Homemade Guacamole - Our Favorite!

We love this guacamole recipe so much so that I'm pretty sure it's been made about 5 times in our home within the last three weeks.  Now the great thing about guacamole is you can make adjustments very easily so if you want a little more of this or a little less of that let your creative juices go!  I do love the garlic powder in this recipe though, and do not skip out on the salt because I forgot to add it once and yep - definitely didn't taste as good.  But besides that this recipe is a keeper!

Homemade Guacamole - Our Favorite!

Ingredients
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/4 onion, finely diced (red or white)
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Mash avocados in a medium size serving bowl then add the diced onion, tomato, and fresh cilantro.  Drizzle the lime juice on top and gently stir.  Add the garlic powder, salt, and pepper and gently stir to combine once more.  Serve immediately.


Recipe Source: from Fantabulosity.

Double Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are more of an afternoon treat than a morning breakfast option.  They definitely have helped me make it through those afternoon slumps.  They're pretty much your own little personal cake, but hey - in no way, shape, or form am I saying you can't eat them for breakfast.  ;)

My little guy thinks they're pretty much so good that they deserve a full smile beforehand... 

...And eyes closed and full attention on the yumminess when you go in for a bite.  Love those chubby hands.

Double Chocolate Muffins
Yield: About 22 regular size muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened just a little
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Cream together the butter and sugar until very well combined.  Add the sour cream and vanilla and cream again until light and fluffy - about 2-3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated between each addition.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, in 2-3 increments (1/3 of the flour, half the milk, another third of the flour, half the milk, end with the last 1/3 of the flour).  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide batter between the muffin cups and bake right around 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (a little melted chocolate is fine - the toothpick may hit a melty chocolate chip).



Recipe Source: from The Dough Puncher

Millet Avocado Spinach Salad

Talk about one of my favorite salads!  I love this millet, avocado, spinach creation!  I love how simple this salad is to toss together, yet when I eat it, it has such a variety of textures and flavors that all come together so perfectly... sweet tomatoes, creamy avocados, grainy millet, etc.  Adding the millet also helps fill me up and leaves me feeling satisfied.  I also love how this salad is packed with nutritional value.  The fresh veggies and then the added health benefits of the millet really leave me smiling (literally) knowing I'm doing my body good by eating this.  (Now I just have to not give into the temptation of opening up the cookie tupperware when I put this bowl in the dishwasher.  Sometimes I'm successful, and sometimes not so much.)

Feel free to add beans for an extra protein punch or swap out the red wine vinegar for lemon juice if you'd like.  You can also swap out the millet for quinoa, and as always with most salads, you can add more of what you love and take away a little of what you don't.  Make it to your taste buds desire!  

Millet, Avocado, Spinach Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup dry millet
1 avocado
2-3 cups baby spinach
10-15 cherry tomatoes
1 green onion

For the Dressing:
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
salt, to taste

Directions
Cook the millet according to package, or if there's no package just cook it like you cook rice.  I sometimes like to saute it first with a little olive oil and garlic then add some lime juice into the water - like a lime millet (kind of like cilantro lime rice).

Meanwhile make the dressing: In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients and set aside.

Roughly chop the spinach and place in a large bowl.  Halve the cherry tomatoes, slice the green onions, and pit and dice the avocado.

When the millet is done cooking, add it to the spinach and toss.  The spinach may wilt slightly from the warm millet.  Add the tomatoes, onions, and dressing and toss to combine.  Then add the avocado and lightly toss it all together.  You can either serve immediately or refrigerate to allow the flavors to marry together more.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Garden Grazer

Lentil Spinach Soup

Lately I have been enjoying making soups for dinner.  They're usually pretty easy to put together and you can make them ahead of time to try to avoid the crazy rush before dinner.  It's also nice with my kids because they normally don't eat a lot of it, even though I still make them eat a small bowl-full, so that means there are leftovers for Colby and I for lunch the next day, and then I just make easy grilled cheese sandwiches to serve alongside to make sure their tummies are filling up.

I really like this lentil soup because it's all of the above, plus very healthy for you.  Lentils are packed with fiber, protein, and iron, and not to mention inexpensive!  I found this soup filling (probably because of all the lentils) but not heavy which makes it a great soup to serve any time of the year.

Lentil Spinach Soup
Yield: 4-6 servings

Notes: You can also add a can of diced tomatoes (or fresh) and some diced up potatoes to this soup if you'd like!  If you do, I would add them when you add the broth, water, and lentils.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
4 large carrots, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
2 cups dry lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
4 cups spinach
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, saute onion and carrot for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, paprika, and salt.  Continue to saute for another minute.  Add broth, water, and rinsed and drained lentils.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, until lentils are tender.  Towards the end of the cooking time roughly chop the spinach.  Once soup is done turn off the heat and add the spinach.  Cover again and allow the spinach to cook for just a few minutes, until it's wilted the way you like.  Add more salt to taste and enjoy.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Garden Grazer

My New Favorite Gadget!

