Taco Soup and Homemade Corn Bread Muffins :)

This is an EASY, CHEAP, and delicious combination! Healthy cornbread, and healthy taco soup! PERFECT for a cold and rainy day! (Or foggy like today!)

First, the Taco Soup

Nick got this recipe from Brittany at his office. Brittany, if you're reading this, thank you!!

Whatcha need:

1 lb ground turkey (Yes, you could use beef or chicken!)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet dry ranch seasoning (Hidden Valley)

1 can Original Rotel

1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth

1 can yellow corn, rinsed and drained

Optionals:

Any kind of cheese for sprinkling

You could get sour cream if you want

Tortilla tips to crush over the top

Really, there isn't much to the instructions.

Brown your meat in some olive oil (I seasoned the meat with cumin, chili powder in salt, but you don't have to)

Then, add your taco mix and ranch seasoning:

Now, add everything else!

Let this simmer as long as you'd like. Meanwhile.... why don't you make some cornbread!?

Healthy Whole Wheat Honey Corn Bread

Whatcha need:

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 t Olive Oil

2 t Honey

1 egg

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix your batter JUST until all is combined, don't over-mix or you risk dry bread!

Heap about 2 spoonfulls of mix into muffin tins (or a bread pan if you rather)

Pop in the oven at 450 degrees

In they go.....

Cook them about 12-15 minutes (watching them constantly after the 10 minute mark) until they are done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Try to get them out of the pan/muffin tins as soon as possible to prevent them from continuing to cook.

Immediately wrap them in foil and keep warm for up to 3 hours until ready to serve with the soup.

Thats it! Dress up your soup, add a cornbread muffin, and enjoy :)

We sure did!

Chai Spiced Buttermilk Pancakes!

I found this recipe on tastykitchen.com. As soon as I saw the title, I knew i needed to make these pancakes! Unfortunately, I didn't get an awesome picture for you that will make you NEED to try them the way I did, but, hopefully you trust me enough as a "Chef-Wannabe" that you'll know I wouldn't post a recipe on here if it wasn't good!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1.5 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup brewed chai tea

1/2 t vanilla extract

Mix these wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Once blended, add the following:

2 cups of all purpose flour (I used whole wheat b/c it was all I had!)

3 T Sugar

2 t Baking Powder

1 t Baking Soda

3/4 t Cinnamon

A pinch of cloves

1/8 t ground black pepper

1 t salt

Allow batter to sit, and thicken, about 3 minutes. Preheat your griddle, or skillet. I also preheat my oven to about 170 when I make pancakes so that they can sit in there and stay warm!

Pour one ladle of batter into the skillet and wait for bubbles to form at the top of the pancake. Flip, and cook until golden brown. Repeat until batter is gone.

I ended up making about 6 large pancakes. But you could probably make any number you want depending on the size!

Add butter, syrup, or honey, and enjoy :)

ITS ABOUT TIME: MEXICAN LASAGNA!

For those of you who know me pretty well, you know that one of the staples in my cooking repertoire is Rachael Ray's famous Mexican Lasagna. This meal is fail-proof. I mean that. There is no special trick. You just layer a bunch of Mexican goodness and come out with a cheesy, delicious dinner! Try it, you won't be sorry. I prefer to serve Mexican Rice with this dish. Try out The Ultimate Mexican Rice earlier on this blog. GOOD MATCH!

Another thing- this meal is pretty healty. You can choose low carb/low fat tortillas, and skim cheese, and you've got a well rounded, HEALTHY meal. See for yourself!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of lean ground turkey (you could use ground chicken or ground beef as well)

2 T Olive Oil

1/2 large red onion, chopped

2 T Chili Powder

2 t Cumin

1 cup Frozen Corn Kernels (I prefer yellow over white for this recipe)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 cup taco sauce or 14 oz of stewed or FIRE ROASTED tomatoes! *I use taco sauce*

Salt to taste

8- 8'' whole wheat, or spinach tortillas *I prefer spinach tortillas, but used wheat this time*

2 1/2 cups shredded mexican or cheddar cheese (I use part skim)

Here we go. Don't blink, its so easy.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. In a LARGE skillet, brown the turkey in the oil with the onions, chili powder, and cumin until turkey is no longer pink

2. Add corn, taco sauce, and beans. Salt to taste.

3. Once it has simmered about 3-5 minutes and warmed through, you're ready to layer.

4. Quarter your tortillas into wedges.

5. In a 9X13 pan, put a layer of the turkey mixture. Top with tortillas. Top those with cheese. Another layer of meat, tortillas, top with cheese. I usually only do 2 layers, but do whatever you have room for!

