Yesterday I had one of the Duke’s whole wheat blueberry muffins topped with Oikos. I’m not even the hugest fan of honey, but paired with the thick and tangy Greek yogurt, this stuff is lethal.

Oikos topped with banana slices, Annie’s Honey Bunnies and a drizzle of honey is an outrageously good snack!

 So, I may not be quite cool enough (yet) to give away Le Cruset pots and KitchenAid mixers, but I’m finally getting around to hosting my first give away. I constantly blog about how much I love Greek yogurt, and last week the kind folks at Stonyfield sent me some coupons for Greek yogurt to give away to my fabulous readers!

Not only is their Greek yogurt good, but their Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt (in the big container) is the best of the best!!

It’s not as thick as the Greek stuff, but still perfectly creamy and satisfying.

So, if you want to win three (3) free 5.3 oz  Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt coupons and one (1) coupon for a 4-pack of Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt, here’s the deal: Make sure you are following me and leave a comment about your favorite variety Stonyfield yogurt. The contest is open only to U.S. residents and closes tomorrow (Wednesday, March 10) at 11 p.m. Central. I will choose one winner at random, so make sure to include your email address in your comment. 

A big thanks to Stonyfield and a big thanks to you for entering my first ever give away. Here’s hoping they only get bigger and better from here on out!!The Duchess

I’ve been salivating over PW’s Baked Lemon Pasta for about a year now and finally broke down and made the darn dish over the weekend. All I can say is Oh, Baby. This stuff is goooooood.

This dish involves lots of lemon, parsley, sour cream, and my good friend, butter.

Since I live on the Gulf of Mexico, I decided to saute some fresh shrimp on the side. Don’t hate, but I never devein my shrimp. Living in the South, we eat everything. Not even the digestive tract of shellfish can scare us! And honestly, I think the vein adds a little somethin’ somethin’.

I followed P-Dub’s recipe exactly, but used whole wheat pasta (instead of white) and lite sour cream (instead of whole fat). Gotta keep it healthy, folks.

If that doesn’t look good, then I don’t know what does. I could have just eaten this creamy and citrus-y pasta straight out of the pan, but I was nice and decided to share some with the Duke.

I suggest you make this dish at your earliest convenience and lock yourself with it in the closet with a fork and and a loaf of garlic bread.

I secretly hope that one day the Pioneer Woman and I can be friends. We’ll do each other’s hair and stay up late talking about Taylor Lautner. Until that day, I’ll just continue to live vicariously through her mouth-watering kitchen creations. The Duchess

Last weekend, for the Duke’s birthday, I made cinnamon rolls-not from scratch, though. I love making breads from scratch, but I’m not about to get up before the crack of dawn to make a dough that has to rise for an hour or two before breakfast. No way, jose. So, what’s a girl to do? Use frozen bread dough, of course! You thaw the bread loaf, roll it out and fill with butter and cinnamon sugar, roll it up, and you can even let it thaw over night in the fridge. The results are pretty great, if I do say so, myself.

I’d say they look pretty much like the real thing. And they tasted just great. In fact, if I hadn’t told the entire blogosphere that I used frozen dough, you’d probably all think I made them myself. I’m just an honest person, though, and would never want to mislead you.

Oh, yum. I would eat these everyday for breakfast if it didn’t mean I’d gain 300 lbs. There’s just something so perfect about a hot and sticky cinnamon pecan-y breakfast roll.

For a balanced breakfast, serve thick-cut bacon alongside rolls. It’s all about balance, folks.

With that, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Get out there and enjoy this gorgeous weather.The Duchess

Do you ever crave veggies? I do. I crave veggies all the time. Especially after my last post. If I have oatmeal for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch, all I want for dinner is a big salad! The other night I decided to do southwest hoagies, but I opted to keep mine vegetarian. The combination of crusty bread, melty cheese and flavorful veggies was a home run. Of course I piled the Duke’s sandwich high with chicken, but I was in my own personal version of veggie heaven.

We have sandwiches at least once per week, because they’re so fast. I’m always trying to come up with new and excited ways to prepare the American classic. I made a quick avocado smash for these sandwiches. Paired with melted pepper jack cheese, the hoagies were delicious. I’ll definitely keep this quick fix dinner in my repertoire.

Of course, you can use any assortment of veggies for this sandwich. Mushrooms, eggplant and sauteed spinach would also be great, but I just used what I had on hand. Isn’t that the beauty of dinner on the fly?

