Super Easy Dinner

It's so hard to plan dinners around here in the summer because I never know who's going to be around to eat them.  Megan and I made these delicious things earlier this week and surprisingly, everyone was home for dinner...with a few friends.  Maybe that's the trick to draw my kids into the house...make fast, yummy dinners!

This recipe was ridiculously easy.  I looked it up on Pinterest, found most of the ingredients in my pantry or fridge, and whipped up the whole thing in about 30 minutes...perfect for hungry teenagers who think they don't have time to eat.

Step 1:  Melt 1/2 stick of butter and 4T olive oil in pan.  Add 4 cloves minced garlic (yep, four!)  Turn down the heat after everything is melty and add some spices (oregano, basil, parsley, crushed red pepper flakes...just a pinch is plenty) and stir until combined.  Let mixture simmer for about 5 minutes and then brush about half of it onto two halves of a French bread loaf.  (You'll use the remaining melty stuff in the tomato sauce.)  Add a layer of grated mozzarella cheese.

Step 2:  Bake the buttered, cheesy bread halves in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.  They won't even be brown when you take them out, but the melted cheese will set the bread a little more so the sauce doesn't make it all soggy when they cook.  It's the best trick EVER!

Step 3:  Make the sauce.  You can do this while the bread is cooking, it's that fast.  Add one 14 oz can crushed tomatoes to the remaining buttery mixture and bring to a boil.  Tomato sauce bubbles really fast so I just left it on medium high heat for the 5 minutes that the bread was toasting in the oven and it was plenty of time for the oil and butter to combine with the tomatoes.  

Step 4:  Take bread out of oven.  Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce right over the top of the melted cheese layer that's already on the bread.  Add whatever toppings you want.  Add more grated mozzarella.  And put it back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes depending on how toasty you want it to look.  

Final Step:  Take it out of the oven.  Cut it up.  Enjoy!  

I served this with a big green salad and that delicious watermelon from Tuesday and it was perfect!  Fast, easy, and didn't heat up the entire house.  Since we had extra teenagers, I doubled the recipe and made one all cheesy, for me, and one with pepperoni for the meat lovers in the house.  

Peaches

My 25 pound box of fresh peaches came on Saturday, and I think I've tried every peach recipe I can think of.  Our favorite way to eat them is just straight out of the box, though.  They're SO delicious!

On Sunday, I tried a peach pie recipe that my cute bloggy friend, Elizabeth posted last week and it was SO good.  I cut too many peaches so I just put them into a glass baking dish instead of a pie plate, which made my "pie" look more like a cobbler, but no one really cared.  Pie, cobbler, whatever...it was just REALLY good!  

These are the BEFORE pictures...

There are no AFTER pictures because when it came out of the oven it was devoured before I could even think to grab my camera.  

I love summer fruit, especially peaches.   Tomorrow I'm making peach jam if anyone wants to come over.  :)

Mom's Banana Bread

Summer is a great time to dig through boxes and piles that have been neglected all year.  It's also a great time to try new (and old) recipes.  I have stacks of boxes from my parents' house that we brought back with us after my dad passed away in 2010.  This little tin recipe box was in one of those boxes.  

Both my parents loved to cook, each with their own style and favorite recipes.  My dad was professionally trained so he cooked with exactness and meticulously followed every letter of every recipe.    My mom cooked from memory and tossed random things into pots.  I have very vivid memories of some of those tried and true recipes from this little recipe box.  Gum Drop cookies at Halloween.  Portuguese Soup for New Year's Eve.  Fruit cake at Christmas (that's not as fond a memory as some of the others.)  And banana bread every time the bananas lingered a little too long in the fruit bowl.  

Yesterday morning, I found that banana bread recipe and thought I'd bring a little of Grandma Dollie into my kitchen.   So many memories of my mom came flooding back when I saw her handwriting on all these little note cards.    

And then so many more came back when I smelled that familiar banana bread smell an hour later...  

