Avocado Chicken Salad with Cilantro and Lime

I made this for a party and got so many compliments. It is really light and summery tasting. It is just perfect! I found the recipe here:

Chicken Salad

2 lbs chicken breasts, shredded

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 avocado's

3 green onions

1/2 cup cilantro, lightly packed

I just mashed the avocado, salt, pepper and lime juice together and then mixed it with the shredded chicken then I added the green onion and cilantro and refrigerated it for an hour or two.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

Ok. These were SO easy and my new favorite. I LOVE this recipe. Next week I will tell you what I did with the left-overs....SO YUMMY!!!!!!

Want the recipe? Look here! It said to use mexican cheese but I just used Mild Cheddar.

Parmesan Asparagus

Asparagus is on sale...and we love it. We do this exact same thing all the time but without the Parmesan. YUMMY!

1 lb asparagus

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/8 cup Parmesan cheese

Bake on 400 for 10 minutes. So easy, so simply, so perfectly, perfect!

Veggie Bake with Parmesan Cheese

I found this recipe Here. It was delicious but took WAY longer to bake than she said. I really liked the mix of flavors and I LOVED having so many leftovers!

Penne with Roasted Asparagus

I found this recipe on Pinterest. The link for the original recipe is here. We absolutely SALIVATE for this dinner. It smells good and it is DIVINE! I.LOVE.IT! It is so full of flavor and since asparagus went on sale for 1.77 lb this week I am having this at least twice this week. My boys don't mind...they DEVOUR it! Of course I made some changes so here is my version of this deliciousness!

Penne with Roasted Asparagus

1 lb asparagus(cut into 1 inch pieces)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 T olive oil (divided)

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1 lb penne pasta

3 Tbsp butter

1/3 cup grated parmesan

Directions: Roast 1/2 Tbsp oil, asparagus, 1/4 tsp both salt and pepper at 400 for 10 minutes. Put vinegar in sauce pan and cook on medium low until about 3 Tbsp remaining. Stir in the sugar and the rest of the pepper and take off heat. Cook pasta and add remaining ingredients. stir together and serve.

Extremely Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

This can be bottled and stored on your shelf OR in your freezer.

The best thing about it is you don't have to us pectin!

So I wrote down exactly what I did today. Strawberry's went on sale for 1.27 lb so I stocked up and made some jam. We were running low. I use this EXACT same recipe for apricots and peaches...minus the lemon juice. This is about 1/6th of the jam that recipe's normally use to make jam. The riper the strawberries the YUMMIER it will be. Here you go:

Extremely Low Sugar Strawberry Jam:

6 lbs strawberries (this is 12 cups puree'd)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup modified corn starch

1/4 cup lemon juice

I started by cutting off the leaves and quartering them.

Then I put them in the blender and lightly puree'd them. I am not a big fan of the clumps but if you don't mind it you can actually skip pureeing and put them in your pan and mash them. You can use LOTS less cornstarch if you do.

Then, I added the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan and cooked it on medium heat until it came to a boil. I boiled it for 5 minutes.

I almost immediately put it in the containers before it starts to set.

No joke that this is how clean my kitchen was 1 hr after getting the stuff out to make it. It is THAT easy.

Don't you love my empty house? We just moved in. I need to start decorating and painting and STOP making jam :D.

Butternut Squash Soup

Can I just tell you that while I was making this I thought it was going to turn out absolutely disgusting. I was SO pleasantly surprised! I doubled it and made 2 extra freezer meals of it. AND we have eaten them all and I am making more to freeze and eat this week. We LOVE it!

My kids snarf it too. That is a big deal! It is an awesome substitute for tomato soup on those cold days. It has that creaminess and that hearty goodness that just fills you up with warm fuzzy's!

2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (just use a peeler and go at it like a potato)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

3 1/2 cups chicken broth (low sodium of course)

2 slices stale wheat bread, cut in to pieces

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried basil

Directions: simmer the first three ingredients for about 20 minutes or until the squash is tender. Add bread, pepper and basil. Simmer 2-3 minutes longer. Puree in a blender until smooth. Put in a prettier bowl than mine and EAT IT UP!

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti

Holy Smokes y'all, this one is SO.GOOD!! Serious. Like restaurant good! We made this last night and my entire family (including 4 yr old, 2 yr old AND 1 yr old) DEVOURED it. I seriously should have made more. Serious YUMMINESS! (oh, and SO EASY peasy!)

I made some tweaks to her recipe so I will write them here. Go to her site (i nom things) for pictures of HOW to make it and everything. This picture is hers...I made min with thin wheat spaghetti noodles.

