Recipes

Baby-Ready with HelloFresh

July 1, 2020

Well, we are truly counting down the hours, seconds, moments until Baby R. As we get closer to my due date (in the DEAD of Texas summer), getting out to the grocery store is an endeavor- especially with masks required/heat advisories/and being so pregnant I can barely walk… So with all these factors combined, having my family dinners delivered to my front door is just the best thing that could ever happen to me right now hehe.

I know I talk about HelloFresh a lot y’all, but I promise you it’s because I love them so much. I think it’s important to remind y’all we actually were HelloFresh customers FIRST before ever partnering with them as I have had the opportunity to do over the last year. Working with brands my family actually uses is a top priority to me as an influencer, and integrity is a core value to my family. We will never post certain types of photos for likes, work with brands we don’t trust, or talk about a product we don’t actually love and believe in just for a paycheck. That’s not my job. My job is to create marketing content for brands I love! I think it’s important to share that from time to time to help anybody new around here truly get to know why I do what I do. I love sharing things that I love or make my life easier for the sake of helping you out. Try this brand, not that one. Save some money and avoid testing out products – I did it for you! Buy this quality brand vs. that one – it’s worth the splurge. Or, buy this product instead of that over-priced one! … Whatever the scenario, I love being a resource for you to make educated purchases for your family.

With that said, I AM TEAM HelloFresh! It’s truly so convenient and helpful, and I love trying out recipes I would have never used otherwise. This month, you can click here to get 8 free meals on me (including free shipping!) from HelloFresh!

Some restrictions apply- purchase is required!

Ninja Foodie Review + Zucchini Chips

June 9, 2020

You guys. This is not an exaggeration… I am about to tell you about the best gadget to date we’ve ever bought for our kitchen. We use it literally at least twice, if not three times a day. From eggs, to fully frozen chicken, to pasta dishes… it’s changed our cooking life. Especially because now Paul feels adequate enough to cook dinner hehe. SIGN ME UP!

Okay… the best gadget ever is… Our Ninja Foodie. If you recall, I have raved about our Ninja Coffee maker for about a year. And, we also have the Ninja blender. BUT THIS AIR FRYER AND PRESSURE COOKER IS THE BEST THING EVER. Cue the fireworks, the heart eyes… all the things. I got it for Mother’s Day, and I am still giddy about it. The air fryer setting is what we use the most. I love the crisp it puts on everything. But, I have used the pressure cooker setting for an all-in-one chicken and rice stir fry style dish, and it was very yummy! I didn’t realize the whole pressure cooker thing is actually dangerous, though…. so I just went for it and it’s by God’s grace I didn’t explode the kitchen. I had the lid on wrong… lol. Geez, read the directions and you’ll be better off than me. Easy.

There is also a baking setting you can throw literally anything into to bake (cookies, pizza, frozen baked goods… anything!). The BEST part about this whole gadget, next to the tasty food itself, is the clean up. Our dishes and pots/pans for every meal have decreased significantly. It’s so easy to clean the pot insert, and you literally are done. All done in this one pot.

Gadgets:

Outfit:

Zucchini Chips:

Our favorite restaurant recently gave us their recipe for the Zucchini Chips we order every time we dine there. (Read a full list of my favorite restaurants and what we order, here!) I was mind blown they would do that… and since they were so sweet to, I wanted to share with y’all! These are seriously so good. We do them in the air fryer (they do it in the oil at the restaurant). But, geeeez they’re so yummy either way! Nothing beats them by the chef, though. This just give us our fix in between date nights. 😉

2 Cups Sliced Zucchini

As Needed, Rice and Tapioca Flour Mix (We just used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose)

As Needed, Buttermilk Wash (Club soda for dairy free!)

1/4 cup Peppadew Peppers, cut

3 Shishido Peppers

1 1/2 oz. Sweet Chili Vinaigrette, stirred well (we found a super yummy one at the local grocery store in the foreign foods aisle!)

Lime zested

Cilantro, picked

To Build:

Place zucchini in flour mix, evenly coating by hand. Shake off excess.
Place in buttermilk (or club soda)
Replace zucchini in flour mix and shake off once more
Place zucchini and peppers in fryer at 350 for 15 minutes (or until crispy enough for your liking!) They should be firm – how many you put in at a time will determine the cook time as well.
Toss with Sweet Chili Vinaigrette, lime zest, and cilantro
SERVE AND EAT!

