You mean bakery

I know i have bigger and more important things to blog about right now but that requires a bit more time and pictures to be uploaded on the computer. i tried out a new simple and healthy pancake recipe that I found on Pinterest tonight. Super simple - 2 ripe mashed bananas, 4 eggs, dash of cinnamon (or more if you are like me), 2 tsp of vanilla. Mix together and pour on lightly greased griddle or skillet. It doesn't make much - six 1/3 cup pancakes. We had had thawed blueberries slightly mashed poured over them. Sophie helped make them. she mashed bananas and mixed everything together. Anytime Molly or I said her name she would reply, "you mean bakery". We then had to refer to her as "bakery" and then repeat whatever we were saying. She makes me laugh. I'm really bad about taking a picture of my food so here is a picture of the second serving I had, thus the poor presentation.

$200 hamburger deliciousness

last weekend we purchased a charcoal grill and we love it! i'm not sure how much we'll use our gas grill this summer after tasting the deliciousness that comes off this grill!  matt and i were inspired after watching primal grilling and bbq university on pbs late one saturday night. we learned a lot of grilling tips and some neat recipe ideas. steven raichlen is teh host and he's fun to watch. crazy hair, down to earth guy who has every kind of grill imaginable. his whole yard has grills everywhere and they're all going at once. you should watch him if you're interested in new grilling techniques. unfortunately, lately he has only been on at 2:00 in the morning so we've not been able to watch. tonight, however, i found him on at 8. good stuff! and, usually, he doesn't make the annoying "mmmm" sound after tasting his food. tonight he did, but it was mild. enough about primal grilling and on to us, specifically matt.

matt loves fire...in the winter he could just sit and watch our fire place for hours. grilling is just as much fun for him, poking, monitoring flames and smoke, basking in the aroma of the cooking meat and or smoking hickory chips. here he is lifting the lid to flip what we called our $200 burgers. after all was said and done: grill, charcoal, hickory chips, chimney starter, and food, it was a $200 meal. but soooo worth it. yummo!

                                                                                



we seasoned the burgers with gates original rub. first mixing it in the hamburger and then rubbing it on top to make sure there was enough flavor. gates seasoning is good stuff. we did use the gas grill that night too and grilled some onions brushed in olive oil mixed with garlic powder. i never thought i would enjoy just eating onions. i like them mixed in things but alone, not so much. grilled onions, caramelized were so delicious and made the hamburger that much better!

                                                                            as matt was cooking he kept commenting that they were going to be good and juicy. that they were. it helped that we didn't buy good hamburger...85% lean so there was a fair amount of fat floating around in there. hamburger is so expensive.... i was glad matt went into the store with me so he could see just how much groceries cost and why our weekly bill is so high, so often.

we paired our juicy burger with bush's baked beans and steak fries. i gave it 9/10 stars, it was that good. i wanted a second burger even though i was stuffed....i resisted and had another for dinner the following evening. unfortuntaly, it didn't live up to it's expectaions reheated so next time i may just have to indulge in two!  i should add that after the burgers were finished we still had hot coals and cooked some bone-in chicken breasts, also seasoned with gates original rub, for lunch the next day. oh my goodness, they were good too! the chicken tasted like it had been in a smoker. so moist, and delicious. and, unlike the burger, did not loose any flavor when reheated.

yummy grilled pizza recipe

we made grilled chicken pizza for lunch today and it was delicious. here's the recipe:

one pre-baked pizza crust
2 cups grilled chicken chopped
1/3 c. mayo or miracle whip
1 T. ranch dressing seasoning packet
1/4 c. diced tomato
1/4 c. red pepper
moz. cheese

mix mayo and dressing mix together and spread on pizza crust. top with chicken, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese. grill over med-low heat until cheese is melted. super quick and easy!

this recipe is is courtesy of family.go.com

quesadillas anyone?

i made a wonderful new quesadilla recipe tonight for dinner. it was by far the best i've ever had. chicken and bacon quesadillas with mozzarella cheese! yummy, yummy in my tummy!!! :) here's the recipe....enjoy

chicken & bacon quesadillas

2 chicken breasts cut into small pieces
2 slices of bacon
4 tortillas
1/4-1/2 c. onion (depending on your like)
1 can rotel, drained
mozzarella cheese
butter

cook bacon until crispy, lay on paper towel to degrease! cook chicken in bacon grease (that's for that yummy flavor!). remove chicken from pan then wash the pan. butter one side of each of the tortillas. place 1 tortilla butter-side down in pan and then top with 1/2 chicken, bacon, onion, cheese, and rotel. place other tortilla on top, butter-side up. cook until brown, then flip. ***watch out - the flip can be very tricky because the tortillas don't seal up. i used two spatulas and make my flip very quick. if you do it right you'll only loose a few pieces of filling!*** repeat cooking on other side, then make another. serve with sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole.

culinary delights

i've become quite the chef in the past month. i used to be a horrible cook - i really never cooked until i got married. over the past four years i figured a few things out and love looking for new recipes that are cheap and easy to make but yet still healthy and tasty. this portion of my blog is for that. i will share recipes i've found that are in rachel ray dialogue, "delish".

are you ready....

chicken with avocado and lime salsa

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded down to about 1/2 thickness
salt
pepper
garlic
2-3 avocados chopped
juice of 1 lime
tomato chopped
olive oil (approx. 3 T)
1/4-1/2 c. onion chopped
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

salt, pepper and garlic chicken, place in pan with 2 T olive oil and cook through.
in separate bowl combine avocados, tomato, onion, cilantro, juice of lime, and 1 T olive oil. serve over chicken.