Pineapple Brown Sugar Christmas Ham

This is my recipe for the best Christmas ham ever! This year we weren't going anywhere so I only needed a 5 pound ham. It cost $17 at Walmart. I already had everything else at the house except the pineapple which was about $1.38 for the 20 oz can also at Walmart. You will also need whole cloves, 1 cup of brown sugar, 3 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon, and a few squirts of pure clover honey. (and tin foil and a pan of course :)

^Ham :)

^Mix up your brown sugar and cinnamon together and rub it all over the entire ham, heaping extra up on top after you've done the bottom, and pressing it into the ham lightly.

^Time for the cloves and pineapple!

^Put a small rack in a casserole dish (or whatever you're going to cook your ham in) so it sits up out of the juice just a little bit. You want the steam to circulate around the entire ham when it's covered and in the oven.

^This is why you piled extra of your brown sugar mixture on top. With one of these meat spearing thingy's (not sure what it's actually called...) poke holes in your ham all over the top about every inch or so. This pushes some of the brown sugar down in and allows the flavors and steam to get down inside the ham.

^After you're done poking your ham, take a large knife and score the top in a criss cross pattern. Put a whole clove in each section. You don't have to score very deep.

^Heap your pineapple on top, and pour the juices and the rest of the pineapple around the bottom of the pan. sprinkle the rest of your brown sugar mixture around the entire pan and on top of the pineapple topped ham. Squirt some honey around in the bottom of the pan. Cover your pan with tin foil. Your ham is now ready to cook. For this 5 pound ham I cooked it at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The directions said an hour and a half, but that was just too long and it was done before that.

^When your ham comes out of the oven, take a meat baster and use the juices from the bottom of the pan as a glaze, and put it all over the ham. Serve immediately. Enjoy :)

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (dairy- free & low carb options included)

Per the request of my mother-in-law, here is my Chicken Enchilada Casserole! Dairy free with a low carb option. Can't get any better than that. And it's easy, yummy, and quick too! NOW, you can't get any better than that! So whip this up for dinner and enjoy. Happy Cooking :)

Tortillas: (I prefer low carb whole wheat tortillas, but for my family I use Tortilla land brand that you buy the dough and cook it yourself. They are SSOOO much yummier than the regular pre-made ones you buy in the package.) Cook them.

1-2 cans of canned chicken, depending on your casserole/family size. I prefer chicken, but you could cook up some ground beef, or use shredded pork as well. Make sure it finely shredded, cooks better that way. Toss it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, not too much though.

I think I used about 12 whole tortillas for this recipe and it fed my husband for days. (My kids won't eat the veggies and I made a smaller low carb one for myself) Rip them up in random pieces and lay them out in a layer on the bottom of your casserole dish. There's no need to spray or butter your dish.

For this particular casserole I used green chile enchilada sauce, I prefer the regular kind for myself though, mild. Spread a good layer on top of the tortillas. I used almost an entire can for one casserole. Spread it around evenly over the tortillas strips.

The next layers are the chicken and the cheese. Nice and thick with the cheese if you can. I only had one package of vegan cheese so my cheese layer isn't as thick as I would have liked it to be. In my opinion, the more cheese, the better!!

Sprinkle on some diced ripe roma tomatoes and chopped purple onion. This layer is optional, but my hubby LOVES both veggies, so I just had to add it.

Repeat those layers (tortilla strips, sauce, chicken, cheese, veggies) as many times as you would like, or till your casserole dish is almost full. Top the casserole with chopped veggies and cheese. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, then uncover and cook another 15 minutes to make the cheese a little crispy. Vwa la! In about 40 minutes you have a yummy dinner for your family. Enjoy :)

Non-Dairy Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

I made this dessert for the first time on Thanksgiving and I was really excited about it. I was a little nervous about how the non-dairy substitutions would make it taste, but it did not disappoint! So here's my non-dairy version of a yummy Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle.

*Side note* If you are making this dessert for a gathering and are worried about someone being allergic to bananas (like my brother is) then leave them out and it still makes a yummy dessert. I was also thinking about slicing strawberries and trying a Chocolate Strawberry Cream Trifle. Yum, huh? For a gluten free alternative try crushed brown sugar almonds in place of the graham crackers. That might be tasty :)

For this trifle you will need:

18 whole Honey Graham Crackers, crushed

1 cup vanilla Soy Milk

1 - 3.4 oz box Jell-O Brand French Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

1 & 1/4 cup Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 containers SoyaToo Extra Heavy Whipped Cream

4 Lg Bananas, peeled and sliced

2 Tbsp 100% Lemon Juice

^1st, break up your graham crackers and crush them as best you can. Set aside.

