The Adventures of Mini-Martha

Rainbow Salad

2013-05-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

This salad was introduced to me by my boss. We recently had a staff meeting at work, and at the end of the meeting we celebrated a coworker moving into a new position with the company. We wanted to have food to celebrate and this salad is a favorite in my boss's family, so she suggested it. We each brought in a component for the salad, and combined it all at work.

It was so good! I could go either way on the mango- I think it would be fine with or without it, but it really wouldn't be "rainbow" without the orange from the mango in it. It's light but full of flavor. The flavors work well together, with just a little tang from the cheese and bite from the shallots to balance out the sweet fruits.

It was so good, in fact, that I got the recipe from my boss and made it for my husband and I for dinner with some crusty rolls to go with it. This one is a keeper, for sure.

Ingredients:

2 cups red cabbage, sliced
1 mango, peeled and diced

1 large pear, diced

2 granny smith apples, diced
6 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped

½ cup blue cheese crumbles

2 shallots, finely chopped
¾ cup walnuts, toasted

Dressing-
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp. honey
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients to combine then pour over the salad and toss. Or, combine the dressing ingredients and store separately, using your desired amount.

Serves: 6

April 2013 Chicago Trip- Part 2

2013-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

My husband and I recently took a pre-anniversary trip to Chicago. In case your missed part 1 of my recap, you can find it here. The remaining three days of our Chicago trip were a bit busier than the first two days.

DAY 3

Today we planned to visit Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. We decided to start our day by having breakfast at Yolk. There are three locations in Chicago, and we visited the one on Michigan Avenue, near Grant Park. We parked at the Soldier Field parking garage, a $22 flat rate, and walked through Grant Park across Michigan Avenue to Yolk. Today was cold, in the low 40s for a high, but dry. It took 10-15 minutes to walk to Yolk, and we were quite cold by the time we got there. We arrived at 8:45am and where seated immediately.

Yolk is a breakfast lover's dream. The menu is expansive. We decided we were going to share our meals, so we picked from two different categories: omelets and pancakes. We ended up getting the Garden Delight omelet, which has tomatoes, spinach, asparagus and mushrooms (we omitted these) and is topped with cheese and sour cream; we got ours with red potatoes and wheat toast. We also ordered the Fruit and Nut pancakes, which are multigrain pancakes made with bananas and topped with strawberries and pecans.

The food was great. The portions were large and very filling. We couldn't even finish everything. As we had hoped, the meal kept us full for many hours. It was the perfect way to start our day.

After breakfast we walked back through Grant Park to the Shedd Aquarium. During our walk, we saw this interesting artwork on the way.

It was a cold, windy walk to the Shedd Aquarium. We redeemed our City Passes for our aquarium tickets, which included admission, one 4D film, an aquatic show and the Jellies exhibit. The aquarium was busy with a lot of school field trips. But we were still able to see all of the exhibits without having to wait too long at any of them. The Shedd Aquarium is large. We spent over three hours here.

I think I was spoiled last year when we visited Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California. Had I not been to this aquarium last year, I would have been more impressed with Shedd Aquarium. That is not to say that Shedd is not amazing, it is. It just comes in a strong second to Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I am still happy we went and I did enjoy my time there. The aquatic show was the last thing we saw while here, and it was an entertaining end to our visit.

After the aquatic show, we made our way to the Adler Planetarium, which was about a ten minute walk from the aquarium. It was between 1-1:30pm when we arrived, which ended up being the perfect time to go. Most of the school field trips we wrapping up their day when we got there, so it wasn't crowded at all. We saw a few exhibits and then grabbed a quick bite to eat in the planetarium cafe. I was pleasantly surprised to have several healthy options to choose from, including sandwiches and salads (quinoa, cous cous and other various salads). We split a turkey sandwich, then finished seeing the rest of the exhibits.

We enjoyed our time at the Adler Planetarium, but as a nurse interested in science and an aerospace engineer, unfortunately we felt like it is geared more towards school-aged children. What I enjoyed most was the historic Atwood Sphere, a large metal sphere with the constellations punched into it. It costs a little extra to see this, but it was included with out City Pass. You get to go inside the sphere for a presentation to see and learn about the different constellations. It was a unique experience. We also saw a 3D film that was included with the City Pass.

The planetarium was open until 4:30 today, and we stayed until almost-closing time. We then took a cold, windy walk back to the parking garage to our car and returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

This evening we had reservations at La Madia. I knew what I wanted before we even got here- the 3-hour Roasted Grape & Taleggio pizza. It was so tasty and different than any other pizza I've had before. We split an Italian Chopped Lettuces salad, which had pears, bleu cheese and spiced nuts, and after the pizza we shared a Chocolate Polenta Cake with Vanilla Gelato. The meal was wonderful. The service was top-notch. And, we witnessed a proposal while we dined. It was a wonderful evening and I highly recommend this restaurant. Also, a few weeks before our trip, I had signed up for La Madia's email list and a few days after, they sent me a coupon for $10 off my next visit, which was great.

This was a great day that ended on a high note.

DAY 4
Today we planned to visit the Field Museum, a natural history museum. I'd been told that you could spend hours here and not see everything it has to offer, so this was the only thing we planned to see today. We started off the day by having breakfast at Weber Grill. We wanted a large breakfast that would last us several hours so that we could just grab a small lunch at the museum today. We chose the Continental breakfast buffet, which was reasonably priced for an all-you-can-eat dining option. Following breakfast, we grabbed our car and headed to the Field Museum.

Today, instead of parking in the garage at Soldier Field, we decided to park in the lot adjacent to the Field Museum, since it is closer and would be less of a walk in the cold, windy weather. It unfortunately took us forever to get into this lot! It is an unmanned lot, and it seemed to take each car at least 5 minutes to get through the automated pay system to get in. It was annoying to have to wait that long, but once we got our turn, it didn't seem to take us as long. I think this was because we paid the $22 fee in cash and not by credit card. Once we parked, we entered the back entrance and walked right up to get our tickets with no wait. The museum became busier throughout the day, but we never really had to wait very long to see any of the exhibits.

Our City Pass allowed us an all-access pass to the museum, so we wanted to have as much time there as possible. This included all permanent and travelling exhibits and a 3-D film.

My husband and I both have always been interested in dinosaurs and archeology. One of my favorite parts of the Field Museum was Evolving Earth exhibit, which takes you through 4 bilion years of life on earth. I also loved learning about the resident T-rex, Sue. She's the largest and most complete T-rex ever found. We chose to see the 3-D film on Sue as well.

The display of Sue's bones includes a replica of her head. Her actual head is so large, weighing in at 600 pounds, that it has to be displayed separately than the rest of her bones.

Another favorite part of our visit for me was seeing the Images of the Afterlife and Inside Ancient Egypt exhibits. I've always had a love for Egyptian history and the Field Museum's exhibits were impressive. Especially Inside Ancient Egypt- the exhibit was huge! Unfortunately we saw this exhibit at the end of our visit, and my feet were hurting after being here for five hours, so I admit I was a bit grumpy by this point. But, I still really enjoyed this part of the museum.

After spending five hours inside the museum, there were still some exhibits we didn't get to see. We could have stayed longer but my feet couldn't handle it anymore. Even stopping to have lunch at the museum cafe didn't provide enough relief for my feet, so we had to leave without seeing everything. However, we did get to see almost everything that we wanted to, including all the travelling exhibits except one- Living with Wolves. We couldn't find it! We even asked at the information desk, and still couldn't find it.

