Pumpkin Dip with Gingerbread Chips

"I have the biggest sweet tooth. After the holidays, I gotta start working out."

The above quote is so true for many of us... including myself sometimes. However, I recently stumbled upon a recipe that's healthy, tasty and festive.  I'm currently at my best friend Amanda's house (you may remember her from 2 prior posts here and here) and she had some of the Stacy's gingerbread pita chips which are amazing!!!  She had read about a recipe for pumpkin dip on Pinterest (we're slightly addicted to that site).  So we decided to experiment and try it out for ourselves.  The result was an amazing, quick and cheap dip that's perfect for the holidays.  Not only will it save you some calories but it will also save you some cash to spend a little more on that someone special.  While the dip was good we did say it would also be great if you cut the cool whip in half and added a block of cream cheese instead.  As is it is a little sweet (great if you're looking to satisfy the sweet tooth) but the cream cheese might help balance out the sweetness.  Enjoy!

Life Changes = Cooking Changes

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton

For those of you who don't know me personally I've had a huge job change recently.  So I apologize that I have not posted on here in a while. Almost a month ago I took a job teaching high school science.  So far it has been a wonderful experience in which I've been able to use my college degree.  However, for those of you who are not teachers I had no clue how much work a teacher puts in to their job.  I now appreciate every teacher I had and the 12 - 15 hours a day they would sometimes put in to teach me.  With this job change I've also lost a lot of my free time in the evenings.  The times I would use to cook before are now spent grading papers and making lesson plans.  So along with this job change I've also had a change in my cooking.  I have gone from spending two hours cooking each night to learning to throw together quick meals.  So my posts will also reflect this from here on out. Some of you are cheering because you also need quick easy meals and others of you may be a bit disappointed because you love the challenge that an involved meal brings with it.  I agree with both of these sides, I love the challenge of an involved meal but I definitely need the convenience.  So while most of my weekday posts will be quick convenient meals I am still making meals that involve a little bit more of a challenge on the weekend.  I hope you'll follow along with me in this adventure of cooking and teaching.  I can't wait!  Here's my first super simple crockpot recipe below.

Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice

“Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook”

For those of you who know my husband (Shale) and I, you probably know that both of us have a passion for those who are non-Christians and/or struggling with extreme poverty.  We both have friends in India that are missionaries and we get updates weekly on some of the extreme situations there.  In fact one of my friends recently told me there are more orphaned and abandoned children on the streets of Bombai, India than there are people in the city of Tampa.  That means approximately more than 340,000 children on the streets of one city.  I can only imagine what that is like.  I tell you all this to share with you an idea that we recently came up with.  He was talking about how the people of India mainly eat rice and beans every day (cheap) and how we could also do that one night a week so that we might be able to have a little more money in our budget to share with those in need. It was a great idea and to be honest you can easily make a pot of rice and beans to feed 6 people that doesn't cost you any more than $5 total.  Plus if you use brown rice it is a healthy, protein and whole grain meal.  So my goal is to try out different rice and bean recipes each week which I will also share with you along with a quick update from some friends in India on their different needs.  I know there is such extreme poverty over there they could definitely use our prayers and thoughts, since we have all been so blessed in the US.  So here's the first recipe it is a super simple black bean and rice recipe that is delicious!

Salsa Grilled Chicken

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

Russel Baker

Cute Beach Tote

This recipe is the perfect summer recipe and I have to admit it was one of those that I just completely stumbled upon.   I was cleaning out my freezer the other night (I make and freeze a lot of stuff) and came across a huge pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I needed to cook.  I looked in the pantry and new I wanted to make something that had a bit of lime in it so I threw this concoction together and it turned out wonderfully!  I made it along with a big crock pot full of black beans and rice (recipe coming tomorrow) and it made an amazing dinner!  The color of the chicken is gorgeous and the flavor just perfect for a summer cookout!  Most of the ingredients you probably have in your pantry except maybe the Sazon.  However, if you haven't ever used Sazon I highly encourage it.  A few years back when I was in college I became best friends with Erika.  Erika is Cuban and began to teach me how to make some amazing food.  In one of her grandmothers Picadillo recipes it called for Sazon.  That was my first experience with this fabulous Spanish spice.   Not only does it deliver great flavor but it turns everything a beautiful orange color.  It is great in everything from rice and beans to chicken or beef.  If you're anything like me you're probably intimidated by new spices (one reason I still haven't posted an Indian recipe on here... curry completely intimidates me).  However, with this spice I encourage you to throw all caution to the wind and try it.  It's mild enough that it won't ruin your meal but the color is so beautiful it will definitely pump up the appeal factor. 