^Next make your cream. Mix the Jell-O mix, the soy milk, and all but 1 cup of your whipped topping in a bowl and whisk together till smooth.

^For your ganache, microwave your chocolate chips in a glass bowl till smooth and add in that last cup of whipped cream.

^Peel and slice your bananas. It's best to use bananas that are ripe for eating, but not to ripe so they are not as soft as a fully ripe banana. Place the slices in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice. THis keeps your bananas from browning. Set aside 12 slices for garnish.

^Next you start with your layers. Place half the graham crackers on the bottoms of the dish you will be serving from. I used a Trifle Dish, purchased for $6.97 at Walmart. Arrange a single layer of bananas on top of the crackers. I only had 3 bananas so my layer is thin, plus my hubby is not a big banana fan. You don't have to go so thin if you had all 4 bananas.

^Next, spread 1/3 of the chocolate ganache over the bananas and over the ganache spread half of the pudding filling. Repeat Layers. On top, decorate with the remaining ganache in a criss cross pattern, and sprinkle with the remaining graham cracker crumbs. Arrange the bananas you set aside in a circle for the garnish.

^Cover and chill for 2 hrs so your fillings can thicken and set. Serve cold and keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Dairy/Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I don't know about y'all, but I can already feel my Thanksgiving excitement building. It just so happens to be my very favorite holiday.

One, it usually never snows on Thanksgiving... usually, and I really don't like the snow. Two, four letters, FOOD. Turkey, stuffing, fresh mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, mac&cheese, hot buttered rolls, pie, the smell of fresh chopped green veggies... need I go on? Three, every other holiday seems to bring drama with it, except this one. And those are the reasons that I love Thanksgiving.

In anticipation of this wonderful holiday I already have my brain set on the best part, the desserts. Oh yes, I went there!

So here's a little holiday treat that is gluten and dairy free. Cooked in a 13x9 inch dark glass casserole dish and cut into 12 bars, this delicious dessert has 22g of carbohydrates and 6g of protein per piece. Did I mention you only need 1 bowl, 1 cooking dish, 1 stirring utensil, your hands, and 6 ingredients? Let's get started.

The 6 ingredients you need are:

- 3/4 cup All natural Creamy peanut butter

- 2 Lg eggs

- 1/2 cup Packed brown sugar

- 1/2 cup Stevia in the Raw

- 2 cups gluten free all purpose baking flour/mix

- 1.5 cups Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, they're dairy free

Preheat your oven to 325. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch baking pan.

In your large mixing bowl, mix together all the peanut butter and both eggs until it's smooth.

Add in your brown sugar and stevia and stir till all mixed in.

From this point on it will be easier to mix with your hands.

Add in the baking flour/powder and mix till completely moistened.

Once done, fold in chocolate chips.

Pour the entire mix into your greased baking pan and spread out evenly. Push down gently with your fingers till the top looks more like a cookie cake than a pile of sugary peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Let it bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool 25 minutes and cut into twelve equal pieces.

Using less sugar and a different type of baking mix did make them a bit crumbly, but they were still pretty dang yummy!

Enjoy :)

*I have posted the original recipe here at the bottom for those of you who have no food allergies and don't care to lessen your sugar content. I hear they are divine this way!

3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or creamy

2 large eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups all purpose baking mix, such as Bisquick

2 cups regular M&Ms

Mix and bake the same way, adjust baking time as needed.

Yummy Low Carb Treat

I was really craving something sweet and chocolatey and yummy that wouldn't put a damper on my diet the other day and so I decided to make some chocolate covered cashews.

This is the chocolate I used, semi-sweet and dairy and gluten free. Melt your chocolate squares or chips in a bowl completely. Add your cashews and toss well.

After all your cashews (as many as you want, but not more than you have chocolate for) are tossed and coated well, lay them out on a sheet of wax paper. Make sure your layer is thin so the nuts aren't all bunched together. I didn't have wax paper so I used tin foil which worked just fine. Let them dry for 5 minutes then take a single sprinkle of sugar and sprinkle it over the partially dried cashews. (Not enough to add any negative nutritional value, but enough to add just a tiny bit of sweet.)

Mine took forever to completely dry, but I just pulled them off and put them in a zip lock bag for storage in a cool dry place. (the first day I stored them in my fridge. Now they're in my cabinet.)

And there you are, a yummy sweet treat for all diet types to enjoy that won't set you back. Enjoy!

