A Day at the Beach

We went to the beach over last weekend and had a blast! And I made some yummy food to take along with us. Which included:

Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups of fresh Dill or Cilantro or whatever herb you like best. (I used dill from my garden :) )
2 Tbsp of Lime Juice
zest of one lime
Salt and Pepper
Blend in a food processor or blender until smooth. Set aside.

4 ears of Corn
(Put in cold, salted water, Bring to a boil, turn off heat, cover and let sit for 10-12 min, rinse under cold water and then shave corn off onto a clean kitchen towel. This prevents it from flying everywhere.)
1 cup of cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup of fresh mozzarella balls
2 avocados diced

Mix all the veggies and cheese together and pour the dressing over and chill for an hour before serving. This was SO good! I made this recipe twice, and the second time I made it I threw in some sweet red bell pepper, it was yummy.

Ham, Cheese, and Spinach Pin Wheels

2 cans of crescent rolls
some thinly sliced deli ham (you could also use prosciutto)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or Asiago
salt and pepper
1 garlic clove finely minced
1 cup of cooked spinach

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the crescent rolls and pinch all the seams together. Lay the ham over the dough in an even layer. Mix the Spinach, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the ham. Roll up making a "jelly roll" kind of. Then slice thin slices like you would a Cinnamon roll and lay on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 - 15 min until they are golden brown. These traveled very well and were delicious! Let them cool for a good 15- 25 minutes before you pack them up so they stay crisp and don't get soggy.


Along with these 2 delicious recipes I made tiny chocolate chip cookies. The dough I made about a week before our trip and had in the freezer, so it was easy to just bake some off to take with us. I made them about tsp size. They were prefect to just pop in your mouth. I had bought a pineapple about 5 or 6 days before we went on our little weekend beach trip. I sat it in the window so it got nice and ripe. I chopped that up with some strawberries. We had a very fun weekend of boating and swimming and building sand castles. The food was just the cherry on the cake.

What is with the ground beef?

I don't know about you, but I always have ground beef in the freezer. Well I have been trying to eat healthier and I was wondering what in the world I could make with ground beef. So I googled it, I food networked it, I kraftfoods.comed it... I couldn't really find anything. So I am sitting at work and it hit me... LETTUCE WRAPS! And boy were they good.

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup of grape jelly (not really healthy, I know... but good)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 Honey BBQ Sauce
Salt and Pepper

Brown your meat add the rest of the ingredients and feel free to experiment.. that's what I do.

1 head of crisp romaine lettuce (or what ever lettuce you would like to use)
7 baby carrots - I cut them into thin strips (or just buy shredded carrots)
1 can of water chestnuts (compliments of my mom... I didn't have any :) )
15 roasted almonds with no salt added. ( cut them up )
1/2 of a large red bell pepper or one small, cut the same size as the other veggies.

Mix all that into a bowl except for the lettuce leaves. Pile the meat mixture and veggies into the lettuce and WALLAH! My man put ranch on his and loved them... I ate them plain and loved them. Whatever you like, get creative.

Green Chile Enchiladas

18 corn tortilla's
1 large can of Green Enchilada Sauce.. 25 oz (I think)
1 cup of Canola Oil
1 cup of sour cream
1 small can of green chiles
1 small can of jalepenos (or fresh if you have them) remember these go a long way, so if you don't like it too hot, only use half the can.
2 cups of shredded chicken. (2 or 3 chicken breasts)

2 cups of mexican style cheese


Roast 2 or 3 chicken breasts in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. I put olive oil, salt, and pepper on them and covered the baking dish with foil.

In a blender blend sour cream, 3/4 of the can of enchilada sauce, jalapenos, and green chiles. Blend just until combined.

heat 1 cup of Canola Oil in a deep skillet and begin to fry all of your corn tortillas until they are golden brown.

Shred the chicken after it has cooled for a about 10 minutes.

Start to layer in a 13x9 glass dish. put down 6 of the corn tortilla's then spread some of the chicken evenly over the tortilla's then pour some of the sauce over the chicken, then add some cheese and repeat. Add the last layer of corn tortilla's and the the rest of the sauce and cheese. (you can really layer however your little heart desires.)

