Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I have a borderline obsession with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese.

I also happened to have all three in my fridge this week and decided I NEEDED to find something to make with all three.

We already had a Greek salad last week for dinner and I was aiming for something different to try.

I could have just eaten the three in a giant bowl, but I knew Derek wouldn’t go for it so I went searching.

I decided on doing a stuffed chicken, but I couldn’t find a single recipe that was meeting me expectations, so naturally I decided to create my own using a mix of ideas.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts

[Makes 2 servings]

Ingredients:

–2 boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat

-1 tbsp. olive oil

-1/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts

-1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained

-1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives

-1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

-1 tsp. basil

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. black pepper

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-dash of paprika

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven at 400 degrees

2. Cut horizontal slits [without cutting all the way through] in the chicken breast in the thickest part to form pockets

3. Stuff with 1/2 olives, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and feta

4. Close up slits using a toothpick [or three] to keep the ends nice and secure

5. Take just a dab of your oil and lightly brush the chicken

6. In a small bowl, mix together basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika

7. Coat chicken in your herb mixture

8. Heat oil in a cooking pan and add chicken

9. Cook until brown on one side

10. Place chicken brown side down in a baking pan and bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, or until no longer pink

11. Remove toothpicks and enjoy!

My husband said this is one of his new favorites so I hope you all enjoy it 🙂

Xoxo

–

Turkey Taco Lettuce Boats

I’ve found myself on a new health kick.

However, I still want to eat all the things I know and love.

Thus developed this recipe.

I can still have tacos, but save a ton of calories cutting out the tortillas and making your own taco seasoning really makes a difference too!

Turkey Taco Lettuce Boats

[Makes about 8]

Ingredients:

-Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

-1 can Reduced Sodium Black Beans

-1 to 1 1/2 chopped avocado, depending on how much you like

-2 Roma Tomatoes, chopped

-4 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded [I use Tillamook and only Tillamook]

-2 Romaine Lettuce Heads

-A dash of Sour Cream

Taco Seasoning:

-2-1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1-1/4 teaspoons ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.  Cook ground turkey in pan until browned.

2. Mix together all of the taco seasoning ingredients in a bowl and add them to the ground turkey.

3. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the mixture and stir until well combined.

4. Let mixture simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes, allowing all of the flavors to mix in.

5. While the meat and seasoning are mixing, cook your beans in a small sauce pan [you can microwave them if you prefer]

6. Wash and separate romaine leaves, cutting the bottoms [where they are all white looking]

7. Add 1/8 of meat to each leaf, followed by 1/8 of the beans, tomatoes, cheese, and avocado

8. Top with sour cream and enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

It was around 4pm on a work day. I was sitting in the office answering emails and out of nowhere, I had this sensational desire for a banana chocolate chip muffin.

Not just ANY banana chocolate chip muffin though.

I specifically wanted the one they have at Mimi’s Cafe.

Knowing my husband and his hatred for drives lasting longer than 5 minutes, I knew I would not be going to Mimi’s Cafe so I decided to settle for a homemade version.

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

[Recipe tweaked from here]

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

3 Bananas, mashed

3/4 cup White Sugar

1 Egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup Butter, melted

1 bag Dark Chocolate Chips [I found one with jumbo chips and snatched it because I like huge chunks of chocolate]

Muffin Topping:

1/3 cup packed Brown Sugar

2 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour

1/8 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 tbsp. Butter

[I’m going to say right now that you may want to double this topping. I didn’t but will next time because I love it extra crumbly!]

**Note: I bought jumbo muffin liners because I like big muffins. This recipe made 12 of them.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If you’re like me and couldn’t find jumbo foil muffin liner cups, you can use the paper ones and they will fit just fine into your cupcake baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter.

4. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Add chocolate chips and mix together. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

5. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm, when the chocolate is still all gooey and enjoy!

—

[I have been eating about one a day this whole week [yes, seriously] and I just warm it up for about 30 sec. They are 100 times better warm]

Xoxox

Blessing Kit

The first experience I can remember with the homeless scarred me for quite some time.

My mom and I were going to the local Ralphs and a homeless man was outside asking for money.

My mom went inside and bought him a hot rotisserie chicken, chips, various other snacks, and water bottles.

When we finished our shopping she took the bag to the man.

His reaction was less than grateful.

He yelled at my mom, called her a bitch, and said that all he wanted was money.

I was mortified.

Later that day we saw the man walking down the street, carrying the bag my mom had given him and she let me know that though he may not have seemed appreciative, it was a good thing that she did and she was sure he would enjoy the meal she provided.

—

Fast forward 10 plus years and I found myself serving the homeless breakfast with a local church once a month.

My experience doing this showed me that the man who cursed my mom that day was the minority, and that the majority of the homeless are kind, good people who have just had a series of bad luck.

