Insects of the Sea...

That whole holiday on Monday totally threw me off... I'm all mixed up on my days.  And although I intended to have my usual weekend blog break, I didn't mean for it to go on and on like that.  

So, to all veterans and those currently serving for our country: Thank you.  It doesn't suffice, but it's a start.  And to everyone: Happy belated Memorial Day.

Because I'm all topsy turvy, it only makes sense to do Yummy Monday on Wednesday, am I right?  So that's what we're going to do!  

Long ago, I shared a version of this (so if you've been around a while, you may have seen this on the blog already) but I've adapted it a touch and increased the serving size to accommodate a whole herd of folks, since I usually make this when I have company.  Why?  It's easy, but it seems all fancy AND it tastes amazing.  PLUS, it's low carb and totally healthy, which - let's face it - can't be said of most of my food.

I'm bringing it back because 1. I'm super embarrassed of all photos before like a year ago on this blog. 2. It's altered a touch. and 3. It's delicious and you don't want to miss it.  Just take my word for it.  I mean, I don't even like shrimp.

(print out the recipe card!  It's made as a 3x5.  Just right click and download.)

I'm serious.  They're like, the insects of the sea.  And who wants to eat insects?  But for some reason, I still really like this recipe - shrimp and all.

So that's saying something.  The only other time I've enjoyed shrimp is when I had it fresh off the boat on my honeymoon in Mexico.  Which was probably the best part of that honeymoon, just saying.  

It's the perfect time of year for it too, it's light and summery!  If you don't want enough to feed a small army, just half the recipe above.  Happy eating!

The original is from George Stella and you can find it here. 

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I just really like the word taquito.

 Admit it.  It's a fun word.  Taquito.  Taquito.  Ok.  So I've made taquitos before, but not like this.  These are my very own recipe.  Last month I was having more people over on a Tuesday night than normal.  I had already decided to try out my new crock pot (yeah.  I got a crock pot that works.  And doesn't have holes in it.  Word.)  and made up a batch of crock pot french toast - using this recipe from .  (It looked awful.  But it was delicious!)  

I was worried we wouldn't have enough food for the six extra people that would be over, and had to wrack my brain for what else to make quick.  We had an overabundance of tortillas, but I wasn't sure what to do with them to match the breakfast for dinner theme... And thus were born the:

And holy cats were these snarfed up like hotcakes.  Or, you know, like the delicious breakfast taquitos they actually are.  

They are stuffed with a super yummy scrambled egg concoction (which involves salsa and cheese!) that you likely have almost all of the ingredients to make sitting around in your fridge and pantry.  Or cupboards.  Or drawers.  Wherever you keep food type items at your home.

The whole dinner was a raging success with no leftovers but very full tummies.  So no one starved and nothing went to waste - perfect!  Even the kiddos loved them, which as you know, is the TRUE test of any new dinner.  So.  Here's my recipe.

I'll let you in on a little secret.  If you don't have cream cheese around, you can omit it altogether.  I think it adds some creaminess which I like, but it's totally unnecessary.  Also, I've used both the medium sized mission tortillas and the small size, and I like the medium size better.  I know it should matter, but you can just stuff more yumminess in the bigger ones. 

So, here's the dip recipe, in case you want it.  It's yogurt based - to go along with the breakfast theme. (it doesn't specify this, but be sure to chop the cilantro.)

It's a pretty easy meal to make, which makes it perfect for brunch or a weekend breakfast when you're not accidentally turning your alarm clock off and waking up 10 minutes before you have to catch the bus thus making your child swallow a super classy breakfast of peanut butter bread whole while fumbles his jacket on inside out and scrambles out the door nearly forgetting his lunch box as he races for the bus without his teeth brushed and with a serious case of bedhead.  Not that I have experience with that on a normal weekday or anything.

But these.  These will make all those rushed weekday breakfasts disappear once you bite into them.  Plus, as I've illustrated, they're hardy enough for dinner too.  

I've made them twice more since that initial dinner, that how much we like them here.  Enjoy!