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I served this with green salad, fruit and tortilla chips, sour cream and salsa... of course. No picture, sorry...but they were yummy. I used a whole can of jalapenos, so they had some kick FOR SURE. :)

Chicken Cord on Bleu

1 cup sour cream
1 can of Cream of Celery
1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbs minced onion
1 Tbs of fresh dill
1 Tbs of fresh flat leaf parsley
Salt & Pepper
Mix the above ingredients together and set aside

Pound 3 or 4 chicken breasts out flat. I put wax paper on both sides and used my rolling pin to make them nice and flat. Place a slice of Swiss cheese and 2 slices of thinly sliced deli ham in the chicken breast and roll up. Secure with toothpicks.

Spray a glass cooking dish with Pam and place your chicken seam side down in the dish. Pour the Sour Cream mixture over the top of the chicken making sure they are all covered. Place tin foil over the top and place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees. Let them cook for about 90 minutes.

I always serve this dish with roasted veggies because the sauce is SO yummy to pour over them. This time I did baby Yukon golds, cauliflower, and carrots. I put them on a cookie sheet and tossed them with salt, pepper, and olive oil. I put them in the oven with the chicken for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

When you are slicing your chicken, make sure to let it rest for about 15 minutes before you cut it. This will ensure that they will look pretty.

Jesse said this one gets an A+. He loved the veggie combo.

One more helpful hint, DO NOT use low fat sour cream... it makes the sauce have a more sour flavor, rather then rich.

Chimichangas

1/2 Cup minced onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 Tbs olive oil
2 cups of shredded chicken
(I roasted mine in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 min. with salt and pepper and Olive oil)
1 can of the large crescent rolls
Salsa
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Heat oven 350 degrees, grease a large cookie sheet. In a skillet cook onion and garlic with oil until tender. Add the shredded chicken and heat through.

Unroll the dough and separate the triangles. Spread on each one some of the salsa. (not all the way to the edge) Add the chicken mixture and roll the dough up around the filling. Seal the edges and place on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 16 - 20 min until lightly browned, add some of your cheese on top of each one and throw them back in the oven until the cheese is nice and melted and kind of crispy. (That's how we like it)

Served with sour cream and salsa. Pretty easy, and pretty good.

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

Another Pillsbury recipe... SO GOOD

1/2 Cup melted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 bag Heath Bits O'Brickle Toffee bits (they are in the baking isle)
1 roll of refrigerated cookie dough
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan with non stick spray.
Ina bowl mix 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups of the graham cracker crumbs and 3/4 Cup of the toffee bits. Press this mixture into your greased pan. Throw into the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.

Pull the cookie dough out of the fridge for about 10 minutes to soften. In a 2 quart sauce pan, heat chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tbs of butter over med heat stirring frequently, until chops are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Spread this mixture over crust.

Using the same bowl you mix your crust in, break up the cookie dough into small chunks and mix in the remaining graham cracker crumbs. Crumble mixture over the chocolate layer and sprinkle with more toffee bits. (I used the rest of the bag)

Bake for 25 minutes until top is golden. Cool completely. These bars are the best when you put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. YUM...

Southwest Sloppy Joe Pizza

( I almost forgot to get a picture )


I got this one from my Pillsbury Cookbook... it sounded kind of weird, but I had all the stuff to make, so I did... and we loved it!

1 can of refrigerated pizza dough
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion (minced)
1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp of minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup of salsa
1/2 cup of grape jelly ( I know weirdness, huh?)
2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray. Unroll pizza dough and push it into the pan so it fits. (If it tears then mend it together, no biggie) Bake the crust for 8 - 10 minutes.

In a skillet brown your ground beef with the onions and jalapeno.

Stir in mustard, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salsa, and jelly into beef mixture. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened.

Spread the beef mixture over the partially cooked dough and sprinkle with cheese. Throw that back in the oven for 8 more minutes until cheese is melted and crust is browned. Let stand for a few minutes before you cut into slices.

It's kind of sweet and spicy. Surprisingly delicious and easy!