Getting in the Kitchen with HelloFresh!

January 22, 2020

Phew, how has this month already come and gone so quickly? January is always so weird to me, because it feels like Christmas was ages ago… You know, like so last year… 😉 But in reality, it’s only been a few weeks. Anybody else feel so off the first couple weeks of a new year? To kick off our year right, we have made sure that our meal plans are back on track after all the craziness that ensues during the month of December. We ate out so much over the last 6 or so weeks that I am pretty sure it was more than the rest of the year combined.

I am so pumped to partner with HelloFresh to kick off 2020 and share why it’s so important to me to get into the kitchen this year! I believe so wholeheartedly in family time, cooking together, and eating at the dinner table together every night. I mean, truly, we eat at our table almost every single night, other than nights we have family or friend outings for church, etc. I grew up eating a home cooked meal at the table with all 5 of us every night, so I honestly don’t know any different. All I have ever known is you come home after work and start dinner so that your family can be together and eat well. It is just something of importance I carried into my own little family. But, whether you grew up that way or not, I really believe cooking together and eating healthy meals as a family is so important. Knox has also shown interest in the kitchen, too, which has made trying to include him in making the meal fun for us! He gets a kick out of just standing on a chair by the island and watching me, if anything.

I love HelloFresh, because their recipes are fool proof and also something I probably wouldn’t pick on my own. Not because it doesn’t sound good… but because if I was just scrolling through Pinterest, I would feel intimidated by ingredients in a lot of the recipes and just count it out. But, HelloFresh makes it so easy to try new recipes, challenging you to try something new with EASY to follow steps + ingredients all included so you don’t have to worry about a thing. After I finish a HelloFresh meal (in usually about 30 minutes, mind you!!!), I feel empowered and like I should earn a degree in cooking. I also have a stack of about 30 recipes now that I keep on-hand from HelloFresh for when I meal plan for those nights that we don’t have a HelloFresh meal to cook. So one way or another, we cook HelloFresh in our home a lot! Either their recipes or their full meal delivery. To date, our absolute favorite meal we’ve made was the Poblano Enchiladas… OH MY WORD. Y’all, it was so good. Paul took one bite and said, “Whoa, best one yet!”

With our food allergies (Paul is allergic to dairy and I am allergic to gluten/yeast), HelloFresh is really easy to navigate for us because every ingredient is individually wrapped with its own individual nutrition facts. I never have to guess what I can or can’t have! Plus, I like to feed Knox as “normal” of a diet as possible until we know otherwise. But I have been praying he has no food allergies, and so far so good! So, for example, our Poblano tacos required 3 different versions: Dairy-free with corn tortillas, dairy-filled with corn tortillas, and then the normal recipe as it was sent for Knox. The filling was the same for all of us as well as the red sauce they sent ingredients for! You can do this for pretty much any HelloFresh recipe, if you pick wisely. Obviously, you don’t want to pick a breaded chicken recipe if you have a gluten allergy. But for the most part, I would say 90% of the meals can be modified for people in your home with allergies. If you don’t have food allergies… GO HAM! They’re all so amazing. Each week has different options to pick from, so you never will grow tired of their meals!

If you want to challenge yourself to new recipes and family time in the kitchen in 2020, click here to get 10 free meals off your first month of HelloFresh! (Purchase Required)

Our Holiday Meal Plan

December 23, 2019

Hey, hey gals! Can you believe it’s almost Christmas Eve?! I have been a day off in my head and definitely woke up thinking today was the 22nd. Yikes, I have a lot to do today. I will be headed out to grab all of our holiday meals and thought I would share with you! If you are part of my emails and enjoy The Cake for Dinner… I promise it’s returning. I took a break during the holiday season because we have zero consistency and eat out so much more than usual. I will share more about out holiday season soon, but I have just been trying to be completely present! Thanks for understanding. I can’t wait to kick off the new year with healthy meals for your family, though. It’s going to be a blast to start the new year together in good spirits and health.

