Food

Foodie Friday

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Today’s Foodie Friday post is a delicious pasta dish that you could make this Labor Day weekend to impress your guests! It’s super easy.. I based this recipe off one of my favorite pasta dishes at the restaurant Brio. I invented this dish because unfortuneately the pasta pesto dish I loved so much at Brio was discontinued! How rude. But anyway, here is the recipe!

Ingredients Needed: Sun Dried Tomatoes – Pesto Sauce – Pine Nuts – Baby Spinach – Penne Pasta (or whatever is your favorite pasta!) – Parmesan Cheese/Feta Cheese (optional)

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This is literally one of the easiest pasta dishes. First, cook your pasta (follow directions on the box). Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, and return it to your sauce pan. Turn the heat on low. Next, add in the pesto sauce, sun dried tomatoes and baby spinach. (I don’t give amounts because it really is up to you and what you like most). Why you need to turn the heat on low is to slowly wilt the spinach slightly. Add in the pine nuts, and feta cheese/parmesan cheese(if you want). Some people might toast the pine nuts, but that seems like a lot of unneeded effort. Normal pine nuts taste GREAT! So that’s all there is to this dish! I mean seriously, how easy is that?!  Another addition to this dish – you could add in cut up chicken tenderloins chunks to give it more of a hearty taste (obviously cook the chicken before you add it).

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Doesn’t that look SO delish!? Let me know what you think!

xoxo

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Easy Dinner Idea: Stir Fry!

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So the other night my boyfran and I had our usual conversation… “What should we have for dinner?””Ugh, I don’t know” “What do you want??” “I don’t care…what do you want??” It is the most annoying circular conversation ever, and we have it almost every night. So finally we decided to just use what we had in the apartment and throw something together. It ended up that we had all the right ingredients for a stir fry!

Ingredients:

chicken tenderloins – a frozen bag of peas and carrots (I only used half a bag) – rice – 2 or 3 eggs – soy sauce – stir fry sauce (not completely needed but if you have it lying around, it really enhances the dish!)

Directions:

First, I sautéed the chicken tenderloins in some olive oil and salt and pepper. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out of the pan, cut it into chunks, and throw it back in the pan. Next, add the bag of frozen peas and carrots. I actually only had half a bag left, because we had used some for another dinner. Remember…this is about using what you’ve got. So only half a bag of frozen veggies? No problem! Just go with it, and adjust the amounts accordingly. So after these steps, it should look like the following pic:

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As you are cooking the chicken, start your rice. I only had jasmine rice on hand (from cooking sushi!) so that’s what I used. But obviously, any rice will work. Whatever you’ve got!

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Once the rice is ready, and your chicken/veggie mix is ready…it’s time to make some scrambled eggs! We only had 2 eggs left, but you can use up to four. You can add a little bit of milk if you want, your call.

 

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Now it’s time to finish the dish! Add your rice and your scrambled eggs right into your chicken and veggies pan. Stir it all together, and add your sauces!

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I used less sodium soy sauce, and a spicy stir fry sauce. This just gives it an added kick! (Note: I actually put too much spicy sauce in, and almost couldn’t eat it! So I guess less is more on the spicy sauce haha) It’s amazing what you can find in your refrigerator. I didn’t even know we had stir fry sauce! IMG_2060IMG_2054

 

And here you have it! How easy was that!?

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So what do you think?? Easy? Hard? Yummy? Boring?? Let me know! xoxo ❤

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta! Part 4

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Okay, last mexican fiesta post! A fiesta is not a fiesta without FAJITAS!!!! Some people are scared of making fajitas, but they really are quite simple. You can do it! I promise!

Ingredients:

1 white onion – 1 fajita skillet sauce – olive oil – steak – red and yellow peppers

First, cut the onion. You want pieces that are long and will get slightly smaller when you cook them. The easiest is to cut the onion in slices, then cut those in half.

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Next, cut the peppers in the same long, thin slice fashion.

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Lightly pour some olive oil in a sauté pan. Then add the peppers and onions. Cook these on medium heat. I usually cook them for as long as the meat is cooking. It ends up being roughly about 25 minutes.

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While the peppers and onions are cooking, you need to cook your meat. I chose steak for these fajitas, but you could use chicken as well. At our local grocery store, they sell steak already cut up in thin slices for stir fry,  but it also doubles as fajita meat! If your store does not have meat already cut up, you can just buy your favorite cut of meat and thinly slice it. You can cook the meat in a sauté pan, or a bigger pot like I did. (I only did this because my other pans were dirty, and I didn’t feel like doing more dishes haha) Cook the meat over medium heat.