After leaving the museum, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner reservation at the restaurant in our hotel, Sable Kitchen and Bar. Sable is a gastro-lounge with an expansive bar and a small plates menu that is meant to be shared. The executive chef is Heather Terhune, of television's Top Chef Texas. The focus here is on local, organic food as much as possible.

We were pleased when we were seated in front of the open kitchen. It was fun to be able to see all the different dishes being prepared. Our server was very good, and he advised us that for two people, we would likely want to share 5-6 small plates. He also went through the different parts of the menu and gave us his suggestions. We decided to have the kale chips, fried cheese curds, rainbow salad, pierogies and mushroom burgers.

After we finished our last plate of food, we decided that we also wanted to share a flatbread, so we ordered the caramelized onion flatbread to share. Literally two minutes after we placed that order, a different server approached us with an extra order of scallops that were made, and offered them to us to try. My husband had never had scallops and I am not a fan of them, but we accepted the free dish so my husband could try them. He ended up really enjoying them.

This was our most expensive dinner of the trip but it was also our last and we wanted to fully enjoy ourselves. I think some of the items were overpriced ($12 for three pierogies!) but overall it was a fun experience with great food. The mushroom burgers had goat cheese with red onion jam and were probably the best veggie burger I've ever had. The food came out at a nice pace and not all at once. We never felt rushed. It was a great evening.

After dinner we headed up to our room to relax and finalize our plans for tomorrow.

DAY 5
Today was our last day in Chicago. We still hadn't seen much of the city itself due to the weather, so we wanted to make the most out of today. Since Weber Grill is right next door to our hotel, we decided to have breakfast there again today. Today we both had the full breakfast buffet, which included everything that the Continental did, plus hot items like eggs, meats, potatoes, and the option to order omelettes, waffles and more, at just a couple dollars more. The food was very good for a buffet. The service today was unfortunately a little spotty. Today my husband ordered waffles to be made while we went and helped ourselves to the buffet. We were actually done eating our first plates of food and heading up to get seconds when I saw a plate sitting there ready for pickup. We were almost done eating our second plates of food when our server came by and brought the check. My husband had to ask about the waffles to which we received "oh, let me go check, they should be up by now". Then he immediately returned with them. So yeah, he forgot and they were sitting there for who knows how long. Other than that, we enjoyed our filling breakfast. We then bundled up and took a short 10-minute walk down to the Chicago River.

It was only about 10am at this point, and while we contemplated taking a boat tour today, we decided that this early in the morning, it was just too cold to really enjoy it. So instead we spent some time exploring the Chicago River Walk. While we were, we stumbled upon the Chicago Vietnam Memorial.

After some time by the river, we headed back to our hotel to pack up and check out. After check out we stopped to fuel up for the ride home, but gas in the city was so much more expensive, we only got enough to get us onto the highway. We then detoured slightly so we could drive through Millennium Park. I was able to see the Cloud Gate sculpture and Crown fountain, but only in passing and wasn't able to get any pictures. We then made our way to Willis Tower, the former Sears Tower, to use up our City Passes and see the Skydeck Chicago.

We parked in the self-park garage next to the tower. It costs $10 for 1 hour or less, or $20 for 1-3 hours. You pay at the pay station when you are ready to leave.

Our City Passes gave us fast pass access to Skydeck, which allowed us separate access through security and into the line for the elevators to take us to the 103rd floor. Once on the Skydeck, the views are simply amazing. I'm so happy we waited for nice weather to visit Skydeck.

All four sides of the Skydeck have floor to ceiling windows with breathtaking views of the city and beyond. We were able to see our hotel (well, it's location, the buildings around it were taller than our hotel so we couldn't see our actual building, but we knew it was there), the river, the lake, the museum campus... the whole city!

One side of the Skydeck has four ledges that extend 4-feet off the side of the building. We waited in line to experience this, and it only took us about 15 minutes for our turn. I don't have a fear of heights but I do have a fear of falling from heights, so I was fine until I happened to look down under my feet and could see the street. That made me nervous, but I managed to step onto the ledge long enough to have someone take our picture and then off I went. I'm happy I made myself do it though. I don't know that I'll ever get to experience something like that again.

Remember when I said parking was $10 for 1 hour or less, or $20 for 1-3 hours? Well while we were waiting to experience the ledge, it dawned on me that we might actually be able to make it back to our car within the one hour, which would save us $10. After the ledge, we waited in line for the elevators down; this only took five minutes or so. Then we exited the elevators and were routed through a gift shop to get to the exit. Then, a second gift shop! I was starting to think we weren't going to make it in time after all. Finally we made it outside and jogged back to the car. I'm sure we were a sight to see! Then we had to find the pay station in the garage. After a few minutes, we found it and... success! We made it with literally four or five minutes to spare. It was hilarious how victorious this made me feel! We spent a lot during our stay on parking, so to save $10 was exciting!

This was the last thing we did before heading home. We arrived home around 8:30pm, then went to pick up our dog from grandma's house. She was so excited to see us, she almost knocked over my husband! It was a funny way to end our evening.

THE VERDICT

The weather was not our friend on this trip. Of course on our last day, the high was forecasted to be near 60 but we weren't able to stay long enough to really enjoy it. That said, we still enjoyed our trip very much. I do wish we were able to see more of the city (we had wanted to do a segway tour, boat tour and walking tour, but decided to wait until we had nicer weather to do these tours). We'll definitely being going back at some point so we'll just have to do these tours when we do. I can't wait! Overall, we enjoyed everything we did on this trip.

Here's what I'm thinking for the next trip:

Staying at Hotel Monaco

3 hour segway tour with City Segway Tours

Chicago Greeter walking tour (these are free!)

Chicago Architectural Foundation boat tour

Exploring Millenium Park

Breakfast at Wildberry Cafe
Dinner at Volare
Dinner at Sweetwater Tavern and Grille
Deep Dish Pizza at either Gino's East or Giordano's

Have you been to Chicago? What's your favorite thing to do? Place to eat? Any tips to share?

April 2013 Chicago Trip- Part 1

2013-05-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary on May 24th and we wanted to do something special to celebrate. I've heard so many good things from many different people about Chicago, so we decided that we wanted to visit for our anniversary. As I did my research to plan our trip, I realized it was over $100 per night less expensive for us to go in April instead of May, so that is exactly what we did!

Last year, we took two trips where we flew. So we were in the mood to take a road trip this year. It ended up taking less than six hours to get there, which wasn't too bad at all. The easy drive was mostly a straight shot on I-80. It cost us almost $25 in tolls (one way), so be prepared for that if you decide to take your own road trip and need to use I-80. It is a toll road in both Ohio and Indiana.

We spent 5 days/4 nights in Chicago. Below are my reviews for our hotel, the City Pass discount book we purchased, and days 1 and 2 of the trip. Days 3 through 5 will follow in tomorrow's post.

HOTEL
We stayed at Hotel Palomar, a Kimpton hotel. This is the second time we have stayed at a Kimpton hotel, and I highly recommend them. They are "luxury boutique" hotels. The decor is a little funky and the service is outstanding. Definitely not a typical chain. They are also pet-friendly. But you wouldn't know it. In my experience both Kimptons have been extremely clean and quiet. I only ever knew a dog was there if I happened to see one.

