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Frankie & Annette Think You Should Try This Colorful Taco Salad

6/26/2014

 
Hi Hi Hi There!!!




This magazine cover makes me want to ride my bike
over there, wherever this house is,
and
knock on the door
and ask to see the rest of the house.

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Except
 the only bike I have to ride over there
would be this one.

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And it probably hasn't been ridden for 30 years.






I'm a sucker for bright, shiny things though,  like colorful magazine covers.


And

 Taco Salads.
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Now I know everyone has their own version of
Taco Salad
with their choice toppings.




I just happen to like an array of choices for toppings.

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H
ere's the fixins I use for my yummy Taco Salad.

(I am missing the tortilla chips and black beans in this picture.)
Don't forget either one, they add nice depth and crunch.

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I FORGOT THE BLACK BEANS FOR THIS PICTURE! DON'T FORGET THE BLACK BEANS! AND TORTILLA CHIPS!
Do you see the "cilantro" over there, on the
right hand side of the counter?
In that small clear dish on top of the olive container?




Well............................that isn't "cilantro"....


It's
a


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It's really parsley. 


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Okay,
if you're not thoroughly grossed out by my silliness
(and apparent ineptness to clean out my produce drawer *sigh*)


we can continue on............






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Anyhoo,
S
eason up
those chicken breasts with Taco Seasoning and grill these babies up.


This is the recipe for the taco seasoning mix I make.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Taco-Seasoning-I/Detail.aspx
If I'm in a total hurry, I just use the spice packets they sell in the store.





Now fry or bake up the best food ever created in life: (but only if you are not a vegetarian or vegan)...
BACON!!!!



Then start pan roasting the corn.
Take the ears of corn and scrape the kernels off....




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Throw the kernels
all in a heated pan with canola or
olive oil.

Roast until you get a nice brownish color color going on. Throw in some salt and pepper.






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Try to keep your hands,
forks,
spoons,
your hands,
your hands out of this pan of corn while it's pop, pop, poppin' away!




See! ALL THE HARD WORK IS DONE!!! Now all you have to do is chopchopchop
up the following....

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bell peppers,
jalapeno, 
red onion, 
green onion,
cilantro, 
avocados, 
tomatoes,
olives

olives.

Oops, conveniently I do not have a picture of such laborious work. Probably because I was chopping up the crap real quick to get the feast on the table!






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So here's all the goodness set out ready to be plated up.

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Now I like to mix up some Ranch dressing with some good old salsa as the dressing....

Now plate up that salad!!!
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Throw that ranch and salsa on!

This is so tasty!!!

Here's the toppings I use...
Angie’s Taco Salad
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
  • · Seasoned, grilled chicken breasts
             Use a taco seasoning packet or…
            Taco Seasoning Recipe:
            1 Tbsp chili powder
            ¼ tsp garlic powder
            ¼ tsp onion powder
            ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
            ¼ tsp dried oregano
            ½ tsp paprika
            1 ½ tsp ground cumin
            1 tsp sea salt
            1 tsp black pepper
  • ·         Lettuce…romaine and spinach, chopped and thrown together
  • ·         Tortilla chips
  • ·         Your favorite salsa
  • ·         Ranch dressing
  • ·         Sour cream
  • ·         Black beans, rinsed and drained
  • ·         Avocado, sliced or chopped
  • ·         Green Pepper, diced
  • ·         Red pepper, diced
  • ·         Red onion, diced
  • ·         Green onion, chopped
  • ·         Bacon, fried up crispy, and chopped
  • ·         Roasted corn, pan roast in canola oil
  • ·         Cilantro, chopped
  • ·         Black olives, chopped
  • ·         Jalapeno, diced
  • ·         Shredded cheese, your choice, I like to use pepperjack
  • ·         Tomatoes, chopped

Prepare and set everything out in separate bowls.

Encourage everyone to make their own unique salad.

Clean-up is easy…throw paper towels or plastic wrap over leftover bowls and stack in fridge for the next meal.

Enjoy!

