Healthy St. Patrick's Day Mac & Cheese! St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. I know that sounds crazy and I am not Irish so I don't even have that as an excuse. I just love that it is a fun holiday that is not yet taken over by store sales and media. I love the thought that if you don't wear green you will get pinched and I loved all the amazing St. Patrick's Day traditions I had as a child. My Mom used to have a St. Patrick's Day 'pin collection' and every St. Patrick's Day my brothers and I would get to choose what 'pins' and such we would wear to school that day. It was fun choosing my green socks and doing my hair in funky green colors. It was just an all around great time. Now that I am older I still love St. Patrick's Day. Each year I try to make the month of March leading up to the 17th special for the kids. Recently that entailed making healthy green Mac & Cheese. Ingredients: Box of Mac & CheeseMilkBundle Spinach (about 3 cups) - make sure you wash it … [Read more...]
Open a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way!
Open a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way! One of the biggest reasons why I never purchased coconuts in the past was because of how hard they are to open. I mean I you could really hurt yourself trying to get that tasty white meat out of one of those thing. Well that was until I learned how to open a coconut the safe and easy way. Who would have thought that baking a coconut would pop it's shell off like that? Certainly not me, but that is exactly what happened! Now I have no excuse for not purchasing coconut's and I am so excited for the amazing recipes I will soon be posting! Yum! The first thing you will want to do when opening a coconut is find the soft eye at the top. Every coconut has three 'eyes'. Two of them are hard and one is soft. By taking a "clean" screwdriver and poking at the holes you will be able to find the soft one. The screwdriver will be able to go into the eye without much force. When you find the soft eye move the screw driver around to make that … [Read more...]
Garlic Lemon Spinach Hummus Recipe!
Garlic Lemon Spinach Hummus Recipe! I can't get enough of these Bountiful Baskets. I love all the great produce I get each week at such a low price. Recently I had two bundles of spinach to use up. My family told me they wanted me to get creative with it so that is exactly what I did. I decided that spinach hummus was the perfect idea. Not to mention that it would also help me use up all the other veggies I had on hand like tomatoes and cucumbers. My family don't usually like hummus so I knew I was going out on a ledge with this idea. But I decided to take that chance anyway knowing that I at least would enjoy it. The hummus turned out to be exceptional and the whole family went back for helping after helping. It was a great dinner idea and it turned out to be super easy to make thanks to my Magic Bullet! Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 4 cloves garlic, peeled 3 tbsp. dried cilantro 1 bundle spinach (about 3-4 cups) lemon juiced 1/4 cup olive … [Read more...]
Roasted Curry Cauliflower!
Roasted Curry Cauliflower! Cauliflower is one of those veggies that I like but I prefer to eat it cooked. Recently I came across this recipe for Roasted Cauliflower and I must say this is a new hit at my house. It was absolutely delicious!! I could not get enough and neither could my family! Ingredients: 3 Tbs olive oil 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp onion salt 1 head of cauliflower - washed and sliced 1 1/2 teaspoon curry power Sea salt Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Add olive oil, garlic powder and onion salt into small bowl. 3. Spread cauliflower on baking sheet. 4. drizzle olive oil mixture over cauliflower florets. 5. sprinkle with curry powder and sea salt. 6. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until golden brown in color. I got the inspiration for this recipe from, From the Mind of Laura! … [Read more...]
Cabbage Casserole! – Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!
Thanks to Bountiful Baskets I have been receiving lots of cabbage here recently. I love cabbage. It is one of my favorite vegetables because there are so many fun things you can do with it. This week I decided to do something I have never done with cabbage before. I decided to make a Cabbage Casserole! It turned out amazing so I thought I would share with you! Ingredients: 1 stick butter + some for buttering dish1 medium size head cabbage, cored and sliced1 onion chopped1 1/2 cup milk4 eggs1 sleeve salted crackers crushed1 tsp salt and vinegar seasoning (I get mine from Buffalo Wild Wings) - can also use regular salt1/4 tsp black pepper Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Butter casserole dish 3. melt 1 stick butter in skillet on low heat. 4. Add cabbage and onion. Cook over medium heat until soft (about 20 minutes) 5. Stir in milk and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 5 minutes. 6. Add lightly beaten eggs and 1/2 sleeve crushed … [Read more...]
