Tomato Cucumber Salad

I love tomatoes and cucumbers! ... and broccoli, and mushrooms, and zucchini; Ok, I love most vegetables! This is a quick and easy salad, perfect for summer! I love cold raw vegetables in the summer, they are so refreshing!
Tomorrow we are heading to the lake for a couple days; our last hurrah before going back to work and school. I feel like I've worked the entire summer so it's a little sad going back to work. I really enjoy my job though, I can't wait to catch up with my students and co-workers!

Ingredients
1 large cucumber, peeled and diced
3-4 tomatoes, diced
1/8 cup oil
1/8 cup vinegar
Salt and pepper

Ingredients
Whisk the oil and vinegar until it emulsifies into a smooth sauce. Salt and pepper to taste and add the tomatoes and cucumbers. Personally, I like a lot of salt on my tomatoes. Store in the refrigerator, the salad is best chilled. I have a friend who adds a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the sauce!

Diet Jello Whipped Cream

My blog is making me fat! I am always thinking about food... What am I making for dinner? What new recipes did my blog friends post? What produce is in season? What dessert sounds good? Ahhh!!!

I have put on a solid 10 pounds this summer, yikes! School starts in just a couple weeks and I am afraid my teacher clothes will be tight. I need to lose around 60 pounds in the next two weeks! Oh alright, I will settle for losing the 10 summer pounds I put on, hows that?
My rules:

• Breakfast- a piece of fruit and a handful of Crunchy Corn Bran cereal (my absolute favorite cereal)
  
• Lunch- Soup or salad
  
• Dinner- Lean meats and vegetables
• Baked goods must CEASE NOW. I will only bake to give away!
• Increase exercise
  

So, you will notice some healthier recipes coming up... I will still be posting yummy recipes too, just not eating a second helping of them!
My sister-in-law Cheryl has always been skinny but is a perpetual dieter (it makes sense... constant dieting=skinny... but people like me never seem to catch on). Cheryl has talked about this diet Jello Whipped Cream dessert throughout the years but I never thought to try it. What was I thinking?!! This dessert is SO good and it really satisfies that sweet tooth urge! At around 20 calories for a 1/2 cup it is practically guilt free as well!
Ingredients
1 (3.9 ounce) package of sugar-free Jello gelatin or pudding (pick your favorite flavor)
1 (8 ounce) tub of the lowest calorie Whipped Cream or Cool Whip you can find

Directions
Empty the jello powder directly into the tub of whipped cream and stir well. Put the whipped cream tub back in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to allow the jello crystals to be absorbed.
Note- If you use Jello gelatin the dessert will be foam like. If you use Jello pudding the dessert will be mousse like. This picture really shows the difference in texture between the gelatin and pudding, see how the brown chocolate pudding looks thicker? I had a difficult time taking a picture because someone kept getting in the way...

Blue Cheese Dressing

This dressing is amazing! It's especially good served over a wedge of Iceberg lettuce with tomatoes, it tastes just like Lone Star's Signature Lettuce Wedge Salad! This recipe is definitely a make again keeper!
So, we've had our cat for 4 weeks now. She has been such a great addition to our family, she is so sweet and easy to take care of. We ironically saw a mouse the same week we got our cat. The mouse has reappeared a couple times since then and our cat is scared of the mouse! So my only complaint about our cat is that I wish she would have the guts to go catch it, I want that mouse out of my house!

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip, it has to be mayonnaise)
1/4 cup buttermilk (I use lowfat)
1/4 cup sour cream (I use light)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup-1/2 cup Blue Cheese crumbles

Directions
Whisk everything but the Blue Cheese crumbles together in a bowl. When everything is well combined stir in the Blue Cheese crumbles. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Chicken Wellington Wreath

It's been forever since I've posted, I know! As a teacher I am always going back to school and working on my certification; I had an enormously important test on Saturday that I spent the week studying for. I won't get my results for four weeks but I am pretty sure I passed it, woohoo! So I am back to cooking, at least for now... school starts soon and I don't even want to talk about the havoc the first couple weeks of school will wreck on our dinners.. McDonalds.. Taco Bell.. whatever is in the fridge that isn't growing mold. Let's not go there quite yet! This wreath looks impressive but is actually very simple. You can fill it with whatever you want, I just thought Chicken Wellington sounded yummy!

