Guacamole...or Guacamolitto!!!

Tonight we are staying in together as a family.  We are fixing fajitas and rice for dinner!  Of course the fajitas will be "sunset style" to make them a little fancy for New Years Eve!!!  If you don't know what I mean by "sunset style" scroll back in my blog.  I posted about them a few months ago.  I thought I would post my version of a very good and VERY quick guacamole!  I've had many people ask me how I make it and they are surprised at how easy it is when I tell them.  It's a small bowl because it's just for Adda and I.  Gonzo isn't a huge fan of the avocado!  Isn't that sooo sad!  I just love avocado's! 

My Version of Guacamolitto!

3 - 5 avocados

1 can Rotel - drained

3 - 4 limes (I like the key limes)

Garlic salt

Black Pepper

Slice the avocados in half lengthwise.  Remove the seed from one side.  Use a knife to slice down and across the inside of the avocado shell.  Use and spoon to scoop out the inside of the peel.  Cutting the meat of the avocado into cubes will make the guacamole chunky after it is mixed.  Drain the Rotel and add it.  I only used three avocados so I used about half of the Rotel.  If I had used 5 avocados I would have used the whole can of Rotel.  Add lime juice, garlic salt, and black pepper to taste.  I like lots of lime juice!  I used 3 key limes in our bowl. 

 Here is what they look like when you slice them down and across into cubes in the shell.

 Scooped out and in the bowl.  Still very nice and chunky!

 Yummo!  Sooo good!

 If you like it a little more smooth you can cut he cubes smaller and mix with a fork to smash it up.

 Here is the best secret of all!!!!  Drum roll please!!!!!  To keep your guacamole from turning brown you can press foil down onto the mixture in a bowl.  No over the bowl but pressed down on the guacamole.  It works!!!  I learned this from my sister-in law who learned it from one of the pastors at The Village.  This guy is Hispanic and would know this great secret!  It works! 

 Here is a little better picture showing the foil pressed down on it! 

Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

If you are looking for a way to eat your black-eyed peas for the new year this is the way.  My parents stumbled upon this recipe a few years ago and I made it last year for the first time.  It is delicious and a new and different way to eat your lucky peas!!!  The original recipe came from the Taste of the South magazine.  My mom did some tweaking and I did a little more tweaking for our liking.  Also, if you have a little extra ham from Christmas this is a great way to use that up!  Here is my mom's version.  I'll post my changes at the bottom of the recipe.

Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil)

1lb. smoked sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

8 oz. ham, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

2 (15-oz) cans black-eyed peas with jalapenos, drained and rinsed

1 box of chicken stock, or beef

4 to 5 cups of cooked long-grain rice

salt to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

Garnish with chopped parsley and chopped green onion

I add:

1 can of diced tomatoes (undrained)

1/2 cup green chilies, chopped

In a large pot heat oil over medium heat.  Add sausage, ham, onions, celery, and bell pepper.  Cook, stirring for about 5 to 10 minutes until the vegetable are tender.  Add the garlic and cook 5 minutes more.  Add the black-eyed peas and chicken stock, and tomatoes (also green chilies if using them).  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.  I like the stock to reduce down a bit.  Add the cooked rice.  I cooked 4 cups.  You can cook more depending on the moistness you desire.  Stir gently to mix well.  Season with salt and cayenne.  I don't add any salt and leave the cayenne on the side for Gonzo to add so it's not too hot for Adda.  Garnish with parsley and green onion if desired.  You can cook the rice in with the mixture for a little while on medium-low to let the rice absorb some of the stock.  It's delicious!!!  Try it!!!

Onions, celery, ham, and sausage cooking.  I didn't get a bell pepper at the store so that is the reason I added the green chilies.  It would be good with both also.  

 Add the garlic and let it cook a few minutes more.

 Add peas, chilies, tomatoes and stir.

 Add the box of stock and let it simmer for an hour.

 Serve HOT!  I like the rice to absorb some of the stock before I serve it.  I let it cook down quite a bit before I add the rice and then let it cook a little while longer.  I did not garnish with parsley or green onion because I didn't have any!!!  I did serve it with some garlic bread with BUTTUH!!!

We ate our peas early so I could post this recipe.  I wanted to make sure I posted it before New Years Day so that people could make it if they wanted to!  It's super easy and very good!  Hope you enjoy!  Happy New Year from the Gonzales'!!!

