Lettuce Wraps

These little lettuce wraps have been a favorite summer meal of ours. They don't take long to throw together and are a healthy meal that even the kids love.

Lettuce Wraps

1 Tbsp. safflower oil
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. grated fresh gingerroot

Combine in a bowl and add 4 or 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into thin strips.  Allow to marinate while you prepare the veggies.

Boston Bibb or Romaine lettuce leaves
julienned carrots
julienned cucumbers
peanuts

peanut sauce

Grill the chicken.  If you do this on an outside grill you will want to put the strips on skewers to make it easy.  Place a strip or two of chicken on a lettuce leaf, top with carrots, cucumbers, peanuts, and a little drizzle of peanut sauce.  Roll it up and eat it, then take awkward pictures of your kids eating them.

Recipe adapted from the Goodness Gracious Cookbook

cinnamon-swirl pear bread

I had over-ripe pears laying around this week so I made this bread.  It makes a yummy breakfast, toasted with a little butter, and enjoyed with a cup of coffee.  I made very few changes to the recipe.  The original recipe seemed to call for way too much flour, unless I happened to lose count of all of the cups I put in, which definitely could be the case.  I'll include the orginal amount but just be sure to add it slowly and stop adding when the dough is still just a bit sticky. 

3 cups chopped, peeled ripe pears (I used 5 medium sized)
1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
3 packages active dry yeast (or 6 3/4 tsp, if not using packets)
1/2 cup warm water
4 eggs, lighly beaten
1/2 butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
10 - 11 cups all-purpose flour (I would say 7 - 8, maybe 9 cups would be enough)
1 Tbsp cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine pears, water and 1/2 cup sugar.  Simmer, uncovered, for 10 - 12 minutes or until tender.  Pour through a strainer, reserving syrup.   Add cold water if necessary to syrup to measure 1 cup; set aside.   Mash pear pulp and set aside.   In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add 1 tsp sugar; let stand for 10 minutes.  Add eggs, butter, honey, salt, almond extract, reserved pears and syrup and 4 cups of flour.  Beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 - 8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  Punch dough down; divide into thirds.  Roll each portion into a 16-in. x 8-in. rectangle.  Combine cinnamon and remaining 3/4 cup sugar; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges.  Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; pinch seams to seal.  Place, seam side down, in three greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil.  Bake 15 - 20 minutes longer or until bread tests done.  Remove form pans to wire racks to cool.

And now a random picture -

Ava's favorite spot on a cold winter morning.  Laying in front of the heat vent in the kitchen.  Just like a little kitten at my feet.  :)

crepes

Happy New Year!  This morning I made crepes and put out different fillings then let everyone come up with their own combinations.  It was a hit! 

I think Elle came up with the winning combination - Nutella, strawberries and whipped cream.  It was delish!  I used the recipe for the crepes from the February 2011 of Everyday Food and was going to just link to it but can't find in on the web site yet so I'll include it below.  It was so easy. 

Simple Crepes

In a blender, combine -
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk,
4 large eggs
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Puree until mixture is smooth and bubbles form on top, about 30 seconds.  Let batter sit at least 15 minutes at room temperature.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium.  Lightly coat with butter.  Add 1/3 cup batter and swirl to completely cover bottom of skillet.  Cook until underside of crepe starts to just turn a bit golden.  Loosen edge of crepe with a rubber spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip.  Cook a minute more.  Slide out of skillet and repeat with remaining batter.

whole wheat bread

I recently found a whole wheat bread recipe on an index card that I had written out a few years ago and forgotten about.  I've been making it lately and we love it!  It's so easy because you just dump all of the ingredients in your bread machine, put it on the dough cycle and let it do all of the work for you.  When that's done you take it out, form it into a loaf and put it in a bread pan, let rise and bake. 

We received our bread machine as a wedding gift 12 years ago.  They were all the rage then.  I can still remember when we were doing our gift registry at Dillards and they had just baked up a loaf of bread and as soon as we sampled it we decided that it had to go on our want list.  While the bread was good, I always thought it was too crusty so I didn't make it very often.  I don't know why I never thought to just make the dough and then transfer it to a regular bread pan and bake it in the oven!  So now it is an appliance that gets used regularly in my kitchen....making bread dough and really good pizza crust! 

Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp. yeast

Put in bread machine in order.  Set to dough cycle, let rise in the machine.  Take out and shape into a loaf, put into a greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.  While warm spread a little butter on the top of crust to make it pretty and shiny.

profiteroles

This was our Easter dessert.  Thomas really wanted dirt cake, Elle wanted creme brulee (a girl after my own heart!) and Scott's vote was for cherry dessert.  Of course I wanted to make Scott happy so I made a small pan of cherry dessert but then I just had to have something chocolatey too.  Profiteroles fit the bill perfectly.  You must try these!   So yummy!  The kids absolutely loved them.  I can see them being requested for birthdays...they're that good.  :)

Making the puff dough (technically called pate a choux) was fun though you might work up a little sweat when it comes time to stir in the eggs!  The cooked puffs freeze really well so this is a great make ahead dessert.  The recipe is from Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (thanks Mom!) and while the directions are lengthy don't let that scare you.  Just be sure to read through them first before starting the recipe. 

Puff Shells

1 cup water
6 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Bring water to boil with the butter, sugar, and salt in a 1 1/2 quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Meanwhile measure out the flour.

Remove from heat and immediately pour in all the flour at once.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for several seconds to blend thoroughly.  Then beat over moderately high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and the spoon, forms a mass, and begins to film the bottom of the pan.

Remove saucepan from heat and make a well in the center of the paste with your spoon.  Immediately break an egg in to the center of the well.  Beat it into the paste for several seconds until it has absorbed.  Continue with the rest of the eggs, beating them in one by one.  The third and fourth eggs will be absorbed more slowly.  Beat for a moment more to be sure all is well blended and smooth.
To make large puffs I just used two large spoons but you can also use a pastry bag with a 3/4-inch, round tube opening.  Squeeze the choux paste onto two parchment lined or buttered baking sheets in mounds 2 to 2 1/4" in diameter and 1 inch at the highest point. Space the mounds 2 inches apart.  This recipes makes 10-12 large puffs.

In a small bowl beat 1 egg and 1/2 tsp of water.  Flatten each mound slightly with the flat of your pastry brush dipped into a little of the beaten egg.  Place the baking sheets in the upper and lower thrids of a preheated, 425-degree oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the puffs have doubled in size and are lightly browned.  Then reduce heat to 375-degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until the puffs are golden brown, and firm and crusty to the touch.  Remove from oven, and make a 1-inch slit in the side of each puff.  Return the puffs to the hot, turned-off oven, and leave its door ajar for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, cut the puffs in two horizontally and scrape out any damp, uncooked portions in the center with a fork.  Allow the halves to cool and crisp, then re-form the puffs. 

These do not keep well at room-temp so I froze mine shortly after making them since we weren't going to use them that day.  Just before using the frozen puffs, set them in a hot oven to thaw and crisp up.  Julia Child says to set them in a 425-degree oven for 3 to 4 minutes but my oven was already at 350 degrees so I just put them in there at that temp for a little longer and it worked just fine.

To assemble the dessert put a scoop of ice cream in the bottom of the puff shell, set the top of the puff on the ice cream and then drizzle generously with your favorite warm chocolate sauce! 

holly & ivy

I am doing a little holiday baking this weekend. This holly and ivy treat is one that I remember enjoying when I was a kid. So easy and so cute. And of course, yummy!

Holly & Ivy
1/2 cup butter
10 oz pkg marshmallows
1 tsp green food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups cornflakes
cinnamon red hot candies

Put butter and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for a minute then stir. Repeat 3 - 4 times until marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Add food coloring and vanilla. Stir. Add cornflakes and stir to coat.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper and sprinkle with red hots. Cool to room temp and then store in an airtight container.

This is an Ava approved recipe. As you can see!

chocolate angel food cake

This is yet another dessert we love. Obviously we like sweets as it's the category with the most recipes on my sidebar! And it's chocolate,of course! Make this and your family will think you 'rock'. I love it when my kids say that. :)

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
12 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of your angel food cake pan with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside. Chop the chocolate and toss in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at low speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium, stir in cream of tartar and salt and continue to beat until egg mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually mix in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. If you've never made an angel food cake before this is what you are looking for -

Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, then fold in the chocolate pieces, stirring just until no white streaks remain. Gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter and tap the pan lightly to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when touched. Cool upside down before removing from the pan.

I prefer to serve this cake with a dollop of chocolate cool whip. Fresh sliced strawberries would be really good too!

stovetop mac and cheese

I recently made this recipe out of the Easy Comfort Food issue of Martha's Everyday Food magazine (Oct 2009). Paired with meatballs it was a perfect comfort food meal on a chilly fall night. This is my new go-to recipe when we're craving mac & cheese!

I made just a couple of minor changes. If you'd like the original recipe click the link above.

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
coarse salt
4 cups whole milk
1 pound small shell pasta
12 oz coarsely grated sharp yellow cheddar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium; add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden, has a slightly nutty aroma, and is the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 5 minutes.

