Texas Pete Salad

One of our favorite summer dishes is Texas Pete Salad. Dave actually came up with this recipe, a twist on a pizza his mom makes (one of my all time favorite pizzas!) I thought I had posted the recipe for the pizza as well, but I am not seeing it, I will share that as well soon! It's so good!

This salad is super easy and super versatile. You can add tons of veggies, whatever you like really.

We like;
Lettuce (obviously)
Tomatoes
Peppers
Red onions
Mushrooms
Green onion
Avocado
Bacon
Corn
Black beans

For the chicken, I just sautee chopped chicken over medium high heat, and once it's almost fully cooked, coat it all in Texas Pete Buffalo sauce. Make sure to buy the buffalo wing sauce, not the hot sauce, so it's not too hot! I like to let my chicken cool before topping it on the salad, so this is when I start prepping all my veggies. Once I have everything chopped up the chicken is cool enough, add everything together for your salad, and top it with a little more Texas Pete Buffalo and we also toss it with a homemade creamy cilantro dressing.

For the dressing;
1 packet of Ranch
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sour cream or mayo
1 bunch cilantro
1 jalapeno (optional)

Add everything to a blender and chill until ready to serve! So easy! I love having a bottle of this dressing in the fridge. It only lasts about a week, but I will put it on anything and everything!

That's it! It's one of my favorite meals that is ready in under 30 minutes and is so flavorful!

Enjoy!

Coconut Lime Chicken

I swear I had shared this recipe before, but I couldn't find it! So here I am, sharing it, or sharing it again. Either way, it's a great easy recipe that everyone loves! Pretty much everything in this recipe are things I usually have on hand, so it's great for me in a pinch. Quick, flavorful, and easy to make for big groups. Always a hit! 

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (I like to use chicken tenders but it really doesn't matter)
3 tbsp oil
zest of 1 lime
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh limes, cut into wedges

- Place chicken in a ziplock bag. If using breasts, even out each piece with a meat mallet.
- In a bowl mix together all above ingredients except coconut milk, cilantro and lime wedges. Whisk together. 
- Add 1/2 cup coconut milk to seasonings and whisk together. 
- Pour seasoning mixture over chicken in the zip lock bag and marinate, refrigerated for at least two hours.
- I start cooking my rice about 20 minutes before I start cooking my chicken. I particularly love Basmati rice, which you can find at any grocery store, but any rice will do.
- Remove chicken from marinade and sear over medium high heat. (Also great to grill it!) 
- Pour marinade into saucepan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for at least 2 minutes. Turn heat to low and add remaining can of coconut milk and stir together. Allow to simmer until it has thickened, about 3-5 minutes. 
- Once chicken is fully cooked, top with chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice. Serve over rice with sauce made from the marinade. 

Adapted from Chaos in the Kitchen

Enjoy! 

Perfect Summer Mint Limeade

Early in the days of dating and young love, Dave and I came across delightful, made on the spot Mint Limeade at the Downtown SLC Farmer Market. Since it was a bit of a drive to the market (and now it's really quite the drive to that market) we've figured out our own recipe for the wonderfully refreshing Mint Limeade. I may have shared this recipe before, but I feel that it still needed some tweaking. Now, I am quite happy with where it's at, so here it is! It's really quite easy and the perfect summer beverage. 

What you will need;

8-10 limes, juiced
1 bunch fresh mint
3/4 sugar
2 quarts water 

What to do;

Fill up your pitcher with water, and sugar. Whisk in sugar until dissolved.

Now the most difficult part of this recipe is juicing the limes. Often times they are beasts to juice by hand. You could throw them in an electric juicer, but, at least with my juicer, I have to peel them first, so no thanks. So my trick is to first slice all the limes in half, and throw them all in the microwave for 15 seconds. Sounds weird, I know, but this will make them a bit softer and easier to juice so you can get more juice out of them. My favorite tool is a hand press juicer which you can usually get from any store for about $10. Worth it! Obviously add the lime juice to your pitcher and stir together.

If you don't have something to help with juicing and don't feel like you got much juice out by hand, just put the halved limes in with the water and all other ingredients and just let it all marinade for 2-4 hours. I often will do this at the start of dinner when I am feeling too lazy to juice the limes and then the limeade is ready once I am all wrapped up with dinner! Easy peasy! 

