My Version of Neiman Marcus Dip

I tried this dip at a Pinterest party (which was fantastic and so much fun, by the way) and thought it was delicious. Every priesthood conference the women together and some snacks and I chose this, and as you can it was a big hit. I just took a picture of what was left for me to bring home. So here we go my knock off Neiman Marcus Dip:

8 oz package of cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
4 green onions sliced (really however many you want)
1 small package of slivered almonds
Garlic Powder

Cream together mayonnaise and cream cheese. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle garlic powder. I am sure it would be good with bacon bits as well, I was just too lazy to defrost and then cook the bacon. Enjoy with crackers or bread. I made the wheat baguette which will have to be another post.

Hawaiian Coconut Rice

Here is a delicious side that my family enjoyed, especially the boys! (You know it is a keeper when they love something other than hot dogs.) I don't know how much like Rumbi Rice this is because I don't really care for Rumbi and it is just what the recipe said when I got it. 

Hawaiian Coconut Rice with Red Beans (aka Rumbi Rice)

2 cup long grain white rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker. Gently stir it all together so the beans are mixed in. Place the lid on and start the rice cooker. Fluff rice with a fork before serving. 
If you don't have a rice cooker: combine water, coconut milk, and sugar in a saucepan. Stir in rice and beans. Bring to boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18-20 minutes until rice is cooked. 

I used a lite coconut milk and think the regular would have more flavor. We'll be having this again.

Lemon Parmesan Chicken

It is April and I am ready for grilling season, anyone else with me? I think the hit and miss 60's days are tricking me. Here is another of our favorites on the grill. And the best part is that it is about 170 calories per serving!

Marinade:
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 cup lemon juice

2 chicken breasts
grated Parmesan cheese

Mix marinade ingredients and add chicken. Let sit for a few hours and they are ready to grill. Cook chicken until juice run clear. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and let it melt. Enjoy!

I've done this and other marinade meals as freezer meals. You just mix the marinade, add the chicken, label the bag and freeze!

Ginger Pork Tenderloin

I love trying new recipes, my husband never knows what to expect. I have told my family about my recipe trying and my sister suggested I start a food blog with my tried and true recipes. I thought about it and then realized it would be one more blog I neglect and post on erratically. So I'll just post them here, I love food and see a lot of good in that. I have a quote on my kitchen wall,
"People who love to eat are always the best people." - Julia Child.
Anyway, back to the recipes. I've tried some great ones that we have had numerous times and this is one of them.

Ginger Pork Tenderloin

2 to 2 1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin (cut into slices if not already sliced)
1/2 cup Wildtree Asian Ginger Plum Dressing and Marinade
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. lemon pepper
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

 Mix marinade ingredients together and add meat. This can be marinated for several hours and grill. Or  frozen and used at a later date, just thaw and grill. I love freezer meals! Couple of notes, I got the recipe when I bought a bottle of the marinade mix from Wildtree, it is fantastic. But if you don't want to go that route I did find a Newman's Own dressing - Sesame Ginger Dressing that also works, I bought it at Walmart. The dressing does have soy sauce in it so I actually just add two tablespoons to the dressing amount and don't add more soy sauce. I have made this with a pork tenderloin roast and cut the slices myself. The pictures show a pork sirloin chop which was good as well. My kids even like this. :)

Eating Right

I gained a few extra pounds over the summer and after I saw my little brother post something on facebook I wanted to remember it. I try to eat healthy but I also eat chocolate and popcorn like they are their own food groups needing daily consumption. (sigh) Anyway these were his tips that he learned from a Weight Management Class at BYU. 

1. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables. They fill you up without adding too many calories. 

2. Don't eat out. Restaurants, both fast food and more expensive, are all about getting people to come back. So they prepare foods that are delicious and mildly addicting. Which means they use a lot of fats, greases, and sugars. 

3. Don't drink your calories. Be it in the form of juices, smoothies, soda, milk, etc., liquids don't fill you up, but often add unnecessary calories to your diet. Even if they're "healthy" beverages. 

4. Drink lots of water. Water increases the efficiency of your body, so you use the calories that you consume more efficiently. 