Gluten/Dairy Free Cupcakes

Oh yes, these beautiful sweet treats are Gluten & Dairy Free!

I was feeling the need for some sweetness so I made

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream frosting and peppermint sprinkles.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Cinnamon Swirl Waffle

I found this one on Pintrest and I couldn't help it! I just had to share it because it's low cost, easy, and fun!

Turning large pre-made cinnamon rolls into waffles with your waffle iron! Neat!

Just put a single cinnamon roll in in each quadrant of the waffle iron and press down slightly to flatten. Cook through and Vwa-la!

Yummy Cinnamon Swirl Waffles for breakfast :)

Tomatoes and Homemade Chili

My Dad has been babying a beautiful garden all spring/summer/fall long. He plated A LOT of tomatoes and my family has been loving it. With one of his last harvests he let me have the bulk of it and helped me make some homemade chili.

He chopped. Aren't they pretty? I love the color!

And I sivved. Not hard work, but tedious for sure. (bad pic of me...)

We got 6 quarts of tomato pulp!

And it made A LOT of yummy chili. Half of it went in my crock pot for dinner that night, and the other half went in my freezer to pull out for another cold winter night.

Thanks Dad!

Easy Tofu Cream Cheese Sauce for Pasta

So I've been playing around with Tofu lately and one of my favorite things is Toffuti Brand Imitation Cream cheese. For those of you who eat it by itself like my sister-in-law, you'll notice a slight difference, but not a bad one. For those of you who only use it in cooking and baking like me, you'd never know the difference.

So this sauce is REALLY easy, you only need 6 ingredients.

They are:

8 oz Toffuti Brand Imitation Cream Cheese (1 container)

6 tsp Earth Balance Non-Dairy Butter substitute (or something similar that is non-dairy)

3/4 cup regular Soymilk

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

1/8 tsp Salt ( a light sprinkling)

1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper

Mix the cream cheese and butter together in a sauce pan over medium low heat until creamy. Add milk and seasonings and stir till the sauce thickens. It takes about 10-12 minutes total prep time. My kids have a thing for shell noodles so that what I mixed in with the sauce. Here's what it should look like when you're done! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

A Congratulatory Treat

My BaBy BrOtHeR finally got a job!!! So I promised him a yummy treat as my way of saying Congrats on a job well done.

His favorite colors are white and orange so I made white cupcakes with orange frosting. (And sprinkles. I have a think for sprinkles...)

This is how they turned out. Cute, huh?

Perfect Macaroni and Cheese

Everybody loves this good, yummy side dish and I've found the perfect recipe! It's not the easiest, but certainly the yummiest! So try it out with your dinner tonight. I'm thinking served with chicken and peas :)

Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted slightly from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics (Clarkson Potter, 2007)

Serves 12, but easily halved

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn or diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces) or 1 1/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 5 ounces)
1 pound elbow macaroni (or other small pasta shape)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter (alternately, melt butter in the microwave). Pour butter into bowl with bread, and toss. Set breadcrumbs aside. Pull out 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar, and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and reserve.

2. Fill a large pot with water; bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer's directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. In the same pot you used for boiling the pasta, melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.

4. While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

5. Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup Pecorino Romano. Stir reserved macaroni into the cheese sauce.

6. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and breadcrumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes, it's not browned to your liking, broil the topping rather than leaving it in the oven, which may cause the pasta to overcook and sauce to dry out. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

Spice up your pasta sauce with a little bit of healthy!

Who loves sauce with their spaghetti? I do! Who loves meat in their sauce? I do!

Who hates eating the SAME exact sauce with their spaghetti time and time again? I do!

So here's my favorite little way to spice things up every once in a while.

P.S. If you chop it small enough, your kids will NEVER know!

So here it is...

Add some veggies and meat! My favorites to add are zucchini (shown above) and yellow crookneck squash. I also added some Tofutti cream cheese substitute to thicken the sauce and give it more of a cream sauce taste and texture.

Easiest tip in the world to change up your pasta sauce recipe. Not that you needed it, but still :)

Chalkboard Cookies for Back to School

My little princess was 5 years old in April and will be starting Kindergarten in TWO WKS! I'm going to cry! She is my first to be sending off to school...

I'm starting to get all these emails about parental involvement in the school and it's a little over-whelming, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. And this would be a great way to do that!

So, over at Little Birdie Secrets there is this awesome Tutorial via a Link to another blog for the CUTEST back to school cookies you've ever seen! So hop on over to Little Birdie Secrets for a fun way to kick those end of summer blues out the window and get ready to jump back into your kiddo's school schedule!

