Bruschetta Dip

I had this at a birthday party not to long ago. I've also been told Trader Joe's has sampled this recipe in their stores. It is amazing!! I could eat the whole thing in one day. So far I've only tried it on pita chips, wheat thins and baguette bread. I think it be really good on top of grilled chicken as well!!

This is a semi-homemade recipe since I don't actually "make" any of it. You do need to have a Trader Joes near you to make this. All I do is get 3 ingredients (all found in fridge section near hummas at TJs) and mix them all together!! Great for a party or just made and store in your fridge and it's a good quick snack to eat over the next week! It's not the prettiest dish in the world and when I first went to try it I was hesitant. But after that first dip, you can't stop!

Trader Joe's Products (pictures of each below)

*2 Tubs of the Bruschetta Sauce
*1 Tub of Crumbled Ricotta Salata (Cheese)
*1 Packate of Steamed (precooked) Lentils

Mix all three together in a big bowl breaking apart the lentils and let the cheese crumble into small pieces. Serve with your favorite cracker or bread... or try it on Chicken! Let me know if you try it any new way! I love this stuff!!

2 Tubs of Bruschetta Sauce

1 Tub Ricotta Salata

1 pkg (box) lentils

Mix in bowl and serve!

Southwestern Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

This meal was surprisingly a HUGE hit in my family. Blew me away! I thought I was going to have to bribe and force my family to eat this. We will definitely make this again and again! I love Gina's Skinnytaste Blog. Here is the link to her recipe and below is what I did:) It's not a pretty dish (at least when I made it it wasn't) but it was very tasty! The original recipe is made to be vegetarian. You can keep it that way or add your favorite meat. I added pork from my southwestern green chili shredded pork but I think even shredded rotisserie chicken would be good in this too!

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt 
• 1 tsp taco seasoning (I make this recipe in large quantity and used 1 tsp of this)
• 1 tsp olive or canola oil
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into half moons 1 inch thick
• 1 small green chili- diced
• 1/2 sweet onion cut into rings
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup mild or spicy salsa
• 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese blend (I used shredded cheddar since I had it on hand)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro (I chopped up 2 green onions)
• 1 cup of any cooked meat you have (pork, chicken- shredded) OPTIONAL

Directions:

Poke holes in the potato with a fork, cook on your microwave’s potato setting until potatoes are soft and cooked through (about 8-10 minutes on high for 4 potatoes). If you don't have a microwave, bake about 45 minutes at 400°F.

Combine yogurt and taco seasoning in a small bowl, mix well. (I just added the taco seasoning right to the cup of yogurt, shown below, and stirred in well.

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add peppers, onions, zucchini, chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt; cook until the onions have caramelized slightly, about 5 minutes. Add black beans, stir to combine and heat through (about another 3 minutes). Add your cooked shredded meat. Cook till heated through. (I put a lid on this and cooked on low till I had everything else ready to go)

USE a fork to pierce the top in an oval shape, then remove the top of each potato. Top with 2 tbsp shredded cheese, 1/3 cup of black bean mixture, 2 tbsp Greek yogurt mixture and 2 tbsp salsa of salsa. Sprinkle any green onions or cilantro over the top.  Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt with taco seasoning mixed in (SO much better than sour cream!!)

Cut open top, add cheese and veggie/meat/black bean mixture...

Top with the yogurt and sprinkle on any other toppings. Dig in while hot!! 

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Asparagus with Rosemary Olive Oil

I was making ribeye's for dinner so I wanted to get some asparagus and some potatoes for the sides. I found this cool looking bag of Restaurant Style Baby Fingerling Potatoes... they were tri-colored (golden, red and purple). So i got home and I was trying to think of how to make these and it just so happens there was a recipe using both the potatoes and the asparagus on the front of the bag!! BAM! That was easy!! Here is a picture of the bag...

So, luckily I had fresh rosemary in my garden and I followed the recipe exactly... it was amazing!! I highly recommend!! If you can't find these cool tri-colored potatoes at your store, just do a mixture of golden and red fingerling potatoes... it just won't be as pretty as mine! :)

INGREDIENTS:
*2 T fresh Rosemary- minced
*1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1 lb fresh Asparagus- trimmed
*1/2 lb Pacific Gold fingerling potatoes (I used half of the 1.5lb bag) Cleaned and cut in half vertically
*1/4 tsp sea salt
*fresh ground black pepper to taste
*lemon wedges (I used 1 lemon cut into 6 wedges)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Toss potatoes with 2 T olive oil. Roast in oven for 20-30 mins on a roasting pan (or cookie sheet) until potatoes are slightly browned. Remove from oven.
3. Toss asparagus with remaining olive oil. Add them to the roasting pan with the potatoes. Place back in oven for 15-20 mins, turning frequently, until potatoes are fork tender.
4. Arrange potatoes and asparagus on a platter. Drizzle some lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. (I used the juice of 3-4 wedges and used other 2 as garnish on the platter.
5. Serve and enjoy!!