6. Bake 12-15 minutes in the oven until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Cut it up and serve it. I found a new trick for slicing it. PIZZA CUTTER. It worked SO well. Cut right through the tortillas and cheese without ruining the layers!

ALSO: If you have 2- 10X10 dishes, try following the recipe and making it in two separate pans. Put one in the oven, cover the second and put it in the freezer for future recipes! Especially if there are only 2 of you at home! That way, you just take it out one day, pop it in the oven for probably 30-45 minutes and its ready to go without all the prep work! ENJOY!

Slow Cooked Italian Chops!

Today I slow cooked some pork chops all day in some Italian homemade sauce. Pretty good if I do say so myself. The pork FALLS apart, and it requires minimum, CHEAP ingredients. EVEN THE PORK was on sale at Kroger!

I'll post the recipe at the bottom! Go through the cooking method with me first!

1. Salt and pepper 4 boneless, lean, pork chops. Brown in 1T of Olive Oil, about 3 minutes per side, in a skillet. Transfer to Slow Cooker

Now, in the SAME pan you started the pork in, saute a chopped onion, a minced clove of garlic, and 8 oz of mushrooms for about 2 minutes, just until they start to soften.

Now, add your veggies on top of your pork in the slow cooker.

At this point, take about 1/4 cup of the white COOKING wine and deglaze the skillet, pour wine and scrapings over the veggies.

Now, make your sauce to go on top in a separate bowl by combining 2-8oz cans of tomato sauce, the juice of half of a lemon, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t basil, 1/2 t oregano, and 1/2 t parsley.

Now, pour the sauce over the pork and veggies.

Here is your BEFORE picture

Let that cook about 8 hours on low

And then you'll get to walk in the door, after a long day of work to not only the aroma of the pork cooking in the spices, but this beautiful AFTER picture as well:

All you have left to do is cook up some spaghetti to serve it over and get out some parmesan cheese to top it off!

SOOOOOOO GOOD! We really enjoyed it, and i hope you will too! Just give it a try. A little work in the morning (less than 20 minutes) and a lotta work for the slow cooker all day long!

Ingredients:

4 lean, boneless pork chops

1 T EVOO

Salt and Pepper to season pork

1 onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

8 oz sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup white cooking wine (dry)- cheaper than the real deal ;)

1/2 t salt

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t parsley

1/2 basil

2- 8oz cans tomato sauce

Juice of half of a lemon

(Spaghetti to serve it over!) I hope I didn't leave anything out, but everything should be in the instructions as well :)

Turkey Noodle Stew with Sweet Potato Dumplings

This was a delicious, homemade, and "loosey-goosey" recipe. I'll give you the ingreidents, but the measurements do NOT need to be exact. Also, the pictures aren't AWESOME just because it was hard to photograph, but this meal was PERFECT for a cold day. It was filling, it was hearty, it was TASTY.

It was supposed to be a "leftover thanksgiving ingredients" dish, but you don't have to have leftovers to make it (we sure didn't! We being... me and my mom! We made this together while the guys were at a football game)  Also- you could substitute ANY of the veggies you see, any of the seasonings... but I must say, were I to make this again, I wouldn't change A THING! Except, maybe I would half it! It could have served 8-10 people!

Now, this ingredient list looks long, but you'll have a lot of it on hand, so please dont' write this off yet! (Thanks!)

Ingredients for Soup:

1-2 pounds of turkey breast

1 onion

1 bag of sliced carrots, or 1 bag of carrots, sliced!

Celery (probably about 1 cup sliced)

1 can of peas, or frozen peas

1 T EVOO

About 4-6 oz eggless noodles (we used whole wheat eggless noodles)

fresh or dried thyme

fresh or dried rosemary

Salt and pepper

1 quart + 1/2 can of chicken broth

Ingredients for Dumplings:

2 small-medium sweet potatoes

1.25 cups flour

2 t baking powder

Salt and pepper

1.5 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Note: This is some-what time consuming, but here's how we did it.

