Monday Menu Highlight

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you're holiday weekend is going well! My sister-in-law had
her baby girl last Thursday, so it's been even more exciting than normal around here.

Last week we decided to try making all vegan meals for dinner, just to try something new and to start adding more vegetables to our dinners. I was a little nervous about it at first, but I found some really great recipes that both Handy Andy and our little crazies enjoyed. The fan favorite from vegan week was:

Black Bean and Potato Nachos

 

This recipe is from Oh She Glows (as were most of the recipes I tried last week). These were so delicious! All the recipes I tried from this blog were winners. We didn't even miss having meat for dinner, which is quite the statement from Handy Andy.

Ingredients:

Potato Wedges:
2 medium Russet (baking) potatoes, sliced into wedges
1 tbsp grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil (I used olive oil)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Few pinches of chili powder

Black Bean Skillet Mixture:
1/2 tbsp oil
1 cup chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red sweet pepper, diced
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
1 tsp chili powder, or to taste
Fine grain sea salt, to taste

Toppings: Tomatoes/salsa, cilantro, avocado, green onion, etc

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Wash and dry potatoes but do not peel. Place onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toss potatoes with oil. Sprinkle generously with sea salt, pepper, and a few pinches of chili powder.
2. Bake fries for 13-15 minutes at 425F. Flip potatoes and roast for another 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
3. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, and pepper in the oil for about 7-10 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
4. Stir in the drained and rinsed black beans, cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste. Continue to sauté for another 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to use, reheating just before serving.
5. Prepare your desired toppings.
6. Reheat bean mixture as fries come out of the oven. When fries are ready, place onto a large serving plate or you can serve it directly on the warm pan. Spoon on warm bean mixture, followed by toppings like avocado, cilantro, tomatoes or salsa, fresh lime juice, green onions, and/or corn chips.

I used four potatoes, but followed the recipe for the bean mixture. This made plenty for the four of us, and we were all full! I'll probably be featuring more recipes from Oh She Glows in the next few weeks. Who knew eating vegan would be so delicious?!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Menu Highlight

Hey All! I'm finally trying to get fully back into the blogging...trying being the key word. Anyway, it's been a while since I've done a Monday Menu Highlight. Our eating habits have changed some since the boys moved in with us, I'm trying to find recipes they like and ones that don't destroy my cholesterol-lowering effort. I'm not doing as well with my low-cholesterol diet, but I'm trying. One recipe that fits my diet AND one that the boys absolutely love is...

Chicken Taco Chili

I found this recipe last year on this blog.  It's a weight watcher recipe, so if you keep track that way, you can check out the points there (the recipe is originally from SkinnyTaste - one of my favorite recipe sites!). Here's my adaptation of the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans, rinsed

2 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels (used 2 small cans of corn kernels)

1 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies (used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes)
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts OR 1 lb of ground turkey

Ms. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning (I used this instead of the other seasonings listed at the other blogs)

Shredded cheese (for topping)

Sour Cream (for topping)

Directions:
Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, and seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with cheese and sour cream.

**If using ground turkey, brown and then add to the crockpot with all other ingredients. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

The boys seriously love this! They ask for it every week! And, I generally don't like chili, but I really like this recipe! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday's Menu Highlight - Guest Post!

 Hey All! Meet Shana from Organized Chaos! She's here guest posting today while I try to figure out how to be a parent to our new guys and not lose my mind! Thanks Shana! :)

Get Your Little One to Eat Sweet Potato!! 

Hi Handy Andy readers! I'm Shana and I blog over at Organized Chaos.

 

I found Liz through a little group on Facebook and immediately fell in love with her blog! When I heard about the exciting news of them expanding their family, I couldn't wait to jump in and help! I blog about a world of topics, but being a mommy is one of my favorite! Parenting brings a lot of issues to the table that a person may not have previously thought to much about.

Things such as potty training, language, and even what we're eating all of the sudden become front runners! For me, what we're eating has been a HOT topic since the day Lil Mister was born! I had just known I was going to breastfeed and it was going to be perfect. Ah-hem....well no things didn't work out as planned and Lil Mister was switched to formula.

