I just thought I would post here some proof that we do eat things other than cakes, cookies and baked goods. Seafood is one of my favorite things to eat. I love Fridays during Lent because we are obligated to not eat meat, which means that seafood is the food of choice.

One of my favorite recipes so far this Lenten season has been this delicious Shrimp Scampi recipe. It is so easy to put together and if you love garlic and butter, you’ll love eating this. My 5 year old, who said he did not like shrimp, ended up eating 3 big portions after he tasted it.  

From Recipezaar:

Shrimp Scampi 

1. Heat wine, olive oil, butter, margarine, and garlic in a large skillet on medium heat until it just starts to boil.
2. Then add paprika and parsley flakes, stir in and immediately add shrimp.
3. Cook for about 4 or 5 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.
4. Don’t overcook. Spoon shrimp onto plate with some of the cooking sauce and top liberally with parmesan

History shows that the name pound cake originated from the fact that the original pound cake recipes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, flour and eggs. I am not convinced that is the real reason. I think the real meaning behind the name pound cake comes from the fact that you will certainly pack on the pounds if you eat a cake with that much butter and sugar in it. I think that those pounds are well worth it when you have something as fabulous as a pound cake. There is nothing quite like a real dense and moist pound cake to satisfy a sweet tooth. With a real pound cake, each bite seriously melts in your mouth. Mmmmmm…

As much as I love real pound cake, I’m not looking to add on a bunch of weight right now. I wish I had the dilemma of trying to gain weight… unfortunately, gaining weight is really not something that is difficult for me to do. Since I am kind of trying to lose some of this baby fat, I decided that making a real pound cake probably wasn’t in my best interest. Instead, I fell for the picture of a Golden Lemon Pound cake that was featured in a Land O’ Lakes advertisement in this months issue of Gourmet magazine.

This cake is by no means light… it still is jammed full of calories, but the one slice I had was well worth it. I gave part of the cake away to my neighbors across the street, part of the cake served as dessert for a meal with our friends last night, part of the cake was eaten for breakfast this morning by my husband, and the last few pieces will be gone before the day is up (I  hope!).

If you are looking for something that would be a great addition to your Easter brunch, this springtime lemon pound cake should do the trick. For the recipe, visit:

Land O’ Lakes Golden Lemon Pound Cake 

Hmmmm… I wonder why after 9 months, I am still carrying around an extra 15 pounds of leftover baby weight. It couldn’t possibly have anything do do with all the baking I do, could it? Surely not. I am convinced it is because of all the wonderful food blogs out there and the incredible photos that go along with each and every one of them. I swear I probably gain weight reading through your blogs each week. The calories ooze through from your computer right into my thighs.

I can tell that my newest found foodie interest is not going to help matters much. After seeing gorgeous photos posted on Recipezaar and reading through blogs like Jumbo Empanadas and Not Eating Out In New York, I finally gave in to the temptation to purchase an electric ice cream maker. We have a White Mountain ice cream maker that is big, heavy and messy and only gets used about twice a year. I want to be able to make ice cream without having to lug that big old piece of equipment out, so I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond earlier this week and purchased a handy little Cusinart ice cream maker. I put the included bowl in the freezer as soon as I got home and the very next afternoon I got it out to make my first batch of homemade ice cream. I chose a simple recipe off of Recipezaar for Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. I followed the instructions and in less than thirty minutes I had a batch of homemade ice cream. I cannot believe how simple it was and how delicious the end product was. Thank goodness I didn’t have this while I was pregnant or I would have easily gained 50-100 pounds. It is so easy that if I am craving ice cream I can have it without sending my husband out in the middle of the night to bring me home a pint (okay…a gallon). I can now make ice cream how I want it and am not limited to what is available in the freezer section of my local grocer.

Now, I wonder if I post the photo and the recipe here, if the calories will oooze out from my computer into your thighs, saving me the extra calories? You know what? It is worth a try… Enjoy!

From Recipezaar:

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

There is a little coffee shop here in town that we like to frequent. The Country Club Cafe is a great hangout for moms because it provides us with a nice, relaxing environment to chat with our friends while our kids get to play quietly in the designated kids play area. The coffee is great, the staff is welcoming and the pastries are always so tempting.

