No Fear Entertaining

Green Leaf & Bananas

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 03:25:00 +0000

I found a really cool giveaway through one of the sponsors of the Foodie Blogroll!!! Thought you all might be interested... Also be sure to "LIKE" them on Facebook to keep up to date on all of their upcoming promotions!

Green Leaf's & Bananas on Facebook

This from and about the sponsor...At Green Leaf’s, we serve made-to-order salads from our “Pick & Mix” salad bar, delicious wraps, grilled Panini sandwiches and hearty homemade soups. We use only top-quality, fresh ingredients … a difference you can taste in every bite.
For location details click here http://www.greenleafsalads.com/

Celebrate the start of National Salad Month by entering Green Leaf's iLove Salad iPad® Giveaway!

Click the link, fill out the form, and you’ll be in the running to win one of 3 iPad® Mini’s chock full of appetizing apps!
In honor of our crisp, fresh and savory salad offerings, we will be giving away an iPad Mini chock full of savvy salad recipe apps to three lucky fans! Winners will be chosen on June 6, 2013!

This sponsorship is brought to you by the Green Leaf's & Bananas who we have partnered with for this promotion.

Chilean Sea Bass

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:51:00 +0000

I am a proud member of the Foodie Blogroll and through them I was able to sample some product from Certified Steak & Seafood Company.

A little bit about them in their words...

Our commitment to our customers is simple: Offer the highest quality products at the best price and back it with a 100% guarantee. We source directly with no 'middle man' making our supply chain the shortest in the industry. This allows us to maintain the highest quality standards all the way to your plate. On top of this, we sample all products at the moment of final packaging and have a world-renowned laboratory test for various types of adulteration or contamination. This ensures that the food you purchase from us is pure and safe.

Certified Steak and Seafood Company was formed by the three Frisch boys, Mark, Adam, and Steven; all of whom thought that everyone should be able to buy the highest quality steaks and seafood direct. The brothers experience comes from a three generation family owned wholesale company that is one of the largest seafood importers in America.

They have vast experience in sourcing and selling high quality seafood and meat products to the commercial trade — and bring you the same grade of products fine restaurants, resorts, hotels, and high-end retail stores demand – and at a direct price that gives you tremendous value for every purchase.

I was sent some of their Chilean Sea Bass to sample. We found it to be quite delicious. We prepared it simply by seasoning with salt and pepper and sauteing in a mix of olive oil and butter melted and heated to medium high. We sauteed the fish on all sides and served on a bed of greens tossed with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

A bit about Chilean Sea Bass...

Chilean Sea Bass

A popular favorite in restaurants across America, the best Chilean Sea Bass now comes to your table courtesy Certified Steak and Seafood. Harvested and processed under close inspection of the National Marine Fishery Service, this soft, tender and smooth fish is a smart and healthy purchase. Impress your family or give as a memorable gift. Facts: Easy to Cook, Wild Caught, 3rd Party Certified, Product of Chile

Visit the Certified Steak & Seafood website! Use coupon FBR125D to get $25 off your order.

This sponsorship is brought to you by Certified Steak & Seafood Company who we have partnered with for this promotion..

Easiest Sausage, Pepper and Onion Recipe ever...

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:43:00 +0000

A month or so ago I was chatting with Aggie from Aggie's Kitchen on Twitter (follow me there). We were talking about dinner ideas and it was decided that dinner was going to be sausage, peppers and onions. But I was feeling real lazy and insisted on doing it in the crock pot. Neither of us were really sure it would work. But it did and...

It turned out good. Really, really good. So good in fact that I make it that way at least every other week now.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions in the Crock pot

Ingredients:

1 package of Italian style sausage (chicken or pork both work well)
2 large peppers sliced lengthwise
2 onions sliced
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can of Northern Beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

Directions:

Cut sausage links into pieces and brown in a small bit of oil.
Place peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, tomatoes and beans (if using) in crockpot.
Drain the sausage and add to the crockpot.
Cook on low for 5-6 hrs or high for 3-4.
Serve over rice, pasta or on a toasted roll like I have above.

