Little Mia

Mia has eaten some kind of rock or something and has been sick for about a week.  She spent Thursday night at the vet and came back on Friday still out of it with a bandage on her leg from the IV.  Sunday she started feeling better and was back to her normal crazy self.  I couldn't help but post this cute picture of her sleeping.. she looks so adorable.

Happy Monday, have a great week! 

Coffee House Cafe - Dallas, TX

I love trying new restaurants, it's one of my favorite weekend activities.  I live a few miles away from downtown Dallas, so a lot of the great places to eat are a bit of a drive for me.  When I heard about Coffee House Cafe, which is in my neck of the woods, I had to try it out.  My friend Jill came along, and I think it's safe to say both of us were blown away.  We've been back a few times now, and continue to enjoy the menu!

We first tried brunch, although they do offer a delicious lunch and dinner, this is the perfect spot for a great brunch.  I ordered a french toast stuffed with egg and bacon special.  It even looks amazing! 

Jill ordered chicken apple sausage hash.  I think this tops one of my favorite dishes here.  The combination is unexpected and great!

Don't forget the coffee!!  They have special flavors daily and put some an artistic mark in each one.  I LOVE this place, it's a must try for anyone in the Dallas area.  I will venture to say it's even worth the drive from downtown.  

Have a great weekend! 

Cauliflower & Cheddar Soup

Before it gets too hot out I wanted to give you one more soup recipe.  I realize most of the country isn't 80 degrees like Texas is, but before you start cooking summer recipes please try this soup!!

In a large pot melt butter over medium heat.  

Add in onion and cook, stirring until softened, around 8 minutes.

Add cauliflower and cook until it begins to brown.

Add in broth and 1 cup of water, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, around 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

In batches fill a blender halfway with the mixture and puree until smooth.  

Return pureed soup to a pot and if you'd like a thinner consistency add more broth or water.  Heat over medium until warned through.

Add cheese and stir until melted.  Season wit salt and pepper to taste.

Serve sprinkled with cayenne on top.  This soup is light and delicious.  The cauliflower and cheese go great together.  I really enjoyed the added cayenne flavor on top.  Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I did!  

Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup

Serves 6
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine


3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 medium heat cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
5 1/2 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
coarse salt and pepper
cayenne pepper to taste


In a large pot melt butter over medium heat.  
Add in onion and cook, stirring until softened, around 8 minutes.
Add cauliflower and cook until it begins to brown.
Add in broth and 1 cup of water, and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, around 20 minutes. 
Transfer to a large bowl.
In batches fill a blender halfway with the mixture and puree until smooth.  
Return pureed soup to a pot and if you'd like a thinner consistency add more broth or water.  
Heat over medium until warned through.
Add cheese and stir until melted.  
Season wit salt and pepper to taste.  
Serve sprinkled with cayenne on top. 

Photography Challenge #21

Faceless Self Protrait.

Homemade Pizza

I know it's a cliche to say this, but I'm going to stick to my guns: you haven't had pizza until you've had pizza in Italy.  Hole in the wall, made from scratch, with love and Italian hands, pizza.  A couple of my favorite bloggers just got back or are currently in Italy and I couldn't be more green with envy.  It's one of the many countries I can't wait to go back to, especially for the food.  This Italian Dish is one of my favorite sites to visit, she combines great Italian cooking, with a love of travel.  Plus she lives in Michigan!!  I adapted this pizza recipe from her, she made a potato pizza, I used the same crust but added different toppings.  Either way, this dish is delicious.

For the dough, add salt, olive oil and yeast to 1/2 cup of warm water and stir together. 

Mix in 1 cup of flour.  Gradually add in 1/8 cup of more flour until the dough comes together enough to start kneading it.  You want the dough to be sticky but not enough that it sticks to your hands, without being too dry. 

Knead for a couple minutes with your hands.

Put the dough in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for a couple hours.  I made this the night before and kept it in the fridge overnight, taking it out a couple hours before use to let it rise.

Instead of using a tomato based sauce, I decided to try garlic and olive oil.  Mince 6-7 garlic cloves, mix with 6 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Stir and mash together until you have a sort of paste.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  After you let the dough rise for a couple hours, sprinkle your counter top with flour so the dough doesn't stick.  Roll out the pizza dough using a rolling pin.  Roll out until it's the size and thickness you would like.  Place on a pizza pan and spread the garlic paste on top of the dough.

Chop whatever veggies you like on your pizza as toppings.  I used onion, tomato, red pepper, mushroom and some cooked chicken.

Layer the toppings on the pizza and finish off with a layer of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.  Bake for 10-14 minutes until the crust is crisp and golden brown.

This pizza was delicious!  The crust was crunchy and thick and tasted dramatically different because it's homemade.  Although it can be a timely process, when you sit down to eat it's completely worth it!  The great thing about this pizza too is how filling it is.  After one slice I was full, and we had leftovers to last us for a few days.  Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza

Serving Size 1 large pizza

Adapted from The Italian Dish

Dough:

1/2 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon instant fast acting yeast

1 1/4 cup bread flour

1/4 cup olive oil

Topping:

8 garlic cloves minced

6 tablespoons olive oil

red pepper diced

mushrooms diced

chicken breast cooked and cut into bite size pieces

onion chopped

tomato chopped

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Dough:

Add salt, olive oil and yeast to the 1/2 cup water water and stir.

