Today I Made...

SALSA!!! From my garden veggies. Oh my. We all love salsa, and homemade is the absolute best! This is what I did:

• Bought some supplies. If you haven't seen the new Ball Freezer Jars, you better run right to Wal-Mart (or just click here) and grab some. They are the bomb-diggity! So is the canning kit that I snagged for a mere $6.97! It had that awesome jar grabber thingy, a plastic funnel, a magnetic wand for grabbing those pesky jar flats and lids, and another little gizmo that checks for headspace and releases bubbles in the jar. Steal of a deal, I'd say!

• Laid out said supplies. They took up three counter tops, so this is just a peek at the organized mess!

• Prepared the jars and lids in boiling water. 

• Blanched 22 small to medium sized tomatoes so that they would be easy to peel. The skins pop in the boiling water, then they peel right away...no knife necessary! I love the bright color that they turn after blanching too... 

• While the tomatoes were blanching, Boo was chopping up the other goodies...2 small onions, 4 jalepeno peppers (also from my garden), and a lime. Well, the lime wasn't chopped, but it was hand-juiced. 

• After peeling and coring the blanched tomatoes, I added them to the onion, pepper, and lime juice in the blender. I spiced it up with half a package of salsa mix, 2 tsp cilantro, 4 Tbsp chopped garlic, and a quarter cup of sugar. It was too much for one blender, so we did it in two batches. 

• The salsa could be considered finished at this point, if you just wanted to put it in a container in the fridge or freezer...but I wanted to can it, so it needed to be boiled together for a minute or so. It looked nasty like tomato soup after boiling! 

• Finally, the fun part...ladling into jars and processing in a boiling water bath. I had no idea how much salsa I would have, so I prepared all of my jars. Only half were needed, but hey, that's 5 pints of homemade, homegrown salsa!!! Can't beat it and it is beautiful in the jars!!! 

• Last step...MAKE LABELS! I adore my label maker. It is very handy in the kitchen, and I am thinking I could use one at school.

Day 2: Pain

in the form of a freakin' blister. On my foot. Nickel size, right at the base of my big toe. Dislike.

I did pretty well today, but tomorrow may be a different story with the blister. I had a Body by Vi shake (cinnamon bun flavor), a snack of garden cucumbers and onions, and this fantastic dinner...

Three Cheese Chicken Spinach Penne, green bean casserole, zucchini chips, and Texas toast. The recipe for the chicken is so easy!

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I cook mine in the crock pot all day)
• 1 box multi-grain penne, boil til done, drain and set aside
• 1 large jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 container whipped cream cheese
• dried basil to taste
• combine all of these ingredients in a large bowl, set aside (I used the pot that I cooked the pasta in)
• saute' one small onion (chopped), 4 cloves fresh garlic, and one package of fresh spinach (coarsely chopped) in 2T bacon grease
• add the spinach mixture to the pasta mixture
• put mixture into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
• remove from oven and top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• bake until cheese is bubbly, remove from oven and...
• DIG IN!!!

I so had to hit the gym after that dinner...an hour on the treadmill again, 240 calories burned, 3.2 miles hit. Somehow I think I will have to get on the bike and do weights tomorrow...this blister is not going to let me walk or jog.

Comfort Food of Fall

This meal graces my table at least once a week during the fall and winter months, and occasionally in the warmer months. I could probably eat it (or some version of it anyway) every day. Soup and cornbread.  Enough said.

Not just any cornbread, but skillet cornbread, baked in the oven. Mmmm.

My version of 'cowboy soup.' Chris' favorite.

 Cowboy Soup:
~one pound of ground beef, browned and drained
    *I always season it well with fresh garlic, onion powder, and meatloaf seasoning*
~2 cups beef broth
    *I reserve the broth when I make roasts or other beefy dishes in the crock pot; it freezes great!*
~vegetables of your choice (mine usually include tomato, carrots, peas, pearl onions, and corn)
    *I use canned veggies except the onion, and don't drain the juice...it gives more flavor to the soup*
~top it off with water, typically just til it tastes right (about a cup or 2, depending on how much soup you are making)
~Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until time to eat! Freeze the leftovers for quick and easy meals!

