Desserts.

Here's a few keepers from the last couple of months.

Strawberry Crumble. 
We went berry picking a couple of weekends ago, and the strawberries we brought back were absolutely the sweetest, ripest, juiciest berries I've ever eaten! I froze a bunch for smoothies, made this, my favorite jam, and strawberry shortcake. And we will probably be going back to the patch again because it was so incredibly delicious! 

Crumble:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. oats
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, melted

Filling:
2 c. strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix the first seven ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix strawberries, additional sugar and lemon juice. Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan. pour strawberry mixture on top and finish with the remaining oat mix. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.


Strawberry Shortcake

Filling:
3 c. strawberries, halved
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. orange juice
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice

Cakes:
1 1/4 c. flour
3 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 T chilled butter
1/2 c. buttermilk

Whipped cream

Combine strawberries, sugar, OJ, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher. Refrigerate.

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Add in buttermilk and stir until mixed. Turn dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out and cut into squares. place 1" apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

Stack shortcakes, strawberries, and whipped cream in layers and serve.


Earl Grey Tea Cookies
These were a total surprise to me! They are SO good! I'm planning to make them for a baby shower in a couple of weeks. They can also be made vegan just by using vegan butter instead of regular!

2 c, all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. salt
2 T Earl Grey Tea (about 4 bags worth)
6 ounces butter/vegan butter
2 t vanilla
1 T vanilla soy milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a food processor (or by hand if you don't have one like me)! Add in butter, vanilla and milk and continue to process (ahem, stir) until dough becomes slightly sticky. Roll into a log and place in plastic or parchment. Chill for 30 minutes to an hour. Cut into cookies and bake at 375 for 10 minutes.


Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
The name pretty much says it all. 

Cookies:
1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 c. flour
1/2 c. chocolate chips, melted

Icing:
1/2 c. butter
2 T cocoa
3 T milk
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Mix butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in egg vanilla and combine. Mix flour, salt and powder together in a separate bowl and gradually add them into the wet mixture. Finally, add in the melted chocolate chips. Shape into cookies on an ungreased cookie tray and bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes.

While baking, make the icing by melting the butter and adding int he cocoa and milk. Stir in the powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. When cookies are done, pour icing over cookies. Allow to cool before eating.


Brown Sugar Cookies
Holy Schnikes, I may never make regular sugar cookies again! 

2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. butter, melted,
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. granulated sugar (optional - for rolling)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Add in egg and vanilla, then slowly add in dry ingredients. Chill for 2 hours.

Roll cookies in sugar if desired, then bake at 325 for 8-9 minutes.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
Possibly the most fattening, delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth. And SO simple to make!

1 stick butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. flour
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. heavy cream

Mix the butter, brown sugar and vanilla together. Alternate adding in the flour and sweetened condensed milk. When combined, add in 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips. Chill for 2 hours. In a microwave or on the stove, melt remaining cup of chocolate chips and heavy cream together. Pour ganache over bars and spread evenly. Let chill another 2 hours before serving.

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Winter Made Me Do It.

It snowed some more. And we all got a cold. Samuel has been testing us a TON -I think, because he is bored and tired of being trapped inside (just like his momma!). So all in all, not our favorite week ever.

Some good has come of it though. We've tried some new recipes, Samuel has said some funny things, and I did accomplish a fitness goal. I'll dedicate this post to recipes. ;-)

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
Easy and yummy!

1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 T. garlic powder
1 egg
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
(the recipe also calls for some lemon zest, but I omitted that).

Mix ingredients together, roll into balls, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Molten Cake
Gnam Gnam. 

3/4 c. butter
12 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 c. heavy cream
5 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. flour

Melt butter, cream and chocolate chips together until smooth when stirred. Add in eggs, then sugar and flour. Pour into greased (buttered) cupcake pan and let cool for one hour, up to one day.

Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes, until the outsides are set. The inside should still be a little runny. Let cool 3-5 minutes before serving.

Eggless Pancakes
For the days you plan to make fish, but the grocery store doesn't get any in since it snowed. So your husband requests pancakes, but you have no pancake mix. Or eggs. Or even bananas (which seem to be a popular pancake base). Man, I am thankful for Pinterest!

1 1/4 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 T sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. water

Mix it up... Make pancakes. ;-)

I've also made multiple attempts at the perfect brownie. I've made some pretty darn good ones, but still nothing that lines up with the Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate boxed mix. I *will* figure out their secret one day (artifical flavors?).

I also made granola, some more banana bread, a few batches of banana oatmeal (my favorite breakfast!), and some homemade chicken alfredo and a sausage and rice casserole - they were both good, basically just meat and veggies in a white sauce, so nothing I can't come up with again.

There were also a few batches of Cowboy cookies and no-bake cookies in there....

Can you tell I have a cooking/baking problem?

Recipes. A Lot of Them.

I've been on a serious cooking/baking spree lately. I blame it on Eric working a ton. It's really not good, because the more I cook/bake, the more I eat. I have no self control. Thank goodness I run.

Here's some favorites from the last few weeks:

Parmesan Zucchini & Corn
Eric thinks I'm silly for making this like 3 times this week. It's just so easy and good!

1 T olive oil
1 clove minced garlic (or garlic powder if you're lazy like me!)
1-2 zucchini, diced
1 c. corn (I used frozen, but you can probably do canned/fresh/roasted if you prefer)
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
2 Tbsp. parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
(The recipe also recommended lime juice and cilantro, but I wasn't diggin' that).

Heat olive oil in skillet and add garlic and zucchini. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, then add corn. Once cooked through, add remaining spices, finishing with cheese when removed from heat. Serve warm.

The Best Scones 
I made cranberry white chocolate chocolate chip versions. They were equally fabulous. I'm obsessed with scones. 

