Monique of Ambitious Kitchen won me over the moment it graced my computer screen. I was sucker punched in the gut by it’s beauty, truly. I love the rainbow of veggies… and the protein punch from the quinoa. AND THE DRESSING… is out of this world.

Monique has a knack for whipping up amazing creations and I’ve recently met her at the BlogHer conference and she’s as kind and beautiful as you can imagine! And I’m happy to share with you just one of her amazing recipes over at the TK blog.

So head on over to Tasty Kitchen and get ready to drool .

We make them at least once every couple of weeks. And by once I really mean three times because let’s face it… with two girls in softball, life can be BUSY! On those busy nights, nachos, tacos or BLT’s are usually my go-to recipes and I’m not the least bit ashamed. I normally make beef nachos, because they’re the easiest… until one day I decided to get creative and make some southwest chicken nachos. These nachos are loaded with chopped, grilled ancho-lime chicken, grilled sweet corn salsa, black beans and loads of cheddar cheese.  Chips, cheese and lots of veggies… really what’s not to love?

Speaking of love, who here isn’t a Pampered Chef fan? I mean c’mon we’ve all been to our share of parties and my life a.k.a. kitchen wouldn’t be complete without their citrus peeler, melon ball-er, apple slicer and I LOVE my grilling basket… just to name a few.

Well Pampered Chef has a new line of fun products they want you to know about. So naturally when I was asked to team up with Pampered Chef to host a giveaway for a lucky reader to win a big box filled to the brim with some of the newest Pampered Chef products, you knew I was all over it!

Did I mention it was $250 worth? Ummm yeah.

So remember last week when I shared my grilled sweet corn salsa recipe? Well do ya see that nifty metal grilling rack… yeah you get one. Ps… it doubles as a kabob holder!

And so you don’t burn those precious fingers… transfer the rack from the grill to a sheet pan by using these cute little silicon holders. Oh yeah… you get those too. Really… this only gets better.

Now for these nachos to be southwest… we need to make an ancho-lime marinade. Start by measuring a half cup of extra light olive oil. Use your silicon liquid measuring cups for a seamless pour. What you don’t have silicon measuring cups?? Ohhh good because Pampered Chef is giving you a set! WHAAAAT?

Measure out two tablespoons of ancho chili powder and add it to the olive oil.

Along with a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Add in a tablespoon of cumin…

The juice of two limes…

Peel two cloves of garlic and mash them into a paste using the garlic masher. Add the garlic paste to the ancho-lime marinade and stir it all up. Don’t worry… the garlic masher is in the giveaway too!

Pour the ancho-lime marinade all over 1-1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs {breasts work too}.

Give those a good toss and let them sit while you preheat the grill.

My grill was preheated to medium-high. Once hot I slapped the chicken thighs down and cooked them for about 12-14 minutes, turning them half way.

Not quite sure why I plated these… I mean I knew I was making them for nachos. But FYI you could just make the chicken by itself… top it with cilantro and squeeze fresh lime juice over top. Issss gooood.

But for the nachos… you’ll still want to top with lots of fresh cilantro and chop the heck out of it. The cilantro will mix in with the chicken… and, well snag a piece… you know you want to. It’s fantastic!

To make the nachos I spread out a thin layer of {whole grain} tortilla chips… sprinkle a little freshly grated cheddar…

Top with a bit of the chopped chicken…

A spoonful of the grilled sweet corn salsa…

A few black beans {that have been strained and rinsed}…

Another layer of chips and cheese…

Then you’ll want to top that layer off with more chicken, corn salsa, black beans and top with even MORE cheddar cheese. Now all that’s left to do is bake it in a 375 degree oven until the cheese has melted and some of the chips are golden.

I like to sprinkle my nacho with a little green onion. It only seems natural.

Cheeeeese striiiiiings!

This might just be my new favorite nacho. The flavors are out of this world!

TO ENTER: Simply leave a comment below and you’re instantly entered! Winner must be a US resident and have a valid mailing address {sorry no P.O. Box!}. That’s it… The giveaway ends June 23rd and the winner will be announced via facebook and email on the 24th! Good luck!

