{recetas} Trail Mix

The first week back to school was a tough one. As a teacher, I know I am incredibly blessed with the schedule that I have. Summer. Winter Break. Spring Break. I am lucky, and I know it. But, that doesn't make the rest of the year any easier. The hours are long, and the demands are high. And it's easy to forget what it is like to wake up at 5 when you get a two week break from work!

But we made it through, and we're on to week 3 of being back at school. Thankfully, our sleep schedule has gotten back on track (thanks, Kid!) We are back into the routine of school and daycare and life is good. The yawns are plentiful, but life is good.

One of my goals this year is to be quite prepared in the food department. I'll be really good at meal and snack planning for a couple of weeks, and then we will fall off the wagon. Hubs will stop for lunch at McDonald's or Chipotle. I'll run to the gas station before work for some midday snacks. In hopes to eliminate my many gas station stops, I decided to make a huge (and I mean HUGE!) batch of trail mix.

We have a favorite mix from Target that includes peanut butter chips, and it's quite expensive for a small jar. I went to the local Mills' Fleet Farm to grab the supplies for cheap. If you don't know what Fleet Farm is, let me just tell you that it is an amazing store. You can find just about everything you need at Fleet Farm--shoes, clothes, office supplies, camping gear, farm supplies, the list goes on. It's one of the best places to get nuts and baking supplies, too.

What you need:

• 1 lb raisins
• 12 oz. chocolate chips (I got milk chocolate)
• 12 oz. peanut butter chips
• 1 lb peanuts
• 1 lb M&Ms (they're called Choco-Buttons at Fleet Farm)

What you do:

• Pour all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Use a spatula to stir. To be extra-fancy, pour the ingredients in a little at a time: half a bag of raisins, some chocolate chips, some M&Ms, etc. I just went for it. Dumped each bag in one at a time.
• Anyway. Stir. Again, to be fancy, use a funnel to pour your trail mix into your storage container. I got extra-large glass jars at Target a year ago that had been sitting empty. They were the perfect size.
• If you aren't fancy (like me) make a "funnel" out of a gallon freezer bag by cutting off one of the corners. Use that to pour the mix into the jars. Or, just store it in the freezer bag. Lots of options. It's up to you.
• Finally, enjoy the trail mix by the handful. It really is delicious.
• Oh! Another thing I did. Kid loves to eat whatever we eat, but I am a little nervous about him eating peanuts and M&Ms (choking hazards). I took a half cup of raisins, a quarter cup of peanut butter chips, and a quarter cup of chocolate chips and made him his own jar of "trail mix." He LOVES it, and he thinks he's pretty cool eating trail mix with mom and dad.

{recetas} Shrimp & Rice Noodle Soup

It's winter here in Minnesota. We finally have the snow to prove it. My crock pot and Dutch oven have been used enough to claim that winter is here in full force as well. They've been most frequented by soups, a true sign of fall and winter.

Today's soup is inspired by one of my favorite dishes. Pad Thai. I absolutely adore pad Thai. I found two local restaurants that serve a mean pad Thai. Sadly, they don't deliver. But the Shrimp & Rice Noodle soup is a good stand in.

I know I mentioned this exact thing in my last recipe, but the Hubs loves my Shrimp & Noodle Soup. He even said, "Not to say that your other stuff is bad, but the last three new recipes you've made have been amazing." Score one more for me! And, I had this delightful helper in the kitchen. Quite frankly, he is always in the kitchen with me.