Whisking constantly, slowly pour in milk. Whisk until smooth. Cook mixture, stirring constantly along bottom of pan, until boiling, 6 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and does not feel grainy when a small amount is rubbed between two finger, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta until al dente; drain thoroughly and return to pot. Remove sauce from heat. Quickly whisk in cheese, mustard, Worcestershire. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and stir to coat.

Photo credit: marthastewart.com

pecan grahams

This recipe was given to me by Scott's mom and are a favorite in our house. They are the perfect thing to make when you need something sweet quick!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a jelly-roll pan with foil. (Do not oil the pan.)

Place a single layer of graham crackers over the entire pan.

In a saucepan bring to a boil -

1 cup butter (has to be real butter)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar

Let boil for 4 minutes. Immediately pour this mixture over the graham crackers. Bake for 10 minutes.

Let cool and then break into smaller pieces.

summer slush

This afternoon my friend Steph is over and I am showing her the little I know about blogging. Her blog is going to be so much fun. She's really creative and is always doing all kinds of really cute projects! I'll post the link to it when she's got it all set up and going!

Here is a recipe that I got from her that we enjoy each summer. Your kids will love it!

Summer Slush

6 c. water
4 c. sugar
1 can (46 oz) pineapple juice
2 cans (12 oz) frozen orange juice
1 can (12 oz) frozen lemonade
Squirt, Sprite or 7-Up

Bring to a boil water and sugar. Sugar must be dissolved completely. Pour into a 5 qt. ice cream bucket or container. Add pineapple juice, orange juice and lemonade. Combine all ingredients and freeze. Scoop one part slush into a tall glass and add one part Squirt. Stir to combine the slush and the pop.

Add a little white rum to the slush before freezing to make it an adult beverage! :)

m & m chocolate chip cookies

These are so good, I made them twice this week!

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups M & M's (divided)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add eggs & combine.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda & salt. Add to butter mixture & stir together until just combined. Add 1 cup M & M's and the chocolate chips. Stir. Drop by spoonful on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten the tops of the cookies a little with your hand and then add a few M & M's to the top of each cookie (from the remaining 1/2 cup). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven when they just start to turn brown on the edges and remove from the pan to a cooling rack right away for a really soft cookie.

get your grill on

I'm so glad that it's no longer too cold to get the grill going! We use a charcoal grill and Thomas is happy to have the responsibility of getting the charcoals going in the chimney thing. A chance to use matches!

This one of our favorite chicken meals on the grill. The kids eat it without the salsa. All the more for Scott and I!

Cilantro-Garlic Marinated Chicken Breast
with Avocado-Mango Salsa

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 cup minced white onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 1/4 cup olive oil
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

To prepare the marinade, place everything except the olive oil in a blender or food processor and puree. Then gradually add the olive oil. Place the chicken breasts in a ziplock back and then pour the marinade over them. Seal bag and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours, turning occasionally.

Salsa
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1 large mango (can also use papaya) peeled and diced
3 Tbsp diced red bell pepper
2 green onions, finely sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

To prepare salsa, place all ingredients in a bowl and fold together.

Grill chicken until done. Serve with the salsa. Be sure to set out a bowl of tortilla chips to have with the salsa too! Yum!

snow cream

What do you do when April brings a bunch of snow? Make snow ice cream!

First gather 8 cups of fresh, clean snow. (I did this myself. I've saw the snow my kids have happily ate off the ground and it isn't always fresh and clean!) Then pour in one can of sweetened condensed milk and one teaspoon of vanilla.

Take turns stirring it up.

It surprisingly tastes like real homemade ice cream!

The kids loved it and asked for seconds.

Good to the last drop!

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen.

southwest chicken eggrolls

I have had this recipe bookmarked for years. Really. I don't know why it took me so long to give it a try but boy am I glad I finally did. These eggrolls are yummy! The kids didn't think so, but they haven't ate spinach, except fresh in salads, and they don't think they like it when it's cooked. I'll keep working on them about that though!

If you don't want to make eggrolls turn this recipe into quesadillas instead. Put the filling on top of a flour tortilla, sprinkle with a little cheese and top with another tortilla. Place in a pan or on a griddle and cook until golden on both sides and the cheese is melted. Hmmm, that sounds like another good, quick, school lunch idea! And if you're kids don't like spinach either, just leave it out and add extra corn and black beans!

