Inspiration.

I am always so inspired by beautiful writing. I absolutely love reading blogs or books where words just capture my senses and make me feel like I am living and breathing an author's story. As many books as I delve into each summer or read while staying up late in my office I can say with a full heart that there is not a story on my bookshelf that houses more beautiful imagery or truth than the word of my savior. As I was reading my morning devotional these beautiful words struck me and I am just in awe of what a beautiful author Jesus really is. Through his death he wrote our story and because of him we can use our stories to inspire. I was inspired this morning by these words;
 " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his
 mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars, he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm"

I don't have any followers(except my mom..thanks mom!) but just maybe one day I will inspire someone to cook something they never would have thought to make for their family. Thank you Jesus for being such an inspiration to us all!

Weekend Happenings in the SA!

This weekend went by way to fast maybe because it was so nice and relaxing! I just love a weekend :) Brandon's parents came to visit the house for the first time so we enjoyed the past two days shopping, cooking, coffee drinking, and fixing things. See, my father in law is kind of the ultimate Mr. Fix it. A leaky faucet, a running toilet, and hanging T.V. cords that need to be drilled and dropped into a wall are a few chores problems  EASY FIXERS that just put a little more pep in his step. The desire just sparks inside of him and then the glorious words seep out of his mouth " I'll fix that!!" Its kind of a dream and its even more awesome that he LOVES to do these things..its not a chore.. its a passion!! Sadly however that super jean that did not exactly find its way to my husbands DNA.  So anytime Doug comes to visit our house feels pretty much like brand new!!! This weekend we spent some time at La Cantera and The Quarry.. pretty much my homes away from home:)  but the best part about the whole trip was that Doug The Fixer fixed up my pretty homely cabinets with some new cabinet handles and made them sparkle and shine!!!

 

Us before our big day of shopping :)

 

My new MK glasses from my man!

 

fixing at its finest

 

They look pretty!!!!!!

 

Church day on Sunday :)

Jalepeno Popper stuffed Snapper with Orange Marmalade Sauce

So you can probably figure by my last post and now this one that I am kind of obsessed with snapper. Even better than that, I am kind of obsessed with awesome neighbors who share their fresh caught snapper with this girl and her husband!! WHOO!! It's SO good. The contrast between the jalapeño and marmalade are the perfect combo of sweet and spicy!  Every Sunday I make a big Sunday dinner for Brandon and myself and usually our next door neighbors or whatever friends we invite over.. my kitchen is literally always open!!! This Sunday I was looking for something to make that was interesting and different but I was craving fish! So when my friend gave me this recipe I had to have some. It was devoured in minutes. WINNING. For this appetizer recipe you will need the following:

two filets of snapper ( you can also use any firm clean white fish of your preference EXCEPT TILAPIA)
oyster sauce
orange marmalade
soy sauce
candied jalapeños (or sweet and spicy ones)
WHIPPED cream cheese

Directions:

Horizontally slit your fish all the way down without cutting through the skin ( kind of like making little pockets..make sense?)
next slice your jalepenos into slivers( make sure you slit them to where they can be lenghthy and fit into the slots)
pour a little juice from the peppers over the fish to juice it up and give it some spicy flavor!
then spread the fish with cream cheese
*
in a bowl mix together 1/4 cup marm.
1/4 cup oyster sauce
two table spoons soy

and finally pour the marmalade mixture over the fish

bake at 375 for 20 minutes

the fish will flake and you can serve with crackers..DELISH

Snapper Tacos & creamy cilantro sauce

The weather has been so beautiful in San Antonio lately so I was inspired to make one of my favorite summer dishes. Normally all through the summer we are at my family beach house just lounging around and fishing or laying out. My dad always catches fresh fish and shrimp and makes the best tacos! Lucky for us our next door neighbor recently came back from a successful fishing trip with some FRESH snapper!!!! Even better then that news was that they shared some with us!!!!!

