Lunch Salad

Have you noticed that I seem to ONLY make chicken dishes?  Cut this chicken, cook it in these seasonings, add it to this?  Geez, I promise I make plenty other kinds of dishes in my house.  So I'll show you!

This is my favorite salad to make for lunch time.  I think I make it when I'm feeling fat.  Eating lettuce makes me feel skinny.  Except I'm positive the dressing I smother on top isn't a fat burner :)

Yummy Lunch Salad

Chopped romaine lettuce

Cubed sharp cheddar cheese

Diced Gala apples

Brianna's Poppy seed dressing (picture with the peach on it!)

Mix it all up and enjoy.

*ALSO, my friend Caley made some special requests for fast, on the go breakfasts. (which are coming, Caley!)  So now I'm going to ask you - what kind of food would YOU like to see on the blog?

Follower Friday: Taco Soup

Happy Freaking Friday!

Heather, one of my followers, was chosen to share a recipe today.  Heather and I went to the same high school - go Broncos!  We sang in the Madrigal Choir together.  An all girl choir was way too much fun!  She is an absolute sweetheart.  I won't share too much about her because she wrote a nice little bio herself.  Take it away, Heather!

 

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My name is Heather. I am married to Thomas. We have two sweet kids, Eleanor (3) and Thomas (1). We also have a little boy on the way. I love to cook and bake. It is one of my favorite things to do! I hardly ever follow recipes and tweak pretty much every recipe I make. I have a food blog and would love some more followers. I have been a horrible blogger lately between moving, being pregnant and chasing after my two kids, but will be posting another recipe very soon.

 

Check out my blog, Food from the Sellers

 

 

This is one of my favorite recipes. My sweet friend Melissa gave me this recipe and then as usual I tweaked it. Cooler weather is coming and this is perfect for one of those cool days. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have! (At the end I included a homemade tortilla chips recipe. I don't remember where it came from, but my family loves them.)

 

Taco Soup
(based off of a recipe from Melissa Borders)

1 onion

2 lbs hamburger

3 packages of ranch dressing powder

2 packages taco seasoning

2 cans corn-drained

1 can pinto beans

2 cans black beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes with chilies

 

Brown hamburger. Then add onions, 2 ranch dressing powder and 1 taco seasoning. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Put in crock pot. Add all beans, tomatoes, corn, taco seasoning packet and ranch dressing packet. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve with sour cream, cheese and homemade tortilla chips (see below for recipe). Enjoy!

Homemade Tortilla Chips

corn tortillas

vegetable cooking spray

salt (if desired)

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Cut corn tortilla chips into to desired shape (we cut ours into strips) and place on cooking sheet. Spray the top of the tortillas with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven and cook for 10-20 minutes at 425. Be sure to check often, they burn easily. Serve over taco soup.

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.

Follower Friday: Cinnamon Rolls

FOLLOWER FRIDAY!!!  

In case you are NEW, let me explain.  Every Friday I choose one of my followers to do a guest post.  That special follower gets to choose something to share - an entree, dessert, drink, ANYTHING - and tell us all about it.  (Are you following this blog yet?)  It's pretty exciting - maybe more for me?  I love to get new recipes.  And it's fun to have my friends/followers support this crazy food blog idea of mine :)

Today it's Lauren's day.  She made a personal request in a comment to do Follower Friday.  I can't resist requests. (so go ahead, ask away!)  Lauren and I go way back to when we were studying Special Education at BYU-Idaho.  (what, what?!)  We met in a WICKED hard class.  Our teacher was amazing, but it still didn't make the class any easier.  From the moment I met Lauren, she was someone I admired.  I remembered how vibrant and happy she always was. (and I'm sure still is)  I admired her ability to wake up before class to run!  I also admired how much time she took to understand the information in classes; something I struggled with.  She's now a mommy of two beautiful girls and still has the time to blog about them, bake yummy things with her girls, and RUN!  Her priorities are definitely in order.  Lauren it's all yours!

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I think cinnamon rolls are a breakfast food.  My husband thinks they are dessert.  So we compromise and eat them in the morning, noon and night.  What could be better? These are the EASIEST cinnamon rolls you will ever find.  And I swear they are fool proof.  If you are a beginner or seasoned cook these will soon be in your pile of favorites. The best thing about these cinnamon rolls is that after they are cooked and frosted, I individually wrap each one in plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer.  If we want one, we get it out, pop it in the microwave for a minute and we have an oven-fresh roll in seconds!  Hope you all enjoy! These are the BEST and most SIMPLE cinnamon rolls around!  I have loved making these for pre-wedding breakfasts, family, reunions, and for everyday.  

Cinnamon Rolls 

 You will need: 1/2 cup water (hot) 2 Tablespoons Yeast 8 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 lb of butter (4 sticks) 2 cups milk (any kind) Filling: 1//4 cup butter 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar Frosting: 1/2 cup butter 1 tsp vanilla Splash of milk 5-6 cups of powdered sugar 

1) Use a liquid measuring cup and measure out 1/2 cup hot water from the faucet.  Add 2 T yeast.  Stir slightly and set aside. 

2) Measure 5 cups of flour and the 1/2 cup of sugar into a mixing bowl.  

3)Add 1 pound of butter, room temperature.

4) Cut the butter (using a pastry blender or fork) into the flour and sugar.  You should get a crumbly texture.

5) Add 2 cups of milk and yeast mixture and mix till all your dough is moistened.

6) Add the remaining 3 cups of flour.  Mix till there is no dry flour mixture.
7) Transfer your dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic.

8) Refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
9) Sprinkle a  little flour on the counter and divide the dough in half.  Roll it into a cylinder.

10) Use a rolling pin and roll it into a large square about 1/4 inch thick. 

11) Make mixture: 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon in one bowl.  Also melt 1/4 cup butter in a separate cup.
12) Spread 1 half of the melted butter evenly over the rectangle.  Then sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the melted butter.

13) Roll it up!

14) Cut it into 10-12 sliced with a knife (or floss!)

15) Place on a greased cookie sheet and press down on each piece.

16) Repeat with other half of dough.

17) Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Let cool.  Then make frosting and enjoy!

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You should make these cinnamon rolls this weekend!
Thanks Lauren!