Pantry Staples: Taco Seasoning

Taco Seasoning

1 tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 small pinch of pepper

Mix together well, seasons 1lb. of meat or acts as one packet of taco seasoning.

Just in time for Valentine's Day...

     I have been on a serious scone kick lately. And by lately, I mean off and on for the past year. They are so good, so quick and such a great canvas for variety! One of my absolute favorite varieties is to add about 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 of chocolate chips. YUM! Even better if you have some of those Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips-- they are bigger and so good! But, we happen to have the "Sam's Club" Ginormous bag of TollHouse Semi-Sweet Morsels on hand and they work great as well. 

    A couple of weeks ago I tried Strawberry Scones (my strawberries were about to go bad) and they were delicious as well.. not to mention they were tender and had the faintest soft pink color. Perfect for a valentine's day treat!

-Strawberry Scones-

Here's my chosen basic scone recipe-- I have yet to find one I prefer to this.

Classic Scones

Preheat Oven to 425' and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper-- or leave un-greased.

Now, I make these in my food processor because they come together almost instantly and the dough is less handled by yours truly and therefore more tender. But you could also mix them by hand.. That works as well.

Whisk together:

2 cups of All Purpose Flour (I often add 1/2 cup of rolled oats for extra health benefit)

1/3 cup of Sugar

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Drop in:

6 Tbs. cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces. 

Cut in the butter with 2 knives, or a pastry blender, or if you are using the food processor.. just push that little pulse button a couple of times. :)

Your mixture should be like breadcrumbs with some larger pea-size pieces.

At this point add your "good stuff." It can be any number of things but here are a few I have tried with success:

• Diced Apples or Pears and Cinnamon (with or without pecans)
• Fresh or Frozen Blueberries and Lemon Zest (Super delicious and Spring-y!)
• Diced Strawberries
• Chocolate Chips and Dried Cherries
• Chocolate Chips or Chunks (Thank you, Court, for the original inspiration!)
• Diced Bananas and Chocolate Chips (Chunky Monkey Style)

Another I would love to try is Shredded Coconut and Lime Zest! Maybe this summer...

Okay, now you want to add your "wet team"

 Whisk together and add all at once: 

1 large egg

1/2 cup of 1/2 and 1/2 (is that redundant or is it just me? )

Now you want to knead your dough only slightly until it all comes together.. (again if you're using that food processor, just press pulse a couple of times. Gosh, I love that machine.)

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into either one or two circles and cut into wedges. If they aren't perfect, don't sweat it. Scones are a beautiful food, especially when they are rustic! 

Place the wedges about 1/2 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Brush the tops with a small amount of 1/2 and 1/2 or milk and sprinkle with a smidge of sugar. I use raw sugar,--again with the rustic-- I LOVE rustic when it's tasty. 

Bake until the tops are light golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Serve warm or cool. 

*These freeze beautifully.

**Recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Let's Talk Breakfast.. and Strawberries!

We have all heard that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day... I speak from personal experience (as does my sweet Husband) when I say that it is indeed a vital component of "Happy Cindy." My husband has, on occasion, referred to me as "Cindy McNasty" when I don't eat a proper breakfast. Hmph. Whether or not I think his point has any validity, I do agree that a proper morning meal makes me feel better as I face the day. And, he is probably right anyway. Probably.


At this point when we are still months away from spring and summer (and the wardrobe which is currently packed away) I begin contemplating all those airy little outfits I have loved in seasons past and wondering if they will fit as well as my comfy jeans and cozy sweaters which I put on every day. I'm guessing the answer is no. That usually leads me to reexamine my eating choices and that usually leads to breakfast. Unfortunately, I'm not someone who can scramble a plain ole egg and eat it first thing.. I need more.. variety. Here are a couple of yummy breakfasts we have recently tried and loved.

This first one comes from Our Best Bites An amazing site. Check. It. Out.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes 

These were delicious. We added about 1/2 cup of rolled oats and a few chopped nuts to make them even heartier. I LOVE fresh fruit on my pancakes so that's a healthy pick. Apparently, a little too healthy since I felt the need to dust them with powdered sugar! We had them on a snow day... even if they are whole wheat, they are still pancakes.