When we go to the Country Club Cafe, it is usually at breakfast time.  As we approach the counter to place our order, the first thing my kids always notice are the big cookies from Miss Molly’s Bakery. The cookies come in an array of flavors… M&M, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Snickerdoodle, etc. It never fails that the second my kids set their eyes on the cookies, they start begging for one. I have to explain to them that I know those cookies are out of this world, but cookies are not a breakfast food…. they are a dessert. I then convince them to choose something from the muffin basket which begrudgingly they do.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think I broke my own rule this weekend and I have someone other than myself to blame. I can stand up tall and point my finger at someone else… It is all Peabody’s fault. Last week she wrote a post on her blog about some Snickerdoodle muffins. In addition to the mouth watering description she wrote, she also posted a picture that made me want to reach in and grab a muffin right off the screen. Since computer to computer muffin transport hasn’t been invented yet, I decided to do the next best thing… I made the muffins the very next morning.

Peabody’s Snickerdoodle muffins are the best tasting muffin I have ever had. Just imagine a Snickerdoodle cookie and put it in a cake form and you have the most incredible, moist, cinnamon-sugary, flavorful muffin ever. My kids loved them and after each muffin begged for another. To be honest with you, I am not sure that after serving these to my children for breakfast, I can go back to the "no cookies for breakfast" rule. These muffins weren’t cookies, but they might as well have been. They were that good… like having dessert for breakfast! I sent some home with my neighbor after our Saint Patrick’s day party and within minutes had a call from her 5 year old begging for the recipe.

In this household, muffins are allowed for breakfast and a new rule exists…cookies disguised as muffins get a pass for breakfast as well. When they are this good, who can argue?

I made 12 large muffins and 6 mini muffins out of this recipe. To try it out yourself, head to Peabody’s blog. Go with this warning… be prepared to break the rules.

Written for Paper Palate on the Well Fed Network

I only recently became a Gourmet magazine subscriber. I’ve been tempted to subscribe for quite awhile but I finally took the plunge a few months ago after realizing that a large percentage of the meals I make each month usually come from the Epicurious website in the form of recipes from the past Gourmet and Bon Appetit issues.

The March 2007 issue of Gourmet has been my fourth issue since subscribing. I have loved each and every issue so far, but this issue has made my menu planning for the month a cinch. It is jam packed full of recipes that my family will love and that I can do fairly quickly on a busy weeknight.

A few of the March issue highlights are:

• Kitchen Design – I love color…bright, bold color. This section shows the hottest trends in kitchen appliances and cookware, which includes the Turbo Chef oven in red that I would love to get my hands on!
• Good Living – Besides finding out that there are some great dates in March to look forward to (Something on a Stick Day March 28^th…Chip and Dip Day March 23^rd) I was excited to hear of the new product that actually can remove the caffeine stimulant out of beverages simply by using this little plastic stirrer which snags up the molecules. Technology is amazing.
• Gourmet Travels – Bruce Feiler writes of a visit to Nambia. The people, the culture and the landscape are all breathtaking.
• Recipes, recipes and more recipes – A few of the recipes that caught my eye in this issue are: Tarragon Chicken Fricassee (pg 96), Crisp Pork Medallions with Creamy Caper Sauce (pg 100), Banana Rum Cream Pie (pg 102), Shrimp and Romaine Stir Fry (pg 104), Crisp Braised Pork Shoulder (pg 140), Caramelized Potatoes (pg 141), and Cheddar Jalapeño Bread (pg 152).

As luck would have it, two of the recipes from this issue of Gourmet magazine were on the menu for this past weekend. The Crisp Pork Medallions with Creamy Caper Sauce and the Cheddar Jalapeno Bread.

The Crisp Pork Medallions with Creamy Caper Sauce was an incredibly simple dish to put together. The blend of flavors in the pork alone was enough to be excited about. Add the creamy caper sauce and you have an easy dish that is company worthy.

The Cheddar Jalapeno Bread is unbelievable as well. If you love bread and/or cheese with a kick, this recipe is a must try. I omitted the step in the recipe that requires you to roll the bread out into a rectangle. Instead, I just let the bread rise in the loaf pan and once it was ready for baking, I placed it in the oven for about 45 minutes. It really doesn’t get much easier than this. I can’t wait to have some of this bread tomorrow as part of a toasted sandwich. In fact, I may go out and purchase that Panini Press I have been eying just for this bread recipe alone.

I was so excited yesterday when I stumbled across a recipe for Malt-Fudge brownies over at the Tummy Treasure blog. I needed a dessert to take to our Mom’s Night Out game night and chocolate anything is usually a hit with women. I knew I had a lot of leftover malted milk balls from the Malt Ball Cake I made last month, so this recipe wouldn’t require an extra trip to the store, which was a big plus.

