Homemade Mexican Rice {recipe}

I've been debating whether or not to post this since I literally have

NO Mexican or Spanish heritage in my family.

However, after watching my in-laws make rice for years, 

I kind of got the hang of it.

Then, the other night, I went to dinner at a friend's house.

I made rice and there was a REAL Mexican from Mexico there who liked it!

With Mayra's approval, I decided it was time to post my recipe.

With pride.

Homemade Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 cups long grain white rice

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

4 cups water

4 chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup tomato sauce

3 garlic cloves, peeled and whole

1 jalapeno, whole

small can of peas and carrots, drained

Directions:

Heat oil in pan over medium heat, add rice and onion. Fry until rice starts to turn slightly brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until all water is absorbed. Feel like a pro and enjoy!

Let's Bake!

This is my first fall season with a Kitchenaid mixer!!!!

This is definitely something to celebrate.

I'm not a very good baker, and in recent years I have given up completely.

Its just not my area of expertise.

But how can I be the proud mom of a Kitchenaid mixer and NOT use it

during the busiest baking time of the year?

Pinterest to the rescue.

Here are some goodies I am looking forward to making in the near future...

Pumpkin Spice Latte M&M Cookies

This recipe doesn't seem too daunting to me. I can probably do cookies without

screwing them up too much. Plus the whole pumpkin spice thing is huge this time

of year. And you can't go wrong with anything that has M&Ms in it.

Homemade Butterfinger Bark

Oh I love Butterfingers. They've always been one of my favorites. For some reason,

whenever I'm at the movies I have to get those little Butterfinger Bites. I spend like 10

minutes eating them and then another hour picking them out of my teeth. Lovely, right?

I REALLY wanna try this Butterfinger bark. It looks like something I would eat in one sitting.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies

I love blondies. I love salted caramel. I love sweet & salty.

I need to eat this.

 

Carmel Apple Cheesecake Cookie Bars

This looks absolutely amazing and like the perfect fall treat.

I would so make this next to the pies at Thanksgiving.

I can only imagine how amazing this tastes. 

Caramel Cake

This one looks a little too intense for me but I might just hire someone

to make it for me, any takers?

I think there is a lesson to be learned here. I'm not really looking forward to making these.

I'm just looking forward to eating them.

All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest food board.

Feel free to repin!

Cheesy Potato Salad {recipe}

I have no idea where I got this recipe but it has been

in my recipe box since the beginning of my marriage.

Hand-written on a note card, so you know it was before

Pinterest ever came along. Old school.

Anyway, I remember making this recipe for a pot luck

play date in the town we used to live in. Nobody gave me

the time of day during the play date until someone asked

"Who brought this potato salad?"

And that is how I make friends.

Just kidding, I never went back to that play group but at

least I got an honest opinion about my cooking in the process.

Cheesy Potato Salad

2 1/2 lbs red potatoes, cubed

1 c sour cream

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/4 c white sugar

1/2 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 c shredded cheddar

handful of bacon bits

1) Place potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover.

Boil for about 10 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.

Drain, set aside to cool.

2) In a large bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar,

half of the green onions and half of the cheese. Gently stir

in potatoes.

3) Top with remaining green onions, cheese and the bacon bits.

Serve!

Its the sugar that makes this recipe a winner.

And the bacon.

Chicken Fried Rice {Recipe}

So I whipped up this little gem of a dish a few

weeks ago and I was very pleased with the ease

and tastiness it possessed, so I felt I had to share it.

Fried rice.

I've never tried making it on my own, this was the first time.

I found a couple different recipes online and mashed them together.

Obviously this isn't a very labor intensive recipe, which is

a big reason why I love it. I love it cheap and easy.

Oh and you've probably guessed, this isn't my picture.

Chicken Fried Rice

2 tbs sesame seed oil

4 servings of cooked brown rice

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

(marinated for 30 min in equal parts honey & soy sauce, 1 clove of chopped garlic)

2 green onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 1/2 cup frozen peas & carrots

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup soy sauce

1) Heat oil in pan on medium high. Cook chicken and remove from pan for later.

2) Saute garlic and green onion for one minute. Add peas and carrots and butter

and heat until veggies thaw, stirring continuously.

3) Push veggies to the side of the pan and cook the eggs. When eggs are done,

add the chicken and mix it all together.

