The Girl Who Ate Everything

$175 Albion Fit Giveaway

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:47:07 +0000

It’s swimsuit season and quite frankly I don’t know how I’m going to fit my big belly in any swimsuit this summer. I’ve been coveting these swimsuits from Albion Fit for a while now and can’t wait until I can get myself one…or into one.

Albion Fit is a Utah-based company whose fitness and swimwear balance style, coverage, performance and quality in a beautiful way. They have a great variety of women’s fitness and swimwear. Albion has recently opened its flagship store location at City Creek Center in SLC.

I love that they have a huge variety of modest and fashion forward swimsuits.

But if you’re not ready to slip on a swimsuit they also have durable and trendy women’s fitness wear to help you get there.

Today Albion Fit is giving away $175 worth of merchandise to you all. Just follow the instructions below. We also have exclusive promotional code for you all to save $15 on any purchase of $50 or more; the code is ateeverything15 and it’s valid through 5/28!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mini BLT Wraps

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:05:55 +0000

Let’s play the “I’ve Never” game.

I’ve never been skydiving.

I’ve never been in jail.

I’ve never had a BLT sandwich.

Now it’s your turn…

Should I be scared of your answers…because I kind of am.

Although I’ve never had one, I love bacon, lettuce, and tomato so what could go wrong. This may not be the traditional BLT sandwich with bread but the tortilla wrapped version makes for a tasty sandwich. I know it’s not brain science but the idea of these is great on so many levels.

I’m obsessed with all things mini lately too so I looked for the smallest flour tortillas I could find for mini wraps. These would be great for a big gathering where you want to make something more substantial than a dip but don’t want to commit to something bigger.

You can secure them with toothpicks to make them easier to eat.

Mini BLT Wraps

Yield: 12 mini BLT wraps

Ingredients

6 (6 inch) small flour tortillas
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
about 2 1/2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
10-12 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Instructions

In a small bowl combine tomatoes and mayonnaise. Spread about 1/4 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Layer lettuce and bacon on top.
Roll tightly and slice in half at a diagonal.
Secure with a toothpick for easy eating. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

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New and improved Pins from Pinterest…

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:34 +0000

I’ve got some exciting news today! The Girl Who Ate Everything is one the first websites to introduce better pins on Pinterest.

Pinterest has improved its pins to make them more informative. For example, recipe pins now have ingredient information listed in the pin so that you can see what ingredients you might need immediately. Recipe information is updated automatically so that you always have the right information.

Here’s a look at what the new and improved pins look like with the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake from my site.

To get improved rich pins on your own site, go here and apply: http://developers.pinterest.com/rich_pins/

Let the pinning begin!

Don’t miss a thing. Follow The Girl Who Ate Everything on Pinterest.

Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas and Dinner and a Movie with The Dating Divas

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:31 +0000

I’ve got dinner and a movie for you today!

I am SO excited to be partnering up with The Dating Divas today! I’m sure you’ve all heard of The Dating Divas, right? If not, you are missing out! They’re a group of married women who post fun, creative, and inexpensive ideas that will put the SPARK back into your marriage. If you’d love to reclaim the romance and excitement you had back when you were first dating, then this is the site for you!

And today, I’ve teamed up with the Divas to bring you a special treat… Dinner and a Movie!! Because who doesn’t love a fun date with a good movie and some delicious food? That’s right, I’m going to hook you up with fabulous food ideas for your next movie night, and the Divas are taking care of all the date details for you. Read on, because you’ve got one spectacular (already planned) date night coming your way. Head on over to their site to get everything you need for your date. Zorro is a classic movie that I could watch over and over again!

Back to dinner. Today we’re making Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas to go along with our Zorro movie. When I think of a special date night, seafood is the way to go. Seafood means “adults only” in my eyes. Can I tell you that I made four different versions of these enchiladas to come up with the perfect recipe? All in one week. Then on our date night I ordered enchiladas just for research purposes. Needless to say, you can call me the enchilada expert. And ten pounds heavier.

Start by chopping up some onion, pepper, and garlic.

Oh yeah. I found out that shelling shrimp is my least favorite thing to do.

