Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

My sister told me about this recipe awhile ago and I've been meaning to try it. It's one of the easiest recipes I've tried and it was pretty good.
Ingredients
4-6 frozen chicken breasts
1 jar of archer farms (target brand) Hawaiian style BBQ sauce
1 20oz can pineapple chunks, drained

Put the frozen chicken in the crock pot, top with BBQ sauce and pineapple. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken in crockpot then serve over rice.

It was that easy! Such a quick, easy, and inexpensive meal.

Recipes, Movie Review and Random Pictures

Greg and I watched "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". It's a documentary from Morgan Spurlock, the same guy that did "Supersize Me". We've loved everything we've seen by him, including a show he did called "30 Days" and had high hopes for this movie. We were both pretty disappointed. It wasn't very informative, it didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. Greg actually picked the movie for us to watch and since it's a 3 day weekend for him this weekend, we're going to watch another one tonight after the boys go to bed and it's my turn to pick. So, we'll be watching "Something Borrowed", I'm so excited, I actually did not let myself read the book because movies are never as good as the book and this movie looked so good, I didn't want to ruin it by reading the book first.

Like I said in earlier this week, I'm on a big crock pot kick right now and last night we had "Red Beans and Rice". It was pretty simple and only had to cook for 3 hours in the crock pot. Greg said he "loved" it. He never says that about food, so I was excited that he liked it so much. I gave the boys a bite of mine and they loved it too. They couldn't get enough, I couldn't cut the sausage fast enough for them. I didn't like it as much as they all did, but I'll definitely have to have it again since it was such a big hit. I got the recipe from "Mommy's Kitchen" blog, here it is:

So Simple Red Beans & Rice
1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch slices
1 - small onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 green bell pepper, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 - clove garlic, chopped
2 - (15 ounce) cans bush's light red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 - (16 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped or pureed
1/2 – 1- 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 - teaspoon dried oregano
Dash hot sauce
salt & pepper to taste
1 - cooked white rice

In a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes. Chop up the onion, celery and green bell pepper. Add the chopped vegetables and garlic; saute until tender. Add the beans, tomatoes with juice and tomato sauce into your crock pot. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. I can sneak in a little bit of the Louisiana Hot Sauce without anyone noticing. Add the sauteed veggies. Cover and set your crock pot on low and cook for about 2-3 hours Serve over plain white rice. You can also serve this with sweet cornbread on the side it's a nice compliment to this dish.

I've been trying to eat a little healthier lately. I really like having something sweet in the evenings while we're watching tv, and saw this yummy recipe on Pinterest. You slice a banana and freeze it, top it with a drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and a few miniture chocolate morsals and it's only 2 weight watcher points. It's so satisfying and way better for you than ice cream or cookies.

Source: pointsplusplanning.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

And here's some random pictures of the boys:

They love going through the drawers in the kitchen and taking things out. Here's my bread pan that Carter took off with.

I was making cookies for a bake sale and turned on the light to see if they were done and the boys were mesmerized. I'm lucky my oven doesn't get hot to the touch on the outside.

Tomato Recipes

I'm taking a quick break from blogging about our week to post some recipes we've tried over the past couple of days. We have had a ton of tomatoes from our garden, so I've been making all kinds of tomatoe recipes. In addition to making these, I gave away two HUGE bowls worth of tomatoes because we couldn't eat them fast enough.

I made this tomato pie recipe that I found on Scissors and Spatulas. If you haven't been to her blog, you have to check it out, she always has the best craft ideas and recipes. I loved this dish!

Source: scissorsandspatulas.com via Samantha on Pinterest

I know I wrote about this on another post, but I wanted to include it in this post. We've actually had this twice in the past week. The first time I made it according to the recipe, but the second time I left out the shrimp and added 10 tomatoes instead of the 5 that the recipe calls for. I actually liked it better that way.

Source: realsimple.com via Samantha on Pinterest

I love this Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes from Rachel Ray. It's so simple and tasty. It would be good as a side dish, but we eat a bowl of it as an entree. It's really quick and easy to make. You should definitely try it.