The homeless population holds a soft spot in my heart, so when I came across this idea I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself and I couldn’t wait to do it.

Blessing Kit

Blessing Kit

 

The original pin is here

My husband and I took a trip to the $.99 Store this weekend and made our first one.

Things We Included:

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Gender neutral deodorant
• Wet wipes
• Orange juice (4 pack)
• Cheese Nips
• Mini Chips Ahoy
• Honey Buns
• Gum (2 pack)
• Trail Mix

We put it all in a basket and our total for everything was about $11 with tax.

Next time I want to include some other things like chapstick, socks, etc.

We have made a pact that was will make one of these at least once a month.

I think everyone can spare $10-$15 to make a difference in someones life.

Such a simple gesture, but sometimes those are the most meaningful.

Xoxox

Chicken Pesto Lettuce Wraps

Eating healthy can get really boring really quickly when you don’t know what you’re doing.

I have spent my life on and off diets and healthy eating trips, only to always end up right back where I started, eating whatever I want when I want.

When I started this new work out routine two and a half weeks ago however, I found myself actually WANTING to eat better.

Lucky for me, my husband was on board as usual and we have been making a serious effort to change our lifestyles.

We celebrated Valentines Day with a nice dinner in San Diego over the weekend, so last night was a regular dinner made by me kind of night.

I decided that whatever I was making, it was going to have feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes in it, because both were in my fridge and on the verge of going bad.

From this came the idea of Chicken Pesto Lettuce Wraps.

Chicken Pesto Lettuce Wraps with Polenta

Ingredients: [Makes about 8 lettuce wraps]

• About 1/2 lb. of chicken escalopes [Fresh and easy has ones that are already coated in breadcrumbs which I love and used. If you prefer to season yourself/add your own breadcrumbs feel free to do so!]
• 1-2  Romaine lettuce hearts  [I like big pieces, so I buy two heads and use the smaller leaves for a salad later]
• 1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, sliced
• 1/4 cup of feta cheese
• 4 tbsp of pesto
• Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

1. Cook chicken thoroughly. Place aside to cool.

2. Wash lettuce and break off 8 medium to large leaves. Arrange on your plate.

3. Spread 1/2 tbsp. of pesto sauce on each leaf.

4. Dice chicken and place on top of pesto sauce, diving it between all 8 leaves.

5. Top chicken with about 4-5 sun-dried tomatoes per leaf.

6. Top each with feta cheese and drizzle balsamic vinegar over the ingredients inside the leaf, lightly.

**Because I used romaine lettuce hearts, the leaves “boat” perfectly, so you can just grab this and eat it with your hands!**

I served this with Polenta circles.

Enjoy!

xoxox

Fantasy Wheel

WARNING: THIS POST IS FOR ADULT EYES ONLY!!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Derek and I aren’t huge on the holiday because we both feel that showing your love and appreciation for one another shouldn’t be summed up by flowers, candy, and dinner at an overly crowded restaurant one day of the year.

None the less we still celebrate, just in our own way.

I was scanning Pinterest for some DIY ideas and I came across this one like many others:

[Find it Here]

While this is a very cute and sweet idea, I couldn’t help but feel like it would get looked at once and then find a home in our closet indefinitely.

I wanted to do something that was equally clever and thoughtful, but also exciting and new.

Then it came to me in a dream. [Seriously, it did]

A few years ago I made us a “fantasy box”

I took an old shoe box, painted it, cut a slit in the top, and we put fantasies in the box and pulled one every month.

It was super fun but after a while we began to sort of forget about it.

So this Valentines Day I decided to revamp our fantasy box by making a fantasy wheel!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Styrofoam shaped in a circle [choose whatever size you would like. I went medium]
• White poster board
• Sticky back glitter sheets [I used 6 different colors]
• Scotch multi-purpose fasteners [as many as you want for all of the fantasy cards!]
• blank note cards
• 7 Pushpins [pick the color/design of your choice]
• Spray paint
• Letter sticker for decoration
• small white cardboard [to make the arrow]

Instructions:

1. Trace the styrofoam shape onto the white poster board. You will want to make two circles.

2. Spray paint your styrofoam whatever color you would like. This is your base so choose a color that will match the overall look. I chose black.

3. While the styrofoam dries, cut out both circles on the white poster board and put one aside. Trace out 6 “pie slices” and cut them all out.

4. Use your triangles to trace and cut out one triangle for each sheet of sticky glitter paper. Once you have cut out all of the triangles, pull off the backing and place them on your second poster board circle.

