Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

This sign was hanging in my kitchen yesterday from my daughter as a reminder that it was Taco Tuesday! We love tacos in our house. It's one meal everyone will eat and it's super fast and easy, so it has made its way into a weekly rotation and earned itself a dedicated day!

I've been making my own taco seasoning mix for quite a while. I started one day when I went to grab a packet of store bought seasoning and realized we were all out. I found a recipe online and have tweaked it to our liking over time. We try to limit salt intake when we can and I love that I can do this with my homemade taco seasoning - there's no salt at all! I feel better about serving this to my family,  and honestly, it tastes better. I've tried to use packaged mix once since using this recipe and I didn't enjoy it! Taco mix isn't expensive but I'm all about saving even a dime and I'm doing that by making this at home.

So this homemade taco seasoning mix fits the categories of healthier, yummier, and cheaper. Actually, it fits the category of funner too because little kids love to help with cooking and this recipe provides lots of opportunity for measuring, mixing, and sniffing. Win, win, win, win!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl
• Sprinkle over 1 to 1 1/2 pounds cooked ground beef (already drained of fat)
• Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup water
• Simmer 5 to 10 minutes until beef is coated and heated through
• Serve on your tacos!

You can make your own tortillas too! Here's our recipe!

Enjoy!

1-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream - Allergen Free!

I've been trying a lot of new recipes since starting the breastfeeding elimination diet. As silly as it may sound, I'm pretty sure this banana ice cream one might be my favorite!

Eliminating ice cream from my diet felt like a big loss to me. I sometimes wonder if the amount of ice cream I ate during pregnancy was my demise! There are dairy-free, soy-free ice creams available  at my local grocery stores - mostly coconut based. I don't mind the taste, but the price is a whole other matter.

I'm hooked on bananas lately because they seem to settle well in my nursing baby's belly - and they just add that extra oomph to the plain Cheerios I eat almost daily for breakfast! And honestly - bananas are cheap, so I don't mind going through them quickly.

This banana ice cream - with literally ONE ingredient - is amazing.

Ingredients:

• Bananas - that's it! Maybe 1, 2, or 3 depending on how many days you want your ice cream to last.

Directions:

• Peel and slice a ripe banana
• Freeze the slices in a freezer bag or freezer-safe covered bowl for a few hours or overnight
• Pop the frozen banana pieces into a food processor
• Pulse, pulse, pulse, pulse, pulse
• Scrape down the sides periodically as needed
• As you pulse the food processor you'll notice the banana break into little pieces, start to look crumbly, start to stick together, and then magically become smooth like soft-serve ice cream. It really is kind of magical and it only takes a few minutes!
• Once it looks like soft-serve ice cream, scoop it out and either eat it like that or stick it back in the freezer to firm up a bit.

Delicious, healthy, and (unless you or your baby is allergic to bananas) allergen-free!

Embracing the Elimination Diet

It wasn't long after the birth of our second daughter that we realized that she was going to give us a run for our money. Our oldest daughter was a very easy baby. Once I accepted the fact that breastfeeding was not her thing and agreed to pump around the clock, we were good to go. She hardly ever cried and hardly ever got sick. She was just a happy, content, independent, healthy, growing baby.

Our second daughter is the opposite... she loves to nurse, is very fussy, and has already been sick and hospitalized in this short seven weeks she's been here! With our first daughter we felt like we had it all together. Now my husband and I walk into appointments with the pediatrician like deer looking into headlights and beg for recommendations to make life easier for all of us!

About three weeks into life with our new baby, it was clear that something was going on beyond fussiness. She was already on prescription medication for reflux which seemed to be helping but something was just still not right. I called the pediatrician's office in tears and they asked us to bring up a few full diapers that they could use to test for a milk protein allergy. My husband made the drop-off and I quickly got a call from the nurse telling me there was blood in her stools, indicative of the allergy, and that I needed to eliminate all dairy and soy from my diet. Say what?! I asked what formula to purchase. She told me not to do it. My babies tummy was already stressed out and she predicted that introducing a formula in place of breastmilk would only cause more difficulty as it would be even harder for to her digest.