A few weeks ago my hand-held mixer stopped working.  Nooooooo!  I almost didn't know what to do until Colby came in and said, "Um, you can just stir it with a wooden spoon."  Oh my.  Heather, wake up call.  My arm sure did get a workout, not to mention it was my oldest son's birthday week so we had cinnamon roll frosting to make and two cakes to beat: one for his actual birthday and one for his special baptism day.  That night I was wishing I could just run to the store and pick up a new mixer, but since we love Dave Ramsey I couldn't; it wasn't in the budget for that pay period.

So how excited was I when yesterday was payday and we made our new budget and a new mixer was included!  So excited.  I debated over which one to buy for what seemed like 5 minutes.  Luckily I only had one child with me so I could do 5 minutes.  Do I get the cheapest one?  Not the cheapest.  But do I get the most expensive?  Is it really worth the extra money?  What if I get the most expensive but it ends up being just like the old one I had which was loud and had a hard time beating the frosting on my favorite cinnamon rolls?  (I think that's what ultimately killed the beaters - that thick, gooey, delicious frosting that I had made 100 times.)  But if I get one in the middle will I regret not getting the one I really wanted?  Who knew picking out a hand mixer could be such a dilemma?  I knew whichever one I bought I would be using it weekly for years to come so I wanted to love it.  I bit the bullet and bought the most expensive one on the shelf and the outcome: I LOVE IT!

I love it so much that after using it for the first time I had to jump on here really fast and share it with you!  It's the KitchenAid Hand-Held Mixer.  Mine is only the 3-speed,  but this one on Amazon is the 5-speed and is cheaper than what I spent at the store.  And this red is so cute!  

The motor on this beater feels strong and sturdy and it's quiet!  Molly use to not like beating things with me because my old one was so loud, but this one she doesn't mind at all.

The beaters are also a little different than normal beaters.  Maybe it's just been years since I've bought a new mixer, but these ones are nice!  They are lighter and slimmer.  So long story made short: next time you need a hand-held mixer go with KitchenAid!  It won't disappoint.

Homemade Pico De Gallo

This homemade Pico De Gallo is easy, it's fresh, it's flavorful, and it goes good with so many different things: chips, salads, burritos, tacos, etc.  Why spend close to $5 to buy a pint-size container of Pico at the store when you can make 4x as much at home for a fraction of the price?

Pico De Gallo

Ingredients
5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
1/2 large onion (white or red)
1/4 - 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a large bowl add the diced tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic.  Toss everything together.  Add the juice of 1/2 a lime and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss again to evenly coat.  Store covered in the refrigerator.  It tastes the best if you can let the flavors marry together for a few hours before eating, but no harm done if there's no time for that.  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips or on top of salads, burritos, tacos, etc.

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

These have become my choice of cookie as of lately.  As much as I love my Panera Chocolate Chip Cookies, those seem to take a little more work than most chocolate chip cookies.  Don't get me wrong though, they are totally worth it.  But lately when it's been 8:15 at night and Colby is really craving a chocolate chip cookie, and let's not lie here... and when I'm really craving a chocolate chip cookie, this is the recipe I've been turning to.  These cookies are soft.  They are buttery.  They are delicious and go down perfect with a glass of milk.  You can easily half this recipe to make a smaller batch, but trust me - these cookies go pretty fast so making the amount written below can't steer you wrong.  I love using a cookie scoop to make perfect little cookie balls.

Some stay a little puffed in the middle and some sink down, but either way they come out dense and buttery and soft and too hard to resist.

My preferred baking sheet is a baking stone.  (I know they are a little pricey but they are so worth it.  I use it for so much.)  Mine is from Pampered Chef and has handles on the sides so it's easier to grip.  I also love using Silpat liners and I usually end up using both when I'm baking.  You will see here with a Silpat liner the bottoms turn out more golden whereas with a stone the cookies stay the same color top and bottom.

Silpat liner cookie is on the left and baking stone cookie is on the right.  See the difference?  I sometimes like my cookies a little more cooked on the bottom and I sometimes like them softer so that's why I use both sheets when I make a batch of cookies.  Then when I reach into our cookie tupperware to grab a cookie I sometimes look at the bottoms and grab one of each.  Adds a little variety.

All served up and ready to enjoy. 

Love that dense, buttery, soft middle. 

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: About 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds to just barely melt it.  It shouldn't be very hot, but it should be almost entirely melted.

Using a stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until creamy.  Add the vanilla and the eggs and beat again until just incorporated (10-15 seconds).  If you beat the eggs for too long your cookie will become stiff.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Beat again until all is combined.  Add the chocolate chips and either incorporate with your hands or mix one more time for just a few seconds with your mixer.

Scoop your cookies out with a spoon, your hand, or a cookie scoop (making sure it's in a ball) and place onto your preferred baking sheet.  Bake for 9-11 minutes until the cookies look puffy and dry and just barely golden.  DO NOT OVERBAKE.  Take them out even if they don't look all the way done.  

Let the cookies cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.  They may sink down a little but they turn into dense, buttery, soft cookies that really are oh so good.  Store them in an airtight container or you can even freeze them if you'd like.

The most important things about this recipe are:

1. Melting the butter

2. Adding enough flour

3. Not baking for too long.

Recipe Source: Pinch of Yum