Craig and the kids LOVED having fresh, warm banana bread for breakfast.  And I was so happy to have found all those old recipes from my childhood.  It was like having my mom sitting right there in the kitchen with me.     

Mom's Banana Bread

1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 large bananas
2 C sifted flour
1 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1/4 C sour cream
1/2 C shopped walnuts (I left these out because we have allergies in our house)

Beat butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl with mixer 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Stir in mashed bananas.  Sift flour, baking soda and salt onto wax paper.  Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients in bowl.  Stir until well mixed.  Add sour cream and stir until smooth.  Pour batter into well greased and floured loaf pan.  Bake at 375 for one hour.

Vanilla Scones

I woke up too early for a Saturday.  I don't know why my internal clock is determined to wake me up by 7:00am every single morning.  For a second, I thought about going to the gym, and then got distracted by laundry, dishes, and the remains of a busy Friday night.  

By 8:00am, I was settled on the couch folding the last of the beach towels and listening to a TiVo'd episode of The Pioneer Woman in the background.  She was making breakfast.  Three different kids of breakfast.  McKay (my other early riser) was padding down the stairs with his blanket shortly after I finished folding towels, and snuggled up next to me to watch TV.  He's so completely content with anything (food shows, fashion shows, Oprah, wedding shows...)  I love that kid.  

While we watched Ree Drummond mix up batter for vanilla bean scones, and then whip up a quick eggs Benedict breakfast for her father-in-law's birthday, apparently McKay got hungry.  He said, "Those look so delicious.  We should make them for breakfast."  

So we did.

I wish I could show you how cute he was helping with the sifting, the measuring, and the cutting of butter into the flour, but I didn't take a single picture.  Because sometimes, in the seconds it takes to grab the camera and make sure it has a little card in it, and set it to all the right settings, you miss the moment completely.  This was a good moment...a whole handful of them in fact...and I wasn't about to walk away for even one second and take the chance of missing any of them.

via

An hour later, when everyone else in the house woke up and wandered into the kitchen, McKay proudly presented our creation.  And everyone loved them.  

We changed the recipe a little.  We didn't have vanilla beans (because who actually has those things on hand in their kitchen??)  And I didn't have heavy cream.  I was just going to use milk, but as I was getting it out of the fridge, McKay said, "What would it taste like if we used orange juice instead of milk?"  And I said, "Well, let's find out."  So, instead of 3/4C of heavy cream mixed with the scrapings of a vanilla bean, we used 3/4C of orange juice mixed with a teaspoon of vanilla.  I added a little orange extract to the glaze, too, and they had just enough of an orange-y flavor so that you could taste it but not be overwhelmed by it.  Pretty brilliant, huh?  Love that kid!

Here's the original PW recipe in case you are now craving Vanilla Bean Scones.  

• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
• 1 whole Large Egg
• 3/4 cups Heavy Cream (more If Needed)
• 2 whole Vanilla Beans
• GLAZE
• 5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
• 1 whole Vanilla Bean
• Dash Of Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla "caviar" inside. Stir caviar into cream. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut cold butter into pats, then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs.

Mix vanilla cream with egg, then combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles.

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

VANILLA GLAZE

To make the icing, split one vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the caviar. Stir caviar into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

These really are super easy.  I would make them again.  McKay says he would, too.  We both thought it was funny that she said the scones would keep for several days.  Ours didn't even make it through a whole Saturday!  :)

Green Smoothie...and a secret ingredient!

Green smoothies are pretty much my standard breakfast around here.  I haven't quite become dedicated enough to say for sure that the rest of my day will look as healthy as breakfast, but if I can at least START the day right, it makes a big difference.  

Here's what typically goes into my concoctions:

1C  So Delicious Coconut Milk or Silk PureAlmond Milk 
2T  ground flaxseed meal
1 banana
1C raw spinach (that's where the beautiful green comes from)
1/2 C some kind of frozen fruit, blueberries or strawberries are the best
1/2 scoop brown rice protein powder
small handful of whole almonds (maybe 7 or 8)

The almonds were the first secret ingredient I discovered that I really liked.  They add a tiny bit of nutty flavor, but not a peanut buttery flavor.  I am NOT a peanut butter fan.  And I like the surprise crunch of the little almond pieces that don't get totally blended.  