We chose the King Spa Premier room at the Palomar. Our room was on the fourteenth floor. It was spacious and had a large bathroom with jacuzzi tub and separate shower.

We were lucky and happened to get a corner room, so we had two sets of windows overlooking the city. The Palomar is in the River North area of Chicago, so while we couldn't see the river from our hotel, we did have a nice view of the city. If you want a view of the river, check out Hotel Monaco instead. Our room also had a desk in the window overlooking the city, a sitting area with chair, couch and table, an in-room safe, and the Kimpton animal-print robes. We could hear some city noise from our room, but that is unavoidable when you stay in the heart of a city. Having anticipated this, I brought ear plugs with me. The first night I did not use them, and it stormed throughout the night. Additionally, the Palomar is close to a fire station. Between the thunder and sirens, I was woken up several times that first night (I am a very light sleeper unfortunately). Other than one really loud clap of thunder that woke him, my husband slept fine. After the first night, I used my ear plugs and slept well.

Kimpton hotels have a free wine hour from 5 to 6 pm daily. We did not attend either time we've stayed at a Kimpton, but they seem quite popular among guests. Kimptons also have free coffee and tea each morning until 10 am. We did enjoy this free service most days, and it was especially nice on the mornings we headed out into the cold, windy city. There are not coffee makers in each room but they are available upon request.

My only negative about the Palomar is the price of valet parking. It is $50 per night for valet parking, which to me is a lot. However, parking everywhere in Chicago is outrageous, so this seems pretty par for the course. The service of the valet was very good though- it never took more than ten minutes to get our car.

Overall we were very happy with our Hotel Palomar experience. For any future trips we take, I will definitely be checking to see if there is a Kimpton hotel to stay at.

CITY PASS
The City Pass is a discount ticket book that can be purchased online here. Basically, for one price, you get tickets for five Chicago attractions. Here's what you get:

Shedd Aquarium
Skydeck Chicago
The Field Museum
Museum of Science and Industry OR the John Hancock Observatory
Adler Planetarium OR the Art Institute of Chicago

For the two options, we chose Museum of Science and Industry and the Adler Planetarium. The City Pass allows VIP entrance to the exhibits, allowing you to bypass the general admission lines. For most attractions, the City Pass includes more than just general admission. For example, at The Field Museum, it is an all-access pass to all normal exhibits and ticketed exhibits, and includes a 3D movie. This is something to be aware of if purchasing the City Pass, so you can make sure that allow yourself enough time to get full use out of the City Pass, and get your money's worth. Also, do NOT tear out the tickets for the attractions. They do this at each attraction and the ticket is considered void if you tear it out yourself.

DAY 1
We left our house around 7am on a Wednesday. We took I-480 to I-80. We only hit a little rush hour traffic on I-480 and then it was a very easy drive from there. Not a very exciting drive, as most of Ohio and Indiana are farmland along I-80. But at least it was an easy drive.

During our drive in Indiana, about an hour away from Chicago, it started to rain so hard at one point, that we almost couldn't see to drive. It rained on and off into Chicago. Since our hotel check-in time is 3pm, we decided to visit the Museum of Science and Industry before checking in. They have an attached, underground parking garage, and it cost $20 flat rate to park.

Our City Passes included admission, a 3D film, and a flight simulator. We actually did not end up doing the flight simulator. When we went to Disney World last year, a ride at Epcot that simulated flying to Mars made me feel like I was almost going to pass out, so we decided to skip this flight simulator to be on the safe side.

Since we went on a weekday, there were several school field trips at the museum today. However, it wasn't so crowded that we couldn't enjoy the exhibits. We ended up eating lunch here at a cafe near the food court, which turned out to be a good choice, since while we were eating, a huge group of children exited the food court. The area by the cafe wasn't too crowded and we had no problem getting a table.

We enjoyed this museum. It's large, and not just a typical science museum. There are definitely a lot of hands-on science exhibits, but the "industry" part of its name is represented well, too. There are sections on trains, aircraft, and a WWII U-boat. There is also currently the Animals Inside Out exhibit, but that is not included in the City Pass and we didn't pay extra for it because we didn't have time to see it; the museum is only open until 4pm during the week. Overall we really enjoyed our time here.

We stayed until just before closing time, then made our way to our hotel. It took a while to drive through the city due to all the traffic, but it wasn't too bad of a drive. Just a lot of typical stop-and-go city driving. It was about 4:30 by the time we checked in and got settled. It was still raining at this point, and we were a little tired from our drive, so we decided to have deep dish pizza delivered to our hotel.

We ended up going with the recommendation of our hotel bellhop, who highly recommended Lou Malnati's. We ordered a small "The Lou", which has spinach, onions, and tomatoes, and a house salad. The salad was good, but I was so disappointed in the pizza. It arrived piping hot, but was bland. It was not the Chicago deep dish experience I was hoping for.

After dinner we just relaxed, enjoyed our time with each other, and watched the storms from our room. It was a nice, low-key evening.

DAY 2
This was a lazy, relaxing day for us. We had room service for breakfast and after our food settled, we were feeling motivated, and made our way to the hotel's fitness center. I have to say, I was impressed. Not only with us for working out on vacation, but also with the fitness center itself. One wall was all windows, overlooking the city. This is where the cardio equipment was set up. There are three treadmills, three elliptical machines, and two bikes to choose from. There are also free weights, a weight machine, mats, medicine and kettle balls, jump ropes and hula hoops.Yes, I may have hula hooped for the first time in years! It was fun! Of course I waited until my husband and I were the only ones in the fitness center to try out the hula hoop. The fitness center also has two bathrooms, towels, water, free newspapers and fresh whole fruit. This was definitely the nicest hotel fitness center I've seen in my travels.

After we worked out, we originally planned to use the pool, which is adjacent to the fitness center. However while we were working out, I noticed a young man was in the pool area on his cell phone, and he was still there when we left. I left myself become self-conscious, and scrapped the idea of swimming altogether. Instead we went back to the room to get ourselves showered and ready for the day.

While I finished getting myself ready, my husband took a quick walk and got us takeout from Xoco. We placed our order online from their website. Since we had a large breakfast, we decided on a small lunch. We shared the Milanesa Chicken Torta and an order of guacamole, salsa and fresh-made chips. Everything was good. The salsas had a little kick without being overbearingly spicy. I would love to go here in the future to check out what else they have to eat.

The rain continued on and off all day today. The temperatures were more mild than yesterday but with the rain, it was muggy. There were some breaks in the rain, though, and we did venture out in the afternoon.

Our hotel is a very short walk to Michigan Avenue, The Magnificent Mile of shopping. Fortunately for my husband, I'm not big on shopping while on vacation. But we did take a walk to see part of it today. We needed to go to the Harley Davidson store to pick out t-shirts for my dad and a friend. There were hordes of people on The Magnificent Mile. I was happy to leave. But again, shopping on vacation is not my style. If you enjoy it, then this is the place to be. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Starbucks and enjoyed some iced macchiatos.

This evening, we had reservations at Quartino for dinner. Per the recommendation of one of my coworkers, we decided to dine here. It is an Italian restaurant that offers small to moderate-sized plates meant to be shared. Your food arrives as it is cooked, not necessarily all at the same time. This is meant to encourage you to share. We ordered polenta fries, asparagus risotto, and the vegetarina pizza, which has cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini and asparagus on it, and is topped with arugula. We also shared fresh bread with olive oil while we waited for our food to arrive.

