Tomato-Braised Chicken Tacos with Avocado Salsa

Tags

Avocado, Chicken, Tacos

My sister Kerri handed me this recipe when she was visiting last month. Looking at the ingredients I knew this would be a winner! Most of our meals include the usual suspects: tomato, cilantro, avocado, onion, garlic, and jalapeno! As I was cooking I realized it seemed to be missing something. Where is the cumin?? I took a chance and left it out. So glad I dd!

Found it : O Magazine, February 2012

Ingredients (Tacos)

• 4 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 3 jalapenos seeded
• 1/4 white onion roughly diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up in chunks
• 2 Tbs. minced cilantro (who are we kidding…i used at least 1/4 cup)
• 12 corn tortillas

1.  In a food processor, (or blender if you are without) pulse tomatoes until well chopped. Add salt, jalapenos, garlic, and onion. Puree until smooth.
2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides. Add tomato puree to skillet. Cover and reduce to medium low. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Shred chicken with 2 forks.  Add cilantro and stir right before serving.

Top warmed corn tortillas with chicken mixture and Avocado Salsa.

Ingredients (Avocado Salsa)

• 2 Hass Avocados cubed
• 1 Roma tomato diced, seeded
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Gently toss together so not to mush up the avocado. Enjoy!

Sorry, its cell phone picture :0)

Cornmeal and Yogurt Pancakes…Hello Breakfast!

Tags

cornmeal, pancake, yogurt

My favorite pancakes come from the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg, TN. We never travel to Tennessee without stopping in and gorging ourselves on pancakes and coffee.  After much research, trial and error, and a few disasters I feel like I have found a good pancake recipe! Would you believe it came from a yogurt lid? Scary I know. By the way, this is kid tested and approved.

Ingrediants

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal (not self-rising)
• 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2tsp. baking powder
• 1tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt (a greedy pinch)
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla, strawberry, or blueberry yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• milk to thin the batter

Whisk together flour, corn meal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Next add yogurt, eggs and oil. Stir well. I thin the batter a tad with milk. It is really trial and error depending on the consistency of the yogurt you use. The thicker the yogurt, the more milk you need.  Preheat griddle to  HOT! :0) Use butter on griddle if needed to keep from sticking. I use about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake. This batter is thick and a little difficult to manage. It does not bubble like a normal pancake. Cook about 3 minutes on one side, then flip..carefully.  As you can see, my last batch was not beautiful, but OH SO GOOD!

They brown so nicely!

Black and White Bean Salad

Tags

Bean Salad, Black Beans

This is a favorite recipe in our house and more importantly it is healthy. However, the kid vote is lacking. :0) I found it on Allrecipes.com, tried it, and loved it! Lucky for you, I have tweaked it to perfection! (In my humble opinion.) We typically serve it with hummus and pita for a meatless meal. If you don’t like red wine vinegar, you can simply omit or use less. By the way, NO COOKING required!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 chopped cucumber
• 1 chopped sweet red pepper
• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (we use more :0)
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (we use more :0)
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

This is easy. Combine cucumber, pepper, onion, beans, and cilantro. Mix remaining ingredients together, pour over bean mixture and toss. I like it room temperature or cold. Refrigerate leftovers.

Finished salad. This salad is half eaten by the preparer (usually me) before it ever makes it to the table!

Puke Pants and the Silver Lining

A year ago when Weston had his first Urologist appointment, I remember sitting in the waiting room trying to give him a bottle to keep him quiet. He absolutely refused, and if you have seen my Weston you know he has missed very few meals. We were called into the exam room where Doctor E began questioning me about Weston’s medical history.  I was sitting in a chair holding Weston in such a way that he was facing Doc E. The good Doctor was sitting directly in front of us on one of those rolling stools. And then it happened. Like an erupting volcano, Weston puked everywhere. It was all over me, the floor, and the good Doctor’s shoes.  He rolled backwards toward the door saying only, “Nurse, can we do something about the smell.”  I dove into action trying to clean up whatever I could only to be stopped by Dr. E who said he would call with his other questions. Needless to say, I drove home in PUKE pants and Weston was lightly drenched. This week as we make our way to see Dr. E for Weston’s annual appointment I am happy to say the puke is already behind us – the silver lining in a week of toilet bowl hugging  and sheet washing. There is usually a silver lining if you look hard enough!

