Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins - Grandma's Recipe

Hi friends!  Today, I'm sharing a Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe that was created by my husband's grandma.  I saved the recipe from a blog post that his aunt and cousins wrote a long time ago but they have since deleted that blog.  I asked permission to write this post and they told me yes, roughly a million years ago.  I get asked for the recipe for these muffins every time I post them on social media so I figured I should write a blog post.  Also, as for all recipe blog posts, I will take you on a journey of 900 words about that one time I visited a banana farm in Connecticut with my great aunt Patsy in her vintage Mustang...  But wait... none of that is true or makes sense...

I will preface this recipe by saying that it is a plain and simple recipe and it's not particularly healthy. It has bananas so that's healthy, right?  I find that a lot of older "grandma" type recipes tend to have few ingredients and fewer steps.  If you are looking for gourmet or interesting muffins, these are not them.  These are literally the basic muffins that your grandma used to make.

My daughter goes crazy for these muffins.  I have so many pictures of her staring lovingly at these muffins... how come no one every stares at me like that?  She is also a strange little girl that doesn't like chocolate chips so I just bake up some batter for her before adding the chocolate chips for plain banana muffins and they turn out great.  She loves them.  Is that enough rambling for the Google?  The world may never know...

Grandma V's Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter (I use salted)
1 cup of white sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups of flour (you can substitute half for wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 mashed RIPE bananas
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream soften butter and sugar.  I use a stand mixer but you can use a handheld mixer or beat by hand.  You can also use 1/2 cup of shortening instead of butter if you want to.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
5. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined.  Don't over mix muffin batter.
6. Mash your bananas and add to batter, mix.
7. Add in chocolate chips or nuts or toffee bits or whatever mix-ins you like.  Or don't for plain muffins.
8. Scoop batter into lined muffin tins and bake for 20 mins.  OR pour batter into a greased bread ban and bake for 1 hour for a loaf.  You can check doneness by poking a muffin or the loaf with a toothpick and it should come out clean when it's done.  Avoid poking a chocolate chip.
9. Cool and eat!

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe!  Tag me on social media if you make them!

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3 Raw Honey Recipes to Fight Allergies With Sola Bee Farms

This year the seasonal allergies seem to be especially bad.  My friends and I have been complaining about it for weeks.  I have tried so many different things to help allergies.  One of the things that has been working for me is adding raw local honey to my diet, my favorite is Sola Bee Farms.  Today, I'm sharing 3 each recipes to help add more raw honey to your diet.

*** This post is a collaboration with Sola Bee Farm.  They provided product that I love and I'm providing the recipes and photos.***

I've written a post about Sola Bee Farm before.  I absolutely love their products, their commitment to sustainability and helping bees, and of course the amazing people!  The taste of the honey is amazing and it's a great bonus that it helps your allergies!  Just keep in mind that it is better to keep the raw honey in its raw state when you are trying to relieve your allergy symptoms.  If I don't feel like making recipes, I will just eat a spoonful of their honey to help with my allergies.  However, making some fun recipes is a great way to eat more honey too!

Acai Smoothie Bowl

An acai smoothie bowl is a fun and delicious breakfast or snack.  My kids love this and it's nice to get all that extra fruit into them.  Plus with the weather getting so warm, this is a nice way to cool off.  I can find frozen acai packets in my local grocery stores.  The most inexpensive place I've found is Trader Joe's.  Another weird tip, I have a freezer bag of frozen bananas.  When bananas start to get old and I don't think they'll be used, I will break them in half and freeze them for recipes.

Ingredients:

1 packet frozen acai puree
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 a frozen banana
A splash of milk of your choice (I use unsweetened Almond) or water or juice
1 TBSP of Sola Bee Farms Honey
Toppings of your choice (fruit, nuts, granola, chia seeds, etc...)

Directions:

1. Break up your acai packet and place in food processor with frozen strawberries and banana.  If you have a really nice blender, you can use that.  If you have a cheap blender like me, use your food processor.  It works great for this!
2. Add enough liquid so you can mix all the ingredients together.  Blend/pulse until your desire consistency.  We like ours thick.
3. Pour into bowl and top with toppings of your choice.

Yogurt Parfait

A yogurt parfait is such a classic treat!  Using Greek Yogurt amps up the protein.  This is the perfect way to use up fruit before it goes bad because your kids can't see if your blueberries are starting to wrinkle or that you cut brown spots off the banana.  

