how we grill our chicken

(I should really call this post - How we grill our chicken when I'm lazy and have no ideas and it's 4:30)

I have hardly cooked this summer.  I'm sure you've all felt the same way. 

If I can't grill it or chop it up into some kind of salad, I won't make it.

So here is the NUMBER one thing we've been eating all summer.

 

Barbeque chicken with a little marinade James(the hubby) came up with himself.

 

What's even better, is this recipe has been tested and loved on steak and pork chops.  So mix it up and marinade whatever meat you love most.

It's the easiest recipe.  And when you read it, you'll laugh.  But I promise, it's a whole new flavor and it's delicious.

 

Marinade:

1/2 barbeque sauce

1/2 Italian Dressing

 

 

That's it.  Pour it into a bowl with your defrosted meat.  Let marinade for a few hours or just grill it.  And while you're grilling it, brush more sauce onto meat.  Enjoy!

*And a shout out to Crystal.  Thank for motivating me once again to have a go at my food blog :)

 



stir fry

I can't remember if I've told you this but I just love a big bowl of food all mixed together.  Ya know like a big plate of rice, beans, and tortillas or a bowl of chinese food.  And this is probably why I have a huge crush on stir fry.  My hubby doesn't really care for vegetables which is just so sad!  So I rarely make stir fry.  But tonight he was out with my toddler.  They called to say they would stop to eat somewhere so I decided us girls at home (me and my 18 month old) were going to have stir fry.  And here's how I made it.

 

 

Chicken:

Cut two chicken breasts into small chunks. 

Heat 2 T of oil and 2 T of butter in a pan.  (I LOVE the taste of butter...I know, fat fatty over here)

Throw in chicken, 3-4 T of parmesan cheese, 2 tsp of garlic powder, 2 tsp of dried onions, and salt and pepper to taste

Cook until nice and brown!

 

Rice:

Combine 2 chicken bouillion cubes, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of uncooked rice

Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

 

Vegetables:

I love the stir fry mix of frozen veggies.  But you can just add frozen peas or whatever you like.  I cook about two cups according to the package, drain and set aside.

 

When everything is finished, combine the rice and vegetables into the pan with the cooked chicken.  Mix all together, top with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and SERVE!

 



Follower Friday: Ham Pastries & Pumpkin Pie Cake

(Sorry for missing a few posts and for posting a FF on a Tuesday but I didn't want Nickie's yummy recipe to have to wait another day.  Blogger and I kept having problems.  But I think I've figured it out so we're back on schedule starting tomorrow. Continue to check for new recipes on MWF!  And, have you seen the NEW buttons on the side - compliments to Caley.  A new button to help share the food love and a button if you've been featured on this blog.  Grab it!  You know you want to brag to your friends.)

I was a special education teacher for preschoolers for one year.  Did you know that?  It was quite a roller coaster ride.  And Nickie was a first year teacher to that district as well.  That alone sealed the deal for our friendship.  We relied on each other (along with 5-6 other newbies) to survive through that year.  She continued on after I had my first baby.  And I'm amazed at what an incredible and hard working teacher she is.  I hope to one day be the teacher she is now!  Enjoy her recipe.

 

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Fall is in the air and while I wish I could say I am most excited about pumpkins, scarecrows, and everything fall-themed, mostly I just can’t stop craving some down home Midwestern comfort food.  Born and raised in South Dakota, my fall and winter diet consisted of various hot dishes” and casseroles that always seemed to hit the spot (and also tip the scale).  With my little family battling the “post-baby bulge” hardcore, I’ve included a few dishes that satisfy my comfort food craving without adding to the waistline—and in no way resemble something that could be mistaken for a “hot dish”…!

Ham Pastries:

Items Needed:

 

2 pkgs of crescent rolls*

1 pkg cream cheese softened*

2 T. softened butter spread*

2 T. milk*

1-3 T dry onion soup flakes

¾ C. cubed/chopped ham

(*I use the fat-free or reduced fat versions of these items.  It’s even more delicious when you use the full-fat version, if your metabolism allows…!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the cream cheese, butter spread, and onion soup flakes.  (Depending on how much you like the onion soup flavor, you may want to add anywhere from 1 T to 3T, depending on taste!) Beat until smooth.  Fold in ham.  Set aside.

