Spinach Salad w/ Cranberries & Balsamic Vinaigrette

For the salad:



spinach leaves - washed
dried cranberries
slivered almonds
stinky cheese

When I say "stinky cheese" I mean a pungent cheese like goat cheese or blue cheese.
I'm not a fan of these types of cheeses...too strong for my tastes but I'm sure they would taste lovely on this salad if its your thing.

 For the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup good balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 T. chopped garlic
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar (optional)*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil


*the brown sugar is not needed if you have a good quality balsamic vinegar.
I mix all my dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake until they are well combined.
Adding more or less of an ingredient to taste.

I promise, once you make your own Balsamic Vinaigrette you will not go back to the store bought varieties if you can help it.
It's so easy to make and the taste is exceptional.


Mrs. B.

Citrus Chicken Fajitas

I was at a loss on what to make (happens to most of us, right? Right?) with chicken. We eat a lot of chicken. It's a staple here. I go to Sam's and buy the chicken breasts in the huge bag. Multiple bags, actually. ;)

Anyway, here's the recipe for an easy, fast, Mexican dinner. It's not a perfect recipe as I just threw it together one night.

Chicken Breasts, sliced into thin strips
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice
Minced Garlic
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Red and Green pepper sliced into thin strips

Put the chicken breasts in a container covered with orange juice, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigate. Overnight is best, but you can also do it for a few hours, at least 3.

Heat a large skillet pan over medium to high heat. Spray with nonstick whatever you use. Stir fry garlic, then add chicken. Cook chicken, then add peppers. Add the rest of the marinade, until it's almost gone.

It goes great with rice, beans, and fresh pico de gallo.

delicioso!

Patty

Classic Tomato Spaghetti

Here is a Classic Tomato Spaghetti Recipe from Jamie Oliver (taken from the GOOP website). I've made this 3 times and it has taken me all 3 to make it edible. No joke. This recipe needed HELP.

Here we go...

Serves 4-6

3-4 cloves of garlic - I love garlic!

2-3 fresh red chile (sweet red peppers) depending on the size

A small bunch of fresh basil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound dried spaghetti

Olive oil

2 x 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

1) Peel and finely slice the garlic. Finely slice your chile (halve and seed it first if you don’t want the sauce too hot). Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and put to one side. Finely chop the stalks.

2) Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook according to the package instructions.

3) Meanwhile, put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 2 good lugs of olive oil. Add the garlic, chile, and basil stalks and give them a stir. When the garlic begins to brown slightly, add most of the basil leaves and the canned tomatoes. Turn the heat up high and stir for a minute. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the spaghetti in a colander then transfer it to the pan of sauce and stir well. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Top with parmesan.

It's quite tasty, I promise. And easy!

Bon Appétit

Katie

Easy Bread Pudding.

Easy bread pudding recipes don’t get much easier than this. You can make this tasty treat in considerably less than an hour, and the ingredients are cheap and easy to find. None of the shopping at three place to get one thing! I topped it with slices of red apples, walnuts and drizzled some honey on top. It was A.J's first dessert. Safe to say he LOVED it!


Ingredients
12 slices whole-wheat bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups fat-free milk
4 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp margarine, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup of chopped apple
Walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside. Mix the milk, egg whites, sugar, margarine, vanilla and cinnamon in large bowl. Add bread and raisins. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake 35 minutes or until well browned. Cool the pudding on wire rack. Add the walnuts about 5 minutes before taking the pudding out of the oven.

Perfect Hot Chocolate

Because it is cold here on mama's day and this is what I felt like to warm me up..

You need:

1 cup milk

2 tbsp Hershey's Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp Agave Nectar

dash of Kosher salt

dash of vanilla sugar or vanilla essence

Heat the milk in a little pot, do NOT let it reach boiling. Just enough that is starts feeling hot when you hold your hand over the pot. Add ingredients, add nectar to taste. Really depends on how sweet you want it.

Poor and ENJOY!

Velbekomme..

Stephanie

Quesadilla - Katie's way

We all make quesadillas. So, this is nothing special, just my quick and easy way to make them. It's a favorite of mine for a quick lunch.

Here are my ingredients:

Mission flour tortillas

Kraft or Sargento Mexican blend shredded cheese

La Victoria green taco sauce (medium)

La Victoria red taco sauce (medium)

Tapitio hot sauce (if you're brave)

A container of the Just Chicken - breast strips from Trader Joes cut into small pieces

And here's how it goes together:



Microwave on high for 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds...or until cheese is nice and melted. You can peek between the tortillas to check.

I do think it would be fun if we all shared how we make quesadillas, just to see how different we all are. So, if you're inclined, please share!

Bon Appétit!

Katie