Smokin Hot Buffalo Chicken Fajitas!

So one of my favorite things to eat when hubs and I go out is the Buffalo Chicken Fajitas at Chili's. Oh. My. Mercy. They are so yumm-tastic! Chris thought we should be able to figure out how to make them at home, so we did. It is so easy to make, it's some kinda wrong! Here goes...just pop some Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips into the oven and saute' some onions in butter and garlic. To assemble, lay your tortilla on a plate and place desired amount of chicken on it. Cover with onions, blue cheese crumbles, shredded cheddar, lettuce, and drizzle ranch dressing over the top. Roll it up, and dive in!

Linking up with:

Tuna Noodle Casserole!

When I was a kid, my mom used to make something she called tuna casserole. It was yucko. I remember. It was dry, smelly, and really fishy tasting. Kids don't typically enjoy ingesting such things. However, now that I am grown, I rather like tuna. More specifically, I like when Chris grills tuna steaks and pineapple. That is not the topic for today though, since we can't grill tuna steaks every day. I decided to attempt homemade tuna casserole. It smelled very fish-ish, but it tasted wonderful. We both really liked it, but it isn't something we will fix for the kiddos. :-)

How to:

Boil desired amount of extra wide egg noodles.

As noodles cook, combine 2 cans of tuna (drained), one can cream of mushroom soup, one can Veg-All (drained), and one can sweet green peas (drained) into casserole dish. Combine 2 Tbsp Mayo, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1/4 cup of sour cream. Stir into tuna mixture. Stir in cubes of Velveeta cheese (as desired). Add cooked noodles to mixture and stir until well combined. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes. Velveeta should be melted. Crumble Ritz crackers (1/2 sleeve) on top of casserole and drizzle 1 stick of melted butter over the top. Bake again @ 350 for 10 minutes, or til bubbly around the edges.

Never Leftovers!!!

With a family of six, where at lease three are fairly picky eaters, mealtime planning can be stressful. I was very worried when we blended our families about how I was going to keep everyone happy at dinner. Chris has always said that The Boy and Lou are picky (especially The Boy), but as I am watching them and learning about them, I think they are mostly just hesitant to try anything new. This is much easier to overcome than picky eating! We just 'talk up' certain meals until they are dying to try them. A definite family favorite in our house at dinner time is Poppyseed Chicken. Someone asks for it at least twice a month, maybe more often than that! It is super easy, and there are never any leftovers!

Recipe:

4 - 6 chicken breasts, diced into bite-size chunks and sauteed in butter and garlic

While the chicken is cooking, combine into a casserole dish:

16 oz tub sour cream (sometimes more, depends on your taste)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

3 Tbsp poppyseeds

Add cooked chicken and stir it into creamy mixture. Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven, top with crumbled Ritz crackers.

Melt one stick of butter and drizzle over the crackers. Bake again @ 350 for 10 minutes.

Great served with lemon-buttered broccoli, carrots, and hot rolls (for sopping up the creamy gravy)!

Crock Pot Lovin'!

 

My crock pot has been getting a heckuva work out these days! It makes dinner time sooooo much easier, and clean up is easy too. Today, for Tasty Tuesday at For the Love of Blogs, I decided to make CrockPot Chicken and Rice. It doesn't look like much, but can you say "Oh my mercy?!?!"

CrockPot Chicken and Rice

Package of chicken (I used 6 boneless, skinless breasts), raw

1 cup, long grain, uncooked rice

1 can chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 package of onion soup mix

1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in CrockPot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Yep, that's it. Yum.

Paper!

