M&M Cake

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Charro Beans

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Cast Iron Skillet Lettuce Wraps

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Snickerdoodle Cookies

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Caramel Apple Bake

Caramel Apple Bake





What You Need:
* 6 apples (sliced)
* 1 tablespoon of Bisquick
* 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
* 20 caramel pieces (cut in fourths)
* 1 cup of Bisquick
* 1/4 brown sugar
* 1/4 cup butter



What To Do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Mix first four ingredients together in a large bowl
- Spread apple mixture into an 8x12 (ungreased) baking dish
- In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients together
- Sprinkle remaining ingredients evenly over apples
- Bake for 40 minutes









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East Stove Top Lasagna

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Guilt-Free Pumpkin Muffins and More...

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Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta

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Apple-Cranberry Pie

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Baked Oatmeal "Muffins"

In an effort to help the husband have a way to consume a healthy breakfast on his early busy mornings, I decided to hunt down my mom's old baked oatmeal recipe...the one I remembered her making 20 years ago for us kids. I thought it would be the perfect "grab-and-go" breakfast for those busy mornings. I also knew it would be a good healthy breakfast for Lil' Man and myself to enjoy as we started out our day too.

My hunt for this recipe took a little longer than originally planned. I have no idea where I placed my copy of the recipe, so I had to phone my mom for help. Thankfully, she found her copy and was able to give it to me. Thanks, Mom!

Although, not terribly unhealthy...I decided to adjust the recipe some to make it a tad more healthy. I substituted the oil with applesauce and the egg with banana. I want to add some chia seeds next time...read here why chia seeds are a great addition to your everyday foods. Chia Seed Benefits: 10 Reasons To Add Chia To Your Diet.

Why should you make these???

Busy schedule in the morning? Make these Sunday night and have them ready to go for the rest of the week as a quick healthy breakfast. Have plenty of time for breakfast? Make and eat them fresh from the oven with a side bowl of fruit and yogurt. Seriously, you can't go wrong with these little gems.




Okay...the recipe.

You will need:
1/2 cup applesauce
2 mashed bananas
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup of milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Baked Oatmeal "Muffins"

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place the following items in a large mixing bowl:
- 1/2 cup applesauce

- 2 mashed bananas

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1 cup of milk

- 3/4 cup brown sugar

- 3 cups rolled oats

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

* Mix all ingredients together and spoon into muffin tin

* Place paper cupcake cake liners in muffin tin for best results




* Spoon in oatmeal mixture into the liners

* Add any topping (strawberries, blueberries, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, etc.) you would like, I added chocolate chips and dried cranberries.




* Bake for 25 minutes
* Ready to eat or cool and place in fridge

** Heat for 15-20 seconds in microwave after being refrigerated **


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Grilled Tuna Steak with Creamy Jalapeño Sauce

This past weekend we enjoyed this delicious meal. My brother wanted a seafood dinner for his birthday...so we set out to make it a yummy one. I think we succeeded.

This dinner consisted of the following:

* Fresh Tuna Steak (grilled)
* Creamy Jalapeño Sauce
* Cilantro-Lime Rice
* Fresh Tomato, Cilantro, Lime Salsa










Enjoy!

Creamy Jalapeño Dip (copy-cat from Chuy's)

**Warning...once trying this recipe you will be addicted!**

My husband found a copy-cat recipe for Chuy's Creamy Jalapeño Dip at the link provided. He made some modifications to it...and we were left with pure addiction.

I love this dip...I really love how versatile it is as well. I have used it over grilled chicken, tuna, plan to use it as an enchilada base, I dip my pizza in it, chips, veggies, used it over rice...the ways to use it are endless. The best part...It.is.so.good.

We find that using fresh jalapeños is better than using the pickled ones in a jar. My one word of caution - use one jalapeño at a time to taste. Sometimes the peppers aren't too hot and sometimes they are really hot and you may not want to use more than two.

Creamy Jalapeño Dip

2 ounces mayonnaise
6 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Herdez salsa verde
1 small bunch of cilantro
A dash or two of salt
1 ranch dressing packet
3-4 fresh jalapeños

Blend all ingredients in a blender and enjoy.
It gets creamier/thicker refrigerated overnight







Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Summer Chicken Medley

One of the great things about summer is the abundance of fresh produce. The following recipe has a medley of vegetables that can be picked straight from the garden or picked up fresh at your local Farmer's Market.

Summer Chicken Medley

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- You will need to mix the following ingredients together and place in desired baking dish.

* Dice 1 pound of chicken tenderloin
* Dice half an onion
* Dice half a tomato
* Dice choice of 2-3 peppers ( I used a variety of colored bell peppers)
* Chop half a bunch of cilantro
* Add 1 clove minced garlic
* Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt
* Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil
* Add 1/4 cup of lime juice (I used the concentrate)


You should have a beautiful mixture that looks like this -




Here is a closer look...just because it is so pretty...