Okay, you can print this recipe off if you click on that little, tiny, gray, Download File thingie right below this.....look how tiny that is!!!
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angies_taco_salad.docx
File Size: 15 kb
File Type: docx
Download File





Before I sign off here today, with yet ANOTHER-ROUND-OF-RAIN
coming in....

a couple of people have something they wish to say .....

















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The sun will come out tomorrow!





Okay, that's probably the wrong movie for that song,

but here's Frankie and Annette singing
I Think, You think....
bet you'll be humming this the rest of the day :):)






Okay kiddos,
have a great rest of the day!!

Talk at ya soon!







Green Chile Pepper Jack Enchiladas - Yes, I'll Have The Whole Pan, You Got An Issue Wit' Dat?

6/21/2014

 
Green Chile Pepper Jack Enchiladas
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They look horrible,
don't they?







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If you make up a pan of these, 
you.must.not eat.them. 

They are dreadful.

Just dreadful.





You must instead bring them to me.
I will dispose of them for you.

Because I am kindhearted like that.
OH, also.
If you could bring over a small pot of Mexican rice, some cheesy refried beans, and a couple of Pepsis with that pan of horrible enchiladas, that would be awesome too. 
I will dispose of ALL that rubbish. 
Never you fret, I always have YOUR best interest at heart.

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Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...................
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Okay,
so these are the fixins for these
delicious, creamy enchiladas.






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I used
Old El Paso Mild Green Chile Enchilada Sauce.




A
nd the recipe calls for shredded Pepper Jack cheese,
so I picked up this Kraft brand.



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So I boiled the chicken breasts in chicken stock.

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Now shred up that tasty chicken....




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Be sure
to appropriately salt
and
peppa
up the chicken....




Add 1/2 cup of that green enchilada sauce and the handful of pepper jack cheese....

Add
the green chiles and sour cream
and cumin...




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WAIT, WAIT!!! Don't forget that cilatro!!! What were you thinking, forgetting the cilantro??!!





Now stir it all up together!




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Now start stuffing those flour enchiladas!

I used whole wheat enchiladas,
although now I use just organic tortillas.







FYI : PICTURE HIJACK!!!
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Dear Readers,

I have no idea why I took a picture of this luscious, luscious bag of Ruffles potato chips ...and creamy container of dee-licious french onion dip.


Other than the fact that they are my best friends :):):)

What?
Shut up!
Like you've never called a quart of Ben and Jerry's your best friend.



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Anyhoo, fill that tortilla shell!





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So yeah,
with these huge tortillas,
this recipe only made seven enchiladas...use smaller tortillas and you can get 10 out of these.




Drizzle the green enchilada sauce over
the enchiladas....
and stick in the oven for 30 minutes...




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Okay. So I see I have a picture of the TV set in amongst these enchilada pictures.

I gather I was watching a football game whilst making this yummy dish.


I'm a regular
Angela Lansbury sleuth, apparently.





STOP!!!!
Do NOT dig into this deliciousness yet.
Now just wait a sec here..........






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....Add the rest of the cheese on top....





....Like this....and throw into the oven for
5 more minutes.

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A
nd this is the goodness that comes out five minutes later...


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You
likey???







Well, go ahead and grab an enchilada!

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This is but one enchilada.

You will want to eat two.

Because the green chili enchilada sauce combined with that pepperjack cheese MAKES you want MORE MORE MORE!


Okay......
Here's the recipe..totally doable!


Green Chile - Pepper Jack Cheese Enchiladas
From www.richestoragsbydori.blogspot.com
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
3 large or 4 medium chicken breasts
1 pkg of at least 10 big tortillas (Normal Quesadilla size not jumbo not small)
1 can of green Chile enchilada sauce (Hatch was really good from Smith's)
1 small can of diced green chile's
3/4 cup of sour cream
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder
small handful of chopped fresh cilantro
1 pound of Pepper Jack Cheese shredded
Angie also uses Chicken Stock to boil the breasts in

Directions
Cook and shred your chicken. Season them and boil until just cooked through. Shred with two forks and let cool. Put shredded chicken in large bowl and add 1/2 cup of enchiladas sauce (save the rest), small handful of cheese, 1/2 can of green chile's, 3/4 cup of sour cream, 1/2 tsp of cumin, a handful of chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.  Roll the chicken mixture into the tortillas and place in a greased casserole dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and add the rest of the cheese on top for the last 5 minutes. You can serve with a side a sour cream.