It should look like this

5. Cut out small white cardboard into the shape of an arrow and color black [if desired]

6. Glue the poster board circle to the styrofoam and put one pushpin in the middle of each triangle.

7. Poke a whole through the base of the arrow with the last push pin, then place in the center of the wheel.

8. Take note cards and measure the size you would like each tag to be. Trace and cut out the desired amount.

9. Write fantasies on each card. Have fun with this and if you can, get your significant others ideas on there too!

10. Cut each end of the multi-purpose fasteners so that they are all halved.

11. Place on side of the fasteners and put them on each triangle. Put the other side of the fasteners on as many fantasy cards as you would like.

12. Place fantasy cards on the fasteners that are on the wheel and spin away! Thanks to the velcro-style fastening, you can switch out fantasy tags for new ones once you have done one or whenever you would like.

13. Decorate the edges with lettering if you would like. I put “fantasy wheel” on the side to add some flare.

**I keep the extra made fantasy tags in a little black bag. It keeps them all together and is cute!**

Needless to say my husband loved his Valentines Day gift and can’t wait to use it! 😉

xoxox

Steak and Potatoes: Healthy Makeover

Cooking healthy for a man’s man can be difficult.

Unfortunately, not every guy is okay with eating chicken breasts and a side of veggies every night.

Since Derek has finally decided to give in and get healthy with me, I let him choose what we had for Thursday night.

He asked for a steak salad.

Mind you, the only steak salad he has ever proclaimed to love was “The Bus” Steak Salad at Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 in Pittsburgh. This “salad” has tater tots in it… [yes, tater tots and melted cheese]

Needless to say I was not ready to make a salad that would give us both heart attacks, so I decided to lighten it up A LOT.

Skirt Steak Blue Cheese Salad

Skirt Steak Salad

• 1lb. of skirt steak, fat trimmed
• Steak Seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups of a greens mixture [I used spinach, arugula, and red leaf]
• 2 tbsp. of blue cheese
• 1 1/2 tbsp. sliced almonds
• 1 avocado
• Balsamic dressing

Directions:

1. Season and cut steak into strips

2. Cook steak to desired temperature on a non-stick griddle [or you can use the grill if you would like, this was just easier for me]

3. Prepare greens on a plate and top with avocado, blue cheese, and sliced almonds.

4. Add meat to the salad and cover in dressing

Make two servings.

Balsamic Dressing Recipe:

• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar and mustard.

2. Slowly add oil and whisk

3. Add salt and pepper to taste

There you have it!

My husband absolutely LOVED the dressing and asked me to bottle it.

Highly recommended as a healthy sauce alternative for salads and even meats.

Xoxo

Wine Bottle Torch

Wine Bottle Torches

Is it just me, or is this a way cooler idea than tiki torches in the backyard?

I found this idea on Pinterest [of course] and the direct line to the blog is here: Design Sponge

The moment I saw this pin I sent my husband an email showing him this brilliant idea.

We just had our pool redone and backyard fully landscaped, the only thing missing was lighting.

What an easy, cost effective way to liven up the backyard right?

Of course we thought about buying a bunch of bottles and drinking the wine first…

However, Derek was very specific on the color he wanted the bottles to be and we decided it would be more affordable for us to buy them empty.

I found a good deal on a dozen bottles for $34.22 with shipping at http://www.midwestsupplies.com/

As you can see below, we opted for a very nice cobalt blue.

Here’s what you need:

1. Empty Wine Bottle (neck 1” in diameter.)
2. Teflon Tape 1/2”
3. Copper Top Plate Connector (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
4. 1” Split Ring Hanger (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
5. 1/2” x 3/8” Copper Coupling
6. 1/2” Copper Cap
7. Two Hex Nuts (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
8. Two #10 x 1” Zinc Plated Wood Screws (if your mounting it to wood)
9. 3/8”-16 Zinc Plated Threaded Rod (I bought a 3’ rod and cut it down to 8, 4-1/2” rods with a hacksaw.)
10. Tiki Replacement Wick
11. Torch Fuel (For safety reasons, only use fuel made specifically for outdoor torches. i.e. Tiki brand)

———–

Now I’m not going to lie, this project ended up being slightly difficult.

The main reason was because we had a hell of a time finding #3 and #4.

We got everything else from a combination of Home Depot and Lowe’s, but I would recommend ordering all of it online and then doing an in-store pick up for it all.

When we went to Home Depot and Lowe’s they both said they didn’t have the 1″ Split Ring Hanger (threaded for 3/8″-16 thread rod) but when I went online Lowe’s did indeed have it, so I just purchased it online and picked it up in the store.

We went to a plumbing store as well and we still couldn’t find the Copper Top Plate Connector, so I finally just bought them online here

I would give you a step by step instruction with photos, but Derek jumped the gun and did them all before I could snap shots of everything.

Be sure to check out the original blog post on this so that you can view the steps! Again it’s here

We spread them around the backyard, using 12 total.

