Pizza + Valentine's Day Cupcakes :]

Wow, it's almost been a whole month since I last updated!! Things have been a little crazy so I haven't been cooking as much.

For Valentine's Day, we made homemade pizza, and I made him some adorable heart shaped cupcakes!!

We'll start with Pizza before doing dessert :]

Your ingredients:


Mix 2.5 cups flower, as much Italian seasoning as you want, salt, and yeast in a bowl.


Make a hole in the middle of your flour bowl, pour in your olive oil, and 1 cup lukewarm water. Mix.


Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, and let sit for 10.


Flour your rolling pin and roll dough out into your pizza shape.


Bake for 10 minutes.


Spread your sauce over your pre-baked dough.


Add a few slices of provolone cheese.


Add your mozzerlla.


Add your toppings of choice. Pepperoni for Nate, cashews + mushrooms for me.


Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle oregano, ground black pepper, and more italian seasoning on top, and bake in oven.


Mmm, all done! Super good!!


Serve with a salad or by itself!


Pizza Recipe:
2.5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon, 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup warm water
1 package of Rapid Rise Yeast
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
8 slices Provolone Cheese
1 packet Boboli pizza sauce
Pepperoni, cashews, mushrooms, etc.
Oregano, Italian seasonin, ground pepper (to taste)

Pre-heat oven to 400*. Mix first 5 ingredients. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, the let sit for 10. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, remove from oven and add your toppings, bake again for 18-20 minutes.

For the Valentine's Day cupcakes, I went with the Funfetti box mix. Just follow all of the directions on the box like before.

Ingredients!


Split your batter into two bowls.


Dye one bowl pink :]


Fill your heart-shaped foil liners half full of pink.


Add a spoonful of white. Bake on cookie sheet.


Aren't the pretty?


Swirled on the inside.


Frost and decorate :]


I spelled out "I Love you" and "N+K"

French Toast and Tacos!

I decided to combine these two into one post since they're relatively simple things to make and I didn't follow an exact recipe. Sometimes you make something often enough you just start throwing things together!

Anyway, I LOVE having breakfast for dinner. Growing up my Mama would make us French Toast and there'd always be a special "kick" to it. Thank you Orange Extract!! It's been awhile since I've had it, so I decided to make it for dinner yesterday :]

Ingredients are simple: eggs, bread, cinnamon, milk, and vanilla extract. Orange is optional, but it's yummy!

First, crack your eggs into a dish big enough for your slice of bread to fit into.


Mix it up and add a splash or two of milk.


Grab your vanilla extract. If you want something special thrown in, use some orange extract like my Mom.


Add your vanilla, orange extract, and cinnamon. Pretty much just use as much as you'd like. I'm heavy handed with vanilla and cinnamon.


Soak each slice of bread in your batter.


Cook them on your skillet, make sure to flip them over to get the other side. I mostly just eye this, and when they look done, I take them off. Maybe a handful of minutes for the whole thing?


Butter them up, add some syrup (or powdered sugar if that's your thing) and gobble them up!!!!


So that's French Toast.

Now, Tacos are pretty much my go-to meal. If it's been a long day and I don't feel like cooking, I usually just make tacos. I figure, why not? Mexican food is my favorite food, my husband loves them, and they're easy!!

Start out with a package of your meat. Most people use Ground Beef, but my Twinnie introduced me to Ground Turkey when I went up to visit her in San. Fran. Ever since I pretty much substitute it for anything that calls for beef!


Add a splash of vegetable oil to your pan, and add your meat.


Add some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.


And then some chili powder.


Mix it a little bit and sprinkle some lemon pepper too.


Keep cooking til it browns.


Perfect!


Now, I was all out of my normal seasonings, so I used a package of this. I just added it to my mixture with a splash or two of water, not the amount the directions say.


Turn down the heat a little, cover the lid, and let simmer for a few minutes.


Mean while, stick your shells on a pan in the oven to warm/crisp up.


Prepare your condiments. Here we have Taco Bell hot sauce, some salsa, and some cheese.


Remove the lid from your pan and drizzle some Apple Cider Vinegar over the meat.


All done!!


Put on your toppings and eat away!!!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

I have this bad habit of buying bananas and then never eating them, lol. I don't like how they taste/feel at room temperature for some reason, so I always put them in the fridge. I found this recipe about a week or so ago so I knew what I'd be using my forgotten bananas for, haha! :]

I forgot to take a picture of my ingredients, so here's a list instead: 3 ripe bananas, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon, and an egg!

Start out with your bananas in your bowl.


Mush them up nicely with a fork.


Add your sugar and mix. Dough for bread is fragile and over-mixing it can make it tough, so I mixed by hand.


Add in your egg (be sure to beat it first).


Now add the vanilla. The recipe calls for 1 tsp, but I always put more in, lol.


Pour in your melted butter.


Stir it up.


Sprinkle a dash of salt and add your baking soda.


Gradually add in your flour and mix gently.


Mmm, lookin' good!


Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray (or butter it) and dust flour on it.


Prepare your cinnamon and sugar mixture.


Pour half of your batter in your pan.


Sprinkle on about half of your cinnamon/sugar mixture.


Add the rest of your batter.


Top with remaining cinnamon/sugar and pop it in the oven.


Looks good!!


Mmmmm, it tastes AMAZING, lol!


Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

For the bread:
3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
dash of salt

For the swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Non-stick cooking spray and flour your pan. I used an 8x4 pan.

Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon.

Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, but remember, if you’re using a different-sized loaf pan, be careful and keep a close eyeball on it!