Spanish Potato Hash and Egg Breakfast… For Dinner!

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So, the other morning my mom stopped by on her way to work to see the kids, as she frequently does. And… if she does NOT, my daughter is SURE to call Grama and remind her… she needs to stop by! 🙂

Anyway, my mom had stopped by and my little girl wanted to tell her a very sad story that her oldest cousin had told her. She says to my mom… “Grama, P told me that when they were driving her to visit… they say something on the road… and it’s so sad… they saw a dead PIMPLE on the road!!!”. I had to leave the room. Oh my word! HAHAHAHA! My mom, who has had much practice in not bursting out in inappropriate laughter when children say the wrong word for things, very sweetly says to my daughter: “oh, you mean a Pit Bull?”. My daughter, not missing much of a beat says “oh, yes, a Pit Bull…”. Ha! Pimple…

And now… as I giggle and smile to myself, I am going to finish this blog post with one of my husbands latest favorite meals. He chose this recipe for me to make, and it has honestly been one of his absolute FAVORITES. He even rationed the leftovers so he could have it for as many meals as possible! HA!

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INGREDIENTS
  • 2 large yukon gold potatoes, washed, peeled and diced
  • 2 small sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth – fat free and low sodium organic and free range
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup salsa (of your choice)
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 1-2 sweet mini peppers diced (if desired)
  • 1/2 lb to 1 lb. breakfast sausage
  • 1½ cups spinach
  • 1½ tsp lime juice
  • 1 avocado
  • 3 + eggs – depending on how many people are eating

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INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
  2. Start by cooking your sausage in a large skillet. While the meat is cooking, dice your potatoes, onions and veggies.
  3. Once the meat (sausage) is about cooked, add the potatoes, the diced onion, peppers and the cumin, paprika, garlic powder and chicken broth. Place the lid on top and let simmer (to cook the potatoes). Let simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are starting to soften.
  4. Add the spinach, salsa and the lime juice and toss until well incorporated. Create 3-4 wells in the mixture and crack an egg into each.
  5. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes depending on how runny you prefer your eggs. OR… put a splash of water in the skillet, put the lid onto the pan, and let the eggs cook to your desired done-ness.
  6. Remove from the oven and serve with slices of guacamole. You can also top with a bit of shredded cheese and some hot sauce as my husband did. 🙂

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ENJOY!

And now, for the quote of the day:

Chicken Tacos… All “Thai’d” Up!!!

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In my hiatus from this blog, I HAVE been cooking. I usually take 1-2 days per week where I do not do a lot of cooking… we eat leftovers, or eat at a Chipotle or Zoe’s or something… or MOES! 🙂 But… I definitely have been cooking. I have so many pictures of meals that I have made over the past couple of months, I’m trying to organize them and figure out which recipe that I wrote down, the pictures correspond to. Oops! It’s been a bit overwhelming around here lately, but in a definitely good way! I’m BACK though! I may take a hiatus here and there, but I will always return to share some new, fun, FRESH and whole ingredient recipes!!

So, I found a great Thai Chicken taco recipe, but they used a lot of peanut butter and peanuts in the recipe. I personally do not use either in my home… so this is my “re-vamped” peanut-free version. And… it’s DELICIOUS!!!! It has SO much flavor… seriously… BURSTING.

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Chicken Tacos – Thai’d Up

Serving Size – 3-4

Ingredients:
For Marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice – I juice some clementines I had in my fridge that worked PERFECTLY
1/4 cup Liquid Aminos OR Soy Sauce (low sodium)
2 tablespoons local honey
1 tablespoons grated FRESH ginger
1/2 lime, juiced
1/8 tsp cayenne powder
s&p to taste or preference

For Dipping Sauce:
2 tablespoon Sunflower Seed Butter (Or any nut butter of your choice)
2 tablespoon liquid aminos (as referenced above… you can also use soy sauce)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 tsp cayenne powder

For Thai’d Tacos:
4 large organic carrots, julienned
2 sweet mini red peppers, deseeded and sliced  thin
1 head of cabbage, pull 6-10 whole leaves, thinly slice or shred rest
5-6 chicken tenderloins
2 TB coconut oil
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper
Cilantro, limes wedges, sriracha sauce for topping

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Directions:
For marinade, combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, whisk, and add chicken tenderloins.  Cover and marinate as long as you can. I marinated for 30 minutes because I was a bit more rushed. You can even marinate overnight for even better results!! If needed, just marinate while you chop and julienne all of the veggies.

