S'more Martini

This will be the first drink that I am posting but I hope to do more! I love a good martini and really enjoy experimenting with different flavors!

The other day my husband was watching T.V while I was slaving away in the kitchen (not really I was making sandwiches for dinner. It was a 100 degrees!) Anyway he saw a commercial for S'mores and I asked if there was any Martini's that tasted like one. Now as you know there are tons of Marshmallow vodkas out there right now so I new there had to be.  I began looking some up on Pinterest. I found that all the recipes had way to many ingredients so I decided to figure it out for my self!



What you'll need:
Smirnoff Fluffed Marshmallow Vodka
Chocolate Liquor
Cream
Granish:
Marshmallow
Chocolate Syrup
Graham Crackers (Crushed)

To Make:
Fill a Cocktail shaker with ice and these ingredients
2 ounces of Marshmallow Vodka
1 ounce of Chocolate Liquor
1 ounce of Cream
Shake well and let chill

In the mean time get your Martini glass ready to garnish! (this is one of my favorite parts making it look pretty!)

Toast a marshmallow over the stove

Rim your glass with chocolate syrup (I put chocolate on a plate and turn the glass on it)

Dip your rimmed glass into crushed graham crackers.

Add your toasted Marshmallow

Pour in the Drink

And Enjoy!!
*** I wanted to wait until I had more pictures to post this but I couldn't wait! So next time I make one I'll add the pictures!

Super Easy Summer Shandy Cupcakes

A few weeks back I was looking for a cupcake recipe that involved my all time favorite beer Summer Shandy! Well needless to say I didn't find anything easy enough to make at 8:00 clock on a Tuesday night so I did the simplest thing possible exchange the water in a cake mix for beer! The result a super moist and yummy cupcake!

What you need for the cake!
One box of Lemon Cake mix
A summer Shandy
Eggs
Oil
Water




Follow the direction on the cake mix box when it says to add water substitute half the water for beer. (Finish of the rest of it for you self!) See wasn't that simple!
Now for the hardest part of the recipe (it's really not that hard) Make a frosting! I used this one from allreceipes.com: Lemon Cream Cheese frosting. Then added a thin lemon slice for decoration!

Cilantro Lime Pesto Chicken Quesadilla

  This recipe was inspired by a find on Pinterest! I found a Cilantro Lime Pesto recipe at What's Cookin, Chicago?. This recipe was for a Cilantro Lime Chicken taco (Same concept just did my a bit differently).




I first made the Pesto from the above site. The only change I made was using a Chipotle Olive Oil. I then put the pesto along with some raw but frozen chicken breast into a Ziploc bag and let it defrost over the next day or so.
After a few days I thinned out the pesto with some chicken broth and put all the contents of the bag into the crock pot and let it cook on low for 5 hours.
When it was done I put the contents of the crockpot into my stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment on speed 2 for a few minutes.

Then just go a head and make into Quesadillas or Tacos with all your favorite fillings and toppings!

Pasta Pie

I  made a pasta pie the other day and instead of rewriting the recipe this is where I got it from: Pasta Pie recipe.

Here are a few pictures of the process:

I stood the pan on it side when putting the noodles in.

Putting the meat sauce in the noodles! (I used ground turkey instead of beef)

The end result!

It kind of fell apart on me when cutting into :(

But it still tasted amazing and was a great new way to make pasta!

Chicken Noodle Salad

Just a quick recipe for lunch this week!

I make this chicken salad every few weeks mostly because it is super easy to make and taste yummy. I will probably eat it everyday for lunch this week!

So here it goes!

2 Cooked Chicken breast shredded (put it in your stand up mixer with the paddle attachment on the 2-3 setting)
1 cup of fat free mayo
half a bag of peas
2 hand fulls of shredded cheese
Half a box of elbow noodles

Mix all of the above and your done!
My mom ususally grates some onion into it but prefer it without.

Beer Dip

Beer dip is always a hit whenever I bring it to Family parties, Work, and any other gatherings. My husband likes it so much I always have to leave him a small bowl if I am making it to bring some where! Another bonus it is super easy to make! Thank You to my cousins for the recipe!

What you will need:

• 2 packages of cream cheese (I use a low fat kind can't taste the difference with everything else in it)
• 1 packet of Ranch Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups of your favorite Light beer
• 1 cup of Sharp Cheddar
• Your Favorite Dipper 
• I use Sour Dough pretzels but any would do. My mom uses tortilla chips.

What you will do:
Mix cream cheese, ranch seasoning, and garlic until its all mixed together. Add beer and mix carefully so not to splash. Once it is all mixed add in cheddar cheese, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Enjoy!

Pot Roast

There is nothing better then coming home to dinner in a Slow cooker! I especially love coming home to pot roast because of how awesome the house smells! I'm sure Madison is going crazy at home all day with the smell!

With that said! Here is what you will need:

• 8 potatoes cut into fourths (I usually use red but the yellow where just as good)
• 1 bag of baby carrots
• A small roast
• French onion soup mix
• 1 cup of water
• 4 cloves of garlic crushed
• tablespoon of Olive Oil

Here is what you will do
Cut deep 2-3 deep slits into the roast and get as much of the garlic that you can into them. Sear the roast on each side in a pan with the Olive oil.
In a Slow Cooker put potatoes and carrots in bottom of pot. On top of that add the roast and sprinkle the onion soup mix over it. Add 1 cup of water to the pot, cover and set it to low for 8 hours. One warning DO NOT OPEN THE LID until its done.
Enjoy the smells all day and have a delicious hearty meal!

Mom's Banana Bread

Banana Bread Muffins
Banana Bread is always a go to in our house and I always use a recipe my mom uses I just added a few things for some new flavor! I always keep banana's and because I make it so often my co-workers bring me theirs when they start to get extra ripe!
One thing to know when you are making Banana bread is to make sure you have very ripe banana's. I like them dark brown and soft!


You will need:

1. 3 ripe bananas
2. 1/2 cup of butter
3. 1 cup of sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 2 cups of flour
6. 1 tsp. of baking soda
7. 1/2 tsp. of salt

These next ingredient are optional but I think its what makes it!

1. 1/2 cup of nuts (I use pecans)
2. 1 teaspoon of dried orange peel (I use Penzey's)
3. 1 tablespoon of Vanilla (I use Mexican Vanilla) 

Preheat the oven to 325. Mix all of your wet ingredients and then add in the dry.  Put into a greased loaf pan or muffin tin.
Cook large loaf for 1 hour
Small Loafs for about 40 Minutes
Muffins 25 minutes


This recipe makes 1 loaf of bread or 3 small loafs or about a 18 muffins!

Hope you Enjoy and Feel free to ask any questions!
**remember I'm new to this!