I'm not sure if you've ever looked at the foods you eat and the drinks you drink and really studied the labels, but if you do, you'll see that many of them contain milk and soy! I was told that soy lecithin and soybean oil were still okay but other than that, I needed to be completely dairy and soy free because of this milk protein allergy. She'll likely outgrow it in a year or two, but until then, if she's drinking my milk, it has to be free of her allergens, which means what I eat needs to be free of them too.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, after eliminating dairy and soy from my diet for 2 weeks, we retested her diapers and saw improvement. Great news! The not so great news was that she was still miserable after feeding until she could finally, as painful as it was, get rid of whatever she had consumed. It was heartbreaking. The pediatrician then recommended that I eliminate some other common allergens from my diet such as peanuts, eggs, and tomatoes. On my own, about a week later, with the help of the Joneja Allergen Chart, I also eliminated wheat. Now, seven weeks into life with this baby, we are finally seeming to settle down and she is smiling and enjoying life a lot more often - even between feeds!

I'm not going to lie. I miss my old foods! But, I'm embracing the elimination diet - eliminating the top food allergens from my breastmilk - and finding some delicious recipes that work for my whole family (because who wants to cook several different meals at once?). I'm still new to this but look forward to sharing some of my meal ideas and recipes with you! Stay tuned!

Do you have a dairy-free, soy-free, peanut-free, tomato-free, egg-free, or wheat-free recipe you love? Please share it here!

Authentic Homemade Asian "Takeout" from Blue Dragon ~ Review and Giveaway!

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Blue Dragon. I received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for my participation. All opinions expressed are my own.

I cook dinner for my family daily and it's often a struggle to decide what to make. We have our favorites but eating the same few meals each week gets a little boring. I love searching for recipes online and can often find some new ideas but even those searches can be daunting because there are so many options and I don't always have all the ingredients I need on hand. And let's be honest... sometimes takeout sounds really yummy and easy! Our favorite takeout option is Chinese food but (unfortunately for my taste buds) we don't often splurge on that treat.

We were recently introduced to Blue Dragon, a company that provides everything you need to treat yourself to some homemade, super easy, and super fast Asian cuisine! Providing everything from noodles, to spring roll wrappers, to sauces, condiments, and a plethora of quick and easy-to-follow recipes, Blue Dragon has it all.

Blue Dragon was named after the Chinese symbol of good fortune. Over thirty years ago, the founder of Blue Dragon realized that it was nearly impossible to create truly authentic Asian dishes at home because it was just too difficult for people to find all the necessary ingredients in the grocery store. Well, that problem has now been solved with Blue Dragon products and after a quick trip to your local grocery store, you can simply and quickly pull together delicious dishes from China, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam right in the comfort of your own home!

Following some recipes straight from the Blue Dragon website, and using some high quality products that were truly so user friendly, along with a few things I already had in the house, I was able to create three absolutely delicious Asian dishes - in less time than it would have taken me to order, pick up, and bring home my favorite Asian take-out!

Here's what I used:

And here's what I created:

Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound sliced chicken
• 1 egg
• 2 cups cooked flat rice noodles
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Sprig of cilantro - chopped
• 1 ratchet Blue Dragon Pad Thai Stir Fry Sauce

Instructions:

• Heat oil in wok, add the egg, stir fry until almost cooked through.
• Add chicken and stir fry for one minute.
• Add pre-cooked and drained noodles and sauce.
• Stir until heated through
• Garnish with lime juice and cilantro.

General Tao Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb chicken breast, sliced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 large onion, sliced
• Cornstarch to coat
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 satchet General Tao Stir Fry Sauce

Instructions:

• Dip the chicken strips in the beaten egg and then toss in the cornstarch.
• Heat the oil in a pan and carefully fry the chicken pieces.
• Once browned, add the onion and sauce and continue to simmer for approximately 2 minute until onions are tender and all is heated through.

Sweet Chili Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• 4 tortilla wraps
• 1/2 lb cooked chicken, shredded
• sliced green onions
• 4 tbsp Blue Dragon Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

• Heat large frying pan over medium heat.
• Place flour tortilla in bottom of pan.
• Top with half of chicken, onion, dipping sauce and cheese.
• Top with second tortilla.
• Once the base is golden brown and crisp, use a spatula to flip over and repeat cooking on the other side.
• Repeat with remainder of ingredients.
• Let sit for 1/2 minutes and slice into wedges.

I adjusted these recipes only minimally from those on the Blue Dragon website simply because I wanted to cook with what I had in my home already since my family was hungry and excited to try our new Blue Dragon products! Beyond the meat, I only needed minimal ingredients. Each dish tasted authentic, and truly delicious! The cooking sauces were so flavorful, the noodles cooked up in a flash, and, because it absolutely deserves it's own shout-out, the Blue Dragon Sweet Chili Sauce is AMAZING.

