Category Archives: Uncategorized

Heaven In A Pastry, Chocolate Chip Scones

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 September, 2014 None comments

Welcome to heaven in a pastry or shall I say chocolate chip scones for you newbies.

My sweet sister and her family came to visit a couple weekends ago and I made chocolate chips scones per my husbands request and knowing that even the kids would devour them.

I didn’t realize how small my child is until his cousins came to visit. Agezu is 6 years old and quite the strapping young man. These two cousins absolutely LOVE one another. Cooper lets Agezu pick him up under his armpits and gets drug anywhere and everywhere with a smile on his face. It’s super cute how they just play with one another, even in ways that seem utterly uncomfortable. Kids, I tell ya.

And of course, the pool took precedence with all the boys in the house… Not a single gal to spare other than us two mamas.

So back to the scones and how they got devoured within the first half hour of cool down, lets take a look at heaven in a pastry…

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy cream or half & half
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 heaping cup dark chocolate chips (any kind works)
coarse sugar for sprinkling on top before baking (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a stand mixer, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Grate the butter (hand grater works great or use a food processor). Toss the grated butter into the flour mixture and mix with fingers. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk cream, egg, and vanilla together. Pour over flour mixture and slowly mix with mixer on low speed just until incorporated. Carefully fold in chocolate chips. Try your best to not overwork the dough at any point. Work the dough into a ball with floured hands as best you can and transfer to floured surface. Press into a circle and cut into equal wedges with a sharp knife. Top with course sugar and transfer to cookie sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through.Cool on a wired rack. Enjoy your scone with a great cup of coffee and enjoy your breakfast. They freeze well too, if so desired.

If you are a pastry fanatic such as my husband and I, you will devour these scones even without kiddos around. Maybe that’s the mystery here, maybe I used the kids as an excuse to the dismissal of our chocolate chip scones…the mystery remains unknown. I shall forever keep this secret to myself.

Test it yourself…maybe your own mystery will begin once you make heaven in a pastry.

This recipe is adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction.

Pan Fried Mahi

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 24 July, 2014 None comments

In desperate need of a last minute meal idea??? Here’s a quick, healthy option.

I decided the other night I had waited to long to begin dinner and BBQ’ing was out of the question. My son need to eat and eat now, as it was his bedtime. Opps, I was slacking on my bedtime routine with him and let us play outside for way longer than recommended. :)

Tonight’s menu: Pan fried Mahi, sausage, salad and rice. Easy, simple and good for you!

Ingredients:

Mahi (Or any fish you prefer)
Dill
Butter
EVOO
Garlic Salt
Sea Salt

In a skillet, add butter and a titch of EVOO. Begin to heat on medium-low heat. Add Mahi

Sprinkle Mahi with seasoning and cook for 3-5 minutes than flip.

When fish flakes apart, your mahi is finished cooking. Do not over cook. You want your fish to be flaky for best results.

Serve with salad and rice with the option of delicious sausage as a side.

Enjoy this meal as a GREAT last minute meal idea. :)

4th Of July

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 4 July, 2014 None comments

Happy fourth of July everyone. My husband, son and I will be headed down to Bend, OR for the weekend. We will hit up Crater Lake and on our way home, head through Sisters for some delicious burgers. I will keep you all posted since we will probably have beautiful pictures as the area itself is absolutely gorgeous.

I have always enjoyed the 4th of July but as of the past two years I enjoy it a little bit more as my son was supposed to be a 4th of July baby. :) Our pregnancy was full of holidays and had I not got sick, I think we could have made it happen! Happy birthday baby, the fireworks are for you! :)

I hope you are all thankful for the country we live in, despite the common disputes every country deals with. Focus on the bigger picture and the freedom we have! I’m proud to live in America and I hope you all have a safe 4th with great memories to be had.

The city of bridges- we live in such a beautiful city

Moment of Truth: Apart from it being a holiday weekend, I pray that my son stays healthy and we are able to enjoy every aspect of our weekend as a family. Praying for safe travels, good health and a happy little munchkin is all I could ask for right now!

Bagel Supreme

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 24 May, 2014 None comments

I used to frequent a coffee shop while in college. We would drop in multiple times a week if not sometimes daily. While studying and writing papers I would get a fatty bagel with the choice of unlimited toppings. They made their own bagels which makes everything taste better.