And while you’re waiting… make the nachos!

Ps… I have been selected by The Pampered Chef to be an ambassador for their new products. While I have received product in exchange for my post, my opinions are my own, and I have not been paid to post positive comments.

Thasss it. I know… that was WAY before this little blog of mine took over our lives.

Now I make my own fajita seasoning. Grill the chicken… and we top it with grilled sweet bell peppers, romaine lettuce, pickled jalapeno peppers, diced red onions, pepper jack cheese and Frank’s. {because we put that ish on urvvvveryting}

We’ve come a long way since boxed chicken, cheese and iceberg and I’m happy to share with you all the recipe for the easiest homemade fajita taco seasoning… from scratch of course.

Now we all have cabinets or drawers full of spices and making your own seasonings is a great way to use those up before they expire.

In a small bowl or my personal fave a mason jar add the corn starch. This will help the seasoning adhere to the chicken… or at least that what I think it’s meant for.

Now just add in the chili powder…

Kosher salt…

Paprika…

Sugar…

Lastly add in the cayenne pepper for some kick and the cumin.

Stir it all up and it’s good to go! I toss my chicken in a couple packets of liquid bouillon and then a couple tablespoons of the fajita seasoning before I grill.

Seriously it’s crazy good and just as easy!

That’s the song I decided to sing days before I was about to board the plane. It’s annoying… and it most likely will get stuck in your head now.

I should be sorry… but I’m not.

So yes  I got onto a plane, BY MYSELF! But first I found myself a Caribou Coffee, texted my family and friends goodbye and headed to Austin.

What is BlogHer Food? Think of 500+ enthused food bloggers that have gathered together to eat, drink, learn, socialize and talk about their love for food. To my husband this sounds like a nightmare… to me… it was amazing!

This was my first conference ever, and it was a biggin. I sat in sessions that talked about how to better your cell phone photography, write a cookbook {hey, you never know} and more. What I took out of it was I need an iPhone, writing a cookbook isn’t as easy as it sounds and always, ALWAYS carry business cards. You never know when you might win a $250 gift card to Whole Foods! {oh yes I did!}

But really whether it was in a session lead by Todd and Diane, at a table with several margaritas or in the condo with some of my favorite food bloggers, once the whole weekend was over I walked away with a wealth of knowledge, inspiration and wonderful friendships too. I got to meet lots of bloggers in person that I’ve read and loved over the past 4 years, and there are no words to describe that feeling. It was an amazing experience to say the least. I’ll talk more about that on my second post!

All of this was made possible by my friends at STAR Fine Foods. STAR was awesome enough to sponsor Megan and myself so we could help spread the word about STAR in Austin! While we were there Megan and I gave away some STAR swag to some lucky bloggers that we bumped into. It was such a fun time!

Thank you STAR, from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for the constant support, the endless bottles of olive oil and for sending me to Texas!

I love all of you and feel so grateful to have had this opportunity!

After a long weekend in Austin, Texas {whoot-whoot!} for a BlogHer conference, I’m not in the mood to really cook and I’m definitely not in the mood to do dishes. Who would be after a weekend of being served amazing food, free drinks and so many social gatherings that don’t end in a sink full of dirty dishes… hey a girl could get use to it, I’m just sayin.

I’ll recap my BlogHer trip to Austin in a few as I’m finishing up the post, but first I want to share with you this salsa I just so happened to whip up. I honestly only had a few things in the fridge and freezer… and lucky for me Pat picked up fresh corn at the store so it all came together for an amazing dinner and plus it gave me an excuse to use these homemade jalapenos. I know right.

If you haven’t grilled your corn yet… you’re missing out. Sweet corn + grill = unbelievable-corn-toastyness. It’s true… it’s a whole lot easier than boiling and like I mentioned earlier… less dishes are dirtied in the making. Now this could be served up with corn tortilla chips for a kick butt snack or party app. But next week I’m sharing with you a little ditty you won’t want to miss. I’m not going to tell you what that ditty actually is… only that if you love this recipe… well, you’ll love the ditty.

