It’s been pretty quiet over here on the blog lately.  I’ve made some great recipes that I’m really excited to share with you but I’ve been having trouble finding the time to sit down in front of the computer to type it all up.  I have no other excuse besides the fact that having two children is totally kicking me in the ass right now.  The Fruitaholic is about to turn four and the Baby Burrito learned how to sit unassisted, crawl and pull herself up to standing all in the same day.  Gone are the days where I could simply turn on Nick Jr., plop the baby down on the floor with some toys and take a half hour to let the words flow (or cook dinner or wash dishes or do laundry or, well, you get the picture).

So I’ve counted on my participation in the swap to keep this little old blog afloat.  It ensures that once, every other week, I spend some quality time in the kitchen with a new recipe rather than trying to get something on the table quickly.  And then I missed the last swap because I forgot about the deadline to submit a recipe and this page sat empty.  So I made sure to get my recipe in as soon as I could this time around, especially because I was excited about the Mexican theme.  Some days I think about whether it’s worth it to keep the blog going but the people I’ve met within the blogging community and the opportunity to continue to push past my comfort zone make me think otherwise.

What I loved most about this recipe was how easily it came together.  Being short on time, I set aside the bag of potatoes I had purchased earlier that morning at the farmers market in lieu of premade mashed potatoes (I love the Simply Potatoes brand, found in the refrigerator section.  The only ingredients used are potatoes, mik and butter – nothing artificial!).  The most time consuming part was caramelizing the onions.  The Baby Burrito was having a bit of a tough day so I popped her in the carrier and she was happy as a clam while I tended to them.  I’ve been attempting to keep a little edible garden this year so I added swiss chard to the recipe just because I could.  And who doesn’t like added veggies?

The enchilada sauce I bought was a little bit on the spicy side so the Fruitaholic didn’t get a chance to try it but the Husby and I were big fans.  We were both pretty bummed that I forgot to put the leftovers away so he made me promise to make it again soon.  And I will, as long as I have a free moment!

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I’m always on the lookout to add more seafood recipes to my repertoire.  It’s sooooo good for you, but the Husby is picky (no salmon, no scallops, no fishy-tasting fish) and making a seafood dish typically means I have to make a different meal for the Fruitaholic.  The original recipe I received for the swap called for flounder, a fish I’d never had.  I was intrigued albeit a bit nervous that it could be one of the fishier fish but I was determined to try it.

Note my disappointment when Whole Foods didn’t carry it.  Luckily, they have a great fishmonger who chatted with me about my preparation intentions and suggested a similar fish, sole (another I’d never tried).  She assured me it was a mild whitefish – something I know the Husby would eat.  I could just tell him it was tilapia if he questioned it.  The only other thing holding me back was his hatred of capers, but I just made sure to de-caper-ify his portion.  Oh well, that just meant more capers for me (note: upon being served, he told me he could have just picked the capers off.  I always create more work for myself.)!

After poaching the fish, I removed it from the pan and let the remaining sauce reduce for a few minutes before pouring it over our plates.  It was awesomely tangy and I might have eaten half of a demi-baguette trying to savor every last drop.  Even the Fruitaholic took a few bites!  In my book, that’s a winning dish!

Lately, I’ve started to pay a bit more attention about what the family is eating – meaning, trying to stay away from most processed foods and instead filling up on foods that are fresh and attempting to make some of our processed favorites myself.  Doing so takes a lot of time and preparation, and I try to fit it in when I can.  Had I known that making my own granola bars would be so ridiculously easy, I would’ve stopped buying the boxed kind long ago!

I loved that this recipe from the swap uses just a handful of common pantry ingredients, most of which I already had in my possession.  They came together quickly and easily.   And the best part?  They tasted soooooo much better fresh than the ones that sit on the shelf for who knows how long.

Fried chicken is one of my ultimate comfort foods.  It’s so outrageously bad for you but so deliciously good.  I’m constantly searching for a worthy substitute that won’t clog my arteries.  I’d seen this one in an issue of Cooking Light but never got around to making it so I was pretty thrilled to get it for this week’s swap.

While fried chicken this was not, the toasted panko gave it a crispness that many other oven-fried recipes lack.  And the buttermilk helped keep the chicken nice and juicy.  I think I must’ve skimped on the rosemary because I was expecting there to be more of a pronounced flavor but it remained nice and light.  It was easy to prepare and the short list of ingredients was a plus in my book.  And for just about 300 calories per cutlet?  Your arteries will thank you.

As a mom of two, life is often quite hectic.  The Fruitaholic is on Spring Break this week and the Husby is working so in order to keep from killing each other, I’ve made sure that we stayed super busy.  So busy, in fact, that I completely forgot about this week’s swap until Sarah posted a reminder.  With what felt like every minute of every day scheduled and no vacation in sight, I had little time nor motivation to cozy up in the kitchen so I picked something I knew would be super quick and easy to make in what little time I found myself with.

Fortunately, these energy bites fit perfectly into our busy lifestyle.  Most days we’re rushing out the door to get the Fruitaholic to school on time, which means I barely have time to put on clean clothes let alone eat anything for breakfast.  Lunch is pretty much the same:  The Fruitaholic eats at school and I run errands with the Baby Burrito while he’s there so I inevitably end up running through a drive-thru before our next activity.

But tossing a couple of these into my bag before we leave for the day is about as quick and easy as it gets.  And it definitely doesn’t hurt that they’re really good and infinitely adaptable.  I’m going to try chopped almonds and dates in the next batch.

Jen, I totally owe you a ‘real’ recipe since I took the easy way out but I’m glad that I found something new to help ease the craziness of my life right now!

