Fresh Fruit Cookie Bars

I'm posting the recipe for these yummy cookie bars over at Love Stitched today.

Make sure to stop by! :)

Cobb Salad Recipe

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for Cobb Salad that I loved!

I had to change it to suit my family, but we make it all the time in the summer and it's still one of my favorites.

Here is is...

Summertime Cobb Salad Recipe

(adapted from Saveur)

Romaine Lettuce

Hard boiled eggs

Grilled Chicken Breasts

Bacon 

Pepper Jack Cheese 

(traditionally Cobb Salad uses Blue Cheese but my family doesn't love Blue Cheese)

Olives

Avocado

Garden Tomatoes (we leave them out because we don't like tomatoes)

Dressing:

3/4 cup Smart Balance Oil Blend

1/3 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 tsp. Sugar

1 clove of garlic

Kosher Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

-put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until combined

I love salads in the summer, don't you?

 

 

Better Than *you know what* Cake

Can you guess what all of the boys in my house requested for Father's Day...

Yep, Better than Sex Cake.

Chocolate...Cool Whip...Candy...the perfect cake for Dads :)

But when we were telling the kids about it, we hesitated to call it by it's real name.

Some words just sound wrong coming out of little mouths.

I started to say, "Here's the "Better than..." and then I trailed off because I couldn't think of what to say.

My cousin rescued me by jumping in with

"Better than STARWARS Cake!"

Perfect.

That is now what my boys call it.

Although Saxon was mad because he thought it should at least have a Star Wars figurine on top.

Nate said that he grew up calling it 

"Better than Robert Redford Cake."

 

Anyway, it's rich and sticky and sweet and yummy and best of all...

FROZEN!

And since I'm too cheap to turn on my air conditioning yet, FROZEN is wonderful!

(Currently my house is 88...miserable!)

Well, whatever you want to call it, here's the SUPER-EASY recipe:

1 box of chocolate cake mix

(my favorite is Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge)

1 cup Sour Cream

3 Eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 container Cool Whip

Crushed Candy Bars

*Mix together cake mix, eggs, and sour cream and bake in a 9 X 13 pan according to directions.

After you take the cake out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, and then poke holes all over the top with a fork.  

Then pour the whole can of sweetened condensed milk over the top and let it seep into all of the holes.

Then squirt caramel on top of that.

Then put the cake in the fridge until it cools completely.

You are going to put the cool whip on top and you don't want it to melt.

Let the cool whip thaw for a while the cake cools.

Once it's ready, spread the whole container of cool whip on top of the cake.

Then cover with crushed candy bars.

I used crushed, frozen, snickers and heath bar.

Then squirt a little more caramel on the top of that (just to be pretty).

Freeze again.

And voila!

Better than Sex Cake.

*As I was researching different ideas, I came across a few people that asked if it was possible to make a "healthy" version of this cake.  Umm...I guess you could cut corners here and there, but really, there is nothing healthy about this cake.  It is pure indulgence and one that I save only for very special occasions (like Father's Day).

BBQ Chicken Salad

I LOVE salads in the summer!  They are so refreshing and you don't have to turn on your oven.  Part of the reason that I like them so much too, is that I try to hold out on turning on my air conditioning until July.  Crazy?  I know.  No one can stand my house because it gets to be 85 degrees inside.  Now imagine what it's like if I turn on my oven...LOL.

This one was inspired by a pinterest recipe again.

I changed it a little to suit my family.

(Original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Start by coating 1-2 chicken breasts in BBQ sauce and grilling.

While that's cooking, you'll need:

Romaine lettuce

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can corn drained

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 avocado chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

mexican blend cheese

Once the chicken is cooked, chop it up and add it to the salad.

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise, light or regular
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

When you're ready to eat, pour some BBQ sauce on your salad, and then a little bit of dressing.  This is one of my new favorite salad dressing recipes.  It turned out really good and was really easy!  Plus, I had all of the ingredients at home already.

Enjoy!!

Southwestern Eggrolls

Today I'm posting a recipe for Baked Southwestern Eggrolls over at LOVE STITCHED.

Come over and say hi!

How to cook an artichoke

Hi Everyone!  It's been so long since I posted...I went out of town for the weekend and then didn't get this post ready in time.  So, here it is now.  And, I can't wait to tell you about my weekend.  More on that later...

