Fresh Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
1 c. fresh basil leaves, packed
1 c. fresh spinach leaves, packed
1/3 c. pine nuts
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a food processor, combine the basil, spinach and pine nuts, pulse a few times. Add garlic, pulse a few more times. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while food processor is running. Stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor. Add parmesan cheese and pulse again until blended. Add salt and pepper to taste, pulse one last time. Makes 1 cup. 

Recipe adapted from here

Notes: I had pesto for the first time when my aunt Linda made it while I was visiting her in California many years ago and I fell in love! This recipe from Simply Recipes is awesome and I've seen it in many different food blogs so I had to give it a try. It originally calls for 2 cups of basil but I thought that would be a little strong for me so I used half spinach and it was perfect! This stuff is strong...a little goes a long way!

Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 a large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Salt and pepper to taste 
1 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 c. sour cream
2 c. shredded monterrey jack cheese, divided
10 6 inch corn tortillas
10 oz. can red enchilada sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 13x9 baking dish and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another minute or two. Stir in spinach, stirring well to break apart. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Remove from heat and mix in the ricotta, sour cream and 1 cup of monterrey jack. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the cheese and spinach mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top of all the prepared enchiladas and top with remaining 1 cup of monterrey jack cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from here

Notes: Don't let the ugly photo fool you. These enchiladas were super good! I tried and tried to get a pretty picture but it wasn't happening! In the pan, out of the pan, it just didn't matter. Anyways, back to the food: This was one of our first nights eating vegetarian and we both agreed with didn't miss the meat at all. These enchiladas were sooo yummy...I think we each ate 4 ;)

Summery Veggie Couscous

Ingredients:
2/3 c. whole wheat couscous
1 c. water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise and diced
1 small zucchini squash, quartered lengthwise and diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz. grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 large fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:
Place the water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat, quickly stir in the couscous and cover with a lid for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the squash for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Add tomato and saute just until heated through. Season vegetables with salt and pepper to your liking. Once couscous is finished, fluff with a fork and combine with the vegetables. Garnish with fresh basil. Makes 4 generous servings.

Notes: I was pleasantly surprised with how good this came out! I threw it together for lunch today and it totally hit the spot! Try it, please! ;)

I needed to hear this...

I was reading this morning in a devotional book a friend gave me several years ago and I came across this amazing little quote:

‎"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety" 

-George Mueller

God has really been teaching me lately about giving over my worrisom spirit and how to truly cast all my cares on Him. I so badly needed to hear this today. I hope it will bless in some way, too :)

Attempting Vegetarianism

After much research, talking, collecting recipes and more talking, Randy and I have decided to try eating vegetarian for the month of August...longer if it goes well. I just wanted to give my (few) readers a heads up in case you notice a change in the recipes I post. I'm still gathering as many recipe ideas as I can...and starting to wonder how we'll ever stay full without meat in our diet! I know people do it all the time and I just need to learn how to plan a meal around something besides a piece of meat. I honestly think it will be fun and challenging! If you have a favorite vegetarian dish (or several!) please share it with me! I could use all the help I could get :)

There are several reasons we decided to do this. Mainly for my health. I have PCOS and with that comes weight gain...mostly around the mid-section of my body. I've lost count of how many people have recently asked me if I'm pregnant, when my baby is due, etc. Each time it gets harder and harder to take. I have a good friend who also has PCOS and she decided to give up meat when she was diagnosed and her weight is most definitely under control now. She is one of my inspirations for trying vegetarianism. I'm also walking every day now and I love it! I hope that helps a little, too.

I've done a lot of research on how animals are slaughtered and prepared for food. Honestly, I'm disgusted. Here is a quote that stuck out to me from GoVeg.com: "Animals on today's factory farms have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilation, genetic manipulation, and drug regimens that cause chronic pain and crippling, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs and cats we cherish as companions". They are given drugs to fatten them up and are genetically altered to grow faster. So by the time they go from the farm to our dinner plates they are not the way God intended for us to "enjoy" them. I'm not becoming a PETA advocate or anything, but these facts have given me more reason to want to try vegetarianism.

Randy is totally supportive of all this (and excited to get started!) which made it a lot easier for me to make the decision. We are also going to cut down on carbohydrates, fat and sugar...which is highly recommended for women with PCOS. We feel like this is a good time in our life to make this change and to raise Margot eating well, too. I could keep listing more reasons we want to do this...but I will leave you with these couple main ones.

