Recipe: Kicked up Yogurt Parfaits

Sometimes the simplest desserts are the best. You know, the ones where you just might have all the ingredients handy and no cooking is involved. This dessert is that one! Simple, yet kicked up a notch to be elegant and amazing. 

Awhile back we went to a friends house for lunch and she served these amazing parfaits for dessert...the secret ingredient that made me go...WHAT?! Basil! Yep, you read right, basil. After my first bite, I was like "oh my word!!"

Ingredients:

Honey Greek Yogurt (I like Zoe brand)
Sliced bananas
Sliced strawberries
Fresh Basil chiffonade (I think that's the word)
Chocolate Chips (melted)
Chopped almonds (optional)

Instructions:

Not too many instructions...you can choose to layer them in a parfait glass or in a shallow dish, which I did tonight. 

In my shallow dish (which is a piece of depression glass from my mom) I placed the yogurt, then topped it with bananas and strawberries, drizzle with chocolate and then sprinkle almonds and basil on top. Serve and Enjoy!!!

With Joy UNquenchable,

Recipe: Bubble Pizza

When my girls were younger a favorite recipe was "Bubble Pizza". I had forgotten all about it, but then a few weeks ago when I was attempting to remember some older recipes to bring back. This one popped in to my head. It was fun for my girls to cut the biscuits in to little pieces (with kid scissors of course) and put them in the pan. It's quick, easy and very adaptable. 

For this version, I attempted to find organic biscuits but didn't have enough time and the ones I did find at Fred Meyers cost more than what I had on me to spend. Anyways, it's a fun meal and the kids can totally get involved in this.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
2 containers refrigerated biscuits
1-2 jars pizza sauce (or 1-2 cans tomato sauce seasoned with Italian seasoning)
shredded mozzarella
optional ingredients:
mushrooms
pepperoni
peppers
onion
olives
cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. 

2. Cut biscuits in to quarters and spread in bottom of pan. 

3. In a skillet cook ground beef. Cook over medium high heat until evenly browned. Drain excess fat. Stir in pizza sauce or homemade sauce. At this point you can stir in some of the other ingredients, but what I do is spread the sauce mixture over the biscuits and then add other toppings. 

4. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle top with cheese and bake for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving...but haha, who can really ever wait that long. We eat it right away. 

It's quick, easy and even yummy eaten the next day. Enjoy!




With Joy UNquenchable,

Leftovers Quesadilla's

I almost prefaced this post by apologizing for not having a picture but then my lovely daughter requested one of these for dinner tonight and my failure to capture any pictures the two previous times I made them was redeemed. You're welcome!

Over the weekend I made this recipe (along with the homemade tortillas).We had quite a bit of leftovers due to the fact that everyone kept going different ways. At one point I think I even asked myself why I even made dinner in the first place. But it worked out. Food is a bit low in the house right now because we have an extra week between paychecks so I was scrambling to find things for everyone to eat. One option since I try to keep tortillas in the house was to do a "leftovers quesadilla". Oh my word..it was so good. 

 I really think you can put any type of leftover in between two tortillas if you are willing to be creative enough. Here is what we compiled for these quesadillas. 

Ingredients:

Brown Rice
Refried Beans
Crockpot salsa chicken
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce or cabbage (I like the crunch of cabbage)
sour cream
taco sauce
guacamole
tortillas

Instructions:

1. Simply layer the ingredients through the cheese (I do not like warm lettuce). 

2. I love using my grill pan and panini press..if you do something like this, preheat the pan and press then add the quesadilla, putting the press on top. Or just cook on any other pan. 

3. Heat until lightly browned then flip and cook the other side till lightly browned and heated through.

4. separate and add sour cream, guacamole, taco sauce and lettuce/cabbage. Enjoy.

I love cabbage on these or even tacos because the crunch is so nice. I shred it very finely. This is great, it's filling, it's yummy.


With Joy UNquenchable,

Tip: Lost soccer gear solution

Our life is filled with soccer. It always has been, from the time each of my girls was 4 years old. Wow...for the last 14 years! With that comes the joy, nightmare, of sports gear...keeping it clean and keeping track of it..many of you can relate...socks, shoes, shin guards, shin guard covers, uniform, warmups...and inevitably there will be something they cannot find, usually right before heading out the door for practice or a game.

It seems in our house to be a never-ending, and at times a tear provoking dilemma. "MOM...I can't find my bands...help me find my bands..." We re-trace the steps, dig through everything in hopes of finding it, and our house is not a mess, our laundry is usually caught up..it's that these darn bands love to disappear. 

A few weeks ago I discovered a perfect solution. I have a small lingerie wash bag that, well, is never used for lingerie. The bands go in to the lingerie bag as soon as they come out of the soccer bag and either go in to the laundry or in another appropriate location depending on whether they need to be washed or not. So far this has solved the problem of lost bands. My girl always knows where they are, which in turn keeps her from frantically searching for them before practice. 


With Joy UNquenchable,

Recipe: Creamy Potato Soup

In the Northwest, while it is Spring, it is wet and cold, which is the perfect weather for soup. Last night I decided to make Potato soup. It just sounded good, I had potatoes, I had recently seen a few recipes floating around online. I read a few recipes and then just made it how I wanted. It turned out amazing, and topped with some roasted asparagus and grated white cheddar, took it to another level.

I'm learning to create my own recipes and not always rely on someone else's, though, really, is there any "original" recipe out there anymore? I'm not so sure. Soups are easy to do this with because for the most part, anything goes. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. bacon, chopped
onion, chopped (your desired amount)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 celery ribs, diced
6 potatoes (mine were medium, so you may need less), peeled and diced
enough water to cover veggies and potatoes
2 bouillon cubes
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs. flour
1 c. milk 
1/2 c. whipping cream

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, cook bacon and onion together until done...I went for some crisp, some more tender. I was also using thicker bacon. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon. 

2. To saucepan, add carrots and celery and cook for about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. 

3. Add enough water to cover the veggies by a couple inches. Add chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are just tender...about 10 minutes. ( I used my pampered chef french fry cutter to cut them and then cubed them in to nice small squares). You could also just use chicken broth.

4. Remove about half of mixture and add to blender container. Blend until smooth and add back in to soup. Stir well. 

5. In a separate container, add milk and flour. Add some of hot soup to this mixture, then add back to pan. Stir well. Cook till soup is heated through. Add whipping cream. stir and serve.

We served ours with roasted asparagus and shredded cheese. Yummy! I didn't think ahead of time to make some crusty soup, but that's okay, it was great just as it was.

With Joy UNquenchable,