When ready to cook, heat the coconut oil in medium to large size skillet. Combine all ingredients for dipping sauce in a bowl and mix well.  Refrigerate sauce until ready to serve.  Remove chicken from marinade and cut into 1 inch cubes. Put chicken into the heated oil, along with the remaining marinade. Cook chicken until no longer pink (8-10 minutes) and when the chicken is about done, toss in the julienne carrots and the peppers and slightly toss until they are heated, but not soft. Assemble your Thai tacos with chicken, red pepper slices, shredded cabbage, dipping sauce, cilantro,and any other condiments of your choosing.  Enjoy!
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And now, for the quote of the day:

Latest Dishes… Some recipes I HAVEN’T changed… and they are awesome!

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So, I have taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging… and I thank you for still checking back for when I continue to blog!!!

I am now going to share a few recipes that I made during my hiatus that are AMAZING!! I am not against sharing other people’s amazing recipes, and telling you to check out their blog! It’s all about sharing and caring, right?! 🙂

About 2 weeks ago, I gave my husband a bit more opinion in what meals I made… usually I pick what sounds good, I cook it, he happily eats the food that I prepare. 🙂 This time, I let him pick out the meals i was going to shop for and prepare!! He was SOOO excited! And, the fun thing is… he picked things I normally wouldn’t! And… they were good!! There were a couple that I did not get adventurous with and so therefore, I did not change the recipe at all.. so, Please venture to their website and check them out!

  1. Bacon, Spaghetti Squash, and Parmesan Fritters
    These are seriously SOOO good! They get all nice and crispy on the outside, and gooey and cheesey on the inside. They are really filling too!! Check out the link here: Bacon Spaghetti Squash Parmesan Frittersspaghetti squash cakes, parmesan fritters, bacon fritters

  2. Easy Coconut Shrimp:
    I LOVE coconut shrimp. Usually I just order it at a restaurant and I’ve never even thought to attempt to make it at home… This was WAAAAY easier than I thought it was! It’s a bit of clean up, because you have to take a few steps to bread the coconut.. but it’s WORTH it!!! Give this easy recipe a try!  Easy Coconut Shrimp

This is the best coconut shrimp recipe I've tried and you won't believe how easy it is! A 30 minute recipe. sallysbakingaddiction.com

3. Loaded Sweet Potato Skins. YUM! DO you have some sweet potatoes sitting in your pantry and you don’t know what to do with them??? Give THESE a try! : Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

Simply Loaded Sweet Potato Skins - what a great snack or side for game day!

As I catch up on my blog, and get back “into the groove” of posting recipes 3-5 x per week… with our HOUSE ON THE MARKET… and HOMESCHOOLING!! HA! I will do my best to post as often as possible… in the mean time, check out those recipes!

Honey Sesame Glazed Chicken Wings – Baked!

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Earth Fare had a sale on wings the other day, and they were SUCH a good price… I got two packages of them!!! I took forever to actually make them though because I was trying to figure out how to make them crispy WITHOUT frying them like they do at restaurants. I also didn’t want to do crock pot wings, because then the skin just gets soft and… goopy. So… I was on a mission… how to make crispy wings in the oven?! And… I found it!

Crispy Oven Baked Wings

You’ll want to check out her blog! I used a completely different sauce, but her method on how to make oven baked wings CRISPY and CRUNCHY like you’ve gotten at a restaurant… worked PERFECTLY!!! I will credit her below again when I explain how to do so.