Southwest Chicken Eggrolls

1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlice, minced
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup cooked black beans
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 tsp. ground oregano
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 cup salsa
1 tsp cornstarch
chopped green chiles (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)

egg roll wrappers
vegetable oil for frying

Saute onion in olive oil, along with garlic, until clear. Add remaining filling ingredients and heat through slowly. Following the directions on the eggroll package, fill wrappers with chicken filling and deep fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. (Oil should reach 350 degrees before frying them.) Remove and place on paper towel. Serve while warm with Ranch Avocado Dip.

The dip is a must have! Any leftover is really good with raw veggies.

Ranch Avocado Dip

1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
juice of half a lemon
8 oz sour cream
1/2 pkg, Ranch dip mix

Mash diced avocado with lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Add sour cream and dip mix then stir to combine. Chill 1 hour before serving.

Recipe adapted from cookbook titled Keeping Good Company

simple granola

One of my favorite breakfasts is yogurt and granola. I found this recipe on a blog a couple of years ago and after a few changes it's become my favorite granola. It's the perfect addition to a serving of plain yogurt with a generous drizzle of honey. The whole family likes it except Ava prefers it without the yogurt.

Simple Granola

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
3/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (also called sugar in the raw)(can also substitute light brown sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (or any dried fruit you'd like)

In a bowl, mix the oats, almonds, coconut, sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan, warm the oil and honey. Stir in vanilla. Pour liquid over oat mixture. Stir gently. Spread on a large baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool completely. Stir in dried fruit. Seal granola in an airtight container at room temp for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

school lunch: ritzy chicken tenders

I thought it would be fun to start sharing recipes for quick and simple lunches that are kid friendly and easy to make during the school week. It's nice to be able to serve something other than sandwiches or leftovers a few times a week but I also don't want to spend much time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up in the middle of the day.

I've linked to the recipe for Ritzy Chicken Tenders on my blog a couple of times when I've posted my menus. I found it at Divine Domesticity. The original version of the recipe is here. I love this recipe! My kids think they are the best and are always excited when I make them. It is so easy to make a large batch of these and keep them in the freezer ready to reheat for lunches.

I often find fresh chicken tenders at a reduced rate in my grocery store's meat dept. so I buy them to use for this recipe. You could just buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them up as well. The original recipe calls for you to pound the chicken breasts thinner before slicing them so that would be a good idea too.

One more thing about this recipe....do not try to make these without first marinating the chicken in buttermilk for at least a day, preferably two. It makes the chicken so tender and moist and is definitely worth the bit of extra effort.

Ritzy Chicken Tenders

chicken tenders or breasts (pounded fairly thin and sliced into 6 - 8 pieces)
buttermilk
Ritz cracker crumbs (I agree with Ali that the Vegetable Herb Ritz are especially good!)
vegetable oil for frying

Prepare chicken if necessary. Place in bowl or ziptop bag and cover with buttermilk. Allow to marinate in the fridge for up to 2 days. Crush a couple of sleeves of Ritz crackers into crumbs. Place in a wide, shallow bowl. Roll each chicken tender in the cracker crumbs (shake some of the excess buttermilk off if necessary first); coat well. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan and fry for about 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate when done. I prefer to wipe out the pan with a paper towel between batches when I'm frying them otherwise the coating that falls off tends to burn.

If you'd like to freeze these I think it works best to lay them out on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them, then transfer to a freezer bag. Reheat in a 350 degree oven till hot.

fried ice cream

It's time again for The Recipe Box Swamp, hosted by Randi at I Have to Say. I decided to share the recipe for Fried Ice Cream that I made a couple of nights ago. It was a perfect dessert after these spicy shredded beef tacos. I think the kids said 'mmmmm' after every bite!

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed
vegetable oil
honey
sweetened whipped cream (Reddi Wip)

Combine cinnamon and crushed cornflakes in a bowl. Shape ice cream into 8 balls and then roll in the cornflakes to coat completely. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until very hard. When ready to serve, heat enough oil in a pan or deep fryer to cover ice cream balls. Heat oil to 375 degrees and then fry each ball, one at a time, for 5 - 10 seconds. Place each ice cream ball in a bowl topped with whipped cream, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

A few tips I learned when I made this is that it's important to have all of your bowls ready on the counter because the frying process goes very quickly. I had thought that the cold ice cream would cause the oil temp to drop a bit but it doesn't. Also, if the oil gets above 375 degrees, turn down the heat and wait for it to come back down otherwise the cornflakes coating tends to fall off at too high of a temp. Also, I only made enough ice cream balls for each person to have one and put the leftover topping in the freezer for next time.

