Grilled Chicken & Homemade Salsa

Keeping it moving with the 21-Day Fix. I love Salsa. Especially restaurant salsa. I could drink it. Since jarred salsa is not allowed on the plan, I had to dig up a homemade recipe. 

Homemade Salsa by the Pioneer Woman

Salsa Chicken with Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, and Brown Rice

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• 1/4 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• 1/2 whole Lime Juice (I used 1/4 cup juice)

Preparation Instructions

Note: this is a very large batch. I used my 14-cup food processor.

• Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. 
• Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.

I used this to marinate and bake chicken in. The cilantro really helps with the flavor. 

I did some other marinades last week. I particularly love the non-oil one. 

Lemon-Oregano Marinade

Grilling Chicken - Inside! 

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic (or 1 fresh squeezed clove.) 

Multiply it a few times to make what works. It has a great flavor though and it can be strong. 

Asian Marinade

Note - 21-day friendly, but very delicious and adds an amazing sweet flavor to the chicken. 

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or a couple cloves) 
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• Squirt of Honey
• Dash of Worcestershire

Mix well together (I shake in a bag), add the chicken and let it marinade for 2-3 hours. 

Note - I cut my chicken breasts into 4-ounce pieces and then I "filet" them open since the breasts can be so thick and they would cook unevenly. Or dry out before the inside was completely cooked. 

Lasagna Soup

I thought I had blogged this, but can't find it. 

I made this very delicious soup last February. And I aim to make a soup every Sunday because well, I have time on Sundays, and it gives us leftovers for lunch for a few days. And soup is delicious. 

So here's the recipe for Lasagna Soup. It's a Paul Dean recipe. I left out the extra stick of butter. She makes it in a Dutch Oven. I do it in a stock pot and plan to do it in my new RockCrok once I get one. 

Shameless Plug - Need anything Pampered Chef related? I'm hosing a show on November 22. You can order on and have it delivered to my house or your house. You can go here and type in my name and then place your order. No pressure people. None. :-) 

Anyway, the soup. It's tasty! I'll update with a picture shortly. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chuck
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced, plus 2 cloves smashed
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 (32 oz) box chicken broth
• 2 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups lasagna noodles, broken
• 1 (5 oz) package grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 thin French baguette
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
In a large Dutch oven, combine ground chuck, onion, bell pepper and 3 cloves minced garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is browned and crumbles. Drain well.

Stir in thyme, brown sugar, broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add noodles, and simmer until noodles are tender. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into 8 to 10 ovenproof bowls. Evenly sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Broil soups, 6-inches from heat, 3 to 4 minutes, until cheese is browned and bubbly. Add a garlic crostini slice on top. Serve immediately.

For the garlic crostini:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut bread into 1/4-inch round slices. Place on baking sheet and brush each slice with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper; place in oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Rub each side with 2 smashed garlic cloves.

Way overdue!!

It's been 6 long weeks without posting. So hopefully I can start getting in one a week again or so. 

In general, things are great. Super busy, but work is going well, Liam is still thriving at Daycare, he's walking now and it's crazy! The kitchen cabinets are baby-proofed, the trashcan too. I've almost adjusted and stopped trying to yank things open without using the "key". At at work when I go to open the silverware jar, I first try to "push down" the drawer holder. 

Recipe wise, I've made a few things here and there, but mostly been sticking with what's in the freezer. I recently made Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Chili. It was amazing and I'll post that recipe this week. 

We had some family pics taken a few weeks ago. Liam didn't want to smile, we were lucky he looked at the camera at all! 

June was a busy month!

It's been around 6 weeks since I last posted! So much happened in June! Lots of traveling, a wedding, and a JOB OFFER!!! :) 

I traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks with my mom for a girls (and Liam) trip. Then Jason and I went to Rapid City, SD for a work thing. I was fortunate they let Liam and me go too! We got to kinda see Mt. Rushmore. It was a little foggy. We also stopped by Dinosaur Park. It was Liam's first time flying and he did well! 

For Father's Day weekend we headed to Lake of the Ozarks with my parents. Liam got his first boat ride! We had a great time, except for the car ride. Liam was teething during most of June. He got his two bottom teeth in and his top two are coming in soon.