1. Place turkey breasts in a shallow baking dish filled with about 1/2 inch of water. Season with a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme, as well as salt and pepper. We liberally seasoned the turkey with the herbs because they will eventually get thrown in the big pot. Cook turkey until done, about an hour. (Internal temp should be 165)

2. Cube and steam sweet potatoes. If your steamer stacks, steam carrots as well. Obviously you could boil both if you prefer to do that.

3. Cook eggless noodles according to package. Once they are finished, DO NOT STRAIN. Set aside, and let them absorb all liquid in the pot.

3. Once turkey is done, allow it to cool. Then, in a dutch oven, over medium heat (or large soup pot), add Olive Oil. Saute onions until soft. Add carrots and peas.

4. Meanwhile, mash up sweet potatoes, add the flour, the baking powder, buttermilk, salt and pepper. Whip until they are one consistency. Set aside

5. Shred turkey once it has finished baking.

6. Add all broth to the pot of veggies. Add in turkey along with the juice leftover from baking it in the oven. If using fresh herbs, pull off some rosemary leaves and toss into the pot. Add noodles.

7. Simmer about 20 minutes, covered, and bump oven up to 400 degrees.

8. In heaping tablespoons, scoop up sweet potato mixture and drop into stew. (Its okay if they touch each other!)

9. Place in oven, covered, and cook 30 more minutes.

You won't believe the delight you will find in this stew. It is savory and delicious. I cannot say enough good things about it. Its like chicken and dumplings taken to an ENTIRE new level!

ENJOY! And if you have questions, e-mail me! I know I was vague about a lot of the directions, but we really were just throwing things together and making it up as we went!

I tried to get a good photo with the dumplings in it, but, its nothing to write home about:

That big lump is a dumpling and they are AMAZING. You'll want to search the pot for another once you taste it!

Slow Cooked Chicken Tacos and the ULTIMATE Spanish Rice

So- i am tempting you by showing you the end result before we start! Here was the spread of the tacos. Now lets start from the beginning!

So, first you need to slow cook your chicken. (Either allow 6-7 hours for low, or 3-4 for high)

Here's all you need to start it up:

1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts OR THIGHS! (I used breasts because they are healthier!)

1 packet of taco seasoning

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles

THATS IT! Place your chicken on the bottom of your slow cooker.

In a separate bowl, mix together taco seasoning, diced tomatoes, tomatoes and green chiles, PLUS 1/2 cup of water. Mix well, then pour over your chicken. Slow cook for 7 hours on low, or about 3 hours on high.

Once its done, allow it to cool enough to either pull it apart with your fingers, or 2 forks. Here's what you'll get!

Keep warm while you prepare the toppings (and ultimate rice if you plan on making it!)

For toppings, GET WHAT YOU LIKE! Here's what I did

1 small can sliced black olives

Leftover mexican cheese we had

Salsa we had in the refrigerator

Diced onions (leftover from the ultimate rice recipe)

A couple of fresh tomatoes diced up

Shredded lettuce

*Don't forget to get tacos*

(You could get taco sauce, sour cream, anything you like!)

Here were our toppings:

Okay! Just heat up some taco shells. I used whole wheat soft shells, but if you like hard tacos, go for those! Its whatever you like here!

Now, GET STARTED ON THE ULTIMATE SPANISH RICE.

Yep! This is all you need! It all fits in a skillet!

2 T EVOO

1/2 chopped onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups brown rice

1 t cumin

1 t salt

15 oz can whole tomatoes

10 oz can Rotel

2 cups chicken broth

First, heat your oil over medium heat and cook your onions and garlic about 2-3 minutes.

Then, add in the cumin and rice. Stir constantly for 3 minutes so rice doesn't burn! (I reduced heat here just to be safe!)

Then, add in your Rotel and whole tomatoes. Cook about 3-4 minutes (increase your heat again at this point.)

Then, add in your chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, COVER, and simmer for 40 minutes until broth is mostly absorbed and rice is soft! Serve..... YUM!

Nick called this one of his favorites. THATS HUGE. That means it ranks up there with Mexican Lasagna, Pesto Roll, and Porcupine Meatballs!