Ingredients:

1 container PLAIN Greek Yogurt

1 TBSP Sola Bee Farm Honey

1/2 cup of fruit of your choice 

Directions:

1. Find a pretty cup or jar and layer yogurt, honey, and fruit.

Optional: for crunch, top with nuts or granola 

Asian Chicken Salad 

This is my take on LaBou's Chinese Chicken Salad.  You can leave off the chicken to make this vegetarian or add tofu or chickpeas.  You can also leave off the nuts to make this nut free.  I like to make a big batch, keeping the salad, chicken, nuts, and dressing in separate containers until I'm ready to serve.  Then I just put a bit of each on a plate and I'm ready for lunch.  

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 1/2 TBSP Sola Bee Farms Honey

1/4 cup of Low Sodium Soy Sauce

2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar 

2 TBSP Olive Oil

Directions: Combine all ingredients and stir or shake.

Salad:

Lettuce Mix of Your Choice

2 stalks of Celery, cut into bite sized pieces

Shredded Rotisserie Chicken

Honey Roasted Peanuts 

Directions: In a bowl or plate, add salad, chicken, celery and top with peanuts.  Dress to your liking and enjoy!  

I hope you enjoy these recipes using raw honey!  Be sure to check out my friends at Sola Bee Farms!    And I REALLY hope that if you need relief from seasonal allergies that these help you!  What's your favorite way to use raw honey?  

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EASY Instant Pot Beef Tips Recipe

Raise your hand if you got an Instant Pot for Christmas!  I've actually had one for a few years (my first Instant Pot post)  but this Christmas, I got an 8 quart Instant Pot!  Oh my goodness!  It's been such a huge upgrade.  We have a family of 5 and my boys are big eaters so this gift has been life changing!  Today, I'm sharing a recipe with you that my WHOLE family including the picky eaters like.

I've been making Beef Tips in the oven for years based on the No Peek Beef Tips recipe from Mommy's Kitchen that my friend Angie shared with me.  My family really enjoys the beef tips especially over egg noodles!  Over the years, I've adapted the recipe just a little.  My only issue with these before tips is the consistency of the meat.  Sometimes it would be tender, sometimes it would be tough, other times it would be dry and stringy.  I felt like I was doing the same thing every time but it was a crapshoot what the beef texture would be like.

One day, I had purchased some stew meat but it was too tired to make stew.  It was already passed 5pm so my usual oven method of slow cooked beef tips would not work.  I asked my hubby if I should try making the beef tips in the Instant Pot.  I scoured the internet and didn't find ANY recipes for Instant Pot Beef tips.  I thought maybe it was a dumb idea since no one had done it before.  But Dustin told me that if I didn't try it, I'd never know if it would be great.  FRIENDS, you should never doubt yourself if in your heart you know something might work.  And in this case, if it didn't, I'd just be out a few ingredients and we'd have peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.  But that didn't happen!  They were the BEST darn beef tips I'd ever made and everyone raved about how tender the meat was!

Instant Pot Beef Tips:
1-2 pounds Stew Meat
1 can Light or Heart Healthy Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 packet reduced sodium Brown Gravy Mix
1 packet Onion Soup mix
1 cup Ginger Ale
1 drizzle oil

Directions:
1. Turn your Instant Pot on Saute Mode.  Add your preferred oil to the pan.  Brown stew meat.  Turn off Instant Pot.
2. Add all other ingredients.  Stir until meat is coated.
3. Close lid and set Instant Pot to manual (or meat) for 9 minutes.
4. After 9 minutes, let Instant Pot naturally release.  If you're in a hurry, slowly release pressure after letting the meat rest for 10 minutes.  This helps the meat from becoming tough and dry.
5. Serve over egg noodle, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Now, I'm not saying this is the healthiest recipe but I did try to make some healthier substitutions.  This is a stick to your ribs comfort meal that is perfect for winter and fall.  We have it about once a month during the colder months and it's always a huge hit!

What are you making in your Instant Pot?  Let me know!  I'd love to try some new recipes!