Source: foodnetwork.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Recipes

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest. I love it! It's my favorite thing to do when the boys are sleeping. I use it to find great ideas on how to turn the basement into the ultimate playroom, get fun outfit inspriration, household tips, cute ideas for pictures, craft ideas, etc. I've also found that it's a great way to find and store my favorite recipes. I love trying new recipes, especially any that involve fresh vegetables from our garden. I try and blog all my recipes so I have an easy way to go back and see what we've tried and liked. Since the pictures from Pinterest are better than what I took, I'm going to use them along with a link to each website for the full recipe.


ROASTED TOMATOES WITH FETA & SHRIMP

This roasted tomato dish was amazing! We served it over angel hair pasta with a slice of crusty bread and it was delicious. I cooked the shrimp way too long, so they ended up being tough, but the tomatoes were so yummy. I could actually do without the shrimp next time I make it.

Source: realsimple.com via Samantha on Pinterest

JALAPENO POPPER GRILLED CHEESE
Greg and I both loved this recipe. It was simple and delicious. We used fresh jalapenos from our garden and it was SPICY!

Source: beckybakes.net via Samantha on Pinterest

CILANTRO LIME RICE
This recipe is from Gina's Skinny Recipes. It's a website full of delicious weight watcher recipes. This recipe is actually a skinny version of Chipotle's rice. Chipotle is one of my favorite restaurants, so I knew I had to try it. I loved it.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Samantha on Pinterest

FRUIT SALSA WITH CINNAMON CHIPS
Don't let the word "salsa" confuse you, there's no onions, cilantro, etc. in this recipe, it's basically fruit salad that's cut up small so it's easy to dip it. I didn't make the chips like the recipe called for, I just used Stacy's Pita chips in Cinnamon and Sugar. Next time, I'd like to make my own chips though.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Samantha on Pinterest

CAKE BATTER BALLS
These are bad news. They are so easy to make and so delicious. They taste just like cake batter. It's easy to eat a million of them because they're so tasty. Greg and I ate way too many of these things. From now on, I'll only make it if we're having company or if I reduce the recipe so it doesn't make as much.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Samantha on Pinterest

We got the ingredients to make these two recipes this weekend. I'm excited to try them. The first is Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese--how can it possibly be bad?

Source: grilledcheesesocial.com via Samantha on Pinterest

I don't even know if Greg's aware that I'm making this red onion, cucumber, and tomato salad. He probably won't like it, he's not a big fan of raw onions. But, I love stuff like this. Yummy, cold salads are perfect for summer. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Source: jennysteffens.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

So, there's the recipes I've been trying lately. I know I've been pretty bad about blogging lately. It's beed busy around here. I don't see Evan and Carter slowing down anytime soon, so I'm just trying to keep up. Two active boys make for one tired momma. I've been meaning to do a "week in the life of" post. I really wanted to do one every couple of months since they were born so I could look back and see how much things have changed, but I haven't done it. I'm going to try and document my life for the next two weeks by blogging daily about our day and routine. It'll be super boring for anybody who reads my blog, but I want to look back and be able to see what a typical day was like for us at this age. Hopefully, I can do it every so often so I can compare how different our days are as they get older.

Grilled Jalapeño-Lime Corn on the Cob

This is another recipe I got from the July issue of Southern Living. I got several recipes from that issue, it was packed full of yummy recipes. I love corn, especially grilled corn on the cob. The recipe called for a jalapeno and cilantro which we were able to pick from our garden! I was so excited to finally get to use some fresh herbs and vegetables that I grew. I loved this dish, I thought the jalapeno-lime butter was delicious. Greg--not so much. He doesn't like grilled corn on the cob and he wasn't big on the cilantro flavor in the butter.

Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Corn on the Cob

Ingredients
8 ears fresh corn, husks removed
Vegetable cooking spray
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
Garnish: lime zest

Preparation
1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Coat corn lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with desired amount of salt and pepper. Grill corn, covered with grill lid, 15 minutes or until golden brown, turning occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, stir together butter and next 5 ingredients. Remove corn from grill, and cut into thirds. Serve corn with butter mixture. Garnish, if desired.

Lightened Squash Casserole

I got this recipe out of the July issue of Southern Living. I love squash but I've never bought it or cooked it myself before. I figured this would be the perfect side dish for 4th of July. I loved it and so did Greg. He really surprised me, he said he'd like to have it again.