Filet Mignon for dinner and a review

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:55:00 +0000

Grill Spice

Can be used to season steak, chicken, seafood, pork and veggies

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions:

Sprinkle to taste on any meat that you are about to grill, bake or broil.

A bit about the meat in their own words just in case you don't believe mine...LOL!

Buttery Prime Angus Filet Mignon

If there was ever a steak that you will believe can “melt in your mouth” the Certified Steak and Seafood Prime angus Filet Mignon is it. With a delectable almost sweet beef flavor, and a strong buttery undertone that only Prime angus offers, it has to be tasted to be believed.

Each Prime angus filet is slow aged, custom cut and trimmed for consistency in color and quality. It is a flavor you will remember long after your meal is over. Great accompanied by grilled root vegetables and horseradish mashed potatoes.

Be sure to visit Certified Steak & Seafood Company to learn more and see all the wonderful product that they offer and while your there use the below coupon code to get $25 off your order! You can also follow them on their Facebook page, Twitter and Pinterest

This sponsorship is brought to you by Certified Steak & Seafood Company who we have partnered with for this promotion. All opinions are my own...

Skillet Queso Dip (Chili's copy cat recipe)

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Love, love, love Chili's Skillet Queso Dip and I was in need of an appetizer to take to a party this week. As luck would have it Tony came home with this recipe and all of the ingredients for it!

You have to try it. It's dead on...

Chili's Skillet Queso Dip (Cheerios and Lattes)

Ingredients:

16-ounce box Velveeta Cheese
1 c. milk
2 teaspoons paprika
½ tsp. ground cayenne pepper
15-ounce can Hormel Chili (No Beans)
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ tsp. ground cumin

Directions:

1. Cut the Velveeta into cubes. Combine the cheese with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir frequently until cheese melts.

Serve hot with tortilla chips

A Day of Social Media Silence In Honor of Newtown, CT

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Apple Pie Oatmeal in my Slow Cooker

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Christmas is coming! Bet you knew that already...*sigh* and I am so far behind already. No cookies made, no presents wrapped and the house only half decorated. But on the plus side I already know what I am making for Christmas morning breakfast!

I have wanted to test the slow cooker method of making oatmeal for a while and last night seemed like a perfect time to do it. And I sure am glad that I did.

When I posted on FB this morning about making it... "I made apple pie oatmeal in the slow cooker last night. Not only did I get to smell it all night long but I got to wake up to a ready made breakfast! It's a good day..." I ended up with many recipe requests for this. So hence the hasty post!

Apple Pie Oatmeal in the Slow Cooker

I made a double batch because I wanted it to last more than one day but this is the single batch which will feed 4 easily.

Ingredients:

3 Cups of water
1 Cup of Steel Ground Oats
2 apples peeled and diced
1 tsp ground cinnamon or apple pie spice

Directions:

Using a 3 quart or larger slow cooker combine all ingredients
Allow to cook on low for 5-6 hours. (I woke up during the night and turned it onto the warm setting and allowed it to sit the rest of the night but it could have easily cooked the night.)
Serve with butter, brown sugar and a little bit of milk

***Love, love, love this recipe and will be making it again and again. I would love to try adding raisins and cardamom, dried apricots, or any other dried fruit.

Happy Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 13:56:00 +0000

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!

–Unknown

Cilantro and Onion Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 18:27:00 +0000

It seems that we end up eating tacos quite often. Usually once a week at least. Sometimes it's just regular tacos with ground beef. Other times it's pork or chicken. Regardless of what type of filling our tacos have I always like to have something fresh to go with them, so generally we have tacos on Thursday nights because the Farmer's Market is Thursday morning. I will make guacamole, pico de gallo, or salsa depending on what I can get that looks good that particular week.

