Pinterest Favorite Food Finds - Part 2

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...I love to eat! Okay, that's probably not much of a secret. But I do. And that means I constantly have my eye out for new recipes to try. Last year, I wrote a post about a few of my favorite food finds on Pinterest. I don't make everything I pin, and not everything I try is successful, but I've tried a few things that have made the cut into our regular rotation of things we like, so I thought I'd write a Part 2 to my Pinterest Favorite Food Finds!

First up is breakfast! Or if you're anything like us, dinner as often as once a week sometimes! I used to always make pancakes from a box mix that you just add water to. But I'm trying to reduce chemicals and prepackaged foods from our diet one thing at a time, so I was on the lookout for a pancake recipe. When I found and tried this recipe for Greek Yogurt Pancakes, I never turned back and this is our tried-and-true, go-to pancake recipe now!

Photo from favoritefamilyfoods.wordpress.com

And then there's dinner. Like most households, dinner is often a struggle for us. I ask the infamous, "What do you want for dinner?" and get the ever-dreaded, even more infamous, "I don't care," or "Whatever you want," responses! Ugh! Not to mention trying to cook something that everyone enjoys so I'm not making 3 different things for dinner. So when I try something new that we all love, I'm ecstatic! These Mini Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf Cupcakes were an instant hit! We call them Chicken Parm Meatballs and I serve them with spaghetti for dinner, but they're great reheated in the toaster oven for lunch the next day too! The only change I make is that I use half the panko bread crumbs that it calls for. Half a cup is plenty!

Photo from tablespoon.com

I also love finding recipes that are both healthy and delicious! These next two recipes live up to that! First, One Pan Mexican Quinoa! We just had this for the first time the other night, but it was delicious and most definitely will be a regular! And the little tiny bit that was leftover was even more delicious cold for lunch!

Photo from Damn Delicious

The next recipe even I was skeptical about! I am not a cauliflower fan. But Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipes are floating all over Pinterest, so I decided to give it a shot! And I was more than pleasantly surprised! YUM! I did add about a handful of Parmesan cheese in also, but otherwise kept the recipe the same. Mine TOTALLY stuck to the foil. (Turns out that regular foil is not the same as non-stick foil. Who knew?!) It was more work to peel it off than it was worth, but what I did eat was worth making again. Next time, I may try parchment paper or just spray a cookie sheet.

Photo from One Good Thing By Jillee

And finally, dessert! I first tried this recipe when we had lots of carrots and zucchini from the garden last summer. I made a few modifications, but these Carrot Cake Cookies became an instant hit! I skip the frosting because I don't think they need it, but they'd probably be even better with it! I use 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 1/4 cup of softened butter instead of the shortening. I also do 1 cup of shredded carrots and 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini instead of all carrots. And I have done both raisins and dried cranberries on separate occasions and both are yummy! They're best right out of the oven because they have some crispiness on the edges. But if you are okay with a cake texture instead of a cookie texture, they're good for a couple days (if they last that long!)

This photo is actually mine. :)

That's it for some of my tried-and-true recipes from Pinterest today! If you try any of them, be sure to let me know what you think! And please feel free to share some of your favorite Pinterest recipe finds too!

Chips

I've never been a potato chip fan, but every once in awhile I crave something crunchy and salty. We grew kale in our garden this year, and there has been so much of it that I've been making kale chips like crazy. I recently tried making sweet potato chips too.

I just toss both in a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. The sweet potato chips bake at 400 degrees until they're crispy. A mandolin slicer has been my best friend making these. I've experimented with different thicknesses and cooking times since buying it, and 1/16" for about 21 minutes is the winner in my book! I flip them with a fork halfway through.

The kale chips bake at 300 degrees for about 12 minutes. You really need to watch them closely though. There is a fine line for them between crispy and burnt. I've found you don't need to flip these and the fresher the kale, the better they come out!

My biggest problem? I can't make a batch of either without eating the whole pan of them as soon as they come out of the oven!

