Hawaiian BBQ chicken
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can crushed pineapple (cubed works fine too)
1 16 oz bottle of barbeque sauce (any brand will do, but try to find/ make one with as few preservatives as possible)
Place chicken in a 3-5 qt slow cooker. Dump in pineapple and barbeque sauce. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Weekly menu: 8/29/11 - 9/4/11
Monday: Dinner at Mimi's
Tuesday: Salsa chicken and peppers, brown rice, slices or cubes of cantaloupe
Wednesday: (Feeding missionaries) Lemon-herb roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, French bread, salad, peas, steamed carrots
Thursday: Spaghetti, garlic bread (if we have leftover French bread), salad
Friday: Mexican pita pizzas with leftover chicken, steamed broccoli
Saturday: Not sure. Grandma's coming for a visit.
Sunday: Hawaiian BBQ chicken, dill mashed potatoes, asparagus
Tuesday: Salsa chicken and peppers, brown rice, slices or cubes of cantaloupe
Wednesday: (Feeding missionaries) Lemon-herb roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, French bread, salad, peas, steamed carrots
Thursday: Spaghetti, garlic bread (if we have leftover French bread), salad
Friday: Mexican pita pizzas with leftover chicken, steamed broccoli
Saturday: Not sure. Grandma's coming for a visit.
Sunday: Hawaiian BBQ chicken, dill mashed potatoes, asparagus
Friday, August 26, 2011
Cool Things Babyzilla Does: Month 7
Another month gone? It just doesn't seem possible that it's been 7 whole months since you came into the world. In some ways it's like you just got here and in others it's like you've always been part of our family.
Some things you do now that you're a big (and I do mean BIG) 7 month old:
Some things you do now that you're a big (and I do mean BIG) 7 month old:
- Wear size 24 month clothes
- Love to hit buttons
- Chew on EVERYTHING.
- Roll from back to tummy and tummy to back.
- Crawl... backwards. We'll work on that. You've managed to get stuck up the leg of the coffee table a number of times. You can't put your feet on the ground to rool out of it, but you can't crawl forward either. You just look up at Daa-ee and I with a pitiful "Help me!" look. It's hilarious! Yes, we come to the rescue.
- Drink out of Mama or Daddy's glass. We hold it and you sit away.
- Hold your own bottle. I'm sure you could have done that earlier if we didn't use glass bottles.
- Say even more words. "Hi Da-ee!" is very common. People can tell me that you don't know what you're saying all day long, but I don't believe it. You only say it when Daddy comes into the room or when he's on the phone. You know that people say "hi" when somebody walks into a room or talks on the phone.
- Sign more. You have developed your own sign for "Change my diaper." You pat your diaper and then pull on the crotch area. We ask if you want your diaper changed, you smile and giggle. You give the sign for "milk" when you want a bottle. I never taught you that. I did the milk sign when I went to nurse you, but never for a bottle. I guess liquid food is all the same in your eyes.
- You love to grab hair and earrings. We're working on that. We don't get mad. You're a baby. You don't know that it hurts. But, we made a sign for "let go." It works really well.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Berry, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
Berry, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
1 tablespoon flax seed or wheat germ
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup milk
Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth. If it's too thick , add more milk.
Mexican Pita Pizza
I was getting sick of PB&J and tuna salad for lunch, so I came up with this.
2 Whole wheat pitas
1/2 cup salsa
2/3 can of beans (black, pinto, kidney, whatever)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 F
Drain and rinse beans.
Place pitas on a baking sheet. Spread half of the salsa on each pita.
Top each pita with half of the beans and half of the cheese.
Bake for 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the pita is crisp.
Makes 2 pizzas. Enough for 2 people or one very hungry person. :)
2 Whole wheat pitas
1/2 cup salsa
2/3 can of beans (black, pinto, kidney, whatever)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 F
Drain and rinse beans.
Place pitas on a baking sheet. Spread half of the salsa on each pita.
Top each pita with half of the beans and half of the cheese.
 |
| Thinly sliced cheese works just as well. |
Makes 2 pizzas. Enough for 2 people or one very hungry person. :)
 |
| Yum! |
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake
My version of Hallee the Homemaker's Taste of Summer Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake. Almost identical, except I use plain yogurt to avoid artificial flavorings. If you can find a vanilla yogurt that doesn't use artificial flavorings or colorings, use that.
