Random + quick dinner idea

Hi everyone! It seems rare that I pop in with a weekly hello these days… that's because it is! But here I am! Halfway to 28 weeks pregnant and gearing up for the ever popular glucose test tomorrow. Woo! Not. I've never heard good things so I can't say I'm thrilled. 

Other lingering thoughts…

Choosing a pediatrician...

Wondering what the baby will look like and hoping he isn't 10 lbs at birth...

Getting excited for baby showers! 

And in other unrelated news, we took date night to the movies last night. And we saw M. Night Shyamalan's "Split." It was amazing. It was one of the most suspenseful, disturbing and horrifying movies I have seen in quite some time. We see A LOT of movies. And I would say this is one of my favorites in the last 6 months. I really don't want to give anything away… but I highly suggest seeing it. It isn't your standard scary movie scream fest - it is so much more. Sweet & Modern gives it a big thumbs up. :) 

And… for a super fast dinner and crowd pleaser…

Taco Skillet. This recipe is SO easy. Your children could make it (if you trusted them with a hot stove).  There are many variations to this recipe… honestly, you can't mess it up. I make it sort of differently every time! But here's the basics:

photo courtesy of Campbells

1 lb hamburger  (or turkey works too!)

1 can tomato soup

1/2 to 1 cup of salsa

1/2 cup water

8 soft tortilla shells (torn into 1 inch pieces)

Shredded cheddar cheese (as much as you can handle!)

1. Brown hamburger in a 10 inch skillet stovetop. Add seasonings as preferred. 

2. Drain grease. 

3. Pour hamburger back in to skillet. Add tomato soup, water, salsa and shells. 

4. Increase temp until it starts to bubble/boil. 

5. Reduce heat. 

5. Add shredded cheese. A little or a lot. (I do a lot!)

6. Let simmer and let the cheese melt. Serve with a dollop of sour cream! 

That's it! Seriously. So flavorful and easy. You can even sneak in spinach or anything else you want to add! I love that this takes under 30 minutes - start to finish - and ONE PAN. Go forth and make this delicious, easy, old Campbells soup recipe. :) 

PS - husband approved! 

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

xoxo 

the {best} chocolate chip cookies

Happy 4th of July!

So thankful for time with wonderful family and friends. And nothing is better than a Monday holiday, right?!

I've posted these before, but they are my number one fall back when I am bringing food to gatherings. They are also the number one thing I make for family and friends. If you need that "one" chocolate chip cookie and still haven't found it… you must try this one!

*these cookies are of the sweet, very vanilla-y, soft and chewy variety!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

You will need:
 2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda

2 sticks real, salted butter softened (NOT melted)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (not imitation) (optional - sub 1 tsp almond extract for a delicious mix up!)
1 box instant vanilla pudding (not prepared)
2 eggs
1/2 bag (or however many you like!) semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Whisk together 2 1/4 cups flour and 1 tsp baking soda in a separate bowl.

In mixer, cream together 2 sticks of real butter (soft but not melted) with 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup sugar. Add 2 eggs, one at a time. When this is all combined, add a box of instant vanilla pudding powder (make sure it's instant, not the kind you boil) and mix well. Add vanilla and almond flavoring. The recipe calls for 1 tsp of vanilla, but I typically do 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond.

Then, slowly add in your flour/baking soda mix until it's all combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Know your oven! I only bake until the top starts to get golden and then I take it out and let the cookies bake on the pan for a couple minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

ENJOY!

PS- For good measure, here is a link to a 10 minute workout that I love to do when I am in a hurry. It will get your legs burning and your heart rate up! And then have a cookie. Life is about balance! :)

the {BEST} apple pie

Happy Monday!

What a great weekend of doing basically nothing (which worked out for me since I spent many hours in serious ulcer related pain! UGH!) BUT... I also got to spend some quality time with my little family and relax. One of my favorite "relax" activities is baking!

Today I wanted to share what I believe is the very best apple pie recipe...in the world.