When it came time to introduce solids, I was bombarded with 'words of wisdom' from many. I was told what to do, when to do it, and how. Luckily, my MIL was understanding and helped guide me through the waters of all this 'expert information.' We found a wonderful website for baby foods. I suggest you check it out if you're still in the beginning phases! What I did learn through all of this is about how important the proper nutrition is! Kids will eat what you teach them to eat! If you've never given your child fish sticks, he won't know he wants fish sticks! I LOVE eating healthy and wanted my children to do the same. However, I also enjoy to indulge and may have introduced a few...umm....goodies to Lil Mister.

So, I'm always on the lookout for how to combine some great nutrition with great tasting recipes! Did you know that sweet potatoes are SO much better for you than the normal white potato?? Hey, I'm not dissin' on some mash here! I love some good ol' southern mashed potatoes. But reality is that sweet potatoes are jammed packed with good stuff! Sweet potatoes are actually loaded with Vitamin A of which a white potato has none! Try 39.2 mg Vitamin C in a sweet potato versus the 20 in a white. Potassium is winner too with more than 300 mg more in a sweet potato! Calcium, Iron, and magnesium are also ALL HIGHER!

But...what I didn't like (okay I loved it...thank you Grandma!) was how I'd always been exposed to sweet potatoes. Smother them in some syrup, brown sugar, and marshmallows and bake them till SUPER ah-mazing! As tasty as this is, sweet potatoes are sweet enough on their own and what good is all the nutrients if we're just turning them into the latest fad dessert?? Personally, sweet potatoes were one of the first foods I introduced to Lil Mister and simply mashed them and added a little of his milk to it for texture. After months of mashed foods though, kids get sick of it! Finger foods are where it is at people!

As Lil Mister has gotten older...well he has learnt more about the 'goodies' this world can offer. Fries being one of his favorite! Honestly, the thought of slivers of potatoes soaking it up in hot oil and then being smothered with salt and sugary tomato sauce...well it sends chills down my spine. As delicious as it can be, it is giving my child NOTHING but nonsense. That was when I discovered this absolutely b.e.a.utiful recipe for sweet potato chips! They're oven baked and use minimal oil. They're so naturally sweet that no dip is necessary and Lil Mister will devour an entire large potato on his own if I allow him! Even Hubby Dearest approves! So here you go....I hope you enjoy! ;-)

Oven-baked Sweet Potato Chips 

Ingredients:
4 medium-large Sweet Potatoes
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sea salt (ground)

Directions:
1) Peal your potatoes and cut them in half width wise (the cutting them in half is just because heck...these things are MUCH harder than a normal potato if you've never had them before so it makes it easier to deal with!)
2) Cut your potatoes into chip shape. I don't feel this needs a lot of instruction. You've all seen or eaten a french fry before so cut up your potato into 1/4" sections and go from there. If your potato has the pointy ends that most sweet potatoes have...I suggest you cut those suckers off! ;-)
3) Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. I prefer using this as to oil or grease. It is quick and doesn't put as much onto the food.
4) Space your chips out evenly on the pan. DO NOT LET THEM TOUCH! If they're touching or too close together they will become soggy and you will not be happy and I will blame you for not following directions!
5) Drizzle your oil evenly over all of the chips. It is enough!! Don't worry...you DO NOT want them sitting in oil! Just enough to give them a bit of a shine!
6) Sprinkle with pepper and salt and pop them into a preheated oven of about 200 C!
7) Bake them for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN the oven. Leave them to simmer and bake! No testing the product before it's finished so just go keep yourself busy!
8) Now you can open the oven, only to flip them over! Flip each chip keeping the spacing between them and bake another 10 minutes!

Your product should now be crispy and yummy!! Go ahead...taste it. It's soooo good! ;-)

Shana..

Monday's Menu Highlight

Confession: I. love. candy. 

This fact, as you may guess, is pretty upsetting when it comes to eating healthy and lowering my cholesterol. I've been trying to find ways to satisfy my sweet tooth without making terrible choices. I found something that works pretty well for me, and I'm pretty obsessed with it right now.

Popcorn.

But not just popcorn. Popcorn + Chocolate (because chocolate makes everything 100 times better, obviously).

So here's the deal. I use my small/medium sized pot and cover the bottom in olive oil. Then I pour enough popcorn kernels to almost cover the bottom; pop until the popping is about once every 5 seconds. Pour it in a bowl, add two tablespoons of mini chocolate chips and a little salt. The chocolate gets all melted and amazing... 

Seriously, I am in love with this combo. And it really does satisfy my sweet tooth without throwing my whole calorie-counting day into a tailspin.