I make fish tacos of all different kinds however my favorite are snapper. If you don't have an ocean in your backyard to catch fresh delicious snapper from you can just go get some tilapia, halibut, or mahi mahi- these all make great tacos.

For the cilantro sauce you will need:

bunch of cilantro
8 oz of cream cheese
16 oz of  sour cream
one jalapeno pepper-(diced and seeded)-unless you like super spicy
two packets of the hidden valley ranch seasoning

place all of the ingredients in a food processer and process away!!!!!

It will look something like this

 

 

 

 

Next

 

 

Pico de gallo ( I really hope I am spelling * GIYO right)

 

one large tomato-chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion 

small bunch of cilantro chopped

2-3 limes juiced

salt/pep

jalapeño pepper-optional

 

place ingredients in a shallow bowl and squeeze the lime juice over then place in the refrigerator so it can marinade while you cook the rest of your dinner

 

*** I also make a small bowl of guacamole but will not include the recipe since everyone has their own way of making it

 

SNAPPER TACO TIME:

 

two large snapper filets or any fish of your choice

Seasoned with salt, pepper, and either lemon pepper or a seafood rub

Juice of one large lemon

pre cut cabbage for the tacos

Bake in the oven at 375 for 13 minutes OR my personal favorite is to grill them on the grill either or works great

 once the fish is cooked and flaky take it out of the oven and place on some delicious homemade corn tortillas and top with the pico, cilantro sauce, cabbage, and guacamole!

 

TADA!!!!

 

Oh and a beach pic..because I am really missing the beach right now

 

 

DELICIOUS!



Crockpot Chicken Taco Bowls

I LOVE me a crockpot!!!! If you are working all day or busy with errands and don't have time to chef it up in the kitchen for a big ole' meal then your  new best friend is the crockpot. I cook approx. 2 dinners a week in this thing simply because its easy and I love the way my meals turn out! Chicken taco bowls are a  yummy Mexican and low carb bowl to make starting with:

four boneless skinless chicken breasts
two cans of black beans
1/2  cup of frozen corn
one jar of salsa-I use pace medium
cumin
chili powder
cayenne pepper
salt/pep
one clove of minced garlic
cilantro for garnish
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions:
Simply place the chicken on the bottom of the crock pot-it doesn't matter if they are frozen or not
then add the beans and corn and pour over the chicken
pour the jar of salsa over
add the spices ( I typically add about two tspns of each however you can always add more)
add the garlic

place on low ( if not frozen)
place on high( if frozen)

for about 6-8 hours

once its done the chicken will easily shred with a fork and you will have a yummy delicious taco bowl!!!

garnish with my fave CILANTRO, some monterray jack cheddar, and hot sauce :)

* I apologize for my not -so -pretty- food picture.. I forgot to snap a picture and I had already begun eating my food!

25 things

1. I am obsessed beyond obsessed with candles. There is always one burning in my house and they are ALWAYS seasonal. Never will a pumpkin candle be burnin' in April!

 

2. I may or may not have eaten a pint of ice cream today..the chocolate peanut butter kind..

 



3. Cooking soothes my soul. I live and love to be in my kitchen:)

 

4. I thought I had it all figured out before I got married

 

5. I don't and I like it better that way

 

6. My husband is the most patient and loving man in the world. HE has truly taught me what it means to be faithful and that is why god blessed me with him. Not a lot of people see that side of him.. he reserves it for me :)

 

7. I want a boy and a girl and I have the CUTEST names for them ever..and hopefully they have Brandon's precious baby curls.

 

8. I am a mama's girl

 

9. I started this blog so that I could quit annoying people with my food posts on Instagram

 

10. I don't have any followers but that's okay this is my secret little outlet to boast about all of the delectable recipes I make!!!!!