Sautee the veggies and add to the shrimp until they are just barely pink. We’ll be baking them more in the oven later. This mixture alone is the bomb.

Make your cheese sauce and add a little to the shrimp and the rest we’re going to smother the enchiladas with.

These are rich and decadent. Perfect for a date night!

Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas

Ingredients

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Shrimp Mixture:

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced finely
1/2 cup white onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice

Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa verde
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup sour cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
For the Shrimp Mixture: In a large skillet melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Sautee the red bell pepper and onion until slightly soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes or until pink just start to turn pink. Remember we are still baking this so we don't want the shrimp to be overcooked.
Remove mixture from the heat and add the salt, chili powder, cilantro, and lime. Stir and set aside.
For the Sauce: In a large skillet melt the butter. Add the flour and stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth and continue to cook over medium high heat stirring constantly. The mixture will start out thin and thicken up once it cooks.
Once the mixture has thickened lower the heat and add the Monterey Jack cheese and stir until melted. You can remove mixture from the heat and stir in the green salsa and sour cream.
Add 1 cup of the sauce to the reserved shrimp mixture and stir.
Fill a tortilla with 1/3 cup of the shrimp mixture, roll the tortilla tightly and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Pour the sauce over the tortillas and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let the enchiladas sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Source: The GIrl Who Ate Everything

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Baked Spasagna

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:44:27 +0000

Is it spaghetti? Is it lasagna? It’s….both. Just imagine spaghetti noodles mixed with the same yummy ricotta mixture that is usually found in the layers of lasagna. Then it’s all baked and topped with your favorite meat sauce or meatless if that’s what you’re going for.

It’s good and full of flavor. I’m not going to say that it’s healthy by any means but it’s a comfort dish that the whole family will love. Supposedly it’s a knock off from a dish from the restaurant Cheddar’s but since I haven’t been there I can’t vouch for that.

This makes a heaping 9X13 pan of pasta so prepare to feed a crowd or even half it.

Spaghetti noodles are mixed with the cheesy mixture that you would usually put in lasagna.

Baked Spasagna

Yield: 14 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs (24 ounces) spaghetti noodles, uncooked
2 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese (you could probably get away with less)
8 ounces ricotta cheese
8 ounces sour cream
1 1/4 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Meat Sauce:

12 ounces ground beef or sausage
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook spaghetti al dente according to package directions. Drain and place in large mixing bowl.
In another mixing bowl, stir together sour cream, ricotta, half-and-half, mozzarella, oregano, basil, pepper, garlic, salt, and half of the Parmesan cheese.
Add above cheese mixture to the spaghetti. Mix gently until spaghetti is evenly coated with mixture.
Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
Gently place spaghetti mixture into prepared dish. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, remove foil and place dish on cooling rack for 10 minutes.
While pasta is cooking, prepare the meat sauce.
For the meat sauce: Add ground beef or sausage to a skillet over medium heat and brown meat well. Add salt and pepper. Add the onion and cook until soft. Drain meat and set aside. Add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for about ten minutes.
Cut pasta into into squares and top with meat sauce.

Notes

Source: adapted from Food.com

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:47:20 +0000

I have been lusting after this cheesecake over at Mel’s Kitchen Café ever since I discovered food blogs. No joke, I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for three years. Whenever a special holiday like my birthday or Mother’s Day would come around my husband would ask me if there was a special dessert I had in mind. I always gave him a few choices including this cheesecake but he always chose one of the other options. Instead he’s made this Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Glaze, this Chocolate Cake, and these Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries. He’s not too shabby in the kitchen.

I think he went with the other choices because this has more steps than the usual recipe but honestly it came together so quickly. Yep. This year I decided to make this for myself for Mother’s Day. I’m sure we might end up with additional dessert as well but that’s just how we roll.

Cheesecakes can be a little intimidating and so frustrating when they don’t turn out. This came together beautifully. And did I mention it’s a cheesecake loaded with chunks of cookie dough throughout?

Half of my cookie dough balls. The dough will be kind of wet but harden up in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the cheesecake.

I used graham cracker crumbs for my crust since I didn’t have any Oreos or chocolate crumbs on hand. Feel free to use whatever you prefer. Spread half of the cheesecake batter in the pan.