Thank you Progressiverecipes.com for an amazing recipe that I will make again and again!

Cheesy Potato Soup

This is a perfect soup for the cooler days that are coming up. I love making a big batch of this on Football Sunday and eating it for lunch and dinner. I make mine vegetarian, but it'd also be good with some ham or bacon in it!! GO PACK GO!!

Ingredients:
* 2 T Butter
* 2 T Olive Oil
* 1 small sweet onion- chopped
* 2 leeks- cut in 1/2 rounds only using white and light green parts
* 3 large carrots- diced
* 2-3 fresh garlic cloves- minced (Or garlic powder would do too)
* Seasonings (Kosher salt, Black pepper, nature seasonings)
* 10 potatoes (around 5-6 lbs) I used half red potatoes and half golden-Take most skin off. Diced
* 32 oz box of chicken STOCK (I used Kitchen Basic brand)
* 1 bouillon cute (I have the granules so I used 1 T)
* 1/2-1 cup water (enough so all potatoes are covered with liquid)
* 2-4 oz velveeta cheese- diced (more or less depending on how cheesy you like it)
* 1-2 cups of half n half

Other Optional ingredients:
*1 T flour plus 1 T melted butter if needs thickening
*Crusty bread (Sour dough round cut into chunks)
*Shredded cheddar cheese for topping soup
*green onion diced for topping
*any other toppings you like on a baked potato would go good!

1. Use a large stock pot.  Put the oil and butter in the bottom of pan on medium heat. Add onions, carrots and leeks. Cook on medium till onions are translucent (around 10-15 minutes).  
2. Add some seasonings (I used lots of pepper and nature seasonings and a little salt.. you can always add more later). And add your garlic or garlic powder. Stir well.
3. Add diced potatoes, chicken stock, bouillon and stir well. Add your water till it covers the potatoes completely. Cook on medium uncovered for about 20 minutes. Stir well and cover and continue simmering for another 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender (not mushy).
4. Take half the soup (veggies and broth) out and put in blender. (Or if you have a hand blender like me, i just put half the soup into a bowl and use my hand blender to mix well.). Blend well and pour the blended mixture back into the soup. Mix well.
5. If you like your soup a little thicker you can melt some butter and mix with flour. Add a little at a time of this mixture until it reaches the consistency you want. (I only used 1/2 of the mixture I made)
6. Add your diced up velveeta cheese and mix. Cook on medium stirring every so often until cheese has completely melted and mixed into the soup.
7. Add your cream. The amount you use depends on how creamy you like your soup. I used about a cups worth. 
8. Serve in a bowl (or a bread bowl would be yummy!). Top with shredded cheese and any other toppings that sound good to you! Enjoy!

Not a great picture, but here I'm sauteing all my veggies. 

Adding my diced potatoes

I didn't get great pictures on making it this time around. Here is after I added the blended portion back to soup and just added the velveeta. 

Add your favorite toppings and serve with some crusty bread. DeLISH!

Veggie Breakfast Pizza

This is great to make for breakfast or snack. Great way to get veggies in in the am. I would cut this into fourths and each piece would count as one meal (snack). So you can use whatever veggies and herbs you like really, (I didn't add an ingredient list because it's really up to you what you want in and on it) but here is what i did...

Use a oven safe skillet/fry pan with edges that are at least 1 inch up.
spray with Pam

I added about 1tsp of olive oil and sauteed garlic and chopped sweet onion (you could also add raw bell peppers and mushrooms at this step). Saute until onions are soft.

I then added some chopped red pepper that I had roasted on the grill the night before. And I added a handful of chopped fresh spinach. Distribute all veggies evenly.

In separate bowl, I put in 3 organic brown eggs and about 4 egg whites (from carton). Wisk well with some black pepper. Pour this in skillet over all the veggies. 

DON'T STIR EGGS. You will just let this cook till edges are done and you can run spatula around edges. Middle will still not be done. Once edges are done, add any herbs to top

I added fresh basil and oregano chopped from my garden. I also chopped half a tomato and sprinkled those on top. Place whole skillet under broiler in oven until middle is cooked through and slightly golden brown on top.

Serve. YUM

Next time I'm going to use zucchini and asparagus and saute with the onions and do everything else the same.

Brie and Apple Tarts

I found this recipe on pinterest from a blog called bloghungry. I made them and brought them to a girls night pot luck. We all loved them! I cut them in half after baking to make more smaller pieces. These were fairly simple to make but looked impressive:)

 Ingredients:

1 box (2 sheets) of puff pastry, thawed
1 green apple- thinly sliced
1 Tbsp brown sugar, divided
1 Tbsp butter, divided
1/4 tsp cinnamon, divided
1 medium wedge of brie- cut into slices
1 egg
flour (for rolling)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a good-sized slice of brie and 3 or 4 this slices of apple the middle of each of the 4 squares. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and brown sugar and top with a pat of butter. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Rice and Noodle Casserole

This was one of my favorite meals my mom used to make me growing up. It reminds me of an asian style rice a roni. I LOVE it! I made it so much in college that I couldn't even look at it for years. So after not eating it for 10 years, my mom made me it last night:) It's a great side dish to serve with any main meat. Great with chicken, fish, steak... we served ours with sauteed shrimp in a lemony garlic-butter sauce. It makes a ton, but is great as leftovers too!

