Homemade Salsa...

Here's a super quick and crowd pleasing recipe for homemade salsa that we've used in our family for a long time. We have tomatoes coming out of our ears over here, so we've been making lots of tomato filled recipes this summer. The easiest way to make this salsa is to dump it all in your Food Processor and let IT do the work! (In the photo I gave it a whirl in my Vitamix, which sad to say- didn't turn out too well, it was a little frothy and unevenly chopped, but you never know until you try! Stick to your Cuisinart!)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

3 green onions

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp lime juice, fresh

1/4 tsp onion powder (I didn't have so I omitted)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

FOR THE KICK, depending on how heated you like things choose ONE of the following options:

• 2 roasted jalapeno peppers OR
• raw jalapeno peppers, seeds removed OR
• 1/2 a can of green ortega chilies OR
• nothing extra, still delicious!

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients in your food processor (I chopped my tomatoes in half, as well as my green onions and I minced my garlic first) then just pulsate it until it's the consistency that you like! Enjoy with some tortilla chips!

Greek Salad Stuffed Pitas...

I don't know about you guys, but we can't get enough salads over here during these summer months! Here's another great option to add to your repertoire! Super simple, light, fresh, and fast!

Salad Ingredients:

Head of Romaine

1 lb. chicken tenders

1/4 thinly sliced red onion

1/2 thinly sliced bell pepper

1/2 thinly sliced cucumber

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

**olives, optional

Dressing Ingredients:

6 TBSP red wine vinegar

5 TBSP Olive Oil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

Additional Ingredients:

Pita Breads sliced in half

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice for your chicken

Directions:

Prep your chicken and brown it in a skillet with 1 TBSP Grape Seed Oil. I also added 2 TBSP of freshly squeezed lemon juice while it cooked to give it more flavor, then I seasoned the tenders with s & p and let them cook until both sides were browned. Chop the chicken when it's done cooking to top your salad. To prep your salad, simple- wash and slice your veggies, add your chicken, feta, and dressing right before serving and toss well. Fill your pitas with your salad mix and enjoy!

Gremolata Mahi Mahi

Here's a classic of mine, it's a favorite around here, it was one of my first posts, but was lacking a picture, so here is an update with a picture- if you haven't tried it yet- don't wait any longer!

Ingredients:

Combine in a mixing bowl:

1/4 cup italian bread crumbs

/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1 grated peel of a lemon (1.5-3 tsp)

1 TBSP of melted butter

Also, 1 lb. Mahi Mahi ( I use the frozen steaks from Trader Joe's & blot it dry)

** Note: I double this recipe because the topping is yummy and my husband eats more than this calls for in a sitting!

Instructions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a roasting pan in foil & spray the foil. Put the fish steaks on the pan, lightly salt them and squeeze lemon juice over the top. Then spoon the mixture from above and gently press it down on the tops of the fish steaks. Cook them uncovered for 15-20 minutes until brown on top.

Options to serve with:

I love to serve this with the asparagus and sweet potato fries, it is a great combination!

Homemade Berry Pie

This past week, we had a great adventure with some moms & friends of ours- we took a trip to Murray Farms, a local U-pick veggie and fruit farm.... the kids had a great time eating their way through the blueberry bushes, black berry vines, and orchards of pluots and apricots. Needless to say, they were a sticky mess by the end of the trip- but their bellies were full of yummy goodness!So, I had some blackberries left in the fridge that were really sweet and ripe and I wanted to make a scrumptious dessert- so I picked up a pre-made pie crust at Trader Joe's and I found a really simple recipe that I thought would be worth a go- here it is in case you find yourself with a plethora of ripe, juicy berries this summer.

Ingredients:

4 cups berries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

pie crust, homemade or store bought (I won't tell!)

Topping:

1 TBSP milk

2 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP brown sugar

3 shakes of cinnamon

Directions:

Super simple. Take your fresh berries (I had 3 cups of fresh blackberries, so I added an extra cup of frozen blueberries that I had on hand) and combine them in a bowl with your flour and sugar. I kind of mashed mine together with a pastry tool to get them to gel well. ** You could probably use any combination of berries, but take note of the natural sweetness, if your berries are tart, you might want to adjust the sugar amount and add more. Mine were naturally sweet, so I left it at 1/2 cup. You could also add more berries if you like a fuller pie, mine was on the smaller side, but you can add up to 6 cups of berries if your berries are in abundance!