On a non-stick baking/cooking sheet or tray, prep dough by taking two triangles of the dough and pinching them together to make a rectangular shape.  

On one side of the rectangle, place a scoop of cream cheese mixture.

 

Next comes the tricky part… not eating all the crescent roll dough.  Ha!  Just kidding (but not really). Fold over the empty side of the rectangle over the cream cheese mixture to create a little square-ish pocket. With a fork, press along the three outer edges to prevent the cream cheese mixture from oozing out when baking.  (I swear, no matter diligent you are in doing this, some of the cream cheese mixture will escape.) It’s also tough to make them perfect-looking so just do the best you can!

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the dough begins to turn golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before you eat—the cream cheese mixture inside is HOT!

(While the pastries are cooking, I usually use some of the remaining onion soup flakes to season some green beans for a tasty little side.  On this particular day, I steamed some green beans and mixed them with a little butter spread and dry onion soup flakes.  I then topped them off with some pepper, parmesan, sliced almonds, and bacon crumbles.  Looks fancy, tastes great—and very little effort!)

ENJOY!

 

AND FOR DESSERT: Pumpkin Pie Cake!

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

4 eggs

1 can pumpkin (29 oz.)

1 can evaporated milk*

1 container whipped cream*

 

CRUMB TOPPING

1 dry yellow cake mix

1 cube melted butter*

(optional low-fat or fat-free ingredient)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together EXCEPT crumb topping ingredients and whipped cream. Pour mixture into 9x13" pan. (Note:  I made a half recipe in my pics shown below—great for a smaller family.  Or a midnight snack. Don’t judge…)

Next, in a separate bowl, prepare crumb topping by mixing dry cake mix and (cooled) melted butter.  Sprinkle crumb topping over mixture.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins or until crumb mixture begins to turn golden brown..

Once cooled completely, frost cake with whipped cream. Best when served with hot cocoa and other fall favorites—

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YUM! Thanks Nickie.

The Best Dang Potato Soup

I stole this recipe from my sister, Rachelle.
If I was a swearing kinda girl - I'd say a different word when referring to this dang potato soup.
It might have something to do with the bacon?
Whatever it is, it's delicious.  And it's perfect for a fall evening!

Potato Soup

2 cups chicken stock (1 14.5 can)

3 cups of diced potatoes

1/2 cup of diced onions

1 small carrot, grated

1/2 tsp of celery seed

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

1 T parsley

3 T flour

3 cups milk

8 oz of cubed cheddar cheese

6 strips of bacon

Cook bacon strips.  Set bacon aside and save bacon drippings.  Combine chicken stock, potatoes, onion, carrot, celery seed, salt, pepper, and parsley in a pot.  Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. (until potatoes are soft)  In the pan with bacon drippings, add flour until smooth.  Add milk.  Pour the mixture into the pot with veggies and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Add cheese, remove from heat, and stir unti cheese is melted.  DONE!  Spoon into bowls and top with crumbled bacon.  Serves 8 (I doubt it...you're going to want to eat 2-3 bowls of this creamy deliciousness!)

**Oh...and you see that roll?  That recipe is coming.  You don't want to miss it.
They're the best things I make.  Promise.

- - - - - - - -

PS It's official! We have a FACEBOOK PAGE! You know you want to "like" us! ;)

The BEST Pancakes

We love breakfast.  Specifically pancakes.  And pancakes is my backup dinner.  When Dad isn't going to be home for dinner, we have pancakes.  When I can't think of anything to make for dinner, we have pancakes.  It's all about pancakes.  This is the recipe I use for pancakes.  I stole it from my sister, Stehanie.  They're easy to whip up and it makes enough pancakes for our family of four plus some.  