2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. cold butter, cut into pats
2 eggs
1/2-2/3 c. half and half or cream
Additions - chocolate chips, cranberries, etc.

Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk or half & half
Any additional flavors (I added orange juice for the white chocolate cranberry scones and vanilla for the chocolate chips ones).

Mix flour, sugar, powder and alt together. Cut butter in until a coarse mixture forms. Add in eggs, cream and additions. Scrape dough onto a well-floured surface and roll out, then cut into triangles. Place the pan uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. While baking, prepare icing by mixing together all ingredients until smooth (Pour the sugar into the wet ingredients graduatlly) and top immediately upon removing from oven.



Cinnamon Crumble Banana Bread
The actual bread recipe was average, but the crumb topping was one of the best I've tried! 

1 egg
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk (or you can just add 2 tsp. vinegar to regular milk and let it sit for 5-10 mins)
2 bananas, mashed
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon

Crumb topping:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. flour
4 T butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Beat together sugar, egg, butter and vanilla until fully blended. Add in buttermilk and bananas. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, powder and cinnamon. Gradually mix into wet ingredients. Pour into a bread pan. Combine all crumb topping ingredients and sprinkle over bread mixture. Bake 40-50 minutes at 350.

Veggie Bites
These were so easy, and I couldn't believe my child actually ate them! Like, a TON of them! I just told him they were cheese balls. ;-) I thought they were pretty good too!

1 bag frozen/steamed cauliflower and broccoli, cooked and cut small
1/3 c. Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
2/3 c. shredded cheese.

Mix all the ingredients together and form into balls. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes on a greased or foil lined cookie tray. Makes about 20 bites. 

No Bake Bars with Coconut Oil
This is just a healthier version of regular no-bake cookies - honey instead of sugar and coconut oil instead of butter! Yum! 
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. honey
2 c. oats
1/4 c. dried cranberries or nuts
1 c. chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
(Can also add shredded coconut if desired)

Melt peanut butter, coconut oil, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. remove from heat and add in chocolate chips, then oats, vanilla and berries/nuts/coconut. Pour into a greased pan and cool in the fridge. Cut into bars and enjoy!


Chipotle Maple Sweet Potato Burgers
I thought these were really good, but Eric didn't go for them, so they got moved to my "So-So" list on Pinterest. That being said, I would totally make them again for just me. I thought it was a fun and filling vegan/vegetarian dish! 

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1/4 c. pecans
2 T nutritional yeast
2 T ground flax seed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 T maple syrup
8 hamburger buns

With a fork, poke several holes in sweet potatoes. Microwave in a glass bowl for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Remove and allow to cool. While sweet potatoes are cooking, cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent and fragrant. In a large bowl, add oats, pecans, nutritional yeast, flax seed, salt, chipotle powder and black pepper. Gradually mix in onion mixture. Remove the skins from the cooled sweet potatoes and mash them, then mix them into the bowl. Finally, add in maple syrup.

Grease a cookie sheet well or line with parchment paper (you may want to grease that too!). Form the dough into patties and bake at 400 for 45 minutes, turning the patties halfway through. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving on hamburger buns with BBQ sauce.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
These could potentially be made fluffier with the addition of an egg white - I'm going to play with the recipe a bit more. They were pretty darn good, though! 
2 1/2 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls, then gradually mix dry ingredients into wet. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 for an additional 10-15 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before enjoying. 


I've also tried a handful of other recipes that didn't turn out very well at all. I think that's enough for now though. :-)

Fish!

I'll keep this brief, but, basically, for the first time ever, I made a fish recipe that we actually enjoyed! In fact, Eric took his fork to the pan afterwards and ate every last bite of what was left over. That happens... well, it pretty much never happens.

So, before I forget, here is the recipe that was very appropriately titled:

"The Very Best Fish Recipe Ever"
3/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
1/3 c. butter + more for greasing the dish
1/4 c. mayo
3 tbsp. lemon juice (I just squeezed one lemon)
1/4 c. green onion (I used more like 1/3)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dill, optional (I left it out)
2 dashes tobasco sauce
2 lbs. boneless, skinless fish (I used cod and just a little over a pound. We're poor.)

Pre-heat broiler and grease baking dish with butter. Arrange fish in a single layer in dish and broil for 8-10 minutes. While fish is broiling, make sauce by mixing together cheese, butter, mayo, lemon juice, green onion, salt, pepper, dill and tobasco. When fish is flaky, remove from oven and spread sauce on top (it will be pretty thick before going in the oven). Broil for 4-5 more minutes until sauce is lightly browned. 

Yum. :-)

Spinach & Onion Strata + Avocado Cookies

I should really write about something else but... well, I love food. (For what it's worth, I have been crafting/working a lot around the house, I just don't feel those types of projects are worth writing about without pictures and I'm terrible about remembering to take pictures!)

Spinach & Onion Strata
I made this for our church group this morning and it was a total hit! I prepared it last night and then just popped in the oven this morning. Easy, no-hassle - a great brunch option!

1/4 c. butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pkg. spinach (I used Fresh Express, 5 oz)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
dash of nutmeg
1 loaf French bread, torn into pieces
6 oz. Gruyere, shredded
2 oz. Parmesan, shredded
7 eggs
1-1/2 c. milk

Melt butter in a pan and add onion. Cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes, then add spinach and cook until wilted. Arrange torn bread around a 2-1/2 quart baking dish and pour spinach mixture on top. Top with half of cheese. Scramble eggs and milk together and add in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour egg mixture over bread and vegetables and top with remaining cheese. Let chill overnight. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until set.

Avocado Cookies
Okay, these were a little different, but Samuel loved them and I ate a few myself. They've got an extremely rich, creamy chocolaty flavor. Just beware of too much avocado (I won't go into details. ;-) Next time I will only serve one a day!