Then fold in your cookie dough balls and some chocolate chips.Spread it all into a pan and bake away.

Look at those chunks of cookie dough.

There’s a reason Cheesecake Factory tops all of its cheesecakes with fresh whipped cream. The cream cuts the rich dense cheesecake and is the perfect compliment. Don’t skip this part!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Set aside an additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips to fold into the batter with the cookie dough balls

Crust:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or chocolate cookie crumbs (like Oreos)

Filling:

4 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream

Garnish:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Mini chocolate chips, for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugars for the cookie dough. Add the milk, vanilla and blend. Mix in the flour, salt and the chocolate chips. The dough will be wet. Gently roll the dough into small teaspoons size balls and place them on a wax paper lined plate or baking sheet. Place them in the freezer to harden while making the rest of the cheesecake.
For the crust: Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine the butter with the graham crackers or cookie crumbs. Press onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.
For the cheesecake: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until blended. Be careful not to overmix – incorporating too much air into the batter can contribute to a cheesecake cracking on top during baking.
Pour half the batter into the prepared crust. Gently stir in the cookie dough balls and the additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour into the pan, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan and evening it out across the top. Make sure to try to evenly distribute the cookie balls so that every slice has some in it.
Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees for one hour. Turn off the oven and prop the door open several inches (make sure no kids are around!). Let the cake sit in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled. For best results chill overnight.
For whipped cream garnish: Whip cream with sugar until soft peaks form.
To serve, cut into slices and top with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips.

Notes

Source: Mel's Kitchen Café

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Mini Frittatas

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:39:06 +0000

No egg is safe in our house. Whether it’s boiled, scrambled, or frittata-ed (I’m making up words now), eggs last less than a couple of days in our house. The whole family loves them and it’s the coveted snack in the house. I know that may sound weird to those that do NOT have an egg obsession but it’s the truth.

These Mini Frittatas are made in mini muffin tins and can essentially have any of your favorite ingredients thrown in. Ham, sausage, bacon with spinach, parsley, or basil for some fresh pops of color and flavor. You are in charge.

I happened to have some bacon and spinach on hand so that’s what I used here. I like using Parmesan cheese inside the actual frittatas so that the cheese flavor is there but it doesn’t make them too wet inside. On top I sprinkled a little cheddar cheese for flavor and color.

These would be great for brunch with these French Toast Roll-Ups.

Mini Frittatas

These frittatas are easy and light. Use whatever meat and veggies you have on hand to make them yours!

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
8 large eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled (you could use diced ham or cooked sausage here too)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped spinach leaves (you could use 2 Tablespoons of chopped basil or parsley here instead too)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Spray 2 mini muffin tins (each with 12 cups) with nonstick spray. Spray well. You don't want these to stick.
Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the bacon, cheese, and spinach. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Sprinkle tops with cheddar cheese. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. The frittatas will be really puffy right out of the oven and will settle once removed from the oven.
Using a knife, run the edge of the knife around the edge and loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter. Serve immediately.

Notes

Source: adapted from Food Network

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French Toast Roll-Ups

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:24:14 +0000

We had a rough weekend. Without getting into too much detail, my baby girl had a stomach bug and my husband had food poisoning from a local fast food joint. Our washing machine was on overload. After a full day out of commission I joked to my husband that he might have to cancel his golf tee time the following day. But imagine that, he squeaked out the energy to make it. Amazing.

I guess you could say I’m in need of a little relaxation. A pedicure might not hurt either. Mother’s Day can not come soon enough.

If you’re pampering the mom in your life this weekend, fix her these French Toast Roll-Ups. They look gourmet and melt in your mouth. I ate 7 out of the 8 of them just to make sure.

Just take regular soft white bread and cut the crusts off.

Using a rolling pin, flatten the pieces out.

Place whatever filling you like inside towards the end of the piece of bread. I love softened cream cheese topped with diced strawberries.

Nutella with strawberries is really good too.

Roll those babies up.

Dip them in an egg/mixture just like you would regular French toast.

As soon as you’ve browned them in a skillet roll them in some cinnamon/sugar.

Breakfast is served!