If you know where to look [which I have provided for your convenience]  this project is not hard and the results are amazing!

I can’t wait to enjoy summer nights swimming in my pool with our great new ambiance.

Super Bowl Dip

Yes, I am aware that this is already old news.

I was going to post this on Sunday, but there was way too much going on.

Then, there have been some crazy changes at work, so today is the first ounce of time I have had to actually get this up!

—-

OKAY!

So my husband and I are huge football fans, and even though our favorite teams were not in the Super Bowl this year we decided to throw a little get together anyway.

Me being me, I needed to show off my Martha Stewart/Susie Homemaker skills, so I went to pinterest.

Since we weren’t having a ton of people over, my husband managed to cut me down to one recipe idea.

I chose this one:

Football Seven Layer Dip

Originally Pinned Here: Pinterest

And if you don’t want to go through the millions of clicks it takes to finally get to the actual website post, go here: Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons

Her blog is super cute.

SO…

Unlike Jill [original recipe poster] I am horribly unprepared for most things.

I did not have a football bowl and so I decided to make one.

I used this old school Wilson football as my inspiration and went to shaping.

Now, I again did not fully think this through.

My recommendations are to either:

1. Get a football shaped bowl [easiest option]

2. Place foil tin in oven to make it more bendable first

3. Make this on a normal platter and shape the dip itself

I did none of these things.

Thus, my tin had a slightly odd shape to it. Oh weeeellll.

Live and learn.

I decided to take a classic dip recipe and flip it around for this. The original post didn’t have a specific recipe so I grabbed one:

Original Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch chopped green onions
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Spread a thin layer of sour cream on the bottom of your tin, bowl, plate, etc.
2. Add olives, then cheese.
3. Spread salsa on top on the cheese.
4. Layer green onions, bell peppers, tomato, and lettuce on top of salsa.
5. Mix together the sour cream and cream cheese, then spread them on top of the lettuce. [leave a little sour cream for laces]
6. Top the mixture with your refried beans
7. Pipe laces using sour cream to decorate

[At this point I was in a hurry so I didn’t exactly do my laces to scale, but if you have time you obviously can and should!]

I served mine with Scoops because they are so convenient.

There you go!

A super easy Super Bowl dip that is sure to wow your guest.

Xoxox

Cream Cheese Stuffed Sliders: Mister Chef

There’s cream cheese inside those babies

No you are not dreaming.

I said Cream Cheese Stuffed Sliders.

However, I am not starting off on the right foot with this food blog.

Why?

Because shamefully I did not make these, my husband did.

He has been making stuffed burgers for years now [a genius, I know] and this weekend while we were at the grocery store desperately trying to decide what to make for dinner he brilliantly decided that not just stuffed burgers, but stuffed SLIDERS were in order.

I coaxed him into letting me share his recipe so let’s get started before he changes his mind!

Ingredients:

Note: I have way more than 1lb. of meat there

1. 1 lb. of ground beef
2. 8 oz. Cream Cheese [We used Philadelphia Cooking Creme: Savory Garlic, however, we typically use regular cream cheese or flavored ones]
3. Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
4. Black Ground Pepper
5. 8 rolls [We used fresh baked rolls from Albertsons]
6. 1 Avocado, sliced
7. 8 sharp cheddar cheese slices
8. Lettuce

[For those of you who like to know right off the bat like myself]

**Somehow I left the cream cheese out of the picture.

Here it is!

———-

Roll the meat into 8 like-sized balls, leaving some left over for later use [you will need to leave about one slider size worth of meat)

Make them about this size

Next you will want to shape each ball like a little bowl by pressing the inside and edges until they look like this

Meat Bowls

Once you have your “bowls” you will want to fill them with deliciousness [aka cream cheese]

About 1oz. of cream cheese per slider

For this next step, Derek wanted to make sure I let you all know that he refers to this as the “blanket”

So take the extra meat you left on the side and make a blanket for each slider. This will be a rounded flat piece.

Meat Blankey

Take your blankets and use them to warm [cover] your baby sliders.

Press the edges of the blanket onto the bowl shaped meat and use your hands to pat them together until they form fully covered balls of meat.

Cozy in their blankeys

Season both sides with Lawrys seasoning salt and ground pepper to taste.

Endoursement shot

Cook meat to desired temperature either using the grill or a non-stick griddle.

While the burgers are cooking, butter the bottom half of your buns lightly.

Add cheese to burgers and buns to grill with about 3-4 minutes left on the burgers.

Once they have been cooked, top with your favorite condiments, lettuce, and avocado.

Mmmm Avocado

Stick a toothpick in each one for dramatic effect and avocado holding and you are officially done!

So simple and yet so delicious.

My favorite kind of recipe.

Here’s a picture of the cook and his masterpiece.

“Impressive sir”- In Chester Cheetah’s voice