Anyway, there you have it. My latest obsession. 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Monday's Menu Highlight

Hello All! Still working on eating healthy and cutting down on carbs and such. In the same vein as the BLT lettuce wraps, this recipe replaces bread with lettuce wraps, and it is awesome!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This recipe combine some of my favorite stuff - hot sauce, blue cheese, chicken, AND the crock pot. So easy and so good. Here's the recipe from Skinny Taste (told you this site was awesome):

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 24 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 celery stalk
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 16 oz fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup hot cayenne pepper sauce (like Frank's)

For the wraps:

• 6 large lettuce leaves, Bibb or Iceberg
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 large celery stalks, cut into 2 inch matchsticks

Directions:
In a crock pot, combine chicken, onions, celery stalk, garlic and broth (enough to cover your chicken, use water if the can of broth isn't enough). Cover and cook on high 4 hours. Remove the chicken from pot, reserve 1/2 cup broth and discard the rest. Shred the chicken with two forks, return to the slow cooker with the 1/2 cup broth and the hot sauce and set to on high for an additional 30 minutes. Makes 3 cups chicken.

To prepare lettuce cups, place 1/2 cup buffalo chicken in each leaf, top with 1/4 cup shredded carrots, celery and dressing of your choice.

I love this recipe! Each time I've made this there have been a good amount of leftovers that I've been able to use for a salad the next day for lunch. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Monday's Menu Highlight

Hey All! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready to get started on this week! I'm excited about our menu plan this week. It includes one of my favorite crockpot recipes, from Fitness Magazine.

Chicken Jambalaya

 

This is a great recipe to throw in the crockpot and forget about. And I love that. Here's the recipe from Fitness Magazine's website:

Ingredients:

8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts

16 ounce package frozen onions and bell peppers

8 ounces smoked turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices

2 cups water

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with jalapeño peppers, undrained

8 ounce package jambalaya rice mix

Directions:
Cut chicken into 1/2-inch strips. Place frozen vegetables in a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker and top with chicken strips and turkey sausage. Add water, undrained tomatoes, and seasoning packet from rice. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir in rice. Cover and cook about 45 minutes more (if using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting), or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Instead of using frozen vegetables, I use fresh onions and bell peppers. I also use chorizo sausage to add some heat, and the Jambalaya mix I use is all mixed together so I add the rice at the beginning as well. This is a great recipe and I hope you try it out!

Also, if you have any good, healthy recipes you would recommend, leave a comment or send me an email!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday's Menu Highlight

Happy Monday! [Is that a thing?] Well, last week I mentioned that my cholesterol is high...again, so awesome... And apparently cutting down on carbs helps lower cholesterol, so that's what I've been trying to do. In my searching on Pinterest I've found several good lower carb recipes, including this winner...

BLT Lettuce Wraps

From Skinny Taste (love love this blog)

It's so easy to substitute lettuce wraps for bread - how did I never think of this before?? 

Oh, because I love bread. Thanks, cholesterol...

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices lean bacon (pork or turkey) cooked and chopped
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 tbsp light mayonnaise (I like Hellman's)
• 3 large iceberg lettuce leaves
• fresh cracked pepper

Directions:
Carefully remove 2 large outer leaves of a head of lettuce. If you rip or tear one, just save it for the 3rd leaf you need to shred. Shred the 3rd leaf and set aside. Dice tomato and set aside in a bowl.
Combine diced tomato with mayonnaise and fresh black pepper. Place lettuce cups on a plate, top with shredded lettuce. Add tomato and bacon, and wrap it all up. And we actually added avocado too -- SO GOOD!

You must try these! Much less guilt is attached to these than regular BLTs (at least for me), and you still get the great taste of a BLT. Thank you to Gina for sharing this - go check out her other amazing recipes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday's Menu Highlight

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope everyone's Valentine's Day was wonderful. I was on a business trip last week and came home on Thursday when Handy Andy was gone. My amazing husband left the following surprise for me when I got home from the airport:

Nope, I'm not the flowers type. Give me some almonds and cupcakes, and I'm good to go! :)

Completely contrary to those two cupcakes...I have been trying to make some changes to our eating habits. Generally we do pretty well with eating healthy, but apparently I'm genetically prone to high cholesterol...so that's awesome... Because of that wonderful piece of news, I'm trying to eat less carbs, and sugar, and more veggies, beans, nuts, and other things that are good for lowering cholesterol. 

