Turkey Update!

  Hi again!  At the beginning of this week, I shared that I roasted a “July Turkey” and told you I would follow up with any ideas or recipes that I used with my turkey. 

Well, we’ve had two dinners with turkey thus far. The first one is a no-brainer. I just sliced some of the breast and poured a little bit of BBQ sauce on top. I served it with some quickly-made lemon-garlic brown rice and some green beans. It was a nice, light summer dinner.  Yum #1!

 
The second dinner was a quick, easy dinner as well.  I started with sandwich thins, added a nice big handful of turkey, some red bell pepper and topped it off with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.  I placed it in the broiler for a few minutes to heat the turkey, melt the cheese and toast the bun. After removing from the oven, I added my condiments and put a few baby carrots and leftover pepper slices on the side. Yum #2! 

 

The above are two of the reasons I love making a turkey even in July…it allows for quick, easy, healthy dinners for my family.  I’ll continue to update with any additions, because we still have a lot of turkey left!  Yay!

❤️

Almond-Poppy Muffins with Flax Seed

  Hi there friends!  It’s Thursday already!  This week is just flying by…thank goodness.  My boys come home at the end of next week, and I just can’t wait! 😄

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for muffins that I’m excited to make when my boys come home.  They will know them as Almond-Poppy Muffins…I’ll be leaving the “with Flax Seed” off the end.  I have a very good reason.  My reason?  Pure and simple…my boys are picky eaters and when they hear something weird such as flax seed, carrot, or anything else healthy for that matter, they decide it CAN’T taste good. 😁

Admittedly, this has been one of the most difficult issues I have had in all my years of child-rearing…picky eaters.  While most of us have a few things that we don’t care for, I pretty much try and eat most things, so having picky eaters has been a struggle.  Luckily, my two grown daughters are no longer near as picky as they were when they were younger, so I do have hope for my boys. 😉

In the meantime, I have learned many different ways to be sneaky.  Very sneaky. I’m talking beyond hiding pieces of healthy foods in other things, because when it comes to food, my boys are scientists in the making.  🔎🔍 “How?”, you ask.  Well, they can pretty much dissect a serving of pasta down to the chemical compound of the tomato sauce.  So, while most moms can just chop something into small pieces and just slip it into something, I have to sneak it in so well that doesn’t appear that the chemical compound has been altered. 🔬

Flax seed is absolutely wonderful for this task!  I can use it as an addition to all kinds of dishes and baked goods without any trace of alteration.  I haven’t made a pancake in years without flax seed and they haven’t caught on yet.  Woohoo! 😃

Flax seed has numerous health benefits.  It contains omega-3 essential fatty acids (good fats), lignans, and fiber (both insoluble and soluble).  Ground or milled flax seed is what you want to consume for the health benefits.  Whole flax seed just passes through our bodies without the absorption of the omega-3’s, lignans and fiber.

Muffins are a great snack or breakfast item to add flax seed in the recipe.  After a good bit of reading, I found that the best way (for the result I wanted)  to add flax seed is to swap for equal amounts of the flour in the the recipe.  For example, in the original recipe I had for the muffins, it called for 2 cups of flour, so I swapped 1/4 cup of the flour for 1/4 cup of flax seed.

I didn’t notice a different in taste or texture after baking between the original and the flax seed recipe, so I’m pretty sure my future scientists won’t either!  I’m sure glad they’re so stinkin’ cute and lovable! ❤️❤️

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup milled flax seed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons almond extract
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with liners or grease with cooking spray.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds.
3. In main bowl, mix by hand,  butter, sugar, eggs and almond extract until well blended.
4. Add the dry mixture and milk alternately to the butter mixture and stir until well blended. 
5. Pour mixture into muffin pan. 
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes. (I noticed that this recipe took about 5-8 minutes longer than the original)
7. Let cool in muffin pan for 5-10 minutes before removing.

Makes 12 muffins.  Store in air-tight container.

Enjoy! ❤️

Parmesan-Old Bay Potato Wedges

  Hi there everyone!  I hope you’re having a terrific Tuesday!  It’s hard to believe that we’re almost to the end of July and just a few weeks away from the start of a new school year.  That means back to the busy weekdays and weeknights and trying to find meals that are quick and easy, but are tasty and healthy at the same time.