Well this past week sucked for produce. In Florida we're at that in between stage. The farms in GA are just about done and nothing here has started producing yet. Grrrrr. I was able to get some nice cilantro but the tomatoes were crap.

So what was I going to do for tacos tonight? Then I remembered a delicious condiment type thing we had when we were in Cozumel that came with the carnitas. I think I did a pretty close re-creation and Tony loved it...

Cilantro and Onion Salsa

Ingredients:

1 red or white onion, diced
1 bunch of cilantro, picked and rough chopped
1 jalapeno, small diced (more or less depending on the heat you want)
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Cover and refridgerate for about 2 hours to allow the flavors to meld.
Serve with any type of tacos, nachos, or with chips.

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Every once in a while you make a meal that is good. I mean so good that you think maybe you should start a food blog so that you could blog it. You know, post pictures and post the recipe? And then you realize that Hey! You already have a food blog to do all that on but the last month was too crazy and you didn't get a chance to photograph or post any of the great meals you made...

Last nights dinner was enough to make anyone start a food blog. I had been texting a friend (Love you!) on Sunday to try and give her some dinner inspiration when I found some myself. Took til Tuesday night to follow through but it was worth the wait.

I was inspired by a pinterest post for Chicken Alfredo Roll-ups but seeing as it was a busy weeknight I knew this was gong to be too much time invested for me so I had to change it around and this is how it went...

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Ingredients:

6 no boil lasagna noodles
2 1/2 Cups alfredo sauce (you can make your own but I was tight for time so used some Bertoli garlic alfredo sauce)
2 Cups cooked chicken, cut or shredded into bite sized pieces (I had roasted a chicken the night before but rotisserie chicken would work well for this)
1 Cup thawed frozen spinach, drained and squeezed dry
salt
pepper
3 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese
parsley for sprinkling on top to make it look pretty

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º
Grease a 8X8 casserole dish and spread a small amount of alfredo sauce on the bottom of the dish
Place 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom (you'll have to break them to fit) and spread alfredo sauce on the noodles.
Evenly spread the chicken and spinach, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with about half of the mozzarella cheese
Cover with the remaining 3 lasagna noodles, top with the remaining sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with some parsley to make it look pretty
Cover and bake for about 45 minutes, uncover and bake for about 15 more.
Allow to rest for about 15 minutes and serve with a salad for a delicious week night meal.

I used the baking time to help out with homework and finish the laundry so it was time well spent!

Perfect Cupcakes for Back to School!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:18:00 +0000

I bake. I bake alot...

One of the reasons that I bake so much is that I like for the kiddos to have snacks to take to school in their lunch that isn't completely full of artificial ingredients. When I bake something for them I generally know what they are eating. But I have always had a problem when trying to send cakes or cupcakes with them to school.

Then it hit me! All over Pinterest (follow me there) I kept seeing posts of Mason jar cupcakes. Great idea but I didn't have any mason jars and wasn't going to go and buy some just to make cute cupcakes in. Then it hit me. I can use the same idea using the cute little Mini Round Glad® Food Storage Containers!!!

Banana Cupcakes

Genius I say! And the kids love them. Lauren asks for them everyday!!! They get to take cupcakes to school with no mess or worries about squishing and gooeying eveything up!!!

Simply make your cupcakes as you usually would in the oven using a cupcake tin (not these Glad® Food Storage Containers!!!) and once they are cooled remove the paper line and drop them into your Glad® Mini Round container. Do not put the frosting on them until you have put them in the Glad® Mini Round. Once they are in there then you can put the frosting on them using a pastry bag!

Be sure to attach a spoon to the Glad® Mini Round container so your kiddo will have something to eat it with at school. A ribbon would have been really cute but an elastic band works just as well!

