Recipe of the week: Cornbread

We have been eating a lot of chili lately! Taco chili, chicken chili, and I'm making some white bean chili right now! But I decided I needed some cornbread to go with my chicken taco chili and came across this great recipe on my Allrecipes app.  I modified it slightly, so here is the recipe I used.


Sweet Cornbread
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup white sugar (I used a little less)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon honey


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix egg, sour cream, milk, honey, and butter in a small bowl. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened; pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.

Cornbread...missing the piece I used for my chili :) 

Chicken Taco Chili and Cornbread

I enjoyed this cornbread.  I thought it was very moist and tasty.  I cut out some sugar and substituted honey, so it wasn't super sweet.  I think it would definitely be better with regular all-purpose flour too.  But it was still good!

Recipe of the Week: Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

Need a great fall soup? This one is fabulous! After fighting colds for 5 days, when I finally had energy to cook I thought soup would be a great idea! And I actually had all the ingredients for this one in the house.  I found the "idea" for this recipe on pinterest, but it seemed a little to plain for our family. After a google search I found this great recipe on www.tastykitchen.com

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup 

The full recipe can be found here. I used a slightly modified version.  

Ingredients 

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil


• 1 whole Small Onion Chopped


• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced


• 1 pound Sweet Potato, Peeled And Chopped


• 4 cups Chicken Stock


• 1 cup Water


• 1 head Cauliflower, Cut Into Florets


• 4 Tablespoons Cream Cheese 


• 1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese


• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Directions: 

Heat oil in large soup pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and a sprinkle of salt and sauté until onion is fragrant and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic, chopped sweet potato, and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add chicken stock, 1 cup water, and chopped cauliflower and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Remove from heat, add cream cheese, and purée with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender. (If you want to keep some chunks, reserve 1 cup of the cooked cauliflower before puréeing the rest of the soup). (I pureed everything) 

Return soup to heat, add cheddar cheese, and stir until cheese is melted and soup is heated through, 2-3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish as desired, and serve.

I thought this soup was delicious! I used less chicken stock then the original recipe and subbed a little water since I only had 4 cups of stock. But I am glad I did because I like thicker soup.  I also added a little more cheese, which I do to almost every recipe.  Not great for the waistline, but our family loves our cheese! :) It could maybe use a few spices, but overall was creamy and yummy!  

Recipe of the week: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

I love finding awesome Pinterest recipes right as I am walking out the door to the grocery store! Got to try This one right away!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Here's what you'll need:
Angel Food Cake Box mix
Cream cheese
Water
Pumpkin purée
Cinnamon

Here's what you get when you mix all that together and bake!




Pretty much that easy! These turned out fabulous! I maybe should have baked them a few minutes longer and not covered them so soon, they got a bit mushy. But overall, I'd recommend them! Perfect for a cold, rainy Fall day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe of the Week: Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

My Brother-in-law, Dr. Ben Lerner, along with other great chiropractors and nutritionists, has created some great healthy living books as well as cookbooks.  While we were visiting my sister and family in Florida we tasted one of the great recipes from one of their cookbooks, Maximized Living Nutrition Plan.
My sister had some leftover Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps when we got to FL. And well after traveling with 2 kids from PA to FL, we were starving. I am not going to lie, I ate 5, yes 5, of these wraps when we got to my sister's house. So of course the first meal I made when we finally got home, you bet ya, Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps.

Ingredients:



1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons organic almond butter
1 lb. ground turkey
1 tablespoon sesame oil (I used olive oil)
1 cup shiitake Mushroom caps, chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh ginger(I used 1 tablespoon ground ginger)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions (optional) (I used 1/4 cup)
1 head lettuce, separated into leaves

Directions:
Cook Turkey in skillet with oil about 5 minutes, stirring until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink.  Add mushrooms, and next 5 ingredients.  Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring constantly, 4 minutes.  Add green onions if desired, water, and almond butter and cook stirring constantly, 1 minute.  Spoon mixture evenly onto lettuce leaves; roll up.  Serve with extra soy sauce if desired. 

Tips: You can replace the lettuce with all natural whole wheat tortillas as well.

Source: Maximized Living Nutrition Plans By: Dr. Ben Lerner, Dr. B.J. Hardick, and Kimberly Roberto

Doesn't look fabulous, but if you could smell it you'd want to eat it! 

These, IMO, are AMAZING! We ate ours on flour tortillas with some spring mix on top.  But I have had them served in romaine lettuce and they are just as amazing that way! I could literally eat these for every meal of the day!




I actually bought everything to double the recipe and freeze 1/2 of it for later, leave it to me to open the second can of water chestnuts to realize they are bamboo shoots (cans look exactly the same). So hopefully I will get the second batch made tonight!