Everything was very good. Thankfully we had enough room to share a dessert. We ordered the Fantasia Coppa di Frutti, which is raspberry, orange, and lemon gelato topped with fresh fruit and a biscotti. It was a wonderfully refreshing way to end our meal. After, we headed back to the hotel for another relaxing evening.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of my Chicago trip recap, which will include reviews of Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, The Field Museum, Skydeck, and the restaurants we ate at during the remainder of our trip.

Asparagus Cheese Tart

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

From Martha Stewart

The grass is green, daffodils are blooming, and orange construction barrels are popping up everywhere.

Spring in Northeast Ohio is here! Do you know how else I can tell? My grocery store has abundant and affordable asparagus.

I try to cook seasonally, so I've been using a lot of asparagus lately. But it is easy to tire of the same recipes after a while. So I was happy to remember I had saved this recipe a while back.

This was actually really easy to make. I baked the puff pastry and let it cool about 1-2 hours before I finished making this tart, and that worked out just fine. Of course, you can bake it immediately prior to needing it.

This was great! Rich and cheesy... yum! Serve as an appetizer or make it a meal by adding a salad like we did. To save on cost, I used Fontina cheese instead of Gruyere. Visit the link above for a great how-to video on making this tart. Happy Spring!!

Ingredients:

Flour for dusting work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
5 1/2 ounces (2 cups) Gruyere or Fontina cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus, woody ends broken off
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a flat, floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim off any uneven edges with a sharp knife. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then put the rolled out pastry on the baking sheet.

With a sharp knife, lightly score the dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle; this will create the crust. Scoring allows this part of the pastry to rise and form the crust while baking. Use a fork to poke holes in the dough inside of the crust at 1/2-inch intervals. Do not score the crust. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the oven, and sprinkle with the cheese. Trim the asparagus spears to fit inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over the cheese. Alternate ends and tips. Brush with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Bake until the asparagus is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Yields: 6 dinner-sized portions

Bunny Bark

2013-03-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

As seen on Your Homebased Mom

Easter is early this year and I have a busy week leading up to it, between work and appointments (including a very important shopping date with my mom). I also have two family celebrations this year to attend, one on Easter Sunday, and one the Saturday before. So I wanted to find something to bring that I could make in advance.

I already planned to make cupcakes the Saturday before Easter and didn't want to be rushing around trying to get multiple homemade items and myself ready that day. So this Bunny Bark sounded perfect. I made it yesterday and have it packed up and ready to go for our celebration on Saturday. It was incredibly easy and quick to make. Plus festive too! Of course you can easily adapt this to any holiday- just change up the color of the candy. You can use regular chocolate in place of the white chocolate, but the white chocolate just makes it perfect for Easter and spring.

Ingredients

14 whole vanilla sandwich cookies (Oreos, Who Nus, etc), chopped into pieces

1 1/2 cups pretzels, broken into pieces

1 lb. white chocolate

1 cup spring-time M&Ms, divided

Sprinkles

Directions

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Mix the cookies, pretzels and 3/4 cup of the M&Ms together and place on the prepared cookie sheet.

Place white chocolate in a glass container or large glass measuring cup and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir; microwave for another 30 seconds and stir, repeating until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Be careful not to burn.

Gently pour the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture; spread with a spatula if needed to coat the pieces evenly.

Sprinkle remaining M&Ms and some colored sprinkles over the chocolate before it starts to harden.

Place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator until the chocolate is set. Remove and gently break or cut the bark into small pieces.

Store in an airtight container.

Shamrock Tortilla Chips

2013-03-11T22:15:00.002-04:00

I've been seeing these cute chips around the Internet lately. I don’t really consider this to be a recipe, more of a method to making homemade tortilla chips. They are super easy to make and easily adaptable to any holiday. Just change up the shape of the cookie cutter and use non-green tortillas instead. Enjoy with your favorite dips- I like mine with hummus. These are great for entertaining or perfect snacks for kids and adults as well.

You will need:

Spinach Tortillas

Cooking Spray

Salt

Shamrock Cookie Cutter

Directions:

Prehet oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Lay one tortilla flat on a cutting board. Using the cookie cutter, cut out shamrocks from the tortilla . Repeat with remaining tortillas. The amount of chips you end up with depends on the amount of tortillas you use- one tortilla will yield 7-8 shamrocks.

In order to not create a lot of waste, save the cut-out scraps and make those into chips as well.

Place the cut-outs on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray the tops of the chips with cooking spray, and then lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until lightly browned. Keep an eye on them while baking so that they do not burn.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Quinoa Granola

2013-03-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Adapted slightly from The Hungry Hippie

I've never made homemade granola before. Many months ago, when I first started thinking about incorporating quinoa into our diets, I found this recipe on Pinterest. I thought it sounded interesting, but at that time didn't have most of the ingredients that it calls for. A few months ago, my husband decided he was interested in getting into running and eating healthier foods. So, off we went to Trader Joe's with a list of healthy ingredients to buy and voila! I now had all the ingredients I needed for this recipe.

This is really the easiest thing to make. Anyone can do it. All you have to do is combine, mix, spread and bake! I am confident that even my cooking-avoiding husband could handle making it. I have to give him credit though- while he is not much for cooking, he does help me with dinner quite often by helping with the prep and the clean-up. Gotta give the guy credit where credit is due!

This granola is so tasty! It's cinnamon-sweet without being too sweet. And it's healthy. It's really quite addicting! It makes a great snack and a great cereal. My husband approves- I had to ask him to stop eating it so I could snag a few pictures!

Please note:

I had to make some changes from the original recipe in order to use ingredients I had on hand and that my husband and I both like. I didn't have buckwheat so I increased the amount of oats and quinoa and added ground flaxseed and sesame seeds. I also didn't have any pumpkin seeds. I would have used them if I did- because we do like them. Since we didn't have any, I just doubled the amount of sunflower seeds. And I used salted sunflower seeds because, again, that is what we had on hand. My husband does like raisins (yet he likes dried cranberries- go figure?). So I doubled the amount of dried cranberries that the original recipe calls for. Truly, any dried fruit would work- use what you like!

I used red quinoa, but you can use whatever kind you prefer. Just make sure that if it is not pre-rinsed, that you rinse it well before using. Otherwise it will be bitter. And, no, you don't cook the quinoa for this recipe.

Now, do yourself a favor and go make some quinoa granola now!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups oats

1/2 cup quinoa

2 T chia seeds

2 T ground flaxseed

2 T sesame seeds

3/4 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut

2 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir lightly to combine. Add maple syrup and coconut oil and stir well to combine.

Spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Spinach Lasagna Rollups w/Slow-Simmered Meat & Veggie Sauce

2013-02-26T06:14:00.000-05:00

Adapted slightly from For The Love of Food

Years ago, I found a spinach lasagna recipe on Food Network that has since become my go-to lasagna. It is made with meatless sauce, and I honestly prefer it to more traditional meat lasagna.