This part might sound like a lot of work, but really it's not! And most importantly, don't just give up and use the pre-bottled nasty lime juice. I repeat. DO NOT USE NASTY BOTTLED LIME JUICE. That goes for the syrupy frozen stuff too. Just do it fresh my friends! Otherwise we can't be friends! 

Next, tear up the mint leaves, usually just tearing each mint leaf in two, you don't need to chop them up small or anything, and add that to the pitcher and stir a bit. The flavors are usually ready in about an hour. You can leave the mint and limes in the pitcher for up to 4 hours. I usually take out the mint and limes at about the four mark as it starts to get a little too strong, and the limes can start to break down and make it too acidic. 

Some people like it more sweet, some people like it more tart, that's up to you! But I promise, it will be wonderfully refreshing for a slow rock on the porch on a hot summer day! 

Enjoy!

Chipotle Lime Soup

This recipe is one of our all time favorite soups. This recipe does have a good kick to it thanks to the Chipotles, but if you can handle the heat, it is so easy to throw together and is packed with flavor! 

Here's what you will need;

1 onion, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-8 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, chopped

4 Chipotle chilies and 4 tablespoons adobo sauce*

6 cups chicken broth 

2 cups heavy cream

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 bunch chopped cilantro

1 avocado

Sour cream

Crushed Tortilla chips

*the Chipotle chilies are really quite spicy, so you can half this to lower the heat

In a large pot or dutch oven add onion, garlic and olive oil, and saute. Push onion and garlic to the side of the pan and add chicken and cook. Once golden, add chipotle chilies, chicken broth, adobo sauce and heavy cream. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Add lime juice. You can add the chopped cilantro at this point, or wait to add it to each serving along with sour cream, avocado and tortilla chips.

And that's it! Enjoy!

Adapted from Rachael Ray

Happy Fall!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I found this recipe thanks to Pinterest. Well technically I rediscovered it. I have started going through my own pins verses going through every one else's pins for ideas. With over 11,000 (omg that's insane, I need a life) pins, I suppose I should focus on doing something with them. So here is one lovely, easy recipe that the family loved and gobbled up in a quick 24hrs.

Here's what you will need;

2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cups softened butter
3 eggs (whisked)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used a dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate mix, but it's up to you!)

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. 
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. 
In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder, salt and flour together. Pour into butter mix and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Grease a 9x13 pan and press the dough into the pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Oven temps will vary. It will still be pretty gooey, but shouldn't still look like raw dough. 
They are so rich I love to serve them with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Adapted from I Heart Naptime

Enjoy!

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Happy Tuesday every one! 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and are having a lovely week so far!

Today I decided to share one of my all time favorite recipes!

We had some friends over for dinner last week and I forgot to plan something for desert (I know, so shocking, so rare!) but when I saw a bag of shredded coconut in the pantry I figured I should whip these up. These are really quick and easy to make, and not only do they look impressive, they are so yummy!

Here's what you need; 

2/3 cup and 2 tbsp flour
1 (14 ounce) bag sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 and ½ tsp almond or vanilla extract
1/2 cup  semi-sweet or dark chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon shortening 

Preheat oven to 325°F

Toss together flour, coconut and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir sweetened condensed milk and extract together into the coconut mixture until fully incorporated. 

Using a small cookie scooper, scoop the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake macaroons for about 15-20 minutes or until they begin to brown.

To melt the chocolate add the shortening to the chocolate and microwave on high in increments of 20 seconds until fully melted. The shortening helps ensure the chocolate is smooth and helps thin it out just a bit to aid in drizzling.

Once macaroons are cooled, dip the bottoms in melted chocolate, drizzling the tops with chocolate, and setting them on wax paper. Serve once the chocolate is hardened.

Sine I had only about 30 minutes till our guests arrived, I put the chocolate drizzled macaroons in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden up the chocolate in time. Works like a charm! Just don't forget to pull them out so you don't have frozen macaroons! 

I promise, even people who don't like coconut will love these! Because I don't normally like coconut!