Ingredients
*2 cups minute rice
*1/2 lb fine egg noodles (We got our bag in the asian section at the grocery store)
*1 can sliced water chestnuts (I then cut all the chestnuts in half)
*2 cans Campbell's french onion soup
*2 cans chicken broth/stock
*1/2 cup butter
*1 cup water
*1 T soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350

First melt butter in a ban and brown the noodles. Then add the rest of your ingredients. Stir well and heat up.

Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam. Pour in mixture and make sure you even out the noodles/rice throughout the pan.

Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 mins. Take tinfoil off and fluff/stir with a fork. If all the liquid isn't gone, put back in the oven uncovered until all liquid is absorbed.

Serve alone or along side favorite protein and veggie!

Browned noodles and then started adding ingredients (here i've added french onion soup) 

Pour in your pan and make sure rice/noodles are dispersed evenly

Bake till liquid is fully absorbed

We added sauteed shrimp and steamed Mukimame.

Monster Juice Smoothies

I saw this recipe posted on pinterest as a Green Smoothie for weight loss. My son and husband are obsessed with smoothies and I thought it be a good quick breakfast for those mornings with little time. Plus I just loved the green color and since my kids have seen Shrek lately, I told them it was Shrek Monster juice and they loved it! Here is the link the recipe came from. All you need is a blender and the following...

Ingredients:
* 1-2 fresh bananas
* 1/2 cup frozen peaches
* 1/2 cup frozen mango
* handful of fresh spinach (the kids won't even taste this in it and it makes it the vibrant green color + adding all the extra vitamins to your smoothie!)
* water
* Ice (if desired)

You can always add fat free yogurt or change up the fruit according to what your family likes.

Pizza Bites

I found this recipe on pinterest and made a double batch for a super bowl party we went to. I doubled this recipe and I made one batch plain cheese and one batch pepperoni and cheese. These went SO fast I barely even got any! And we loved them so much my husband made them the next day for us for lunch! This recipe came from "Kristine's Kitchen" blog.

Ingredients:
* 1 pizza dough (I used Pillsbury pizza crust)
* 4 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed (I used a pinch of shredded instead)
* Sliced pepperoni (I made some with and some without)

For Topping:
* Olive oil
* Italian seasoning and garlic salt
* Grated Parmesan Cheese

For Dipping:
* Jar of Pizza sauce (I used Ragu Pizza Sauce)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.

2. Divide dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces. Top each dough piece with a slice or two of pepperoni and some of the cheese. Pull edges of dough around the fillings and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in baking dish. Repeat with each square.

3. Lightly brush tops of dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with seasonings and parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Serve warm with dipping sauce as desired. (I poured half my jar of Ragu into a glass bowl, placed a paper towel over the top, and microwaved 1-2 minutes until sauce is warm to hot. Serve on the side for dipping or people can spoon the sauce over theirs.)

Sorry for how sloppy this looks... I had the hubby helping me out in the kitchen today and he doesn't cook very pretty:) JUST KIDDING HONEY... You are great! Thanks for the help!
So... pictured here are about 6 of the squares topped with pepperoni and cheese. Pull them apart and then start folding sides up around topping...

Pinch sides of dough around topping

Make sure you pinch together good to close

Place balls in buttered (or use Pam) baking dish, seam side down

Here are my two batches... one with cheese only in the middle

I used a brush and brushed olive oil over the tops of them, Then I sprinkled with seasonings and generously sprinkled with fresh grated parmesan cheese. 

They are ready to pop in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes or until golden.

My husband made this batch for the kids and decided to get creative and put cheddar cheese on the top of half... 

Salsa for a Crowd

I've made this a few time for parties and it's pretty good! It makes a TON so either bring it to a big party or cut the recipe in half! I love the beans, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeno in it... creates some GREAT flavor! Everyone seems to really enjoy it and it's not to hard to make! Just serve it with a side of tortilla chips!

2 cans (14-1/2 oz each) diced tomatoes

4-5 large fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 cups frozen corn, thawed

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup lime juice

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 T cider vinegar

2 T hot pepper sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T coriander seeds, crushed

1 T ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional)

corn or tortilla chips

*place one UNdrained can of tomatoes in large bowl. Drain the remaining can and add tomatoes to bowl.

*stir in the rest of the ingredients

*cover and refrigerate until serving. (I don't like to make this TOO much in advance... a couple hours is fine.)

Add all your ingredients in a large bowl

Mix and taste... season more if needed. Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge till ready to serve.