Be sure to check out Randi's blog for more recipes. There are always lots of good ones!

smoky beef tacos

I picked up the latest issue of Everyday Food while standing in the grocery line check out and planned most of our meals this week from this issue. I still haven't subscribed to this magazine but after last night's meal I definitely am going to! I made the Smokey Beef Tacos and they were SO good! I have been looking for the perfect recipe for shredded beef ever since Scott and I went out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and I had the best shredded beef burritos. I've finally found it! I made just a couple of changes to the recipe that is posted below. Here is a link to the original. It could easily be made in the crockpot all day instead of cooking it in the oven. I love any chance I get to use the Le Creuset dutch oven that Scott surprised me with at Christmas so I made it in the oven as directed. It was perfection!

2 Tbsp chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/2 cup ketchup
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3 pounds), excess fat trimmed
flour tortillas
toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, stir together chiles, ketchup, 1 cup water, garlic, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Cut beef into 4 equal pieces. Add to pot, and turn to coat. Cover, and bring to a boil; transfer pot to oven. Bake, covered, until beef is fork-tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

Transfer beef to a bowl. With a large spoon, skim off and discard fat from cooking liquid. Shred beef with two forks; moisten with cooking liquid as needed. (This is spicy! I only added back half of the cooking liquid as I didn't want it to get too hot.) Serve beef in warm tortillas with desired toppings.

Recommend toppings:
shredded white cheddar cheese
chopped avacado
diced tomatoes
steamed corn (Sounds weird but it's very good. Martha recommended serving it with a corn and tomato salsa which I'm sure is excellent but I wanted the kids to be able to eat the corn as a side dish as well.)
sour cream

This made a lot so there is plenty for 2, if not 3 meals for our family. I am going to freeze a portion of it and use it to make burritos sometime soon.

For dessert I made fried icecream! The kids want it everyday now. :) I'll be sharing the recipe for that soon!

Photo Source - marthastewart.com

italian chicken salad

This is chick food at it's best! I love this pasta from Giada's Everyday Pasta cookbook. Her recipe even calls for serving it in butter lettuce leaves as cups which would be fun to do if you were serving it for a lunch with friends. Scott doesn't mind this dish but it's not his idea of a 'real' meal though so I rarely make it as our main entree. I did serve it last week for dinner one night with breadsticks and the boys were fine with that because there was chocolate cake for dessert. Big slices for them!

Elle, Ava and I were happy to have the rest of it for lunch for the next couple days. (It makes a lot!) Ava gobbled it up. She picked the capers and some of the onions out but ate everything else. She even said, 'Mmmm, this has good flavors' while she was eating it. She's just repeating what she hears on the cooking shows she loves so much. :) Here's the recipe -

Italian Chicken Salad

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 lb. farfalle pasta
4 cups coarsely shredded roasted chicken (I like to use one rotisserie chicken for the grocery store. Easy, convenient and always good.)
1/2 cup diced roasted red bell pepper* (1 small - medium pepper)
1/2 cup diced roasted yellow bell pepper*
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette (scroll down for recipe)
Parmesan Cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds on a small baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until golden brown about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a bowl to cool. (I often toast the almonds in a non-stick pan on the cooktop and just be sure to watch it very closely. It seems a waste to heat a big oven up just to toast nuts unless you are going to throw something else in as well.)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta with the chicken, bell peppers, onion, parsley, almonds, capers, salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1 cup of the vinaigrette and toss gently. Add more vinaigrette if needed. Serve with a shaving of Parmesan cheese on top of each individual serving.

Giada's recipe says to serve it, arrange 1 large lettuce leaf and 1 small lettuce leaf on each plate, overlapping slightly. Spoon the chicken salad into the lettuce 'cups'. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of vinaigrette over the salads. Garnish with shavings of the Parmesan cheese.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp honey
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in a blender. With the motor running, gradually add the oil. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper, adding more to taste if needed.

*My favorite quick method to roast peppers is to place them right on the grate on my gas cooktop. Turn them several times so that the skin gets completely charred. Wrap in paper towels and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes. Then just rub the skin off into the paper towel.

chai tea

It's time for Randi's Recipe Box Swap again and this month's theme is fun foods. I'm sharing how to make Chai Tea that tastes just like it's from the coffee shop and is a fraction of the cost! I did not figure this out on my own. My friend, Angie, told me about this a couple of years ago and I've been enjoying it since!

Fill a coffee mug half full of Oregon Chai Matcha Green Tea Concentrate. (Look for this in the organic section of your grocery store. It's sold in a 32 oz carton.)
Fill your mug the rest of the way full with milk.
Heat for a couple of minutes until very warm.
Stir and then place a big dollop of whipped topping on top, sprinkle with a little cinnamon, then enjoy!