- Cover the dish in foil
- Place in oven for 45-55 minutes

Finished Product -








This is great served with rice (or quinoa), tortillas, and/or with freshly sliced avocado.

Enjoy!

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No Oats About It...

My mom, in her unforeseen wisdom, shared with me this great recipe. It is from the blog Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth.

This recipe was a lifesaver for me right after I had my second child. She is definitely more...umm, high maintenance if you will, than my other child. Between caring for a newborn, a 3 year old and all the other stuff life throws your way, I found myself never finding the time to eat. If you know me at all, you know that this situation will not work for me. I like to eat. So, I decided to make something that I could eat in a hurry, with one hand (if needed), on-the-go, at home, yada yada...you get the picture. I remembered my mom sending me this link for homemade granola. I thought filling, yummy, nutritious...yeah, sure, I'll try it.
During a well planned nap time, I quickly gathered all my ingredients and made, what I consider to be, the best granola ever. I did not follow the recipe verbatim. I eliminated some ingredients I don't care for, added a couple extra anti-oxidant ingredients and altered some of the measurements (initially by mistake, thankfully my mother helped me fix it.)

My altered recipe:

I mixed the following ingredients together:
*use a large bowl*
6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups of roasted chopped almonds
2 cups un-sweetened shredded coconut
2 cups wheat germ
1 cup chia seeds
1 cup flax seeds
2 cups dried blueberries
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Set this bowl aside

Then, in a sauce pan, combine the following ingredients:
*cook on medium heat until boil, then remove from heat*
1 1/2 cups of coconut oil
1 1/2 cups of honey
1/3 cup of water
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
11/2 tsp. fine sea salt

Once I completed the above steps, I followed the rest of her directions:

* Pour sauce into the dry ingredients.
* Mix until everything is evenly coated.
* Place a single layer on cookie sheets (I used wax paper to prevent sticking) and bake in batches (275 degrees) according to how much you want to have on hand. (You can freeze the rest and bake later)
* It usually takes about thirty minutes (it took mine about 40 minutes) and needs to be stirred twice
* Remove granola once it is a golden brown, then let cool on a cooling rack
* Store in an airtight container.





Yummy! I now have enough granola to last me quite awhile. I enjoy it as a cereal, mixed in with yogurt, or I grab a handful to munch on as a snack.




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Chicken...It's What's For Dinner

I contemplated what I was going to do as I stared into a five gallon bucket that is almost half full of banana peppers and bell peppers with a handful of cherry tomatoes thrown in the mix. My husband used quite a few this morning with our breakfast, but we still have so much left.

I was surprised that our garden was still producing anything at all...I am really surprised that it is producing so much!

Back to my dilemma. I decided I was going to throw together a chicken recipe and use the rest of the tomatoes and quite a few of the peppers. The rest of the fresh produce I will freeze.

For the chicken -

* I simply placed 4 chicken breasts in a baking dish with some salt and pepper added.

* I then threw in the cherry tomatoes (whole) and chopped banana peppers.

* I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth and placed in the oven (400 degrees) for 40 minutes. (covered)




* I took out the chicken and added 6 slices of provolone cheese. Then, back into the oven it went for an additional 10 minutes. (uncovered)

* After 10 minutes...done.





To go with this yummy dish, I also made a side of rice. I used a cup and a half of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water to make my one cup of rice.

Together, chicken dish and rice....YUM.




Now...to freeze the remainder of the peppers.





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Vacation: Day 8 - Takin' It Easy

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The Perfect Cookie

On the hunt for the "perfect" cookie, my sister stumbled upon this FANTASTIC recipe that, I believe, does indeed make the "perfect" cookie. Ever since she shared this website with me, I have made countless batches. (countless mainly because I became a little embarrassed of how often I was baking up these batches of cookies, so I stopped counting)

These cookies were an instant hit in the Williams' household. My personal reasoning for LOVING them - they are the perfect density. I hate cookies that are too dense or so light I feel like I am eating air. Also, I can literally taste the perfect blend of the ingredients. I usually overcompensate my cookies with chocolate chips...with this batch, I do not have to do that.

The website: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I highly recommend visiting and making these cookies!

Today, Lil' Man and I had some fun baking cookies. I love baking/cooking with him. It is so fun and I hope he will look back on these memories like I do of when I was little and working in the kitchen with my great grandma. Our conversations today were a little sporadic...from me explaining what I was doing and showing him the various ingredients to him asking why he had to use a big boy potty and how much he liked fireworks. I loved it. The teacher in me also was very happy, he counted out groups of 3 with the chocolate chips, identified and pushed the numbers on the microwave that I needed him to when I was melting the butter and we described how the cookie dough tasted...he came up with "yummy" and "good". :) 

The Progression of "The Perfect Cookie"...