Salt and Vinegar Fried Cabbage Recipe
Salt and Vinegar Fried Cabbage I love fried cabbage! It is one of my all time favorite things to eat. Recently I received some amazing cabbage from Bountiful Baskets. I was excited to get it home and fry it up for dinner! Ingredients: 1 head cabbage cut into strips2 tbs salt & vinegar seasoning (I bought mine from Buffalo Wild Wings)1/4 c butter1 small onion 1.- Melt butter in large skillet. 2.- Add cabbage and onion. Cook over medium heat until soft. About 20 minutes. 3.- Sprinkle with Salt and Vinegar seasoning just before serving. Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Pineapple Casserole Recipe!
Recently I was looking through all the great fresh fruits and veggies I had on hand. I found two pineapples that I needed to do something with. As I was looking through recipes on the internet I found an unusual recipe for Pineapple Casserole. I had never heard of it before so I decided to give it a try. It turned out amazing so I thought I would share my version of the recipe with you all here! Ingredients 1 cup sugar 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups grated sharp cheddar 2 fresh pineapples 2 cup Ritz cracker crumbs 1 stick butter melted butter + a little more butter to grease pan Directions 1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2- Coat medium size casserole dish with butter. 3- In large bowl, stir together sugar and flour once mixed gradually add shredded cheese. Add diced pineapple chunks (reserve as much pineapple juice as possible) 4- Pour Pineapple mixture into casserole dish 5-in another medium sized bowl combine cracker crumbs, … [Read more...]
Garlic Bacon Red Chard Recipe!
Recently I scored some amazing Red Chard from Bountiful Baskets. I was so excited to find the perfect recipe and when I seen this I knew I had to give it a try! Of course I had to change it up a bit, but it turned out perfect! Ingredients: 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled 2 cups milk 3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil 3 pounds Red chard— diced (stems separate) - Can also use Swiss Chard. 1 package bacon, cooked and broken into bite size pieces (I used turkey bacon) Salt Freshly ground pepper Directions: 1- fry bacon in skillet. Remove bacon once cooked and set aside. (Once cooled break into pieces) Drain remaining grease from pan and return to stove-top. 2 - In same skillet add garlic and milk. Bring to boil and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the garlic is softened and the milk is reduced to around 1/2 cup. Let cool and pour into magic bullet or mini processor. Blend together garlic and milk. Set aside. 3- In a saucepan sprinkle … [Read more...]
Ramen Noodle Recipes: Green Bean Mushroom Casserole!
I love Ramen Noodles. So much so that I got a recipe book for Christmas filled with lots of yummy Ramen recipes! Recently I had a bag of green beans I was in need of cooking and I found this great Green Bean Mushroom Casserole recipe in my Ramen Noodle cook book. It was amazing! Ingredients: 1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed 4 tbs vegetable oil, divided 1 small yellow/white onion 1 8oz can mushrooms 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1/2 cup milk 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 2 packages beef flavored Ramen Noodles Directions: 1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2- Bring water to boil in large saucepan. Add green beans and cook 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. 3- Heat 3 tbs oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook 10 minutes or until slightly browned. Add mushrooms and cook another 7 minutes, stirring often so they do not burn. 4- Combine soup, milk and pepper in large bowl. Add mushrooms/onions and green … [Read more...]
Easy Meatless Appetizer: Hot Mexican Dip
Easy Meatless Appetizer: Hot Mexican Dip As summer comes to a close and we head into fall, a couple important events take place. The first event is the return of football season, and the second is the return of the fall TV lineup, meaning people start spending a lot more time on the couch than they typically do in the summer. Football season and TV shows have another thing in common: they’re both associated with snack foods. From viewing parties to game day, food that’s meant for TV-watching is typically not the healthiest kind. Dips, chips and finger foods tend to be high in fat, calories and sodium, and when you’re focused on watching something on a screen, it’s less likely that you’ll be focused on portion control. One easy solution to unhealthy snack food is to take your cooking in a vegetarian direction. Foods common to a vegetarian diet such as beans, tofu, tempeh, and meat substitutes are typically healthier and less caloric than their beefy counterparts and can still … [Read more...]
Salad in a Jar – make’s life easier and stays fresh all week!