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Once the meat is fully cooked (it usually takes about 15-20 minutes), then it is time to add the secret ingredient…….. FAJITA SAUCE!! I LOVE LOVE this sauce. It’s by Rick Bayless, and since I am a cooking show geek, I get excited every time I eat a well-known chefs food. 🙂 So you add the sauce to your meat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Then your fajitas are ready to be prepared!

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Here is the finished product, it was SOO GOOD! My Cinco De Mayo fiesta was a success!! Maybe I filled my tortilla with too much ingredients so that I couldn’t roll it into a burrito….but oh well! It was delicious! *Shown with a Strawberry-Limearita. yum yum 🙂

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So that was my Cinco De Mayo…what do you think?! Will you try to make some of these recipes for your hubbs?

xoxo

 

 

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta!! Part 3

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So after I made the two salsas, I figured I should make some guacamole. Because really…what mexican fiesta is complete without guac.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 avacados – pico de gallo – salt and pepper – tortilla chips

Since I had just made the pico de gallo, the guacamole was super simple to put together. All you have to do is mash up the avocados, add some pico de gallo and salt and pepper, and mix. And there you have it.

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Talk about simple, this was for sure the quickest part of the meal I made.

Tip:

I had half an avocado that I had saved from the other night with this funny goop I found at Sur La Table. It’s just the rubbery-flubber like thing that you put over your avocados and it keeps them fresh for a few days! It’s GENIUS!! I suggest everyone go get one, if you eat avocados as much as I do. I think it was about $5, a steal!

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Cindo De Mayo Fiesta!! Part Two

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After I made fresh pico de gallo, I thought “Why stop there?!?!”. So I decided to make some fresh corn salsa! I have never made this before, but after my Food Network watching, I just knew I could do it.

Ingredients:

Half of a red onion – 2 jalapeños – handful of fresh cilantro – 2 bags of frozen sweet corn (I used the steamer version, you just microwave each bag for 4 mins 30 secs, super simple!) – chips(duh)

First, dice the red onion. Add to bowl.

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Next, dice the 2 jalapeños. I left almost all the seeds in this one, because I knew the sweet corn would counteract it so it still wouldn’t be too spicy.

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Next, add the sweet corn. Finely chop/tear the fresh cilantro and add to bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix. And BOOM. Corn Salsa complete!!

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It’s beyond tasty, and trust me, your boyfriend will love you for it. Unless it’s my boyfriend, who doesn’t like corn. I found this out yesterday, after I slaved in the kitchen for a hour making all these salsas. But he LOVED the pico de gallo, so I decided it was okay. haha

Let me know what you think! What do you like better….corn salsa or pico de gallo??

xoxo

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta!

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Hi Everyone! I’m back!! I was in a festive mood yesterday, and went crazy cooking a big mexican fiesta! Usually when mexican food is involved, my boyfriend is the one who does the cooking. He has learned how to cook authentic mexican from some of his friends parents, and he does it VERY well. But as luck would have it, my boyfran was snowboarding at A-Basin yesterday, so it was up to me. Luckily for me, the Food Network was running a lot of Cinco De Mayo episodes, so I got seriously inspired while doing laundry/watching tv. And keep in mind, if I can do it.. YOU can do it!!

First up – fresh pico de gallo!

Ingredients:

4 tomatos – 1 sweet onion – 1 jalepeno – a handful of fresh cilantro – salt – pepper (and chips, obvi!)

 

Really all you have to do is dice all your veggies. This seems easy, but does take some time. So first, dice your tomatoes. I actually cut them open, then scrape out all the seeds and extra juices before I put them in my mixing bowl. I personally don’t like tomatoes that much, so I try to avoid any unneeded slimy parts. It’s your call 🙂

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Next, dice your onions. I did pretty big chunks of all my veggies, because I didn’t want to chop my fingers off trying to get the smallest dices possible. Add them to your bowl of tomatoes. If you like a little heat, add a diced jalepeno. I take out the seeds, so it’s not too spicy. Just perfect. Roughly chop/tear the cilantro and add to the bowl. Add a little bit of salt and pepper (up to you how much you want). And voila! You’ve made pico de gallo!

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I mean how pretty does the final product look?! And it’s SO GOOD!! I love how fresh it tastes.

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So what do you think?! Is this not the easiest, most stastifying thing ever?!

Need a Dinner Idea? Try This Easy Turkey Wrap!

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Sometimes…I just want some turkey-bacon-avacado in my life. So tonight I decided to make a wrap. I had most of the ingredients already, I just had to pick up some deli turkey and avocados. The whole dinner idea originated because we had some left over tortilla wraps that were going to go bad if we didn’t use them soon. So enough talking…here’s how to make it!

Ingredients:

Deli turkey – pepper jack cheese – iceberg shredded lettuce – avocado – turkey bacon – light mayo – garlic parmesan spread

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The Hidden Valley Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan spread is the best find! They make all these new spreads for dip or sandwiches and they are DELISH! I strongly suggest that you check this spread out, it’s legit.

