Zesty Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad

Southwestern Chicken pasta salad

·        1lb rotini or penne pasta, cooked, drained and cooled

·        1 lbs cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces

·        1 red bell pepper, diced

·        1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

·        1 can sweet corn, drained

·        3 stalks celery, finely diced

·        6 green onions, sliced

·        1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped roughly

·        1 c sour cream

·        1 c mayonnaise

·        1 pkg taco seasoning.

·        Lime wedges (for garnish)


Combine sour cream, mayonnaise and taco seasoning in small bowl  and allow to sit in fridge for 30min. Combine pasta, chicken, corn, black beans, celery, red pepper, green onions, and celery in large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add dressing, if mixture appear dry add some additional mayonnaise and fold in cilantro. Garnish with a wedge of lime which can be squeezed on for brightness and acidity.

another new yum yum!

I've lamented before how much I LOVE Tasty Kitchen from The Pioneer Woman's blog! Seemingly no matter how busy I get or how tired I am I swing by there every day and just look at the most recent recipes submitted. This has been so fun for me because I find new recipes to try to keep our meals fresh and exciting but its also allowed me to abolish all cake/brownie mix from my life and make frosting my husband doesn't think is disgusting. I found this recipe for Honey Curry Chicken awhile back and I've made it several times now! We enjoy it every time. Most of the recipes I find I tweak to make my own I'm notorious for adding extra vegetation to boost the nutritional value of things. Aren't recipes just a guideline?? LOL In school I think I heard that Cooks follow recipes and Chef's create them... I'll consult recipes but by and large I wing most everything I cook...

Honey Curry Chicken... My WAY! .
2 large chicken breasts or 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 c (1 stick) melted butter ( I have subbed apple sauce for 1/2 the butter someday I want to try using coconut oil.)
1/2 c Honey
1/4 c Yellow Mustard (like French's)
1 heaping Tbsp Curry Powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 red and green bell pepper, julienned
1-2 potato, peeled and cubed
1/4 lb baby carrots, cut in half
1/2 cup frozen peas

Preheat oven to 350. Pre-cook the carrots and potatoes allowing to parboil for 10-15 min until tender. Place chicken into baking pan. Melt butter, stir in honey, mustard, curry powder and salt. put peppers and drained potatoes, carrots and frozen peas in pan with chicken and pour sauce over everything, stir to combine. Bake for 45min-1hr stir halfway through. Serve with rice.

Yummy Yummy.... This is good with bone in chicken also but my hubby prefers boneless most of the time. :) My little dude gobbles this up he really loves the curry rice! :)

What Gobles GOBBLED!

I do mean gobbled! These are sooo delish! I love sweet potato fries and have since I tasted them for the first time while living in Oregon! If they're on a menu I'll order them! I've come to love almost all things sweet potato so long as you keep the marshmallows away! I can't stand marshmallow on sweet potatoes. Sadly, I know thats the only way most people will eat them. ANYWAYS I kind of have this strict all fries and/or tater tot type items must be fried or there horrible so we don't eat fries at home alot. The other night tho I was feeling lazy didn't wanna drag out the fryer and use all that oil etc etc so I thought well I'll give em a shot in the oven just to see if they come out limp and lifeless they're still delicious yummy sweet potato right? :) Well the fabulous news is they're FABULOUS Baked just as good as when fried and BETTER cuz they're better for us that way :) They were crisp and just perfect! This is good news because summer is here which means we eat lighter fare sandwiches salads and stuff and these are a quick acceptable side dish that I don't feel guilty about! Hooray!

FATBURGER!!!

Steve and I recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary of the day we met which for all intents and purposes is the day we started this whole journey of life together... We saw each other every day after that until I went to Texas in 2007. I can't believe its been 5 years and I mean that in a good way! We decided to forgo the usual "recreate our first date" date and just do what we could do... So we decided to go try Fatburger the new place that recently opened in town. Whenever Steve and I try a new place we plan we look at the menu online we talk about what we're gonna order etc... We're foodies what can I say? I'm sure it seems very silly to some people but it adds to the thrill for us! It was wonderful and we're glad we did it. We learned a few things for next time that will save us some money without taking away from the overall experience. Steve wrote this top 10 list about the experience.

