˚recipe˚ Chicken Avocado Alfredo Noodles

Whenever I do our big, weekly grocery shopping trip with Little Man, I come home exhausted. I think it is all the entertaining I have to do to keep the little guy in the cart. And I usually grab the wrong thing for a few things on my list. Crushed pineapple instead of chucked; diced tomatoes with herbs instead of plain diced tomatoes. The Mr. thinks it is kind of funny. I will be a huge mess when I have more than just one little kid to juggle.

Anyway, on those days, I like something fast and easy for dinner. That is where this meal comes into play. (Other quick meal ideas are here, here, and here).

And sometimes I even leave out the chicken (if I need something really easy). 

To make it, boil some water and get your noodles cooking. Then brown some chicken.

Cut up two tomatoes and an avocado into chunks.

And mix it all together with some of your favorite Alfredo sauce. Add some Parmesan and dig in. 

And you might enjoy this meal a little more knowing it was super easy to make.

As always, don't forget to check out where I party!

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recipe: chewy ginger cookies

I love chocolate chip oatmeal cookies but I don't usually have chocolate chips in the house unless I am planning on making something specific. That definitely poses a problem on those rainy afternoons when something sweet sounds extra yummy.  And no....I can't substitute raisins. Nothing is worse than biting into a oatmeal cookie and realizing that the chocolate chips are actually raisins. Gross.

So...we have been digging spice cookies lately and these are by far our favorite (so far).

Even Mr. I-don't-really-eat-sweets will gobble one up. Then the rest go to friends and I usually stock pile a few bags in the freezer just in case I need a sweet treat.

 I usually do.

After they came out of the oven, Little Man ate one right along side a cucumber. He must be his father's child.

Anyway, since I have come to grips that there is no possible way to have an enjoyable cookie-making-afternoon with a 22 month-old while taking pictures of each step of the recipe, you only get the final product and the recipe.

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. ground ginger (I know it seems like a ton, but trust me....they are delicious!)

2 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground cloves

1/4 t. salt

3 T. sugar (for rolling the cookies in)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat sugar and butter together until soft and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients (except 3 T. sugar) until mixed. 

Place 3 T. sugar in a small bowl. Form the dough into balls using about 1 T. of dough and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. 

Bake 6-8 minutes (mine needed more like 8 minutes) until golden brown. Let rest on cookie sheet for a minute or two before placing on cooling racks (or in my case, napkins on the counter).

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

(Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker's Big Book of Cookies)

Enjoy!

 

And don't forget to check out all the wonderful places I party!

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˚recipe˚ Fruit with a Twist

Oh boy! After five doctor's visits in three days (hence the lack of posts over the past few days) the Mr. is doing much better. If you're wondering, he dislocated his kneecap which sprained his MCL. When his kneecap re-located, it slammed into the bottom edge of his femur and cracked it a bit. All within about 1 second. Phew!

And so I'm back and I have a husband who is doing much better.

We love to get together with friends, but sometimes we have a hard time knowing what to bring to snack on. As I've mentioned before, the Mr. really isn't into sweets, but we try to make it something that he will enjoy too. And boy does he love fruit!

These suckers are really easy...

Cube the fruit and put it on the skewers (kids love to do this, but be careful of the sharp end of the skewer). Place the skewers over a casserole dish or pan so they can be easily rotated.

Melt the chocolate according to the directions and use a spoon (or a plastic baggie with a hole cut in the corner) to drizzle chocolate over the fruit. Rotate the skewers and drizzle the other side. Once dry, place them on a platter and enjoy!

(As far as the chocolate goes, make sure you get candy bark, candy coating or melting chocolate.)

And don't expect to come home with any leftovers!

P.S. I have been working away on the final posts for the vintage picnic wedding series. (One about the day before the wedding and one with the VINTAGE PICNIC WEDDING REVEAL!) They are coming very soon! I just have to finish sorting through the 700 pictures I have to decide which ones you would enjoy!

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˚recipe˚ Easy Spaghetti on Steroids

This spaghetti is not really on steroids. Its just beefed up with a few ingredients.

