BLT Dip

I seem to be blogging in 3's this year!  Last time I blogged I had 3 posts in one day and I appear to be doing it again today!  Today's recipes have all been very simple with not many ingredients or steps.  This last post is no exception.

Today was a Food Day at work.  Lovingly known as "Pig Out Day" because that is literally what we do - pig out and eat all day!!  It's a good thing we don't do those often and it's also a good thing we're starting Live Healthy Iowa on Monday!  I dug out an old recipe for BLT Dip; super quick, super easy.

Here are the ingredients:

Not sure why they are all upside down but it's 1 cup each of sour cream, mayonnaise, shredded cheddar cheese and tomatoes.  All mixed up with 6 strips of cooked, crumbled bacon.

I took along Chicken in a Biskit crackers and Sundried Tomato Basil Wheat Thins.  It went over well so I wanted to share with all of you, as well.  Enjoy!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/quick-blt-dip

 

Thin Mint Smoothie

If you're like me, one of the perfect combinations is mint and chocolate.  So when I found a recipe for Thin Mint Smoothie, I was so excited!!  Mint + Chocolate + A List of Healthy'ish Ingredients = Win-Win!!  

Weeeeeell, I'll admit, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  So let's jump in and see what we got...


Before:

Maple syrup, spinach, ice cubes, almond milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, fresh mint and Greek yogurt

During:

After:

ok - let's break this down and see what the issues were:
            I initially noticed that the freshness of the mint was very noticeable - not incredibly bad but it stood out more than I was expecting
            The original recipe called for dark chocolate chips but I had dairy-free/soy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips on hand so I used them.  This could have created a 2-fold issue.  1 - it wasn't the chocolate flavor the recipe was tested with (and got such great reviews) and 2 - the blending of the mint and chocolate might have been better with dark chocolate.
            When I blended it, I put some ice cubes in first then added the other ingredients and ended with the rest of the cubes on top.  It was a little hard on my blender.  DH rescued me but whatever my thought process was, it didn't pan out!

Then there's this - 

How do you stop the chocolate chips from glumping in the bottom of your cup?!


So I drank one cup the first night and put the rest in the fridge to finish the next day.  The next day the taste was blander than the day before and I could only handle half of it.

I was disappointed because I thought smoothies might be a good way to help accomplish my eating healthy goal.  So what's your favorite smoothie recipe?  Share away and maybe I'll do a series on smoothies!

Here is the link to the original blog, which includes a Nutrition Facts panel:
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Thin-Mint-Smoothie-35269116?crlt.pid=camp.G2I8cJ4wSuqV
 
 

Italian Chicken Bake

They say time flies when you're having fun!  It must be true; I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted.

So I tried a new chicken recipe.  It was yummy!  I don't know that my kids completely agree but they were troopers and didn't complain.

It's super easy and only 4 ingredients!

Without further ado:

Put chicken breasts in a glass baking dish.  The original recipe called for actual chicken breasts but all I could find was chicken breast tenders and they worked good.

Next spread each piece with pesto.  The jar is a little blurry but I used Classico Traditional Basil Pesto.

 
 Then slice Roma tomatoes and put on top.  Since my chicken pieces were smaller, I halved my slices.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese

And bake!  They were really good and I liked the left-overs even better!


http://www.thepinningmama.com/2014/09/21/easy-dinner-recipe-italian-chicken-bake/

Bacon Double Cheese Dip

The other Pinterest project I did this weekend was a bacon double cheese dip.  Can't go wrong there, right?!

The base of the dip is these two ingredients:

Add a couple bags of your favorite cheese (I used Colby-Jack)

After adding bacon and green onions, you cook in crockpot on low for 3 hrs.

Here's the appliance picture for this post:

Honestly, the day I made it, we weren't overly thrilled.  It was a basic, yet good bacon cheesy dip.  

I have heated up left-overs today and it's much better re-heated!!

Bacon Double Cheesy Dip w/chips, meat/cheese/crackers and fruit

Ingredients

• 8 slices of bacon -chopped and cooked crispy
• 2 8oz bricks of cream cheese-softened
• 1 cup mayo or plain greek yogurt
• 2 8 oz pkgs of favorite shredded cheese (we used swiss and sharp cheddar)
• 2 green onions-finely chopped

Instructions

1. Beat together cream cheese and mayo (or yogurt)
2. Stir in shredded cheeses
3. Add remaining ingredients, reserving a little bacon to top with at the end.
4. Cook on low for 3 hours or until hot and smooth.
5. Garnish with reserved bacon.
6. Serve with chips and crackers.

http://recipesthatcrock.com/bacon-double-cheese-dip/#_a5y_p=2432903

 

 

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

My first planned Pinterest project of the new year was these white chocolate lemon truffles.  We had a family gathering with my extended family the Saturday after New Year's.  It was kind of our Christmas gathering but we stopped actually exchanging gifts long ago and we just enjoy spending time together.  So I decided to make these truffles.  Never mind that one of my new year's goals is to eat healthy ...

This is also the reason why I wanted a clean microwave ...

The first step is to melt white chocolate chips, butter and heavy cream.  You can use a double boiler but I just used my microwave.  I did it for 30 second spots, stirring in between. 

After adding a pinch of salt and some lemon extract you let it cool down a little then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 2 hrs.  And since I've shown you the in's and out's of my microwave, here's a picture of my refrigerator:

After 2 hrs you make 1" balls and toss them in some powdered sugar (you don't want them completely covered, just a dusting).

Pardon the blurry picture - DD took this picture - she loved helping with these!
 

 

They were so good, DH even requested a second batch to be made for him to take to work!  Success!! 

And they are Easy-peasy, Lemon-Squeezy!  Sorry - couldn't resist!

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate
• 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions:

1. Melt chocolate, butter and cream over a double boiler or in a microwave. Stir until smooth.
2. Stir in salt and extract. Allow to cool slightly before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm enough to handle.
3. With a melon baller or small spoon scoop out mixture and form into 1 inch balls. Toss with icing sugar to coat.
4. Store covered in the fridge for up to one week. Freeze for longer storage.

http://fattaincassa.blogspot.ru/2014/04/white-chocolate-lemon-truffles.html

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  It's been a couple month since I've blogged.  I hope your holiday season was a blessed one!  Ours was good.  I didn't have many Pinterest projects to blog about, though so it was a quite one, blog-wise.  

Since the new year began, however, I have done 3 different Pinterest projects and I can't wait to share them with you!  The first one came about out of necessity before doing another project.

So without further ado ... a super easy way to clean your microwave ...

First, before pictures:

In the measuring cup is 1 cup of vinegar.

Microwave for 2 mins - let sit for 5 mins.

And Wa-la!  Just a quick wipe and it's much better!

The  top was especially bad so it took some more elbow grease

Still not perfect but much improved.


One of my New Year's goals is to be more organized ... one thing I need to organize is my cleaning schedule.  Obviously, my microwave needs to be included in this!


Here's the original blog it came from:

http://www.classyclutter.net/2013/06/how-to-clean-a-microwave.html