5. Diets don't work. You have to find a system of consumption that you actually enjoy, or your won't stick to it.  

We use myfitnesspal.com around here. It helps track what you eat and what is good and what isn't. A couple of others things is I use dashingdish.com and skinnytaste.com for recipes and have found quite a few that are delicious and even my family (with little boys) enjoy. 

Homemade Vitamin Water

We are trying to eat better around here and drinking plenty of water is part of that equation. I always heard 6-8 cups a day so I would always shoot for 6. The website we are using suggests at least 8, that is tough for me but I am trying. Anyway I am excited to try these vitamin water recipes, it is always nice to add some flavor. I saw this as a facebook post originally but wanted to save it so I just copied it here on my blog. I will add updates if I try them and they aren't any good!

1) The classical : lemon/cucumber:
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cucumber and a lemon, thinly sliced + 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped basil leaf + 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

2) The granite : Strawberry/Lime or Raspberry/Lime
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 6 strawberries / 0r Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime + 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

3) The digestive : Fennel/citrus
First: infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) + a small thinly sliced orange + 12 fresh chopped mint leaves + the infusion of fennel seeds. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

4) The antiOX : Blackberry/Sage
Note that a part from the berries, sage leafs is the herb that has the highest antioxidant content.
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed + 3-4 sage leaves. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

5) WATERmelon : watermelon/Rosemary
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes + 2 rosemary stems. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

6) The exotic : Pineapple/Mint
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of pineapple cut into cubes + 12 fresh mint leaves finely chopped. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

7) The traditional : Appel/cinnamon
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of apple cut into cubes + 2 cinnamon sticks + 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Winter Treat

This is one of our new favorite treats - Cookie Dough Cocoa

The original recipe came from Betty Crocker and the only difference is that we didn't use Cookie Crisp cereal, I just bought a cup of those mini Chips Ahoy cookies instead. I also didn't add chocolate chips and it was rich enough without more chocolate. Also I think it would serve 5-6 people in a normal sized mug. We used large ones and it was a lot!

Here is the recipe: 

INGREDIENTS

Cocoa

4 Tbls. butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 pint cookie dough ice cream

5 cups water

Toppings

Whipped cream

Mini chocolate chips

1 cup Cookie Crisp cereal

1. In a 3-quart saucepan or large pot, whisk together butter, brown sugar, and ice cream over medium-high head until melted. Add the water; cook and stir mixture until steaming. 

2. Serve in mugs, topped with whipped cream, mini chocolate chips, and cookie crisp cereal. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is what I got out of my garden this morning. So far we have only had a few strawberries and the juliette tomatoes and so I was excited to see the others. 

This is what my garden looks like right now. I think it is going well and just put up the trellis so hopefully it works. Right away the eggplant had more room so that is good. 

The crops I have growing are pumpkins, squash, strawberries, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, corn and cucumbers.

The lady finger eggplants, they are so cute!

The first pumpkin, this makes me actually excited for the fall. 

Just about everyday the Silly One will say, "Mom, our plants are growing." Yes, yes they are. 

Square Foot Garden

There is something quite satisfying and making something out of nothing. There is also something satisfying in working outside to make things beautiful. That is where I would put gardening and I think I have that love of plants and the outdoors because of my Dad. Growing up we would work outside from mowing the lawn to weeding the garden. I remember one time when I was quite young, my little brother and I had the job of taking all the rocks out of our garden. It wasn't pleasant but I do remember eating the fresh fruits and vegetables that came from our garden every year and loved that. 

Since the Smart One and I have been married we have tried to do some sort of garden each year. Some years have worked and some have failed miserably. The first summer we were married we planted zucchini where some bushes had died in front of our apartment, that was awesome.We were able to move our fence this spring and get about 5-6 more feet in our yard, perfect for a square foot garden. I read this book and tried to do many of the things the author suggested. I checked it out from the library but I think it will soon be part of our library. The Smart One did a lot of work to build the box and work with my vision. It was more work than we anticipated which means the next time we need a box he might just buy a kit. ;) Here is the result:

I planted pumpkins, straight neck summer squash, tomatoes, red and green peppers, eggplant, strawberries, marigolds, corn, cucumbers, and lavender. Several of these I started earlier in little planters and planted everything this morning. I got a lot of help from the Silly One in planting and digging holes. The Small One helped by taking a good nap. So this turned into a family garden in which everyone did something to help. Hopefully we'll have a plentiful garden picture to post later this summer. 