This brings back such memories every time I make it at home realizing I used to be a naive college gal just drinking coffee and gaining the freshman 15. Although, it wasn’t just my freshman year to gain weight, it did get less as the years progressed. :) I realized through staying up late your metabolism kicks in overtime asking for more food and with little sleep your body simply can’t process all the calories without gaining weight. Double edge sword. You think you are invincible in college and come to find out, the only invincible part to college was your classes; no way around them.

So, with those college days in mind, here is a great recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2 Bagels
Cream Cheese
2 Avocados
2 Tomatoes, sliced

Optional Toppings:

Sprouts
Cucumbers
Bacon

Toast your bagel and in a small bowl mix cream cheese and avocado together. Spread on top of bagel.

May leave sandwich open faced or closed. I prefer open faced as this is how they served them at the coffee shop.

Top with tomatoes and basil or any remaining toppings you prefer.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 April, 2014 None comments

I still have 3-gallon size freezer bags full of our fresh blueberries from last summer. I’m quite surprised how many we still have left with how much I have used them for smoothies and baking. Needless to say, I will continue to use them the next couple months until we get fresh ones again So glad I haven’t had to use them sparingly as we literally had a small blueberry farm.

Cooper loves blueberries so much so that I keep checking the price at the store and refusing to buy a small pint for $3.99. I can’t seem to justify it when we have our own blueberries for free. About a month ago I bought a large container for a great deal, it seemed it was almost a steal as I haven’t seen that good of a deal since.

Anyway, I made coffee cake as I have been into my pastries lately that I probably have developed a permanent food baby; or shall I say 5 lbs that I wish I could blame on something other than simple carbs and coffee. I always crave carbs but lately it’s been almost my entire diet! (I need to refocus my health again)

Oh well! This is a great recipe! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour, divided
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup milk
1 cup frozen bluenerries
3 oz cream cheese

Topping:

3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cold butter

For batter: in a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg.

Mix well. Cream until well incorporated!

Combine 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt in creamed mixture.

Add milk, mix well.

Toss blueberries with remaining flour.

Add cream cheese and blueberries. Batter will be thick.

Transfer to a greased 8in square baking dish.

For topping: In a small bowl combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Sprinkle over batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Serve warm with a good cup of coffee for all you coffee lovers. :)

Enjoy!

Toddler Outsmarts Mommy

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 March, 2014 None comments

My son refused to eat lunch or anything good for him. He wanted the muffins and scones that are hidden in the cupboard (good memory). I told him if he ate his sandwich he could have a treat when we go to starbucks. He replys “okay!” Than refuses again. His little toddler brain is too small to understand the negotiation process. So since he wasn’t given it, he finds it himself…

Life in the fast lane

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 12 February, 2014 None comments

My cruise control is set. I sit in the passing lane choosing to pass all the cars that I quickly approach getting over now and again to allow the faster cars to zip by. Not sure where I am headed, with whom I am headed, and how long it will take to reach my destination.

This is my life as I know it. I’ve decided with all the fighting I’ve done with God about my circumstances we call ‘trials of life,’ it’s time to stop fighting. Although, I hadn’t known I was previously fighting, my blinders were on and I was clouded in my perspective. I had allowed daily activities and life decisions within my marriage and family to become the primary focus. Although at the time, I thought I had it figured out; I would pray continually, read my bible and ask those around me for wisdom and advice. Sounds great right? Well, what I didn’t know than, as I do now is simply this: my eyes were on my circumstances rather then Christ. The immediate, urgent situation was my primary focus; too many daily activities that needed to be accomplished. My focus was not on the powerful, almighty God who was and is and is to come. My eyes were on ME! My desire to grow and become more like Christ became the distraction when my activities became the primary focus. The “doing” became all too consuming.

Life’s “circumstances” do not have to be something entirely heart wrenching but simply a distraction for our main purpose and goal in life; serving God. Although for some of us, those heart wrenching scenarios are our present reality.

