YAY! The diet is off! Well at least until June... So what was the first thing I made? Beer bread. Why? Because it is so simple and so easy. You get all the yeasty flavor with out having to wait for the bread to rise. Making beer bread is one of the simplest and most rewarding ways to enjoy bread. I love it! Another great thing about beer bread is that you can make so many different variations of it, the possibilities are endless! I made my beer bread a little sweet. But I had a hard time deciding between a sweet bread or a savory bread. I added in honey and sugar to my beer bread recipe which gave it a nice contrast from the salty butter I get to pour on top just before baking! Next time, I may try adding in some herbs and cheese!
I am a little ticked at Mr. Puxatony Phil.... Where is spring? Because here in Chicago, it is still 30 degrees, and that is not spring like weather! It's a good thing I didn't spend my weekend switching over my wardrobe. But I did spend the weekend cooking up some delicious comfort food because of this frigid weather. 
St. Patrick’s day is so fun because everything is green! Seriously, today at school all of my kiddies were dressed to the nines in green wigs, green make up, green necklaces, all green clothing… I think you get the picture. That is one of the great perks of being a teacher; you get to be a kid yourself! I am ashamed to say that I only wore a green shirt, but there was enough green at my school to go around for the entire city of Chicago!
It's been quite gray here in Chicago lately. I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for spring... minus my spring allergies. Chris and had a very hectic, crazy, super productive weekend. Those are always fun right? We painted 2 walls in our apartment... so fun! We have been wanting to do this for years, actually since we moved here 4 years ago. So glad we finally painted those walls! One more thing off the check list. The makeover really gave our apartment a fresh new look, which was so invigorating that it inspired me to create a new spring drink for this so called spring weather we are supposed to be getting!
For those of you who have been following my blog, you know how often I crave Mexican food. Seriously its like once a week I get a hankering for Mexican. I don’t know what it is maybe it has something to do with the moon or whatever, but tonight I was in the mood for soft tacos. Just two nights ago I made shrimp tacos because I am also obsessed with shrimp in everything Mexican. But tonight I couldn’t be bothered to peel and devein shrimp so I decided to use chicken, because I always have frozen chicken breast in my freezer. 
Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! I love Mardi Gras, and I’m not really sure why. Well that’s not entirely true. As a kid my dad would always bring home tons of necklaces from his favorite bar Fats. It was always so fun when he brought home the sparkly necklaces, I still have a set in my apartment. But my interest in Mardi Gras is purely all about the flaky and sugary sweets you get to eat before Ash Wednesday. Not that I give anything up, but its just another great reason to get together with great friends to eat and drink. 
Is this a million dollar cupcake? Maybe! It may look simple, but the taste of this cupcake is so fabulous, its gotta be worth a million bucks! So, I am toying with the idea of entering the Pillsbury Bake Off contest... but I dunno. I feel like I have tons of ideas, but I just don’t know if any of my recipes are good enough! The recipe I am planning on submitting, if I do, is a banana nut cupcake with a , get this, cinnamon cream cheese chocolate frosting. Try saying that 5 times fast... yikes. I came up with the recipe based off of my favorite milk shake: chocolate banana. It really is the best milkshake flavor out there! What is your favorite flavor milkshake? Anyway, the cupcake itself has lots of flavor even though I only used 2 bananas. The secret? I added in a packet of banana cream pudding mix! Wow, does that help keep your cake moist! I also added in some chopped pecans for texture and to help cut the sweetness. The frosting is AMAZING. I could make a whole bowl of it and eat it from a spoon while watching Modern Family. Seriously addicting stuff. I made a small batch of cupcakes and a regular 9x13 cake. The cupcakes were delicious, I am still waiting for the verdict from my hubby's co workers about the cake. I know I love it because I love the flavors, but not everyone enjoys banana. It's a risky flavor combination, I know, but I also think that the combination is such a classic. I could even throw in a peanut butter ganache center, just to really hit it out of the park... mmm next batch I will definitely be doing that.
