!

Lime Cheesecake for my Patient

So, I'm in Brooklyn for a few weeks taking care of my sister. She just had spinal fusion surgery, along with a laminectomy and a diskectomy. So obviously, she's not in great shape right now. But, she's getting better every day! I'll keep you posted on that. So, since we've been confined to about 400 square feet, we get kind of bored. And hungry. And I also believe that sweets are an excellent form of medication for people who are in pain. So since the weather's been so nice (except for the "tornado" yesterday) we decided to make adorable tiny lime cheesecakes to go along with all the sunshine pouring through the windows! The recipe comes from this cookbook. And it's suuuuper easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Nilla wafers

1 container cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

1 small can (one cup) sweetened condensed milk

2 limes

STEP 1

While cream cheese is softening, crush desired amount of Nilla wafers in a ramekin for the crust

STEP 2

Line the bottom of the ramekin with the crushed cookies.

STEP 3

Mix the cream cheese and condensed milk until it looks blended

STEP 4

Juice and zest the limes and mix in with the cream cheese mixture until it looks glossy

STEP 5 (optional)

Make yourself a gin and Raspberry lemonade

STEP 6

Pour mixture in to each ramekin and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm

The finished product! I think it looks pretty with the one cookie on top, but we ended up crumbling more on top because we forgot how delicious Nilla wafers are. Hope you enjoy!