Wednesday, April 13, 2011

spring! has sprung!

although we don't experience as dramatic of a spring as other colder places do, i'm still excited to see everything in bloom and looking gorgeous!  the trees seem to appear on the trees overnight :)  and easter is late this year, but we've had plenty to keep us busy!  we just got back from a trip to vegas/portland (the portland part was for a wedding) and tomorrow, my mom arrives!  we have plenty of fun planned around town and lots of good food on the menu (both in and out!).


my little easter chicks :)  (anita's handiwork in the background!)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

a tasty day: from brunch to burgers!

we had a lovely lazy sunday today.  but i did try two new recipes and both were hits!  for brunch, sarah was over and we had these tasty little frittatas.  i always thought a frittata had to involve bread, but turns out it's true definition is this:
A frittata is a type of italian omelette, either simple or enriched with additional ingredients, such as meats, cheeses, vegetables and even pasta. It may be compared to a crust-less quiche or, in America, "scrambled eggs."
this particular recipe has you bake them in a muffin tin so you get great little individual size breakfasts :)  definitely making them the next time we have company!  and i'm excited to play around with the fillings.


for dinner, i wasn't sure what to make so nate suggested we try to recreate our favorite arizona hamburger from four peaks brewery, the jalapeño popper burger.  we loved them!  recipes for both are below :)


Mini Ham & Cheese Frittatas
Ingredients
  • 1  cup  finely chopped onion
  • 1 1/3  cup  chopped ham (about 4 ounces)
  • 2/3  cup  (about 3 ounces) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
  • 4  tablespoons  chopped fresh chives
  • 1/4  teaspoon  dried thyme
  • 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
  • 7  large egg whites
  • 3  large eggs

  • Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add ham; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add ham mixture, stirring with a whisk.
  3. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set.

Nate & Bri's Jalapeño Popper Burgers

Ingredients

4 Hamburger Buns
Butter
Garlic Powder

Ground beef
Worcestershire
Cream Cheese
Jalapeño, thinly sliced
Alexia frozen onion rings (next time, I want to try Pioneer Woman's recipe for onion straws here- yum!) 

Directions
  1. Get some willing to grill the burgers that's good at it and will get them perfectly medium (in this case, Nate) :) send them on their way :)
  2. Cook onion rings according to package - throw in a few extra for on the side :)  we used 2 per burger.
  3. Melt butter, brush on to hamburger buns, sprinkle with a little garlic powder.  Broil until golden brown.
  4. Assemble cooked burger on bun, top with cream cheese, fresh jalapeno slices, and hot onion rings- smush it down so it all melds together into one delicious burger.
  5. Enjoy :)  preferably with a good beer!