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Southwest Bean Salad Featuring Jacob's Cattle Beans

Last month I was contacted by Slow Food Sacramento an organization that promotes "good, clean, and fair food for all."  They asked me to participate in a Mystery Ingredient promotion that would feature local farms.  If you know me, you know I love my local farms and farmer's markets!  I'm so grateful to live in the Sacramento area where I can buy so much food locally!  I accepted the challenge and waited anxiously for my mystery ingredient to come.

I was so excited to receive some Jacob's Cattle Beans from Elegant Beans.  I learned so much when I opened the package.  Did you know that there are beans that are almost extinct?  I only knew about nearly extinct animals.  I didn't realize that this also effected plants!  I also didn't even know that we had a local bean farm.  Elegant Beans and Beyond been farming in our area for 160 years!  

Onto the recipe!  I struggled a bit coming up with a recipe for beans since I really wanted to make a soup but it was 110 degrees outside so no one wanted to EAT said soup.  I decided to do a spin on a side dish I make that my family loves which is a dressed cucumber dish with lime and chili powder.  I used my Instant Pot (affiliate link here) to cook the beans and it was SO quick!  I was sent a cute sample sized bag of beans and I'm guessing it was a cup or so of beans?  I don't know.  I added 3 cups of water and cooked them for 40 mins and they were perfect!  No soaking, no prep work.  It was amazing!  

Here's the recipe:

3 C Jacob's Cattle Beans, cooked

1/2 a Cucumber, diced

1 Jalapeno, finely diced 

2 Ears of Corn, cooked and cut off the cob

1 cup Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 a Lemon

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder to taste

Cilantro for Garnish 

Combine beans and vegetables in a bowl.  Dress with lemon and olive oil.  Season to taste.  Chill for at least 1 hour for the flavors to marry.  Serve with lemon and cilantro.  If you don't want heat, you could substitute the jalapeño for a Serrano pepper or even a bell pepper.

This is a great Meatless Monday meal since there is a ton of protein in the beans.  However, you could also serve it as a garnish to a quesadilla or other Mexican food.  This bean salad would also be great for a potluck since there's no dairy or mayo.  If you make this, please tag me in a photo!  I'd love to see what you think of it!  

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BBQ Pork Sliders and The EASIEST Pulled Pork Recipe EVER

I was roaming through my local farmers market and few weeks ago when a guy asked me if I wanted to try some BBQ sauce.  Honestly, it's kind of a weird thing to sample.  I've been given BBQ on bread and some by itself (are you supposed to shoot it?) but this sample was given to me on a chip and it was genius!  You know, because they actually make BBQ chips at the store.  That's how I got introduced to Nasty Sauce.  We decided to collaborate on this blog post.  (I received a complimentary bottle of sauce to try out but as always all the opinions are my own.  Affiliate links used as well.)

Listen, I'm not cool enough usually to be up on the slang and Nasty Sauce might not be something I normally gravitate to but that would be SAD.  This sauce is delicious!  It has a great balance of sweet, tangy, savory, and a little kick of spice.  Plus founder Naashon K Corbett is a really nice guy too and if I hadn't stopped at the booth, I would have missed out on all of that!

I decided to make a slider with BBQ pulled pork.  (If you don't eat pork, you could also make this with pulled chicken!)  Here's how to make super EASY and flavorful pulled pork.  I learned this recipe from my friend Lisa and we've been making it for years.  I use this pork for everything i.e. salads, quesadillas, tacos, sandwiches, rice bowls, etc...

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork:
1 Pork Rump Roast (or shoulder)
1 Head of Garlic
Papi's Seasoning (or seasoned salt of your choice)

1. Sprinkle Papi's (or seasoned salt of your choice) all over pork roast.  Place in slow cooker.  I like to using a disposable slow cooker liner for easy clean up.
2. Peel entire head of garlic and put all the whole peeled cloves in the slow cooker with the meat.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Shred pork with forks.

To make the BBQ Pork Sliders:
1. Toss pulled pork with some Nasty Sauce until it's coated to your liking.
2. Put pork on a Hawaiian Sweet Roll.
3. Top with bagged slaw.  I added this just for crunch and health.  I did not dress my slaw so I could taste the flavor from the pork.

Let me know if you make this recipe!  The pork is perfect for meal prep since you can use it for a couple family meals during the week!

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Super Cute Kid Treat

Hi friends!  I hope you well!  I am getting LATE with this blogging thing!  I also forgot to take pictures of the crafts I completed so I'm just off my game.