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2 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs chicken wings, cut into wingettes and drumettes (tips discarded)
  • 2 tbsp baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA / BI-CARB SODA!!)
  • Âľ tsp salt

For the Sauce/Glaze

  • 1 TB toasted Sesame Oil
  • 2 TB local organic honey
  • 2 TB brown sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • dash cayenne powder
  • 1/2 tsp hot sauce of your choice
  • 1-2 TB apple cider vinegar (depending on how liquidy you want your sauce)
  • 1 TB lemon juice

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Directions:

Crispy Wings taken from blog: Recipe Tin Eats How to make Crispy Oven Baked Wings
  1. If you are organized enough, uncover the chicken wings and leave them in the fridge for a few hours to dry out. Otherwise, use a paper towel to pat the wings dry.
  2. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions.
  3. Preheat oven to 250F/120C.
  4. Line a baking tray with foil, then place a rack (like a cooling rack) on the foil. Spray the rack with olive oil cooking spray.
  5. Place wings in a large bowl or in a ziplock bag. Add the baking powder and salt, then toss to coat evenly.
  6. Place the wings on the baking tray in a single layer with the skin side up. They should just fit snugly. They will shrink when they cook because the fat renders out so don’t worry if they look too snug.
  7. Place wings on the lower middle oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.
  8. Move wings up to the upper middle rack and increase the oven temperature to 425F/220C. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through. (If you use convection on your oven, this time can be cut to 30 minutes)
  9. Remove baking tray from the oven and put into the bowl with the sauce, immediately toss wings in the sauce and glaze.
  10. Serve and enjoy!.

Sauce:

  1. Add all ingredients into a large bowl and whisk each ingredients together until well incorporated
  2. When you toss the wings into the glaze, make sure the wings are HOT, right out of the oven, to help melt the brown sugar and become a perfect glaze on the wings.

ENJOY!

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I served these wings with the below recipe:

  • 2 large yukon gold potatoes sliced
  • 1 large yellow summer squash sliced
  • 1 TB unsalted butter
  • 1-2 TB olive oil
  • dash cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoke paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a small baking dish, place the potatoes and squash and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle all of the seasonings all over the veggies and then stir and toss until everything is coated evenly. Dot with the butter and bake with the wings above. OTHERWISE, bake at 425 for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

And now, for the quote of the day:

You cannot be both either you are or your not. Im not wishy washy unlike some. My family and friends see me online and in person. Theres no difference when your heart is right. Get right with God youll see

Creamy Ranch-Style Chicken and Potatoes with Carrots

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I’ve tried a similar dish like this before… and I’m getting even closer to the ranch taste without using that packet of seasoning that’s full of MSG, etc… this is getting closer! I used cream in this dish to give it that yummy creamy texture… I may use buttermilk next time!! That would definitely put that ranch flavor just over the top to where it should be!

This one, I just chopped all the ingredients, and cooked it all in one pan! It does take a while if you leave the potatoes large… they take a while to soften… but this dish was nice, fresh, and filling. And… if you’re like me… you always have these ingredients in your fridge and/or pantry! WIN!! Especially since I am due to go grocery shopping in 2 days, so I’m running low on recipe ingredients! Especially since I’ve gone “off my meal plan” a lot this week! Oops!

So, here’s the Creamy Ranch Style Chicken and Potatoes

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3-4 servings

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken tenderloins cut into 1 inch pieces
1 TB butter
2 TB extra virgin Olive oil
2 large yukon gold potatoes
1/2 SMALL sweet onion – diced
2 TB lemon juice – fresh squeezed
1/2 cup low sodium free range chicken broth
5 peeled and rinsed carrots
1/4 tsp dried dill
2 TB fresh chopped parsley
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 TB heavy cream (OR buttermilk!)
garnish with shaved parmesan cheese

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Directions:

Start by chopping all of your veggies. (I did not peel my potatoes, but you may if you prefer). Then, melt your butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, onions, carrots and the chicken broth. Put a lid on and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes start to soften. Remove the lid and add the chicken and the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, olive oil, and dill. Replace the lid and let simmer until chicken is cooked through. This will take 5-8 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. Add the chopped parsley and remove from heat. Slowly stir in the heavy cream until everything is well coated with the seasonings and cream, and serve in immediately. Top with a bit of extra parsley and some parmesan cheese!

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This is such a light and fresh dish. I just love the fresh parsley and that dill… it just adds a “clean-ness” to a dish.

Try this one for sure!

And now, for the quote of the day:

GPS-Grace Power Strength: Divorce: 6 Things To Never Tell Your Children

Spicy Beans and Rice with Kielbasa

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My husband, who has a love of all things Mexican/spicy/taco related… LOVES beans and rice. Especially red beans and rice. I, personally, am kind of picky when it comes to beans. I’m all about a certain texture. Some  beans have a “weirder” texture than others. Black beans are ones that I actually like/tolerate better than others. SO… when I decided to make this dish, I had to swap out a few ingredients… and then I spiced it up a bit! Usually rice and beans is quite mild, but I thought… let’s make it a bit spicy for my hubby! It turned out delicious too! I will give options for those who do NOT want the extra heat in the dish and prefer their beans and rice on the milder side.

