Family Restaurant Recommendation

We got our tax return back a few weeks ago and my husband was allowed $500 for repairs on his car. He didn't spend all of that and wanted to take me out on a date. We went to GoodWood BBQ in Orem for dinner. I know I said "Family" recommendation, but this is a great establishment that the whole family could enjoy, not just a couple on a date. I ordered their double battered chicken fingers (best chicken fingers I've tasted in my 23 years) and for dessert I had this:

Chocolate Fudge Brownie topped with Light Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, whipped cream, Low-fat Chocolate Ganache, and of course a Cherry on top!

Most delicious dessert ever!

Their menu is a wide variety of all classic favorites like the chicken I ordered, some house specialties, and then they have all your basic soups and salads, some awesome appetizers and adult drinks/wines/beer, and more delicious goodness such as desserts like the one above. I've also had their chicken fried steak, and my husband liked their brisket.

I've been doing really well with my New Years Resolution to not eat any candy or drink any soda, and I figured it was time to treat myself. (The only sweets I've had all year are 2 glasses of hot cocoa, 2 sugar cookies the other day, and a few chocolate chip cookies last month.) So I don't feel too guilty about consuming, oh say 2000 calories in one meal. haha The food tastes great, the servers and hostesses are very nice and their service is very fast and professional, and it is a warm inviting environment to enjoy dinner with your family. You should all try GoodWood BBQ in Orem!

The Best Broccoli Stir Fry

I know most of you are going to look at the title of this entry and think, "Broccoli, seriously?" and if I were the outsider (which I usually am) I would say the same thing. I can't stand broccoli; the taste, the texture, the smell... honestly it makes me gag. I never cook it for my husband, who loves it, because I can't stand the smell. I happen to have found a way last week, confirmed last night when I made it for the second time and it turned out "amazing" in the words of my husband, to cook broccoli and not be overcome by the smell. Wanna know my secret way? Keep reading :)

It's a stir fry! Two yummy green vegetables and some onions in a skillet with some other ingredients. Broccoli stir fry, who would have thought? You will need:

-Large non-stick skillet or wok

-1 large stalk of broccoli

-1/2 a small onion

-1/2 a large green bell pepper

-extra virgin olive oil

-liquid aminos (click here if you have no clue what liquid aminos is)

-healthy pinch of garlic powder or 1 small clove of crushed garlic

-ground pepper

-All you have to do is cut your broccoli into pieces as you would if you were going to steam it and throw it in the skillet. *Chop off the stem at the bottom of the largest pieces and begin to chop the individual stalks off. Work your way up the stem until you have nice, small pieces of broccoli.

-Slice your onion in half and pull out the heart and set aside. Slice through the layers of onion so you have half onion circles. Throw those into the skillet.

-Slice your bell pepper top and bottom and pull out the core. Cut the pepper in half from the open top, and slice one half long ways in thin slices. Throw those into the skillet. Turn your stove top on medium heat.

-Pour olive oil (the equivalent of about 4-5 tbsp) on top of your veggies and stir together well.

-Squirt a few tsp worth of liquid aminos onto your veggies and stir again.

-Add your garlic and pepper and stir again.

-Cover your skillet or wok with a large lid and allow to sit and steam for a minute or two. Uncover and stir well the recover for another minute. Uncover and stir around for a minute. It should smell REALLY good. Let it sit uncovered and stir occasionally. Total cook time about 5-7 minutes depending on how many veggies you added to your skillet. In the middle of cooking (it's really cool to watch) the veggies will start to turn a darker and brighter shade of green and then you know you're almost done. It's a beautiful color!

See? Broccoli can smell AND taste really good :)

*the picture has a really small amount in a large skillet. last time this skillet was very full. both nights the veggies turned out yummy, but this stalk of broccoli happened to be quite a bit smaller than the last one i used. just thought i'd let you know incase you were wondering why there was barely anything in there :)

How to Spice Up Frozen Taquitos

When I go grocery Shopping I always buy the 60 pack of frozen chicken taquitos for those nights when I don't feel like going all out on dinner. A couple of weeks ago I was wondering how I could turn these taquitos into a worth while meal that my husband would love, so in this post I'm going to share what I did that my husband did, in fact, love.

For my family of four (well, three and a half) I cooked 30 in the oven. The tops and ends get a little crispy when you bake them instead of cook them in the oven. And DON'T fry them! Ruins the flavor and adds a terrible amount of fat. I mean, if you don't care, you can fry them, but I don't like that :)

You will also need:

1 can of refried beans, some of your favorite salsa or picante sauce, shredded cheese, and sour cream or sour cream dip. (the chive and onion is really good) Want to make your own? See the note at the bottom.

So all you do is cook the taquitos and the beans. Then put 6-7 cooked taquitos on a plate and smear refried beans all over them, top them with plenty of salsa, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream on top. (We used tofu cheese and sour cream, a great alternative) Easy, but can you say tasty? I used to just serve these with salsa for dipping and maybe some cheese shreds, but this is so much better!

*A tip for you if you're not a refried beans fan. Substitute one can of black beans, cook all the contents of the can then drain and blend together well in a food processor. You can stop there, but I like to add a little bit of salt and pepper as well.

Note: To make your own chive and onion cream cheese mix 1-8 oz container of cream cheese with 1 tsp garlic powder and 2 tbsp of dried chives and vwala! Chive and Onion Cream Cheese w/out the hassle of the store not having the flavor you want.

