Goin' green

I know that a lot of people are panicking about the warmer weather and the inevitable swimsuit season (guilty as charged!) and are working full force to get healthy, lose weight, and get in shape. While I am certainly no expert on the matter, I would like to share a few of our good habits, in hopes that I can help someone else make small changes (that make a big difference), too!

My secret weapon: Making veggies more readily available. By doing this, we encourage ourselves to snack more on veggies and less on other things, and we also use more veggies in things that we cook.

When we bring our veggies home from the grocery store, the very first thing we do is wash it all and chop it all up. With the exception, of course, of things like tomatoes that don't do so hot being chopped up and staying good. I chop them up in large, snackable chunks, but I make sure that they are small enough that I can add them to pastas, rice, soups, and salads easily.

Once the veggies are all chopped up, I put each veggie in it's own separate, clear plastic container so that when I open the fridge, I see all those beautiful veggies looking back at me! We got some really cheap, really great food savers at Ikea that have been amazing to have around! When I'm making dinner, I say, "Ok - let's veggie this up" and I just grab handfuls of whatever looks the best and throw it in with what we are eating and - voila! Instant deliciousness.

It's a huge life saver for the mornings, too when we are packing our lunches and snacks for the day. (Being healthy makes me hungry). We get a smaller little tupperware container, grab a little of each of whatever sounds best at the time, another little container of hummus, and off we go. Today I opted for bell peppers, celery, and broccoli with roasted red pepper hummus. Delish!

My friend is looking into vegetarianism and asked for a few suggestions. We started this board on Pinterest to share vegetarian friendly ideas and recipes...so far so good! If you have any suggestions or contributions, I am always looking for new ways to use all these delicious veggies!

I know it's a very small step of a very long journey, but I know that if we keep up all of our good habits, we will look better and feel better in no time! :)

Yummy Asian Noodle Salad

Our friend Graig has the best - I mean, BEST - recipe for ramen salad I have ever had in my life. True story. Every BBQ or potluck everyone always requests that he brings it, and we all look forward to it!
It's light, it's tangy, it's fresh, it's crispy, it's filling but not heavy...it's basically everything a pasta salad should be!

I finally got him to send it to me, so since sharing is caring I am doing the same for you. Enjoy!

Dressing:

• 6 Tbsp. Sugar
• 3 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 3/4 C. EVOO
• 3 Tbsp. Sesame oil
• 9 Tbsp. Rice vinegar

Mix up all the dressing in a shaker, or blend with a wisk until the sugar and salt dissolves.
Add to 16 oz. coleslaw mix and 2 packages of crumbled up ramen noodles.

Enjoy!

Notice: This is NOT my photo, but this is similar to what the fnished salad will look like :)

Summer Squash in the Fall

A lady I work with brought in some squash to share, that she had grown in her garden. To be honest, I have never had that much squash at once so I had no idea what to do with it. My Aunt Gail (who is a culinary genius) suggested that instead of cooking the entire squash, I scrape out the seeds and fill it with someone else. TADA!

That's when this vegetarian friendly deliciousness came about. I started by cutting the squash in half long ways, and scraping out the seeds. While the crossaints were cooking in the oven, I had rice cooking in the rice cooker. I filled both sides of the hollowed out squash with rice, mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers (that I grew all by myself in my little garden!) and topped it off with some chopped up pieces of vegetarian chicken. I seasoned it with pepper and italian seasoning, then covered it in tomato sauce and grated parmesean.

I threw it in the oven (375 degrees) for 20 minutes and - voila! Between just the two of us, we finished one entire half of this giant squash that first night and would have probably eaten the whole thing if we hadn't eaten all those crossaint rolls. :)

Let me tell you what, I was totally looking forward to lunchtime the next day, when I got to eat my leftovers!

