Summer dinners... Chicken avocado bruschetta

Beach days are my favorite... And when I'm gone all day I need to have something on the menu that I will want to eat for dinner.  Something I'm not too lazy to make.  This qualifies. 

Simple chicken avocado bruschetta. 

Simply salt and pepper and grill chicken breasts. 

Mash avocado with salt and pepper. 

Swirl this goodness on top. 

Toast some bread and yum.  So good! 

Ingredients:

Loaf crusty bread 

Avocado

Grilled chicken breast

Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

Red pepper bruschetta (or any other kind you like) in a jar

Balsamic glaze. 

Toast the bread. 

Smash the avocado with salt and pepper and smear the bread. 

Add the bruschetta in a light layer.

Place the chicken on the pile.

Add the mozzarella cheese.

Swirl the balsamic glaze on top. 

Fold the top piece of bread on it, and try to fit it in your mouth. 

Enjoy! 

Fall, apple picking, applesauce and sunshine

     

I love fall.  School starts. Routine begins again. Life falls into a slower pace. 

We go apple picking. 

The weather cools down.  The sun shines and I want one in the kitchen.

And with all of those apples I want to make sauce.  And I leaned a few years ago it's pretty easy. 

Especially with this tool.  If you are even thinking about making anything with apples... Go get one immediately! 

Then it's pretty simple.  Peel, core and slice your apples.  Put them in a large pot.  Add water half way up the side. Add a cinnamon stick and bring it to a boil. 

Then lower the heat and cook it on low for an hour or so until it's the consistency of applesauce.  Remove the cinnamon stick and add a brown sugar to sweeten it to taste.  Sometimes it needs it; sometimes it doesn't based on the apples. 

Then I can it, in clean mason jars in a water bath on a boil for 25 minutes.  

Pretty simple, amazingly good. 

Enjoy! 

Lunch is like our life... Avocado spread sandwich

What is it about lunch?  I love snacky food for lunch.  Or leftover bits and pieces mixed up all together. 

Kind of like life.  We take bits and pieces of places we have been and people we have met and go forward with it all mixed up inside of us together.

The beauty of life is that it doesn't end when it changes.  We have the chance on a new adventure and the second chance to make the most of it.

So go forward today with your bits and pieces and have a wonderful day. 

And if you happen to have bits and pieces of last nights taco night... Throw them together like this.  Because it's yummy!! 

Ingredients:

1/4 avocado, smashed

2 tbsp plain yogurt

Salt and pepper

Splash of lime juice

Chicken breast, cooked and shredded

Instructions:

Mash up the avocado, add the yogurt and lime, salt and pepper.

Smooth it over toast and cover with chicken breast. 

Old ingredients, brand new lunch! 

Enjoy!!

Bring back summer... White Castle style hamburger pie

I am so over winter.  I have probably said it a million times, but it's the end of March and it's still snowing. 

I am ready for the food of summer.  The burgers and hot dogs and brats on the grill.  The fresh veggies that come from grandpas garden and taste so much better than the ones from the store. 

I want to learn to can. I want to make jellies and jams and way more applesauce this year. 

I want summer.

But apparently the weather doesn't agree with me so I will make summer for dinner.

Like burgers... But I hate making them on the stove because of the grease and the smoke and the way that even the towel upstairs in my bathroom will smell like day old burgers.

So I will make hamburger pie.

And hey, why not make it taste like a White Castle burger because I hear they are pretty good.

And it was.  The best hamburger thing we have had next to a real charcoal burger.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 onion diced

1 pkg french onion soup mix

1 tbsp olive juice (or chopped olives) 

8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 c mayo

2 eggs

1/4 c milk

Brown the burger and onion in a oven safe pan. (I love my cast iron for this!) 

Drain the grease and add soup mix and olive juice.

Mix in half of the cheese. Add the rest of the cheese to the top.

Mix mayo,milk and eggs. 

