Ummmm……..WARM BELLY!

My Sophomore of college there was some boys in our FHE group who told us how they had this “not tiny”  Samoan roommate freshman year who at like midnight would fry up some eggs and stick them in between two blocks of dry  Ramon Noodles straight out of the package. He would make one for all of the roommates  and then when they had finished, the Samoan would pat his stomach and say….”Ummm….warm belly!”

Anyways, I get that same “warm belly” feeling when I eat this beans and rice (minus the about to have a heart attack feeling)! And the best part is I usually have most everything on hand to make these. I grew up on beans, so to me, this counts as comfort food!

On top of that, it is always a surprising hit with the husband and kids. If you don’t know what to make for dinner tonight…make this! Its easy, delicious, and I promise…it will give you warm belly!:)

Black Beans and Rice

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*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 (16-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup water
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4-5 cups hot, cooked white or brown rice

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic and saute, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft and tender. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, oregano and water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or two of hot water to thin to desired consistency.

Season with salt and pepper and whatever else you like; discard the bay leaf. Serve over the hot rice.

Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from weightwatchers New complete cookbook and melskitchencafe.com here

First of all…I did not take this picture, but I drank all of this smoothie before I had a chance to snap a shot…and I couldn’t wait to post!

This stuff is delicious! I love grapefruit, but I have never had one in a smoothie before until this baby…and it was good! The strawberries, bananas, and orange all balance out the flavor of the grapefruit perfectly.

What a great way to wake up in the morning! Enjoy!

Pink Grapefruit Breakfast Smoothie

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Ingredients:

Pink or Ruby Red grapefruit
1 banana
1 cup frozen strawberries (best if frozen to make the smoothie cold!)
1 peeled orange or 1/2 cup orange juice

Directions:

Blend until desired texture. Enjoy!

Recipe Source and picture: craftylittlegnome.com here

Perfect. Masterful. Fresh tasting.

And please do not skimp on the fresh basil. I know what your thinking, and your right, for most recipes the dried stuff works fine, but with this good hooch I really feel like the fresh basil is a must (fresh meaning, I bought the stuff they package in the veggies section of my grocery store…a little more expensive, but totally worth it).

The blog that I found this recipe on said it was a perfect summer lasagna! And they were totally right!  Most people with a garden have tomatoes growing out of their ears, and if they have an herb, most likely its basil. But I have to say this sure hit the comfort winter food bone last night for dinner!

I was honestly worried that the spice from the sausage might be too much for my not so spice loving husband, and my kiddos, but they LOVE LOVED it! Brad said, “I would buy this in a restaurant.” and my selectively picky 3 year old said, “Yummy lasagna mom!” Yes ! One point for team mom!

I don’t know if my picture does this Lasagna justice, but take my word for it! This stuff was good. Or go to the blog I found it on here!

ummm….I wish I was eating this now!

Caprese Lasagna with Spicy Italian Sausage

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*Note: the origional recipe to this said to use Turkey Sausage. I didn’t find a great looking spicy turkey sausage, so I just went with spicy Italian sausage and it tasted great! It wasn’t even too spicy for my kids or my husband, just flavorful with the whole combination. I’m sure the turkey would work great too! There is also great step by step pictures of this recipe here.

*Serves 8

Its not that I have anything against store bought biscuits. They come in handy when your camping, or your in a hurry, but there is something about the little blobs of shortening that I can see in the dough that I have to ignore just knowing that my taste buds might enjoy it for a few seconds, but then  I just feel sick if I eat more than one, and lets be honest…I know myself, and I will eat more than one!

Tonight I brought back a blast from my past, and whipped out my mom’s  super easy Flaky Biscuits. I now know why she made them all the time when we were kids. They come together in a snap, they taste delicious, their healthy,  and they only have 5 ingredients (one of them is not even shortening–they use Olive Oil).

It ended up being a huge success with my husband and kiddos. I made one batch which my kids practically  inhaled before we could even finish saying the blessing on the food, and then my husband convinced me to make another double batch (which I was more than happy to do because these come together in literally 5 minutes!)

Warning:…if you make these, be prepared to double or triple the batch!

Flaky Biscuits

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*Note: These came together so fast! the recipe made about 12 biscuits, but that will change depending upon the size circle you use to cut it out! I used a glass cup with a about a 3 inch diameter. I think from now on I will always double the recipe…at least!

2 c. sifted flour (measure pretty exact if not a little less)

3 t. baking powder (measure exact, if not a little less)

½ t. salt

¼ c. oil

2/3 c.  milk

Directions:

Whisk together  flour, baking powder, and salt together into a mixing bowl.