Closet Cooking

I just realized today that is has been WAY too stinking long since I posted last. Things have been CRAZY in our little lives! Anyhow, I came across a super blog that I wanted to share with everyone. I have only attempted a few recipes from here, (ok, I'll admit it. They actually terrify me!) but I have found quite a few that were vegetarian friendly (or at least, easy to alter so that they are vegetarian). This site is SO useful for getting inspiration for my own recipes!

He also has a bajillion delicious dessert recipes (aka - the way to my heart) including things like Guiness Chocolate Cheescake,  Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, and Blueberry Mascarpone Cheesecake. (Anyone else notice a trend here?)

I realized that it would be selfish of me not to share, so go forth and enjoy!

Corn on the Cob worth Craving

Cori is the first one that showed me this corn recipe. We made it for our 4th of July BBQ and the boys were literally eating it as I was replenishing the tray. (I guess that means it's a thumbs up from them)

The recipe calls to be soaked, prepared inside the husks, re-wrapped and then grilled. We, unfortunately, do not have a grill big enough to sustain 24 ears of corn + all the grilled veggies and meat that we had so we just boil our corn in a big stock pot and prepare it the same way.

You want to start by spreading mayonnaise on the corn. I know, it sounds gross, but just trust me. We use the kind that is made with olive oil so it's probably a lot better for you than butter anyway.

You sprinkle chili powder then salt & pepper over your mayo'd corn then top it off with some finely shredded parmesean cheese.

Once  you've tried this corn, I can almost guarantee that you will never go back to the old butter 'n' salt method.

Enjoy!

XoXoXo

Yummy Popcorn Balls

This post will be quick - I just wanted to share these delicious and super easy popcorn balls with you!

All of my favorite things rolled into a delicious ball. Yes, please!

What you'll need:

1 bag popped popcorn
1 bag marshmallows
2 T butter or margarine
2 cubes white melting chocolate
2 bags of M&M's
3 cups mini pretzels, broken up
6 oreos, crushed up

It's important that after you pop the popcorn (and not burn it like I did the first two times) you HAVE to take out all the kernels so that you don't break any teeth :)

After you do that, you need to prepare your goo similar to the goo on rice krispy treats. (1 bag marshmallows + 2 T butter. I added two squares of white melting chocolate in with this batch and I think it made it that much more delicious!)

After that, you just stir in all of your broken up goodies, roll them into balls, and lay on wax paper or aluminum foil. The combination of salty and sweet, crunchy and gooey, chocolate and cookie is pure heaven! If you really want to get fancy, you can also melt and drizzle chocolate over the top of them.

I recommend trying it with other combinations of mix-ins. Gummy bears, marshmallows, maybe a cut-up candy bar or two. Let me know if you try it out and how you like it.

Enjoy! :)

the BOMB Bruschetta!!

Every now and again I make something that is a complete and total home run. We're talking, rave reviews - that the boys take 2nds, 3rds, and even ask for more when it's all gone. This, my friends, would be one of those instances.

The best part about this bruschetta(besides being delicious and mostly healthy) was that it was SOO freaking easy I almost felt guilty about it!

Step #1: Layer whipped cream cheese over the garlic bread.

Step #2: Put a layer of spinach leaves, sliced tomatoes, artichokes, sliced olives, and grated mozzarella cheese.

Step #3: Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.

Step #4: Bake on 375 for 20 minutes.

Step #5: Slice and enjoy thoroughly

Enjoy

XoXoXo

Egg Muffins

Saturday mornings are always hard in that we normally have a couple extra mouths to feed.

#1. It's Saturday, I don't want you to always expect that I am going to cook something. I am not your mother. You know where the Apple Jacks are.

#2. Giving up and just going out to eat is much more convenient - just not always cost-effective.

This week I made some vegetarian-friendly egg "muffins" with my mini-cupcake maker. (Ok...so I will use just about any excuse to use that thing!) All I did was break a bunch of cage-free, vegetarian fed chicken eggs into a bowl. I mixed in the things I would normally mix into scrambled eggs; salt, pepper, cholula, chopped jalapenos, little tiny pieces of cooked Morningstar farms breakfast sausages. Delish!

