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1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained*

1 cup water

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 cup shredded fresh spinach

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion (1 small)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Spinach leaves

2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and sliced**

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. In a 1-1/2-quart saucepan combine quinoa and water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. Transfer quinoa to a medium bowl. Add tomato, spinach, and onion; stir to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt. Add to quinoa mixture; toss to coat.
3. Place spinach leaves on 4 salad plates. Arrange avocado slices on spinach leaves. Spoon quinoa mixture over avocado slices. Sprinkle with some of the feta. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
4. Note: Rinse quinoa thoroughly before cooking to remove a bitter substance called saponin that coats the seeds.
5. Note: If using, brush avocado slices with additional lemon juice to prevent browning.

This is our go-to fall recipe!



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1c Shortening
1c Sugar
1 egg
1 can pumpkin
2c All-purpose flour
1t Baking soda
1t Baking powder
1/2t Salt
1t Ground cinnamon
1t Vanilla extract
1pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat shortening at medium speed.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add egg and pumpkin, mixing well.  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add to pumpkin mixture.  Stir in vanilla and mix well.  Add chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoons on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 13 minutes.

Kelly's Korner is all about side dishes today!  Link up and find a new recipe!  I'm sharing two, one healthy and one not-so-healthy!

A friend of ours brought this dish over a few weeks ago and Chris fell in love with this receipe.  He's a meat and potatoes kind of guy (I'm not a big potato fan) so this was right up his ally!

Corn Flake Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes
2 sticks of butter/margarine
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese
corn flakes (approximately 5 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put entire bag of hashbrowns into a 9x13 pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt 1 stick of butter on stove top. Pour over hasbrowns.
In a separate bowl, mix together the soup and sour cream (I usually add a little more sour cream than it calls for-another 1/4 cup). 
Spread soup mixture over hashbrowns.
Sprinkle cheese over soup mixture.
Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes.
Melt the other stick of butter in a pot.
Pour cornflakes into the pot. Stir to coat the cornflakes with butter.
Spread the cornflakes over the potatoes.
Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes

And now, for those of us who need something a tad more healthy, here's a salsa recipe from my MIL that can be used as a side dish or an appetizer.  I've put it on salad and chicken and it is fantastic!

Salsa

2 cans black beans (drain/rinse)
1 can yellow corn (frozen or fresh works just as well)
1 can light yellow corn (this is just for color)
1/2 red onion chopped
2 roma tomatoes or 1 1/2 c. grape tomatoes (I often use canned diced tomatoes)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. fresh lime juice (I use bottled lime juice)
8-10 drops tobasco
2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp cumin
1 can green chilis (I just dice up some jalepenos)
4 tsp oregano
healthy amount of cilantro coarsely chopped

Enjoy!

I'm linking up to Show Us Your Life over at Kelly's Korner.  Link up to share your favorite breakfast recipe or just go browse and find some new ones!

WARNING:  Pure comfort food.  Do not serve if you have to wear a bathing suit or dress within several hours.  Best when consumed while wearing stretchy pants.  It's more like dessert, but I think that dessert for breakfast is brilliant!

Baked Apple Pancake Breakfast Recipe

Ingredients:

3 large apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar (can use more)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (can use more)

PANCAKE MIXTURE
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350'F.
2. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
3. Melt butter in baking pan in oven.
4. Place the apple slices evenly over bottom of pan.
5. Bake for about 10 min, or until apples soft.
6. Remove apples from oven, and dust with brown sugar and cinnamon.
7. In a blender, combine pancake ingredients, and spread over apples.
8. Return to oven, and bake about 30-40 minutes.
9.  EAT!

I made this recipe last night and it was seriously yummy.  Even the leftovers, which I just ate for lunch, were yummy! 

Creamy Chicken and Artichoke Pasta
adapted from The Pioneer Woman (She doesn't use chicken or wine.  I like wine.)

Ingredients

Whole wheat pasta or brown rice
2 chicken breasts, cooked to your liking (we grilled ours)
1T olive oil
3 cloves of chopped garlic
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can artichokes
1/4 cup white wine (I used Toasted Head Chardonnay because its what I drink anyway, and I used about a 1/2c, but a 1/4 c would work.  I like wine.)
1/2 cup fat free half and half (you could also use heavy cream)
Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.  Cook pasta or rice, set aside.
2.  Heat large skillet with olive oil.  Add garlic, zucchini, onion, pepper and wine, and saute until soft.
3.  Add artichokes and diced tomatoes until heated through on medium heat.
4.  Turn heat down to low, add half and half or cream, cook until heated through.
5.  Slice cooked chicken into thin strips.
6.  Pour pasta or rice onto plate, top with Parmesan cheese, then add artichoke mixture.

Yum!

I made two yummy meals over the weekend.

 First, a very simple recipe that I made for breakfast.

