Day 152: Camping Tacos (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

These were so easy and perfect for our upcoming camping trip!  And as a bonus, the only items to wash were the serving dishes, as we will use plastic silverware while camping.

Instructions:
Buy snack-sized bags of chips (I bought the variety pack and thought we'd only use the Fritos, but my husband thought that using Doritos tasted better!). 

Open and roll down the edges of each chip bag.  Add any taco ingredients you normally would (we had sour cream, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and olives, plus ground beef with taco seasoning).  When taking this as a camping meal, I'd cut up all ingredients prior to leaving, plus brown  the meat at home and then warm up over the fire or camp stove.  The kids couldn't believe they got to eat chips for dinner!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 145: Foil-Wrapped Salmon (success).

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Ingredients:
Salmon fillet (I purchased the wild salmon from Costco -- and was able to cut it in large pieces before baking and freeze 3/4 of it for future meals)

2 tsp. olive oil (to grease foil)

4 tsp. basil pesto (I used the Costco basil pesto in a jar)

Tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 F.  Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat while you prep the salmon (I didn't do this step, and the salmon was still baked to perfection).

Tear two pieces of foil, big enough to wrap salmon with some overlapping. Place foil pieces one on top of the other. Put about 2 tsp. olive oil in center of top piece of foil and lay salmon on top of oil.

Spread basil pesto over the salmon. Arrange sliced tomatoes over pesto so they cover the top of the salmon.

Wrap salmon securely in foil, doubling over the seam and ends several times. Place salmon packet on heated baking sheet and cook 15 minutes.

Remove from oven after 15 minutes and let sit 2-3 minutes. Then open carefully and serve immediately, while salmon and tomatoes are hot.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 135: Perfect Cornbread (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I'm on a Disneyland food kick with my Pineapple Dole Whip yesterday and now, the homemade version of Disneyland's cornbread.  Perhaps we need to book tickets to the happiest place on Earth?!  This cornbread received rave reviews -- which is not surprising, since anything mixed with cake is bound to be delicious!

Ingredients:

2 (8.5 ounce) packages of Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 (18.25 ounce) box of yellow cake mix
5 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir corn muffin and cake mix together in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, and vegetable oil.  Stir.  Transfer batter to a greased 9×13 and 8×8 baking dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (mine were done after 35 minutes).

My kids liked this too -- but didn't like the teeny-tiny bit of chili I put on their plates!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 126: Simple Steamed Broccoli (success).

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We eat lots of broccoli in this house, as it's the only steamed vegetable my kids will eat.  With the combination of the sugar in the water and the melted butter, I thought they would love this; my husband and I thought it was delicious, but the kids missed the salty taste (I usually mix the steamed broccoli with coconut oil and salt).  I plan to do this recipe again to see if the kiddos take to it on the second attempt.

Ingredients:
3-4 cups fresh broccoli
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup butter (this seemed like a lot to me -- I used half of this)
water

Instructions:
Place the sugar and water in the bottom of pot; insert steamer basket.  Bring water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.

Add broccoli to basket and cover with a lid.  Steam for 7-8 minutes.

While steaming broccoli, melt butter in the microwave.

Mix broccoli and butter together.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 121: Cilantro Lime Dressing (fail).

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This wasn't horrible, but it tasted pretty bland and was very runny; I could overwhelmingly taste the olive oil while eating the salad.  I love cilantro lime dressings, so I'm still on the hunt for an amazing homemade one!

Ingredients:
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)
1-2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Puree all ingredients in a blender (I used my "Magic Bullet" blender) until smooth.

I then cut up all my veggies for a chopped salad -- romaine, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green onions and red peppers -- and poured the salad dressing on top.

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 119: Homemade Au Jus without Pan Drippings (success).

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Whenever we go out to eat, I always order a french dip sandwich if it is on the menu -- but I rarely think to make them at home because my favorite part is the au jus, and I don't like to use / make sauces from a package.  This homemade au jus was excellent, and super easy to make without pan drippings; to make it into a meal, I just put some roast beef lunchmeat and cheese inside a sourdough roll, wrapped them in tinfoil, and threw them in the oven at 350 degrees while I waited for the au jus to finish.

