Grilled Chicken Tacos with Black Bean, Corn, Avocado and Tomatoes!

On September 6, 2016August 15, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, RecipeLeave a comment

Talk about a quick dinner! This was fabulous!

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Black Bean, Corn, Avocado and Tomatoes

2 (large) servings

Corn Tortillas (or whatever you like)

Chicken (or chicken cutlets, they cook faster) – we used one cutlet, equivalent to one chicken breast

1 can of Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Fresh or Frozen corn (thawed), a handful or two

Tomato, diced

Onion (whatever kind you like and however much you like)

Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded

1 lime, sliced into wedges

Coat chicken with olive oil. While the chicken is on the grill rinse and drain the beans, thaw the corn or cut off the cob, shred the cheese, dice the tomato, avocado and onion. Set in dishes so each person can put the toppings they like. Heat the tortillas (I have a gas stove, and I put the tortilla directly on the grate and heat about 15 seconds then flip and flip another 10 seconds, but that’s me) – as you heat place the warm tortilla in foil and the packet in a towel to keep warm. (Read other options from Food52.com HERE).

When the chicken is ready, cut into small pieces and then take a warm tortilla, sprinkle with pepper jack, black beans, onion, corn, tomato, avocado and then squeeze a wedge of lime.

Oh. My. Too good for words! It’s also good with no chicken!

*Note: when buying store bought corn tortilla try to find a brand with very few ingredients. Mine come from Trader Joe’s and the ingredients are “white corn, water and lime”.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Black Bean Salad with Tomatoes, Corn (and Avocado)!

On August 30, 2016August 12, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, RecipeLeave a comment

Sometimes you just need a quick side dish to throw together that is healthy, and most of all… tasty! This is both! This is more of a guide than a recipe, I’ve made it several different ways. For 2-4 servings:

Black Bean Salad with Tomatoes, Corn (and Avocado)!

1 can of black beans – rinsed and drained

Frozen (or fresh) sweet corn – I use a few handfuls

Diced red onion (or Vidalia or green onion, etc.)

1/3-1/2 lime squeezed over the top

A light drizzle of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Taste… add more lime if needed. I don’t add salt, but you can. I do add pepper.

It’s also fabulous with the addition of diced avocado – oh, does that make it delicious!

ENJOY!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Oven Roasted Chickpeas – THE HOT TREAT!

On August 23, 2016August 23, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe3 Comments

I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes for baked chickpeas. Interesting. A treat. Crunchy & healthy. Hmmm. I’ve got to try it! I made 1/2 batch to see if I liked it. I DID! The crunch is somewhat addictive, if you don’t pay attention you could easily eat an entire can of chickpeas. Probably not the best idea, 😳

I found this recipe on Chowhound, click HERE for the link so that you can print, read reviews, etc. This recipe received 5 stars with 59 reviews (as I write this) . So you know this one is a keeper!

OVEN ROASTED CHICKPEAS via Chowhound!

INGREDIENTS

2-15oz. cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) – thoroughly drained and rinsed.

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (or less)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

DIRECTIONS

Heat over to 400°F and use the middle rack in your oven

Place the spices and olive oil in a large bowl.

Add the chickpeas and toss to coat.

Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a cookie sheet (with sides so they don’t roll off)

Bake until crisp 30-40 minutes, moving them around on occasion. (I didn’t do that and some of mine were slightly crispy, they were still good). My oven took 30 minutes.

Let me know what you think?? What spices have you used for this? I would love to know!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Quick Lunch Idea: Caprese Sandwich!

On June 28, 2016June 20, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

Do you ever get in a rut? Eating the same lunches… do you need something different? I have an idea!

Tomatoes are so good right now, and my basil is thriving, so I thought, hmmmm, what to make for a quick lunch! I picked up some Ciabatta rolls at Trader Joe’s – popped them in the oven until they got nice and warm. Then I added sliced tomato (oh! ah!), sliced fresh mozzarella, leaves of basil, then I drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, slapped on the top half of the roll and tada! Lunch is served!