Families these days are relying on fast food and prepackaged foods more than ever.  While these choices are easier and less stressful than home-cooked meals, they are loaded with fat, calories and preservatives.  With a little planning and creativity, you can make quick, easy, tasty and healthy meals for your family, even with a busy schedule. ⌚️

I know that it takes a little more time to make dinner than to just pick it up, but think of the quality time during the making of dinner.  Wouldn’t you rather be talking with your kids while you’re cooking than sitting in a never-ending drive-thru line?  Wouldn’t you rather be letting your kids help you with dinner tasks than waiting in line at the grocery store with your fried chicken dinner?  Don’t get me wrong…all moms have to pick up pizza, burgers or chicken some nights…I just try to have dinner made at home most nights.

The recipe I’m sharing is for a great side dish to almost anything…pork chops, turkey burgers, wraps, toasted sandwiches and so on.  They’re quick and easy as well.  Just prep and put in the oven and you can work on your main dish or put a load of the never-ending laundry in the washer. 😄

Ingredients:

• 4 medium russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese*
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning*
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt*

* adjust measurements to your taste 

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Wash and dry potatoes.  Leave skin intact.  Cut in half lengthwise, then cut into equal wedges.
3. Place potatoes into gallon plastic bag or a bowl with a lid that seals.  
4. Pour oil into bag or bowl and add seasonings.  Seal bag or bowl and shake to coat wedges.
5. Place wedges on baking sheet in a single layer.  
6. Bake for about 30 minutes.  Check to see if done before removing from oven.

I think these are even better than the fried potato wedges that you can purchase at some fast food chains or supermarket deli…and much healthier for your family to boot! 

 Enjoy! ❤️

Thanksgiving in July?

  Christmas…oops…Thanksgiving in July?  Maybe not.  But it sure smells like Thanksgiving in our house today!  If there was such a thing as “Smell-A-Blog”, I would send it your way. 👃

I know it seems a little odd…roasting a turkey in July…who does that?  ME!  “Why?”, you ask.  Because I absolutely love turkey!  It’s delicious, healthy and one of the most inexpensive meats to eat, provided you purchase at the opportune time.

Yep.  Your thinking is correct.  Thanksgiving is the best time to purchase turkeys.  All of the supermarkets in our area run great deals on turkeys the two to three weeks before Thanksgiving.  This gives me the opportunity to purchase two turkeys. One for Thanksgiving dinner and one for my “July Bird”.  As a result of buying at the right time, my twenty-one pound turkey came out to about thirty-three cents a pound. Woohoo!! 👍 

 The wonderful benefit of purchasing a frozen turkey is that you are able to store it for quite some time in your freezer, but you definitely want to consume it before the next Thanksgiving for optimum taste.

 You may be visualizing  a large, traditional turkey dinner in July and thinking that it’s not for you.  Well, with our temps to be in the 110’s this week, I’m not visualizing that either!  😐 I’m sure not up for that heavy dinner.

That’s the great thing about turkey!  It’s so versatile.  You can use it in salads, tacos, wraps, grinders, enchiladas and the list goes on and on…  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the different recipes I make with my “July Bird”.

Do you share my love of having turkey at any time of the year? 

❤️

Marinated Steak Sandwich

  
Hi there! Well, it’s the end of another weekend.  Guess we have to start looking forward to the next one!  Only five more days.  Haha!  😄

I’m sure, that just like me, most of you look for quick and easy, but tasty meals for busy weeknights.  This idea fits that bill, for sure!

Another big benefit to this dinner, is that it’s quite inexpensive to make as well.  I just used flank steak (where I live, it’s called carne asada, although it’s not marinated before purchase), and I only used about a pound. The marinade was inexpensive to make and I used the second half of some onion rolls that I had gotten from the day old rack as well.  Add in some inexpensive homemade pasta salad and it’s a very budget-friendly meal. 💰

Don’t let the color of the meat in the picture fool you. It’s not over-cooked, it’s the color the marinade turns it after marinating in the fridge all day. 

I use the oven to “cook” the steak. I do this quite often with steak and pork chops when Hubby’s not home to grill or we are short on time. I love how meats cook in the oven. They stay so moist and tender. It can really improve an inexpensive piece of meat. On thinner cuts of meat, such as thin cut pork chops or steak, you only need to bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Nice, quick dinner, right? And you just put it in the oven, set your timer and walk away. No “watching” required. 

Here’s the recipe…remember you can adjust or switch out spices to your taste. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup worchestshire sauce
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 pound flank steak

Directions:

1. Whisk together all ingredients, except steak.   
2. Place steak in baking dish and pour marinade on top.  
3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes. 
6. Serve on garlic toasted buns.  For the buns,  I brush olive oil on the inside of the bun, sprinkle with garlic salt and toast under the broiler.  You can sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on the steak if you wish.  