My mom makes a really good slow cooker spaghetti sauce that calls for all sorts of delicious ingredients. Mmm...maybe one day you will get that recipe. 

Today I want to share the holy-cow-I-am-really-busy-but-still-want-to-feed-my-family-vegetables recipe.

This version is the EASY spaghetti sauce version. Don't believe me? I used my favorite canned spaghetti sauce and give it some steroids. How about that for easy.

When we need an EASY recipe, this is what we do:



1. Boil noodles

2. Brown some ground beef (if you eat that sort of thing)

3. Saute vegetables (garlic, onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, squash, mushrooms)

4. Combine the beef and vegetables and a can of your favorite spaghetti sauce

5. Add a good amount of dried basil

6. Let it simmer for a bit (10ish minutes)

7. And EAT it. (We like to top it with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.)

EASY, EASY.....and vegetable packed too!

 

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˚recipe˚ Easy Minestrone Salad

Apparently food is on my mind since the last few posts have been about food. 

Okay. 

That's kind of a lie.

 Although food is usually on my mind, I have actually been very busy working on a few projects (some of which I will share with you shortly, and some of which will have to wait a little longer.) Let me guess...you are on the edge of your seat just dying to know what I have been up to. Well...patience my friend. 

But I will leave you with a completely delicious and oh-so-quick recipe. (Boiling the noodles is seriously the longest part if you are a multitask-er...besides, a watched pot never boils anyway.) 

All you have to do is boil noodles and rinse them in cool water:

Add this stuff in about these amounts:

Pour on some Italian dressing and add parmesan cheese (and a little bit of salt and pepper):

Mix it up...and eat it. 

The pepperoni makes this one a winner!

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˚recipe˚ Homemade Oreos

Some of you may know that the Mr. has a problem gaining weight. Horrible problem right? Well, we don't make too many sweets around here, and when we do they are usually for someone else (although we usually manage to sneak a taste). So every once in a while, I need some treats (usually to give away to some unsuspecting soul). This particular time, we didn't even have chocolate chips for the standard. (I told you, we don't really do treats around here too often). So, after perusing my cookbooks, and the vast world wide web (including smittenkitchen), I made homemade oreos. This recipe is adapted from all of the above. And let me just say....if you are worried about your waistline, you better give these away ASAP!

Here is what you need:


Chocolate Wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks)softened butter
1 egg


Filling:

1/2 cup softened butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or mint...or peppermint.)

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375˚
Step one: put 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour in a bowl

Step two: add 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa

Step three: add 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

Step four: add 1 1/4 cups sugar 

Step five: blend together

Step six: add 1 egg

Step seven: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks)softened butter

Step eight: blend together

Step nine: roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Step ten: press two fingers into the top of the cookie drops to flatten them out a bit. Bake for 7-9 minutes at 375˚

Step eleven-thriteen: combine 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or mint...or peppermint) in a bowl. 
Step fourteen: place the frosting in a bag. And if you don't have a frosting bag, it is easiest to use a zip-lock bag. Put it over a cup like this:

Then use a spatula and scrap your frosting into one big bunch:

And spoon it into the bag like this:

That way you can scrap the spatula along the edges of the cup without make a huge mess in the bag.

And seal it up without getting frosting all over :)

Clip a corner of the bag and squeeze the frosting onto the bottom side of 1/2 of the cookies.

Place another cookie on top and squish the frosting down, and then start drooling....

...and grab yourself a big glass of milk.

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˚recipe˚ Vegetable Quesadillas

We got something in the mail a few weeks ago. Grandma sent us a recipe card she picked up from a local grocery store. She loved the recipe and thought we would too. Man was she right. 

There are three things that make these so delicious: 

1. Uncooked tortillas. You have to try these. They are so good. Promise you will never go back. 

2. Cheese. Need I say more?

3. They are easy cheesy (pun intended).

You'll Need:

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small zucchini, copped (we like to add  1 squash too)

1/2 c. chopped bell pepper

1/2 c. sliced green onions

1 medium garlic clove

1 jalapeno, diced (we don't like it too spicy, so we will usually just buy canned jalapeno and add a few (5-6) slices)

1 medium tomato

flour tortillas (go with the uncooked...trust me)

2.5 c. shredded Mexican cheese blend

Avocado (yum!)