Thanks to soundcloud.com

As I relearned this morning with what felt like a cold glass of water to the face was a clear reminder that God is here to accomplish the impossible in our lives. Am I living as if I believe that truth? Paul from the Bible sat in prison for two years and mind you this was no modern day prison with heat, electricity, buffets of food and drink and television to help pass the time; this was a cold, dirt room. Even while he was in prison he wrote the book of Ephesians and through his own experience gave us the knowledge we have today; to now consider the ability of God. Taking our focus off the immediate and fixing our eyes on what is unseen rather then seen (Heb 12:2).

I’ve decided to stop living in the pit and letting my pit consume every ounce of me. I’ve become a slave to sin which is ultimately addictive within itself. Sin is addictive as Kay Arthur so blatantly put it. So instead, I chose to put my circumstances on cruise control accepting where I am currently. I cannot change it so I might as well go with the flow and learn every step along the way.

Each season in our life, wherever it may be is our current urgency. Time passes and we’ve got things to accomplish day in and day out. Now, the time has come to open our eyes, not blink the season away but endure our trivial circumstances and fix our eyes on Christ within th present moment. Deliberate action to pull our attention from our “urgent” scenarios and looking to the one who holds all the power, God. In Ephesians 3:20-21 it states this: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” He has given us that power that goes beyond our imagination and thoughts we can’t even comprehend. What other god can do such a thing?

I’ve heard this verse prayed as the benediction all growing up in church. I never knew the power behind this verse until today- years later. No one has ever pointed out the truth in this verse and the power we as believers hold from God in us working His glory out for His purposes. Now I will say it again, in the midst of the impossible situation, it’s time to consider the possibility of God.

Every single one of you my friends, are going through some monumental circumstance in your life. Whether that is a rocky marriage, death, illness, addictions, heartache, rebellious children, rebellion of self, complacency, time management, finances so on and so forth, something is currently pulling and tugging at your subconscious asking to regain your focus. Is your focus embedded deep within the problem or is it on Christ showing His power through your immediate trivial situation? What seems to trivial to us, is nothing for God! Let our monumental experiences be replaced by God’s monumental power working out in our life.

Christ is longing to hold our hands and hug us tightly as we hold on, riding the roller coaster of life through the ups and downs. He never once promised it would be easy, but he did promise it would lead us to perfection one day if we choose to believe.

Moment of Truth: If it seems we are taking the steps to grow properly and receiving enough nutrients but can’t seem to grow beautiful flowers, than we must go to the root of the problem and consider our foundation. “If the foundations of our life is incorrect, nothing can or will flourish.” (Pricilla Shirer)

A day at the salon

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 February, 2014 None comments

A day at the salon or shall I say the playground. My son absolutely loves airplanes, cars and truck as I know you’ve heard me mention plenty of times. The salon we went to was Little Clippers catered for the little kiddos. They had a whole playground for the kids to hang out at before and after their haircut. Cooper fell in love the moment he say the giant car to climb all over. Their chair was either a car, truck or airplane for the haircut itself.

Let me preface the salon experience with the fact that my son has an extremely full head of hair and has had one since the moment be entered this world. My little boy received his first haircut when he was 6 months old. I chopped the mullet and the combover as that was all I could do without more experience. Between 6-19 months I’ve cut his hair 12 times. It has finally got to the point that as many times that I had hacked the hair the mullet wouldn’t fully disappear. He has the thickest head of hair and a LOT of it. Little did I really know how much hair he had until he sat in the car and the hair kept falling to the ground. I wasn’ the mom to cry about his first haircut as it is the norm in our family but was in awe of the piles of hair that had fallen to the ground.

The gal who cut his hair was very quick and effecient. His little face pops out now that you can see it without the little hair trapping him inside like cousin it. He looks so much older and is a little toddler now!

He hated the cape…

We took the cape off and he was content

Lots of hair

New hair do!

Stylin’ little 19 month old!

Taco Bake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 27 January, 2014 None comments

I love Mexican and along with this tasty dinner, I’ve also made Twice Baked Tacos and Lime Chicken Avocado Enchiladas, all in which are pretty heavenly. I made this one for the first time the other night. Pretty simple but not necessarily the healthiest. It does call for Con Queso but you don’t have to use this. You could substitute for refried beans and extra cheese. So don’t exit this recipe just yet. There are other options.

Ingredients: