Asian Chicken Salad

I have been loving this salad recently. I like to add some chicken to it, but you could certainly skip the chicken and it would still be filling and tasty.

Click here for the printable version.

 You'll need: melted peanut butter (not pictured), rice vinegar, soy sauce, vegetable oil, sugar, roasted almonds, sesame seeds, chow mein noodles, napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, carrots, basil, sweet sweet peppers.

Whisk together 1/4 C veg oil, 2 T soy sauce, 2 T rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1 1/2 T melted peanut butter to make the dressing.

 Thinly slice the napa cabbage.

 Thinly slice the romaine lettuce.

 Use a vegetable peeler to shave the carrots.

 Slice the peppers and basil and mix with the cabbage, lettuce, carrots, sesame seeds. Don't forget the almonds and chicken like I almost did when taking these pictures.

 Add prepared dressing to the salad and toss thoroughly.

Top the salad with chow mein noodles and, if desired, mandarin oranges. Enjoy!

Click here for the printable version


What's your favorite salad?

Meal Plan Monday: Dinners: January 26, 2015

I'm going to keep the intro short and sweet this week. Enjoy the menu!

Dinners:

• Sausage and Vegetable Stew
• Pizza with whole wheat crust with side salad
• Honey Sriracha Chicken with Rice and Broccoli
• Spaghetti and Meatballs with side salad
• Navajo tacos 
• skinny grilled buffalo chicken salad
• Quick and Easy Chow Mein

Baked Oatmeal

We've been on a baked oatmeal kick around here. There's something about winter that makes me eager to start my day with some nice hot oatmeal. If you aren't so sure about eating oatmeal, try this recipe. This is the base recipe for the following variations: Nuts About Oatmeal Muffins, Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins, Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies. I have been making this recipe for years now and have tweaked it a bit, but I originally found it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Click here for a printable version.

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine 3 C oats, 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/2 C applesauce, 1 C milk, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 T baking powder, and 1 tsp salt.

 Mix thoroughly.

 Add 1/2-1 C raisins or any other desired add-ins.

 Place in a baking dish and about 20-25 minutes, until top is lightly toasted and does not look wet. Slice like cake or scoop it out into a bowl and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version.

What's your favorite comfort breakfast?

Meal Plan Monday: Full Menu: Week of January 19, 2015

Last week I was able to help one of my friends figure out how to stick to her grocery budget. I gave her a few tips specific to her preferred stores, but mostly just shared the information found in my meal planning series (click here for the first post in the series). When I checked in with her about how things are going, she said having her menu listed out is making a world of difference. She can simply look at her list and pick something knowing she has all of the ingredients already available to her. So in celebration of her success, I'm sharing another full menu this week.

Breakfasts:

• Baked Oatmeal x2
• Breakfast Pizza (inspired by the link I shared last week, but modified)
• Banana Muffins
• Berry Corn Muffins
• Old Fashioned Pancakes
• cereal w/ milk and fruit

Lunches:

• Pulled Pork Sandwiches and TBD party snacks (for Claire's 1st birthday)
• grilled cheese and soup
• peanut butter and jam sandwiches with carrots, celery, and apples x2
• Cauliflower Mac &Cheese
• tuna salad sandwiches with carrots, celery, and apples
• leftovers

Dinners:

• French Onion Soup (It got postponed when we had a spontaneous day out last week)
• slow cooked chicken w/ veggies
• Chicken Pot Pie
• chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole
• Strawberry Salad
• fried rice
• Spaghetti w/ side salad

Treats/Snacks:

• Claire's birthday cake
• apples
• carrots w/ dip

Do you use a menu plan yet?
This post is linked to orgjunkie.com

Sausage & Vegetable Stew

This is hands down my favorite soup (at least right now). Last time I made it we didn't have any leftovers and it was so sad. I even posted my lament on facebook.

Click here for the printable version.

 You'll need: 3TBSP extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar, parsley, 2 tsp minced garlic, 8 baby red potatoes, 2 parsnips, 4 medium carrots, 1 large red onion, 1 lb kielbasa, 2 TBSP paprika, and 3 T flour. (not pictured 4 C water and sour cream for garnish)

 Dice the onion.

 Heat oil, onion, and garlic in a heavy pot over medium heat until softened. This will take about 5 minutes.

 Stir in the paprika and 1 tsp salt. Then stir in the flour,

 and immediately stir in the water until there are no flour lumps.

 Chop up the carrots and parsnip to bite size pieces,

 quarter the potatoes,

 and slice the kielbasa.

 Add the carrots, parsnip, potatoes, and sausage to the pot. Add some salt, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil.

 Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

 Uncover the soup and stir in the vinegar. This just helps to brighten the flavor, so if you don't have any, it's not completely required.

Serve garnished with sour cream and parsley and some crusty bread on the side (a baguette works well) Then enjoy every last bite!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

What's your favorite soup?

Meal Plan Monday: January 12, 2015: Trying new recipes

I'm trying some new recipes this week. I was browsing through pinterest last night and decided a bunch of these recipes looked tasty, so instead of just pinning and forgetting, I decided to try them right away. As a bonus, I'll come back and edit this post telling you how the recipes were.

 

Here are some of the highlights from this weeks menu, the first three are new recipes from other blogs and the remaining are my own.

