Bring on the peaches

I bought several bunches of strawberries with the intention of making some strawberry jam. My plans changed when a ton of peaches were brought over to our place (Thank you!). I remembered pinning a recipe for strawberry/peach jam just a little bit ago and thought I would give it a try.

May I just say, strawberries and peaches go very well together in a jam. Yum!

Head on over here for the recipe, which is also on the MCP Premium Fruit Pectin box.

Another stellar recipe

I found yet another totally yummy recipe on pinterest and tried it out tonight. Two thumbs up! The best part is that it is very easy and healthy!

Slow cooker mango chicken

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Slow Cooker Mango Chicken Recipe:
(Recipe adapted from The Sisters Cafe)

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I actually just used two, because it's just Jake and I but I wanted leftovers)

1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups mango salsa (actually just used homemade salsa that we had and just cut up a mango!)
Cumin to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp.)
Lemon Pepper to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp.)

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour over chicken breasts and cook on high for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks in the crock pot and serve over rice.
Garnish with cilantro or parsley, if desired.
*We actually served it over tostadas. Made some rice, topped with avocados, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream. Mmmm...mmm!

Complete success

I've been looking through pinterest lately and finding a bunch of yummy recipes. Jake and I tried one a while ago and it was a total flop. Really gross and of course didn't look anything like the picture. Typical. Well I came across a white chicken chili recipe that peaked my interest. I risked it and tried it out. Let me tell you it was amazing! So I thought I would share this little piece of heaven with you all. The recipe is found here. It was actually fairly easy to make as well. Try it out for yourself!

Happy cooking!

So so good! 

Soup once a week

Since the cold weather has made its way here, Jake and I have decided that we should make/try a new soup once a week. Our first soup we made was the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup. This is one of Jake's favorite soups at Zupas so we thought we would give it go. Here is the recipe. Give it a try!

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

from Just Cook Already

2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth

1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup pepper jack cheese

 **With the pepper jack cheese, 1 cup made it a little too spicy for me. I would do 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese and only 1/2 cup of pepper jack. Depends on how you like your soup.

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve. 

Mmmm pumpkin

The days are getting darker a whole lot faster. Which means Fall is on its way. My favorite season in the whole entire world. The colors. The wardrobe. The foods. The hikes. I love all of it. Every time Fall comes around I get this huge craving for pumpkin. No this is not a pregnancy craving...just a normal Heather craving. I have gotten a couple of new pumpkin recipes that I am dying to try. One that involves pumpkin and cream cheese. Heaven right? Jake and I have been busy making lots and lots of salsa. Fresh and canned (thanks mom!). I'm glad I get to take a break from that to make this. And this. And this!

Upgrade

If you want to upgrade your boring grilled cheese sandwich, might I suggest you add avocados, bacon, and tomatoes. It's amazing.

                                      

Cafe Rio recipe

Alright peeps. Here is the recipe for the sweet pork Cafe Rio salad, which you could also turn into a sweet pork burrito with uncooked tortillas, which I highly recommend. Jake and I were able to find uncooked tortillas at Walmart but they are a little bit smaller than the ones at Costco. There is also a recipe for the Cafe Rio chicken if you are not a sweet pork lover, which seriously....who wouldn't be.

Chili Beans
4-6 cans of black or pinto beans
1 can diced chilies
1 1/2 c. green enchilada sauce
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until flavors are mixed.

(I also added some chopped garlic which I thought tasted good with it)

Cilantro-Lime Rice
1 c. rice
1 tbs. oil
1/3 bunch of cilantro
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 chopped onion
2 c. water (or chicken broth - leave out bouillon cubes)
2 bullion cubes
zest of 1 lime
Brown onion & rice in oil in skillet. In blender, place water/stock, bouillon, cilantro, lime zest and salt..blend thoroughly. Add mixture to rice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. When rice is cooked, fluff with fork and add the juice of 1 lime.

Cafe Rio Chicken (makes a ton)(I've never made this one but I've tasted it and it's good)
5 lbs chicken (breasts)
2 Tbs. Cumin
2 small bottles of zesty Italian dressing
6 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbs. Chili powder
Combine all and cook on low all day in crock-pot. Then shred and serve.

Cafe Rio Pork
3 lbs Pork Roast
Cook on low in crock-pot with some water for 3-4 hours or until pork is done. Drain the water, shred pork and add:

1 can Coca Cola, Pepsi or Dr. Pepper (I use coke, and did a little bit more than 1 can)
1/4 c. BBQ Sauce
1 c. Brown Sugar

1 c. White sugar
1 can mild green chillies
1 c. salsa
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
Mix into shredded pork and cook on low for another hour.

