Weelicious Easy Cheesy Green Hummus

Hi there friends! 
Okay, so I was trying to think of something yummy to dip veggies in and had a bunch of spinach I needed to use up, and while scrolling through the internet with those two things in mind I found THE BEST HUMMUS RECIPE EVER! 
It kind of reminded me of a cross between hummus and pesto. It is AWESOME and SO easy and the babies loved it. 
Warning: I kept finding green pieces on my babes for hours after feeding them. It is messy to feed a baby, but the nutrition is well worth it and its adult mess-free. It's a Weelicious  recipe, one of my favorite recipes sites. 

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup packed fresh spinach
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons tahini paste ( I didn't have this on hand, so I used an extra clove of garlic. It was great without it but I am sure if would really add a lot to the hummus. I went to Kroger later that day to look for it, but it was no where to be found in the mediterranean section. If you find some, let me know!)
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. I used a vitamix and blended until smooth)

Enjoy! 

Tzatziki sauce #2 and life latley...

WARNING: This is a lengthy post.

Hey friends! Okay, so I just tried the ole barefoot contessa's Tzatziki sauce and I have to say it is better than my first recipe. You can see this recipe Here. The only thing I did differently was sub the sour cream for more greek yogurt. It was delicious. Also, I did a little short cut that I think diminished the quality of the recipe. Instead of grating the cucumber as Ina directs, I threw it in the vitamix (aint nobody got time for that) but I think it lost some texture and I watered it down a bit, so next time I will follow the directions. oops. Even my shortcut way was delish. Here it is with some green peppers...

The blog: Lets face it... it need a MAJOR makeover. I have always wanted to spruce it up a little bit but the more I tried the more cluttered and yucky it got. Thank you readers for sticking with me through the unappealing HTML... I am horrid at this. My goal is to clean things up, give it some style and give you a much more beautiful blog to read. Stay patient with me, I am working on this soon. Which brings me to my next little issue...

My camera battery charger is lost. I have always had a little airhead in me but since I had the twins... woah. I am constantly loosing things. I like to say and think that I put all my energy on the well being of my babies that the rest just has to take a back seat, but lets face it... I have major "mom brain." (when pregnancy brain is no longer there, we have this to blame) The babies are 10 days past their first birthday and I have yet to take their 12 month pictures because I have no battery. I know think I had it in Louisville, which was the day after we moved into our house, so that means its still in Louisville, probably under the ground in my parents pod who are in transition in their move ORRRRR it is somewhere in my not totally unpacked house. SO I will give a second stab at finding it and if I can't find it, I will order one off amazon because my sweet babies are changing by the day and I have to capture their tininess while I can.

House: Things are going so well with the house! I get asked all the time if we are settled yet. To that I have to just laugh because we are no where near that. I will say we are probably about 75% settled as far as organizing things and giving everything a "place" But we are about 10% IF THAT decorated, and to me, an undecorated house is not a home just yet. On the decorating front... We sold a lot of our existing stuff and are going with new colors and a new look. We ordered a sofa, which I will do a separate post on soon because who knew choosing an attractive sectional could be so challenging. The sectional wont be delivered until the first week in September and I have a precious friend who is making my curtains as we speak! My colors for our main living space are coral, lime, turquoise and aqua. I know thats a little wild, but we are sticking with cream wall and we need POPS of color. We have a dark wood laminate floor so I am excited to bring some color into the space. My handy hubby has been doing awesome things like mounting our TV, tending to our lawn and a whole list of other tasks. We have been doing lots of little projects, but none are very fun yet (setting up a soaker hose around the house to care for our foundation, switching out shower heads, locks and the like) 

The babies room is about 80% finished, that will be the first completed room!

Weaning the babes: We are currently down to just 2, sometimes 1, breastfeeds per day. More on this later but this has meant really getting to focus on the care of my body again. I have cleaned up my diet and began to slowly exercise again. The whole "I can't work out or I will pass out and I can pretty much eat whatever I want" train is over. But honestly, I am ready to get back to living my healthy lifestyle. Not that I wasn't eating healthy while breastfeeding but I know I wasn't giving my body all the right things, and that OKAY, I enjoyed that time and now a new season is here. So, we are still but really just at the start and end of our day, and there isn't much left. Tear, tear. I think we will be completely finished soon. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures and for the excess of words, I just figured I'd catch ya'll up a little bit. Stay tuned for the nursery reveal SOON :)

Tzatziki Sauce #1

Have you had it? My favorite food is Mediterranean and if you have been to any Mediterranean restaurant I am certain you have had Tzatziki sauce. It is a yummy yogurt based sauce that you can dip raw or grilled veggies in, grilled meats in, or even use it as a salad dressing or sandwich sauce. I plan on making it a staple in my kitchen as it is so refreshing and so versatile. You can put it on just about anything and I am in the search of the perfect Yzatziki Sauce recipe. This was my first attempt and the recipe was a very easy and basic. I found on allrecipes.com.  Here is what's in it... 

