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Zahra Moves!

June 24th, 2010 | by Zahra | in Misc. | 2 Comments

I’ve been MIA for a while now, haven’t I??? Not much has happened really, just been getting ready for a move and moving! It’s been tough.

We searched all over the Collin County area for a place that suited our increasingly fancy needs, and we finally went back to our first choice residence and by some miracle, we got it! Been trying to settle in ever since.

I will try to continue at least weekly posts as soon as everything isn’t in a state of utter chaos in the new place anymore. Someone want to come organize for me? Anyone? Hello? Mom???

mug

I will leave you with the picture of my favoritest mug from this adorable little coffee house we stopped in on our way to Corpus Christi for my birthday trip. Round Rock, Texas is the home of Friar Tuck’s Pantry… and these mugs.

After searching far and wide for them online, I found an English supplier who did deliver to the United States. Success! Six of these babies are now sitting in my cabinets.

So here’s to a new chapter of cooking and baking and coffee drinking. Over and out.

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Menu Monday!

April 12th, 2010 | by Zahra | in Misc. | 1 Comment

Last week I posted about this new thing we’re doing around these parts: Menu Planning. I told y’all how I went about deciding what meal to put where and, of course, the mandatory day off. Mandatory for me that is. I’m lazy sometimes you see.

So, as previously discussed, I will share our menu for the week with you, dear internet reader.

Remember, I only plan dinners since breakfast is rushed and lunch is simple. As I get better at doing this, I plan on adding other aspects of the weekly menu. What these aspects may be, I don’t know, but I know they’ll be awesome.

Alright, enough chit chat, here we go:

Monday: Hashbrown casserole
Basic ingredients: potatoes, sour cream, cheddar cheese, onion, parsley

Tuesday: Taco Night
Basic ingredients: tortillas (flour, baking powder, salt, olive oil), cheese, beans, guacamole, cilantro, sour cream, tomato

Wednesday: Portobello burgers
Basic ingredients: portobello mushrooms, buns, tomato, mayo, lettuce

Thursday: Barbeque tofu over rice
Basic ingredients: tofu, rice, green onions, parsley

Friday: Mushroom enchiladas
Basic ingredients: leftover tortillas from Tuesday night, mushroom, cheese, onion

Saturday: Go out/ Leftovers/ Parent’s house

Sunday: Cheese and walnut stuffed shells
Basic ingredients: Jumbo shells, egg, ricotta cheese, nuts, parsley, nutmeg, pasta sauce for under the shells

Here’s to a week of happy eatin’!

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Cinnamon Toast… Muffins!

April 9th, 2010 | by Zahra | in Breakfast | No Comments

These are divine. A cross between cinnamon toast (which I have newly discovered I absolutely love). This is (with some minor adjustments) a half recipe of the one in Pioneer Woman’s “French Pastry Puffs” recipe. I thought the name Cinnamon Toast Muffins was more descriptive. You be the judge.

I’ve made these a few times now, but after the initial endeavor (documented by these pictures) I’ve only been dipping the top parts in the cinnamon sugar. According to Neil, this makes for a better “This Side Up” muffin.

Let’s get goin.

Cinnamon Toast Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Coating:

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1. Spray your muffin tin just like this. An explosion in the morning is just what you need to wake you up!

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together and set aside.

3. Now, get out this. This is what will make these muffins fabulous.

4. Cream together the shortening and the sugar. It will look something like this.

5. Add in the egg and beat it, just beat it…

6. Get out your 12 mini muffins, muffin pan (clean off the mess first please) and fill ‘em up!

7. Set in the oven for about 20 minutes, then remove and let them cool just a bit.

8. Get your dunking stations ready.

I like to keep the muffins in a little towel just to keep them a bit warmer than they would have been just sitting on a cold counter. These muffins are totally cruelty free.

9. Dunk either the tops or the entire muffin in the melted butter and then roll it around in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Eat these immediately! Go.

Don’t be alarmed if this happens only moments after you’ve set them on the plate. Cinnamon sugar is attractive like that.

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Cool Button Mushroom Sammich

April 7th, 2010 | by Zahra | in Sandwiches | 1 Comment

Did you know that summer’s just around the corner?? Incredible, I know.

To celebrate this discovery, we’re gonna make an easy breezy cool sammich with button mushrooms. You could just as easily use baby bellas or cremini mushrooms, I just happened to have button mushrooms on hand.

Warning: This is another one of those vague recipe look-alikes. Don’t be alarmed.

Cool Button Mushroom Sammich

About 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Plenty of salt and pepper
Lemon juice from one lemon

Put all your mushrooms in a bowl and drizzle on your olive oil.

Salt and pepper to taste

Feel free to add anything else you want here too. Lemon juice and a smidge of paprika was my choosing.

Put that all into a ziploc baggy and forget about it for about 2 hours. You want the lemon juice to really get into ‘em.

Toast up some bread with some cheese. Being really fancy, we only had our whole wheat sliced bread, but no one’s here to judge.

Pile on whatever else you want onto your sammich: tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, sprouts, etc etc. This is purely your choice and don’t let nobody tell you otherwise.

Enjoy!

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Snow Kitty

April 6th, 2010 | by Zahra | in Zahra Does | No Comments

Sorry… This isn’t that recent. It’s from about three weeks ago when we had snow.

In Texas.

We had snow. In March. Crazy.

During this snow, we decided to let the cats out onto the balcony so they could explore. Dante was very cautious about it all but dipped a paw or two into the fluffy cold-ness.

We couldn’t grab the camera fast enough, but Bella came out into the snow as well. She ran out after Dante thinking the 4-5 inches of white stuff was just normal and ended up belly-deep in snow. And then, of course, freaked out and ran back inside.

We have smart kitties.

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Author Archive

Zahra Moves!

Menu Monday!

Cinnamon Toast… Muffins!

Cool Button Mushroom Sammich

Snow Kitty

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