Oh hey blog, how've you been?

So I've been away for awhile if it hasn't been obvious and this is why...

{baby etta at 3 months}

My little one hit 4 months on christmas and we just love her so darn much!! Isn't she cute?! We love life, even though it's a little too busy to include a blog. I have made a few new years resolutions and one of them is to spend more time in the kitchen and less time at fast food; so you should see a few more recipes up here! More updates will come shortly.. for now, happy new years!!!

Makin Banana Pancakes :)

I love pancakes, it's a bit of a weakness actually. Generally in the morning though, I have a little more willpower than the rest of the day so I eat somewhat healthy, and if I have time to make breakfast, I try and stay away from gluten (since my poor tummy doesn't do well with it). So, long story short, I found red mill's gluten free mix, tried it, and loved it! So here you go..

Gluten free Banana Pancakes



How I make these wonderful things...
Follow the instructions for the pancakes on the package. Have ready (for one batch, which serves about 4, so 8 large pancakes)

2 bananas sliced in 1/4 inch ish rounds,
brown sugar, and
chopped pecans or walnuts if you are the nut type :) and also,
you can add ground flax meal to the top (not necessary, but we didn't have nuts, and I love flax)

On a skillet, griddle, pan, whatever you use to do pancakes normally, over medium heat, butter your pan and pour on 4 good size pancakes. Let cook for about a minute and then work quickly. Place between 5-7 banana slices on the top of each pancake and push in just slightly. I usually put one in the middle and do a circle around that, just for aesthetics. Sprinkle brown sugar with your fingers or spoon on top of the pancakes. Sprinkle, nuts, and or flax as well. Once you feel the bottom portion of the pancake is done.. flip! You will want to make sure your pan isn't too hot, burnt pancakes are just the worst. The sugar side can burn easily if it's too hot. Cook for a minute or two until you feel the pancake portion is done, not doughy, and that's it! If you can make pancakes, you can make banana pancakes. But if you tend to suck at pancakes, I don't really know what to tell you :) Good luck!
Also, you can use any pancake mix or recipe. I have a from scratch recipe I used to use before the gluten issues came up, and I can't find it, so I couldn't put it in the post.. but I'll find it one of these days.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, drizzle with syrup, top with butter, go nuts! Add more fruit, whipped cream, however you love your pancakes.



Happy weekend breakfast everyone!


Here's the mix, in case you want to look into it. Red mill is an amazing brand for gluten free and just healthy products in general by the way. Most health food stores carry their line of products (stores like safeway only have a few things). We use red mill's pancake mix, quinoa, quinoa flour, oat flour, flax meal, etc. Locally, I know raley's has a large selection of their products, actually all of them.
Again, happy weekend!
with love,
kristin ann :)

hello old friend

yes, I'm an awful blogger. what do you want me say? I'm sorry :)

Life has been a little busy. I have just about enough time to throw up an update on facebook here and there and just hope that fam and friends see me there, but... I know not all my fam and friends do the facebook thing. Also, I feel terrible that I don't take pretty pictures of my food to share anymore. I know I've gained most of my followers through my recipes, but I'm making a promise, one day soon, things will change. Morning sickness is no longer a problem. School, still stressful, but I just need to get into my schedule and things will settle down.

News...

It's a girl!! We've known for about a month now, and I'm just now getting around to posting. I put up our adorable little ultrasounds on facebook and thought I would do the same here. Normally I'm not a very personal person on this here blog, at least the day to day.. I like to share the big news and the happy stuff.. but babies are the only things on my mind these days! If it's not babies, it's school, so that my babies can have a mom with an education and hopefully some awesome nursing skills later on in life (also a nurses salary wouldn't hurt). And then when I'm not trying to organize all our baby clothes we're trying to figure out where to live, which is just another stress ball we're trying to climb over. But, all is good :)

Here's a few of the pictures of our sweet little pea.
(from our 16 week ultrasound.. I'm at 21 weeks now!!)

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend !

with love,

kristin ann :)

Happy Valentine's Day =)

{not my belly but isn't it soooo cute! I found it Valentine's day appropriate}

{there's our little peanut!! we think "he" looks like charlie brown ;)}

Sorry I've been away from the blog everybody!! But I'm back!!
Yes it is true.. I'm expecting! We're so excited for this little bundle of joy you have no idea. The morning/all day sickness is starting to fade, so I just might be stepping into the kitchen again soon to make some things a little more challenging than toast :) Also, now that I don't have this little secret always on my mind, I don't feel like I'm telling a fib when I give updates.

