Recipe: Four Bean Salad

This was 100% thrown together but a big hit with everyone, even London. I guarantee you can easily adapt it to your tastes / what's in your fridge and it still works! It's certainly a summery side dish but I was serving sloppy joes and I think it worked out, even in 30 degree sleet. 

Ingredients

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 cup cooked green beans, cut into bite size pieces

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped 

1 container feta cheese crumbles

3 tbsp (more or less to taste) balsamic vinaigrette

Directions

Drain & rinse all the canned beans

Cook, cool & cut green beans if using fresh or frozen (if using a can, just drain & rinse) 

Chop all the veggies

Mix all veggies / beans in a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to eat

Mix in dressing & cheese when ready to eat

Recipe: Potato Soup

I had some not-great luck with a recipe for cashew chicken the other night, and was feeling somewhat defeated (even though my sweet husband told me it was fine). I needed a win. Potato soup, how could you go wrong? YOU CAN'T. Trust me on this one. About halfway through the process, I was like "this is going to be a gross mistake" but I was wrong. It was amazing and delicious and so easy and I ate so much I had to unbutton my pants. Yeah, that good. I don't know what your pantries / freezers look like, but this was all stuff I had on hand, so that's an added bonus, and I imagine it would freeze really well.

You could do this in the slow cooker, but I decided to make it for dinner at 6pm so I made it on the stove top. You also could use vegetable broth and cream of mushroom soup to make this vegetarian. And finally, you could use low fat / low sodium everything EXCEPT the cream cheese. Don't do that, it won't melt.

Recipe was inspired by Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour (I seem to be using a lot of her recipes for inspiration recently).

Ingredients

• Bag of frozen shredded hash browns (between 24-30oz)
• 2 cans chicken broth (28-32 oz total)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (approx 14oz)
• 1/4 large onion, finely diced 
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (more or less to taste)
• 1 block of cream cheese (approx 8oz)
• Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, chopped bacon

Directions

1. Add hash browns, broth and soup to a large stock pot; cook on medium heat until all the hash browns are loose
2. Add onions and pepper; reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring regularly (hash browns will start to dissolve and get very mushy)
3. Add cream cheese and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring regularly, or until cream cheese is completely melted and hash browns are very mushy - almost dissolved

Recipe: Baked Gnocch' & Cheese

You know what's so annoying? When a recipe has the ingredients listed not-at-all in the order they're using. I'm constantly having to scroll up and down on my phone to see quantities and make sure I didn't miss anything .. and you know I normally miss at least one ingredient somehow. Once I accidentally added red bell pepper to a dish instead of crushed red pepper. But whatever, it works.

So we had some company Friday night and with the craziness of work, I had absolutely nothing planned for dinner. Somehow, this got thrown together. So rich, but so delicious. Perfect iced-in sort of meal (yeah, we had an "ice storm", what of it?)

I sort-of used this as a guide. And forgot to take any pictures before we devoured it, so photo credit goes to CookingStoned.TV. Wow, really? That's the name? Eh, makes sense.

Ingredients

• 1 lb gnocchi
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• Grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Add gnocchi to pot of boiling water and boil for two minutes, then drain
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium low heat
4. While whisking constantly, add garlic powder, then flour, then buttermilk, then cheeses in small handfuls until completely melted
5. Spread cooked gnocchi in a small, lightly greased baking dish (I used 8x8)
6. Cover with cheese mixture
7. Top with Parmesan
8. Bake for 25 minutes

Recipe: Egg Salad

This is Post Number Two of God-Knows-How-Many regarding the baptism reception. I shouldn't even be posting this, because Kelly did most of the "making" of this egg salad, but I supervised and directed and she doesn't have a blog so I win.

I made tuna salad and chicken salad (possible recipes to come) but got the most compliments on this egg salad. It's the dill, y'all!

Ingredients

• 9 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dill weed

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients
2. Cover and refrigerate overnight (about eight hours)
3. Serve on King's Hawaiian Rolls for best results ;)

Photo credit: Alina Patel

Recipe: Penne Rosa with Shrimp

After several failed recipes recently, this one was a big win. Pretty easy, and makes a ton of food - so I froze the leftovers to have after baby comes and I don't feel like cooking! Trying to do more of that, and not doing the greatest job so far... You could easily halve the recipe if you're only cooking for two people / don't want leftovers.

Ingredients

• 1 box penne pasta (most likely 16 oz)
• 1 bag medium raw shrimp, thawed and peeled
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (or more, if you like spicy! a little goes a long way)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh spinach
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup alfredo sauce
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook and drain the pasta according to the box
   
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-low heat
3. Add garlic and red pepper flakes to skillet; cook for about 2 minutes (until garlic begins to soften, but not brown!)
4. Add in tomatoes, salt and pepper; cook for about 5 minutes (until tomatoes release juices)
   
5. Turn up heat to medium-high and add shrimp; cook for 2 minutes (until shrimp are pink and opaque)
6. Remove from heat
7. Rip spinach leaves from stems and add to skillet; cover and let steam for 2 minutes (until spinach is wilted)
   
8. Place skillet back over low heat; add pasta, tomato sauce and alfredo sauce and stir until everything is coated and heated through
9. Serve and top with parmesan cheese

Recipe: Cucumber Tomato Salad

I've been craving things that are cold and refreshing lately. Pudding, frozen coffee drinks (decaf, of course... ok,  you got me, half-caf...), etc. Needless to say I've been dying to make this cucumber tomato salad since I saw it on Pinterest. So good, so healthy - it really hit the spot. I imagine I'll be making a lot of it this summer. Oh, who am I kidding - I'm not going to be making a lot of anything this summer. Other than breast milk (hopefully!). But you, dear friends, can make it for me and bring it over in exchange for some baby cuddles. You're welcome for that.

