Blackberry Tarts

Well, I was going to put up the cutest video of Tato, but for some reason none of my videos will upload, so you'll have to deal with another recipe.

This recipe came about because I was desperate for some sort of dessert, and this uses ingredients I happen to have on hand.

First I have to say that I lifted the creamy filling for these tarts directly from here, my favorite site ever, Our Best Bites. I better give credit where credit is due. Oh and the blackberry topping is modified from the raspberry sauce in the Betty Crocker Cookbook.


Blackberry Tarts

Crust
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about one sleeve of crackers)
1/4 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
1 8-oz. package cream cheese at room temperature (light is fine)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Topping
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water
10 oz frozen blackberries (it was about 3/4 of the bag that I had, it doesn't have to be exact)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press it into as many cupcake liners as you can. (Believe me, you will want a lot of these) Press into the bottom of the liners and up the sides. Put them into a muffin tin and bake in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. After they have cooled for a few minutes you can cool them in the fridge while you do the rest.

In saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water and blackberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute more. Remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes on the counter while you do the next step, then let it cool in the fridge until desired temperature. (it is good warm, cold, room temperature . . . seriously)

In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a separate large bowl, beat the whipping cream and powdered sugar until medium peaks form. Add about 1 c. of the whipping cream mixture to the cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth and well-combined. Add the remaining whipping cream mixture and mix until just combined. Pour/spread into cooled mini crusts.

Top with blackberry topping and enjoy! These are still delicious the next day too!

And here are the girls after trying them. I kid you not, these were taken directly after eating Blackberry Tarts.

Breaded Chicken

Ok so I mentioned I might add some recipes to my blog. I've really enjoyed cooking lately and since most people blog about their passions, and cooking is fast becoming one of mine, I figured it couldn't hurt to blog about some of my more successful cooking endeavors. I realize to most of you who have been cooking for years these early recipes will seem . . . simple really, however keep in mind just a few years ago the fanciest meal I made was a can of green beans and instant mashed potatoes. I know right. (That's not to say we still don't eat those : ) Oh, and forgive the amatuer food photography.

I'm starting out with an easy recipe that I just got from just using things from my pantry. Without further ado:

Breaded Chicken - Serves 2 - 4

1 - 6 oz bag Seasoned Dressing Mix (we use Mrs. Cubbison's Classic Dressing Seasoned)
1 or 2 Chicken Breasts (use 1 breast for 2 servings or 2 breasts for 4 servings)
1 or 2 eggs (again depending on the servings)
Olive Oil
Marinara Sauce (you can just use your favorite brand)


Take the bag of dressing mix and smash it until it is dust. Using the back of an ice cream scoop works great for this. Fill a small bowl with about 1/3 to 1/2 of the breading. You definitely won't need all of it. Keep the portion you don't use in a Ziploc bag to be used for future chicken breading endeavors.

Place a chicken breast between two peices of plastic wrap. That step is vital, otherwise you will have chicken juices flying everywhere. Don't ask me how I know. Make sure to seal the edges of the plastic wrap. Take a meat mallet (have no idea if this is what they are actually called) or your trusty ice cream scoop (ours is really heavy so it works for all sorts of food bludgeoning) and pound the chicken flat. This is a great meal for getting out aggression . . .
Cut your now flattened chicken breast in half.

Scramble your egg/eggs in a small bowl. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. The oil should cover the bottom of the pan quite generously (the bread crumbs will soak up a bit so don't skimp on the oil).

Once the pan is hot dip each chicken in the bowl of egg and coat each piece. Then dip each chicken in the breading and coat each piece. Then quickly transfer to your heated skillet.

Cook on each side about 3-5 minutes. Top with a spoonful of heated marinara. I don't know if it's because this meal is so easy (especially when you already have a stash of smashed dressing mix) or if it really is that good . . . but yummmmm, I want this all the time.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! Er, 4 days ago. Ever since getting Photoshop Elements it takes so much longer to blog. I feel compelled to edit all the pictures. : ) Thanks to Terry's parents we were able to go on a date sans kids. It was wonderful. We ate at Texas Road House which has the best ever mashed potatoes and gravy.

Tato got her first Valentine from a boy. Her friend that moved across the country sent her a little package with candy, stickers, balloons and a card. It was the cutest thing ever. I would say I was more excited than her, but this time I don't think that's true.

Thanks guys for the cutest Valentine ever. Hope you're having fun getting snowed on out there. : (

That morning I whipped up a batch of pink pancake batter and Terry cooked us some heart shaped pancakes.