And my newest favorite ingredient to throw into a smoothie...

via

CINNAMON!

Just 1/2 teaspoon is totally enough to add a little sweet, without adding something sugary.  Combined with the almonds, it's like drinking an oatmeal cookie!  YUM!  

You should try a green smoothie today! 

the DO NOT CONSUME list

If you KNEW something wasn't great for you, would you do it anyway?  If you KNEW the side effects were more than undesirable, would you take the chance?

What if it was something you LOVED!?

What if you could NEVER have it again?? ...like EVER??  

I've been experimenting with food lately and I've discovered that I can't eat anything with sugar in it.  At all.  In any form.  Or any amount.  

When I eat a cookie (or several cookies,) or have cereal, or indulge in dessert of any kind, and especially if my whole day has a sugar theme to it, I instantly go into this euphoric, groggy, sleepy state...like the tryptophan effect after Thanksgiving.  And then, whether I give in to the nap or not, about an hour later, my mood plummets into one of a handful of things: grumpy, irrational, hopeless, angry, easily offended, worried, frustrated, selfish, OCD, frenzied, insecure.  I haven't figured out yet which sugary thing turns me into which monster.  It might just be like a giant roulette wheel of multiple personalities in my head.  But, the fact is, it happens, it's uncontrollable, I hate being there, and it's a direct result of carelessness with food.

So, if you KNEW that if you ate a donut, there was a 100% chance you would turn into Frankenstein within the hour, would you ever eat one?  Probably not, right?  

My daughter KNOWS that she has a severe allergy to tree nuts.  When she eats even a microscopic speck of an almond, a walnut, a pistachio, or a cashew (those are the worst) she goes into anaphylactic shock.  Her throat closes up. Her face swells.  She gets hives all over her little body.  That's a pretty good deterrent for her.  She isn't crazy about that feeling and therefore, she NEVER eats those things.  She inspects every dessert that isn't made by her mother.  She turns down anything questionable.  She won't go near a granola bar.  And we also have precautions in place so that if she ever accidentally ingests a nut, she can administer to herself a dose of anti-nut-venom (otherwise known as an Epi-pen.)  So far, we haven't ever had to use the Epi-pen, but she carries one in her backpack and we have one at home...just in case.  

You'd think it would be that black and white with me, wouldn't you?  

I've tried some really drastic experiments, like eliminating all white stuff (flour, sugar, potatoes, rice, pasta, bread) for awhile (sometimes a weekend detox, sometimes up to 10 days.)  And guess what!  The longer I stayed away from sugar, the more even-tempered I was.  I had more energy, slept better, looked better, felt better, and lost a little weight.  

Success should equal repetition, right?

Well, apparently only until the first holiday rolls around.  

I am not a candy freak, by any means.  I could go my whole life and not miss Peeps or Jelly Beans or M&Ms or gummy things.  But something about putting small handfuls of them into colorful plastic eggs and throwing them on the grass makes that candy SO much more enticing.  I wonder if broccoli would look as good stuffed inside a plastic egg??

I gave in to every sugary temptation that crossed my path on Sunday.  And that led to a weakened resolve on Monday.  And then there were 50% off Easter sales, and I'm such a sucker for anything on sale.  And then I thought that since I was already off the wagon, I might as well just give in to the temptation I was really struggling with and get the dang Vanilla Bean Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  And I'm sure you can see how my life might have spiraled out of control in just 72 hours???  

So, last night, as I sat curled up in my room like a wounded porcupine, I wondered if maybe all that sugar had had an effect on my typically sunny personality.  I'm pretty sure it did.  

So I decided that I needed some absolutes.  Things I can NEVER eat again...unless I'm willing to suffer the consequences.  I'm an all or nothing kind of a girl, and the ALL sugar method isn't working, so in desperation I'm trying the NOTHING method.