Ingredients:
1½ cups unbleached or whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 or 3 lemons
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup fresh blueberries
1 TBS flour
½ cup vegetable oil
⅓ cup sugar
Directions:
Sift together dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Using the spatula, gently stir in the oil. Add the blueberries and stir just until combined.
Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Let stand in pan for 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, bring ⅓ cup sugar and ⅓ cup lemon juice to boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Put cooling rack on baking sheet. Remove the cake from the pan and place on cooling rack. Slowly pour the sugar and lemon juice over the cake, letting it soak in.
Let cool completely.
Ingredients:
1½ cups unbleached or whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 or 3 lemons
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup fresh blueberries
1 TBS flour
½ cup vegetable oil
⅓ cup sugar
Directions:
Sift together dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Using the spatula, gently stir in the oil. Add the blueberries and stir just until combined.
Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Let stand in pan for 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, bring ⅓ cup sugar and ⅓ cup lemon juice to boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Put cooling rack on baking sheet. Remove the cake from the pan and place on cooling rack. Slowly pour the sugar and lemon juice over the cake, letting it soak in.
Let cool completely.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Slightly Spicy Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes
Another Hallee the Homemaker dish. I would have never thought up this flavor combination. It's delicious. If you don't like it spicy, omit or reduce the Tabasco sauce. I ate this all the time when I was pregnant with Babyzilla.
Slightly Spicy Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes
This dish works great as a side dish or a lunch entrée.
1 cup regular couscous
6 large firm ripe red tomatoes
dash Kosher or Sea salt
1 tablespoon cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco or similar)
1 clove garlic — peeled and minced
Filling:
¼ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
6 green onions — finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
⅓ cup finely chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
Kosher or Sea Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Prep:
(Can all be done while couscous is boiling and cooling)
Chop, slice, dice vegetables
Top and carefully scoop out tomatoes
Brush the inside of the tomatoes with hot sauce
Directions:
Bring to a boil 2 cups water in a medium-size saucepan. Add couscous and stir. Boil again, lower beat and cover. Simmer until all water has been absorbed. Stir to fluff, remove from heat and allow to stand 5 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.
Cut a ½ inch slice off the top of each tomato from the stem end. Discard seeds, remove pulp with a spoon, and chop pulp into small pieces. Set pulp aside for the filling. Lightly sprinkle tomato shell with salt and place upside down on a cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes to drain its liquid. Mix together olive oil, hot sauce, and garlic. Turn tomato shells upright and drizzle them with olive oil mixture.
When couscous is cold, toss green, orange and red peppers, green onions, parsley, and mint together with couscous. Add reserved tomato pulp, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss again and taste for seasoning. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each tomato to keep them from rolling.
Spoon filling into each prepared tomato shell. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve
Slightly Spicy Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes
This dish works great as a side dish or a lunch entrée.
1 cup regular couscous
6 large firm ripe red tomatoes
dash Kosher or Sea salt
1 tablespoon cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco or similar)
1 clove garlic — peeled and minced
Filling:
¼ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
6 green onions — finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
⅓ cup finely chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
Kosher or Sea Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Prep:
(Can all be done while couscous is boiling and cooling)
Chop, slice, dice vegetables
Top and carefully scoop out tomatoes
Brush the inside of the tomatoes with hot sauce
Directions:
Bring to a boil 2 cups water in a medium-size saucepan. Add couscous and stir. Boil again, lower beat and cover. Simmer until all water has been absorbed. Stir to fluff, remove from heat and allow to stand 5 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.
Cut a ½ inch slice off the top of each tomato from the stem end. Discard seeds, remove pulp with a spoon, and chop pulp into small pieces. Set pulp aside for the filling. Lightly sprinkle tomato shell with salt and place upside down on a cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes to drain its liquid. Mix together olive oil, hot sauce, and garlic. Turn tomato shells upright and drizzle them with olive oil mixture.
When couscous is cold, toss green, orange and red peppers, green onions, parsley, and mint together with couscous. Add reserved tomato pulp, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss again and taste for seasoning. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each tomato to keep them from rolling.
Spoon filling into each prepared tomato shell. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve
Friday, August 5, 2011
The BEST Banana Bread Ever!
The original recipe is Hallee's. See it here. A few notes: The batter rose WAY more than I expected. It overflowed the pan, but it was fine after I made the parchment paper stick up, a bit like one would do with a souffle. Do this before adding the batter to avoid spill-over. The directions don't mention when to put in the vanilla, so I left it out. Still delicious.