I based this recipe (the filling & topping) on The Pioneer Woman's "Dreamy Apple Pie" because... let's get  real. Ree knows what she is doing. I just made a few changes that I have found better suit my baking style :)

the BEST apple pie


Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled. I prefer to use my peeler and peel the WHOLE apple into thin slices as opposed to chopping it up. It makes the pie that much more delicious!
2 TB flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c (overflowing) sugar
1 c and 2 TB heavy whipping cream
3 tsp vanilla extract (not imitation!)
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
7 TB cold butter, chopped into pieces
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c pecans
Sea salt (to taste, depending on how much you like!)

Pie Crust:
2 sticks unsalted butter (COLD!)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup ice water
(this makes 2 single layer pie crusts or 1 double pie crust!)

Alright! Here's what you do. First, I make the pie crust! This is because it has to be refrigerated for an hour. So...
1. Put the flour, salt and sugar in your food processor and pulse just a few times to combine the dry ingredient.
2. Toss in your cut up chunks of cold butter. Pulse just until coarse. There can still be some pea sized chunks of butter, this is fine!
3. Sprinkle the ice water over your mix. Pulse again a few times. Take the lid off and check it out... it will look course, but when you squeeze between fingers it (should) stick together. If it's not doing that yet, add a little more ice water. Pulse until you find this consistency.
4. Take half of the mix and press it together. I then put it on plastic wrap, push down into a disk, wrap up and throw it in the freezer/refrigerator. You can do the same with the rest, it will save up to 3 months in freezer!

While my dough is chilling I prepare the filling and topping.

1. In a large bowl, mix together heavy whipping cream, flour, cinnamon, sugar,  brown sugar and vanilla extract.
2.  Peel the apples. First peel off the skin and get rid of it. Then peel the apples directly into the bowl. Mix until apples are coated.
3. In food processor: pulse together butter, flour, brown sugar, salt and pecans. JUST until coarse and chunky. You want it to remain spreadable :) (This is your topping)

Easy!

Now.. preheat your oven to 375 degrees

Take out the disk of pie dough and set it on wax paper. Smash it down. Put another piece of wax paper on top. Roll out to the best of your ability with rolling pin, over the wax paper (mine never ends up being a perfect circle. No worries, it will still work).

Peel back the wax paper and then lay the pie crust onto the bottom of pie pan (9 inch works great! I like to use a deeper pan for apple pie as well!) Push down into bottom of pan and then peel off top wax paper. From here you can correct any areas with your fingers and make the edges all even. Or pretty, whatever suits your fancy!

Pour the filling in over pie crust.

Pour topping evenly over the filling.

Your pie should now look like this:

 

Put your ready-to-bake pie pan on a cookie sheet. Loosely lay a piece of tin foil over the top of the pie.

Bake for 1 hour (or until the topping is golden brown!) I remove the foil for the last 20 minutes of baking.

And.. finished product! Now, it is my service to tell you that apple pie should ALWAYS be served warm and with vanilla ice cream. But maybe that is just my preference? You be the judge :)

Enjoy!

Hamburger Bowl

Sounds appealing right?

Well... in my family, "hamburger bowl" is kind of an ongoing joke. When we were younger, if my mom ran out of ideas or was simply hurried, sometimes she would brown hamburger (as in, loose meat hamburger) and put a little salt and pepper on it. And then serve it. Yep, just straight ol' hamburger. Sometimes with bread and butter.  As children, we HATED this meal. My sister and I always called it "hamburger bowl," and it was not favored among the siblings. Looking back, it makes me laugh really hard. Mom, if you are reading this, I'm sorry. Mostly because we should have never whined, given the fact that you had dinner on the table for us EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. But still, it's funny.

Anyways, fast forward however many years. One day I stumbled on my very own husband making, of all things: hamburger bowl.

I'm sure I exclaimed "Hamburger bowl?!" sarcastically or something like it. But then I was quickly shut up when I tasted it.

Delicious. Ummmm.. this was not the hamburger bowl I remembered.

My husband is awesome at clean eating. Like, way better than me. You can't compare us. I'm the eat a chicken breast and broccoli followed by a batch of chocolate chip cookies and multiple cheat days a week type; while he is more of a protein shake and clean eating 90% of his life type. Hence, why he had come up with the hamburger bowl concept. Now, don't be discouraged by the early edition hamburger bowl described above (again, sorry Mom!); this is like hamburger bowl on steroids. And the best part? It's a mix and match free for all. It can be as healthy, (or unhealthy) as you want it to be!