Pour this mixture over the top.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Top with dill relish, ketchup and mustard and enjoy! 

Meatloaf

Home.  It's my favorite place. 

It doesn't matter so much which house we live in, just that my family is together there.

Our family has moved recently.  To a new city with new friends and a new home.  And a new school and schedule.  Things are definitely different. 

But there are certain things that make me feel at home whereever that might be.

Sunshine coming in the windows.

Laughter. 

Friends.

Music.

And certain foods just scream home.  

Like meatloaf.  Yummy. 

I love different kinds of meatloaf, but this last one was so tasty.  I will probably make it again.  

Honey BBQ meatloaf.  Two of my favorite things.  Honey and BBQ. 

This is my favorite BBQ stuff.  I love Memphis and I love Corkys.  But you can use whichever is your favorite sauce.  The apple was fantastic and is highly recommend getting an apple sauce for this meatloaf.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 c apple BBQ sauce, divided

2 tbsp honey, divided

2/3 c panko bread crumbs

1 tsp dry rub seasoning

1 tbsp worchestershire sauce 

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

Instructions: 

Mix beef, bread crumbs, 1/4 c sauce, 1 tbsp honey, dry run and worchestershire together.

Shape into a loaf, or a heart or whatever. 

Mix the rest of the sauce, honey, salt and liquid smoke together. Slather it on the meatloaf. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy at home, wherever that might be.

Celebrate everything

Any occasion is an occasion to celebrate.  

I have a bunch of Pinterest boards dedicated to just that. 

Why?  

It's simple. I am trying to give my boys good memories of their childhood. 

Someday I want them to think back and say, "remember how mom always made weird things like pi day hats? Or snowman bowling pins? Or heart shaped meatloaf?"  

Or shamrock smoothies on St Patricks day?  

Because I hope they realize that these things, silly as they may be, mean I love them.  

That I am trying to make their lives fun. 

That I think about them most of the time.

Because I do love them.  More than any silly smoothie will ever show.  

But it's a start.

So we had shamrock smoothies this morning.  

Because I am luckier than any four lead clover that these two are mine. 

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp mint flavoring

Green food coloring

Instructions:

Break the frozen bananas into chunks. 

Add bananas, milk and mint to blender. 

Blend until smooth.

Add green food coloring until it's the proper shade of green. 

Enjoy! 

Feed a crowd: chicken cordon bleu casserole

I love to have people at our house.  The more the merrier.

Just come on in if we are expecting you. Wear your comfiest clothes, take off your shoes, put your feet up on the couch and relax.

I don't care if you've come for a cup of tea, a small group, a meeting, to watch a movie or play a game. I just want you to be comfortable.

Let's talk, let's hang out.  Let me laugh and cry with you. 

Let's be friends.

And for Pete's sake, let me feed you!

I really am an introvert.  Meaning, I recharge by being alone.  But I enjoy people.  I love having people in my house. I like them grabbing a coffee mug from the cupboard, looking in the fridge for some cream (there are always a few different kinds!) and just relaxing with them. 

So over the last few years of hosting small groups, band practices and other things I've found some recipes that feed a crowd.  This one is a hit!  My boys actually asked for the leftovers the next day. 

It's chicken cordon bleu casserole.  And it's tasty.  Ham, chicken and cheese... What's not to like?

If you tell me you're coming I might even make it for you! 

Ingredients:

2 lbs elbow macaroni

2 chicken breast... Cooked

2 c ham, diced

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp dried onion

3 1/2 c milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

2 c Swiss cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c panko bread crumbs

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Boil pasta 1 minute less than package directions. 

In a pot, melt butter.  Add flour and let it cook for 2-3 minutes in medium. Add garlic, onion, mustard and paprika.  Cook another minute.

Remove from heat and add cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put pasta, ham and chicken into a large pan.  Mix cheese sauce in.

Sprinkle with panko and Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve to your company and enjoy!