26 recipes for my 26th birthday

Since today is my 26th birthday I thought I would share 26 Pinterest recipes that I want to try this upcoming year

1) Baked Turkey & Cranberry Sliders

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Confections of a Foodie Bride

 

2) Bruschetta Chicken

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: A Teaspoon of Happiness

 3) Buffalo Chicken Cups

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Damn Delicious

4) Cannoli Dip

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Cooking Classy

5) Chicken Florentine Meatballs & Spaghetti Squash

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Popular Paleo

6) Bruschetta with Ricotta, Grilled Eggplant, and Mint

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: The Daily Meal

 7) Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Taste of Home

8) Churro Cupcakes

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: I Heart Nap Time

 9) Cilantro Edamame Hummus 

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: All Recipes

10) Coconut-crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Rachel Ray Magazine

11) Easy Chickpea Curry

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: How Sweet Eats

12) Frozen Hot Chocolate

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Picky Palate 

13) Savory Kale, Cannellini Bean and Potato Soup

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: All Recipes

 14) Vegan Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Ezra Pound Cake

15) Mexican Black Bean Pizza

Photo & Recipe Courtesy: Aggies Kitchen

16) Pulled Portobello BBQ Sliders

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: One Ingredient Chef

17) Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Quinoa Salad in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Closet Cooking

18) Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Alfredo

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Lauren's Latest

19) Salted Caramel Buttery Crumb Bars

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Averie Cooks

 20) Shrimp and Zucchini Tostadas

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Martha Stewart

21) Shrimp Pasta with Tomatoes, Lemon and Spinach

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Bev Cooks

 22) Sweet Potato Cakes

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of:  Sprouted Kitchen

 23) Thai Turkey Burgers

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: how sweet it is

24) Thai Chicken Pizza

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Spicy Southern Kitchen

 25) Vegan Butternut Chili

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Sensual Appeal

26) Salted Caramel Budino

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Good Life Eats

Oscar Party Menu Ideas

Since the Oscars are on sunday I thought I would share some menu ideas for anyone hosting an Oscar viewing party.  I have included some appetizer ideas, a cocktail recipe and a stunning dessert recipe from Amy Atlas.  Even though I have shared pictures of a popcorn bar in a previous blog post I had to included some fun popcorn recipes as well since no oscar viewing party would be complete without popcorn!

Appetizers

1) Three Different Types of Crostini

Left- Sweet Potato & Feta Crostini; Center- Pear, Walnut, and Ricotta Crostini;
Right- Kale & White Bean Crostini

 2) Baked Mozzarella Bites

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Oh, Sweet Basil

3) Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Aioli

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Lifestyle 365

For other great appetizer recipes check out Buzzfeed's "29 Quick And Easy Oscar Party Appetizers"

Cocktail

Red Carpet-ini

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Taste of Home

Fun and easy cocktail idea. I always love the look of raspberries in a champagne flute.  I would substitute prosecco or sparkling wine for champagne if you are looking for an cheaper alternative. 

Main Course

Cheesy Spinach and Chicken Sliders 

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Thoughtfully Simple

Oscar parties are all about the finger food so  I liked the idea of having chicken sliders as the main course. I really liked how Tori from Thoughtfully Simple added some gold striped washi tape to wooden knives, which makes the sliders more festive and ties into the gold oscar theme. I also like that the blog post mentions that the grilled chicken strips can be found at Costco, which is a great resource if you having a lot of people over and want to get large quantities of food at a great price. 

Dessert

"walk of fame" brownies

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Amy Atlas

I'm a big fan of Amy Atlas and am obsessed with the dessert tables showcased in her book,

Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It. This brownie recipe looks pretty easy and the gold glitter painted on top of the brownies makes this the perfect addition to your oscar party. I also love the idea of using movie tickets to line your platter. 

Last, but certainly not least: Popcorn!

Photo Courtesy of: Get Party Chic

For some fun and unique popcorn recipes check out Buzzfeed's "5 Fabulous Popcorn Recipes For An Oscars Party". I personally want to try the S'mores Popcorn. Get some cute popcorn boxes and you got your self a fun way to serve popcorn. 

Looking for some decor inspiration? check out this previous blog post. 

Will you be watching the Oscars on Sunday? Share with me your favorite Oscar Party recipes in the comments section below. 

Chinese New Year Menu Ideas

Since Chinese New Year starts on Thursday I thought I would share some favorite Chinese takeout dishes that you can make your self at home. I know this feels a little like deja vu since i recently shared some homemade thai dishes, but I promise these recipes are different. If you are hosting a Chinese New Year party you can also look back at this blog post for some inspiration.