The (ingredient) players:

Meat: We frequently do ground turkey, regular ground hamburger, or sometimes ground chicken!

Veggies:  I personally love to put kale in. Spinach is a house favorite. I enjoy throwing a can of diced tomatoes in as well. Mushrooms and peppers have made appearances as well. Get creative!

Seasonings: This is important. I like to throw a variety of seasonings in. This bowl goes from good to great with the right seasonings. We like to use Tony Chachere, and any of the Grillmates (they have all sorts of delicious flavors!). Also used at times... minced onions. And salt and pepper to taste, obviously. Every now and again I'll use a flavor package (like Italian!).

Cheese: A little Parmesan or sharp cheddar  is my favorite. Just enough to give it a little cohesiveness.

Now, we typically stick with protein and veggies (as to make this a cleaner eat) but your options are unlimited.

Why not throw in....
-rice
-quinoa
-tortilla shells
-macaroni
-salsa
-plain greek yogurt (for creaminess)
-ranch
-chopped asparagus
-broccoli
-corn
-onions
-peppers
-mozzarella
-goat cheese

I mean, the options are truly unlimited. For the most part, I like to make the bowl look colorful. And  that usually ends up being ground turkey, spinach/kale, mushrooms, tomatoes (Rotel), fresh Parmesan and seasonings. So easy, but so flavorful.

Directions:
1. Brown meat choice in a deep skillet with some seasonings.
2. Drain any excess grease or water off.
3. Add veggies and steam with meat until veggies are tender (or you can have the veggies steaming in another skillet and then combine... your choice! I like ONE dirty pan! :) ) I like to make sure the spinach has cooked down,  or if I use kale, that it is dark green and tender.
4. Combine meat choice with veggies ( and stir until combined. Add more seasoning (sometimes you lose quite a bit when you drain!)
5. Remove from heat, toss with cheese. Add more salt or pepper if necessary.

SO SIMPLE!!


When I need lunch at work or on the go, I want something I can eat cold or heat up for 30 seconds. At the same time, I want nutrients and convenience.
Back in the day, I used to be a frozen meal person. Everyday at work I would heat up my "SmartOnes" or "Lean Cuisine." But now, that seems absolutely ridiculous. I can make 6 meals for the price of one. It stores in the fridge (or freezer) and I know the ingredients are fresh, because I made it!

All of that being said, here is my most recent hamburger bowl.

 

I know, it's not going on the cover of Food Network. What do you expect from a jumble of meat and veggies? But seriously: what you will get is an extremely easy meal to throw together that is convenient to access AND saves you money.

Turns out, my Mom knew what she was doing all along! (Well, sort of ;) )

If you aren't feeling creative in the kitchen for dinner tonight, check your fridge. I'll bet you have everything you need to  make your own version of Hamburger Bowl!

Happy cooking!

xoxo

 

 

Spring Veggie Frittata

Welcome back to the week! My blogging schedule has been a little out of sorts lately (as I mentioned, Spring is a very busy time for us at my job!) and so I am just popping in to share a fun, healthy recipe.

We are all about breakfast food over at our house, so Saturday we had a little stay at home brunch. I found the recipe for Spring Veggie Frittata in my Real Simple magazine (love) and couldn't believe how easy it looked! And it is.

 

In case you are wondering (like we were) what the difference between a quiche and a frittata is,  let me enlighten you! Cooking Clarified cleared this matter up for me, and I am sharing it with you,  here:

• Quiche is made by adding ingredients to a custard base, a combination of eggs and heavy cream or half and half, which gives it a creamy consistency when baked. Quiche typically has a crust, but not always.
• Frittata is made with little to no milk or cream, and no crust. It is are also cooked first on the stovetop and then in the oven.

So there you have it!

This recipe takes such little time, and you could even mix and match ingredients to your liking. Though I HIGHLY recommend keeping with the goat cheese! YUM.