      

 

Cinnamon Rolls

I wasn't going to blog this recipe today for two reasons. 1.It has many different steps and is pretty labor intensive, 2.I wasn't feeling wonderful this morning and didn't think I had enough brain capacity to remember to take pics throughout! So, I apologize in advance for the lack of detailed pics explaining the process!!

I have talked about these cinnamon rolls before. These are the cinnamon rolls my Nana makes and my whole family has so many fond memories of eating these at their breakfast bar! She mastered them many years ago and walked me through it when I was in high school. I took a professional baking class where I learned how to make dough for bread, rolls, and so many other things! It wasn't until Gonzo and I had been married a few years that I wrote down a detailed explanation of the entire recipe because I was going to be making them for all the coaches families for Christmas! Sheesh that was a heck of a way to start making them. By the time it was all said and done I made 4 full recipes of the rolls! I felt like I had mastered the rolls by then!

I don't make these often enough! The are delicious and bring back so many wonderful memories! My reason for making them today is I am giving them to my brother (whose birthday is today) and my dad (whose birthday was last week but he will be here tomorrow)! I will go through the recipe in steps. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Step 1:
In a bowl combine 1/2 cup of warm water. Make sure the water is not too hot. I always go by the test it on my wrist method. Sprinkle two package of active dry yeast over the water. Stir and set it aside to activate the yeast. You will know the yeast is activated when it starts to foam up from the center out in the bowl. You can also sprinkle in a tiny bit of sugar to help speed up the activation process.

Step 2:
While the yeast is activating combine 1 1/2 cups of room temp. milk, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tap. salt, and 2 eggs lightly beaten in a sauce pan on the stove over low heat. Add 1/2 cup of room temp. shortening (butter flavor, or regular). Stir this mixture over low heat just until the shortening is broken down. Take off the heat and let this mixture cool for a few minutes until it is cool to the touch.

Step 3:
Add the yeast mixture to the milk mixture and stir. If the milk mixture is too hot it will kill the active yeast. Give it time too cool. This is why it is good to make sure all you ingredients going into the milk are room temp.

Step 4:
Measure 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour in a big bowl. Pour the milk/yeast mixture over the flour and mix with a fork. Measure 4 more cups of flour out on the counter and make a well in the center. Pour the very wet mixture in the center of the well and bring the flour around the side over the top. Continue to do this until your dough has formed a ball. Put the dough in a buttered bowl and butter the top of the dough ball. Cover with a hand towel and place in a warm place to rise. I have a proof setting on my oven and use it. If you don't have that you can set it on your dryer while it running, or turn the oven on its lowest setting for about 10 minutes and turn it off to create a warm place. It should double in size in about 30 minutes or a little longer.

Step 5:
While the dough is rising you can make the best part of these rolls! we add a butterscotch/ caramel mixture to the bottom of the pan before we add the rolls. in a saucepan combine 1/3 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1tbsp. corn syrup. Stir these together just until the butter is melted and combined with the sugar. You mill have to stir it quickly to get the butter to combine and not separate. If you are adding pecans you will add them to this mixture. I double this recipe for one recipe of the dough. The measurements I gave are for one recipe! Set this mixture aside and prepare your pans by spraying them with Pam. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture in the pans just to coat the bottom of the pan! Once you taste this you will see why I double it!!!

Step 6:
Once the dough has doubled in size punch the dough down in the center and cover it back up to rise again. About another 30 minutes. Mix the cinnamon/sugar mixture. 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon.

Step 7:
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out in a rectangular shape. If you think it is too much dough to roll out at once you can divid the dough and and only roll out half. I like to roll the dough pretty thin about 1/4 inch thick. I spread room temp. butter over the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon/ sauger mixture over it leaving a little on the edge uncovered to seal the roll. Roll the dough up starting with the long edge. Cut the log in half, half again, half again until you have rolls that are about 3/4 inch wide. Place them in the pan octopus of the butterscotch/caramel mixture. Leave a little space in between each roll to allow rising room. Once you have them in the pan push the down with three fingers. Not sure on the purpose of this except that that's what Nana does! So just do it! If you are baking immediately let them rise for another 30 minutes before baking at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. If you are not baking them right away wrap the pan and place in the freezer until needed. If frozen let them set out to thaw and rise for about an hour to two hours before baking at 375 for 20 minutes.


Step 8:
While the rolls are baking make the icing. Mix 1/2 stick of room temp. butter, 1/2 bag powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and enough evaporated milk to get the consistency desired. Let the rolls cool for a few minutes and then pour the icing over them while they are still warm.

