Nellie & Phoeb's

Design, Food, Kids, Laughter, Love...

Life: Coffee, Swim Party, & Tortellini Soup

The Best Coffee EVER:

Gevalia Kaffe House Blend

I purchased this coffee about a year ago at a nearby grocery store, only because there was a $1.00 off coupon sitting next to it.  BEST coffee I have ever had.  It may even be better than Starbucks Breakfast Blend, which has been my favorite for years. The flavor of Gevalia is so rich & nutty, but still smooth and non-acidic.  You can buy it almost anywhere, even Walgreens. 
 
Try adding International Delight Carmel Macchiato Fat Free Creamer to it, tastes like a ROASTED MARSHMALLOW, SERIOUSLY!
 
Do it, get some, enjoy it! 
Buy it here:

Nellie & Phoeb's In the Kitchen: Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Cups

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Cups 

After a quick Pinterest browse for a sweet treat today, I came across this recipe. I checked the pantry, I had the sweetened condensed milk, so I went for it. It has oatmeal in it, so it's healthy:)


I mixed the cookie portion in my stand mixer, melted the fudge sauce in a double boiler, and cooked the layered cookies in a mini muffin pan. These were a little more tedious than a standard chocolate chip cookie, but it was fun.  I had never made homemade fudge sauce before, so that was a first.


 It made 72 cookie cups! I had to get a few out of the  house immediately, so my neighbors got a sweet treat.
 


 
 
  I had quite a bit of fudge sauce left, so I scooped it into a small canning jar & am storing it in the refrigerator.  I see an ice cream sundae night in our near future!
 
Find the recipe at Baking with Melissa.
 


Nellie & Phoeb's In the Kitchen: Killer Salsa

Just Like Chuy's Salsa

Chuy's salsa is our absolute favorite! It's so fresh & tangy, we can eat it by the spoonful! But, sometimes it's too spicy for me. I love being able to make a similar version at home & decrease the heat. I originally found this recipe here, but have adapted it.

Killer Chuy's Knockoff Salsa Recipe

Ingredients:
8- roma tomatoes, chopped
2- serrano peppers, seeded & chopped fine (add more if you want to kick up the heat)
1- medium white onion
2- limes, juice only
1- handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1- tablespoon garlic salt
Place peppers, onion, lime juice, cilantro & garlic salt in a food processor, process until fine.  Place mixture into a blender, add tomatoes, blend until tomatoes are small pieces (not large chunks).  Serve immediately with chips or your favorite Tex-Mex!
Tips:
Use fresh limes & cilantro. 
You can store it in the refrigerator, but it tastes best immediately after making it. Serrano peppers are tiny & spicy, don't over do it!




Nellie & Phoeb's In the Kitchen: Artichoke & Asiago Cheese Dip

My Mom's Favorite Appetizer

 My Mother got this recipe from a friend that lived in Canada, years ago. She always made it around the holidays. It's REALLY rich & loaded with calories, so I don't make it often.  Troy loves it, so I try to make it for him once a year.
Tips:
You MUST bake it in a bread bowl, the bread absorbs the oils while it cooks.
I've tried using reduced fat mayonnaise & it doesn't taste as good. The recipe specifically calls for a small jar of Hellman's (full fat) mayonnaise, so stick with it. Cook it till the flavors meld, the longer the better (without burning it, of course).



Artichoke & Asiago Cheese Dip

Ingredients:
2- large loaves, or 4 small loaves of French bread
1- can drained artichoke hearts, rinsed
1- 8 ounces shredded Asiago cheese
1- small jar of Hellman's Mayonaise
1- tablespoon minced garlic
2- teaspoons garlic salt
Instructions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, chop artichoke hearts, to desired consistency (I like mine chopped fine). In a large bowl, mix artichoke hearts with Asiago cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, & garlic salt. Cut the center out of the loaf of bread, making a boat, set aside the extra bread you removed. Pour the mixture into the bread boat(s). Place bread boat(s) on a baking sheet & bake for 60 minutes. Slice the additional loaf of bread & the bread you removed from the boat. Serve dip while hot, with the sliced French bread. Enjoy!


A Few of My Favorite Recipes

A Few of My Favorite Recipes:

Creamy Green Chile Enchilada Soup

Tomato Basil Soup & The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

Photo & recipe adaptation from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

Slow Cooker Creamy Green Chile Enchilada Soup


Ingredients:
32 oz chicken both
1.5 pounds chicken breasts
28 oz can Green Chili enchilada sauce
4 oz can of diced green chilies
2 tbsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of chile powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 cup of frozen corn (defrosted)
1 block of reduced fat cream cheese 
3/4 cup of instant brown  rice
1 tbsp of corn starch
Instructions:
In your slow cooker, mix together the first 8 ingredients. Cook on low for 7 hours. Remove the chicken, shred it & return it to the slow cooker. Add the cream cheese in pieces, rice, & corn, cook for 30 more minutes, or until the cream cheese has melted. At this point, if you want a thicker consistency, mix a tablespoon of corn starch with about 1/8 cup of water and stir into the soup, after 10 to 20 minutes the soup should thicken considerably.
Healthy substitutions: I used brown rice instead of white rice, & reduced fat cream cheese instead of the full fat. This was really delicious, it was full of flavor & was hearty & filling.
Photo & recipe adaptation from Everyday Occasions