4) Add the soy sauce. Then add rice, by the spoonfuls, and fry until all ingredients

are well blended. 

Add this to your quick and easy weekday meal list!

Smart Snacking

I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to copy it...

My kids are snackers.
I try to make good decisions when shopping for their snacks.
The cheapest and most convenient snacks are typically the unhealthy ones too
so I've really had to pay attention. 

I've always kept a bowl with a mixture of easy grab foods for them.
It usually contains individually packed crackers, cookies, boxes of raisins,
fruit leather, and granola bars. I try to stay away from gummies and crap snacks.

This fridge idea opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for my little ones snacking needs.
I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

I splurged a little on the packets of apples and guacamole but I figured they were worth it. 

Although the bowl of mixed goodies stays on top of the fridge and they only get
access to it once or twice a day, this one is a little more accessible so I added baggies of
prewashed fruits and veggies so I don't feel bad about how much they decide to eat. 

If you have any ideas of convenient healthy food I can keep on hand
in our snack bowl or in our fridge box let me know!

Cowboy Country Calico Baked Beans {recipe}

I'm not really sure what to call this recipe.

Its adapted from a few different recipes in my Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook.

My mom would make these beans often when I was growing up.

I remember them almost always being served with a ham at Christmas time.
It was always one of my favorite dishes and I just recently started making it
for my own family. It's great for BBQs and potlucks!

Oh, and this isn't my picture. Its a picture I googled. But it is a picture of
beans, and it looks almost exactly like these CCCBBs. That's my new acronym too.
I don't think it works.

Cowboy Country Calico Baked Beans

1lb bacon, cooked and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2lb can pork and beans
16oz can Great Northern beans
16oz can butter beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
2tbs apple cider vinegar
1tbs prepared mustard

Combine all in a slow cooker and cook on low 5-6 hours.
That's it!

And just FYI, for those of you who don't know (like me) butter beans
might be found near canned vegetables, not with the beans.

Fab New Fad

Juicing is all the rage right now.

I'm not exactly sure what brought on this new fad

but I'm not complaining.
I love seeing people make the effort to do 

something good for themselves.

I knew I wanted to jump on the bandwagon but I

wasn't sure where to start.

The juicers I found were kind of expensive and I

was worried about the cost of all those fruits and veggies.

Then my friend added me to her group on Facebook

Balanced Beings.....Fitting it all in!

I started reading everyone's tips and comments and

suggestions and I really got inspired.

Someone mentioned the Ninja blender for blending your

fruits and veggies into a smoothie instead of juicing and

I decided this was more my style.

I headed to the PX the next day and picked up the Ninja.

I love that you can blend right into the cup, pop the lid on

and take it with you on the go. So convenient!

I was soooo eager to try it out but I hadn't gone grocery

shopping in a few days and I was in dire need of fresh

produce in my house. But I scoured the fridge for something

and came up with this concoction of  blueberries, cucumber,

and cranberry juice. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

After a trip to the store I made this smoothie. Banana, pineapple,

the juice of one lemon and vanilla almond milk. YUM.

 I continued experimenting for the rest of the week and

I now plan on making this part of my daily routine.

I wanted to do this for a few reasons.

1. I have this weird dislike of fruits. It's rare that I find

a fruit that I will actually eat, especially in large quantities.

It kind of bums me out because I still want the vitamins and

antioxidants from them. I will, however, drink a fruit

smoothie no problem.

2. I don't like to eat first thing in the morning and by the

time I get hungry I'm usually too busy to stop and make

myself something to eat. If I do eat, its something quick

and most likely unhealthy. Since I got the Ninja, I've been

making myself a smoothie around 10am every morning and

another one mid-afternoon. That's wayyyy more fruits and

vegetables than I usually eat on a typical day.

3. In November 2011 I had a pretty big surgery on my gall bladder.

I had a big gall stone stuck in the common bile duct and had to

have emergency surgery to remove it as well as the gallbladder 

itself. My digestive system took a little beating during the whole

deal and although I can stomach most foods, I do get sick sometimes

with bad stomach pains. I read about the benefits of juicing/blending

and how easy it is on your digestive system and that's really what had me sold.

Not only is the process of juicing/blending good for it, but the foods

I add to the smoothies have their benefits too.