Pour oil and milk into one measuring cup but do not stir.  Add all at once to flour mixture.  Stir quickly with a fork until dough clings together.

Knead the dough lightly about 10 times.

Place the dough on a piece of waxed paper 12 inches by 16 inches.  Pat dough out to about ½ inch thick.  Cut with round cookie cutter or an overturned glass.  Place biscuits on greased cookie sheet and bake at 475 (450 in New York but adjust according to your elevation) 8-12 minutes (mine were done right at 8 minutes, but if you have larger biscuits it might take longer!).

Recipe Source: The American Heart Association Cookbook with minor adjustments

Crispy Coconut, Creamy Dip.

These are not just your normal chicken nuggets. They are awesome! And if your like us here in Utah where the high has been a whopping 15 degrees on a good day for the past three weeks, then close your eyes while your eating these and you can almost feel the tropical warm wind blowing on your face, and smell of the beach in your nose!

Even though the flavors are a little more “grown up”, my kids love them a.k.a. my 19 month old son fought me for the leftovers at lunch today.

And don’t even get me started on the sauce. When my husband and I can find it in our budget go to Red Lobster (which is basically once a year usually on a birthday splurge), we always have to get the coconut shrimp, mainly because it comes with this “to die for dipping sauce” the shrimp is okay, but we basically pay 10 dollars just to slurp the little sauce bowl on the side.

Yesterday when I googled it, a copy cat recipe came up and  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how close it came to the real deal. This stuff is legit!

yummm…..

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers with “Red Lobster” Coconut Dipping Sauce

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Note: Panko Bread crumbs are not just your normal bread crumb, they are a little bigger. I have been able to find them in all the local grocery stores here in Provo though, so I think they are pretty easy to get!

Ingredients for Crispy Coconut Chicken:

12 chicken tenders ( more or less…) (You can also chop your own chicken breast which I almost prefer so I can make them more like nuggets so they are smaller for my kiddos!)
1-2 eggs (I ended up using 3, but maybe I had a little more chicken)
1/2 C flour
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
1 C panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp table salt
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I left this out, but apparently it doesn’t do much for the spice factor. I love spice but unfortunately my kids and husband can only take so much, so I opted for none in this!)

Directions

preheat oven to 450 degrees. Give coconut a rough chop so it’s about the same size as the Panko pieces.  Combine it with Panko and spices in a shallow dish. Mix well to distribute all of the spices. Place the flour in another shallow dish, and the egg in another. Give the egg a quick beating. Working with one chicken tender at a time, dredge in flour and then dip in egg, and then finally coat in the coconut Panko mixture. Press in with your fingers to make sure the entire thing is well coated.

Place chicken tenders on a foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean up!) that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. I give mine a teeny drizzle of olive oil on top to help them crisp nicely, but it’s optional.

Bake in your 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear. Try not to overcook them because chicken tenders go from perfect to overcooked really fast! If your tenders are on the small side, they could even be done in about 15 minutes so keep an eye on them. If they’re big they can take more like 25. The coconut will be nice and golden and the panko crisp, but light in color still.

Pina Coloda Dipping Sauce

1 cup pina colada mix (Major Peters mix was used)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoon crushed pineapple, drained

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sweetened coconut flakes

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

3 teaspoon cold water

Directions

Mix together pina colada mix, water, crushed pineapple, coconut, and powdered sugar in a sauce pan. Heat on medium-low temperature until sauce begins to simmer, stirring frequently. Let mixture simmer slowly 10-12 minutes. Mix cornstarch and cold water together; add to sauce and blend well. Let mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes longer while stirring during and after adding cornstarch. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.

Recipe Source: Our best bites here. And copycat.com here.

Okay. We love fajitas in this house.  I’m not going to lie though,  a lot of times I am pressed for time when I am making dinner, or I haven’t had a chance to marinade chicken, but I still want all the peppers, onions, and deliciousness that goes along with the fajitas but in 15 minutes time…and so we invented this and my husband named it fajito (a mixture between a fajita and a burrito).

To make a long story short. We love these. I love these because they are so easy, and are chock- ful of veggies and beans! It is pretty versatile, so you can add and leave out what you don’t have to an extent! Enjoy!

Easy Fajitos

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*Note: This can be served on a burrito shell or a salad topped with cheese, guacamole, fresh tomatoes or whatever fixing you like! My husband and I also like to dip our chips in the leftovers for a late night snack! 

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground beef

1 onion (chopped)

1 red pepper (chopped)

1 green pepper (chopped)

1 can of beans (black or pinto work great), drained.