Today, I'm sharing a SUPER cute treat that I help my friend Megan prepare at her daughter's birthday.  They are dirt and worm cups.  I've made dirt and worms before for my kids but I never thought of using an already made pudding cup, that was Megan's idea.  That's genius!  This is perfect for parties or bringing to school for a birthday treat.  You just crush up some chocolate sandwich cookies, put them on top of chocolate pudding, and add some gummy worms.  This is perfect for people who don't like cake!  I usually make pudding and put them into ramekins BUT I don't have enough ramekins for a bunch of people and this is just the perfect size for kids to hold in their hands.  Hopefully, Megan is ok with me sharing her idea here.  I just thought it was perfect!

Have a great day, everyone!  

Broiled Lemon Asparagus Recipe

Hi friends!  I hope you are having a great day!  We are pretty good.  Just keeping busy around here.  Spring break is coming up soon.  We are excited!

Speaking of spring, I wanted to share one of my favorite spring recipes with you using two of my favorite spring ingredients.  The lemons on our tree are ready to go come Jan/Feb but we have tons going for a few months after that.  This recipe is what got my oldest son (he's 7) to like asparagus.  He will eat it in other preparations now but this is his favorite.

Broiled Lemon Asparagus

1 bunch of THIN asparagus
3-4 lemons
olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Wash and drain asparagus, cutting off tough ends.
2. On a plate, season the asparagus with olive oil then salt to taste.  I try to use as little oil as possible while still having my asparagus lightly coated.
3. Slice your washed lemons as thin as you can and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil.  You want to cover the whole cookie sheet with lemon slices as a bed for your asparagus.
4. Place asparagus on top of lemon in a single layer.
5. Broil for 7-10 mins until there are little brown spots on the asparagus and some of the lemon caramelizes.
6. Serve immediately, garnishing with a few slices of the cooked lemon for those who want to use the juice for more lemon flavor.  This is when I add the pepper because you don't want it to burn under the broiler.

Here's what you want the pan to look like.  I forgot to take the picture before this went in the oven so these are about 1/2 done.  I pulled the pan out and took a picture because you know, blogging.  ;)  This recipe is an adaptation THIS recipe from Two Tarts.

Have a great day, friends!  

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

Hi friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We are doing pretty good around here.  The sun has been out a lot and we've gotten to go outside a lot more.  

Today, I'm sharing a recipe that has been a big favorite of mine and my oldest son.  It's a vegetable, can you believe it?  Brady gets so excited when I make a pan of this roasted cauliflower.  The trick is to cook it until some parts are brown.  Those brown spots give a great caramelized flavor and a little bit of crunch.

Roasted Cauliflower

1 Bag Cauliflower Florets (or you can cut up your own head)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil (for easier clean up) and dump a bag of cauliflower on it.  The reason I buy the pre-cut is that breaking down a head of cauliflower takes a little bit of time and a bit of cleanup (read, tiny pieces of cauliflower ALL over my kitchen).  I am usually trying to make dinner with helping the boys with homework and keeping the baby from climbing the stove so I take what help I can get.
3.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil on your cauliflower.  Then season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
4.  Roast for 40 mins or until the cauliflower is soft and has some brown bits.  You'll probably want to  flip it half way through.

Variations:
1. In the last 5 mins of roasting, drizzle balsamic vinegar on the cauliflower and turn the oven up to 425 degrees.  Put it back in the over until vinegar evaporates.
2. After removing from hot oven, toss with lemon zest and a little lemon juice.
3. While hot, toss with parmesan cheese.

I hope you enjoy this simple dish!  Have a wonderful day, friends!

Simple Crowd Pleasing Pasta Salad

Hi friends!  I hope that you are well!  I think that we are finally turning a corner with health!  My doctor said that she didn't think that cold and flu season would last into March and I'm really hopeful that we will be done with it.

Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite potluck items.  This SUPER easy pasta salad is always a hit when I bring it to parties!  I also use it as a simple side dish especially in the summer when you want something cool.  This is also a great way to use whatever you have on hand.

