F.I.T. - CAULIFLOWER SALAD

f.i.t. = Food In Tummy!

My trainer gave me a challenge to come up with 1 new healthy lunch that can be saved and finished for another day. (apparently my soups and shakes on the go didn't qualify as a filling lunch). After filtering through many recipes, I finally found one that I new I would love! As always, I had to change a few things to make it my own but overall, this is definitely something that will be sticking around in my fridge!

Cauliflower Salad

1 1/2 cup cauliflower, cooked and chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

2 hard boiled egg, whites only, chopped

1 tbsp light mayo

1 tsp mustard

1/8 tsp onion powder

pinch of pepper and salt

dash of paprika on the top

Steam cauliflower and rinse in cold water to cool when finished. Pat with a paper towel until dry. Chop the cauliflower into small bites. Mix into a bowl with celery and eggs. Add the mayo, mustard, salt, onion powder, and pepper. Mix well. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill for 1 hour before eating.

LET'S PLAY THE GAME ...

CATCH UP!
Oh geez ... I am such a slacker! My apologies!
Here is my first of a few catch up posts. Maybe one day soon i'll be all caught up with this blog (but don't hold your breath).

Sweets has been doing a lot of Mountain biking with different groups of peeps. They usually bike the Crest up Big Cottonwood and they usually bike it at night with their nifty cool lights. However, this ride was on a Saturday morning and he went with his good friend Cody (pictured) and Kevin (not pictured). Although they somehow got split up from each other, they still had a great time!

Sweets and I are apart of Young Leaders of United Way and they had a charity golf tournament at Old Mill that we participated in. It was fun to get out and play a round as well as mingle and make connections with other people our age in the community. Our team (consisting of Sweets' two friends Jarum and Travis and us) ended up taking 4th overall and I ended up winning "longest putt" and snagged some really awesome goodies to take home! 

I still have been doing a lot of cooking and loving it. I promise soon I'll share some of my latest recipes but until then here is a teaser. While peaches were the thing a month ago, I couldn't resist and grabbed a bunch and made this super yummy salsa and incorporated it into dinner! 

Recipe:

1 large peach, peel and diced small (or 2 medium peaches)
1 large avocado, diced small (or 2 small avocados)
1/2 red onion, diced small
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 of a yellow pepper, chopped
place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir.  (add the avocados last so they won’t get mushy)
serve over salmon or chicken or as a salsa for chips!
I paired mine with salmon and pea couscous. (Normally I like my couscous with cinnamon but I thought it would be too many flavors).


I headed here:

for some R&R for a few days. It was fabulous and just what I needed. I flew down with my sis and my Parentals and left my three favorite boys home to fend for themselves...but something told me they were ok without me. We soaked up some "vitamin D", went shopping everyday, hit up daily trips to Trader's Joes, Holiday decor-ed our homes from Rogers Gardens, toured the island of Balboa, went to dinner and movies, and goofed around with each other. 

Thanks for the fab trip!


Lastly, I have been trying to get my home ready for Fall (the BEST and my MOST favorite season)! I made a wreath out of striped burlap for my front door, but it's not hung because it somehow ended up at my mother's house. I'm making a new one though for my door. I did fix up our entry way with some mirrors and branches and set out my Fall subway art. I just love how the leaves are starting to change and the temperatures are cooling down. It makes for a peaceful and pleasant existence. 

Stay tuned for more of the game CATCH UP!

FINALLY...AT LAST!

Last week, Sweets and I took a drive up Corner Canyon for some dinner and dessert. Sadly, this summer has been so busy with work, vacations and family stuff that we haven't been able to enjoy the mountains as much as we would have liked. So, for FHE we decided we would take advantage of the beautiful weather and head up the canyon.

We saw a few animals on our drive up and then one hairy critter on our way home. The deer were beautiful, just minding their own business eating the weeds when we pulled up to them. We watched them for a few moments and I was amazed at how cautious and graceful they were. But the tarantula we saw was not beautiful...nor...graceful! It was ugly, and scary and I went into heart failure when Sweets backed up the car up to get a closer look at it. I mean seriously, what is the point of those awful crawling things?

Once we found our spot a ways up the canyon, we pulled over to a picnic area and set up shop. Since this was a last minute thing, we thought grilled cheese sandwiches would be a perfect meal with a side of fruit and peppered jerky. 

It is amazing how yummy things taste when you are in the mountains. I don't know what it is.

The pups loved running around the mountain side visiting all the bikers that past by. Telly has never really been up in wild before, he was too young and didn't have all of his shots, but for his first time he loved it! And he didn't get carsick!!! Lately, he has had a few problems keeping things in his stomach while driving...poor lil' guy. 