Tuesday's Tip...Eating Seasonally

 Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James

I love eating vegetables and fruits in season.  Not only are they more affordable but they always seem to taste sweeter, fresher and look better.  It is probably because I live in Florida where seasonal vegetables grow in abundance but I just honestly don't feel like a strawberry shipped from out of state tastes the same as a strawberry grown in season in Florida.  Sorry I think I'm a little biased because while I would trade you the Florida heat any day I definitely wouldn't trade the Florida produce farms!  Recently I was browsing RealSimple.com (one of my favorite magazines/websites) and found this amazing article on produce that I just had to share.  Due to the fact that I do not want to steal anyone's information you can find the article by clicking here.  They also have some amazing recipes for each ingredient!!

Goat Cheese + Chicken = A Recipe I Can't Wait To Try

I LOVE goat cheese and I LOVE chicken and I LOVE Barefoot Contessa and this is her recipe, so what's not to love about this recipe?!?!  When I found it on the Food Network website I knew I had to share it with you.  I can't wait to try it out and let you know how it is!!!  I'm thinking it would go great with a baguette, a salad, and maybe even some grilled asparagus.  If you try it before me let me know how it is...

Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese
recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com
By Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 ounce sherbed goat cheese, with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet.
Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.
Cut 12 thick slices of the herbed goat cheese and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast.
Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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A healthy recipe I can't wait to try... egg muffins???

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
John Gunther





Sometimes I find recipes in the most bizarre places.  This one was on a Facebook photo with a link to the recipe from healthy recipes.  I can't wait to try it out!  I don't know about you but my morning breakfasts are pretty boring and predictable to be honest.  I usually get stuck in a rut of a bowl of oatmeal or an egg white omlette so when I find something that is different and sounds delicious I absolutely have to try it out.  This one is great because it is low in carbs and super high in protein (sounds like a great after workout snack Bethany!).  They use green onions in their muffins but I'm thinking sundried, bell peppers, mushrooms, anything you love!  I'm also thinking of trying them with egg whites for a lighter points value... I'll update with new recipes as I work them out!  Plus I read that you can pop them in the fridge and heat them as you need them. Since I have to wake up at 5 am in order to workout before work this is a definite must, and yes I do workout mainly because this blog would make me a fatty if not :)!!!  On a side note how cute is this little turquoise table area?  I would LOVE having my quiet time/breakfast here every morning.  Suffice it to say... I'm jealous!  Oh well, enough babbling from me... here's the recipe!

Tuesday's Tip plus baked Zucchini Fries and Marsala Turkey Burger

Cookies are made of butter and love.  ~Norwegian Proverb

Today's tip is very simple and concerns cookies.  Now I'm not sure if you're like me but when I make cookies I cannot keep them at home after I make them.  If I do I will eat them all so most of the time I'll take them to work, or the husband will take them to work, or we'll take them to our Bible study groups on Sunday morning.  However, a few months back I learned a great tip for storing and shipping cookies... bread!  Now if you've heard of it you know what I'm talking about and if you haven't heard of it then you probably think I'm crazy.  Either way next time you make a batch of cookies when you put it in your Tupperware to store until later pop in a piece of bread.  It will keep the cookies moist and tasting like they just came out of the oven.  This is a great use of the heel of the bread!  If it doesn't work for you feel free to message back but I promise it is one of the best tips I think I've ever learned.  Now on to some recipes!!!  Last night I found lean ground turkey breast on sale and decided to cook up some quick turkey burgers.  I also had some zucchini in the fridge but I was craving something a little crunchy so I mixed a few things together and found 2 winning recipes.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

A recipe I can’t wait to try… Strawberry-Avocado Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

A girl told me my lips looked like somebody had pressed strawberry yogurt against my face.

