Coquito

Up in our rodeo suite we have a drink served called milk punch and it’s a huge hit with the ladies. Not the most healthy drink as it’s made with heavy whipping cream, but it’s like dessert in a glass and you have to have at least one. This drink I think I would prefer over the milk punch. Hubby said it’s too heavy for him, but he would like it as a shot.

I got a little confused by the person who posted it on Taste of Home. They say -

“An all-time family favorite, this creamy, frozen adult beverage features cream of coconut blended with cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and rum.”

Ok sounds good, but there’s no mention of making it a frozen drink in the recipe. I first had the drink just chilled, and it’s good, but I think you’re supposed to blend it with ice, which I‘ll try seeing as how I’m the only one to drink the whole pitcher now. I’ve edited the recipe so if you print it off and forget to make a note, I’ll help you out.

Coquito

(Adapted from Taste of Home)

Yield: 8 servings.

 

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1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup rum

ice

 

Place the first seven ingredients in a blender with ice; cover and process until blended. Refrigerate until chilled. Blend with ice and stir in rum before serving.

Back to School Cake

While I don’t have any kids in school yet, I do love when school starts. I can finally shop in peace again and go out in public without the area being taken over by kiddos. I have to admit I will miss having babysitters available during the day so that’s gonna be a bummer until the holidays. It’s always give and take there’s pros and cons to everything.

To kick off this time of year, I made a cake for our street’s back to school party. It’s been a while since I’ve done a cake, but I think it came out pretty cute. I forget simple tricks so my cake sagged a little in the middle. I should have flipped the cakes over before icing them to keep them more level too. The good thing is kids don’t care they just get excited about cake haha. I LOVE how my notebook paper cupcake toppers came out!!

There isn’t really a recipe today it’s more of step by step instructions of how my cake came together.

Hope everyone has a great year!!

For the toppers I melted white chocolate and spread it on parchment paper then popped it in the fridge to firm up. I then took my biscuit cutter and let it sit in hot water to warm it up before drying it off and cutting out my circles. I also took a knife and shaved around the edges I didn’t want them to be perfect, but look more like torn paper. Next, I used edible markers found in the baking isle and drew on the blue and red lines. The black marker didn’t stand out as good as I wanted so I used a paint brush and black food coloring.

For the cake: I baked baked them in loaf pans instead of a cake pan then trimmed up the pointy end of the pencil. I colored icings and then freehanded the pencil coloring.

Ozeri Prestige Electric Wine Bottle Opener with Aerating Pourer and Foil Cutter

We recently broke our old wine bottle opener so I was excited about giving an electric opener a try. That and sometimes I’m lazy and some openers take a lot of arm muscle. I love how clean the instructions where on the side of the box as well as the presentation of the item. I’ve got a video further down in my post so you can see it in action. The only complaint happens to be it’s a little loud, but it only takes a few seconds to pop the cork so it’s not the end of the world deal breaker for me.

While you do have to charge the opener, they do advertise being able to open 80 bottles on a single charge. If you’ll be opening more than that, don’t forget to send me an invite to that party. I’ve used the opener on both regular corks and the artificial ones and so far I haven’t seen any issues.

The bonus wine aerator is also a great feature eliminating me from having to break out my decanter all the time. 

Overall the bottle opener is very user friendly and doesn’t require much effort to use. My only complaint is that it’s a little noisy when it’s running, but since it doesn’t take long to use it’s not like a blender running all night.

Be sure to order one today on Amazon.com (Click HERE for details)

Disclaimer: I received the Ozeri OW05A Prestige Electric Wine Bottle Opener with Aerating Pourer and Foil Cutter mentioned above in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I only recommend products or services I use personally and/or I believe would be helpful for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. Your experience with the product(s) or service(s) may differ from mine.

Coconut Shrimp with Sriracha Honey Glaze

I have to admit I love me some coconut shrimp. Usually they serve them with a sweet and spicy chutney at the restaurant, but you’ll want to give this glaze a try. It doesn’t take long to whip up and you can use it on chicken tenders or salads or anything you can think of.

Coconut Shrimp with Sriracha Honey Glaze

(Created by Finding Inspiration in Food)

 

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2/3 cup honey

2 Tablespoons Sriracha (or other chili sauce)

sea salt to taste

 

Place all ingredients into a small bowl and mix.

 

Drizzle over coconut shrimp.

Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

I think I’m pretty set knowing that beef stroganoff will never be one of my signature dishes nor will it be one of my go to meals. This is the best recipe I’ve tried so far, but I’ve just come to realize it’s just not in the cards for me and I’m not a super fan of stroganoff in general. I like that the sauce had some good flavor it and you can’t go wrong adding alcohol haha. Overall if I have to make it I would use this recipe again, however I’m open to other uses for stroganoff meat if you have any…

Beef Stroganoff

(Adapted from One Perfect Bite)

 

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Sauce

1 (14.5-oz.) can reduced sodium beef broth

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup sour cream

 

Beef and Mushrooms

1-1/2 pounds thinly sliced flatiron or sirloin steak

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms

Optioanl: 2 tablespoons brandy or dry sherry wine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

8 ounces cooked and buttered egg noodles

 

To make sauce: Place beef broth in a small pan, bring to a boil and simmer until broth is reduced by half.

 

 

 

In a separate pan, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.

 

 

 

Add flour and dry mustard, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

 

 

 

Gradually add broth, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil; cook until thick, about 2 minutes.

 

 

Stir in sour cream, remove from heat, and set aside.

 

 

 

To make beef and mushrooms: Heat remaining butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly season beef with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate.

 

 

 

Add onions to same skillet, and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes longer.

 

 

Deglaze pan with brandy or sherry, if using. Reduce heat to low, return beef to pan and add reserved sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and heat through. Cover to keep warm.

 

Meanwhile, cook egg noodles per package instructions. Drain. Toss with butter. Spoon stroganoff onto a serving platter, and surround with egg noodles. Garnish with parsley. Yield: 4 servings.

Bubble Up Breakfast Bake

This has to be one of my new favorite breakfast casseroles. It has a lot of flavor from the green chilies and it’s super easy to add some extra spice to the egg mixture if you want too. Can’t wait to make this again!!

Bubble Up Breakfast Bake

(Adapted from Inspired Dreamer)

 

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1 pound of reduced fat breakfast sausage

1 tube of refrigerated biscuits

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 small can of diced green chills

6 eggs

Salt and pepper to season

1/4 cup milk

 

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

 

Add the sausage to a medium skillet on medium high heat. Cook until no longer pink in the middle.

 

While cooking the sausage, cut each biscuit into 8 pieces and place in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

 

 

 

Add the sausage to the pan, on top of the uncooked biscuits.

 

 

 

Sprinkle cheese on top of that, along with the green chilies.

 

 

 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, salt and pepper and milk. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the baking dish.

 

 

Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean in the middle of the dish. Be careful, the cheese might make it seem like it's uncooked egg but it's just cheesy goodness.