Promise.

Start by lightly brushing 4 ears of sweet corn with a little bit of light olive oil. Place them on a grilling rack… or straight up on the grill until a beautiful char happens

Dice up half of an orange bell pepper, small… like the size of corn kernels.

And work the same magic on half of a red bell pepper.

Dice up about a quarter cup of red onion… small, like the peppers.

And dice up a few of those pickled jalapenos… about a tablespoon or more if you like things reeeal spicy.

Mince up a handful of fresh cilantro and add all of the above to a good-sized mixing bowl.

Now for the utterly fun and messy part. Use your sharpest of knives to cut the corn off of the cob…

Keep going until you have a giant pile of corn.

Scoop all of that corn and add it to the bowl with the rest.

Toss… you see where this is going right?

But first a quick little dressing… cut a juicy lime in half.

Squeeze both halves over the corn salsa.

A tablespoon of olive oil…

Season with a half to 3/4 of a teaspoon of kosher salt. Go ahead and take a tortilla chip to taste it after a half a teaspoon, chips have salt so you won’t want to over salt. Know-what-I-mean?

Stir it up for one last and final time before covering it and letting it do it’s thang in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Ta-daaaa! Soooo easy…

And it’s just the right thing for snacking. But stay tuned to see what I really used this salsa for. Eeek!

Also… You might want to stop by the STAR Fine Foods Facebook page and entire to win this FABULOUS giveaway! Click here for the deets.

Now, who wants to dive head first into this bowl?

This kind of thing happens all the time in my world. I forget to put garlic in the ingredient shot, I forget to write out ingredients in the recipe directions and/or to list items in the ingredient list etc. and believe me I super duper proof read… that’s the scary part. But the weird thing? Is that I didn’t notice until after I ate the entire stack of 5 pancakes and sat down to write this post. Like I didn’t notice there weren’t eggs in’em! Who does that?

I mean look at these? Does it look like they’re lacking eggs?? So I guess add them, leave them out … it’s up to you. Eggs will give them a fluffier more pillow-y texture… but like I said… I didn’t notice. If I was brilliant I’d say I did it on purpose for the readers who have an egg allergy… but I’m just not that smart or thoughtful apparently.

Wanna know what’s Hilaaaarious? When you eat poppy seed pancakes and then go answer the door, smile at the UPS guy and then when your hubby comes home and points out that there’s “rocks” in your teeth. Yeah… we were laughing for days about that… still are actually ha-ha-he-he-ugh.

All I can say it’s a good thing I’m taken… sheeshhh.

Go get those pantry ingredients and get going!

Start by sifting the flour, baking powder and kosher salt until they’re light and fluffy.

Zest enough lemons for two tablespoons.

Combine it with the two tablespoons of sugar…

With your fingers, rub the sugar and the zest together until it starts to resemble wet sand.

Add that lemony-sugar-goodness to the dry ingredients and give it a stir.

Since the lemons are out, juice {and strain for pulp} them until you get 3 tablespoons.

Pour that into the whole milk. I will curdle… but that’s totally okay… we’re going for a little tang like buttermilk.

To the “faux buttermilk” add a teaspoon of real vanilla extract and stir.

Add the wet to the dry… you know how it goes.

Don’t forget the butter. Or the eggs… I’d add those now if you’re going that route.

Poppy seeds in!

One last and final stir…

…before pouring the batter onto a lightly greased griddle {or skillet} I like to use coconut oil… but any light oil will do.

I use the measuring cup to spread the batter around for {somewhat} perfect circled pancakes.

Once the bubble pop and no longer fill in… it’s time to flip.

Gloooorious!

Repeat until you’ve used up all the batter.

I topped mine with fresh blueberries…

And real maple syrup.

So so So so SO so SOOO good. I… I just… I just can’t EVEN describe it.

But I’ll do my best. These cakes aren’t too sweet. They aren’t too lemony. But they ARE so darn good. Of course putting lemon in anything and it’s bound to be all kinds of fantastic. But add the blueberries… the blueberries send these over the top.