This dish… literally… took me 15 minutes to cook. That’s it. Start to finish. 15 minutes, DONE.  My husband took the kids and the dog on a walk, when they got back, dinner was done! That’s not hard, right?! Who needs a processed and prepackaged voila meal when you can make something like this so quickly?! AND you know all of the ingredients and sodium etc. content, because you put it in there! (Except for the kielbasa… but I get the cleanest, most natural kind I can possibly find… and the Turkey version!). So… give this one a try, you busy busy families! You won’t regret it!

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Servings: 4

Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 package (14 ounce) All Natural Turkey (or regular) kielbasa, sliced
  • 1/2 small sweet yellow onion diced
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 cup white rice
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups water
  • 1 can (14 ounce) black beans, rinsed well
  • 2 mini sweet yellow peppers diced (OR half of a bell pepper)
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne powder (SKIP if you want MILD rice and beans)
  • 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning like: Emeril’s Bayou Blast (IF you want MILD, try using 1/4 tsp of turmeric!! Beautiful color and MILD taste!)
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilis (Rotel or similar) — for mild, use the diced tomatoes w/out the chilis
  • salt and pepper, to taste

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Directions
  1. Start the rice in a pan or the rice cooker. RINSE your rise until the water runs clear. I use a mesh colander. Place the rice into a pan, or rice cooker, and fill until the water covers the rice and rises to the first crease on your finger if you are BARELY touching the top of the rice…. Make sense?? If not, follow the directions on the bag. 🙂 Press COOK on the rice cooker if you have one… and move on. Otherwise, follow rice instructions on the bag.
  2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high. Add the kielbasa and onion; sauté until onions become soft and translucent (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic, beans and peppers and stir for about 30 seconds.
  3. Stir in the cooked rice and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir until well incorporated.
  4. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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This was full of heat, and flavor, and makes my mouth water thinking about it!!

YUM! The leftovers definitely were enjoyed!!

And now, for the quote of the day:

The Dalai Lama has a Message for You. {13 Quotes to Steer your Life by} | elephant journal

BBQ Shredded Chicken and Potato … bake… nachos?

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I really don’t know what to call this! I may go back in a few days and change the name and edit it… but in this moment, I don’t know. I basically had leftover crock pot shredded BBQ chicken (which I will give my recipe for, because it turned out AMAZING!) and then I added a bunch of other ingredients that sounded AMAZING and kind of like nachos…. but not. Ha! Also, I baked it, and I have since decided, it needs to be cooked on the stove top. I make skillet veggies almost every day for lunch and when I use potatoes, they always end up nice and tender. These potatoes in the dish were not soft within the time period that I baked it! It was annoying! So… I will give my recipe, with notes on how to either make it in the oven long enough to have the potatoes be nice and tender… as well as how to make it on the stove top.
So… here goes!

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This is for 4 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Pulled BBQ Chicken
      – 8 chicken thighs, 1 bottle of your.      favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby  Ray’s Original), 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1 TB Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 cup chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours. When finished, shred with a fork, and SAVE THOSE LEFTOVERS! 🙂
1/2 can natural black olives, sliced
2 yukon gold potatoes, washed and diced
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
1/2 can black beans RINSED
2 TB your favorite salsa (I used black bean and corn TJ salsa)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 avocado sliced
Garnish: sour cream
Optional: corn chips or tortillas for eating!

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Directions:

To bake:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Placed diced potatoes and shredded chicken and salsa into a glass baking dish (8Ă—8 will work) and drizzle with 1 TB olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes  (OR until potatoes are soft!). Then, remove pan from oven and add the remaining ingredients, stir around, ending with the cheese (do NOT put the avocado on until you serve… add as a garnish). Bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until it’s hot and bubbly!
Serve as a burrito on a tortilla, or in a bowl with some chips like a nacho dip!