Spinach Salad

Spinach is one of my favorite vegetables. I like it cooked, but I love it raw! We use it in our Green Monster smoothies all the time. But when I'm craving a salad, I usually prefer spinach to lettuce. I came up with this salad one day and it has become one of my favorite combinations.

My Favorite Spinach Salad

Fresh baby spinach

Hard boiled egg

Toasted pine nuts

Dried cranberries

Ranch dressing

You can use any amounts that look right to you. Specific measurements aren't necessary. To me, toasting the pine nuts is a must. Just put them in a dry, hot pan and keep them moving around. Watch them closely because it doesn't take long for them to go from perfectly toasted to burnt. And of course, it can't be any old ranch dressing. It has to be my favorite one, because for me nothing else compares. But you can use any dressing you like.

Texas Caviar

I had Texas Caviar for the first time last summer and I fell in love! Since then, it makes a regular appearance in our house. It makes a huge batch, but we love it so much that it is usually gone in 2 or 3 days. We eat it like salsa with some blue corn tortilla chips. It's great as a snack and I've even been know to eat a big bowl for lunch! It would be great to bring to a BBQ like that. I've also heard that some people spoon it over some salad greens or even onto a baked potato.

Since we love it so much, I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you, so you can enjoy it too!

Texas Caviar

1 (15 oz) can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can corn, drained

4 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

½ c. fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

4-6 oz Italian dressing- I use Wishbone, but you can use one you like or make yourself.

Combine all ingredients except Italian dressing. Mix well. Pour dressing over mixture. Cover and marinate at least 2 hours in refrigerator. Stir again before serving. Enjoy!

Pinterest Favorite Food Finds

I love Pinterest! It gives me so my ideas and has so many sources of inspiration. But when it comes to recipes, if you're anything like me, you pin more than you actually make. However, I have found some recipes that I love and have become regulars in our house. So today I'm going to share a couple of my favorite food finds from Pinterest!

First up, the Breakfast Grilled Cheese! I love this and make it all the time! You get the yummy, buttery, crunchiness on the outside and the warm, gooey, cream cheesiness on the inside. I've used all different kinds of bagels. Sometimes I use the tomatoes and thyme, sometimes I use sage, and sometimes I just use the cream cheese and nothing else. But it's so yummy every time!

Photo from Grilled Cheese Social

I made this Blueberry Tart for a housewarming party I went to last summer and it was sooooo delicious! I love lemon and blueberries! It was really light and refreshing and super easy to make. This summer I'm going to try it with raspberries, too, because lemon and raspberry together is even better than lemon and blueberry.

Photo by Con Poulos from Real Simple

In our house, we love soup! And when you have a big pot of soup, you have to have a nice crusty bread to go with it! I got an enamel cast iron pot for Christmas, so I had to try out this bread recipe! It is incredibly easy and there are so many different things you can add to it!

Photo from Simply So Good

Finally, I made these No-Bake Energy Bites recently to bring to a friend who had just had a baby. The new mom loved them and the oatmeal and flax seed make them great for breast milk production. Audrey and I loved them, too, so we made a batch for us to snack on as well!

Photo from Smashed Peas and Carrots

Do you actually make the recipes that you Pin? Please share your favorite! I'll Pin it and maybe I'll actually try it out! *wink, wink*

Breakfast Quinoa

We love quinoa in our house. We prefer the taste of red variety, but have only been able to find the white at our local super markets lately. And while the white is okay, none of us really like it on its own.

For dinner a couple nights ago, we had some quinoa sauteed with sausage, onions, and peppers. Yum, yum! I didn't use all the quinoa I cooked, so there was some leftover in our fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste. I've made quinoa for breakfast before with mashed bananas, shredded coconut and milk, but I wasn't crazy about it warm. So I decided to try it cold leftover.

I added a splash of milk, a drizzle of honey and a handful of raspberries and blueberries to the cold quinoa, mixed it up and it was delicious! Audrey kept crawling up into my lap the first morning and asking for more, so the second morning I made her a bowl of her own!

Blueberry Muffins

Someone gave me a new blueberry muffin recipe, so yesterday I tried it out and boy were they yummy!