And I'm displaying them here...on this blog...publicly...so that it will be like a declaration.  And also, so that if you ever see me in The Cheesecake Factory you have permission to drag me the heck out of there.  

 Haunani's official DO NOT CONSUME list

ice cream 

cheesecake

cookies

cake

donuts

chocolate

(I had to name those things specifically because I would find a way to get to them if I didn't)

white rice

white pasta

white bread

potatoes

pizza 

movie popcorn

chips

dairy products

and...

anything from a convenience store

anything from a drive thru (except Sonic ice)

Diet DP, Diet Coke and any other form of caffeinated bubbles (aka Liquid Satan) are also on that list, but they've been there for awhile, and aren't as much of a temptation.  I know better after a year of battling with that absolute.  

Does that make your heart break to see all that stuff on that list?  Yep...mine too.  

But, I know it's the right thing to do.  I know that when I've made the effort before, I've been so much happier and not missed all that stuff at all.  I see great things as a result of sticking to that list of absolutes.  I prefer the longer list of REPLACEMENTS that I have on my fridge.  

Maybe this should be another LAUNCH update, because um...here we seem to be going again...LAUNCHING into something crazy, foreign, scary and with no guarantees of success.  But since I did that whole Book of Mormon pageant thing, I'm feeling pretty confident flying out of my little nest.  Hopefully this LAUNCH will be just as successful.  

Wish me luck!

Tomato Soup (and a little homework)

Today, I thought I'd disguise myself as a food blogger.  (It's harder than it looks.  I kept forgetting to take pictures as I cooked.  There are a few steps I missed.)  

The weather was weird here today....grey and dreary, but super warm and almost balmy.  It was chilly in the house, but stuffy and humid outside.  The clouds looked like they really wanted to rain, but for some reason they held back.  

It's a little warm for soup, but it's been awhile since we've had this, and grey weather just makes me crave this stuff, so I decided tonight would be a great night for some tomato soup.  

(And since my camera lives on the counter these days, I thought I'd sneak in a few attempts at homework for my photography class, too.)  

This is my all time favorite soup recipe EVER.  I found it years ago in a magazine, and after making it one time, immediately copied it and put it into "the book" of favorites.  Sometime, I'll have to do a whole post on "the book."  There's some great stuff in there.

Here's the recipe if it's colder where you are and tomato soup sounds good to you, too...

Roasted Tomato Soup
4 C cherry tomatoes (3 pints)
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
2 T unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
4 C chicken broth
1/2 thyme
1 C whipping cream

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment, combine the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.  (I had cherry tomatoes, but there are people in my house who like to snack on those things, so I thought I just used regular tomatoes this time.)  

Roast until they are shriveled and brown, about 35-45 minutes.  Usually I just throw the onions and garlic on the pan and roast those, too, but I was going for an all tomato look for my homework.  

In a large pot, heat 2T butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and sauté until softened.  (Skip this if you roasted the onions and garlic with your tomatoes.)  Add the canned tomatoes in their juice, chicken broth, thyme and the roasted tomatoes.  I use a spatula to get the tomatoes out of the pan and into the pot, and then I just lift the whole piece of parchment and pour all that yummy, roasty, tomato liquid into the pot, too.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Using a food processor or blender, or if you're lucky enough to have one of these awesome things...

I have officially requested one of these for my birthday!

...puree until everything is smooth.  

Return to the pot and stir in the cream.  This is what it looked like after I pureed it, but before the cream went in.  Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the blending part, but it was kind of a mess.  (Luckily my birthday is just around the corner.)

Without  letting the soup boil, warm over medium heat, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until it's steamy.
Serve with some kind of delicious, hearty bread...or grilled cheese!!   Yum, huh?

Clean Eating

I skimmed through a magazine recently and read this:

YOU CAN'T OUT EXERCISE A BAD DIET!!