So again, I was literally able to pull these meals together with less money and less time than it would have taken to pick up Asian takeout. Does it get any better than that? But, I'll be honest - there is something sort of special about treating your family to takeout, so we even served up our creations in takeout containers and used chopsticks. Why not, right?!

We are so excited for the opportunity to offer one of our readers a chance to win everything needed to create your very own delicious homemade take-out experience with the help of Blue Dragon! Your prize will include samples of Blue Dragon Sauces and a cooking kit including a wok, spatula, chopsticks, and takeout containers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway runs from Tuesday, February 10 through Tuesday, February 17 at 11:59 PM. Entrants must be age 18 or older. Open to residents of the US only. Contest entrants are only eligible to win once per sweepstake, per household as part of a campaign sponsored by Influence Central.

If you like to try before you buy, check out a Blue Dragon tasting event at a store near you!
Shaw's in Canton, Waltham, Worcester, and Littleton all have tasting events coming up on 2/15 from 11-4. Or you could head to Market Basket in Nashua on 2/13 from 11-6 or Revere on 2/14 & 23 from 11-6. If you're wondering if there's a tasting at your store and it's not listed here, let me know!

Here are some places where you can get to know Blue Dragon online:
Blue Dragon Recipe Inspiration
Blue Dragon Online Cookbook ~ Chop To Chopsticks
Blue Dragon Facebook
Blue Dragon YouTube
Or search on your favorite social media channel for #BlueDragonMeals

Snow Cream

I've spent a fair amount of time today on the couch, staying warm by the fire, browsing my Facebook newsfeed... in my opinion, a great way to ride out the Blizzard of 2015! I've seen numerous friends share recipes for snow cream today. Snow cream, you ask? Yes, SNOW cream... as in ice cream... except made out of snow! I (a little bit) thought this was kind of crazy. Although I have a four year old who eats snow like it's going out of style so this is right up our alley.

Given that we are huge ice cream fans but didn't stock up before the storm given the potential of power outages melting our frozen goods, snow cream is perfect for us! Despite the lack of ice cream in the freezer, we have a seemingly unending supply of snow! We're working our way up to 3 feet of snow today (as of 3:00 this afternoon we were at 27 inches!)

So here you have it, friends... the recipe for snow cream...

Mix it all together and enjoy! The result is a very tasty and super fun, memory-making winter treat that you (and especially your kiddos) will love!

We served our snow cream immediately and froze what was leftover. When I took it out later on and crushed it up, it was just as delicious if not more so!

Let me know if you try it!

Cheesy Mashed Potato Pancakes

Raise your hand if you intentionally cook extras just to have more leftovers!

I came across this delicious recipe for mashed potato pancakes shortly after Thanksgiving when I was looking for a way to use up the last of our leftover mashed potatoes. Well, they were so delicious that I intentionally asked my husband to make extra mashed potatoes for Christmas in anticipation of cooking these up again.

My friends, gather up your leftovers and throw together this easy, cheesy, totally tasty treat! Think creamy, crispy, salty, savory... I could go on and on. These take just a few precious minutes of your time to cook up and the result is perfection.

Perfect Sugar Cookies Every Time

My sweet daughter is a gift-giver. It's in her blood. She loves to give. So every holiday or special occasion, she insists that we give gifts to all her classmates. The gift is always the same ~ sugar cookies! It's funny because she herself doesn't like sugar cookies. She's a chocolate chip girl. But she is convinced that her friends love sugar cookies, especially when she decorates them herself.

National Pasta Month and Prince Spaghetti Day ~ New recipes from Prince Pasta and the Pallotta Sisters!

I participated in a Blog Blast on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Prince Pasta. 

I received a promotional item to thank me for participating.

In celebration of National Pasta Month, Boston-born Prince Pasta, has partnered with Christine and Carla Pallotta, chefs and owners of local Italian eatery, NEBO, in Boston's North End, to develop creative and easy-to-follow recipes using Prince Pasta.

We LOVE pasta in our house but I only have a few recipes I typically work with... Baked Ziti, Chicken Spaghetti Casserole, and homemade sauce and meatballs (a family recipe I don't think I'm ever allowed to share on the blog!). I'm so excited that the Pallotta sisters are helping me add some new options to our menu!

