My very own Mediterranean Salad

I was on Pinterest and found 2 recipes that sounded good but had some ingredients that I'm not a huge fan of so I took the 2 recipes, combined some of them together and added a few of my own touches to it.

I have had a request for the recipe so this is for you Samantha!

Mediterranean Salad

1 15oz can of garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) - drained and rinsed,
1/2 large Red Pepper - chopped,
1/4 large Red Onion - chopped,
large handful of Yellow Grape Tomatoes - halved,
handful of Kalamata Olives - sliced,
1 small/medium Cucumber - chopped,
handful of Traditional Feta Cheese,
handful of Almonds - chopped/lightly minced,
1 tablespoon of Mint - minced,
1 tablespoon of Basil - minced,
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - medium drizzle all over,
Red Wine Vinegar - heavy shake all over,
Sea Salt and Ground Black Peppercorn to season.

Combine vegetables and almonds into a medium bowl and drizzle with oil and vinegar, sprinkle with sea salt and ground black peppercorns and feta cheese, toss together and serve at room temperature or chilled, by it's self or over spinach and arugula leaves.
If you serve it with spinach and arugula I would recommend drizzling a little more oil and vinegar to moisten the leaves.

This recipe would be perfect to make for a spring or summer picnic or take to any type of get together.
I truly love making "clean food" for my family.  It's not only healthy but it's delicious!
It makes me feel so good eating it and serving it to my family.
I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe.  I know my family and I did!

Apple Cider Rosemary Pork Chops.

While thinking of what to fix for dinner, I knew I was going to make pork chops.  I figured I would bread and fry them like I normally do but after opening the fridge and seeing the apple cider on the top shelf I had an amazing idea.  Why don't I fix baked apple pork chops?  Sounds pretty good eh?  Well, just so you know...  It really was.  You can't beat that it's so much more healthier then breading and frying them, too.  Win, win!

Ingredients:
4 thin pork chops,
2 small apples cut and cored into quarters,
(I think I used Gala, they aren't "baking" apples because they're soft but my family and I enjoyed them.)
1 medium onion peeled and cut into quarters,
2 Teaspoons of dried rosemary pitched and crumbled,
1 cup apple cider,
Salt and pepper.

You'll also need:
Baking dish and foil.

Directions:
Line your baking dish with foil so your food doesn't stick to the edges and for an easy clean up.
Place all 4 pork chops into baking dish, sprinkle salt and pepper and pitch and crumb dried rosemary over the top of them.  (Side Notes:  When using dried herbs you should always pitch and crumble them because it releases the aromatics and that's whats going to give you flavor.  You can use fresh rosemary if you prefer.)
Cut and core 2 apples and cut each apple into 4 quarter pieces.
Peel and cut the onion into 4 quarter pieces as well.
Place apples and onions on top and along the sides of the baking dish.
I stated 1 cup of apple cider but I didn't really measure it so I'm guessing 1 cup.
I poured the cider into the bottom of the dish until the bottom of the dish was covered.
Place baking dish into a preheated oven set at 400 degrees F, uncovered and for about 30-45 minutes.  Again, I'm guessing because I forgot to look at the clock when I put mine into the oven but if you're a freak about under cooked meat then I highly suggest you insert a meat thermometer into the middle of a pork chop and look for a temperature of 160 degrees F.
After your meat is fully cooked, take them out of the oven and let them set for about 5 minutes.
Serve and Enjoy!

Next time I'm going to mix the apple cider with apple cider vinegar.  I felt like they needed a little more pizazz, not much, just a little.
If you try this recipe and you add a splash of apple cider vinegar, please let me know how it turns out.  I would love to hear your feed back.

French Toast Sandwich

This is one of my families favorite breakfast foods.
It's sweet yet savory and best with seasonal fresh fruit from a farmer's market.
I love buying fruits and veggies from farmer's markets.
1) I'm supporting my local community.
2) They always seem to taste better.
and 3) I know they are fresher then the produce that you find in a super market.
We also like this a lot because it's a lighter and probably healthier breakfast sandwich than your Egg McMuffins.

