Coconut Nectarine Smoothie

I may die this morning from the deliciousness of this smoothie. My goal is to drink a smoothie every morning upping my fruit intake. Coconut milk makes it that much better.

1 fresh nectarine
1/2-3/4 cup white grape and peach 100% fruit juice
1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk
1 scoop unflavoured protein powder
1 squirt of Agave nectar for a little extra sweetness
3 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Hide so you can drink it without little munchkins begging for more than a teeny tiny taste! Serves 1.

Pan-fried Mashed Potatoes

The other night I was making Mennonite sausage and pan-fried potatoes. We had to leave mid-preparation to go pick up my oldest daughter from a church activity. I threw a little water into the pan and left them on low heat in hopes that they would be cooked when I got back. Unfortunately, while the red potatoes were perfect, the russet potatoes had cooked down into a mess of mashed potatoes surrounding those perfect chunks...yuck.

While we were surveying the damage and trying to decided whether to start over or not, inspiration struck. We added some cream cheese (half a block) and mashed them up with some milk to make them smooth-ish and not dry. The peels made it difficult for them to be ultra-smooth but that was alright. We threw in some grated medium cheddar and let that melt in. The only thing that would have made it better would have been some bacon pieces. Yum!

(I was pan-frying my potatoes in some coconut oil with onions and garlic, and salt and pepper for seasoning.)

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Tried this recipe out this week and loved it! I'll give you the original and then how I modified it the second time!

Original:
4 C dry oats
1 1/2 C flour
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 C(shy) oil or applesauce
4 eggs
1 1/2 C raisins etc

Dump all ingredients into large bowl. Stir by hand just until completely moistened and combined. Press into a greased 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into individual bars.

My modifications:
Doubled the recipe and added some stuff:
(You're going to need a REALLY big bowl or mix it in two)
7 C dry oats
1 C red river cereal (just like Sunny Boy) uncooked
1 1/2 C graham crackers crushed
3 C whole wheat flour
2 Cu brown sugar
1 C white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C oil
6 eggs
oreo crumbs
mini marshmellows

Follow mixing and baking instructions. I baked this batch on cookie sheets and like it a lot better. I also used my pizza cutter to cut them right out of the oven and then let them cool completely - much easier to cut! I was trying for a s'more effect granola bar because my kidlets really like them and these have been a big hit with them! I store them in the fridge because they do get really soft when they warm up. I'm going to try cooking them an extra 5 minutes or so next time to see if that makes a difference. And I'm sure that they would taste fantastic with dried fruit or other variations...I just went with what I knew my kids would eat!
The doubled recipe yielded me about 52 bars.

BBQ pizza

I really wanted pizza tonight, but I would have melted into a puddle if we had turned on the oven. So we used the BBQ. Never done that before.

Here's what we did.

Made my current favorite pizza dough, and then spread it onto a well greased and cornmeal sprinkled piece of tin foil. Actually I used a few pieces put together and rolled the edges to make it kind of like a pan.

Once the dough was on, we grilled it for about 5 minutes. Then took it off the heat and added the toppings. Put it back on the BBQ for 10 minutes.

Perfection!

The cheese was melted perfectly, the dough was crisp on the bottom but not burned. It was chewy but not doughy. I would probably only make it slightly thinner because that is my preference.

And my house isn't any hotter than when we started. Night Owl said we would never use the oven for pizza again....We'll see about that when it is -40 and I want pizza....

Crock pot Chicken Enchiladas

Around here, we have been eating alot of PB and honey sandwiches. Suddenly I feel like we are super busy being pulled in too many directions and I don't have time to cook a good meal. Last night, as I was getting ready to go Visiting Teaching, I wondered if I could do chicken enchiladas in the crock pot. Then they would be warm when Night Owl got home and I had cooked up two giant chickens the day before so I had plenty of meat in the fridge.

Here's how I did it.

1 can mushroom soup and a tsp (ish) of chicken soup base. (If I had had cream of chicken soup, I would have used that)

1 can chilies

1 cup buttermilk (I had no sour cream...thought I would try it!)

Mix this together to create a sauce.

Spray the crock pot with Pam

Break tortilla shells up and put in bottom of pot. Layer the sauce and some cut up chicken, then cheese. Repeat layer.

Cover, turn on high until Daddy comes home.

The Verdict? Night Owl thought it was great. I thought it was a little strange. Seemed a little gelatinous to me. Not sure if it was from the white tortilla shells or what. Will give some to the kids for lunch today and see what they think. I will try it again with whole grain shells and see what kind of difference it makes. We love enchiladas 'round here and I need to use my crock pot more regularly.

Carrots & Cream Cheese

P. was poking around in the fridge looking for something for lunch. She requested something that would go good with carrots in a roll-up (tortilla). I suggested cream cheese. She thought that sounded like a plan. So, we mixed a little Epicure Classic Vinaigrette mix with half a block of softened cream cheese (enough that it was mixed all the way through). We spread it over a whole wheat tortilla and then we grated a good size chunk of carrot over the cream cheese and spread it around. We rolled them up and ate them. They weren't half bad...and who am I to argue when my daughter wants a carrot sandwich for lunch?

Homemade Naan Bread

So easy! Follow the directions on this webpage. Ours turned out wonderfully. I will have to remember to double the batch since my kids LOVE naan!