Guacamole

Are you searching for that perfect Guacamole recipe that makes it so you just cant stop scooping it up with the perfect tortilla chip?  Well, I found mine!  Or should I say my mom found it!  I seriously became addicted to this dip, and my husband I just about finished off a whole bag of chips in one sitting!  Enjoy!!!!

3 Avacados
2 cloves garlic -minced
1 tomato - chopped
1 lime- juiced
1 tsp- salt
1 1/2 Tblsp  -cilantro
1/4 cup -  chopped onion

Start with cutting into your avacados and pitting it out, roughly chop eveything up and stick into your ninja or chopper and give it a few pulses until the texture you like.  Then start dipping!  Pretty easy!!!

Cottage Cheese Delight!

Hello!  Happy New Year!  I'm 2 weeks away from delivering my baby and home with Bronchitis, but hey, I hope you are having a happy new year!!!  A friend of mine posted this on facebook and of course I'm always up for trying new recipes that look yummy and healthy!  And practically contained every ingredient that I love!  The only problem was, there wasn't a name for it so I had to come up with something fancy for it, and nothing came to me, so Cottage Cheese Delight is what I got!  Now for all you Paleo goers out there this could or could not be paleo depending on how strict you allow dairy into your diet!  I'm not that strict when I choose to be paleo so I would definitley allow this on my menu!  (Hopefully Paleo comes back full force after this baby is born, but for now, uh uh, no way)

The VIVA lowfat cottage cheese is my favorite brand.  I think it has the best texture and taste and I've tried quite a few.  I also like these mini cucumbers that are soo easy to chop up.  I added the blackberries to the list because I had them and was very much glad I did!  It brought a great sweat/tartness to it that was awesome!!

1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/2 Avocado - pitted and chopped
1/4 Cup chopped cucumber
1 green onion - green ends only, chopped
red grapes - handful, washed
Blackberries - handful, washed
Salt & Pepper

Just dump everything into a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper to your taste, AND ENJOY!!!!  I had this for lunch for 3 days straight and loved it!  Thank you Jen!!!

Christmas Morning Rolls

I got this yummy recipe from my friend Mindee who makes these every year for Christmas or New Years, and boy are they delish!!!!  Delish and easy because you do all the work that night and let them sit over night and pop them in the oven in the morning!  How nice is that?!??!  This year, I put them on my list to make for Christmas morning, just to make sure I didn't miss out on them!!!  YUMM!!

22-24 Frozen Rhodes Rolls
1/2 package Butterscotch pudding (cook and serve)
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 - 3/4 Cup brown sugar
Cinnamon

First you grease your bundt pan and sprinkle with almonds.  Above I had slivered almonds, but you could used sliced or whatever you have.  Put your frozen rolls on top of the almonds.  Sprinkle with your dry pudding mix and lightly with cinnamon.  Bring your butter to a boil then take off heat and stir in your brown sugar.  Pour over your rolls.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let raise over night.  So you want to make sure it's the last thing you do before you go to bed.
In the morning, place bundt pan on a cookie sheet to catch any spillovers.  Turn your oven to 350* and Bake for 25-30 minutes.  When you remove from oven, turn the pan upside down on a platter and the sugar with cover the rolls.  Enjoy while warm!!!!!

Sweet & Sour Chicken Stir Fry

You can never have too many stir fry recipes right?  I like this one because it's a bit different than THIS recipe I have, and it tastes oh sooo good!

First you cook up your chicken...

 Chop up all your favorite veggies

 Cook them in oil until they are crisp tender

Simmer up that sauce!

And look at that yummness!

2 Breasts Chicken - Diced and cooked in olive oil, salt & Pepper
3 tsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 garlic cloves - minced
3 Cups broccoli
1/2 Pepper - Sliced
1/2 Onion - Sliced

1 tsp Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Water
 18 ounce Can of Pineapple - juice and pineapple seperated
3 T ketchup
1 T Soy Sauce
2 T Brown Sugar
1 tsp Rice Vinegar

First start with browning your chicken in a saute pan.  In a separate saute pan, add your oil, then your onions.  After they cook for 1-2 min, add in your garlic for 1-2 min.  Then add in your peppers and broccoli.  Cook on medium for about 5 minutes or until Crisp tender.  When veggies are done, add in whatever amount of pineapple you want from the can just long enough to warm it up.
In a separate sauce pan dissolve your cornstarch into your water.  Add in your pineapple juice ( not the pineapples), ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar and rice vinegar.  Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 3-5 minutes.
If serving over rice, layer your rice on the bottom, then add your veggies and chicken, then smother with sauce.  Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscoff Cookies

Well I didn't think I would post another pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie recipe on here again because I already have 2 recipes I love!  BUT. I. LOVE. THESE. COOKIES.  The combination of the pumpkin and the Biscoff is sooo smooth and creamy!  They are probably the most moist pumpkin cookies ever!!!  I've had Biscoff spread sitting in my cupboard for probably 6 months not knowing what to do it with it, so when I  stumbled across this recipe on pinterest, I knew I had to try it!

