Kitchen Koala

Lucy is 7 Months

2012-10-22T15:58:00.002-05:00

...And she's got two teeth. Look at those chompers!!! Still waiting on some hair though :)

Lucy is 6 Months!

2012-09-26T15:07:00.002-05:00

Our little Lucy turned 6 months last week! We started her on solids last weekend using the Baby Led Weaning method. So far I don't think she's actually swallowed any of the food that's gone into her mouth, but we'll keep trying and hope that one day soon it will click for her. Right now she's happy to grab at the food and chomp on it a bit (no teeth yet) before pushing it out with her

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

2012-08-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

It isn't often that my husband makes special requests for baked goodies; he's more of an "I'll eat whatever you make" kind of guy. So on the rare occasion that he makes a suggestion, I'm all ears. Recently he asked for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (one of my favorites!), and of course I obliged. The recipe I chose is from the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. It's the White

Chicken Tikka Masala

2012-08-14T10:03:00.000-05:00

We're not very adventurous when it comes to Indian cuisine in our household. When we've gone out for Indian food, I almost always get butter chicken or saag paneer while the Mister prefers chicken tikka masala. Since we're making a conscious effort to reduce the number of times we dine out each month, I thought I'd try my hand at making chicken tikka masala at home. The recipe I seem to come

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Cheesecake

2012-08-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge theme is...CHEESECAKE! The rules have changed for this month's challenge, so recipes we select no longer have to come from a blog. Recipes can come from anywhere, so the possibilities are nearly endless. I selected Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes from the May 2007 issue of First for Women magazine. They were delicious! Like

Coconut Granola

2012-07-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

If you're looking to incorporate more oats into your diet but don't like the taste/texture of oatmeal, why not try some granola? Here's an easy recipe for granola that you can make with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! I like my granola with dried fruits and sometimes nuts, but they're not included in the recipe because in my experience the granola stays crunchier

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2012-07-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a recipe for classic oatmeal raisin cookies that I think you'll really enjoy. It comes from Cooks Illustrated, so you know it has to be good! While most oatmeal raisin cookies tend toward the cinnamony side (my favorite!), these don't have any cinnamon at all. The recipe calls for freshly grated nutmeg, which brings out the "oaty-ness" of the cookies better. Not a fan of raisins?

Milk Cookies for New Mommas

2012-07-21T15:16:00.000-05:00

Whether you're a new momma looking to boost your milk supply or just looking for a healthy and yummy treat, these cookies might be just the thing you're looking for. I found the recipe on the Peaceful Parenting website and have made them at least 5 times since coming home from the hospital. The cookies are packed with good-for-you ingredients (rolled oats, flax seed, brewer's yeast) that

Lucy is 4 Months!

2012-07-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there! These past 4 months have zoomed by so unbelievably fast. Where did the time go? Lucy is growing by leaps and bounds. At our last count, she is in the 90-95th percentile for both height and weight. She's a big happy baby! I'm enjoying being a Mommy more than I ever thought possible. Lucy has been such a wonderful baby, and lately she's been very generous in dishing out the

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Grilled Cheese

2012-05-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup were a staple for me during Lent this year, but honestly I could eat them almost every day if I had a chance to. Hubby prefers his pressed in a George Foreman®-type grill, I like mine on the skillet, but we both prefer them straight up--good ole' American cheese between two pieces of squishy white sandwich bread...no recipe needed. For this month's

Lucy is One Month!

2012-04-19T20:13:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe it's been ONE MONTH since Lucy was born. Our days right now are full of milk, snuggles, and eating things like ramen noodles and bologna sandwiches.* And I am fortunate enough to be able to stay home with her until June. Life is good! * Mr. K/"Daddy" is home with us tomorrow, so we'll get to have grilled cheese sandwiches.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Blueberry Muffins

2012-04-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a joyous and blessed Easter! This post is going live on Holy Saturday, but of course I had it written well before that. By now I've welcomed my sweet baby girl into the world (due date was 2 weeks ago), so naturally I'll have my hands full for a while as we adjust to parenthood. Be back soon with some updates and baby pictures! I was super excited to