I may not recover.

We stopped at this beautiful herb farm just down the road from us and picked up herbs, a tomato plant and upon Pats request… a habanero plant to start. We spent an entire Saturday afternoon, Pat doing the yard work and me pulling weeds and planting herbs like basil, sage, rosemary and cilantro. It was then when I realized I’m completely addicted to gardening.

*side note* who knew pulling weeds works your hammies? Yowza!

My family is probably freaking out right now because as a kid, I would pretend to “pull weeds” and really I was just pushing dirt around with my weed puller thingy. It was my least favorite chore… all chores really were/are. But now that I’m {somewhat} an adult… I can’t wait to get out and plant more.

All this fresh herb talk got me hungry, and it’s this time of year that I love making Caprese anything. You can’t beat fresh tomato, fresh basil and mozz together with a little balsamicness. So I had these hoagie-esque buns that needed to be used up before they molded over. So I thought why not make a Caprese panini… with a little balsamic drizzle of course. I’m not wishing for summer to be over or anything… but I can’t wait for tomato season. Garden tomatoes are simply THE BEST!

Pour a half cup of balsamic vinegar into a small sauce pan and bring to a small boil.

Reduce to a simmer until the balsamic vinegar has thickened and reduced to about 4 tablespoons. Be careful not to let it go too far or it will burn.

Drizzle the inner side of the top bun with a little olive oil.

Drizzle the inner side of the bottom half with the reduced balsamic.

Layer the bottom half with a few sliced tomatoes and season with kosher salt and black pepper.

Top with a few fresh basil leaves.

Fresh Mozz is the only way to do this right. Go grab a ball of it… it will change your life, or at least your panini.

Now all you have to do is put the squeeze on it by placing it in your panini press.

Can you even believe all of that is in this almost paper thin sandwich?

But it is.

Best sandwich ever goes to… the Caprese Panini.

Go get’cha some! {Ps… you know I’m lovin that crispy burnt cheese!}

Blondies sometimes known as the ugly step child to the beloved chocolate brownies… WHAT? I think not. Blondies are like the Golden Oreo’s, the yellow cake or the sugar cookie if you will. They’re moist like brownies… just not chocolaty. Are ya following me?

Now can you believe this is my first, yes first {I know right?} time baking blondies? To be completely honest, because you know I’d never steer you wrong… this recipe was the perfect introduction. These bars, OH THESE BARS… were loved by everyone in my house. My husband especially loved them and my girls… well they were sold once they heard I made dessert. Sharon of Cheesy Pennies sure knows what-is-up!

These blondies in particular are all kinds of decadent. And by all kinds, I mean crazy delicious. So head over to the Tasty Kitchen blog to grab the recipe and see how these magnificent blondies are made.

HINT: Lots of brown butter you GUYS!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

As you can clearly see “carb dinner” consists of a cozy comforting bowl of pasta with breadsticks. Carbalicious if you ask me. Pat picked up our favorite breadsticks {and of course the infamous garlic-cheese dip} while on his way home from work and I made pasta… pomodoro-style.

Pomodoro translates to tomato. So not glamorous. BUT!!! The whole dish is {usually} pretty light and made with fresh ingredients like basil, garlic and tomatoes and then finished off with grated Parm and my personal favorite… butter.

We’re not interested in the whole “raw” sauce thing, so I always opt for canned whole San Marzanos. For those who’ve made my lasagna… you know what I’m talkin’bout! San Marzanos rule, that is all.

Now of course I couldn’t serve a bowl of meatless pasta to my family. Oh-no-no that wouldn’t do, so I added cooked, sliced chicken sausages. But pomodoro is traditionally meatless. So sue me, I broke the rules… again.

Like any good recipe, it starts off with a chopped yellow onion.

And five… yes FIVE medium-sized cloves of garlic. Minced… like to a pulp almost.

Heat a quarter cup {I eyeball it} of EVOO in a deep, 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Once that baby is good to go, throw in the diced onion.

Cook for about 6-8 minutes, or until soft and translucent.