2 cups flour (whole wheat or white, your preference)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole stick room temp butter (no subs)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
1 tsp.vanilla
3 medium/large bananas – mashed
½ cup sour cream (I use plain yogurt)
½ cup chopped nuts (optional – pecans or walnuts)
Line the bread pan with parchment paper. This will keep your loaf pan clean, and it will make it really easy to remove the bread. You can grease and flour it if you’d rather.
Heat oven to 325° degrees F.
In a small bowl combine and sift dry ingredients: flour, powders, soda, cinnamon, salt. Set aside.
In the mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. (I assume the vanilla would get added here.)
In another bowl mix the mashed bananas Stir in the sour cream (or yogurt).
Using a wooden spoon, blend ⅓ of dry ingredients into the butter mix. Then add ⅓ of the banana mix into the butter mix. Keep doing this until both dry ingredients and banana mixture are gone. Add the nuts. Give a good quick stir, trying not to handle or stir the batter too much.
Scrape batter into loaf pan and smooth top with the spoon. Bake in center of oven for 70-75 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for a few minutes then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
It's amazing!
2 cups flour (whole wheat or white, your preference)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole stick room temp butter (no subs)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
1 tsp.vanilla
3 medium/large bananas – mashed
½ cup sour cream (I use plain yogurt)
½ cup chopped nuts (optional – pecans or walnuts)
Line the bread pan with parchment paper. This will keep your loaf pan clean, and it will make it really easy to remove the bread. You can grease and flour it if you’d rather.
Heat oven to 325° degrees F.
In a small bowl combine and sift dry ingredients: flour, powders, soda, cinnamon, salt. Set aside.
In the mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. (I assume the vanilla would get added here.)
In another bowl mix the mashed bananas Stir in the sour cream (or yogurt).
Using a wooden spoon, blend ⅓ of dry ingredients into the butter mix. Then add ⅓ of the banana mix into the butter mix. Keep doing this until both dry ingredients and banana mixture are gone. Add the nuts. Give a good quick stir, trying not to handle or stir the batter too much.
Scrape batter into loaf pan and smooth top with the spoon. Bake in center of oven for 70-75 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for a few minutes then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
It's amazing!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sugar-free Applesauce Spice Cake a.k.a. Babyzilla's future birthday cake
Applesauce Spice Cake
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 cups ground almonds (optional)
2 Macintosh apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 inch square baking pan.
Beat the eggs until they drop like ribbons from the beaters. Continue beating and add the oil in a thin stream. Beat in the 1 cup applesauce and the 1 cup unsweetened apple juice concentrate then mix in the flour gradually until well blended. Add the baking soda, ground ginger, ground almonds and apples. Fold together until well mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F about 40 minutes or until the cake tests clean with a knife or toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 cups ground almonds (optional)
2 Macintosh apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 inch square baking pan.
Beat the eggs until they drop like ribbons from the beaters. Continue beating and add the oil in a thin stream. Beat in the 1 cup applesauce and the 1 cup unsweetened apple juice concentrate then mix in the flour gradually until well blended. Add the baking soda, ground ginger, ground almonds and apples. Fold together until well mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F about 40 minutes or until the cake tests clean with a knife or toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Another Giveaway
Go here to enter Mother Rising Birth Service's giveaway. If you win, you'll receive a free product from Mother Love Herbal company. Also, if you live in north Florida/ South Georgia and are looking for a doula or Birthing From Within class, Lindsey comes highly recommended. (Not my personal recomendation, but people have told me to check her out for our next baby.) She is a member of the Tallahassee Doula Co-op.
Perfect hard boiled eggs
http://www.halleethehomemaker.com/2011/05/perfect-every-time-hard-boiled-egg/
Hallee the Homemaker strikes again! I made hard boiled eggs last night to have on hand durring the week. (Egg salad, egg on a salad, plain hard boiled egg, etc.) I've never been able to get the timing right and always end up with "over medium" boiled eggs. Not bad, but not what I'm going for. These eggs were perfect! Fully cooked, but the yolk wasn't dried out. They were really easy to peel, too. Throw a few ice cubes into the pot to cool it down faster. Save time and water.
Hallee the Homemaker strikes again! I made hard boiled eggs last night to have on hand durring the week. (Egg salad, egg on a salad, plain hard boiled egg, etc.) I've never been able to get the timing right and always end up with "over medium" boiled eggs. Not bad, but not what I'm going for. These eggs were perfect! Fully cooked, but the yolk wasn't dried out. They were really easy to peel, too. Throw a few ice cubes into the pot to cool it down faster. Save time and water.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)