So I guess you can click on the Download File thingie there and then print off the recipe...beings that my website provider thingie
TOOK AWAY THE "PRINT" OPTION!! IDIOTS.

green_chile_pepper_jack_cheese_enchiladas.docx
File Size: 14 kb
File Type: docx
Download File





So I hope you make up a pan of these delicious enchiladas soon! 
Thanks for checking into my blog, by the way!!!

I leave you with a picture of Tim cleaning out his shop late Friday evening....

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Except it doesn't end there. 
Tim spied me taking his picture and proceeded to play the
guitar aka shop squeegee, and serenade me with rock songs....

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...all the way out into the driveway...


So yeah...
that was my Frytown Friday night :):)!!





Okay guys, that's all I got for now! 
Next time, I think Ima share how I make a (relatively quick) and tasty taco salad.
YUM, yum!!!


Have a good rest of the weekend kiddos,
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!








Angie's Share Day - And no, you won't be bored. Yes you will.

6/15/2014

 
Angie's Sharing Day
This post is about reeeeeeeally boring stuff.
But it's the best I can do.


It's not like I'm an exciting Charlie's Angel.










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But if I was, 



I'd be Kelly!



Strike the pose!


What???



I knowwwwwwwww.




Dis gonna be a long, boring, stupid post. I kind of warned ya ahead of time though.








Know what else is boring?
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This pot roast that I put in the oven.

The recipe is called
Awesome Red Wine Pot Roast.




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The name of the recipe should have been called Completely Normal, Nothing Unusual Pot Roast.


That there's a $15 cut of meat.
$15!!! I'm still in therapy for that.






Speaking of boring......
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...I still have an inability to do dishes, even in the new house.

Boring.
Boring.
Boring.

And they just keep piling up and up and up.






Sinks shouldn't be for worky type of stuff anyway, they should be used for fun stuff....
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...Like letting  yittle toddler boys named 
Little Boy Blue
 play water games in them.







Speaking of water and boredom.....

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...My dang plants are soooooo needy.

They demand water every single day.

I'm really bad at regular watering.






Oh, I interrupt this riveting blog post to share a request being made by Giblet Pearl aka Gibby...

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"meow meow. meow meow meow meow. meow meow. meow."


Translation in Human language: "Uh yeah, could you possibly not run that ding dang vacuum cleaner when I'm napping? I would appreciate it. Thank you. You can leave."





I love Before and After Projects!
Mainly seeing other people's.
This was mine though. We've had this wash commode for
over 30 years. Tim's mom had it for years before that. It worked for us when I was decorating with a ton of cool old stuff and antiques in the house.
Before...
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We are old as dirt (well Tim is...heeeee :) and are decorating with less now. Less stuff means less cleaning. (Angie likey that part, do I hear a holla?!!) So.....

After...
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Before.

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After.

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I did switch out the hardware too, which updated it a bit
but still kept a vintage vibe.





Remember when I said we were living with less decor now?




Well, it had to go somewhere.









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This was one of 350,000 loads.
That's a lie.

It was more like 879,468 loads.




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Baby the kitty says, "Gee crazy sweaty lady, you not gonna pack me up and throw me in the back of that van too, are you? Are you?? I scared."

Of course not, Baby.
And Santa is staying too.









Hey, do you know who DID exaggerate?

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The person who posted this crock pot Sweet Potato recipe online and said the sweet potatoes came out "buttery" and "sweet tasting".

The sweet potatoes came out tasting like plain old sweet potatoes. (This pic was taken before they cooked.)

Man, that's like 10 minutes of prep work I'll never get back.  Oh well. Win some, lose some.










