Working Smarter Not Hotter!

We are in house clean up mode around here as we have high hopes to sell our home this summer!  It has warmed up to summer temperatures so that means getting outside early to work in the garden & yard!

The last thing I want to do when I come in is COOK!  So I have been stockpiling meals and the basics of meals.  As one of the things on our list is go get new counter tops & do some kitchen updating that means the meals will be ummm interesting for a week or so. 

I’ve been following a new eating plan(notice it is not a DIEt) and it has been AMAZING for my energy levels.  AND for the first time in forever I am off soda(and all sugar for that matter).  I don’t crave it at all.  If you want to check it out, then head over to the  Trim Healthy Mama website.

So to make life easier I have done 3 things this week.

1.  Bought strawberries while they are in season.  We go through a lot of berries & it is WAY cheaper to buy them fresh & freeze them.  I stalk the produce aisle at Aldi’s for those $1 boxes.

2. Bought chicken.  I know everyone buys chicken but I never even put it in the frig.  I cooked it up, diced it, shredded it & basically made some meals ahead of time.  My favorite one is at the bottom of this post.  I also caught precooked chicken(grilled) on sale last week at Kroger so I can head that REALLY quick in the microwave(cooler!) for grilled chicken salad.  I also put the broth in quart jars so I have that to make up some easy soups pretty cheaply. I will freeze that soon but ran out of time!

3. Bought ground turkey.  This is for breakfast mostly.  We love sausage but I hate the high price!  I caught ground turkey on sale this week so I used Heavenly Homemaker’s recipe for homemade turkey sausage.  Quick easy breakfasts are a must!

Then I made my kids Chocolate Pudding Pops with no sugar!  Thank you THM for such great recipes that are healthy!

Chicken Bacon Salad—S meal (no picture because we ate it too fast)

4 cups cooked diced chicken

1/2 c cooked crumbled bacon

1/4 c slivered almonds

1/2 c sliced celery

1 can water chestnuts

2 tsp dry minced onion or 1 T chopped red onion

1 cup miracle whip

1/4 tsp ginger

Mix it all together & serve on a bed of greens!  Cool and healthy meal!

Serves 5  Calories per serving 276  Carbs 8 Fat 14 Protein 27  Tallied up from myfitnesspal.com

Black Bean & Tomato salad

We’ve had TONS of cherry tomatoes.  Almost more than we can eat.  No lie.  Joshua goes out to pick for me and brings in 3-4 cups.  Then the next day he does it again!

This salad is so yummy.  We eat it with a little cheese & sour cream.  You can also add taco meat.

Black Bean & Tomato Salad

1-2 cans beans(I’ve used black & pinto in the photo)

1-2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup cilantro

1 1/2 cup corn(or one can, drained)

Mix ingredients together.  Chill if you have the time. 

If not, it is still great!

Tomato bliss!

There are some recipes that I can only eat & REALLY enjoy to the maximum in the summer time. 

I guess that I am a bit of a tomato snob.

The tomatoes from the grocery store are just not the same as the ones from my garden.  Their taste isn’t as delicious.  I have a crowded garden this year with 30 some tomato plants & they are ripening for our enjoyment!

There isn’t the same desire on my part to run in from the garden and just slice up a tomato(or two) & sit down to just eat & eat & eat.

I am trying to avoid most sugar and processed carbs.  Now that doesn’t mean I don’t cave to an occasional Pepsi or slice of bread but this seems to be helping me whittle away at those pounds I gained after hip surgery in January. 

So when the kids have pizza or something else I am avoiding I will pull out some tuna.  They don’t enjoy tuna salad so this works out perfectly.  It is a very fast & filling lunch.

Tuna & Tomato Salad

1 small can or pouch of tuna

1-2 Tbsp Miracle Whip

1 tsp pickle relish

1-2 tomatoes

Lettuce(romaine, green leaf & spinach)

Prepare lettuce by washing & tearing.  Mix the tuna, Miracle whip & pickle relish.  Arrange lettuce & sliced tomatoes on plate & top with tuna mixture.  EAT!

Sausage Quiche Squares Remix

I shared this back in December but it is still a favorite around here.  It was cool enough in the house this morning to bake this and it provides a hefty breakfast paired with some whole wheat toast & jelly. 

We needed that after our late night & looking at our full day of projects!  Enjoy! 

Sausage Quiche Squares(14 servings; 1x3 pieces)

1 lb sausage—cooked—I use turkey sausage

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup Monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

10 eggs

1 Tbsp chili powder(use it all it isn’t spicy!)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 small can chopped green chilis

Mix eggs & spices in a medium bowl.  Layer sausage, onion, and cheese in a 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour egg mixture over sausage.  Sprinkle chilis evenly over eggs(or leave one side without chilis for kids/adults who don’t like them).  Bake on 375 for 18-22 minutes.

This is what it always looks like when my crew is finished with this recipe!

 

Fast Easy Bean Dip

We took this to our small church group Sunday night(10 people) and it was gobbled right up.  It is great for sharing or a quick easy supper.  Very adaptable to what you have on hand or the ingredient your family prefers.

