Daddy-To-Be Survival Kit

I am so excited to see Ross be a dad - he is going to be amazing!  He was hunting this weekend, so I put together a little Survival Kit for him :)  This was so fun to make - and he really liked it!!  Plus it's all stuff he can use!!  :)

Supplies:
Diaper Bag (I have a Coach one - but wanted Ross to have his very own bag...)
Latex Gloves (he has never changed a diaper...hehe)
Mask (again - doesn't know what he is getting into here...hehe)
Hand Sanitizer
Snuggle Binkie
Coors Light (fit perfectly in the diaper bags bottle carrier)
I love my daddy frame
I love my daddy pacifier
Advil
Nine Months DVD
Children's book about daddy's
Go the F..k to Sleep (probably the funniest book out there!)
Lullaby Cd (made up of all the artists Ross actually likes...found these under iTunes under "Lullaby Renditions")

Closet Dividers

Baby S has the most organized closet EVER!!  I'm jealous :)  I made up these cutie closet dividers for their closet - helps me out cause I have NO idea by looking at an outfit how old they will be in to wear it!  haha  So excited for our little one to be here :)

Supplies:
Closet Dividers - Container Store $.99 each
Card stock
Stickers

Cut the cardstock to fit the dividers - throw some stickers on there = organized cutie closet!!

4 Bean Chili

This is the PERFECT weather for CHILI!!  I am obsessed with fall (if you haven't noticed) - and being preggers right now is perfect cause I can get away with sweatpants every day :)  Figured I would make up a batch of chili for us to munch on all week...froze the rest of it for another fall day!!

Ingredients:

5 – 6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large white or red onion, diced

1 jalapeño, minced

1 can dark kidney beans, rinsed

1 can light kidney beans, rinsed

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can navy beans, rinsed

1 can tomato paste

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 lb raw ground turkey, beef or cubed chicken

Optional:  1 cup frozen corn, added just before serving

Adjust seasoning to taste:

1 – 2 tsp ground cumin

1 – 2 tsp ground red chili powder (2T if you like spicy)

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (2T if you like spicy)

Fresh chopped cilantro for topping

Layer in crock pot starting with onions, garlic and jalapeño.  Next add beans, tomatoes and paste, and spices.  Stir in raw meat last, meats cook faster than vegetables, so don’t be afraid to put it in raw.  Cook on low setting all day.   Stir in frozen corn about 5 – 10 minutes before serving. 

Top with shredded cheese, cilantro and/or sour cream, and serve with a side of corn bread

Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken

Ahhhh heaven in your mouth!!!  Probably not the most healthy meal, BUT it's so good you don't even care!! It actually was easy prep - and yet, makes it taste like it took forever!!  We made up a side of Honey Mustard Sauce to go with - and it hit the spot!!

6 sisters blog

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
seasoning salt
6 slices bacon, cut in half
1/4 cup mustard
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese

Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayo and dried onion flakes.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place chicken in the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned.  Move chicken to an 11x7 inch or 9x9 inch pan.

Apply the honey mustard to each breast, then layer with mushrooms, bacon, and shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.

Serve with Honey Mustard Sauce.

Honey Mustard Sauce

I could lick this bowl clean....it's that good!!  Made this to go with Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken - YUMMY!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix the mayo, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, honey, onion flakes and lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight.

Grilled Chicken & Berry Salad

Ahhh this salad was so refreshing!!  I love all the berries!!  We omitted the chicken since we were having a main chicken dish tonight, but this was still really filling.  So good - and so pretty!!

Makes 8 side dishes or 4 main: OBB Cookbook

Ingredients:

1/2 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
6-8 oz baby spinach
12-16 oz chicken, marinated, grilled, and sliced
8 oz strawberries, sliced
8 oz blueberries
4 oz crumbled Feta or shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Berry Poppy Seed Dressing to taste

For serving a large crowd, toss all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and add dressing to taste. For individual servings, arrange ingredients on plates and serve the dressing on the side.

Berry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

This makes a lot - but it was really tasty!  Don't mind the amount of oil you put in this bad boy, cause it's offset by the yummy berries :)  We made this with Grilled Chicken Berry Salad - delicious!

OBB Cookbook

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup honey (or sugar)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
About 10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries
2/3 cups canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Pit Beef Sandwiches

Got back from camping and was so glad we had this meal on the menu!  Didn't feel like doing much, and this was QUICK - and DELICIOUS!!  So yeah - don't have much else to add except for MAKE THIS!!

OBB Cookbook: Makes 8 sandwiches, or 16 slider sized

Ingredients:
Beef
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika (use smoked paprika if you have it)
1/2 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
2-3 lb beef top round, cut in 2 equal pieces (often labeled London Broil, but look for a thick one)

Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, finely minced or pressed
2 tablespoons horseradish, more if desired
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
one onion, thinly sliced
soft white rolls or rye bread for serving

Prepare sauce by whisking all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.  For best results, make at least a few hours in advance, or up to a couple of days ahead of time.

For beef, combine all spices and sprinkle on meat.  Massage into all sides and then seal meat in a zip-top bag.  Store in fridge for at least 24 hours, and up to 48 hours.