We both loved it, LOTS AND LOTS OF LEFTOVERS!

Enjoy :)

Sweet Potato Mash..... Because YOU voted for it!

Allow me to first give credit where credit is due. This recipe that we had for HEALTHY potatoes on Thanksgiving came from Eating Well. Note: for you butter, brown sugar, sweet tooth lovers, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!

On the other hand, all you sweet potato lovers who are craving healthy mashed potatoes- here you go.

Also- credit to Mom for making this, I had to work and was unable to help cook the dish! BUT I DID FIND THE RECIPE!

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each), peeled and cut into a large dice
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, warmed slightly
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, optional (I didn't use it!)

Directions

Steam the potatoes in a large covered pan fitted with a steamer basket until they are tender, about 8 minutes.

In a large bowl mash the potatoes with the buttermilk and orange juice. Stir in the zest, salt, and nutmeg. Serve the potatoes topped with the butter, if desired.

Budget Friendly Greek Pasta!

Yeah! I found the ultimate budge friendly, flavor friendly, and leftover friendly recipe! SO FAST! SO EASY! SO CHEAP!

Greek Pasta

8 oz whole wheat penne pasta (or any pasta, and I used a whole pound)

2 cans italian diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted!)

1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained

10 oz spinach

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese ( you could use grated parmesan if you have it on hand)

THATS IT! Now, let me say- it would have been fine to add some chopped black olives, maybe a little garlic, a little onion, and even some diced up chicken, BUT- we were going out of town this week, so I didn't want ANY leftover fresh ingredients, or anymore hassle at the grocery store than necessary.

All you do is cook your pasta according to the directions on the box.

Meanwhile, add your tomatoes and beans to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Slowly, start adding your spinach in. As it wilts, add more, until all 10 ounces are in.

YUM, huh? AND THIS IS JUST THE SAUCE. Lets keep going. Once you have all the spinach in, drain your pasta and add the sauce to the pasta pot.

I mixed mine really well here to make sure the spinach wasn't chunked all together and not mixed throughout the pasta. Then.... i sprinkled in my feta cheese and mixed it a little more!

Oh yeah! Is your mouth watering yet? This was so good. Now here's the truth. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF LEFTOVERS. Me and Nick intentionally ate all of this since we were going out of town. I'm against wasting food. BUT- we were BEYOND full and really didn't need to keep eating. YoU WILL have leftovers. (Unless there are 4 or more of you eating it!) Dish it up, sprinkle with a little more feta or parmesan if you'd like and ENJOY :)

Budget-friendly, yes. Lacking taste? I think not!

Bean Stew, Stuffed Tomatoes.... and THEY'RE BACK! 3 ingredient cookies GO MUFFIN!

Yes, so much to blog here. It's been awhile, huh? Yesterday I made some really good burgers and sweet potato fries, but.... we ate all of it and I took ZERO pictures. Nick and Kelsie can attest to the fact that it was indeed delicious though! I used my new kitchen aid slicer to make sweet potato chip shapes, but i didn't cook them long enough to be qualified as chips. I'd call them round fries.

BESIDES THE POINT. Here we go. I made an older recipe, but changed it up a bit. Lean turkey sausage was on sale 2 for 5 dollars, so i wanted to get sausage. You're supposed to also add chicken to the dish, but I didn't want to buy double meat at the store, so i skimped. It didn't hurt the taste though, rest assured!

Easy! Here it is:

2 kielbasa lean turkey sausages (Usually one pack)

Technically, 1/2 lb chicken, diced and cooked (I left this out today!)

1 can Northern Beans

1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans

1 can diced tomatoes with oil, basil, and oregano (Del Monte makes it)

1 T brown sugar

THATS IT GUYS!

1. Slice up your sausage, throw in a PAM sprayed skillet. Brown it up. (You would also brown up your chicken, all the way cooked through, if you add chicken here.)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes until flavors have combined

3. Serve- you can also slice up some green onions for garnish if you have them (I didn't!)

CHEAP MEAL! GO FOR IT!

