Toscano Family and Baby Isabela

This was a really cool photoshoot.  Emily Toscano facebook messaged me a few weeks ago asking if I would take some pictures of her family and new baby girl Isabela (Isa for short).  The crazy thing is that I know Emily, but haven't seen her in 9 years!  We went to high school together and even had a joint 15th birthday party wayyyy back in the day with another friend of ours named Steph (remember that Emily?!).  It was a real joy to take pictures of her stunning baby girl and beautiful little family.  Now on to the good stuff...

One thing you will notice is that I have a new logo/watermark.  It's definitely not perfected yet... when I exported the pictures to a folder I made the watermark too transparent, but it's a work in progress.  Tell me what you think of the logo otherwise!  I'd love to hear! 

Hopefully I'll have a sweet treat for you later this week.  I'm treading water as I've mentioned a few times recently... too much going on to write about my baking.  But I promise I'm trying, don't give up on me just yet!  :-)

Salsa Chicken - an easy and healthy dinner

**I was all prepared this past weekend to type up a yummy cookie recipe (I even told a faithful blog reader <@Lindsey> that I was ready to go), but time has just gotten away from me and I have to prepare for some important meetings coming up.  So as not to leave you without anything tasty, I always have a couple of posts waiting in case this happens.  :-)  I hope you enjoy this!  Hopefully next week I will be back with a tasty cookie recipe and some pretty pictures from trips, showers, and other fun stuff that I've been doing lately.  Here's hoping!**

You remember how I told you that my mom doesn't really cook?  Well this is one of the few things she does make, and I love it!  I don't know where she found it, but man is it easy.  Plus, pretty much everyone I have ever given the recipe to has loved it!

Here's what you do: you take ~2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 "jug" of your favorite salsa, and your crock pot and combine together to make the easiest dinner ever.

Put a layer of salsa on the bottom, then place all the chicken breasts next to each other for the next layer, then cover with the rest of the jar of salsa.

Easy as pie salsa chicken!  Set the crock pot on low for about 6-7 hours and leave to cook.  Once it's cooked, take two large forks and shred the chicken.  Now you have salsa chicken! 











I prefer Pace Picante Sauce but I accidentally bought the chunky kind this last time.  It was actually pretty good.  I really think any kind of salsa would be fine.

 
Once you have your salsa chicken, you can really do a lot with it.  I have served it over pasta,

 

rice, in tacos, on a salad, and I'm sure there are many other things you could do with it.  Since it makes lots of food, I usually freeze some.  I go ahead and put the salsa chicken over cooked pasta in a tupperware container and stick it in the freezer.  That will keep for several months and it's easy to thaw (in the fridge) and microwave.  Done and done!  I hope you like it!

Enjoy!

Things I really want to make...

Since we are on vacation this week (with our toes in the water and bums in the sand) I figured I would tease you with some of the things I am wanting/hoping to make sometime soon.  And, no, that picture is not from the trip we are on right now... I wish!  It's from our honeymoon last June.  Man I miss Playa Mujeres, Mexico! 

Back to the sweets... the way I decide what I'm planning to make is basically a free for all.  If I see something on a blog and it tugs at me enough I usually end up making it.  So what ends up happening is I have about 25 unread blog posts in my reader for weeks on end until I either 1) print all of the recipes out and marinate on them until one jumps out oat me; or 2)decide on one, print it out, and make it!

So here are some that are sitting stagnant in my reader right now.  They all look so darn good!  Maybe I'll make one while we're on vacation for us to enjoy :)  We'll see. 

Because I have not had the real thing (but am determined to visit the beautiful city home to these delicious confections one day):  http://eatliverun.com/oven-baked-beignets/

Because every southern girl needs to know how to make a good pecan pie (and I like things with a twist):  http://17andbaking.com/2011/03/15/coconut-pecan-why-not-pie-with-walnuts-and-toffee/

Because I haven't had one of these since high school and it's time to revisit:  http://www.acozykitchen.com/salted-caramel-rice-krispie-treats/

Because they sound good and I would probably feel very sophisticated eating these with some french press coffee (@Sarah) and reading a newspaper:  http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/cranberry-orange-scones/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CupcakesAndCashmere+%28Cupcakes+and+Cashmere%29

Because, well, you already know my love for peanut butter and chocolate:  http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-stuffed-hot-fudge-cupcakes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+howsweeteats%2FsmSp+%28How+Sweet+It+Is%29