Let beef come to room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.  Heat grill to medium-high heat.  Grill beef for 6-8 minutes on each side, or until thermometer registers about 135 degrees.  If outside of beef is charring before inside is done, turn one side of grill off and place beef on indirect heat to finish cooking.  When done, cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.  Slice beef as thin as possible.  Spread sauce on each side of rolls or bread, pile on sliced beef, and top with sliced onions and more sauce if desired.

Eggs on Toast with Creamy Spinach Sauce

One downfall of being preggers is that I can't have raw egg...and let me tell you - all I crave for bfast these days is over easy eggs!!!!!  So I went on a hunt for a breakfast sandwich that I can eat...and found this - just made my eggs over hard!  This was good, but didn't really hit the spot...I'll have to make it again once Baby S is here, and see if it tastes better....I think I was just pouting cause I couldn't have an over easy egg :)

OBB Cookbook: Serves 2

 Ingredients:
½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (plus cooking spray as needed)
1 cup sliced brown mushrooms
2 cups loosely packed spinach, chopped
1 ounce low fat or fat free cream cheese
2-4 tablespoon skim milk
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (more as needed)
2-3 cracks cracks pepper (more as needed)
2 eggs
2 slices whole grain bread
1 tomato, sliced
optional: 2 tablespoons low-fat crumbled Feta Cheese, parsley

Heat a medium skillet to medium-high heat.  Add olive oil and mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes, until golden brown.  If needed, add cooking spray during cooking process.  While mushrooms are cooking, place cream cheese in a small, microwave-safe bowl.  Warm in 20 second intervals until melted and can be stirred smooth.  Add, garlic, onion, oregano, salt and pepper.  Add milk a little at a time and whisk until smooth, heating more if necessary until you have a nice sauce consistency.

When mushrooms are done, add chopped spinach to pan with mushrooms and stir just until wilted; it should just take a few seconds.  Add cream cheese mixture and stir until combined and heated through.  Remove mixture from pan and keep covered in a bowl.  Wipe pan clean and heat to medium-high heat.  Spray pan with cooking spray and crack 2 eggs into pan.  Sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper and cook until desired doneness.  (You can cook your eggs sunny-side up, or over easy, or poach them.)

Toast bread in toaster and top each with a couple of tomato slices (if desired, you can quickly warm tomatoes in hot pan).  Spoon spinach mixture over each serving and top with egg.  Sprinkle with feta and parsley if desired.

Greek Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta

Mom and Daughter day!  Since N-Ron was nice enough to come with me to register for Baby S, figured I could make her a yummy meal before :)  This was quick prep - and tasted pretty good!  It wasn't "amazing", but a quick and yummy twist on your typical pasta.

Ingredients:
1 lb angel hair pasta, uncooked
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts - cut in to bite size pieces
2 cups red onion, chopped
1 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup dried oregano
14.5oz can diced tomatoes (Italian Style)
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Cook pasta according to directions, omitting salt and fats.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken to pan.  Saute 3 minutes on each side.  Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through tomatoes) to pan and stir well.

Cover, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove from heat.

Pour chicken mixture over pasta and sprinkle with feta.

Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Date night in the house -- woot woot!!  We are trying to get as many of these in as we can before Baby S makes their debut :)  We made up our dinner tonight - so we could like talk forever under candlelight (hehe - kidding!)....but for real - we used team work to get this nice meal prepared - and YUMMY it was!!  We made this up with rice and Green Beans with Oregano - and it was PERFECT!!

Makes 6 servings: General Store Cookbook

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup apple juice
4 tablespoons veggie oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 cup water
6 boneless pork chops
salt and pepper

Heat an outdoor grill to a high heat.  In a small sauce pan, combine brown sugar, apple juice, oil, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.

Combine water and corn starch in a small bowl, and whisk into brown sugar mixture.  Stir until thick.

Brush grate lightly with oil before placing pork chops on grill.  Cook over hot coals 10-12 minutes, turning once.  Brush with sauce just before removing chops form grill.  Serve with remaining sauce.

Wild Rice Soup

It's FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm obsessed with fall, so as soon as it hits Sept 1 - I start celebrating (even if it's 90 degress out right now....)  Soon it will acceptable sweatpants EVERYWHERE!, crisp air, colorful leaves, my BIRTHDAY, Halloween...ahhh I love the fall!!!  So in honor of it being FALL - I brought out the good old crock pot, and made a cozy soup t o celebrate!!

This couldn't be easier - I just cut up the stuff the night before, so all I did when I woke up was throw it all in the crock pot and head to work!  Then you get home - your house smells amazing, and you have a yummy feast!!  Now I just wish I could curl up in sweatpants, and watch football!! Soon....very soon....

Makes 12 servings: General Store Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
6oz box long grain and wild rice mix
3 (14oz) cans of chicken broth
4 cups water
3 chicken bullion cubes
salt and pepper

Combine soup, bullion, chicken, carrot, onion, celery, rice, and seasoning package from rice mixture to crockpot.  Stir in water and broth.  Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high for 3 hours.