To be honest Terry and I don't usually do much for Valentines day but this year we had so much fun! Some holidays really are more fun with kids. (I don't think the heart shaped pancakes would have happened without them ; )

Terry's Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated Terry's birthday. For lunch we went to Fuddruckers (he loves that place), and then we went home to open presents and eat cake and ice cream. Last year I made a cake from scratch but I decided the difference in taste wasn't worth all the effort so this time I made one from a box, although I did make cream cheese frosting from scratch which is definitely worth the extra effort. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, mmmmm his favorite. Then for dinner I made him chicken tetrazzini.

I also made him a card (pictured above) that I found on a really fun crafting blog, How About Orange. I saw the tutorial for this card and I thought is was so cute that I had to make it. Mine clearly isn't as good a hers but hey, I'm getting better at this crafting thing.

Anyways, I hope he had a great day filled with yummy food and lots of fun!

BBQ

This year for Memorial Day we had a Barbecue at Nate and Jill's house. Now I know Memorial Day was a few weeks ago but that is how long it takes me to put the pictures on my computer for some reason. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. Jill's mom and grandma even came into town for the long weekend. I really love getting together with the family, and of course the great food doesn't hurt. I love good ole BBQ food. Burgers, Mac salad, chips, soda, dessert. Yeah, it's a real wonder how I've gained 30 pounds since High School. A real wonder. We ate, talked and played games. It was a lot of fun. Tato always has a good time over there too because she get's to play with her cousins. I know Terry will be dismayed in my choice of picture of him, but that is what he gets for being such a goofball. : )Marshall helping the kids search for bugs.

I love this picture. Bella always loves reading to, and playing with Tato. They are little buddies.

In other news (and I'm sure most of you already know) I am pregnant . . . again. Yes it was a "surprise" and yes I know where babies come from. It will take me awhile to get used to the idea of another little rugrat around the house, but I am finally starting to get excited. I had my first ultra-sound and somehow I am 12 weeks already. I seemed to have missed the first 6 weeks of my pregnancy. That's ok though, it's sure catching up to me now. Anyways, I'm open to suggestions for a nickname for the new baby. We don't know the gender yet so it kinda needs to be cute for either gender. We've been using Peanut for now but it just doesn't fit like Tato did. She is just a little Tato, that's all there is to it.

Do you want Bananas or Carrots?

I have a very strange baby.

For about a month now we have been feeding her baby food in addition to her usual before bed breast milk. Our pediatrician told us to start her on veggies first, and then go to fruit after a full cycle of all the veggies. I guess once babies try the deliciousness that is fruit, well, they don't really want veggies after that. So we went through all the veggies, doing each one at least 3 days in a row. She loved all the new flavors. With each new veggie she would make a little face like she was trying to decide what she thought, and then her face flew forward, mouth wide open hoping for more veggie goodness. I did peas last because I was worried she would hate them (I mean who really likes peas?), but she gobbled them up just like the rest.

So tonight was the big night . . . her first night of fruit. She looked on with anticipation as I opened the lid to the tasty smelling bananas. I was completely doubled over in laughter at her reaction to the first taste. Sputtering, twisted facial features, dry heaves. She was NOT digging the bananas. I tried a few more spoonfuls just to make sure it wasn't just the initial shock of something so sweet but no, she hated it, every last bite. I tried mixing it with some rice cereal (which she normally enjoys) and she wouldn't eat that either. She made sure to push every last bit out of her mouth with her tongue. I just couldn't stop laughing. So I warmed up some green beans and she happily chomped away.

Happy Birthday Terry!

This weekend we celebrated Terry's birthday. I took him out for lunch to his favorite restaurant and then for dinner I packed a picnic and we had an indoor picnic (it's still a little too cold for an outside one). It was a lot of fun. I decided to try to make a lemon cake with lemon frosting from scratch and it turned out pretty good. It doesn't look very fancy, but it tasted pretty yummy. It was kinda fun to try my hand at baking but I can't see myself doing all that work very often when they make perfectly good cake mixes that take half the time to make and to be honest seem to cost less too (unless you cook a lot and have all the ingredients on hand I'm sure).

5 things that I love about Terry

1. He works hard. When he lost his job last year he didn't get discouraged. He went out and had another job within a week. He always puts his most into each job he does and doesn't try to get away with slacking at work.

2. He is generous. He is always willing to help people even when he doesn't have the time. He gets up with the baby when I am too tired and is always willing to help me clean when I feel overwhelmed. He always thinks about others and rarely thinks of himself.

3. He is handy. He knows just enough about computers, cars and power tools so I know if something minor breaks we won't get ripped off trying to get it fixed.

4. He is funny. One of the first things about him I fell in love with was his sense of humor. He is very witty and always says the funniest things in the most unexpected moments.

5. He is hot. Well . . . he is.

Happy Birthday Terry!