What you need:

• 1 pound shrimp, raw
• 64 ounces chicken broth
• 6 tablespoons Tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1.25 teaspoons sriracha
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 0.5 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 0.5 cup peanuts, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 0.5 cup julienne carrots
• 8 ounces rice noodles
• salt
• ground ginger

What you do:

• Melt one tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Crack the two eggs into the pan and scramble them. When they're done, set them aside in a small dish.
• Heat the olive oil in your soup pot and cook the minced garlic for a minute or two. Add the chicken broth, fish sauce, sriracha, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.
• While waiting for the broth to boil, prepare your shrimp by taking all of the tails off and placing the shrimp in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of salt, along with the ground ginger. Heat the last tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and cook the shrimp over medium heat.
• When the broth is boiling, add the rice noodles and carrots to the pot and cook according to package directions. The rice noodles I buy need to be stirred frequently and boiled for 4 to 6 minutes. I taste them around the 5 minute mark to make sure they're done to my liking.
• When the noodles are done, you can add the egg and shrimp to the pot and serve right away. Or, you can have a "build your own" soup bar, which is how it happens at my house. We use a salad tongs to place noodles in each bowl, then allow each person to add their own egg, shrimp, and crushed peanuts. Then, we use a ladle to add broth to the bowl.

{recetas} Beef & Broccoli

Oh. Em. Gee, folks. I made the best dinner last night.

Take-out worthy beef and broccoli. It was delicious! Kid gobbled it up and the Hubs said we should have it more often. Win-win, in my book.

This is kind of a multi-step process, but it's quick and all of the steps are easy.

First things first, the rice. This meal is best served over rice and I find it best to use the rice cooker. You could also use instant rice, but rice cooker rice is so much better!

What you need (for the rice):

• 2 cups rice
• chicken broth (enough to cover the rice, up to the first knuckle on your pointer finger...scientific, I know)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• OR! Instant white rice

What you do (for the rice):

• If you are like us, go to your ice cream bucket of frozen rice and scoop 2 cups into the rice cooker.
• Pour the chicken stock over the rice. Here comes the scientific part. Stick your pointer finger into the pot until you touch the bottom. If the stock comes up to the first knuckle joint, you're good to go!
• Sprinkle in your garlic powder and ground ginger. Both of these are in the beef and broccoli sauce if you want to omit them from your rice. I just like to add an extra little zip.
• Or, you can skip those three steps and make some instant rice. That's up to you.

Okay, part two. Multi-step, you know. We're gettin' fancy up in these parts!

What you need (for the beef and broocoli):

• a flank steak
• a head of broccoli
• 2/3 cup tamari sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (yep, I buy my garlic pre-minced)
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

What you do (for the beef and broccoli):

• Boil water in a medium-sized pot. While this is boiling, whisk together tamari sauce, honey, chicken stock, sesame oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and corn starch. I don't know about you, I like to measure all of the ingredients first and have them sitting in their own separate dishes (like a cooking show!) before I add them. Especially the dry ingredients. Once the honey is added to the mix, you'll need to whisk continuously. Otherwise, it gets stuck to the bottom of the bowl and takes longer. Just trying to save you some time!
• Slice your steak really thinly. Think about your favorite Chinese food restaurant. Their beef is sliced nice and thin. Do that. It makes it taste better. Well, probably not, but it looks more like take-out that way!
• Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add your beef. Cook it through. Drain it.
• When your water boils, add the broccoli for just a few minutes, and then drain it. Pour some cold water over the top to stop the cooking process. I suppose you could have an ice bath ready. But we never have ice readily available. I like the texture of the broccoli when it has been boiled for a short time.
• Add the broccoli and sauce to the pan with the beef and bring the sauce to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer so the sauce has some time to thicken. I, personally, don't have much patience for this part and let the sauce thicken just a little bit. You can thicken it to your own needs and wants.
• Serve the beef and broccoli over rice. We like to have egg rolls on the side. Just a suggestion.

Wow, It's Been Awhile ~ A Chicken Soup Recipe

It's been quite a while since I've posted a recipe. I find it kind of hard to do, since I am such a recipe follower myself. I'm not often coming up with my own "new" recipes. But I think I've come pretty close to
the best chicken soup recipe ever.