3/4 c. of avocado, mashed - I used about 3 small ones.
1/2 c. sugar/coconut sugar/honey
1 egg
1/2 c. dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
A handful of chocolate chips or chunks

Put the avocado, sugar and egg in a food processor and mix together. Add in cocoa and baking soda. Remove and stir in chocolate. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. All to cool, then store in the refrigerator.

Sweet Potato Chili & (Crockpot!) Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

A new year often brings a new fervor to accomplish things. In my case it's been a fervor for cooking healthier meals. It probably should be keeping my house a little cleaner (though I have been on an organizing spree). One thing at a time though.

This week I've made two yummy veggie-filled dishes that were both fairly quick and painless. They'll both definitely be appearing again soon! I may try to lessen the meat and replace with lentils at some point. I don't know if my husband will stand for that though. Baby steps, right? :-D

Sweet Potato Chili

I combined a couple of recipes for this and didn't measure super well... as always. It was good though! 

1 lb ~ish of hamburger meat, preferably lean and grass-fed (but if you're broke like me - use what you have!)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled
3-4 carrots, peeled
1-2 squash/zucchini (I didn't bother to peel that)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp - 1/4 c. chili powder
1-2 tsp. cumin
1-2 tsp. oregano
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (if desired)
EVOO

Brown hamburger meat. While it's browning, grate or dice sweet potato, carrots and squash (I grated it until my hand hurt, then diced the rest. Because I'm lazy like that).

When the meat is browned, remove from pan. Squirt a tablespoon or two of EVOO into the pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until turning translucent, then add in the other veggies. Cook for 3-4 more minutes, then add in tomatoes and spices and return meat to the pan. Let it all simmer together for about 30 minutes. You may need to add an additional 1/2 c. or so of water (or more tomato sauce or V8 or something if you prefer) to keep the consistency.

Serve with grated cheese and crackers. Yum!


Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs

This was yummy, healthy, and best of all - a crockpot meal! This was by far my favorite spaghetti squash meal yet! 

1 large spaghetti squash
1/2-3/4 lb. ground hamburger meat (depending on how many meatballs you want)
1 egg
1/3 c. breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. minced onion
Spaghetti sauce of your choice

Put the spaghetti sauce in the crockpot and turn to low. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds, then place face down in the sauce. Make your meatballs by mixing hamburger meat, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese and onion in a bowl. Roll into balls and either place in the crockpot, or, if there's not enough room, bake on a cookie sheet in the oven @ 350 for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for later (this is what I did).

Let the squash cook for 5-6 hours, then scoop out and top with sauce and meatballs!

Banana Bread(s)

I'm a pretty big fan of banana bread. It's easy to make, I almost always have the ingredients on hand, and you can add extra fruits and veggies to it really easily to make it semi-healthy.

I'm really really terrible about measuring out ingredients and doing things exactly the same every time. Every baked good needs a flour, a fat, a sweetener and a binder. I usually just try to keep these things in proportion and roll with it from there.

Here's kind of a basic outline of what I do for banana bread and some variations.

Basic Banana Bread
2-3 mashed bananas
1/3 c. maple syrup or maple/agave blend
1/4-1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. applesauce
1/3 c. oil or butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour (I usually do half wheat and half white, or sometimes use some bread flour for the white)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

I also like to add:
3/4 c. oats
1/4 c. flaxseed

Mix all the wet ingredients then add in the dry, bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes and you have some yummy banana goodness. ;-) 

Now, as I mentioned I am not a stickler for measuring or following a recipe to a tee. I like to mix it up. I usually just eyeball... pretty much all of my measurements these days.

I also rarely make plain banana bread. Adding in other fruits and veggies not only makes it a little "healthier," but also more moist.

My three favorite add-ins are grated zucchini, carrot (usually a whole one of each), and crushed pineapple (I do 1/4-1/2 cup). I've also added in vanilla yogurt before and that's really tasty too!

Other add-ins include cinnamon/nutmeg, walnuts, chocolate chips, cocoa (1/3 c. in the mix makes it good and chocolaty - just add some milk too if it makes it too dry), and peanut butter. The possibilities are endless. ;-)

Sweet Potato Muffins/Bread

I've mentioned before that, since Pinterest came into my life, my original idea of food blogging has kind of fallen to the wayside. I really have been quite the cooking/baking junkie lately, though, so I've been thinking that perhaps I should revitalize my food blogging.

Like yesterday, I just had to bake something. Being the week after Christmas, I still felt like a blimp from all the junk food I'd been cooking/baking/eating. So I decided to make something healthy-ish that I wouldn't feel awful feeding to my kid. Plus I really really am trying to incorporate more vegetables and whole foods into our diet.

I had a sweet potato, which seemed like a good base for a muffin. I found a couple of Pinterest recipes, took what I liked/had from each one, and this is what I came up with:

Sweet Potato Muffins
1 mashed sweet potato (I poked holes in it and cooked it in the microwave for 5 minutes, then peeled and mashed)
2 eggs
1/3 c. maple/agave blend
1/3 c. applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. coconut milk
1 c. oats
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. flax seed (definitely not required, I threw it in just because.;-)
1 box raisins

I mixed all the wet ingredients together, then the dry, then poured the dry into the wet and voila! Muffin mix. I was out of cooking spray, so I melted a tablespoon of butter in the bottom of a bread pan, then poured the batter in and baked it at 350 for 45 minutes or so.

It's not the most amazing thing I've ever eaten, but it's pretty healthy, and we all had some for breakfast and were happy to have seconds. So I can't complain. I may try some banana in it next time too (I didn't have any on hand yesterday). All in all, not a bad dish!

