Spinach poppy seed salad

I got this recipe from ourbestbites, It's my absolute favorite all time salad. I love the blending of all these interesting flavors, sweet, salty, baconie, crunchy. It is only semi-healthy I would say. But still worth it.
8oz. (1/2 bag) of baby spinach

1/2-1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 thinly sliced medium red onion

1 large avocado, cubed

8 oz. mozzarella or Swiss cheese, shredded

1 12-oz. package bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 large can Mandarin oranges, drained

Poppy seed dressing (see below) to taste

Combine all ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. When ready to serve, toss with desired amount of salad dressing and serve immediately. If you anticipate leftovers, just let your eaters dress their own salads because the dressing will make the greens wilt.


Poppy Seed Dressing
Poppy Seed Dressing
Recipe from Our Best Bites


1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher salt
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. mustard
1 green onion, ends removed (both the "hairy" end and where the green part starts to get floppy)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. poppy seeds

In a blender, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard. While the blender is running, add the green onion. Continue running the blender and add the oil in a steady stream and is fully incorporated into the dressing.

Pour the dressing into a serving or storage container and whisk in poppy seeds. Serve over leafy greens.

Pad Thai

This is the closest version of Pad Thai that I've had that I really really like. I absolutely LOVE this stuff. It's easy to make and it's pretty healthy for you. If you use whole wheat noodles it's actually gameon friendly. It's from Ourbestbites....LOVE THIS WEBSITE. I've changed like 1 thing, (making it not so hot)

In a sauce pan over low heat mix together the following until it's all melted together and saucy. Remove from heat when done.
1 c. chicken broth
6 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce (1 is mild with a bite, 1.5 is medium, 2 is hot)
3 Tbsp. honey
6 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

Bring water to a boil and right before you are ready to serve add the noodles (the Udon cook in just 3minutes)
12 oz. Udon or linguine noodles

Have these ready and on the side to garnish your dish
Chopped green onions
Chopped cilantro
2 limes, cut into quarters
Chopped peanuts

That's it, the only change I make is I'll cook a couple of pieces of chicken breast and slice it up and add it to the meal.

C: pasta
P: Chicken
HF: peanut

Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake

A women from my Gameon diet posted this recipe, it's one of those recipes where you are like "this is diet food" it's so good. It's comfort food, it's super easy to make, my kids love it...well kid, Kate doesn't like anything these days except cheese and crackers, but one time I did make it and she did gobble it down.

8oz macaroni
1 can of tomato sauce
3/4 c. cheese any kind will do
1/4 c. Parmesan (optional or just use 1c. cheese)
2 eggs
1TBSP Italian seasoning
1/2 salt
1/2 lbs ground beef or turkey, already cooked (optional, I usually leave it out)

Preheat oven to 375.
Bring water to a boil, and cook half a box of macaroni for 7minutes. I use whole wheat since I can't tell the difference.
While that is cooking in a mixing bowl mix together eggs, tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, cheeses and meat.
Drain noodles, mix into the cheese sauce poor into a casserole dish (I sprayed with Pam first) and bake 15-20minutes.

The BEST ever HOMEMADE WHEAT BREAD

I had been on the hunt for an awesome whole-wheat bread recipe when my mom sent me this recipe. Not believing that it was anything special I never made it. Then for my birthday my mom made me a loaf of this bread, I was in heaven. It was the best bread I'd ever had. So I quickly dug through my old recipes and found it and made it the next weekend. It turned out just as good. I'm sold, this is the BEST ever HOMEMADE WHEAT BREAD!

It makes a ton, which you can freeze the dough for making quick loaves. Or I'm sure the recipe can be cut in half, but this is the original recipe.

4c. Very Warm Water
1/2c. Honey
1/2c. Canola Oil
1T salt
2T Milk Powder
2T Wheat Gluten
4C ground wheat

Mix together on the lowest speed in your mixer (using the dough hood) and add 1 1/2 T of SAF instant Yeast.

Mix again for one minute, Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. This is the "sponging" stage. The mixture will be soupy, and should double in size. After 30min, remove lid, turn on to speed one and begin adding flour one-half cup at a time (will need about 4-6 more cups) When dough begins to pull away from the sides, turn of mixer and do the "floured-fingered test". Dip your finger in flour and quickly poke the dough, if any dough sticks, add a little more flour and mix. When your finger comes away clean, you're through adding flour. If you touch the dough with a non-floured finger, the dough will still be sticky. (caution" adding too much flour in the main reason most people's bread is so heavy)

Turn on speed 2 for 5-6 minutes (with the lid on)

After 2 or 3 minutes if there is still a lot of dough sticking to the sides, add another 1/2 cup of flour. Continue kneading for 2-3 minutes. The dough should "move" once the mixer has stopped. You should see strands of gluten throughout. Add oil to your hands and remove dough from bowl. The dough should be light and very pliable. Form loaves and place in greased bread pans. Place pans in warm oven. Let rise until double in size- 30minutes. Turn oven to 350F. Bread will finish rising as the temperature increases. Bake for 30-40 minutes until done.