I am OBSESSED with
french fries.

OBSESSED.

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First, I soak the raw cut russet potatoes for about 30 minutes in warm water with some Sugar In The Raw
in it.


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I guess Sugar In The Raw is also know as turbinado sugar.

Oh I'm fairly certain it's not healthy like kale or quinoa.

Don't care. Remember, I am OBSESSED with french fries right now.



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Anyway,

I fry them twice and use a
candy thermometer.

I let the oil heat up to 350 degrees  and fry until they are barely light brown, barely.

Takes about 4-5 minutes.




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I then let the fries set aside on a drying rack while I fry the other batches.





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Ahhhh, now Round 2 frying is the best part. 
Heat the oil up again to 375 degrees and throw a batch of those already fried, lightly browned fries in.

Fry just a couple more minutes at the most until the brown color you like appears....




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Throw the fries on a rack...




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Season them up with whatever you crave...

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We likey
salt and pepper and cayenne.

Yum!

Crap, now all I want is fries. Again.
Argh.










Must think about something else now.
Must think about something else now.
Must think about something else now.

Must think about something else now.


I KNOW!!!




Glen Campbell!!!!
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Wichita Lineman...one of the best
songs ever!!!!
 c1968






So, quick question:
Am I the only one who marks her light switch plates?
No really. Just wondering.
Why play a flick-of-the-switch guessing game at 5:30am every.single.morning?

I have more important things to do like check Facebook while waiting for the freaking coffee to get done in the coffeemaker. Duh.
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Lastly, I just wanted to show a picture of Little Boy Blue
on Easter morning.

LBB never, ever gets candy, especially at 8am in the morning.  
He kept looking at us adults very distrusting, like we were going to be taking away his goodie basket any minute.

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It was super warm Easter morning, so LBB's dad took him out to the new deck and played songs for him on the guitar. Boy Blue played with his stash of matchbox cars while his daddy strummed along.
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Okay, so that's all I got for today other than, oh my goodness gracious, this 2006 Chevy Impala LT with 132k miles that I just listed yesterday is in ridiculously immaculate condition.
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Check this car out on the Inventory page!




OH, one more thing!!!

Does this booth make your heart sing?

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Everything you would ever ever need
to set up an authentic vintage kitchen 
IS - IN - THIS - BOOTH!

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It's all so neatly organized, all in excellent condition, some sets of stuff I've never seen before,
and it's all pretty pricey too.


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This space is in an antique mall in Oronoco, Mn
just north of Rochester.


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I thought the antique mall staff were going to come over and tell me to move-it-along, I was spending so much time in that space. Just lookin' and touchin' and daydreamin' and frankly, gaspin' over the prices. Oh well, it's fun to look.


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Besides,
I had bought my own self a set of vintage glasses earlier that week right here in Kalona.

Now how awesome are these!!!
Just say they're awesome, that's all ya gotta say to make my life complete. They really are awesome, though :), doesn't take much.




Okay, that's really all there is left to this totally riveting post!
Now try to pry yourselves away from these most excellent captivating pictures and witty commentary (cough, cough) and 
have a great rest of the weekend!!

Talk at ya soon!







Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad

6/13/2014

 

Healthy Avocado
Chicken Salad....

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I could eat a whole bowl!

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But before I talk about this totally yummy,
lightened up

Chicken Salad,



I must ask a very,
very,
important question...









Do you think my light is ugly?

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My mom (who shall remain nameless but who may or may not be known as 
"Mother Theresa") 
said my light was ugly.


Well, in all fairness, Ma didn't actually call this light "u-g-l-y",

but she did point to it on the wall and asked why I took it with us when we moved into the new house.


Sounds like she was calling it ugly to me.

I don't think my light is ugly.

Quirky? maybe.

Dirty? yyyyyes. I suppose.
Depends on your definition of "dirty."


But ugly?


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Does this look hideous to you???

Be honest.






No, don't be honest, I was just making conversation.









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How could such sparkly prisms be ugly?