However great the night was to spend with my favorite people, the view of the Draper temple and the city on the way down topped it off! It was completely lit up and there was nothing around it to compete for beauty. We just had to stop and admire the breath-taking views. Hopefully soon Sweets and I will be back out in the woods...when the weather cools of course!

TURKEY BURGER WITH RED ONION AND JALAPENOS

I saw a picture of this burger last week and my mouth seriously started drooling right then and there. I knew I had to make this and I knew it had to be soon! Last night was the night, and it was amazing! The burger was juicy and with all the toppings, it was jam packed full of flavor! Besides the fact that Turkey burgers are uberly healthy for you, this will become a regular in our home...

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch rings

coarse salt

3 tablespoons lime juice

1-1/4 pounds lean ground turkey

whole wheat hamburger buns

1 ripe avocado

1 cup romaine lettuce

1/3 jarred pickled jalapenos

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Heat oil in skillet. Cook onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt stirring occasionally until tender. Transfer to a bowl with 2 tablespoons lime juice. 

Heat grill to medium-high and place divided turkey patties brushed with vegetable oil and seasoned with salt to cook. Grill until cook through. Grill buns cut side down.

Meanwhile mash avocado with fork and mix with remaining lime juice and salt. Spread onto buns and layer lettuce, burger, onion, jalapenos and cilantro. 

Enjoy!

  (Martha Stewart)

I paired my burger with some sweet potato fries to make it a meal!  

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

I made this meal tonight and it was D-lish! It was super easy to put together and really tasty. Sweets and I ate all of it and wanted more...sadly there was none left. Give it all a try and let me know what you think!

2 medium zucchini - (I used 3)
4 oz Italian turkey sausage - (I used 8 oz)
1/4 cup diced red onion - (I used 1/2 cup)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 medium tomato - (I used 2)
fresh basil, salt, pepper to taste
2/3 cup Italian cheese blend
1 tablespoon Italian bread crumbs
EVOO

step 1: slice zucchini half length and scoop out center. Sprinkle with EVOO and salt and pepper. Turn grill on to medium and place zucchini face down for about 5 minutes until slightly cooked.
step 2: over the stove, cook the Italian sausage until done. Add onions, garlic, and zucchini until onions are translucent. Add tomato, basil and a few cracks of pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

step 3: add in cheese and bread crumbs to the mix stirring until combined. Stuff zucchini with mixture and place back on grill face up for about 5 minutes or until cooked and soft.  

step 4: enjoy!
I served mine with an iceberg lettuce salad and some rosemary bread. I topped it off with Mango Orange sparkling water. Not only did it hit the spot and was the perfect dish for the weather outside, but it also is uberly healthy. It was so colorful and lite. I hope you like it as much as we did!
(from best bites)

ICE CREAM SUNDAE 4 LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE

I am in total love with this cake!
For Sweets birthday he asked me to make him a German Chocolate cake, but considering I don't like German Chocolate I opted to make another kind of Chocolate cake instead. One that I would like - Sorry babe! Then, as I was reading the ingredients for this particular chocolate cake, I saw that the ice cream wasn't in layers, but mixed in with the batter! I new right then I had to make it! Holy Cow...it is the  most scrumptious cake EVER! No lie... 

Cake
1 box Devils Food Cake mix

1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix ( I used chocolate fudge)

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil ( I used canola)

1 heaping cup of Ice Cream ( I used Mint Chocolate chip)

1/4 cup Hot fudge sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Place cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil, ice cream and hot fudge sauce into a mixer. Beat on low then medium until well combined and thick. Divide evenly into 4 (9 inch) cake pans ( I used 2 (9 inch) pans b/c I didn't have 4 of them) that have been sprayed generously with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or  until toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let cool completely, loosen sides and remove from pan. 

Place bottom layer on a cake stand, spread with your favorite chocolate frosting and repeat until top and sides are covered. 

Take a vegetable peeler and peel chocolate bloc to get curls and press onto sides of cake about 2 cups. (I used mini chocolate morsels instead)

 For my frosting I used:

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
about 1 cup or so of powdered sugar

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and stir until dissolved. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture and cream to a mixer bowl and stir until combined.
Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly until frosting is thick. Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined. Ready to use or if it is still a little soft, chill in the fridge until desired thickness.  

ORANGE - KISSED COOKIES

Although these scrumptious little things claim to be cookies...they certainly do not taste like cookies! They taste more like Heaven sprinkled with oranges and baked in goodness! SERIOUSLY!!! They are so light and fluffy and just the perfect dessert for summer. I am definitely planning on making these again!

Cookies

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons thawed orange juice concentrate

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and shortening. Add the egg, then sour cream and vanilla and beat until mixture is well combined. Add the flour mixture. Add the orange juice concentrate and orange rind and mix well. 