 "Slightly more weekday appropriate Oatmeal." 
Never underestimate oatmeal. It does not have to be that gloppy cold mess you think it is. Good Oatmeal can be a great canvas for any number of toppings. Some of our favorites have been, dried fruit (try dried cherries!), nuts, a scoop of vanilla yogurt (adds a bit of sweetness and creaminess) brown sugar, or fresh fruit. Can you tell I'm on a strawberry kick? They happen to be one of the fruits Lucy loves.. so I have been happily paying a bit more for them in winter. Sssh. Don't tell the local foods police. The things we will do to give our toddlers healthy foods. Oh, and when I mentioned "good" oatmeal. I don't mean anything fancy. Just Quaker regular rolled oats... not quick cooking. They are less pulverized and they only take 5 minutes as opposed to 2 minutes. Personally, I don't mind carving out 3 extra minutes in my morning for less mushy oatmeal.

Another breakfast favorite is a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with Milk and.. yep, you guessed it, fresh strawberries. So good. So fast. So full of protein! 

Come back next week for a couple of yummy egg recipes! 

Christmas Cards and Shutterfly

I LOVE this time of year and I LOVE sending photo Christmas Cards. For the last few years, we have always sent Shutterfly Christmas Cards. They have so many great designs to choose from and the cost is always affordable for what you get. I use Shutterfly for all photo gifts, I  tried other websites for awhile and I quickly learned that Shutterfly was the only way to go for me. Here are a few of our previous years Christmas Pictures just for fun:

This was the year we were expecting Lucy.Thanks Leah for the shot!

 Photos Courtesy of the amazing Amanda George!

This year, we had photos taken by Pam Weber and I cannot wait to get our Christmas cards in the mail. I highly recommend Shutterfly for great fast service and beautiful cards!

These are a few of my favorites for this year:

The middle one is my absolute favorite!
Head on over to Shutterfly and pick out YOUR Christmas Cards today!


I will receive 50 Free Christmas Cards for writing this blog post. If you would like to share on your blog about Shutterfly's Christmas Cards, you can write a blog post about it, go here to sign up and you will receive 50 free Christmas Cards as a gift!

Stuckey Salsa

I was married to my husband for almost three entire years before I knew he could make such amazing salsa. We've had this way more times then we should have this summer-- but it is infinitely better than the jar stuff!

• 3 Medium Tomatoes or 6-7 Roma Tomatoes
• Half of One Red Onion
• 1 Poblano Pepper (or you can use a jalapeno if you like it a bit more hot)
• 3 Sweet Peppers- red, orange or yellow-- ideally one of each.
• 5 Cloves of Garlic (chopped small)
• The juice of 1 Lime
• 1 Tbs. Olive Oil
• 1 Tbs. Table Salt
• 1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro- Roughly Chopped

Cut your tomatoes in half and squeeze the halves over the sink to get out most of the excess juice and seeds. Set them aside.  Cut the ribs out of each pepper unless you want it really spicy. You will now want to chop each vegetable-- either by hand (this takes a while to get uniform pieces) or in a food processor. If you use a processor, roughly chop each type into large chunks by hand and then pulse them about 5 short times.  Process each item individually, (tomatoes, then peppers, onion, etc.. ) if you try to do them altogether you may end up with cold salsa soup! Once you process the tomatoes, set them in a colander over the sink to drain for about 15-20 minutes. A lot of the liquid will drain out-- in the mean time, you can pulse each of the other veggies. Once all your peppers and onion are ready to go, mix them together in a glass bowl with the Olive oil, salt, lime juice and cilantro and then add back in your tomatoes. Chill well and then try NOT to eat the entire bowl in one sitting.

Tomato and Basil Salad with Feta

In the summertime, when the temperature soars as high as it has been these past few weeks, we enjoy a great many fresh and easy salads such as this one...

(Serves two)

Slice one Medium to Large Tomato (if Roma Tomatoes are used, you will need 2.) Lay slices out on a plate and sprinkle with Kosher Salt and Black Pepper. Drizzle a bit of Olive Oil, followed by a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar. Sprinkle generously with a chiffonade of Fresh Basil Leaves. Garnish with Crumbled Feta Cheese (Goat Cheese is also excellent!) and serve.

Creamed Summer Corn

2 1/2 cups of Fresh Corn Kernels ( A few weeks ago, we found corn on the cob for 10 cents a piece and bought a bunch to remove from the cob and freeze. I took one of those bags out of the freezer and it tasted just as fresh as ever!)

In a medium skillet, melt One tbs. of unsalted butter. 

Add 1/4 cup of thinly sliced shallots or scallions (or onions in a pinch) and cook over low heat until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Add the Corn and 1/2 cup of half and half (I used part milk to cut back on the calories)

Cook over low heat, stirring as little as possible, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped basil or another fresh herb. 

**From the Joy of Cooking