Introducing Miss Lucy Kay

2012-04-03T13:12:00.001-05:00

Born March 19, 2012 at 1:35 pm 7 lbs. 11 oz 20.5 inches long

Creamy Guacamole Dip

2012-03-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Since green and/or rainbow colored foods are pretty much a requirement for St. Patrick's Day, here is a recipe for a guacamole style dip that's perfect for any time of the year. I don't know where the original recipe comes from; I've been using a copy that's been sitting in my recipe binder for a few years. I've made some changes here and there, and I think

New York Style Cheesecake

2012-03-16T11:18:00.001-05:00

♥ Special thanks to Mr. K for plating up and taking the photo for this post! ♥ While going through our combined collection of cookbooks and recipe cards/booklets, I came across an old promotional booklet for Eagle® Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. It's about 5 inches tall and features twenty recipes and looked like it was from the eighties: I had big plans to make a New York style

Shrimp Fettucine

2012-03-12T13:05:00.000-05:00

Seafood fettucine is a very popular dish here in south Louisiana. I like to think of it as a special occasion dish because it's definitely on the indulgent side in terms of cost and calories...but every now and then it's worth the splurge! Here's a special recipe for fettucine I received from my mother in law last year. You can make it using either crawfish or shrimp; it's delicious either

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Spaghetti

2012-03-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

The "Spaghetti" theme for this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge really had me excited because spaghetti night is fairly common in our house. What's not to like about a spaghetti dinner, right? It's quick, easy, budget-friendly, and a general crowd-pleaser. Around here we're perfectly content with throwing some cooked ground beef into a jar of sauce and calling it a day, but in keeping with

Pecan Rum Balls

2012-02-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Leap Day! In honor of this very special "bonus" day, I'm bringing you a very special recipe--one of Mr. K's top secret recipes he makes annually to give out during the Christmas season. He's been making rum balls for his family for years, and they're hit with everyone who tries them. His standard recipe calls for regular cocoa and spiced rum (like Captain Morgan's), but this year he

Bakery Style Peanut Butter Cookies

2012-02-28T10:05:00.000-06:00

Our choir is heading to Rome later this year to sing for the Holy Father. It's one of those opportunities that arises "once in a lifetime", but in my case it's I suppose it's twice in a lifetime! My senior year of high school, the choir made a trip to Italy for the same reason. Sadly, I could not go on the trip that year...and I can't go on the trip this year either! So that's not one, but

Veggie Ventures: Lettuce

2012-02-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Veggie Ventures series, where we'll take a glimpse at veggies my husband and I want to grow but have never really eaten! This is the last post of the Veggie Ventures series, as we'll soon be getting our spring garden up and going. I suppose "Lettuce" as a Veggie Ventures topic is a bit misleading, since we have actually eaten lettuce before. They're included here because we

Big Ole' Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-02-23T12:23:00.000-06:00

The famous New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can find it pretty much anywhere you look on the web these days, owing to the masses of bloggers who have made and posted about this particular cookie. This is probably my third or fourth time making them, but somehow they've never made it onto Kitchen Koala. The only reason I can think of is that we ate them all before I could get

Veggie Ventures: Turnips

2012-02-21T13:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Veggie Ventures series, where we'll take a glimpse at veggies my husband and I want to grow but have never really eaten! Turnips. Now before you go running for the hills, hear me out. If you think you hate turnips, chances are you've never had a good one. Believe me, I know--because I was almost turned away from this under appreciated veggie by a couple of really bad

King Cake 2012

2012-02-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

Mardi Gras is coming up on Tuesday, so you still have time to pick up a king cake for the celebration. Better yet, why not make one? My first venture into king cake baking was two years ago; you can read about it HERE. The resulting cakes were quite good, but this year I wanted to try something a little different. Whereas my previous attempt used a cinnamon roll dough as the base

Hashbrown Casserole

2012-02-17T14:59:00.000-06:00

We started noticing "it" in our cartons of orange juice and ice cream. "It" being package-shrink. Our half-gallons of juice and ice cream are, sadly, very rarely half-gallons anymore. In an effort to keep prices low, manufacturers are slowly but surely knocking off a few ounces here and there from our beloved products in hopes that we don't notice. (Most of the time we don't.) On the

Veggie Ventures: Kohlrabi

2012-02-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Veggie Ventures series, where we'll take a glimpse at veggies my husband and I want to grow but have never really eaten! Ok. We are admittedly guilty of falling into the trap of growing something in our garden because "it looks so gosh darn cool." That's what happened with kohlrabi, a member of the Brassica family. The name "kohlrabi" comes from the German words for "