Recently I came across this recipe, which is similar to my go-to lasagna, but uses homemade meat sauce. The rollups make for perfect individual servings, which is great for entertaining, and for freezing the leftovers. I was intrigued to give it a try and am glad I did. These rollups are so good, and I really think the meat sauce is why. It is so flavorful and really brings out the flavors in the rollup filling. Certainly you can use your favorite sauce, but I recommend trying it with the slow-simmered meat sauce at least once. You'll also notice I use cottage cheese in my rollup filling. I'm not a fan of ricotta cheese, but if you are, you can use that instead of the cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles (I use whole wheat)

1 15-oz container of cottage cheese (I use 1% milkfat)

2 cups of baby spinach, rinsed, dried and chopped finely

1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, (divided) (I use light)

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, (divided)

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped finely

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Slow-simmered Meat & Veggie Sauce (I use approximately half of what the sauce recipe yields)

Directions:

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Cook the lasagna noodles per the box instructions, drain, and place them on parchment paper on a flat surface.

Combine the cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, 2 tbsp of Parmesan, egg (or egg substitute), basil, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Spoon a thin layer of the cheese mixture down the entire length of each lasagna noodle. Starting from one end, roll up each noodle onto itself. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray then spoon a layer of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Place the lasagna rolls, seam side down, into the baking dish. Cover each roll with sauce. Divide the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese equally on top of each rollup.

Cover with foil; bake for 15 minutes (if your sauce is cold, I would add at least another 5 minutes to this time). Remove the foil and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Yields: 8 servings

Slow-Simmered Meat & Veggie Sauce

2013-02-25T08:56:00.000-05:00

From For The Love of Cooking

Growing up, my mom always made homemade pasta sauce. She would make a huge pot and freeze most of it for later use. As I got older, though, she found a store brand that we all liked, and switched to that. So when I moved out on my own, I bought the same store brand (a meatless variety). But last year, I stumbled across this meat sauce and decided to give it a try. I am so glad that I did. It is amazing. From the meat to the veggies to the fresh herbs, it is just full of flavor! I could make a meal out of this sauce with some crusty bread- it is that good!

It is definitely a nice alternative to the meatless sauce I usually use in all my recipes. And, it makes enough for at least two meals, possibly more, and freezes well. Give it a try, I don't think you will be disappointed. Added bonus: it is an easy way to sneak in some veggies if you have picky kids or husbands (fortunately, I have neither).

This sauce works perfectly with Spinach Lasagna Rollups- come back tomorrow for that recipe!

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1 lb lean ground beef

1 sweet yellow onion, diced

3-4 carrots, diced

1/2 cup of roasted bell peppers, drained and diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (more if desired)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup of beef stock

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use petite diced)

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

3 tbsp of tomato paste

1-2 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef, onion, and carrot. Cook, stirring often to crumble the beef, until the beef is cooked through. Add roasted bell pepper, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar. Stir until well combined. Cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Prior to serving, add the fresh basil and parsley and stir to combine.

Valentine's Day Yarn Wreath

2013-02-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to make a yarn wreath for quite some time now, and finally decided to make one for Valentine's Day. A quick online search will yield tons of different sites with yarn wreaths. It was this site that inspired me to make this wreath, and I think it turned out pretty well!

Wrapping the yarn is somewhat time-consuming, so definitely give yourself some time to make this wreath. Other than taking a little time, it is actually pretty easy to make. And the best part is, it is so easy to customize this wreath to any holiday or season. Simply change up the colors and felt shapes.

Please note, I highly recommend using a foam wreath that is a similar color to the yarn you are using. Otherwise, the foam wreath may show through, especially if you use a light colored yarn like I did. If this happens, you'll just need to use more yarn to fill in any spots that show through.

You will need:

1 foam wreath

Yarn (I had 16 oz. but didn't end up using all of it)

Small amount of yarn in contrasting color to the main color

Felt (I used one standard piece, but depending on how big of wreath you make, you may need more)

Hot glue gun w/glue

Permanent marker

Scissors

Directions:

Start by tying the yarn to the foam wreath, then glue in place with hot glue. Tightly wrap the yarn around the wreath. To help keep the yarn snug, I hot glued it in place every six inches or so.

For the hearts, I printed one on a piece of paper and used that as a template so all my hearts would be the same. Use the permanent marker to trace around the template. When cutting out the hearts, cut to the inside of the permanent marker line, to avoid having the permanent marker show through on the finished product.

Before gluing the hearts, place them onto the wreath to determine the spacing you like. Then proceed to glue them on by spreading a thin layer of hot glue onto the back of each heart and placing firmly on the wreath. Be careful to avoid burning your fingertips with this step.

Once the hearts are securely in place, glue a strand of the contrasting yarn on the back of the wreath. Start wrapping the contrasting yarn around the wreath and across the hearts at an angle. Once you make it all the way around, glue the yarn again on the back of the wreath. Then wrap the yarn in the other direction, criss-crossing over the hearts as you go. Once finished, again secure with glue and cut the yarn.

Spicy Roasted Edamame

2013-02-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Adapted slightly from Yummly.com

Edamame are green soybeans that are picked before they've matured. They are a healthy alternative to meat-based sources of protein with the added benefits of being cholesterol-free and a source of vitamin C.

The first time I ever had edamame was at a fondue restaurant, and when they were brought to the table they were still in the pod. Not having any idea at the time what edamame was or how to eat them, I ate them in the pod. I strongly suggest that you do not do that! They are not meant to be eaten. Since then I have had them here and there, and since finding them in the frozen section at Trader Joe's, I've started buying them and have been trying to incorporate them into our meals more.

Last year, while vacationing in California, my husband and I had a spicy edamame dish that was amazing. I'm not exactly sure how they were made, but they included serrano peppers- they were so spicy we couldn't even finish the dish. But, they were delicious.

These edamame are reminiscent of that dish, but are not nearly as spicy. The cayenne pepper does give them some kick, so if you are not a huge fan of spicy, I'd recommend using less cayenne. And if you really like spicy, I think some minced jalapeno or serrano peppers would be a great addition.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1 ¼ cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Place the edamame into a small bowl and add the olive oil. Add the spices. Stir well to combine and coat the edamame evenly.

Spread into a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered until the edamame begin to brown, 15-20 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Enjoy hot.

Yields: 2-3 servings

Brie en Croute (take 2)

2013-01-28T17:40:00.001-05:00

Adapted from Pepperidge Farm

So you may have noticed I haven't posted anything here in over three months. Life just sort of caught up with me for a while, especially around the holidays. But this week I'm starting a new position at work that has freed up some of my time. I am very excited to have more time now to get back into keeping up with this blog. With that excitement, I decided to share one of my favorite recipes - Brie en Croute (Brie in a pastry crust).

The first time I made Brie en Croute, I accidentally used phyllo dough instead of puff pastry. For that entertaining story, click here. I've never made it that way since and figured since it is one of my favorite appetizers, I should post the actual way that I make it. So, here we go.

Now as I said, this is one of my favorite appetizers. But, if I'm going to be honest, my husband and I have made a meal out of this far more times than I've made it as an appetizer. It's warm, gooey goodness is especially good with crisp, tart Granny Smith apples. Yum!

Please note, I posted the directions for this recipe as they are written in the original recipe. In actuality, I do not roll out the pastry, I don't always soften the cranberries/cherries, and I do not toast the nuts. Oh, and I also don't refer to this as "Brie en Croute". I just call it baked Brie.

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 T. water
1 sheet of puff pastry
8 oz. Brie wheel
1/3 cup dried cranberries (or cherries), softened*
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts), toasted
1/4 cup honey
Crackers, crusty bread, and/or fruit for serving

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400ºF. Spray a baking dish or Brie bowl with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and the water with a fork to create an egg wash. In another small bowl, combine the cherries and the honey.

