Tasty Tuesdays w/ Becca

Have you bookmarked my sister's recipe site yet? 

If not, TRUST me, you are missing out. 

Not only does her site get your mouth watering but it gets you motivated to try something new and delicious in your kitchen.

This happens to be one of my favorites.

Chicken Parmesan Magnifico

It is perfect for these days that your kids are back in school. It is an easy recipe with step by step instructions. And the best part is the printable recipe card that is ALREADY made for you.

So go check it out here!

Tasty Tuesdays: The Baked Brownie

I'm back.  I've taken an almost five-month break from devoting any time to this blog, because I had a bun of my own baking.  Five months ago, we welcomed our fourth child to our family!  His name is Calvin and he is just perfect.  In honor of his perfection, I decided that my first new recipe card after my maternity leave should also be perfect.  So here you go.

I have a confession to make: whenever a recipe calls for eggs at room temperature, I get a smuggitty little smile of smugness on my face.  Because I keep chickens and ducks.  And I always have room temperature eggs.  Either I can go out and collect some right when I need them, or I already collected them and they're on the counter waiting to be cleaned, or I already collected them, cleaned them, and put them in the fridge . . . but they're not quite as fridge-cold as the eggs that I collected, cleaned, and cold-ed the day before.

But, darling egg-layers notwithstanding, I am smug every time I make these brownies anyway, because they. are. THE. BEST.  No, I'm serious.  I never thought I would invoke Oprah's name on this blog, but I found this recipe  because the picture of the brownies looked amazing, and when I clicked a link to find out more, I read an article about how this recipe is from the Baked bakeshop in Brooklyn, is one of Oprah's favorite things, and is also America's Test Kitchen's favorite brownie recipe.  Hell-o.  With an endorsement from A'sTK, how can you go wrong? (For other delicious recipes from A'sTK on my recipe blog, BexBox, you might want to try Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken, Ultimate Cinnamon Buns, and Asian Lettuce Wraps).

They are super rich, which I love, because I'd rather taste more chocolate and less sugar in my brownies.  And they have that gooey, perfect crust that only the best brownies have.  I have adapted this recipe slightly to mine and my husband's tastes: adding another 1/4 tsp of salt and another tablespoon of cocoa, leaving the brown sugar unpacked, and cutting out the teaspoon of instant espresso powder (I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints {Mormons}, so I don't drink coffee or tea and try to avoid other caffeinated beverages).

You can google "The Baked Brownie" and get all kinds of amazing pictures, but this is one of my own actual photographs taken on my own actual mommy camera.

It's as difficult to get a picture of this brownie as it is to get one of the elusive Bigfoot--they vanish before your eyes into the dense undergrowth . . . er, into the dense husband's mouth . . . er, they just vanish quickly.

You're very welcome.

Tasty Tuesdays: Grilled Chicken with Coconut Sauce

I don't confine my outdoor cooking to the summer months. Though this dish is delicious in the summer, it's also very comforting and tasty during cold winter months.

Coconut was never a flavor I enjoyed when I was a kid--maybe because I associated coconut with sweetened flakes on the top of those hideous pink Hostess snowballs.  Coconut milk, however, is another flavor entirely.  Many of my favorite recipes call for it (see Chicken Curry in a Hurry, Thai-Style Squash Soup, and Curry-Coconut Sauce).

This sauce has the perfect amount of heat--the jalapenos are not overpowering, but do add a spicy zip that is so delicious over chicken (over your rice, too).  You can use fresh jalapenos and grill and peel them, but I no longer do that: I just use two or three canned jalapenos and put them straight in the blender without grilling, then freeze the rest of the can for next time (I put 2-3 peppers in a snack Ziploc, squeeze the air out, then put all the Ziplocs in a freezer bag and date it).

When I made this over the weekend, it just so happened that my boys were at a movie and my daughter was taking a nap--so Allen and I were able to have a quiet and delicious lunch at home together.  I don't know that this has ever happened before.  I hardly knew how to eat without getting up to help kids or fill glasses or wipe up spills or set-the-timer-for-ten-minutes-for-a-certain-child-who-needs-a-deadline-in-order-to-finish-his-food.

