Poppyseed Salad

Whoa...it's been a long time! My hard drive crashed, so I blame that for lack of posting.  Sisters??? What is your excuse?  Ha!

I tried this salad at a bbq at my mom's house and it is so easy and so good. 

Poppyseed Coleslaw Salad

1 bag coleslaw (Fresh Express is my favorite kind)
Brianna's Home Style Poppy Seed Dressing
Honey Roasted Peanuts

Not really my picture, I got it off Google Images...but it looks like this when it is done.

Okay so you mix it all together.  Simple huh?  I don't like it really thick with dressing, so I just put enough to coat it.  I love peanuts, so I put two handfuls in.  It really is delicious!

Easy Potato Chowder

Well, since the weather here isn't getting any warmer and it still seems like winter, I thought

I'd post a comfort food for those cold winter nights... Easy Potato Chowder. 

Easy AND yummy!

3 cups skim milk

1 can (10 oz) condensed cream of potato soup

2 cups frozen hashbrowns (cubes)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

-Mix milk and soup in large saucepan.  Stir

in hashbrowns.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to

medium-low; simmer 10 minutes.  Ladle soup into

bowl (or bread bowl) and sprinkle

cheese, bacon, and onions on top. 

Green Chile Goodness

Okay Lara Here, The youngest of the sisters.   Well I am not one that follows recipes or anything so my directions are going to be a like a pinch of this, a dab of that... i'll try and clarify more... but we'll see how it works out. OH and my meals usually make for 2... so make more or less or which ever.

Okay so I'm trying to eat as healthy as I can so here is what this meal needs:

Spinach
an avacado
3 roma tomatoes
1 onion
garlic powder
lime juice
Splenda or sugar
Chicken tenderloins
Chicken bullion cubes
shredded cheese
Salad Dressing
2 cans of Green Chiles diced
a pepper of choice
green verde salsa
Black beans


OKay to start off i make the salsa.  I dice the three tomatoes, the pepper and about 1/4 cup of onions. mix it all together in a bowl and then sprinkle maybe a tablespoon or two of splenda, a teaspoon of lime juice and then a little dash of Garlic powder (or use real garlic) also i think some some Cilantro would be good but.. i didnt have any.

OKay in a sauce pot i opened two cans of the green chile, put in 2 chicken bulion cubes, and about a cup of water. let it start to simmer.  add about 1/4 cup of chopped onions and about 2 table spoons of splenda/sugar and add a dash of galic

Grill the chicken (5 tenderloins) and then cut up cooked chicken throw in the green chile mix put at a simmer and ad a little bit more water.

Okay on a plate, put spinach on with black beans.  put some pieces of cut avocado mixed in and then  go back to the chicken and it should be mixed with onions tender.  Add the Chicken on top of the beans on the salad then add the salsa topped with a little shredded cheese and then i chose to put a little ranch on top with more lime.   Ad the Salsa Verde to as you choose.

It was Wonderful!!! mmm mm mmmmm

Lava Flows

Last week marked the one year anniversary of our last trip to Hawaii. 

Such great memories!  And one of the memories that we have tried to recreate is this yummy treat!

It took me a couple of tries, but I think I finally got it pretty close to the real thing.

Enjoy!!!

*3 oz of pina colada syrup
*1 cup of ice
*1 cup vanilla ice cream
*whipped cream

*1 1/2 cups strawberry puree
(I made my own strawberry puree

by blending 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries,

a little bit of water, a splash of lemon juice and

about 1/3-1/2 cup of sugar)

-Make the strawberry puree in blender first if you need to.

-In a blender, blend the pina colada syrup, ice

 and ice cream. Pour into glasses and

garnish with strawberry purree.

-Top with whip cream. 

(You can add some sprite to the lava flow if you want a little kick to it,

because the "real"

lava flows have rum added to it.  We add the Sprite sometimes and this is good either way.)

Mrs. Dash Pasta

This is so easy and we love it at our house.  The hardest part is cooking the chicken and the noodles.  The rest? A cinch. 


Mrs. Dash Pasta 


3 cooked chicken breasts (I used chicken tenderloins, I like them better.) cut up
Angel hair pasta, cooked
Steamed Vegetables (I used the steamer packs, so much easier)
2 tbs Olive oil
Mrs. Dash original spice
Shredded Parmesean cheese
Hot pepper flakes (optional)

Put olive oil in frying pan.  Warm on middle-high heat.  Throw in cooked chicken to brown a bit.  Then toss in pasta and vegetables.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of Mrs. Dash.  Cook together for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toss in shredded parmesean

Cook a little longer.  Probably around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve and enjoy. 