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or line muffin tin (for 6 large muffins).

Combine first 4 ingredients. Add oil, egg and milk and mix until blended. Fold in blueberries. Distribute batter evenly among 6 spots in muffin tin.

Combine last four ingredients and mix with a fork. Sprinkle topping over muffin batter.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until done.

These were SO YUMMY! The recipe called for fresh blueberries, but I had some frozen, so I used those and they worked fine. I also put in a little more than a cup. I'm not a big fan of measuring if you hadn't noticed. ;) I love that they're large muffins too. The only problem? It only makes 6 and they're so good, they'll be gone fast!

My hubby bit into one this morning and said, "Where did you buy these?" I laughed. He said, "Seriously, there's no way you made these." Yes, hunny, I did! And now, so can you!

Chicken Pot Pie

It was cold and rainy today, and I was feeling domestic, so I baked blueberry muffins and made a chicken pot pie for dinner. They both came out really good, so I thought I'd share the recipes with you! I'll post the chicken pot pie today and the muffins tomorrow!

Chicken Pot Pie

1 box refrigerated pre-made pie crusts
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2.5 cups shredded chicken
1 (12 oz) bag frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn and green beans), thawed

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lay 1 of the pre-made pie crusts into a 9" glass pie plate and trim edges.

Melt butter of medium heat. Add onion and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.

Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust and seal edges. Cut slits in the top crust.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cover crust edge with foil for the first 10-15 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.


The pre-made pie crusts made this recipe super easy! A few of my adjustments:

- I didn't measure the onion. I just chopped a medium onion so it was probably a little bit more.
- I also didn't measure the chicken. I boiled 2 large breasts, shredded it, and put in what I thought looked good. (I used the rest to make chicken salad for my lunch tomorrow!)
- I thought it was strange that there were no herbs in the recipe so I added a little bit of dried sage.

Yummy, comforting and easy! Perfect!

Roasted Chick Peas

If you read my blog or follow me on Twitter, you probably know how much I LOVE chick peas. I'll eat a whole can in a sitting, straight out of the can, with a little Italian dressing on them or blended up into some yummy hummus.

I recently came across a recipe for roasted chick peas and I am absolutely ADDICTED! They are my new favorite snack, so I had to share with all of you!

Roasted Chick Peas

1 can chick peas
olive oil
salt
garlic powder
your choice of seasoning
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drain chick peas and dry on paper towels.
In a bowl, toss with a little bit of olive oil, garlic powder and salt to taste,
and your choice of seasoning. The recipe I found called for cayenne, but I'm not
a big fan of spicy, so I used rosemary instead. Spread them evenly on a cookie
sheet (I line mine with foil for easier cleanup.) Bake for 30-40 minutes, watching them
carefully at the end to make sure they don't burn, until golden and crispy. I also
noticed that mine popped quite a bit so I put a loose piece of foil over the top
just to keep them from popping off the cookie sheet.
You can eat them warm or room temperature, but I guarantee they'll
be gone before they cool! Enjoy!

Cheesy Sausage Dip

Yesterday, I told you about our mini super bowl party, how much fun we had laughing at the silly faces the drummer of The Who was making, and all the food we ate! Today, I'm going to share the recipe for the Cheesy Sausage Dip we had because it is so super simple and incredibly delicious!

Cheesy Sausage Dip

1 package Jimmy Dean Sausage
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilies
1.5 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese

Brown Sausage in pan and drain grease. Transfer meat to crock pot, then add Rotel and cream cheese on top. Turn crock pot on low, stirring a few times until cream cheese melts and all combines together. Turn crock pot to warm and serve with tortilla chips or pita chips. Enjoy!

It is literally almost zero work, only 3 ingredients and it tastes so so yummy! We were so busy talking, eating and laughing yesterday that I only got one mediocre picture of the dip, but trust me, this is a recipe you are definitely going to want to try!

Grilled Pizza!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may remember that last week I mentioned that we were going to try to make pizza on the grill for dinner. I promised pictures of the whole process, but once it started, it went so quickly that it didn't seem possible! It was also pretty messy and I wasn't about to pick up my camera with olive oil all over my hands!

