Mexican Spring Salad

I'm sure anyone who used to follow this blog is certain that I had fallen off the face of the recipe earth! I have been so busy with yoga and my kids that getting dinner on the table has been quite the challenge. I have created several new recipes however getting the pictures and writing down the details have been another story.

This salad tonight was too good not to share and since I took the picture with my iphone....well here goes...

Ingredients:
1/2 English Cucumber, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 jicama, peeled and diced
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 T fresh cilantro
2 T red onion, minced onion
3 T feta cheese
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and gently stir. Enjoy!

Shrimp with Fresh Corn and Tomatoes

I have been a bad bad blogger lately. I have been so busy with kids, yoga, summer, swim team, house renovations... honestly the list goes on and on! The other big thing that has had me cooking less is I gave my husband a Big Green Egg for Father's Day this year and he has been making some great stuff which has really reduced my time in the kitchen. I must admit it has been quite nice. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook but it is really nice to share the job sometimes!

My summer veggies from my garden are great this year! I have so many grape tomatoes that I am going to be eating them for a while and I need lots of recipes to use them up. Today, as I was thinking about a recipe to use these tomatoes, I remembered that we used to eat at this restaurant at North Point Mall years ago and I think it was called Mick's but I'm not completely sure about that. It was on the bottom level near the parking deck as you enter the mall. They had a dish called Corn and Tomato Linguine that was out of this world! My mom and I used to make it all the time. Even though I don't eat pasta anymore I still think about this dish. It is garlicky and flavorful and oh so good! So I decided to put my own twist on the corn and tomato linguine without the pasta today and this is what I came up with...it was pretty good!

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 ears of corn, grilled then removed from cob
2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, diced
2 T shallots, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 T fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1-2 t kosher salt, to taste
Paprika to taste
fresh cracked pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:
Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter. Once they begin to bubble add your shrimp season with salt and pepper and a few shakes of paprika. Saute until the shrimp is cooked through. Remove shrimp and set on plate.

Add remaining butter and olive oil then add onion, shallots and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Next turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock and bring to boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes.

Next, add the corn, combine well then add the tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes then add the shrimp back to the dish. Finally, add the parsley stir to combine then remove from pan and serve. Taste for flavor, you may need to add more salt here. Then top with fresh grated Parmesan and serve hot.

First we grilled our corn on the Big Green Egg

Then I prepped all my veggies

And prepped our local shrimp.

Ready for the shrimp, parsley and parmesan.

My hubby is stealing a bite as I am taking pics!

Veggie Tacos

We can just call tonight Meatless Monday. I really wanted to make these veggie tacos and am so glad I did!
They were awesome, my kids loved them, my husband ate them and said he liked them but that he definitely missed the 'meat', shocking right? So if you make these for someone who might really miss the meat, the veggie mixture would be a great topping on a cilantro-lime marinated flank steak. The veggie mixture would also be great in a quesadilla, on top of a grilled chicken salad or just eat it on a chip, it's yum! And if you can chop all your veggies early in the day then you can make this whole meal in about 15 minutes top.

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 zucchini, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 ears of corn, kernels removed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lime, juiced

1 T fresh cilantro, chopped

2 T olive oil

1 t salt

fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup crumbled feta

8-10 corn tortillas

Optional toppings: 

Avocado

Sour Cream

Salsa

Fresh Cilantro

Squeeze of lime

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet, add the veggies at once, (the bell peppers, zucchini, onion, garlic and corn) saute for about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro. Stir to combine then add the black beans. Cook for about 5 minutes. Taste your veggie mix and adjust the seasoning as needed. Heat/warm the corn tortillas, add 1/3 cup of the veggie mixture sprinkle the top with feta cheese. 

Mmmm fresh corn! I'm getting so excited for summer veggies!

Saute the veggies then throw in the beans.

Warm the tortillas then fill em'

My little vegetarian was a happy happy camper with a mouth full of avocado!