I also made stuffed tomatoes. Easy as well, if you have a food processor! Here's all I used:

- 4 firm red tomatoes

- 1 clove of garlic

- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

- 3-4 T chopped onion

1 T dried parsley

- 1 t olive oil

-1/4 cup bread crumbs (made my own out of sandwich bread)

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

1. Cut the tops off of your tomatoes, scoop out the pulp and place in food processor.

2. Place your tomato shells in a baking dish

3. Add to food processor all ingredients EXCEPT the parmesan cheese

4. Pulse ingredients until combined (not until pureed!)

5. Stuff tomato shells with filling

6. Top with Parmesan Cheese

7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or longer until cheese is browned.

There were ZERO leftovers of this meal. Have i ever blogged that there WERE leftovers, I mean seriously!?

Okay, lastly, this past weekend, I had to scramble to get a dish together fast for a party that we went to. My awesome sister-in-law told me to make the 3 ingredient cookies, only, instead of like 3 batches of cookies, just make 12 muffins. Well- I only had white cake mix, so i added some famous spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, and then added the pumpkin and chocolate chips. THEY TURNED OUT AMAZING! Take a look at these guys!

Oh yeah.... you know you're going to try it! So i packed them up, and off we went. Ready in under 2 hours notice!

I still dare someone to try this with chocolate cake mix. I had brownie mix, and I'm a little angry I didn't think to use that!!!

A Mexican Fiesta of A Meal!

Okay. If you are a salsa lover, stay tuned. If you are Mexican hater, log off immediately. If you are a cilantro hater- just leave it out! DON'T WRITE OFF THIS RECIPE. Just take out the stuff you don't like if it sketches you out. However, we love Mexican. We love cilantro. And we LOVED THIS DISH. I'll tell you another good way to do the chicken- but the CHICKEN was amazing.

So here's what I made: Chicken with Tomatillo Salsa with Pico de Gallo Rice Pilaf


I got the rice idea from the infamous RACHAEL RAY! And the chicken came from a Best Homes Cookbook, or something like that.

Here's a list of the ingredients you will need for THE WHOLE MEAL:

• 1 lb chicken breasts (I get thinly sliced breasts because they cook super fast and they taste better to me!)
• 2 T flour
• 2 T yellow cornmeal
• 1 T chili powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 lime (zest reserved, and juice reserved)
• 1 jalepeno pepper, seeded
• 13-oz can tomatillos
• Fresh cilantro
• 4 plum tomatoes, seeded
• 1 small onion, chopped, reserve 3 Tablespoons
• 1/2 cup whole wheat orzo (or white)
• 1 cup brown rice (or white)
• 2 cups chicken broth

Now, this list looks intimidating. BUT- you use the ingredients in both dishes, so its easy. AND. If you want to cut costs- top the chicken with a green store-bought salsa. Or even red salsa if you prefer! But the tomatillos were something new to me, and i wanted to try them out! Plus, i love making my own salsa!

You're going to want to start cooking your rice first. It takes about 20 minutes to fully cook. So, first, put a little oil in the bottom of a small pot. Toast your orzo in there about 4-5 minutes until it gets brown and toasty. Add your rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and then let it simmer for 18 minutes uncovered.

Meanwhile, get going on the pico de gallo that you will mix into the rice:

Throw in your plum tomatoes, your lime zest, half of a jalepeno pepper, a handful of cilantro, all the onion (except the reserved 3T), and pulse it out in a food processor. Here's what it looks like.... if you've been to a Mexican Restaurant, this should look VERY familiar:

Once thats done, let it sit until your rice and orzo have absorbed all of that broth. Again, that will take about 18 minutes (keep stirring throughout process). Once done, add in your pico de gallo mixture and kind of let it warm for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat, and cover until chicken is ready!

Lets go! You're gonna get a gallon size zip lock bag- throw the cornmeal, flour, chili powder, and a little pepper. Throw the cutlets in the bag, seal it, and SHAKE IT UP. A lot. Coat them. You want to TASTE that "breading" on the chicken, believe me. Its super good! (I started this process once i was done making the pico de gallo, but still waiting on the rice to finish cooking)

Once they are coated. Throw them in a saute pan with about 2T of oil on the bottom. Use more or less if you like. Let that go about 4-5 minutes per side. 

Meanwhile, get going on your salsa for them. I drained and rinsed the tomatillos, then threw them in a food processor along with half the jalepeno pepper, the lime juice, 3 T of onion, and a little less than a handful of cilantro. Pulse that about 10 seconds.