Unfold the puff pastry onto a floured surface and roll into a 14 inch square. Spoon the cherry mixture into the center of the dough and top with the Brie. Fold the dough up over the Brie and trim the excess pastry. Brush the seams with the egg wash.

Place the pastry-wrapped Brie seam-side down into the prepared baking dish or a Brie bowl. Decorate the top with scraps, if desired. Brush top and sides with egg wash.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 10-15 minutes. Serve with crackers, crusty bread, and/or fruit.

Yields: 1 Brie en croute

*To soften the cranberries/cherries, combine with 1/2 c. of hot water and let stand for 1 minute. Drain and pat dry.

Baked Cheeseburger Eggrolls

2012-10-23T07:12:00.000-04:00

Adapted slightly from Does Not Cook Well With Others

They were yummy. The end. Seriously- I'm at a loss as to what to say to start this post.

What can I say? If you are looking for something different than the standard egg roll, make these. They were the bomb diggity (as my coworker would say- I love her). They have all the cheesy beefy goodness of a cheeseburger without the carb-loaded bun to get in the way. And since they are baked, they are less guilt-inducing than a regular egg roll. And less guilt is always a good thing!

These egg rolls are easy to make, too. They are crispy without being greasy. The only problem I had with them was that after they were baked, all of the sesame seeds fell off! (Insert sad face here- I love sesame seeds). Naturally, I asked my mom about this and her suggestion is to try using an egg white wash on top of the egg rolls next time, instead of the cooking spray. And so that is what I will do. If you try this method, let me know how it works!

It's fall here now, and by the time I make dinner and take pictures for the blog, it is already starting to get dark! So, my apologies for the quality of my picture. Also, I didn't take the time to take pictures of how to wrap the egg rolls as I was racing against the clock to finish cooking these so I could get a picture for this post. Please refer to the source for this recipe at the top of this post, as she has great step-by-step instructions for wrapping the egg rolls in her post.

Ingredients

½ small red onion, chopped
¾ lb ground beef
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or steak sauce
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or Colby Jack cheese
Salt and pepper
Small dish of water
8-12 egg roll wrappers (depends on how full you fill them)
Nonstick cooking spray
½ ounce sesame seeds

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and beef and cook until beef is no longer pink and onions are tender. (I found I did not need oil to cook the onions in as the beef gave off enough grease to cook them- if you are using a really lean ground beef, you may need to add a little olive oil or cooking spray to help the onions cook).

Drain the beef of the fat. Allow to cool slightly; stir in the Worcestershire sauce (or steak sauce) and the cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking pan with foil. Place a wire baking rack inside the baking pan.

Place an egg roll wrapper on a clean work surface (I used a cutting board). Brush all of the edges with a little water.

Place approximately 1/3 of a cup of the filling in the center of the egg roll wrapper and shape the filling into a rectangle diagonally on the wrapper.

Bring the points at the short ends of the rectangle in toward the center. You may need to add a little water to the new seams you have created to ensure they stick together.

Bring the far point on the long end of the rectangle in toward the center. Roll the wrapper to close it. Again, you may need to add a little water to seal the seams. The seam-side will be placed down onto the wire rack once you complete the next step.

Spray the top of the roll with cooking spray and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds. Place on the baking rack.

Repeat to fill the remaining wrappers.

Bake the egg rolls for 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown.

Serve with your favorite cheeseburger condiments.

Yields: 8-12 rolls (depending on how full you make them)

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

2012-09-30T15:57:00.001-04:00

Adapted slightly from Prevention RD

I don't know about you, but where I live, fall is upon us. The weather has cooled and many days have been rainy. The leaves are already starting to change. Aside from the rain, I love fall! My birthday is in fall and Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. Plus, there is almost nothing better than snuggling up on the couch in a hoodie on a cool fall day.

But that is not the best part of fall for me. The best part is... honeycrisp apples return! These are by far the best apple around- crisp, juicy, and just sweet enough. My mom first introduced me to honeycrisp apples a few years ago, and ever since then, I've become an apple snob. There is no other apple that can compare to the honeycrisp, and now there is no other apple that I will eat- with the exception of Granny Smith apples with my baked brie. Other apples simply just don't taste good to me anymore.

Honeycrisp apples are perfect on their own, but pairing with this dip makes for an amazing combination! The dip is smooth, creamy and fluffy. It's almost like frosting, though not as sweet. It makes for the perfect healthy snack. I'm sure it would be great with other fruit too, like bananas. It might even make other apples tolerable for me again! And I know from experience it goes well with Kit Kat bars... (hangs head in shame).

This simple dip is definitely a winner. My husband approves. My coworkers approve- I've already shared the recipe with many of them. It's so easy to make, there's no reason not to!

Note: vanilla Greek yogurt can be used instead of plain yogurt with vanilla extract.

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter
6 oz. nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Combine ingredients in medium bowl and whisk until fluffy and well-combined. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Mine kept well for over 2 weeks.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2012-09-23T11:31:00.002-04:00

Adapted very slightly from About.com

Do you ever buy a bunch of bananas, and then never eat all of them before they go bad? Well, my husband and I tend to. So the last time this happened, I tossed the bananas in the freezer once they were very ripe.

Recently I made a cupcake recipe that included cream cheese frosting, and somehow the frosting yield was twice the amount I needed for those cupcakes. Thankfully I remembered I had bananas waiting in the freezer to be used, went searching online, and ended up making this recipe. It is so good! The taste of banana really shines through, the cake is moist, and the frosting paired perfectly.

As a bonus, the house smelled simply wonderful when this cake was done. We couldn't resist the temptation, and ended up having a slice before it completely cooled. And because of this lack of willpower on our part, there is no picture of this cake as a whole to share with you. I didn't want a picture of the pacman-like cake I was left with after we stole our first slices. So, the picture of the slice is what we are left with. I'm sure you can imagine what the whole cake looked like.

Please note: if you decide to freeze bananas, when you know you want to use them, remove them from the freezer and place in a ziplock bag. Allow to thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours. Once thawed they will be very soft inside the peels. All I had to do was make a slit at the end of each banana with a paring knife and squeezed the contents out. They were almost liquid, which meant I had very little mashing to do, which was actually quite convenient.

Ingredients

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup canola oil
3 medium-sized very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Place the brown sugar and beaten egg in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Add the oil, milk, banana and vanilla extract; mix until combined thoroughly. Gradually mix in dry ingredients until just moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan; bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake is golden brown. Let stand in pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

For the frosting, place the butter and cream cheese into large bowl and beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat, adding in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach the consistency you desire. If the frosting becomes too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk to thin it out. Spread frosting on top of cooled cake.

Refrigerate any leftovers. Once the cake is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator approximately 1 hour before you desire to serve it again, to allow the frosting to soften and to remove the chill from the cake.

Yields 12 servings.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

2012-09-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

Adapted slightly from The Way to His Heart

I originally found these stuffed shells on Pinterest many months ago, but for some reason never made them until recently. Had I known what I was missing out on, I would have made them much sooner! These were delicious! Spicy, creamy, cheesy.... drool! I made these the night before my husband was having all of his wisdom teeth removed, so he would have a nice, hearty meal before having to have soft foods for a while. He devoured seven shells in one sitting! They were that good!