Weight Watcher Friends: This recipe makes about 7 cups of veggie mix. Each cup of veggie mix has 2 points. My corn tortillas are 1 point each. I used about 1/3 cup of mix per taco so for 3 tacos it would be 5 points! But that's without any extra toppings, so just make your 3 tacos then add points for your toppings. Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

I cannot believe I haven't posted this before! I actually went to my blog today to remind myself of how to make this and was shocked that it wasn't here! So I worked it out and here it is in all it's glory and I do mean glory. I forgot how much I love this dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
2 t canola oil
1 t salt
1 onion, diced
2 T fresh garlic, minced
1 t ground cumin
1 t chili powder
1 (14 oz) can great northern beans, drained
1 (14 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water
1 (4oz) can chopped green chilies

Optional toppings:
chopped cilantro
lime
avocado

Directions:
Heat a large pot over high heat. Add oil. Season chicken with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Add seasoned chicken to the pot, saute about 4 minutes. Add onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and Saute for about 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and the water, then the white northern beans, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile take the pinto beans and mash them in a bowl then add the can of diced green chilies, mix well then add to the soup to thicken. Cook about 5 more minutes. Serve and top with cilantro, lime and avocado.

One of my best secrets is stock, not broth, it really makes a difference in your food!

Season chicken with salt and pepper before adding it to the pot.

Next add, the onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, water and stock and white beans.

Pour beans into a bowl and grab a fork!

Mash the beans, it takes about 2-3 minutes, then add the chilies, this turns this from soup to chili!

The avocado, lime and cilantro are crucial to the yumminess of the dish!

Weight Watcher Friends: This pot of chili makes 6 one servings and each one is 6 points. In terms of optional toppings, the cilantro and lime are 0 points but you'll have to add points for the avocado if you add it.

Roasted Corn and Poblano Peppers

It's been a long time since I have posted, but I do have some great recipes to make up for it! On June 29 swim team ended, while the kids attended their 'end of the season' parties we packed up the car and headed to with beach with my family for the week. It was a great trip! We have been back for just a couple of days and now I finally feel like summer has actually started, Hallelujah!!! This recipe is my husband's creation, I asked him what he wanted this week and this is what he described. I had to call him a couple times to make sure I was making it just right and in the end he said it was a winner, we hope you like it too!

Ingredients:
3 Ears of Corn, kernels removed
2 Poblano Peppers, diced
1 Sweet onion, diced
1 t olive oil
2 T cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 t salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill corn in husks or clean and wrap in foil to place on grill (either way works fine), cook until done, allow to cool then remove kernels from the cob. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet, add onions and peppers, saute over medium-high heat until they begin to soften. Then remove from heat and combine with the corn. Finally add the cilantro, squeeze the juice of the lime on top, add the salt and pepper toss together and serve. We ate this on chips, on our forks on the side of of plates, it was just good!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 4 servings each are 1 cup and each have only 2 points per serving. Makes it a great app or side dish!

Beef Tostadas

Well life has been crazy to say the least, good but crazy for sure! I used to have this idea of the "lazy days of summer" but that has definitely not been the reality for us so far. We are up and out early each morning for swim team and then the days haven't seemed to stop until bed time, play dates, dr. appts, birthday parties, etc. We did get to go on a last minute beach trip with some precious friends last week and that was super great, relaxing and made for a perfect weekend getaway! I have been cooking a lot lately but I have been making some of my favorites that have long been posted. I threw this together last night and when I say threw, I mean it! I had extra kids over at my house from 10am-4:45 so I had no time to shop, so I loaded up my kids in the car at 5pm for our weeks grocery shop, which any mom knows is NOT an ideal time to take two kids to the grocery store, wait... is there ever an ideal time to take two kids to the grocery store?? I knew I had set out ground beef and I had seen these precious little taco cupcakes on Pinterest, where you use a wonton in a cupcake pan and fill it with taco meat and top with cheese and salsa, and I thought my kids would love it and it would be fun. I don't really care for wontons so I wanted to try it with a corn tortilla but my daughter saw the tostadas and everything changed. We just  had to try those 'giant chips'! And so my taco cupcakes flew out the window and I made these instead.