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Maybe it's the blue
bread wrapper tie
that my Ma finds so offensive.
t....







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Or could it be because the top never gets any cleaner than this and you can usually write top secret messages in the grime?



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Maybe my Ma thinks the red jeweled keychain  randomly attached, is tacky?



Maybe horses with wings creep her out?



Or maybe she thinks the white clover sticker looks weird?

Or the sparkly birdie over on the left should fly away?

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She actually pointed to Old Dusty Birdie and asked all hoity-like, "And who put THAT on there?"


Yeah, right. Like the average person  wouldn't want a dirty, greasy, fake bird in their house.





Anyway, I think secretly my mom wants this light and is playing a mind game with me,
hoping I will ultimately give it to her.



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Dear Ma,
I am keeping this light for myself.
Love, Angie

I do plan on hooking up a big flashing neon light to it that flashes
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!


:):):):):)

Okay, all kidding aside, let's get back to this
Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad.

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See! Not a ton of ingredients here!
You may have most of these ingredients
already in the house.

This is from the Family Fresh Meal website.
Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad
Adapted slightly from www.familyfreshmeals.com
Serves: 4-6     Angie’s note: Serves more like just 4 people

Ingredients
2 cups shredded chicken
1 avocado
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp fresh cilantro
¼ cup mayo
¼ cup plain Greek Yogurt
¼ cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
¼ cup or less of finely chopped red onion
Chicken stock to boil the chicken breasts in on top of the stove. About 2 cups.

Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes.
  2. Serve on your favorite bread, crackers, pita pocket or on a bed of lettuce.


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So these are the fixins
for this Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad recipe!




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I boiled the chicken breasts in chicken stock instead of water.
Tastier.


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This
is my favorite brand of chicken, beef and vegetable stock.





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After the chicken is boiled,

shred it up.




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Add in the mayo and yogurt.


OH!!! I WANTED TO MENTION that you could use
JUST yogurt only and skip the mayo.

I think Ima do that next time.!





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Now get your next ingredients ready. Finely dice up the red onion and orange pepper. I finely chopped the cilantro too. Dice up the avocado and get your lime ready.
By the way, I tripled the recipe.





Now here's where I didn't know if I should chop up the avocado and slowly fold it into the chicken mixture or just
SHMUSH everything together.

I just shmushed everything together.

Seemed like the easier thing to do.


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Add in the salt, pepper
and garlic powder....


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Don't
forget the cilantro.




The original recipe does not call for diced red onion or orange bell pepper,
BUT several people commented that they added those items into the dish
and it was delish.



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Don't forget
to add the lime juice into the dish too!


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Apparently my lime squeezing aim is pretty poor, because my friend, who was standing next to me, had her leg spritzed up with lime juice pretty good.

It's hard to cook and talk at the same time, sometimes!
Oops, sorry Jenn :)




And that's it!

Look at this creamy, tasty result!

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So I ate this Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad in a whole wheat pita pocket.



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It would be fantastic just on lettuce though.


Or definitely some whole wheat crackers!!!






Both my daughter "Sweetness" and I
LOVED this chicken salad.


Sweetness liked the orange bell pepper and said she could still the taste the chicken, she said the other ingredients did not overwhelm the chicken taste.

I loved it because it's so creamy and that avocado gives it an unexpected taste twist to the normal chicken salad.

I would and will definitely make this again, maybe even bring it as an appetizer with crackers to a party.
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Here's the recipe in document form.
I guess you can click on the big document or the little tiny gray download file thingie and print from there.


healthy_avocado_chicken_salad.docx
File Size: 16 kb
File Type: docx
Download File




OH OH!  I want to share a picture of one of
Tim's vintage race track sets from c1970!!
Tim is showing Little Boy Blue and LBB's mom and dad how kids USED TO PLAY back in the day, before the com-pu-ters. 
Shockingly, the little slot cars still work, too!!!

I think Tim was the most shocked by that :)

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Okay, tis all I got for today.! Everyone have a good weekend 
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!!