Anyway, I've spent the last several weeks trying new healthy recipes, and I've found some really good ones! So I wanted to share some of them with you by weekly highlighting a great recipe I've found, in case you were a little tired of your classic choices.

The highlight from this week's menu plan is:

Black Bean Soup

I was a little unsure of this recipe, but turns out it is the BOMB! Seriously, so good. And bonus, Handy Andy loved it too (usually he doesn't love any recipe that doesn't include meat). The recipe is from Iowa Girl Eats, and I'm so happy she shared it!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 cans seasoned black beans, drained but not rinsed (I used Trader Joe’s Cuban-style beans)
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup chicken broth
4-5 dashes green Tabasco sauce
Toppers: sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream
For the Cilantro-Lime Rice:
1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, then saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 more seconds, stirring constantly. Add chili powder and cumin then saute for 30 more seconds.
2. Add drained beans, water, and chicken broth, bring soup to a boil, then lower heat slightly and simmer for 15 minutes. Scoop 2 ladle-fulls of soup into a blender or food processor then blend until almost smooth. Alternatively use a hand-held immersion blender to process 1/3 of the beans in the soup pot. Add blended soup back into the pot then add hot sauce and stir to combine.
3. For the Chipotle-Lime Rice: While soup is simmering, bring water, oil, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Add rice, place a lid on top, then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir to fluff then add lime juice and chopped cilantro.
4. To serve, scoop cooked rice into bottom of bowls then top with hot soup. Top with sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, etc.

 I hope you try this recipe! Thanks for stopping by!

Honey Oat Bread -- YUM!

Hey All! I hope you are having a good week - shortened work weeks are the BEST! I'm planning to be very productive this weekend, how about you?

Last weekend I did some sewing and baking...yup super Susie Homemaker. Anyway, I found this recipe from Yammie's GlutenFreedom. It is originally a gluten free recipe, but I made some tweaks, because I'm not GF (nor do I have some of the ingredients the GF version called for).

Here's the recipe (my non GF version):

4 cups of oats (plus more for the top)
2 scant tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs

Instructions from Yammie:

Blend the oats in the food processor until they're pretty fine. Combine the yeast and water, add the oil, honey, starch, flour, and oats and beat until combined. Add the salt, cinnamon, and eggs. Beat for a few minutes until fluffy. Pour into a well greased 10 inch loaf pan and allow to rise for about 45 minutes until doubled. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Sprinkle the top of the risen loaf with some more oats and cut a few slits in the top with a serrated knife. Bake for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting. 

This bread is delicious! Seriously, the best bread I've ever made. My one complaint is that after a few days, it became very crumbly. Not dry, just didn't hold together well. The original recipe called for xantham gum (I have no idea what this is). In the comments on her site, Yammie said that this helps the strength of the dough...so I'm guessing that was the issue. But the flavor is still great, so I'm good!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Raspberry-Lime Jam

Hello All! So I was a slacker last week and didn't get a post up during the week - I was trying to recover from my blog anniversary party. But, today, as promised, I am going to share my first "canning" adventure with you -- raspberry lime jam!

My brother and sister-in-law have an awesome garden. Lucky for us, it's the end of the season and my sister-in-law is beyond tired of canning all their produce, so when we were there a few weekends ago they loaded us up with tons of remaining produce and sent us on our way.

Among the spoils was a big bag of raspberries. Since there was no way we could eat them all before they went bad, I decided to try making jam...for the first time in my life. I looked up a basic old fashioned jam recipe and it seemed pretty simple, equal parts sugar and fruit with special heating directions, so I went to it.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
2 1/4 cups sugar (I wanted it a little more tart)

For fun, and because I love lime, I added the juice and zest of one lime.

Instructions:

1. Place sugar in an ovenproof shallow pan and warm in a 250°F (120°C) oven for 15 minutes. (Warm sugar dissolves better.)

2. Place berries in a large saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, mashing berries with a potato masher as they heat. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3. Add warm sugar, return to a boil, and boil until mixture will form a gel, about 5 minutes.

This made one pint jar and a little more. I followed my sister-in-law's directions for sealing the jar (she's a rockstar, at everything), which was way less complicated than I expected. I put the lid of the mason jar in boiling water, poured the hot jam into the jar, put the lid on and then submerged the jar in a sink full of hot water from the faucet for about 20 minutes. The jar didn't seal until it had been sitting out of the water for about 20 more minutes.

