Greek Dressing

8 oz. Lowfat Sour cream
1 med. SEEDLESS cucumber (grated using a box grater or food processor)
3 T chopped chives
1 T Fresh Dill
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 T  minced garlic
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and serve with greek salad and chicken or serve with chicken in whole wheat pitas with the salad mixture on top for a healthy lunch! :)

Greek Chicken Kabobs with Greek Salad

So I found this recipe on one of my new favorite cooking blogs... Skinnytaste!! Check it out if you haven't already!! She has LOTS of great recipes on her site. I changed it around a tad to make it my own. It looks time consuming but it's truly not that bad I think I even made it on a weeknight! :) Here's what you'll need to make greek chicken kabobs with greek yogurt sauce.

Ingredients:

1 1lb. boneless chicken breast (cut into one inch size pieces)

For the marinade:
salt and pepper (to your liking)
2 T lemon juice (FRESH is best! ;) )
1 T lime juice  ("            ")
1 tsp. fresh dill (chopped)
1 tsp. oregano (rub in your fingers to wake up the oregano! ;) )
2 tsp. jarred minced garlic

For the salad:

Fresh dill - 2 T - chopped
1 1/2 T lemon juice
2 T Olive oil

1 T vinegar
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Romaine lettuce (around 4 cups)  (chopped finely - I like to chop it with a knife and almost shred it)
1/2 cup greek Kalamata olives (seeded and chopped or halved )
tomato (1 large chopped)
1 large  cucumber ( peeled and chopped- seedless is best! )
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
BLOCK of feta cheese ( slice chunks of this all over the top of the salad - use as much or as little as you like - be sure to get the block i was amazed at how different and how fresh it tastes this way!! :) 

Preparation:
1. Thread the chicken pieces on the skewers and grill until done and juices run clear when pressed.
2. Mix the first SEVEN ingredients together for the salad. Set aside.
3. Prepare and mix all salad ing. together in a bowl. Set aside
4. Once chicken is done, let sit for around 5 minutes to seal in juices.
5. Add the dressing to the salad and toss.
6. Serve with the chicken on the side or on top of salad.

Greek Kabobs with Greek salad

7. Add Greek dressing (recipe is above)  to use as a dip or extra dressing for the salad and chicken! delish! 

Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

These turkey burgers are one of my favorite things to make this time of year! They are a healthy alternative to the traditional greasy burger which we all know and love! ;) Here's what you will need to make them:
1 pkg of your favorite sliced mushrooms
1 lb. lean ground turkey
2 tsp.  worchestshire ( i know i spelled that wrong and i can't say it ha! ;) )
1/2 cup or more if you like of crumbled bleu cheese (get red fat if you can find it!!)
salt and pepper
whole wheat buns or whatever you prefer

These burgers go along way bc you are going to disguise the mushrooms in the turkey! brilliant right?? ;) I like to process my mushrooms until they are pretty ground up and small but you ca chop finely too- processing them makes them blend into the meat a lot better! So if you have a processor take the extra time for this step. So...

1. Process or chop the mushrooms FINELY
2. Mix into the ground turkey
3. Add the salt and pepper , worsch. sauce
4. mix in the bleu cheese with your hands if you don't mind gettin a little dirty here it works much better to use the best 2 mixing tools that  God gave us ;)
5. Now make this into 4 jumbo patties or 6 med sized. They MIGHT be a little loose if so no worries they will still taste good! ;) IF this happens pop them into the fridge for around 15-20 minutes to make a little firmer but this is not necessary...

Grill on med. heat for around 5-7 minutes per side (depending on the size of the burgers) DON'T GET EXCITED and FLIP them more than once! ;) They will fall apart! :) Cook until no longer pink in center-  Be sure to let them sit for a few minutes before biting into them- this seals in the juices and  keeps them from drying out. Serve with your favorite toppings! :) We like grilled onions, lettuce, tomato,  and light mayo. Enjoy!

Thai Basil Chicken

Irish Cream Rice Pudding

Irish Cream Rice Pudding:

This is a recipe I came up with the other night when my husband asked me if I could make him some rice pudding with the leftover rice from dinner.  I realized we only had a little bit of half and half and or course his favorite coffee creamer (Bailey's Irish Cream- found in the refrigerated section where the creamers are stored).  So I thought I'd give it a whirl and it turned out really tasty! :) Phew!! So here's how I made it...