I poured some of my scrambled egg goop into each of the tiny greased tins. After they had cooked allt he way through, I sliced pieces of cheese and put them on top. (LOTS of cheese, as you can see...we love our chees!) I put them in the microwave for a couple more seconds to get the cheese good and melty.

It was AWESOME. Clean-up was a breeze. No sticky pans, no dirty forks and plates left all over in the living room. They brought the plateful of "muffins" on the coffee table (with the cholula sauce of course) and just popped them in their mouths like they were candies while they played Xbox.

Another win for me!

This view gives the impression that we had a little bit of egg with all our cheese, but they sure were good!

The Most Delicious Bran Muffins Ever!

I realize that the title of this post may seem a little contradictory. "Delicious" and "Bran Muffins" aren't usually in the same sentence, but trust me, my dear friends. These. Are. To. Die. For.  My mom used to make them all the time when I was younger. Now I make them in my mini-cupcake maker so they're all cute and little and easy for me to grab and eat in the car on my way to work.

So, without further ado, here is how you make the most delicious bran muffins eva!

You will need:

• 2 cups boiling water
• 5 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 4 cups All-Bran
• 2 cups Bran Flakes
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  
  NOTE: the buttermilk can be substituted for applesauce to make apple bran muffins, if you so desire. (Also delicious)

Combine water & baking soda; stir until dissolved. Cool.

In a mixing bowl cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine flour & salt, then add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix well.

Beat in the water/soda mixture.

Fold in cereals and nuts. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups three-fourths full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins test done.

*Mixture will keep in refrigerator for one week*

Which, to me may be the best part. There are technically only two people living at my house, so if it's just me and my sweetie, then I only have to make a couple at a time. Brilliant, eh?

 

 

Super Yummy Queso

This weekend we had an impromptu Fiesta at mi casa.
Our amigos were headed over, (as is customary for Friday evenings) and we had just picked up some delicious tamales and salsa from our favorite Maria in the world. (Learning how to make her delicious tamales is on my to-do list...I'll let you know how that works out). We decided that we also needed some queso, and since the boys had been requesting this ever since the last time I made it, into the crock pot went:

• 1 big brick of Velveeta cheese - cubed
  (the spicy kind is best, but I have yet to find it in the larger bricks)
• 1 can vegetarian chili (or not...depending on your preference of course)
• 1 can black beans - drained (good protein and iron!)
• 2 cans mexican style stewed tomatoes - drained
• 1 small can jalapenos - drained

Heat in Crockpot (on high), stirring often, until the cheese has melted into a delicious gooey goodness.

Congratulations! You have successfully made the most delicious/easiest queso dip ever. Time to strike up the Mariachi band and Salsa your way over to the chip table.

Accio Cupcakes!

Ok, ok, O.K.!              I admit it!               I LOVE HARRY POTTER!  Like...a lot...
It's been more than just a book series to me. I began reading Harry Potter when I was 12 years old. Harry Potter and I basically grew up together.

Ok...this post is getting weird. The reason I even bring this up, is because for the release of the last and final Harry Potter (or, as us nerds refer to it as HP 7.2) we felt it necessary to have a P-A-R-T-Y! (Not that it takes a lot for me to find an excuse...)

Here is a picture of my favorite treat from our Potter party.

Couldron Cupcakes:

Ok, so here is how you make these delicious little treats.

You make your cupcake mix, as usual, but when you fill the cupcake pan with the batter, put a large marshmallow in the center. This will make it bubble up. While it's cooling, make sure you press it down to make a crater.

Then make some vanilla pudding and dye it green (or purple, or pink...whatever color you want your magic potion to be). Pour the pudding in the little marshmallow cup. The marshmallow will do two things (besides be delicious) 1: make it so that the pudding doesn't soak into the cupcakes and make them soggy and 2: Helps it look more like a couldron of bubbly potion.

