What I Baked on Sunday

Egg & Veggie Scramble

I am not usually an egg person, unless they are hard boiled or a small part of a recipe. My mom doesn't even like to touch eggs, so it was not something we had a lot for breakfast growing up. This morning, I woke up wanting something heartier than my usual oatmeal so I decided to venture into the land of omelet making. I chopped up some veggies but when it came time to assemble the omelet, I realized I was in uncharted territories. Having no idea what I was doing, I decided to make a veggie scramble instead. It turned out well and was the perfect breakfast, served alongside a toasted english muffin (don't worry that's cream cheese not butter).

Chicken Alfredo

As you can see from my previous post, I cooked a lot of noodles but wasn't sure what to do with them. I decided to use whatever I had in the fridge to throw together some sort of creamy alfredo sauce. I started with some butter and cream cheese (like I said, whatever I had in the fridge). Once that was melted, I poured in some half and half (no measurements here, just eyeballed it). I let that simmer for about 5 minutes and then I added in a crushed garlic clove and mozzarella cheese. I was a little skeptical that I had made a milky/runny mess but the sauce thickened up perfectly and was absolutely delicious.

Frosty Toffee Bits Pie

I actually made this yesterday for Liz's birthday but it was so good I had to share. I found the recipe on Pinterest and loved how quick and easy it was. I ended up making my own graham cracker crust. It was simple and I had all of the ingredients. I am not going to lie, it might be my favorite part of the whole pie. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a t. I will definitely make it again and maybe use butterfingers.

Much Ado About Nothing

We made it through Hurricane Irene. We experienced heavy rain and wind but escaped unharmed. It was a good thing too because if we had lost power, that would have been a whole other story. In terms of hurricane preparedness, my efforts were poor.

My provisions consisted of a bottle of water and some cooked noodles. Fortunately, neither were required for survival.

It probably wasn't the smartest idea, but we ended up going out during the hurricane. It was my roommate's birthday and her fiance had planned a night on the town before the storm was even on the radar. So after spending the majority of the day being couch potatoes, we decided a little rain and wind shouldn't prevent us from celebrating the big 2-5. We piled into the limo and headed to the city. Mark had made reservations at Local 16, a hot spot on U Street, known for their rooftop patio. 

While we didn't get to take in the view, we had the best time downstairs. It was fun to have such a popular place to ourselves for the most part. The food was delicious and the company was great. We then piled back in the limo and headed to a karaoke bar per the birthday girl's request. It just goes to show that a little bad weather can't prevent someone from having fun on her birthday.

The Calm Before the Storm

On Friday, we were all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I took my lunch break later in the afternoon and headed to the park in front of our office to read. A few pages in, I looked up and saw this:

Ducks. In the middle of downtown DC, coming to bathe in the fountain. Being a low country girl, it sort of reminded me of home - except I wasn't in a duck pond watching the sunrise. 

Later that afternoon, Liz and I headed over to Steph's house for dinner. This was the view from the car:

A perfect rainbow.

It was as if God was reminding me of the beauty in the world; encouraging me to remember who was in control as we waited on the storm. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

The Sky is Falling

On Tuesday, I experienced my first earthquake. Needless to say, once we all realized it was a natural disaster and not a terrorist attack, people turned to the web to share their "survivor" stories. Here are some of the highlights:

@snowed_in: “Breaking: Carole King feels the earth move under her feet.”


@ezraklein: “The Ocean’s 13 team is presumably stealing something pretty valuable right now.”

 This picture sums it up pretty well:

Thankfully, there was only minimal damage and no injuries were reported. Hopefully the same can be said after this weekend.

But who knows, maybe the locust are already on their way...

Book Club

Along with reading The Help this summer, I also read:

A pretty interesting read.

One of my favorite books. I read it in three days. It was so different from his other books but still amazing. 

So now, I am in need of some suggestions of what to dive into next...Thoughts?

What I Baked on Sunday

Confession: I may or may not have an obsession with food blogs. I find myself looking at them during my lunch break, when I have a few minutes of down time at work, when I get home, and before I go to bed.

One thing I noticed from all the different blogs is that most of the recipes overlap. [This is probably a good thing, since I am trying to ween myself from this obsession.] But I also saw that a lot of food bloggers participate in What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW), where they document everything that they eat during the day.

So, instead of joining the crowd, I decided that I would introduce What I Baked on Sunday. Sundays are my day to prepare for the week ahead and I normally find myself baking up a storm in the kitchen. I am hoping that this will become a weekly post but with my crazy life, I can't make any promises.

What I Baked on Sunday Edition 1

Stuffed Shells

I didn't really follow a recipe. I just used some jumbo shells, frozen spinach, ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with that combination.


Homemade Granola

I was inspired by the fruit, yogurt, and granola bar that was at Carrie's shower. I used this recipe from Get Off Your Tush and Cook but used extra flax seed meal as a substitute for wheat germ and used apple sauce instead of juice. My granola was a little bit crispier without the liquid, so I would recommend cooking it for less time if you omit the juice. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to breakfast this week!


Trader Joe's Truffle Brownies 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was jammed packed but so much fun. Friday night, my roommate and her fiance hosted an impromptu dinner party. After dinner, everyone came over for dessert. On the menu was Individual Raspberry Cobblers from the Pioneer Woman, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. They were divine!

On Saturday, we started the day with a Kitchen and Recipe Shower for Carrie, who is getting married Labor Day weekend. I gave her a brownie pan and the recipe for Lemon Blueberry Bars from Two Peas and Their Pod.

I made them for Bible Study the other week and they were gone before I knew it!

After the shower, we headed out to Leesburg, VA to Old Lucketts Store. It's an antique store offering everything from furniture, architectural elements, art and mirrors, lighting fixtures, and clothing. The "vintage hip" vibe could be seen throughout the store.

While I didn't find anything that I couldn't live without, it was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Following our excursion, we all reconvened to celebrate Abianne's birthday. She recently moved into a new house and they are hoping to throw a themed party every month. Last night, the theme was "We Pledged for a Reason."

Here we all are rocking our letters, pearls, and croakies. It definitely made me miss my college days.

Tonight, my cousin and her husband are coming to stay with us as they pass through on their way to Boston. We are having a cookout with all of their friends and I am in charge of dessert. Instead of making something completely from scratch, I decided to give this box mix a try from Trader Joe's. Hopefully it will be good!

The Help

I am on a mission to finish it either today or tomorrow so that I can go see it this week!

Channeling My Inner Pioneer Woman

The other night, my roommate wanted to make dinner for her fiance. We had some leftover taco meat and decided to try out this enchilada recipe from the Pioneer Woman.
We made the sauce:

Fried the tortillas:

Dunked the tortillas in the sauce, filled them with meat and cheese, and rolled them up:

After some additional cheese and sauce on top, the enchiladas baked for a few minutes before it was time to dig in:

Yum-o!

Must See Movies

Add both of them to your queue now. I highly recommend them, especially when you have this to munch on while you watch:

Nachos Piled High

Happy movie watching!