Next add the minced garlic to the onions and cook for a minute or two.

Sprinkle in a little crushed red pepper… Ps. I’ve just discovered {thanks to my husband} how delicious red pepper flakes is on pizza. LOOK OUT… I see a post coming at ya!

This is the messy fun part. Over the pan; squeeze, crush and pulverize each and every one of the San Marzano tomatoes in your {impeccably clean} hands. I can only use one hand because the other is holding a camera… but two hands DO work better than one.

Add about a half cup of water to the can, swirl it around to get all the sauce “clingers” and pour it all into the pan.

Season with just a pinch of kosher salt. Remember there’s Parm in the near future and that adds a bit of saltiness in itself.  Let this simmer on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes until it has thickened. In the meantime I like to bring a pot of salty water to boil and cook the pasta, as directed on the side of the package of course.

Once the 20 minutes are up, add in the sliced fresh basil…

… and stir. Remove the pan from the heat until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta… but FIRST measure out a half cup of the pasta liquids.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and pour the pasta juice into the sauce, this will loosen it up.

Add the drained spaghetti noodles…

Parm and butter are next! The butter will give this pasta a luscious creaminess that is a must. So don’t forget ya hear?!

This part is totally optional. But in my family… a must.

Who needs bowl? Just gimme a fork.

The pasta sauce is deliciously light and flavorful, and just what we needed to cope with the watery day, the extra sprinkle of cheese helps too.

Ya know you can make this pasta meatless or meat-full, either way…

…carb dinner. Make it happen.

I see no other way. You?

I also think there are two kinds of people in the world; those who like macadamia nuts and those who don’t. In the past I would have classified myself in the group of ones that do not… so I’m not sure what made me purchase a bag of these roasted macadamia nuts. I mean at $5. 29 a bag {yes I remember} it’s just a little ridiculous.

Even though I was positive that I didn’t like macadamia nuts, I was bent on making these cookies anyways. To my utter surprise when I opened the bag and smelled the toasty nuts {they smell a lot like potato chips to be honest} and then snagged a few along with some cookie dough and a chunk of white chocolate… *sigh* well, I guess we all should be a little grateful I got passed the initial shock of deliciousness because otherwise there would have been zero cookies to blog about.

Now don’t fret if you can’t find this bag of roasted nuts in your baking isle. Just get regular macadamia nuts, scatter them on a rimmed sheet pan and dry roast them at 375 for 10-15 minutes… or until golden and fragrant. From there on you can store them in an air-tight container or freeze. {thank you eHow!}

So as I fell under the toasted-macadamia-I-don’t-care-how-much-they-cost spell I also swiped a bar of Ghirardelli white chocolate and told myself I’d figure the rest out later. First and for most… white chocolate and macadamia nuts were meant to be friends. Second… these are darn good cookies. Thirdly… I am now a converted macadamia nut lover. Lord help me.

Start by combining the flour with the baking soda and salt.

Give those a serious whisking and then set the bowl of dry ingredients off to the side.

In the bowl of your mixer, throw in two sticks of unsalted butter along with a cup of light brown sugar and a half cup of granulated sugar.

Turn the mixer on and blend until smooth.

Crack and add one egg at a time, mixing well after each one until both eggs are incorporated.

Add in two teaspoons of real vanilla extract and stir until combined.

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients.

Now it should be shaping up to resemble cookie dough.

Add in the entire $5.29 cent bag of roasted macadamia nut pieces, which is about a cup and a half.

Go get that bar of white chocolate, open it… and chop, chop, chop it up!

Add all those chunks right into the bowl.

Turn the mixer on stir… and gradually mix those goodies into the cookie dough.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them into a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Rotate if you must, halfway through. Or don’t and totally nosh on those darkened edges… for reals.

Let cool for a few before transferring the cookies to a wire rack.

I couldn’t believe my taste buds. These cookies are so buttery… soft on the inside while the edges have a crispness to them. They’re nutty and chocolaty and…

I ate the ENTIRE stack.

Just kidding…

Or am I?