Ingredient List:

 

1 1/2 tablespoons EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups chopped broccoli

1 cup cherry tomatoes

8 large eggs

1  tsp kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and tomatoes; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes burst and the broccoli softens, 5 minutes more.
2. Whisk together the eggs, 1 teaspoon 
of the salt, and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Pour over the vegetables in the skillet and cook, stirring gently, until the eggs just begin to set, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the goat cheese and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the center is set, 10 to 12 minutes.

 

 

 Seriously, super easy! I'll definitely make again with a few more of our favorite ingredients! Enjoy!

Healthy Bites

Hey! So the weekend AND Monday ran together for me and suddenly we are at Tuesday.... whoa. Times flies when you are having fun and working your buns off.

I HAVE to share this recipe because it is unbelievable. Unbelievably simple and unbelievably delicious.

I found this recipe on Southern In Law blog and when I saw the ingredients, I seriously questioned how it would turn out. But since it had THREE ingredients and would take about 5 minutes to find out, I figured, why not?

*disclaimer: I think you may have to use a food processor to make this work. Or something that has similar capacities.






Anyways, if you are anything like my house, you crave something sweet A LOT. Like, after every meal. And in between meals. And before bed.


And when you wake up. So, when I saw this recipe had (again) THREE ingredients that are healthy, gluten free and vegan... it was kind of a no brainer to give it a whirl.

What you will need:

1 cup medjool dates (or dried dates) *I bought the pitted dates my grocer had available. It worked.
1 cup cashews
2 tsp vanilla (I added a little extra. Because I always add extra vanilla) 
Optional: a pinch of sea salt (recommended!)

What you need to do:

Measure out a cup of dates and a cup of cashews.

Pour them into your food processor. Pour the vanilla over the top.  It will look like this. Ew. I almost stopped at this point. That looks like a creature.

 

Process. I pulsed the food processor until it started to look like it could be shaped. It took a few minutes.

I had to pulse for another minute or so after this picture was taken!

If you feel like it is not coming together, add a splash of water and process a little bit longer. Remove from the food processor. Form into small balls with your hands. Put on a plate and chill in the fridge or go ahead and give it a taste! Seriously.. YUM!

 

Don't mind my manicure, it cannot keep up with my life.

 

And... enjoy! Seriously, these are delicious. Thanks again to Southern In Law for the recipe!

 

These disappeared pretty quickly from our fridge. I will absolutely be making them again! I'm also planning to mix and match this this recipe with some other flavors. Any recommendations?  

Last Minute Supper Saver- Bow Tie Lasagna

Does anyone else say supper?

It's neither here nor there.

If you are like me you sometimes find yourself frantically googling a quick and easy recipe that you can eat… like RIGHT NOW. And something that is easy to find at the grocery store.

Listen… I got your back.

I found this recipe last week while doing that very thing and let me tell you… household HIT!

I loved it. Clay loved it. I mostly loved that from the time I started browning the hamburger until it was going into my mouth... was about 35 minutes. YES!

I love lasagna, but sometimes it just takes TOO damn long to make. Enter… Bow Tie Lasagna! Recipe below.

picture via 

You will need:

• 1 pound Ground Chuck

• 5 cups Bow Tie Noodles

• 3 cups Spaghetti Sauce (or Pizza Sauce, Whatever You Prefer)

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

• 1 teaspoon Salt

• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder

• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or More, Make It To Your Taste)

• ½ cups Mozzarella Cheese

• ½ cups Sour Cream
• 
  
• Preparation

Fry ground chuck in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce. (I can’t guarantee your results on this, because I’m spoiled; I am a “home canner” and have the BEST sauce on my shelf, a home canned marinara sauce that I use for lots of stuff—pizza, spaghetti, and of course, THIS.)

Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

**These are the recipe providers prep instructions. 

I would like to include that I pour, don't measure. And I add extras. Extra hamburger. Extra cheese. Extra seasoning. Fresh garlic. Maybe some mushrooms. Maybe some spinach! Get creative. You can't mess this stuff up. And in the end, it might look like a blob, but it is a delicious blob, I swear. 

ENJOY!