16 oz Plain Yogurt 
2 Cucumbers, peeled and diced
2T olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1T chopped fresh dill (I used freeze dried Dill) which can be found in the refrigerated herb section of your grocery store.
Salt and pepper to taste 
3 cloves of garlic, chopped.

This is where it is so easy...you throw it all into a blender ( I have a VitaMix, so I just put everything in whole. I peeled the cucumbers, but just halved them) and blend until well blended, cover and put in the fridge for an hour. All the flavors come together and make a delicious sauce. My babies love it too! I just finished dipping some snap peas in it. It is a great substitute for anything you normally used that is mayonnaise based like ranch. So there was my first recipe. I plan on making many more and will keep you posted on how I like them! 

Quinoa Patties

Hello friends! Many people have been asking for the quinoa patty recipe from my instagram! I would like to say it is certainly not my recipe, I got it from one of my favorite recipe source Mel's Kitchen Cafe. She is a momma of 5 and cooks everything from scratch. She is amazing. She has tons of delicious recipes that I frequent. The two I made last night were her Little Quinoa Patties and her Mexican Tomato and Corn Salad. I used italian bread crumbs in the quinoa patties as she gives you the option of saltines, ritz or bread crumbs... its just what I had on hand. The patties are DELISH and a great healthy source of protein and fiber. I made the corn salad for a memorial day party and had all the ingredients to make it again, and so I did. I hope you enjoy these recipes and find other great ones from Mel's. I will certainly let you know others that I make and approve :)

Dinner last night: Quinoa patties, broccoli and Mexican tomato and corn salsa. Yum.

Styleberry Granola Bars

One of my favorite blogs posted a granola bar recipe recently so I though I would share! These are great! They make a bunch of bars and you know exactly what is in them! I remember when I started eating "clean" I was so frustrated that so many granola bars that advertise themselves to be "healthy" were full of junk that I didn't want. These bars are easy to make and while their "form" isn't that of a store bough bar, they don't fall apart terribly like others I have tried. Okay so here it is...

Ingredients

• 4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups sliced almonds
• 2-3 cups raw nuts (sunflower seeds, pepitas, pistachios, walnut pieces etc) I used pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. 
• 1-2 cup raw shredded coconut
• 1 cup wheat germ 
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup honey
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tb pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup chopped dried fruit (pitted dates, dried apricots, cherries and/or cranberries) I used cherries
• CHIA SEEDS! My new favorite, if you don't have them, no biggie but they are SO healthy. Just add a couple spoon fulls to the mixture for added health.

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Toss the oats, nuts, wheat germ and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. 
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
• Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour in the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried fruit and stir well.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dishes. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan, or use more parchment paper to press it down.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. (If it’s not cooked enough, they will crumble and break).
• Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Pasta...

This is an EXTREMELY easy EXTREMELY delicious meal that is on our regular rotation. It is a Weelicious recipe, one of our favorite recipe sources. Here is what you will need...

(Pardon the poor quality iPhone pic)

• 
  
• 1 pound rotini pasta 
• 1/2 cup basil pesto (I make my own (posted below) in my vita mix but you can use store bought as well!)
• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  
• Its as easy as....
• One... Cook pasta according to package directions.
• 
  
• Two...  Drain pasta and add back to the pot.
• 
  
• Three... Mix in the pesto, chicken, parmesan, mozzarella cheese, and salt, and serve.

Enjoy!


Pesto recipe

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1/2Cup grated Parmesan

3 cloves of garlic

2 cups fresh basil leaves 

3 tablespoons pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

I blend this in my vitamix or you could use a food processor. 

• 
  

My favorite lentil soup...

If you are looking for a really delicious and really easy recipe, I have one for you... and let me tell you it is amazing. Lentil soup may freak you out but trust me, my husband even loves it! It is an Alton Brown recipe and it is a part of our meal rotation. Here is what you'll need...

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
• 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth (I usually use vegetable)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

(Excuse the pics... I took them with my hubby's iPhone)

First chop up the carrot, onion and celery and add to the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. You will cook these for about 6-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent. 

Next, add all of the other ingredients (tomatoes, lentils, broth and spices... 

I have used vegetable and chicken broth before, and both are delish. 

And bring just to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat until lintels are tender, it takes me 45 minutes. Lastly, using a stick blender ( I don't have one, I just take a masher and start mashing) and puree until your preferred consistency. 

Serve immediately and enjoy this HEALTHY, DELICIOUS, PERFECTLY FALL meal.

Chicken Fajita Casserole

My friend Erin, who is also a momma of twins brought me several meals while pregnant and with new babies. It was SUCH a blessing to get such delicious meals and one of them she made, I requested the recipe for... little did I know that when she told me it was a Weelicious meal, I would later be cooking up a storm all from this website. The concept is healthy (well all aren't healthy, but all ARE made from scratch) and quick, easy and delicious meals that your whole family will love. They have baby food recipes all the way up to family recipes. Obviously, Luke and I are the only ones eating solid foods around here and I tell you EVERY recipe on this site is DELISH! I will be posting lots of recipes that we are trying here on my blog from weelicious, and this Potluck Chicken Fajita Casserole recipe is one of them...

