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People laugh at me when I say Pinterest changed my life. But I'm not being dramatic. It really did. It changed my life.

Here's a few recipes I've actually tried and we really liked. (Trust me, we've had our fair share of Pinterest fails. These are the tried and true that-can-go-in-a-sheet-protector-in-my-recipe-book successes) The biggest problem with Pinterest is that EVERY recipe is "the best thing you've ever tasted", "your family will love you", "your life will never be the same" recipes. Turns out--not true. There's some pretty horrific recipes on there. But there's also some gems.

My favorite Pinterest find thus far:

Grilled Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

When looking for a tasty salad on the Internet I came across this one from Jehan Can Cook. It sounded perfect. I love all the ingredients and flavors used so I was really excited to try it. It was so quick and easy to make and tasted fantastic. We all really loved this salad. The dressing was delicious and the salad was filled with great textures and flavors. I will make this dish over and over.

Grilled Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing:

pint grape tomatoes cut in halves
1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped
2 ears of fresh sweet corn
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Slice the tomatoes in half. Remove husks from corn and grill over medium heat for 10 minutes. The corn should have some brown spots and be tender and not mushy. Cut the corn off the cob then scrape the cob with the back of your knife to get the juices. Set aside and let cool. Dice the avocado and chop the cilantro.

Honey Lime Dressing:

Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash of cayenne pepper

Add all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Combine the sliced tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and grilled corn and honey lime dressing and mix gently so everything is evenly coated. Be careful not to mash the avocados. Let the salad sit for 10-15 minutes to let flavors mingle. Enjoy.

Be advised: I have tried this recipe with all different varieties of canned corn. It's just not the same. You have to use corn on the cob and you have to grill it. I don't do mine on a bbq as small children aren't terribly conducive to cooking on open flames (although I guess my stove is an open flame....hmmm...). I use a pan we have that sort of resembles a grill or you could use a George Forman or something like that.

Next: (We just made these last night and I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried the cilantro or even lime would be overwhelming, but it was really good. And we decided it would be really good on pasta as well. I'll try that next.)

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
original Joelen recipe

cooking spray for sauteeing
2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite sized pieces

Watch Now

salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup cilantro lime pesto (recipe follows)
flour or corn tortillas
preferred taco garnishes (salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc)

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, saute chicken over medium high heat and cooked through. Toss cooked, seasoned chicken with the pesto. Fill tortillas with chicken and top with preferred garnishes.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Cook chicken as directed as above and cool. Place chicken in freezer bag. Prepare cilantro lime pesto as directed below. Place a 1/2 cup of pesto in a small storage bag then place inside the freezer bag with the chicken. Freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost and heat chicken. Toss chicken with defrosted pesto. If desired, heat chicken and pesto together before filling tacos.

Cilantro Lime Pesto

recipe adapted from Food Network

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (do not include stems)
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced, toasted almonds
3 tablespoons chopped, fresh garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup shredded asiago (Parmesan or Romano can be substituted too)
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chicken broth

I just put all these ingredients in my magic bullet. Worked like a charm.

Next: I've never been a big tortilla soup fan. But Mike and I have radically changed our eating habits over the past year so things that weren't so appealing before, kind of are now. I guess I had a mind shift. And now I really like tortilla soup every now and then. This one really does taste like Cafe Rio's. And was pretty easy to make. I even made the homemade tortilla strips that Jaida said were "Sooooo delicious"

Cafe Rio Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin
a dash (or two) cayenne
1/2 tsp. chili powder
5 c. chicken broth
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
pepper, to taste
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. paprika
vegetable oil (to taste)
pico de gallo (click HERE)
2-3 avocados, diced
2 c. pepper jack cheese
tortilla strips (Click HERE)
cilantro (for garnish)
lime wedges (for garnish)

Instructions

In a small skillet, saute onion in 1 Tbsp. oil until onions become slightly soft. Stir in cumin, cayenne, and chili powder and saute an additional minute or two.
Transfer seasoned onions to a small crock pot (or medium-sized saucepan). Add chicken broth, cliantro, lime juice, pepper and pinto beans to onions and simmer on low-heat for at least 2-3 hours.
In the meantime (when you are close to serving), combine taco seasoning and paprika. Brush chicken with oil and rub with taco seasoning/paprika mixture. Grill chicken over medium-heat until cooked through (try to turn only once during the grilling process). Remove from grill and shred.
In individual bowls layer chicken, about 1/3 c. pico de gallo, 1/3 c. diced avocado, and 1/3 c. pepper jack cheese. Ladle about 1 cup of chicken broth directly over the layers. Top with tortilla strips and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Next: A little treat. Marshmallow popcorn. Beware. It's addicting.

Marshmallow popcorn! my favorite! 3 bags popcorn (pop and take out extra kernels) 2 sticks of butter 16 oz bag of marshmallows 1 cup brown sugar Microwave butter, marshmallows, and brown sugar for 2 1/2 min. Take out and stir. Microwave again for 1 min. Repeat until thin sauce. When done pour over popcorn and mix. YUM!