Mixing the ingredients (while listening to Pandora)

We LOVE chocolate

Time to add the chocolate chips

    

He is such a good helper

Everyone deserves a little taste...

Admiring his masterpiece

Enjoying "The Perfect Cookie"

Simply Delicious

I have been craving a jalapeño chicken kind of dish for a few days...so, tonight I just whipped out the 'peños, chicken, added a few things here and there that would compliment each other and made my dish to suit my taste buds. (hopefully my husband's too)

I did not want to do anything very complicated...I am all about "doing it simple" tonight...so here is what is for dinner at the Williams' household tonight.

Grilled Jalapeño Chicken

What you need:
*5-6 chicken tenderloins
*1 clove of garlic
* 1/2 a tomato
*1/4 onion
*2 jalapeños

What to do:
* Cook chicken on skillet with 2 TBSP. of olive oil
* Mince garlic and add to chicken
* Slice jalapeños in half and clean out the middle, chop, and add to chicken
* Puree tomato and onion and add to chicken
* Cook all ingredients together for about 15 minutes

With a dollop of sour cream...mmm

Refried Black Beans


What you need:
*3 1/2 cups of black beans
*1 clove of garlic
*1/4 of an onion
*1/2 of a tomato
*Salt to taste
*1 tsp. olive oil



What to do:
* In a blender - add black beans, garlic, chopped
  onion, chopped tomato, and salt (It is  also good to saute onion & garlic in skillet then add the rest of the
  ingredients.)
                       
* Blend mixture...should not be runny...should not be whole beans...a little clumps is okay
* Heat olive oil in skillet
* Once warm, add black beans


Guacamole
*4 avocados (cut in half and scrape insides into bowl)
*2 limes (squeeze with lemon juicer into bowl)
*Salt to taste (I like a lot)
*Mix (mash) together

Tostadas
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees
*On a cookie sheet place 6 corn tortillas
*Sprinkle shredded cheese over the tortillas
*Chop some cilantro and sprinkle on top of cheese
*Bake in oven for 5 minutes (longer for a more crunchy tostada)

Food For Thought

I cannot believe spring break is ACTUALLY here...time is going by so fast. We kicked off our spring break with having friends over for dinner on Friday night; talk about a great time! I haven't laughed that much and that hard in a long time...it was definitely a good time. Good friends, good times, good food...perfect way to start a break.

Speaking of good food...our meal last night was from the grill...super yummy...especially the stuffed jalapeño peppers. If you are looking for a great little side, snack, appetizer, etc...keep reading.

Stuffed Jalapeños:

What you need:

* 1 pound of sausage
* 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
* 1/2 cup of feta cheese
* 1 cup of shredded cheese (optional)
*10-12 jalapeños

What to do:

Clean out peppers. I slice them in half, scoop out seeds with a spoon, and rinse them in cold water.

Cook sausage.

Add 1 package (8 oz.) of cream cheese and about 1/2 a cup of feta cheese to the sausage.

Scoop mixture onto jalapeño halves.

Sprinkle with some shredded cheese

Grill, at 350 degrees, for about 30 minutes (you can bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes)

*warning...these are ADDICTIVE





Continuing with the whole food thing...I am very excited, because today I bought the book The Hunger Games. I am very excited about starting this series...not because I know anything about it; It has received so much hype that it piqued my curiosity enough to want to read it. I am sitting down to read it tonight...with a chocolate covered frozen banana...I am a very happy person right now.

I LOVE chocolate covered frozen bananas

               

Superb Smoked Ribs

A recipe from the hubby today. He made these ribs last night for dinner and I decided I just HAD to share his very own ribs rendition with ya'll. They were so delish. I love when the warmer weather returns...we get to eat more food from the grill...YUM. There is just something about food that has been grilled, whether it be veggies or meat - nothing else like it. Here is the information I gleaned from my husband on his outstanding ribs recipe. Hope everyone enjoys!

(p.s. - I enjoyed  mine with a little Head Country BBQ sauce over the top, but they were just as good without it as well...just sayin'.)

Superb Smoked Ribs

What you need:
1. Worcestershire sauce
2. Garlic Pepper
3. Cumin
4. Chili Powder
5. Carne Guisada Seasoning


What to do:
1. Pour worcestershire sauce over the ribs and let it soak in.
2. Sprinkle on top of ribs:
* Garlic Pepper
*Cumin
*Chili Powder
*Carne Guisada Seasoning
3. Let it set (covered) in the refrigerator for an hour
4. Smoke with Mesquite wood on 225 degrees for 3 hours.
5. Wrap in foil to "rest" for 20 minutes before eating (this allows the flavors/juices to spread throughout the meat)