Recipe of the Week: Peach-a-Berry Pie

This week was "peach week" at read and pick storytime. So after a long morning of peach picking with a 3 month old and an almost 3 year old (Fun!) we were left with this...




So I began a search for a good, but easy peach recipe. Found Peach-a-Berry Pie on www.allrecipes.com. Looked simple and yummy and had good reviews.

Not being much of a baker, especially pies, I bought some frozen pie crusts and fresh raspberries to get started.

That brought me to peeling and cutting all the peaches... After trying one I realized it was not like cutting and peeling apples and I had no clue what I was doing. (I have since googled the easy way to do this!) So I recruited some help, my wonderful husband to peel all the peaches while I fed baby boy, who conveniently decided he was hungry as I was starting this task! :)


He's the best! After letting the fruit dry out for a few minutes, you simply had to mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon and then toss the fruit in!



Pour this in the pie crust, put a few pieces of butter on top and cover with another pie crust!

Make sure to place the pie on a cooking sheet while baking, mine leaked like crazy(as you can see)!!!



Not the prettiest thing in the world, but it tastes amazing, especially with a little whipped cream on top!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe of the week/month/year: Garlic Lime Fajitas

Ok, let's be honest, I have no idea when I posted my last recipe! But here is a REALLY good one (IMO).  After making these for the first time a few weeks ago, I have been craving them everyday! And they are healthy!

The recipe is a McCormick spice packet recipe, so it is really easy to make! If you don't want to buy the package, here's what you'll need!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken, cut into thin strips
1 green or red bell pepper ( I use 1/2 of each for more color)
1 medium onion (I used 1/2 of the large onion I had)
8 flour tortillas
1/4 lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced onions
3/4 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Directions:
1. Mix juices, oil, all of the spices, and salt in small bowl.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag.  Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor.
2. Cook and stir chicken in large heated skillet, 3 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from skillet.  Add pepper, onion, and reserved marinade.  Cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.  Return chicken to skillet until heated through.




3.  Spoon chicken mixture into warmed tortillas.  Serve with assorted toppings if desired. We only used some shredded mozzarella, but cheddar would probably work great too!




These turn out amazing, at least we think so! And we have been using the leftovers to make quesadillas the next day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Recipe of the week: Energy Bites

Since having our baby boy, I have been trying to cut dairy and gluten out of my diet as much as I can to help with our breastfeeding.  I never realized how many snacks and meals I eat that have dairy and gluten in them until I did this.  Pretty much everything I had been eating was either dairy or gluten.

So of course I decided to browse through Pinterest for some healthy snacks without dairy or gluten and found the recipe for these no-bake energy bites.

Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter of your choice)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

*Makes 18-20 bites*

Just mix all the ingredients together, put in the fridge for 30 minutes, then roll them into small balls. Store in the fridge and you can refrigerate them for up to 1 week.  

I have made these several times over the past few weeks and they are slightly addicting! Probably not going to help me much with the weight loss, but they are yummy! 

Recipe of the Month: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Since the arrival of our baby boy, I have been very behind on blogging! So you will probably only be getting a recipe every month for a little while! Here's one I made while still pregnant, so it's probably not the healthiest in the world, but they were yummy and of course my Toddler LOVED them! Here is a link  to the recipe that I based this off of, but I changed/added quite a bit! 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 c flour 

1/2 c sugar 

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 ripe mashed bananas 

1 large egg

1/2 c unsalted butter, melted 

1/4 c milk 

3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line twelve 1/3-cup muffin cups with foil muffin liners. (I didn't have any so I just sprayed the muffin pan). Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl. Mix mashed bananas, egg, melted butter, vanilla, and milk in medium bowl. Stir banana mixture into dry ingredients just until blended (do not overmix). Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake muffins until tops are pale golden and tester inserted into center comes out with some melted chocolate attached but no crumbs, about 32 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack; cool.

They were moist and really good! We froze 1/2 of them to pull out for breakfast/dessert every once in awhile! 

Recipe of the Week: Baked Oatmeal

Thank you Pinterest! This is amazing!

Made this oatmeal for breakfast pretty much the second I saw it on Pinterest cause it looked soo good and I actually had all the ingredients in my cupboards to make it!
Here is a link to the recipe and directions for Baked Oatmeal from inspired taste.

Ingredients
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (I left this one out)
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnut pieces, chopped
1 cup sliced strawberries (I also added some blueberries)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Method
Preheat oven to 375°F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, Chinese five spice, salt, half the walnuts, half the strawberries and half the chocolate. (Save the other half of strawberries, walnuts and chocolate for the top of the oatmeal). In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract.

Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining strawberries, walnuts and chocolate on top. Add the banana slices to the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shimmy/shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.

Turned out amazing, however isn't so great reheated...at least in my opinion.  We didn't reheat it in the oven though, so it might taste much better if you reheat that way.  But the bananas do turn a little brown by the next morning.  So I'd recommend making it when you know you will have enough people over to eat it all! 

Recipe of the Week: Cheeseburger Soup

And I didn't find it on Pinterest! :) (although you probably could if you searched for it!)


I happened to be watching TV during the day, which rarely happens...and as we put together a Winnie the Pooh puzzle I was listening to the Nate Berkus Show. Their guest was Chef Aaron McCargo and they were making foods that many pregnant women would instantly crave hearty meals.  Of course the next day I had to go buy all the ingredients to make this soup!  This will probably not be in my "diet" after I have the baby, so I thought I would make it now and enjoy while I still can!

*Note: This recipe is actually "Spicy Cheeseburger Soup", but being 9 months pregnant, didn't want to add the "spicy".  So check out the link for the original recipe if you like to spice it up a bit!

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup peeled, diced potato (1 medium all-purpose potato)
½ cup canola oil
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup finely diced onion
½ cup diced green bell pepper
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Italian Herb Blend
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ quarts beef broth
¼ cup beef bouillon powder
1 ½ pounds white American cheese, thickly sliced
¼ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts

Directions

In a large saucepan, put the potatoes and enough water to cover them by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Cover and keep warm.

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat slightly with a wooden spoon, until the beef begins to brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Add the onion and the bell peppers and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Add the flour, herb blend, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, until well mixed and thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the broth and bouillon powder, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until heated through, taking care not to break the meat up too much.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the slices of cheese, one at a time, and stir gently until the cheese melts into the soup and the soup becomes creamy. Add the scallions and the potatoes and cook just until heated through. Serve hot.

Doesn't look as appetizing as it really is! It was yummy, but a little salty for me! I also like "chunkier" soups so I would probably cut back on some of the beef broth next time.  We ate the leftovers over rice the next day which was really good.  We also have a TON left to freeze!

Recipe of the Week: Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken and Honey Mustard

Found this recipe (along with a few others that I love) on the website 50 Easy and Delicious Chicken Recipes.

Here is a link to the recipe and directions from the blog Six Sisters' Stuff.  I figured I couldn't go wrong with Honey mustard, chicken, bacon, and lots of cheese!

Ingredients- Chicken breast, cheese, mushrooms, bacon, salt, honey, mustard, mayo, onion flakes, and cooking oil.  

Ours definitely doesn't look as fancy as the pretty picture from their website, but it was still yummy! Only recommendations I have are don't use hickory smoked bacon (unless you like that). I didn't enjoy the "smoked" flavor it gave to the chicken. I also would have added some extra mushrooms to it! But I finally found a meal that the whole family will eat!!! 

Check out Six Sisters' Stuff for more information about this recipe and some other fabulous recipes! 

Recipe of the Week: Marinated Tomato Bake...or something like that!

Another Pinterest find, I don't have the link to the recipe or a name for it! But it was REALLY good and healthy! I also don't have amounts for any of the ingredients, I just sort of winged it!

Ingredients:
Tomatoes
Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon juice
Spinach
garlic
Salt
Shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
Directions:
Marinate sliced tomatoes in balsamic vinegar for 3-4 hours (or longer if desired). Place on foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, saute spinach and garlic with a dash of salt and lemon juice.  Put spinach on top of tomatoes and sprinkle with cheese.  Broil until the cheese is golden brown!




Click the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button below for links to more great recipe finds!

Recipe of the week: "Man-Pleasing Chicken"

Of course another Pinterest find! I am completely addicted to Pinterest, which is one of the reasons my blog has been so quiet! I should probably title this "recipe of the month".  But here is the recipe for"Man-Pleasing Chicken"! (I think I actually enjoyed it more than my man, though)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)
1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
salt/pepper

Mix mustard, maple syrup, and vinegar in bowl. Place chicken in baking dish, salt and pepper chicken, pour mixture in pan coating the chicken. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes, basting once or twice throughout.

We ate ours with sweet potato and broccoli! So easy to make and really yummy! Enjoy! 

Recipe of the week: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-garlic green beans

I actually didn't find this one on Pinterest...but it showed up there a few days after I did a google search for it! I had some green beans to use up and didn't want to make my usual olive oil and garlic green beans so I decided to look for something else.  I used this recipe from Real Simple, with a few modifications based on the reviews.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced (I only used one lemon)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound trimmed green beans
• 8 small red potatoes, quartered
• 4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin, about 3 1/4 pounds) (I used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cause that was what I had)
• 
  
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Check out the link above for what to do with these things! I also added a little Rosemary to mine cause I like that with my potatoes! But after very little work, this is how it turned out! 