During this time I also was interviewing and submitting more job applications. I think one day I submitted a dozen, and had two big interviews before leaving for vacation. I was fortunate to have my sister and sister-in-law help babysit during those! One resulted in an offer! 

Then we headed to Florida. We bit the (savings) bullet and purchased a time share week, we really lucked into finding one available. My parents and grandma own weeks 25 & 26, and we managed to get a week 26 unit. Which usually will include Fourth of July and will almost always include our wedding anniversary. Here's Liam on our lanai looking at our beach and gulf front view. Our unit is larger than most and feels a lot more open! It's wonderful! 

We also had a wedding to attend! My grandmother got married to her long time friend, Harry. Harry lost his wife about the same time grandpa died, and months later they were announcing their engagement. My brother and sister-in-law were able to fly in, and we were all together in Florida for a few days. 

Here's a picture of the Reed & Guilford's. 

On the way to wedding, I received wonderful news - a verbal offer for a new job! I accepted the offer (faxed it in on vacation) and start in the next few weeks. It's environmental consulting and a job similar to what I did at GES in Richmond, Virginia. I'm waiting on all the standard items, background check, drug test, verification I graduated high school & college.... all those normal things most companies do. Liam will be going to daycare starting July 14 and I expect to start that week or the following week. It'll be a huge change going back to work. Sometimes I am nervous, sometimes I am anxious. I know I'm ready to go back to work, but juggling the household, baby, and a new company will probably lead to a few stressful days. 

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes - Baby Food

I made Bisquick pancakes a few weeks ago and made Liam a few. He liked them, but I wasn't fond of the crap in them. I've been searching for an easier and healthier recipe for Liam. I finally found an easy Banana Oatmeal Pancake recipe. These are dairy free which is what I've been really looking for. They can be gluten free and all those other things free if you need them to be.

I doubled the recipe and froze some. I heat one pancake up for about 30 seconds, cut it into small pieces and serve with apple sauce. Liam loves this for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 large or 3 small bananas, mashed 
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup oat flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp sea salt 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground 

Directions

1. Mash bananas and mix the melted butter, lemon juice, and sugar together. 
2. Add the eggs and mix. 
3. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. 
4. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. (This allows the oatmeal to absorb some liquid.) 
5. Make pancakes on griddle like normal. These take a little bit longer to cook, they are thicker. Keep the skillet/griddle on a lower heat. 

Notes:
I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to these to enhance the flavor.
To make Oat Flour - I used my Ninja chopper to grind up (non-instant) oatmeal into a flour.

Morning Rolls (Sticky Buns)

One of my favorite treats growing up was when mom made these morning rolls. They were sweet, sticky, pull apart rolls that she would make for special occasions. She made them for me recently when she spent the weekend (um... back in October?)

I don't normally try to make my favorite mom dishes because I'm afraid I'll mess it up and it'll never be the same. I did succeed at the Carrot Casserole, but I still won't touch her lasagna! I've been craving these rolls though, and well, figured it's about time I made them myself. 

I have searched online for a similar recipe, but the ones I find don't have the pudding mix as an ingredient. Which I think it what makes these really amazing. I included her recipe below and my adjustment for a smaller batch. As much as I could eat 24 of these, I decided that making a smaller batch would be better for me and Jason's waistline. 

Mom's Morning Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 package frozen bread rolls (24 count)
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C margarine
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 small box Non-Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix (Dry)
• 1/2 C chopped pecans (optional, but wouldn't skip it)
• 1/2 C raisins (optional, and very good addition!)

Directions

1. Cook sugar, margarine, and cinnamon until bubbly. 
2. Grease 9x12 pan or bundt pan. 
3. Sprinkle pecans and/or raisins in bottom of pan. 
4. Place Frozen Rolls in the pan, on top of pecans
5. Sprinkle the dry pudding mix over and between the rolls.
6. Pour hot sugar mixture evenly over the rolls. 
7. Cover tightly with foil or plastic wrap. 
8. Let sit overnight. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. (The rolls won't rise.)  
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. 
10. Invert pan onto plate/platter. 

To make a 9x9 pan for two people.

Use:

• 9 frozen bread rolls
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C margarine
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 small box Non-Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix (Dry)
• 1/4 C chopped pecans
• 1/4 C raisins

Follow the instructions above and bake for the same amount of time. 

