fresh guacamole

I have been meaning to put this recipe here for months now!

I am finally getting around to it today...

On our 15th wedding anniversary Brett & I went to San Antonio, Texas & ate at the most fabulous restaurant on the river walk. There they served guacamole that was freshly made at your table. It was LIFE CHANGING. Neither of us were huge guacamole lovers until this moment.

I've been making a copy of it ever since!

the ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1/2 orange

1/2 lime

1 roma tomato diced

2-3 Tbsp. onion diced (preferably red- but I didn't have a red one here)

2-3 Tbsp. salsa

chopped cilantro to taste ( I really love cilantro so I add a lot)

kosher salt & pepper

Dice the avocado to the desired size & place in a bowl.

Add freshly squeezed juice of both the lime & orange; stir gently.

(the juice is hardly noticeable, but then makes all the difference... how is that possible? It's true, trust me!)

Next, gently add the rest of the ingredients then- salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with chips or on tacos- whatever you like.
Seriously this is so good & so easy.
I always double & sometimes triple recipe.

granola

Anyone that knows me well

knows that I'm not a health food kind of person.

I am a whole food kind of person.

I love to cook & I love real food made from scratch.

I always have.

Recently I have been so inspired by

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

that I have really thought long & hard about what I am feeding my family.

SO....

I feel really good about making my own homemade

(no preservatives included)

granola for breakfast this week.

This Granola is

not low fat

is not low in sugar

It's just wholesome, good, real food.

I hope my family loves it- let me know if you try it too!

My recipe for granola is adapted from this one at allrecipes.com- (I love this website.) I looked through a lot of recipes before I settled on this one for a base.

4 cups of whole rolled oats

1 1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup of rough chopped pecans

1/2 cup of rough chopped almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix the first five ingredients in a big bowl. Mix the rest together & drizzle over the granola. Use your hands & really get it mixed/smooshed in. Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper then spread the granola on it. Place in the oven & cook for 40 minutes for really crispy granola stirring once half way through.

When it's done- carefully remove the parchment paper & granola onto cooling racks. Cool completely & store in an airtight container.

Serve over yogurt, or in a bowl with milk.

Other mix-ins to try:

shredded coconut (I'm adding this for sure next time)

raisins

dried cherries, blueberries, bananas- whatever dried fruit you like.

If you really want to get crazy- add yogurt covered raisins after it has cooled.

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Rice Casserole

 I got this recipe from a new cooking blog(Picky Palate)tthat I found.   She has some fun yummy recipes so check it out.   This casserole was a HUGE hit and both my boys keep asking when we are going to have it again.  My Mom has already shared it with people at her work and could not find it on our cooking blog yet so here it finally is.

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Rice Casserole

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

½ lb diced ham

2 Cups cooked shredded chicken breast

4 Tablespoons butter

¼ Cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

14 oz can chicken broth

3 Cups cooked rice of choice (I used white long grain)

1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Cup shredded mozzarella or swiss cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat oil into a large 5 qt rimmed skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, ham and chicken. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Melt butter then stir in flour, salt and pepper until combined. Slowly stir in chicken broth until well combined. Stir in cooked rice then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cover the dish with foil the last 10 minutes for oozing cheese.

6-8 servings

Broccoli Salad

This salad is a family favorite and is easy to make and full of lots of yummy things. (This picture is minus the dressing. )

1.5 lbs of broccoli tops
2-3 c cabbage chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1 c raisins or crasins
10 strips of cooked bacon crumbled
1 c. sunflower seeds (optional)

Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dressing

1.c  mayo
1/4c. sugar
1 T vinegar

Stir together and add to salad right before serving.

The MOST AMAZING Sugar Cookies

 My friends and I went to a taping of Good Things Utah this past week.  Kneader's (a local bakery) came on the show and made these yummy sugar cookies.   They did not give us any to sample and I have been craving these cookies ever since.....I am a HUGE sugar cookie lover! They did give us the recipe so I decided to  try them out and WOW they were AMAZING!!!!

Go here for the recipe:
http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/recipes/story/Kneaders-Sugar-Cookies/tE2aCurRMU6kN_GXt_f8Qw.cspx

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

I found a new cooking blog(check it out) that I LOVE!!   She has a ton of really yummy recipes.  Here is one that I tired last night!  The light in my kitchen stinks so sorry about the picture. 
Cheesy Chicken Lasagna
2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk (not fat-free)
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked (I recommend reducing it to 8 oz to 12 oz)
1 1/2 to  2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 to  2 C mozzarella cheese, grated
Cook the chicken and noodles first at the same time. Once noodles are done–rinse in cold water and set aside (it keeps them from sticking together). Combine evaporated milk (don’t use fat-free version) and Ranch dressing in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes (don’t do any less), stirring frequently. Layer half of lasagna noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in well-buttered 9×13 pan. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

I had some left over chicken from Sunday dinner and scanned through my recipe book and I found this recipe that I tore out of a magazine last year.   I am really bad about finding new recipes then never trying them but today I tired this one and it was a HUGE hit at my house.

1 1/2 cups penne pasta uncooked
1 pkg (9oz) fresh spinach leaves(I left this out since I was out of spinach)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces( I used leftover chicken)
1 t dried basil
1 jar (14.5 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes drained
2 oz cream cheese cubed
1 c  grated mozzarella cheese
2 T grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook pasta, adding spinach to boiling water for the last minute.   Cook and stir chicken and basil in large skillet on medium heat for 3 minutes.  Add sauce and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 3 min or until chicken is done.  Stir in cream cheese.   Drain Pasta mixture return to pan.  Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 c mozzarella cheese.  Spoon into 2 qt baking dish.   Bake for 20 min.  Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and bake for 3 more minutes.

cranberry chicken

Last night I made this for dinner-
{photo from Kraft foods}

It was GReat!
REally fast, easy, moist chicken---
I served it with rice & used jellied cranberry sauce not whole.
My family loved it.
I found the recipe out of Kraft Foods Magazine
You can find it online here

pumpkin cream cheese muffins

I made these last weekend & they were SO GOOD. They are really similar to the ones at Starbucks--- I love those--- I got the recipe here, but changed it up a bit. I cooked mine according to the original directions (at 375) and they got a little too done for my taste so I changed the temp. here. Also- they made 24 muffins! Trent had a great time taking them around to the neighbors. Enjoy!

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar

4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped pecans

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.
For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.
Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

ginger snaps

don't let these seemingly boring cookies fool you...

the are fabulous!! I got the recipe from a college friend. One taste & I was hooked.

They don't snap- no, no they are soft & yummy & taste like fall.

My kids love them & so do I.

Try a something new- You'll thank me- really!

Cream together:

1 Cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup butter softened

1 egg

Wish or stir together:

2 Cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

Mix creamed & dry ingredients. Roll into 1" balls & then roll the balls in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes. Cool for a minute or two; then transfer to a cooling rack.