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Top 10 Recipes. Not 13. Just 10.

This week being my first of the new year, I've decided to bring you my "year in review" posts... albeit quite late relatively speaking.  Pretty much on time for me, though.  SO!

It's Monday!  You know what that means!

Just in case you missed any of my best food posts, here you go: 

bugaboo blog's Top Ten Recipes of 2013!

Number 10.  A tie!

Strawberry Short”cup”cakes

AND

 Knock You Naked Brownies

9.  

Fancy Cakes

8.  

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake FAIL

(Told you I let you see EVERYTHING.)

7.  

Easy Chocolate Cherry Cake

6.  

Faux Shepherd’s Pie

5.

 Greek Dip

4.  

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

3.  

Banana Nutella Eggrolls

2. 

 Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

1. 

The Dessert That Cannot Be Named

Those are the most popular posted this year... funnily enough though, the MOST popular food post remains:

THE Best Pumpkin Dessert

And I don't blame you.  I link to it every pumpkin pie season.  It's that good.

You've all proven my point.  Dessert is definitely the best part.

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Philly!

I've never been there.  Have you?  I've never had a Philly cheesesteak, either.  Am I missing out?  They look delicious, it just seems like one of those things you can't do justice to unless you're a street vendor in Philly, you know?  Kind of like, it would seem wrong to make your own Chicago Dog or Memphis BBQ.  Right?

Well, anyway, I saw a pin on pinterest for Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers.  And I love peppers.  (The bell kind, anyway).  BUT, when I followed the link I'd pinned, it led me to a photo collage and a generic description like "use thin deli roast beef, salt and pepper to make this easy stuffed peppers" or some such nonsense that doesn't constitute a real recipe.  Don't you hate that?  So I used my powers of observation, the photo collage and my prowess in the kitchen (ha!) to create for you:

And then after I did that, for the heck of it, I googled "Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers" and came up with about 6,592,031 different recipes.  So, if this doesn't seem authentic enough or something, you can always feel free to do that...

And on to our review of said recipe.  Seriously?  It was so good!  I was impressed with myself - but then realized it was more the general idea that was impressive, and that I can NOT take credit for.  Everyone agreed the innards (aka the stuff I sautéed) was super delish.  Even bug liked the it - though he apparently HATES peppers.  My mom said they were the best stuffed peppers she'd had and we all agreed that they were better than the tomato-based ground beef/rice/whatever versions that are pretty standard.

Our peppers were not very peppery tasting, but I attribute that to cheap peppers at a big chain store.  If you grow your own or get them at a farmer's market or something I bet the flavor would be CRAZY GOOD.

So, in short, make these.  Yep.  Not a fail.  And you won't feel like a poser because they aren't REALLY a Philly cheesesteak.  Phew.

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Giving dip a run for its money.

Have you seen The Pioneer Woman's gorgeous Spinach Artichoke Pasta floating around on Pinterest lately?  The second I saw it I pinned it to my "To Eat" board.  It didn't last long there before I jumped onboard and made it myself.  

It was easy to follow her recipe and still alter seasonings and such, mainly to meet my tastes (and the fact that I can't tolerate spice worth beans on a good day, let alone when I'm hugely pregnant).  And because I didn't really do much different besides change up some amounts and use cavatappi instead of penne, I'm not providing a recipe card.  She's got it all tied up with a pretty bow over on her site, so follow the link.

All I can really say here is eat this.  Eat it now.
The one and only thing I'll do differently next time is add a smidge more cheese.  Because we ARE in the dairy state after all, and doggone it, I like cheese.  And spice up the panko a bit - maybe mix it with some melted butter.

You know the deliciousness of spinach artichoke dip?  You know how you kind of just want to scoop it up with a spoon?  Now you can.  Although, a fork would likely be easier.
If you've seen it but weren't sure about it, consider us your guinea pigs, because the entire family loved it.  Even bug.  mini had a hard time eating the artichokes, but maybe that's an acquired taste?  

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