What do you make when you get in a rut? Something different! Let me know!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Need a quick meal idea? Corn tortilla with chicken, salsa, and pepper jack cheese!

On May 31, 2016May 24, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

This is a quick meal that can be put together in no time flat. You can even cook the chicken ahead of time and just do a quick reheat.

For 5 corn tortilla’s we grilled one chicken breast and sliced it thin, (if you need it faster, using kitchen scissors cut the chicken breast into small pieces and sauté until done, if they aren’t thick, it should cook quickly). Heat the tortillas*, then top with what you like, we topped with pepper jack cheese for a little kick, some fresh salsa and I whipped up some guacamole. This was delicious!

*Heating the tortillas. I have a gas stove, so the best way (for us) has been to place a tortilla on a (clean) grate of the stove. Approximately 10 seconds, then flip, until it starts to wilt downwards, then another quick flip just for a sec (I think maybe because I like to flip?). It takes no time. I then placed it in foil to keep it warm (and wrapped in a clean kitchen towel), I heated all tortillas and then assembled.

Add what you like, doesn’t matter what it is, you could use black beans in place of chicken, etc. I buy corn tortillas with three ingredients: corn, water and lime. Nothing else. I served this with blue chips and the rest of the guacamole!

Note: I made 5 tortillas, 2 for me and 3 for Fred – it was enough with the added guacamole and chips.

Enjoy! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage and Broccolini!

On May 17, 2016July 22, 2025 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Penne with Italian Sausage and Broccolini

Let me tell you, this is the stuff dreams were made of! Inspired by a few recipes (one was Ina Garten’s and the other was from Food.com). I merged a few recipes together, made some changes and came up with the recipe below. Recipes should be made with things that you like. They’re a guide, but the sky is the limit!

A note about this recipe. The first time I made it, I made a 1/2 recipe to be sure we would like it. It was beyond like. It was love at first site, ha ha. So, if you have a busy week coming up, make a full recipe, it gets better and better each day!

Click HERE to print my version (below) of this recipe – it’s a keeper! The use of onion is optional. I’ve tried it both ways, I love onions, so I always add it but it’s excellent without in case you have someone opposed to onions!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to Make Avocado Toast!

On April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, Recipe7 Comments

One of my favorite things in the world… AVOCADO TOAST! (Pictured above with red pepper flakes – YUM!)

There are so many renditions of avocado toast, each as wonderful as the next, but a few of my favorites are the avocado toast from The Daily in Charleston, SC – Last summer it had a slice of an AH-mazing heirloom tomato on top of the avocado- WOW! Lately it’s been avocado on grilled crusty bread with za’atar spices (OH MY GOSH!) and a drizzle of olive oil.

I had some good crusty bread from the bakery and thought I would give it a whirl. I didn’t have the Za’atar spices (will buy for next time, they sell them at The Daily), so I toasted the bread (I didn’t grill), then spread avocado, a drizzle of olive oil and S&P. I took a bite, hmmm, good but missing something, so I sliced a small lemon wedge, gave a little drizzle. BINGO! That was all it needed to brighten the flavor and take it from good to GREAT in a second or two!

Soooo good with or without the red pepper flakes! What’s your favorite rendition? Do you like the avocados smushed (YES!) or simply sliced (I think they slide off the toast like this, but it’s pretty!)

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Quick and Easy Wild Rice with Cranberries and Walnuts in a Citrus Dressing!

On April 5, 2016November 14, 2019 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

Continue reading “Quick and Easy Wild Rice with Cranberries and Walnuts in a Citrus Dressing!” →

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe! A KEEPER!

On March 22, 2016December 4, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Chocolate Biscotti… this is such a wonderful recipe. Truly your eyes will roll back into your head with delight! This is a great recipe to make and leave a few out and freeze the rest. Then when you need that chocolate treat pull out a few. You will be so glad you did! Wonderful depth of chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder, white chocolate baking bar, and semi sweet chocolate.

