Coffee Pancakes

I used to drag myself out of bed with the promise of a cup (or two) of coffee.  It worked every time.  Lately, though, I've been waking up voluntarily at 7:30am just to get a jump start on the day.  This is insane!  Am I becoming a morning person?  I don't even know me anymore.


When I came across this recipe for coffee pancakes on Pinterest, I knew it was something that I would need to make.  As you can see, I already have an excellent relationship with coffee.  Now that it seems I have some extra time in the mornings, I can even whip up some pancakes!

These pancakes were so easy to make and so tasty.  The coffee flavor definitely shines in these.  Of course, I did use instant espresso granules instead of the instant coffee granules which were recommended in the original recipe, but that's just me.  Go big or go home!  OK, you're probably already home if you're making these.  Oof.  Never mind.  Too much coffee.  Just make these!

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

You guyssss...

I have to tell you about the NYC Cat Cafe.  I just heard about it and it's going on right now!  Clearly I'm going because I love cats and coffee.  So why can't I have it all?  I can.  I'm going to sit in there all day and survive on coffee and pre-packaged snacks forever and ever.

OK, I can't do that.  I do need to step up my game in the dietary department, though.  I've been eating Tostitos tortilla chips, brie cheese, and almonds like it's my job.  So here's my attempt at pulling my life together.

We're finally getting some warmer weather in these Northeastern parts, so we must celebrate with asparagus.  And cheese.  You know this.  Tender, fresh asparagus is tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and then roasted until it's perfect.  Top with freshly grated Parmesan and you've got yourself a wonderful side dish, or a questionable (but healthy!) lunch.  Your choice.

Easy Chilaquiles

I have decided that the only reason I eat those Tostitos Hint With Lime chips is as a vehicle for that tangy, salty stuff they cover them with.  I feel like an addict.  Of course, Tostitos knows this and only sells this wonderful stuff in huge bags meant to be shared with at least 8 people.  I usually finish it all by myself in 2 sittings.

During the course of one of these "events", a few things also took place around the same time.  I was really into making scrambled eggs (because I had purchased a dozen eggs so that I could bake with only one of them).  I had recently made my crockpot salsa verde chicken.  I also had a container of feta in the fridge just begging to be used up.

In a moment of (what I like to think of as) pure genius, I decided to throw these things together in an homage to a new favorite breakfast item: chilaquiles. I wasn't sure whether or not to post this recipe since it's not truly a recipe, but then I fell in love with this so much that I wanted to record it somewhere.  Not that I'm going to forget it anytime soon.

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken

Last week, my trip to Pittsburgh primarily revolved around Mad Mex margarita-drinking festivities.  Mad Mex was always a favorite place to visit when I was in college.  Unfortunately, I would sometimes (um...almost always?) end up a tad too inebriated as a result of drinking one to one-and-a-half Big Azz margaritas.  Those were the days.  The only thing I don't miss are the hangovers.

Of course, no visit to the 'burgh is complete without at least attempting to drink yet another Big Azz marg at Mad Mex.  Since it's a pretty small location and can become packed quickly, my friends and I had several discussions regarding the optimal time to go there.  (PS - We discovered the best time to visit, but I'm not divulging!)  And we drank margaritas.  Two each...

Now, in our "heyday", we would have been completely done for the day.  We would have stumbled home and passed out.  But.  We were not.  We had excellent appetizers and entrees and we drank our margaritas like the adults that we are and headed back to our hotel.  Like a boss!

OK, maybe we did fall asleep pretty early that night.  But it was a conscious decision on our part.  For sure.

In the spirit of eating even more quality Mexican food, I have an easy salsa verde chicken recipe for you.  Bust out those crockpots once again.  Let me assure you that this is a quick, easy, and tasty way to ensure you have some delicious protein on hand.  This time, I decided use the chicken in a burrito, but in a future blog post, I will be showing you another way that I decided to indulge in this mouth-watering chicken.

Stuffed Savory Prosciutto & Cheese French Toast

I totally got called out over this french toast last weekend.  There I was, finishing up my weekly group workout class and boasting about how I've been working towards eating healthier lately.  Then my friend sidles up and says "Hey, what about that stuffed french toast you posted to your Instagram account yesterday? And those chocolate donuts, and those cappuccino muffins, and that biscoff cheeseball?"

OK, I get it.  It appears that I may be a health-food fraud.  BUT!  It's not very interesting to post that apple or avocado that I'm snacking on to Instagram.  And no one wants to see me eat scrambled eggs for the third time in four days.  Decadent meals, though?  I got you covered!

This time, I had a solid excuse.  It's Secret Recipe Club time!  I was matched up with Cindy from Hun...What's For Dinner.  She's got a multitude of recipes that I fell in love with, especially the Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork Sandwich.  However, I finally settled on making the Stuffed Savory Ham and Cheese French Toast.  I didn't have any ham on hand, but I did have prosciutto, so I figured that would do as a quick substitute.

This french toast was creamy, cheesy, and slightly salty/sweet.  It was so easy to make that I can't wait to recreate it for a brunch someday.  In fact, I may have promised two of my old coworkers that I would host a brunch for them pretty soon.  I may have been slightly tipsy when I promised this, but I guess a deal's a deal.

Cappuccino Muffins

I'm in a breakfast mood lately.  I'm either eating Mexican food or breakfast food these days.  Oh, and fries.  Because I always have room for fries.

This weekend, I'll be eating a ton of fries.  They're a special at the fine establishment that we lovingly called "The Dirty O" at my college in Pittsburgh.  That's right, folks.  I'm heading back to Pittsburgh for a few days to meet up with some old friends and hang out at all the local hotspots.  There will be pictures...some heavily edited pictures.

While I work on getting those fry pictures for you, you should check out these muffins I made.  They have coffee and chocolate and you can eat them guilt-free in the morning.  That's the best I can do for today, but I think that's pretty dang good if I do say so myself.

Crockpot Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

Last weekend, I wore MC Hammer pants.  I will vouch (for myself) that I never thought I'd see the day that happened.  But my group workout class had a 90's theme!  Of course I had to buy the drop-crotch pants to match.  I would say "ugh" right about now because I'm over myself, but since wearing them this past weekend, I've developed a fondness for those pants.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to wear them in public.  As in, it won't be a part of a costume.  Thankfully they're black and not some fugly patterned mess.  So there's that silver lining, right?  Someone out there is understanding my thoughts.  I'm sure of it.


Here's something that easier to understand: the amazing-ness of making Mexican stuffed peppers in a crockpot.  I've made stuffed peppers once before but I refused to revisit it again because it was such a chore to make those at the time.  Fast forward to today, hand me a crockpot, and I'm back in business!


Lately, I've been obsessed with Mexican food.  This should not be a surprise, because cheese is my kryptonite.  I would like to make it known that I can eat Mexican food at any time.  If there is a Mexican food throwdown, I'm there.  Needless to say, you may be seeing a few Mexican-inspired recipes from me in the near future.  I have to say that these pepper turned out to be mighty tasty.  The combination of the meat, rice, vegetables, and sauce made this an excellent dinner option for me the other night.

And cheese. And sour cream.  They just get me.