 

11. I could be a professional shopper. Hire me. Please.

 

12. I was blessed with an amazing neighbor who has become one of my best friends. She is also Cuban. And spicy. watch out ;)

 

13. The beach is my happy place. A book and my toes in the sand is just about the best medicine ever!

 

14. I met Brandy In spin class xoxo

 

15. He hates that I call him brandy... but it stuck..and now my family refers to him as brandy too! Sorry Brandy!

 

16. I love to workout!

 

17. I suffer from anxiety. God, my husband, and my family have helped me through so many anxious times. I have grown so much stronger and more faithful in the process of dealing with this. I am thankful in a way because it has drawn me so much closer to my savior.

 

18. Mine and Brandon's next really big trip is Californiaaaaaa Napa, Disneyland, and the Orange County:) ..wont be for another two years though.

 

19. I pick my clothes out every night. Even if I have nowhere to go the next day it makes me feel better knowing I know what I am wearing. I know. OCD.

 

20. I am writing this blog while simultaneously writing an essay while simultaneously replying to an email about another preschool job.

 

21. I had a rustic princess wedding. My mom and dad are pretty much the best ever!

 

22. I have a feeling this summer is gonna be one of the most amazing summers yet!

 

23. I really want a clarisonic..really bad..

 

24. We are having Mexican chicken taco bowls tonight

 

25. I think my mom will be the only one to read this post. I love you mom thanks for supporting my foodie blog!!!!

 

 

Skinny Baked Brie Bites

If you are anything like me you absolutely positively LOVE AND ADORE a girls night:)
Girl talk, wine, food, more girl talk, more wine, and more food... what isn't fun about that? I feel like a girls night is a much needed social event in every girls life. I recently started our monthly girls night with all of my favorite girls that I met at church! Each girls night is themed and every member contributes in some way. For example.. last girls night theme was pinterest pot luck supper and it was at my house :) we all brought one dish that we homemade from a recipe from pinterest. The fellowship and food was so wonderful! My skinny brie bites were such a hit! and very easy to make for any occasion

Ingredients:

phyllo shells
one wedge of brie
craisin cranberries
chopped pecans or walnuts
honey

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together the cranberries, chopped nuts, and two tspns of honey

Cut your wedge of brie into thumb size bites and place inside the shell

spoon a small amount of the mixture onto each brie bite

bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes

serve immediately

ENJOY!

Spicy Buffalo Turkey Burgers

When I say turkey burger I guess that could be defined as a rather loose term. These are more like Buffalo turkey sloppy Joe's but somehow the title sloppy Joe has never sounded yummy or appealing to me. So turkey burgers they are! My husband loves all things spicy and buffalo related and to be quite honest I do too! These were found off of a cute little bloggy recipe website. I just did a quick spin on them to make them a little more healthy. For those of you who GAG at bleu cheese ( AHEM ELEIN) you don't have to use it. I however LOVE that delicious bleu mold so my recipe will contain lots of it!

Ingredients you will need:

one pound of lean turkey meat ( I buy 85/15)
one five oz can of FRANKS hot sauce <<<<------- If you have never heard of this stuff I just became your new best friend.
mold, I mean bleu cheese
one chopped celery stalk for garnish
one can of tomato sauce
salt/pepper
Onion-optional
whole grain hamburger buns

Directions:
sauté  your ground turkey with 1/2 cup of an onion in a  skillet over medium
once its browned and the onion is clear pour an entire 5 oz bottle of franks and mix well
then add the tomato sauce
DONE.
yep its that easy.
Top onto a whole grain burger bun and garnish with chopped celery and BLEU cheese if you must :)

I added quinoa instead of a bun because we were out that's why my picture looks different.
YUM.
kinda spicy ;)

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everybody!! Or not...to those who don't celebrate it.. I am technically a non-celebrator since Brandon and I always just stay in and watch movies in our PJ's instead of going out on actual valentine's day but we always go to dinner the night before...and I always wear red :) This year we went to Myron's Steakhouse. UN.BE.LI.EVE.ABLE. Pretty much hands down just the best steak I have ever eaten...The jalapeno Mac' N Cheese was pretty mouth watering too. It was nice and I totally loved the fact that it wasn't crowded. I HATE CROWDS! Good luck to all those people tonight trying to get a table. I will be happily snuggled on the couch with my man in my cute heart PJ's watching a romantic comedy of some sort. YAY!

