Kale Chips

I've seen these before.
You probably have too.
They look super healthy and therefor a bit... well..."ehh".

But I was curious.
So we tried them.

They're oddly yummy!
Like... crunchy air.

The kids loved them.
A little too much.

I've made two batches in the past two days and Hubs hasn't had any because they're gone before he gets home.
CJ, Bean, and I are veggie lovers anyway so that may be part of it.
Yeah... I recommend trying them at least.
You just might like them too.

Homemade Applesauce (Baked)

There are few things like the smell of cinnamon and apples lingering in the kitchen as apples bake in your oven.

This recipe is super simple and the results are worth every bit of effort required.
Try it!
You won't regret it!

I used to cook my apples on the stove top but during my last round of making sauce I continually burned the apples because I lost track of what I was doing. Baking the apples made them come out perfectly soft and evenly baked every time.

You'll Need: 
Apples, of course! My favorite mix is Macoun and Cortland
Cinnamon (optional)
Nutmeg (optional)

What To Do:
Rinse the apples in large tub of water.
I do this with a sink full of cold water and 1/4 c or so of white vinegar and let the apples sit for about 10 minutes, stirring them up occasionally to make sure they've all been in the vinegar. 

Set oven to 350. 
Core the apples.
There's no need to peel because the skins add natural sweetness and a fun pink color.
Peel if you'd like but if you don't need to... why bother? Of course, if you don't have a food mill or would just rather use a blender, food processor, or potato masher to mash the apples, then peeling is a good idea.

Cut apples into slices. I cut each apple into about six pieces. Remember, this is the easy way!
Place onto a baking sheet

If you'd like, line a sheet pan or other baking dish with foil. I opted to but the apples didn't stick at all so it's not really necessary.
If using, prinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. I didn't measure, I just eyeballed but I'd guess I used about 2 tsp of cinnamon per pan and about 1/4-1/2 tsp.

 Bake apples for 30-45 minutes.
I used my Roma Food Mill but a traditional food mill works just as well or, like I said before, a blender, food processor, or a potato masher work just fine. Sweet Hubs likes really chunky sauce so I just put the apples in a bowl and stir them with a spoon to get them how he likes them.

And voila!

(old picture, feel free to ignore the label)

Can this, if you'd like. I prefer to put them in quart size mason jars and freeze them when I have the space.
I have recently found it quite handy to put sauce in 4 oz jelly jars and freeze them for the kids' lunch boxes. When I'm packing their lunches I pop them in and as they thaw they act as an ice pack too!

{Mashed Sweet Potatoes}

I usually keep sweet potatoes on hand. They're so versatile! One of my favorite recipes is Ellie Krieger's Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes but that requires about an hour of oven time and I needed something fast the other night.
I found a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes.
I tried it.
We loved it.
It's super simple with only 4 ingredients that I always have on hand and when I find a recipe everyone enjoys, I hang on to it. 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes 

3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 c butter
1/4 c milk
1/4 c maple syrup

Peel, dice, and boil the potatoes in just enough water to cover the potatoes for 20-30 minutes. Once fork tender, drain and remove from heat. Add remaining three ingredients and blend with a potato masher or electric hand mixer until smooth. {I often just turn the burner off but leave the pan on the stove to help melt the butter}. Serve warm.
 

I found it here at Food.com and it was posted by the user RAINSPIRIT  

which is also where the photo is from.

Ultimate Chedder Bay Biscuits

I made a chicken and biscuit crockpot recipe the other night and rather than making plain chedder biscuits I thought I'd give these a try. They're delicious! {If you're not one for baking then I recommend Bisquick's Cheddar biscuits which taste VERY similar.}
I'm suddenly craving seafood...

From Chickens in the Road
What You'll Need:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups milk

What To Do:

Note: If using a baking mix, replace first 5 ingredients with 2 1/2 cups baking mix.
Place first 5 ingredients (or 2 1/2 cups baking mix) in a large bowl. Add cayenne pepper and garlic powder.Cayenne pepper! One of my two secret ingredients. (The other is the sour cream.)
Work in the butter with a pastry cutter. Stir in cheese then add sour cream and milk. Scoop biscuit dough out by big spoonfuls and place in a greased 9 x 13 casserole pan. (Or other type of pan with an edge to it–if you use a flat baking sheet, butter sauce will spill down into your oven. Ask me how I know that……)

Topping
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley
dash of salt

Melt butter. Stir in garlic powder, parsley, and a dash of salt. Spoon half of topping over unbaked biscuits.
Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.* After removing biscuits from the oven, spoon the rest of the topping over them. *Your baking time may vary! I make 20 biscuits from this recipe. If you make your biscuits smaller or larger, it will change your baking time.

