Beet Tacos.

one of my very best friends posted this on her blog awhile ago and i knew i needed to try them.  i finally made them last week and they are SO GOOD!  kens always has the best meal ideas- so thanks a million kens!! (i'll be posting a knock off of another one of her meals later this week as well).  i changed them up a little bit, but the theory is the same. :)  for the original recipe click here.

beets (fresh or canned... i used fresh, but i think i might try canned next time because i decided i like my beets pickled better, but kens prefers fresh. so you choose)
corn tortillas (they are small)
black beans
avocados
sour cream
queso fresca
hot sauce

first you peel the beets and grate them.  then, i boiled mine for about 10minutes in a small amount of water.  next add some lime juice and salt.

meanwhile, cook black beans on the stove until they are soft and mushy.  then, use a fork to mash them up.

while you have those two going, heat up the corn tortillas on the stove- browning them slightly on each side.

next, i just mashed up straight avocado with some garlic salt, but you can make your favorite quac if you would like.

then, i mixed the sour cream and hot sauce together (kens uses mexican sour cream called crema mexicana).  and crumble the queso fresca.

and then you put it all together....

tortilla, layer of black beans, layer of avocado, layer of beets, drizzle sour cream/hot sauce mixture, and top it with the crumbled queso.  they are AMAZING! i served these with some spanish rice and fresh cherries.



now everyone go check out mckensie's blog and thank her for all the goodness she posts! :)

stir fry.

for some reason stir fry always sounds good to me, and then when i make it- it's just not.  i think i finally found a recipe worth keeping around though, because this time i really did like it.  plus, it has gobs of veggies so win, win.

chicken
olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced

cut chicken into strips or cubes.  cook in frying pan with olive oil and garlic until chicken is done.  meanwhile, steam some broccoli.

1 Tbs hoisin sauce
1 Tbs chili paste
1 Tbs soy sauce

add all three to the pan and mix well.

yellow squash
zucchini
green pepper
carrots

slice all veggies and add to pan + broccoli. coat well with sauce.

water chestnuts
baby corn
1/8 cup chicken stock

drain chestnuts and corn and add to pan along with the chicken stock.

Let everything simmer on medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Ranch Burgers

we've been summer grillin' at our house and it's yum yum every time!  my husband found our most recent recipe for burgers- ranch burgers!  they're really easy, and really yummy too!  (even if you're not a ranch lover- because dallin definitely isn't)

2lbs ground beef

1 packet of hidden valley ranch
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
onion (didn't use this)

combine everything and form into a patty!  then, make your husband grill them because you don't know how to use a grill. :)

toppings include:

spinach, avocado slices, mayo, mustard, ketchup. (and BBQ sauce if you're dallin)
we also use a healthier alternative for the buns.  i know they don't look all that wonderful, but they really taste fabulous!  dallin was a little weary, but even he likes them... and if he likes them, most likely you will too.  (he likes to toast his too).  they're called sandwich thins and they are found by the bagels (at least in my store they are).

now eat up!

Green Smoothies.

our new late night treat is green smoothies.  so far i have found two variations that we enjoy (well, dallin only enjoys the chocolate one).

1-
handful of spinach
ground flax seeds
1 banana (frozen)
chocolate almond milk

2-
handful of spinach
ground flax seeds
1 banana (frozen)
blueberries, strawberries, raspberries (or whatever you want)
vanilla almond milk





put everything in blender, blend and enjoy.  (i use a magic bullet, and i've heard the spinach doesn't blend in a regular blender- so keep that in mind)

shredded wheat bars

because, lets face it-- who doesn't need a healthy treat idea?

3 cups (crushed) shredded wheat
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut-butter (crunchy is better)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
raisons (or semi-sweet chocolate chips if you're a choco-holic like me)

mix honey, peanut-butter, and brown sugar.  melt in microwave for 1- 1.5 minutes. blend well.  add shredded wheat and mix until coated evenly.  add chocolate chips or raisons and mix again.  press into a greased 8-inch baking dish.  cool in refrigerator.  cut into square bars and enjoy.

BBQ Pasta

We aren't huge fans of marinara sauce in our home, so this pasta is perfect! Especially because my husband is obsessed with BBQ sauce.  (We once had a debate about if it was normal (and in my case, HUMANE) to eat BBQ sauce on pot-stickers. Unfortunately I think I lost that battle after taking a poll on facebook, but I'm still sticking to the fact that it's absolutely disgusting and a major insult to the asian culture!) ANYWAY!  This pasta is good!  It sounds a little iffy- I know, but just trust me on this one.  The smell of it cooking in the oven is quite divine as well!

26oz Marinara sauce (I'm pretty sure mine was 24oz)
1.5- 2.5 BBQ sauce (I used slightly more)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. Penne Pasta (I used 70% wheat pasta, 30% white)
shredded mozzarella cheese
chicken

Cook and shred chicken.  Combine Marinara and BBQ sauce, and then the minced garlic.  Add cooked noodles, and then the shredded chicken.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20minutes.

cleaning chicken

i hate chicken. i mean, i HATE touching, cleaning, dealing with uncooked chicken, period!  my sisters are all kind of freaked out by raw chicken, and therefore, i have developed quite a phobia of it myself.  unfortunately, we eat chicken at least twice a week, if not more.  we figured out a chicken solution shortly after we were married.  it makes cooking dinner for me 10x easier, and it makes my husband 10x happier that he doesn't have to clean the chicken for me every time!

whenever we buy chicken, we buy it in bulk.  my husband will clean all the chicken and cut it into about 3 ounce pieces.  we then put two- four pieces of the cleaned chicken in a freezer zip-lock bag.  then you throw it all in the freezer! whenever i need chicken for a meal, all i have to do it pull a bag out of the freezer and put it either directly into a baking dish, or directly into a frying pan.  it dramatically minimizes the amount of raw chicken i have to touch!  it also cuts down prep time for dinner in half! (okay maybe not half, but a lot!)

and ta-da!
it works perfect for us!