One BIG change. In the recipe below where it says Butter or MARGARINE… BUTTER! BUTTER! BUTTER! NO MARGARINE!

Another hot tip (thanks Mom!) is to use mini semisweet chocolate chips and mini white chocolate chips, doing so eliminates the chopping of the baking bar. Quick and easy!

This recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years ago. Click HERE to print the recipe from their website – it’s one to file away to keep forever and ever! (Note: I do not add the optional glaze (omitted from the recipe as shown below) – it doesn’t need it, and freezes better without it!

Directions look long, but really it’s not that time consuming. Biscotti dough is thick, so if you have a heavy duty mixer, that will help immensely… When I first started making this recipe I didn’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer. So you have to use some major elbow grease to get things mixed up. The Kitchen Aid does it with no effort at all… love that mixer!

Can you imagine a more fitting treat for your day? Can you believe this recipe has been reviewed 21,000 times? Amazing. A definite favorite!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Roasted Cauliflower – Quick, Easy & SO WONDERFUL!

On March 8, 2016February 29, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Roasted Cauliflower. I love it! It gets nice and sweet and the flavor profile changes completely when you roast it. It’s so quick and easy to do.

Did you realize there are different colors of cauliflower? Green, purple and plain white. I chose a purple cauliflower this time (they all taste the same) – it was fun! I break into fairly small florets, they take less time to roast. If you have the time you can leave them in larger pieces. We were having this with grilled chicken, so I didn’t have a lot of time, therefore the small pieces.

Break the cauliflower into florets and drizzle with a little olive oil in a large bowl. Swirl the cauliflower around with your hands to coat it thoroughly. Then lightly grease (I always use olive oil or organic canola oil) a cookie sheet (this one I use for roasting). Turn the oven on 400 degrees F. Once the oven has preheated, place the cauliflower on the cookie sheet and space the florets out a bit, a little sprinkle of S&P. This will roast for 25-45 minutes (depending upon thickness). Flip about halfway through, you will see that the cauliflower is browning, this is GOOD, this is TASTY STUFF! Once it passes the fork test (fork easily goes through a thicker piece of cauliflower), it’s ready to eat! You can eat just like it is, or a quick little sprinkle of parmesan.

Speaking of parmesan… not the brands that apparently have wood filler in them, sigh…

Portrait of my cauliflower – Hee.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Noodle Casserole – The ultimate in comfort food!

On February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe, THOUGHTS5 Comments

Ham & Cheese Casserole

A friend sent me this recipe. Oh. My. Word! I changed up only a few things, I used less butter, substituted low-fat sour cream, used a little more cheese, and a wonderful noodle I found, I also thinned with milk because Fred likes a thinner sauce – I included the original recipe, and then my version below. This casserole is comfort food at its very finest. There are no cream soups with unknown ingredients, good ingredients = a healthier meal for sure!

You can make this as healthy as you like. Less cheese, no problem, I think I’m going to try using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. One day. So afraid to mess it up. But I have substituted Greek yogurt in recipes in the past with good results. I will update this post if I do!

Click to print (both) the recipes (minus all my words)!

The original recipe (from a friend, thank you Heather Locke!!):

HAM & CHEESE NOODLE CASSEROLE

4 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked ham

Salt

½ pound noodles, ¼ inch wide, cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish. Melt the butter in a skillet and cook onion over medium heat until soft.

In a small bowl: Mix the eggs and sour cream together, then add onion, cheese and ham. Add salt to taste. Put the noodles in the casserole dish, then add the sauce and toss gently. Bake for 45 minutes or until a straw inserted in the middle comes out clean.

_________________________________________________________

My variation (was more clear to re-write, even though there are only a few changes)

1-2 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup low fat sour cream

~1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups cooked finely chopped ham

8 oz (½#) egg noodles (I used Amish Country), cooked and drained

Milk to your taste – I thinned it a bit using probably ⅓ – ½ cup 2% milk.

