SUPER SPECIAL GUEST POST!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, I am so excited about this post!  Adam loves to cook just as much as I do and I LOVE his cooking!!  Tonight Adam decided to cook his awesome "Sweet and Savory Steak and Shrimp Kabobs" and I took the opportunity to learn a bit about how he likes to cook and turn it into a blog post. Multitasking at it's finest :)If some of you remember, I had a poll up on the blog to see what type of recipe you guys wanted me to post next and the winning response was "savory".  Well ask, and you shall receive!

Sweet and Savory Steak and Shrimp Kabobs


For the kabobs:
1 lb. boneless sirloin steak (or any other boneless beef cut)
1 lb. jumbo white shrimp
1 bell pepper (we used an orange one!)
1 white onion
20 chunks of pineapple
20 grape tomatoes
10 long skewers


For the marinade:
1 cup Bolthouse Farms Classic Balsamic dressing. (This brand is just awesome!)
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp. tamari sauce (it's gluten-free soy sauce)
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
4 tsp. brown sugar
1/8 cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
5 cloves fresh garlic, minced


The first thing you want to do is take your shrimp (or skrimps as Adam calls them) and make a brine for them.  This is done by putting the cleaned shrimp into a container with enough water to cover.  Add in 1 tbs. brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. lemon juice.  Add in a few cubes of ice, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours minimum.  Adam says this is a NECESSARY step, so don't skip it!

Cleaned shrimp, ready to go!

The shrimp in the brine

Now make the marinade.  Use all of the ingredients listed above in the marinade section and mix together in a large bowl.  It's that easy !  And super delicious!

Cut your steak into chunks

Slice your veggies into 2 inch pieces (a good sized piece because they will shrink a bit once cooked)

Slice your pineapple into bite-sized chunks

and Clean your grape tomatoes.

Adam slicing the steak!

After your shrimp has soaked in the brine for a couple hours, add everything into your marinade and mix around until everything is coated with the marinade.

Pure yummy!

Let the ingredients soak in the marinade for at least 3 hours and then assemble your kabobs.  The order we used for the kabobs were steak, pepper, onion, shrimp, pineapple, and tomato x 2!  We used a charcoal grill to cook our kabobs but you can cook them on whatever grill you own.  It's all about preference.

Ready to go on the grill!

On the grill!  Not sure why the flames turned out looking purple.  If anyone has the explanation for that, please let me know!!

I can't even find the words to describe how amazing these taste!

Let us know if you try this recipe and even if you make any changes to it!  Make it your own :)

Side note:  I posted that Adam and I were beginning a weight loss journey together, and as of this post, Adam has lost 19 lbs. and I have lost 7 lbs.!

...***And Adam would like to say***...

The thing I love about cooking is the creative process.  I enjoy experimenting with flavors and textures to create something new and unique or reinvent something classic, like kabobs!  Yeah, I guess that's about it.

He's so silly. 

A New Arrival to the Family!

So I completely intended on making a meal that was super scrumptious on Friday and posting the recipe on here but Kelsey had different plans.  "Who is Kelsey?" you ask.  Kelsey is my super awesome, absolutely gorgeous new niece!!!  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am most definitely not complaining that I didn't get to cook yesterday.  I am so in love with my niece that any of my plans I had just don't seem to matter!  So hold on my lovely readers, I will probably be posting the recipe for some yummy fajitas sometime next week.  I'm shooting for Wednesday, and after next week I have a vacation so I'll have plenty of time on my hands to get this blog going!  In the meantime, enjoy this!!

TOP:  Grandpa holding Kelsey and Mason helping, MIDDLE: Grandma with Kelsey and Me with Kelsey, BOTTOM:  Kelsey, Kelsey, and Mason kissing Kelsey :)

Completely Homemade, Healthy Pizza? It's Possible!!

So we all know that Adam and I have been trying new things, watching our portion sizes, and doing some exercise in an attempt for us to become sexy bi***es!!  Well on Saturday I was craving pizza so bad!  Normally we order take-out pizza about once a week and not having it was just tearing me up inside.  I think knowing that I couldn't have it was killing me more than the actual craving.  So what did I do?  I ate pizza, and you can too!  I made my own pizza dough out of wheat flour and everything!!!  Seriously, try this recipe.  It's awesome.  *Note:  You can get in some hubby/wifey bonding time by claiming that you just aren't strong enough to knead the dough all by yourself and watch as your hubby struggles to knead it for you, like I did. ;)*

First things first, the pizza dough!  The best thing about this dough is that there is NO YEAST!  That means you don't have to plan this pizza 18-24 hours in advance and wait for your dough to rise!!!!  It literally only took about 10 minutes to make this pizza dough.