Gnam Gnam.

Does anyone else have a serious baking addiction? I really have tried to back off multiple times. I have yet to be successful.

These two things are at least sort of healthy-ish? And easy. And quick. 

Banana Bake

Um, so easy, you don't even need a recipe! Cut up a banana, put it on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Dab some honey on and then sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Pop that bad boy in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes and you have some amazing banana-y goodness. It was like a sopapilla. With bananas. You're welcome. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Once again, E-A-S-Y.

1 c. peanut butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. cocoa

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all that stuff up and roll the dough into balls on a cookies sheet. 350 for 10 minutes and you have some gluten-free Reese's-esque deliciousness ready to eat. Oh, and I threw in some chocolate chips for good measure. You know, just to be sure they were chocolatey enough. 

Why can't I be addicted to salad or something? 

Cake.

I wish I had a lot of good stuff to say about Eric's birthday this year. I don't. It was kind of miserable all around. We had to have a part replaced on the car we are trying to sell in order for it to pass inspection, so I spent the day running (literally) back and forth between the mechanic and the hospital parking garage and the Y and our house. It was no fun.

 Eric had to work late and was crazy busy all day and forgot it was even his birthday. And the people coming to look at our car showed up an hour early - when I was on my way to pick up Eric from work since I took his car - and he ended up walking home from work. I felt horrible. And they didn't even buy the car.

So at almost 8 pm we decided to "celebrate" with Five Guys and cake - the one birthday thing I successfully accomplished.

Okay, the pictures aren't great, and this cake wasn't beautiful. But I was really proud of it and it tasted really good!! I got the inspiration for it from a pin I found on Pinterest for a "vintage cake" - a white cake with a brownie bottom. Eric's more of a chocolate cake fan, and the actual cake recipe on the site didn't sound like something I really wanted to make/eat. But I went with the general idea of a brownie-bottom with white icing, and I think it turned out really well!

Layer #1 - Brownie. I used a packaged mix for this because it was available, but think I'll try homemade next time. It's kind of hard to make brownies keep a perfectly round shape like cakes, so I ended up kind of molding the brownie into the shape I wanted with my (clean) hands. With the other layers on top, you totally couldn't tell, and it still tasted delish.

Layer #2 - Chocolate sauce. There are a few different ways to go about this. I made sauce using maple syrup and cocoa, and thought it was amazing. You can also do sweetened condensed milk and cocoa, or, of course, just buy some chocolate sauce.

Layer #3 - Chocolate cake from scratch. Here's the recipe I (approximately) followed. It's the second time I've made it and it is fab-u-lous.

- 1 3/4 c. flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 c. cocoa powder
- 2 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1/4 c. oil
- 1 c. hot coffee
- 1 c. buttermilk (I put 1 tsp. vinegar in a cup of milk and let it sit - very similar flavor!)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together all the dry ingredients except the sugar. Combine butter, oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients. Slowly mix in buttermilk and coffee. Batter will be extremely runny. Bake in a greased round pan at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. 

Layer #4 - Vanilla icing. I may try this from scratch next time too, but I was pretty crunched for time and had a baby involved here, so I just used my favorite Betty Crocker icing. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than that.

Layer #5 - White cake from scratch. I was a little worried about this part and actually bought a box mix as back up, but this is the first white cake recipe I found that I really really enjoyed. It will definitely be making an appearance again!

- 5 egg whites
- 3/4 c. whole milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 1/2 c. cake flour
- 1 3/4 c. sugar
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. butter, room temperature

Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine egg whites, milk and vanilla. Slow stir in dry ingredients. Add in butter. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. 

Layer # 6 - A healthy dose of vanilla icing over it all! I should have bought an extra can of icing. One just wasn't quite enough to cover two thick cakes and a brownie layer (not to mention the icing between the cakes). The lack of icing made it look not-so-pretty. But trust me, it tasted beautiful.


And while I'm on the subject of cakes, I also made my first diaper cake this week. It wasn't amazing or anything, but I thought it turned out okay considering I had NO clue what I was doing!

Domestic goddess?? Perhaps (NOT!). ;-) 

Clean Eating: Cheesy Chicken Soup

So I don't have a ton of time before S wakes up from nap, but I just had to put in a quick blurb about my dinner for tonight: a clean eating version of our favorite cheesy chicken soup!

Eric's mom gave me this recipe several years ago and it is SUPER delicious! Unfortunately, it calls for Velveeta as well as a few cans of cream of chicken soup, two things I've cut out of our diet over the last year or two.

Luckily, I figured out how to improvise. Instead of Velveeta, I used a block of cream cheese and a bag of shredded cheddar & pepper jack. The cream of chicken soup got swapped for a white sauce I use in a lot of recipes - a stick of melted butter, 6 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 c. of chicken broth and 1/2 c. of milk boiled for about 5 minutes.

Toss it in the crockpot with some shredded chicken, 2 c. broth, some corn (I used frozen, not canned) and some Rotel (okay, one canned item!) and some brown rice, and you have a scrumptious dinner! I taste tested a little bit ago, and, I have to say, it's pretty darn close to the real thing!

So here's to happy, cleaner eating! Woo hoo!

Turkey Day + Thankful List 2013

Thanksgiving was definitely different this year. We've spent several Thanksgivings here in Winston now. A few were spent with friends, a couple by ourselves. This is the first time, however, that Eric's had to work on Thanksgiving. All. Stinkin. Day (6 am-7 pm. Boo). I was pretty disappointed when I found out he had to work, though I should have been expecting it. It just doesn't feel much like a holiday when you're home alone with a baby and everything is closed so you can't go anywhere.

