Category Archives: food

your modern eats: peanut butter bacon pancakes

I promise this isn’t turning into a food blog, but this past weekend Derek’s parents were in town for last night’s graduation, and whenever we have people in town I just love to test out some recipes. They were all watching food network and drooling over these bacon infused waffles and I thought I’d take it a step further and make peanut butter and bacon pancakes! For dinner! (Brinner!) Because let’s face it, pancakes are just smooth waffles. And boy were they a hit!

Peanut Butter Bacon Pancakes

You will need:

1 egg

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 slices cooked bacon, cooled and chopped into small pieces
really, you can have as much bacon as you’d like

Step One:

Start off by cooking your bacon however you’d like. I pan fried mine, but you could bake yours in the oven or whatever you prefer. Let cool, then chop into small pieces and set aside.

Step Two:

Beat together eggs, butter, peanut butter, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Step Three:

Add your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until smooth(ish) and add your bacon pieces.

photo 1 (1)

It’s going to look pretty lumpy, but smell amaaaaaazing!

Step Four:

Heat your frying pan over medium-low heat and add some oil, butter, or cooking spray to your pan for easy flipping.

Step Five:

Pour 2 tbsp of batter onto your pan. These cook up just like regular pancakes so leave them on one side until bubbles star to pop and then flip them.

Once they are golden brown they are ready to go, and just repeat this until your batter is gone.

I ended up making a double batch which easily fed four people. I can’t even describe the taste sensation with the babies. It’s ooey-gooey peanut buttery which makes them a lot moist-er than regular ol’ pancakes with little pockets of salty bacon. SO good. You have to make them!

Recipe derived from here.

your modern eats: very berry (and spinach!!) smoothies

2 Comments

With Derek finishing up his Thesis for grad school, and with us dog/house sitting for the month of February we haven’t really been eating the best meals. I know. I’m so ashamed. But we are constantly on the go, and fast food is making us feel oh so tired. So I decided to make smoothies last night! They are sweet and delicious yet packed full of fruits AND veggies, so we can still get the nutrients and energy we need, but on the go!

Screen Shot 2013-02-20 at 8.20.36 AM

This amount of fruits & veggies serves one adult (or two kids)

YOU WILL NEED:

10 frozen strawberries

a handful of blueberries

1 banana

10 baby carrots (I use the snack packs)

a huge handful of spinach (basically to fill the rest of your blender)

1/2 cup of water

1 tbsp of agave nectar

We split this serving last night and we were still hungry, so I think from now on we’ll pair it with a nice chicken breast or double the recipe if we don’t have as much time. It comes out to be a pretty gross brown color, but it just tastes like strawberries. So if you have kids it’s a great way to sneak a whole lotta spinach into their yummy treat. We immediately felt more energized so I’m hoping to try a bunch of different recipes this week, and start making them for breakfast too. I’ve never been a fan of caffeine because I always crash afterward, but this is a nice natural boost of energy to keep you going all day (without the crash).

your modern eats: pretzel dogs

0 comments

Over the weekend I wanted to get a little recipe crazy to knock off some of the try 50 new recipes item on my 101 in 1001 list. I don’t really care much for football (except college!!) and neither does Derek (thank goodness!) so we were way more concerned about the snacking portion of the evening. We both love hot dogs and are obsessed with soft pretzels, so I decided to give this pretzel dog recipe a go. I’ve attempted soft pretzel bites in the past and they’ve always turned out rather meh. but we were both pretty pleased with how my pretzel dogs turned out. And if I can win the hubby’s tummy over then I consider the meal a success.

Screen Shot 2013-02-05 at 3.46.21 PM

Screen Shot 2013-02-05 at 3.46.28 PM

Screen Shot 2013-02-05 at 3.46.33 PM

Screen Shot 2013-02-05 at 3.46.39 PM

Screen Shot 2013-02-05 at 3.46.45 PM
Why yes I do leave a paper towel down as I flour things because I am just that messy. Also I’ve had these for lunch everyday this week.

your modern eats: sweet potato gnocchi

3 Comments

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday, but we went on a whirlwind trip to Houston this past weekend that was jam packed full of wedding-ness, photo shoots, birthday parties, late night trips to get two cars un-towed, cake pops, and DIY projects. Needless to say, yesterday was needed to recover. So! To make up for it I will share with you the greatest recipe anyone can make. And it’s oh so good too. I made this recipe originally with butternut squash, but then tried it again with sweet potatoes, and I definitely prefer the sweet potatoes, I feel like they give it more flavor. [Derek thinks they taste the same] so it’s really up to you!