Turkey Meatballs

So I tried my hand at making meatballs tonight to go with our spaghetti and they turned out pretty yummy. So here is the recipe as promised. It's actually pretty simple.

You will need:

2 lbs raw Turkey burger

3/4 cup Fresh soft bread crumbs

1 lg Egg, beaten

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp Parsley

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Salt

Sprinkle of Pepper

3-4 tbsp Fresh Soft Bread crumbs

*It's really easy to make fresh soft bread crumbs in a hurry. All you do is toast the bread till it's ALMOST burnt and crunch & crumble it. Easy, right?

Now, I tweaked the recipe to fit my family size and use what I had so here is what I used.

1 lb raw Turkey Burger

1/2 beaten egg

heavy sprinkle of tofu parmesan

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Sprinkle of Basil

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

sprinkle of pepper

2 tbsp bread crumbs

And the directions are very simple. Preheat the oven to 375• and line a baking sheet with tin foil. Mix all the ingredients except the small amount of bread crumbs at the end of the list together in a large bowl with a mixer. (I just used my hands, gross, but fast and effective) Shape them into small balls. (using a cookie dough scoop makes the perfect size and shape, but I found it was faster to just use a small spoon and my hands) Roll each ball in the crumbs you set aside and place on your lined baking sheet. Dust with the remaining bread crumbs and bake 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. If you make bigger meatballs you will have to allow a longer cooking time.

Serve over spaghetti noodles and top with your favorite marinara or pasta sauce. This is also a fun easy appetizer that you can serve with ranch, marinara, and toothpicks. Enjoy!

So I found this DELICIOUS sounding recipe on a blog I follow called The Dye Guys. Stuffed French Toast w/ raspberry Syrup. Doesn't that sound divine? I just had to share it!

Hope Everyone is having a great start to their new year!

click here for the recipe

Easy CrockPot chicken

No Cooking Experience Required! HaHa

I had to go home from the gym early today bc my little one threw up and so in the extra hour and a half before the repair man came to fix the locks on my door and replace a furnace filter, I did the dishes, (by hand) made my bed, did a load of laundry, and swept and vacuumed the floors. Now what to do? All this energy I usually use for cardio... when I didn't do cardio! So I sat down and wrote out a grocery list and decided what to make for dinner when I didn't really have a while lot of food in my house. There some chicken breasts in the freezer, but every time I make chicken breasts they are so dry. To bad I can't keep them completely covered in the oven right?

Or can I? Crock Pot time!!!

You will need:

4-8 frozen chicken breasts depending on your family size

8 cups water

chicken base, bullion, or granules

Salt & Pepper

Garlic & Onion Powders

Italian Seasoning

3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or whatever olive oil you have)

*optional Liquid Aminos (if i had had any at the time I would have used it, it would go great in this recipe!)

So what I did is just put all the water in the crock pot then add as many tsp of granules as the directions on the chicken granules container called for for that many cups of water. Didn't even mix it together.

Add the olive oil, about 5-6 shakes of pepper, twice that of salt, 3-4 dashes of garlic, 6-7 dashes of onion, (I love onion!) and a few healthy shakes of italian seasoning.

Then I turned my crock pot on high and let that sit for a few minutes while I defrosted the chicken enough to be pulled apart. Then add the chicken breasts (I used 6) and cover and cook about 5 hrs.

You will probably want to put this all in before noon so It will be done by dinner time.

I actually ended up adding more salt in the end, it all depends on how salty you like your chicken.

Make sure you cut the biggest breast open and check to make sure it's fully cooked before you serve. I served this with mixed vegetables, pasta, and rolls.

It turned out great! Who would have thought such an easy recipe would be so yummy?

*If you save most of the left over juices you can make a really yummy gravy out of it for your dinner the next day :)

Pasta Casserole

So this is my favorite easy pasta casserole. It's a very easy recipe and only takes about an hour, and that includes bake time. I usually make 2 different casseroles, one with regular dairy cheese and one with veggie shreds or soy cheese. Substitute the soy for the dairy to make this recipe dairy free, (as long as your sauce contains no dairy, the one I buy is dairy-free) and use it as you would a regular cheese with the same amounts. So here it is, I hope you guys enjoy it!

You will need:

1 lb elbow or small shell noodles (I always use elbows, but shells are fun for my girls every once in a while)

1 lb extra lean ground beef or ground turkey burger (I prefer turkey)

1-2 26+ oz jars or cans of Spaghetti Sauce

13x9 casserole dish

Plenty of Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

1.) Cook your noodles according to the directions on the box (or as you usually would).

2.) While your noodles are cooking, brown your meat. Now, you don't have to season the meat if you don't want to, but it adds more flavor to the casserole if you do. I usually add a healthy sprinkling of pepper and salt, a light sprinkle of garlic powder, a few pinches of onion powder, and a dash of italian seasoning.

3.) Prepare your casserole dish by pouring a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Once your pasta is strained add a layer of pasta. You'll use most of what you cooked.

4.) Sprinkle a layer of cheese on top of your noodles and a layer of sauce.

5.) On top of the layer of sauce spread out the entire lb of meat evenly and then add another layer of cheese.

6.) Last but not least, one more light layer of sauce and then another of cheese.

7.) Cover your dish with tin foil or the lid to your dish (unless it's plastic of course) and pop that in the oven for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off take off the tin foil and cook uncovered an additional 5 minutes. You're done! A yummy Pasta Casserole indeed :)