1/2 Cup unsalted butter - room temperature
1/2 Cup Biscoff spread
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 Cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree (not the pumpkin pie mix)
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 Cups - Flour ( I did 1 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat your oven to 350*.  Lightly spray your cookie sheet with Pam.  Cream your butter, Biscoff spread and sugars in a mixing bowl.  Add in your egg, & vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Add in your pumpkin and mix well, then scrape down sides.  Add in your spices, soda and salt.  Then last, slowly add your flour until just mixed ( you don't want to over mix the flour in)  Then add in your chocolate chips.  Drop by spoonfuls on your cookie sheet and cook for 10-12 min or until set up.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack!
Enjoy!!!

Cabbage Soup

I Know!  Cabbage Soup doesn't sound very enticing does it?!?!?  But believe me you wont be sorry if you try this soup, and your bodies wont hate you either!!!  I'm sure you've all heard of the Cabbage Soup diet, right?  Well this is that, but on steroids and tastes way better!  My mom used to make it a lot and so I've never had a problem with it and I actually really liked it!  And just recently I had stinky cabbage in my fridge that had to be cooked asap, so I started searching for recipes, and combined my moms recipe with a few extra ingredients and absolutely LOVE this soup!  And so does Chris if that tells you anything!  Most recipes don't tell you to put ground beef in it, but I think it's a must and it definitely fills your belly a lot quicker!  This recipe is PALEO.  If you are crazy strict paleo and think beef broth from a can is bad for you, then go ahead and make your own beef broth.  But I let this one slide :)

1/2 lb ground beef
2 bottles stewed tomato's - blended
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Cup Chopped Cabbage
1/2 Cup chopped zucchini
1/2 Cup Chopped onion
1/2 Cup sliced carrots
1/2 Cup chopped celery
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Oregano - 1/2 tsp - to taste
Basil - 1/2 tsp - to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Start with Browning your beef with your onion.  I like to do it in my big stock pot so I only have to use one pan.  Once beef is browned add your olive oil and the rest of your vegetables.  For the carrots, this time I just used baby carrots and stuck them in my salad shooter and sliced them thin so they would soften fast.  For the stewed tomato's, I used my own bottled tomatos and blended them in my ninja, juice and all and add it to the stock pot.  Add your beef broth and your seasonings to taste and let simmer for 20-30 min.  Long enough to let the flavors marinate, and the veggies to soften up.  Enjoy!

Stromboli

Once again, another fabulous recipe I aquired from Bunco a good 3 years ago!  This meal is a great meal to make when you want to bring a meal to another family and keep some for yourselves because it makes two loaves!!!  So actually that is the only time I make this dinner!!! Or if I want to invite people over for dinner.  This might sound weird to most but this pizza stromboli doesn't actually have pizza sauce in it, which is probably why I love it sooo much.   I've always had a hard time finding a pizza sauce that I liked.  This one is  smothered in egg and oregano!! 

You start by splitting your dough into 2 equal parts, and rolling into large rectangles.

 Then you mix your egg and oregano and smother all over both rectangles.

 Add your pepperoni

 mozzarella cheese

 ham

 provolone cheese

 Roll it up and slit holes in the top.

 Bake until golden brown

 Then slice up and serve!!! Yum

Dough:
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 Flour - I always use 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour
1 Pkg. Dry Yeast
2 1/2 Cup Milk
2 T Sugar
1 T Butter
1 tsp Salt
Stromboli:
2 eggs - seperarted
2 T flake Oregano
70 Pepperoni - 1 Package
1 Med Bag Mozzarell Cheese - shredded
8 Deli Ham Slices
8 Provolone Slices

For the Dough, put 3 C flour in a mixing bowl along with your yeast and sugar.  Scald 2 1/2 C milk (Dont get the milk too hot or it will kill the yeast).  When milk is warm enough add 1 T butter and 1 tsp. salt.  Stir until melted together.  Add to flour mixture & stir until blended. (Mix on low speed for approx 2-3 min)  Then using 1/2 cup at a time slowly add in the remaining flour until you get a tacky texture.  Turn out on floured surface and knead for a min.  Let raise for 30-45 min.
Cut dough into 2 equal parts and roll in a rectangle shape.  Take your egg and oregano and mix together well and brush onto the dough.  Next lay out your pepperoni then cover in mozzarella cheese.  Add your ham slices then your slices of provolone.  Roll up like a cinnamon roll (pictured above).  Close the ends.  Do an egg white wash (using 1 egg white and water and stirring quickly until slightly foamy and brushing over the the entire roll.  Sprinkle with flake oregano.  Cut about 4-5 slices on top of loaf to allow the heat to escape while baking.
Spray or grease cookie sheet.  Place loaves on cookie sheet with seams down.  Bake at 375* for about 40 minutes uncovered..
You can make this ahead and freeze in aluminum foil.  Grease foil before you put loaf on it to prevent sticking.  Prior to cooking take out of freezer and allow to thaw.  Bake Uncovered.