The top picture below is the dough rolled out with the butter and sugar ready to roll. With that picture you will see a picture of the rolls cut in the pan before I smushed them down with my fingers. The picture below that is a picture of the olds after they have risen in the pan before baking. The last picture is the cinnamon rolls baked and iced! There is quit a bit of icing but you have to know these are for my brother who will be sharing with his pregnant wife who LOVES icing! You can add the amount of icing you like.

10 Months Old...A Week Ago!

Update about french breakfast puffs:  I have had a few people ask questions about the recipe since I posted it.  I do use Pam cooking spray even though I use non stick pans.  Have tried silicon pans before and it was a total disaster.  They don't get crispy enough on the edges to be able to hold up after being dunked in butter.  Also, the recipe I posted is the tripled amount.  If there are any other questions let me know.  I will be happy to answer them all!

My little Ella Sue is 10 months old.  She has been for a week now and I didn't realize it until a few days ago.  I guess with all the hoopla of being pregnant again with not one, but two bambinos has had me a little distracted.  She is such a great baby!  We are all having more fun with her as she gets older.  She is VERY expressive when it comes to her food!  She tries to carry on big long drawn out conversations with Gonzo every time she sees him.  She still think Adda is pretty stinking amazing!  Now that she is crawling she has a few new hobbies! 

 She loves to play with anything paper!

 Her hair is getting long enough that it is CRAZY when she wakes up in the morning!

 Adda asked me to take a picture of her too!

 All those teeth make her look so grown up!

 Professional Crawler!

 She is obsessed with Adda's Zoo Zoo Pets.  She stares at them for a good minute and then picks it up and throws it like it's a bug!  It's hilarious!

Things she is doing at 10 months:

• Eating 3 meals a day!  I would like to slow down a little with the eating but she loves it!  Her favorite things to eat are Cheerios, peas, and bananas!  She will put a whole banana away in about 5 minutes! 
• She is starting to pull up on things  The other night she pulled herself up in the bathtub!  Yikes!  These are all good things!  We want her walking by the time the babies come!  She will be in walking boot camp soon!  Just kidding!
• She has her first molar!!!  So this is a total of 9 teeth!  We could tell her teeth were bothering her and I looked in her mouth today when she was screaming at me and saw the big fat tooth almost all the way pushed through the top of the gums!  Poor baby is going to have a full set of teeth by a year!  We will be giving her steak bones to chew on!
• Her favorite hobbies, now that she can move all over the place, are to empty the book basket and touch the buttons on the DVD player and cable box.  She doesn't head the word "NO" as well as her sister did!  Most of the time when we tell her "no" she looks back and thinks it's funny!  Oh boy!!!!  

French Breakfast Puffs...A Christmas Tradition!

For as long as I can remember my mom has made these delightful little muffins to enjoy after unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. It was even a tradition when she was a kid to have these on very special occasions. Her sister (my Aunt Trisa) has the same tradition. There are stories of people from our family taking them and hiding them to save for later. I used to make them for Gonzo to take to his coaching retreat and he always hid a container of them for himself.

Let me just tell you, these are amazing and oh sooooo dirty! A good dirty though! They are worth every single calorie! Which, I do not even attempt to calculate the calories! It just doesn't matter!  I mean really it just doesn't!  They are labor intensive if you make them alone but I like to say they are a "labor of love!"  Usually Gonzo is in charge of rolling them in butter (even though he has major issues with greasy things) but I made them today while the girls were napping and he was working! The very best part about them is they can be frozen! All you have to do is take them out a few hours before you eat them and they taste perfect! Anything that can be done ahead of time and frozen is a win for me! Okay here's the recipe!!!!

French Breakfast Puffs

(We three times the recipe because the original recipe only makes about 30 mini muffins.  Who wants to put that kind of work into it and only get 30?!!  No way not me!  Go big or go home!)

1 Cup Butter softened

1 1/2  Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

4 1/2 Cup Flour

4 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

3/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 1/2 Cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 350.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground nutmeg in a bowl.  In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each.  Stir in alternately the flour mixture and milk starting with flour and ending with milk.  Mix each addition just until combined.  Be careful not to over mix.  It will cause the muffins be tough.  Fill a muffin tin 2/3 full and bake until golden brown.  Approximately 18 - 25 minutes.  Take out of the oven and immediately roll in melted butter and then in a mixture of 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  The original recipe calls for 6 Tbsp. of melted butter and that is just a big fat joke!  Just plan on using a few sticks.  You will also need more of the cinnamon sugar mixture as well.  I usually end up using at 2 - 3 cups worth.