And another: Easy. And good. Win.

Turns out I love the crockpot. Much easier for me to cook dinner in the morning than in the afternoon.

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz size – southwest style, if possible I used petite diced tomatoes w/ sweet onion)
1 packet enchilada sauce mix (or if you can’t find this, mild taco seasoning works well too, this is what I used)
1 1/2 C water
1 can (8 oz)tomato sauce
1 can ( 10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
2 C milk
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (I only used 2 chicken breasts)

In crock pot, mix the enchilada packet together with the water and tomato sauce. Add cream of chicken soup and milk and whisk together until smooth. Add chicken. Pour drained black beans, drained corn and diced tomatoes on top of that.Cook on low 6-8 hours.Before serving, take out chicken and shred or dice, then put back and stir it all together. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, lime, avocado, or tortilla chips. (We just did cheese and sour cream, we forgot about chips)

And one more for now:

Slow cooker creamy chicken and wild rice soup

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package of Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice
1/2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups half and half (I used fat-free half and half)
1 cup grated carrots (I diced mine)
1 cup diced celery

Directions:

Combine broth, water, carrots, celery, chicken and rice (along with seasoning packet) in a large slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. Take out chicken and shred with two forks and then add back into slow cooker. In a small bowl combine salt, pepper, and flour. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour mixture by tablespoon to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Stir cream mixture into slow cooker and then let cook on low for 15 more minutes.

All good. I promise.

One thing of note. If you don't like yogurt, you won't like Greek yogurt. If you don't like Greek yogurt, you won't like any of the recipes using Greek yogurt as a substitute. FYI. The pins claiming the Greek yogurt mixed with Ranch dressing packets taste "just like" or "better" than regular ranch are lying. Just lies. It doesn't taste remotely like ranch dressing and isn't nearly as good. In fact, I spit it back out and threw the whole thing away.

If anyone has great healthy recipes they've tried lately, send em my way and we'll be friends!!

"I don't want to walk. I hate walking" says Carter today after his cast was taken off his leg after having been in a splint or cast for 6 weeks.

Jaida carried him in from the tramp screaming on November 23rd, Mike's birthday. We didn't even know if he was crying because he was hurt or just mad. Sometimes he gets mad when the girls "jump too high" and screams like a crazy person about it. Mike held him. he stopped crying. But then Mike moved and Carter started screaming again. I picked him up and carried him to the other room. He cried, and cried. And cried. I couldn't move his leg at all without him screaming in pain. Very uncharacteristic of him. He has a high (physical) pain thresh hold (emotional, not so much). He's a tough kid. After a few minutes of wailing, he fell asleep. It was then we knew his leg was broken. This wasn't like his first broken leg. The one he broke when he was 18 months old from jumping on the couch. He cried for about 30 seconds and then ran around for a week (with a slight, occasional limp) before we took him in for a "just in case" check.

This was different. This was obviously broken.

Cancelled our birthday dinner plans and headed to instacare. Sure enough. Broken tibia. Just below the knee. All the way through the bone.

Splint for a week so the swelling could go down. Cast for 5 weeks. No walking (no weight on the leg) for 3 weeks.

At first it all seemed daunting. Un-realistic. Impossible. How was I going to manage a 2 year old with a broken leg, cast from his toes to this upper thigh, unable to walk, and an almost one year old baby who is also not walking? Not to mention all the birthdays (Mike's, mine, Caleb's, and Carter's) and the holidays (Christmas and New years) we had to work around.

The funny thing is, it all turned out to be not that big of a deal. And though it sounds cliche, turned out to be a blessing.

Carter's broken leg taught me some valuable life lessons.

The first: SLOW DOWN. Slow the heck down. That first week with no cast, unable to get himself anywhere, we spent a lot of time together. A lot of time on the couch reading, playing games, doing puzzles, watching movies. I was forced to let everything else slide and just sit. And enjoy that little boy. I tell Mike all the time I feel like I run, run, run all day long and yet it feels like I get nothing done. What am I so busy doing? Busy doing that actually matters? That fills the soul and is worth doing? How often do I just slow down and soak in all the things that actually matter? That fill the soul and make life worth living.

I got to love on that boy more than I have in months. Lots of attention. Lots of love. And it was so good. For both of us.

I also learned a lot from Carter's attitude. The kid didn't seem to care one bit that he broke his leg. In his innocence he just accepted it for what it was. After the 3 weeks of no walking were over (well, we cheated a little and only made it 2 weeks and 5 days), I told Carter to try walking. He started timidly and then got more confidence. He quickly started "running" through the house yelling "I can walk! I can walk!" I think in his mind he thought he may never walk again. It was cute. And kind sad.

We spent a lot of time together. It was nice in a month that generally turns out to be crazy. I got really good at carrying a child on each hip. And we had to get creative with grocery shopping an other errands.

He was a champ. And hopefully has all of his broken legs (bones) out of the way!

The pictures are all jumbled but I don't have time to sort.