Pancakes/Waffles

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

pinch of salt

2 tsp. baking powder

heaping 1/2 T of sugar

1 cup flour

Mix all ingredients together.

 Pour onto heated griddle or pan...

...okay you know how to make pancakes.

Any leftover pancake mix can be stored in the fridge for only 24 hours.  Have pancakes again for breakfast :)

We also love homemade syrup.  You might like it but are afraid to make it.  It's cake.  Buy a box of Maple flavoring - it lasts forever!

Syrup

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. maple flavoring

Boil 1 cup water.  Add 2 cups sugar.  Stir in.  Once the sugar dissolves, remove saucepan from heat.  Stri in 1/2 tsp maple.  Stir.  The syrup is ready!  The syrup we don't use I just put into a Tupperware and stick it in the fridge.  Unlike the pancakes, the syrup can last forever.

Pasta Primavera

This is one of my favorite summer meals.  It's light and filled with summer veggies. 
My sister, Rachelle gave me the recipe.

Pasta Primavera

8 oz of pasta of your choice

1 zucchini or yellow squash

1 pepper (red, orange, yellow or green)

3-4 roma tomatoes

4-5 T. of olive oil

salt & pepper

Italian seasoning

Parmesan cheese
*If you add a variety of squash/peppers, it helps with the flavor and color.  
Sometimes when I have them, I cut up half of each squash and a few different peppers.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Boil water for pasta. Wash and slice veggies. 
You can slice them in long strips or in chunks.  Pour olive oil onto a cookie sheet.

Place cut veggies onto the sheet.  Mix them into the olive oil.  Sprinkle on salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Bake for 10 minutes, flipping vegetables halfway through.  Dice tomatoes.  Take a large bowl and dump cooked pasta and vegetables into.  Be sure all of the oil on the pan goes in - it helps add lots of yummy flavor.  Mix. 

Top it all of with fresh tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. 

*How I tweaked it:

We like meat so I cut 2 chicken breasts into strips and cook them in olive oil and Italian seasoning over medium heat. 

I mix the vegetables right into the cooked chicken and steam that for a few minutes.  Then I mix everything together in a large bowl, then top it off with tomatoes and cheese.

Hope you like it!

And just a few reminders:

1- I post new recipes every Monday and Wednesday.  

2- Fridays are special days for my followers!

3- Be sure to follow the blog and email me letting me know you're following.  Then you'll have the chance to post one of your recipes.

BBQ Chicken Salad

It's Monday...how about a really easy dinner to start off the week?  

It doesn't take a whole lot of prep and it comes together in 30 minutes - I promise.  

So if it's Monday morning and you want to make this, hurry and pull out 2-3 chicken breasts 

from the freezer.  If it's Monday afternoon, start microwaving those frozen chicken breasts :)

Barbecue Chicken Salad
2-3 chicken breasts
1/4 cup diced onions
2 T. olive oil
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
 1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1 can of black beans
1 roma tomato
romaine lettuce
a bunch of cilantro
Ranch dressing
tortilla chips
(*you can also add olives, mushrooms, corn, etc.)

Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat. Throw in diced onions. Saute onions for 4-5 minutes. 

Cut chicken breasts into bite size chunks.  Throw in with already sauteed onions.

  Cook on medium heat until thoroughly cooked. 

(while the chicken is cooking, this is when you get everything else ready - rinse black beans and corn.  Dice tomatoes and any other ingredients.  Shred cheese.  Wash and cut lettuce.  Set it all out along with dressing and chips - ready to make your salad when the chicken is done.)

Turn heat to low.  Add *barbeque sauce and let chicken simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat when chicken is glazed with barbeque sauce.
*I'm cheap - I love the Kraft Honey BBQ sauce.  You choose your flavor.

It's time to make your salad! 
1. Fill the plate with chopped romaine lettuce.
2. Pile on beans, corn, tomatoes, and any other yummy ingredients you want.
3. Put a heaping scoop of barbeque chicken on.
4. Sprinkle cheese on. (I like my cheese to melt!)
5. Top of crumbled tortilla chips and cilantro
6. AND cover in Ranch dressing.