Wheat Pizza Dough
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 tablespoons of dried Italian herbs (a mixture of basil, oregano, rosemary, and maybe even thyme)
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1/2 cup of water
1 egg
1 teaspoon of minced garlic


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the wheat flour, baking powder, sea salt, herbs, garlic powder, and minced garlic.  Use a whisk to mix all of the ingredients together to ensure the flour mixture is fully seasoned.  In a measuring cup, measure out 1/2 cup of water and then add the egg and beat.  Now add your egg and water into the flour mixture and it's time to get your hands dirty!  (Ladies, take off your wedding ring, mixing food with your hands and putting on lotion is the only time this allowed in my book)  Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly and form into a ball.  When I made this recipe I was only trying to make a small pizza so I formed my dough into two balls and froze one of them for future use.  Now that your dough is all mixed, get out your rolling pin and roll and squish and stretch that dough to the pizza size that you want.  Keep in mind, I think this recipe works best when you are trying to make a thin crust pizza.  This dough recipe will come out chewy and tasting like a frozen pizza if you make it thick.  Now that you have a perfectly round pizza dough (yeah right, mine looked like an amoeba!) it's time to put it in the oven so it can get crispy without the toppings!


While your pizza dough is in the oven, multitask and make the olive oil mixture to put on the dough.  This is one step that you DO NOT want to forget.  It gives the pizza so much more flavor.


Olive Oil Flavor Enhancer
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs (the same mix you used in the pizza dough)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder


Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly.  After your pizza dough has been in the oven for about 5 minutes and is starting to bubble up, brush on the olive oil mixture and put back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes.  (Until it doesn't look so wet anymore)  Set aside your pizza crust and start working on your toppings.  I chose to make a ricotta based sauce and then topped it herb-garlic chicken, spinach, and mozzarella.  If you want to have the same amazing experience that my husband and I did, then please follow the directions below...


Herb-Garlic Chicken
Let me just start off my saying this chicken is a staple in our household!  It is so easy to make and good God I just love chicken.  I could eat it every day and feel like I'm having something new every time because chicken is so versatile.  But anyway, you don't care about my love for chicken, on to the recipe!


1 boneless, skinless chicken breast trimmed of fat.
a few drizzles of olive oil
1 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs (yep, the same ones you've been using throughout this entire recipe!)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of garlic powder


Cut your chicken breast into smaller-than-bite-size pieces.  Remember, this is going on top of a pizza, you don't want huge pieces!  Drizzle enough olive oil into a frying pan to lightly coat the pan.  Once the pan is hot, put your chicken in the pan and then add the rest of the ingredients and stir and mix until all of the chicken pieces are coated with the seasonings.  Reduce to medium heat.  Keep stirring frequently until your chicken is cooked through and set aside to use later.


Take about 2 cups of raw baby spinach and chop it up!  Set that aside to use later.


Ricotta Cheese Sauce (which isn't really a sauce, it's more like yummy stuff mixed up with ricotta cheese and spread onto a pizza)
1 cup of ricotta cheese
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 more tablespoon of those wonderful dried Italian herbs we've been using
a pinch of sea salt


In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the ricotta, milk, herbs, and salt.  Stir together until the ricotta cheese is melted, your sauce will be thin.  Now add in the mozzarella cheese and stir until your sauce thickens up a bit.  


***AT THIS TIME, YOU ARE NOW READY TO ASSEMBLE YOUR PIZZA!!!!!***


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Take your pre-baked pizza crust and spread several spoonfuls of the ricotta cheese sauce onto it as if it were regular pizza sauce onto a regular pizza crust.  You will probably have leftover sauce, but that's okay.  Just refrigerate it and figure out something else to use it for (like for use as filling in my homemade wheat pasta raviolis).  Now sprinkle the chopped spinach all over the pizza.  Next is all of that yummy cooked chicken that is making your kitchen smell so good right now, and finally a good amount of shredded mozzarella on top.  Bake your pizza for about 15 minutes on the middle rack.  The key to a perfect pizza is keep your eye on it!  When the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown, your pizza is done!  If the crust starts to look burnt before the cheese is bubbly, leave it on the middle rack and turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  It's the perfect way to get  that perfectly golden brown pizza.


And now for the glorious pictures!!!

the toppings before the cheese was put on top

oh yeah!

I sure wish I had a better camera.  Just try the recipe, I promise it's yummy!!

I hope you wonderful people try this awesome recipe!  I do admit, it's probably not the healthiest thing you can eat, but it's a lot better than ordering Pizza Hut or something.  Plus, when you cook at home, you get to spend some great time with your loved ones.  My hubby and I had so much fun making this together!  If you try this recipe, please please please let me know what you think!  ...and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!    

  

New Adventures...Again? Oh Yeah, and Weight Loss!

Well clearly I didn't commit to this blog the way I should have.  I just logged on for the first time in a long time and I see that my last post was in January!!!  REALLY???  Goodness gracious I sure can be lazy.  But all of that is behind me now.