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti – serves 2

4 oz dry spaghetti (I used whole wheat, thin spaghetti noodles)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon (I used the stuff in a little lemon bottle)
2 tbsp pine nuts (didn't even use these...didn't have 'em)
5-6 basil leaves, chiffonaded (I used 1 tsp of dry)

Start a small pan on low with the oil and minced garlic. Cook on low until the garlic begins to brown (mine took about 15 min). Once that is going boil your noodles.

When the garlic is done, add the garlic (with the oil) to the noodles. Add the rest of the ingredients and serve.

YUM!...I think I will make this tomorrow too....

Next Monday, my AMAZING Butternut Squash Soup...AND IT FREEZES!!! Get excited. I AM!

Pasta or Zucchini...you choose.

You can either pan fry it to eat with a different texture OR you can shred this zucchini with a peeler and use it in the place of noodles. That means you have the option of spaghetti squash OR zucchini as a veggie replacement for a car. Just peel it until you get to the seeds and discard the seeds. This is from 1 small zucchini. If I were to do it again I think I would make slices in the zucchini and THEN shred. I really liked this. The nice thing about Zucchini is it takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking. LOVE IT!

Sauteed Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes

2 med zucchini, sliced

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp dried basil

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

Heat pan on med-high. add oil, garlic and zucchini. Cook until zucchini is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are warm.

Easy Apples for Kids

Burger King (shockingly) inspired me! They have/had the option of doing apples that look like fries. I thought it was genius. My kids love anything that looks like a fry.

I have had the problem, and maybe you have too, where EVERYTHING that is healthy is hard for a baby/toddler to eat. One of my little guys has hated apples because they are hard for him to eat.

Soooo, as I was moseying around Ross one day, I ran across this fry cutter!
I.LOVE.IT. I actually use it. It gets my kids excited about everything (because they look like fries!) It has mad things so much easier for my kids to eat, and even better, they eat it quickly!

Greek Couscous Salad

1 cup couscous (cooked)
1 1/4 cup boiling water
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
7 Greek olives, sliced (optional)
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper

Directions: Boil water and add to couscous. Cover for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate for at least and hour before serving.

Pan Fried Zucchini

In our house we LOVE us some zucchini almost every day if we have it. WE LOVE IT! Our kids LOVE it! Our 20 month old runs around the house saying "NEE NEE, NEE NEE". Is he won't eat something else that is green, my husband says "try it, it is like zucchini". They get SO excited when they see it in the fridge, getting cut up or on the table.

Directions: Cut the zucchini however you want. Sometimes we do strips and sometimes we do circles. Just depends on how we are feeling. I heat the pan to medium and lightly spray with a pan spray. I VERY lightly coat with some salt and pepper. Place them down and when they look slightly brown OR translucent you flip them (about 8 minutes on each side). THEN EAT!

YUMMMMMMM!

Tabooley Salad

I have loved this recipe for YEARS. I had never had couscous until I served an LDS mission to Canada. One of my favorite families invited us over for dinner and made this salad. I have been in love since. Couscous is a grain originally used in Africa. It is made from Semolina Wheat. It has the texture of a noodle. It has a very soft texture and is DE.LISH! I LOVE that it only takes about 5 minutes to make. If you haven't ever tried it YOU MUST! You will be hooked forever. You can find it at any grocery store and even Target and Wal-Mart. DO IT!

Tabooley Salad
2 cup couscous
2 ½ cup boiling water
1 tsp butter
1 ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
3 med tomatoes, chopped
1 sm can sliced black olives (optional)
1/3 cup green onion, chopped (with tops)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Directions: Pour boiling water over couscous and cover for 5 minutes. Add the butter and mix until all melted. Cool, meanwhile continue recipe adding the rest of the ingredients. In a bowl toss with cooled couscous and refrigerate at least one hour.

Avocado Dip

Avocado Dip

2 avocados
2 tsp lemon Juice
1/4 sweet onion, grated
1 clove garlic, shredded
1/2 vine ripe tomato, diced (optional)

Directions: Peel and seed the avocado and place in a bowl with the lemon Juice. Mash the avocado until it is fairly smooth. Grate onion with a large grater into the bowl with the avocado. Shred the garlic with a small grater into the same bowl. Add tomato and mix.

Roasted Green Beans and Tomato

This is one of my absolute Fave.or.ites! This comes from one of my friends Mindy. Not only is SHE great but her recipes are great too!