I love this jam, it's a little tart and there's just a hint of lime in it. So good! And jam was way less scary to make than I expected it to be!

What have you been up to this week? Leave me a comment and I'll stop by!

Have a good week!

Clean-ish Chicken Pot Pie

Happy Thursday All! I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after traveling like a mad woman over the last several weeks. I'm currently up to my ears in coral tissue paper, creating wedding decorations for my friend (more posts to come on this subject). But today, I just wanted to share a recipe I tried from Clean Eating Magazine. We don't really eat "clean," but I am all about trying to eat healthy and as close to clean as possible. So here it is...

Clean-ish Chicken Pot Pie

The recipe is for individual servings, but I don't have any of those little mini baking dishes, so I just went with a full dish. Here's the recipe straight from Clean Eating:

INGREDIENTS:

FILLING:

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced (I used baby carrots)
  
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 tsp fresh thyme, minced
• 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

BISCUITS

• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 2 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour, divided
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp sea salt (optional)
• 1 tbsp safflower or olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Prepare filling: Heat a large cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick pan over medium-high for 1 minute.  Mist with cooking spray.  Sauté chicken until no longer pink, 3 minutes.

3. Add onion and carrots.  Saute until onion is slightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add peas and saute for another minute or until thawed.

4. Stir in broth and thyme and cook until broth is warmed, about 2 minutes.  Sit in 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour and reduce heat to medium.  Stir constantly until broth is thickened, about 2 minutes.  Season with pepper and turn off heat, but do not remove pan from element.

5. Begin preparing biscuits: Pour milk in a cup, then add vinegar to milk.  Let stand for 2 minutes.

6. In a large mixing bowl, blend 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, if desired.  Stir in milk-vinegar mixture, a 1/4 cup at a time, add oil, and then add remaining 2 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour.  (The dough will be slightly sticky.  If it is too sticky, add another tbsp of flour.)

7. Using your hands, form 12 small biscuits, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  (If the biscuits are exceptionally sticky, dust your hands with a little bit of flour to make it easier to form them.)  Ladle chicken-vegetable mixture into 4 large ramekins, individual casserole dishes or soup tureens, about 3/4 cup per serving.  Place 3 biscuits on top of each ramekin and place all ramekins into a cookie sheet or baking pan lined with aluminum foil.  (The biscuits will bake on top of chicken-vegetable mixture.)  Place pan on rack in middle of oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until chicken-vegetable mixture is bubbling and biscuits are slightly browned on top.  To serve, place ramekins on individual plates, as they will be too hot to handle.

I used leftover chicken I had cooked earlier in the week, which I just cut up and heated for a minute or two before adding the veggies. I also do not have wheat flour, so I used white (For shame! I know). Other than that, and adding a few extra spices, I prepared everything pretty much according to the recipe, minus the individual servings. I put the filling into a baking dish, and placed the biscuits on top. To be completely honest, I didn't love the biscuits on top because the bottoms stayed a little too mushy for my taste, but other than that this was delicious. I've actually made it twice, and the second time I made it without biscuits, kind of like chicken stew. This recipe was great, and Handy Andy approved - winner!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

 

Easy Black Bean Dip

Hey All! How did you guys do for Event #1 for the Olympics? Did you get your decorating mojo going? Good. Well now, it's time to get cracking on Event #2 - Kitchen. Head over to the hosts of this event to see what delicious recipes they shared: Let Birds Fly, Jane's Adventures in Dinner, and Shaken Together.

For this event I decided to go my own way...shocking, I know. I made this super easy black bean dip, that I sort of adapted from a Paula Deen recipe. Now, I don't really measure anything, so just add to your own taste.

Here's what you need:
1 can of Black Beans
1 Tomato, chopped
Green Onions, chopped
Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Lime Juice

Put the chopped tomato and green onion in a food processor until chopped, then add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth and you like the taste! I also garnished the dip with chopped tomatoes and green onions. Then serve with chips - yum!

This dip is so easy and has a really good flavor. Perfect for a summer party starter!

I hope you all are participating in the Kitchen event too. Don't forget to link up with the Event #2 hosts!

Peanut Butter Banana Icebox Pie

Hey everyone! It's been crazy over here, and it's not going to settle down until next week! We traveled to Arkansas over the long weekend and had a blast with Handy Andy's grandparents. And I just wanted to give you a recipe to try that Grandma T and I tried over the weekend.  She found it in Southern Living and we wanted to give it a shot.