Easy Any Flavor Cookies

I have been taught, by my good friend Valerie, how to make the easiest cookies in the world. They can be made completely non-dairy, like I did, or not. It's up to you :) They can be made in any flavor as one, one just as easy as the next because all you need is a cake mix (your fav: chocolate, red velvet, lemon, spice, french vanilla, whatever you are in the mood for or happen to have in the pantry), 2 tbsp flour, 2 eggs, and 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil! Easy peasy!!

*LEMON WITH SPRINKLES*

Each batch makes 2-4 dozen cookies depending on the size you want your cookies. I make them kind of small and usually get in between 3-4 dozen cookies per batch. It's up to you. So you just empty your cake mix into a mixing bowl and add the flour in. After you mix that together, add the eggs and oil and mix mix mix! It'll get a little stiff towards the end, but that's good. After it's all mixed in just shape your balls, put them on a foil lined cookie sheet, and cook at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes depending on how soft you want them.

*CHOCOLATE*

*RED VELVET*

Now, wasn't that the easiest batch of cookies you've ever thrown together? I thought so. They are NOT the healthiest choice, but for a child's party or as a thank you gift they are absolutely perfect. Enjoy :)

Dad's Quick Chicken Vegetable Soup

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted a recipe for you! Well I've got a good one today, actually it's from one of my favorite chef's in the world, my dad! He's what I like to call a base cooker. All his best recipes are a base that can be made into many different things. I posted his biscuit recipe a few weeks back and that is a base that can be made into pancakes, waffles, quick bread, and all kinds of other stuff. This particular recipe I just tasted to day and he whipped it up in ten minutes. I'm not joking! We all love quick and easy, and did I mention healthy? Yes, keep reading.

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to eat vegetables like I do? It is practically a fight to get them to eat any vegetables at all, it's really frustrating sometimes. Of course, they get it from me because my parents would tell you the same thing about me, "Never liked vegetables, a fight to get her to eat them every night." Well this soup is the solution! It's so yummy and flavorful and packed with the vegetable goodness of yellow squash and zucchini! So here it easy, quick, easy, and healthy.

You will need:

2 qts Chicken broth

3 chicken bullion cubes or tsp of chicken base

2 cans of canned chicken (13 oz liquid and all)

2 medium yellow squash or zucchini (very finely chopped)

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

3 dashes oregano

pasta noodles of your choice

Place the squash in the food processor/food chopper/blender and chop it very finely. In a large sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring it to a boil for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

While the soup is starting to heat, cook your favorite noodles, drain, and set aside. These will be added to the soup as you like. If you cook the noodles in the soup or add them all to the soup, they will turn soggy over time. It is best to just add them to your bowl as would like and in the amount that you would like.

________________________________

As I was saying above, this is a base that you can use for other things as well. Here are a few of the other options.

1.) Mix together 6 eggs and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese; mix them very well to insure there are no lumps. While the above mixture is boiling on high, slowly add the egg mixture to the soup. With the above mixture, substitute chopped green onion for the onion powder, add the previous mixture of egg and cheese, and at the very end, add chopped spinach for an italian spinach soup.

2.) This mixture can be thickened with about 4-5 tbsp of cornstarch and poured over rice.

3.) You can also add 3 cups of your favorite cooked rice, pearl barley, or cooked lentils to the soup instead of pasta. The possibilities are endless!

Gluten, Dairy, Sugar... Who needs 'em?

We have been on a quest for the perfect cookie for a while, as you know from previous posts if you follow me. Well, we've almost found one! I haven't tried it with the egg substitute yet, so I can't tell if it's able to be vegan friendly yet, but this particular recipe is Gluten free, Dairy free, AND Sugar free! You can't get much better than that! So read up, and let your mouth water at these yummy healthy cookies. And please, don't knock it till you try it. Did I mention it's low carb? If you make regular size cookies, there's only about 5g carbs per cookie. Pretty awesome right?

So you're going to need:

-2 cups of cashew flour (you do have to grind the cashews, buy regular (doesn't matter if they're salted or roasted or not) container of cashews and grate them in your blender till they're as fine as you can get them. A little chunkiness is to be expected, gives the cookies a little something extra)

-1/3 cup coconut oil, found at your local health food store

-1 cup Stevia in the Raw (big green bag, cheapest at Walmart)

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp salt

-3 tsp cinnamon

-3 eggs

-1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chocolate chips, or a brand without dairy

(this particular recipe I did use about half a cup of regular Ghirardelli white chocolate chips and a full sup of semi sweet, they do have a little bit of dairy in them, but you can make them without.)