Since Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day, every Wednesday throughout October, Prince Pasta has revealed one of the Pallotta sisters recipes, showing how to make a simple and delicious meal with Prince Pasta.

I've been trying to get organized with my meal planning for a while so celebrating Prince Spaghetti Day every Wednesday sounds like a good plan to me! Pasta makes for an easy meal that is loved by our whole family every time!

I may start with this Breakfast Pasta recipe this week! YUM!

Prince Pasta breakfast from MagicBullet Media, Inc. on Vimeo.

Visit the Prince Pasta Facebook page for more delicious recipes from the Pallotta sisters!

I can't wait to visit their restaurant the next time we're in the North End!

Apple Breakfast Cake

Not many things excite me more than fall recipes. Apples, pumpkins, cinnamon… you know what I'm talking about. There is something very special about the season change between summer and fall... the first cool morning, the first fire in the fireplace, the first leaves changing on the trees, the spicy scented candles, and the family trip to the apple orchard. My appreciation for fall has increased throughout my adult years and I just can't get enough of it!

We came home with a 20 pound bag of apples from our favorite orchard a couple of weekends ago. Sticking my head into the bag and taking a big sniff of apple-y heaven has been one of my favorite activities since then! The scent of the fresh apples, that indescribable combination of sweet and tart… it's therapeutic to say the least. Of course the scent of apple recipes baking is just as powerful.

So far I've made apple crisp, apple pie, and this delicious apple cake that I've been eating for breakfast all week. I love from-scratch recipes that feel just as easy as box mixes. You will love this cake. And for some reason, it passes for a breakfast food… at least in our house it does! A mug of hot coffee and a big piece of Apple Cake. Trust me.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups peeled, chopped tart apples (probably 3 apples, depending on size)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and lightly flour bottom and sides of 13 x 9 cake pan
• Beat sugar, oil, and eggs with electric mixer on low speed until blended, about 30 seconds
• Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla, and salt and beat on low speed for one minute
• Stir in apples
• Pour into pan
• Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

Glaze:
Once cool, I drizzle the top with a simple powdered sugar glaze… just some powdered sugar, a tiny bit of milk and a tiny drop of vanilla. If only I measured these things! The more sugar you use, the more glaze you'll get. I probably use about a half cup to a cup. If it's too runny, add more sugar, if it's too thick, add another tiny drop of milk. Whisk and drizzle!

I store our cake in the fridge and heat a piece for about 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

Hooray for fall!

Adapted from Betty Crocker's recipe for Carrot Cake.

Cake Mix Cookies

Have you embraced the Cake Mix Cookie phenomenon?  If not, you need to!  Cake Mix Cookies are the easiest, yummiest cookie ever.  I am all about homemade, from scratch, cookies, but sometimes it's okay to cheat.  The Cake Mix Cookie cheat is an amazing one!

I've seen Cake Mix Cookies a bazillion times all over Pinterest but never had a reason to make them so just kind of skimmed over them.  When my daughter was planning her 4th birthday party this month and requested a "strawberry" theme, I remembered seeing some Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies on Pinterest and was able to easily whip up this delicious, colorful, and totally theme appropriate treat!

I've since branched out and made Lemon Cake Mix Cookies too.  And Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies.  And Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies.  And Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies.  And today I'm going to make Carrot Cake Cake Mix Cookies.  I'm clearly semi-obsessed with Cake Mix Cookies!  My daughter's birthday was one month ago today... so that's 6 times in one month.  Every batch has been a huge hit and seriously... they are so incredibly easy.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'm eating one right now as I type.

You are going to follow this basic recipe for every batch you make...

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix of your choosing
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 eggs

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350°
• Mix ingredients together
• Put in the fridge for about 10 minutes so the dough is not so sticky
• Make 1 inch balls of dough
• Flatten slightly with fingers
• Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10 minutes (give or take a couple)
• Let sit for a minute on the pan and then move to cooling rack

Add-Ins:
You can add some extras depending on what flavor you are making.  With Chocolate, I added a teaspoon of vanilla and rolled them in sugar before baking.  With Lemon, I added a teaspoon of lemon extract and rolled in powdered sugar before baking.  With Red Velvet, I sprinkled with powdered sugar after baking.  Be creative!

So far, my favorite has been Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies... they taste like brownies!  My husband says the Funfetti ones are the best cookies he's ever tasted.

What's your favorite?  If you haven't tried them, you should!