On the stove top:
Melt 1 TB butter in a large skillet (12 inch probably). Place potatoes and salsa into the skillet and cook on medium high until potatoes start to soften. Add the BBQ chicken, and stir well. Add more BBQ sauce if needed. Add the corn, black olives, and black beans and stir until cooked thru. Turn heat off and top with cheese. Let cheese melt… you can place lid on until cheese melt to speed up the process. Serve immediately topped with a bit of avocado and sour cream!

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I honestly wasn’t sure I was gonna blog this because it didn’t turn out perfectly and it was basically ingredients I thought to myself : that would be good together… so I put it together. … nothing gourmet or well thought out. But then my husband said he LOVED the leftovers. I also realized that some of the best recipes come from random ingredients thrown together. I hope this inspires all of you out there to experiment! Even if it fails, you tried something new and you were creative in the kitchen! Win!

And now, for the quote of the day:

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Chicken and Summer Vegetable Coconut Curry Over Whole Grain Quinoa

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Curry…. I honestly never thought I liked curry. It’s not always the prettiest dish honestly. I also always thought that it had to be spicy… I never knew that it could be quite mild! This is now my 3rd posted curry recipe on my blog! I have found that I just love it! (Mainly when I can control the spiciness that is!) I even will put turmeric in my veggies for lunch sometimes… it adds that pretty yellow color and just the right amount of taste!

This dish cooked up quite quickly! Like usual, I used my rice cooker to make my quinoa… so if you don’t have one yet… you know you want one! 🙂

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This will make 4 medium sized servings

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large yukon gold potato peeled and cubed into bite size pieces
2 medium zucchini squash, diced
1 small yellow summer squash
Small handful of green beans chopped into bite size pieces
1 15oz can of unsweetened premium coconut milk (NOT Light!!!)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 large bunch of kale (or spinach) rinsed and chopped (remove center vein from the kale)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 TB butter

Quinoa:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 TB olive oil
dash of salt

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INSTRUCTIONS:

Start by starting the quinoa. RINSE your quinoa in a metal mesh colander, or SOMEHOW. But definitely rinse it. Then, either measure and place into a rice cooker and press “cook”, or follow directions on the package and cook in a small sauce pan with a lid.

Then, cook your chicken. I used 3 chicken tenderloins so that the dish would vegetable heavy with a hint of chicken… not the other way around! I placed butter in the bottom of the skillet, and turned it onto medium to melt the butter. Then, I put my chicken tenderloins into the skillet onto the melted butter. I added the 1/2 of the onion and 1 tsp of the curry powder and salt and pepper. While it’s cooking, I took the spatula and cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. (I cook my chicken from frozen, so if you cook from raw, feel free to cut into bit sized pieces first.) Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken from the skillet and place in a bowl and set aside. Add the olive oil into the still warm skillet still at medium heat. Add the potatoes and carrots first with the chicken broth. Add the rest of the curry powder, paprika, minced garlic and turmeric. Once they have cooked for 5-7 minutes and veggies start to soften (as well as the chicken broth cooking down and reducing a bit) add the zucchini, summer squash, green beans. Shake the can of coconut milk well to mix. Open the can and stir coconut milk in slowly to the vegetable mixture. I only ended up using 3/4 of the can of coconut milk, but you may want to use all of it. Just depends on how you like it. Add the chicken back into the mixture and stir to incorporate it. Let it simmer a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before you are ready to serve it, add the rinsed and chopped kale. Stir, combine, and SERVE over the cooked quinoa. DELICIOUS!!!

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Even the leftovers of this dish was AMAZING! If you like curry, try it! You can even add a bit more spice if you’d like, throw a bit of cayenne powder for a bit more spice! 🙂

And now, for the quote of the day:

SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGER AWARD!!!!!!

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So, I was sweetly nominated, and passed the award:

SisterhoodoftheWorld_zps04ae03d0

How sweet it that?!

Thank you to fellow blogger who nominated me, also named Becky. She has a great blog: https://beckysbubblesblog.wordpress.com/

She has a sweet blog about food, life, fun and enjoying it all! Give her a follow! 🙂

There are four rules:

1) Say “Thank You” to the person who nominated you & link their blog to your post.
2) Answer the 10 questions given to you.
3) Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers (I’m passing it to 5) and let them know they have been nominated.
4) Include the Award Badge in your post.