This is what you will need:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 bell peppers (red, yellow, orange or green), sliced
• 1 16-ounce bag tortilla chips
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 2 12-ounce jars salsa verde or tomatillo salsa
• 3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or regular)
• 4 cups cooked chicken, shredded

You basically layer the following 5 layers in this order into a 9x13 casserole dish....

Layer One:

Yes, Tortilla chips... This will be your first layer. 

Layer two:

Onion/pepper mixture. You will heat the oil in a skillet and add sauté onions and peppers in the oil for about 5-6 minutes or until the just become soft.

Layer three:

Your shredded chicken. (I just shredded boiled chicken and added salt and pepper)

Layer four:

Shredded cheese

Layer five:

 Your salsa mixture. Mix the salsa verde and the sour cream in a large bowl and add as your fifth layer. 

So... You layer each layer twice and top with more cheese....

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins, then bake uncovered for 20 more minutes or until cheese is golden....

The chips soak up the salsa mixture and some stay crisp! It's a cross between a fajita and nachos.

Eat and Enjoy :)

Raspberry Arnold Palmer

I LOVE iced tea and this is my new favorite...


One part this...

And one part this... 

And you get this...

A refreshing a delicious summer tea! Enjoy!

Rachel Ray's Grilled Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana

Here is a Rachel Ray recipe that is fresh, easy and delish. It involves....

Making a sauce....

Grilling some chicken... 

Covering the chicken with your sauce... 

Topping with cheese... 

Baking.... 

And eating... 

I served with some sautéed spinach and my husband LOVED it. Click Here for the recipe :)

Giada's Spring Penne with Asparagus and Cherry tomatos

I made a delicious and easy spring meal that my husband and I both loved. Here is how you make it... 


1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta (8oz penne, I used half whole wheat, half regular)  and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.


Prepare your veggies...

1 1/2 pounds thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

• 2 cups (about 9 ounces) cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup shelled fresh peas (this took way too long, I might omit next time) 

2. In a large saute pan, heat 3T olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 2 cloves garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add the asparagus, season with the salt and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes until slightly soft. Add the cherry tomatoes and peas. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock into the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the tomatoes start to burst and the stock is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.

4.Transfer the asparagus mixture to a large serving bowl. Add the cooked pasta and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan Cheese. Toss well, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Garnish with more Parmesan and chopped basil.

Grilled Chicken Tostadas

Here is an easy and yummy dinner idea... 

What you will need...

• Juice of two limes 
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo, coarsely chopped
• Kosher salt
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• Cooking spray
• 2 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1/2 pound tomatillos, removed from husk and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 2 ounces queso fresco, crumbled, about 1/3 cup (I used shredded Monterey Jack) 

Combine the lime juice, garlic and chipotle chile in a medium bowl; season with salt. Add the chicken, toss well to coat, and refrigerate 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the marinade; thread onto 4 (12-inch) skewers lightly misted with cooking spray.

Preheat the grill to medium. Mist the tortillas with cooking spray. Add the tortillas to the grill; cook, turning once, until lightly toasted, about 1 to 2 minutes per tortilla.

Meanwhile, add the chicken and the whole tomatillos to the grill; cook, turning often, until tomatillos are charred and chicken is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the skewers from the chicken.

Coarsely chop the tomatillos and toss with oil and salt to taste. Place toasted tortillas on plates; generously top with romaine, tomatillos, chicken, and cheese. 

They are a little hard to eat, but they are delish!

Chobani Conversion Chart

Look what I found on pinterest... 

A great way to add creamy protein to your recipes!

Chicken, Spinach and Pasta Casserole

Okay this is going to be added to my staple dinner rotation. It is DELICIOUS, EASY and HEALTHY.
Here is what you will need...

1 lb. pasta (I used whole wheat shells)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs.), diced
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
5 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups mozzarella cheese

First, make your pasta...

While your pasta is cooking... 
heat the olive oil in your skillet and add the chicken. Cook until golden brown (about 10 mins)

Add the garlic and simmer with the chicken, about 3 mins, or until fragrant. 

Add to the skillet, your spinach...

As well as your white wine and salt...

Combine the contents of the skillet with your pasta and put into a casserole dish...

Cover with cheese and bake for 25 mins at 350 degrees...

Eat and enjoy!

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies: No flour or butter (from Pinterest)

I had no butter the other night and had a major sweet tooth, so I was searching through my pinterest boards and found this delicious and easy recipe. You can get the recipe Here.

"Dove" Peanut Blossoms

I have been baking up a storm this holiday season and this is a GRAEAT spin on traditional peanut blossoms... instead of using kisses, you replace them with Dove Promises! I prefer dove chocolate to Hershey's all day long!  I used both dark and milk chocolate but preferred the dark. I used this recipe but baked for 8 mins and then pressed the dove chocolate on and put them back in the oven for 1 minute. I made them in the evening and the chocolate was VERY soft until the next morning, when they cooled and set. Try these, you wont be disappointed :)