Put your chicken in a serving pan

Top those tenders with a little homemade salsa (or store bough if thats the way you choose to go!)

How beautiful and easy is this dish?

Serve with your pico de gallo rice and voila! No need to go out and fill up on chips and salsa. Make your own Mexican right at home!

There were no leftovers. NONE. We devoured all of it. ENJOY :)

Homemade Pizza .... and spaghetti squash!

Yes- homemade pizza. Who can really pass it up, right?! I throw herbs into this crust to make it more than just whole wheat dough, but if you don't want to buy them, just add some cumin and some chili powder and make it more of a mexican crust taste. I also whipped up a random side dish of spaghetti squash.. just because I had the ingredients. I'll show you all of it!

Herbed-Pizza Crust:

1/2 cup warm water

1 packet dry active yeast

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup tomato juice

1 T chopped rosemary

2 T chopped chives

1/4 t white pepper

1 t olive oil

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Pizza Toppings:

Pizza Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Any toppings you like- but here's what I used

4 oz can sliced black olives

1 plum tomato sliced

Some chopped chives

Some pepperoncini (only because it was in my fridge)

Here it was pre-bake!

I sometimes could just eat it as dough. But I wait. Here's all you do:

Dough:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add all ingredients except all purpose flour and mix well. Gradually add all purpose flour as it works into the dough. Once all flour is mixed in, place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes, until its smooth and elastic. Let it rise, preferably in a warm place, for 45-60 minutes. Once it has doubled in size, punch down into pizza pan and spread out to desired shape and thickness.

Top with whatever you prefer. Sauce, cheese, and the good stuff!

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and turning golden brown, at 425 degrees. And your result should look something like this

Too good! I promise you'll love it. If you can splurge on the herbs, DO IT! Its totally worth it!

So, my random side dish was herbed spaghetti squash. You just cut a spaghetti squash right down the middle. Place about 1.5 cups of chicken or veggie broth into a 9X13 baking dish. I put 2 sprigs of rosemary (which you already have from the pizza) and 2 sprigs of sage (it came in a mixed herb pack along with rosemary at Kroger!) in the pan. I banged mine with a knife so it would open up the leaves and release that herby-ness. Place the squash, hollow side down, into the broth.

Place in the oven for about an hour at 375 degrees until the skin gives way a little when you push on it, and squash is completely tender on the inside.

Remove from the oven and flip onto a plate. ALLOW TO COOL BEFORE THE NEXT STEP!

About 10 minutes later, seed the squash carefully. Then take a fork and go at the flesh of the squash. It will come out like noodles! Go all the way to the rind. Place in a bowl, toss with a little olive oil, or butter, some salt, pepper, and parsley flakes. Serve:

Looks kind of odd, I know. But its good. Its healthy. Its easy. Here's the ingredient list since I didn't list it earlier:

1 spaghetti squash

Rosemary (2 sprigs)

Sage (2 sprigs)

Butter or EVOO (about 1 tsp)

Salt and Pepper

Dried Parsley (about 2 tsp)

ENJOY! Try this pizza! You'll never order in again. Well, you probably will, but it will never taste as good and as healthy!

Autumn Fruit Salad... Seasonally Delicious!

So, this is actually a fruit salad I had forgotten about. I found it last fall while I was still at Auburn and LOVED IT. Totally forgot about it until recently when Kelsie brought it up. So... its back! And its delicious! Seriously- if you like fruit, you can't help but like this salad. TOO good!

Autumn Fruit Salad

2 Red delicious apples

1 Granny Smith apples

2 Bartlett pears

1/2 lb grapes

1/2 cup slivered/sliced almonds, toasted

1 banana

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I use Dannon Light and Fit- SOOO good!)

1 T apple cider (I bought the cheap just add water packets)

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg (I actually didn't have this, so I couldn't add it...)

1/2 t ground ginger

Just core and dice up the apples. Same with the bears. Slice the banana, and cut the grapes in half.

Toss fruit with almonds.

In a separate bowl, mix yogurt with spices. Add to fruit bowl and toss GENTLY until well mixed.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate immediately. It will last in the fridge longer than you would expect cut fruit to last! Enjoy :)