Enchilada Sauce

One night I wanted enchiladas and I usually buy the canned stuff, but I was out so I looked up recipes and came across one from allrecipes by Brandi T. I will never go back to the canned stuff again. You won't believe how incredibly easy and good this is.

1/4 cup vegetable oil (can reduce for a low fat version)
2 TBSP flour
1/4 cup chili powder
1 can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion salt
salt to taste and hot sauce to kick it up a notch

Directions
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.

Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour/chili powder until smooth, may have to use a wire whisk. Continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened sightly. Season to taste with salt and hot sauce.

To throw together some enchiladas. Cook up some flour tortillas (or use store bought ones if you must). Cook up some ground meat (I use turkey when my husband isn't watching). Then add to the enchilada meat sauce, a can of drained black beans, some corn and rice. (Can add any or all of the mention ingredients or just use meat). In a casserole dish layer the tortillas, then 1/3 meat mixture then layer of cheese. Repeat until gone. Bake at 375 for 25minutes. Serve with diced tomatoes, lettuce and a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy.

Homemade Tortillas

Have you ever checked the ingredients on the package of tortillas you pick up at the store, there is a ton of stuff in them, what's crazy is that this recipe only has 4 ingredients in them and one of them is water! I've made homemade tortillas before and they always turn out so good. The difference here is that these are super easy and just as tasty. The recipes is from my homegirls website ourbestbites.com. However I'm doing a diet game and I can't have white flour or shortening so I changed it up a bit and amazingly enough they turned out awesome! You can check their website out for pictures and their recipe but here is what I did.

2 1/2c of whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. olive oil

I mixed these ingredients up in the kitchen aid mixer using the dough hook, it'll be crumbly and I had to use a wooden spoon to help get everything mix. Then I added 1c. Hot water. I actually used a tad less then a cup and got hot water from the tap then stuck it in the microwave for a minute. I slowly added it to the mixture and used my spoon to help get everything mixed, it turned into a nice dough ball.

Next I preheated a skillet on medium heat (my level 5 of 10) I made 7 small dough balls and then rolled them out one at a time. I rolled it pretty thin, but not so thin you could see through them. They were super easy to roll which is the difference from other tortillas I've made where you roll them and they bounce right back. I cooked them for 40seconds on the first side, flipped them and cooked them for 20sec and they were perfect. I set the timer which I really suggest you do. Enjoy with all your favorite Mexican food!

Quick and Easy Chili

See the intro for the Hot Chocolate post spurring the need for chili! I actually made this last night for dinner and it made even better left overs at lunch time today. It's chilly outside which is perfect for some chili. If you are prepared you can throw all this into a crock pot, I'm never very organized and chili is often a standby meal for us so I always tend to make this in a stockpot on the stove.

1 lbs ground turkey, beef or squirrel (just kidding about the squirrel unless you are from W. VA) really you could use any of your favorite meat here, I've even done it with steak strips and grilled chicken
1 T olive oil
1 onion cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic
2 cups beef broth (or 2 cans in close enough)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomato
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 cup of corn (frozen, canned or fresh)
chili powder
cumin
cayenne pepper
salt

In the stock pot cook up the meat, once cooked remove and set aside (I use my food chopper to chop up the ground meet to it's finer and not chunky). In the same stock pot add olive oil, onion and garlic once that is cooked some add the broth, the tomato stuff, meat, and beans. I season the chili at this point. I didn't add amounts to the seasoning cause it's really season to taste, I tend to go heavy on the chili powder and cumin around 2-3TBSP and about 1 tsp of cayenne pepper cause a little goes a long way with that hot stuff. And about 1 tsp salt. Once it's all seasoned up let it cook down a little so everything is hot and the beans and tomatoes are tender then I throw in the corn about 5 minutes before the chili is done. This prevents the sugars in the corn from being overcooked, the corn still stays nice and firm and offers a burst of sweetness in the chili.
I serve it up with a dollop of sour cream, some cheese and chips. Also when I'm not watching my weight I serve with cornbread.