Have you ever made Salad in a Jar? You all know that I can't get enough of Bountiful Baskets! The produce is amazing and around $40 worth of fruits and veggies for just $15 is unbeatable! One thing that I love doing with all the great vegetables is making salads in a jar. I love being able to just go to my fridge and and grabbing a jar and having my salad already made....and since the jar's have a lid it allows the air to stay out making the salads stay good all week! When you want to eat your salad just take the jar out of the fridge, shake the ingredients and enjoy! Are you interested in making salads in a jar? Here are a few tips that I have found work best! Dressing always goes best at the bottom of the jar. You will want to keep it as far from the lettuce as possible as it will make your lettuce turn to slim. I like to place the hardier veggies at the bottom with the dressing. In this picture I have sliced carrots, bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, and corn (we had corn on the … [Read more...]
Drying Herbs at Home!
This past week I have been working hard getting my family all ready for winter. This also included drying a variety of herbs that I will use in my cooking this season. My favorite way to dry my herbs is in a brown paper bag. It is super easy to do and will save you money in the long run! First thing to do is select fresh herbs that are nice and green. Pull out any brown or yellowing leaves that you see. If you have grown them yourself then make sure to try to remove any excess dirt. You will want to try your hardest not to fully wash your herbs since that will make them hold a lot of water and will have them mold instead of dry. Once your herbs are selected you will want to tie the ends with a rubber band of string. I use the brown paper lunch bags to dry my herbs. First off you will want to take a knife and cut several slits into each paper bag. This will allow for the air to come into the bag and help to dry but will help keep any dust and such off … [Read more...]
Delicious Homemade Pickles!
Homemade Pickles!! I love pickles! They are one of my all time favorite things to snack on and of course they are a top choice of the kids as well. Recently I was able to score a huge box of pickling cucumbers which allowed me to can 42 new jars of pickles for the year! I am excited that I finally have a recipe that the whole family loves and we can have these great pickles the for the whole year! This recipe that I have finally mastered tastes just like Clausen pickles! They have always had the best flavor and I am so happy to finally have this recipe to make them at home on my own! Ingredients: pickling cucumbers (I had 50 lb box and made this recipe over and over till all of them had liquid for canning) 1/3 cup dried minced onion (you get in the spice isle) 6 tsp minced garlic (or 1 head garlic per jar) 1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds 6 heads fresh dill (or 6 tbs dill seed) 1 1/2 quarts water 2 cups cider vinegar (or white … [Read more...]
Cheese Stuffed Green Chilis Recipe!
Cheese Stuffed Green Chilis Recipe! My family loves Green Chili's and one of my favorite recipes ever is when my hubby grills up cheese stuffed chili's! This is a recipe that he made up himself a few years ago and since then it has been a staple in our home. Ingredients:Green Chili'sCheddar Cheese The first thing you will need to do with your Green Chili's is wash them off and cut off the tops. After the tops are cut off I carefully remove the seeds and try not to split the pepper down the side. After the tops are cut and the seeds are removed you can place sliced or shredded cheese inside of your peppers. After the cheese is inside each pepper you will want to take them outside to the grill! We like to grill them about 5-7 minutes per-side or until cheese is melted and peppers become soft. Serve and eat! Yum! … [Read more...]
Pan Grilled Corn with Herbed Tomatoes and Mushrooms
Pan Grilled Corn with Herbed Tomatoes and Mushrooms With summer coming to a close, it’s time to start jam-packing your meals with the last of the “summery” ingredients. In my mind, nothing screams “summer” like simple recipes that call for lots of fruits and vegetables. Delicious, flavorful and healthy meals don’t have to be complicated or fussy; this recipe for Pan Grilled Corn with Herbed Tomatoes and Mushrooms is a perfect example of how a simple combination of produce and herbs can result in an amazing combination of flavors. Mushrooms and tomatoes have a history of going together—think bolognese sauces, lasagnas, and portobello burgers—and this pan grilled corn proves that the mushroom-tomato pairing continues to be a winning one. The portobellos and the corn are the most heavily used ingredients in this recipe, but it’s the mushrooms that really get a chance to shine. And you can feel good about tomato recipes that feature portobellos; these mushrooms are low in sodium, … [Read more...]