Follow above directions, I also topped mine with a little cheese. I baked it covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to make corn muffins that taste like JIFFY…

On January 12, 2016January 22, 2022 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe3 Comments

Trying to come up with different menu items for dinner can sometimes be a challenge. I wanted to make the Garden Chowder recipe, minus the chicken, and make a slightly larger batch. To go along with it I thought corn muffins sounded good. I grew up with Jiffy corn muffins. You can’t beat them! Until you read the list of ingredients. I’m trying really hard to limit ingredients, and to make everything from scratch. You wouldn’t believe how easy it can be. This is the perfect example. This recipe (from Food.com) is so fabulous. You’ve got to try it. I mistakenly bought WHITE cornmeal. It calls for YELLOW cornmeal. The only difference is the type of corn it comes from, and obviously, yellow cornmeal will result in better looking muffins, but they taste just as good!

Click HERE to print the recipe from Food.com!

This recipe has flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, canola oil, egg, and milk. That’s it. Nothing you cannot pronounce!

INGREDIENTS in the Jiffy mix: WHEAT FLOUR, DEGERMINATED YELLOW CORN MEAL, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, WHEAT STARCH, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, BHT PRESERVATIVE, TOCOPHEROL PRESERVATIVE, CITRIC ACID PRESERVATIVE, BHA PRESERVATIVE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, SILICON DIOXIDE.

Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins from Food.com

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tin (makes 6 muffins) with cooking spray (I just used olive oil).

In medium bowl mix 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons canola oil.

Whisk together, then add:

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Fill muffin tin 1/2 full. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

I know, I know! What a treasure!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes – Woohoo!

On January 5, 2016January 3, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

This recipe is adapted from the Scalloped Potato recipe in Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book 12th Edition – I’ve made a few changes, but the basic recipe is fabulous as well!

This is also a great dish to make if you have leftover ham… sprinkle diced ham pieces into the casserole and it’s a full meal – can’t beat that!

Hmmm, why is this photo only showing half of the scalloped potato dish? It came out of the oven… we dug in… OOPS! P H O T O ! ! I’m only human, ha ha.

Click HERE to print the recipe without the extra babble.

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Farmer’s Chowder – what a recipe!

On December 29, 2015February 6, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Two versions of chowder below. One with chicken, and one a bit different, with no meat. I served both with the Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins.

OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

Recipes from a friend, is there anything better? It’s so nice to hear of other things to make for dinner rather than being in a rut with the same old thing.

I was excited to try this, it sounded delicious to me. I found the perfect time when we had a bit of rotisserie chicken left over. That worked perfectly! These are guidelines, but use what you like! I happened to use 4 cups of chicken broth, so mine may have been more “brothy” than what is normal, but I had two very large potatoes, and I also supplemented with frozen sweet white corn.

What I forgot… the bacon crumbled on top! We had it the next day, when we heated up what was left (be sure to heat on low and DO NOT LET IT COME TO A BOIL or it will curdle). So DAY 2 had crumbled bacon, which I was so excited about I forgot to take a photo. Story of my life!

This recipe was heavenly! Give it a whirl!

Click HERE to print just the recipe!

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Version two, I like to call Garden Chowder, click HERE to print the recipe! One hint is to warm the thawed corn in the microwave just a bit, just so it’s not cold when adding to the soup…

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Flashback: Best Christmas Cookies in the World!

On December 15, 2015December 3, 2015 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Lifestyle, Photograph, Recipe, THOUGHTS4 Comments

Decorate however you like, neat, messy, in whatever colors you create!

This is a Christmas Cookie recipe that our family has made since I was a little kid. It’s become a tradition. It’s fun because everyone can partake in the festivities. Especially if you bake the cookies ahead and then have a decorating party! We just put the frosting into zip-top baggies and cut a hole. Some years we have more colors than others. As you can see, this particular year, I was only loving my Christmas Tree cookie cutter, so that’s the only one I used. Recipe below as well as a link to print recipe only.

Enjoy!