The Mystery of The Missing Five Million Dollar Stuffed Peppers And A Naughty Kitty

6/5/2014

 
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Look!
I mean LOOK at all these ingredients!!

For Pete's sake, I almost had to take out a loan to make Guy Fieri's Turkey Stuffed Pepper recipe!


My heart races and my face gets flushed when I think about all that money I spent on this crappy recipe!!!
For one thing....uh....let's start the cash register
$4.99      1 lb of ground turkey breast...turnkey breast is NOT cheap!
$3.00      2 green peppers (depending on the time of year, this was March)
$4.00      2 red peppers depending on time of year
$2.00      Quinoa - 1 cup
$5 million dollars     Pine nuts - have you priced pine nuts????? Ca-Raaaaazzzyyyy!!
$2.00     Whole wheat panko crumbs - 1 cup - whole wheat panko is EXPENSIVE in the organic dept
Anyway, it was like
$$$FIVE MILLION TWENTY DOLLARS$$$
to make these stuffed peppers!!

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It was actually more $$ than that,

I had made EIGHT stuffed peppers, 

not FOUR like the recipe called for..


These peppers were dry and boring. 


Tim and I ate barely 1/2 of one.


I was unhappy to have spent that much money on a meal that was not tasty and cost a ton of prep time in the kitchen.




I went to bed a little hangry (hungry plus angry:). I was not happy I had spent that money on a boring, dry dish. Tim said he would put away the leftover peppers. Okay, fine.

I woke up in the middle of the night though, and decided I would remedy the dryness of the peppers in the morning, so that they wouldn't go to waste.
I would scoop out all the stuffing and pour chicken broth over it and add salt and pepper.

I figured I would then restuff the peppers with the more moist, doctored-up quinoa and turkey filling and it would all be tasty for lunch for the next few days and my time and money wouldn't have been wasted.






So with a renewed culinary spirit,
I bounded to the fridge that morning to pull out the tray of remaining seven stuffed peppers that Tim had put away the night before.....









This is what I found instead.








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What?



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Wait...





What?










I don't get it.




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Picture
Cuz this is what the tray of peppers looked like before I went to bed that night.
There were SEVEN peppers
on this tray.

Seven.
.  Coun  Count them Count them. And they were all filled.








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A
nd THIS is what was left??





It
looked like a family of racoons had opened my fridge and had a
 late night snack.






Well, Tim is n-o-t-o-r-i-o-u-s for dropping stuff, 



so I scoured the kitchen floor by the fridge...



searching for a clue........

of where my missing peppers would be....





Nah...nuttin' by the fridge....the obvious place to look...

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So I looked by the counters and stove, on the floor...
surely the floor over there would provide some clues....

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Nope.
No clues.






Wait. Now where could the rest of the peppers have gone? My counters were all clean.
I don't get it.





I was clueless. I knew something had happened to those peppers but usually I can piece together a
story by using kitchen clues....you know what I mean, right?
As women, we can spot the most subtle of clues when we need to, right?
AmIRight?
AmIRight?


Well, then it dawned on me.....









Hmmmm...Let me try one other place.










I opened up the trash can.













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Bingo.








Yeah, so Tim told me he dropped the tray of $5,000,020 stuffed peppers on the floor while trying to fit the tray in the fridge
the night before.



Later, I introduced him to my helpful friend Saran Wrap and
Saran's buddy, Aluminum Foil
.





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Now remember when I said I scoured the floor and couldn't find ONE shred of evidence of any stuffed peppers, especially by the fridge?





I asked Tim about that,
why were there no crumbs at all on the floor
from the mishap?



Tim said.....

and his exact words were......



"I tried to clean it up real good so you wouldn't notice."







Picture
Really?

Huh.





I said, "Well, didn't you think I would notice there were missing peppers, once I opened the fridge?"


He said he didn't think that far ahead, it was late.





I laughed and told him it had to have been a huge mess all over the floor, all those tiny quinoa grain pieces and everything. He said it was awful and the cats kept tracking all over it and wanting to play with the broom while he was trying to clean it up.