 Any leftovers can be chopped up and cooked in your scrambled eggs for a great tasting breakfast bowl the next morning!  🍳

Enjoy! ❤️

Honey-Lime Grilled Salmon

  Happy Friday, friends!!  We’ve reached the end of another week.  I hope you all had a great one!

In our home, Friday’s are called “Fish Stick Friday”.  This term originated from my youngest son. It sort of spiraled from the “Taco Tuesday” idea.  He LOVES fish sticks. Yep, fish sticks.  The rest of us?  Not so much. 🐟

My oldest son and youngest daughter don’t care for any kind of fish, so, I guess fish sticks are better than nothing? 😐  At least he’s getting a little (very little) taste of fish…I am hoping that it will lead him to try real fish as he gets older.

On the other hand, Hubby and I LOVE real fish.  Since the boys are visiting their Dad and Stepmom for a few weeks, Hubby and I have been grilling fish every chance we get.  I love having grilled fish.  It’s quick, easy and healthy to boot.

I’m not a fish buying expert in any way.  In fact, the salmon I used was from a frozen bag.  Awhile back, one of our supermarkets was moving locations and didn’t want to move their produce, dairy and frozen foods, so they had a 50% off sale.  It was great!  I was able to fill my big freezer for under $100!  All the frozen fish I purchased from the sale has turned out great.

I pull the fish out of the freezer in the morning and let it marinate in the sauce in the the fridge until “grill time”.

Ingredients: 

 

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic (it shows garlic powder in the picture, but it’s granules in the jar 😉)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound salmon

Directions:

1. Whisk together all ingredients, except salmon.  
2. Brush some sauce on the bottom of a baking dish or container that can be covered in the fridge.
3. Place the salmon in the dish and brush the remaining sauce on top.  
4. Cover and refrigerate until ready to grill.  

This is great served with some quinoa, a salad or veggies.  I had a few ears of sweet corn left from a friend and Hubby grilled them along with the salmon.  I used the sauce ingredients minus the honey and mixed them with melted butter for the corn.  Yummy! 

 Enjoy! ❤️

Favorite Kitchen Tools, Part 2

  Hi there friends!  I’m back with the second of my favorite kitchen tools.  We all have our favorite tools to use in the kitchen.  I’m sure you could name several of yours right away.

I absolutely love tools that I can use for more than one task.  It probably comes from me not having a vast array of kitchen tools in my younger years and getting creative with the tools I did have.

So, here it is (as if you couldn’t tell from the above picture 😄)…it’s my pastry blender.  Yep.  A good old-fashioned pastry blender.  Just like my pizza cutter, I’ve had my pastry blender for years and it works as well today as it did the first time I used it.  I have found that if you wash and dry your tools right away, they will last for a very long time.  Even the inexpensive ones.

My pastry blender performs more than one task in my kitchen.  Of course, I use it for my pie dough! 🍰 But, it actually gets used more for mashing  avocados for my guacamole and bananas 🍌 for breads, muffins and pancakes as well.  I’m sure I still haven’t found all the ways I can use it!

If you don’t already have one in your kitchen, you may want to get one.  You never know when it may come in handy.  Even though they have gone up in price since I purchased mine, you can still find a good one for $10.

Smiles ❤️

Black Bean – Quinoa Burgers

  Hi there!  It’s Wednesday evening…we’re on the downhill slide to the weekend.  Yay!  I’m so excited for the weekend to get here because Hubby has the entire weekend off from work.  Woohoo! 😃😃😃

I’m not sure what food I’ll be “whipping” up over the weekend, but I did want to share a recipe that I made this past weekend.  I love cooking over the weekend because I have the time to slow down and not rush.  This means I can take my time and not worry if something takes longer than I thought it would, which happens sometimes.

I have posted a lot of baking recipes, but I love to cook as well.  Friends and acquaintances have asked me throughout the years if I’m a cook or a baker.  I never really thought that I had to choose between the two…I wouldn’t be able to. I love to do both.  

This recipe has me wearing the “cook” hat.  I am always working on new ideas for our everyday foods.  One of the things that my family loves is homemade burgers.  We usually make turkey burgers and sometimes beef burgers if ground beef is on sale for less than ground turkey.  Of course, my guys always grill the burgers outside. How else would you make them? 🍔

Well…these burgers go in the oven.  I am definitely a grilled burger girl, but I am so excited that I have a burger that I can have ready for everyone when they get home for lunch or dinner.