Using a cookie scoop ( I used a plastic ziplock bag and swirled them instead b/c I don't have a cookie scooper) drop the batter/dough by the tablespoon-ful onto a lined un-greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

Frosting

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/4 cup thawed orange juice concentrate

1/2 cup butter

 3 cups powdered sugar

2-3 drops orange food coloring ( I combined red and yellow b/c I didn't have orange)

For the frosting, combine all the ingredients with an electric mixer until fluffy. Spread over the cooled cookies and enjoy!

(OUR BEST BITES)

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH POPS!

OK- so here is the recipe for the best treats ever! I am not one for cookies. In fact, I never eat cookies, but dough, on the other hand, is a staple of mine. Sweets gets so mad at me if I buy or make CCCD and just eat it plain. He says that it is unhealthy and that I will get sick with salmonella. Well, honey, I have news for you. These pops don't have eggs! Instead they are made with Greek Yogurt...so I can eat as many as I want! (not really, but its worth a try) 

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a mixer bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the yogurt along with the vanilla for an additional 2 minutes. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add all at once to the butter mixture and stir until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. 

Scoop spoonfuls, rounded into balls onto waxed paper lined cookie sheet and spear each one with a lollipop stick. Place in the freezer until frozen. Dip frozen balls in chocolate (I used the semi-sweet chocolate morsels) and place back in freezer until ready to eat.
The great thing about these is that you can freeze them forever. Almost. I intend on making more just to have on hand for a snack but I am going to wrap the dough balls in wax paper (think...taffy twists) and put them all inside a ziplock bag. Then I can just pop one out, unwrap it and enjoy it whenever I want...free of salmonella! Oh and if you still think they are unhealthy even without the eggs, try using squashed banana instead of butter. It works just the same!

(TAKEN FROM DAVE'S WIFE BLOG)

THIRTY - TWO

Sweets turned 32!!!

He kicked his birthday off a day early and went mountain biking with some friends in Moab on Friday. It was a quick trip (down and back), but nonetheless, it was exactly what he wanted. After rolling in sometime around midnight (ps i love that song!) he was up at 6:30 Saturday morning doing service work for our ward. What a trooper! After spending the day with me running 'fun birthday' errands we had his friends over for a little get together that evening. It was so good too see those who were able to make it and catch up with them but we missed the other peeps that couldn't make it. We had the Memmott Family, 1/2 of the Stone family, the Davidson family, the Packer Family and the Devere family.  

the birthday wreath in all its glory

the H.S. friends

the children jumping on the tramp in between the rainfall

We ate the infamous 'Bookclub Salad', Texas Cavier, Mexican-corn dip, veggies and 7 boxes of pizza! It was all super yummy. Plus, for dessert:

Add caption

we ate Nutter Fluffers, Angry Bird cupcakes and Chocolate chip cookie dough pops! Boy oh boy were they D-LISH! 

After hanging out, jumping on the tramp, popping snaps, playing with balloons and everything else that adults with 10 something kids do...it was time to call it a night. 

But, the Birthday bash wasn't over! Sunday afternoon we had Sweets' family over for Hawaiian Haystacks and dessert. (I didn't get a pic because I am horrible with the camera thing) but it was fun to celebrate his 32nd birthday with the family! We 'stacked' the hay with lots and lots of veggies and other fun toppings and then enjoyed  

these orange-kissed cookies and

this Ice Cream Sundae Layer Chocolate Cake! Seriously...you NEED to make this cake. It was fabulous! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETS! 

(stay tuned and i'll post the recipes for all these scrumptious foods!)

FIVE - OF - FIVE

Last night Sweets and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo Day with some yummy food. 

Mexican style corn

Tres Leches cupcakes

the whole enchilada

 We ate corn on the cob smothered in a cream sauce and rolled in cojita cheese, creamy chicken taquitos topped with green salsa, black beans cooked in EVOO and spices, virgin lime-mint mojitos and then we ended our scrumptious meal with Tres Leches cupcakes! It was super tasty and a casual way to celebrate the 5th of May.

EXTRAVAGANZA

It was quite the extravaganza at our home yesterday. We had twenty-two family members from both sides over for Easter dinner. It was so fun to get together with our families and enjoy such a special day with one another. 

I started off with making name cards for the place settings. Technically they aren't 'cards' but everyone had a specific seat. This is what they looked like - 

Basically, I took rolled tin foil into a ball, covered it with sculpey clay, stamped the names, baked them in the oven and then colored them in with a fine-tip pen. They all turned out SO cute! 

The Easter menu was so fun to put together. I worked hard the last couple of days to get everything prepped and ready and it all came together nicely. The menu consisted of:

- Honey Baked Ham with sweet honey mustard sauce

- Citrus Salad with Lemon vinaigrette 

- Tossed Salad with Red onion dressing

- Roasted asparagus with stemmed carrots 

- Sweet potatoes and Yams

- Rolls

- Raspberry-Lemon layered cake- Brownies- Cupcakes- Mixed Fruit - Lemon-lime water 

My very first scratch made cake EVER! It was uberly yummy.