So anyway, that's my $5 million dollar
Pepper Mystery Story.



We all have a story like that though, don't we?
Frustration on spending too much money on ingredients for a sub par meal.
Spending way too much time cooking something that in the end is dry and boring.
Needing therapy and such.





Okay kids, that's all I got for today.

OH! WAIT!!!




Naughty Kitty Picture Alert....






Picture
Naughty kitty
on the microwave.





Makes ya wanna eat at my house, doesn't it?



Stuffed peppers, anyone?












Hello Black Bean, Farro and Avocado Meal...You Are Healthy AND Tasty!

6/2/2014

 
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Little Boy Blue says HELLO!! Look how big he is getting!!! 

Hello
 also to this healthy and
totally yummy

Black Beans
, 
Farro
and
Avocado meal!

Picture
This recipe is from the Reluctant Entertainer website.



This dish is soooo healthy,
but the thing is.....it's so tasty!!!
And filling! Who'd thunk?

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Leave off the queso fresco and this would make a
nice vegan dish!



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These are all the fixins for this quick and easy,
super healthy dish. Remember, it's vegan if you leave the queso fresco off. :)







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So this is farro. It's a grain.
A bit expensive.
I think this 1 lb. bag was maybe $7.99.

I'm like, really dudes? $7.99? Get the price down on this please.
Farro is becoming more mainstream and not so exotic anymore, so I think they can get that price lowered eventually.







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Now this is the salsa I used,
a local Iowa City salsa.


La Casa was a locally owned restaurant in Iowa City for years.
Mercy Sueppel, the owner, closed the restaurant but continues to make this fantastic salsa among other authentic Mexican products.

Very yummy!




Anyway, we start this dish by boiling up the farro.
By the way, I had to google to see how long to cook farro because the package
doesn't tell you...I had to search a little bit to find out.
35 minutes is how long I cooked mine.

Red Alert!
OHOHOH!!!
I FORGOT TO MENTION,
I HALVED THIS RECIPE...it makes a ton!!!!



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So anyhoo, I chopped up
the mixture of onions, shallots,
and garlic.

I did use all three, which I think factored into the layered flavor of this dish.





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Now drain those beans!

BTW, Could this picture be any dumber?





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Saute

the onion, shallot, and garlic mixture in olive oil.










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Can you smell the aroma?
It smells heavenly!








Now throw in those beans! Do it, do it, just DO IT!!!!


Now stir in that corn and salsa and cumin and salt and pepper....


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Okay,

so this is just waiting to be layered onto the farro.











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So we plate this dish by layering the *warm* farro onto a platter...









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N
ow layer the bean mixture on top of the farro...






Next, layer the avocado, queso fresco and chopped cilantro...





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What a masterpiece on a platter! 

Let's plate 'er up and see how it tastes....










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Looks a
little messy on a plate......

















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...But look at those yummy avocado slices! And the fresh queso fresco! 
And the hearty farro but most importantly, the tasty bean, corn and onion mixture!
!





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Okay, something was spicy about this dish, I wanted to keep eating it. Tim asked what was so spicy and I said I just didn't know.

Tim calls this dish "deceptive." It seems as if the flavor is going to be boring but it is deceptively delicious and super filling as a main dish.
Gotta tell ya, the cilantro really finishes off this dish,
don't forget the cilantro!





Okay, so below is the recipe....you can click on the recipe document and then print it out OR you can click on that teensy tiny Download File thingie right below and print it out too.
black_bean_with_farro_and_avocado.docx
File Size: 13 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

Well I hope someone tries out this recipe and follows back up and lets us know what they thought of it,
or if they changed it up!







In the In the meantime, I think Ima try and be as carefree as a yittle 2 1/2 year old toddler boy sporting a dimple, joyous spirit,
and plastic airplane.



Picture





Okay guys,
that's all I got for now :)
Have a great week, stay cool and we'll
talk at ya soon!!!!






    Author

    Angie Madsen
    One half of a team that blends their work and personal life together
    in fun ways.





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