Since marrying into an Irish family, St. Patrick’s Day (or Amateur Day, as the Husby calls it) has become a big deal for me, food wise at least.  We started this morning with green pancakes, bangers and eggs and had all intentions of making corned beef and cabbage for dinner.  But our BFFs PSquared are moving tomorrow so we wanted to spend one last night with them before they go.  We are devastated that they’re leaving but they’ll only be an hour and a half away.  We will miss them like crazy but we’ll still see each other – it’ll just take more planning.

Since I knew I wouldn’t be having my traditional meal (don’t worry, it’s currently cooking away in the crockpot for later), I wanted to do something in the Irish spirit.  Then, magically, this recipe arrived in my inbox via Martha the Great.  It was meant to be.

The flavor in these bad boys was outstanding.  The coffee grounds in the batter paired with the whiskey in the glaze made my tastebuds dance.  The flavors were both definitely prominent but not overwhelming in the way that whiskey usually gives me the shivers when I taste it.

In other news, the Baby Burrito turned 5 months old.  How the hell did that happen?  It was only yesterday when she was brand new!

In all my years of cooking and baking, I’ve never made a cheesecake. I’ve just always been crazy intimidated by it for no real reason whatsoever. So naturally my first reaction upon seeing that my swap recipe for the week was indeed a cheesecake, was fear.

I hopped over to Amazon and placed a springform pan into my cart but somehow overlooked the “place your order” button, even though 2 new cookbooks and some baby clothes showed up at my house a few days later.  So I already had that working against me.  Then, my chunk of white chocolate I bought in Seattle and have been slowly working my way through disappeared without a trace.  Sigh.  So there was that too.  Oh, and did I mention that I didn’t read through the recipe beforehand like I usually do and didn’t see that I needed to let the cheesecake set and chill for at least 4 hours?  Note to self for next time – do not make cheesecake at 6pm.

Due to my Amazon mishap, I decided to make the cheesecake into individual servings by using ramekins.  Plus, portion control is definitely my friend when it comes to dessert.  If I’d had a whole cheesecake at my disposal, I’d inhale the entire thing before I’d even realize what I’d done.  And while searching frantically for my white chocolate, I came across a bag of butterscotch chips and thought the flavors would work well together.

And while the process of making this recipe was all sorts of fail on my part, the end result was not as bad as I was expecting.  Although my cheesecakes weren’t as smooth as I’d hoped, I didn’t find any dreaded cracks.  And it was quite delicious!  I took the uneaten portions and popped them in the fridge because it’s always nice to have a sweet treat on a rainy day.

So Jenna, thanks for making me step outside my comfort zone with this one.  Once my head is screwed on straight again (probably in, oh, 20-some years from now when the children go to college), I’ll get my butt into gear and make an actual cheesecake.

It’s a well known fact that the Husby and I tend to order a lot of takeout.  Had I known sooner that it was this easy to make my own, we could’ve saved ourselves a lot of money!

We absolutely loved this meal from the Blogger’s Choice Swap.  The recipe jumped out at me right away and even after poring through the other recipes on the site, I knew this was the one.  I already had most of the ingredients at home so I only had to pick up a few things, which is always nice.  It was quick and easy.  The rice took longer to cook than the tofu!  I can always count on the Fruitaholic to eat tofu, but was a little bit unsure of how he’d react to having it smothered in sauce.  He ate his entire portion and asked for more.  Yeah!

I stayed pretty true to the recipe, although I cut the sugar a bit and added cornstarch based on the original recipe.  It made a ton of sauce, so I recommend either adding another block of tofu or halving the sauce ingredients.  Even after spooning additional sauce over rice, there was still quite a bit leftover.

When the Husby and I first started dating, we did the whole getting dressed up and going out to a nice dinner, but after thirteen years together, we’ve perfected our Valentine’s Day routine.  I buy him a card – one from me and one from the kids – weeks in advance and the night before or morning of, he runs out for a cheesy grocery store bouquet of roses.  Unintentionally for the past few years, we’ve ended up going to the Auto Show during the day.   And we always end our night by curling up on the couch with a heart shaped pizza from Lou Malnati’s while watching a movie.

Today started out same as always.  The cards were exchanged, the flowers purchased, the Auto Show attended.  But this year, I decided to change things up a bit.  The theme for this week’s swap was super apropos  - special occasion – so it seemed fitting to get in the kitchen and cook.  I wouldn’t say that we dressed up like we used to but we did enjoy a nice meal together.

We liked this entree although we both agreed that the sauce was a bit salty (likely due to user error since I didn’t measure).  For as much as I like to drink wine, I always forget how easy it is to make a pan sauce so this was a nice change from a plain old porkchop.  The only change I would make next time would be to sear the pork before baking in order to give it some color.  I did also wish that the flavor of the wine would be a bit more prevalent.

Looking through my arsenal, it appears that I don’t have many recipes for side dishes.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, I either don’t make a side or just steam/roast some veggies or throw together a simple salad.  But those get pretty boring really quickly so it was nice to try something different for a change.

I spent a lot of time poring over the recipes from my assigned blog for the Blogger’s Choice swap but kept coming back to this one.  I always order creamed spinach pretty much whenever it is offered as a side at a restaurant.  It’s not the healthiest choice, hiding nutrient-packed spinach amongst all the cheese and heavy cream, but I was thrilled to have the chance to make it a wee bit better for you, hopefully without sacrificing the taste.

And it didn’t disappoint.  Although I have to admit I cheated just a little bit.  I served this alongside pan-fried bacon wrapped chicken (coming soon to the blog) and used the same skillet with some of the remaining bacon grease and pan juices to prepare it.  Other than that, I didn’t stray too far from the recipe.  I substituted 32 oz. of fresh baby spinach for the frozen chopped, doubling the amount of spinach to boost the nutrition factor and because 16 oz didn’t look like it was going to be enough once it was chopped.