I'm really excited about this change in my lifestyle.

For more inspiration, check out the documentary 

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Netflix!

Deployment Dinners

I always struggle with meal planning during deployment.

Last deployment it was just me and 2 small kids.

This time it's just me and 3 small kids who still don't eat a whole lot.

I always say I'm cooking for 1 and 1/2.

It's a challenge for me to find quick, manageable, healthy dinners

that I don't have to make 8 servings of and that my kids will

actually eat. Nothing is more frustrating for me than slaving over

a wonderful meal and my kids refusing to eat it because its "yucky".

I know I can cut recipes in half or whatever but most of the time

I'm too fricken exhausted from the day to even want to cook 

something with a recipe!

I've worked on it during this deployment and I've found a few meals

that are easy to manage, affordable, quick, healthy and easy to adapt

serving sizes depending on how many mouths you are feeding.

Here are some meals currently in rotation around here...

1. Ravioli

A bag of frozen ravioli and a jar of your favorite sauce

and you have a meal. You just cook as much

ravioli as you need and save the rest for another time.

I also freeze leftover sauce in 1 cup increments

which comes in handy for pasta lunches or your next

ravioli dinner night.

2. Tuna Casserole

 My kids absolutely love tuna casserole. This is one meal

that I will cook and freeze half. I usually cook the 2nd dish

the following week. I use this recipe HERE and FYI,

the potato chips are a must.

3. Tacos

Who doesn't love tacos. Cheap, easy, quick and the kids

can customize their individual servings to their liking.

4. Kraft Chicken

I actually love Kraft's Fresh Take products. They have a few

different options and so far, the ones I've tried are really good.

My kids are very picky about eating meat but they always eat

this when I make it.

5. Pita Pizzas

Pita bread + Pizza sauce + Pizza toppings

Personal pizzas and, again, customizable to each person's

individual taste.

6. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

For those days when we're super busy or not getting home until

dinner time, I like to make this. Throw the chicken in the crockpot

with some water and BBQ sauce and cook on low for 6ish hours.

 At dinner time shred the chicken and add more BBQ sauce to your liking. 

Serve on hamburger buns or rolls. Always a hit with the kids.

7. Spaghetti

Easyyyyyy. Everyone knows how to make spaghetti, I think. Make it

with meatballs, meat sauce, italian sausage or just noodles and sauce.

I scored a value pack of italian sausage about a month ago at the

commissary for an awesome deal and I'm sure it'll last us through

the rest of the deployment.

8. Hamburgers

When hubby isn't home I cook hamburgers on the stove because I

don't know how to use the grill lol I buy a pack of buns and freeze

what we don't use.

9. Ham & Cheese Sliders

One of my faaaaavorite meals any time of the day! A friend got this

recipe from Pinterest and made it for my baby shower and I've been

in love ever since. The recipe is HERE.

10. Breakfast

Breakfast for dinner is always fun. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs,

bacon, sausage, hash browns. There are so many options and you only need

to cook as much as you need.

I have to add that I serve fruit or veggies with every meal I make. My kids

don't turn their nose up at fruits or veggies and will even eat a good salad.

Fresh fruit always accompanies our breakfast for dinner :)

And one last thing to leave you with. I had my first Five Guys burger

today since they just opened one on base about a block from my house.

All I can say is, this could get dangerous.

 

Top 5 Pinterest Recipes

I've been around the Pinterest world

for almost 2 years now and my main

use for it is finding new recipes.

Its no secret that I love food.

I've been able to test out quite a few of

my pinned recipes so I thought I would

share my top 5 favorites.

If you have an amazing recipe that I

should know about, let me know! I love

to cook and I love to eat!

Ps. Click the picture to take you to the recipe :)

No. 1 Oreo Fudge

 

I know.

I know.

The picture speaks for itself.

And yes, its as good as it looks.

Its fricken AWESOME.

And pretty easy to make.

Great, now I want some.

No. 2 Chicken Enchilada Pasta

This is REALLY good.

I made it for a potluck and everyone wanted the recipe.

Try it!!

No. 3 Monte Cristo Bites

Ok to be completely honest,

I've never made these. A friend did.

But I have eaten them and YUM.

She said they were a little bit of work

but worth it!

No. 4 Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

I made this soup last winter.