Banana Cupcakes (from Mom’s Who Think)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda (add to pureed bananas)
3 pureed bananas, very ripe

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 box powdered sugar (1 lb.)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Sift flour several times, then add the salt and baking powder to the flour.
3. To the creamed butter mixture, add the milk and flour (alternating, beginning and ending with flour).
4. Add vanilla and mashed bananas (with the baking soda added to the bananas) to this mixture.
5. Fill cups 1/2 full with batter. Bake 20 to 23 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Cool completely. Peel off paper baking cups and place in Glad® Mini Rounds and frost

Frosting Directions:
1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth, add sugar and vanilla and blend well. Spoon into a piping bag with tip and frost cupcakes.

**If you have any really cool Back to School recipes, tips or ideas head on over to Glad's Facebook page for a chance to win a "Lunch Kit" for your kids entire class just by sharing!!!

I have partnered with The Glad Products Company through DailyBuzz Moms to help promote their Food Storage products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to review this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you GLAD!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:58:00 +0000

I keep trying to eat healthier. I know I should but the cakes, cookies and candies just keep screaming my name. I've gotten so bad that I even put frosting on muffins and cookies half the time right now.

But I was craving something that was good for me so I wanted to make this Orzo Mediterranean Salad and bought all the ingredients to do it (sort of). When I went to make it for my lunch I found I was out of orzo. Coulda sworn I saw some just the other day :-( But I did find some Quinoa...

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup zucchini , cubed ( I threw it in with the quinoa to cook in the last 5 minutes of cooking)
1/2 of a red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, pick your favorite, coarsely chopped
8 pieces of sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (you could use white)
1/2 tsp. dried basil (or 1 tsp fresh, chopped)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
feta cheese, crumbled, to taste (I like ALOT!!!)

Directions:

1. Cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water for about 10-15 minutes or until cooked. Add the zucchini in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Allow to cool.
2. Combine red, pepper, olives, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add cooked and cooled quinoa and stir well. Stir in feta cheese and basil just before serving.

Banana Walnut Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:52:00 +0000

I love a simple recipe. I mean a recipe that doesn't require me to pull out any special equipment, hunt and gather any hard to find ingredients, and comes together quick and easy and still tastes delicious. Especially now that the kids are back in school (YES, already!). And that's actually how this recipe came together. School lunches...

I found a half eaten banana in Lauren's lunch box last night. Cut off the chewed end and saved it. Then remembered that I had some others in the freezer and a bag of California Walnuts that was sent to me while I was away on vacation last month. So this morning I gathered everything together and made these delicious little banana walnut muffins!

Fast, simple and delicious...

Banana Walnut Muffins (from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional/I skipped this but would love to try it next time)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

2 Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso (if using) and vanilla.

3 Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

4 Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

5 Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

Yield: Makes 12 muffins.

***A big thanks and shout out to the folks at California Walnuts for supplying me with walnuts!!! Check out their website for some cool ideas and info.

So we were away for a while...

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:44:00 +0000

We hit the highway July 1st and didn't stop til July 28th...
4700 miles, time with family and friends, many shared meals, and countless rest area breaks. Here's the month in photos...

Swimming with cousins at Grandma's house in PA...

4th of July Fun...

Racing in Pittsburgh for the Stars N' Stripes National

More family in Toronto...

More BMX at Milton BMX in Canada...

Dinner at La Cantina in Toronto with friends old and new...

Onto Illinois and fun reconnecting with an old friend...

Onto the Midwest National in Rockford, IL...

Cottage life somewhere in Wisconsin...

Heading home with a quick pitstop at Derby City BMX in Louisville, KY...

And yes, I'd do it all again tomorrow! Nothing in the world like a road trip with just me and my girls!!!

Winner of the Comet Stainless Steel Cleanser Caddy is...

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:16:00 +0000

Mami2jcn

Congratulations! Hope you love it as much as I do!

My First Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:53:00 +0000

I've had this blog for years now and have never done a giveaway. Yep, I've had plenty of opportunities but either the product wasn't a match for my blog or I just didn't like the product. Finally I found one that I like and feel I can stand behind...