Ingredients:
Olive oil (enough to saute onions)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced (I used jarred)
1/8 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2-1/2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon flour

Instructions:

• Caramelize the onions in the olive oil.  Add garlic and cook for 1-2 additional minutes.
• Pour the chilled white wine and Worcestershire sauce into the pan, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add beef broth and bring to a light boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Strain broth, throw out onions / garlic, and return broth to pot.  
• Add flour and simmer 5 more minutes.

This made just enough au jus for my husband to have two sandwiches and me to have one.  I will double or triple the recipe next time, and freeze the leftovers for easy dinners in the future!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 115: Browning Ground Beef in a Crock-Pot (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I've never thought to brown my ground beef (or turkey / chicken) in the Crock-Pot, but I did it today and it worked great.  I thought the end taste with slow cooking was better than when I brown it on the stove; however, I don't think it saved me any time/energy since I needed to be home to stir the meat every hour or so.  I only browned 2 pounds of ground beef this time, but would use this method again when needing to brown a bunch of meat at a time (4+ pounds) since I don't have a pan big enough to do that on the stove!

Instructions: 
Put the raw meat in the Crock-Pot (I used a liner, but realized halfway through that with stirring the meat every hour, it was easier not to use one for this recipe), mash it a little to separate, cover, and cook on high for 4+ hours (mine took 5-1/2 to brown to my liking).  Stir every hour.

Done (at this point, I'd already taken half of the meat out to use in our dinner).

I used some in our dinner tonight, and then placed the rest in two freezer bags to freeze for upcoming meals.  Easy!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 111: Taco Tator Tot Bake (success).

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This wasn't the healthiest meal to make my family -- and I was hoping that I would report back that I didn't really like it because of that reason.  However, that would be a lie.  My husband and I loved it; our kids, on the other hand, tried a taste and spit it out.  Hey, at least they didn't consume a bunch of tator tots, cheese and ground beef.  I mean, seriously -- what is wrong with them?!  What is there not to love about those ingredients mixed together?

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced (I used onion spice, as I didn't have an actual onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 package of taco seasoning (1/4 cup of my large taco seasoning container)
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn (I used a can of corn instead)
1 (4 oz) can green chiles, diced / drained (I didn't have this ingredient, but used spicy beans below)
1 (12 oz) can black beans, drained (I had a can of hot chili beans, which I used instead and didn't drain)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
1 (16 oz) package frozen tator tots (half my large bag)
1 (10.5 oz) can red enchilada sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. 

Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add in ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat. 

Add in taco seasoning, corn, green chiles, and beans. Cook until heated through. 

In a large bowl, combine the meat mixture, 1 cup cheese and tater tots. Mix until combined.

Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce on bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Add in tater tot & meat mixture and smooth out in the pan. Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top.  

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. During the last few minutes, sprinkle remaining cheese on top of dish and cook until melted. Serve warm.

And yes, I am weird and I ate this with a coffee for dinner, and it actually wasn't a bad combo!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 100: Greek Yogurt Chicken (fail).

I had big plans to do an exciting post for day 100, but truthfully, it's been a bad day all around and I feel lucky to be getting any post at all in by 11 PM :)

Pinterest pin and larger picture (no website).

This chicken dish has such potential to be amazing, but as is (from following the recipe), it was literally the saltiest thing I've ever tasted.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp seasoning salt (I only had regular salt, and used 1 tsp only)
1/2 tsp pepper
4-5 chicken breasts (I used tenderloins)

Mix ingredients together and spread over chicken.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Done -- and very difficult to eat due to all the salt!

I'm definitely making this again, but eliminating most (all?) the salt.  I feel like Parmesan cheese is already salty, so the next time, I am going to try just the cheese, yogurt and pepper to spread over the chicken.

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 79: Crock-Pot Glazed Carrots (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I'm not typically a fan of cooked carrots, but these were super easy to prepare in my Crock-Pot and the end result was tasty.  Evidently, I'm a fan of combining sugar and vegetables :)

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) bag baby carrots (mine was 24 ounces, but we had already eaten some!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

Instructions:
Spray Crock-Pot with non-stick cooking spray (or use a Slow Cooker liner).  Put carrots in first, sprinkle salt and brown sugar over them and top with butter.  Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until carrots are desired tenderness.  Remove carrots with a slotted spoon to serve.