Thankfully, I had a few friends who were in the same boat (darn hospital!) who came over to hang out with us Thanksgiving morning and watch the parade/eat cinnamon rolls. Instead of having a sad morning feeling sorry for myself and missing my husband and family, I got to enjoy time with new friends and old, visiting and laughing (and watching my kid learn to walk!). It was really nice. :-)

Then the afternoon was, of course, spent cooking. I made way way way too much food. It was really fun, though, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner when Eric finally made it home. Our dinner looked something like this:

I just got a little three pound turkey breast. I've done that the last few years, and it always turns out really moist and delicious and gives us just enough food for that day + two sets of leftovers. I kind of do my own adaptation of things, but I've generally followed the guidelines on this website and my turkey has turned out great every time (including when I've made a full-sized one).

I also made roasted maple-glazed sweet potatoes, potatoes au gratin, dressing (okay, that was just a pepperidge farm mix + some celery and onion, but still good!) and my (almost famous?) corn casserole, plus some gravy, rolls, and a chocolate pie for dessert.

Even Samuel enjoyed a little of everything! Except the pie. No pie for babies.

Anyway, it ended up being a really nice evening. I originally planned on going out Black Friday (Thursday?) shopping that night, but by the time we finished eating and cleaned up, all the stores were already well past opening. I opted to just go Friday morning with Sam-Man. It was super cold, but I actually had a lot of fun getting him out to check out the deals. People are a lot nicer on Black Friday when you have a baby too. Just in case anyone was wondering. ;-)

Anyway, 2013 has been a HUGE year and I have more to be thankful for than I can actually begin to list here, but here's the top 10 thankful list for 2013 (okay, maybe just the first 10 that come to mind)!

1. As always, I am forever thankful for Christ, for His sacrifice, for the freedom that we have in Him. I can't imagine who or where I would be without Him guiding me!

2. I'm so thankful for Eric! He has always been an amazing husband, but this year he has gone the extra mile in being there for me as I finished out my pregnancy, gave birth to our sweet boy, got up countless times in the middle of the night and dealt with learning how to be parents. Not mention him interviewing and matching for residency, finishing medical school, and starting the hardest job he'll ever have. He's been amazingly strong and supportive through all of it, and I am SO grateful that He's mine!

3. Of course I'm thankful for my sweet little Samuel. He's brought more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined! He's funny and loving and such a ham... not to mention a great sleeper! :-) I love him to pieces!

4. Our families. Even though we live far away, we've still gotten to see them a lot all things considered. I'm so grateful to have two sets of God-fearing families who are understanding of our crazy life.

5. Eric's job. It's kind of a love-hate thing, but I really am so grateful that Eric has a good job that he enjoys, even if the hours are ridiculous. And I'm so grateful that his working has allowed me to (for the most part) stay at home with Samuel this year. I'm also glad that it caused us to stay in Winston, because, even though I didn't think that's what I wanted, I can't imagine living anywhere else right now!

6. My (little) job. It's not much, but I feel like working a few hours a week has done a lot to maintain my sanity. It's really crazy how everything worked out, too - I didn't go seeking this. God just provided a job, a great preschool all in one fell swoop, reminding me that He really is in control! :-)

7. Our church (and freedom to worship there)! Calvary is not at all what we were looking for in a church when we moved here four years ago, but I'm so glad it's where we ended up! I'm grateful to have a place where we receive sound biblical teaching and encouragement and have friends to share it with.

8. Skype/Face Time/iPhone. As mentioned before, our family lives a long way away. I'm so glad we have technology that we can still see each other and they can watch our sweet boy grow!

9. Our house! Once again, buying our home was a 100% God thing. I had a long list of things I wanted in a house. Things I didn't really think we would find in Ardmore in our price range. But we found our house, and it had every.single.thing. It may be small and it's not very fancy, but I love it and I love that it's ours. (I also love that I found out after we moved that the landlady we considered signing another lease with was NUTS. Dodged a bullet there)!

10. Running/Health. I'll combine these two together. I'm so grateful to have had 26 (almost 27 - eek!) healthy years and that I've been able to run/get back in shape after having Samuel. A few minor health issues this year have reminded me that I seriously take for granted all that I'm able to do!

And I'll go ahead and add one more too... 11. Friends! Where would I have been this year without all of our sweet sweet friends, new and old? Helping after Samuel was born, encouraging us as new parents and with new jobs, watching our kid so we could have date nights, being there when we were thrilled and disappointed and dealing with so much change. We are so grateful that, even though our family is far away, we have such wonderful people to share our lives with!

Okay, this post is long enough. I'll add pictures later. Happy very belated Thanksgiving!

When life hands you lemons...

Make lemonade.

And when you're stuck at home because your kid is running a fever for three days straight (ugh.), make Pinterest projects!

Poor Samuel got his first fever last week. It was weird, because he didn't really have any other symptoms. He's had a few little things going on for a week or two that I thought were because of teething, but then Wednesday he got a low-grade fever and Thursday it spiked up to around 102. It got better with Tylenol/Advil, but every time we let the meds wear off, it spiked back up and he got into super-grouchy-inconsolable mode. Sad.

Anyway, I tried to make some use of my time at home. I had a lot of plans this weekend, most of which got cancelled. Bummer. So instead I pulled up some pins I'd been wanting to try and went to town.

Cajun Chicken Pasta -- I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while, but finally got around to it Thursday night. It was sooo good! The recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes, but I swapped them out for some tomato paste since sun-dried tomatoes are super-pricey. It tasted akin to something I've had a Carrabba's a few times. Definitely a keeper!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
4 ounces pasta, cooked al dente
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half milk and half whipping cream)
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I used tomato paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through. Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

 Art Work - I made this in Word and printed it, then stuck it in a dollar store frame. I really like it and may re-do it on photo stock. Easy playroom art work!