The people at Comet sent me an amazing Cleaning Caddy filled with everything you need to clean and shine your stainless steel. Your fridge, your stove, sinks but my favorite use for this was my BBQ GRILL!!!

Before: The Florida climate is kind of tough on metal inside and out...my poor dirty and rusty grill

After: All clean and shiny!!!

The nice folks at Comet have a gift caddy waiting for one lucky winner from my blog!! In it you'll get everything included above and also some coupons for the winner to share with their friends.

To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what you plan to clean using the Comet Stainless Steel Cleansers. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you, in case you're the lucky winner!

US residents only, please!

The giveaway ends on Sunday 7/1/12 at 12:00 Noon EST. At that time I will randomly pick a winner and will announce it here!

**DISCLAIMER** Comet provided me with a gift pack of the products described, for me to try. As always, any thoughts and opinions given on "No Fear Entertaining" are my own.

Mango and Lime Pie for Pie Party 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:23:00 +0000

Happy Pie Day! I've been waiting for ages for this day to come and I had it all planned out. I was finally going to attempt to make some really good pie crust using my MIL's amazing recipe but somehow it just never came to be. I guess I enjoy playing with the kids more than anything right now and even with a couple of cloudy days the pool has still been calling my name.

Then last night hubby walks in the door with a grocery bag filled with mangoes. Nice, juicy, beautiful mangoes fresh off of one of his clients trees. Now I knew exactly what I was going to make!

Mango and Lime Pie

INGREDIENTS

1/4 c. lime juice
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 c. mango puree (peel and puree mango in food processor)
2 egg whites
1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust (how to make your own)

INSTRUCTIONS

First of all thoroughly mix lime juice, condensed milk, egg yolks and mango puree.
Then beat egg whites with dash of salt to stiff peaks.
Fold in mango mixture.
Add to crust and chill until firm.

Scalloped Potato Gratin

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:27:00 +0000

I was passing through the kitchen yesterday trying to come up with a quick and easy side dish to go with the steak we were going to cook Tony for Father's Day on Sunday. My mind instantly went to potatoes and I realized that I didn't get around to posting the delicious scalloped potatoes that I made for him for his birthday!

Super easy side dish especially if you use the slicer attachment on you food processor. He loved them and might just be seeing a repeat performance on Sunday!

See all the cheesy goodness with the delicious little browned bits that everyone fights over?

Scalloped Potato Gratin (Food Network - Tyler Florence's recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Butter
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a saucepan, heat up the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg.
While cream is heating up, butter a casserole dish. Place a layer of potato in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper. Remove cream from heat, then pour a little over the potatoes. Top with some grated Parmesan. Make 2 more layers. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Sprinkle some more Parmesan and broil until cheese browns, about 5 minutes.

The Birthday Boy's Bourbon Country Style Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:08:00 +0000

Tony loves meat. I mean he really loves meat. I think if he were pressed to answer, pork would come first, beef second and then everything else just because.

I knew for his birthday he would want some meat. As luck would have it I found some very reasonably priced boneless country style ribs when I was shopping. Lucky Tony!

I made the marinade the night before and added the meat to it in the morning. Once we tasted it I realized this marinade would be perfect for just about any meat that is being grilled.

Can't wait to try it on some pork chops and chicken thighs! And I think this long weekend is just the time to try!

Bourbon Marinaded Country Style Ribs

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs molasses
2/3 cup bourbon
1 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic
3 pounds country style pork ribs

Directions

Combine brown sugar, molasses, bourbon, soy sauce, and garlic in a food processor or blender to mince garlic with other ingredients. Pour over ribs, and marinate for several hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate.
Place ribs on grate, and cook ribs until cooked to your liking. When finished, the internal temperature of the ribs should be 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:19:00 +0000

So I am staring down the barrel of another birthday, Tony's this time, and I realize that I never got to post the strawberry cake that I made last month for my birthday!!! And that's a real shame because it was so good. Luckily the northern part of the country is coming into strawberry season and I am posting this for you just in time.