I was outraged for a minute, and argued (in my head, not out loud) with that theory.  Really??  Are you sure??  Because I have secretly been hoping that I could do that.  Start a running program, and still eat donuts for breakfast.  Consume mass quantities of sugar cookies and then work them off at the gym.  Well, according to that magazine, those aren't very realistic expectations.  Darn it...

I spent a lot of 2012 moving less and eating more.  I reintroduced things into my life and into my diet that I thought I had successfully purged.  And on Monday, I decided it was time to get rid of them again.  My body is craving better food and my mind is craving clarity.

Well, that was four whole days ago.  FOUR DAYS without sugar.  FOUR DAYS without chocolate chips in my Greek yogurt and homemade granola in the mornings.  FOUR DAYS of no desserts after dinner.  FOUR DAYS of fruit instead of candy.  The good news is that I'm still alive.  But holy cow!  Who knew this would be so hard??

Sugar is totally a drug, you know?  I can say that with absolute certainty because after 4 days of not having it, I'm kinda thinking that a syringe full of sprinkles shot intravenously into my body doesn't sound like such a bad thing.  

Here's what I've realized:

• Coming down off of any drug, even the ones cleverly disguised in pink frosting, has some serious withdrawal effects.  I was ridiculously grumpy the first day.  One of my daughters said, "Good grief, someone please give Mommy a cookie!  She's unbearable."  I stayed strong and did not give in.

• My weakest time is between lunch and dinner...that mid-afternoon slump just after everyone has gotten home from school.  I forage through drawers and cabinets looking for some dropped sprinkle, some stray chocolate chip, some leftover Sonic peppermint, like a bear who's been hibernating all winter.   The other day I found two fortune cookies that I had managed to avoid after a visit to Panda Express earlier in the week, and I almost gave in.  Apparently I need to find something to replace this afternoon activity.  

and this slightly more serious one is definitely the best...
I'm pretty sure this falls under the realm of things you can pray for help with.  And why wouldn't it?  Heavenly Father made us.  He has an interest in seeing us happy and thriving and living to our potential.  And we can't do that if we're heavy laden with excessive weight in a sugar coma on the couch.  I ask all the time to have motivation and discipline to exercise.  I ask for a desire to eat better food.  But until today, I had never tried asking in a more direct way.  I know that I cannot feel or hear the Spirit as well when I'm not eating well.  And I have a desire to hear the Spirit.  There are other, more obvious, destructive behaviors that I would never engage in because I know they would impair my ability to hear and act on the Spirit.  So why can't I just add sugar to that list?  I know that Heavenly Father and I both want the same things.  I have a righteous desire to stop eating crappy food, not because I want to look like a supermodel, but because I want to live the life that He has planned for me.   And that desire gives me the right to ask for more than just motivation and willpower.  I actually asked today that I would be as repelled by sugar as I am by cigarettes and alcohol.  I know, there is supposed to be moderation in all things, but for me, I can't manage moderation on my own.  I can't just have one Oreo.  I can't just have a little bite of dessert.  I have a toxic relationship with this particular thing.  And because I know I can't do this by myself, I decided to LAUNCH something different and ask for a totally different way of thinking about sugar.  

"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single greatest skill that can be acquired in this life."  Julie B. Beck, General Conference, April 2010

I want to weigh less.  I want to look better.  I want to wear skinny jeans.  But more than all of those other things, I want that skill to be able to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation.  I don't want to miss anymore opportunities or calls to serve because I can't hear them.  

So, for the rest of this month and the next, I will be LAUNCHING a sugar free life.  After 6 weeks, I'll pick some other vice to get rid of...fast food? meat? procrastination? gossip? movie popcorn? 

I'm so grateful for the desire to do something better, for blogs that inspire, for results that are tangible, and for the willingness of a loving Heavenly Father to provide guidance and assurance.

Getting Ready

Is it awful that I'm SO excited that school starts on Monday??   I know there are lots of moms who mourn the first day of school, but I'm not really one of them.  I seriously can't wait to have more structure to my days.   I LOVE summer.  I LOVE having my kids home all day everyday for three whole months.  But I also really, really LOVE the schedule that we're forced back into when school rolls around every fall.   By the time November and December come, I'm sure I'll be ready for another break, but until then, I will happily plan to thoroughly enjoy my 6 hours of kid-free time.  I already have a list a mile long of things I want to fill my days with.  It's a good thing the school year is long.  I definitely need to figure out how to pace myself.  

