Avocado & Corn Salad

Again, I found this recipe on Pinterest. I made it late Thursday night in preparation to bring to work for lunch Friday. Another good, cold recipe ;)
When I made it, I sent a pic of it to my bestie Rachel and she's been texting me asking me to post the recipe.  

I have to make a point in this post to say how amazing Rachel is.  She is the most inspiring person I've ever met.  As hard (and sometimes expensive) it can be, she is the one who has inspired me to find healthy recipes and eat as healthy as I can.  She is so independent, positive, and such a joy!

The original recipe is actually called "Avocado & Grilled Corn Salad w/ Cilantro Vinaigrette",

but we don't have a grill so I just used canned corn.

Here's what you need:

• 5 ears corn, husk removed, brush with olive oil and grilled, remove corn with sharp knife. OR just use 1 can of sweet kernel corn, drained
• 2 Avocado's, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent browning
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• 1 small red onion, finely diced. I used half a red onion and it was PLENTY enough
• 3/4 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 1/2 cup English cucumber, skin on and chopped small dice. I absolutely hate cucumber, so I definitely skipped this part!

Add to a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.  I do have to point out though that when I combined these ingredients, I added the avocado last.  After I diced the avocado, I put it in a separate little bowl and sprinkled with lemon juice and THEN added to the rest of the ingredients.  I didn't want to have to sprinkle lemon juice on ALL of the ingredients!

 

In the first pic, I forgot the onion, but don't you forget it lol! As you can see in the second pic, I added the rest of my Hemp Seeds :)

Next! Cilantro Vinaigrette:

• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp cilantro, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 10 grinds of fresh ground pepper

 Mix well!

 When ready to serve salad, add the dressing and gently toss so you don't mush the avocado's.  This makes A LOT! So that it doesn't go bad, I would make this when you have someone to share it with. I wish I had someone to share mine with, I hate to waste!
Enjoy my girl! Xoxo
 
 
 
  

A Great Lunch- Broccoli Salad

I was looking for something healthy and cold that I could bring to work for lunch.  I've grown to love Subway, but spending 6+ bucks a day blows.  We don't have a microwave at work, so my options are limited.  Luckily on Pinterest, I found this great recipe- Broccoli Salad!

What you need:

• 1 head of broccoli, stems removed and florets cut into pieces
• 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled 
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup organic raisins
• 3/4 cup "clean" mayonaise
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey or other sweetener of choice
• 1/4 roasted, no salt added sunflower seed kernels
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Of course I tweaked this a bit.  I was trying to go as cheap as possible, so instead of buying bacon and sunflower seed kernels, I decided I was going to use what I (thought) I had, Salad Toppings. You can find this in the salad dressing area, it's a mixture of sunflower seed kernels, bacon bits, and a few other yums to go on top of a salad.  But when I got home, I realized I didn't have this like I thought so I did without.  I also didn't have raisins and I'm not the biggest fan, so I did without those too.  

Preparation:

-In a small bowl combine mayo, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

-In a large bowl combine broccoli, bacon, onion and raisins.

 

I decided to top with the Hemp Seeds :)

  -Gently stir in the mayo dressing, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve immediately!

 

 This is so so good and makes you feel good!

For Denita- Chicken Scaloppine

I never cooked before I was married... Due to my husband's Active Duty, we were miles apart so I only attempted to cook when he came home for a few days every few months. Seriously, I went to my moms for dinner every night unless I was having dinner with a friend somewhere else.
So all of my close friends know that since we got married and I moved with my husband, I've been trying to cook for him! It's been mostly a success so far. Or so he makes me think. My long time sister of 17 years, Denita, asked me what I've been cooking because she needs some new recipe's!

 I love this girl, so I told her about my husband's favorite thing I cook- Chicken Scaloppine! I actually got this recipe from a recipe book we got as a wedding gift. I registered for it- Better Homes & Gardens: Anyone Can Cook. 
LOL. 


I don't have any pictures of it, I haven't cooked it in a few weeks, but it's super easy and yum!




What you need:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp. of milk
• 1 cup seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup finely shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 lemon wedges (optional- I don't use them)              

1. Place each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound chicken lightly to about 1/4 inch thick.  Remove plastic wrap.  Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper.              
2. In a shallow dish combine eggs and milk.  In a second shallow dish combine bread crumbs and cheese.  Lightly dredge chicken pieces on both sides through flour; shake off excess.  Dip both sides in egg mixture.  Dredge in crumb mixture to coat.  If necessary, press crumbs onto chicken with your hands to make crumbs stick.
3. In a 12-inch skillet melt butter over medium-high heat; add oil.  Cook half the chicken breasts in melted butter and oil, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, turning once.  Remove from skillet; keep warm.  Add more oil if needed.  Cook remaining chicken.  Serve immediately with lemon wedges.  Makes 4 servings.

Ta-daaaa!! Hope you enjoy Dee ;)

I usually make some really good roasted potatoes for the side. Just cut some New Potatoes into wedges, throw in a pan, drizzle olive oil all over and any seasonings you want.  Bake about 30 mins at 375!

My Green Breakfast!

So, my husband is out in the field all week :(

What this means for him: He plays war; shoots stuff.
What this means for me: I eat tofu and catch up on my shows!

The last thing I want to do while he is gone is cook meals for 2 when it's just me eating. I've also been wanting to find something easy for breakfast and something cold, but yummy I can eat for lunch at work since we don't have a microwave there. I'm sick of spending 6+ bucks a day eating Subway. So I gathered up some great, healthy recipe's I found on Pinterest and went to the grocery!  


This morning I tried the first recipe for breakfast. I NEVER eat breakfast, I never wake up early enough... so by lunch time I'm starving and scarf any and everything down! No bueno!
The recipe didn't come in the standard "Ingredients" then "Preparation" form so I'll just go step by step... as it does not have to be exact. Get creative with it! I tweaked it a little bit myself, but I'll point out where.

Ok, so first I got out my Ninja blender (omg love!) and threw in about 2 handfuls of baby spinach and 1 1/2 handfuls of broccoli stems. Yes, just the stems because I had them leftover from the broccoli salad I made (recipe coming soon) and didn't want to waste! The recipe said to add the "salad stuff" which is basically your greens. Add full heads of broccoli, Zucchini, whatever you'd like!  Then, add about one cup of water. I had some Orange Juice that was fixing to go bad, so I used that instead. 

This is your base! Blend, then store half of it in a sealed container in the fridge for later use! Looks delicious, huh?

 After you pour out half to save, time for fun stuff! 
In the "original" recipe, the girl added:
-Blueberries and Strawberries
-Banana
-Flax Seed and....
-Raw Egg Whites! Gross! Maybe not, but too risky if you ask me. 


Here's what I used:
-Half a Kiwi
-Whole Banana
-1/4 block of Tofu for my protein instead of Egg Whites
-Shake of Hemp Seed
-Handful of frozen Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries
-Drizzle of Honey

  

Now blend and enjoy!! This really filled me up. It sounds so gross, but it's really yum and satisfying!

I HAVE A BLOG!!

O-M-G I have a blog! Ha! I never would have thought I'd have a blog, but I had 2 inspirations:

1. My best friend, Rachel and her amazing blog...

www.cloudsandclovers.com

and....

2. The Pinterest app!

I've gotten so many great recipe's and idea's from both Rachel and Pinterest!

    For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is an app/website FULL of great DIY crafts, recipes, fashion, etc.! I mainly love this app because of all the recipe's and DIY projects which I've found most come from someone's blog. SO! I didn't think it'd be "fair" if I stole all of these great ideas and didn't share with others like they have!

So cheers to my blog and my very first post! Yay!