In addition to the health benefits, there are a couple more advantages to these burgers. First, they reheat wonderfully in the microwave.  We’re all about leftovers in our home.  Second, you can make as many patties as you would like and refrigerate the rest of the mix for several days and make them as you want them.  I’m sure you could freeze the mixture as well.

Did I mention how awesomely delicious the house smells when you bake them?  Oh my goodness…I had a hard time waiting for them to come out of the oven!

For those that are used to meat burgers…don’t knock it, till you try it…😉

Ingredients:

• 1 (30 oz) can of black beans drained, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa (I put some garlic in the quinoa while it was cooking)
• 1-2 minced jalapenos
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons buffalo sauce
• 2 tablespoons milled flax seed mixed with 6 tablespoons water (let sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes before using)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In large mixing bowl, mash the black beans with a potato masher until thick and smooth.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  
4. Form into patties and place on baking sheet.  
5. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping burgers once halfway through baking time.

Makes about 8 burgers.  

 There are many ways to serve these.  I used some onion rolls that I purchased inexpensively from the “day old” rack , topped with pickles, salad mix and cilantro lime dressing.  Yum!

Enjoy! ❤️

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies with Marshmallows

  

 

Hi there friends!  Hope you all have had a great start to your week!  It’s Tuesday, “Transformation Tuesday”. 😄 

Most of us are transforming things on a regular basis. We take our ingredients and transform them into a yummy dish or baked good.  We are “transforming” anytime we cook or bake.

I love transforming, especially with food!  Today, in honor of Transformation Tuesday, I have decided to share with you a recipe that comes from something that is usually used for something different. 

Cake mix cookies. Most people buy cake mixes to make the obvious…a cake.  I buy cake mixes to make quick and easy cookies from time to time.  Sometimes a momma has to cheat in the kitchen!😉  

I recently shared my Apple Jacks Cookie recipe.  This is the exact same recipe, just a different flavor cake mix and a different “toss-in”.  The wonderful thing about cake mix cookies is how moist and chewy they stay for days (that’s if you can get them to last that long). 😊

These are a great way to get your little ones involved in your baking as well! Since it’s an easy recipe with hand mixing, they can help out with making some yummy cookies for your family.  You can even have their input on different ideas for cake mix flavors and “toss-ins”.  My son “created” his own recipe that he uses anytime he has a party at school.  

This version would be great during the cold months with a mug of warm homemade hot chocolate! ⛄️❄️⛄️

  
Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mini marshmallows (I used peppermint flavored that I found on clearance after Christmas)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Mix cake mix, canola oil and eggs in mixing bowl by hand.  
3. Add marshmallows and stir gently to mix.   
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.   
5. Bake until just done, about 10-12 minutes. 
6. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.   

Makes about 2 dozen cookies. Enjoy! ❤️

Summer Peach Crisp

  
Hi there and Happy Monday!  As we start the week, I thought I would share a quick and easy weeknight dessert. 

One of my favorite things about this time of year is PEACHES!  🍑 I love peaches!  🍑 Fresh peaches, not canned. The great thing about peaches being in season is the price tag.  I was able to get three nice, ripe, large yummy peaches for 66 cents at my local supermarket the other day. 

There are so many things that we can do with peaches. Of course you can just eat them “as is”, which is my fav. But you can add them to pretty much any type of dessert, such as pies, tarts, cakes, cobblers, ice cream…..and I could go on and on.  Today, I’m telling you about the “easy one”…peach crisp. 

Fruit crisps are so quick and easy and that’s why they’re great for a busy weeknight dessert.  Basically, you just cut your fruit, make your topping and bake. I usually prep it for the oven while I’m waiting for dinner to cook, put it in the oven during dinner and it’s ready right in time for dessert. 

You can top it with some whipped cream, ice cream or eat it just as it is.  All of the above are yummy!! If you have any left for the next day, consider yourself lucky and snatch it up before anyone else does! 😄

Ingredients:

• 4 cups peaches, cut to bite-size pieces 
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray your baking dish with nonstick spray. 
2. Wash and cut your peaches into bite-sized pieces or slices.   
3. Add the water to the dish with the peaches. 
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the melted butter in a small bowl and stir until mixed.   
5. Sprinkle mixture over the peaches and water.   
6. Bake for 30 minutes.  Serve warm and store leftovers in the fridge.  

Enjoy! ❤️