Black Bean and Cheese Flautas

If there is anyone who loves Mexican food, it is me, all the way! I get so excited about anything that looks yummy that has a Mexican ring to it! Mmmm. I found this recipe for Black Bean and Cheese Flautas and HAD to try it out! The recipe is found at peasandcrayons.com and if you're brave, you can make them with sweet potatoes, but I am not a fan, so I substituted my sweet potatoes for good ol' chicken. These were absolutely delicious! Try it out!

Teryaki Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers

Soo, my friend Jessica told me about this recipe and it has become my husband's favorite so I have used it several times since! Love it! You just dice your chicken into 1 inch chunks, wrap in bacon (not the expensive, thick bacon, just the cheap thinner stuff or it will overtake the flavor), and feed it onto your skewer alternating with pineapple chunks until it is full. I actually was out of bacon this time, but decided to make it anyway. Then, you brush on any teryaki marinade with your basting brush (my friend and I both like the Mr Yoshidas marinade you can find at Costco or Sams) and sprinkle a good amount of brown sugar on top. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours or whatever time you have. I also like to put vegetables on skewers for a side and this time I diced zuccini and rolled it in melted butter, or olive oil, and then mixed parmesan and bread crumbs. Grill it with your chicken and it's soo yummy! Serve with rice!

Best Way to Cook Zuccini and Carrots

I found this recipe for zuccini and carrots on voraciousvander.com and it is so yummy! There are lots of different ways to try it, so I did mine a few different ways to see which way we liked it best. After I tossed my zuccini and carrots in olive oil, I tried some in paprika and parmesan, garlic powder and parmesan, some with lots of just parmesan, and then I tried one of my own and added French's Fried Onions. They were all so delicious, I couldn't pick a favorite! A couple days later, I tried grilling them and that time I mixed equal parts of breadcrumbs and parmesan and they were so good! My husband and I decided eating zuccini as our vegetable at dinner is our new favorite, which is great! Especially since we have had an abundance all of a sudden from neighbors and our own garden has started producing as well! You should see our freakishly ginormous carrots too! Mmmm! Gardens are so rewarding!

Try it out! There are so many options for our vegetables!

Chicken Tacos!

I made these recently and decided they are my new favorite food, replacing my normal favorite, ground beef tacos. Mmm. They were soo good! I found the idea from sixsistersstuff.com. I made the chicken in the crock pot with taco seasoning and some of my yummy homemade salsa. The toppings include cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avacados, corn, black beans, sour cream, and more of my homemade salsa. I love, love, love tacos!

My almost-two year old loves tacos now and begs for these whenever we have them!

BLT Salad

I found this recipe in my Taste of Home magazine and it has been one of my favorites! Super yummy, quick, and easy! You can find the recipe at tasteofhome.com

You just make up your pasta, throw in some lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes! Da-Done! Make sure the person you are making this for actually likes tomatoes though.....it's not very good without them since they are one of only 4 ingredients!

Freezer Meals

My mom sent me this picture and explaination in an email recently. I thought it was awsome, so I thought I'd share since I will be doing this next time I do freezer meals

Mom says: Wish I had learned these tricks hundreds of freezer meals ago...
1-Freeze individual servings in muffin tin then put in freezer baggies
2-Use wide-mouth quart jar to hold freezer baggie while filling

Thanks Mom!

The Amazing Wonder Box

Meet the Wonder Box! It is my newest addition to my emergency preparedness items
It is made with a heavy cotton fabric and filled with styrafoam beads (the smaller the better it works)

The bottom is made with an area in the middle to place something you would like kept hot or cold

You then put on the top and it acts as an insualtor, so in emergencies you can heat a pot to boiling, place it in the wonder box, and it will then continue to cook while saving your energy of your stove

It was tested and kept a gallon of ice cream still frozen solid after 4 hours. Some people use them daily when transporting a hot dinner or cold treat over a distance, keeping the temperature or keepig it from spilling. Here is a funny view of the inside as the lid was lifted. It is really good at closing up all the gaps so no air can escape

I am proud of my Wonder Box. If anybody is interested in more information or the pattern, let me know!

(May 2011)