Sifted dry ingredients

Creamed butter and sugar

Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Add 1/3 of the milk and mix just until combined.  Continue adding the flour mixture and milk alternately ending with the last 1/3 of the milk.

While the first pan is baking fill the second pan and have it ready to bake.  Get the cinnamon/sugar mixture ready in one bowl and melt the butter in another.  I set up an assembly line where I can turn out the muffins on the counter, dunk in butter, roll in sugar, and then set aside to cool. 

They will not brown much on top.  You can tell by the sides when they are ready to come out.  The recipe calls to bake them for 20-25 minutes (which I am sure is for a regular size muffin) but It only takes about 18 minutes for the mini muffins.  Although my last two pans didn't take 18 minutes.  Just watch the first batch and look for the brown edges around the sides of each muffin. 

Turn them out on the counter and immediately rolls one at a time in the butter and then into the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  This is when it's fantastic to have a helping set of hands. 

First batch is coated and cooling.  It took me about 8 minutes to do each two dozen muffin pan.  After I finished coating them all I wash my hands, and start to fill the next pan.  You might need to melt more butter and make more sugar mixture at this point too.

Here is the whole batch.  It makes 88 or 89 mini muffins depending on how well you scrape the beater and bowl.  I try to get every drop because I don't want to waste any!  They are too good to wash away in the sink!  Yes, we will eat them all!  Don't judge!  We won't eat them all Christmas morning!

This is how much butter and sugar mixture I had left.  Not very much of either!  It takes lots of melted butter.  This ended up taking 3 sticks.  I used about 3 cups of the cinnamon/sugar mixture total. 

 

If you do make these be prepared for your family to think they are the best things they have ever put in their mouths!  Also, be prepared to make these each year for the rest of your life.  Do like my mom and train your kids to do it or at least help.  I have made them for the family for Christmas the last two years!  She is lucky she gets out of it!  Well she deserves to get out of it for making them each year when we were kids!  Make them!  You won't regret it!  Well you might, but oh well just do it anyway!  They are delicious and even better the days after Christmas morning.  I even like them cold! 

An Olive Garden Dinner

Gonzo loves Olive Garden!  He has a few favorites on their menu and he never, ever orders anything different.  We went to the OG on our first date actually and he ordered the same they he always does - Chicken Parmigiana with soup not salad, pasta fagioli as his never ending soup choice.  Since we have been married I have tried many different copycat recipes that were all a fail!  The first time I tried a recipe it said to cook the pasta in the soup.  Which was fine until the next day when you opened the pot and the liquid had disappeared and the pasta was swollen to max capacity!  After that when I tried a recipe I always cooked the pasta separate and then added it to each individual bowl.  We are convinced that is what the OG does!  I made another recipe last week that turned out awesome.  In fact we think it's better than OG's pasta fagioli!  I kind of did my own thing based off of a few different Pinterest recipes!  We liked it soooo much that we had it again last night and because I am eating for three and starving while I am shoveling food into my mouth I made a big Olive Garden salad to go with it.  Not that the salad held me any longer than the soup did!  I will tell you exactly what I have done the last two times.  Gonzo told me it was perfect and to do exactly what I did last time!  Try it and let me know what you think!

The Gonzales' OG Pasta Fagioli

1 pkg of mild italian sausage (casings removed)

1 medium onion diced

2 ribs of celery chopped

1-2 cups of shredded carrots

2 - 15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

2 - 15 oz. cans of white kidney beans rinsed and drained

1 box of chicken stock

1 Knorr brand Beef Homestyle Stock

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Ditalini pasta

Here are the ingredients.  I used a box of stock and the Knorr brand Homestyle Stock because that is what I had in my pantry.  You add three cups of water to each Homestyle Stock you use!  I love those things! 

 I don't know why it turns some of my pictures around, but it really wears me out.  Anyhow, cook the onion, celery, and sausage with casings removed on medium heat until the sausage is cooked completely. 

 Add the drained and rinsed beans and tomatoes, and stock.  Do not drain the tomatoes.  You will want the juice for the broth of the soup.

 Add the dried herbs, salt, pepper.

 Oh, and I almost forgot!  I also use 1 bayleaf.  Only because I have them in my cabinet.  If I did not have them I probably wouldn't have worried about adding it!

 Add the shredded carrots.

Let it come to a simmer and turn the heat down to low.  Let it cook on low for an hour with the lid tilted.   

 Here is another picture that turned sideways!  UGH!  I add a good two handfuls of spinach because it cooks down so much!  I take the stems off!

