Quick and Easy Lemon Curd

I've been meaning to post this and the cake that this went into for welllll, a week now but I wound up with a gnarly migraine and could not sit at the computer to write this. All is well now and my brain no longer feels as if it is about to spontaneously combust. I used this in the middle of a lemon blueberry layer cake. That recipe is next up to be posted.

This curd is so good and doesn't use a double boiler, which is a good thing for me since all of my metal bowls, with the exception of one with a plastic shell and the one to my Kitchen Aid, disappeared when we moved two years ago and I keep forgetting to replace them. D'oh! I found myself using it as a dip with fresh strawberries this afternoon. I love this stuff!!!! It's great for between cake layers, filling cupcakes, trifles, toast, eating with a spoon... Just about anything works with a bit of curd. The name curd really sounds disgusting though huh? I believe something this tart, thick and luxurious deserves a better name!

For the curd you will need:
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/8 tsp salt

Zest and juice your lemons making sure no seeds get in. (add water to equal a 1/2 cup if lemons do not produce enough juice) Cream butter, sugar and zest. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in lemon juice and salt. Add everything to a 2 quart pan cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Refrigerate. Keeps up to two weeks.

Currently...

1. My bestie, who is honestly like my sister and my cousin who is my other bestie and also more like a sister and I went to see NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK and BOYZ II MEN and it was AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG!!! oh and 98° was there too, they were good but I never really got into them. We actually started screaming like 12 year old girls and dancing. We looked like idiots but then again so did every other woamn there. 'Cause you know, we were some of the younger people there. hahaha!!!!  We stayed out way passed out bed time and realized we are, in fact, old. You can tell how excited we were just to be out of the house in this picture.
(include them with my actual sisters and I have a lot of them... hmmmmm.... That's pretty awesome. Yep.)

2. Speaking of boy band awesomeness, the bestie made a NKOTB station on Pandora and told me I must. I may have made one on Pandora and iheartradio, you know, just to be thorough and stuff. Yeah, so... I've been dancing around the house to music I should be ashamed of liking . Even worse I know every single word. Don't judge. Fine, judge me. I don't care, I deserve it.

3. Speaking of amazing Pandora stations. My other new favorite station is a mixture of, Ben Harper, Prince, Bob Marley, Mumford and Sons, Bruno Mars, Jack Johnson and Weezer. Weird right? WRONG! Best. Station. Ever. Created.

4. I'm obsessed with Maxi Skirts right now. I foresee this being my first sewing project in years!

5. How cute is this project Monkey and I collaborated on for his Daddy??? I should point out I interviewed Caleb while he was in the bath (it is literally the only time I could get him to sit still) so that should explain the "My Daddy is best at..." section.

6. I may stop watching SNL now that Bill Hader has left. I mean, how can I carry on without my beloved Stefon??? 

7. I am dying to try this. Seriously honeysuckle syrup, people!!! That is a game changer!!! It's like my childhood in a jar y'all. So, can I come to your house and pick your honey suckle blossoms? I promise not to share my syrup. 

8. Also this is me in a color scheme. True story.

9. I've been planning a Dr. Seuss birthday party for the boys and I cannot stop looking up quotes! 

10. I see these in my future and this. This too. 

11. "Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate." That is my new motto. I have no clue who said it and I have tried multiple times to find out. No matter who said it first and no matter what their thoughts and beliefs are that may be the same as mine, or different, there is something so simple yet so important in this thought. This is an idea that seems foreign to us, all of us, today where everyone is scrutinizing everyone else's thoughts, beliefs, outfits, choices, blah, blah, blah. Off my soap box. Have a beautiful weekend!!! 

What's for dinner??? And other random stuff...

Some of these things aren't actually dinner, but whatever, who cares, I don't. Do you? Good, besides we ate them and they were delicious. These are things that I am either still tweaking the recipes or won't be blogging for one reason or another. I post these because often time I'll look at a recipe and don't follow it, I tweak things and put my own spin on it so, I post these pictures as a jumping off point for other people to get ideas. I also like to look back at them and get ideas for myself. 

California Chicken Burger
a chicken burger with teriyaki mushrooms, bacon, avocado, spinach and horseradish.
Sooooooo good!!!!

BBQ Chicken Nachos 

tortilla chips covered in shredded BBQ chicken, colby cheese, monterey jack cheese, jalapenos and sour cream. Not great for the diet but great for a pig out night in front of the TV with the honey.  

Chicken Tikka Masala

My old favorite, it's regular repeat around here.

Fish Tacos 

grilled tilapia with cumin and lime and friend in a taco shell served with honey lime slaw fresh mango and guacamole. I will post the recipe for this one day but I've yet to make them the same way twice. Once I master it I'll be sharing it. We eat these weekly in the summer. 

Homemade Tomato Soup and Gruyere and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese

Fudgy Chocolate Doughnut with Salted Caramel Glaze

Tweaking this recipe as well. These are wonderful but I'm nit quite satisfied.

Mango Oatmeal with Local Honey

Twisted Chicken and Waffles 

blueberry wholewheat waffles with coconut chicken and blueberry coconut syrup and candies bacon.

Sounds weird but was really very good.

Summer Salad 

mixed lettuce with turkey, white cheddar, mango and avocado and citrus vinaigrette  

Coconut Fudge Cupcakes

coconut cupcakes with fudge frosting and fresh coconut

Texas Sheet Cake

Now on to the other happening around here aka picture of my kids....

 My Monkey playing in the yard just before Spring.

 Bathtime snuggles with the Doodlebug

 Someone stole his brother's cracker and since has been eating table food only.

No more baby mush for this guy. 

My Hydrangea is blooming!!!!

Monkey has really been enjoying gardening with me aka digging for worms . He has been having conversations with them too. He can't seem to understand why they are scared of him.

Also gardening with a 3 year means dirt fights. I had bugs in my hair. Gross! Boys are gross! 

Honey Lemon Chicken Pitas

I cannot get enough of this chicken! I want to eat it everyday. I crave it all the time. I'm in love with this meal. For reals! It is so good that some of the sauce from the chicken was running down my arm and before I even realized what I was doing I licked my arm! Luckily for me Monkey was napping so I didn't have to do damage control in manners and the Mr. was so into his wrap he didn't notice. Doodlebug was the only one that caught me but he's got my back, he has no choice he can't talk yet.

This is super simple and tastes sinfully delicious. The only thing that can be tricky is that sometimes if you let the sauce thicken too long the chicken can become too dry. Once that sauce begins to thicken do not turn your back. 

Honey Lemon Chicken Wraps
(feeds 3 to 4)
3 chicken breast, thawed and diced
1 tablespoon Paprika
salt to taste
1 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup tablespoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha

Combine all ingredients in a bowl toss and marinate 30 minutes.  In a large skillet bring to a medium high heat pour everything into the pan. Once sauce begins to bubble turn down to medium heat and cook until sauce has thickened.
Serve on pita or in a whole wheat wrap with guacamole spinach and tomato.
**I like a tad bit of sour cream on mine however the Mr. not so much a fan of the sour cream.