Tomato Basil Soup & The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Tomato Basil Soup:

3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 - 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 cups of chicken stock
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper`
1/4 cup of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned (or 1 tablespoon dried)
Parmesan cheese
In a saucepan, sauté garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute, add the crushed tomatoes, then add the whole tomatoes, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well.  Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.  To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil.  Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.
I LOVE this soup! And, on a heartfelt note, I made this soup the last time my mom every came to my house, & she ate a whole bowl & loved it! She passed away a short time later. I think about her last visit here every time I make this soup <3.
The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich:
8 slices of Italian bread (I use a loaf of French break & cut diagonal slices)
1 cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2/3 cup of provolone cheese, shredded (I use sliced from the deli)
2/3 cup of Swiss cheese, shredded
butter
Butter one side of each slice of bread.  In between the slices, divide up the shredded cheeses.  In a hot greased sauté pan or griddle, grill the sandwiches on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side until they are brown and the cheese has melted.  

Photo & recipe adaptation from The Comfort of Cooking


Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo


1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp flour
1 cup skim milk
1 tbsp reduced fat cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus 2 tbsp extra for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut spaghetti squash in half length wise, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes.
Once squash is cooked, use a fork to gently scrape the strands into the center.

For the sauce, melt butter in a small pot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour, cooking for another minute while stirring. Whisk in milk until smooth. Add cream cheese and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in Parmesan, add salt and pepper.

Spoon sauce equally into each spaghetti squash half. Gently pull up the spaghetti strands to coat as much as possible with the sauce. Top with extra Parmesan and place under the broiler of your oven for 2-3 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

I'm not sure how skinny this is, but it cant be as bad a real full fat alfredo sauce! I absolutely loved this & it reheated well too!

Let's Party: Sweet Baby Girl Turned 2

Silhouette Favorite Things Party

 
 
 Sophia's Favorite Things:
Popcorn: black & white striped treat cartons filled with popcorn
Cookies- black polka dot treat bags filled with an assortment of cookies for guests to take home
Cake: chocolate chip banana silhouette birthday cake
Juice: apple juice boxes
Oranges: peeled mandarin oranges
Balloons: neighbor's young son who has his own balloon creature hourly biz
 
My AMAZING neighbor FrOsten's made the cake. It was what I was looking forward to most, & she did not disappoint!
 
I created her silhouette myself, I used this tutorial to do it. It was really simple, I took a snap shot of her with my phone, standing in front of a solid light colored wall, then opened it in PS Elements, used the magic wand to turn the background white, then selected all the white, hit select inverse & turned her little silhouette black with a paintbrush. The most time consuming part was zooming in & cleaning up the lines. I was so happy with it, I made silhouettes of my other two girls & gave them to the grandparents as Christmas gifts.
 
 I wrapped juice boxes in scrapbook paper, taped the back & hot glued on a mini silhouette that I cut with a scalloped hole punch. The larger hole punches are pretty pricey $15-30, but they are totally worth it & you can use it for years. The first couple birthday parties I did, I hand cut out a TON of little circles, it is difficult & entirely too time consuming!
Find the scalloped punch I used here.


Scoop your own popcorn station. 

 Cookie favors.
 
 Gold paper cups with the scalloped silhouettes hot glued on, topped off with adorable paper straws (that I HATE drinking out of).
 

 Our neighbor & favorite balloon guy! You have to admire young entrepreneurs!

 Dad rarely makes it into the birthday pics, but he's always here!

Sophia is our little wild woman, she is very funny & she loves to make us laugh! She extremely animated, & is a total cheese ball!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!!!

 
Thank you for the lovely birthday theme inspiration Jenny Collier!
Find her Favorite Things printables, including the invitation & bunting banner here.



Wild West: Cowboy Shoot

My Dad is totally into these Cowboy Shoots, so a couple months ago, we went to check it out.

Welcome to Tulsey Town Corral!
This is a gun club & all shooters are members of SASS. This gun club is for both women & men, & there are wild west apparel requirements (aka: dress up). If there are costumes involved, I'm sold!
 Let's set the stage: A wild west town, complete with a jail, a saloon, a general store, & a chapel. Shooters shoot through the windows of each of the staging areas. 
This an ongoing competition, scores are taken & tallied.
And, my Grandma is the number one shooter for her age division in the State of Oklahoma! Go Virginia!!! 

 This is my Dad (Gerald Beller), in a set up area, prepping his gun & getting approval from a fellow member. They shoot two single action pistols, one shot gun, & one leaver action or a pump rifle.
Grandma & Grandpa Bill, a handsome couple of gunslingers!

The main man.

 It's loud, there is lots of smoke & if you are standing close, you may feel some bullet powder burn. They use a soft lead bullet, so it flattens out on contact, but there is still some bullet fragment projection.

Troy decided to give it a try, so Dad gave him pistol shooting 101.

 Grandpa Bill & Uncle Kenny.
 Dad's cowboy nickname is Rowdy, he's the camp cook. He prepares lunch every other Saturday for their shoots, to raise money for the upkeep of their 'town'.

Dad & his mother-in-law, looking spiffy.
These cowboy shoots have become a family event! I got in on the action too, but no one knows how to use my camera, so there are no good shots. It was fun, we will go & partake again! Thanks for letting me wear your holster Grandma, & thanks for the shooting lessons Dad & Bill!!!