Anyway, I did get a picture of the final product!

Looks delicious, right?! TRUST ME, IT WAS!

It was super easy and super quick too! Heat your grill on high, then turn it down to medium low before you put the dough on. Stretch out your pizza dough (I bought a pound of fresh pizza dough at the deli in my supermarket) and put some olive oil on both sides. Be careful not to put too much on - when I flipped my first one onto the grill, the extra olive oil caused a flare up and completely charred one side on my pizza. (Luckily I had more dough!)

Anyway, put your dough right on the grill and close the lid. Keep your eye on it because it only takes a few minutes. When one side looks cooked, pop the air bubbles and flip the dough over. Have your toppings ready to go on the side of your grill and assemble them on the cooked side of the dough.

Close the lid to let the other side cook and your cheese melt. And voila! Grilled Pizza!

You can put whatever toppings on that you like. You can see in the photo that my hubby likes a lot of toppings, but I just put slices of fresh mozzarella, slices of tomatoes (that I grew!) and some fresh basil (that I also grew!) on mine. We both agreed that it was by far the best pizza we had ever had! And we'll definitely be making it a lot more often!

Happy grilling! :)

You want me to make what for dinner?!?

Every Sunday night, I come up with dinner ideas for the week ahead and make my grocery list. And every Monday morning, I go to the store for the week. If it's not bought on Monday, you have to wait until next week. That's just how I roll.

Last week, I was struggling to come up with dinner ideas as usual and, as usual, my hubby was not helping. So I came up with 6 ideas and begged him to, "Pleeeeease! Just come up with one more dinner idea!" And what comes out of his mouth but,
"grilled PB & J."

Say what?! I have no idea where he came up with this folks. But unbelievably, the words that came out of my mouth were, "Sure. Sounds great." Can you tell I was desperate?!

Needless to say, I let this gem of an idea linger all week, until we got to tonight and I had no other options. And this is what resulted:

It was gooey, melty, messy, and sticky. But it was also absolutely DELICIOUS! I would highly recommend making this for your kids and feeding it to them while they are sitting directly in the bath tub!! ;)

And now I'm off to wrestle with this week's menu and grocery list. I'm wondering whether I dare ask hubby for help...

Not Me! Monday!

It's Monday again, so you know the drill! It's time to confess all the things we didn't do this week. After you read about my week, head on over to MckMama's blog to read what she and everyone else have not been up to this week!

If you follow me on Twitter, you are, by now, well aware that I have not become completely obsessed with the Twilight series! I did not read all 500 pages of the first book in two afternoons. I am not falling head over heels in love with Edward and I certainly did not, even once, consider leaving my husband to marry Edward. Nope, not me!

I did not take a trip to the bookstore as soon as I finished, intending to buy the other 3 books in the series! Nope! I was definitely not disappointed to discover that Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (books 3 & 4) are not out in paperback yet, and as a result only walked away with New Moon because I'm still cheaper than I am obsessed! Nope, not me!

On a less obsessed lighter note, I did not bake a batch of the BEST cookies Saturday! My best friend made them once and I LOVED them, so I would never attempt to make them myself and risk going into a cookie coma. I have not eaten half of them by myself already! If I had, this would be the awesome recipe:

Lemon-Glazed Candied-Ginger Cookies

Cookie Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar (I only had dark brown sugar and it worked fine.)
1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger (Warning: Unless you REALLY like ginger, do not attempt to pop a piece of this delightful looking stuff in your mouth. It does not taste as good as it looks!)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Glaze
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup water

Sift flour, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture and then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together. (I noticed that the dough is really sticky so be prepared.)

Shape dough into two 1-inch-thick discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured surface (I noticed you have to flour it really good and your rolling pin because as the dough warms up it gets sticky again.) to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out 2 inch circles. Place the rounds 1/2 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate rounds for 10 minutes.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set and edges are light gold, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Which confectioners' sugar, lemon zest and juice, honey, water and a pinch of salt in a bowl until smooth. (I thought 4 cups of sugar was a ridiculously large amount and divided all of these ingredients by 4, only making a quarter of what it called for and it was just enough.) Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies. Let stand until glaze is set, at least 20 minutes. (Recipe originally from Martha Stuart)

And this is what they don't look like:

Yuuuum, right?!