{Summer Squash on the Grill}

Do you have one of these? 

It's a vegetable grill basket and, if not, you're missing out!

We use this baby for shrimp, veggies, chopped meat, everything. It's by far our favorite grill purchase! 

It makes this recipe super simple...

What You'll Need:
This is a tough one to pinpoint because the opportunities are endless based on what you have on hand.
We almost always start with a base of yellow squash and often mix in zucchini, green peppers, red onions, mushrooms
salt and pepper
olive oil
garlic powder

What To Do:
Place your grill basket on the grill and close'r up for 10 minutes.
While the grill's heating up, slice the squash and/or zucchini into medium thick slices {thickness alters the cooking time}
Give a rough chop to the other ingredients. Careful not to be too small here... the squash takes a while to cook so you don't want the other items to burn.

Place all chopped ingredients into a large bowl or resealable freezer bag.
Pour in about 4 T of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
Stir or shake till everything's nicely coated.
{If using tomatoes, you may want to coat these in a separate bag because you'll want to add those later in the cooking process.}

Lower the grill heat to medium and pour the veggies into the basket. Close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes.
Then open the grill, give it a little shake or stir and close again.
Depending on how thick your slices are you'll want to stir every five minutes until the squash are tender. It usually takes us about 25 minutes. When we're grilling meat with this we usually start the squash about 10 minutes before we put the meat on. That way it's all done at the same time. {If you're adding tomatoes, I suggest adding them for the last 10 minutes of cooking to keep them from overcooking. Unless, of course, you like them crispy.}

That's it!
I love me some grillin'!

{Camp Potatoes}

I assume I call them camp potatoes because they're easily made over a fire but to be honest, this is a recipe from mom so she may have just made it up...
No matter what you call them, they're a fantastic recipe for hot days when turning the oven on just seems silly.

What You'll Need: 
This recipe is a bit subjective based on the number of mouths your feeding but for the four healthy appetites in our house, this is what we use...
2-3 medium sized *organic potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin
1 small onion, diced
3 T butter
salt
pepper
herbs of choice {optional}
*If not using organic potatoes, peel them first. Potato skins are sprayed to prevent sprouting so it's best to do without the peels if you aren't using organic.

What To Do:
Cut yourself two sheets of aluminum foil about 18" long a piece.

Pile the potatoes into the center of one piece of foil, sprinkle with onion, dot with butter, add salt and pepper and close up the foil around it all making a ball.

Wrap your second piece of foil over the top of the ball you just created.

Place directly onto heated grill set at medium heat for 30 minutes. {Flip halfway through cooking.}

What's even better?... Lay the foil packet on a plate to serve, toss the foil, put the plate away clean.

{Zucchini-Mozzarella Patties}

I don't know about you but our garden is overflowing right now and mostly with squashes and cucumbers!
My parents have also been inundating our home with more oversized zucs that they can't eat quickly enough.
I almost always default to one of our two favorite zucchini recipes...

 Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 Breaded Parm Zucchini Chips

but this year decided to add to our repitoire.

 I found the recipe for Zucchini-Mozzarella Patties and made a few adjustments. 

So far, so good since all of our in-home critics happily gobble these up!

What You'll Need:

4 c coursely grated zucchini

2 large eggs, slighlty beaten

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 c all purpose flour

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 c grated parm cheese

1 t salt

1 c mozzarella or cheddar cheese

black pepper

What To Do:

Set oven to 350. Wrapping the zucchini in a paper towel or strainer, squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible and place in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and mix till well blended. 

Drop zucchini by large tablespoonfuls onto parchment or silivone lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms begin to brown. 

Take out of oven, let cool for a moment, flip, and return for another 5 minutes. 

I prefer them hot but they can be eaten cold too. 

So how 'bout you...

How's your garden looking this year?

{Summer Salads}

There are few things as good as all the fresh fruits and veggies you can grow and buy {inexpensively} during the warm summer months. Hubs loves grabbing ripened tomatos or green peppers off the vine and eating them like apples.  I'm a cucumber and summer squash fan myself. However you like them, there's plenty of ways to enjoy your fresh pick'ns. These are a couple of our favorites.
First Up...

Garden Veggie Mix

This salad tastes like summer to me and it's can't be better than when you can pull the veggies for it straight out of your garden! 
Depending on how many mouths your feeding, cut up two large tomatoes and one cucumber. Mix with just enough Italian style salad dressing to coat but not drown the veggies, chill for an hour and serve.

Fruit Salad

Nothing fancy about it. We just happen to have a few favorite items in our fruit salads... cantaloupe, honey dew melon, watermelon, and halved grapes. Sometimes, when feeling frisky, we add in blueberries, strawberries {only when I know it will be eaten quickly, I don't like how strawberries get soggy}, small chunk pineapple, nectarines, pears, and apples.

