Taco Salad Our Way

Tacos are a regular on our menu rotation but sometimes you just have to change things up a bit. We're big fans of this little number. It AMAZES me what I can tuck into this salad and still have my kids eat. I owe it all to the Ranch and Taco Sauce combo for the dressing. This couldn't get simpler folks. Just assemble all these ingredients, put out little bowls and have your kids pick and choose what to put in their salad and do it yourself. Either way, you're sure to enjoy taco night reinvented!

Here are a few choices: greated colby cheese, avocado, corn, grape tomatoes, Romaine lettuce : the oranges did NOT go into this salad but were part of a well balanced meal

Also, I had already cooked up my taco meat earlier in the day so this was a quicker dinner. I just use a homemade taco seasoning- check out pinterest for lots of choices there!

Step 1: prep your greens

wash them and cut or tear; throw them in a pretty bowl

Step 2: Grate your cheese

always. I don't care how fast I want dinner to happen, with the exception of mozzarella, I always grate my cheese or have one of my 4 sous chefs grate it

(BTW, that grater is from Pampered Chef and I love it!)

Step 3: Throw the veggies on and start the dressin'

Here I opted for Mom's choice of what goes in the salad.

Then I drizzled with my FAVORITE ranch dressing, Bolthouse Farms Classic Ranch

Than drizzled that with Taco Sauce, medium please.

Step 4: Eat!

Sorry for the blurry picture, I was HUNGRY!

other topping variations: black beans, salsa, edamame

What would you put on your taco salad?

Crunchwraps at Home

I really, really enjoy reading recipes and seeing all the amazing things people are cooking up all over the internet. It inspires me and motivates me to try new things with my family. Sandra, at Full Bellies, Happy Kids, never disappoints and I owe this recipe to her! I'm just going to show you how we recreate the fast food crunch wrap, which ironically, I've never eaten there! I've only heard about it and when I saw Sandra make it I knew I had all those ingredients and should give it a go in lieu of our regular taco night.

Making our own Crunch Wraps:

You'll need:
taco meat
sour cream (optional)
lettuce- shredded iceberg is better than green leaf (I was out for these pics)
cheese
chips/Doritos
refried beans for the non-meat eaters
tomatoes
burrito sized flour tortillas

Step 1: Warm your tortilla slightly in the microwave or on your skillet. If you like sour cream, go ahead and shmear it on your tortilla first, then top with taco meat and shredded cheese

Step 2: Add shredded lettuce and some chips, we chose Doritos because they're fun and tasty. You could also add some tomatoes on top of the lettuce and some more cheese on top of the chips, you're world.

 Step 3: practice origami with your tortilla. You're going for a hexagon like shape, so begin by folding in one side and then work your way around clockwise until all the food is tucked inside

Step 4: Carefully flip it onto a skillet, you could butter it or not. Press down slightly to seal it all in there!

Step 5: Pretty or not, bring them all to the table and CHOW DOWN!

Chocolate Chip Muffins with Streusel

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and it's right after the beginning of Lent this year. So while we may not be feasting on chocolate all day, here's a great (and easy) recipe to make for your little love muffins!

To form the muffins into hearts, ball up some tin foil and pop it in between the muffin cup and the muffin paper, then scoop in your batter!


Mom's Super Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins (w/ Streusel)2 cups flour1 cup sugar1/2 cup butter2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar1 cup milk1 egg1 tsp baking soda1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips1) Preheat oven to 3502) Combine milk and lemon juice in a bowl, set aside.3) In a medium microwaveable bowl combine flour, sugar, and butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. With a fork crumble. Set aside 1/2 cup of mixture.4) Beat an egg into milk. Add baking soda, let froth. Add to flour mixture. Add chocolate chips. Stir until just combined - do not overmix.5) Divide evenly in paper lined muffin pan (12). Sprinkle with set aside streusel.6) Bake 20 minutes.

Indonesian Chicken Tidbits

I have a large assortment of family recipes and every once in awhile I'll be thumbing through them to see if there's anything interesting and different to make for dinner.

I came across this recipe that had the name "Ray" written at the top of it. The whole recipe was actually handwritten and the writing looks very familiar but I'm not sure who, in my family, that it belongs to quite yet. But that's what I love, a hand written recipe, a name to attach to it and the stories just start to formulate in my mind as to when, where and how this recipe came to be in the file! Uncle Ray was my Mom's brother and he died many years ago. I love that I have this recipe to remember him by!

Indonesian Chicken Tidbits has an assortment of ingredients that sound very intriguing put together:  peanut butter, curry, honey, milk and the most shocking to me.... MAYO!?!?!

But I was game, especially with how easy it was to throw together and get this... you cook it in the house, in the oven, under the broiler in about 20 minutes!