Ingredients
2 (8 oz.) packages of Crescent Rolls
2 cups torn chunks of cooked chicken
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced onions
4 ounces chopped mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Salt and Pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 egg beaten

Directions
First make the filling by melting the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, mushrooms, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute until onions are translucent and the mushroom liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese, chicken, and Dijon mustard. Now for the wreath! Open one can of the crescent rolls. With wide end of triangles toward the center, arrange 8 triangles in a circle. Corners of the wide ends will touch, it should look like a sun. Now open the other roll and match wide end of the remaining 8 triangles to the wide end of each outer triangle. Press seams together with fingers. Points of inside the circle should overlap in the center. Grab the filling and scoop the mixture onto dough over seams of crescent rolls forming a ring. Fold over crescent dough alternating outside and inside points, tucking ends under. Now you've got a nice ring or wreath shape. Brush it with beaten egg. This helps give it that glossy golden color and extra crispness to the crust. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. See how beautiful that egg made the crust. Now it's time to dig in!

Crawfish Etouffee

Jame and Jen Dish posted this Crawfish Etouffee recipe and I thought it looked amazing! I hadn't ever had crawfish or etoufee before, and I've only eaten Creole food once or twice in my life. So, the flavors of this recipe were totally out of my comfort zone. Everyone only ate a couple bites and came to the same conclusion... interesting, but not for us. This was the only new recipe I made this week, so we were disappointed. I've just been enjoying my summer and cooking our favorites. We've also been eating Morningstar Farms BBQ Riblets Sandwiches, which are meatless veggie patties. They are delicious, addicting, and good for you (they taste just like McDonald's McRibs)!

Ingredients
1 pound of fresh or frozen, peeled and cooked crawfish tails. (You can get them frozen at Walmart)
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of butter
1 large onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped bell peppers
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of butter
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of sliced green onions
1/4 cup of snipped fresh parsley
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
Hot cooked rice

Directions
In a saucepan stir together the flour and 1/4 cup of butter until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook and stir for another 5-8 minutes or until roux has turned a brownish red. Add onion, celery, sweet pepper and garlic to sauce pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
Now add 1 tablespoon of butter, stir until melted. Stir in water, green onions, parsley, salt, pepper and the ground red pepper (cayenne). Bring to a boil. Add crawfish. Return to boil, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for another 10-12 minutes or until heated through. Serve with hot cooked rice. Garnish with parley if desired.

Sauteed Mushrooms

I am a huge mushroom fan! I love mushrooms any way they are served but they are especially good when sauteed! I eat these all by themselves and they are yum-o-licious!
I saw a trailer for the new movie Julie & Julia and got so excited! You have to watch this trailer! I could swear this was a movie about me, I am Julie Powell! I was once lost and found myself through my cooking! You see, I went from being a child living with my parents to being married and having my own child. There wasn't time for any self exploration or hobbies. So, as you can imagine... as my boys grew older and needed me less and less I became more and more lost. I had no idea what to do in my newly acquired free time. I decided that I needed a hobby, everyone needs a hobby! I've always enjoyed cooking so it seemed natural that I start a cooking blog. I didn't start my cooking blog because I wanted people to read it, I started it for me and my family. As I post recipes I imagine my boys one day making them for their own families! It's like my own personal cooking scrapbook, I love it!

Ingredients
1 pound large white mushrooms, cut into quarters
2/3 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions
Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to coat mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms turn brown and start to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Takes approximately 10-15 minutes. Drain excess butter and serve immediately.

Beefy Bean Burritos

For the past 3 weeks I have made these, we store the leftover burritos in the fridge and within a couple days they're gone! Everyone loves these burritos and it is rare that I find a dinner everyone gets excited about and fights over the leftovers! I modify Heidi's Brown Bag Burritos recipe to make these, they really do taste like Taco Bell's Beef and Bean Combo Burritos! I think everyone should make these, total cost is around $6 and they take 15 minutes to make... perfect for the working mom!

