COMING SOON

I made these cookies when I had the Missionaries over for dinner one night. I need to find the Recipe I used. Then I will post it!!! So be excited be very excited!!! But I must say...they were the hardest cookies I have ever made. You actually have to bake them twice. So its a lot of work!!! But so worth it!!!

Buttered Sun Dried Tomato Chicken/Sides

For the Chicken

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced yellow onion

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup white cooking wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup cold butter, sliced

1 1/2 cups chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil), for brushing

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Sauté garlic and onion in 2 Tbls. butter in a large skillet over medium heat until tender.

Stir wine and lemon juice into skillet, increase heat to medium high, and simmer to reduce by half.

  Reduce heat to low and stir in cold butter, one slice at a time.

Stir in tomatoes, basil, kosher salt, and white pepper; remove from heat; set aside.

  Brush chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Grill chicken 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.

  Pour on prepared sun-dried tomato sauce over chicken.

Serve with a spring mixed side salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and a creamy Parmesan dressing. (Recipe below). I also served with a side of Olive oil dipping sauce and slices of french bread. (Recipe below)

Creamy Parmesan Dressing

1/2 cup Mayo

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup Buttermilk (regular milk can be substituted)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill for one hour before serving.  

Olive Oil Spice Dipping Sauce 

1 tablespoon minced basil

1 tablespoon chopped Parsley

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried time

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt

1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

NOTE: This makes a lot of the mixture. I keep the extra in an air tight container and use it for future meals.

Combine all spices together and crush with fingers.

 TO SERVE: Combine about 1 1/2 teaspoons spice blend to 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil on a small Dish. Serve with French bread for dipping!

Enjoy your Italian Meal!!!

Cafe Rio Pork Salad/Burrito

Cafe Rio! Salad/Burrito

For the Salad
1 Large Flour Tortilla
1/4 cup Rice (Rice a Roni Spanish Rice)
Note: Don't add the can of tomato's
1/4 cup Black or Pinto Beans
1/4 cup Sweet Pork (see recipe below)
2 cups shredded Romaine Lettuce
1 tablespoon guacamole
1/4 cup Pico De Gallo
1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
Note: for Tiffany use Shaky Cheese!!! lol
A few stems of Cilantro leaves
Top off with crunchy tortilla strips
Creamy Cafe Rio Dressing (See Recipe below)

Layer all ingredients together in the order they are written down. Enjoy!!!


FOR THE BURRITO

Layer Ingredients


1 Large Flour Tortilla
1/2 Cup Spanish Rice
1/4 Cup Black or Pinto Beans
1/2 Cup Sweet Pork
1/4 cup red Enchilada Sauce
1 Tablespoon of sour cream

On one side of the tortilla layer the rice, beans, pork and roll up burrito style. Pour enchilada sauce over the burrito and broil on low for 5 minutes. Top off with sour cream. Serve with a side salad.


I made this and had so much fun!!! Brad came home from work and told me he thought I went out and bought dinner because it tasted exactly like Cafe Rio. It was really good!!! I hope you enjoy making this one as much as I did!!!

A FUN IDEA!!!!!

A Really Cool Idea

Go to a beauty supply house and buy several different sizes of hair dye applicator bottles that I use in my pantry. You can cut the tips as large as you would like for many uses. Those bottles are used for salad dressings, chocolates, syrups, icing cookies with designs, BBQ sauces, etc.
just use your imagination!

 

Cafe Rio Immitation Sweet pork!

This is the very similar to Cafe Rio Sweet pulled pork I hope you enjoy. 

NOTE: This is not the actual recipe, but I can tell you it tastes almost the same. 

Ingredients 

3 -4 lbs pork roast or 3 -4 lbs pork loin

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

Water, to cover 

Sauce 

1 (14 ounce) cans enchilada sauce 

 3/4 cup Dr. Pepper cola 

1 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Cut pork in large chunks. Put in large crock pot and add water just to cover. Add seasonings. Cut onion in 4 large pieces, crush garlic and add to water. Cook pork on low all day or on high for 3 to 4 hours, or until tender and pork pulls apart easily. Drain water and remove onions and garlic. Pull pork and return to crock pot.
2. In a separate container mix enchilada sauce, soda and sugar. Add to pork in the crock pot. Cook 1 hour longer. (Can cook less if you don't have time.).
3. The pork freezes well and can also be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge.

NOTE: This is the first step.

This is the final product, the meat is shredded and the sauce is mixed in already. It tastes amazing!!!! Enjoy!!!

Cafe Rio Ranch Dressing

My sister Kristy has asked me for this recipe, so I decided to post it on my blog so everyone can enjoy it. 

You will only need a few ingredients!!

Ingredients

2 cups prepared Ranch Dressing (I usually use a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk mix, but you can make your own Homemade buttermilk ranch dressing or regular ranch dressing if you prefer)
1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)
2 large or 4 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T fresh lime juice
 1 diced jalapeno pepper

How to Make this yummy Dressing

Prepare Ranch dressing according to directions on the package or recipe you're following and set aside. For a low fat version. Make your own Ranch dressing and use reduced fat mayo or half Greek yogurt and half reduced fat mayo.