Creamy Tangy Homemade Coleslaw

First of all, it's really hard to get a good picture of coleslaw.  Thankfully looking good and tasting good are two different things.

Regardless of looks, I've come to the conclusion that everyone needs a good homemade coleslaw recipe.  Before I married, I couldn't have cared any less about coleslaw.  I sort of thought it was a garnish.  You know like the dry clump of coleslaw that is served next to your main entree in many restaurants?  There was no need for a coleslaw recipe then. But, as I've said time and time again, my world expanded when I married my husband.  He can't eat a hot dog without coleslaw.  Or sloppy joes without coleslaw, or barbecue anything without coleslaw.  He can't have a cookout without coleslaw.  Period.

So, after we got married, I quickly learned which local grocery store carried the best coleslaw.  It has to be chopped to just the right size, have the perfect creaminess, and have just the right amount of tang.  We usually just buy a little tub, store made, when we have a cookout.  Periodically I've gotten bags of dry cole slaw and mixed my own dressing for it.

Well, this weekend, I ran into a problem.  I went to the store and they had a kind of pre-made coleslaw that would never fly around here and they were completely out of bagged slaw mix!  We had a cookout planned for that afternoon and I was basically up a creek without a paddle.  I looked at the woman at the customer service desk and said, "Okay.  I'll just buy a head of cabbage instead."   She looked at me like my head was made of cabbage because people around here don't eat coleslaw, never mind make homemade cole slaw.

I brought my head of cabbage home, pulled out the food processor and fixed up this creamy, tangy, deliciousness.  You could totally do this without a food processor, just cutting by hand.

Love, love, love.  It passed the husband test, so it makes it to the blog!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head of cabbage
• 8 baby carrots
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Chop cabbage and carrots in food processor and put in a medium bowl
• Add mayo, vinegar, sugar, and black pepper
• Stir, stir, stir
• Refrigerate until ready to serve (preferably at least an hour to let the flavors mix)

Enjoy!

Chipped Beef & Gravy

In honor of Father's Day, I figured it was about time I posted the recipe for my husband's very favorite dinner, Chipped Beef & Gravy!  I make this meal on his birthday each December but this year decided to surprise him on Father's Day as well.  I think this might be a new tradition!

I had never eaten or heard of Chipped Beef & Gravy before meeting my husband, but when northern girls marry southern boys, there is much to be learned!  Thankfully, he tells me this tastes just like it did when his grandmother used to make it, so I consider the recipe a success.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 5 oz dried beef (In our stores, it's sold in a glass jar near the tuna)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 3 cups milk
• salt & pepper to taste (I don't typically add salt because the beef is quite salty already)

Directions:

• Cut beef into strips with scissors
• Melt butter in saucepan
• Slowly add flour, stirring constantly until blended
• Whisk in milk
• Stir over medium heat until gravy begins to bubble and thickens (5-10 minutes)
• Stir in beef
• Season to taste

We typically serve our Chipped Beef & Gravy with homemade biscuits, but you could also serve it over toast.  And we always add a side of french style green beans (because that's another of his favorites!).  

Hope you enjoy this easy and delicious meal as much as we do!

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Many years ago, my great aunt introduced us to Ice Cream Sandwich cake and I'm sorry to say that I have not made it nearly enough times since then!  Yesterday morning, both my husband and I had a random craving for this perfectly delicious frozen dessert, so off to the store I went.

I don't really know what else to say about this amazingness except that it is amazing.  It is the absolute perfect summer treat and it really is so easy.  The only thing that could make it easier would be if ice cream sandwiches came without wrappers but it's totally worth the unwrapping.

Ingredients:

• 24 ice cream sandwiches
• cool whip (An 8 oz tub is fine.  I used more because I had it, but whatever you prefer is fine!)
• chocolate syrup
• crushed chocolate sandwich cookies or chocolate chips or any cruchy-ish treat you love

Directions:

• Unwrap ice cream sandwiches and use half to line bottom of 9x12 pan (you might need to squish or break the last one in half)
• Spread a layer of cool whip over top
• Squirt some chocolate syrup on top
• Cover with crushed oreos or whatever crunchy-ish treat you decide on
• Add another layer of ice cream sandwiches
• Add another layer of cool whip
• Add another layer of crunchy topping
• Lick your fingers
• Enjoy!

You'll want to serve this cold and store in the freezer.

