A Cool New Blog

So what you don't know about me is that I'm a hard core exercise enthusiast with a penchant for martial arts and trying new sports.

If you are even remotely interested in exercise and healthy eating like I am, I highly recommend this blog - http://www.fitnessista.com/ . It's written by a very energetic fitness trainer who offers insights not only into creating healthy recipes but also staying fit.

Happy Thursday All.

--C

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Here's an easy recipe from Mission.

Ingredients:

10 medium sized tortillas
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 packet fajita seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 small onion
8 ounces of cheddar cheese, grated
8 ounces of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Sour Cream

Preparations:

Cut chicken into small pieces and fry in oil until done. Add fajita seasoning (as directed). Dice onion and add to chicken. Chop all of the peppers into small pieces and add. Cook until peppers are tender.

Add cheddar cheese to tortilla and then top with chicken/peppers/onion mixture. Add a layer of Monterrey Jack cheese. Fry until the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream.

French Dips

Okay, so I burned dinner and I'm not going to win the Martha Stewart award anytime soon. On the plus side, I have three fairly easy going kids so they didn't mind have French dips that were on the crunchy side. (They totally got ice cream for dessert.)

Chrissa's French Dips

Ingredients:

1 loaf french bread
1lb cooked beef
6 slices of Swiss cheese
3 cups of Au Jus

I took a five pound steak that I had previously marinated and cooked. I cut it into pieces. Take the loaf of bread and slice it in half and then split each half lengthwise. Cover the two halves of the bread with meat and then topped each piece with three slices of Swiss Cheese. Broil until the cheese melts.

Dipping Sauce:

You can either make the Au Jus as directed or you can save your spicy marinade and warm it. My secret to yummy beef is storing the leftovers in the marinade sauce. Turns out I actually prefer dipping my sandwich in this rather than Au Jus.

Bon Appetite.

Chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal and pecans

This recipe reminds me of See's summer chocolates which are a combination of nuts and milk chocolate. (If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them.)

Here's the recipe from Epicurious:

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 12 ounces)
1 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 heavy large baking sheets. Beat margarine and both sugars in large bowl until fluffy and well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, the vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda and salt over margarine mixture and stir to blend. Mix in oats, the chocolate chips and pecans.

Bake for 12 minutes at 375.

Out of Ideas for Dinner?

Out of ideas for dinner? Check out Yahoo's suggestions on what to make for dinner. :)

http://food.yahoo.com/everyday/dinner/

I'm out sick

Sorry for the lack of posts. I caught a cold. Hope to be back blogging soon.

--C

Have you seen this site?

Here's a fun site where you can swap recipes and get new ideas on what to serve for dinner.

http://www.mixingbowl.com/

Quick Mexican Pizza

There's this cool site that I found the other day that actually has an entire family menu planned out a month at a time.

Here's a fabulous recipe from Familyfun.com:

Ingredients

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 cup salsa
4 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Green pepper
Onion
Mushrooms

Preparation

In a skillet, cook meat on medium high heat until it browns. Drain off excess liquid and stir in the chili powder and cumin.

Spread 1/4 cup salsa and 1/2 cup of the meat mixture on each tortilla. Top each with 1/2 cup cheese and peppers, onions or mushrooms, as desired. Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees, until crisp and lightly browned. Makes 4 servings.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's an easy recipe from Cooks.com:

2 sticks real butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. oatmeal
2 c. flour
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
12 oz. chocolate chips

Cream soft butter and sugars, add eggs and beat until creamy. Add dry ingredients and vanilla and mix well. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Spread into a 13x9 inch greased pan and bake 30 minutes at 350. When cool cut into bars.

Feeding Your Family

Here are a couple of tips for saving money while feeding your family.

1. Plan your menu a month in advance.

I know it sounds very time consuming but there are some very helpful sites out there that will help you plan your meals and make your grocery lists.

Meals Matter

Organized Home

2. Compare your grocery list with the coupon pullouts in your newspaper.

By making your lists in advance, you'll also have time to find coupons and work on saving money for your budget.

3. Have a budget!

Make a budget for groceries and for going out to eat. Sticking to a budget can help you reduce stress and save money during the recession.

Check out this site -

Turns out Disney doesn't just make movies and toys. They also have a family friendly website that offers healthy meal solutions for kids.

Check it out -

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-dinner-recipes/

No bake cookies (Kid Friendly)

I'm curious as to whether or not there are good no bake cookie recipes that don't include peanut butter so if you know of one, please comment. Our youngest hates all things peanut butter.

Here's an easy recipe from AllRecipes:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preparations:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Chocolate Cake

I like to mix and match when it comes to recipes. In this case I took the cake mix from a recipe on Epicurious (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Nana-Edies-Devils-Food-Cake-103086) and paired it with my grandmother's recipe for buttercream frosting.

The result was a very rich and yummy chocolate cake. In fact, I dare say it's as good as the "Death by Chocolate cake" I used to eat every time I had a rough day in college....and sometimes I hate it just because it was a Tuesday....

Ingredients:

For cake layers:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparations:

To make the cake layers -

1. Add the vinegar to the whipping cream and set it aside while you mix the other ingredients. (The vinegar "sours" it.)

2. Melt the chocolate and butter.

3. When the chocolate and butter have melted and mixed, add water and mix.

4. Let the chocolate/butter/water mixture cool a bit.

5. Combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

6. Separately mix the flour and baking soda.

7. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the eggs/sugar mixture and mix well.

8. Add the "soured" whipping cream.

9. Add the flour mixture and mix well.

10. Divide batter into two greased cake pans.

11. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until spaghetti noodle comes out clean.


For Frosting:

(I used the Hershey's recipe)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix it all very well. Frost cake when cool. Enjoy!

Fried Chicken (Low Carb Style)

If you're looking for something like KFC without the guilt, then you've come to the right place.

Here's a low carb take on a yummy favorite.

Ingredients:

1 lb of skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3 eggs
1/8 teaspoon of Paprika
1/2 cup of Virgin Olive Oil
3 cups of spicy pork rinds


Preparations:

1. Beat eggs and whipping cream until thoroughly mixed.

2. Add paprika to eggs and cream. Mix well.

3. Turn fry pan on to medium heat and add oil.

4. Place pork rinds in plastic bag. Crush with a rolling pan until they are crumbs.

5. Dip chicken in egg batter and then roll chicken in crushed pork rinds.

6. Fry in a covered pan for approximately 30 minutes.

7. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Servings: 4

Jose's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies

Here's another yummy recipe from Epicurious that I highly recommend.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
a 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated


Preparations:

1. Mix butter, eggs, sugars, peanut butter and vanilla until it's well blended.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.

3. Combine both sets of ingredients and slowly add oatmeal and chocolate chips.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Servings:

60 cookies