Last week I decided to make artichokes for my family for dinner and I had to google direction for how to do it!  I've made artichoke before and I grew up eating it too.  But I don't make it very often and every time, I forget how long to cook it, etc.

I thought I'd share the directions with you too :)

First trip the tip off of the artichoke.  Then, using kitchen shears, trip off the thorn on each of the outer leaves.  Also, trip the stem a little.

Then fill a pot with at least 3 inches of water.

Here's where you can be creative...you get to season your cooking water.

Some suggestions that I found were:

lemon, fresh herbs, butter, salt, garlic, etc.

I added lemon, garlic, and fresh rosemary from my herb garden.

Finally, just put on the lid and boil 25-45 minutes.

I always do 45 minutes because I want it to be nice and soft all the way through.

While it's cooking, mix up your favorite artichoke sauce.

I use mayo and my husband likes butter.

But, I have heard of adding lemon to mayo or balsamic to mayo to make your own sauce.

Yum!

After 45 minutes, just take it out and eat it.

But be careful...it's hot!

Enjoy!

Chicken Tandoori Recipe

I tried another pinterest recipe and LOVED it!

It was quick, easy, healthy, and exotic.

Chicken Tandoori

You'll need:

Chicken Breasts 

*(I used 4 but there was enough sauce for a few more)

Juice from one lemon

kosher salt

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 a small red onion

3 cloves of garlic

a 2 inch piece of ginger

4 tsp. tomato paste

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 3/4 tsp. hot paprika 

*(I couldn't find hot, so I used smoked because it was all I had...)

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

Cooked rice

Start by preheating the broiler.

First make shallow slices in the chicken.  

Then, pour the lemon juice and 1 1/2 tsp. salt over the chicken breasts in a bowl and let it sit.

Next, pulse 2 Tbsp. yogurt, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, coriander, cumin, 1 1/2 tsp. paprika, and 1/2 tsp. salt in the food processor.

Mix it until it makes a paste.

Scoop the paste onto the chicken (in the bowl) and mix it around until it is all coated.

Let marinate for 15 minutes.

Place the chicken on a foil liner broiler pan.

Broil the chicken for 6 minutes on each side.

Only turn it once.

Make sure the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees.

While the chicken is cooking, combine the rest of the yogurt, the cilantro, the 1/4 tsp. paprika, and a pinch of salt in the food processor to make the sauce.

When the chicken is done, serve over steamed rice and drizzle with yogurt sauce.

(recipe adapted from Food Network)

And that's it!  So easy and fun.  I really love making my kids new dishes with exotic flavors!  Saxon and Dalton loved it!  Bridger thought that the yogurt sauce looked like queso and was so disappointed that it didn't taste like Mexican food that he pouted through the rest of dinner.  Oh well, 2 for 3 at least :)

Pineapple Fried Rice

I used to be in love with this one baking blog.  Her treats were amazing!  Plus, they were all really do-able.  You know what I mean?  Nothing too weird or too complicated.  Simple and delicious.

Then my favorite baking blog decided to go Vegan, change the blog name, and make food instead of just treats.  I was a little bummed, but I tried one of her new recipes and I LOVED it!

Vegan Pineapple Fried Rice

Via Cheeky Kitchen 

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
3 cups sweet brown rice, cooked
3 tablespoons vegetable broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 cup peas, frozen
1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1 cup roasted & salted cashews
1/2 cup scallions
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

First, heat up the oil in a wok.  Then add the garlic and red pepper and cook for a few minutes until softened.  Then add the rice, vegetable broth, soy sauce and curry powder and stir it until all combined.  It should start to sizzle and pop and smell delicious!  Then turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients and stir until heated throughout. 

*I actually left out the coconut because I thought it had enough going on without it, but that's up to you.
*I also used a little less cilantro and a little more vegetable broth too.
*Check out Cheeky Kitchen Blog for more details and pictures.

I have always steered clear of fried rice because of the "fried" in the title.  I decided to try it after reading the recipe because there really isn't that much oil.  I loved it, my husband loved it, and my kids loved it.  I can't wait to make it for my sometimes-vegan-mom and my all-the-time-vegetarian-sometimes-vegan-little-sister.