It's not going to be easy (I looooove my carbs and sugar!) but we know it's the best thing for us. If the month of August goes well, we will most definitely continue with it.

-Chloe'

Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh medium-large strawberries
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Wash and dry the strawberries, cut the stems off and stand up straight. Cut an "x" in the tip of each strawberry going 3/4 of the way down. Cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Place mixture into a piping bag (or in my case, a Ziploc baggie with a hole cut in the tip!) and squeeze into each strawberry from the bottom up. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Notes: Randy has had a few crazy days at work so I wanted to have a little treat waiting for him today. These were simple to make and really delicious and fresh! They were a little messy and making them made me wish I had a piping bag....oh well, I'll get one someday...maybe! These would be great for a baby or bridal shower or any party, really :)

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Ingredients:
3 c. all purpose flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 1/2 c. white sugar, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. chilled butter (I used half Smart Balance)
4 c. fresh blueberries
3 tsp. corn starch

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 13x9 pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, 1 cup sugar and baking powder. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and egg until crumbly. Pieces should be no larger than a pea.
In a separate bowl, stir together the blueberries, remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch. Pour half the crumble mixture into the prepared pan. Pour blueberry mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture over the blueberries. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

recipe adapted from here 

Notes: Blueberries were on sale this week at the grocery store so I picked up an 18 oz. carton (which turned out to be exactly 4 cups...perfect!) and made these bars with them. I'm not a huge blueberry fan, but these were so good! I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and made a few of my own little changes....super easy to make, I threw them together in a couple minutes! They are a great for dessert or to munch on with your morning coffee :)

Lemony Breaded Pork Chops

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork loin chops
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 egg
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 c. plain bread crumbs
1 tsp. lemon pepper
Salt to taste

Directions:
Place a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter and melt together. On a large place, whisk together the egg and lemon juice. On another large plate, combine the lemon zest, bread crumbs, lemon pepper and salt. Dip both sides each pork chop in the egg mixture and then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in the skillet and cook for 8-10 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked. Drizzle with extra lemon juice if desired. Serves 4.

Notes: I made this dish up the other night and Randy and I both loved it! I asked Randy how many stars out of 5 he'd give it and he said 4 at first and then changed his mind to 5 later on in the meal :)

Caramel Macchiato Thumbprints - take 2

Ingredients:
4 tsp. instant coffee granules
1 tbsp. hot water
1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz.) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/4 c. white flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
28 soft caramels, unwrapped
1 tbsp. milk
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1 tsp. shortening

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 and grease 2 cookie sheets. Dissolve coffee granules in the hot water and pour into a large mixing bowl. Stir in cookie mix, flour, butter, vanilla and egg until soft dough forms, about 2 minutes. Shape dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Transfer to cooling racks.

In a small bowl, microwave the caramels and milk for 1 minute, stir and heat 30-45 more seconds or until melted and smooth. Spoon the caramel into the center of each cookie. In another small bowl, microwave the white chocolate chips and shortening 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Pipe the chocolate over each cookie. Allow chocolate to harden and store cookies unstacked (to prevent caramel sticking) in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from here

Notes: I made these cookies before and they were really good but I wanted to try them again and make a few changes. I didn't think the cookies should have dark chocolate on them since caramel macchiatos are caramel and vanilla. So I used white chocolate this time and they were MUCH better. I piped it on instead of drizzling which was easier and less messy. I also added a teaspoon extra of coffee granules for a stronger coffee flavor. One more thing I did was make them about 1/2 the size I did the first time. They turned out amazing and I will make them again and again! I even had some for breakfast this morning ;)

Kettle Korn

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
1/2 c. popcorn kernels, divided
1/2 c. sugar, divided
food coloring, optional (I used 10 drops red & 12 drops neon blue)


Directions:
In a stove top popcorn popper (I have a 4 quart Whirley Pop) heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil over medium/high heat. Add 1/4 cup popcorn kernels, 1/4 cup sugar and food coloring if using and close the lid. Once you hear the kernels being to pop, stir constantly until they are completely done popping. Immediately transfer into a large serving bowl. The kettle korn will be extremely hot at first, so allow it to cool and then break it apart using your hands or a large spoon. Repeat the entire process with the second half of the ingredients. Makes about 12 cups of kettle corn.

Notes: If you don't have a Whirley Pop already, please get one! Whenever I make this stuff for parties or get-togethers it gets eaten up so fast! And it's so simple to make and hardly has any ingredients yet so tasty and addicting :)