Pasta Salad:
1 bag of rotini
Italian Dressing (regular)
Parmesan Cheese

Add Ins (pick which ones you like OR use up what's in your fridge!)
Celery
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Grated Carrot
Olives
String Cheese
Salami
Spinach

1. Boil pasta according to directions.  I like to use salt in my pasta water.
2. Drain off your cooked pasta and rinse with cold water until your pasta is no longer warm.  Since this is a salad, you don't want your pasta to keep cooking.  I cook it to the exact consistency I like and then do the cold water so it doesn't cook anymore as it stands.  Also, it gives the salad a head start on cooling.
3. Dress pasta with Italian Dressing.  Light and non fat dressings don't have oil which isn't great for this since you need a little oil to keep the pasta from sticking.  If you use light or nonfat dressing, add a little olive oil.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan.  You can use fresh or the grated kind in a can.
5. Chop and add your "add ins."  I always put celery for crunch but other than that, I use what is in season or what we need to use up in the fridge.  Adding string cheese (cut into rounds) and salami is a great way to bulk up this salad and make it more of a main dish.
6. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.  This gives the flavors time to merry.
7.  Give it a nice toss and serve.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  If you make it, please let me know how you like it!

Corn and Potato Soup

Hi friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We are pretty good.  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend.  I'm going to a crop!  YAY!  What are you doing?

Today, I'm sharing a recipe for a corn soup I made.  I'm sorry about my food photos.  I know they aren't the best.  Honestly, I'm a simple person and I don't garnish my food.  I just scoop it out and eat it.  I also don't have any "nice" plates and bowls nor do I stage my food.  I just snap a picture.  I hope that's ok with you because it doesn't effect the taste at all.  ;)  I based my recipe off THIS recipe from Minimalist Baker.

Corn and Potato Soup:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 white onion
2 clove of garlic, pressed
4 large red potatoes, peeled and diced
4 ears of corn (I used white for this, you can use yellow)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups of milk (I used 2%)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil and caramelize onions.  I adore the taste of caramelized onions and it adds to the natural sweetness of this soup.  When caramelized, add garlic so it can cook.
2. Add potato, turn heat to medium, and put the lid on so potatoes can steam.
3. Cut corn off cobs, scrape some of that corn "milk" off the cob too.  Yum!
4. Add corn, milk, and broth and cook until potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Take 3/4 of the soup and put it in the blender.  I blend it for a little bit, take out a couple ladles and then puree the rest of the soup.  I like different stages of texture in this soup.  I'm weird.  Blend it however you want.  Bring it back to a low boil just to make sure it's all heated and serve.
6. To make this prettier, you could garnish with green onion or a few kernels of corn if you reserved any.

Enjoy!  If you make this soup, please let me know.  I really enjoyed it and Brady really liked it too.  He's my soup eater.  Have a wonderful day, friends!  Let me know if you'd like to see more recipes.

Super Easy Taco Soup

Hi friends!  I hope you are you all doing well!  We have had better weeks.  I'm not going to lie to you.  I'm sick and hubby is sick.  The boys need parent teacher conferences.  The baby is... oh so very two. And we are having car issues.  But next week will be better, right?  Promise?

You know what helps on those weeks like this??  Super quick meals that everyone in the family will eat without complaining.  This is a taco soup recipe that I got from my mother in law that I've made tiny changes to.  It is so easy and fast!  The kids LOVE this soup!  It's perfect for during the week when you need to throw something together and run out the door to scouts, sports, or whatever you do.

Taco Soup
1 pound of ground turkey
1 packet of taco seasoning (you can also sub in your own homemade taco seasoning)
2 cans petite diced tomatoes in juice
2 cans of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
Toppings of your choice (we like cheese, salsa, chips, sour cream)

1. Brown turkey in a large pot and drain the fat.
2. Open all the cans and dump ALL of them in (with liquid).
3. Season with taco seasoning.  I usually use a whole packet or the equivalent of homemade seasoning.
4. Cook for about 20 mins to let the flavors meld.
5. Ladle into bowls and top with your favorite taco toppings.

If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it!  :)  

Chicken and Potato Soft Tacos

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are ok.  We are finally getting some rain in our area which is very much needed.  However, that means the kids have been inside for the past few days and it's taking its toll on our sanity.  What can you do?  

Today, I have another recipe for you.  I know my good pictures aren't much to look at but I just snap them really quickly with my iPhone.  I really don't want to take the time to plate them all pretty and pull out my DSLR and set up an area to take pictures.  But I promise you that they are delicious!  