This recipe is totally fool proof and you can totally switch it up with flavors and layers you love.  You could add another layer of chocolate syrup if you prefer.  I noticed at the store yesterday that there are a few new fancy ice cream sandwich options like mint and cookies and cream... either of these would be incredible in this recipe!  I'm also thinking of adding something like M&M's or Reese's Pieces next time... mmmmmmmmmm.

Homemade Pizza Dough - no yeast needed!

I wouldn't necessarily say that I have a "yeast-phobia" but I'm going to put it out there that I have NEVER cooked with yeast.  At least not that I remember.  I don't really know why.  I guess maybe I just never have it and every time I've needed it and googled an alternative recipe that didn't use it, I've found what I've been looking for.

So given the popularity of the recipe I posted in the past for homemade biscuits with no yeast, I figured it was worth sharing the recipe that I've been using for pizza dough with no yeast!  I clearly am not the only person out there that cooks without yeast!


We love this pizza dough.  It's so easy and I always have the ingredients on hand.  Sometimes when you find a recipe online, like I did this one, you never really know how it's going to turn out.  I'm here to tell you that this one is just what we were looking for... hopefully you'll love it too!  Let me know!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 - 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Desired sauce and toppings
• cornmeal (sprinkle on pan to prevent sticking)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425°
• Sprinkle pizza pan or stone with cornmeal
• Whisk together dry ingredients
• Gradually add water and mix with fork until a ball of dough forms
• Remove from bowl to generously floured surface and work with hands a few times (I often add a little more flour since it's pretty sticky)
• Roll out to desired size and thickness (you can do this on the floured surface or on the pan)
• Brush on olive oil
• Spread on sauce
• Add cheese and toppings
• Bake for 20 minutes

You could use a stand mixer to save yourself some effort but I don't work hard to make this and doing it by hand saves me from some extra dirty dishes!

Adapted from the Canadian Moms Cook recipe found here.

Refreshingly Sweet Cucumber Salad

So last night I put a good deal of effort into figuring out how to carefully pour cucumber salad juice directly from my empty dinner plate into my mouth.

True story.

It was then that I realized that I have finally discovered the very best cucumber salad recipe and that I must share it with you!  It is sweet, tangy, and refreshing.  It will be perfect for when you have a plethora of cucumbers in your garden this summer, but don't wait until then!  Run to the store and pick up a cucumber now!

Here it is, friends…

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced and diced
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup +2 tablespoons sugar (or 6 tablespoons sugar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry dill

Directions

• Mix cucumber, onion, and celery in large bowl
• Mix vinegar, water, and sugar together in small pot on stove and bring to a boil
• Pour liquid over vegetables
• Mix in dill
• Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (the longer, the yummier)
• Serve cold

Yum yum yum!

Adapted from the recipe found here.

Delicious and Easy Homemade Baked Ziti

There has been lots of fun stuff on the blog lately, but let's not forget to eat!  Here is one of our family's favorite recipes.  It's always nice to find something that we will all eat… especially something that gives us leftovers!

My friendship with this wonderful baked ziti recipe has been going strong for over two years.  I just looked and saw that I printed the original recipe from the computer on March 1, 2011.  I did a google search that day for a Baked Ziti Recipe and this is what I found.  Anyone who knows my southern husband, who bravely married me, a northern girl, knows that any recipe I find with "southernfood" in the url is a winner in our household.  This one did not disappoint!  You can view the original recipe here or follow along below.

Note: I LOVE LOVE LOVE making this recipe in my Pampered Chef RockCrok.  If you are in the market for a new pan or pot, this is a must have.  It is refrigerator, freezer, stovetop, oven, broiler, grill, microwave, and dishwasher safe.  Yes, that is all true.  You kind of don't even need anything else in your kitchen if you have this, right?  It is amazing and it turns this recipe into a one dish meal… and that one dish is dishwasher safe… did I already say that?  I have the Dutch Oven size but there is a smaller Everyday Pan as well.

Okay, back to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef or pork
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (just chop up one bell pepper, measurements don't need to be exact… or frozen is fine too)
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce (or mix a small can of paste with a can of water over low heat until combined and use that - I always have more paste than sauce around here!)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces ziti or elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:

• Sauté ground beef, onion, and green pepper in a large skillet until onion is tender and beef is lightly browned and cooked through.
• Drain off grease.
• Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper (if you don't think there is room in your pan, just do all this in a big bowl or transfer it now to the casserole dish for stirring and cooking… or get a RockCrock)
• Stir well.
• Stir in cooked pasta and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
• Transfer to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish (9x13) (or if you cooked AND mixed in the RockCrok already, you can just put that same pan it in the oven).
• Top with remaining cup of shredded cheese.
• Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

This recipe is delicious right out of the oven and just as yummy for leftovers!  