1 cup of corn

Taco Seasoning ( I use this homeade kind….It is delicious!)

Cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, or whatever sides you like on your burritos!

Directions:

Heat skillet. Cook ground beef. Add chopped onions, and peppers. Cook until veggies are soft, but crisp still( It doesn’t take too long). Add can of drained beans. Add Taco seasoning to taste.  Add cup of corn ( usually use frozen, and just let it heat up in the hot skillet).

Serve on a burrito shells, a bed of lettuce, or dip chips into it, topped with guacamole, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, or whatever you like on your burritos!

I told Brad that Valentines day celebrations are starting now!  How else are we supposed to get through all the awesome recipes that keep popping up all over the internet and pintrest? I feel like its totally okay to make Valentines day recipes before Valentines day, but once its over its over and we have to wait a whole nother year! So here we are!

And I don’t know if I can blame it on the pregnancy cravings, or if its because of all the valentines recipes I’ve seen lately on pinterest, but the other night, out of the blue, we decided that we had to have a red velvet cake…at any cost.

So at 7pm we started makeing this oooey goey perfect red velvet sheet cake….and then ate half of it before going to sleep that night!

It was easy, we had all the ingredients for it, and it came together in a snap! Apperently your supposed to leave it flat in a 9X13 pan, but we wanted a two layer cake, and didn’t have a round pan, so we opted to cut this sheet cake in half, spread a layer of frosting in between, and very carefully place the top layer on. It was a little tricky, but worth it. If your not feeling so adventures feel free to do the first option!

I didn’t know that I even liked red velvet cake until our good friends made a white cake last year, and some how managed to stick a red velvet cake heart in the middle of it…it looked something like this.

…Ours didn’t look as awesome as that, but satisfied the craving:)

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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*Note: The red food coloring may seem a little much, but its worth it and gives the cake its deep red color. That being said, we only used half an oz and it was still plenty red! 

*Serves 12

 Ingredients:

Cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 T. of lemon juice extract or vinegar sitting together for 5 minutes)

1 (1-oz.) bottle red food coloring (we only had half a bottle and our cake turned plenty red…so don’t stress if you don’t have 1 oz exactly)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup lowfat sour cream

1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Frosting:

4 ounces lowfat (neufchatel) cream cheese

1/4 cup lowfat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a liquid measure or other bowl, whisk the buttermilk, red coloring and vanilla together.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat sour cream, oil, butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl. Add half of flour mixture and mix. Add the buttermilk/food coloring mixture and mix again, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the remaining flour until just combined. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda until mixture fizzes then quickly fold into batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter top to burst any air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Don’t over bake or the cake will be dry. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together cream cheese, yogurt, butter and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar. When the cake is completely cooled, spread the frosting over the cake, cut into pieces and serve. If not serving right away, store the cake in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Alternately, you can spread the frosting on each individual piece instead of the entire cake.

Recipe Source: Very slightly adapted from Melskitchencafe.com or click here.

My sometimes picky 3 year-old devoured this.

The rest of us fought over every last scrap before she could eat it all.

This salmon is that good.

Its easy. Its healthy. The cedar plank adds a great flavor.

Add some broccoli and a baked potato and let this rock your salmon world!

Oven Roasted Cedar Plank Salmon

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Note: Make adjustments depending on the size of your filets! 

1 Cedar Plank 6-14 inches (soaked in water for at least 2 hours before you cook it)

2 salmon fillets (1 1/2 pounds total)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

There is not a lot of things I would sell my soul for….but this Apple Pie might be one of them.

I have always been a little intimidated by making pies because I feel like you can really screw up the crust, and its kind of a big investment, but after this pie I feel like a real expert mainly because of the following reasons:

1.)Its So EASY!

2.) You can’t screw up the crust! You don’t even roll it out, you just pat it in the tin! I now use this crust for everything! Even my pumpkin pies because it takes all of 5 minutes to throw together and throw in the pan and it turns out flaky and delicious every time!

3.) The crumb top is so easy, and makes the pie look like it came straight from the fair!

4.) It is SO EASY and SO Delicious.

One cool part about this pie is that you cook it in a brown paper bag. Yes. The same brown bag they ask if you want paper or plastic for at the store. So next time you are there, say, “One paper please!”. Grab some Granny Smiths, and get home to make this perfect pie. You will love it!

The Best Apple Pie- and Crust!

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This apple pie is awesome and so easy! One necessary item for the baking is a brown paper bag (the kind from the grocery store!)  The crust can be made in 5 minutes! No rolling involved, and turns out golden and flaky! The pie will be piled high with apples in the beginning, but will shrink down while cooking! Just FYI!