My friend Amy taught me how to make these tacos.  They are unlike any other tacos that I've ever had.  First off, it's chicken AND potatoes in one taco.  Second, there is a lot of sauce.  Of course, you could used a slotted spoon to put the filling into our tacos and not have all the sauce.  Or you could take this mixture and serve it over some rice instead of eating it in tortillas.  Either way, it's so flavorful and delicious!  It might be spicy depending on your jalapeño.

Chicken and Potato Soft Tacos

1.5 pounds of chicken (I like tenderloins)
6 medium red potatoes
1 jalapeño
4 roma tomatoes
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

1. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and cook in a pot until no longer pink in the center.  I use a little cooking spray at the bottom of the pot so the chicken doesn't stick.
2. In the mean time, take your potatoes and wash them.  Either put them in a potato bag or wrap them in damp paper towels and stick them in the microwave.  I use the "potato" button but I think it's about 7 mins.
3. Put the jalapeño and tomatoes in a pot and cover with water.  Boil until the tomato skins split and the jalapeño is soft when you pierce it with a fork.  Reserve the boiling liquid.
4. Place tomatoes and jalapeños in a blender, add some boiling liquid.  Season with salt and pepper.  Blend until smooth, adding more water if needed.
5. Pour mixture from blender over chicken and simmer.
6. Take potatoes from microwave and cut into chunks.  You can leave the skin on or peel it off, it's completely up to you.  For this batch, I took the skin off but sometimes I leave it on.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add mixture to pot and stir.
7. Serve in warmed up flour tortillas with cheese, sour cream, and salsa or any other toppings you like.  I also serve Mexican rice and beans on the side with this.

If you try this, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it.  

Black Bean Salsa with Cream Cheese Dip

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  We are doing pretty good around here.

Today, I'm sharing a recipe with you and can I just say I'm horrible at naming recipes?  This recipe is an adaptation from a Pampered Chef recipe called Black Bean Salsa Dip (I found this recipe online) from probably 8 years ago.  Pampered Chef has some GREAT recipes, if you haven't picked up a cookbook from them you should.  They have a tiny one called Season's Best that's only $2 and it's a great way to try them.  (I have no affiliation with Pampered Chef, BTW.)  This dip is a HUGE hit at parties!  It's VERY yummy and great with tortilla chips.

Black Bean Salsa with Cream Cheese Dip

2 packs of low fat cream cheese (room temp)
3/4 cup of low fat mayonnaise
3 tablespoons of Pampered Chef Southwest Seasoning (I've used Mrs Dash too, but the PC is the best)
1 jar of Southwest salsa (the kind with black beans and corn)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of corn (drained)
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
Lime Juice to taste (optional)
Cilantro (optional)

1. Take your room temp cream cheese and mix it with the mayo and seasoning.
2. Spread this mixture in a 13x9 pan, coming up the sides a bit.  Chill.  I like to give these at least a couple hours for the flavors to marry and the mixture to firm up a bit.
3. In a bowl, combine black beans, salsa, corn, garlic, and lime juice.
4. Pour this mixture over chilled cream cheese mixture and serve with tortilla chips.  Refrigerate leftovers and eat quickly because the cream cheese will begin to break after a day or so.

Let me know if you try this recipe.  Perhaps you can add it to your "Big Game" appetizers.  Have a great day, friends!

Roasted Tomato Soup with Sausage and Veggies

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  We are doing pretty good.  We are just enjoying some Halloween festivities and the weather is finally getting cool here.  I tell my friends and family every year that it stays warm until Halloween every year.  They never believe me

Speaking of cooler weather, I wanted to share a recipe for one of our favorite soups with you.  In my house, we call this Amy Soup because my friend Amy taught me how to make it.  I asked her if I could share this recipe with you on my blog and she said yes.  :)