Don't let the "vegan" scare you off though.  This recipe is delicious and super-easy.  One hint that she gives on her blog is to have rice pre-made so that you can toss together easy dinners like this.  I made the rice in morning and then put it in the fridge.  At dinner time, I just tossed everything together and it was ready to go.

Try it out.  You'll love it!

Mango Chicken Tacos

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes when I know I'm not going to have a lot of time.

Crockpot Mango Chicken Tacos

Just put chicken breast in the crockpot in the morning and cover in mango salsa.

Let cook on low for 4 hours.

I use frozen chicken because it's faster, and then usually just leave it in the crockpot all day.  Fresh chicken cooks in about 3-4 hours on low.

After about 4 hours, take off the lid and shred the chicken.  I should just fall apart with a fork.  At this point I usually add more mango salsa because the slow-cooker can mute the flavors.

Then, add a scoop of sour cream 30 mintues before you are ready to serve.

I first tried this recipe at a friend's house and she used regular salsa.

It turned out amazing, I just love the mango salsa so that's what I use :)

I serve it with lettuce and olives and cheese and fresh cooked tortillas.

My kids love it because they get to build their own tacos.

This recipe is easy to change around to make it exactly how you want it.

For example, my grandma is allergic to wheat and dairy, so we don't add the sour cream or cheese, and we use corn tortillas instead.

When we make it for my brother and my sister-in-law, we use their homemade salsa from the garden.

I use this recipe so often that my kids don't even know what ground-beef tacos are :)

Healthy Orange Chicken

The other day, I stumbled up this recipe for

Better-than-take-out orange chicken from Table for Two.

It looked yummy so I decided to try it out.

I changed it a time bit to adapt it for my family.

You can see the original recipe on the link.

3 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and pepper to taste
---------------
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce 
---------------
Zest from one large orange
1/2 tsp. grated ginger root (about a 1/2 inch knob)
1/2 tsp. garlic minced (about 2 cloves)
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. honey
--------------- 
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp. corn starch
---------------
chopped green onions

First, put the chicken in a pan and start to cook.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

While the chicken cooks, bring water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce to simmer.

Once it's simmering, add zest, ginger, garlic, red pepper, and honey and bring to a boil.

Turn down heat and simmer for a few more minutes.

(Make sure to keep and eye on your chicken.  It should still be cooking).

In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup water and 3 Tbsp. corn starch.  Add to the sauce stirring constantly because it will thicken instantly and you don't want it chunky.  You might want to turn up the heat again to help the sauce smooth out.

When the chicken is done, add the chicken pieces to the sauce mixture and stir.
Stir until the chicken is completely coated and then turn off the heat.

Serve on top of steamed rice and sprinkle with green onions. 

 

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

When I was planning Easter dinner, I asked my cousin who was coming over if he had any preferences on what we should have.

His only request:

Costco Buttery Mashed Potatoes.

Not the "just add water" kind.

The real ones, from the deli, with the big chunks of butter on top.

I laughed but agreed.

Why not?  It would be easy.

Well...Costco didn't have them.  It turns out that they only sell them at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When I make my own mashed potatoes, I can never bring myself to add all of the butter and cream.  I cut corners to keep it as healthy as possible.

But, this Easter, I promised all of the boys that I would make real mashed potatoes.

So I called my Dad to get his recipes, and here it is:

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs. red potatoes

Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 stick butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

Fresh ground pepper

First, wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks.

Then fill a pot with cold water and sprinkle in some Kosher salt.

Bring the potatoes to a boil and then boil until soft (about 25 minutes).

Drain the water and let some of the steam evaporate out so your potatoes aren't soggy.

Then mash them a little.  I put them in the kitchen aid on slow for a minute.

Heat your half and half and butter together on the stove until the butter is melted and mixture starts to boil.

(I cheated here...I used skim milk...I couldn't help it!)

Then, slowly add the cream and butter to the potatoes while mixing.

Next add in your Parmesan cheese and sour cream (shh...I used low-fat).

And last, add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve them right away since they will still be hot! 

Asian Chicken Pasta

Hi Everyone!

Today I'm over at LOVE STITCHED for my contributor post.

Today is: Asian Chicken Pasta.

Go check it out and tell me what you think...

