Broadening our Horizons...

The Little Tiny and I are in need of some new lunch ideas. She is currently obsessed with peaches, wants nothing else. I am completely bored with sandwiches. In hopes of inspiring her to like more fruits again, I made us a delicious smoothie for lunch. It consisted of:

 1/2 c vanilla yogurt, 1/2 c orange juice, 1/2 c frozen mixed berries, 1/2 frozen banana, and 2T milled Flax. 

  It was great. I gave her some in her own cup and she was in heaven. Then, in a split second she had some how dumped it all down the front of her. My first thought was, why do I do things like that and create more work for myself? Well, because it makes her so happy, and that's what Oxy Clean is for. =) I spent the next half hour chasing her around trying to get her dressed again.

Does anyone have any lunch time ideas to share? Anything at all that doesn't involve putting something between two pieces of bread? Let me know...

Salsa Chicken

My least favorite part of the day is deciding what to make for dinner.    This inspired me to start making a monthly menu, that way it's already decided for me.  It works great. Every month I ask my husband what he wants to eat.  There are a few that always come up, one of which is Salsa Chicken.  I got this recipe from my mom.

Salsa Chicken

3 chicken breast halves (about 1 per person), cut in small pieces

1 1/4 c. Salsa (I like mild, but if you like things really spicy, go medium or hot)

1 1/4 c. apricot jam (I can usually only find Apricot/Pineapple and that's great too)

Rice or Quinoa cooked per package

Cook chicken on stove top or in electric skillet in 1-2T extra virgin olive oil.  When chicken is cooked through, add salsa and jam.  Cook until sauce is bubbling.  Serve chicken and sauce over rice or quinoa (we like the quinoa but rice is good, too).  You can add as much chicken and sauce as you want, so this is a really easy/versatile recipe.

Serve with steamed brocolli.

Small side note:  as I was finishing typing this post, I could feel my daugher putting stickers on my back (she loves stickers all of a sudden).  When I finished I looked and saw she has actually covered me with stamps!!!  Where do you suppose she was sending me? I hope somewhere warm.  And where on earth did she find 37 cent stamps?!

Here's what's for dinner tonight...

The smell of that roast in the crockpot is making us all crazy with anticipation!  We are HUGE Cafe Rio fans in this family, so when we found a recipe that is almost as good as their sweet pork, it quickly became one of our favorites.  It doesn't taste exactly the same, but it's really really good!

The day we make this we eat it on tostadas.  We start with a corn tortilla then layer on the black beans, sweet pork, shredded lettuce, cheese and ranch dressing.  It's amazing!  Then day two we usually eat it for lunch on Nachos with just the meat and cheese on chips.  Delicious again.  Then on day three we typically eat the meat in tacos, sometimes enchiladas.  These combos can go on for days.  We usually vacuum seal some to eat later in the month as well.  Try this out!  I think you'll like it!

PORK BARBACOA
2 or 3 lb. pork loin roast (or 5-6 chicken breats)
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili pepper (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 to 1 c. water (I added 1/2 c. and it seemed to work fine.)

Cook in crock pot for6 hours onlow or 4 hours on high. Shred and then add:

1 (15 oz.) can of red enchilada sauce
3/4 c. dark brown sugar 

Not Yo Mama's Meatloaf

I was never a big fan of meat loaf, until one fine day when my mom made this little number. My mind was forever changed. This is what we had for dinner tonight and Phil is anxiously awaiting eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. =) Here’s the recipe:

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Combine:
1 lb. ground beef
½ c. gf oats
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c. grated cheese

Shape into a loaf and put in loaf pan.

Combine sauce ingredients:
1 ½ Tbsp prepared mustard
½ c. brown sugar
2/3 c ketchup

Pour sauce over meat loaf. Bake (uncovered) for 1 hour at 350.

We eat this with baked potatoes.

Introducing: Placos

"Placos" are what we like to call our variation of Tacos. I'm not really sure why. But they're good. This isn't anything spectacular, but we like them this way so I'll pass it along.

We cook our corn tortillas on the stove in a little extra virgin olive oil. Then fill them with this delicious mix:

Cook 1 lb ground beef on stovetop
Add 1 can black beans, cook through and strain beans and meat.
Add 1 med potato, shredded and cook approx 5 min.

Top with regular taco stuff, but definitely avocado and fresh lime juice.
We eat this almost weekly. =)