I adapted the recipe slightly to try to make it less unhealthy. I used a combination of lean ground beef and Boca brand “meat” crumbles and added a green pepper for some veggie presence. I also used 1/3-less fat cream cheese and reduced-fat cheese (and cut back on the amount), plus reduced-fat sour cream to top them with. I also used homemade taco seasoning to cut back on salt. Even with all of my changes to lessen the guilt-factor, these shells were still amazing! Make these. Seriously. Your taste buds will thank you.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning (or 2 T. homemade Taco Seasoning)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into small blocks
18 jumbo pasta shells
1 ½ cups salsa (I used medium-heat)
1 cup taco sauce (I used medium-heat)
¾ cup Cheddar cheese
¾ cup Monterey Jack cheese (I used Pepper Jack for added heat)
Green onions- optional
Sour cream- optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and green pepper and cook until beef is cooked through and pepper has softened. Add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions (if using homemade, add 1 cup of water, stir to combine). Add the cream cheese and simmer until cheese is melted and the mixture has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally to help the cream cheese melt. Set aside and cool (I didn’t, but it is easier to stuff the shells if the filling is cooled).

While the ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Place shells on a cutting board so that they don’t stick together, or spray with a little cooking spray and keep in the (empty) pan they were cooked in.

Pour salsa into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Stuff each shell with the filling mixture. Place shells baking dish open-side facing up. Cover shells evenly with the taco sauce. Cover with foil; bake 30 minutes.

Remove foil; add shredded cheeses. Continue to bake approximately 10 more minutes, until the cheese has melted. Top with green onions and sour cream, if desired.

Yields: 18 shells, approx. 4-6 servings.

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Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

2012-08-26T17:31:00.002-04:00

Adapted from Martha Stewart

In my quest to reduce the amount of meat that my husband and I consume, I have found myself incorporating more egg-based dishes into our diets. Being that egg yolks are high in cholesterol, I tend to try to reduce the amount of whole eggs that I use in recipes- which is why I used part egg substitute when I made this. If you are not a fan of egg substitute, you can always just use the egg whites for part of the amount of eggs called for. If you were to use only egg whites, I would imagine you would need more than six, as there probably wouldn't be enough volume compared to the other ingredients with just six egg whites.

This recipe was so simple to put together. I actually put the filling together the night before we had this quiche, then my husband put it into the pie dish and into the oven while I was on my way home from work. Which was really nice, because once I got home all I had to do was make some hashbrowns to go with it!

This quiche is a winner- not only because it is so easy to make, but also because it tastes great! A few simple ingredients combine to make such a tasty meal!

Ingredients

Cooking spray
6 large eggs (I used 4 eggs and ½ cup egg substitute)
½ cup half-and-half (I used 1% milk)
Salt and pepper
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli, defrosted and drained of excess water
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Stir in broccoli and cheese.

Place mixture into prepared pie dish. Bake until golden brown and knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

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Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce

2012-08-13T06:23:00.000-04:00

Adapted slightly from Prevention RD

I am very fortunate to be married to a man who doesn't have to have meat every day in order to have a satisfying meal. And, we both enjoy breakfast foods for dinner- so this recipe was a perfect match for us. I think it would be great for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.

These meatless taquitos were a nice way to change up Mexican food. The chili-lime dipping sauce was a refreshing compliment to the slightly spicy taquitos. Actually, I wish the taquitos were a little spicier then they were. Next time, I will either add cayenne to the dipping sauce (I added this to the directions, in case you want spicy) or would add more hot sauce to the eggs. Or maybe both! I also think I might sprinkle the cheese into the tortillas, then top with eggs before rolling them up, rather than adding the cheese to the eggs (because by doing this, the cheese incorporates into the eggs)- simply because I like melty cheese on top of my food.

Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing about these. They are crispy without being fried and totally satisfying. As I write this post, I can't help but think about how much I am looking forward to eating leftovers in my lunch this week! According to the author of the blog I found this recipe from, you can reheat the taquitos on a lined baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes. I haven't tried that yet, but I would trust her on that- she has one of my favorite blogs (check out the link above my post to see what her blog is all about).

One last thing- if you don't have or like Greek yogurt, go ahead and substitute an equal amount of sour cream in its place. Greek yogurt is healthier than sour cream but you should still get good results with this recipe if you use sour cream instead.

Ingredients:

Taquitos
Non-stick cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup part-skim (2%) Mexican blend or cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 Anaheim pepper (or other mildly hot pepper), diced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I omitted)
2 tsp hot sauce
18 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
Juice of 1/2 small lime
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray.

Crack eggs into large mixing bowl; gently whisk. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Whisk in 1/2 cup Greek yogurt.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and Anaheim pepper , cooking approximately 5 minutes or until softened. Add egg mixture to the same skillet. Use a rubber spatula and gently scrape bottom of the skillet and fold eggs over to scramble. Remove from heat when slightly undercooked. Add cheese, green onions, cilantro, and hot sauce to taste. Gently fold to combine, returning to heat to finish cooking as necessary.

Meanwhile, warm the tortillas in the microwave between damp paper towels to make rolling them easier. Place approximately 1/4 cup egg mixture into each tortilla, spreading to cover the length of the tortilla, and roll up into a cylinder. Place completed tortillas on the prepared baking sheet, seam-side down. Once all tortillas are completed, lightly spray tops with cooking spray. Bake for 12-18 minutes or until golden brown.

While the taquitos are baking, combine the ingredients for the Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce except cayenne pepper in a small bowl; stir to combine. Taste to determine desired level of heat and add cayenne pepper if desired.

Once the taquitos are done, remove them from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

Yield: 18 taquitos

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Sangria Ice

2012-07-30T20:44:00.000-04:00

From Cooking Light

I'm not really a fan of wine. I try to like it, I really do. One sip is usually fine, then the next one is worse, and so on. Red, white... it doesn't matter. But I love sangria. Love it! Especially red sangria. So when I flipped to this recipe in my Cooking Light, I knew instantly I would be trying it.

With the hot, humid summer we've been having this year, I thought this would be the perfect way to cool down on a hot summer evening. And I was right. It is refreshing and just melts on your tongue (I was going to say "in your mouth" but that felt very "M & Ms" to me, ha!).

It was the tiniest bit strong for me (remember- I don't like wine). So if you like wine, I'm sure it will be fine. Otherwise I might suggest cutting back the amount of wine to 1 1/2 cups. The only thing I did differently from the recipe is adjust the freezing time. Mine took much longer than the mere forty-five minutes called for in the recipe to start to freeze into something capable of being scraped with a fork. It took closer to two hours. After about five hours total of freezing and scraping, I decided to just leave it overnight and fluffed it with a fork the next evening. It was perfect.

Ingredients:

1 cup 100% Concord grape juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1 3/4 cups fruity red wine (I used Barefoot Red Moscato)

Directions:

Pour juice and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook 1 minute, whisking until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. Stir in orange and lemon rinds; cool completely.

Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl or large glass measuring cup (I have a 4-cup one that worked perfectly). Add the wine. Pour into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for about 45 minutes; scrape with a fork. Freeze. Scrape mixture every 45 minutes until completely frozen (about 5 hours). Remove mixture from freezer; scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy and serve immediately. Store any leftovers in the freezer.

Yields: approx. six 1/2-cup servings.

Hot Banana Nut Cereal

2012-07-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

Lately I have been trying to incorporate more healthy meals into our diet, which has led to the discovery that both my husband and I love quinoa. We have had it several times for dinner but never breakfast. So when I found this recipe, I was intrigued.