We were pretty busy yesterday so I didn’t get around to starting the brownies until around 5pm.  I wasn’t worried as the recipe was straight forward and simple…. nothing at all complicated about it. I was mixing the ingredients together and got to the part that required coarsely chopped malt balls. I walked into my pantry, found the box of Whoppers and picked it up. I opened the top and went to pour them into my food processor. Much to my surprise, my box that should have been over half full had 5 tiny little malt balls trickle out. 5 malt balls and I needed a full cup. I looked up to see my husband’s face… he looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  "What happened to all of the Whoppers?", I asked. "Ummmmmm…..yikes. I didn’t know they were off limits. You didn’t tell me that I couldn’t eat the Whoppers."

This used to happen all the time when I was pregnant. I’d have something I was savoring… taking my time eating. One day I’d reach in to grab it and it would be gone. My husband is a snack stealer… a candy thief… a "I can’t resist it anymore" fall for the temptation kind of guy. As you can imagine, when I was pregnant this would make me see red. Everyone knows you don’t get in the way of a pregnant hormonal woman and her treats! Not to worry…I’m not pregnant right now and I’m not too hormonal this week, so I calmly growled at my husband (just to make a point) and then thought of a game plan. Since the recipe called for 1 cup of coarsely chopped malted milk balls I decided to just substitute an additional 1/2 cup of chocolate malted milk powder. Not really the same, but it was the only alternative I could come up with.

Let me tell you… these have to be the absolute best brownies I have ever made. They are rich, chewy, fudgy and delicious. The malt flavor is subtle, but strong enough to make you wonder what the "secret" ingredient might be.  I can imagine that with the recipe followed exactly, these would be out of this world.

Here is the recipe, as written by Erika over at Tummy Treasure. This is well worth keeping the malted milk balls in an "off limits" location until you are ready to make these. They are delicious!

 Malt-Fudge Brownies

Bisquick is one of those controversial ingredients that can cause quite a stir among people who cook. Are you a "real" cook if you use a pre-boxed mix for anything or should everything be from scratch? The same controversy surrounds cans of cream soup (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, etc). Is it considered cheating to use such ingredients instead of whipping up your own cream sauce to utilize in recipes?

In my opinion, if it comes out of your kitchen…your oven… your mixer… it is homemade. Everyone has time limitations, budget limitations, health limitations, skill limitations. People shouldn’t feel ashamed for using shortcuts, like baking mixes, when they cook. If it is easier and if it gives them the confidence they need to bake something great in the kitchen, then I think they should go for it!

Mimi at French Kitchen in America dubbed March 15th as Bisquick baking mix day. It had been awhile since I had purchased Bisquick but I was excited to have the excuse to make one of my favorite Bisquick breads… Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits. The recipe I use has white wine in it, verus the versions with the milk. This adds such a unique flavor to the biscuits. These are so quick and easy and impressive to throw together for a quick weeknight meal. Get our your Bisquick and bake something up today!

From Recipezaar:

Cheddar Bay Biscuits 

Written for Kids Cuisine on the Well Fed Network

I often struggle with our weekday lunch. It is the most frustrating part of the day for me because I have a hard time getting creative and making a quick and healthy lunch that my kids will enjoy. I am also very tempted at lunchtime to scrap the whole idea of eating at home and instead going to the nearest restaurant to grab something for the kids to eat. This option rarely includes healthy choices and often results in a budget buster.

• ABC - A few weeks ago we had days where everything we ate at lunch time had to correspond to a letter of the alphabet. For example, one day was the letter "P". On "P" day we had pepperoni personal pizzas, pineapple and pudding.  On "S" day we had salad, sandwiches, strawberry yogurt and a few Starburst for dessert. I get my children involved at the grocery store, helping me to pick out food that matches the corresponding letters for the week.
• Picnic Lunch - Indoors or out, changing the venue of your lunch from the kitchen table to a blanket spread out really gets the kids excited. Our picnic lunches are always special!
• Shapes - Turn a boring old sandwich into something fun simply by using a large cookie cutter and cutting the sandwhich into a fun shape. We did hearts and I plan on doing shamrocks for St Patrick’s Day. My picky 3 year old who usually picks her sandwiches apart, ate the entire thing and loved every bit of it!
• Backwards Day - My kids always get a kick out of having breakfast for lunch or dinner. They think it is so silly that Mommy forgot what time of day it was and made them the wrong thing at lunchtime!
• Kabobs - Buy some dull skewers and have a "Kabob" lunch. We’ve done this with different fruits, veggies, lunch meats and even chicken nuggets. There is something about having lunch on a stick that makes my kids really interested in what they are eating.
• Restaurant - This is the favorite for my children. I hand them a pretend menu and they get to choose what they want for lunch off the menu. I am their server and when their food is ready I bring them their meal. I refill drinks, clear the table and always remind them to tip their waitress.  Kids love pretend play and they also love acting like "big" kids at a real restaurant.