Katherine Heigl quotes 

I love chips and salsa.  I mean to the point where my husband makes fun of me.  In fact if you asked me my comfort food I would probably that it’s tortilla chips with melted cheese and salsa.  I try not to eat it that much because I really can’t stop.  I love them.  So when I came across this creative recipe for unique chips and salsa from Cooking Light I knew I had to share it with you.  I can’t wait to try it… in fact I may just have to stop and pick up the ingredients on the way home from church today so I can make it. However, I may be making a few changes like using non-stick spray on the tortillas instead of oil and using high fiber tortillas as I’m doing weight watchers right now and want to bring the points value down a little bit.  In case you’re wondering current the recipe (as is) has a points plus value of 4.  Along with being great it sounds like a wonderful summer party appetizer.  So without further ado… here’s a great recipe idea. 

A few of my favorite things right now... (food wise)

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things"

I just had to use the song as a quote because as I was typing the title this song immediately popped into my head.  I don't know about you, but I go through "phases" with my foods.  I'll get really hooked on one thing that I love and I'll eat it until I don't want to eat it any more.  Sometimes this is healthy, for example I went through an egg-white omelet stage where I made on for breakfast every morning.  Other times it's not so healthy, for example the little love affair I had with cheeze-its for a while was not healthy.   Try as I may I find myself constantly falling into patterns where I really love some foods.  Most of the time it's a seasonal food thing, which helps because I can eat it until it is out of season and then still want some by the time another year comes around.  I thought for this post I'd share with you some of my favorites right now.

10 Recipes Every Newlywed Needs to Know

Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths.  No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. 

Mark Twain

I love this turquoise/yellow wedding

I'm celebrating my first anniversary today!  It is so crazy to think how fast a year flew by.  Before getting married I had this thought (actually we should probably call it an illusion) that I would cook a new dish for dinner every night, keep an immaculate house, decorate, spend time with the husband and still have time for things like running, working, friends, etc...  Sadly in about month 6 of our marriage I realized this was definitely not going to happen.  At that point I had a basket of laundry to do, the floor needed to be vacuumed, I didn't feel like cooking and couldn't remember the last time I had ran.  It was then that I realized married life wasn't the clean houses I saw when I went over to visit someone (because they shoved everything in the closet before hand), it wasn't the elaborate dinners (because really they had picked it up at the local restaurant before hand), it wasn't a perfectly designed house (because they had hired an interior decorator for that) or the relaxed feeling I felt when around the couple.  Actually it may have been the relaxed feeling but that was mainly because the wife (or husband) had taken the advice in the parenthesis above so really they were just chilling.

Turquoise/Orange Inspiration

Joking aside though I did come to realize that marriage is more than living up to these standards I had set in my head.  Marriage was loving someone, serving together, standing side by side, and (for those who are a Christian like me) bringing God glory in all you do.  I quickly learned that in reality the laundry could wait until tomorrow, the house would always need something else dusted, decorating is a lifetime project, and some nights it's ok to order in.  I do have to say though in regards to cooking there were a few amazing dishes that really helped me get through this first year of marriage.  If you know me you know I love experimenting with different dishes but every now and then even I have to have those standby recipes to fall back on when everything else fails.  So for those of you who are newlyweds, write these down! For the rest of you who already have your recipe "repertoire" why not consider adding some of these.  I promise they are delicious, filling and always seem to please both the husband, guests, and myself.

What's for dinner...

"A salad is a waste of a full"

Love this handmade wreath!

Yes the above quote is my husband's. This has been his quote he has lived by for as long as I've known him. His mentality is "if I'm going to get full I'd rather get full off of meat and potatoes than off of salad". However, in an effort for both of us to eat healthier he did recently agree to eat salad if I made it and it didn't "taste gross". So I'm taking full advantage of that tonight and making a modified version of a Weight Watcher's Salad mixed with a Cooking Light chicken recipe for the grilled chicken on top. The Weight Watchers salad sounded delicious but my husband and I both do not care for mayonnaise. Actually, that's probably an understatement, the husband hates mayonnaise. To the point where one of the guys in his bible study he teaches once put mayonnaise underneath the door handle to his car so he grabbed it when he opened the door, lets just say he was pretty mad. However, I recently made a recipe that substituted sour cream for mayonnaise so that is how I made this salad tonight. As for the grilled chicken on top, the other night I made the original full recipe for Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa by cooking light and the chicken turned out delicious and was so simple.  I wanted to add some protein to the salad so I figured combining them was the perfect way to complete the meal.  It was delicious and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Growing herbs to use in dishes...