What you need:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 cartons of chicken broth (64 ounces, total)
• 8 to 10 carrots peeled and sliced (no need to peel if they're organic)
• 2 ribs of celery sliced
• 1 onion chopped (I only use half of a really small onion)
• salt & pepper to taste
• one ... leaf? stem? of kale (unless you're anti-kale)
• egg noodles (because my husband doesn't like kale)

What you do:

• Slice your chicken breasts into thin strips and place in a soup pot. Add the chicken broth, carrots, onion, and celery. Add some salt and pepper as you see fit. I tend to go light on these ingredients and allow each person to add them to their own taste.
• Heat the soup over high heat for about 25 minutes. At 25 minutes, check the "done-ness" of your chicken and veggies. The chicken is done when it's no longer pink inside and easily shredded with two forks.
• While the soup is cooking, chop your kale. I only use one stem because my husband doesn't like it and Kid can't yet chew it enough to swallow it. I also remove the main stem/rib of the kale and only use the leafy part. Anyway. Chop it into bite-sized pieces.
• If your husband protests kale, and you don't feel like making an entire pot of chicken noodle soup, boil water in another pot and cook your egg noodles according to the package directions. If you're going for chicken noodle soup, you can add the noodles straight to the soup and cook for 8-ish minutes.
• To serve, place some kale and/or egg noodles in a bowl and ladle the chicken soup over the top. Give it a stir and enjoy!

I threw in this old picture because .. well, soup weather also means shoveling weather... And, I keep forgetting to take pictures of the soup. I'll become a true picture-taking foodie someday!

Quick tips:

• Cook your noodles separately, even if nobody is having kale (or you want both!). I usually double this recipe to freeze and I do not care for the taste of cooked, frozen, and then reheated noodles. I'll freeze a hefty portion of soup and then am prepared to cook noodles the day I decide to reheat the soup.
• Don't be bummed if your husband doesn't like kale. I was. And then I got over it. Because, really? It takes 15 minutes to boil water and make noodles.
• Go light on the salt and pepper to start. Once the soup is boiling, you can taste the broth and add more as needed. People can also add their own once they've tasted the soup and broth.

{recetas} Cucumber Hummus Cups

We had a fabulous father's day today, even though the tornado sirens have gone off and we have decided to spend the night in the basement. We were lucky enough to go over to my husband's aunt and uncle's house for a lakeside BBQ this afternoon (for the 4 hours it didn't rain today).

I was in charge of bringing an appetizer for the gathering and I decided upon Hummus Cucumber Cups. I wasn't sure on the name since I didn't have a recipe. There was only a little inspiration from my first year as a teacher. A parent brought these yummy snacks for one of the class parties during the year. The five- and six-year-olds didn't really care for them, but I adored them little snacks (and don't know why it has taken me three years to make them for myself!).

And. They're super easy!

Ingredients:

• cucumbers (no bigger than medium sized, otherwise they're hard to eat!)
• hummus (super easy to make from scratch, but I only had 10 minutes before we were to leave)
• any type of seasoning you'd like to put on top (I used Tajin!)

The Steps:

First, cut off the ends and slice the cucumbers to about the thickness of 1 inch.

Next, use an appropriately sized measuring spoon to scoop out the middles of each slice, making a cup.

 Use a spoon or two to scoop some hummus into each cucumber cup. Sprinkle the top with your seasoning of choice (or leave them plain!).

Sorry for the blur! Oh, the phone camera...

BBQ Chicken & Roasted Vegetables

I know, I know. It's not summer yet, but the zucchini and yellow squash looked SO good at the store the other day, I had to get a few of each.


I can only give you my plans right now, because I don't have my camera with me (I really need to get better about bringing it everywhere!). I will have pictures for you, though because both parts of the meal turned out fabulously!


