Best Salad EVER

Lemon Quinoa Cilantro Chickpea Salad.  Just one of the reasons I love pinterest.  This salad is so good, I made it for the second weekend in a row.   When I say good, what I mean to say is "stop everything you are doing and go to the grocery store right this second".  I just want to be sure you understood me. 

 Click here for the recipe (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Cucumber sandwiches.  Another reason I love pinterest. 

So good, so healthy, and so easy.  I didn't realize until tonight, the original pin doesn't link to anything.  I just saw it and happened to have what I thought would be good.  

This is what I used:

cucumber, roma tomatoes, spinach, and cream cheese.  Delish and fairly healthy.  Hummis would have been even better.

Summer is around the corner...I am trying to curb the donuts and chocolate milk.  My lady lumps need some work. 

Happy Monday!

Amy

Sunday Smoothies

Super easy Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Banana smoothie.

What you need:

2 bananas

a handful of almonds

1/4-1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup of chocolate soy milk

ice-a couple handfuls

blend together, enjoy!

So good!

Peace and Love,

Amy

P.S. Here are coupons for Kmart in case you're on a budget and you need to buy groceries.

Linking up to:
Nifty Thrifty Things

Sunday Round Up

Luck in the New Year

It is said that if you eat black eyed peas on New Year's day it will be bring you luck throughout the year.  I am not superstitious and don't believe in luck.  I do however love black eyed peas.  Below are two super easy recipes that involves mostly opening cans.  My dad, who got me started on the whole black eyed peas business would be mortified that I used canned peas.  I always do, and he always cringes when I tell him.  If you want to soak your beans overnight go for it.  I choose the easy way.

Black eyed peas

*Disclaimer:  there are no rights or wrongs!  I have made this before with nothing but peas, rotel and diced ham.  I don't measure so bare with me.  

What I used today

• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can butter beans
• 1 can navy beans
• 1 can rotel
• 1/2 a can of corn ( I never use corn, I just had some extra so I threw it in)
• 1 can tex mex style diced tomatoes 
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 3 small sweet peppers chopped
• 1 pat butter
• enough olive oil to cover bottom of saucepan
• 1 ham hock-leftover from Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (you can also use diced ham)
• pepper to taste
• a dash of season salt
• a dash of celery salt
• hot sauce (optional)

1. throw in your pat of butter and olive oil in a large pan

2. get your pan hot enough so the butter is sizzling

3. put in your onion, garlic, peppers (or any other veggies you choose to use) and cook until they soften   or your onion turns opaque.

4. add your ham hock and turn it a couple of times (kind of like braising a piece of meat before slow cooking)

5. open all your cans and throw 'em in the pan.  

6. bring it to a boil then turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour.

7.  taste and season to your hearts desire 

make yourself some easy box corn bread muffins and add some shredded cheese to the batter!  Yum.

Next up: Cowboy Cavier

*disclaimer - I did not use butter beans even though it's in the picture!  And again, no rights or wrongs.  Add what you like and make it your own.

• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can corn
• 1 can rotel
• 1 can black beans
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 small garlic clove chopped
• 3 small sweet peppers chopped
• a few slices pickled jalapeno peppers chopped (I only add this to my bowl..the rest of the family can't hang)
• a bunch of chopped cilantro (I add this as I eat it, or else it won't last very long.  If you are making it for a party go ahead and add it)  tear off a handful and chop it up- depending on how well you like cilantro.
• 1/4-1/2 cup italian dressing

Mix it all together and put it in the fridge for a couple hours.  Eat with scoops tortilla chips.  Great delivery system.  Almost as good as using a spoon.

This is seriously so good.  My brother in law made it last summer and I can't get enough!  I found the actual recipe here.  It differs, but like I said, I'm not big on measuring!

Happy New Year!  Looks like mine is going to be a gas!  

xoxo, Amy

*Don't forget to check out the "i like to party" tab and come join the fun!

Gobble Gobble

This may be a couple of days late...but if you still have leftover turkey this is a casserole that won't disappoint.  It's Hot Chicken Turkey Salad.  I had it the first time at my cousin's Shelley's (from Crazy Wonderful) baby shower.  Her dear friend and hostess with the mostest Katherine who blogs over at Harper and Ollie's House introduced me to it and it is delish!  

 Notice the corner missing and the fork?  There is no shame in my game!

For the complete recipe click the link  Hot Chicken Salad on the Food Network  It's a Paula Deen recipe so you know it's good!  Add your turkey instead of chicken...and I used imitation lemon juice instead of the real deal.  

Click on the I like to party tab to see where I am linking up!  Have a great week!

also linking here: http://todayscreativeblog.net/

No Fail Smoothie

Everday Saturday morning my daughter and I start our day with a smoothie.  No matter what horrible things we may put in our bodies throughout the rest of the day (cookies, butter, nutella from the jar, you get the picture)...I know we started off on the right track.  My son used to join us...but he is boycotting smoothies right now.  It happened after I snuck in some blueberries and ginger and used greek yogurt instead of his fave.  He hasn't come back since.