Mexican Bean Dip

2 cans refried beans

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheese(cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Mexican blend)

2-3 green onions

3 plum tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced olives

Tortilla Chips

Spread refried beans in a pan.  I used a 11x15  jelly roll pan but you could do a couple of 9x13s instead.  Spread the sour cream over the beans.  I only do it on 1/2 the pan because of members of our family who don’t like sour cream.

Sprinkle on the cheese.

Chop up tomatoes on top. 

Use scissors to snip the green onions randomly over the pan.

Slice your olives & sprinkle them over the rest. 

Again we only did 1/2 for various members of the family.

That is it!  Just grab your chips & a spoon.  You are ready to dig in.  Unless you are stealing the rest of the olives from the can like my little guy who helped to make the dip. Enjoy!

For more great recipes check out theses sites

 Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday,This Chick Cooks, What’s on your Plate, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Fun with Food, & Foodie Friday

Confetti Fish

My main goal these day is to not turn on the oven.  The directions are for the oven but last week I went out on a limb and did this recipe on our grill.  It worked out just fine!

Confetti Fish Fillets

vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil or butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup diced red pepper(I use MORE!)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 1/2 lbs tilapia or any firm white fish fillets

1 T fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray 9 x 13 pan with vegetable oil spray.   Heat oil in skillet.  Saute onion & bell pepper for 2-3 minutes.  Turn off heat and add crumbs and lemon zest.  Stir thoroughly.

Arrange fish in pan.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt.  Spread vegetable mixture evenly over fish.

Bake about 10 minutes per inch of fish or until fish flakes easily at the thickest point.

Grill option:  Line a grill basket with aluminum foil and arrange fish in the basket.   Grill on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  (or until the crumbs start to get black—LOL)

Grilled Chicken Salad

Could we please go back to spring?  Wow it has gotten CRAZY warm here!

Not really complaining here but really June is not always swimming weather here . . . . . .

The new location of this post is

Grilled Chicken Salad

This blog has moved.  Sorry for the inconvenience!!!

Healthy Summer Snacks!

What do you feed kids when they are starving?  My younger two are growing like weeds these days & really need some extra food to keep them going.  What do YOU reach for when the energy levels are low?  Healthy or not?

1.  Full meals  I try to make sure they are putting away meat, vegies, carbs & good fat at each meal.  This helps them make it to the next meal if we cannot snack without getting really cranky!

2.  Fruit  This is my first question to them.  Have you had some fruit today?  We don’t eat a lot of fruit at meals so they need to get this through snacks.  Apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, pineapple etc  Elizabeth loves apples & can go through a couple a day!

3.  Trail mix  Peanuts, raisins, & m&ms(a few)  I think Joshua would live on this stuff.  Daddy lets them add other stuff—like marshmallows. 

4.  Nuts  We always have almonds in the house.  Not everyone likes them but this is my little snack I have before fixing supper(when I am starving) so I don’t start snacking!

5.  Yogurt & peanut butter dip  We don’t do this often but is sure is good.  Apples are delicious dipped in this. 

1 cup Stoneyfield French Vanilla yogurt

1-2 T smooth peanut butter

6.  Smoothies  Nothing better on a hot day!

7.  Popcicles Well maybe this is better.  Freeze your smoothie recipe for a healthy alternative to frozen sugar.

8.  Sandwiches  Sometimes a little snack won’t do it.  When we go for a bike ride or a long walk.  I will pack peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.  Also peanut butter & crackers or cheese & crackers are crowd pleasers.

9.  Popcorn  Regular or Kettle corn---mmmm love it!

10.  Cheese sticks or slices of regular cheese   Mix it up.

11.  My favorite snack right now—Apple cut in to 4 pieces, topped with peanut butter & sprinkled with sunflower seeds.  Nothing better!

Linked up at Tasty Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, What’s On YOUR plate, & Fun with Food Friday

Food for Traveling

We made a super fast trip out of town yesterday. 

I knew it was coming but wasn’t sure we were going to be able to go or where we were going to stay.  Steve had a class to go to so I was on my own when we arrived around 6:30 p.m.

What I didn’t want was 4 starving kids & me having to find food that was close to the hotel and inexpensive.

Instead I cooked at home.  Weird you say?  You thought I was leaving town?  I did and I brought my slave with me.

Before I went to town for a few groceries & the girls Bible study I put my plan in to action.

Step 1--I grabbed a package of BBQ Chicken out of the freezer.  I defrosted it in the sink in cool water enough that I could break them apart.

Step 2—Next, I dumped the chicken in the crock pot & turned it on High.  Normally I do this on low all day but I was short on time.

Step 3--Elizabeth grabbed 6 potatoes, washed & wrapped them in foil, and stuck them in the oven on 300 degrees.

We were gone for about 3 hours and when we returned home the chicken & potatoes were done.

Step 4—I dumped the “juice” from the chicken, put the potatoes in the crockpot & replaced the lid.(I didn’t want sauce to spill in the suburban)

We packed up the suburban with our clothes, games & the food.

Step 5--2 hours later at the hotel I shredded the chicken with a fork & we had BBQ chicken sandwiches with a baked potatoes.(It was still very warm!)

The perfect end to a busy day.  I love using my crockpot & freezer to make life just a little bit easier!