I’m so happy it’s finally Thursday! I’m subbing in Pre-K today and tomorrow, so I better get going. Hope the little ones are easy on Mrs. Carter. The Duchess

At any rate, the Duke and I had a fabulous weekend. We celebrated his 31st birthday on Saturday with food, food and more food (and a little karaoke with friends ). We went to Ruth’s Chris with our parents for dinner, but unfortunately I don’t have any photos to share My camera was malfunctioning. But let me tell you, it was a darn good meal. I rarely eat red meat, so when I do, I make sure to make up for lost time. I ordered the ribeye and the Duke ordered the petite filet. The waiter that brought us our steaks thought he had it mixed up. I didn’t even eat a quarter of the steak, but it was so delicious. There’s nothing like a salty, fatty steak. Oh yes.

I didn’t make the Duke a birthday cake this year, but I did make him a fabulous Paula Deen recipe that he took to work on Friday. It’s another gooey butter cake. Paula make lots of different varieties and they’re all sinfully good. We’ve tried lemon, pumpkin, and now, German Chocolate. Since this version has pecans, it’s perfect for this week’s My Girl, Paula! challenge for nuts.

Believe it or not, this recipe also starts with a box of cake mix! The bottom layer is a wonderfully chewy chocolate cake, and the filling consists of cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, pecans and coconut…need I say more?

OK, I have to brag on myself here. I didn’t have one single bite of this cake! I’ve really been doing well with my Lent fast (no desserts). I almost had to get the Duke to cut it for me, because it was just too tempting. But, I rose above the urge and was able to cut the cake without sneaking a single taste.

The Duke’s coworkers really enjoyed this funky spin on a classic cake, and I’m sure you will, too. With that, I hope you have a wonderful week. Can you believe it’s already March??? Crazy!The Duchess

There were perfectly good butternut squash in my grocery store this weekend, so who says I can’t make a fall recipe when it’s soon-to-be spring?? I bit the bullet and did it!

I adapted the recipe slightly, and it turned out great. I sauteed one chopped onion and about a half a cup of chopped fennel in two tablespoons of butter. I then added 3 lbs of chopped butternut squash, 5 cups of chicken broth, one bay leaf, and salt and pepper and brought the whole party to a boil. It then simmered for about 12-15 minutes until the squash was softened. All that’s left to do is puree the soup in batches in a blender. That’s it! I’m so glad I finally got around to making this soup.

I personally feel that butternut squash and rosemary were made for each other. As such, I chopped a boat load of fresh rosemary and stirred it into some ricotta with salt and pepper. I plopped a healthy spoonful, along with some of my dad’s home made croutons, onto each bowl of soup. WOWZA! This bowl of soup tasted really rich, but (besides my 2 tbsp. of butter) it was rather healthy.

I made an easy salad of romaine, cucumbers, almonds and craisins to serve alongside the golden delicious soup. And a huge chunk of crusty wheat french bread.

This meal was the perfect ending to a nice weekend. The Duke and I are watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, so I guess I’ll retire for the evening. I’m still bummed about the hockey team losing to Canada, but the American guys played a great game! All of our athletes really worked hard and made the USA proud.
The Duchess

We kicked off the celebration last night with a nice evening in. We’re both pretty wiped on Friday nights, so we usually stay home and cook. I stopped by the fish market and bought some beautiful shrimp and delicious dips. My favorite market in town has a huge selection of prepared foods (oven-ready twice baked potatoes, stuffed shrimp, etc.), so I bought the Duke’s favorite…smoked tuna dip. This stuff is so good! If you’ve never had smoked tuna, you don’t know what you’re missing.

We wet our palates with the tuna dip and a sundried tomato and feta dip (let’s face it, this was more for me than the Duke) with crackers and a glass of vino. Great way to start the evening!

I’d say I’m looking a little tired after a long week of work! Oh, well. It felt so nice to relax on the couch with my main man.

For dinner I cooked the shrimp in a spicy tomato and olive sauce and served it over couscous.

It was really delicious! The Duke and I both downed a pretty large portion. We both love shrimp, and living on the Gulf of Mexico, we’ve always got fresh shrimp at our disposal.

After a big meal and a few glasses of wine, I prepared overnight cinnamon rolls using frozen bread dough. This is really the way to go. It’s so easy. Assemble everything before bed, then throw them in the fridge to rise over night. When I let the dog out at 6 this morning, I pulled them out and left them on the counter until we got up at 8. They were perfectly risen and ready for the oven by that point!