I didn't know what we were having for dinner, so I just threw the carrots into a spinach salad with a chicken burger and some vinaigrette dressing, and it was delicious!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 69: Perfectly Shredded Chicken (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I love this new way of easily shredding chicken!  Around 2 PM today, I realized I didn't know what we were having for dinner (this is a common issue in our house -- but it's typically 430 PM instead!).  I had frozen, marinated chicken breasts that I threw in the Crock-Pot for 3-1/2 hours on high.  I then took them out and put them in my KitchenAid "classic" stand mixer (probably the best wedding gift we received -- I use it all the time).

While the chicken was still warm / hot, I used the "flat beater" attachment and turned the mixer on medium speed.  In 15 seconds, the chicken was perfectly shredded (please excuse the blurry photo -- I think I was excited this worked so well!).

Dinner was super easy -- uncooked green beans, quinoa (made in my rice cooker), shredded chicken on top, and BBQ sauce drizzled over that.  Easy!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Friday Favorite: Crock-Pot Delicious Dinner Mixes.

Website link.

As you know, my favorite mode of cooking involves using my Crock-Pot, so I was excited to try one of these "Delicious Dinner" mixes when I saw them on sale at Bartell's.  I picked up the Chicken Marsala mix because I already had the additional ingredients needed at home.  We loved it -- and will definitely be trying more of these when I see them on sale!

Ingredients:

• • 1 pkg. seasoning mix (included)
  • 1 pkg. vegetable mix (included)
  • 1 pkg. pasta (included)
  • 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1¼ cup Marsala wine
  • 2 cups fresh-sliced mushrooms (I didn't have this many)

  

  I added a bagged salad from Costco, and dinner was done -- with minimal effort!
  

  

  Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 56: Oven Baked French Fries (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I've never had much success in making oven fries, and still haven't...!  

Instructions:
Soak 2-3 sliced russet potatoes in hot tap water for 15-30 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Grease the bottom of a baking sheet with canola oil.  Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towels.  Mix with 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Cover baking sheet with foil and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 14-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.  Flip the potatoes and bake for another 3-4 minutes.  

Verdict: fail.  I feel like my oven usually cooks things pretty evenly, but this was a disaster -- some fries were burnt, others were barely cooked and most were stuck securely to the pan.

Day 51: Crock-Pot Quinoa Stuffed Peppers (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Ingredients:
6 bell peppers (tops removed, cleaned out)
1 lb lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
Onions, diced
Carrots, chopped
Celery, chopped
Mushrooms, sliced
Tops of peppers, chopped
Italian seasoning (I only had oregano and basil)
Salt and pepper
1 jar of tomato sauce or pasta sauce
1 box of organic quinoa , prepared as per box instructions

Saute veggies and meat before mixing together with the pasta sauce and quinoa.  Stuff the peppers, add two cups of water to your Crock-Pot, place your stuffed peppers inside the Crock-Pot, and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

I added cheese 30 minutes before dinner -- and the peppers looked promising when we were ready to eat.

Verdict? Fail.  These were a mushy mess and didn't have much taste.  Apologies to our good friends / dinner guests who I made this for -- they were good sports and ate it anyway!

Day 49: Quinoa Fried Rice (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I was fairly certain this wouldn't be good because I've never had much luck in cooking Asian-style dishes at home, but I was pleasantly surprised -- it tasted much like the fried rice I've had in restaurants!  And as a bonus, it's actually pretty healthy since it has tons of veggies and uses quinoa.

Ingredients (from the website link above)

• 1 cup quinoa (or 2½ to 3 cups leftover cooked quinoa)
• 1 ½ cups water or low-sodium chicken stock
• ¼ small onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 scallions, chopped and divided
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 eggs, lightly scrambled
• ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
• Sauce:
• 1 ½ tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions (from the website link above)

1. Rinse quinoa a few times in cold water.
2. Bring quinoa and water or chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan, and then reduce to a simmer. Season with salt.
3. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and cooked through. Remove from heat and let set for five minutes or so. Fluff with a fork.
4. Cool and store in the fridge, preferably overnight.
5. Mix teriyaki, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. Heat ½ tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over a high heat. Add onion and carrot, cook about two minutes. Add 2 scallions, garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook another two minutes. Add in the rest of the olive oil and the quinoa. Stir-fry about two minutes. Add sauce and stir-fry until incorporated, about two minutes. Make a well in the center of the quinoa pour eggs in, scramble. Throw in peas, then toss everything together until the peas are warmed through, add remaining scallion and serve.