French Toast Roll-Ups

Ingredients

8 slices white sandwich bread
softened cream cheese, diced strawberries, or Nutella
2 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
butter, for greasing the pan

Instructions

Cut the crust from each slice of bread and flatten it out with a rolling pin.
Place about 1-2 teaspoons of your chosen filling 1 inch from one end of the bread in a strip. Roll the bread up tightly and repeat with the remaining pieces of bread. I really like cream cheese with diced strawberries as one combination and Nutella with diced strawberries as another combination.
In a shallow bowl whisk the eggs and milk until well combined.
In a separate shallow bowl mix the sugar with the cinnamon.
Heat a skillet set over medium heat and melt a tablespoon of butter.
Dip each bread roll in the egg mixture coating well and then place them in the pan seam side down. Cook in batches until golden brown, turning them to cook and brown on all sides. Add butter to the pan as needed.
Add cooked rolls immediately from the pan to the cinnamon sugar and roll until completely covered in sugar. You can serve with syrup for dipping but I think they're perfectly good all by themselves.

Notes

Source: inspired from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

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My Favorite Things – Mother’s Day Edition

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:04:56 +0000

Here’s the deal. My calling in life is to not be a salesperson and I don’t like feeling obligated to talk about stuff. Because of this blog, I am asked a lot by people to talk about their products and promote them and I just don’t feel comfortable with that. I like to keep this blog about food and recipes and I don’t want you to feel like I’m selling you something.

But I’ve also been introduced to a lot of REALLY cool products that I never would have come across otherwise and wanted you to know about them too!

So I decided to do a series called, “My Favorite Things” as an outlet to share with you all of the things that I currently think are the bomb. Some of them are just normal things that I use everyday and happen to love right now and some are products that I have been lucky enough to discover recently.

Here are some of my favorite things right now that maybe the mom in your life might like too. Remember no one is paying me or told me to talk about these things. I’m sincerely excited about all of these things and wanted to share them with you!

Scribble Linens - How cool are these? They’re linens that you can write on. Since I’m a Food Nazi, it’s a great way for me to tell people exactly how to eat the food I make (especially Café Rio - you have to assemble it in the right order people!). Or you can leave your kids or husband sweet messages next to their meal. Let your kids draw on them during dinner. The possibilities are endless. They come in all kinds of trendy fabrics. I love mine.

Birchbox - This is such a unique gift idea. A Birchbox is a collection of samples of high-end skincare, makeup, and lifestyle products that are sent to you (or you can gift it to someone) every month. That way you get to try out all kinds of new products without breaking the bank. You can gift a 3-month subscription for $30, a 6-month subscription for $60, or a whole year if you’re that generous. I just sent this to my sister for her birthday.

FlyBelly- The hard thing about having four kids is never being able to find time to shop and maternity clothes are the hardest to shop for. I was trying to get away with not buying any since this is my last kid but I finally gave in to the comfort factor. FlyBelly is a site that finds all of the cute and affordable maternity clothes and puts them all in one place so you and your swollen feet don’t have to track them all down by foot. I have the items on the right but I think I need the coral chevron shirt too!

Bose Portable Sound Dock - My husband bought this for me a while ago and I seriously use it everyday. I love music. My happy place is in the kitchen with Pandora playing. It’s a little pricey but I’ve definitely got my money’s worth.

Payless Shoes - I’m loving all of these shoes right now from Payless. I’m a sucker for a peep-toe sling back wedge. I bought both white shoes today for summer!

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Mother’s Day Decor and Brunch Ideas

Christy {The Girl Who Ate Everything} — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:00:23 +0000

Mother’s Day is coming up and I’ve teamed up with the ladies over at Lunch Pails & Lipsticks for some great ideas for Mother’s Day. I’m terrible with décor so they’re going to give you the scoop on how to set up your brunch table for your mother.

Head on over to Lunch Pails & Lipstick to get detailed instructions on how to make your table look like this!

I’m sharing some easy brunch recipes here for your Mom this Mother’s day. These are melt in your mouth French Toast Roll-Ups.

French Toast Roll-Ups Recipe

These Roll-Ups would pair perfectly with these easy Mini Egg Frittatas.

Mini Frittatas Recipe