Migas

If you're like me, you might be wondering what Migas is. It's a tex mex breakfast dish with eggs, bell peppers, jalapenos, onions, cheese, and chopped fried tortillas. Yum! I made this for my husband on Father's Day. We both loved it but I think it was a little too gourmet for my kids. I think if I would've added sausage or ham they would've liked it a lot more.

Printable Recipe

Migas
12 large eggs
1/4 cup half & half 
4 whole corn tortillas
vegetable oil for frying
1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 jalapeno, diced (seeds removed, if desired)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup shredded cotija cheese (may use cheddar, monterey jack, etc.)
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and half & half. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a small skillet over medium heat, heat vegetable oil and fry each corn tortilla until crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Chop tortillas and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add jalapenos and stir to combine. Add tomatoes and stir. Add tortilla pieces, stirring gently to combine.

Reduce heat to medium-low. When the heat has decreased, pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Stir gently to cook with the veggies, folding mixture gently as it cooks. When eggs are cooked through, add cheese and cilantro and stir to combine.

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Past Recipes:
One year ago: Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Two years ago: Shrimp Tacos
Three years ago: Navajo Tacos

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Printable Recipe

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 (10 oz pkg) mini marshmallows

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/4 cup milk
1-2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flour, salt, and vanilla and mix well. Spread onto a large greased cookie sheet. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and top with marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes until marshmallows and soft and puffy. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, mix together all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies.

Recipe adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Past Recipes:
One year ago: Grasshopper Mint Cookies
Two years ago: Chocolate Mousse Cake
Three years ago: Cobb Salad with Bleu Cheese

Lego Cake

This weekend my Lego-obsessed son had a Lego birthday party with his friends. It was a little crazy with 14 nine year olds but they had a blast! I made this cute Lego cake for his party. I've seen a few different ways to make a Lego cake but most of them involve cutting the cake into different pieces. I'm just not very good at baking, cutting, and then frosting so I decided to do it this way. It was super easy and it was a huge hit with the kids.

Lego Cake
1 cake mix or cake recipe
4-5 cups frosting
food coloring
6 Oreo cookies

Grease and flour an 8x8 baking dish and a bread loaf pan. Prepare cake mix or cake recipe. Divide evenly between baking pans. Bake according to directions until toothpick comes out clean (it will probably take about 30 minutes). Cool completely and remove from pans.

After preparing frosting, divide it in half and mix desired food coloring in each half. Frost each cake. Generously coat each Oreo cookie with frosting and place on cake. Smooth frosting to make it even.

Past Recipes:
One year ago: Biscuits and Gravy
Two years ago: Dutch Oven Chicken and Potatoes
Three years ago: Spaghetti Casserole

Bowtie Chicken Alfredo

Oh my goodness! This pasta was so delicious. My kids loved it so much. In fact, they loved it so much that my 7 year old requested this for his birthday dinner last week.

Printable Recipe

Bowtie Chicken Alfredo
12 oz pkg Bowtie pasta
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half
3 Tbsp heavy cream
3/4 cups parmesan shavings or grated parmesan

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and place in the skillet. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove from skillet and cover with foil.

Add remaining 2 Tbsp of butter to the skillet. Add garlic and stir for about 1 minute. Pour in the chicken broth, then let it bubble up and reduce for 2 minutes. Add half & half, cream, and salt and pepper, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and stir constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and add parmesan to the pan. Add the pasta on top of the parmesan and stir. Cut chicken into slices and add to the pasta. Stir until combined. Cook over low heat until heated through, if needed. Top with parsley and extra parmesan.

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Past Recipes:
One year ago: Crock Pot Country Chicken
Two years ago: Peanut Butter Bars
Three years ago: Rushin' Chicken

Grasshopper Cupcakes

For our young women's activity last week we did Cupcake Wars. I provided cake mixes for them to chose from. I also provided a bunch of random ingredients that they could chose from like cookies, candy, fruit. They were required to pick at least two ingredients to incorporate into their cupcakes. We split them into two teams. Half of them stayed at my house and the other half went over to another leader's house to bake. When we were finished, we had judges pick the best cupcake. It was a lot of fun! When I tasted this cupcake that the girls made, I thought it was one of the best cupcakes I have ever had. So I decided to share the recipe. I think I'm definitely going to make this again. Who knew a bunch of Mia Maids could create a cupcake so delicious?

Printable Recipe

Grasshopper Cupcakes
1 devils food cake mix
ingredients on the back of the box (eggs, water, oil)
1 package grasshopper cookies

Prepare cake mix as directed on the package. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Place a grasshopper cookie at the bottom of each liner. Place remaining cookies in a large ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. Pour crushed cookies in cake batter and stir to combine. Divide evenly among cupcake liners. Bake according to directions on the package. (I had to bake mine about 5 minutes longer.) Let cool before frosting.

Frosting:
6 Tbsp butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Hershey's chocolate bar for garnish

To make frosting, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, mixing well. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in remaining sugar. Frost cooled cupcakes. Grate chocolate shavings on top of cupcakes.

Past Recipes:
One year ago: Chocolate Cake
Two years ago: Oreo Cupcakes
Three years ago: Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Printable recipe

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 tomato, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (8 3/4 oz) can corn, rinsed and drained

crushed tortilla chips, optional

Dressing:

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

2/3 cup light sour cream

1 Tbsp canned chipotle in adobo sauce, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

juice of 1 lime

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients for the dressing; mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Toss together romaine, chicken, tomato, avocado, red onion, black beans, and corn. 

Drizzle desired amount of dressing over salad. Toss gently to coat. Serve topped with crushed tortilla chips.

Serves 6-8

Past Recipes:

One year ago: Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

Two years ago: Favorite Meatloaf

Three years ago: Calzones

Recipe adapted from Nutmeg Notebook

Barbie Party

Last weekend my daughter had a Barbie party for her 5th birthday. I like to do things a little simple but I still want it to be a fun party. This party turned out great. Here are some of the things we did.

I made pink cupcakes and topped them with some printable cupcake toppers that I found online. I just printed them out on card stock and taped a toothpick to the back and stuck them in the cupcake. It was super easy and it turned out way cute! You can find a few links for these here and here.

Nail Polish Bites- These look just like bottles of nail polish but they're made out of marshmallows dipped in colored white chocolate with a tootsie roll on top. These were so fun!

At the party, the girls got their hair and nails done. It was so much fun. After they were all beautified, I took a picture of each of them in this life-size Barbie box. Here is my sweet birthday girl in the Barbie box.

I just used a large box (our tv came in this box) and I wrapped it with pink wrapping paper on the outside and decorative wrapping paper for the inside back. Then I found some logos that were online and I printed them out. It was a little time consuming but pretty easy. Hey, if I can do it, anyone can!

My other daughter in the Barbie box...

 I found this cute Barbie game at the party store.

Here is a group picture of all the kids who came.

Here I am with my cute girl. I think I'm a little too big for the Barbie box :)

This was such a fun party. I'm so glad I got to do this for my sweet girl!