This is what you do:

1. Put olive oil in skillet and brown mushrooms. 

2. Add zucchini (and squash if you want), bell pepper, green onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook 

until tender.

3. Stir in tomato. Remove from heat, but keep warm.

4. Over medium heat, brown one side of the tortilla. Turn over. 

5. Sprinkle with cheese. Add vegetable mixture. Top with more cheese. 

6. Add a top tortilla and flip over. (You can also put half of the cheese and vegetable mixture on and fold tortilla in half.) 

Serve with avocado. Party in your mouth!

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˚recipe˚ Hummus and Pita Chips

Is hummus a hippie food? Do you even like hummus? I LOVE it. Especially this recipe.Complete with pita chips. Mmmmmm...a perfect snack for any day.

First, start the pita chips. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take normal pita bread and brush with olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle on sea salt (regular salt works too).

Use a pizza cutter to cut the pita into little slices.

Pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Then flip them over and let them toast for another 5. Meanwhile, put these ingredients in a blender:

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3.4 tsp. salt
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 c. teheni (this is mashed up sesame seed and can be found in the store by the mayo.)
• Juice of one lemon.

 

TIP: Since the tehini can get a little sticky when you are measuring it, put the water (1/4 c.) and oil (1/4 c.) in a measuring glass, and pour the tehini in until you reach 3/4 c. The tehini displaces the other liquid and that's how you know to stop pouring. Plus, when you dump all of that in a blender, it is much less messy. (This trick works great with peanut butter too).

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy your hippie hummus!

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˚recipe˚ Laundry Detergent

That's right folks. This is a recipe for laundry detergent. 

And oh how I love this detergent. Around here, we have had a un-fixable problem with static. We've tried everything. Maybe one day I will post on all the ways to lessen static on your clothes. Most of those tricks helped, but now we have found the ultimate answer. 

Not only does this detergent seem to get rid of static for us, it also smells so good, makes our clothes super soft, and is really cheap to make. (love that!)

Not really into making your own laundry detergent? I totally understand. You might purchase the ingredients and put them (with the recipe) in your emergency storage just in case! Nothing like having plenty of detergent when no one else does.

This recipe makes about 12 gallons of laundry detergent, so be prepared to store that much in milk cartons or other containers, unless you make 1/2 a batch (which is what I did. FYI: the pictures show 1/2 the recipe).

Things you need:

5 gallon bucket

Cheese grader

1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap grated (found in some grocery stores on the laundry isle, ace hardware, or online)

1 cup Borax (found on the laundry isle)

1 cup Washing Soda (found on the laundry isle)

What to do:

1. Grate Fels-Naptha bar, add to 4 cups of water and melt on medium heat until

dissolved stirring constantly.

2. Fill bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water

3. Add Fels-Naptha solution. Add both the washing soda and borax. Stir until completely dissolved.

5. Add hot tap water until bucket is full. 

6. Allow to cool overnight.

7. Add 50% more water and pour into containers. (I use milk cartons half water/solution.) You may also need to stir up the solution to break it up a little if it has turned jello-like. I have heard that the consistency of this detergent changes each time it is made, but it works well regardless. 

 To use: Pour a full cup into each load of laundry and you will get lovely smelling, sparkly

clean clothes (and static free) for cheap.

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˚recipe˚ Gloop

So this recipe isn't edible, but my little sister sent me an email telling me about how her and a friend had a blast with it, so I thought I would share.

In one bowl, mix these two together:
1 teaspoon borax
1 cup water

In a separate bowl mix these together:
1/2 cup Elmer's glue (clear glue is the coolest but you can use white too)
1/2 cup water
Drops of food coloring (you can also add sparkles if you want) 

Poor the borax mixture into the glue mixture. Be stirring it while you pour it in!! Once it is gooey, pick it up. If there is a little bit of extra water in the bowl pour it out, and play with it for a while till it gets gloopy!!! 

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