Peanut Butter Banana Icebox Pie

 Source: Southern Living

What you need:

• 2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (about 15 sheets)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped honey-roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup butter, melted $
• 1 (4-oz.) semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
• 2 cups whipping cream, divided $
• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened $
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter $
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large bananas, sliced $
• Toppings: sweetened whipped cream, chocolate syrup, chopped honey-roasted peanuts

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together first 3 ingredients; firmly press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven to a wire rack, and cool completely (about 30 minutes). [We used a pre-made crumb crust because we had it on hand]
2. Microwave chocolate and 1/2 cup whipping cream in a small microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring at 30-second intervals. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. (Do not overheat.) Spoon chocolate mixture into prepared crust.
3. Beat cream cheese, next 2 ingredients, and 1/4 cup whipping cream at medium speed with an electric mixer until mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Beat vanilla and remaining 1 1/4 cups whipping cream at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third whipped cream mixture into peanut butter mixture to loosen; fold in remaining whipped cream mixture.
5. Arrange banana slices over chocolate mixture in crust. Spread peanut butter mixture over bananas. Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve pie with desired toppings.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter pie because it's so rich -- and this was rich! The chocolate layer on the crust was to die for though! This wouldn't be my first choice, but it will definitely slay the PB pie fans.

Here's ours:

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend remembering those who have fought and are still fighting to keep America safe and free! 

 

Recipe Copycat - Alice Springs Chicken

Hello Everyone! I have been traveling on and off for the last few weeks and am finally home for a while now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back in the swing of things and get some projects done soon. But for now, I'm going to share a recipe copycat with you.

I used to be a server at Outback Steakhouse. I love their food, and working there for over two years did not change my mind. It actually just made my love for the food grow. Now, this is not a healthy recipe, so if you're looking for a healthy dinner idea, look elsewhere.

Here's the inspiration:

 

This entree is a delicious mix of chicken, honey mustard, mushrooms, bacon and lots of cheese. In short: so good.

I've made variations of this dish a few times since discovering this wonderful combo, and there are a few ways you can change it up to fit your specific tastes.

Here's what you need:

Chicken breasts

Bacon

Cheese, kind of your choosing (shredded or sliced)

Honey Mustard or Honey Mustard Dressing

Mushrooms or onions, cooked (optional)

First, season and cook the chicken breast.

Next, place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put some honey mustard on the chicken breast, then add the mushrooms or onions, stack the bacon on top and then add the cheese. 

This time I used onions because I didn't have mushrooms. I also used deli sliced pepper jack cheese instead of shredded colby jack. I love me some pepper jack cheese. Put the combo in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is all melted.

Serve with honey mustard and add asparagus and you have...

The asparagus makes it healthier than the Outback version, and I don't use as much cheese. Seriously, this is so good!

Hope you're having a lovely week!

P.S. Linking up here:

Pinterest Thursday - Guest Post!

Hey All! I'm traveling this week for work, so I've asked one of my favorite bloggers to share some Pinspiration with you today. Kelley's blog The Grant Life is full of crafts, recipes, link parties, and other fun -- so go check her out!

Hi all!  My name is Kelley and I blog over The Grant Life.  I share all kinds of crafty, thrifty, foodie goodness over there.  I also have a series going called Labor of Love, where brave mommas share their labor and delivery stories!  I'm so excited to be here today because Liz is so sweet and I love her blog!  

I know that Thursdays are her Pinterest days so I'm going to share a few of my favorite pins with you.  I know I said my blog was crafty, thrifty and foodie.. but lately Ive been concentrating on the 'foodie' part the most.  Why?  Well, because I'm trying to get my body back!  I had two (absolutely amazing) kids in two years and I need to be healthy for them.  So I use Pinterest for recipes and weight loss tips.  

My favorite recipes are:

Spinach Rolls

BBQ Chicken Salad

Lemonade cupcake with raspberry frosting (for my off day of course!)

And the workout tips I've picked up are:




A good ab routine






Resistance band workout






A guide to food portions

I hope you liked my pins.. if you have any great diet tips or exercise routines Id love to see them.  I love trying new things.. and making new friends!  Make sure you stop my site, or my twitter and say hi!  Thanks again for having me Liz!

There you have it -- I hope you're inspired by Kelley's healthy food faves and workouts! Don't forget to visit Kelley's blog and her Pinterest boards for more great recipes and ideas! Thanks so much Kelley!