Lightened Squash Casserole

Ingredients

3 pounds yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 cup grated carrots
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1 (8-oz.) container light sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes cereal
1/2 cup crushed French fried onions
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place in a Dutch oven. Add onion, 1 tsp. salt, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook 5 minutes; drain well, and pat squash dry with paper towels.

2. Stir together grated carrots, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt in a large bowl; fold in squash mixture. Spoon into a lightly greased 2-qt. oval baking dish.

3. Stir together cornflakes and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over squash mixture.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown, shielding with aluminum foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Let stand 10 minutes before serving

Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

My friend gave me this recipe and said it was one of her favorite recipes. I have been hesistant to try fruit salsa and I haven't made many main dishes that require fruit. I didn't know how we'd like it, but I thought this was the perfect time to try something new. I'm so glad we did. Greg & I both loved it. I used the optional jalepeno it called for and left in a lot of the seeds to give it a kick. I couldn't believe how much Greg liked it. We'll be making this a lot this summer. It's healthy and tastes so fresh. Enjoy!

Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa


Ingredients
16 ounces boneless, skinless chicken

Marinade:
1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple, juice only, (reserve fruit for salsa)
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t red pepper flakes (I added a little more)
Salsa:
Pineapple from strained can
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
1/4 c red onion, diced fine
1 lime, juiced
1 T cilantro, chopped
1 T jalapeno pepper, diced fine (optional)

Directions

Open pineapple and strain to separate juice from fruit. Place juice in a baking dish. Add soy sauce, honey, garlic and red pepper to the dish and stir. Slice chicken breasts into 4 4-ounce strips. If thick, pound out to flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place chicken in the marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Prepare salsa by combining all ingredients. Preheat grill to medium heat or turn on broiler and place rack in the middle of the oven, about 6" away from the heat source. Grill or broil chicken for 4-5 minutes per side or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve with fruit salsa.

Makes 4 servings, 3 ounces cooked meat and 1/2 cup of salsa

Number of Servings: 4

**I wasn't sure how to pick out a mango since it was my first time buying one. If you aren't sure how to tell if something is ripe--ask!! There's almost always an employee in the produce section stocking and they've always been so nice and helpful anytime I've had a question. This doesn't just apply to vegetables, if you have a question about anything, ask one of the employees. I've asked the guy at the meat counter several questions from how to pick something out, to what something was, and if he thinks it'd work in my recipe and he never steers me wrong**

Recipes

When I went to California in February and saw my friend Brandi, she gave me 3 cookbooks. At the time she was working for Devin Alexander who has written several cookbooks including "The Biggest Loser Cookbook". I've been meaning to try some recipes and post them on here for awhile but haven't got around to it. This weekend I finally went through and picked a couple from each book to try this week.

The book "Fast Food Fix" has lowfat versions of your favorite fast foods. I tried "Subway's Southwest Chipotle Sauce" and "Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino" both were delicious.



Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1/2 tablespoon instant coffee
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 20 ice cubes, divided
* 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
* 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
* 1/2 cup aerosol fat-free whipped topping



*I know that the coffee in the picture is not instant, but I did not realize there was a difference until after I tried to make the recipe, so I did go out and get some instant coffee to use in the recipe. The kind in the picture didn't work*

In a small microwavable bowl or cup, combine the water and coffee. Microwave on high power for 1 minute, or until the water is hot enough to dissolve the coffee. Add the sugar. Stir until the coffee and sugar are dissolved. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 6 ice cubes. Stir to accelerate melting the ice. When the ice is almost melted, add the half-and-half and chocolate syrup. Stir to mix. Pour into a blender jar. Add enough ice cubes for the liquid to reach the 16-ounce marker on the blender jar. Blend on high speed for 30-60 seconds or until just slushy. Pour into a 16-ounce tumbler. Top with whipped topping. Serve with a straw.



The next book I tried recipes from was "The Most Decadent Diet Ever". I made the "Mostly Mom's Marinara Sauce" and the "Eggplant Parmesan". The marinara sauce took a while but it made a ton so you can store it in the fridge and use it when you need it. I would add extra crushed red pepper flakes than the recipe calls for, though. It only calls for 1/2 a teaspoon and we ended up adding a lot more than that to give it a kick.



"Mostly Mom's Marinara Sauce"
* 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
* 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
* two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons sugar, plus extra, if desired
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste



Place a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Put in the olive oil, onions, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, sugar, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir until well combined. Turn the heat to low. Cook, covered, for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Season with additional salt, if needed.