Today, I spent all morning on Pinterest planning menus for the next two weeks.  I planned breakfast 6 days a week (they can fend for themselves on Saturdays since most of them don't even wake up until lunchtime anyway.)  I found tons of easy recipes for dinners for the next two weeks and posted them on the fridge (mostly to remind me what I need to do the night before or the day of, so it's not a surprise at 5pm.)  And in order to make sure we actually eat dinner together AT HOME every night, I've bumped that up to 5:30pm instead of 6:00pm.   Then I made my list and bought groceries for the whole week...in advance...and I only spent $100!!  (I wouldn't suggest doing that on the Saturday before school starts, though.  Next time I'll shop on a weekday morning.)

The best thing I did today, though, was plan school lunches and healthy after school snacks. I found these awesome lunch containers (super inexpensive which made me happy, earth-friendly which makes Spell Girl very happy, and re-useable which means fewer purchases of those little Ziploc bags.)

$3.97 for a set of two at Walmart

I cooked an entire crockpot of chicken breasts this morning and shredded them all up for chicken noodle soup tomorrow night, chicken salad sandwiches for Monday's lunch and enough leftover for  Chicken Lo Mein on Tuesday night.  Thanks, Amanda, for the great idea to cook A LOT of chicken and shred it all at once.  What would I ever do without smart friends??

I've thought for a lot of years that my least favorite part of the school day is when the kids come home after school and just graze until dinner.  I've had a "snack shelf" in the pantry of every house we've ever lived in and they've gotten very casual about their snacking.  In the summer I could barely keep that shelf stocked for three days before they had devoured everything on it it, including any stray stale cracker that might have escaped a previous week.  I really would like to have more control over what they're eating.  They're active, healthy kids, so I'm not worried about their weight, but we could all use a little less processed, boxed stuff in our lives, right?  And if I have 6 WHOLE HOURS everyday to just hang out in my house, why not use a little of that time to have a plan for something better than chips and oreos?  You might have noticed that there wasn't a single snack on that grocery list I made.  I didn't get ANY...not even for lunches.  I'm feeling ambitious and motivated...

I made 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies for lunches this week

and here are some awesome ideas I found for afterschool snacks

I LOVE having a plan and carrying it out.  It makes life so much easier when I have a list I can follow.  I'm looking forward to a great new school year, and much less stress around meal times (and more pedicures in my future with all the $ I save)  

Chicken Enchiladas

It's slightly alarming how quickly I fall out of the habit of making dinners around here.  I'm great at it for a little while, and then something happens and ruins it all (we go on vacation, someone gets sick, we have an unexpectedly hectic day, a leaf falls on the grass...really anything can throw me off course.)  Typically, when the Scout Master is out of town, I use that as my excuse to have "relaxed meals."  If you combine his travel schedule with the extremely l a z y days of August, every night for the past two weeks has been ramen noodle night.  The situation has become so desperate that Flowering Butterfly even cheered the other day when she found frozen burritos in the freezer.  "Mommy!!!  Guess what!!  The burrito fairy came last night!"  (...ugh...)

The Scout Master came home early from his trip to HOU, and so, as a celebration and maybe to impress him a little, I thought I'd do something unexpected and actually MAKE dinner.   Wanna see what I made?

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

This was SO super easy that I barely dared put it on here.  But compared to what we've been eating for the last few days, it's pretty freaking amazing!  

I threw two frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot this afternoon around 12:00 with some chicken broth and a teeny bit of Liquid Smoke because I LOVE the way the house smells when something smoky is cooking!  (um...NOT the kind of smoky like when something's burning...)  At 5:00, I transferred the cooked chicken into a bowl where I shredded it up.  I haven't yet found a better way to cook chicken with awesome shreddability than in the crock pot.  It takes a little advanced planning, but it's so worth it!   

