Go Green

I'm so proud of myself! I made a green smoothie and I LOVED it! I see these floating around on Pinterest all the time, but the color has always made me second guess the flavor of these drinks. It's kind of like eating green eggs and ham! I just don't think a drink should be quite so "green" especially when I know the green comes from a leafy substance I usually put in salad or something else! So, I decided to give it a try and was very surprised that I couldn't taste the "green" at all. Instead this almost tastes like a banana & cinnamon drink! So let's get started on this delicious and nutritious drink...

Ingredients

2 c Kale

1 c ice

1/2 c almond milk

1/2 c plain yogurt

2 TB peanut butter

1 banana

6 strawberries

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TB Chia seeds

Put all this together in your blender and blend away! 

This smoothie is packed with potassium (660 mg), vitamin A (210% of your daily value), vitamin C (178% of your daily value), among others! It has 276 calories, which made for a great snack because it's about the same as eating 2 small bags of Doritos and much better for you! I wasn't tempted to snack on anything else because it is very satisfying! I came across this recipe at Tone It Up! 

If you want to know more about Chia seeds and their nutritional value you can check out this list on Livestrong. I throw some in to my water bottles and juices sometimes! The "texture" is something I had to get used to, however I barely notice it anymore!    

Stay tuned for the photo challenge update and many more recipes! 

Until then...

Pork Tenderloin and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

I love that Fall is finally here! This means football parties (yummy dips and chili), and cooler weather (soups and hearty dishes)! I really needed to "rearrange" the freezer to see what all we had in there and came across my pork tenderloin which I had almost forgot about! So, I whipped up an easy pork tenderloin in the crock pot while I cleaned house and made a fun little dessert that I knew Dee Jay could take with him to work and snack on! Both were a hit and very easy! A caution to the "snackers" out there, I almost ate ALL the filling to the pretzel sandwiches which would have a disaster because they were ridiculously fantastic, so hurry and make the pretzel sandwiches so you won't be tempted! :) Now on to the good stuff....let's get cooking!

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It is very easy and so delicious so let's get started! You are going to start with 1 pork tenderloin (I had tenderloin "chops" so I used those). Put the pork in the bottom of your crock pot first. Then you are going to add one envelope of dry onion soup mix on top of the pork. Then add one cup of water, 3/4 cup of red wine, 3 TB minced garlic, and 3 TB of soy sauce. Mix this together and turn the pork to make sure both sides have been introduced to the sauce! Sprinkle in a little pepper and cover your crock pot and turn it on low for about four hours! See how easy that was? You can literally make this while running out of the house for errands, or pick up the kids from school, and come home to a delicious pork tenderloin for dinner!
NOTE: I had a few extra potatoes left that I needed to use before they went bad, so I sliced them in thin rounds and threw them in with pork! I would recommend this, you won't be sorry!

Now, on to the dessert! I am not a big fan when it comes to food in the sweet department, but I could have devoured the entire batch of these bad boys! For a little added bonus, these are just as easy (but more time consuming). I found this recipe on Two Tiny Kitchens which is a fun site with lots of great recipes! Now...let's get to making these! You are going to start by combining 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 2 TB of softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar (you might need a little extra), 3/4 cup of brown sugar (you might need a little extra). Mix all these ingredients in a bowl (this is where I almost lost the whole recipe due to my lack of not being able to stop eating this sugar packed yuminess)! Now grab a bag of mini pretzels and spoon about 1/2-1 tsp of the mix inside the pretzels and squish together to make a sandwich. I rolled the peanut butter mix into a small ball and it made it much easier and the perfect "sandwich" was formed! Now put these on a pan and let them sit in your freezer for about 30 minutes. Next you are going to need some Baker's dipping chocolate!

Pop this in the microwave and follow the directions on the package to melt the chocolate! Now you're going to dip the pretzel sandwich into the chocolate and place them back on the cookie sheet and stick them back in the freezer until you are ready to serve! Something we noticed is that they will melt (not so much the chocolate but just overall) pretty quickly, so try to keep them on a chilled plate when serving or you could have very messy hands and fingers when it's all over!

Both of these recipes turned out wonderful, and the pretzel dessert was a hit with the guys Dee Jay works with! I sent him to work with an extra bag of them just so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the whole tray before he got home!






Hope everyone is having a fabulous start to your Fall season! I can't wait to share Fall recipes and hear what you all are cooking up in your own kitchens! Until then...

~Happy Eating~

Kid Tested and Brother Approved

So, last night we had Dee Jay's brother Craig and his son Cameron over for dinner. I decided to make Paula Deen's Hot Chicken Salad for dinner and Lazy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Balls for dessert. Both of these recipes I pulled off my Pinterest board and they were delicious! I'm a fan of pretty much ANYTHING Paula Deen whips up and I let Craig choose our dessert! So here is how I got ready for our small family dinner...

I started with the peanut butter balls because they needed to cool and come together before they were served. You take 3/4 of a cup of honey and one cup of peanut butter and heat this up on the stove until it starts boiling. Be sure and stir the ENTIRE time because it takes a second for this gooey mess to burn the bottom of your pan. Once your mixture is boiling remove it from the heat (where I had DJ stir now so it wouldn't burn) and you will pour in one teaspoon of vanilla and mix together. Then add 3 cups of Rice Krispies and 1 cup salted peanuts if you would like (we left them out but we did add some oatmeal)!

Mix this all together and then scoop a tablespoon or two into muffin tins. It's probably best that you spray some cooking spray in the liners before hand so they don't stick to the wrapper. Let it cool (I popped mine in the fridge and took it out right before dessert time) and then serve it up! It is a very rich dessert, which is good because one is about all we could eat!

Side thought: We thought adding a banana slice or two on top would taste fantastic as well as some chocolate chips or you could get fancy-pants and drizzle some chocolate over the top!

Here is the direct link to the recipe
Lazy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Balls
3/4 c. Honey
1 c. Peanut Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 c. Rice Krispie
1 c. Salted Peanuts (optional)

1. Combine honey and peanut butter in a saucepan and heat to boiling, stirring constantly
2. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir in Rice Krispies (and peanuts if desired).
3. Place mounds (about 2 tbs.) into small greased cupcake liners in a cupcake pan, and let cool.
4. You can also press into a greased 9" x 12" pan, cool and cut into squares.

Now onto Paula Deen's hot chicken salad. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a big bowl, you are going to mix together two cups of cooked chicken (cubed), one cup of diced celery (I used two stalks), 1/2 cup of slivered almonds, 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, two tablespoons of lemon juice, one cup of mayonnaise (I of course thought we had more mayo than we did so we added a little bit of Ranch dressing to make the cup), and finally one cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Place this mixture into a baking dish....I'm going to stop right here for a second. This recipe says it serves 8-10 people. I understand that as a very tiny side dish this would serve more people, but the recipe mixture fit nicely into our meatloaf pan and we barely had enough to feed four of us. So if you're thinking about making this make sure you make enough because it is delicious and you will want seconds and thirds! Okay, back to cooking we go! Once the mixture is in the dish you are going to crumble up potato chips and sprinkle over the top! Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes and Ta-Da!! The celery, the almonds, the lemon juice, all of it comes together to make your mouth happy! 

 These were my sides tonight

Here is the direct link to her page with the recipe
Hot Chicken Salad
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup diced celery
2 cup cooked chicken breast meat, cubed
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 cup crushed potato chips

Mix all together (except for chips), put in baking dish and cover with crushed chips and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Tonight's dinner has been cooked for you by Shelly, and has been kid tested and brother approved!!
~Happy Cooking~