 I thought it was a bit to lemony, but my husband liked it.  I would probably just use a little lemon juice in the mix to toss the green beans and chicken and not put the lemons on the bottom of the pan.  The green beans also got a little soggy from all the juice.  But overall, easy to make, and pretty good.  

Recipe of the week: Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Of course my new favorite place to find recipes is Pinterest, since I HAVE to have every food that I see on there.  Decided to try this Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili.  And I am so glad I did.  (For the sake of my time I'm not going to rewrite all the ingredients and directions on here, follow the link to find all that info, believe me it's worth it!)

Pretty much throw everything in the Crock Pot and let it cook! Just need to shred the chicken 30 minutes before it's done cooking.  I topped it with lots of cheese and some fresh cilantro, which I thought made the dish!

That's how ours turned out! I, of course, added a TON of extra cheese.  We ate this with tortilla chips instead of rice.  And I got to spend the day at the library and running errands with my little girl while this amazing dinner was cooking in my new Crock Pot! And I still have 1/2 of this frozen for when my next craving comes along!

Recipe of the week: Zucchini Boats

As I mentioned earlier this week, I decided to join Pinterest.  Love, love, love the website and all the amazing ideas you can find on there.

But being 24 weeks pregnant, every time I see a picture of food, I HAVE to have it! So I have already tried several recipes that friends posted! And I can't wait to try some more (like the cookie dough, oreo, brownie dessert, looks so yummy).

But I went with a healthier option for my first recipe and made what I call "Zucchini Boats".  I kind of "winged" it based on what I saw in the picture.  But they turned out really well.

Ingredients

Cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, tomato, basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper

 Directions:
1. Cut zucchini in 1/2 lengthwise and scoop out seeds, place in baking dish, and brush with olive oil and garlic
2. Add sliced tomato to top of zucchini and sprinkle with bread crumbs
3. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
4. Remove and sprinkle cheese over top, bake for 5-10 more minutes until cheese is melted.
5. Drizzle with olive oil, fresh basil, and Parmesan cheese

They definitely don't look exactly like the picture, but they were yummy!

Recipe of the week: Singapore Five-Spice Stir Fry

Needed a quick and easy dinner (as usual). I had purchased Chinese Five Spice for another recipe that I never made, so decided to search for a stir fry recipe using it. I found Singapore Five-Spice Stir Fry on the web.  Here is my version of their stir-fry.



Sauce:
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 teaspoon Chinese Five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon  crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons honey

Stir Fry:
2 cloves garlic
2 chicken breasts (bite size pieces)
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies (I used thai style for this recipe)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup uncooked rice

Directions:
1. Cook the rice as directed and keep warm.
2. In small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and mix until blended. Set aside.
3. In large skillet or wok, heat olive oil, add chicken and garlic, and cook over medium high heat until no longer pink.
4. Add Veggies and cook until tender (4-5 minutes)
5. Add sauce, cook and stir 2-3 minutes until bubbly and thickened.
6. Serve over rice.  (or pasta if desired)

I have tried several recipes for stir fry sauce, and this one was my husbands favorite.  Although, it didn't taste much like orange juice, for some reason little 'ol pregnant me could not get over the orange juice smell, and it was a bit spicy. But overall pretty good and really easy to make! Check out the actual recipe for an alternative to the frozen veggies! 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe of the Week: Alphabet Pasta Tomato Soup

Thought the Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets looked fun and yummy, so we decided to try them out.  I used the recipe on the back of the box to make this tomato soup.  You can also find the recipe here.  Here is the slightly modified to fit my fridge/pantry version of the soup!

Alphabet Pasta Tomato Soup


1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup carrots, diced

1/3 cup celery, diced

1 1/2  vegetable broth

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes 

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Sea Salt, or to taste

1/2 cup Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according the package, rinse, drain, set aside.
2. Heat the oil in medium soup pot.  Saute the onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
3. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the basil, oregano, black pepper, sea salt, and tomatoes. Mix, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Puree 1/2 of the tomato/vegetable mixture and pour back into soup pot.
6. Mix in the pasta and simmer 1 to 2 minutes until pasta is warm.  

Soup was very yummy, unfortunately, I'm not really a tomato based soup fan, and found out neither is my toddler.  But my husband loved it.  Now just have to send him to work everyday this week with his container of alphabet soup so we don't waste it all! :) This recipe makes a lot of soup so I will probably freeze some! Would go great with a grilled cheese sandwich! 

Also,  The recipe with the noodles also calls for soy, which I didn't add. That would probably add a little bit creamier texture to the soup.