ENJOY!  Like I said...30 minutes.  You can do it...go!

 *My kids eat everything separate.  And I usually make a cheese quesadilla for them :)



First Follower Friday: Cashew Chicken

Remember when I said I had some exciting things planned?  Well this is one of them! Each Friday I will choose one of my followers (are you following this blog yet?!) to submit a favorite recipe to appear on my blog. I'll do a little spotlight on that person and then post their recipe.  

Pretty exciting huh? See, I'm ALL about learning from you guys, too! 

So for today, my first Follower Friday goes to Caley. She's actually the person who inspired me to create this blog. We've been friends since freshmen year of high school. She's one of my heroes. She's kind, loving, and insanely creative! She works and writes for HowDoesShe.com. Her style is gorgeous and I wish I had her ability to design and decorate practically anything!  

Take it away, Caley.

>>>>>>

Thanks Tiff, you're the sweetest and I'm so excited about this blog! Woo woo!

Today I'm going to share one of my family's favorite meals...

Cashew Chicken

Without turning the heat on, combine into a wok or stir-fry pan:

1 tbsp garlic or garlic powder

1 tbsp cornstarch

5 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp black vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp water

Mix together, add 3-4 cubed chicken breasts and turn on the heat to medium-high. Stir often while the sauce cooks into the chicken...make sure the chicken gets completely cooked.

 

When cooked, add 1 diced green pepper and 1 can sliced water chestnuts... (you can also add 1/2 medium onion and 3 green onions if you/your family likes them).

 

One minute before you're ready to serve it, add the cashews. If you add them too early they might get soggy and they also get flaming hot! (Watch your tongues!)

Add some rice and you're all done! It's definitely a crowd pleaser and a delicious left-over meal! 

I hope it becomes one your favorites too! Enjoy everyone!

Would you like to share your family's favorite recipe? 

Become a follower and let me know! I'd love to have you!

And it begins...with Veggie Burritos

This is my food blog.  I absolutely love food.  I love to cook, bake, and eat food.  I'm quite surprised I'm not a million pounds yet because I have no control.  I'm no health nut, chef, or amazingly creative in the kitchen.  I'm good at following recipes and then maybe tweaking them just slightly.

 I plan on posting 3 recipes a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Sometimes the recipes will be nice gourmet (ha!) meals.  Sometimes (maybe a lot of the time) the recipes will be a yummy treat since all I do is try to bake new desserts.  And then other days the recipe I post might just be a snack my kids and I can't get enough of.  But be assured, that each week there will be 3 NEW recipes for you to try. 

I have a few exciting ideas up my sleeve for this blog so be sure to check often!

So for my food blog debut, I have one of my favorite recipes to share:

VEGGIE BURRITOS

(don't let the name scare you.  I am no vegetarian.  I love meat.  But this meal is filling and delicious!)

What you Need:

8 inch flour tortillas

One can of black beans

One jar of salsa (your choice)

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sour cream

One Lime

Bunch of cilantro

Rice

This meal can literally be prepared in 30 minutes!
The key is to do everything while the rice is simmering.

Combine 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice into saucepan.  Once it comes to a boil, turn down to low, cover, and start timer for 20 minutes.  Shred cheese.  Open can of black beans, dump into caliender over the sink, rinse beans thoroughly.  Cut one lime into 8 wedges.  Rinse cilantro.  Pluck cilantro leaves off the stem.  Have sour cream, salsa, and tortillas out and ready to go!  When the timer goes off for the rice, remove the saucepan from the stove.  And begin making your burritos!

I start with warming my tortilla in the microwave.  However the absolute BEST tortillas are these.  Put a spoonful of sour cream across the middle of the tortilla.  Add a few spoonfuls of rice and beans.  Sprinkle on cheese.  Pour on salsa.  Top with cilantro and squeeze a lime.  Roll and enjoy!