Here are the questions she asked me, and my answers:

And my questions to you:

1. How do you define pure and absolute joy?

The times that I can specifically remember those feelings are when I walked down the aisle towards my husband on our wedding day, when I first heard my children cry after they were born, and the first time my two babies said “I love you Mommy”. They seem to be family related, fulfilling moments. Times when I’m just overwhelmed and can’t express how I feel other than pure and absolute joy! 🙂

2. What so far has been your most memorable meal?

My most memorable meal was the best food I think I’ve ever had when my then boyfriend (now husband) took me to a Sunday Brunch at a hotel on Palm Beach Island called “The Breakers”. I had never seen such beautiful food in my life. Everything was so elegant! Before I was halfway done with my glass of water, they were filling it back up. There were King Crab legs, and rack of lamb.. and it was all buffet, so I got to try anything and everything! Definitely will always remember that meal!

3.  Your favorite quote and by whom?

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” C.S. Lewis (I love a LOT of quotes by C.S. Lewis)

4.  Favorite celebratory beverage?

Celebratory would be an Asti Spumante sparkling wine… something light, sweet and fun!

5. Best book you’ve read in the past year?

“Bridge to Haven” by Francine Rivers

6. How many different places have you lived…and…

I have lived in 3 different states, and many places within those states… especially during college!

7. Where was your favorite place you’ve lived?

My current home with my husband and family is my favorite HOME… but there are favorite things about each place I lived!

8. What was your favorite food in second grade?

Man… in 2nd grade?? Probably chips or pasta.

9.  What would you serve for a romantic dinner?

I would serve: A rack of lamb with rosemary and garlic mashed potatoes, balsamic brussel sprouts and for dessert it would be a pint of Ben&Jerry’s Americone Dream! 🙂

10. Champagne, sparkling wine, cava or prosecco?

Most of the time, sparkling wine! 🙂

My Nominations:

peeled.

Crafty Coin

Food Fellowship and Wine

Fitness and Health Spot

Put Your Best Food Forward

Cooking Without Limits

And my questions to you:

1. What was your favorite meal as a child?

2. What is your favorite thing to cook for your significant other?

3. Do you prefer chain restaurants, or the Mom&Pop/Dive local spots?

4. What is your favorite wine you’ve ever had?

5. If you are home by yourself, noone to cook for, what do you typically make as your go-to dish?

6. What is your favorite song that you could listen to on repeat?

7. What is the best and most memorable meal/thing someone has cooked for you?

8. What is your favorite city to visit and why?

9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

10. If the President were to visit your home, what would you make?

Sauteed Summer Veggies and Bacon over Cheese Grits

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Leftovers… seems to be the theme this week! I guess that’s not a bad thing, right?! Who wants to throw out the leftover bits of food in their fridge? Not me! I like to try to use it here and there before it goes bad! I freeze a lot of leftovers so I have time to use it. Sometimes on the weekend I copy what my mom used to do. I remember, when growing up, we used to have 1 day a week where all of the leftovers would come out of the fridge or freezer, be heated up, and that was our lunch or dinner. We didn’t want to waste good food! So these past few recipes have been me using up food from previous recipes this month. Works well!

This one I actually made for lunch! And I was able to whip it up really quick since I used leftovers!!

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Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 cup of leftover (or fresh!) cheesy corn grits (or leftover polenta!)
1 small zucchini
1 large carrot
1 piece of bacon
handful of chopped baby spinach
1-2 TB unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
optional topping of parmesan cheese
1 TB chopped onion (I used some leftover onion I had storing in my freezer)

 

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Directions:

Start out by chopping your carrots, and zucchini. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add your zucchini and carrots first. After they start to cook, add the onions and bacon and let the onions caramelize. While this is cooking, heat up your grits, either by cooking from scratch, or if you have leftovers  you add 2-3 TB of water (because the grits absorbs all of the liquid when it’s stored in the fridge) and microwave for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth and creamy again. Place the grits into a small bowl or onto a small plate and set aside. At the last minute, when the veggies are slightly browned, but still have a bit of a crunch, toss the chopped spinach into the pan and let just slightly wilt. Pour the veggies over the grits and add parmesan cheese if so desired and serve (or eat!) immediately! Enjoy!

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This dish is bright, colorful, crunchy, creamy and filling! Give this quick dish a try today!

And now, for the quote of the day:

#inspirational #quotes