It is basically a jazzed-up oatmeal with an added punch of protein from the quinoa. It is SO good! I swear it just kept tasting better and better with each bite. It is sweet but not too sweet, and with only 1 teaspoon of brown sugar in each serving, it's actually pretty healthy too! I highly recommend trying this recipe- I think it may just become a weekend staple in our house. And it is not that it is too time-consuming or difficult to make before work during the week, it's just that I am too lazy in the mornings before work to do anything more than toss something in the toaster!

Ingredients

½ cup water
½ cup skim milk
3 tablespoons quinoa
1 small banana, sliced (more if desired for garnish)
3 tablespoons rolled oats
1 pinch salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the water, milk, and quinoa in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5-7 minutes, or until the quinoa begins to soften.

Stir in the banana, oats, salt, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently over low heat 2-5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat; stir in the brown sugar and vanilla. Tops with walnuts and extra sliced banana (if desired).

Yields: 2 servings.

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Slowcooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

2012-06-18T05:46:00.000-04:00

From A Year of Slowcooking

It has been over a year now since I've been working five days per week (and let me tell you- I really miss my three 12's, but I am much happier with my job that I have now). It's still a struggle for me to come home and cook dinner every night- before I know it, the evening is over and it's time to start all over again the next day. I hate feeling like I'm stuck in a routine, so any meal that frees up more of my evening to spend as I please, is a winner for me! There's no better feeling then walking through the door after work and smelling the aroma of dinner just waiting for me to finish. This savory meal was definitely a winner! The beef was tender and juicy, so the sandwiches definitely need a hearty/crusty bread to hold up to the beef so you don't end up with a soggy mess.

Ingredients
3-4 pounds beef rump roast
1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon anise (I omitted)
1 14.5-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained
12-ounces beer
8 hoagie rolls (I used ciabatta bread)
8 slices of mozzarella or provolone cheese

Directions

Place the beef in a 6-quart slow cooker. Top with the onion, herbs and spices. Add the tomatoes and beer. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat shreds easily. Shred the meat and stir well.

Using a slotted spoon, serve on toasted rolls with melted cheese. Serve with extra juice for dipping if desired.

Yields: 8 servings

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5-Ingredient Peanut Butter M&M Bars

2012-06-04T05:30:00.000-04:00

Adapted from Rachel Cooks

What could be easier than a 5-ingredient dessert? Pretty much nothing. The added bonus to the ease of this recipe is that these bars taste great! I cut back a bit on the amount of brown sugar called for in the original recipe because I don't like my desserts super sweet, and they still turned out to be delicious.

This dough is quite thick, so it takes a little effort to get it combined, but it was nothing I couldn't handle! They are well worth a little effort and overall these are simple to make! They are also a great dessert to take to a summer holiday party- no refrigeration required. And I'm willing to bet they would be great with Reese's Pieces in place of the M&Ms. Mmm....

Ingredients:

3/4 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups Bisquick (I used the heart-healthy version)
Approx. 9 oz. of plain M&Ms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, gently whisk eggs; stir in peanut butter until smooth.

Add brown sugar and mix until combined. Next add Bisquick, stirring well to combine. You will likely need to use your hands for this step because this makes a very thick dough. Again using your hands, fold in M&Ms. You may need to push some onto the top of the dough once it is in the pan.

Spread mixture evenly into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting into equal-sized bars.

Yield: depends on the size bars you cut.

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Mexican Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

2012-05-29T10:21:00.001-04:00

Adapted slightly from One Lovely Life

Recently my husband and I discovered we are both fans of quinoa. It's easy to prepare and very healthy for you. I have been trying to reduce the amount of red meat we consume while also incorporating healthier meals into our diet, so when I stumbled upon this recipe on One Lovely Life, I was very excited to try it. I am so glad I did- it was amazing! These peppers are full of healthy beans, veggies, and quinoa- and we did not even miss the ground beef that is typical for stuffed peppers.

If you've never tried quinoa before, don't be afraid of it! Yes, it has a funny name, but it is easy to work with and full of healthy protein. In fact, it is a complete protein (usually only found in meat sources). This is the perfect recipe to try if you are new to using quinoa. And, the peppers make great leftovers, too!

Ingredients
4 bell peppers (any color), halved stem-to-tip, seeded
1 c quinoa, uncooked, rinsed
2 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 roma tomato, seeded, diced
1 (4oz) can diced green chiles, undrained
1/4c cilantro, minced (I omitted)
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
Olive oil, if desired
½ c Monterrey Jack, grated
½ c Cheddar cheese, grated
1 recipe Red Enchilada Sauce or 1 (28oz) can

Instructions

Add quinoa and onion to a large saucepan with 2 cups of water or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-18 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Meanwhile, microwave pepper halves 3-5 minutes to soften slightly.

Add black beans, tomato, green chiles, cilantro, salt, and pepper to the quinoa/onion mixture and stir to combine. If the mixture seems dry, add a small amount of olive oil. (I didn’t need to).

Pour the enchilada sauce into a 9×13″ baking dish coated with cooking spray. Divide filling among peppers, then place the peppers into the dish. Sprinkle with cheeses.

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 375 degrees 25-35 minutes. Remove foil and cook about 5 minutes longer. Serve topped with enchilada sauce.

Yields: 8 servings

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Red Enchilada Sauce

2012-05-29T10:09:00.001-04:00

From One Lovely Life

I had never actually had enchilada sauce before I made this homemade version, so I cannot attest to how much better this is than the canned version. However, I did seriously want to lick the pan after I was done making it- if that tells you anything! This sauce is a great compliment to my Mexican Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers.

***Update: It is definitely much better than canned enchilada sauce. The chili in adobo makes this sauce so nice and smoky. Yum.***

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 canned chili in adobo, rinsed and minced
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
2c water

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and chili powder; cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Yields: about 3 1/4 cups

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Baked Chicken & Spinach Flautas

2012-05-02T09:29:00.000-04:00

As seen on So Tasty So Yummy

I've only had flautas once before I made this recipe, while at a local Mexican restaurant. They weren't bad, but they were fried and greasy. So when I saw these pop up in my Google Reader, I was more than happy to give flautas a second try.

And I'm very happy I did. These were very easy to make. They have a nice spice to them without being overbearingly hot. Please do yourself a favor, though, and remember to either use gloves when preparing the jalapeno or wash your hands very thoroughly afterwards... and don't touch your eyes. Trust me, you'll thank me for reminding you of this! (And in my defense, I did wash my hands several times!)

These flautas were delicious and wonderfully crispy without being fried. I actually made the filling the night before and assembled and baked them the next day. With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, these would be a perfect dinner to celebrate with.

They actually reminded me of another favorite recipe of mine: Baked Southwest Rollups. The dipping sauce with the rollups recipe would also go well with these flautas.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 Jalapeno pepper, minced
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
12 flour tortillas (8 inch)
6 ounces shredded Colby jack cheese
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

In a large saucepan, combine the beer, water, salt, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder and half of the jalapeno. Add the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred.

Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid in the pan and pour out the rest. Add the rest of the jalapeno and the spinach; cook over low heat for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture near the edge of the tortilla. Add a spoonful of spinach and cheese over top of the chicken. Roll the tortilla up tightly. Place seam-side down on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spray the flautas with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip them over and bake an additional 3-5 minutes more until the tortillas are golden brown. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

Yields: 12 flautas

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