Balsamic Chicken with Asparagus and Tomatoes

Fall isn't here yet, right?!  At least not in Texas!  So here's to another delicious and easy summer dinner.  What I love most about this meal is the balsamic vinegar.  How I love that slightly sweet taste.  Plus, the fact that I can make all of this in just one pan makes me even happier!  Not to mention all the veggies!  From start to finish this meal takes about 30-minutes to make.  High-five to another quick and easy and healthy weeknight dinner.

Balsamic Chicken with Asparagus and Tomatoes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup Italian salad dressing

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound chicken breast tenderloins

10 ounces fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup shredded carrots (you can buy these in the produce section)

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

Directions

In a small bowl, stir together the Italian dressing, balsamic vinegar, honey, and crushed red pepper.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is tender but no longer pink, turning once.  Add half of the dressing mixture to the skillet; turn chicken to coat.  Once the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F transfer chicken to a serving platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the asparagus and carrots to the skillet.  Cook and stir for about 5 minutes or until the asparagus is crisp-tender then transfer to the serving platter.

Stir remaining dressing mixture and add it to the skillet.  Cook and stir for 1 minute, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Drizzle the dressing mixture over the chicken and vegetables.  Sprinkle the diced tomatoes on top and serve.

Recipe Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Creamy Homemade Alfredo Sauce

This Alfredo sauce is the best I have ever come across.  It has become one of my go-to dinners when I am either short on time or need a quick idea of something to make.  It really comes together quite quickly and I usually have everything in the ingredients list on hand except maybe the heavy whipping cream, but if you don't have that on hand there are substitutes online that you can find to replace it.   

The added cream cheese helps with the thick creaminess of this recipe.  Oooo, we love it.  I honestly think I can say it is better than most restaurant Alfredo sauces.  By far beats anything jarred you would buy at the store.  Yes, it takes more time to make it at home than buying it at the store, but really - this recipe is easy and fast and so good so there's really no reason you shouldn't at least give it a try, right?

We like it best served with Fettuccine noodles, but as you can see in the picture below, it really goes perfect with any shape of noodle.  I'm sure it would taste spectacular on pizza, too!

Creamy Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 pint heavy whipping cream (2 cups)

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan add butter, heavy whipping cream, and cream cheese.  Cook over medium-high heat and whisk until all is melted.  Add the minced garlic, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Continue to whisk until smooth then add the grated parmesan cheese.

Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the pasta begins to thicken.  Pour over your favorite pasta and toss to coat.  Serve warm.

Recipe Source: The Recipe Critic

Restaurant-Style Salsa

Why haven't I ever thought about making my own salsa until now?  I've used salsa in so many recipes and Colby and some of my kids love to sit down and snack on chips and salsa.  I've never been able to do that and I just realized it's because I've never loved the salsa.  That is, until now.  Last week I sat down to a bowl like this and before I knew it I had finished it off.  There was probably 1/3 of the bowl still full.  Oops.  But to us, it's really that good. 

A few weeks ago I started searching around online for salsa recipes.  I found some that looked pretty easy and that I thought we would like.  We made them and tried them out, adjusted the one we liked the best, and now I'm here to share our favorite version with you!

There are so many great things about making your own salsa.  First off, it's cheaper and it makes a ton!  You can also add or take away or adjust the ingredients to how you and others with you like it.  It also feels good that you can make something better than how you can buy it at the store and even in most restaurants.  And most of these ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.

I'm excited for you to make your own and I hope you love it as much as our family does. 

Restaurant-Style Salsa
Yield: About 4 cups

Notes: I can't do a lot of heat so I seed my jalepeno's and only add 1/4 of one jalepeno.  It still adds a little kick, but it doesn't make it too hot for us very mild tasting taste-budders.  You can adjust most of these measurements according to what you like.

Ingredients
28oz can tomatoes, with juice (whole, diced, or crushed is fine)
1/2 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 to 1 Jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 bunch cilantro
3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2)

Directions
Add all ingredients to a food processor in the order listed above and pulse a few times to break up the larger pieces.  Continue to process until the texture is how you like it.  Give the salsa a little taste and make sure it's how you like it.  If needed, adjust measurements according to your preference then process a little more.

Transfer to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.  This salsa tastes best once it's chilled for a couple of hours or overnight.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Recipe Source: adapted from the chunky chef.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I love french fries.  I love sweet potatoes.  Why has it taken me so long to make Sweet Potato French Fries?  I don't know why, but I'm glad I've started now!  This recipe is easy and has a nice little kick to it.  I wish I could say it's fast, but these little guys have to bake for about 40 minutes so it's not super fast.  When I know I'm going to be hungry within the next little while I make them, throw them in the oven, help the kids and do everything around the house that needs to be done and then sit down and enjoy a healthy snack.  I do love that these are a very healthy snack option and they're tasty!  

And don't worry - if you don't have arrowroot it's okay.  I've made these many times before I went out and bought arrowroot and they still turned out just fine.  The picture below is with arrowroot.  They turn out crispier with arrowroot than without.

Sweet Potato Fries
Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon coconut oil
3/4 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Sea salt, to taste
2 teaspoons arrowroot starch

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet or use a Silpat liner.  Set aside.

Peel (or don't peel if you'd like) the sweet potatoes then slice them into thin french fries.  Try to make them as similar in size and thickness as possible so they all bake evenly.  The thicker you slice them the soggier they will be, the thinner you slice them that faster they will bake (and possibly burn).  It may take a few times of trial and error to find the thickness that works for you.

In a large bowl combine the sweet potatoes, coconut oil, chili powder, and garlic powder.  Use your hands to evenly coat the potatoes with the spices.  Add the sea salt and arrowroot and mix again well with your hands.

Spread the fries out in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes then carefully turn the fries over and bake for another 15-20 minutes.  You want the fries to be crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Kimberly Snyder's Spicy Baked Sweet Potato French Fries