To make this delicious sandwich is pretty self explanatory but I'll humor you anyways...

The ingredients you'll need are:

Bread,
Eggs,
Cinnamon,
Pure Vanilla Extract,
Nutmeg,
All Spice,
(I have a secret ingredient that I'll never tell so your sandwiches won't be as scrumptious as mine...  Sorry.)
Butter,
Cream Cheese,
Fresh Berries.

Heat a non-stick skillet on your stove top on a medium to medium-high heat.
Even though I use a non-stick pan I still like to put a tablespoon of REAL butter in it and have it melt down.  As your skillet it heating up start on your egg mixture.
In a medium bowl, crack open 1 egg.
(Use 1 egg per 2 pieces of bread.  1 sandwich = 1 egg, 2 sandwiches = 2 eggs.)
Take a whisk or fork and scramble your egg/s.
I like to use a fork because it does the same thing as a whisk and it's a heck of a lot easier to clean.  Let's be smart people, no need to give yourself extra work around the house when it's unnecessary.
I never measure the spices, I just give the cinnamon a few good heavy shakes, a few dashes of all spice, a pinch of nutmeg, you don't want to go over board with the nutmeg.  Trust me! 
Lastly,  about 2 tablespoons of vanilla.
Mix those all together until the spices look evening mixed. 
You may have to scrap the sides of your bowl because the spices will stick to them and you want all those yummy flavors.
After you have your soon to be delicious mix done, dip both sides of a piece of bread into it and put it in the pan.  Watch it and wait to flip it until you get a nice golden brown color. 
When you're finished with your french toast, spread the cream cheese on one side of 2 pieces of french toast and add fresh berries to one piece and put your warm slices of french toast together and there you have it!

A yummy breakfast sandwich that doesn't consist of a bunch of greasy bacon or sausage.  Don't get me wrong...  I love both bacon and sausage but we both know how fatty and unhealthy it is.  Why does your butt, gut and thighs hate everything your tongue loves? 
Yes it has cream cheese on it but it's a dairy product and I never feel guilty for eating real dairy unless it's ice cream, but that's not "real" dairy.  If you're worried about calories then use a smaller amount than you normally would.  Portion control is key.  Oh, and you can use any type of berry you prefer.  I tend to use more blue berries because my mother in-law has blueberry bushes and she likes to pick them and bring gallon bags over to us.  I'm a lucky gal!

I made Irish Stew!

All of my family and friends know I'm a die hard traveling lover!  I've been a few places in life but not as many as I would like.  Since having my son and being a stay at home Mama doesn't leave me with much room and/or budget to travel anymore I decided that I would bring all the country's and different places of the world I would love to visit to me.  How was I to do this though?  Well, I started thinking about ONE of my favorite things about traveling and that is trying so many different types of new foods and that my Dearest Reader's, led me to this...
I had the fabulous idea to start cooking a traditional meal from another part of the world once a week.
Tonight was the first time I did it and I made Irish Stew!
I have to say this was the best stew I've ever had in my life.  I can't explain how delicious it was.
I guess you'll just have to make it to find out for yourself.

I went off of a recipe that I found but I didn't follow it to a "T".
I really just used it as guild lines to follow.

Ingredients:
Sunflower Seed Oil
2 lbs. of Beef Stew Meat (You're suppose to use Lamb but I couldn't find any today.)
7 Sprigs of Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
6 Carrots (peeled, cut into 2 inch halves)
2 lbs. of Red Potatoes
1 Large Yellow Onion (chopped), (I was to use the white and light green parts of Shallots.)
2 Tbsp. of Worcestershire
Salt and Pepper
Water.