I'm going to be making Comfy Cravings a little bit different and this time, I'm totally excited about it because it effects me directly.  Obviously I will still be making comfort foods, I'm just going to be tweaking my recipes a bit in order to make them healthier.  You see, my husband and I have begun a new commitment to ourselves and each other.  We have started a new diet and exercise program and we're both super stoked and feeling confident that we can pull this off.  We just started everything last Saturday, so that makes today a week!!  The funny thing is, I've always hated exercise, but knowing that he will be right next to me struggling and pushing himself just like me, I know I can do it!  Of course, the ultimate motivator for me is I know that babies are just around the corner for us and I want to be in my best health when I have life growing in me.

I hope that you will follow us on our journey and trust that the recipes I post will be just as yummy as before.  In the meantime, I would like to know what type of foods you, the reader would like to see.  Please comment and let me know and your suggestion could be chosen for my next kitchen adventure!!

Anti-Fast Food Chicken Nuggets!

Chicken is such a versatile ingredient, you could buy a few pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts and have a different meal every night for a week without missing red meat...or at least I could!  However, out of ALL the chicken recipes I could put on here, I've decided to devote the first one to chicken nuggets.  Unfortunately, fried chicken in any form has gotten a bad wrap lately due to the horrible fast food people making some sort of pink paste they call "chicken" and serving it to our children.  I think that may be why I decided to post this recipe...these chicken nuggets require a little more effort than going through the drive-thru, but they're 100 times tastier anyway! :)  They sort of reminded me of Chick-fil-A...which of course is fast food, but at least it's real chicken!  Enjoy!

Anti-Fast Food Chicken Nuggets:


1 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Peanut Oil (enough to fill a medium saucepan halfway.  DO NOT use vegetable or canola oil.  Peanut Oil costs a little bit more but is so much tastier!)


Trim the fat off your boneless skinless chicken breasts and then cut them into bite-size pieces.  4 large chicken breasts made 48 nuggets for me, but you can cut the pieces as small or as large as you would like.  (You can even use chicken tenderloins and make "chicken fingers" with this recipe.)  Pour the milk into a bowl and add in 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of black pepper.  Place your chicken pieces in the milk and let them soak while you move onto the next step.  Now combine the flour, the rest of the salt and pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and sugar in a large storage bag.  I use a bag because it makes it so much easier to coat the small chicken pieces and you don't get a whole bunch of gunk on your hands!  Pour the peanut oil into your medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat to 350-375 degrees.  If you have a deep fryer, by all means, use it!  I don't own one so the next best thing is a saucepan! :)  Now transfer the chicken pieces from the milk to your bag of flour, 6 at a time.  Close the bag tightly and shake until they are evenly coated with the flour mixture.  Now take them out and place directly in the hot oil.  I suggest using tongs so that you don't get splattered with any oil.  Your chicken nuggets are done when they are floating in the oil and are slightly dark brown.  Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.  Keep coating and frying the pieces 6 at a time until you are finished...and enjoy the yumminess!!

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

Alrighty, another cookie recipe.  This is definitely one of my favorites, especially right out of the oven!  No matter how quiet I am taking them out, my husband always knows too!  So a little tip:  if you have anyone else living in your home other than yourself, make sure you bake more than you need because they WILL be eaten!

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies:


1 1/2 sticks softened butter
1 cup light brown sugar (it can overflow a little)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups dark chocolate chips (even if you don't like dark chocolate, use them anyway!  They make the cookie taste SO much better)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl and mix until creamy.  Add in the eggs and vanilla extract.  Mix again until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Now combine the flour mixture and butter mixture until well mixed.  Add in the dark chocolate chips and stir with a spoon (do not use your mixer, the dough is already mixed enough!).  Now just roll up 1/2 - 3/4 inch balls and place about an inch apart on a non-stick cookie sheet.  The cookies are done when they are a nice golden brown, usually about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the balls you made.  Using this recipe, I got about 3 dozen cookies.  Enjoy as always!!! :)

Sugar Cookies!

Although Christmas has past, we can still bake cookies!!  I decided to post some of my recipes for the cookies that I made this year.  Try them out, they're super yummy!

First:  We have the ultimate sugar cookie!  How is Christmas complete without frosted sugar cookies?  Don't want to frost them yourself?  Grab the nearest kid, I'm sure they'd be happy to help! :)

***My measurements are a little less than scientific or exact.  I hate having to look at a piece of paper every step while I'm cooking/baking, but for those of you that would like a recipe, this will get ya there!***

Chewy Sugar Cookies

2 sticks softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 containers of pre-made frosting (I use the Pillsbury Whipped frosting in Vanilla)
Food colors of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Make sure your butter is very soft and then beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Now mix together your butter mixture with the flour mixture until well blended.  Roll the dough into balls and place on a non-stick cookie sheet.  You can make big balls or small balls...your choice.  I prefer big balls.  (Stop laughing right now!!!)  Now bake your dough balls for approximately 10 minutes.  You'll know that the cookies are done when they are a nice light brown around the edges.  Let your cookies cool for at least a half hour and then you can begin decorating them!  Have fun and go wild!  Use your imagination and your candy drawer to bring those cookies to life!  Here are a few pics of the ones I made this year...enjoy!