Healthy Summer Salad

First off, let's give credit where credit is due. I stole this from Amanda's cookin, and I would do it again because this salad is a good find. The only thing I might change is the cheese next time. I liked the smoked gouda, but I wouldn't mind switching it up either. So if you want to impress your friends, try it!

Summer Vegetable Quinoa Salad

1 15-oz can chicken broth
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1 medium cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 package grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup diced smoked gouda cheese
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, packed (I didn't have this and it was still yummy)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mayonnaise
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, about 4 turns

Directions:
Cook quinoa in chicken broth by bringing to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes covered. Remove from heat and cool completely. I placed in fridge while preparing the rest.In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil, both vinegars and mayonnaise. Add salt to taste and pepper. Whisk to combine. Pour half of dressing over remaining ingredients and taste before adding more. Chill in fridge for at least two hours before serving. This was great the next day and the next! Serve and enjoy!

Grilled Romaine Hearts

Summer is for grilling. At least it is at my house. When it is 115 degrees outside, using the stove or oven seems like suicide. We often do the usual grilled steak or chicken, some fresh fruit of a sort, and a starch or grain. I found this little recipe in the Parade newspaper insert. I thought it tasted fresh with the lemon and warm crisp of the lettuce. I will say my husband did not care for it: "This is different, I don't know about warm lettuce!"

Ingredients:
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. worcesteshire
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs. freshly grated paremesan cheese
Olive oil spray
2 hearts of Romaine lettuce

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, Worcesteshire, and pepper. Stir in the parmesan cheese.

Preheat the grill over medium-high heat. Oil the grill's surface. Remove any wilted outer leaves from the hearts, then cut the hearts lenghthwise down the middle leaving the ends intact so each half holds together.Spray them lightly with oilive oil spray.

Grill until grill marks from and the lettuce wilts slightly, about 6 minutes turning once or twice. Serve drizzled with above vinaigrette. Yum!

Hawaiian French Toast

If you have recently had french toast for breakfast your stomach is going to hide into the furthest corner of your abdomen in shame after reading this. French toast will never be the same again after adding coconut to its mixture. As Emmeril Lagasse would say: "let's kick it up a notch!" Hawaiian style.

Basically you need this:



and this:



Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup coconut creamer
10 to 12 slices Kings Hawaiian Bread sliced rather thick
maple syrup or other syrup (can you imagine the possibilities with this recipe?)

Directions:

whisk or blend just slightly all the ingredients together except the bread. Place a little butter or oil in your pan or griddle. Dunk bread in mixture and cook both sides on medium heat to your liking making sure the egg is cooked. top with butter and your favorite syrup. Serve and enjoy!

My Pretties

Ok, so maybe they aren't that pretty to you, but to me this ugly old jar full of homemade processed jam is so pretty to me. Whenever I make something like homemade jelly I feel truly happy. It only resulted in about 4 jars, but I open my pantry every day and stare at them with such pride. I will never be a great chef or gourmet cook, but I will always try. I often fail, but I can't say I never tried and that is truly satisfying.

Strawberries and raspberries have been on sale lately. Stock up and make some of this delicious jam!

Ingredients:
4 cups crushed strawberries
1 cup crushed raspberries (raspberries were not on sale, but blackberries were, the substitution was tasty if you ask me)
2 Tbs lime juice
package of pectin
4 cups sugar

Directions:
Mix strawberries, raspberries & lime juice. Gradually
stir in pectin. Bring to a full roiling boil that cannot be
stirred down over high heat, stirring constantly.
Add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return to full boil. Boil
hard for a full minute stirring constantly. Remove from
heat. Ladle into jars & process in boiling water canner
for 15 min.

Serve and enjoy or just stare at them each day for one hour like I do.

German Chocolate Cake with Cheesecake Center

This is a classic with a twist. It is mostly easy and very delicious!

Ingredients for the cake:
1 box of German Chocolate Cake mix
4 eggs (not kidding) plus whatever the cake mix needs
2 pkgs of cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:
Mix cake mix as directed. In another bowl blend cream cheese, eggs, and sugar. Grease 9 x 13 pan and pour in 1/2 cake mix, then cream cheese mixture, and top with remaining cake mix. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool before frosting.

For Frosting:
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Combine in sauce pan sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Fold in coconut and pecans. Pour and spread over cake. Serve and enjoy! It won't last long!



Before the frosting makeover ( I shaved off the uneven parts for an even topping)


After!

Thai Chicken Pasta

Wowie! Where have I been? Well to answer that I should be sharing a recipe with sugar and spice and everything nice because I am now the proud mother of a darling baby girl. The nursery has been filled and so have our hearts. For a while there, our bellies were neglected. However, I am back in the kitchen and ready for summer dishes. This turned out to be pretty tasty if I do say so myself. My complaint is it was more sweet teriyaki tasting than Thai, but we loved it anyway.

Thai Chicken Pasta

3/4 Pkg of fettuccine noodles cooked
1 pound of chicken breasts
1 cup snow peas
1 cup carrots sliced thin

For the Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut oil
juice of one lime
1 clove of garlic minced
3 TBS of spiced ginger (the tube in the produce section )
3 TBS peanut butter (I used more to taste)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together. Pound the chicken into flatter pieces and place in ziplock bag. Poor sauce over the chicken leaving about 1/3 cup reserved for later. Place chicken in fridge for an hour or longer to marinade. Grill chicken basting a little more sauce over each piece. While chicken is cooking, cook pasta. Put the snow peas and carrots in the boiling water with the pasta in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and add diced chicken to pasta and veggies. Add remaining sauce if more flavor is desired. I used about 2 more additional tablespoon of sauce stirred into mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Take a Peek at the Nursery!

BEFORE:


I loved the red white and black. I still do, but am also really excited to add some fun patterns and most of all, PINK!



AFTER:


I wish my camera didn't suck so much so you could really see the colors. An amazing seamstress in AZ made the bumper and changing pad cover. I found the cardboard letter 'k' and covered it with pink paint. I then mod podged some of the leftover fabric from the bumper and added a few accents. The pom poms in the corner are from Martha Stewart. Darn her and her creativity! Finally, my favorite is the tu tu bed skirt. I simply tied tulle to a long ribbon and then used Velcro to attach it to the wooden bed frame.














NOW I JUST NEED A BABY! LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!