Top 10 reasons to eat at Fatburger

1. Bacon (was perfect, not stringy and great flavor)
2. Chili (reminds me of home, not too spicy. Deaira used steak fries like a spoon to eat it!)
3. Fried Egg (don’t be a wuss, try it!)
4. Onion Rings (super crunchy and salty FTW)
5. Chocolate Shake (tried a sip of Deaira’s, wow. Thick rich creamy VERY decadent!)
6. Steak fries or regular fries (go with the steaks)
7. Table side Refill service (never had to get up from the table)
8. The works (order everything they offer in one word)
9. Be picky (A.K.A customize with no hassle)
10. Burger size (the Large was massive!!!!)
Fatburger... We'll be back... We'll spend less money but we'll leave in less pain! The milkshake was amazing. The memory of that chili still makes my taste buds hum and my only regret about the burger was the relish.

sleepless night to hearty breakfast... :)

Sometimes its hard to share a bed with my boys... especially since one of them wakes me up every 3 hours to eat. I struggle to find a comfy spot cuddled between them sometimes which doesn't lend itself to good sleep lately. The other night I was laying in bed and this idea came to me... I had this can of peaches I had oatmeal I could have BREAKFAST! This is really simple to throw together and I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this and I probably won't be the last but considering its been my breakast the last 3 days I'm not going to complain... I love that it went together in about 5 min. Jeriah enjoyed it and that means a lot some days I don't eat until 2pm it seems so something I could throw together like this is soo valuable to me! Its really warm and soothing big juicy bursts of peaches in spicy warm oatmeal. Sadly, I've run out of brown sugar and peaches but I'm going shopping this weekend :)

Peach Cobbler Oatmeal
1 1/2 c water
3/4 c oatmeal, quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 c sliced peaches (can or jar, I only used teh fruit not the liquid)
1 heaping Tbsp Brown sugar
drop or 2 of vanilla
dash of cinnamon

Combine water and oatmel in microwave safe bowl and cook for 3-4 min. when finished stir in Peaches (I like to cut the slices in half), brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Give it a good stir and enjoy!

New Family Favorite!!

Everyday I look at one or more foodie blogs or website. Everyday I probably watch 2-3 cooking shows on TV I amass quite a few recipes on a daily basis.... For the longest time I never really made any of them but recently that "Meatloaf again?" feeling hit us so I dug into my folder and started unearthing some NEW things.

This Recipe for Moroccan Chicken with Cous Cous has definitely been added to the rotation! I found this recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/ This is one of my most favorite sites to troll for recipes. Some hits some misses but I have never made a recipe of Pioneer Woman's that was not a HUGE success in this house!

I made it and we both really liked everything about it except the chicken I used Chicken Breasts instead of the chicken thighs it called for but we loved everything else about it! The veggies the garbanzo beans but we especially loved the spices. There is this beautiful harmony between the cinnamon and the tomato that is sooo unexpected and amazing. We think this would even be delicious as a vegetarian dinner which we might try sometime. I think it could also easily be made gluten free by using quinoa instead of cous cous. You'd add even more nutritious protein that way! This is a great one pot kind of meal too with a salad you're all set. It really delivers a lot of nutritional bang which makes me happy. This probably makes 4 good size servings. Steve and I always eat it for dinner then happily eat more for lunch the next day.

Tonight due to our disappointment with the chicken version we thought we'd try it with ground beef and it was a HUGE success Jeriah even ate up the squash and tomato. So Here's the recipe with my changes.

Moroccan Beef with Cous Cous (if you wanna be exotic it would be divine with ground Lamb!)

• 2 T Olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 whole onion, sliced or chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole red and green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1-2 whole zucchini, chopped ( I used yellow squash with equal success)
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 ts black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 15 oz can Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 Cups chicken stock
• 1 1/4 c cous cous
• 2 t oil oil or butter for cous cous

In a large deep skillet brown your ground beef, drain and set aside. Add Olive oil and cook onions til soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Add chopped peppers and zucchini cooking another minute or so. Add Cinnamon, Cumin and coriander to vegetables and stir until fragrant. Pour in chicken stock and tomatoes, stir to combine. Add salt pepper and sugar stir. Return cooked beef to pan and allow to simmer 20 min or until sauce has thickened. Season to taste.

In a saucepan bring 2 cups on stock to a boil add cous cous and stir. Remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let sit for 5-10min until liquid is absorbed. Fluff cous cous with a fork and drizzle in olive oil.

Delightful casserole...

When I was a kid whenever there was a church potluck... Whenever someone had a baby or surgery and the church ladies rallied to provide meals my Mom made this casserole! I liked it always and I was craving it awhile back so I asked her for the recipe. It makes a TON of food so you'll need a big casserole dish or use 2 panss. Its perfect for sharing you can keep half and give half away. Its an easy to cook recipe with ingredients straight from the pantry! I added the can of beans just to boost the nutitional bang. I dunno that its particularly Italian as its title implies but it sure is a tasy mix of yummy things! It reminds me of Fall warm and comforting...

Italian Delight
1 lb. ground beef
1 med onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 can corn
1 8oz sliced mushrooms
1 15 oz cans tomato sauce
2 4 oz cans sliced olives
1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 lb pasta (elbow or shells work well)

Brown meat and onion add green pepper, garlic, oregano, cumin. Salt and pepper to taste. Add corn, mushrooms, tomato sauce, olives, beans and cheese. Mix corn mixture with boiled macaroni. Put in casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. YUMMY!!