• French onion soup (from Jo and Sue)
• Breakfast Pizza with Hashbrown Crust (from the Gunny Sack) This idea is awesome, but I wasn't completely thrilled with the original recipe. I had to remove it from the oven about 10 minutes early to avoid burning. I'm going to play around with the recipe though, because it is definitely a winning idea.
• Pull Apart Pizza Bread (from Sweet and Simple Living) -served with a veggie platter This was very tasty, I've already gotten requests to make it again, but I need to bake it at a lower temperature for a little longer or dig my bundt pan out of storage.

• Asian Chicken Salad (I made this last week too, but I still have some of the ingredients and it was just that yummy -recipe coming soon)
• Shrimp Creole (very similar to my Chicken Creole, but with more tomato and less pepper)
• Macaroni and Cheese Pizza (David's favorite that I'm finally going to make at home) w/ salad
• Spaghetti & meatballs w/ salad

What's on your menu? 
this post is linked to orgjunkie.com

Garlic Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

This is one of my favorite ways to cook a whole chicken. It's so simple and delicious all at the same time. I also love the flavor combination of these vegetable. If you've never had parsnips, this is a good way to start.

printable version

 you'll need: 3 parsnips, 5 carrots, 6-8 potatoes, 2 onions, 2 tsp minced garlic, plus liquid from the jar, 2 tsp broth base, 3/4 C water (not pictured), 5 lb roasting chicken, kosher salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 F

 Combine the broth base with the water (or use 3/4 C chicken broth). Set aside.

 Cut the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onions into bite size pieces.

 Toss the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onions (reserving 1/2 of one onion for the chicken cavity) in a roasting pan with broth and 2 tsp garlic.

 Season chicken cavity with salt and pepper, then stuff with reserved onion. Place chicken breast side down, season with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil.

 Bake 30 minutes. Turn chicken over, season, brush with oil and some of the garlic juice from the jar, and continue cooking until fully cooked and juices run clear (about 1 hour).

Serve and enjoy!

If you'd like a printable copy of this recipe, click here.

Have you ever tried parsnip?

Meal Plan Monday: Full Menu: week of January 5, 2015

We are back to school this week. David starts his new school (the one we moved an hour away and gave away all of our animals for), Zeke and Quinn start at their new schools, and I am spending another semester online.

Last semester I ended up being too busy to post many recipes, so this week I am going to take the pictures for many of the recipes I'd like to share over the next couple months. If there's one you'd like to see sooner as opposed to later, let me know in the comments below.

Breakfast:

• chocolate chip muffins
• Baked Oatmeal
• Easy Old Fashioned Pancakes
• Ham & Cheese Corn Muffins (recipe coming soon)
• Speedy Oatmeal (recipe coming soon)
• cereal w/ fruit
• french toast

Lunch:

• Cauliflower Mac & Cheese (recipe coming soon)
• Chicken and Sweet Pepper Quesadillas
• Black Bean Quesadillas (recipe coming soon)
• Tuna Salad Sandwiches
• Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwiches
• Spinach and Black Bean Taquitos
• leftovers

Dinner:

• Garlic Roast Chicken w/ Root Vegetables 
• Burritos
• Stromboli made with 100% whole wheat pizza crust
• Asian Chicken Salad
• Sausage and Vegetable Stew
• Slow cooker Meatballs with rice and broccoli
• Spaghetti w/ side salad

Snacks/desserts:

• popcorn
• fruit
• vegetables w/ dip

What recipe are you excited to see?
this post is linked to orgjunkie.com 

8 Tips to Help You Drink Enough Water

One of the goals I've spent a lot of time working on is drinking enough water. I imagine we all know that adults should be drinking a minimum of 64 oz a day, but just because you know something is good for you doesn't mean it's easy. 

 During a group discussion last semester, one of my classmates revealed that she is lucky to get 16oz in and wanted to know what tips I had. If one person found this information valuable, I imagine there are plenty of others who would too, so here is the advice I gave her, plus a few extra ideas I came up with while editing.

 Feel free to pick and choose from the suggestions, I have used all of them at one time or another, but not necessarily at the same time:

• Drink good tasting water. Sometimes that means spending extra money on either bottled water or filters, but i consider it a preventative medicine to drink enough water, so if I can make room in my budget, I do.
• Flavor it. Try some lemon, lime, fruit, herbs, or anything that sounds good.
• Drink it at room temperature. It will actually hydrate you better. However, if you prefer it cold, drink it that way.
• Make water available and easily accessible all day. I've tried several variations- After my babies, I've filled the hospital jug and kept it near me all day and night. Sometimes it's as simple as leaving a filled glass of water on the table and refilling it anytime it empties. The goal being to take at least one drink every single time I walk by. 
• Use a straw. For some reason I can gulp down a ton of water if I use a straw.  I can do it fairly mindlessly, so I don't feel like I'm drinking as much.
• Use tall glasses/bottles. I find it less daunting to drink 4 16oz bottles or 6.5 10oz glasses than 8 8oz glasses. It's all mental and it may not work for you, but it helps me.
• Drink while exercising. I aim to drink at least 16 oz before, during, and/or after exercising.
• Drink a glass with any medicines or vitamins. When I take my vitamin or any medicine, I aim to drink at least a full 8 oz (for each medicine) and that helps too.

What tips would you add?