I added sour cream and a small can of Hatch green chiles to the chicken and a little of the broth that it cooked in...maybe a couple of tablespoons.  I poured a can of enchilada sauce into a separate bowl, dipped some whole wheat tortillas in it and rolled them with the chicken mixture and some cheese.  I poured the remaining sauce over the top and threw the rest of the cheese on, too, and popped them into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  

Served with spanish rice and fresh fruit...super fast, super easy, HUGE hit!!  

(I promise to take more pictures the next time I do something amazing in the kitchen.  It might be awhile, though.)

Homemade Granola

Last week, my neighbor brought over a little bag of her homemade granola so I could try it.  It was still warm and she had thrown some chocolate chips in it, so I tossed the bag into the freezer and decided to wait until breakfast the next morning to try it.  

It's possible that was the best breakfast I've ever had!  I took the granola out of the freezer, spooned a little of it onto my yogurt, and then ate a few bites before adding about 10 more spoonfuls of granola.  I think the granola outweighed the yogurt by the time I was done.  And all throughout the rest of the day, I kept sneaking back to the freezer to sneak little spoonfuls of the stuff.  Holy cow, was that stuff good!  When I texted my neighbor to tell her how much I loved it, she offered to give me the recipe.  Hallelujah!!  

JEN'S GRANOLA

14 C OATS
1 C WHEAT GERM
14 OZ COCONUT
2 C PECANS
2 C SUNFLOWER SEEDS

MIX ALL IN A VERY LARGE BOWL.

1 C WATER
1 C OIL OR BUTTER
2 C HONEY
2 T VANILLA
2 t  MAPLE FLAVORING

MIX IN A SAUCEPAN OVER LOW HEAT UNTIL DISSOLVED.  POUR OVER OAT MIXTURE AND MIX UNTIL MOISTENED.  BAKE AT 225 FOR 2-3 HOURS, STIRRING EVERY 30 MINUTES.  REMOVE FROM HEAT.  COOL COMPLETELY.  STORE IN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER.  (AFTER GRANOLA HAS COOLED, ADD RAISINS, CHOCOLATE CHIPS, OR DRIED FRUIT)

That recipe is delicious just the way it is, but I changed it just a little because of the things I had available.  I only made half the original recipe and it was still a LOT!   I used dry roasted sunflower seeds and they worked just fine.  The salty doesn't overpower the sweet.  I used agave nectar instead of honey.  And instead of canola oil or butter, I used coconut oil.  

This stuff is amazing and healthy and I substitute it in everything I possibly can.  I've even brushed it onto sliced pineapple and thrown it on the grill.  Super YUM!

This is what the mixture looks like after adding the liquid ingredients.  It looked pretty mushy to me, so I didn't let it sit very long before spreading it onto the cookie sheet and getting it into the oven.

This is what it looks like before it goes into the oven. Half of Jen's recipe made two of these cookie sheets of granola.  That's a TON!

Mine turned out less sweet than hers, but still SUPER yummy!  The kids have been snacking on it all day.  And the way this stuff makes the house smell when it's cooking is reason enough to make this on a regular basis.  

This is what it looks like after 2 1/2 hours in the oven.  I was vigilant about stirring both pans and switching the racks they were on every 30 minutes.  After letting it sit and cool on the counter for about 20 minutes, it is perfectly crunchy, sweet and delicious.  It's possible this might not make it into an airtight container.  :)  

S'mores!

I'm not an outdoor kind of a girl...not even a little bit.  Which is kind of ironic considering that I'm married to the Scout Master/Angler/Outdoor Magazine Guy.  He loves hiking, fishing, biking, and exploring the wilderness.  And I love shopping, being in the car, hanging out at home, and going to movies.  He collects camping gear and I collect shoes.  He has clothing and accessories that allow him to be prepared for every possible weather condition, and I just adjust the thermostat so that I remain between 68-72 degrees at all times.  