2011 updates for the Martin and Kristin Murray family:

We are both in the middle of winter quarter at Cal State East Bay and having a heck of a time getting all our homework done! If only we didn't like to spend so much time together ;)
We are currently 14 weeks along (woooowhoooo!) and anxiously awaiting this little one that will be arriving somewhere around August 14th.

I am doing a lot better this week, even though I still carry around saltines with me at all times.
Next quarter I will finish up my prereqs for nursing and I will be school free for the first year of our little one's life (I apply in the fall, if I get accepted I will be going the following fall... which is when Martin should just be graduating! We're planners over here in the Murray house)
We will most likely find out the sex of the babe.. not positive yet.
And we are having a fabulous year! We hit 1 year of being married in January and it's been a wonderful wonderful married life. I couldn't ask for more in a husband and from what I hear, he's pretty happy too :)

Thanks for hanging in there with me everybody.. this is gonna be a fun year!

with love,

Kristin Ann :)

{p.s. I am so madly in love with my husband Martin Murray. I could not be happier with where I am in life and where we are in our relationship!}

i am baker

So I know that I haven't been baking much, it's sad for me too. But, I still have some yummy things to share with you. This is a blog I found through foodgawker I believe, and I just love it! The site is called "i am baker" and it's fabulous. She makes the most amazing sugar cookie designs ever, and of course, amazing cakes as well! Check her out, book mark her, visit on holidays.. all that. Enjoy :)

Too cute, huh?? Well I hope everyone has a wonderful thursday! There's a 3 day weekend coming up!!

with love,
kristin ann

CandyCane Cheesecake

*the great thing about doing a cheesecake in a 9x13 or on a cookie sheet, is that it not only cooks faster and more even, but you don't have to do it 2 or 3 days ahead of time. My vote now goes to cheesecake bars, instead of your typical cheesecake.

chocolate shortbread cookie crust:

1 c. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. powdered cocoa
3/4 c. flour

Cream butter, sugar, and cocoa in a mixer until completely combined, make sure to scrap the bottom of the bowl. Add flour, and mix until combined. In a buttered 9 by 13 pan (or bigger if you have it) press dough evenly on the bottom of the pan.
Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Because you cannot see a golden color, you just want to make sure that it looks as if it is cooked, and not a cough dough texture anymore.


Cheesecake filling:

24 ounces of cream cheese (3 boxes)
¾ c. sugar
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
¼ t. salt
1 c. sour cream
a few drops of peppermint extract (to taste)
1/2 c. crushed peppermint candies (I like the ones that melt in your mouth, not the hard candycane ones)

Topping:
2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
crushed peppermint candies, and whole candies

Cream the sugar and cream cheese in a mixer or with beaters. Add one egg at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl after every egg. When completely combined (it is very important that you have no lumps, so the first few steps are crucial) add vanilla salt and sour cream. Mix until smooth. Add peppermint extract and candies, if you want more flavor, add a few more drops. Pour filling into crust, smooth out top.

Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes at 330 degrees. It can be tricky to know when the cheesecake is done. The top should lose it's wet luster and have a dull look to it and it should be set. Check at the 1 hour mark first, if it is starting to crack or brown, turn the temp down to 300. Add the 2 cups of sour cream mixed with the sugar to the top of the cheesecake. Be careful to only add small spoonfulls at a time as to not break to the top. Smooth out and bake for another 10 minutes. Make sure you place on a rack for an hour or so before placing in the fridge. You should keep the cheesecake refrigerated for at least 24 hours before serving.

Decorate with the crushed candies, and chocolate sauce.. you know, if you like chocolate :)

I hope the directions make sense. I took most of the instructions from my basic cheesecake, and then made the adjustments for the chocolate crust and candycane filling. Normally I put the candycane crumbs on before serving, but I put it on a few hours earlier, and so it somewhat dissolved, hence the pink/red layer over the top. It turned out kind of pretty.

just a little fun!

I am almost done with the quarter! I just can't wait to not be bogged down by school work, and have time to cook and do fun things again. In the mean time, I thought I would share something. Glee isn't for everyone, but how can you not love the songs!! Usually I don't cry while watching t.v. or movies, but I teared up in this episode if you can believe. The ones getting married in the seen are parents of kids in the glee club, and they have both lost their spouses (so already emotional for me) and they've fallen in love and are getting married. Anywho, this song has been stuck in my head since last week, I just love it so much! And it's a recent song, which is the amazing thing, I thought for sure it was an newer rendition of an older song. Enjoy!