Enjoy!

We MIGHT like Harry Potter a little too much.
Naaaaaaah!

Stuffed Peppers

One of my favorite parts about summer is the abundance of fresh, local, delicious produce.  It's easy to walk down to the Farmers Market and buy $45 worth of fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices...but once I get it home I struggle to turn those odds and ends into a meal before they go bad.

This recipe is good for several reasons. First of all, it allows you to put as many (or as few) veggies as you'd like. Secondly, you can make as much or as little as you'd like -depending on how many you are feeding. Lastly, it's SO easy it's almost ridiculous. Anything that allows me to start dinner, then walk away for several hours is the key to my heart! (crock pot- booyah!)

Step #1: Mix the following ingredients in your crock pot (plus whatever else you want)

• Vegetarian meatballs
• Sliced mushrooms
• Olives
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
  (+ 2 cans of water)
• Cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup mayo
• Fresh sliced tomatoes
• Crushed red pepper
• Chili powder
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• Dried onions

Step #2: Turn the crock pot on low and go about your daily chores. Come back 5 or so hours later.

The meatballs should stew themselves out of the meatball shape and should just turn into a sloppy, gooey  consistency.

Step #3: Cook some rice and shred some cheese, then hollow out the insides of two large green peppers. I layered the cheese, rice, and meatball concoction until the pepper was full to the top. Then I stood the peppers up in a cupcake pan so they wouldn't tip over and baked them in the oven on 400 for about 10 minutes...just long enough to melt the cheese and make the edges of the pepper start to brown and curl.

Once they were out of the oven, I cut them in half and sprinkled them with more chili powder and crushed red pepper (we love spicy!). Delish!

Please keep in mind that this is another one of those things that we eat that tastes better than it looks. :)

Ashlee: 1
Hunger: 0

Muy Delicioso Mexican Lasagna

Browsing through the blogosphere yesterday, (Partially looking for something to cook for dinner, partially looking for things to post to my pinterest account, but mostly looking to kill the last 4 hours of my workday) I came across a recipe from Artsy Fartsy Mama's Blog for Mexican Lasagna.

There are always several more mouths to feed in my house than just Mike and myself. Being the only one of his friends with a girlfriend, Mike has sort of become the man of the "cool house" as of late. All single 30-year old men within a 10 block radius seem to congregate to our house around dinner time. Strange...perhaps it's because we have something besides a jar of mayo and 30 pack of beer in our fridge?

Needless to say I have quickly run out of ideas that are new and exciting to feed my ever-growing family. It's always a good or bad thing when you experiment with a new recipe and test it out on several people at once, (sometimes - let's be honest - it's a friggin disaster) this instance I feel can be counted as a success. Trust me, it tastes WAY better than it looks.

Are you ready for The. Easiest. Recipe. Ever?

You'll need:

• Tortillas
• Beans (black or refried)
• Enchilada sauce
• Veggie crumbles (and/or cooked ground beef)
• Tomatoes
• Rice
• Olives
• Cheese
• Whatever the heck else you would put on your enchilada or burrito (lettuce, jalapenos, sour cream, tostada shells would also be quite delicious etc.)

Take the tortillas and cut them into halves and fourths. Layer them the way you would lasagna, starting with tortillas. (It's best if you make your first layer mostly cheese and "meat" so that it's sturdier.) 

Make sure your layers - Especially your first layer - covers the whole area entirely. Otherwise, you will be SOL when it comes cutting time. 

Add whatever you want between layers. Cook on 350 for 30 minutes. During cook time, I also took some leftover tortillas, cut them into strips, and fried them up in a pan with EVOO and a little chili powder. Once the lasagna was done, I put the tortilla strips on top. De-lish!

The boys got to it before I could get an actual "before" picture,  but you get the idea.