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I get the leanest I can find)
1 can refried beans
1 can enchilada sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (a dash)
1 bag (2 cups) shredded colby/jack cheese
10 large flour tortillas

Directions
Brown and drain meat. Add all ingredients, but tortillas. Stir the mixture and heat to a simmer/boil. Put about 1/2 cup of the mixture in each flour tortilla, fold the tortillas into burritos, and serve. Store the extra burritos in a Ziploc in the refrigerator. To reheat the cold burritos microwave them for 30 seconds, flip, 30 seconds. They are just as good reheated as they are fresh!

Piña Colada

I love Piña Coladas! This was our drink of choice for the 4th of July and I will be serving it tonight for our Big Brother kick-off party! We are obsessed with the reality TV show Big Brother on CBS! I don't know if it's really that interesting of a show or if it's because there aren't any other TV shows on during the summer but every July we get excited and tune in to watch what happens. A new season starts tonight, then new episodes will be on every Sunday (7:00 central), Tuesday (8:00 central), and Thursday (7:00 central).

Ingredients
1/8 cup silver/white rum (or 1/8 cup pineapple juice for virgin Piña Colada)
1/3 cup Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 cup ice

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and mix!
The Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut can be hard to find, but it's usually kept with the drink mixers. Here's what it looks like. Abby fell asleep in my shoe while we were playing cards at the kitchen table. She follows us everywhere, isn't she cute!

Szechuan Shrimp

This was an easy recipe that Andrew made all by himself! We really enjoy shrimp, but this was a little too spicy for my taste. At dinner Abbott said "Mom, I think you are an edgetarian". I thought he was trying to say "vegetarian" so I asked him what it meant. He said "you know when you are just at the edge of the cliff before you go over". Ha! I guess he really was trying to call me an "edgetarian". I have no idea what he was implying?! Maybe it's because I've been stressed today so that's his way of telling me I am about to go off the deep end, lol!

Ingredients
12 ounces large shrimp, tails removed
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup green onions, sliced (we omitted this)
4 garlic cloves, minced

Directions
In a small bowl mix together water, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch, honey, crushed red pepper flakes and ginger. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add green onions and garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add shrimp and toss to coat with oil. Pour in sauce. Heat while sitting until sauce is thick and bubbly.

Cookie Dough Pie

When I saw this recipe on the Big Red Kitchen blog I knew I had to try it! It's just an interesting concept, frozen Chips Ahoy cookies?! Well, this was the easiest dessert I've ever made, it only takes a couple minutes to put together and it really does taste like cookie dough! My first grade niece was able to make this pie all by herself! I think it would be fun to try different cookies like Nutter Butter or Oreo. My sister-in-law tried an Oreo version, she said it was yummy but difficult to cut.

Ingredients
15.25 ounce package Chips Ahoy Cookies- original kind
8 ounces Cool Whip
1-2 cups milk

Directions
Quickly dip cookies in milk, shake off excess liquid, and layer in 9 inch pie plate, breaking cookies to fill any gaps. Once the first layer is complete, top with a thin layer of Cool Whip. Repeat twice more making last layer of Cool Whip a bit thicker. Garnish with chocolate syrup if desired. Place in freezer 2-3 hours before serving and serve frozen. Note- You must dip quickly or your pie will be soggy. Make sure to shake off excess milk as well so that you do not have a puddle of milk in your pie. The final product will be like a soft cookie dough-like consistency. Oh, I almost forgot! We made an addition to our family on Monday... we finally gave in and let Abbott adopt a cat. Abbott named her "Abby" but also calls her "Abby Cat", I think he named her that because it resembles his name. If I would have known cats were this easy I would have adopted one years ago! She fits perfectly in our family, red hair and all!

Taco Pockets and Dip

There are a few foods that scare me to think about making like bread, cinnamon rolls, calzones... ok you caught me; I am terrified of yeast! It just seems so complicated and easy to mess up. So, when looking at the refrigerated cinnamon rolls I saw a long skinny tube called "thin-crust pizza dough". What a great find this was! I've wanted to try making calzones/hot pockets for a long time and this dough works perfectly! The possibilities are endless (and you will see my experiments coming soon) but my first pocket creation had to be Mexican of course, for my pepper bellied boys!

