Pancakes

I made these pancakes yesterday morning and they turned out perfectly. They actually turned out prettier than they typically do when I use the pre-made Bisquick stuff. Boom! They were fluffy, golden, and delicious. I found the recipe on PW's website and they were very easy to make.

Makes 9 pancakes.

Cook time: 10 minutes

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 1/2 c cake flour plus 1 T 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 T plus 1  1/2 t baking powder
• 1 T sugar
• 1 c milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 T butter
• extra butter (optional)
• maple or pancake syrup
• large mixing bowl
• 1 large skillet

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for over a year now and just got around to making it on Valentine’s day. I found it on my friend Courtney's blog and I freaking love it. It turned out way better than I imagined it would. Possibly the best enchiladas I’ve ever had. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making frequently from now on!

So please be sensible and try it out. It calls for a small number of ingredients and took no time to prepare. I served mine with Mexican Rice, sour cream, and guac.

Makes 6 servings.

Bake time: 15-20 minutes

Cinnamon Toast

I know it seems ridiculous to post a recipe for cinnamon toast, but I’m just sharing what’s good, people! Plus the breakfast page was looking lonely on here. I saw this cinn toast method before on PW’s website and thought nothing of it. Meh, cinnamon toast.. I can make that without directions. But the other night I was craving something sweet and that PW cinn toast popped in my head. I ended up trying it the next morning, and let me tell you... it was D. Totes D. I’ve never made it this way before, but I’ll def be keeping this method for the future.

Just make it soon, okay? Don't roll your eyes at the thought of following cinn toast recipe like I did. K. Enjoy. Your welcome.

Makes 4 servings.

Cook time: 12 minutes

Guacamole

I used to be anti-guacamole. I think it's because I had never tried any homemade. Only the pureed version in Mexican restaurants. But my fave gal pal Katie used to force me to eat foreign food items all the time when we lived together, and this was one of them. She used to make it pretty frequently when we lived together, and now I make my own :) I've made it lots of different ways, but this version is by far my favorite.

I used PW's version, of course, and it's great. It's basically just a mixture of pico de gallo and mashed avocados. So good. And so easy to make.

Make 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1/4-1/2 large onion, chopped (I used white)
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2-3 whole Roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2-2 jalapeno peppers
• 1 lime
• salt
• 2 avocados

Mexican Rice

I made this Valentine's Day night to go along with some enchiladas. The recipe is from the Pioneer Woman's website. It was very quick and easy to whip up! You should make it.


Makes 8 servings.
Total prep and cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 T of canola oil (I used olive oil because I had no canola)
• 1/2 whole large onion, chopped (I used white)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 c dry long grain rice (I used basmati)
• 1 10 oz can Rotel
• 1  14.5 oz can OR 1  3/4 c freshly diced tomatoes
• 2 c or more of low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• fresh cilantro, chopped

Raspberry Lemon Drop Martini

I first tried this tasty beverage at Buca di Beppo in Dallas at the beginning of the year. It was sour and sweet and I loved it. Hands down the best martini I’ve ever had. All the others I’ve tried have been olivey and blegh. Not very tasty, you know? Well this little gem is different. It’s just the right amount of sweet and you can hardly taste the Bacardi.

I searched google for the recipe on the way back from Dallas and finally found one here. I would suggest making your own lemon sour mix. I've made the martini with both store bought and homemade lemon sour and the homemade was much better. Please try it! Everyone that has loved it.

Makes 2 martinis.

Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

Aren’t these little guys adorbs? I love em. They were tasty and fun to make. I love rolling out cookies and decorating them. I found the recipe on one of my favorite baking blogs, Dozen Flours. All the the baked items I have tried from there have turned out so well. You should check out some of her recipes!

These little babies would be perfect for Valentine’s day, if you go for the heart shape. Too bad I'm posting them the day after Valentine's day. You can use any type of cookie cutter shape you'd like though. This is the best sugar cookie recipe I've tried, so I'll definitely be using it any time I need to make some sugar cookies. I ended up making two batches of these because I loved em so much. They all turned out cute and yummy :)

Makes 16-20 cookies.

Cook time: 8-12 minutes

Creamy Spinach Soup

Listen up. This is a totally delicious soup. It’s one of my most favorite soups I’ve ever made. I’d probably rank it #2 behind Taco Soup. The liquid green pictures do not not illustrate how amazing this soup really is. You’ll just have to trust me.

I found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Imagine that. I’ve made it twice and I love love love it. I think next time I’ll puree half the spinach and leave the other half wilted so that the soup will be a little more chunkier/thicker. The cayenne pepper in it really spices the flavor up, so if you’re not into that kind of thing, I would definitely leave it out. It’s not too overpowering, but I have the feeling that some people might not like it.

Reasons you should make this:

1. It is less than 300 calories per serving. 
2. It’s one of my favorite soups in the whole world.
3. It’s warm and delicious.
4. It’s freezing cold outside.
5. It’s a 30 minute meal and super easy to make.

Makes 8 servings.

Calories per serving: 230

Total prep and cook time: 30 minutes

Dulce de Leche

Mmmm... This stuff is good. Dulce de Leche is a thick, milk-based caramel sauce. It's really easy to make at home. All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk. Pre-made dulce de leche can be found on the hispanic isle at most grocery stores. It is labeled as Cajeta. 

I have used the pre-made kind before, but I think it's more fun to make your own. You can add it to all sorts of baked items. I'm going to use mine in some brownies.

Cook time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients: 

• 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk 

Doggy Birthday Cake

We celebrated my sweet pup's birthday today at work. To celebrate, I gave Callisto a pat on the head and a peanut butter banana cake. She loved it. So did her friends. I've never seen a cake disappear so quickly. I think it was gone within 5 minutes.

Anyway, this is a super easy recipe to whip up that I found over at Taste. And it is perfectly okay for your dog to eat. It smelled really good when I pulled it out of the oven, but I doubt it would taste good to us because there is no sugar in it. Please make it! Your dogs will love you.

Makes 16 servings.

Total prep and cook time: 1 hour

Creamy Rosemary Potatoes

I made this delicious item last weekend. I brought it over to my parents house as a side to go with the steak and salad they made. And mmmmm, it was good, y’all. The recipe is from my Pioneer Woman Cookbook that my fave gal pal Katie gave me. I love that cookbook.

Makes 9 servings.

Cook time: 1 hour