Tex-Mex Chicken Salad & Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Please forgive the iPhone picture.. Pshhh & I call myself a photographer.

 Yesterday while I was in Wal-Mart, I saw an idea for Tex-Mex chicken salad in the dressing aisle. There was a combo pack of dressings- one was a BBQ ranch and one was a marinade for chicken. No way I am spending money on that.. But I totally stole the idea!

Now... I don't measure hardly anything.
Unless I'm baking.
Soooo forgive my vague recipes.

Tex-Mex Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
iceberg lettuce
tomato
avocado
one can of corn
one can of black beans
salsa
chicken breasts
BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)
Ranch (I use Kraft light three cheese ranch. I could go on and on about this delicious light dressing.. But I will save it for another day)
olive oil
taco seasoning
s & p

The base is :
iceberg lettuce
tomato
avocado (Would be DELICIOUS on this but I didn't have any.. Wal-Mart's selection was yuck)

Then I added a black bean and corn mixture...
For this I just heated up the black beans and corn with some taco seasoning & a little bit of salsa on the stove.

Then the chicken:
I cut up chicken, seasoned it with taco seasoning, a tiny bit of salt (taco seasoning is pretty salty) and pepper
I sauteed the pieces in a pan with olive oil.. Once it was finished cooking, I added BBQ sauce & let it hang out on low until my sweet potato fries were done!

The dressing:
2/3 ranch
1/3 BBQ sauce
Oh my HEAVENS.. I wish I would have thought of this sooner. It is amazing, especially on this salad!

This salad would have been good with some low fat cheddar cheese on top, but I totally forgot to add it!




Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

sweet potato cut into strips (I make one per person.. We would eat more if I made it!)
taco seasoning
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450º

Peel & cut sweet potato
Pat dry with paper towels (VERY important! If they have any moisture, they won't brown... like the ones in my picture lol)
Drizzle with olive oil & add seasoning. Use enough olive oil so they are shiny & covered, but not so much that they are in a pool of it. Add a good amount of taco seasoning. You want them to have a bite! The sweet/ spicy combo is amazing!
Mix well.
Spread out onto a pan, make sure they aren't touching or they will be soggy.

Bake at 450º for 15 minutes. Be sure not to open the oven before this! :)
Flip the fries & put in for an additional 10 minutes.
I like to then broil them for just a minute to get them nice and brown. The fries in this picture are nowhere near brown enough for me, but we were STARVING & got impatient! I make these all the time, we really love them!
Sean dips his in ranch, but I like mine just the way they are!

ENJOY! Have a really yummy day.

Green Monster

So after all the hype I've seen online about the "Green Monster" smoothie.... I decided it was time to give one a try.

The recipes I looked up vary a lot, but most recipes I have seen include spinach, milk, some kind of seed (Chia or Flax) and some frozen fruit.

This is my version.

Green Monster:

2 c baby spinach
1 T flax seed
1 c milk
1 frozen banana
1 T honey
1/2 c frozen blueberries & strawberries

This is everything in he blender, all ready to go! Apparently it is important to put them in this order. The spinach and seed first, so the other ingredients weight them down & they don't go flying & stick to the sides...

Warn the baby that there is going to be a loud noise!

Now, blend the crap out of the thing.... I know I don't want chunks of spinach coming up through my straw!

I blended for about a minute... Threw in a couple ice cubes & blended again until smooth. My first Green Monster!!! I enjoyed mine for breakfast with a piece of Wasa crispbread & light Swiss Laughing Cow. (I have an obsession with Laughing Cow... Don't ya know? Ask my sister... When I was pregnant I used this stuff on everything!)

I can't believe how good it was! I was fully prepared to taste the spinach... (Hence why I added the honey) But you honestly can't taste it!

Sounds scary, looks weird.. Tastes delicious!
Make one! Tell me how you like yours!

Have a healthy day.

Onsie Modification & Headband

Isn't she the sweetest thing ever?

Recently I found this cute onesie modification tutorial. I am a novice sewer... But this seemed simple enough for me to try. Plus, I am obsessed with my sweet baby & making things for her.. =) I am pleased with the way the front looks for sure. Close up, it's a little messy, but I learned from my mistakes & my next ones should be better. I think my biggest sewing problem is that I get too excited and I don't take my time to make sure I do it right. (I will have to work on that!) I made the onesie maybe a week ago, but I have been waiting to put it on Hannah until I made a matching headband.. which I finally got around to doing this morning! :) I will most likely post a tutorial on that soon when I make my next one.

Also coming up... Pictures of my craft nook! I am so so so in love with it. Ever since Sean & I got married, I have been dreaming of a craft area. I started buying the cube-y things from Michael's whenever I had a 40% off coupon in hopes of building a sweet craft area. Andrea at Inkadink has an AMAZING scrapbooking corner. When I saw hers, I KNEW I had to have one of my own. My dream has finally become a reality, now that we are in a house rather than an apartment!!

Have a happy night!

From Scratch.

Because that’s the best way to start things, right? =)

When Sean and I first got married, I started a blog that was intended to document the trials and tribulations of our first years of marriage including, but not limited to our new home, my crafting and my recipes, pictures, updates…. Well. That didn’t last long. True to form, I started this new project wholeheartedly. Aaaaand true to form, it didn’t last long.

So here I am with a resolution. It’s not January, it’s the middle of August… But I am taking a vow to stick to it this time. I want our friends and family to watch this beautiful baby grow (in a more intimate setting than Facebook). I want a place to share the other endeavors in my life.... Cooking, crafting, photographing.

But this time will be different. Right? Right???? Right.

So I will leave you with a two photos of this past weekend- Me & my little Hannah Bug at the beach.




I hope you have a happy night! :)