Directions:
Put about 1-2 Tbsp. of sunflower seed oil into a large frying pan,  brown your meat with half of the large yellow onion, thyme, salt and pepper.  When your meat is cooked, pick out the thyme and add about 1 1/2 cups of water and stir up all the juices, I used this as my stock.  Peel and chop your potatoes, carrots and other half of raw onion.  Pour and mix your veggies, meat, stock, worcestershire and bay leaves into a baking dish.  I had to use a 9x13 and it was FULL.  Fill your dish with water until all the ingredients are right at being covered with water.  (I set my dish on top of a cookie sheet just in case it decided to boil over, my baking dish was almost filled to the top.)  Cover with foil.
Put into the oven at 375 degree F.  Bake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until your potatoes and carrots are tender.

You could also make this in a crock pot, I would estimate the cooking time to be around 4-5 hours on high. 
OR
You could also make this in a pot on top of the stove on medium to medium-high heat and stirring so the veggies don't stick to the bottom.

This was so easy and simple to make.  I know the next time I make this I want to try and find some lamb instead of beef and I think the next time I'm going to add cabbage to it as well.

I hope you and your family enjoy this as much as mine did!
Mm mm yummy!

3, 2, 1, Cake in a Cup

So this past Sunday I was over my sisters place and she kept raving about this 3, 2, 1, Cake in a Cup. She wanted to make me some but after hearing how it was made I wasn't to crazy about the idea of it so I declined several times until she finally just made me some and I felt like I had no choice but to try it. Never again will I refuse to have any because this stuff is seriously delicious!
It's the best little snack ever because it's cheap, makes loads of it, fast, simple AND the bestest part is my sister said a single serving is 20 calories!!!
What!?! I can eat Chocolate cake and it's less calories then those expensive card board and saw dust 100 calorie snack packs?? Holy ships and cows! You know this girl is excited!!!

I don't know where my big sis got the recipe from so I can't give credit to where credit is do but regardless I have to share this with all my girlfriends!

There are only 3 ingredients,
1 box of Angel Food Cake,
1 box of Your favorite flavored cake
and 2 Tbsp. of Water.

That's it!  Like I said CHEAP and EASY!!!

Of course I love chocolate so Chocolate Fudge Cake is my favorite choice!

In a large bowl, mix together your cake mixes until they are completely combined.
.

Side Note: Remember you HAVE to have 1 box of Angel Food.
You cannot substitute it out for anything else.

Once it's all combined, put your mix into some sort of storage container.
Luckily I had one of my pretty jars empty.

Side Note: This isn't a picture of a full batch.
I gave my chocoholic neighbor a small container of some.

Ok, here's where the 3, 2, 1, comes into play.

Put 3 Tbsp. of your mix into a coffee cup or mug.

Then add 2 Tbsp. of Water.

Mix together, make sure you dig up the bottom so you aren't left with
any dry mix down there once you start eating it.

It should look like this.

Put your cup into the microwave for 1 minute.

Presto!!!
You're ready to indulge yourself in a 20 calorie snack!

I like mine a little under done because it's a little bit more moist and gooey that way.

So I microwave mine for about 45 seconds but just play around and experiment with it.
Try adding berries, nuts or if you're not worried about your calorie intake then you could add icing, chocolate syrup, chocolate and/or peanut butter chips, or a little whip cream.
Have fun with it.  So far my favorite topping is a teaspoon of chocolate syrup.  Mmmm!

What makes this even better.  Just think... 

They say you should have a snack that doesn't exceed 100 calories right?

So technically you're able to have 5 (plain) cups of this at a time.  ;)

No more saying "No" to chocolate cake ever again!

Life is good, isn't it? 

Enjoy!

 

 

I am so sorry, I just found out about that someone else had stated that the nutritional value for a cup of cake is actually 100 calories, 23 carbs and 1 protein per serving.
This comes to a very big disappointment to me.  Well, at least it doesn't exceed over 100 calories per serving.  So sorry for the miss information!!!