Mix in 1 cup flour, then gradually add in 1/8 cup more until the dough comes together.

Add enough flour so it's not too sticky, but not too dry.

Knead for a couple minutes on a floured surface.

Put the dough in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

Turn the dough to coat in the olive oil.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for a couple hours.

You can stick it in the fridge if you made it a night before, and take out to let rise for 2 hours before making.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Roll out the pizza dough, using flour so it doesn't stick. 

Roll it out until it's the thickness and size you like and place on a pizza pan. 

Topping:

Combine the minced garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix for form a paste and spread on the dough. 

Layer all the toppings on the dough. 

Finish with Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. 

Bake for 10-14 minutes until crust is crisp and golden.

Birthday Dinner

Thought I would share some photos of my birthday dinner!  Starting with the cool designs in the butter.

Side of Mac and Cheese?  Sure, why not! 

Dessert -- after we had eaten most of it :)  Everyone deserves a tasty birthday dinner.  Where's your favorite place to celebrate a special occasion?

Happy Monday! 

Possum Kingdom Lake

C took me to Possum Kingdom Lake for my birthday weekend.  I had a great time, it was so nice to get out of Dallas and slow down for a while.  

Mia had a great time, swimming and acting like a hunter :)

The area is so gorgeous.  It's a must see for anyone that lives in the Dallas area.

We visited the area last year around the same time, you can see my post here.  They were having a lot of wild fires around the lake, and we saw the outcome of the fires as we walked around. 

I know it's a good thing, as C has told me, but it was still sad looking.

There were bright areas though, that were starting to bloom again.  

I love this picture.  Among all of the damaged trees, new life. 

Thank you C for the great weekend!

Apple Oatmeal Flax Cookies

I'm always eager to try healthy baked goods.  Mainly because it seems like an oxymoron.  Can there really be tasty cookies that are good for you?  After some searching and experimenting, my conclusion is yes.  There are so many innovative ways to change a recipe to cut out all the bad stuff, while keeping the flavor.  There are also many ways to mix different healthy ingredients together to get a great tasting outcome.  These cookies are a combination of all that.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel and chop two medium sized apples.

Wanted to show you this photo; it's Sucanat, a sugar substitute that is whole cane sugar.  This is the first time I've used it, and must say really enjoyed it.  Read here for more information.

In a bowl, mix flour, flax meal, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat together apple sauce, Sucanat, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy.

Stir in the flour mixture.

Then the oats, apples, and nuts. 

Spoon out cookies onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Cook for 8 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown.  Place cookies on a cooling rack.

These cookies are soft and delicious.  The chunks of apple and nuts give the cookies great texture.  These are easy to eat a few at a time, but at least you don't have to feel like you've behaved badly afterward!  Enjoy.

Apple Oatmeal Flax Cookies

Serving size ~3 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil - or apple sauce

1 cup Sucanat

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cup quick oats

2 medium apples, peeled and chopped

1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl mix the flour, flax meal, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat together oil, Sucanat, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy.

Stir in the flour mixture, apples, oats and nuts.

Spoon out cookies onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Cook for around 8 minutes until edges are slightly brown.

Cool on a cooling rack.

30lbs and Growing!

She's not a baby anymore.  She's 5 months old, 30 pounds and still growing!

Happy Monday from Mia!

Birthday & Easter Weekend

This year for the first time that I can remember, my birthday falls on Easter.  I know that older folks, and I say that with love and respect, will think I'm being silly; but for whatever reason turning 27 is hitting me hard.  I realize now why, when I was 16 and wanted to be 21, my parents told me to enjoy it while I can.  They were right..and now that I'm older I can admit that.  Moral of the story, don't grow up.  Also, that you should all fly to Dallas, show up at my door with cupcakes, Reese's peanut butter eggs and scream to the world how young I look.  Much appreciated, and since I'm probably your elder now, you have to listen to me right?!

Happy Easter everyone!

And Happy Birthday to my old ass.

Have a great holiday weekend :)

Medium Rare Please & Thank You!

How do you like your steak done?  Probably one of my favorite questions, because it essentially means it less than a half hour I'll be enjoying a medium rare steak.  Yum!  I won't discriminate, if you like yours cooked medium, or even medium well (that's for you, Mom) they are all pretty tasty.  No matter how red/pink/brown you like your steak, this recipe is for you.  It's simple and the end result is a great steak, cooked to perfection!

This was a real special dinner for C and I, two filets from Whole Foods.  Sorry to the vegetarians, but even not cooked they look delicious.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the filet.

In a pan over medium to medium-high heat, add olive oil and sear both sides of the filet.

Only 2 minutes on each side.

Add a tablespoon of butter on top of each filet.

Place foil over the pan, and place in the oven at 400 degrees F.  Cook for another 5-6 minutes, checking how well you like yours cooked. 

I served over rice, with sauteed mushrooms and green beans.  I must say, they were awesome!  I've had trouble in the past making steaks that are cooked right and taste just as good as a restaurant, but I think I can say I finally mastered it.  Simplicity is key! 

Medium Rare Filets

Serves 2

2 6-8oz filets

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper both sides of the filets.

In a pan over medium to medium-high heat add olive oil.

Sear steaks on both sides, around 2 minutes per side.

Place one tablespoon of butter on each filet, and cover pan with tin foil.

Cook in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Serve with whatever sides and toppings you wish!