Adapted from Kin Community

Wildflower's TBA

I was desperately craving a good sandwich a few weeks ago after watching this video. So to the store I went. I bought some thinly sliced, golden roasted turkey, my favorite Muenster cheese, bacon, big, juicy ripe tomatoes, ripe avocados, and most importantly a big, oh so soft, oh so amazing loaf of fresh Tuscan bread, as it's titled at the store. This loaf pictured below is from Wegmans, a east cost grocery store (that the rest of the nation is seriously missing out on) but Target has one that is pretty much identical and just as yummy by Archer Farms.

While this is a simple sandwich, good quality ingredients are important!

The next important ingredient is the sauce. Obviously you could top this with lots of things, but my favorite is my homemade honey mustard. Now this is extremely easy to make. But the taste is pretty delightful. Just the other day I was making myself one of these sandwiches and my dad was tasting the honey mustard. And he didn't take just one taste. Taste, after taste, after taste, I finally offered to make him a sandwich and he said, "Actually, I just want a slice of bread with this stuff spread on it." So that's what I got him. Like I said, it's good stuff.

For the honey mustard you need;
4 tablespoons of mayo
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of yellow mustard

Mix all ingredients together, and that's it! I save leftovers in the fridge. Makes enough for about 4-5 sandwiches.

Assemble your sandwich, turkey, cheese, bacon, tomato, avocado, honey mustard, toast lightly, and enjoy! I promise the flavors in this simple sandwich will amaze you!

Cowboy Caviar

I got this recipe from my sweet Aunt. She made it for me once and I think I ate half the bowl all by myself. This stuff is amazing! Colorful, flavorful and fresh, and easy to whip up in a big batch to share! Perfect for summer BBQ's and picnics! 

Here's what you need

1 can black-eyed peas (drain and rinse)
1 can black beans (drain and rinse)
1 can corn (drain only and rinse)
1 cans Rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4-5 chopped green onions
1 chopped fresh tomato
1 chopped green bell pepper
1, 16 oz bottle Wishbone Robusto Italian Dressing (you will only need half the bottle, about 1 cup)
Garlic powder to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir in dressing. Allow to sit 4-24 hours before serving. It's better if you make it ahead and let it sit and absorb all the flavors overnight for maximum flavor. Serve by it's self or with tortilla chips.

*Wildflower's recommendation; make sure to buy all low sodium canned goods!

Enjoy!

Hot Ham and Cheese Tea Rolls

Thank heavens for Momma Cavanaugh for this recipe! One of the best parts of being married is acquiring plenty of delectable recipes from my in-laws! 

Quick, and easy, but incredibly tasty, these are a family favorite for General Conference weekend and get gobbled up so quick! I promise, you won't be able to eat just one!

What you'll need;

1 package of Hawaiian Rolls

1 lb. good ham deli meat

1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced

1/2 c. butter, melted

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

dash of onion powder

1. Cut the rolls in half and line the bottom of a baking pan with the bottoms of the rolls. Layer the ham slices, then cheese and place the top half back on.

2. Mix together the butter, worcheshire, mustard, brown sugar and onion powder. Pour the whole works over the buns, drenching each one. Cover tightly and marinade for 4-24 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes,uncovered,or until cheese is melted and bun tops are a bit golden.

Easy, right?

Enjoy!

A fresh, healthy summer salad will be posted tomorrow! Check back in!

Happy Sunday!

Easy Lemon Cake

For Easter Sunday (which we had a week early) my Aunt made this simple but yummy fruit and lemon cake. For the official day of Easter I just made a small dinner for Dave and I and made this cake for dessert. I changed it a bit from how she made it originally but it was pretty much the same and was SO easy!

All you need;

Lemon Cake Mix
Lemon Curd (optional)
Whip Cream (homemade is better!)
And berries (ie strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Bake the cake according to box instructions in two round pans. Once cool, top first layer with lemon curd (optional), whip cream, and berries. Repeat with second layer. Simple enough? So easy, so pretty, so yummy.

 Don't know how to make whip cream? It's easy! And you will never go back to the store bought stuff!

All you need is;
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
5 tbsp Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Whip for 10 minutes until peaks form (like regular whip cream!)

Enjoy!