*Makes one pie!

For the Crust:

Mix Together:

1 1/2 cups white flour

2 teaspoons of sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl mix together:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Add liquid to flour mixture to make crust. Stir with a fork until well blended. Do not roll out, but “pat” into a pie plate evenly across bottom and sides ( I sometimes just dump the mixture into the pan and press it all together until its even), ruffling the top in a traditional manner if desired. \

For the Pie Filling

Peel and slice 8 large pie apples ( I love Granny Smith). Place into a bowl.

Add:

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons Flour

Mix well together until apples are well coated. Place in pie crust. The apples will pile really high, but they will shrink down as they cook! The higher the better!

For the crumb topping:

Add Together:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

Mix together well with fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Sometimes I just use my hands and press it all together. . Place mixture on top of apples and press down. The apples will be piled high, but carefully put this mixture on and it will all turn out beautifully in the end…I promise!  Slide carefully into a brown paper grocery sack and staple ends shut (Yes! This is necessary so the pie top doesn’t burn!). Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 45 minutes! Remove from bag intermediately and cool.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for perfection!:)

Recipe Source: Ronda Meldrum- My beautiful mother-in-law! I think this is one of the Bush family favorites!

If you like butter, warm rolls, and low stress then then read on!:)

My mother-in-law and her sister used to sell these to their husbands co workers at Christmas time, and they sold tons! They are that kind of yummy.

I am making my very first Thanksgiving dinner this year and I’m totally pumped! Its just going to be kind of quiet Thanksgiving for us this year. We are going up to Grandpa Meldrum’s, and I think it is going to be us and him. So basically 3 adults and two kids (and I don’t even know if I need to plan on the kids eating, I’m sure they will take one bite and then find more exciting things at Grandpa’s house to play with)! I think that might possibly be the smallest Thanksgiving dinner I ever attended, but the great thing about it is that I get to be the master mind behind everything we’re eating !! That may or may not be a food blogger’s idea of heaven.

All that being said, since I am cooking everything, I don’t really want to spend all day in the kitchen, but I still want to have a perfect Thanksgiving dinner so I am trying to plan a lot in advance, and lucky for me, the “Meldrum Family delicious melt in your mouth Butterhorn Rolls” have a make ahead option…and so…they’re made!

On Thanksgiving day all I need to do is put them on a cookie sheet, let them rise for 3 to 4 hours and then pop them in the oven and they will come out like I made them that morning! Easy as Pie:)  And Lucy, my 3 year old,  helped me make them! Definitely fun for kids to be involved in!

So…

Rolls?

Check.

Make Ahead Perfect Butterhorn Rolls

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*You can make these and eat them the same day, or store in the freezer for Sunday dinners and holidays!

*makes 32 rolls

1 Tablespoon Dry Yeast

1/4 Cup Warm Water

1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine

3/4 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Sugar

3 Eggs beaten

1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 to 41/2 cups flour (scooped into measuring cup)

Extra butter, melted, to put on top of dough before you roll.

Combine yeast and warm water. Allow to stand 5 minutes until it foams then stir down. Melt butter in sauce pan then add to milk immediately. Remove from heat. To dissolved yeast add sugar, eggs and salt. Add milk and butter mixture to yeast mixture and beat. Add in enough flour to make a soft dough (I stirred in the flour and then used my hand to knead slightly the rest of the flour until it felt like bread dough).

Cover and let raise until doubled 2-4 hours.  Turn dough which is still very soft onto floured board. Knead slightly.  Divide dough inhalf. Roll into circle about 1/4″ thick (Kind of like you would roll out a pizza dough). Spread with melted butter (you can also sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar for a sweet option).  Cut into 16 wedges with a pizza cutter (almost like slicing a pizza).

Roll from wide end to middle of each wedge. Form like a crescent roll.

For Freezing Option: Place close together on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper and freeze immediately.  (I just placed a huge piece of wax paper over them and stuck them in the freezer, I didn’t have to tape it down or anything)>  Repeat for 2nd half of dough.

When thoroughly frozen(I let mine sit in the freezer over night), transfer frozen rolls to a ziplock freezer bag. Then take out as needed.  When ready to eat, set frozen rolls on greased cookie sheet. Cover and let raise 3-5 hours until double. Back at 375 for 15-20 minutes

These are equally good if you do not freeze them and just bake them.  Just let them rise until they’ve doubled ( about 1 to 2 hours) and cook the same as above.

My mother in-law usually makes a double batch and freezes one.

Recipe Source: Ronda Bush Meldrum (my beautiful and talented mother-in-law).