Next, lay your pie crust in your pie dish (I used a 9 inch dish) pat it down, then fill it with the berry mix. Lay your pie top on and connect the sides of the crusts. Then brush on your TBSP of milk on the top of the pie (I didn't even use the entire TBSP, too much will make your crust soggy) and sprinkle your sugar mixture on top of that. Bake it in the oven for 15 minutes on 425, after that, turn your temp down to 375 and cook it for another 25 minutes or until your crust is golden brown. Let it rest for 30 minutes- 1 hour before serving it. It is delicious by itself, but complimented well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Strawberry Milkshakes...

With fresh strawberries galore, I thought I would make a Strawberry milkshake for my husband on our stay-at-home-date-night. Now, I must admit I automatically thought I wouldn't like it (hence I didn't make one for myself!) because I had childhood memories of "strawberry FLAVORED milkshakes or ice cream" and thought it would taste fake and overly sweet--- but my oh my, was I pleasantly surprised---- the real thing tastes SO different.... it was delicious, give it a go for yourself!

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh strawberries (you can use frozen if you must)

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

3-4 ice cubes

** 1 TBSP honey (if it's not sweet enough, but mine was perfect without!)

Directions:

Dump it all into your blender or Vitamix, give it a whirl, and enjoy! My husband thought it would be fun to top with whip cream... but he'd probably like to top a lot of things with it! And don't overestimate the delish and timeless dessert of a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate and freshly sliced strawberries- that's a real crowd pleaser as well!

Love Bananas?? Cut your strawberries down to 1/2 cup and add 1/2 a banana! Get Creative!!!

Strawberry Short Cake from Scratch...

We have had a ton or ripe, juicy, delicious strawberries around here (thanks to my husband who farms next to the best strawberry grower in town!!!) so we have been making many-a-dish (or dessert!) with our fresh strawberries!!!! Here's a recipe for old fashion shortcake, we served it at a shower, it's prefect for guests and makes about 12-16 cakes which you can leave whole or slice in half.... here's what to do.

Ingredients for Short Bread:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 cup butter

2/3 cup heavy cream

Ingredients for Whipping Cream:

1/2 pint heavy cream

3 TBSP powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

**Don't forget your fresh strawberries!!!

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder- stir well. Then add your heavy cream and your cold butter (not melted) you are going to cut your butter into the batter with a knife. Keep mixing and cutting your batter until you feel like it's well combined (you are still going to see nuggets of butter in there, they will melt together with the rest of the dough when you kneed it). I used a plastic thin cutting board, sprinkled with a little flour and turned my dough out onto it. Kneed your dough for about 2-3 minutes, this is where you will really see if coming together. With a large spoon, scoop dollops of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15- 20 minutes until the edges are golden. Immediately after taking them out, remove them from a baking sheet (so they stop cooking) and place them on a rack or wax paper, sprinkling the tops of them with a pinch of sugar.

Next make your whipping cream in a chilled bowl, beat all ingredients together until your whipping cream begins to peak. Cover and chill until serving.

And last, slice up your strawberries. Mine were super sweet so I didn't add any sugar, but I pre-cut them so they could marinate in their own juice for a while. If yours aren't really sweet, add a spoonful of sugar, stir, cover and refrigerate until serving. Unfortunately I totally spaced and forgot to capture a picture of the finished product, but it looked similar to this to give you an idea!

Homemade Waffles

OK folks, sorry about the serious delay in posting recipes.... I realize I have been M.I.A. for the last few months- but I have good reason. I have been eating things lately that most normal people wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole... things like lemon yogurt, pickles, bean burritos, apples, and eggs, tons of eggs... because this is how I eat when I am pregnant. I have the worst morning/all day sickness again with this baby (#2)--- I don't even want to cook, I don't want to eat, I don't even want to think about food--- which doesn't go well with trying to keep up with a blog centered all around food! But I am entering into week 15 and hoping the sickness is coming to an end (with my daughter is tapered off around week 16.... maybe one more week to go!!!!) So here are a few little things I have managed to make in the past 3 months.... just little recipes & ideas until I get my cooking apron back out during the week :)

Homemade Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup oil or butter

1 TBSP sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

* I use 2/3 cup brown rice flour and 1/3 cup coconut flour and Kerrygold butter to be more specific! You can also double the batch and freeze the other half for a quick breakfast later on in the week.

Directions: Super simple, pour everything into a bowl, whisk until all the clumps are gone, and pour into a HOT (and oiled/sprayed) waffle iron. Serve with a side of fresh fruit, real  Grade B maple syrup, or caramelized apples (recipe coming soon!) ** Made about 10 waffles in my grill (which you can freeze or refrigerate and toast for later!)