I can honestly say that I have never had a desire to go camping in my life.  I like sleeping in a bed.  I like to be warm.  And I like the modern day conveniences of running water and flushing toilets.  But every now and then I DO have a SERIOUS CRAVING for roasted marshmallows.  

The other day I found the most exciting new thing...

 STACKABLE MARSHMALLOWS!!

Here's what I did with them...

 graham crackers (I used cinnamon ones) + marshmallows + chocolate chips

(I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so instead of the chocolate chips, I drizzled a little caramel ice cream topping on a few of them before putting them in the oven...SUPER YUM!!)

 in the oven for 8 minutes at 350 degrees

...and poof! The kids have an after school snack and my s'mores craving is satisfied until the next time...and no camping or open flames were involved!   I LOVE flat marshmallows!

Trifle

Yesterday we were invited to have dinner between Conference Sessions with the Rodriguez family.  Brother Rodriguez is an insurance agent and met my husband professionally last spring.  He is one of a handful of people who strongly encouraged us to move to this area (for which we are EXTREMELY grateful.) 

His wife and four children were wonderful and warm and inviting.  We felt like family from the moment we walked in the door.  And holy cow! can they make amazing authentic Mexican food!!!   Mexican food is my favorite anyway, but I have honestly NEVER in my life had Mexican food that good.  

There was about a gallon sized bowl of guacamole right in the center of the table and smaller bowls of salsa and tomatillo sauce right next to it!   Both flour AND corn tortillas, marinated chicken AND beef, rice and refried beans with chorizo...all of it HOMEMADE and seriously AMAZING!  (My new theory is that holidays and authentic homemade Mexican food are perfect occasions to forget you're a vegetarian.  There was no way I was missing any part of that food!)  The fourteen of us ate for almost the entire two hours between sessions and then crawled over to the very large and comfortable sectional sofas to watch Conference.  I'm surprised I stayed awake.  But on their 50-something inch TV screen, it was like they were in the same room with us, so it made it a little more difficult to take a nap!   It was a great way to spend a Sunday and I'm crossing my fingers that we get invited back very SOON!  


My husband volunteered me to bring dessert, which was perfect because I couldn't have contributed anything more to that dinner.  I knew there were going to be a LOT of people, so  I needed something crowd-friendly.  I found two beautiful glass bowls from my parents' collection, and spent the weekend Googling TRIFLES...the perfect, large group and buffet-friendly dessert.  I made two...one chocolate and one non-chocolate.

I found the chocolate recipe on a great website that might rapidly become one of my favorites...www.kevinandamanda.com

I used Amanda's recipe for THE ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE TRIFLE including THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE...which IS actually the best chocolate cake.  I am not a huge chocolate fan, but it's actually really good.  It's super moist and really easy to make.  And I noticed that even the leftover cake scraps disappeared pretty quickly.  I layered everything just the way Amanda did in her blog and even finished with the little crunched-up pieces of chocolate Oreos.  It was a big hit with the chocolate lovers both in my family and in the Rodriguez family. 


The non-chocolate one I improvised on a little.  I found this recipe for STRAWBERRY SUGAR BISCUIT TRIFLE on www.southernliving.com.  But I didn't have frozen buttermilk biscuits so I made my own...Bisquick, heavy cream, roll, cut, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, bake.  Except since I was just going to cut them up and layer them in the bowl, I didn't bother cutting out the circles.  I just rolled out one giant biscuit and baked that instead.  Then I layered the biscuit pieces, drizzled a little orange juice on them, layered strawberries and then custard on top, and repeated until the bowl was full.  (And let me just insert here that the homemade CUSTARD was totally deserving of it's own post...it was THAT GOOD.)  I put a layer of whipped cream on top and garnished with a few strawberry pieces.  Super YUM!  It was like a GIANT STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.  

I liked this one way better than the chocolate, but if given the chance, I'm always going to go for the non-chocolate thing.  Did I already say this was SUPER YUMMY!!??

Successful desserts are way up there on the top of my list of favorite things!