What about you? Any simple salad mixes that scream summer to your family?

Happy Monday!

OH! And by the way, Bean is doing great! We brought her to the hospital last week because she was running a low grade fever. She had several tests done and they all came back negative so we're assuming it's just a cold she got from CJ. Thank you for all your prayers! They may have done more for my peace of mind then for Bean and for that, I can't thank you enough.

Cornish Hens {Date Night In}

Hubs and I stayed in for Vday, as usual, and enjoyed another date-night-in...

 Butterflied Cornish Hens with Sage Butter

{courtesy of Sunny Anderson}

  Matchstick Potatoes

{Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten with a "Krystle Twist"} 

What You'll Need:

Peanut or Canola Oil

2 large oval Idaho potatoes, peeled

Sea salt or Kosher salt

Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Truffle flavored oil {I added this, not necessary but SO yummy!}

What To Do:

Ina says: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour at least 1 inch of oil into a deep pot and heat it to 350 degrees.  

What I did: Skipped the oven altogether. Used  my deep fry pot with canola oil and set it on 350. 

Ina says: Slice potatoes into thin matchsticks (1/8 inch thick) with a vegetable slicer or mandolin.

What I did: Used my mandolin to make super thing slices and then a chef's knife to cut those thing chips into slices. 

Drop them into a bowl of cold water as you cut.

Drain the potatoes and dry them thoroughly with paper towels. Drop the potatoes in batches into the hot oil and cook for 3 to five minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the pot with a wire basket skimmer or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Place on baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest of the potatoes {again, I skipped the oven and kept the finished potatoes on the counter because the process didn't take long enough to justify the oven, for me}. 

What Ina says: Sprinkle with parsley, if desired, serve hot.

What I did:  Put all my potatoes into a bowl and drizzled about 1/2 tsp of truffle oil over the potatoes and tossed to coat. 

These were TOO good!

Chocolate and Raspberry Panini Sandwiches

{Stonewall Kitchen Favorites}

What You'll Need:
8 round slices baguette (about 1/4 inch thick) or your favorite bread
2 T unsalted butter, softened
4 heaping T dark chocolate chips or about 2 oz chopped chocolate
1/2 c fresh or frozen and thawed raspberries

What To Do:
Preheat a panini press or indoor grill on high heat. 
Place the baguette slices on a plate and spread a thin layer of butter on each. Turn 4 slices over and divide the chocolate evenly amon the 4 nonbuttered sides. Divide the raspberries over the chocolate and top the remaining slices of bread, butter side-up. Place the sandwiches in the panin press and cook for 2 minutes or until the bread is golden and the chocolate has melted. 
Service immediately.

 

On another note... 

Hubs surprised me with his creative side and made, you read that right... MADE me a present. It's our anniversary date!
...and I {LOVE} it!

He also took CJ out to buy me a  little something to keep the whole family happy...

...seriously, this purchase was good for everyone! 

What a smart man!

Quinoa {Keen-what?}

Actually pronounced "keen-wa", this grain is a nice alternative to the usual starches as a side dish. Our family is taking a stab at whole grains rather than just breads or potatoes for our meals and this is one of the first things we've tried. It reminds me of rice and has a little crunch to it. I figured I would share this with you since, until recently, I had not heard of it and assume you haven't either. Next on the list is spelt, followed by bulgar and barley.

Expand your horizons... Give it a shot!The only ingredients required are quinoa, water or chicken stock, and a pinch of salt

Dry: very small and opaque

Cooked: still small but translucent with a curly-q "thingy"

{Breaded Parm Zucchini Chips}

Now that our veggies gardens are starting to fill out there are many zucchinis to be eaten.

This is a great recipe {courtesy of my mother-in-law} for when you have more than your freezer can hold!

What you'll need...
1/3 cup bread crumbs {plain or Italian}
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
1/2 c melted butter {optional, see step TwO}

How to make it happen...
{Pre-heat oven to 375}
OnE: Mix all dry ingrediants {except the zucchini} in a gallon sized zip bag.
TwO: Wet zucchini slices with either water or melted butter, add to bag in handful-sized batches, and shake to coat with breading mix.
ThReE: lay, single layer on a baking sheet.
FoUr: Bake for 15 minutes, flip pieces, return to oven for another 10-15 minutes. Chips are done when breading has darkened and zucchini has softened. {I like to make mine crispy so I bake it a bit longer.}

{Microwave Potato Chips}

We tried these tonight along with a pork loin and they were so yummy!
Quick and easy, just like I like it!

Thanks Home Sweet Home for featuring these!

{i used olive oil, skipped the salt and had to microwave them for about 10 mins.}