This is our go to.  If I have ginger, I use it.  It's really good for you and I love the taste.  I use about 1/2 teaspoon grated.

Having a helper is extremely important.

Eating yogurt from the container beforehand is also very important.

This little stinker turned 3 last weekend.  Makes momma want to cry.  It goes way to fast.

The recipe (kind of, you know I don't like to measure):  This will make about 3 medium glasses the size that you see above.  If you are making one for yourself only I would use 1/2-1 cup of fruit, 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk. (if you use fresh fruit add about some ice)

1-2 fresh or frozen bananas

1-2 cups of frozen strawberries (I like to use frozen fruit because I like creamy smoothies-frozen fruit means no ice)

1/2 cup (or so) of greek yogurt.  If you like sweeter smoothies use Vanilla non-fat yogurt instead.

1/2 cup of Almond milk.  Put this in first...it makes it easier to blend, add more if needed.  You really can't screw this up.

*if you like or have ginger you can add about 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger.

Blend and eat.  If it's difficult to blend add more milk and yogurt.  Sometimes it can be if you use frozen fruit.  This is a really thick and creamy smoothie...would make a good dessert too if you are watching what you eat.

The thing I love about smoothies is that there is no right or wrong way.  If you use fresh fruit and it's tart, add some Agave Nectar to sweeten it up.  Sorry for my absence lately.  Life is crazy busy right now.  I do have some good finds planned for this week though!  

*don't forget to check out the link page to see where I am linking up this week!

  http://todayscreativeblog.net/

Garden Fresh Goodness

My husband called from work last week to tell me he was bringing home some tomatoes. Some garden fresh goodness. This was code for "go to the store and buy a couple pounds of bacon"...which of course I did. The mister's motto is "if you're gonna be a bear be a grizzly". He came home with a boxful. They were ripe and I knew we would never eat that many blt's. I thought I would try my hand at homeade tomato sauce. I looked at a couple recipes and then did what I do best. Throw crap together. He came home with a few zuchini squash as well...I added them too.

It turned out pretty darn good so I thought I would share. Remember, there is no right or wrong, substitute stuff, make it your own, taste often. Here's how it went down in my kitchen.

grocery:

Sauce:
10-12 super ripe tomatoes stolen from your neighbors garden (peeled) and roughly chopped
2 large onions (chopped)
2-3 large yellow zuchini squash (chopped)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 cup olive oil -or more
5 bay leaves
fresh basil
1/4 cup red cooking wine
a tablespoonish of white sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans of tomato paste
2 packages of spaghetti seasoning

Prep: Chop the onions, squash, and garlic cloves.  Peel the skin off the tomatoes and roughly chop them.

add 1/4 cup olive oil to a pan and once it's heated add the onions, squash and garlic. Cook the onions, squash and garlic down about 20 minutes, or until they are soft and opaque. This is where I had to switch from a large skillet to a large pot. Start adding the tomatos. Mine were huge chunks, which is fine they cook down. Add the tomato paste, the season packets, the wine, the bay leaves, a little salt and pepper, the sugar and simmer on low for a couple hours, or even just 30 minutes if that's all you have, stirring occasionaly. If you don't like a chunky sauce, put it in the blender and then let it cool.  I blended mine so my kids would eat it.  I left mine in the fridge for a day before I made the meatballs. If you like meatballs, these were pretty tasty too.

PS. Garnish with the fresh basil...or add it to the sauce at the end. I LOVE basil and could definitely over do it.

Meatballs:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground sausage
1 egg
1/4 cup ish of breadcrumbs (or crushed crackers)
1/4 cup of good cheese. I used shredded romano (it's what I had)...but you could use parm or mozzarella
a tbsp of minced garlic
1/8 to 1/4 cup of milk
salt and pepper
1 spaghetti seasoning packet
oil for pan.

mix everything but the oil together until you get a good meatball consistency, then make meatballs. Heat the oil and brown the outside. Add your meatballs to the warmed up sauce in a crockpot and cook 1/2 the day. We also added some our favorite italian sausage, browned and left to cook all the way through in the sauce. It was heavenly.

Linking up to the wonderful parties on my "i like to party page" and here.

I want sweets now

After looking at this blog that featured two of my favorite things: peanut butter and chocolate...I had to post these pictures of what I made last week.  I only gained 4 pounds the week I made them so they aren't very good.  I got the idea from an Etsy post on facebook.  I searched and couldn't find the link, but did find this one here.  I ate all of mine immediately so there were no after photos...sorry...I have no self control with sweets...

and yes, there were delish.  Now you guys are probably hating on me like I was hating on the sweet gal who posted the yummy pb and chocolate recipes.  

hate on haters...hate on...and then go grab the gallon of milk and drink it straight from the jug.