The boys and I enjoyed this recipe and I hope you'll be adventurous and it give it a try as well! If you want to make it a bit more fancy/party presentable, thread the chicken onto skewers AFTER it's cooked and serve on a bed of rice.

Indonesian Chicken Tidbits

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts; cut into pieces (about 1 1/2 in)

1/3 c creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp curry powder

dash or so of salt

2 Tbs honey

2/3 cup mayo

1/4 cup milk

Blend together all the ingredients except the chicken.

Line one large or 2 medium jellyroll pans with foil and spray with non-stick spray.

Add the PB mixture TO THE chicken pieces (not all of it, as you can save some of the sauce to dip the chicken into after it is cooked) and stir to coat.

Separate the chicken out onto the pan and broil for 10 minutes on one side. Watch closely, it may be a minute or two more or less depending on the strength of your broiler!

Take the pan out, flip the chicken pieces and then broil again for about 8-10 minutes- if you think they need it, you could brush more of the sauce onto the chicken before popping them back into the oven.

Serve on skewers or just like this!

We had ours with shelled edamame and pineapple.

Eggnog Muffins~ 1.12.13

One of my favorite things to on the weekend is to rise just a bit earlier, grab a cup of tea, muffin and a good book and ease into my day. Usually that lasts for all of 10 minutes as my kids are ridiculously early risers (why!?! why?!?!). However, from time to time, I do get those few early morning moments of peace and quiet. This is especially lovely during the Christmas season.

Every year we buy the traditional quart of eggnog and every year, we're left with 3/4 of the quart still full. So, I'm always looking for ways to use up that extra nog.
This year it was a toss up between these muffins and eggnog pancakes. Both recipes are winners and this one was made three times, which required the purchase of MORE eggnog specifically to make it!

This comes from the files of my deceased Aunt Lynnie. She had many wonderful muffin recipes that I've grown to love and make over the years and it I'm glad I gave this one a try. The original recipe called for dark rum in place of some of the eggnog, but as she suggested, I went with all nog.
She also added a streusel topping to her muffins which was a lovely addition to these rather "white" looking muffins. My kids and husband thoroughly enjoyed these!

Eggnog Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, it appears (I only have a small clipping, but I recognize the style of the recipe from their magazine)

2 cups of all purpose flour (or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all purpose)
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup eggnog
5 Tbs butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg (depending on your taste, I go a little less than 1/2)

Streusel topping
2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs brown sugar
dash or so of nutmeg
1 Tbs butter

For the muffins, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or use papers.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl- I simply measure into the bowl then stir to incorporate with a wire wisk.  Stir in eggnog, butter, egg and nutmeg. Spoon into prepared tin. Top with streusel topping. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

The Pizza Dough that Changed My Life ~ 12.9.12

Homemade pizza. Why bother? There are oodles and oodles of great pizza places (and not so great for that matter) around this great city of ours and ordering from one of them is oh so easy- dial, pay, deliver, done.

There is the occasional Sir Pizza trip. And the once in awhile DiCarlo's (only Elm Grove will do).

I'm also game for Anthony's delicious pies. And Fiori's is just iconic and infamous and sooooo good with the steak sauce, but I digress.

Those are all awesome and delicious, but not what I can do on a weekly basis feeding my family of 7!

 I just always wanted to be able to make my own.

And then one day, I tuned into my favorite cooking show that I've mentioned more times than most of you care to hear about, Mad Hungry*, and my life was forever changed. 

Lucinda made this foccacia-like pizza dough and I was completely ON BOARD.

Now, I've not had too much luck with yeast and most of my friends mentioned using a bread machine. I tried that method on our ancient bread machine only to have it fail, epically.

But I was determined to figure this process out and wanted my own pizza something FIERCE!

Friends, let me just say that we RARELY order pizza out anymore. FOR REALS.

We were having friends over for dinner last night and we decided to do pizza, salad, dessert. Mr. Crafty was wondering where we were planning on ordering the pizza from for dinner. I told him we weren't ordering I was making it. Knowing that Saturdays are a bit hectic around here he was surprised I was going to take that mission on... there would be 4 adults and 10 children between us!

I was firm on my stance. I was making the pizza. He still checked in at 3 to see if I was unwavering in my decision or if I'd like to hit the easy button. I assured him I was hitting the easy button by making this myself. 

So, onto the recipe! I use my kitchen aid stand mixer, but you could work this by hand as well. Also, the original recipe says to let rise overnight in the fridge and I used to do that until one day I forgot and let it rise on the counter and guess what, it was still awesome. So now, I usually just make it the day of.

Lucinda's Deep Dish Pizza Dough 

(but it doesn't have to be deep dish.... see end of recipe for how I make this every week)

1 1/3 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use rapid rise and buy a jar b/c I use it so often)

3 cup flour + 1 Tbs - I use bread flour, but all purpose works, too

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil plus more for bowl

1. In the bowl of your mixer, combine water, sugar and yeast. Stir and let sit 3-4 minutes, until bubbles form (it will look foamy)

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and cornmeal. Stir to combine.