A few weeks ago, as I was digging through my recipe cabinet looking for a specific one, I realized that I need a better system. We try out lots of recipes from about ten different (fabulous) books, and then I can't remember which book which recipe came from. I dislike recipe cards and boxes, so Chris suggested writing down all of the ones we really like and putting them in a binder, but I hated to have to double my work since the recipes are already in print...until I found the most adorable paper ever!

If you are ever looking for cute personalized stationary, check out The Stationery Studio. They have a ton of items and patterns to choose from, lined or unlined, with or without envelopes, and you can pretty much personalize it however you want. It did take about ten days to get here after I ordered it, but there was a winter storm across the state, which affected its arrival time, I'm sure. When I opened the shipping box, there it was. I really had no idea how it would be presented, and was a bit worried that it might be just loose sheets. They are definitely not full-sized sheets of paper, and are bound at the top with glue. So, what I got for my efforts was a notepad of 300 sheets of perfectly personalized, lined paper. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be able to get started on this new project. So while the hubs watched the All-Star pre-game festivities and competitions, I spent last night sorting through the mess that I called my recipe binder (threw away about 30 random scraps of paper), and began transferring delicious recipes to my new kitchen sheets! The Sprite slam-dunk contest did distract me a bit though. ;-)

Tasty Tuesday!

Linked up for Tasty Tuesday! Hope you enjoy. This is a terrific low-calorie meal that is amazingly filling and good for you!

This is a recipe that I have shown a picture of before, but I never divulged the recipe. It's a cross between a General Tsao's and a Sweet-n-Sour Chicken. And it's oh so good.

Sauce:

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sugar (I used splenda)

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tbsp. sesame oil

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. ginger (I used minced)

3 Tbsp minced garlic

Chicken:

2 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into chunks

1 egg

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1/3 cup flour

Veggies:

carrot chunks

broccoli florets

onion, 1 medium

pineapple (1 can, drained)

Mix all but the last 3 ingredients for the sauce. Once the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved, stir in the ginger and garlic.  Set aside.

Mix the chicken with the egg and soy sauce, and put in a zippy bag with flour in it. Shake til chicken is coated. Dump into skillet and fry the chicken until golden brown and done.  Pour sauce and veggies into pan and heat (covered) until veggies are done and sauce is thickened.  Serve with rice if desired.

Total calories = 2395 calories

8 huge servings = 299 calories per serving

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Monday Weigh In #3

Mondays are the days that I do my weekly weigh in, so it makes sense that the Monday blog will be the day that I will devote to my diet. I did not meet any of my goals this week. Now, I am not one to make excuses about anything, but I do have a valid one for this week. I had a visit from Mother Nature. So what, you say? My visits are particularly bad, as my cramping is always in my back. It always has been, since I was a teenager...so you should be used to it by now, you say? Yes I should, and I was, until I was in a car accident that basically broke my back a little over 3 years ago. It resulted in surgery to repair nerves that were damaged, but both the back and the nerves are still afftected by the injury, especially during the week of the curse of womanhood. During that week, I am lucky at times if I can walk upright without hobbling like I am 85. So I decided that what I must do from here on is to hit the diet and exercise that much harder through the three weeks in between periods, thus allowing me to slack off a bit when my body forces me to.

Given that I did not lose two pounds, I did lose a half a pound. I was pleased with this because it meant that although I sucked at my workouts, I did great on food choices and portion sizes. I only worked out twice last week. The goal this week again is to lose 2 pounds and to workout 4 days.

Since I was at home today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr Day, I planned to cook something new and low calorie. I pulled a recipe from Debbi Does Dinner, and we worked together to pull it off with a few variations of our own, but not enough to change the caloric values. It was delish!!! Ours looked something like this:

My total weight loss for the course of the diet is 1.5 lbs so far. I hope to lose 2 lbs this week, looking forward to buying a pair of silver glitter TOMS when I hit the 10 lb mark. I figure to give myself some incentive, I should set some concrete (and fun) goals!

Also, as a side note, I did manage to get some pictures of Boo's bedroom re-do uploaded (finally). Check out the post Snow Day!!! to see them.