Wednesday, May 8, 2013

For the LOVE of Pinterest! Iced Coffee and Spinach Quiches to Go


For the LOVE of Pinterest! I recently tried 2 different morning recipes from Pinterest and highly recommend them for your next brunch/breakfast shower or party.

Ingredients:
  • 1 gallon of water (I may try an extra 1/2 gallon next time)
  • 1 bag of ground coffee (recipe called for 1lb but I think a regular 12oz bag would work)
  • A fine mesh strainer
  • A large bowl (I brewed ours in my crock-pot since it has a lid)
  • Pitcher (big enough to hold a gallon)
  • 12oz can evaporated milk
  • 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
  1. Pour coffee grounds and water into your large bowl or crock-pot
  2. Stir well to make sure all grounds are saturated
  3. Cover and brew for 12 hours or overnight in fridge
  4. Pour (or ladle) the liquid from the top of the bowl into the strainer over your pitcher repeating until all the coffee is in the pitcher & leaving all the grounds in bowl. Since I ended up not using the filters as the original recipe suggests, I poured directly through the strainer a few times to make sure we didn't have grounds in the pitcher of coffee.
  5. Once all the coffee concentrate has been filtered, stick it in the fridge and enjoy for up to one month! (remember to keep pitcher sealed between pours)
  6. For the "Sweet Cream" mix the 2 cans of milk together and store in the fridge.
  7. Fill your glass with ice and pour half full with coffee and the top with sweet cream. DELICIOUS!
NOTE: Dennis bought us a fine mesh strainer. After straining the brewed coffee through a filter into the pitcher a few times (each ladle full took a LONG TIME to drain through the filter), we tried pouring straight through the mesh strainer and it worked like a charm! Much faster and we will skip using filters in the future. I also think I may try to use less than the 1lb of coffee called for as the coffee was STRONG and I saw a similar recipe from Pioneer Woman who doubled the water amount for the same amount of coffee. Either way this is awesome to have on hand, saving both a trip to Starbucks and $$. Once the Sweet Cream was gone I used regular cream.

These are VERY easy to make and I did so the night before serving. Then you can pop one in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Ingredients:
  • 2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated Crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls each)
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
  • 9oz box frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
Directions:
  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 16 muffin cups with cooking spray
  2. Separate each can of crescent dough into 8 triangles. Press 1 triangle on bottom and up side of each muffin cup.
  3. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Stir in onion, spinach, salt and pepper until well mixed.
  6. Fold in mozzarella.
  7. Fill each cup to the top with egg mixture (do not overfill).
  8. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and edges of rolls are golden brown. Remove from pan. Serve warm OR store in fridge and reheat individually in microwave 20 seconds.
NOTE: I skipped the onion and used 2% mozzarella, low fat cream cheese and reduced fat crescent rolls (regular because I couldn't find the garlic flavor listed in the original Pillsbury recipe) and they still tasted YUMMY!!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Hello again! 8 Months and counting

Hello again!
Lincoln's 8th months old (almost 9-time is FLYING by...I probably say this 50 times every week) He is such a happy little guy, he wakes up with a grin that goes from ear to ear.
 His belly laughs are contagious
Tooth #1 appeared on April 7th quickly followed by #2! (there's a quick shot in this giggle video we sent to Dennis while he was away)

He is in the "rocking" mode but not crawling yet. He rolls and turns in circles to move around. (I'm counting my blessings here! I have a feeling life will change for us once he's really mobile!!) He snuggles in for hugs, usually when he first wakes up and before falling asleep. Once I picked him up from nursery and was holding him a minute before he realized I had him and when he saw me he snuggled in for a hug- made momma happy! 
He's eating pureed veggies and fruits 3 times a day-banana mixed with anything is a sure win! He went to watch his daddy play volleyball. He whipped his head back and forth watching the ball and listening to the ref's whistle. He got to visit with his Chattanooga BFF Easton. Thanks Rachel and Eric for making the trip up!
Lincoln spent quality boy time with his Grandpa and BoBo:
 We are so thankful to have Dennis home for a few days. Within the 1 week he was on the road Lincoln started pushing up onto his hands and knees, making "ba-ba" and "da-da" sounds, started a new laugh (sounds like a panting chuckle) and sadly had his first ear infection :( He finished his medicine and seems to be feeling better. Oh and he also woke up 4 mornings in a row at 5 instead of 7!! First night having Dennis home he was back to his 11 hour sleep. I hope the other mornings were from the ear ache and not a new habit for when daddy is away. 


Have a GREAT week!!