Oh, and the biggest shock? This is a Paula Deen recipe! A Paula Deen recipe with NO BUTTER! What is the world coming to?

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
  (you could do this little trick if you want to be fancy)
  
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
  (Paula recommends Vidalia but I had a white onion in the fridge and it worked just fine)
• 1 tbsp (or more, to taste) dried parsley
  (Paula recommends 2 tbsp fresh parsley, but there are only certain herbs I'm willing to spend money on to keep fresh in the house, only to throw it away a week later because I didn't use it, and parsley is just not one of them)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Mix everything (EVERYTHING) together in a large bowl
   Use a glass bowl if you have it, because this salad is pretty and colorful!
2. Let sit in the fridge for 10 minutes or more
   

Hooray! Bring it to your next cookout or pair it with some grilled chicken breasts for dinner. This serving size makes quite a bit for two people, so you can probably serve it for several meals (and, in my opinion, it's great as "leftovers")

Recipe: Tuscan Pasta

This is another "cheater's" recipe, but it was too good not to share. It was actually one of the very first things I pinned, but never got around to making it because Ben doesn't like alfredo sauce. Bad news? Ben played poker last night so I was alone for dinner. Good news? Mama gets alfredo. I only made half the recipe and had half of that portion for dinner and half for lunch.

Ingredients

• 20 oz package frozen or refrigerated cheese ravioli
• 16 oz jar alfredo sauce
• 2 tbsp white wine
• Half-carton of cherry tomatoes, sliced length-wise or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2(?) tbsp dried basil leaves or 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
• 1/3(?) cup grated parmesan cheese
• Strips of fresh basil or additional dried basil for topping

Directions

1. Boil pasta according to directions on package
   
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat alfredo sauce and wine until bubbling
   
3. Add tomatoes and basil; Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through
4. Toss with cooked / drained pasta
5. Serve, topped with parmesan cheese and basil
   

Makes 4 servings

Recipe: Skinny Taco Dip

Yup - Another Pinterest find. After YET ANOTHER weekend of traveling, I was needing some fresh veggies. This dip is a delicious combination of yummy, colorful, healthy vegetables and quasi comfort food. And it's not TOO bad for you ... unless, of course, you eat half the dish like I did. Thanks to SkinnyTaste.com for the inspiration on this one!

Also, I halved the recipe, but if you're serving more than 5-6 people, don't!

Ingredients

• 8 oz fat free sour cream
• 8 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese (Neufchatel cheese)
• 16 oz mild salsa
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 avocados, peeled & diced
• 1 cup skim cheddar cheese
• 2.5 oz sliced black olives

Directions

1. Mix sour cream, cream cheese, salsa & seasoning in a medium bowl with hand mixer
2. Spread on the bottom of a large glass dish - 8x12 or 9x13 should do the trick
3. Layer lettuce, then tomatoes, then avocados, then cheese, then olives
4. Serve with baked tortilla chips

Step 3

Step 1 - 2

Recipe: Kelly's Black Bean Burgers

My best friend Kelly is an awesome *and healthy* cook. When I visit her in Greenville, SC she spoils me with deliciousness and it's so lovely to be cooked for, for a change! Several months ago she made black bean burgers for dinner when I arrived and they. were. amazing! I love black bean burgers already (a discovery I made when I gave up meat for Lent a few years ago), but these have a spicy kick to them that makes them even more delicious. And easy!!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded & diced (I used a couple slices from a jar, but fresh is better)
• 1 garlic glove, minced (I used three!)
• 2 14oz cans black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1/3 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I'd cut back to 1/3 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (I'd also cut this back to 1/3 tsp - mine were just a tad spicy)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (I used dried cilantro, 1-2 tbsp)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 4 hamburger buns

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large saute pan over medium heat
2. Add onions and cook, taking care not to brown them, until soft, fragrant and translucent (about 8 minutes)
3. Stir in garlic and jalapeno, saute for 2 minutes
4. Meanwhile, pour beans, bread crumbs, spices and cilantro into large mixing bowl
5. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno mixture
6. Using your hands, mash and crush the beans until paste-like
7. Form mixture into 4 patties (this makes for HUGE burgers. you may be able to get away with 5 patties)
8. Heat 3 tbsp oil in same saute pan over medium-high heat until simmering
9. Cook burgers until outsides are crisp and slightly browned, turning once (about 4-5 minutes on each side)
10. Serve on hamburger buns (I topped with guacamole & provolone cheese)