Disclaimer: this batch was made in the middle of my stenciling excursion which is why my nails are chipped to pieces and some nails are black. NBD. Let’s just pretend I have a beautiful manicure, and we’ll move on.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

You will need:

1 cup sweet potatoes [or butternut squash] peeled and cooked
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt

Step One:

In a large mixing bowl toss in all of your ingredients and mix until combined.

Step Two:

Gradually add no more than 2 cups of flower until your dough looks like this:

The dough will still be sticky, but you want it at least manageable, so that you can roll it into tiny balls. The more flour you add though the heavier the pasta will be, so don’t go overboard.

Step Three:

At this point you can go ahead and start boiling about 6 cups of water because this next part will take a while. Lay out a piece of wax paper, always keep your hands covered in flour and begin to pinch off a small piece of dough. Roll it in your hands until it makes a 1″ ball. The more bite sized the better, and they will expand a little in the water. I prefer them smaller, but it’s totally up to you!

Step Four:

Keep repeating this step and lay out each ball onto your wax paper.

Step Five:

Once your wax paper is filled take each ball one at a time and stick your finger in one end and dent the other end with your fork. This helps to make the traditional gnocchi shape, and the dent will help hold more sauce. Yum!

Step Six:

After a ball has been poked and forked go ahead and drop it into your boiling water, then move onto the next ball. You don’t want to drop too many of them into the pot because they’ll stick together. Just put enough to cover the bottom. When you drop your gnocchi into the water it will sink to the bottom. As soon as it floats back up to the top it’s time to take it out! It’s so easy, you don’t even need a timer because the gnocchi practically jumps out of the water when it’s ready!

Step Seven:

Once all of your gnocchi has been cooked it’s ready to serve! You can top it off with any sauce of your choice. We prefer a nice tomato basil pasta sauce, but you can also use a cheese sauce, simple olive oil, or whatever you like!

It’s super easy to make, it just takes a little patience. This recipe serves 4, so we usually make it and then save the leftovers for lunch the next day, and I think it’s even better reheated!

Recipe derived from here.

your modern eats: mexican pizza

4 Comments

Over the holiday weekend my parents came to visit for five days! It was wonderful! Usually we eat out like crazy because 1. the restaurants in our neighborhood are to die for, and 2. it’s easy. But this time we decided to cook at home using a bunch of Pinterest rechipes I’ve been dying to try. We attempted five different recipes, and these Mini Mexican Pizzas were by far the overall favorite. They were just too good not to share with you!

Mini Mexican Pizzas

You will need:

bag of flour tortillas
1/2 cup refried beans
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup ground beef
2 tsp dry taco seasoning
muffin tin
black olives [optional
lettuce [optional]
tomato [optional]
guacamole [optional]
sour cream [optional]

Step One:

Preheat oven to 450F, spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray

Step Two:

Use something to cut circles into your tortillas to make them about 5″ in diameter. I used a measuring cup and “cookie-cuttered” the circles out.

Step Three:

Press each tortilla into your muffin tin cubbies to make mini tortilla bowls.

Step Four:

In a small bowl mix together your ground meat, salsa, refried beans, and taco seasoning.

Step Five:

Scoop small spoonfuls of your meat mixture into each tortilla bowl. Don’t overdo it though because you want room for your garnishes.

Step Six:

Top each bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and black olives.

Step Seven:

Place muffin tin in oven and bake for 12-15min, until the cheese has melted.

Step Eight:

Remove your mini pizzas and let cool. Then top with your favorite garnishes [sour cream, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, salsa, etc.]

And yes, it really is that easy. And in 20 minutes you will have a new favorite snack. My dad literally ate 90% of the double batch I made. Needless to say they were a hit! They’re perfect for that next summer party you have planned and are so easy to pass around on little trays as appetizers! Yummmm

Recipe derived from here.