Preparation:

Put the tortilla on your plate. Spread a few squirts of low fat mayo and a few dabs of the Garlic Parmesan spread on the tortilla. Make sure it is spread evenly (Picture 1). Next, place the cheese on the tortilla, along with a few slices of avocado and two (or more) pieces of bacon (Picture 2). Now place the deli turkey on the wrap, and finish with the shredded lettuce (Pictures 3 and 4). Roll up the tortilla – this is a little tricky if you overloaded it like I did…

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And TADA! Dinner is served.

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How easy was that?! And it’s SO yummy. Your boyfriend will definitely approve of this one, I know mine did! 🙂

Easy Dinner Idea!

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This is one of my favorite things to eat – chicken caesar wraps! They are very easy to make, and remind me of the lunches I used to get in college. The business school I attended had the BEST chicken caesar wraps. My friends and I would get them like every other day. Here’s how to make them:

First, ingredients:

Croutons – lettuce- cooked chicken (diced) – parmesan cheese – tortilla wraps – caesar dressing – diced sweet onions (see pic #2)

 

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*I included the picture of the onion keeper. It is my new favorite thing! You stick your half cut up/half used onion in this little plastic container, and it keeps it fresh and ready to go for the next day you need it! Genius!

The actual steps needed to make this meal are beyond simple. Just mix all the ingredients together and put in a tortilla wrap. Then roll up in a burrito fashion and BOOM! You’ve got your wrap.

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Seems great right?? Let me know how it goes for you!

xoxo ❤

Mid-day Snack?

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I have found the BEST midday snack! It’s called Snapea Crisps, and they are fabulous!! Here’s a picture(look for these in your local grocery store!):

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I found these at the grocery store the other day and thought I would give them a try. I picked the “Lightly Salted” flavor, but there were a few choices if salty isn’t your style. And obviously if you don’t like sugar snap peas, you might not like these…What I liked is that the whole bag is about 300 calories. THE WHOLE BAG! If you have binge eating problems like me, this is a good find. For someone who could go through a bag of chips in 5 seconds, this is a much better go-to when a craving hits. Hopefully you don’t eat the whole bag in one sitting, but if you did..it wouldn’t be the worst! Each serving is 13% of your daily fiber for the day, not too shabby!

Leftover Status

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So remember when I made paninis and said you could use the turkey bacon for something else? Well the time has come. I was super lazy tonight and didn’t want to spend much money, so I decided to use what I had around the kitchen. What did I have to work with from my panini day?? Turkey bacon and cracked pepper deli turkey. Hmm, sounds odd right. Wrong! I turned it into a delicious pasta. Here’s how:

First – ingredients:

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Farafelle Pasta – I use the grocery store brand. It’s super cheap, and does the trick. I think it was literally 98 cents. You can use any pasta you like. Bow tie just happens to be my favorite.

Alfredo Sauce – Your favorite type. I love this CLASSICO brand. Tonight I picked “Light Asiago Romano Alfredo” flavor, but any alfredo will do. I’m all about easy dinners because let’s be real, no one wants to cook after they have been working all day. #ick

Turkey Bacon – This is from the panini night. For this pasta, you need about 6 pieces (so still some to spare for breakfast!).

Deli Turkey – I had cracked pepper turkey from the panini night. There was about a 1/3 pound left of the pound I originally bought. Perfect amount.

Optional – Parmesean cheese or mozzarella cheese…your call!

DIRECTIONS:

Start your water boiling for your pasta. Fill your pot about 3/4 of the way full and salt your water. Put on high heat to bring to boil.

Start cooking your turkey bacon. Put a sauté pan on medium high heat and place 4 pieces of bacon in the pan (or as many will fit).

Once your water comes to a boil, pour in about half a box of pasta.

Your bacon should take about 7-10 minutes to cook. Once cooked, place on a paper towel to get any access grease off. **Turkey bacon is actually a lot less greasy then real bacon, which is a definite plus. I mean really, who likes grease?? Not me.**

While the pasta is cooking, cut the deli turkey into bite size pieces. Do the same with the bacon once it has cooled.

Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it and return it to it’s original cooking pot.

Pour the alfredo sauce on the pasta and stir to distribute. Then add in deli turkey and turkey bacon. Sprinkle some parmesan or mozzarella cheese on top (if desired). and BOOM! You’ve got dinner!! Like how easy was that?? Genius. AND you don’t even have to add salt or pepper, because the bacon is salty enough, and the cracked pepper deli turkey adds enough pepper to void out seasoning. It is literally one of the easiest things to make.

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Have you ever made pasta from leftovers?? What have you made? Let me know!

❤