*This picture isn't very good, but it's the only one I took*



The last book (and my favorite book) that I tried recipes out of was "The Biggest Loser Cookbook". I tried Angel Hair with Rockin' Red Clam Sauce which was my favorite recipe of any that I tried this week and "White Chocolate-Strawberry Pie-Lets".



"Angel Hair with Rockin' Red Clam Sauce"
* salt
* 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow or white onion
* 2 small cloves garlic, minced
* 1 pouch (3.5oz) baby clams, drained
* 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
* pinch of red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
* 2 oz of Nutrition Kitchen Angel Hair style Golden Whole Soybean Pasta
* 1 to 2 teaspoons grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese



**I could not find baby clams in a pouch at Kroger, so I used canned. I also did not use the angel hair pasta it called for, I already had some wheat angel hair style pasta, so I used that**

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, lightly mist a small nonstick skillet with olive oil spray. Set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes or until almost tender. (Do not brown) Add the clams. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the excess liquid is completely evaporated. Reduce the heat to low. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and oil. Season with red pepper flakes.
Meanwhile, when the water boils, add the pasta to the pot. Stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and add to the skillet mixture. toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the cheese. Serve immediately.

Red Beans and Rice

I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Kevin and Amanda (kevinandamanda.com). I've tried a couple of her recipes and they always turn out delicious. I decided to make a healthy version of this recipe and it actually turned out very well. I used brown rice instead of white rice and I substituted smoked turkey sausage instead of regular smoked sausage. It was so quick and easy to make.

Here's the turkey smoked sausage I used-

Ingredients

* 1 cup of long grain white rice (I used brown rice, instead)

* 2 cups hot water

* 1 tsp salt

* 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

* 1 pkg (14oz) smoked sausage

* 1 can of red beans

* Creole Seasoning

Add the rice, water and salt to a saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, then cover and simmer for 15minutes. Meanwhile, thinly slice the sausage and drain the juice form the red beans into the sink. Add 2-3 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and begin heating over medium heat. Add the sausage, give a sprinkling of creole seasoning and stir occasionally for about 7 minutes until the sausages start to get sizzly on both sides. Add the red beans and stir until warmed through. About this time, your rice should be done, too. Serve the beans and sausage over the rice. Add extra creole seasoning as desired at the table. Serves 2-3.

Angel Food Cake with Pineapple Cream

Angel Food Cake with Pineapple Cream

This isn't a weight watcher recipe, but it's a great, healthy snack. I didn't take a picture of the finished product because it looked awful! I would suggest putting the pinapple, pudding, cool whip mixture in a container and just putting a dallop on an individual slice of cake. The cake will last longer that way since it won't get soggy and it takes up less room in the fridge since you don't have to refrigerate the cake without the topping on it.

Ingredients

* Angel Food Cake

* 1 can crushed pineapple, drained

* 1 small container of fat free cool whip

* 1 large box of fat-free vanilla pudding

Bake angel food cake according to directions. Make the pudding with fat free milk and let set. Add pinapple and cool whip to pudding and use to top cake.

Peruvian Roast Chicken

I have been trying to eat healthier, so that means eating at home more. I've been trying a lot of new recipes, so I'll be posting them on here when they turn out good. The chicken we had tonight was fabulous! It was very easy and inexpensive to make and it was healthy. It's definiltely one of my favorite chicken recipes.

Peruvian Roast Chicken

Ingredients

*6 gloves garlic, chopped

*salt and pepper

*1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

*1 teaspoon ground cumin

*1/2 teaspoon paprika

*1/2 cup of white wine vinegar

*One 4-pound chicken, rinsed and patted dry

Directions

1. Using the flat side of a chef's kinfe, smear together the garlic and 2 tablespoons salt on a cutting board to form a paste; transfer to a small bowl. Stir in the oregano, ginger, cumin, 1 teaspoon pepper, and the paprika. Stir in the vinegar.

2. Slide your fingers between the chicken skin and the breast and loosen teh skin from the meat, working your way to the legs. Spread the marinade under and over the skin and inside teh cavity. Transfer to a gallon-size resealable plastic bag; refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. Preheatt he oven to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the bag and place breast side up on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife between teh breast and the wing, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let reast for 10 minutes before carving.