Yep, It Finally Happened

Hello Kiss My Smash readers. I know I've been MIA for awhile. I've been busy wedding planning! 

Wait, what was that you said? Did you say wedding planning?

I sure did! GB proposed in February and I have never been happier. He proposed when we were on the slopes of Lake Tahoe surrounded by our amazing friends. 

 Between my new full time job and planning our destination wedding I have been busy! 

Of course I'm trying to DIY everything as much as possible so you can expect upcoming posts on how GB and I add our own personal touches to our wedding. But don't worry - even though my posts have not been regular I'm still crafting, cooking, baking, and "trying" to garden. I have so much to share with you. So keep coming back for regular Kiss My Smash updates! 

You Are My Sunshine

You may recall from the Your Song and Shower of Love posts that I have attempted this craft before. But third time is the charm, right? I wanted to add some flair to the 'Get Ready Room" aka the spare bedroom with some homemade artwork. So I went to the local craft store and set to work.

I began by using Mod Podge to adhere newspaper to a canvas.

Once that dried I placed stickers on the canvas (very carefully) and painted over the entire canvas, stickers and all.

Immediately after I applied the paint, I peeled the stickers. This is where I have been going wrong! If you peel the stickers when the paint is wet, surprisingly (maybe not for you but this went against all of my logic) you get a much cleaner removal.

While I could have managed to smooth the newspaper across the canvas, it turned out alright.

Now I just have to add another craft on the other side of Marilyn to balance it all out.

Let me know if you give this a try!

Meat Cupcakes

I have been working on trying to be more helpful at home by cooking more often. Not only does it give GB a break, but it also improves my cooking skills. Mini-lasagna cups have been floating all over Pinterest. I decided to give it a whirl. The recipe I used was found at the Catching Fireflies blog/website. What is so incredible about stumbling upon this recipe is Catching Fireflies is one of my all time favorite local shops. It sells all sorts of great home goods and gifts. If you are local to Michigan you MUST swing by Berkley to fall in love with Catching Fireflies, as I have. If not local - peruse their website, I promise it's worth your time. April over at Catching Fireflies initially found the recipe at The Girl Who Ate Everything.  

Ingredients:

Wonton Wrappers

Cooked Ground Beef (I used turkey)

1 3/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella

3/4 Ricotta (I used cottage cheese)

1 cup pasta sauce

I couldn't find wonton wrappers at my local grocery store, but I did find egg roll wrappers. (GB grew up cooking in his parents Asian restaurant, and he said they were pretty much the same thing.) 

I started by ripping the wrappers (they were too big) into two, and placing each section in a muffin tin. 

At this point, things got kind of crazy and I started layering the ingredients without thinking about what order made sense. It turns out there is a preferred order. The following is my first muffin pan full of attempted mini-lasagnas. 

After I realized I should try a different method, I filled another pan full of wonton wrappers and set to work. This time, I layered sauce first, followed by cottage cheese. 

Next I added the ground turkey and mozzarella. 

These bad boys were too big to close, so I had to add extra wonton wrappers to cover the inside. 

Last I topped my mini friends with a bit more sauce and Parmesan. 

I baked the cups at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. The house smelled delicious. 

Verdict: INCREDIBLE! These mini lasagna cups were delicious. I was most happy because GB loved them so much. Since I made way too many to consume in one meal, he was eating them for days. He referred to them as "meat cupcakes." He said they were everything a man wanted. I'm finding it is true what they say - the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. 

I would definitely recommend giving this a try! 

Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

Don't you love that funny little pepper baby? I found him while chopping peppers for the awesome Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas. I found the recipe predictably on Pinterest. Check out the original recipe on The Other Side of Fifty.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 -2 cups seasoned, cooked and diced chicken breast meat ( I boiled the chicken)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 banana pepper, diced (I omitted this because the grocery store was all out)
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (heaping) TBSP all purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

I chopped the peppers and onions while I boiled the chicken.

Next, I sauteed the veggies with some crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

I seasoned the chicken with some garlic salt, pepper and regular salt while the veggies cooked.

Next I added the flour to the veggies. I was attempting to take a cute picture with my fancy new tablespoons. Of course I messed it up. I held the tablespoon in the wrong direction.

I was nervous to add the flour without any real moisture, but surprisingly it kind of "stuck" to the veggies.

The next step I took was adding the chicken broth. I, again, didn't know what to expect. But the broth quickly took on a creamy, thick texture.

I don't know if you are as easily entertained as I am, but I love adding a huge amount of spinach to a dish, like this one, and watching how quickly it cooks down. I like to think of myself as a kitchen magician and I have the power to shrink vegetables. No? You don't think that when you cook? Once again, I'm all alone in my weird imagination.

Next I added the chicken and cannellini beans. I had a picture of it all together, but I hit a wrong button and can't get the picture to come back. Clearly, I'm good at what I do on a computer. (Please note the sarcasm.) 

Lastly, I put the tortillas in a pan with some cheese and layered the mixture on half of the tortilla. After it had a chance to brown, I flipped the cheese only portion of the tortilla over- and voila! I had a fancy 'dilla. 

Oops! The first quesadilla was filled with too much mixture as you can tell by the protruding ingredients.

The rest of the quesadillas turned out great. I ran out of tortillas with half of the mixture still left. I took the mixture to work the next day and ate it like a salad. It was pretty yummy. 

The original recipe calls for avocado and sour cream on the side. I skipped that, but I bet fresh avocado would taste great atop these quesadillas. This could also be a vegetarian dish if you omit the chicken.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Sammies

 

What?!? That is so weird. Who would put eggs in muffin tins? I would. 

Why you ask? Because Pinterest told me to. Over at The Yummy Life, a wonderful idea was formed. Make your own healthier version of Egg McMuffins! Ok! I'm in!

We start by putting eggs in a muffin tin, and breaking the yolk so they are just like at McDonalds.

Next bake the eggs at 350 degrees for 10-25 minutes, however long it takes them to completely cook. I cooked the eggs at 15 minutes and I think they were a bit over cooked. The eggs were puffed up and then deflated when I took them out of the oven.

Next I set up a small assembly line with low fat cheese and ham in a whole wheat english muffin. You can use whatever meat (or no meat) you'd like. The blogger recommends turkey sausage, which sounded awesome to me, but I didn't have any.

Oh no! I forgot to spray the pan with cooking spray! Of course I realized this after I took the eggs out of the oven. Luckily I didn't have to wrestle the pan too much to get the eggs out.

Next I wrapped up my little friends in wax paper, and popped them in the freezer. My plan was to grab one a day, and heat up in the microwave when I got to work.

The convenience of these breakfast sammies can't be beat. Unfortunately, I have not fine tuned the heating process. I had to warm it up for at least 2 minutes to make sure it was hot and no longer frozen, but that causes the cheese to leak everywhere. TIP: Do not freeze the sammies while they are hot, the condensation from the frozen steam causes your sammie to be soggy.

The flavor is great, a lot less calories than fast food breakfast, and this is very easy. If you want to give this a try, just learn from my mistakes, and enjoy!