First, grind your cashew flour in a blender, or a really awesome and strong food processor, don't be alarmed when the bottom portion of the cashews stick together, it's just the oil in the nuts, and it's just fine. You just have to stir it around.

Next, add all your ingredients together in a bowl, no specific order, and mix together well.

Cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, time depending on your oven. They should be fully cooked and not looked gooey when they come out of them oven.

Next, they need to cool and set for at least 10 minutes before they can be eaten.

I really hope you enjoy these cookies! They are such a yummy alternative to regular cookies that you can eat a few of and not feel bad about it!

*Net carbs per cookie, about 5g each.

Easy Pasta Casserole

This casserole is something that my family loves, can easily be made non dairy, and only takes less than an hour to prepare, bake, and serve. I call it pasta casserole, essentially it's really liked baked spaghetti using garden rotini, but you get the picture.

All you need is a full box of Garden Rotini style pasta, 3/4 container of your favorite pasta sauce, plenty of mozzarella cheese (or mozzarella flavored veggie shreds for those with a dairy allergy) and cooked/canned shredded chicken or cooked ground turkey burger. (You can also use ground beef, but my gall bladder can't handle it so I prefer ground turkey. Also, turkey is less greasy)

Preheat your over to 350. In a large casserole dish or two medium casserole dishes, mix your pasta, turkey burger, sauce, and about 2 full cups of cheese together. Once mixed, spread a layer of mozzarella cheese on top, how thick you want it depends on how much you like cheese. I like LOTS so i tend to put a lot on top. Cover your dish w/ foil or a lid and put that in the oven for 30 minutes. Use a spatula to serve with so you can have plenty of that top cheesy layer on every plate. Easy and your family will love it, dairy allergies or not ;-)

A Happy Saturday with Brownie Pops

I recently tried to make Non-Dairy Cake Pops and it didn't go so well... but as I was searching through the updates of all the blogs I follow, I came upon this super awesome idea over at Little Birdie Secrets. Brownie Pops! So click here to go over and check out this cute little treat. Don't forget to follow her blog, awesome ideas and recipes are plentiful there! If I can find a way to make these with no dairy, I'll post it later on. Happy Saturday :)

Whole Wheat Vegan Friendly Cookies

So I've modified my good friend's chocolate chip cookie recipe and come up with this awesome Vegan Chocolate chip Cookie recipe that all can enjoy no matter the diet or allergy. Unless you're allergic to Gluten... still working on that one. In my extended family there are a lot of different diets and a lot of different allergies so we're always striving to make new and awesome recipes that everyone can have. The only diet this doesn't follow is Low Carb (which I'm on) bc each cookie has about 20g. It sucks, but they are so good and everyone needs to splurge here and there :) I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine (the Nucoa Brand has no dairy)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Xylitol (about $7 a bag at your local health food store)

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp corn starch

4 tbsp water (corn starch and water make up your egg substitute i.e. 1 part starch + 2 parts water = 1 egg)

2 tsp Real Vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 bag Semi-sweet chocolate chips (be sure to check the ingredients to make sure there is no dairy. There are two brands I've found so far that have no dairy: the first is the Kroger brand semi sweet and the second is the awesome but more expensive Ghirredeli semi sweet)

Preheat your oven to 375.

In a medium mixing bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl mix all your other ingredients together. Add your flour mixture to the wet mixture one cup at a time, and mix well after every cup. Once your flour mixture is all added and blended, slowly add your chocolate chips and mix them in well.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet by the tablespoon full and cook for 9-11 minutes depending on how soft you like your cookies.

A warning- this cookie dough may look pretty normal, but the whole wheat flour makes for a much softer and moister cookie, so they look, cook, and taste much different than what you are normally used to. Don't worry! They are still pretty tasty. Watch them carefully in the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack before storing them together because they tend to stick together.)

Healthy Kid's Snack

I was getting updated on my Facebook stuff this evening, (laugh if you must, but I am addicted to my Facebook page) and I came across a post by my friend Laura, mother of 3 soon to be four awesome kiddos, about a blog entry she'd found that day for an awesome healthy snack for kid's. I read it and was immediately impressed by how simple it was to make and how actually healthy it is. I just had to come on here and post the website for all of you to enjoy as well. Happy summer snacking!