Sugar Cookies - Dec. 23

I have written several times about food and really this a great time of year for it. My mom makes several types of cookies and treats each year including sugar cookies. One year we had a gazillion cookies and it took forever to frost them all, that was an experience off a lifetime and I wasn't even the one who added 16 cups of flour.  There are so many good ones but I think my favorite are the chocolate almond balls. My mother-in-law also makes sugar cookies and so we decided to make some to leave Santa. We still need to frost them but it is fun to do another tradition from our childhood with our children. 

Hot Chocolate - Dec. 22

I love chocolate and that includes hot chocolate. We tried to go see the lights at Thanksgiving Point with some of my family, it was a 45 minute wait to just get in to see the lights. We decided to go on a drive ourselves and look at lights. It was nice to drive around and afterward we came home and had hot chocolate and watched some basketball. It was an enjoyable evening even if it didn't work out the way we planned. I credit the hot chocolate, Raspberry Cheesecake and Dark Chocolate flavors. 

Yummy Treats - Dec. 17

'Tis the season to eat! We love good food around here especially this time of year. Here is a recipe that I think will become a holiday favorite, I found it and made it for the first time this year. It originated from allrecipes.com but here is my version with my notes:

Saltine Toffee Cookies
Ingredients:
4 oz. saltine crackers (about one sleeve)
1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
Optional: chopped nuts, sprinkles, candy pieces, etc.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then place crackers in a single layer very close together, sides touching, on the cookie sheet.
3. In a saucepan start melting the butter and add in the sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread as needed to cover crackers completely.
4. Baket at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and top with optional topping. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Date Night - Dec. 8

We haven't been on a date in awhile. We started to go out a little more not long before the Small One was born. But tonight we are going to a cooking class so it will just be a short date but still some time for us! I got a deal for it awhile ago and we were actually going to use it the week the baby was born so it obviously just postponed. It is a Christmas class, making a Holiday Caprese Salad & Orange Cinnamon Peanut Brittle . Here's to yummy holiday food and some time with the Smart One!

Creamy Lasagna Roll-Ups Florentine

9 lasagna noodles
15 oz. ricotta cheese
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
17 oz. jar Alfredo Pasta Sauce (or two sauce packets)
paprika or chopped parsley

Cook lasagna as package directs; drain. In a medium bowl combine ricotta, spinach, mozarella, parmesan and egg. Spread about 1/3 cup of the cheese mixture on each lasagna strip; roll up. Pour 1/2 cup alfredo sauce into bottom of 2-quart rectangular baking dish; top with remaining sauce. Cover and bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until hot. Sprinkle with paprika or parsley if desired.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 9

My notes: I usually use the sauce packets you can get at the store to make your own sauce. Also I have done this with a mix of half alfredo and have marinara sauce or a rose sauce.

This is always a big hit at our house!

Meal Ideas

Do you ever not blog because you feel like you have to much to do to catch up with all that you wanted to blog about? Yeah that is me right about now. Oh well. I will just do what I can and try to make it work. I know when I posted the menu board there were some requests for meal ideas that I used so here goes. I just used google docs to upload the document I printed the meals from. Anyway after the first month of using the menu board I need to make some adjustments, like spaghetti needs to be on there more than once a month. :) Anyway there is the start.
Speaking of menu planning, I recently read this blog post on freezer meals and it got me motivated to start doing some of these things.

Mmm, soup!

I love food! It is true, I love to eat and I love to eat good food. We got some butternut squash from my parents at the end of the summer, they have been sitting in the little storage under the porch in the basement.

So last week I decided that they needed to be used, I looked for a recipe and found this. I love soup really almost anytime, but I especially love it in the winter.

This recipe really was fabulous, I love soup and so I have tried a few. :) I'll be making it again for sure. I felt like it could have been a from Zupa's or Paradise Bakery, it was that good. (Even my son enjoyed it.) Give it a try!