I am finally realizing that lunch time doesn’t have to be boring and doesn’t have to be a struggle. All of the above ideas take very little time and the response from my children has been so exciting. It takes such little things to please them and to make a day memorable. If you have any special lunch time tricks, please e-mail them to me at thedoyles at everestkc dot net. I would love to do a future write up with your ideas included.

{First of all…sorry about the lack of any posting this past week. We had a death in the family and my kids and I went out of town for the visitation and funeral. We’ve had some other tragic extended family stuff going on this past week as well… it has been kind of a crazy time.}

I was thinking today about what a great neighborhood we live in. Our block is filled with families young and old and our neighborhood is like one that I used to dream about living in. The kids all hang out together…riding bikes, playing games, playing catch. The parents all hang out together grilling hot dogs, drinking margaritas, catching up on the news, etc. We borrow eggs, we borrow tools, we borrow trucks. We have a great time together and I am thankful to have such wonderful families surrounding us.

I also like my neighbors because they never turn down baked goods.  I like to bake a lot, if you haven’t figured that out already, and if I ate everything I baked I would be the size of my house. This is when my neighbors really come in handy. I know that I can always count on someone on our block taking something off my hands…making the caloric sacrifice for me.

Today I decided I was going to make one of my favorite mini-loaf bread recipes. I don’t make this recipe often because it is just too good. I am always tempted to scarf each little loaf down myself. This recipe makes 4 mini loaves of the softest most delicious bread. In my math challenged mind, I had two loaves to give to neighbors, one loaf for dinner and one loaf for my husband to take with him to work tomorrow. It would work out perfectly. I took the loaves out of the oven and called my first neighbor. After I hung up the phone I looked at my husband who was staring at me with fear in his eyes.

Him - "You aren’t giving away all the bread are you?"

Me - "Of course not… just two of the loaves."

Him - "Two?? Can’t we just give away one? This is my favorite bread…  I promise you I’ll take care of it so it won’t be tempting you."

Me - "Seriously… do we need three loaves?"

Him - "Yes…we need three loaves."

I can’t get in the way of a man and his needs. If it is as easy as leaving three loaves of bread here to keep my husband happy, I’m happy to oblige. Of course, his definition of "taking care of it" and my definition of "taking care of it" must be two different things because I have one lonely little mini loaf sitting on my counter tempting me to just snatch a nibble which would then turn into a hunk and then turn into nothing but a pile of crumbs left.

If you feel like sharing the love with your neighbors, give this simple bread machine recipe a try. Nothing says love like something homemade.

From Recipezaar:

Ted’s Special Mini Loaves

I am going to start this post off by saying I love my husband… I truly do. I love spending time with him. I love having long leisurely weekends with him. I love the fact that he is a great dad, a great husband, a great helper around the house. He is way more than I deserve.

With that out of the way, I am also going to say…when is that man going back to work?? It has been such a long weekend! We went to a party on Friday night, had church this morning and other than that our weekend has been a whole lot of nothing. Nick is not the sit around and do nothing kind of guy. He always has to be doing something… and it drives me crazy. When I’m in the kitchen, he’s trailing along after me cleaning up. When I’m sitting down to read a magazine, he’s banging around the house…hanging shelves, picking up, etc. Nice quality, I know, but sometimes it just gets on my nerves. When he’s not relaxing, I feel guilty for relaxing. For some reason, he was especially busy this weekend and I was especially annoyed by it. Silently annoyed… I’m not about to complain about him helping out around the house, but still… I am so ready for him to go back to work tomorrow so I can have my "domain" back.

We did manage to make a few great meals this weekend…something we do very well together. Two of the highlights were the Chicken Fajitas from Saturday’s lunch and the Honey Oatmeal Bread that went with a yummy rotisserie pork loin he made for dinner tonight.  The fajitas were better than any I’ve tried at the restaurants we have been to. The honey oatmeal bread took me by surprise… it was so good! Soft and chewy with a really great texture. You couldn’t guess that one of the main ingredients was oats (which would have most likely turned off the kiddos).

Tomorrow is Monday… thank God. We’ll be back into our daily routines and I’m sure by noon I’ll be missing him and wishing he was home to help out. In the meantime, I’ll get to leave my cup out a little longer without worrying about it being swiped out from under me and put in the dishwasher and he’ll get to busy himself with important things at work. Peace, at last.