Roasted Tomato Soup with Sausage and Veggies

1 pint grape tomatoes
2 cartons chicken broth
1/2 box of pasta
1 turkey sausage ring
2 zucchinis
1 package mushrooms
garlic
olive oil
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
liquid smoke
red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Drizzle olive oil on the cookie sheet.  Add washed and dried tomatoes to the cookie sheet, roll around in oil.  Season with salt.  Roast until tomatoes burst.
3. Take some garlic (I use 3 cloves) and wrap in foil with a little olive oil.  Roast this on the sheet with the tomatoes, taking it out after about 10 mins.  Peel and set aside.
4. Cut up turkey sausage and brown in a large pot.  Add chicken broth.  Bring to boil.
5. Cut up veggies.  I use zucchini and mushrooms but you can use any veggies you like.  Add to soup.
6.  Season soup with soy sauce, Worcestershire, and liquid smoke to taste.  Add garlic.
7.  Add pasta and cover pot.  I used to be able to buy small bow tie pasta but they stopped making it.  I prefer a small pasta but will use regular bow ties in a pinch.
8. When the tomatoes are done, scrape them into the pot.  Then taking the hot broth and ladle it over the cookie sheet, scraping up any of the juices from the burst tomatoes that have cooked onto the foil.  Dump all this back in the pan.
9.   The soup is done when your veggies are tender and your pasta is cooked.  Enjoy!

Have a great day, friends!  

Recipe: Lemon Spaghetti with Green Beans and Turkey Sausage

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged.  I didn't mean for it to be so long.  We've just been so busy with summer and the kids and everything.  Life just gets away from me.  I haven't had a chance to craft in a long time but I do have a recipe for you today.

Lemon Spaghetti with Green Beans and Turkey Sausage
(I adapted this recipe from THIS recipe which was adapted from THIS recipe, so I would call it pretty much my own)

1 package of spaghetti (cooked to package directions, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water)
1 package Jennie-O turkey (like THIS)
1 pound green beans
1.5-2 lemons (just juice)
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp Agave nectar
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Parmesan cheese or an Italian Cheese Blend
Red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Boil pasta, reserve 1 cup of salted water AFTER the spaghetti has been cooked in it.  Drain pasta, do not rinse.  Return to pot.
2. While pasta is cooking, cut and brown turkey sausage.  Put in bowl and set aside.
3. Add 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil to pan.  Saute green beans, add salt to taste.  Add to bowl with sausage.
4. In the still hot pan, add reserved olive oil. Then add pressed or minced garlic and left the residual heat slightly cook your garlic.
5. Add lemon juice, agave nectar, salt, and pepper to taste.  Poor this vinaigrette over steaming hot pasta.  Add parmesan cheese to taste.  If there's not enough vinaigrette to coat the pasta, add in some pasta water so that all the pasta in coated.
6. Add green beans and sausage to pasta.  Stir and add red pepper flakes if desired.
***I'm not the best at measuring so you might need to play around with the vinaigrette to get your desired taste.

This is a favorite in our house.  Brady asks for this ALL the time!  I like that you have your protein, starch, and veggie all in one dish so I don't have to make a bunch of side dishes.  If you try this recipe, please let me know!  ;)  Have a great day, friends!

Recipe: Super Easy Frozen S'mores

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well.  We are ok.  Avery is getting more teeth.  They just keep coming.  She's pretty miserable.  We've started giving her tylenol at night to help sooth her pain so she can sleep.  Every time one cuts through, she gets the little white blister thing for a new tooth.  I'm hoping she gets a break soon.

Today, I'm sharing a recipe with you that I learned in speech class in 7th grade.  We were all supposed to do demonstration speeches and a girl in my class (I want to say her name is Holly but that was a loooooong time ago so maybe not) made these super yummy cold s'mores.  I've adapted the recipe a little.

Frozen S'mores

1 jar marshmallow fluff
1 sleeve of graham crackers (crushed)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp canola oil

Directions:
1. Take your graham cracker crumbs and spread them out in a large bowl or plate.
2. Using a cookie scoop (you can use two teaspoons but it's so much harder) scoop marshmallow fluff and drop the scoops into the graham cracker crumbs.  Roll the around until you have the desired amount of graham cracker crumbs covering your fluff scoop (technical term).
3. Place on a WAX PAPER LINED cookie sheet.  For the love of all that's good people, do not skip the wax paper!  You will NEVER get these off your cookie sheet.
4. Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave.  My sure fire way is to put them in for 30 secs then take them out and stir.  Then repeat until you have a nice melted consistency.  Add oil and stir.  (ALTERNATIVE: you can use Magic Shell ice cream topping instead)
5. Drizzle melted chocolate over fluff scoops.
6. Freeze for at least one hour.