Greek yogurt + a spoonful of fat free sugar free chocolate Jello pudding mix = Awesome.  The texture is like that of chocolate mouse and totally cured my sweet tooth at 7am.  Add some fruit and a little granola and breakfast was served!

Second, a yummy spicy casserole!  Chris loved it and had two huge servings.  I get tired of making the same meals over and over, so when Amanda posted this one, I knew it was perfect for the weekend.  I modified it a little and used what we had in the fridge.  I also made a baked spaghetti for Cameryn since she wouldn't appreciate the spicy taste of this recipe.

Southwest Casserole
Adapted from Amanda's Cookin' recipe.

1 lb ground turkey meat
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup diced orange bell pepper
1/2 c diced green pepper
A few shakes of red pepper flakes
A few shakes of Montreal Steak seasoning
16 oz. tomato sauce
1- 10 oz can of Rotel Tomatoes & Green Chile's- Original
A few shakes of dried oregano
2 tsp chili powder
2c frozen corn
Shredded Mexican Four Cheese blend
2 cups (dried) macaroni elbows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a two-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
Cook pasta.

In large skillet brown turkey meat with onions, bell pepper and red pepper flakes. Season with the steak seasoning.

Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano and chili powder. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the frozen corn and simmer for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2 ounces of cheese until melted. Add the cooked pasta and mix well.  Pour mixture into casserole dish and top with shredded cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes.

My mom made this receipe a few weeks ago.  We were all hungry when we got home from church and mom asked if we wanted to have a quick lunch of sloppy joe's before we had to leave to go back to Columbia- and of course we said yes!  My husband, thinking that she would just heat the meat and throw a can of manwich in a pan, thought that we would be on the road in an hour tops.  HA!  Doesn't he know that my mom doesn't make anything 100% from a can?  He absolutely loved this recipe, he had 3 sandwiches and took the leftovers for lunch later that week!  He's asked that it become a part of our normal food rotation.  Enjoy!


Mom's Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can of Campbell's Gumbo Soup
1 soup can of water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Several squirts of ketchup
Several squirts of mustard
Worchestershire sauce, to taste
Salt & pepper, to taste
Buns

Directions
Heat onion, peppers, and ground beef in pan until meat is brown. 
Drain.  (I always rinse to remove any extra fat.  I don't care if they say not too!  It does help!) 
Return to pan. 
Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until heated thoroughly and sauce thickens. 
Serve on slightly toasted buns.

Cameryn chose to take cookies for her St. Patrick's Day party at school today.  I thought about just buying some pre-made cookies but what fun is that?  I scoured the cooking sites and found a recipe for Rainbow cookies!  Fun! 

I made the dough on Tuesday night and baked them last night.  I'm not going to lie, they were time consuming, my rainbows weren't perfect, and my hands look like I've been playing in tie dye thanks to all of the food coloring!  Nonetheless, the end result is a plate of the happiest cookies that I've ever seen and a two year old who is very excited to share them with her friends!  Definitely worth it!


(Sorry, once again, I forgot that my camera battery died over the weekend, so these are pics from my phone.)



Ready to bake!




Happy cookies!




I rolled the leftover dough into balls and made these colorful little cookie bites!

Cute, huh?  Another thing about this recipe - The cookies aren't very sweet!  I didn't know that before baking them but I don't mind since my child will come home with a sugar high from all of the junk food today!



Here's the recipe:

Play Dough Cookies (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• assorted colors of paste food coloring (I used Wilton gel icing colors)



I like to eat. 
Chris likes to eat. 
Cameryn likes to eat as long as its junk food.  Or mandarin oranges.

I love trying new recipes but I struggle to find: 
1) a recipe that doesn't take an hour to prepare on a weeknight 
2) a recipe that we can all eat {and like} together!

 I made this recipe last night.  It was okay, a little too heavy for my personal taste.  I added some fresh basil which I enjoyed but Chris said was too strong.  Chris didn't run from the table so he didn't hate it, but since he's from PA, he's craving "real" pizza pie and not the "crappy stuff down south"... therefore this recipe didn't tickle his tastebuds.  I made a small section of just cheese pizza for Cam (with red sauce and mozarella) and she was satisfied.  Try it.  Let me know what you think!


Ranch Chicken Pizza

 serves 8

total time:  about 45 minutes

1/3 pound bacon, chopped
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (1 lb.) store-bought or homemade pizza dough
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Preheat pizza stone, if using.  If not, grease a pizza pan or medium baking sheet.

Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook until crispy.  Remove with a slotted spoon.  Add the chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink in the center.

Roll out the dough to a circle.  Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it just begins to turn golden brown.  Remove from oven.

Spread the ranch dressing over the partially baked crust.  Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese.  Add the chicken, bacon, tomatoes and onions, then top with the cheddar cheese.  Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 10-15 minutes.