Also you can add other veggies to this, but I don't know why you would. But good ones might be celery and zucchini. Also you can use other types of beans like chili beans. I don't use chili beans because those beans do terrible stinky things to me:)

Hot Chocolate Homemade style

We are in a blizzard right now, by blizzard I mean 0 visablity and snow blowing all around you, I think it's about 20 degrees outside and over 30" of snow on the ground. As I'm typing this the windows keep rattling. My daughter went outside to play in the snow with the dad and that's when I raced to make them some hot cocoa for when they came back in (10 minutes later) good thing this is a simple recipe!

3 TBSP cocoa (I used 2TBSP light and 1 dark)
4 TBSP sugar (I used agave nector, suppose to be better for ya I would back this to about 2-3 TBSP for next time, I prefer less sweetened cocoa)
1 1/2cups Nonfat Dry Milk
3 cups water
1/4 tsp vanilla

Over medium heat blend in a saucepan all the ingredients except the vanilla, use a wire wisk to help disolve the cocoa, when it's piping hot (not boiling) turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla, immediately serve up to cold bodies coming in from playing in the snow. Add snowman ice cubes aka marshpillows aka marshmellows!

Peanut Butter Cake

If you like peanut butter you will LOVE this cake, if you don't like peanut butter well then I'm sorry or better yet be glad because this cake has so many calories in it it'll go straight to your hips. I got this recipe from a mom on my message board. It is fabulous and a very impressive cake. You are suppose to make it with creamy peanut butter but I didn't have any so I used crunchy and it was so yummy.

Cake:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter softened
5 eggs
1 package butter recipe cake mix
1 small package french vanilla instant pudding
1/3 c oil
3/4c + 2TBSP water

Icing:
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Grease and flour 2 round cake pans.(I used 8 inch but recommend 9 inch)or a bunt pan (if you use this pan you will probably have enough mix to make a small cake to give away to the neighbor)
Preheat oven to 350
Cream peanut butter and butter until fluffy.
Add eggs 1 at a time mixing well after each one.
Add cake mix and pudding alternately with the oil and water.
Pour batter into pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. It's done when it springs back from a light touch or toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting directions:
Cream peanut butter and butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Mix in enough heavy cream (I used milk and it was fine) to make icing of a spreading consistency. You may need more or less than called for. I think I used more. Apply to cool cake.

Hot Wings

Congratulations Saints! And thank you for giving me an excuse to eat appetizers for a meal! The Saints just won the superbowl last night in an exciting game. 31-17 against the Colts. I love the superbowl and it's not because I care about football, I love superbowl food. Chips and dips, munchies and buffalo wings. These are probably the best buffalo wings I've ever had. Better then any restaurant's wings I've tried, and the good news is they are baked, not fried but don't worry there is still plenty of grease on these babies. Goes great with blue cheese dressing. This recipes is from allrecips.com (Buffalo Chicken Wings III)

20 chicken wings, split and tips discarded
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup red pepper sauce
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I also added some ground red pepper for an extra kick.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Bake wings in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine melted butter, red pepper sauce, tomato sauce, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Mix together.
When wings are baked, dip in sauce to coat well, then shake off excess and return coated wings to baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and bake for another 15 minutes to set sauce.

We dipped them in the sauce a 2nd time and put them back in the oven for a few minutes until the sauce was thick and baked in.

Whole Wheat Hot Pockets

I love using whole wheat in recipes for many reasons. It's better for you, I think it has more flavor then white flour, and I have over 100lbs of wheat in my food storage that I've got to use up, which means I grind my own wheat. I've been using a variety of wheat that is called hard white wheat. It's much lighter in color then hard red white which is what I grew up with. It also has such a flavor. Hot pockets are fun to make, it's like a baked sandwich. I start out by making this recipe for the bread (this is from ourbestbites.com breadsticks recipe slightly modified, it's also fatfree)

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 tsp of vital wheat gluten
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In my kitchen aid mixer I added the water and honey mixed up and sprinkled the yeast on that. Set the timer for 10min and let it proof (just let it sit there dont' turn on the mixer). I then turn on the mixer and add the salt and start adding the flour and the vital wheat gluten. The vital wheat gluten helps the wheat dough become a softer dough when baked. I usually only add 3 cups of flour and then it starts balling up. Once it's there, I remove the ball, spray the mixer and put that ball of dough right back in the mixer and cover with a towel and let it rise for about 50min.
After that I turn the dough onto a floured counter top shape into a rectanged and cut into 8 equal rectangular pieces. This is where you add what you want, my personal favorite is ham and cheese. But I've also done roast beef and swiss, chicken broccoli and cheese. The key here is to not overstuff just a small slice of cheese and a few pieces of meat. You wrap up the dough into a little mummy or a hot pocket once they are all made start preheating the oven, this gives them a few minutes to rise, once it's preheated pop them in the oven and bake at 425 for 15minutes.