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Summer Recipes

Terra Delyssa

I love summer! I love the water sports, the outside time, and the food! So, I was super excited to try out some olive oils from Terra Delyssa. I use a lot of olive oil in the summer because it’s perfect for grilling and cooking.

Terra Delyssa’s olives are grown in Tunisia and then are cold pressed for a terrific quality extra virgin olive oil.

I am really enjoying all the infused olive oils that they sent me. It’s nice to be able to add a little extra flavor to my dishes.

The first one I tried out was the red pepper. I cooked it with some pasta, red bell peppers, bacon crumbles, habanero peppers, and parmesan cheese. It was delicious and made a great quick summer afternoon lunch!

Corico

And, what yells summer more than cold treats? I love olives! So I was excited to try out this new Olive Boat from Corico.

This is awesome for a summer dinner party. You just drop the olive pits in the center and the plate looks nice a clean all evening. It’s amazing!

It’s also great for those private snacking sessions when I just want something cold and I want to stay away from sweet foods like ice cream. This is perfect and makes it more fun to eat healthy snacks!

 

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Mini Chicken Pot Pies

chickenpotpie

These little chicken pot pies are perfect for cold winter days. My kids thought that having their own bowl was awesome! Plus the biscuits fit perfectly on top this way. Feel free to make this in one big pan if you don’t want to do personal ones.

Chicken Pot Pie

8 ovenproof bowls or ramekins, about 1 cup each
4 Cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground thyme
2 bay leaves
4 green onions, sliced in chunks
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup diced carrots
1 Cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Cup frozen corn, thawed
5 Tablespoons flour
1 Cup milk
8 Biscuits

  1. Combine chicken broth, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, and onion in a large pan over high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  2. Add the chicken and continue simmering for another 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add enough water to the pot to fully cover the chicken if too much liquid has cooked off.
  3. Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board to cool. Strain the broth. You’ll need 2 1/2 cups.
  4. Cut the chicken into bit size pieces.
  5. In a skillet on the stove, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  6. Add the peas and corn to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
  7. Stir in the 5 Tablespoons flour just until combined or all the vegetables are coated.
  8. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken broth and the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. About 5 minutes.
  9. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the chicken.
  10. Preheat oven to 375
  11. Dish out pot pie filling into the ramekins or oven safe bowls and set aside.

img_20170105_170831_643

  1. Make biscuits and roll them out to 1/4 inch thick. If you’re using refrigerated biscuits, use half a biscuit.
  2. Place 1 biscuit on top of each ramekin filled with pot pie filling.
  3. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until tops of biscuits are golden brown.
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Monster Pretzels

pretzel

These are so easy to make. And so fun to make! My girls helped me with these and they opted not to put any of the halloween sprinkles on, but insisted on using hearts instead!

Any way you do it, have fun! They taste great too, so make a bunch, because if you don’t you’ll wish you had.

Pretzel Monsters

  • Bag (or two) of Chocolate covered pretzels – I just buy the cheapest chocolate covered pretzels I can find at the grocery store
  • Candy making chocolate in various colors – green and orange are great monster colors!
  • Assorted sprinkles

Spread parchment paper out on 2 cookie sheets.

Spread pretzels out on sheets in a single layer.

Melt the candy chocolate in a ziploc bag in the microwave. Microwave 15 to 30 seconds, mix and repeat until chocolate is smooth.

Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and pipe into the top two sections of the pretzel. Immediately, add a large sprinkles for the eyes. (this is a great part for the kids, you pipe, and they stick on the sprinkles)

Let cool, remove from the tray, and enjoy.

I like to just set out a bowl of these on the counter when guests come over. They’re fun and so tasty!

 

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7 Favorite Green Foods

In honor of St. Patricks Day, I’m going with a green theme for my foods. There’s no way I’m dying any food green, so you know, green eggs and ham are just out of the questions! However, here’s my top 7 favorite naturally green foods.

lettuce1. Lettuce – We all love salads! It’s a great way for me to get my family to eat green leafy vegetables. My favorite dinner salad is a good “cobb” salad. And I use “cobb” rather loosely, because I don’t usually make a traditional cobb salad. I make a salad with lettuce, 2 types of cheese, 2 types of meat (usually sliced sandwich meat and bacon bits), sliced tomatoes, and ranch dressing. Makes a great protein-packed dinner for hot days in the summer!

th2. Granny Smith Apples – These were always one of my favorite apples as a kid. I also really like them in an apple pie, a nice tart apple with the sugar and such in an apple pie is so delicious! They’re also really good sliced up with some peanut butter.

IMG_17083. Peas – My now 6yr old loves peas. They were one of her first finger foods as a baby and she still loves them to this day! I used to just pop a bowl of frozen peas with a Tbsp of water into the microwave for about 1 minute for an instant snack. These days, with three kids I have to make more peas so I just boil them on the stove with a little bit of salt and everyone loves them! I can put peas in just about anything and my 6yr old will eat it because it has her favorite vegetable.

Green-44. Kiwi – I love these tart fruits as well (sensing a pattern here?). I don’t like the fuzzy peel, so I peel them, slice them into rounds and eat them with a fork. The best thing about this fruit? No one else in my family likes them so I get to eat them all!

step-2155. Grapes – Grapes are such an easy fruit. You can take them to a party, pull out a few for the kids to snack on, or slice them in half and toss them in a fruit salad. I like my grapes nice and firm, once they’re squishy I won’t eat them so I have to eat them up pretty quickly when I get them.

green_food_wwweasygreenlivingconz16. Broccoli – Another favorite in my family. The kids prefer to eat broccoli with ranch dip which is way easier than the cheese sauce my husband prefers. This is probably the only green vegetable that everyone in my family will eat! I prefer to steam it on the stove and eat it plain.

green-beans7. Green Beans – My kids only like canned green beans because they’re softer than fresh or frozen. But that just makes my life easier, I’ll dump a can of green beans in a pan, add a clove of crushed garlic and simmer while I’m making dinner. All 3 kids gobble them up. (some nights I don’t get any, I’m going to have to start making 2 cans if I want some). Easy and healthy!

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Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

I tried this new recipe off the food network site. Chocolate-Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.

They turned out pretty well! I’m going to try them again with a few changes.

1. The cupcakes were really crumbly! I had to give my 2yr old a spoon so she could eat them. I think I’m just going to make a regular chocolate cupcake. The extra ingredients didn’t seems to enhance the flavor of the cupcake, just made it crumbly.

2. I LOVE the icing! I’m going to make this and put it on other things! I thought it could have been a bit firmer though, it was a little soft. Next time, I’m not going to use a purchased icing, I’ll make my own and make it a little thicker so when I add the chocolate mixture it’ll be a better spreading consistency.

3. Kroger brand maraschino cherries are terrible! They just don’t taste right, so I’ll use a different brand next time.