A Bigger Boy

I usually find that it is better not to tell Wyatt (3.5) what is happening until right before the event is to take place. Today, that thinking was a mistake. I decided Wyatt, turning 4 in June, needed a BIG BOY bed.  My buyer from Craigslist arrived to take away the converted crib toddler bed and I decided to go ahead and spill the beans. (as they are pulling in the driveway :0) Can I just say, very poor planning on my part. But really, do you ever know if the craigslist people will even show?

Wyatt yelling from the top of the stairs: “Hey! Where are you going? That’s MY Bed!” Tears were pooling in his eyes watching his bed being moved out the front door.

Me: Wyatt, it’s ok, Daddy is bringing home a big boy bed.

Wyatt: I’m not a bigger boy.  I’m a little one.

I think he is over it, maybe not too traumatized.  He is in his room bouncing on an air mattress. So here is to my bigger boy and the brick I want to place on his head to keep him right where he is.

I Love you more than…

On any given evening, if you live in the Spotsy Courthouse area, you might spot my silver mini van circling the new shopping development near our home. It ‘s random, but it’s true.  We are not casing the place :0).  There is a spa located in the building with “flashing lights” and my three-year-old is captivated. If we are on our way anywhere, and it’s dark or dusk or sunrise for that matter we MUST drive past the flashing lights.

Before Jeremy and I were blessed with children we didn’t do crazy things like drive in circles in parking lots to see strobe lights. We do this now b/c we love Wyatt and he loves the flashing lights. Instead, Jeremy and I came up with this thing we say to express affection …maybe we read about it somewhere or saw it in a movie. We often state how much we love each other as a comparison to how much we love something else. I’ll say…”I love you more than Cheesecake.” This is a big deal. I LOVE cheesecake. Or “I love you more than Summer.” Again, HUGE deal.  Well, all of this to say we started the same thing with Wyatt. Wyatt, I love you more than sunshine!  Wyatt, I love you more than ice cream. He laughs but I wasn’t sure he was getting it. He would tell me, “Mommy, I love you  more than ears.” Ok, so its a stretch…hearing is important. The other day we were playing this game…I love you more than, and he says, “Mommy, I love you more than the flashing lights.” He got it! Broke my heart!

I am very excited that I found a book that plays this game! It is titled, “I love you more than Rainbows.” I was so excited to find it and it reads just as if I had written it! I ordered it on Amazon yesterday. Just thought I would share!

PICK your own pumpkin!

The Zoo…

Zebras!

Messy Mondays

We did crafts last night with both boys and treated them to popcorn on the couch = one messy Monday! Did I mention the glitter?

We HIKE!!

 

We Begin..

 

These pictures are dedicated to the Park Ranger who checked for our permit right before we started out and told us that our hike was a might ambitious.  Most people do that hike in 3 days…according to Park Ranger man….We laughed as he drove off.  In the end, he was right!  We survived and had SO much fun! Next time…we won’t be hiking 17 miles.

 

A very random old car we found along the way.

 

 

Joy :0)

 

 

Crazy little bugs we found on a branch near our camp site.

 

 

a graveyard we passed that belongs to the people who lived in these mountains years ago

 

 

grave marker

 

 

poem to remember the forced sacrafice of the people who were forced from the mountains

 

 

two worn out hikers on day 2

 

 

Some of our hike at "Little Satan...i mean Devil's Hills"

 

 

One of the few trees we saw with color!

 

 

Leaving Backcountry!

 

 

Our view before our last 2 miles.