Vanilla Candle in Coffee Beans - It does smell really good! I haven't tried burning it yet, so it hasn't been super strong, but I love the smell of coffee when I walk in the door. :-)

DIY Sensory Bag -- This was fun while it lasted. Sweet boy chewed a hole in it after about 5-10 minutes. Good thing I colored the water with Jello powder. Just what he needed, right? haha.

Project Board - This is still a work-in-progress and will probably get re-done when Eric has time to help me with it. Samuel really likes it so far though!

I definitely did a lot of lounging around too. (Notice most of these projects are not super intensive :-) 

Little man seems to be feeling better today, though, so hopefully we can get back to life as normal! 

Yumminess.

I haven't posted much about food the last year or two since Pinterest came into my life. It's pretty much a home cook's never-ending recipe book. I love love love it.

The only bad thing about Pinterest is that it makes it a little difficult to sift through which recipes are really good and which ones are just ho-hum. I have the ones I like organized a certain way, but everyone has their own method of organization (or none at all), making it difficult to know if a recipe someone posts is actually worth the time and effort. There's also the risk that the website attached to a pin will eventually become obsolete.

That being said, I figure it's worthwhile to go ahead and record for my own sake the recipes that are definite keepers. And, by posting them via blog, they have the Christie Yates stamp of approval. So you should probably try them too. :-) (Also, I may have posted about a few of these before... can't remember for sure!)

Chicken Taquitos

So I actually combined two recipes for this one. I baked these little boogers, but you could definitely fry them too.

8-10 fajita tortillas (corn or flour - just make sure they're pretty small
2-3 shredded chicken breasts
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. salsa
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 c. sour cream
1 c. shredded Mexican cheese
handful of chopped green onions

Clearly I do not have the ingredients down to an exact science, but you can really change things up as suits your taste.
So for the baked taquitos, I mixed up all the ingredients above except the tortillas. I poured a little bit of oil in the bottom of my baking dish. I put the tortillas between two wet paper towels in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, then filled them with the chicken mixture. I rolled them up and put them in the pan, turning each one so it got coated in a little bit of oil. Then I baked them at 425 for 15-20 mins. Easy Peezy and sooo good. We had them for lunch the next day too!

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole.

I made this for a potluck since Eric hates beans. It was a total hit. He may have to suck it up and pick the beans out sometime, because it was sooo good!

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion
2 c. salsa (or however much you have on hand... lol)
1 can black beans
1/4 c. Italian dressing
1 packet taco seasoning
1/4 tsp. cumin
6 tortillas
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 c. sour cream
2 c. shredded Mexican cheese

Cook the beef and onion. Drain and add salsa, beans, dressing, taco seasoning, cumin, corn and sour cream. Put part of the mixture in the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Cover with cheese and 2-3 tortillas. Repeat until all mixture is gone, finishing with a "healthy dose" of cheese. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Deep Dish Cookie Pies. 

Eric told me, "You can make these again if you want to." Which is pretty much the highest compliment you can get in man language. Haha. It's pretty much just a chocolate chip cookie in a ramekin.

1 stick butter
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chocolate chips.

Really you can just use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe though. Just place the dough in the ramekin and refrigerate for an hour or freeze (I froze two and we had them the next day). :-) Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, so that the sides are brown the middle is still a little gooey. Yum.

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches.

These were quick, easy, and pretty good. Nothing fancy, but a good weeknight meal!

3 chicken breasts
1 c. caesar dressing
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 T. pasley
black pepper to taste

Stick it all in the crockpot until the chicken is done, then shred it up and put it on some bread or burger buns. Yummy!

Parmesan Chicken Bake

This tastes fairly similar to the above recipe. What can I say, we like cheesy chicken dishes? It's also crazy quick and easy, a great go-to meal in a hurry!

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded.
1/2 c. Greek yogurt
1/2 c. mayo
1 T. seasoning mix like Cavenders or Mrs. Dash
1 tsp. garlic powder
Panko breadcrumbs, if desired.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour into a baking dish. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Chicken Divan

1 bag Steamfresh broccoli and cauliflower mix
3-4 chicken breasts
2 T. butter
1 T. EVOO
1 clove garlic
1/4 onion, minced
1/8 c. flour
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk
1/4 c. white wine
8 oz. swiss cheese
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/4 c. breadcrumbs

Season the chicken as desired, then saute on both sides until cooked through. Set aside and make the yummy sauce.

Sauce: melt butter and oil together in a skillet and added chopped garlic and onion. Once cooked through, gradually add flour and whisk until smooth. Slowly add chicken broth, milk and wine and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in swiss cheese. Add salt and pepper as desired.

I usually steam the broccoli/cauliflower mix, then chop it up in the food processor and put it in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. The chicken goes on top, followed by the yummy sauce and topped with breadcrumbs and extra cheese.Spray a little oil on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Yum!

Salud.

So the thought of vegetarianism has never appealed to me. Neither has the idea of giving up sugar (chocolate?!?), or fat, or dairy, or carbs.

 I like food. No, let me correct that, I love food. When I had Samuel, a lot of people gave me the advice, "Remember to eat!" Like I could forget. No, no, no forgetting to eat here. I definitely have a love affair with food.

Luckily, I also have a (small) obsession with health. I may eat 5-6 times a day (Don't judge -- I'm still nursing!), but I definitely don't forget to exercise either. And I can definitely tell by my energy level when my eating habits get a little too junky.

That's why I love it when people find ways to make un-healthy things that I love to eat a little less detrimental to my body. I've been googling and pinteresting (do you love that those words actually make sense to you?) healthy alternatives to things I use/make often and trying them out. In fact, one of them is in the crockpot right now (my inspiration for this post)! 