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 packet taco seasoning
1 small block of pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup salsa verde
1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
Chips for the dip

Directions
Brown the ground turkey, drain, and add the taco seasoning. Roll the pizza dough out onto your pan with non-stick foil or cooking spray. With a pizza cutter divide the dough into four sections. Spoon the meat onto the dough (about 1/2 a cup) and put a couple cuts of pepper jack cheese on top. Fold the ends of the dough over the meat and cheese. Use a fork to crimp the sides together. When they are all filled, folded, and crimped. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes or until browned. Now while the Taco Pockets are cooking... what to do with the leftover meat in your pan? Add the rest of your cheese and 1/2 a cup of salsa verde. Cook over medium-low heat until everything is melted. Serve this dip with some chips!

Potato Skins

Ok, so it isn't just the skins of the potato, it's the entire potato. Really, why would I waste the inside?! Instead of scooping out the insides I cut the whole potato into slices. These make a great snack but I also serve them as a potato side dish with dinner! Or... serve them with dinner but then continue to snack on them the rest of the night, yikes lol! The boys have abandoned me for a trip to Best Buy so I am watching a great chick flick (Because I Said So with Diane Keaton) and snacking. What is it with guys and Best Buy?!

Ingredients
4 russet potatoes
2 tablespoons oil
Salt and pepper
Colby-jack cheese
Bacon, cooked and diced
Green onions for garnish, optional
Sour cream, optional

Directions
Clean and scrub potatoes well. Slice the potatoes into 1/4" thick slices. Place the slices in a plastic bag with the oil and shake. Place the oiled potato slices on a lightly buttered baking sheet and season each side with salt and pepper. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes. Flip potatoes over and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the pan from oven and place a pinch of cheese and bacon on top of each potato slab. Return the pan to the oven and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Serve with green onions and sour cream, if desired.

Soft Sugar Cookies

***Dec 2011 Update*** I found another tutorial for these cookies on Jillie's Blog. The pictures Jillie posted of the done vs. overdone cookies are great! This is still my go to recipe for sugar cookies, they are the best! Back in October, I made 400 of them for my grandma's 60th birthday party! I used a 1M tip to pipe the frosting onto the cookies, I was trying to make them look like flowers but I got a bit sloppy frosting 400 cookies fast and furiously ,-)

***Oct 2010 Update*** I tried making these cookies using cookie cutters for Halloween and they were not as good (they were hard and tasted like normal sugar cookies... not Lofthouse)! You need to cut the cookie in a circle shape to keep the cookie soft! Also, don't let the cookies brown, pull them out of the oven as soon as they look cracked and flaky, this too will keep them soft! If you're looking for a cookie cutter sugar cookie recipe try my Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Sugar cookies are so much fun to make, and you can't eat a sugar cookie without smiling! Walmart has these amazing packaged sugar cookies by Lofthouse. They are so soft, they melt in your mouth, and they are the first cookie to disappear at potlucks. Have you had them? Well, I found this soft sour cream sugar cookie recipe and thought I would give it a try. I didn't have high expectations and I was a little put off by the sour cream the recipe called for; but, this recipe is an exact match to the Lofthouse packaged cookies! These cookies are AMAZING! So soft and melt in your mouth delicious!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients
1 cup shortening(I use Crisco)
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cookie Directions
Mix the shortening, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs together. Stir 4 1/2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Now, the dough works best if cooled, so refrigerate the dough (in the bowl no need to cover the bowl) for 45 minutes. Generously flour your counter top and roll out the cookies. I had to flour the dough as well to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin. Don't roll the dough too thin, I shoot for a little over 1/4" thick. Cut the cookies (I used the rim of a drinking glass to cut my cookies).

I was able to roll and cut 48 cookies total. Make sure you use non-stick foil or butter/flour your pan and bake them at 400 degrees until just barely light golden brown on the bottom, for me this was 9-10 minutes. After cookies have cooled you can frost and decorate.
Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients
2 pound bag powdered sugar (I added an additional cup to get the thicker consistency I wanted)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Food coloring, if desired

Frosting Directions
Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Generously frost the sugar cookies! Top with sprinkles for extra fun :-) Now, because I lost a bet... Justin, you are awesome! I never thought you would be able to frost a cookie using two colors, but you did it! You are a supreme decorator, so superb in fact that I think you should do all decorating from now on, lol :-P