I love feedback and love recipe sharing, so let me know if you try this and love it or have another recipe for me to try next time!

Minnie (or Mickey) Fruit Pizza

Please tell me you know it's true that everything tastes better when it's Minnie or Mickey themed!  When we were in the planning stages of our recent Disney Side @ Home Celebration, I searched Pinterest to find any possible Disney themed food to add to our spread.  I found this super cute Mickey Fruit Pizza idea from Craisins, also one of the sponsors of our party!  I used their idea as inspiration but used my own recipe, our favorite fruits, and some creative placement and came up with this beauty.

I will be honest that I had minimal fridge space with so many other treats already prepared so I pulled this decorating together within the 45 minute rush before our guests were scheduled to arrive.  I had prepared the cookie crust in advance the night before, whipped up the icing about a half hour earlier, and then assembled at the last minute.  I intended to follow the exact set up of the Craisins pizza but panicked that it wouldn't look like Mickey in the end so I skipped the face details and just made an outline of the head with the fruit.  I added the Minnie bow at the last second on a whim and am so glad I did!

Super cute, super colorful, and super easy!  This is such a fun and delicious treat.  Why wait for a Disney party?!  Surprise your family today!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing:

• 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softenend
• 2 tablespoons frozen limeade concentrate
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Decorations:

• purple grapes
• green grapes
• blueberries
• strawberries
• canned pineapple
• canned mandarin oranges

Directions

Crust:

• Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and vanilla with electric mixer until fluffy
• Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix gently with a spoon until combined with wet ingredients
• Spread by hand onto a greased pizza pan
• Bake at 375 for 12 minutes
• Cool completely
• (I prepared this the night before and stored covered on the counter.)

Icing:

• Beat cream cheese, limeade, and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth
• Spread on crust
• (Original instructions from Pillsbury suggest that you serve immediately or refrigerate up to 2 hours prior to serving.  I didn't spread it the night before because I didn't want the crust to get soggy before the party.)

Decorations:

• Cut fruit into bite sized pieces (we had 3-4 year olds at our party so I wanted to make sure those grapes were quartered, etc)
• Lightly trace outline of the mouse head in the icing with a knife and then place your fruit accordingly!
• It's so easy, and if you mess up, just start over.  This is fool proof... you can do it!

We kept our fruit pizza intact until we just couldn't bear the wait of eating it any longer and then we sliced with a pizza cutter.  Next time I may try to cut the pizza after icing and before decorating so that it stays pretty longer.  I'm not sure whether it would work but it might be worth a try.  If you try it, let me know how it goes!

We stored out leftovers covered in the fridge.  It does get a little bit soggy but still delicious... you just wouldn't want to serve the leftovers to guests necessarily.  It's best served fresh!

Recipe adapted from Craisins, Pillsbury, and a recipe I got years ago from a friend!

Special thanks to Keiko S. Dowell Photography for the image!

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas with Hood Sour Cream and Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Hood. 
I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.  

We live in New England, you know, the land where it snows about a foot every week.  Maybe that's a little exaggeration but a half foot wouldn't be any exaggeration at all.  I can't see over the snow at the end of my driveway, and it's been frigid here.  The kind of frigid where you plan outdoor play activities as soon as the thermometer hits 32 degrees because below-zero temperatures have become the norm!  I'm not complaining, but it's just really, really cold and snowy this winter!

With lots of snow to shovel and a three year old who can't get enough of snow play, we've been outside a lot this winter and there's nothing that's better to greet us when we get back in than some good old comfort food!  We do a lot of comfort food around here and our winter favorites often have one thing in common... creaminess!  And nothing represents creamy deliciousness better than Hood Sour Cream.  Whether we are adding it to our enchiladas, plopping some on top of our chili, tacos, and baked potatoes, whipping up a quick dip, or mixing it into our turkey or potato soup, it adds the perfect combination of creaminess, richness, and mouth watering tanginess that keeps us coming back for more.

Did you know that Hood has been in business for 160 years?  Talk about having some time to perfect a product!  And talk about a lot of years for a lot of people to try and determine that Hood Sour Cream is the very best sour cream out there.  Our family has been becoming much more health conscious in our recipe choices and eating habits and when I use Hood Sour Cream, my confidence in the choices of foods I'm providing my family increases.  Hood All Natural Sour Cream is just that... all natural, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Here's what we had for dinner last night after shoveling...