1) Wanton Soup

Photo & recipe courtesy of: The Lemon Bowl


2)  General Tso's Chicken

Photo & recipe courtesy of: A Beautiful Mess


3) Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Food and New York City


4) Sesame Shrimp 




















Photo & recipe courtesy of: Cinnamon-Spice & Everything Nice


5) Fried Rice

Photo & Recipe Courtesy Of: Table For Two


6) Sweet & Sour Pork

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Chinese-foodrecipes.net

6 Ways to Use Pre-Cooked Chicken

One of my absolute favorite cooking short cuts is using pre-cooked chicken to make delicious gourmet meals.  Using pre-cooked chicken is a great way to save time without sacrificing the quality or flavor of the dish.  Below I have included six different recipes, which demonstrate how versatile pre-cooked chicken can be.

1) Chicken Curry

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: The Domestic Front 

I like that this recipe requires very few ingredients and all things that most of us already have in our kitchen such as, butter, onion, garlic, chicken broth and milk. I thought it was interesting that this recipe incorporates apple into the curry, which I would definitely be curious to try. 

2) BBQ Chicken Salad

This was a recipe I came up with. I had leftover BBQ sauce, which I decided to use with Trader Joe's pre-cooked "just chicken".  The chicken is cubed, which was perfect for this salad. I heated up the pre-cooked chicken and coated with the barbecue sauce. I used romaine lettuce, avocado, corn and shredded Mexican cheese blend and added the BBQ chicken and the end result was a delicious salad. 

3) Chicken Enchiladas

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Leaving The Rut

I was first introduced to the concept of making enchiladas with pre-cooked chicken back in college when my friend Anna and I had a cooking night. This is a different recipe than we used, but its basically same concept and consists of: tortillas, rotisserie chicken, enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. This recipe says to spread a little cream cheese into the tortillas before adding the chicken filling, which was pretty much the only difference from the chicken enchiladas I have made in the past.

4) Chicken & Shrimp Paella

Photo & recipe courtesy of: eRecipeCards

Paella is always a crowd pleaser so try this easy recipe for a special weeknight dinner.  This would also be nice to serve if you are having guests over for dinner. 

5) Vietnamese Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Eat at Home 

Chicken noodle soup is another great use for pre-cooked chicken. I like that this soup has an Asian spin and incorporates green onions, soy sauce and hot sauce. 

6) Chicken, Spinach and Cannellini Bean Quesadillas

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Other Side of Fifty 

This quesadilla recipe sounds incredible.  I always love the combination of spinach and cheese. Add some cannellini beans and pre-cooked chicken and you have a delicious quesadilla filing. This would be nice served along with a bowl of black bean soup. 

Let's Talk About: Breakfast

Today's blog post is all about breakfast.  I always enjoy going out for brunch, but sometimes it's nice to have a relaxing morning at home so I wanted to share some fun and easy breakfast recipes, which would also be perfect to serve when you are having friends over for brunch. 

1) Red Velvet Pancakes

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Something Swanky

Yes, it's another red velvet recipe! I've been wanting to try red velvet pancakes for ever and now that I found this easy recipe I will definitely have to give them a try.

2) Huevos Rancheros 

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Our Best Bites

Huevos Rancheros is always my absolute favorite so this recipe is right up my alley. 

3) Cannoli French Toast

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Two peas and their pod

I have a huge sweet tooth so this french toast recipe sounds like perfection to me!!

4) Spiced Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Egg Skillet

 

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Naturally Ella

Sweet potatoes, eggs and goat cheese sounds like a winning combination to me. I also love how colorful this dish is. 

5) Hot Chocolate French Toast

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Half Baked Harvest

Just looking at this picture is making me drool. I love hot chocolate so incorporating hot chocolate into french toast  sounds like my perfect breakfast. 

6) Shakshuka

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Tori Avery

I first had shakshuka in Israel at the famous Dr.Shakshuka. I loved shakshuka so much I knew I would have to try to recreate this dish at home. This recipe requires basic ingredients and doesn't look overly complicated so I will definitely have to give it a try. 

Book Review: Cooking with all things Trader Joe's

Photo Courtesy of: barnesandnoble.com

Attention all Trader Joe's fanatics! today's blog post is for you. As you know from my previous blog posts I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's.  It's the perfect store for people like me who enjoy making gourmet meals, but don't want to pay a ton of money on ingredients. I'm always looking for new and innovative ways to use Trader Joe's products so I was super excited when I discovered the cookbook "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" by Deane Gunn and Wona Miniati. I'm absolutely loving this cookbook and I especially enjoy that all the recipes are extremely easy to make and a majority of the recipes make 2-4 servings, which is perfect for my lifestyle.  I have decided I want to attack this cookbook a la Julie & Julia and make all the recipes from the book and blog about my experience making the recipes. I'm going to be making a few recipes from the cookbook each week and twice a month I'll share an update on the recipes I have made from the cookbook.

