Family + 1

Hello readers! Life has been extremely interesting as of recent. My husband and I welcomed our baby boy! After a whole crazy whirlwind of 12 hours of labor, our son Olly was born on Feb 6th, 2015 @ 19:46. A mere 7lbs 1oz, Olly was healthy and a very round baby.

Life has been a roller coaster since then. We've had a lot of sleepless nights, cries, laughs and just about every emotion there is possible. However we never knew we would be so attached to something so small. Now... for those who know me, know that I am not really the mothering type. My maternal instincts are a little on the lower end of the spectrum. Even when I was pregnant, I was thinking that in 9 months, I will be heading to the hospital to pick up the baby, not deliver it. I never said the "aww's" whenever I saw a baby and I never got gushy around children. Therefore knowing that a child was about to be handed to me was a little scary.

The best moment to me was while in recovery (I had to have an emergency C section), they placed Olly on my chest for some skin to skin bonding. Again, not knowing what to expect here. Then the most remarkable thing happened; he crawled and bobbed around with his little head and latched himself onto my breast. I was at a lost for words and was simply in awe to witness this instinct behavior from my baby. From then on, we had to keep him ;)

Baked Parmesan Hot Wings (they taste fried!!)

I enjoy my days off thoroughly. Especially times that I get to experiment new recipes. I know my roommates appreciate my days off! They are my test tasters!

So... I woke up this morning and was just cruising through tastespotting.com which is almost the same thing as pinterest but for food lovers! And came by this recipe by chef John. It is the most delicious and quick mess-free wing recipe I've ever made!

Here is the recipe:

Baked Garlic Parmesan Hot wings

For the parboiling:
Large pot of water 3/4 full
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dried Oregano
1 tbsp dried Parsley
1 tbsp dried Thyme
1 bay leaf
salt
25 chicken wings

Marinade:
8 cloves garlic crushed and mashed with salt
3 tbsp olive oil
red chili flakes
white pepper
black pepper

Fine breadcrumbs
Parmesan

1. Start with the parboil broth. Wait until simmer then add the chicken wings. Once it comes to a boil again, set the timer for 15 minutes and let to a rolling boil.

2. Mix the pureed garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, white pepper and olive oil in a large mixing bowl.

3. Stir until you get an oily paste

4. Remove the chicken from the broth and pat dry

5. Place all the wings in the large mixing bowl and toss to coat. Add a little breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese as your tossing.

6. Place wings on an oiled baking sheet and put in a 450F preheated oven for 25 mins

7. Let the wings rest for 5 minutes and serve!

Enjoy! Serve with some creamy italian dressing :) OM NOM NOM

Spanakopita

Photo: Courtesy of googleimages

Spanakopita should really be one fo those comfort food that you think of when craving one. However many stay away from making them because no one wants to really mess with fillo dough. However I am here to show you the easiest way of making spanakopita with only 5 ingredients and everything in 1 dish. Mind that I don't count your basic ingredients of salt, pepper, oil, butter and breadcrumbs because that is a pantry staple.

Ingredients:
Cut leaf Spinach 16oz Frozen bag (thawed)
1 Sheet roll of fillo dough (thawed)
1 pkg feta (add more to your liking)
2 eggs
2 sprigs of scallions (both white and green parts)

Additional:
Melted butter
Salt
Pepper

1. Preheat Oven to 375
2. Grease a 9 x 9 dish
3. Thaw the frozen spinach, rinse and squeeze dry. Place in large mixing bowl. (It is important that you make sure to get most of the moisture out to prevent having a soggy spinach pie)
4. Mince the scallions and crumble the feta and add to the spinach.
5. Time to get dirty! Start combining them together with your hands. (if you feel that there may be too much liquid, add a couple tablespoons of breadcrumbs to remove excess moisture)
6. Add 2 eggs and continue mashing them together until fully mixed. Add salt and pepper
7. Place 3 sheets of fillo at the bottom of the dish and make sure to brush entirely with melted butter
8. Place another 2 sheets in the opposite direction and brush with butter again.
9. Place all the mixed spinach ingredients into the dish making sure to slightly press it into every corner.
10. This is when the slightly tedious bit begins. Place fillo sheets on top, 2/3 sheets and a time and making sure to lather with butter. Repeat steps until whole roll is gone. Making sure as well that the top is buttered.
11. Place into preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes. Note: Cut your serving squares prior to placing the dish in the oven. Makes a whole lotta difference!

Tada!

Added extra onions simply because.

Mushy goodness

Egg it in

Buttered Sheets

Note that I do not have an after picture because I was so excited to dig into those crispy squares of golden deliciousness.

Homemade Salted Caramel

Since fall is finally upon us, which seems too good to be true since I live in FL, it is time for the seasonal drinks. I know everyone seems to go crazy over the pumpkin EVERYTHING, but I am more of a salted caramel gal. I go weak over the salted caramel mocha (iced, hot, frapp) over at Starbucks and the salted caramel hot chocolate over at Dunkin'. Now it can rack up a huge bill if you're an addict like me. However I have found a way to make it in just 4 ingredients!!!

Salted Caramel Sauce

2 Cups Sugar
12 Tbsp Butter (softened + cut into chunks)
1 cup heavy cream (room temp)
1 Tbsp coarse Sea Salt

Add 2 cups of sugar into a medium sized pot on Med-High Heat.

It will begin to start clumping as you keep whisking. Note: It will slowly start to get much harder to whisk, but put some elbow grease into it and keep going!

Messy clumpy goodness. It is REALLY SUPER DUPER important to keep whisking to prevent the sugar from burning. It will turn an amber color really quickly, which is what you want.

Still a little clumpy, so keep going at it.

Add the softened butter chunks and whisk whisk whisk

It will bubble up... and this is when you can pretend as if you're making an evil concoction (insert maniacal laugh here)

Once everything is incorporated, take it off the heat.

Add the cream slowly and keep whisking as you are adding.

Add the sea salt. Then once everything is incorporated, let it cool for 10 minutes before putting it into a jar.

Now, it is going to smell great and you'd want to immediately put your fingers in it and start lickin' but please don't. Patience is the key here. Once cooled too, place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours before consuming. The longer, the better. Enjoy it with anything, Cookies, drinks, ice cream... the possibilities are endless!!

I made mine into a homemade Hot Cocoa! Here's the recipe just in case you were wondering:

Hot cocoa

Milk
Cream
Bittersweet + milk chocolate chunks
Vanilla extract

1. Drizzle sides of cup with the salted caramel 2. Heat up the milk + cream combo. I did mine in a heater/frother but you can do it on the stovetop 3. Pour milk into the cup 4. Add the chocolate + dash of vanilla 5. Add toppings and voila, Goodness!