Because the Hubby loves red velvet:  http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/red-velvet-brownies-with-white-chocolate-frosting/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:howsweeteats/smSpHowSweetItIs

Because I looooove anything with the word snickerdoodle in it and these remind me of my Chocolate Crack Cookies (even though they are far from cookies):  http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2011/03/step-by-step-snickerdoodle-muffins/

Because... see above, oh and I die for anything lemon flavored:  http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2011/02/25/lemon-snickerdoodles/

Because omg I don't think my taste buds can handle this... and one of the Hubby's favorite cereals is Captain Crunch:  http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2011/03/11/peanut-butter-captain-crunch-marshmallow-brownie-bars/

Because one of the Hubby's favorite cookies I make is oatmeal scotchies... so maybe we should try these:  http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2011/03/14/oatmeal-scotchie-bars/


So there you have it.  That's what I'm craving to make right now.  I think one of these might work really well for baking on our trip.  Maybe you'll get to see it next week... y'all come back now, ya hear!

Blueberry Banana Whole Wheat Pancakes (that are actually really yummy!) plus a photography offer!

Finally a baking/cooking post for those of you with a sweet tooth!  But before we get to the tasty breakfast, I wanted to let all of you know about something I'm working on right now.  As you can tell, I've been posting a lot of photography lately.   If any of you who read this live in the Atlanta area and want free portraits (maternity, baby, family, engagement) in the next 3 months, let me know.  I am trying to build a portfolio, so the next three people who contact me and mention this blog will get a free portrait session plus all the edited photos on a share site with shutterfly.com and on a disc for free.  I'm definitely still learning and still have a lot to learn about photography, so I hope you will let me practice on you!

A few weeks ago the Hubby actually had a weekend day off.  So I decided I was going to make us a tasty, yet somewhat (kinda sort, ha!) healthy, breakfast.  I went back and forth between several options but ended up deciding on Blueberry Banana Pancakes I found on Tasty Kitchen.  After looking at the recipe, I knew I could make these with half whole wheat flour half regular all-purpose flour (actually I probably could have even done more wholewheat and the remainder all-purpose).

First you are going to combine the milk (I used 2%) and lemon in a small bowl and set aside.  Next, mash the banana and mix with the eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, honey, and melted butter.  I didn't actually mash the banana because they were pretty ripe and I knew that my stand mixer would take care of that, but either way would work.

Next you will sift together all the dry ingredients and set aside for a moment.

Then combine the banana mixture and the milk mixture (which is now technically buttermilk... it's that easy to make it, remember).

Lastly, add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Let this mixture sit covered for about 5-10 minutes.  Heat a skillet coated with butter on medium high heat.

We had tried one pancake but the pan wasn't hot enough (that's why it looks dirty), so we tried again before making the next pancake... so make sure you have it hot enough before you start.

While you're waiting for the pan to heat, wash and dry the blueberries, then coat them with the remaining sugar and flour.  Then add them to the batter and fold together.  Don't mix too much.

Now you should be ready to make you some tasty pancakes.  Put about 1/4 cup (ha, we just eyeball it... we like larger pancakes) into the pan.

Flip when bubbles start forming around the edges (or when the bottom is a nice darkish golden brown).

Cook on the other side until golden brown.  Remove from the pan and add more butter to re-coat it between batches.  This really made enough for four people, and I'm kicking myself now that I didn't freeze the other half of the batter instead of throw it away.  Dumb Jenny.  Oh well.  We served with bacon, light syrup, and coffee.  Delish!

Blueberry Banana Whole Wheat Pancakes
Makes 4 servings.

• 2 cups milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp melted butter (plus extra for cooking)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp sugar

Directions:
Combine milk and lemon in a small bowl and set aside.  Mash bananas and mix with eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, honey, and melted butter.  Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside for a minute. Combine banana mixture and milk mixture, then add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Let sit covered for about 5-10 minutes.
Heat a skillet coated with butter on medium high heat.
Wash and dry blueberries, then coat with the remaining sugar and flour.  Add them to the batter and fold together, being careful not to mix too much.
Place 1/4 cup of batter into the pan (or more for larger pancakes).  Flip when bubbles start around the edges or the bottom is a nice golden brown.  Cook on the other side until golden brown.  Remove from the pan, re-coat the pan with butter in between batches, and continue making pancakes with the rest of the batter.

Print this recipe!

Enjoy friends!!!  And have a great week!!

P.S. I have one really promising thing coming up in a few weeks for a potential job in Charleston.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!