 Add the spinach after it has cooked down a little.  You won't need to cook this after you add the spinach.  The heat from the soup will cook it after you stir it in.   

 Cook the pasta separate according to package directions.  You won't need the whole box.

 Stinking picture!  Here is the finished product!  We just put a little pasta in the bowl and then ladle the soup over it.  That way we don't have swollen pasta the next day!

 Here is the Mock OG salad.  I made the Pinterest Olive Garden dressing.  I added a little more mayo, garlic salt, lemon juice and black pepper.  It didn't taste just like their dressing but it was good!  I had two helpings of salad!  Cold crunchy salad tastes amazing to me these days! 

Happy Cooking and stay warm!  It won't be hard to stay warm here in Texas!  It's supposed to be in the 70's this weekend!  Crazy weather!

Seeing Double!

Over the past week to week and a half I have started to wonder if I might be pregnant.  I am still nursing Ella and so my cycles are not normal and things were happening to make me wonder.  I started to feel like my stomach had popped out all of the sudden.  I was eating celery like a crazed rabbit at the Thanksgiving table.  I was a little emotional.  My biggest clue was that I was raging hungry!  I was started to feel hungry a few hours after I had eaten a huge meal.  My thoughts were, come on no way!  We just finished football season and there is no time for hanky panky!  Besides that, you are just too freaking tired for that business by the end of the day!  I had a pregnancy test in my cabinet but nothing in me wanted to take it.  Honestly I felt better not knowing!!! 

If I were to rewind back a few years pre Adda you would understand my hate relationship with the pregnancy test.  For three years I trickled on those sticks all to tell me I was not pregnant!  When I finally got a positive with Adda I kept it.  I still have it actually!  You might think that is disgusting but it was one of the most amazing days of my life.  For three years Gonzo and begged on our knees for the Lord to give us a baby and to see a test that was finally positive felt so good!  When we decided to start trying for Ella we thought we should start a little earlier than what we wanted because of how long it took with Adda.  Well the very first time it was unprotected the Lord made Ella!  He is a God of Love!  I was shocked but so thankful that He didn't allow us to go through the waiting again! 

This brings me to last Monday night.  I gave in and decided I better take a pregnancy test.  Before I did I asked Gonzo if he was going to be happy or upset if it was positive.  He said, "I will be happy but nervous about how we will afford it!"  So I went in and did my duty and said out loud "Jesus this is your plan!"  About .5 seconds later it came up positive.  I went it to tell Gonzo and started to cry.  I have always had this idea of how things should be and what milestones my kids should be at and blah, blah, blah before I have another baby.  It was all out the window that second.  If my numbers were right in my head I was about 10 weeks along and Ella and this new baby would be about 14 months apart.  I had to take a step back and think about the fact that He is the Giver of Life and that this baby was no accident.  His plan might not have been our plan but we were going to let go and give it all to Him. 

I made my appointment and we went in this morning to have a sonogram to see exactly how far along I am.  When everything came up on the screen I realized that the baby looked big.  By your third kid you know what all the fuzz looks like on the sonogram screen.  My stomach dropped because I thought she was about to tell me I was like 5 months along or something.  Ha!  No, what she said was TWINS!!!!  I said what, you're joking!  She said no, I wouldn't joke about that!  You guys are having twins!  There are two heartbeats, and she pointed to Baby A, and Baby B!  I looked over at Gonzo and he was silent just staring at the screen!  I think I said about 10 more times that she must be joking.  She asked if it ran in our family and we both said no.  She asked if we had taken any medication to get pregnant and we laughed and said no!  I didn't really hear much of what she said as she went through the sonogram.  My mind was turning a mile a minute.  Then I asked, "Is this the normal reaction?"  She said yes, and laughed!  Gonzo and I walked out to the waiting room to be called back to see my doctor and I said, "Babe you gotta talk!  I don't know what to say, but you gotta say something!"  We both are overwhelmed, and feel soooo blessed.  The Lord knows what He is doing (I hope!) and we will rest in that!  I am about 8.5 weeks and the due date is July 12!  My doctor told us that we will not go to term and that they shoot for 36 weeks with twins.  So, we are looking at mid to late June!  We are excited, scared, nervous, and thankful!  I am fearful of many things that I will just have to lay at His feet!  Please stand with us as we pray for our family of 6!  I will keep you all updated and will try to blog as much as I can. 

Oh, and the winner of the earrings is Erin Westby!  Love you Erin and I will get these in the mail to you as soon as I can!