Easter Carrot Cake Cupcakes

With Easter coming up, I've been dying to make carrot cake.

On Sunday night, I decided to make my favorite carrot cake cupcake recipe.

Easy Easter Carrot Cake

1 box spice cake mix

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup finely shredded carrots

Mix together and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter

8 oz. cream cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

This is one of my favorite recipes because it is oh so easy, and I usually have the ingredients on hand.  Also, I LOVE carrot cake, but I don't like raisins, and I don't like nuts in cake, and most carrot cake has both.  Instead I used the crushed pineapple with doesn't change the texture, but adds a juicy-fruity-flavor that I love.  However, if you do love nuts and raisins, go ahead and add them.  You can still use this easy recipe.

Now that I'm thinking of Easter, I realized that I have a lot to do still!

Time to start coming up with Easter ideas!

Spinach and Berry Salad Recipe

Spinach and Berry Salad Recipe

Last night for dinner, we made tri-tip.

I never make beef because I don't eat it, but every once in a great while I make it for my family.  Since we were having beef, I figured I had better come up with something good to go with it that I could eat :)

I decided on one of my favorite salads...Spinach and Berry Salad.

-Spinach

-Romaine lettuce

-Granny Smith Apple

-Strawberries

-Blackberries

-Candied Pecans

-Feta Cheese

We made the candied pecans ourselves by adding pecans sprinkled with sugar into a skillet.  The heat will melt the sugar and caramelize it onto the pecans.  Yum...I kept picking them off the salad to snack on before dinner :)

For dressing we had the option of Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette, or Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar mixed with Persian Lime Olive Oil.

This is one of my favorite summer salad recipes, and since it is starting to feel like spring around here, I couldn't resist :)

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake Recipe

 My sister-in-law made this yummy cake for us once and I've been craving it ever since.  She told me it was a Lyon House recipe, so I googled it and found it on KSL recipes. 

(Via http://www.ksl.com/?nid=204&sid=2470712)

Imagine, googy, sticky, sweet, oatmeal, coconut, brown sugar and cinnamon...YUM!

Can you see why I had to find this recipe?

And it's an easy recipe.  I can usually tell by looking at a recipe if I'm ever going to bother making it or not.  Some recipes sound good but have so many ingredients that I don't have, that it would cost a fortune to make it.  This one is only the basics.

And, the next day, my husband took it to work for breakfast :)

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups boiling water
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Method:

Pour boiling water over oats and let stand until cool. Cream the shortening with sugar and eggs until fluffy. Add oats and water mixture. Sift flour with other dry ingredients and blend into creamed mixture. Pour into greased and lightly floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Immediately spread topping on baked cake.

Topping for Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup nuts, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Melt butter, blend in sugar. Add remaining ingredients and spread on baked hot cake. Place under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.

Shamrock Shake

 I got the idea for this recipe from a health information newsletter that I get.  I changed it just a tiny bit and decided to try it out for my family.  We love going to Roxberry to get smoothies but it gets so expensive.  I've been trying to come up with good smoothies combinations that my kids will love, that will be healthy, and that will be affordable.


So, this is Green Smoothie #2:

1 ripe avocado

1 handful of baby spinach

1 scoop of yogurt

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup flax seeds

1 1/2 half cup orange juice

ice

 I made a huge batch because my kids told me that they wanted smoothies.

Well...Bridger told me that he wanted orange juice and I told him that I bought it for smoothies...at which point he reassured me that he really wanted a smoothie.

Bridger did not like it because he told me that it tasted like guacamole.

Saxon wouldn't try it because he was expecting an orange smoothie since I told them I was using orange juice.  He was sure that I had tricked him.

Dalton loved it though!

I really liked it too.  The avocado made it creamy like an ice cream shake.  Nate said he could definitely taste the avocado, but it didn't bother him.

I guess it was only a partial success since my kids wouldn't touch it :)

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

I'm so excited for St. Patrick's Day!  I love having a reason to celebrate!

My kids have been busy trying to design a "leprechaun trap" to see if they can catch one.

This is what we're doing for St. Patrick's Day:

I saw this cake idea on pinterest and thought it was genius!

It's a leprechaun trap cake.  You cover the whole in the middle with pretzel sticks and then put gold coins on top.  When the leprechauns climb up to get the gold coins, they will fall through into the whole in the center of the cake.  The cake inside is rainbow.