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

Proverbs 15:17 

If you have been cooking for any length of time you probably know that a love for cooking can be a very expensive endeavor.  Being a newly wed and having to share a budget for the first time I have discovered this firsthand.  However,  there are some ways you can save money on your groceries.  As for me I use coupons (I'll be doing a post about this soon), stock up on meat when it's on sale, and try to come up with creative meals that use what I already have.  However, one of the things that I have found myself spending a lot of money on lately is fresh herbs.  Buying fresh herbs from the supermarket can be very expensive especially since they don't last very long.  While dried herbs can add the flavor there is something about fresh herbs that I just love.  So my newest challenge for myself is going to be to plant an herb garden on the very small porch of our condo.  Growing up my mom always had a huge garden every year where we would get everything from beans and lettuce to corn and okra.  Unfortunately I do not have the space to cultivate all of my veggies but I thought I'd start with the easier herb garden.  So for today I thought I'd share some inspirational photos, tips on planting herbs for your area and get some feedback on success and failures you've had with gardening.

Below are some beautiful herb gardens that would in no way, shape or form fit on my porch but they are so gorgeous they inspire me to start a garden.  I would love to just wander through one of these dreaming up new recipes!

A Healthier Muffin

"How can you sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."
"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them." 

- Oscar Wilde from the Importance of Being Earnest

I must start by saying that contrary to the above quote if you would like these muffins to be healthy you must refrain from adding butter to them.  However, these muffins are so moist I do not think that butter is needed.  When I travel I have one habit that really makes my flight so enjoyable.  Before I leave I stop by the airport bookstore and buy a book that requires absolutely no thought.  On a flight I don't want to read something that requires me to analyze the way I act, change my diet or attitude, or cause me to cry over the state in which our world exists.  If I'm already going to have to go through an outrageous security line, endure sitting next to an absolute stranger, and feel cramped (I have long legs) for the next several hours I at least want to read something that is mindless.  I love reading a really great fiction story that can transport me to another place and time.  The book I picked up wasn't my favorite but definitely had the best layout of any book I've seen.  The book was called How to Bake A Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal and everything from the turquoise cover (we know how I love that color) to the fact that almost every chapter was finished with a recipe made me absolutely ecstatic with the layout.  I mean why haven't they combined fiction and recipes before this?  So when I saw the book I read about 2 sentences regarding what it was about and bought it.  My thought process was even if the book is awful I can still use the recipes. 

A semi-healthy Italian dinner

La scoperta di un piatto nuovo è più preziosa per il genere umano che la scoperta di una nuova stella.
Brillat- Savarin

(The discovery of a new dish is more precious to human beings than the discovery of a new star)

Kate Spade Gwinnett Lane Line

I absolutely adore this fine china line by Kate Spade and Lennox. Perfect for serving up beautiful dishes like the one I'm about to share. I love Italian food but unfortunately I've found that many Italian dishes can be very heavy or fattening so I try to stick to the ones that contain a vegetable based sauce such as marinara or pomodoro sauce. However, I was recently searching for new recipes and came across one in which the sauce was made of spinach. Now before you go and close out this post read the rest because the recipe really turned out beautifully. It is a great way to sneak in some extra veggies while being absolutely delicious, and we could all stand to add a little more spinach to our diet. One of my close friends, Bethany, who knows her health stuff recently posted that we wouldn't need to take any extra vitamins if we would just eat spinach everyday. Spinach is a great nutritional addition just check out the amazing quantity of vitamins at the bottom of this post (courtesy of http://www.nal.usda.gov/ nutritional index). Along with the healthy part of the dinner I also decided to make something a little unhealthy. Lately I've been trying my hand at baking breads and I am currently in the process of making a sourdough starter. I was hoping to make sourdough bread tonight but unfortunately my starter wasn't quite ready so instead I tried out a simple baguette recipe I had found. The bread and pasta turned out perfect and the bread was surprisingly much larger than I expected. Both of the recipes are very cheap which goes to show that you really can save money by making simple things like bread at home. So here's to a night of both healthy and unhealthy dishes. I know these will be in my permanent rotation of fall-back-meals and I hope they become part of yours also.