I don't think I'll ever be 100% into the Paleo thing, but I love the idea of only using a few ingredients and making sure those ingredients are natural. God made food for us. We should use it. The more I read about the effects of dyes and chemicals in foods (did you know a lot food coloring and preservatives we use here are banned in other countries?), the more I'm convinced that it's probably better to just stick with what God gave us.

Am I still going to have a pop tart every now and then? You can pretty much count on it. But I'm making strides, and hopefully we'll end up healthier for it in the long run!

So here's what I've made (am making) so far:

Zucchini Brownies - These were surprisingly good! You can tell they're not regular brownies, but I was shocked at how good they tasted for something with no flour or sugar!

Cream of Chicken Soup substitute - There is SO much salt in canned foods! I never realized how ridiculous it was until I checked it out one day and realized I would get more than half my daily salt intake from one can of soup. Yikes! I'm using this sub in my dinner tonight... Just butter, flour, milk, and chicken broth. We'll see how it goes!

Greek Yogurt Cheesecake - Okay, admittedly, this probably isn't that healthy or clean since it uses a boxed pudding mix. I also just bought a graham cracker crust instead of making the fancy one. Still, it tasted really good, and definitely had more protein and less fat than a regular cheesecake.

Baked "Fried" Chicken - This beats shake and bake by leaps and bounds! Chicken + Yogurt + Breadcrumbs + Parmesan cheese. Simple and soooo good!

I also attempted to make an avocado pasta sauce. It was NOT a winner. So we'll leave that one off. :-)

What are your favorite healthy/clean foods?

Freezer Meals

Last weekend I went a little nuts and finally made all the freezer meals I'd been stocking up for for the last month. (Feel free to read more about other baby-related items on the baby blog.) I've always been pretty good about freezing extra portions of soup, etc., but I've never spent an afternoon just focusing on freezer prep. Considering it was my first real try (and I didn't streamline as much as I could have), I thought it went pretty well.

I started off making my favorite Southwestern Bean Soup. Eric hates this, but I decided to make it anyway since it's packed with protein, low-cal, and actually fills me up. It's super easy to make, and if you don't already have a good southwestern soup recipe, you should totally try it:

1 can tomato sauce
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 bag frozen sweet corn
1 can rotel
taco seasoning to taste

Mix all that goodness together and let it simmer on the stove for an hour or so, and you've got southwestern magic! Stick it in a microwaveable container and freeze, and it's good to go.

I then proceeded to make one big helping and two loaf-pan helpings of Mexican Shepherd's Pie. I basically got everything ready to cook so all we have to do is pop it in the oven for 20 minutes. Mmmm.

I also prepped a ton of chicken breasts for baking - mainly this Lazy Baked Greek Chicken from Rachel Ray that I absolutely adore (have I posted about this before? Because I should have). It's super easy, full of protein, and totally delicious!

I also prepped about 5 chicken breasts for chicken parmesan (basically rolling dipped chicken breasts in a parmesan-panko mix) so that all I have to do is bake and pour on some marinara.

I cut up about a bajillion more chicken breasts after that and got some bags together to pour in the crockpot to make the Italian Crockpot chicken that everyone raves about on Pinterest:

2 cans cream of chicken
1 packet Zesty Italian Dressing Mix
1 8-oz pack of cream cheese
4 chicken breasts

Hopefully I can just throw that in the crockpot then serve it over some noodles.

I also made a whole bunch of the Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake that our familia loves so much. With two BIG servings and three loaf pan servings, I don't think we'll be short on that for awhile!

I also chopped and froze a bunch of mixed veggies for if I want to make veggie stew/pot roast/beef stew in the crockpot. And it seems like I did a few more things, but it's all a little hazy at the moment.

The whole ordeal took me about 3 hours (with some breaks in between since my back started hurting). However, I got roughly 20 meals out of that, so it seems like a fair trade in time. I may just have to do it again one day... we'll see!!

Delicioso.

Here's a few more things I've tried recently: 

Cauliflower Fritters
What a great side dish!!

• 4 cups steamed cauliflower, chopped (I just use the Steamfresh garlic cauliflower bag and omit the garlic that comes next)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano (or if you're cheap like me, mixed Italian cheese. :-)
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup hot water
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients except the oil. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Form patties with the cauliflower mixture. Cook in oil until lightly browned, about one minute on each side. These are great dipped in marinara!

(photo shows fritters, poppers and ricotta-stuffed shells)

Cauliflower Poppers

These are almost too easy to be called a recipe.

Just chop up some cauliflower (as always, I use the Steamfresh garlic cauliflower because it's cheaper and I'm lazy), spray it with oil, and pop it in the oven at 450 for 30-45 minutes!

Ricotta-Stuffed Shells

1 box jumbo pasta shells

1 8-oz container of ricotta cheese

¼ c. grated parmesan cheese

¼ c. mozzarella cheese

fresh spinach spinach (as much as desired)

1 egg

1 can pasta sauce

Browned italian sausage or hamburger meat (if desired)

Preheat oven to 375˚. Boil shells until almost tender. Drain and allow to cool. Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and half of mozzarella in a medium bowl. Stir in spinach and egg. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan with pasta sauce (should use about 1/3 of the can). Fill shells with about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture each (and meat if you're adding it). Cover with additional pasta sauce (about 1/3 of the can). Bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining pasta sauce. Cover with additional pasta sauce and remaining mozzarella before serving. 

Maple-Dijon Chicken (aka "Man Pleasing Chicken" for my pinterest friends!)

This was soooo good! I served it with risotto and sauteed squash.

1/2 c. dijon mustard

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

1 T. apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar

1 lb. chicken (I used breasts, but you can use any part you desire!)
a few sprigs of rosemary

Heat the oven to 450. Put chicken in a greased pan. Mix mustard, syrup, vinegar and rosemary together and pour over chicken. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165. 