Dress: Loft

Shoes: INC

BBQ Pulled Pork Sweet Potato

Trust me when I say this is by far the easiest pulled pork recipe you will ever find! I had my neighbor and husband be my guinea pigs on this new little recipe and they devoured it.. seriously not even a scrap of pulled pork was left. That's when I know it's amazinggggggg!! I used to do pulled pork sandwiches in the little sweet hawaiian rolls however the Frankhouser's are on a health kick right now and those little buns will not be so cute for our little buns so sweet potato it is!

you will need:

A crockpot
salt/pepper
large pork shoulder
one can Dr. Pepper
one jug of BBQ sauce ( I love head country )
two sweet potatoes

THATS IT!

now for the cookin' part

Place your pork shoulder in the crock pot and season it with salt and pepper
pour one can of DP in the crock pot
add 1 1/2 cup BBQ sauce to the top of the pulled pork
place on low for about 8 hours until  pork slides off the bone

Sweet potato
drizzle with EVOO
salt and pepper it
place in the oven for 45 minutes

when the pulled pork is done cut open the sweet potato and stuff it in! Its seriously so good!!
Some of you probably think I am nuts for this Dr. Pepper tid bit as a part of this fabulous recipe but I promise its worth it. The enzymes in the Dr. P break down the meat until it is so moist that it just slides right on off that magnificent shoulder bone! 

Fredricksburg with the Frankhousers

Last weekend we decided to meet our good friends the Lonon's down in Fredericksburg for a weekend at a bed and breakfast. I was so ready for some German food, good wine, and shopping..it could not have been a prettier weekend and we enjoyed each other's company so much. I haven't been this relaxed in a LONG time. We got there Friday evening and had some wine on the porch before heading off to a German restaurant. I was completely against eating German food because it sounds disgusting to me..(the smell of Sauerkraut is enough to gag a village. ) However.. I was surprised. I got something that sounded appealing to me and actually enjoyed it. On Saturday we woke up to Coffee and breakfast and headed downtown for some shopping.. I am in love with all of the cute shops down town. Each shop is unique and houses the most adorable home décor, clothing, antiques. It's just fun! Then for the best part.. and my particular favorite.. we went to the winery! Yay! First stop was Grape Creek and next was William Chris. The scenery was to die and the wine wasn't bad either :) This was my first time to do a real wine tasting and the lady at the counter told me that I had an experienced wine palette....well duh!! ;)

Sunday morning Skinny Pancakes

MHMMM I said SKINNY pancakes!!!

I found this recipe off of the one and only Pinterest about a year ago and have been making these pancakes ever since. They are light and fluffy and easy to make. I made them for my family and husband who all said they were yummy! They taste exactly like pancakes with a banana twist.

Ingredients:

two ripened bananas ( I like them really ripe almost brown but spotty will work)
three eggs
cinnamon
organic maple syrup
almond butter
fruit ( I usually top them with blue berries or strawberries)

Directions:

smash the two ripened bananas in with the eggs and stir until the banana is completely smooth
add as much or as little cinnamon as you would like.
over a heated griddle pour the batter ( I use about the size of my palm ) and let it brown on both sides
make sure the banana is cooked through ( I test with a toothpick)
take off the griddle and top with almond butter, fruit, and syrup!

