Old Bay Roasted Asparagus

Hi there friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday and didn’t eat too much candy. 🙂

The simple side dish recipe I’m sharing today will hopefully make you feel less guilty if you did.  I’m a firm believer of moderation and not depriving ourselves of the yummy treats that come our way for holidays.  This side will definitely get you back on the moderation trail.

Asparagus is such a yummy vegetable and is definitely abundant in the produce section at this time of year.  That usually means great sale prices as well, which makes my budget and myself very happy campers.  Add in the health benefits (it’s an anti-inflammatory and full of anti-oxidants), and you get a lot of “bang for your buck”.

Here’s the bonus!!  This recipe is extremely quick and easy to make…and I can’t think of anything that it couldn’t go alongside.  As you can see, I served it with some Maryland crab cakes that a longtime friend shipped me for a belated wedding gift, which inspired me to use the Old Bay seasoning.  I have roasted asparagus with several different seasonings in the past, but this has been the most delicious thus far. 🙂

How you make it…

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

• fresh, trimmed asparagus
• olive oil
• Old Bay seasoning

Directions:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• Spread asparagus on baking sheet with some room in between pieces.
• Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until desired “doneness”.

Enjoy! ❤

Southwest Corn Casserole

 

Hi there friends!  I know it’s been a couple of weeks, but I’m  here sharing a recipe for one of my favorite foods today.

CORN.

I love corn.  I know it’s not one of the first vegetables in line for health benefits, but it certainly is my favorite starchy veggie.  Yep.  Anything type of corn…corn on the cob, cornbread, corn chowder, popcorn and so on…I think you get the idea. 🙂

While I prefer fresh or frozen corn, I can even tolerate canned corn, which is a good thing since this recipe calls for canned corn.  Along with being easy on the budget, this dish is extremely versatile.  It’s a quick and easy weeknight side, great holiday dish or awesome potluck dish.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz) can of corn, drained
• 1 (16 oz) can of creamed corn (do not drain)
• 1 (16 oz) can of black beans, drained
• 1 package cornbread mix (Betty Crocker or Jiffy works great)
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 3-4 green onions sliced
• 1-2 jalapenos, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Stir together all ingredients except shredded cheese and pour into 8×8 baking dish.
• Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes or until set.
• Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy! ❤

 

 

Mexican Pink Cake

Hi friends!  It’s Taco Tuesday!

Instead of sharing a recipe for tacos, I thought I would share a recipe that I tried a few weeks back for Mexican Pink Cake.  I’m not a big fan of the sweet breads that are found in a Mexican bakery, but I absolutely LOVE ❤ this cake.  It’s like eating a big, thick, yummy sugar cookie!

I’m already thinking of the different flavors and colors that I can add to this cake…I’ll keep you updated.

Here you go…your tacos are asking for dessert…wink, wink…nudge, nudge…

• Difficulty: Easy
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Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk

Cake Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9X9 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Combine sugar, eggs, canola oil and vanilla extract in bowl.  Stir until well combined.
• In separate bowl, stir flour, baking powder and salt together.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately to the sugar mixture and mix until well combined.
• Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk
• red food coloring
• ball-shaped sprinkles

Frosting Directions:

• Cream butter until fluffy.
• Add sugar, mix well.
• Mix in vanilla extract and milk, one tablespoon at a time.
• Add red food coloring, starting with 2-3 drops and mix until color is evenly distributed.
• Frost cake and add sprinkles.

Enjoy! ❤

Hard Boiled Eggs the Easy Way

 

Happy Monday, fellow bloggers!  I hope you had a great weekend!

With Easter being a little less than three weeks away, I thought I would share the method I use for hard boiling eggs.  I learned about this method about a year ago and haven’t actually boiled an egg since.  This is a no-fail, “no-brainer” way to get perfect hard boiled eggs.

Be ready to have lots of great eggs for coloring!!

Easy Hard Boiled Eggs

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

• Eggs, desired quantity

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Place eggs in muffin tin.
• Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and immediately place eggs in a bowl of ice cold water.  This prevents them from getting that ugly “green circle” around the yolk.
• After cooled, peel and use as desired…or, leave shell on for coloring. 🙂

Enjoy! ❤

Chipotle Pasta Casserole

Hi there, friends!!  I know it’s been a couple of weeks since I posted.  I hope you all are well!

I started back to school this semester and I’m still working on making time for blogging along with studying and all my other daily tasks.  Although attending college was much easier the first time around (before children, household duties and while I still remembered everything from high school, lol), I will admit that I am definitely appreciating the opportunity and experience so much more than I did at the age of 18. 🙂

Even though I have been limited on blogging time recently, I have still been able to come up with a few yummy recipes to share.  This recipe came about after promising my boys that we would have a pasta casserole for dinner and then the can of chipotle peppers all but jumped off the pantry shelf at me, as if begging to be used. 🙂

This is an easy, hearty casserole that is wonderful for filling hungry bellies while not lacking flavor…

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

• 12 ounces bulk spicy pork sausage
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 2 (24 ounce) cans plain spaghetti sauce (I use Hunts Traditional)
• 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
• 1 (12 ounce) box whole grain pasta, such as penne, elbows, or rotini, cooked and drained
• 1 bag frozen corn
• 1 1/2-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Brown sausage with onion and seasoning salt.  Meanwhile cook pasta to just al dente according to package directions.
• After sausage mixture is browned, add in spaghetti sauce and chipotle peppers.  Simmer for a few minutes to allow flavors to combine.
• Add pasta and corn to sauce mixture and turn into casserole dish.  Top with cheese and green onions.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! ❤