You'll need:

leftover rice or you can of course make some (we had around 1 1/2 cups of  cooked rice leftover)
1/2 cup half and half (we used fat free)
1 Cup Bailey's Irish Cream
raisins or if you're us just pick the dried cherries out of your existing trail mix LOL ;)  (as many as you like - we just use a little bit)
couple tablespoons of rum to soak the dried raisins or cherries (soak for around 15 minutes and discard leftover rum)
1 teasp. vanilla
whipped cream and cinnamon for garnish (OPT.)
1 egg ( I beat the egg and only used half of it! )

Prep:
Add the creams to the rice and bring to a low boil and then turn down to simmer for around 20 minutes (watch carefully and stir occasionally)
When there is around 1-2 minutes remaining, add the egg to the rice.
Turn off the heat and add the vanilla.
The rice pudding will thicken as it sits - serve warm or chilled with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon if desired! :) Enjoy!

wedge salad with creamy bleu cheese viniagrette

 

I went to the Ocean with some friends this spring and one of them ordered a delicious wedge salad!! She so sweetly shared it with all of us and it was divine!!! I have been meaning to try to make one similar but kind of forgot about it until this week. Lucky for my husband bc he about fell out of his chair in delight when he tasted it! Anyone who knows him understands this - He describes food like no one else! I think one of my pleasures in cooking is just to see his reaction! Always PRICELESS LOL ;) Anyway, here's how you make it ! 

You will need: 

1 head of iceburg lettuce cut into wedges

tomato (i used cherry tomatoes) 

pecans 

 bleu cheese

balsamic vinegar (drizzle)

For the dressing you will need... 

1 T sugar

1 T EVOO

bleu cheese (1/4 cup or more)

1/4 C  sour cream

1/4 C red wine vinegar

1/2 cup mayo (light is fine!!) 

salt and pepper

1 t garlic (jar kind is fine) 

1/3 C red fat buttermilk

1. Combine all dressing ngredients and mix in a blender or a hand blender (my new fav. toy!!! ) ;) 

2. Assemble the salad by sprinkling fresh bleu cheese, tomatoes,  and pecans on the wedge (most of it falls off but it's ok you'll still get to eat it ;) 

3. spoon the dressing on top and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar (don't leave this out!! so good!!)  and ENJOY!

Note: some other toppings for this that would be delish are crispy chopped up bacon, red onion, candied walnuts or plain but it was fabulous with the ingredients above! We will def. have this again in our house- YUMMMM!!! :)

Red Grouper with old fashioned grits and creamy corn succotash

My husband and I go to the OBX of North Carolina every summer now and one of our favorite things to do there is EAT!! ;) We feel they have some of the BEST restaurants around! None of this chain junk- they have the real deal here! They have the freshest fish dishes we've tasted! Anyway, we visited one of our go to places there which is called the Kill Devil Grill. The place looks like an old RV... BUT don't judge a restaurant by it's cover??... wrong saying... but you get the point! ;) The food is incredible. You know when you go out to eat at 5:00- yup you read that correctly 5:00 we eat with the oldies but goodies! ;) But you know when you go @5 and there is a 30 minute wait it's a good place!! So we waited patiently and then ordered the SPECIAL which I have recreated for my hubby and I! Ours had tuna steak on top but since tuna is a tricky little fish to grill we went safer and bought grouper. We were not disappointed!

First we visited the local fish market with fresh but kind of expensive seafood!!  (but have to say it was worth it for the tastiness of it- quality!! ) . It is simply old fashioned grits surrounded by a creamy corn succotash made with fresh corn off of the cob, lima beans a lil' butter and milk oh and some cute little tomatoes for garnish and finally a fresh piece of grouper slapped right on top!  Don't you love the paper plate's appearance in may of my posts?? that's how we roll- HATE,  HAAATE doing dishes!! The plate may be trashy but  the star of the show is what's on that Costco bargain plate. ;) 

Here's what you'll need to make this: 

old fashioned grits (not instant) - how ever many servings you need for your famiy

1 small can or frozen lima beans (only need around 1/4 cup for 2 servings)

4 ears of fresh corn boiled and slightly cooled to handle

3/4-1cup milk (fat free is fine)

1 tablesp. flour

4 small cherry tomatoes for garnish

1/2 lb fresh red grouper, or tuna steak or whatever fresh white fish you like  :)

salt and pepper to taste

little butter  (tablesp. ) and SALT for the grits

1. make the grits according to package (don't forget the salt while cooking and butter!!- don't leave this out)

2. melt around 2 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet.  Add around 1 Tables. of flour and combine with butter. Add around 3/4 cup milk and bring to a boil stirring constantly with a whisk until slightly thickened (may need to add more milk if it gets too thick)

3.Cut the corn off of the cobs and add to a skillet along with the lima beans

4. Stir to combine with creamy mixture and keep warm and set aside. 

Grill fish with salt and pepper or sear on stove top and add to a preheated 450 degree oven for around 10 minutes or until flakes easily with a fork (my fish was around 1 inch thick so if it is thinner it will need less time)

Plate it up by spooning grits in the middle, add the succotash around the grits and place the fish on top of the grits. Garnish with tomatoes.