Spicy Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Packet
2 Tomatillos (peel off loose skin)
1 clove garlic
1/2-1 small jalapeno pepper (to your taste, if you don't like it spicy then don't add them)
2 c. Mayo
1 1/2 - 2 c. Buttermilk
2 handfuls of Cilantro (mostly leaves)
2 Tsp. Lime Juice (or more)
Blend all ingredients together in a high blender until it is mixed well. Refrigerate.

I got this recipe here which is my new favorite food blog! Check it out. You will love it.

Found the recipes for both of Jake's and my favorite soup at Zupas as well as the turkey cranberry panini. I'm gonna try them out and if they turn out good I will post :)

Ebelskiver

One of my last assignments in my "stupid" computer class was to make a 2-4 minute movie either making something or selling something. First of all I can't sell anything worth beans. So I decided to do a movie making something.

Making ebelskivers particularly.

Ebelskivers are a classic treat in Denmark and are light round pancakes that can be made like this....
this.....or this!
You can make them filled with jam, curd, fruit, or covered with yummy caramel syrup with powdered sugar sprinkled over top. I chose the last one because I didn't have time to fill it with yummy goodness. I shall try another day though. Oh how I love cooking. I think I found what I am going to do this next semester when I am not in school. Yes that's right! No school for me. For now at least. I am done with everything. Everything. I now have to just wait patiently until I get into my program.

Laughter

Can I just tell you how much fun I had last night? So I went on a date with a giant. Seriously this kid is so tall! I was semi okay with my height until I stood next to him.

I maybe go up to his shoulders. Maybe.

We went to Comedy Sportz and if I may say, it was the best one I have been to so far. The players were hilarious and everything they said was really witty. Definitely a good night to go.
I laughed so hard I'm pretty sure I had a six pack by the end of the show. We talked, found out more about each other, conversation flowed great, he was great. Did I mention he is going into dentistry? Likes to cook? Likes to read? Play games? Plays the piano? Has a great singing voice? Is very smart? Loves to play any sport and be outdoors? Great smile? We have a lot of things in common including music taste including dislike of country music, being the oldest, the fields that we are going into.....seriously. It's crazy. I just sat there and thought...geesh who are you?! Perfect guys like that don't exist or are very hard to come by. If only I were a good couple inches taller! I do love my heels, but I love my flats a tad bit more. Well after Comedy Sportz, we came back to my place where we made Skookies, not pizookies, yes there is a difference, with a couple of other people. The Skookies were ah-mazing! After that, we played games, and laughed our heads off till about 1 in the morning. Do you know how long it's been since I have stayed up that late before? Long time. It was such a fun date!

Adjusted

I feel I have finally adjusted to this new change. Embraced it is more like it. I love it here! Love my job. Love being close to so many friends and family. Love meeting new people. It's fantastic. I have yet to find THE ward for me but I will give it another go this coming Sunday.
I made dinner for gram and gramps yesterday and it turned out very nice! That's one thing that has been hard for me is that I really do like to cook....but not for just one person....especially myself. So I'm thinking gram and gramps will be getting quite a bit of cooking from me. I have a couple of recipes that I am dying to try. I am so excited for the weekend! So many fun things planned!

A Venture

I came across a recipe in Women's Health Magazine that I just had to try. Making new meals can be a good thing, and a bad thing. Bad because you don't really know what it's supposed to taste like, good because others don't know what it's supposed to taste like. So I decided to venture out and just try it. Here is the recipe if any of you want to try it out! I highly recommend it! I don't really like fish, so I just used chicken.

3/4 c uncooked long-grain brown rice
4 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch (about 1/16 tsp) sugar
4 snapper fillets (5 oz each), rinsed and patted dry
1 3/4 c medium salsa
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c chopped pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and cook rice according to package instructions.

2. In a large, shallow bowl, combine orange and limejuices, olive oil, two tablespoons cilantro, garlic, and sugar, plus salt and pepper to taste. Add snapper fillets and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. In a 3-quart baking dish, combine rice, salsa, beans, pineapple, and 1 tablespoon cilantro. Place snapper over mixture, overlapping fillets if necessary. Spoon remaining marinade over fish.

4. Bake uncovered until fish is cooked through and opaque, about 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cilantro on top and serve.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 466 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated), 594 mg sodium, 54 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 37 g protein

Of course, after that wonderful meal, the roommate and I had to get caught up on Kyle XY. I had already watched it without her because I couldn't wait, but I was more than willing to watch it again! He is just so dang attractive! Too bad the season is about to end. What a sad day that will be.