Now, I made this cake twice. The first time I made it as a one layer cake in a sheet pan and it turned out perfect. We ate it all though before I could get a single picture of it! So being the good blogger that I am I made it again. I made a 2 layer cake this time. And I had high hopes for this one. It was going to be beautiful and as light and fluffy as the first one. It was close but not exactly the same. I use whole eggs in this one and should have used the 6 egg whites like I did in the first one...lesson learned.

I really would have made another one for the perfect pic but I got the worse sore on the end of my tongue from all of the stinkin' strawberries I had eaten that I couldn't face another one...LOL!!! But now that my tongue is all healed I want one and I want one bad!!!

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (from Confections of a Foodie Bride)

Ingredients

For the strawberry puree:
24 oz very ripe strawberries, hulled (or no-sugar-added frozen strawberries)
1-2 tsp sugar (optional)
For the cake:
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature (4 whole eggs can be substituted, but it will not be as pink or as light and fluffy! I recommend the egg whites)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temp

Instructions

If frozen strawberries in whatever form (sliced, whole, etc) and in whatever container/bag you have them in. Pour into a fine strainer placed over a bowl and let sit. Lightly toss the strawberries occasionally to remove any pockets of excess liquid. Reserve the liquid for another use or discard.
If using fresh strawberries, just hull, slice and toss with a teaspoon or two of sugar and cover. Let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, until nice and juicy.
Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake.
Use leftover puree to fill the cake or fold into the frosting, if desired. It's also fabulous spooned over ice cream... and eaten straight with a spoon.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8- or 9-inch pans, or muffin pan, or 13"X9" pan: spray inside with baking spray with flour (or use some sort of grease/flour combination).
In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
Add wet ingredients and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds.
Note: The batter will not get any pinker in the oven so if you're disappointed in the color from your berries, maybe consider adding a drop or two of pink or red food coloring.
Divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth tops.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary)I found that it was about 40 minutes for the 13X9 pan and it would be about 20-25 for the cupcakes. Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely (about 2 hours).
To make the frosting use your favorite cream cheese frosting or this one.
Once the frosting is made I added some of the leftover puree to it. But not too much or it will become too thin. If you wanted more pink (we avoid red dye) add some red dye to the frosting now.
Frost your cake and enjoy!!!

Strawberry Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:46:00 +0000

So April was a really busy month for us here.

We had a 5K run that both the girls did...

We had BMX races...

Friends that we visited...

We went fishing...

And finally we went strawberry picking and that's what this post is about! Strawberries...

And we picked a lot of strawberries. I made cake (post to come on that one), strawberry puree for ice cream and finally I made strawberry muffins.

I made strawberry muffins many, many times. You know why? The recipe that I found was awesome. Simple, no mixer and all ingredients that you have on hand...

Strawberry Muffins (Taste of Home)

preheat oven to 375°

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt (I used papaya flavored yogurt because that's what I had on hand and it was delicious so use what you have...)
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in strawberries.
Fill muffin cups coated with cooking spray or lined with paper liners two-thirds full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

These were good. I mean really, really good. So good that I made them for a friends birthday and I frosted them with cream cheese frosting. Everyone liked them...

Pecan Pie Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:29:00 +0000

And trust me on this. They taste just like pecan pie. Maybe not as ooey and gooey as pecan pie but the flavor is still there…And these are good. Very, very, very good!

I had been looking for a simple recipe to make. Something with minimal time invested, few ingredients and no mixer required. I stumbled across these somehow and baked them up that day. With only 5 ingredients how could I resist right? Sadly they were gone that night…might have to double the next time!