Remove large cilantro stems, then wash leaves and spin dry or dry with paper towels. Add cilantro to food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until finely chopped. (If you don't have a food processor, I'd chop all ingredients well by hand and then blend dressing in a blender.)

Add tomatillos, garlic, lime juice, and Green Tabasco or chopped jalapeno to the food processor and pulse until ingredients are finely pureed. Add the 2 cups of prepared dressing and pulse just a few times, until ingredients are well combined. Chill dressing for an hour or two and serve. This will allow the flavor to set and thicken up.

Variations:
~To make a roasted tomatillo dressing, dice tomatillos, place on a baking sheet, and roast at 400F for 15-20 minutes before adding them to the food processor.
~If you'd like even more tomatillo flavor, use 4-5 large tomatillos and decrease the buttermilk or milk in the Ranch dressing by about 1/4 cup.

For some of you who don't know what a a tomitillo is here is a picture to help you locate it at the grocery store.

Creamy Lime Dressing

This is a dressing that goes great with a taco salad, and its very low cal. 

It has an good flavor to it. Hope you like it!!!
NOTE: I would only recommend this for a taco salad ONLY. Its very different. Its not my favorite dressing but it was still good.

Sorry No Picture

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 tablespoon honey or Agave
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

In a blender, pulse all the ingredients except the olive oil, salt and pepper until smooth. While machine is running, slowly drizzle in the oil until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 2 days.

TACO SALAD

Note for a yummy tasty Taco Salad. Iceburg and romaine lettuce are a great mixture. Top off with black beans, Taco meat cold or hot, a little salsa, grilled corn, sliced black olives and the Lime dressing. Mmmmm... So good!!!

Cauliflower-Cheddar Soup

This is a DELICIOUS Soup recipe that is to DIE FOR!!! 

Very low call and so good for you!!! I had so much fun making this one!!!

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• Pepper
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup whole milk or half-and-half 
• 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard, divided
• 2 1/2 cups good quality, aged, sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• A few grates of  fresh nutmeg 

In a large pot place a couple inches of water and boil the Cauliflower until it is nice and tender. Drain and put into a food processor or blender to puree. Set aside. In the same large pot over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and melt, then add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. 

 Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the stock and milk, bring up to a bubble, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.

To finish the soup, whisk the cheese into the liquid, stirring until all the cheese has melted. Stir in cauliflower puree then turn off heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of mustard and the nutmeg. Adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper to taste. 

 

Serve with a side of bread. Or something else you prefer!!! SO SO SO good!!!

NOTE: Each serving size is about 200-250 calories. Recipe renders about 4 to 6 servings.

Fruited Turkey Wraps!

This is a fun recipe for when you have a lot left over turkey to use up. After Thanksgiving we had so much left over I needed to use it up somehow. I made this really yummy low fat low cal turkey salad and put it in a whole wheat tortilla. It was a really tasty meal.  Here is how I did it...

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt (fa-yea)

1/2 cup of reduced fat mayo

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of pepper
4 cups of leftover turkey meat shredded

2 celery ribs thinly sliced

1 medium apple peeled and chopped

1/3 cup cranberries

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup of red onion chopped

Pita bread or whole wheat tortillas will be great to use the turkey salad in.

You can also add lettuce to the wrap if you would like.

I also added a little grated cheese. Of course that is optional.

Directions

In a small bowl combine the yogurt, mayo, lemon juice and pepper. In large bowl combine the turkey, celery, apple, cranberries, pecans and red onion. Add yogurt mix and stir to coat. Cover an refrigerate until chilled. Line the tortilla or pita bread with lettuce, salad and cheese if desired.

Enjoy!!!

A light tasty snack!

It's REALLY SIMPLE!!!

Just two ingrediants:

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (Fa-yea)

1 tsp of blue Agave sweetener

Put yogurt into small cup, drizzle  agave on top and serve.

Calories:70 per serving and its full of protien. 

Pic coming soon...maybe? 

Blueberry Smoothie!!!

This is a yummy recipe that I have tweaked to make it a little bit more healthy. It is really yummy!!!

Ingredients

1 cup Organic Blueberries (frozen)

1/2 cup of organic soy milk

6oz of Greek Yogurt (Fa-yea) 
1tsp of organic Agave (sweetener)

Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree to smooth. Put into a cute glass and serve!!! Easy Easy!!!

This is great for the mornings as your running out the door. It takes 5 minuets to make and it will keep you fueled for at least 4 hours.

Healthy tip: Remember to have 5 small meals throughout the day to keep you blood sugar level and to also keep you metabolism burning. You body will thank you!!!

New Year! New you!

Hey everyone I am going to post some amazing low cal, low carb recipes that are going to be so yummy you wont know its good for you. Brad and I have always tried to eat healthy. I have been studying like crazy on diet and nutrition and realized that we need to make a few changes. are you ready???

Lets Go!