There's a great tutorial for how to make it if you click on the link.

We are definitely making this the night before St. Patrick's Day!

(via Not Martha)

On the morning of St. Patrick's Day we will put on our new St. Patrick's Day socks (all from the dollar spot at Target) and we make sure to wear green so we don't get pinched :)

Since the leprechauns will turn our milk green in the middle of the night, we will have green milk with our Lucky Charms.

(via Thoughtfully Simple)

I always make our traditional "corned beef and cabbage" meal for St. Patrick's Day dinner.  My mom always made it when I was growing up, and now I love making it for my kids.  Lucky for us, it's also incredibly simple.  I just buy a packaged beef brisket from Costco or the grocery store.  It comes with directions and a seasoning package.  I just put in in the crockpot with the seasoning and a little bit of water.  Then I put carrots and potatoes on top and let it all cook together for at least 8 hours on low.  An hour before, I will chop the cabbage into big chunks and add that on top.  It doesn't take very long for the cabbage to cook and you don't want it to get soggy.
I don't even like beef, but I make it every year because I love just eating the veggies.  My husband and kids love the beef because I only make beef on St. Patrick's Day :)

(via babble)

I just found this cute new recipe online, but I'm going to try it.
Pot of Gold Jello...too cute!

(via Family Fun)

I can't wait!
What are your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions?

Green Smoothie #1

In honor of St. Patrick's Day coming up, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite Green Smoothie recipes over the next few weeks.

I love making smoothies for my kids for breakfast, or for a snack.

It's also a great way to sneak things into their diet that they wouldn't normally eat.

Last night we went for a 5 mile walk.  We bundled the kids up and put them in the jogging strollers with their portable DVD players.  They fell asleep after the first few miles...it was awesome!  I love going for long walks, but sometimes I'm starving after. I don't really want to make something to eat since we are usually about to go to bed, so I'll usually just try a smoothie.  This is the one we made last night...

1 box of coconut water

1 scoop of yogurt

1 handful of baby spinach

1 handful of frozen pineapple

1 banana

1 Tbsp. milled flax seed

Just put in all in the blender with some ice.

I love smoothies because you can adjust the recipe according to what you have.

If you don't have coconut water...try water, or juice, or coconut/almond/soy milk, or whatever sounds good to you.  For example, my frozen pineapple is actually a frozen fruit mix.  I think I ended up with mostly pineapple and mango but a few papaya made it in too.  Just make sure you have enough liquid...you don't want it to taste like spinach puree :)

Actually, this one mostly tasted like banana, but it was really good!

I've been experimenting a lot with green smoothie recipes lately and this is one of my favorites.  I've made some that taste too much like spinach.  Some look too much like mud and no one will try them.  We called this one a "Leprechaun Smoothie" and that sold my kids on it :)

What's your favorite greens smoothie recipe?

Cinnamon Sugar Cake

My family LOVES Amish Friendship bread.

However, it takes 10 days to get ready to make, and then keeps multiplying!  And, I use a TON of ingredients making it every 10 days.  So, I don't make it very often.

But, we do love cinnamon and sugar, I thought we'd try Cinnamon Sugar Cake to see if it would be an easy substitute.

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 Tbsp. melted butter

Cinnamon/Sugar Mix

Just mix the cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla together.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with half of the cinnamon/sugar mix.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

My oven bakes hot, so mine was done in about 15.  It may need more or less time depending on how your oven cooks.

Since I used a decorative pan, I flipped the cake over once it had cooled slightly.

That way the top that I had sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar is now the bottom.

Once it's turned over, drizzle the top with melted butter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar.

It was so yummy!  Saxon thought it tasted like churros.  Bridger thought it tasted like cinnamon tortillas from Costa Vida (restaurant).  I though it tasted just enough like Amish Friendship bread (because of the sour cream and the cinnamon/sugar) to buy me some time before everyone is begging me to make the real thing again :)

Recipe Contributor

I'm so excited to announce that I'm going to be the recipe contributor on Love Stitched!!!

It's going to be so much fun to come up with new recipes and share them with you on both my blog and  on Brittany's.

Click HERE if you want to read more about all of Brittany's new contributors :)