Before breakfast, the Duke opened his gifts.

I got him French Press for coffee and a jumbo muffin tin (he just asked if we had one the other night ). He loves to make muffins, and a regular old muffin tin is just not enough to feed this man!

Now, down to business…

These cinnamon rolls were fantastic! I sprayed the bottom of my pan with cooking spray, then sprinkled some cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans on the bottom, making a deliciously chewy crust for the rolls.

Is that a beautiful site or what??? As if that wasn’t enough, I made a quick glaze with powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon and caramel ice cream topping. This really put things over the edge.

I felt kinda guilty for eating one, since I gave up sweets for Lent. I’ve been doing really well with the fast, but I figured this was breakfast, not dessert, and it’s the Duke’s birthday, after all! It was nice to have a little something sweet to hold me over until Easter.

I told the Duke (who enjoys taunting me with cookies, candy and other sweet goodness) that on Easter Sunday I’m having these cinnamon rolls for breakfast, cookie cake (with icing, of course) for lunch and a big bowl of ice cream for dinner!

I gotta run. We’re spending the Duke’s birthday doing some major house cleaning. Is that fun, or what? We’re putting the house on the market in the next couple of weeks, so this puppy needs to be shining like a diamond. Anyone interested in a 4 bedroom 3 bath house with a pool in northwest Florida??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUKE!!!!The Duchess

Anyway, we’ve had a few warm days recently here in Northwest Florida, which makes me sooo ready for Spring and Summer! And then, of course, the weather dips back down into the 40s…Mother Nature. What a tease. Well, last weekend was gorgeous and sunny, so I got the urge to whip up a cheery concoction in honor of the coming season. Yet again, this recipe starts with a box of cake mix. I just love these recipes! Keep a few boxes of cake mix on hand at all times and you’ll be able to bake great treats in no time.

The idea of whoopie pies were rolling around in my head, and I decided on a carrot cake and granola cookie with a cream cheese and coconut filling. YUM! I have to admit that I didn’t try one (I gave up sweets for Lent and I’ve been doing really well! Go me!!), but the Duke said they were delish.

Nothing says bathing suit season like a cookie sandwich filled with cream cheese icing, right??

The great thing about the cake mix recipes is that they can easily be adapted to any flavor you have in the pantry. Have a box of chocolate cake mix? Great! Mix in chocolate chips and toffee bits for a great cookie pie.

I hope you guys enjoy this little cutie pie. Have a great Thursday!! The Duchess

The American Heart Association prints lots of great resources for schools to use. Exhibit A:

A chart of healthy snacks. What kid doesn’t love bright and colorful pictures? They had so much fun saying which of these snacks they like to eat. Incase you were wondering, here are some other healthy options:

Yogurt, broccoli and potatoes. Potatoes aren’t considered healthy in my world. That’s probably because I drench them in butter and/or sour cream and/or cheese any time I can. But I imagine four-year-olds don’t do that, so it’s probably a healthy choice for them.

Did you know that a turkey and lettuce sandwich is also a healthy snack?

I prefer mine with cheese and mustard…does that negate the health factor? Cheese provides calcium, which is good for you, right??

And Mrs. Carter’s favorite healthy snack of late is Peach Chobani. Hands down, it’s my favorite flavor of greek yogurt. The tangy sweetness of the peach goes great with the creamy yogurt.

Top it with some raisins and a few graham crackers and you’ve got yourself a might fine snack, if I do say so myself.

Keep on keepin’ on and have a great week! Remember, if Pre-K kids can make healthy food choices, then so can you! The Duchess

Friday night I rummaged through the fridge for dinner and ended up throwing together something really great! Don’t you love it when that happens? Feeling totally uninspired, I grabbed this and that and created a masterpiece. OK, maybe that was an exaggeration, but this couscous and chicken toss was the perfect easy meal after a long week.

We ate this salad warm (the chicken and couscous were warm), but I had it cold for lunch the next day, and it may have been even better! With Spring right around the corner, this salad will make a great dish for an outdoor ladies’ (and/or gentlemen’s) lunch.

I can’t get over the ease of preparing this meal. Even though this is a fairly light and “girly” meal, the Duke also really enjoyed it. The buttered wheat roll that I served on the side probably didn’t hurt either.

Have a fantastic Monday and enjoy your week! The Duke’s birthday is Saturday, so I imagine I’ll be making some fun treats throughout the week. Ta ta for now! The Duchess