Christmas Eve:

I grew up eating a special lasagna meal served on my mom’s fancy china on Christmas Eve. It was tradition to go to the candle light service at church followed by our meal together at the table by candle light with my mom’s red table cloth and lace linens. It always felt so special. Then, all my siblings and I would get into our Christmas jammies and sleep in our sleeping bags on the floor of one of our rooms. My parents would come in and film us on the big Camcorder, asking us what we thought Santa was bringing us as we would sleepily recite all of our hopes and dreams for Christmas morning. I can still remember those nights with my siblings on the floor, giggling and falling asleep to the sounds of the hum of our space heaters. I have carried this meal on in my own family, served on my great grandma’s special china that I inherited.

Momma’s Lasagna Recipe

Christmas Morning:

We ate my mom’s easy breakfast casserole every single Christmas morning after opening gifts. By breakfast, my grandparents had made it over to the house and we would all eat together. We are from San Antonio, so topping this dish with salsa is a must. Then, when Paul and I got married, we were so broke that our first Christmas at our apartment had no presents. We only were able to buy some special food to make. So, I decided to make the breakfast casserole and added to our traditions with this amazing French Toast Casserole. It’s seriously become famous among my friends, and they now make it for their own Christmas morning breakfasts and brunch parties. There are always leftovers, and that is our lunch as well as we prepare for dinner.

Momma’s Breakfast Casserole

French Toast Casserole

Christmas Dinner:

Our first Christmas I made rosemary lamb and risotto. It was fantastic. However, some of our family doesn’t do lamb, so we save that dish for other special occasions now. Instead, we do a traditional ham, corn casserole, and sweet potato casserole. Of course served with mulled wine (easy recipe found here).

I have made a slew of different Sweet Potato Casseroles over the years, trying different recipes out. And, y’all. I found the best one. I made it for Thanksgiving and it was such a hit. I found it on Holly Furtick’s Instagram and decided to give it a shot… and wow. I MEAN. This is officially my family’s sweet potato casserole dish.

Casserole:

3 Cups Mashed Sweet Potato (I used 6 massive sweet potatoes… I am not sure if it was 3 cups, but it was the perfect amount IMO)

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. milk (we use Almond to make DF)

1/2 c. melted butter (we use Earth Balance to make DF)

Topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. flour (we use Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose 1-1 Gluten Free)

1/3 c. melted butter

1 c. chopped pecans

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350, prepare a 9×13 baking dish for casserole
In a large bowl, combine mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, and 1/2 c. of melted butter. Blend and spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish.
In separate bowl, combine the topping mixture together, blending all ingredients well. Sprinkle the mixture over the casserole.
Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is hot and topping is golden brown.

The YUMMIEST Winter Crock Pot Short Ribs

November 6, 2019

You guys, I am telling you… this is so easy and SO yummy. It tastes like home, if you know what I mean hehe. Like, just SO GOOD. This meal is perfect for a hostess who maybe doesn’t want to make a ham or turkey for a Christmas party or is having people over for the holidays. If you have family staying with you, count this IN as one of your meals for the week while they’re in town. It is impressive and hearty, but doesn’t take a whole lot of time. You can be the hostess with the mostest without having to slave in the kitchen all day!

Right now, Costco has these amazing packages of short ribs for about $20. They feed 8-10 (or, you can make it all for your smaller family and freeze for future meals like we did!). I saw them while perusing the aisles trying to make my meal plan two weeks ago, and I knew I needed them. I have NEVER made short ribs, but I eat them. And I love them. And I figured I would find a recipe to make them with.

ALAS! 8 hour, fall apart short ribs you will drink the juice from. I am serious… They’re that good. I poured the juice over pasta, potatoes, and salad as a dressing. I am low-key drooling thinking about it all over again. i found a recipe on Pinterest to make this in a skillet but just figured it’d work in the Crock Pot, too. And… IT SO DOES.

8 Hour Crock Pot Short Ribs

Package of defrosted and pat down short ribs

2 cups of red wine (use a Red Blend, Malbec, or Cab! I used Malbec.)

1 garlic clove, chopped (disperse over meat evenly)

Rosemary, peeled and chopped finely

16 oz. beef stock

Salt and Pepper

I served this on top of pasta with asparagus the first night we ate it, and then on top of mashed sweet potatoes with honey brussels sprouts the second time we ate them. It’d be amazing shredded on top of a baked potato, too! Honestly, it’s just good on anything. 😉