When these are solid, you can pick them up and eat them like a cookie.  Originally, she just refrigerated these but I like them frozen solid.  She also bought the pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs but I think you get more for your money if you do it yourself.  She also used the chocolate shell ice cream topping but it tastes artificial to me so I want real chocolate.  They are amazing and slightly messy.  Enjoy!  

Recipe: Angel Hair with Chicken and Feta

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a wonderful day!  We are doing pretty well.  Avery is teething but other than that, things are good.  The air conditioner on our van broke over the weekend and it's going to cost $600 to fix it.  We need to save up the money so until then, we are going to go without.  Which is a huge feat where I live.  Summer brings 100 degree weather here.  But we are having cool weather today (when I had to get the kids out of the house so they could spray for bugs) and I'm feeling blessed.

In my continuing quest to turn my blog into a lifestyle blog, I figured that I would share more recipes with you.  Now, I'm not that great at coming up with recipes.  I'm usually pretty by the book when it comes to cooking.  Though, I have a few recipes that I have adapted so far from the original that I feel comfortable sharing them.  

Angel Hair with Chicken and Feta
adapted from THIS RECIPE by Robin Miller

1 1/2 pounds chicken, diced into bite sized pieces
1 small jar sun dried tomatoes
1 small jar marinated artichokes
1 fresh vegetable of your choosing (I used zucchini, but I also like spinach or asparagus)
1 small package Feta cheese
1 pound angel hair pasta, cooked according the package directions
1/2 cup salted pasta water
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (to taste)

1. Heat pan with some oil from the sun dried tomatoes.  Add chicken and cook until desired doneness.  I like to cook mine until it's brown for that caramelized flavor.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Remove from pan, set aside.

2.  Add some more oil from the tomatoes to the same pan.  Sauté the vegetable you picked.  Season.  Add sun dried tomatoes and artichokes and cook until heated through.

3. Reserve some of the pasta water from cooking the angel hair pasta.  (I heavily salt my water.)  Strain pasta and add back to the pot you cooked it in.

4. Add chicken and vegetables to pasta and stir.  Add desired amount of pasta water so that the pasta is coated.  Top with feta cheese.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  Have a great day, friends!

Asian Spicy Sesame Noodles Recipe

Today, I'm sharing a recipe that I've adapted from one I found on Pinterest. You can find the original recipe HERE. When I find a recipe, I like to follow it to the letter the first time through and then maybe my revisions the second time around. I found this recipe too oily and very sweet when I made it so I changed it up the second time.

Asian Spicy Noodles:

~1 box angel hair pasta

~1/4 cup canola oil

~1/4 cup sesame oil

~6 tablespoons soy sauce

~3 tablespoons honey

~1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

Optional toppings: sesame seeds, peanuts, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, blanched broccoli, snow peas, onions, etc...

1. Boil noodles, drain and rinse with cold water. This is a "salad" dish after all. (I always rinse my pasta when I make a salad.)

2. Heat oils together, add red pepper flakes (we like a lot of heat, you can use less), let steep, and then strain out the flakes and discard.

3. While the oil is still warm, whisk in soy sauce and honey. Pour over noodles and let chill until cold.

4. When you are ready to serve, top with desired ingredients and enjoy!

 

If you try this recipe, let me know! I'd love to know what you think!

Chicken Adobo Recipe

Hi friends! I'm beginning to feel like I want to take my blog in a different direction. I still want to post my paper crafting creations but I also want to start posting home decor, recipes and a bit about couponing. Hope that's ok with all of you and you'll still follow me!

Here's a recipe I got from my friend that I LOVE!! It's so yummy and my family really enjoys it.

Chicken Adobo (based off a recipe in the SF Firefighter cookbook)

1/3 c apple cider vintage

1/2 c soy sauce

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp black peppercorns

3 pounds of dark meat chicken, bone in and skin removed

2 tbsp brown sugar

Combine first 9 ingredients in a pot and bring to simmer. If you like more sauce (which we do) double the liquid ingredients. Add chicken to pot and use spoon to cover with sauce, bring to boil. Reduce to medium heat, cover and cook for 30 mins. Uncover and cook for 15 more mins. In the last few mins add brown sugar (I use double because I doubled the vinegar and soy sauce) and stir in. Serve with white rice. (In my photo, the rice has the sauce from the chicken stirred into it.)