Chicken Enchiladas with Hood Sour Cream and 

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts or tenders
• 8 oz Hood Sour Cream, plus more for topping
• 1 can cream of chicken (or whatever) soup (or try this easy homemade recipe for a healthier alternative)
• 1/2 small can of chopped green chiles (use the whole can if you want them spicy)
• 8 oz bag of shredded mexican cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions, plus some extra for sprinkling (I used a "heaping" 1/4 cup from my freezer stash)
• 8-10 soft whole wheat tortillas (try this easy homemade recipe but you will need to adjust the shortening and water - I needed to add a bit more as I went because whole wheat flour is quite a bit tougher than white)
• 1 jar/can mild enchilada sauce

Directions:

• Boil chicken breasts until cooked through (no longer pink), and chop or shred
• Make your cream-of-whatever soup
• Make your tortillas
• Preheat oven to 375 and grease 9x12 casserole dish
• Mix shredded chicken, sour cream, cream soup, chiles, green onions, and half of cheese
• Fill and roll tortillas and place, fold side down, in casserole dish
• Pour enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle with cheese and green onions
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling
• Top with sour cream, serve, and enjoy!

These were the best enchiladas I ever made.  They tasted healthier and more delicious than ever.  They didn't leave that heavy, after-Mexican food, feeling in my stomach.  I knew what was in the ingredients I used, and I felt confident in them.  They were perfectly creamy, thanks to the Hood All Natural Sour Cream (which I ate spoonfuls of as I went...).

Hood offers three varieties of Sour Cream ~ All Natural, Light, and Fat Free ~ and you can read more about them on their website.  Also, you can connect with Hood through social media through the following links:

www.facebook.com/HPHood

www.twitter.com/HPHood

www.youtube.com/HoodDairy

If Hood hasn't yet become a staple in your kitchen, give it a try!  I'm confident you won't regret it!  

3 Ingredient Cereal Bars (with Kashi)

I am on a constant quest for good granola bar recipes.  I am a lunch packing fanatic... in other words, I hugely obsess over the lunches I pack for my husband and our daughter.  There always needs to be a snack-y thing and I prefer it be a granola bar type item but when I don't have any purchased or made, I tend to add cookies because I want there to be something homemade.  Of course cookies are yummy, but I'd rather pack something healthier and save those for a special treat later.  Anyway, today on my granola bar quest, I came across a super easy cereal bar recipe and whipped these guys up in no time at all!  They will do the trick and are certainly healthier (and even easier) than the cookies I packed all last week.

I will be snacking on these while I continue my hearty, healthy granola bar search.  Do you have a favorite granola bar recipe?  Please share!

Here's the recipe.  I originally found it on Healthy Food For Living.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups dry cereal (I used 3 Kashi cups ~ 2 Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat and 1 Go Lean)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey (I used almost 1/2 cup and topped it off with maple syrup when I ran out)

Directions:

• Line 8x8 square pan with parchment paper
• Combine peanut butter and honey in a saucepan and heat on medium until it just starts to simmer, stirring constantly (about 2-3 minutes)
• Remove from heat and stir until well combined
• Add cereal and stir until evenly coated
• Pour mixture into pan, cover with parchment and press firmly
• Let sit for 1 hour
• Use sharp knife to cut into bars or squares

Enjoy!  (and please please please tell me your favorite granola bar recipe because I am in great need!)

Visit here to see how you can get some FREE Kashi cereal with your coupons this week!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

My husband introduced me to this simple, inexpensive, but fantastic little snack.  He remembers long nights snacking on these while playing cards with his grandmother.  I introduced them to my grandmother many years ago and she became a lover of them as well!  Last night, I introduced them to our daughter... the love runs in the family!  I think you'll love them too!

Ingredients:

• One bag oyster crackers (we used a 9 oz last night and they were SUPER strong... 12 oz would be better)
• One packet dry ranch dressing mix (we use Hidden Valley)
• 1/4 cup oil (whatever you have on hand... I've used vegetable in the past but more recently olive oil and both are fine)

Directions:

• Toss the oyster crackers with the oil and dressing mix (a ziplock bag works great).  
• Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy... but don't expect to eat only a handful!  These won't last you long!