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef (I usually buy Laura's Lean Meat)
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup fresh pico style salsa (I always use La Mexicana)
1 T fresh cilantro
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cumin
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 Package Tostadas

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a non-stick skillet for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the salt, pepper, and cumin. Then once the meat is about 2/3 brown and 1/3 pink add the onion and bell pepper. Saute together until the the meat in cooked through and the onion and peppers begin to wilt. Next add the salsa and cilantro and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then just turn to low until you are ready to serve. To serve, plate a tostada then top with 1/3 cup of meat top with salsa and fresh cilantro and serve. Yum!! My kids put colby jack cheese on top and ate them like they were pieces of pizza. It was a fun dinner and super easy!

In this pic the meat was slightly pink but I don't think you can tell, it looks cooked here.

This is after you add the salsa and cilantro and it's ready to serve!

The finished Product, Yum!

I did try to put the meat mixture in a corn tortilla in a muffin tin to try the taco cups but they fell apart once I took them out of the pan, but they sure looked cute in the pan. I am going to work on this one!

Weight Watcher Friends: This could go a few ways, when I used the point builder on ww site, I got that 1/3 cup of the meat mixture had 2 points and each tostada has 1.5 points so each one made is 3.5 (without cheese, the meat mixture had enough flavor I didn't miss the cheese, and I love cheese). I had two of them. But if you divide the entire meat mixture into 4 portions each portion is 4 points and 3 tostadas have 4 points, so I think I actually could have had 3 for the same amount of points which makes no sense however I really don't think I could have eaten 3 I was perfectly happy with 2 :)

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Thanks goodness this is the last week of weeknight swim team! I feel like I haven't been able to feed my family as well as usual and it makes me crazy! Walking in the door at 6:15pm on a school night, having to feed and bathe two kids does not lend itself to eating well and especially not to blogging. This is what I wanted to post for Cinco de Mayo but since I hurt my back on May 3rd, I never got it together. I made this last weekend and it was so good. I got the idea from Pinterest and had pinned it on my recipe board but knew I could slim it down a bit without taking away from taste and flavor and I PROMISE you won't miss those extra calories with my version! I know I always rant and rave about the recipes I post but this one is a must-try. It really is fabulous, Enjoy!!!

Salad Ingredients:
2 ears Corn (yellow or white)
1 avocado, diced
2 cups tomatoes, halved
1/2  red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 English cucumber, quartered
1/2 lime, juiced

Cilantro Vinaigrette Ingredients:

2 T Olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t. Garlic powder
2 T. Fresh cilantro, minced
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill the corn. Just leave the corn in the husks and throw it on a hot grill, turning every 10 minutes, four turns. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove the husks and discard. Using a sharp knife remove the kernels from the cobs. Add to a larger bowl then add avocados, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and squeeze the 1/2 lime over the veggies and avocados. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the dressing whisk the olive oil and vinegar, then add garlic powder, cilantro, salt and pepper. Whisk well and drizzled over the salad, gently toss and top with feta and serve.

My number one way to eat corn!

It's so sweet and delicious doesn't even need salt or butter!

With these yummy ingredients, how could this not be good?!

Such a perfect marriage of flavors!

Look beautiful and tastes even better!

Weight Watcher Friends: This one makes 5 servings and each has 5 points. Not a low point side dish but a super healthy one that you can feel great about eating!!
Source: The Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Mexican Chicken Soup - Crock Pot

My kids have started swim team which means for the next month I will leave my house at 4:45 and not get back until 6:15. In order to get the kids bathed and fed I have to be quick so I am planning to use the corck pot a lot (even though I usually hate it-I love it for it's ease of use I just think evverything I make in the crock pot is mushy!) However my girlfriend Catey makes her Chicken Tortilla Soup like this so I wanted to try it! It was great and not mushy at all! I called this Mexican Chicken Soup because I already posted my recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup here.  This is more like a stew, it was great, so thanks Catey!!