Happy Easter. How tweet it is. Bunny cupcakes for the kiddies

Everything was really tasty and I was really happy how it all turned out. A big shout out goes to Sweets for doing so much to help get everything ready. He was a huge life-savor and I couldn't have pulled out all the cooking/cleaning/baking/setting up/gifts/decorations/etc with out him!

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR FOOD?

Ever since I was a little girl, my mother taught me to eat by color. She taught me that certain colors would benefit my body in different ways and that I needed to make sure that I had a "colorful" plate of food so that I would grow up to be healthy and strong. For example, carrots will help my eyes to see clearly, strawberries will help my hair grow red (which it clearly did :)) and lettuce would help my bum tissues so I wouldn't have poochin problems. The lengths that parents will go to make thier kids eat healthy and the suckers that children are...too funny!

 All of the meals that my mom made for us were indeed just that. Very Colorful! I always hated eating the food because I didn't want to disturb the beautiful rainbow of food, but then I would catch a sniff of the most delish meal and chow down. My mother is by far the best cook that I know...and that's the truth. I believe part of cooking a great meal is the passion behind the cook, and my mother has it! 

As I have been learning the art and passion of cooking over the past few years, I have tried to implement this same knowledge. I try to make all my meals colorful from the appetizer to the dessert. Secretly if I can't find foods that are a yummy complimentary color I will just add coordinating spices instead. No one ever knows this or pays attention but mentally I feel the meal is complete. 

I have officially decided, with a smidgen of fine-tuning, this years Easter Feast. It should be (I hope) a very colorful dinner for all to enjoy!    

UMMM...WHAT IS THAT?

This is what my super sweet Sweets said to me when I showed him what I made last night. He made the weirdest face, I'm bummed I didn't capture a pic of it. So, ya'll know that I literally suck at baking desserts! I tell you when I cook that I don't know how to make desserts. I seriously can't make anything that falls under the dessert category, i.e. cookies, cake, truffles, cupcakes, custard, jello, candy, hot fudge, etc. I have tried and tried but it is just NOT my cup of tea. However, if you ask me to prepare a meal...HECK YES is my response. I can whip out the whole schmorgesborg in no time flat and it 99% of the time tastes divine! (stay turned for the Easter meal I'm preparing...you'll love it). Last night I decided to try and make these easy "bunnies". Yep - Nope! They tasted great but looked so ridiculous. 

Once again, I suck at making desserts so puhleez don't judge me. I am sensitive these days. I melted semi sweet mixed with dark chocolate over the stove at a simmer. I inserted Popsicle sticks into the rice krispies and dunked them in the chocolate. Once they cooled and hardened, I put some frosting on them. 

As you can see, they all look so silly and so anti-climatic Easter dessert fun. For one, I should have used gel icing instead of frosting so I could have 'painted' the ears and eyes on, but I would only have known that if I actually was good at dessert making. Oh and for two, I probably could have made my own rice krispies but that is just waaayy right field for me. They never would have held up! Anyway, here you have my chocolate covered rice krispies treats with bunny faces! I'm am sure ya'll can come up with a better way and a better design than I did, but at least you have a project with the kiddies for the weekend!

They actually did taste uberly good. Next time, I think I will add a layer of PB before I dunk them in chocolate, if there is a next time!

ALL THINGS FLAVORFUL!

Last night our ward had the Relief Society Birthday Social and I was to bring:

 Sausage Potato Soup!

Give it a whirl and try it one night this week. It is easy to make and super tasty. Although the recipe was given to me by a lady in the ward, I did change things up a bit just it make it more mine. For instance, I added some red pepper flakes, a pinch of garlic, 2 kinds of onions, some flour and more potatoes etc., but here is the original recipe...

some of what you'll need

onions. carrots. potatoes.

chopped spinach

almost the end of the soup. i forgot to take a pic of the final but this is close.

SAUSAGE POTATO SOUP!
1 cup chopped onions1 cup chopped carrots1 quart boiling water with 1 cube chicken bouillon 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning1 teaspoon saltdash pepper1 bay leaf2 1/2 cups diced potatoes1 1/2 - 2 cups mild italian sausage1 cup fresh spinach leaves chopped1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese2 tablespoons grated romano cheese1 can evaporated milk1 cup frozen peas

To the boiling water with chicken cube, add onion and carrots. Cook for about 10 minutes then add potatoes and seasonings. Cook vegetables until soft. Fry sausage in separate pan, drain excess oil and mix with soup. Add cheeses, evaporated milk and peas. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add spinach leaves last. 

*if you want thinner soup just add water, but i like mine thicker so I added flour.