3. Add flour to yeast mixture and turn mixer on low, slowly stream in the 1/4 cup olive oil. When mixture forms a clump, turn dough out on a lightly floured surface.

4. Knead 5-6 times until dough is smooth. Place in a oil covered bowl and refrigerate overnight. OR let rise on the counter. Use when dough is doubled in size- takes about an hour.

5. To make the pizza. Oil a large baking sheet and press dough out into the pan. If the dough tears, let it rest a minute or two. Use a fork to prick the dough all over and cover with a towel to let rest, 20 minutes. 

6. Add toppings: for foccacia, brush dough with olive oil and add roasted tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella or parmesan cheese. see here for original recipe. Bake in a preheated oven, 450 degrees, 15-18 minutes.

Here's how I make this every week:

1. After dough has risen, I dump it onto a sheet of parchment paper and preheat my oven to 450 degrees. I divide the dough into 2 pieces and the place the other piece on another sheet of parchment paper. (the parchment helps me transfer the dough to my pizza stone in the oven)

2. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to your desired shape: round, rectangular, you decide!

3. Add sauce, cheese and toppings. 

4. Slide an upside down baking sheet under the parchment and transfer your pizza to the HOT oven. If you don't have a stone, you could just bake the pizza on a baking sheet instead.

5. Cook about 15 minutes. Check the middle of the dough for doneness. We take ours out of the oven, on the stone, and let it crisp up for a few more minutes. It stays hot while we eat and makes the second, third, fourth piece stay nice and hot!

 this is one of my favorite toppings - found in the freezer section at TJ's

original recipe source: here

So which method do I prefer? We like the new one made on the parchment and pizza stone... let me know if you have any questions!

Recipe hits from November

I've been trying to keep a record of what our family eats for dinner each night for over a year. It's spotty record keeping at best, but I like the practice of it and it helps me to recall the hits and misses of each month. Occasionally, I'll look back and remember a recipe winner- one that everyone loved and thanked me copiously for making that night. That doesn't happen too often but when it does, I'm really happy for the practice of writing down the daily meal on this paper calendar.

I'm old school I guess. I still love holding a pen and writing lists on paper. 

Yes, I've downloaded organization apps and use grocery IQ. They work to a degree. I STILL forget things at the store. Often forgetting to even add it to the list! 

Still, nothing quite compares to a handwritten list, in my opinion.

So, in my quest for documenting the daily stuff- the whole reason I started my blogs- I want to look back each month on those recipe "winners"! Call me crazy but I like looking back to see what we were eating a year ago and how that compares to this year. It's funny how the same foods pop up around the same time of year (something about seasonal eating and comfort foods!).

Here are favorites from the past month....

November Hits

Bourbon Chicken: we called this Chinese chicken. The kids and Mr. Crafty loved it and so did I. Very easy to whip up and tastes fabulous with mushrooms mixed in as well. Sandra's recipes are so very good, do check out her site!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin: this was so incredibly delicious. Now, we have loved our amazing marinade pork for years upon years! But, Mr. Crafty said this was the best pork he had ever eaten. I didn't do the pan sauce that she listed. I just added it all to the pork while it cooked in the oven. It was really, really moist and delicious

Slow Cooked Beef and Potatoes: Another Fullbellies recipe that we all loved. This was better than the beef stew I made a few weeks prior. The kids really gobbled this one up. I didn't do the mashed potatoes like she has pictured but served them beside the beef and veggies (I made my mom's mashed potatoes for it).

While I'm talking about Sandra's website, I'll list this next recipe. The kids and Mr. Crafty did not like it but I loved it and thought it would be a great meal to take to a friend in need. The potatoes were my favorite part. We served this to friends who came over for a game night and I sent the leftovers home with them. They thought it was delicious, too!

Mexican Potato Casserole: taco seasoning added to cubed potatoes that you roast in the oven then top with a ground beef and green pepper mixture. Topped off with shredded cheese! It was easy to make, hearty and very good.

Panera mac n Cheese: made this twice already. Very rich and very creamy and I felt like it got better each day I reheated it! I added milk everytime I reheated it, too, by the way.

Asian Bok Choy Salad: this is from my MOPS cookbook. It's easy and crunchy and the kids liked it! I switched up the dressing and don't have a link as it's from a cookbook. Let me know if you'd like me to post this recipe!

All American Chili: this is my go-to chili recipe. The kids all ate it the first night and then, well, their palates changed the second time around. I even tried to serve it sonic style on hot dogs. no dice. they are so fickle. I just posted this recipe on the blog!