Voila!

Verdict: success!

Day 48: Avocado Chicken Salad (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My husband and I loved this, but our kids wouldn't try it because of the avocado.  We didn't force the issue because that meant we could eat more of it!

Ingredients:
Chicken, cooked and shredded (I threw three frozen chicken breasts into the Crock-Pot with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth.  It was done and ready to shred after 3-1/2 hours on high).

One avocado.

A little bit of mayo.

Sliced green onion, to taste.

Cilantro, to taste.

Lime juice, to taste.

Salt & pepper, to taste.

I'm planning to enjoy the leftovers of this on a sandwich tomorrow, but we used it as a dip for dinner tonight with Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips (purchased from Costco).  Delicious!

Verdict: success!

Day 39: Baked Spaghetti Casserole (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

This was really good -- and our family doesn't typically eat / enjoy casseroles!  It was also perfect because I just happened to have enough ingredients to make half of this recipe, which was plenty for our family of four.  In fact, we still had some leftover, and I wouldn't recommend making enough to plan on leftovers for a meal.  It tasted much better straight out of the oven than re-heated today.

Ingredients (I halved the following recipe):

• 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large can spaghetti sauce (26.5 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup chopped green peppers (I omitted because I didn't have these)
• ⅓ cup chopped onions
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• French-fried onions (small can)

Instructions:

• Cook spaghetti according to directions on the package. Cook to al dente, drain and set aside.
• Brown ground beef. Drain excess grease. Add spaghetti sauce to skillet and heat.
• Combine onions, peppers (I omitted) and butter in small glass bowl. Cover and microwave 1 minute on high (or until soft).
• Add cream cheese and milk to vegetables and stir well.
• Using a 9x12-inch baking dish (8x8 for half the recipe), assemble in the following order: thin layer of spaghetti sauce, cooked spaghetti, cream cheese/vegetable mixture, remaining spaghetti sauce, Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top with french-fried onions and continue baking 5 more minutes. (This is the secret ingredient – don’t let them burn).

Verdict: success!

Day 35: Baked Potatoes in the Crock-Pot (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Ever since I pinned this over a year ago, we have baked potatoes in the Crock-Pot about twice a month.  I do them for parties, dinner with friends or just our family-of-four dinners.  To me, potatoes are so much easier to cook in the Crock-Pot for eight hours than in the oven for one hour (where I might be trying to cook something else at the same time).  Once you try them in the Crock-Pot, I promise you won't go back because they're so soft and delicious!

Instructions:
Wash and pierce as many raw potatoes as needed.
Wrap in foil.
Place in Crock-Pot, on low, for 8 hours.

We typically serve them with sour cream, salsa, bacon, shredded cheese, and broccoli.

Verdict: success!

Day 27: Crock-Pot Pork marinade (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I am determined not to waste any of our Costco pork tenderloins (4 in a pack for $20!), so here's yet another Crock-Pot pork tenderloin recipe we tried!

Ingredients.

I substituted Agave nectar for pancake / maple syrup...

...and misread the directions that said to cook it 6 hours on low; I cooked mine 6 hours on high.  Although it was a bit burnt on the outside, my pork and marinade were frozen, so I subconsciously must have wanted to ensure that it was really cooked in those 6 hours!

My husband liked it and even had seconds, and I agreed that the meat was really tender from sitting in a marinade and cooking in a Crock-Pot.  However, I decided it was a fail because the marinade was really strong -- much too salty and tasted primarily of soy sauce.  It looked pretty plated, though!

Verdict: fail.

Day 25: Crock-Pot Balsamic Pork (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Although we already have a go-to Crock-Pot pork recipe, I didn't want to serve it so often that my family started to dislike it!  I found another delicious-looking recipe on Pinterest -- and it didn't disappoint!  I didn't have a roast in my fridge, so I substituted pork tenderloin instead.

Ingredients.

Ready to turn on the Crock-Pot (using Slow Cooker Liners to make clean-up easy).

Done -- and delicious!

Verdict: success!