Roasted Green Beans and Fresh Tomato

4 cups Green snap beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters

¼ cup fresh basil, cut into ribbons, divided

2 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper, freshly ground

Cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 450. Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray. Coat green beans with garlic, salt and pepper and cooking spray. Place green beans in a single layer in prepared pan. Cover and roast until desired doneness, stirring once or twice about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine tomatoes and ½ the basil. Set aside. When beans are finished, remove from oven and spoon tomato mixture into pan; toss thoroughly. Serve hot, room temperature, or chilled, top with remaining basil.

Asian Salad

This was such a fun salad and my SON LOVED IT! That is what makes it all worth it.

You can add as much or as little of these ingredients as you want to make it as big or as small as you want.

Spinach sliced into small pieces
Tomato into small cubes
Frozen peas
Frozen corn
Gala apple into small pieces
Craisins
Top with a healthy Asian dressing!! MMmmmmmmmmmm!

Yogurt Fruit Salad

I think this is my all time FAVE!! I got this recipe here 30 Day Gourmet.com I have been making LOTS of meals to stick in my freezer for convenience. This one is SO good and SO easy. They are only 61 Calories and only 2.2% is from fat! That is unbelievable. You can find the rest of the nutritional info on the website.

Ingredients:
3 Bananas
24 oz Nonfat Strawberry Yogurt
16 oz Frozen Sliced Strawberries slightly thawed and undrained
8 oz can Crushed Pineapple in juice and undrained

Slice banana's and place in large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Spoon into paper lined muffin tins. (Not just the liners but the actual pan with the liners so they hold their shape...I didn't do that....and I regret it....Oops!)

Freeze until firm 3 hrs OR you can serve soft. Remove frozen cups from freezer and put in a freezer bag.

To eat:
Remove from freezer and let stand for 10 minutes. You want these slushy and not completely thawed. (you can even microwave for 15 seconds to soften)

These are awesome for snacks for you or the kiddos they are SO delicious!

Wheat Artisan bread

This is ALL the ingredients you will need other than water. SUPER EASY TO MAKE....although a little time consuming. My sis gave me this recipe and showed me how to make it. I L.O.V.E it!

Makes (4) - 1 pound loaves
3Cups Luke-warm water
1 1/2 T granulated yeast
1 1/2 T Kosher or coarse salt
1 Cup Unsifted, unbleached, all purpose white flour
5 1/2 Cups wheat flour (5 1/4 for low altitudes)
Cornmeal

Making the Dough:
1. Mix the yeast and salt with warm water. Don't worry about dissolving the yeast. Mix in the flour all at once, with a wooden spoon. DO NOT KNEAD. Just mix until everything is mixed (it will be sticky).

2. let rise for at least 2 hours (up to 5). You can use any portion of the dough after this and refrigerate the rest up to 14 days, lidded but not air tight. (refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with)

On Baking Day:
3. Shape loaf (DO NOT KNEAD). Gently stretch surface around sides.

4. Rest loaf on a cutting board covered with cornmeal. Allow to rest 40 min.
*20 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 with stone cooking sheet in the middle rack. Place empty broiler tray (any metal pan) on the bottom rack. 5. Dust loaf top liberally with flour. Slash 1/4 inch deep with serrated knife.

6. Slide loaf on preheated stone. Quickly pour 1 Cup hot water into broiler tray and close oven door to trap the steam. Bake for 30 min or until crust is browned and firm to the touch.

Spaghetti Squash dinner.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I always improvise on recipes or make them up completely. Today was actually a success. I LOVED IT! You should definitely try this one even if you don't like squash. You can even use this for a side. Sometimes we also add 1 large chicken breast.

1 Spaghetti Squash
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1 chopped onion (I used dried onion flakes)
1 clove garlic, minced (I used the stuff that is already minced)
1 Roma tomato
1/2 c. Shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 t salt
dash pepper
1/2 Tbsp Basil (I used dried basil leaves)

1. Slice squash lengthwise (clean out seeds) and place cut sides down on cookie sheet (sprayed with cooking spray). Bake at 350 for 30-45 min.

2. Meanwhile, spray a skillet with cooking spray and saute onion, peppers and garlic. Stir in tomatoes and basil and cook it only until tomatoes are warm.

3. When squash is done use a fork to clean out the insides and throw away the skin. Put in a bowl and add salt and pepper. Then mix everything together including cheese.
This fed us three so you may need to double or triple it according to your family size. I was actually surprised at how good it was. YUM!!!

Children: Make sure things are cut into bite sizes

Baby: Keep some Spaghetti squash separated before you add seasonings and vegetables. Cut into small peices. You can also slice cheese and tomato separately.