And if, like me, you don't want to waste that 50 cent lemon that you barely used, you can use it to clean your microwave. Not that my microwave ever has stuck on, greasy bits in it, but if it did, I could squeeze the leftover juice in a bowl, throw in the lemon itself, fill the bowl with water, and stick it in the microwave for 5-10 minutes until it steamed up the inside. The lemony steam would make any of the stuck on bits easy to just wipe off and the microwave would smell of lemony goodness.

And then, if you still didn't want to waste that lemon, you could put it down your garbage disposal and grind it up, so that your disposal then smells of lemony goodness too!

I mean, if you had made the cookies and had the barely used lemon on hand that is! ;)

Happy Not Me! Monday, everyone!

Fun alternative...

...to pasta salad!

I just love pasta salad! Heck, I love pasta period! But a few years ago, my hubby mentioned that he like rice salad better than pasta salad. I had never heard of rice salad, and he went on to explain that they always had it growing up, and that it was just like pasta salad, only with rice instead of pasta. He didn't have a recipe, so I came up with something on my own, and it's now one of our favorites!

I made some to get in the fridge for dinner tonight, and it was just so pretty that I had to share!

Rice Salad

Prepare 2 cups of rice and cool. (We love basmati rice so that's what we always use, but I'm sure any rice would work just fine!) Chop up 1 cucumber, 1 red bell pepper, and a handful of baby carrots (or any veggies that you like). Add chopped veggies and 1 can of drained chick peas to the cooled rice. Add Good Seasons Italian dressing (or your favorite Italian dressing) to your desired wetness. (I tried adding my own mix of herbs and spices, oil and vinegar, but we like Good Seasons better. *My secret, I always use apple cider vinegar to make ours instead of regular vinegar.*) Chill and enjoy! :)

It's super easy and super colorful and absolutely delicious on a hot day!

Potato Cheese Soup

It was a cold, dark, rainy day here yesterday, so we thought it would be a good night for some warm, cheesy, starchy goodness for dinner. This is one of our favorite soups so I thought I'd share the recipe with you since I've noticed some of you got *eek* snow yesterday!

Looks yummy right?!

Potato Cheese Soup

3-4 tablespoons of butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 large garlic clove, minced
4-5 large red potatoes, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken stock (You can substitute water or vegetable stock. I haven't tried water, but personally, I find that the vegetable stock makes the soup too sweet.)
1 teaspoon dried dill
4 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, saute onions and garlic in butter until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and carrots. Saute 5-10 minutes longer. Add the stock or water and dill. Use a wooden spoon to get up all the little brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender.

Puree about half of the vegetables with the milk and cream cheese in a blender or food processor. (We like ours a little thicker and less chunky, so we puree about 3/4 of the vegetables. You could also puree all the vegetables if you wanted.) Return to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cheddar cheese and reheat gently.

Serve by itself or with a nice crusty loaf of bread. (We like multi-grain!)

Enjoy :)

Pesto...YUM!

We had a very yummy dinner last night and I just had to share it with all of you!

It's super simple. Boil 1 pound of bow tie pasta (use whole wheat pasta if you want it to be a little healthier). While the pasta is cooking, cut 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes in half. Cube 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese. Gently warm 1 cup of pesto. If you have a favorite pesto recipe you can make your own, you can buy the pesto pre-made, or you can use a packet of dry pesto mix (like Knorr's) and just add water and oil. When the pasta is done, drain and mix everything together. And voila!

Dinner is done in the time it takes to boil some pasta! If you want you could even add some cubed, grilled chicken. Enjoy :)

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Oh, and by the way, I did not forget about the GIVEAWAY I promised! It's just taking a little longer than I expected to come to fruition. I promise it's coming very, very soon! You're not going to want to miss out on this!