Perfect lunch.

Tasty Tuesdays: Apple Streusel Muffins

I love muffins. I love apples. I love streusel. Therefore, this is the perfect muffin recipe.  I am actually crazy about muffins . . . you can check out all of my muffin recipes over at BexBox.

I also love the clipart on this recipe card--I like to imagine that my hair is done up in a cute, retro bob whilst I am baking in the early morning . . . instead how I actually look when I bake in the morning: hair pulled back in a messy bun (and not a cute messy bun that I would take a thousand pictures of and post to my FaceBook profile . . . a true messy bun), socks halfway off, bra-less, and puffy-eyed from getting up too early.  And if I do have an apron on, it's a real apron that covers my shirt.  Those waist aprons are just for show--all the spills happen up top, people.

Tasty Tuesdays: Perfect Asparagus

Is asparagus grown-up food?  I never liked it when I was a kid, but now it's, like, the most delectable vegetable on earth.  It takes three years to grow your own so that it will keep coming back, and we are on year two.  I can't wait to harvest as much as I want for days on end.

In the mean time, this is my favorite way to prepare asparagus.  It goes especially well with Oven-fried Chicken Monterey.

Tasty Tuesdays: Best Pizza Dough

I used to think that you couldn't make pizza at home as good as at a pizza joint, but am glad to admit that I was totally wrong.  I think the things that make all the difference are A) cooking on a stone at a very high temperature, B) homemade dough and sauce, C) quality mozzarella (the kind you have to tear into chunks yourself), and D), (if you really want to put it over the top) veggies and herbs from your own garden. . . in fact, if you always use the freshest ingredients possible, you'll be amazed at the taste of your own pizza.

The "deep dish" stone: before

Deep dish: after

This is the yummy "grownup" pizza I
made with tomato, Canadian bacon, and
oregano from our windowsill herbs.
If you want to have meat on your pizza,
Canadian bacon is the healthiest choice.

I love it that my husband doesn't like pineapple
on pizza . . . because that means MORE FOR ME.
I have pizza greed.

I've tried so many different recipes for pizza dough, but I always come back to this one from my friend Jessica: it's the easiest and the yummiest.  I make pizza at least twice a month, and this recipe can't be beat.  Use olive oil and as little flour as possible for a soft crust.  I usually make three thick crusts instead of four regular crusts.

Here are some step-by-step photos I took of the kids' cheese pizza.

Complement this recipe with Best Pizza Sauce (and topping) Ever.

Tasty Tuesdays: Super Soft Sugar Cookies

I think the photos speak for themselves.  If you follow this recipe exactly, you can't go wrong.  (Get more of my cookie recipes at Bex Recipe Box).  This is my go-to recipe when I need to take cookies to one of my kids' classes at school . . . or on holidays . . . or when I am craving something delectably sweet . . .

Tasty Tuesdays: Belgian Waffles

Becca here.  I'm going to take over Tuesdays at D2F with recipes from my other blog, Bex Recipe Box.  Because while you're revamping furniture and faux-painting walls and making your house welcoming and unique . . . you may as well be eating yummy food, too.

When I went to my first year of college, my grandma bought a Belgian waffler for me to take along.  Not only was I grateful . . . I'm sure my roommates were as well, because Belgian waffles and apple pie were the only two things that I learned to make from scratch that year (just the essentials, peeps--I'm ashamed to admit how many Totino's pizzas I consumed freshman year).  Whenever we had boys over to our apartment for date night, Belgian waffles were invariably on the menu.

The recipe I used back in (gasp!) 1997 was not this recipe.  It was good, and it did use yeast (an essential ingredient for authentic Belgian waffles) . . . but it wasn't as totally fail-proof and delicious as this recipe.  These waffles are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  Crispaliscious.

My kids only want syrup on their waffles, which to me is a waste of a good Belgian.  You can't go wrong with fresh strawberries and whipped cream (peaches are equally delicious).  This time, I made a fruit compote with frozen raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.  I sprinkled a tiny teaspoon of sugar on about two cups of frozen fruit and heated it in a saucepan on low while the waffles were proofing.  It tasted heavenly.