NOTES

• I put the pudding mix in a small container and coated each roll with the pudding mixture, then dumped the box around the rolls. 
• Once cooked, I inverted these into a non-stick skillet. It made clean up a lot easier because I didn't dump any sticky sauce all over the counter, and the non-stick skillet was easy to clean. 

Homemade SpaghettiOs

I admit I love the taste of SpaghettiOs. The sweet sugary sauce, those mini noodles... but I know it's full of crap. The sugar, the sodium, the preservatives. When I stumbled across a homemade recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. I originally made these about a year ago, but never blogged about it. (That I can find.) 

The great thing about these is you can control everything that goes into them. If you need gluten free pasta, or want to use a whole grain. You can use skim milk or low fat cheese, and can make it as spicy as you want! I added meatballs this time. It's also a fairly quick recipe, taking about 20-25 minutes from start to finish. 

This recipe is very forgiving too. You can add extra milk (on accident or on purpose), you could use a different small noodle, add more cheese, less cheese, more butter, no pepper, extra pepper, ect. Whatever you think will work. 

Homemade SpaghettiO’s

Ingredients

• 8 oz ditalini pasta (or other small pasta)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Cook the pasta, to al dente (about 10 minutes).
2. Heat the olive oil in a  large saute' pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
3. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt, pepper, sugar and butter. Heat, while stirring, until the butter is melted. 
4. Slowly stir in the milk, then turn the heat to low. Simmer at low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Stir the shredded cheese into the soup until melted. 
6. Drain the pasta and add it to the soup. OR, you can transfer it to a serving bowl and add the "soup" to the pasta. Stir to combine. 

Notes:

I added meatballs to mine. The Sam's Club meatballs are delicious and I had some leftover and needed to use them up. 

I messed up and added 1 cup of milk instead of 1/4 cup. My finished product is a little runny, but the meatballs helped absorb some of that extra fluid. 

I added 3 pinches of red pepper flakes to make it a little more spicy. It goes a long way so don't add too much!
I had leftover crushed tomatoes in my fridge to use up, so I used that instead of Tomato Sauce. Not really a huge difference.
This freezes well. You can make a double batch and freeze for later.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

My friend Lisa brought me and my husband (and newborn baby Liam) a Twice Baked Potato Casserole. It was delicious. Super rich, loaded with cheesey potato goodness. The 9x13 dish must have weighed 3 pounds. It was amazing.

I wasn't able to find a decent recipe that mimicked what she gave us, so I thought I'd just wing it. 

Initial Notes:

Bake the potatoes the night (or two) before hand. Let them set back up in the fridge and get cold. They are easier to cut and won't fall apart in your hands. 

Cut everything before putting them together. 

Put the kiddo down for a nap - it takes a bit to assemble. Seriously, make sure he's napping. 

When cleaning up, don't drop all the pots and pans in the sink while you are washing them. No, really. It might be better to just leave the dishes for your husband. 

This recipe is not healthy. Don't eat it too often. It's loaded with CHEESE. And more CHEESE. 

If you don't like cheese, this is not for you. I'm not sure this blog is for you if you don't like cheese. We can't be friends, sorry. 

This makes two deep 9x13s. I recently purchased these foil pans (and lids) from Sam's Club. My Gladware bakeware is no longer available in 8x8s, so I went with the cheaper method of foil pans. They take up a bit more room in the freezer, require larger portions, leave more leftovers, but the cost savings is the best overall deal. 

So my recipe. 

Ingredients

• 3 pound bag of Russets potatoes (baked)
• 1 pound of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 1.5 pounds of Cubed velvetta cheese (is it cheese? eh..) 
• 1-2 sticks of butter - sliced very thin
• 2 bricks of cream cheese
• 16-ounce container sour cream
• Shredded cheese - pick any flavor
• green onions

Directions

1. Bake the potatoes - I clean mine really well, prick with a fork, and coat with olive oil and salt. Then bake an hour or so at 400 degrees F. I did let mine cool in the fridge (for two days). They were much easier to dice up. 
2. Cook the bacon to crispy. I prefer to cut the bacon up and then cook it.
3. Dice the baked potatoes. (While you're cooking the bacon.) 
4. Use a mixer to mix together the sour cream and cream cheese. Mix in additional spices if you want - dill dressing packet, garlic, chili powder, ect. Whatever flavor you want to go for. 
5. This is a layering dish - Put a layer of potatoes, a few pieces of butter, around 1/4 of a stick, then spread some cubed velvetta cheese and spoon fulls of the sour cream/cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle a little bacon, shredded cheese, and green onions on top. Then repeat the layer. 
6. Bake the dish at 375 degrees F for around 30-40 minutes. 

