This week,

has not been half as busy as last but in it's own right, busy enough. It has been a wonderful busy and I have a lot to be grateful for. I have had a couple Mommy playgroups, yesterday I had a lunch, and lots of cleaning and shopping. This week I found out the I am the mother of the "Mean Kid", meaning my child is the one hurting all of your kids...EEEK! I don't think there is anthing more embarassing then your son making a little girl cry. How do you say your sorry? How do you tell your 8 month old to stop beating up all his new friends?....challenge #87. I vow not to be that Mom who's child can't do any wrong because I think he is so darn cute. And I promise not to say things like, "not MY little boy", or, "Brayden??? Not possible!". Yep, he's the mean kid.

This week was so busy that I only made 2 meals and the rest were Chic-fil-A nights. Tuesday I made Buffalo Chili with Jalapeno Cornbread and Brownie Pudding in light of the rare snow day in Texas. I went to the store to get some beef and when I saw they had buffalo burgers, I just couldn't resist. Buffalo is so much leaner and when I can cut fat, I seize the oppurtunity. The Chili was super easy and I used a premade mix for the cornbread. I put half a can of corn and a jalapeno and it turned out really finger lickin' good.

What do you think?

This is Brayden enjong the snow day with his Daddy.

Now, I had a lot of help from Ina Garten for the brownie pudding. I have never made anyof her recipes because honestly they usually look so complicated. She uses a lot of ingredients and a lot of things you usually don't usually have on hand. This recipe looked simple enough and I had most of the ingredients. It was also supposed to turn out half way between pudding and a brownie so I knew I couldn't mess it up.

 Here is the recipe:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

1 tablespoon framboise liqueur, optional

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.
When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, if using, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.

Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.


It was so amazing. You have to try this one out!

Then like any Food Network show, I had to throw a homemade cocktail in the mix. If you knew me before I had Brayden or even now for that matter, you know I love a good Margarita. Well, I was craving a margarita and having a child means you no longer jump up, throw on your shoes and go out for a night out on the town. So, we brought the margaritas to us! 

You probably know this but in case, this is what you need for an awesome margarita.

From left to right, orange juice, lime juice (6 juicy limes will give you about 4 drinks), Grand Marnier, a good Tequila (we like silver Tequila), and simple syrup. I used to bartend so I didn't measure but use your judgement and if it's strong, oh well! :)

Here is the result....pure goodness!

Yesterday's lunch went well. Jason had made a note that they wanted chicken and something with an Asian influence. Really? I have never made anything Asian BUT you gotta do what you gotta do. I found a really simple recipe for a wonderful peanut sauce with noodles and chicken. I added a Chinese-inspired salad with mandarin oranges, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts. I tossed it with a toasted sesame dressing and it came out really good. He said they cleaned there plates and asked where the food came from...YAY! I was really pressed for time so I didn't take any pictures, Darn.

 Now, I had said that I would document my messes and successes, right? Well, last night was a MESS! We had some good friends over and I was planning to wow them with the SIMPLE Asian dish I had just made....WRONG! You know how the say don't go to the grocery store while hungry? They should have told me to not drink and cook and try to hold on a conversation at the same time. I could have cried. It was horrible! First off, I put too much water in the sauce so I added more peanut butter to thicken it and it ended up being basically all peanut butter. The noodles were over cooked and soggy, I left a fork in the blender and turned it ON, put a hot pan on a plastic cutting board, and almost ruined my garbage disposal. The salad was good though. Oh, it was a disaster! I literally almost cried. Everyone including my sweet husband said it was good through lots of laughs but I still felt horrible. I mean this was supposed to be easy! I had just made it 8 hours earlier for goodness sake! Jason made a good point this morning, as soon as you start taking things for granted, you mess up. I thought I was big and bad and I FAILED. Big FAT FAIL! Point taken and now to redeem myself!

I have marketing bags to make for my friend Justin by Monday so I'm off to bake!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Cecilia :)