Garlic Shrimp and Vegetables

One of our favorite dinners.  So easy.  Don't be afraid of frozen shrimp. They are super easy to cook with! A note about frozen shrimp.  It usually says it is deveined, which it totally is.  That just means the the largest vein is taken out.  It also means that the inside vein, which is much smaller, is left in.  Some people choose to take that out, some people leave it.  I think it depends on the size of the shrimp.  Smaller shrimp are cheaper, so this recipe used the smaller shrimp, so I didn't devein it.  With really large shrimp, I do.  Either way, you can't really tell a difference, but I just thought you should know.

Second, many sources say to never thaw shrimp under cool water.  Thaw it in the fridge.  I agree, but I also must confess that if I am in a hurry, I thaw it under running cool water.  It has worked for me, but if experts say not to, you probably shouldn't.  And now to the recipe:


Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp, as many as you would like, but note that they do shrink when you cook them.
Olive Oil
Garlic

Pour about 3 Tbsp olive oil in a nice skillet on medium-high heat. (Olive oil isn't supposed to get too hot and shouldn't smoke.)
Let oil heat up a bit.
Put 1 Tbsp minced garlic in the oil (I use more, because I LOVE garlic)
Brown the garlic in the oil for about 2 minutes
Put thawed shrimp in oil.

Shrimp cooks rather fast.  When it turns pink on both sides, it should be done.  However, for this recipe, I keep it in a little bit longer.  The garlic, oil and shrimp all brown up just right and it turns out sooooo yummy.

Vegetables:
1 bag steamer vegetables
put in microwave and cook according to directions
(tough huh? :) )


Plate shrimp and vegetables together.  Soooo good, and low fat/calories.  Yummy!

Spaghetti Squash

Brent and I love Spaghetti squash.  I like it plain, with a little butter, salt and pepper.  But it is also very good with Spaghetti Sauce on top.

We bought one last week that was 99 cents a pound.  The total was 1.19 and it lasted 3-4 meals.  Very easy and very delicious.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the squash, especially around the stems.

Stab the squash with a knife while making the 'Psycho' movie sounds.

Put in oven, right on the rack.

Set the timer for 1 hour.

Pull out the squash with oven mitts.

Let the squash cool a bit, or if you are brave, use your oven mitts while it is hot.

Cut the squash in half the long way.  Scoop out the seeds and the squash guts (the stuff in the middle that is usually a darker yellow/orange. )

Be careful not to throw away the part you eat!

Scoop out the sides and the squash should easily fall apart into noodle like strands.

Put a little butter, salt and pepper on it and YUMMMO!

Soft Sugar Cookies

I always struggle with cookies...too hard, too flat, etc.  These are perfect.  They taste like those big pink frosted cookies you can buy from the vending machines.  You know the ones.  Yummy. 

1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 Tbs milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour
powdered sugar frosting (I bought mine, just so much easier)

Beat butter with electric mixer until smooth.  Add sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat until combined.  Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much flour as you can with a mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Divide dough in half, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut dough into shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned.  Place on wire rack and let cool.  Frost. 

A few tips:  use room temperature butter, not melted or hard butter.  Frosting can be easily made, but store bought is sometimes so much easier.  Do not over cook, or they will be too hard. 

Tortilla Chips

This is just an easy, more healthy option for tortilla chips.  You could do so many things with it- add salt or garlic or chili powder or cumin or cinnamon and sugar... the possibilities are endless.

Here's the super duper easy recipe:

Corn Tortillas

-Cut the tortillas into eighths.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Spray with cooking spray and add your seasonings.
-Bake at 350* for 15-18 minutes, until crisp. 

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

I tried this today for the Superbowl.  My house smells amazing and the end product? OH SO GOOD!


1 egg white
1 teaspoon cold water
2 cups whole almonds
3 Tbs white sugar
3 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  Beat the egg white and water until frothy with a whisk in a medium size bowl.  Add the almonds, and stir until well coated.  Mix the sugars, salt, and cinnamon and sprinkle over the almonds until they are well coated.  Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. 

Roast the almonds for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so.  Allow to cool, then store in an airtight containers.