Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to help our chef friend Robert ( head chef at Nick & Sam's) with a cooking class that he presented at the Dallas Farmer's Market.  We woke up early and headed to the Nick & Sam's kitchen to gather and help prepare the food.  I helped him with the Lobster Mac & Cheese!

After we prepared the food, we headed over to the Dallas Farmer's market to set up.  Robert presented the cooking class for about 70 people.  David and I helped prepare the plates for each course and clean up.  The menu included: Honey glazed lamb rib, wedge salad, shrimp cocktail, lobster mac & cheese, and steak with crab and hollandaise sauce.  

David got to help him finish the hollandaise sauce and warm up the crab during the cooking class! It was a lot of fun!

Tuesday night we had our friend Robert over ( He is the head chef at Nick & Sams in Dallas).  He decided to prepare everyone a 5 star dinner!  We all helped in the kitchen for a fun cooking night.  The menu included Ribeye steak with a mushroom sauce, breaded salmon & tilapia, Brussels sprout and apple stir fry, roasted potatoes, fried chicken sausage stuffed hatch chilies, and brownies.  It was a delicious dinner!

Here are the stuffed hatch chilies.  Robert torched them first, then we rubbed the skins off, stuffed with hot Italian turkey sausage with cream cheese and shredded cheese, dipped in flour, dredged with egg wash and sprinkled with chip/ cracker breading. 

Next we made the Brussel sprout stir fry with apples, apple cider vinegar, Apple juice,sugar, and onions.  Mmmm!!

Here is David and Robert preparing the meal,breadcrumbs for the hatch chilies, roasted potatoes, chicken filling, and Brussels with apples: 

The sauce Robert made was amazing!  It was a mushroom hollandaise with white wine, shiitake mushroom stalk, sour cream, and some hatch chili vinegar.

Breaded fried salmon for me.  I get these at Kroger.  They have tilapia too.  He fried it up in the peanut oil that cooked the steak and hatch chilies which added even more flavor.

The steak was pan seared and placed into the oven.  Then sliced thin and baked until perfection! 

And dinner was served!!!  So delicious! 

My Aunt Sandi told me that she hadn't seen any new recipes on my blog lately, so here you go!  ;)  Earlier this week I made a new Chicken Recipe with a mushroom cream sauce.  David said that this is his new favorite  and that I can make again soon!  Winner!

Here are my ingredients: 

I cut the chicken breasts in half and cooked in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and set aside to make the sauce: 

Then I made my creamy mushroom basil pesto cream sauce:

I added the bacon into the dish and the chicken with Parmesan and served.  The picture looks ok but trust me it's delicious!  Next time I make it I'll have to upload a better picture.  I'll add the recipe to the dinners section!

Who likes pecan pie?  Then you'll like this healthier alternative that we created!  I've been making nut butters lately and found the perfect recipe for a pecan pie flavor.  You can use pecans or walnuts.  If you don't have a food processor you should definitely ask for one for Christmas!  They are wonderful!  You can make peanut butter, hummus, veggie noodles, cauliflower pizza crust, doughs, etc.  For this recipe I used walnuts, honey, peanut oil, and kosher salt.  I blended / chopped until I had a nut butter consistency. 

 

Then I cut a date in half and added the butter on top!  Oh my gosh.... It taste just like pecan pie!!!  I'll add the recipe in desserts section. 

This weekend, we made Cauliflower crusted pizzas!  I've seen this recipe on Pinterest, but never tried it before.  We are trying to eat carb free, so this was a perfect way to cure our pizza craving and still feel like you are being healthy.  

In order to make the crust, I got 1 head of cauliflower, and chopped in my food processor until it looked like "snow".  Then I cooked in the microwave for 4 minutes until steamed and set in a clean thin dish towel or cheese cloth to cool.  Once cooled, I squeezed it in the towel until all water was removed.  Add 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, a few shakes of crushed red pepper.  Mix well with your hands.  Then pat onto the parchment paper cookie sheet into a pizza crust shape.  Cook in the oven at 450 degrees for about 20 min until browned.  

I added vodka sauce and minced garlic on top once cooled (Vodka sauce is the red sauce/ white sauce mix), and then cooked up some Italian sausage.  I sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top and added pepperoni, olives, Italian sausage, mushrooms, basil, and Parmesan.  The marinara sauce was also perfect for dipping.  We both loved it!  We will definitely make this again if we are in the mood for a healthier pizza. I added the recipe in "Super Healthy Recipes" page.   

Sunday we had both families over for a Mother's Day spaghetti lunch.  We ate spaghetti and meatballs, had strawberry dump cake with ice cream and then opened mothers day gifts and cards.  I handed Grandma her gift and she said "Wow you really bought them out!"  before she had opened it.  (It was in a large gift bag)  Once she saw what the gift was, she was truly touched that I had used Granddad's old shirts to make her a quilt.  She absolutely loved it and said "I wish he was here to see this." I think Granddad is always smiling down on us painting or playing his horn.  She went home and immediately put it on her bed and it fit perfectly.  It was so nice having both families over this year to celebrate together!  (Also see my "Quilts" page under the CRAFTS section) 

  

I finished my Grandma's quilt last night of Granddad's old shirts!  I'm having family over this Sunday for Mother's day and I'll surprise her then.  I can't wait!  It took a while to make it (Biggest quilt I've ever made) but I think it turned out well.  His old shirts are in the center with a paint spatter boarder and music note outer edge and back.  The back has roses on it too.  He was a painter and musician, so I had to make sure to include music notes and paint!  I laid on the couch with it last night and it's perfect size!  His shirts are so soft since they were worn so many times.  I can't wait to see what she thinks!  I think she will love it!