I started the chicken early because my plan was to use the slow cooker. Oh, before I get any further. I have another novice moment. And (digital age, anyone?) Facebook helped me out. The original plan was to make pulled pork sandwiches. I headed to the market to buy a shoulder roast. Couldn't find one for the life of me. I searched high and low (well, in the pork section, anyway). I settled on chicken because it was there. Each night, I spend some time looking at my news feed on Facebook. And there, right in front of my eyes, was a picture of a butt roast. Funny! I saw those when I was shopping for the shoulder roast. So, I clicked on the picture and read the caption. It informed me that a butt roast is actually the shoulder. WHAT!? I could have gotten the pork and been fine. Ugh. Thanks, Facebook.


I put all the chicken in the slow cooker and dumped a bunch of BBQ sauce on top (21 ounces, to be precise). Cooked on high. The chicken was fabulous. And, what's better is how easy the recipe was!


The vegetables. Ah, the vegetables. I cut them all in the small chunks (zucchini and squash into half-moons, peppers into squares) and let them soak in some water for a bit. I tossed both in olive oil and sprinkled it all with garlic salt and a little pepper. Then it was to the baking sheet and on to the oven. 350 degrees for about a half hour. They were so summery and delicious--I plan on making them again (soon!). 

Crock Pot Tacos

I love tacos, especially chicken tacos. I also love my crock pot (well, crock pots...I have three). I just finished throwing dinner for tonight in the crock pot and now can go on with my day (working on organizing project #2, laundry, typical house stuff..). The chicken for the tacos will be done in four to five hours, it's that simple!

Here's what you need:

• 4 frozen chicken breast halves
• 2 cans diced tomatoes and green chiles (we use the Rotel brand)
• 2 tablespoons Cholula Sauce
• 1 cup salsa (I blend it beforehand, but that is totally optional)
• 1 cup chicken broth

Here's what you do:

• Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot.
• Add everything and stir it up a bit.
• Set your slow cooker to cook on high for 4 to 5 hours. Be sure to check and stir it up once in awhile. When the chicken is done, use forks to shred the chicken while in the crock pot.

This makes a pretty "wet" taco, so I use a noodle scooper (does it have a real name?) or a slotted spoon to scoop the chicken onto tortillas. I serve this with homemade Mexican rice (not store bought...it just doesn't taste the same!) and margaritas.

Enjoy the tacos!

For those of you that were wondering, this is the recipe I was working on when I had a homeowner novice moment and met The Gas Man. Ay, ay, ay.

My New Favorite Soup Recipe

I have a new favorite recipe and, as the title suggests, it's for soup. Really yummy soup.

My original plan was to make Beef Barley Soup using this recipe, but I found the recipe in the morning and wanted to eat the soup that night. And, there just wasn't the time in the day to hit up the grocery store. I didn't have the chuck roast, but I had stew meat. I didn't have the barley, either. So, I improvised. Big time.

Here is what I had (and what I used):
-Stew meat
-Frozen carrots
-Frozen peas
-Frozen green beans
-Vegetable oil
-Bay leaves
-Beef broth
-Beef bouillon cubes (only two of them!)
-Garlic and peppercorn grinder

Here's what I did:

First, I browned the meat using a small amount of vegetable oil and a generous supply from the garlic and peppercorn grinder. If you don't have this fantastic grinder, I suggest you pick it up. It is a great addition to a lot  of meals. I especially like it on scrambled eggs and in my homemade spaghetti sauce.

At the same time, I poured a little more oil into a stockpot and dumped in a fair amount of frozen vegetables (in writing this, I've come to realize that I did not measure a thing while making this soup...whoops). I didn't use a ton of green beans, because they're not my favorite. In fact, next time, I think I'll leave them out. I did, however, use a lot of peas and carrots. YUM!

I can't tell you how long I cooked the vegetables...when the carrots tasted mostly done, I added the beef, broth and two bouillon cubes. I sprinkled on some more garlic pepper and dropped in two bay leaves. I probably simmered the soup for 15 to 20 minutes and served it right up, with homemade rolls. It was delicious-and Mr. Husband thought so, too!

I'm sorry this isn't written like a normal recipe with clear cut measurements, steps and cook times. I plan on making the soup again this weekend, so I'll pay more attention to the details.