1) Fish Tacos

I know, I know you are probably sick of hearing me talk about tacos. I can't help it, they are my fav. This past Tuesday my roommate and I had a "taco tuesday" night and had fish tacos. All I bought was the Trader Joe's Oven Ready Breaded Cod fillets, cilantro salad dressing and tortillas.  There isn't much of a recipe all these fish tacos require is baking the cod fillets based on the directions on the packaging and heating up some tortillas. I put some of the cilantro salad dressing in each tortilla and put some additional toppings into bowls, I had sour cream, shredded mexican cheese and refried black beans in my fridge, so that's what I used as topping choices. The end result was delicious and easy fish tacos.

2) Black Bean and Ricotta-Stuffed Portabellas

These were very yummy and I liked that this was a vegetarian option because I'm trying to eat one vegetarian entree for dinner once a week. This recipe called for: portabella mushroom caps, ricotta cheese, black beans, Trader Joe's fresh bruschetta sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.  This recipe was extremely easy and simply required cutting the steams from the mushrooms adding the cheese and black bean filling to the mushrooms, topping with some bruschetta sauce and then cooking at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes. I served along with some taquitos, which worked very well together. I absolutely loved the fresh bruschetta sauce and was eating it with tortilla chips for days. The bruschetta sauce is very versatile and not only good on a baguette for a traditional brushcetta appetizer, but many other ways as well. I really like the ricotta and bruschetta combination so I got creative and  made some nachos with the burschetta sauce and ricotta cheese.  You could also make some  breakfast options as well.  The bruschetta sauce along with eggs,  ricotta cheese, black beans and avocado would  make a yummy omelette or you could serve with a tortilla for a delicious breakfast burrito. 

3) Go Go Mango Chicken

This recipe was extremely easy. The recipe called for skinless, boneless chicken breasts, a can of pineapple salsa and some frozen mango chucks. Then I put the  chicken in the oven set at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. The end result was good, but this definitely was not my favorite recipe from the cookbook. 

4) Eggplant Tostada

This recipe was great! A very unique way to use tortillas and I absolutely loved the eggplant and garlic spread combined with feta cheese. This recipe calls for covering a tortilla with eggplant and garlic spread then topping with chopped tomatoes and feta cheese. Then the tostada goes into the oven set at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. I served this along with Trader Joe's Palak Panner.  The combination of the eggplant and garlic spread, chopped  tomatoes and feta would also go very well with shrimp or chicken. 

5) Chipotle Chili

I made this for the SuperBowl last weekend and it was delicious. I had leftovers for the next two days for lunch and it was even better the next day. I  topped my chili with sour cream and shredded Mexican cheese and served along with cornbread muffins and some chicken wings, which was the perfect SuperBowl feast. 

If you want these amazing recipes you can buy Cooking with all things Trader Joe's on Amazon  or Barnes & Noble. You can also check out recipes on Cooking with Trader Joe's blog. 

Valentine's Day Dessert Ideas

Now that it's officially February valentine's day is on everyone's mind so I thought in today's blog post I would share some fun valentines day dessert ideas. Whether you are making these sweet treats for a special someone or just want to bake something that's fun and festive these ideas will definitely put you the valentine's day spirit.

 1) Red Velvet Crepes

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: Duhlicious 

Red velvet crepes with mascarpone filling, yes, please! These crepes are perfect for a special valentine's day breakfast or work equally well as a dessert.

2) X's & O's cupcakes

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of:  MarthaStewart.com 

These cupcakes are super easy and don't require many ingredients: cake mix, frosting and cinnamon candies or red M&M's. I love ideas like this that are festive and easy to replicate.

3) Conversation Heart Cheesecakes

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Hungry Happenings

These are absolutely adorable. I love the bright colors! I have seen the silicone heart molds at Michael's arts supply stores a few times and am always tempted to buy the molds to give this recipe a try. The recipe doesn't seem overly difficult, I just question whether or not my lettering would turn out as nicely as in the blog post.


4) Mini Cakes



















Photo & recipe Courtesy of: Oh Nuts! 

These are really fun and don't require any baking! This is just whipped cream, and chocolate wafers and then are refrigerated for three hours. Then you can have fun decorating the cakes with all different kinds of red and pink candies and cookies. This would be a really fun activity to do with kids.

5) Red Velvet Whoopie Pies 

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Annie's Eats

Yes, I just had to include another red velvet recipe, what can I say it's one of my obsessions. I like that this recipe is versatile. You can either make the whoopie pies into hearts or you can make things easier on yourself and make the whoopie pies round and more like cookies.

Check out Buzzfeed's article "20 Valentine's Day Ideas That Won't Make You Want To Vomit" for some more valentine's day dessert ideas.

What are your plans for valentine's day? share with me in the comments section below.