I froze the other dish, defrosted for a day, and then baked. The longer you bake, the softer the potatoes become. If you want to cheat, you can skip the potatoes and purchase the Ore Ida diced potatoes instead. Or has brown potatoes. You'll want to make sure your velvetta is diced smaller than the potatoes, you want the cheese to melt around it. 

This was a delicious dish, but I won't be making it again anytime soon. The velvetta is expensive, the dish is time consuming, and it's very high in calories. You can probably use some different ingredients to make it lower cal, but it's more so just so addicting to eat. 

Time for Dinner

My neighbor Facebook checked-in to this place a few weeks ago. I looked at their website and while not the most cost effective (for me), decided to check it out. I managed to sucker my friend Dee and my mom (with my sister as her chef) into going with me. :) 

Time for Dinner is where you can make your own freezer meals without the hassle of planning, shopping, chopping, portioning, and clean up. Each month they have a different menu with around a dozen different dishes and a dessert. The best deal is to choose 6 dishes to make for $125 (plus tax.) Each dish is 6-portions so you're getting 36 portions for around $3.50 a portion. I can cook cheaper by doing it all myself, but I also wouldn't branch out and make some of the meals they offer. It's nice to have other dishes besides Tater Tot Casseroles, Enchiladas, Stuffed Shells, Spaghetti Sauce, and red meat in the freezer. It also is a lot less time consuming, which is one of their main selling points. When I do my bulk cooking, I spend probably 4-5 hours doing 6 dishes from scratch. 

One of the moms we encountered on Saturday said her family wouldn't eat if it wasn't for this place. Time for Dinner has been open for 10 years! I was surprised since it was the first time I had been there, and only recently heard of it. They had this type of place in Richmond, Virginia that I never got a chance to check out. One of my Richmond friends said the place has since closed. 

It's really easy. You choose the date you want to attend, and then "order" the meals you plan to make. For April, I chose Crab Cakes, two Chicken Parmigiana, Jumbo Stuffed Shells, Pollo Queso Fundido, and Sunset Pork Tenderloin. I avoided choosing red meat dishes since I still have over 100 pounds of red meat in my freezer. I chose my order before making Stuffed Shells myself. For April they had a special where if you ordered 6 meals, you got a free half dish of Butterscotch Brownies. Which, you have to "cream" the butter and sugar by hand. I'm taking a hand mixer next time. May's special is you get $10 off. And they have a loyalty program - if you go 6 times/6 meals each, you get 20% off the 7th time. I was looking at their Facebook page and it looks like in June-July-August they run some of the best deals. Which makes sense because no one wants to fire up their oven in the summer months! 

When we showed up, we checked in and paid, and they gave us a quick tour. My sister and I started at the Crab Cake station. All the ingredients are laid out in front of you, and the instructions are printed (in large font) and easy to follow. They even include the obvious instructions like when to put on latex gloves or which utensil (spatula versus whisk) to use. Except for the meat, you can add extra veggies or leave out the cheese if you want. 

You make your dishes in two oblong aluminum pans, they are 12.5 inches by 6.5 inches. I like that they are already broke into two dishes, this makes it easier for one or two people to eat, instead of making a large dish. TFD has stickers to place on the pans, one in front for easy "freezer view", and another larger one on top with instructions. The sticker on front is an excellent idea - I need to do this in my own deep freeze! You can see below what my freezer looks like. I know the three large pans are stuffed shells, mostly because my two tater tot casseroles are in the other freezer. 

It took us around two hours to make our 6.5 dishes. My sister and I jumped on the Brownie station early because we figured most people would wait until last to make theirs. We were right, Dee had to wait a few extra minutes. We weren't the last to leave either, but I think one mom made around 20 dishes. I saw her making like 10 pretzel chickens. :) 

Some additional notes - 

Some of the spices are included in the dish, but don't be afraid to ask for more! I was making the Chicken Parmigiana and realized I was missing garlic and pepper. I asked and I received. 