The "Powerball" kid's snack

Tasty Homemade Pico de Gallo

I made chicken tacos for dinner the other night and since I'm used to making regular tacos I was kind of stumped as to what to chop up to put on them. I thought Pico would be a pretty good way to spice up these tacos so here's how I made my pico. I bought some from the store a while back and was looking at the ingredients thinking 'I could totally make this on my own.' This is something I just threw together, so feel free to make adjustments as needed for your taste or family size. This fed my family of 4 for taco toppings and there's leftovers in the fridge.

This is my Pico de Gallo.

(sorry for the terrible picture, it's from my phone)

*A tip before we begin: I've made this twice. The first time I used my food processor for the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno. For some reason they produced a kind of juicy foam that didn't look very good. (I don't know if that's normal or not) The second time I chopped all my veggies by hand (as shown in the picture) and it turned out very tasty and pretty. So my tip is, altho it takes longer, chopping your veggies by hand makes better pico.

You will need:

1/2 of a medium purple onion, cored and finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored and finely chopped

1 large slicing tomato, chopped

1 Jalapeno, cored and finely chopped

Cilantro, finely chopped

2 pinches ground black pepper

2 pinches Garlic powder

1/2 of a lime, cut into wedges

After you've chopped all your veggies drop them into a medium glass bowl and mix them together with a spoon. Make sure that your Cilantro is very finely chopped and add that and stir again.

Squeeze the juice of half your lime wedges into the bowl and mix it together again. This helps the spices stick to your veggies so they can soak in better.

Add your pepper and garlic and stir, then juice your remaining lime wedges directly into the bowl and stir one more time. Take a look at your fresh Pico de Gallo! Looks great doesn't it? And not very hard either!

I served this on Mission brand White Corn Tortillas covered in shredded chicken breast. This would also be good as a salsa type topping for nachos or just to eat plain with chips. Enjoy :)

Homemade Fried Chicken & Steak Fries

Today's Dinner is Homemade Fried Chicken and Steak Fries... made from scratch! This recipe is not for the faint hearted and takes quite a bit of prep work, but is totally worth it. Ready? Go!

You will need:

- 4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed

- 2-3 large eggs

- 2 gallon size ziplock bags

- 6 cups Pure Vegetable Oil

- 2 cups of all purpose flour

- 4 & 1/2 tsp sea salt

- 3 tsp chili powder

- 2 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1 & 1/2 tsp garlic salt

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 1/2 tsp ceyanne pepper

- 1/2 tsp thyme

- metal tongs or something alike

- wire splatter guard

- 2 plates and napkins

- 3 to 5 medium potatoes, depending on how big your family size is. 4 potatoes made enough fries for my family of 4.

- season salt

What to do:

-Once your chicken breasts are fully thawed, drain the juice and set on your meat cutting board. Cut into 1-inch strips and place back in the bag. In a small bowl beat 2-3 eggs (depending on what size they are) and add 1 tsp salt. Add that tho the bag you just put the chicken back in, close it and set it aside.

-In your other gallon size bag, combine flour and all seasonings. Close the bag nice and tight and shake it in all directions to mix all the seasonings together.

-Pour your oil into a large pot and slowly bring it up to about 365 degrees on medium heat. (optimal oil temp for frying chicken is 355-375 degrees) If you don't have a thermometer wait about 5-10 minutes and then try adding a small piece of bread to the oil. If it browns in less than 60 seconds then your oil is at the right temp. If not give it a few more minutes to heat and try another piece of bread.

-While you're waiting for the oil to heat up, peel your potatoes and cut them in half long ways. Slice them into about 1 in x 1 in strips as you see fit and set them aside.

-Slowly and carefully add your chicken one piece at a time and give it ample time to brown on the outside. If your oil is at the right temp, it should cook the chicken through by the time the outside is completely browned. When you take chicken strips out place them on a plate that has a couple of napkins/paper towels spread out on it (to soak up any excess oil) and let them cool before serving.

-Once all your chicken strips are cooked it's time to start your french fries. You can put your chicken strips in a container to keep in the heat, but allow some venting so the breading doesn't become moist to the point of loosing it's crispiness.

-Drop a couple handfulls of potatoes in the oil. French fries take longer to fry than the chicken does so be patient. It's worth the wait! When they start to float you are getting close. Let them start to get brown and then they are done. Pull them out with your tongs or a slitted scoop and set them on a plate covered with a napkin/paper towel like you did with the chicken. Allow to cool a minute or two and then serve everything nice and warm with Ketchup and BBQ sauce. I also love serving fried chicken with corn on the cob.

Good luck!