If you're a fan of tomato soup, you will like this.

I really loved it with some crusty bread.

The flavor is just so comforting on a cold night.

No. 5 Pork Tacos

I've made this recipe quite a few times

because its sooooo easy!

It makes really good, tender taco meat.

Its so simple to throw together and makes for

a really good weeknight dinner!

I hope this blog post makes your tummy happy :)

It made me really hungry.

And now I've realized that I should probably

start adding these awesome recipes to my recipe box.

Who knows what will happen to these random blogs

they are currently posted on....

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup {recipe}

This is one of my favorite recipes out of this cookbook:


I love, love, LOVE these cookbooks!

This soup is delicious and I usually make it with a side
of jalapeno and cream cheese filled crescent rolls.

I didn't take the above picture but it is
chicken enchilada soup, so I figured its close enough!

Here's the recipe.
If you make it, tell me what you think!

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

Approx 12 Servings

 1 tbs vegetable oil
1 lb skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, pressed
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup masa harina
3 cups water
1 cup enchilada sauce
16 oz box Velveeta, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin

1. Add 1 tbs of oil to a large pot over medium heat.
Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4 to 5 minutes
per side. Set chicken aside.
2. Add onion and garlic to the pot and saute over medium heat
for about 2 minutes, or until onion begins to become translucent.
Add chicken broth.
3. Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl
and whisk until blended. Add masa mixture to pot with onion,
garlic and broth.
4. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to
pot and bring mixture to a boil.
5. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.
Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30 to 40 minutes or until thick.
6. Serve soup in cups of bowls, and garnish with shredded cheese,
crumbled corn tortilla chips, and a spoonful of your favorite salsa.

Get Healthy Pt 2 & 3

I bailed on my post last night.
I'm sorry.

So I'm gonna make double post tonight. 

So far kinda good in my health challenge.

I did good without soda or red bull until today...

and I went to a friend's house....

and my kids proceeded to literally split her daughter's

bed in half from jumping on it.....

Yea, that warranted half a cup of Dr. Pepper.

Other than that it's been water and coffee if I need the caffeine!

Part deux of this challenge is

Switch to whole grains.

I'm a typical American and I love my refined grains.

But for one week I'm going to try to change

that as much as I can.

I go grocery shopping tomorrow so whole

grain products will be my number 1 goal.

Just a little extra something to help my body get a little healthier.

 So I will be eating ONLY whole grains until (at least) January 23, 2013.

Hopefully longer.

Read this article if you need more convincing:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55832

Part three?

Three meatless dinners a week.

I have lots of vegetarian and vegan friends

and although I love my cheeseburgers, I know there are

plenty of delicious meatless meals I can make.

It won't only help your grocery budget but eating
meatless a couple times a week means you'll be
consuming less calories, cholesterol and saturated fat.
If you're making wise "meatless" decisions you will
also be increasing your intake of important vitamins and minerals.

Now I want to commit to three meatless dinners a week.
I've also heard of only eating meat on weekends.
And there's always Meatless Mondays.
So at least three meatless dinners in the next week is my goal.

I guess these two challenges go hand in hand.
I have no shame in admitting that our diet can use a little help.
Especially right now since we are prone to "deployment food".
It's always fun going to the commissary and knowing
who's husbands are deployed just by looking at their cart.

It's also Wednesday which means I will be doing my 

200 Sit Up Challenge tonight :)

Chicken Croissants {recipe}

This used to be one of my favorite dishes my mom

would make when I was a kid. 

She has it in some old cookbook and I don't remember

the exact recipe, but this is how I make it.

Simple and yummy!

Makes 8

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cubed and cooked

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tbs of butter, softened

1/4 cup of onion or green onion
Salt and pepper

2 packages of refrigerated crescent rolls 

(the ones in a tube that explode when you're opening them)
Another tbs of butter and some seasoned bread crumbs for topping.

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Mix chicken, cream cheese, butter, onion, salt and pepper

in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

3. Unwrap your crescent rolls but leave them in rectangles

and pinch the diagonal seam together to seal.

4. Scoop the filling into the center and 

fold each corner up and pinch together to secure.

5. Brush some melted butter on top and sprinkle bread crumbs.

 6. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 20 minutes 

until they look toasty and delicious!

The End

Do recipes say "The End"?

Oh well.