Cheesy Creamy Tomato Pesto Shrimp & Noodles

I am going to go ahead and put something out there.  I love food.  I always have.  I was the favorite of my friends parents because I never complained about what was on my plate and usually asked for seconds.  

I love to cook and love watching cooking shows.  I had to ease off the cooking shows because they made me hungry and want to eat constantly.  When was I pregnant with my son I would lay in bed all day and watch the Food Network.  About 4 or 5pm I would crawl out of bed and head to the grocery store to feed whatever hankerin' I had from watching people cook all day.  My husband loved it.  I cooked alot and ate a lot.  Although my son was a big baby 9lbs 4 oz.  He certainly did not weigh 80 pounds...which is what I gained during pregnancy.  And yes, in case your wondering, I ate Krispy Kreme by the dozen...nightly.

Now onto the cooking part:

First of all, I am a throw together cook, a hack.   I don't like to measure.  The meals I make are hard to screw up, add a little more of this or a little more of that and you should be good to go.  So all measurements are an "about", a "guesstimate", and "approximization".  Oh, I am also known to forget to add major ingredients, say butter in the pecan pie for instance. I am perfectly capable and able to follow recipes (and do follow them when baking) but when doing regular meals I rarely do. So please bare with me. Second, this is my first post on cooking and my daughter (I stopped looking at the scale after I gained 65 pounds when pregnant with her) likes to be all up in my business when I cook. She likes to "hep". Lastly, I like to use what I have on hand.  You can subsititute things like cream instead of milk, spinach instead of tomatoes...you get the idea. This is your meal!   Oh, DON'T FORGET THE CHEESE!  I forgot to take a picture of it.   It was probably when Sammy thought she needed to stir.  

First up. The Goodies: 

milk:  about a 1/2 cup.    (I used 2%, but this would be heavenly with Heavy Cream.) 

shrimp:  about a pound.  (I used frozen.  After thawing I peeled off the tails)

butter:  2 tablespoons

oil: lightly coat the bottom of the pan

sun dried tomato pesto:  2 tablespoons..ish.  I used the jar kind.  It's so good I eat it with a spoon.  I could have used the entire jar if I thought I could get away with it.

minced garlie:  a heaping spoonful, if you like garlic use a big spoon!  I keep a jar on hand, much easier for cooking, and we use A LOT of garlic in this house

sun dried tomatoes (optional):  I chopped about 6.  My son showed a little resistance on this one but did like it.  Add more or less if you please.  It would also be heavenly to keep them whole and let all those yummy juices soak in.

mozzarella cheese:  1/2 a small brick.  Shredded.

asiago cheese:  about 3-4 palmfuls. Shredded.

Basil:  a small palmful.  I used the freeze dried kind.

 noodles: enough for 4-5 servings.  I used wheat spaghetti-only because it's what we have and I need to use it.  One of my hubbys friends works for a pasta testing company and we always have pasta in the house! 

 Chop up your sun dried tomatoes.  I found these in the same spot as dried fruit in the grocery store.  YUM!

 Throw your butter and oil in a hot pan.

 add your big spoonful of garlic and sautee for just a moment.  Don't burn the garlic!  Stir constantly.

 Now, throw in your shrimp and your heaping spoonfuls of the tomato pesto.  Or, just add the whole dang jar and tell me how delicious it was!  Also add your chopped up sun dried tomatoes now.

 This is heaven.  I do drive by's and eat it this from the jar when no one is looking.  

 This is the reason their are a lot of pictures missing on this post.  Yes, she has marker on her hand, and no shirt on.  Typical.

 Now that everything is coming together and your shrimp are cooked add the milk...or cream...mmmm, cream.  Let everything cook down for just a few minutes (mine was pretty liquid since I used milk).  And then, start adding your cheese.  

DON'T FORGET TO ADD CHEESE NOW!

I used 1/2 the brick of mozzarella.  Add it slowly and stir constantly.  The sauce should start thickening up.  Then start adding your asiago (see the tub above under the garlic-that's what i used).  Let everything cook a bit more stirring contanstly.  You can add more milk or cheese until you like the consistency.  

This is what it looked like after all the cheese was added and the basil.

Then add the noodles.  Mix it around good and let the sauce cook in for a few minutes.

I am not a big fan of whole wheat noodles, but again, what's in the cabinets always win if the other option is dragging the kids the store.

I forgot to take the final picture once it was all mixed up.  

But I took a pic of the most important part...two satisfied customers.  Did I mention my family thinks I am a short order cook?  Some day I want to get one of those ticket racks and a dinger you see in a diner. Order up...DING!

Click on the "I like to party" link to see where it's at!