A Recipe I can't wait to try - Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Cilantro is one of those foods that people either love or hate. 

How true is this statement?!?!  It seems as if most everyone either hates Cilantro or loves it, there is no in between.  For me, I absolutely love it.  I could eat it in most anything and can toss lettuce with cilantro and a little lime juice and consider it the best salad I ever had.  So for those of you who hate it you may not want to continue reading as this recipe boasts Cilantro as a main ingredient.  For those of you like me who love Cilantro grab a napkin as you may need to wipe the drool off your face.  I stumbled across this recipe on a tweet from the cooking light magazine.  It is a healthy recipe that could even be modified for even lower carbs by serving it on lettuce and make the avocado cream into a dressing.   It sounds like a light, fresh meal, perfect for summer.  By the way I'm on my way to New York and I'll be going on a food tour while I'm there - jealous yet?  I can't wait and plan on posting the best dishes and where they're from so be on the lookout fun posts to come.  Have a wonderful week!

A recipe I can't wait to try - Light Chicken Potpie

"Food is the most primitive form of comfort" - Sheila Graham

cute Etsy travel mug!

I love chicken potpie.  There is just something so comforting about such a warm filling dish.  However, after I eat a chicken potpie I usually do not feel so comforted anymore.  The calorie content seems to flash before my eyes right before the guilt settles in.  So when this light chicken pot pie recipe came up in my twitter feed I knew I couldn't wait to try it.  I haven't gotten a chance to attempt it yet but I knew I had to share this.  While the nutritional information may not make it the newest recipe recommendation on Biggest Looser it definitely allows me to feel better about a "once in a while" indulgence of something I love.  Many thanks to Food Network for coming up with this recipe! I hope you enjoy cooking up a great dish of this for an easy evening at home filled with great comfort food.

Tuesday's Tip - What to buy organic?

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?  ~Author Unknown



grow your own organic veggies
with this cool veggie holder



What a cute quote!  So my question/tip for the day is do you buy organic food?  I know some people who are all organic and others who are only organic fruits and veggies and even more that are only organic "products" (such as hair care and makeup).  I however do think that there are some things that taste better to me if they are organic, such as eggs and milk, but I am not a total organic girl.  However, one of the best tips I've found yet is that there are some things you should buy organic and some you shouldn't.  I came across this great list of the "dirty dozen" of fruits and veggies.  Basically these fruits and veggies really hold on to pesticides (some are obvious as to why - strawberry seeds) so you should attempt to buy these organic whenever possible.  Another good rule of thumb is if it has a peel (bananas, mangoes, avocado, etc...) you don't need to spend the extra money, after all the peel protects the fruit from the pesticides.

Greek dinner with friends

“I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".”

 - Mitch Hedberg

Ok so the quote has absolutely nothing to do with this post but it made me laugh so hard that I had to use it!  Yesterday we had two good friends come over for dinner, Kaylee and Jay.  We've been planning to get together with them for a while but never got around to it until now.  We decided the best thing to do would be to hang out at our house for dinner and walk over to this cute little gelato shop after for a sweet ending.  

Tuesday's Tip - Chicken Stock

"I love chicken. I would eat chicken fingers on Thanksgiving if it were socially acceptable. "

What a cute quote and I have to admit that I too love chicken.  Especially today, as I'm home sick and nothing sounds better than chicken noodle soup.  I don't have the energy to make a pot of it but I thought discussing chicken stock would be a great tip for today.  One of the best money saving tips I have learned in cooking so far is that of making your own stocks.  It is much cheaper to buy the whole chicken, use what you need for your meal and save the bones for a stock to be made at a later date.  Not only is it so much cheaper it is also a lot healthier, you can moniter the salt and fat amounts and adjust according to your diet.  Since learning this I don't throw anything away.