Pecan Pie Muffins (Tastykitchen.com)
Ingredients:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
⅔ cups melted and cooled butter
2 whole eggs, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven 350 F.
Grease your muffin pan (whatever size) really, really well, or use the silicone cups. I grease my muffin cups with Crisco or lard. and it still wasn’t enough. I had some stickage trouble. Next time I will grease them with lard but also spray them with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs together until smooth. Stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Cups should be about 2/3 full. I was able to fill 8 muffin cups.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.
Option: when you take them out of the oven, place a slice of butter on top and eat warm. You may also use walnuts instead of pecans.

Oven Fried Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:35:00 +0000

I absolutely love fried chicken. Now I’m not talking any fast food place fried chicken. I mean good ole fashioned homemade, buttermilk marinated and breaded fried chicken.
But sadly due to time and the fact that fried chicken instantly seems to attach itself to my already ample booty I try to stay away from it. Luckily for us I have found a pretty decent oven fried chicken recipe that is quick and easy.
Everyone loves “fried” chicken nights here now and these are as simple to make as store bought shake and bake chicken.

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients

Enough chicken legs to feed your family
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon or less cayenne pepper
1/2 cup butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Mix flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika, sage, cayenne and pepper together in a bag. Add chicken parts in a bag and shake until well coated.
Melt butter/margarine in a 9x13 inch baking dish in the preheated oven. Place chicken in the baking dish skin side down and bake for 20 minutes. Turn pieces and bake another 20 minutes until tender and juices run clear.

Strawberry Lemon Quick Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:32:00 +0000

I’ve said it before a million times that I am so blessed to live in Florida in the winter time…summer time not so much, and this year doubly so. With our mild temperatures all of our food crops did amazingly well. I found that I had an abundance of things that I love. Two of them being lemons and strawberries.
This year the strawberry and lemon crops have been so plentiful that I had so many lemons and strawberries that I just had no way of getting them used up unless I made something with them. I searched high and low for a recipe for that used both strawberries and lemons. Weird huh? Not many out there. So I adapted a strawberry bread recipe from Union Street Eats and it turned out perfect!

Strawberry and Lemon Quick Bread (adapted from Union Street Eats)
Preheat oven to 375F

Grease and flour a 9X5 inch bread pan

Ingredients:
2 Cups fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
zest of one lemon
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/4 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Place chopped strawberries in a large strainer or colander and sprinkle with a couple of Tbsp of sugar. Let sit for about 15 minutes
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, lemon zest, both sugars, cinnamon, baking soda and salt
In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, vanilla, oil and lemon juice.
Stir in the strawberries.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not over-mix.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pan.

**This is a moist and delicious bread. It was gone in no time and I’m looking for another sale on strawberries to make it again!
I also want to give a quick shout out to the folks at The Food Channel. They featured my blog in “Thing We Love” So honored…Head on over and check them out. They have some great stuff on their site (besides me!! LOL)

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Judy@nofearentertaining) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Last week one day I put a post on Facebook saying that I was making a black bean and goat cheese pizza. Having never tried it before I added the comment at the end…”How could that not be good right?” To those of you who responded that there was no way it could be good, you’re just plain crazy.

This ended up being an absolutely delicious pizza and we all were fighting for the leftovers the next day.
I pretty much followed the same recipe that I use when I make black bean and goat cheese quesadillas the only real change being the pizza crust instead of tortillas.

Goat Cheese and Black Bean Pizza
Preheat oven to 500F (I use a pizza stone on the bottom shelf and cook my pizzas on a cookie sheet directly on the stone.)
1 package of store bought pizza dough or your own recipe (I make a bread machine dough that we love). Stretched as shaped on a pan. We use a cookie sheet pan and make rectangular pizzas.
Black Bean Topping
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
24-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup water
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, chopped or sliced if desired
4 oz. or more goat cheese, crumbled
Directions
In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the black bean mixture over the pizza dough and crumble the goat cheese and dab on top, sprinkle with jalapeno.
Cook until hot and bubbly and the pizza crust is browned to your liking (should be about 20 minutes but keep an eye on it. My oven is funky at 500F. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.