I have a great recipe to post for Cinco de Mayo but I hurt my back so haven't made it yet...I hope to feel better tomorrow so I can get it posted for your celebrations!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can beans (whatever you like)
1 cup corn
1 cup fresh salsa
32oz chicken stock
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro

Optional toppings:
Avacado
Lime
Cheese
Tortialla chips

Directions:
I put the chicken in my crock pot still frozen and litterally dumped the rest of the ingredients on top leaving the cilantro in a small bunch on top so I could remove it after cooking. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours. After it is done cooking, remove the cilantro and toss it then shred the chicken and serve. Could that get any easier??? Nope I don't think so!

This is right before I put the lid on and cooked it all day.

Dished out and ready to eat! I topped mine with fresh cilantro and 2 slices of avacado

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 6 servings. Each serving is 1.5 cups and has 5 point each. Enjoy!

Salsa Jack Chicken

I made this Friday night, on a whim. My husband came home from work and I had gotten a new jar of Jack's Fresh Salsa from Costco. Have you had it?? It is yumm-o! I like to slice carrots in half so they have flat side for scooping and use them like chips for my salsa, a great 0-point way to snack! Anyway I wanted more salsa so I just made this up, my husband did not sound thrilled when I told him but I said let me try and we can see if it is any good. It took about 10 minutes from start to finish and it was great! Since he was having a beer and sitting at the bar chatting with me we cut some up and put them on chips and made little apps. This is ridicuoulsy simple, nothing fancy, just yummy so I wanted to share!

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast, sliced in half
1 t olive oil
1/2 cup fresh salsa
6 T Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

 Directions: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add oil. Season chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add chicken breast to skillet and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from heat, top each chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of Monterrey Jack cheese, allow cheese to melt, then top with one tablespoon salsa. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve.

Hot from the skillet

Top with cheese, it will melt quickly, mmm melting cheese!

Topped with Salsa then garnished with fresh cilantro

Oops, I ate it while I was photographing then wasn't hungry for dinner :)

Then we cut it into bite sized portions to make a little appetizer, super yummy on a chip!

Weight watcher friends: I used a 1 pound package of chicken breast for my recipe I sliced each breast and half giving me six breasts. I had six servings at three points per serving.

Chili with Butternut Squash

I love butternut squash, I eat it roasted all the time. I love the sweetness and texture of it! I have been wanting to make a chili with butternut squash for a while but knew my husband was not going to like it...he hates all squash, since my kids and I love it I usually make it and he just doesn't eat it. But I this afternoon I decided to send him a text to warn him of what I was going to make (just in case he felt the need to stop for a burger on his way home) it went like this:
Me: honey I'm just wondering if you are going to die a slow death if I make chili tonight with butternut squash in it? I really want to make it but don't want to listen to you moan about it.
Him: I'll be okay
So I went for it! Adding a hardy squash like butternut to a classic chili is great way to add sweetness to a savory dish and the bonus is it's a super healthy addition. I am so glad I made it because it was really delicious! Just in case you're wondering, he did eat it, but picked around the squash...when it comes to squash he is worse than a kid!!

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef (93% lean)
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can light kidney beans, drained
2-3 t salt
2 t ground cumin
3 t chili powder
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
fresh cracked pepper to taste
(If I would have had a green, red bell pepper I would have added that too)

Optional Toppings:
Grated cheese
Sour Cream
Diced red onion
Diced green onion
Frito's

Directions:
Using a large pot, brown the ground beef, drain if needed. Add onion (and pepper if you add it) and garlic, cook for 3 minutes, next add the butternut squash, continue to saute/cook for 3-5 minutes. Next add both cans of tomatoes and all the spices/seasonings. Stir to combine, cover and let cook on a low simmer for about 30 minutes.  Next, add beans and cook for another 10 minutes. Make sure you taste it, you may need more salt, cumin or chili powder. These are the amounts that made it taste good to my family, since my kids like to eat it I try not to make it too spicy; if I was only serve it to adults I would add more chili powder.

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 8 servings each around 1.5 cups. Each serving has 5 points. Enjoy!