Cake Batter Bars

I made these for a work party. They weren't super pretty, but they were definitely a hit!

• 1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
• 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 heaping tablespoons sprinkles of your choice (I used stars)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan.
2. Cream both sugars, butter, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. 
3. Gradually mix in flour, cake mix, and baking soda until just mixed. Stir in sprinkles.
4. Spread batter evenly into greased pan.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until top is lightly browned and middle still jiggles slightly. Cool completely before cutting.

Nutella Stuffed French Toast

No real recipe here, just awesomeness. Make a nutella sandwich, dip it in an egg/vanilla/sugar mixture, and cook it on a greased pan over medium heat for a couple of minutes. It's a perfect Sunday morning treat!

La Comida Parte 2

Did you think I was done? Of course not! I told you Pinterest has revolutionized my cooking life. :-)

Beef Stroganoff
This didn't taste like traditional beef stroganoff to me, but I still thought it was really good!

2 lbs. stew meat (okay, I used like 1.2)
2 cans Golden Mushroom soup (yup, I used one Golden and one regular)
1 diced onion
Splash of Worscestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
8 oz. cream cheese
1 T garlic salt
egg noodles

Put all ingredients in the slow cooker except cream cheese and egg noodles. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Add cream cheese 30 minutes prior to serving. Cook and serve egg noodles with stroganoff. 


Black Bean Brownies
I know, they sound gross, right? But they actually are surprisingly normal tasting/feeling. The beans just make the chocolate taste even darker... yum!

1 can black beans
3 Tbsp. oil
1/2 c. cocoa
4 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Drain and rinse beans. Put beans into a food processor to puree. Add in other ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour mixture into a greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. You may wish to top with extra chocolate chips (who could blame you?) 


Slow Cooker Maple Chicken
It sounds a little weird, but I thought this was really good, and even Eric agreed that it took him by surprise. It would be especially delicious in the fall. :-) 

2-3 chicken breasts or thighs
salt and pepper
3-4 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
8 oz. baby carrots
1 small red onion

Put chicken and veggies in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and maple syrup. Let cook for 4-6 hours. 


Peanut Butter Dip

1/2 c. yogurt (vanilla or strawberry-banana)
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar
fruit for dipping

Mix first three ingredients together. Then dip that fruit!


Ranch Pork Chops
These were okay... it's not a new fave or anything, but if you're in a hurry,it's a quick 3-ingredient slow cooker meal, and you can't go wrong with that!

1-2 lbs pork (chops, ribs, loin, etc.)
1 package ranch dressing mix
2 cans cream of chicken or mushroom soup
3 Tbsp. water

Put all ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 


Strawberry Yogurt Cake
I would just like to preface this by saying that I LOVE fresh fruit, but all too often, we don't eat it all before it goes bad. It's sad and it's wasteful. So when I bought a big box of strawberries this week, I figured this recipe was the perfect way to use half of them up to ensure we make the most of our purchase... that means strawberry cake=economical, right? (I only made a half-batch).

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. lemon juice  (or orange)
Zest of 1 lemon (I used an orange)
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a bundt pan (or a nice 8x8 if you're halving it). Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and lemon zest and set aside. In a large bowl, mix butte rand sugar until creamy. Add in eggs one at a time, then stir in lemon juice. Alternate adding flour mixture and Greek yogurt. Fold strawberries into mixture and stir gently. Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for 60 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Sustenance.

I love food. I love eating it. I love cooking it. Most recently, I love growing it. I love trying new things and finding new ways to use old ingredients. It's fun, it's practical, and did I mention it's delicious? 

So you can imagine what a love affair I have with Pinterest. It's basically rendered my blogging about food unnecessary.... almost. But who knows when the Pinterest world may crash? So, to be safe (and to make my own changes to these recipes :-) I will see how many fun things I can fit in one quick post. 

Chicken Tamale Casserole [Cooking Light]
This was SO GOOD! Similar to the Mexican Shepherds Pie I've made before, this has even more spiciness and zest. And, though I'm usually not a sour cream fan, I found it totally pulled this dish together. I can't wait to make it again!

1 c. Mexican cheese blend
1/3 c. milk
1 egg or 1/4 c. egg substitute
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 can cream-style corn (I used frozen)
1 box corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
1 can Rotel
1 can red enchilada sauce
2 c. shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 c. fat free sour cream

Preheat oven to 400. Combine cheese and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until just moist. Pour into a coated 13x9 dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface with a fork. Pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken and additional cheese. Bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and top with sour cream.


Feta Dip
Eric and I agreed: this tastes like an awesome pizza. I actually ate it for dinner one night. A definite keeper!

Olive oil
1 block or container of feta cheese
tomatoes (any kind!) to taste, diced
1 bunch green onions
1 baguette, sliced
Greek Seasoning (Cavenders!)

Pour olive oil on a plate or platter until it just covers the surface. Dice green onions and tomatoes and throw them on the olive oil. Add feta. Pour Greek seasoning over the entire dish. Mix gently. Serve with fresh-cut baguette slices. 

Protein Smoothie

1 almost-frozen banana (I actually froze mine, and it turns out that doesn't work so well!)

3 oz. Greek vanilla yogurt (about 1/2 small container)

1/4 c. milk

2 Tbsp. peanut butter

Mix ingredients together in a blender. This should keep you full all morning!!

Greek Chicken Wraps

I've made these two or three times already. They turn out a little different every time, but are always de-lish!

Tzatziki sauce:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (I used red - it was fine)
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken:
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 Tablespoons)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Tortillas or Pita Bread

Directions:
Shred the cucumber or chop in food processor. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet or with the broiler. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into strips. Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and any other ingredient you desire. Serve immediately.