Callie's Cornbread Casserole

This recipe I am going to share is probably one of mine and my family's all time favorites. I make it every year at Thanksgiving and for certain special events. It is one of those dishes that will not leave ANY left overs. It is southern, versatile, and made with butter :) OK lots of butter.. but that's okay its not your every day dish! Indulge just a little!! I have recently paired this casserole with my white chicken chili and shrimp corn chowder. TO die!!! Here are the ingredients for the casserole

9/12 baking dish
two sticks of butter
one can cream corn
one can white sweet corn
one package cheddar cheese
one 16 oz. container sour cream
two boxes of jiffy corn bread ( or whatever brand you like)

simply melt the two sticks of butter
then add everything together in a bowl and mix thoroughly
pour in your casserole dish and top with the cheese
bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until golden brown

ITS DELICIOUS!!!!

pour your favorite chili or stew over it and thank me later :)

Life the past few months...

Since our wedding life has been a blur! So many wonderful people have come into our life, friends have been made, vacations have happened, and lots and lots of recipies have been made:) One of the biggest blessings Brandon and I have received since moving to San Antonio have been our amazing neighbors. J and E :) We have become so close not just because we are literally a hop-skip-jump away but because we  have practically everything in common! I prayed SO hard to meet a girl who was just like me when we moved here.. someone I could truly relate to in all portals of my life and BAM..I met Elein:) We do a lot together..planning, cooking, hosting, and shopping. One of our greatest joys is cooking. We usually cook at her house once a week and at mine once a week to mix things up, not to mention Brandon and her husband love the fact that they get to play cards together while we slave away in the kitchen:) Aside from meeting a lot of new people we have joined an AMAZING church. Journey Fellowship is a Max Lucado church and has about four locations. We go to the one in Selma which is only 15 minutes from our house...recently we have become more involved and joined Wednesday night youth fellowship. We are the ninth grade leaders!!! It is so much fun to be able to share this experience with my husband ..even though he wasn't thrilled at talking with ninth grade boys about changes they are going through :/ but he is a wonderful spiritual leader and does just fine! I however have NEVER worked with anyone older than the age of 4. Mrs. preschool teacher has upgraded to the ages of 14 and 15 year old girls and I have to say I LOVE IT!!! It is so much fun to be able to talk to these girls, answer their questions, and help guide them in a prosperous way in life. I haven't been a perfect Christian and I have most certainly made my fair share of my mistakes. I mostly just keep my conversations truthful with the girls. I leave out certain details but my goal is to help them NOT make the same mistakes I am and when they have a serious question ..who am I to lie about my past?? I want to make things easier for them. So I live by my golden rule: KEEP IT REAL. San Antonio has been fun so far.. We have our ups and our downs and we are surviving our first year with God, good friends, good food, each other, and family.
xoxo

Some pictures of the past few months

 

My precious baby Calvi <3

My precious baby Calvi <3

A picnic at the Ranch with my love

Snowy day makeovers

San Antonio snow 2014

WEDDING PICTURES

Now that its February, I thought it might be nice to post some of my wedding pictures since it took me all of four months to do so. Not that I have any followers I am just pretending and hoping that one day I will be just as cool as all those other bloggy bloggers and people will swoon at my OH SO CUTE wedding pictures too :)

Our wedding was SO GORGEOUS. I cant even describe the weather.. God completely had his hand on our day because it was perfect. My girlfriends and I had the best time getting ready ( and them trying to calm my nerves). We had mimosas and makeup...blow outs and up do's and the whole shebang. It was so much fun! The guys ... hopefully stayed out of trouble.. but Ill never know and ill never ask. I was a complete wreck throughout most of the day just completely full of nerves and excitement. My favorite part of the day was when everyone was walking down the aisle.. it was just me all alone and quiet in the suite and I peered out the window to see Brandon standing there waiting for me. That was the only time I let a few wet ones roll down my cheeks..he just looked so happy to be standing there on that platform waiting for me. He didn't look nervous one bit! I conquered my nerves ( obviously) and walked down the aisle with my dad. We kissed and became THE FRANKHOUSERS:)! Then we partied.. and we partied some more! Here are just a few awesome pictures from the fabulous Ashley Gillen.