One of my dishes was a pork tenderloin with a rub. You made the rub in a ziplock bag. I helped my sister with hers and the rub wasn't mixing well. Instead of making my rub "wet", I just wrote what I needed to add at home (water and hot sauce) to finish it out. I figure I could wisk it better than I could mix it in a ziplock bag. 

If you have kids that can help, bring them. A few moms did have their kids with them, some were helpful, some were bored. I think it's a helpful way for children to learn how to put a dish together. I know my mom started me young. I plan to start Liam young too, he needs to learn to cook! 

I look forward to doing this again. We are on a strict budget though and I need to figure out how to work it it, at least every two months or so.

I'm already thinking ahead to Florida vacation at the end of June and think I'll be taking a few frozen meals with us. That way I won't have to buy a ton of ingredients and worry about cooking a few nights. I know our Florida vacation is going to be very busy already.  

I took the time to make a list of our freezer stash to put on our upstairs fridge for meal planning purposes. Since sometimes I meal plan in bed, using my iPad, I'm including the list here for my laziness. 

5	cups of Chili	2	Mozzarella Cheese - 1 lb each
13	cups of Black Bean Soup	2	Eggos - 8 packs
3	Stuffed Shells	2	Butter Braids
2	Tater Tot Casseroles	1	Bertolli Chicken Florentine & Farfalle
1	Lasagna	7	Hamburger Buns
1	Sloppy Joe	3	Hot Dog Buns
3	Chicken Huts	1	Pork Butt
4	Spaghetti Sauce	1	Loaf of banana/blueberry bread
14	Twice Baked Potatoes	15	Chicken Sausages
4	Carmel Apple Tartlets	5	Hot Dogs
1	Garlic Bread (8 count)		Toasted Ravioli
3	Small French Loafs		Mozzarella Sticks
1	frozen DiGiorno pizza		French Fries
1	lbs of Bacon		Tater Tots
1	loafs of Bread		Meatballs
1	Tortellini
Chicken
	2lb & 5 oz package of Chicken Breasts
Time for Dinner Dishes
1	Butterscotch Brownies	2	Sunset Pork Tenderloin
4	Chicken Parmigiana	1	Pretzel Chicken
2	Crab Cakes	1	Carmel Apple French Toast
2	Jumbo Stuffed Shells	1	Venetian Mac & Cheese
2	Pollo Queso Fundido	1	Garlic & Herb Pasta - Side Dish
Red Meat
37	1-pound ground beef	5	Stew Meat - 1 lb each
15	Hamburger Patties	3	Sirloin Tip Steaks (2 packs)
3	Flat Iron Steak	2	Sirloin Steak
7	Rib Eye Steak (3-2-2 packs)	1	Beef Brisket
2	Porterhouse Steak (2 packs)	4	Chuck Steaks
5	T-Bone Steak (2-2-1 packs)	3	London Broil
1	Round Steak (3 packs)	3	Cube Steaks (3 packs)
1	Rump Roast

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

These past few days I have concentrated more on meal planning, and thinking a week ahead for dinners. This helps in using what we have in the deep freeze, especially as I make more freezer meals and fill it up!

When I make crock-pot meals, I usually don't start cooking them until around noon. I try to prep the crock-pot ingredients (chopping) the night before. It makes it easier to throw together. 

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes (I only found this in large cans.) 
• 1 7-ounce can tomatillo salsa verde
• 3 TBSP tomato paste
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 small corn tortillas, torn or cut into small pieces 
• 2 small onions (approx 2 cups)
• 2 jalapenos (seeds and veins removed)
• 1 large bell pepper
• juice of a fresh lime
• 2-4 TBSP fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste
• shredded Mexican cheese blend
• crunchy tortilla chips

Directions

1. Get out the big crock-pot. 
2. Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, salsa verde, tomato paste, pepper and spices to the crock pot and mix together. 
3. Add the chicken, onions, peppers, and tortilla pieces. 
4. The soup will cook either 6 hours on high or 10 hours on Low. During the last hour or two, add the lime juice and cilantro. 
5. Dish into bowls and add cheese, crushed up tortilla chips, avocado, anything else you want! Serve with Sweet Corn Cakes.