Cowboy Beans and Jalapeño Cornbread Casserole

My cousins introduced us to an amazing recipe for "Cowboy Beans" with cornbread and it instantly became a new staple in our meal rotation. Hearty, a little spice, the perfect Winter comfort food! This is an awesome savory dish that pairs well with a sweet jalapeño cornbread casserole!

Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

-1 Can Black Beans (Drained)

-1 Can Pinto Beans (Drained)

-1 Can Light Red Kidney Beans (Drained)

-1 Can Great Northern Beans (DO NOT DRAIN)

-14 oz. Kielbasa

-1 lb Hamburger

-1 lb Ground Pork Sausage (Hot, we used Bob Evans Zesty Hot)

-1/2 yellow onion (Diced)

-1/4 C yellow mustard

-1/2 C Ketchup

-3/4 C Bbq sauce(We used KC Masterpiece hickory brown sugar)

Optional:
-A few spoonfuls of diced Jalapenos plus a splash of the juice from the jalapeno jar

*Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste, I added a little while browning the meat and then seasoned the beans when I combined all the ingredients!*

Directions:

-Add drained Black beans, Pinto beans and Kidney beans to Dutch Oven or Crock Pot

-Add can of Great Northern Beans, with liquid, to Dutch Oven or Crock Pot

-Brown Hamburger, Ground Pork Sausage, Onion(and jalapenos, if you choose) in skillet together

-Cut Kielbasa into slices and then quarter those into bite size pieces and add to Dutch Oven or Crock Pot

-Add Mustard, Ketchup, Bbq Sauce(and Jalapeno juice, if you choose)

-Stir until combined

-Place in oven at 300 for 2-2.5 hours (This can be made at 375 for 1 hour, but our kiddos prefer the texture of beans when they have been cooked to death, so we cook them lower and longer!)

-OR-

-Cook in Crock Pot 6-8 hours 

-Stir Occasionally

*Serve with warm cornbread or jalapeño cornbread casserole (Recipe posted below)

*We love to put a little yellow mustard on top of our Cowboy Beans! Give it a shot!*

Jalapeño Cornbread Casserole

Ingredients: 

-1 Box Jiffy Cornbread Mix

-1 Stick Butter (Melted)

-1 Can Whole Kernel Corn

-1 Can Cream Style Corn

-1 Cup Sour Cream
-2 Eggs

-1 fresh jalapeño (Diced)

Directions:

*Heat oven to 375*

-Grease 9x13 Casserole Dish

-Beat eggs in small bowl

-Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix together, I add the jiffy mix and jalapeños last

-Pour into baking dish in even layer and bake 35-40 Minutes or until center is firm

*The top will be slightly firm, but the texture of the cornbread as a whole will have more of a soft/loose casserole texture, not like cornbread where you can pick it up with your hands and eat it!*

Jalapeño Popper Chicken

This recipe has quickly become one of our favorite ways to prepare chicken. We eat a lot of chicken, so we are always looking for new recipes. Today, we knew we were going to be working out in the yard all day and preparing our garden, so we decided to prep dinner in the morning, before we went out and exhausted all of our energy and then resorted to ordering pizza.(*ahem* like we did yesterday) Having said that, it is a great dish to prepare ahead of time to just pop in the oven 30-45 minutes before dinner!

First, preheat the oven to 375°, chop up some fresh jalapeños and mix them with a block of softened cream cheese

I used 3 decent sized jalapeños, removing the seeds!(you can also sprinkle some shredded cheddar or cheddar jack in with this step for a little extra oomph)

 Pound 4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts to equal thickness so they cook evenly, they don't have to be thin, just pretty uniform in size after you are done.

 Divide your jalapeño mixture into quarters and spread 1/4 on each chicken breast

 Top each chicken breast with some shredded cheddar jack cheese

 Bake at 375° for 25-30 min.(or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160ish-times vary on thickness of chicken) remove from oven and top with crumbled bacon and bake for 5 more minutes!
(We had already cooked a big breakfast with bacon so we just saved a few pieces to crumble!) Check to make sure it's reached the proper temperature with an instant read meat thermometer, you want it to reach 165° by the time it's done!)

Jalapeño Popper Chicken

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (pounded to even thickness)

1 8oz block of cream cheese (softened)

2-3 jalapeños (seeds removed, diced small)

1 to 1.5 Cups Shredded Cheddar Jack(or mild cheddar) Cheese

Bacon crumbles (Optional, but so worth it! We usually just chop up some leftover bacon)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° f

-Mix diced jalapeños and cream cheese in a medium size bowl

-Place 4 chicken breasts in baking dish

-Top each chicken breast with 1/4 of the Jalapeño Cream Cheese mixture, this should use up all of the mixture when you are done.

-Cover each chicken breast with shredded cheddar jack cheese

-Place in oven for 45 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 internal temp. (I set my timer for 25 min. And check the temp because the size of the chicken breasts can vary each shopping trip!)

*If you would like to top it with bacon, remove chicken from oven 3-5 minutes before cooking is complete and add bacon crumbles, then return to oven for remaining cook time.

Delicious served over rice or with a side of potatoes or veggies!

Taco Tuesday?

...more like Tostada Tuesday!

I don't know about anyone else, but in our house we all tend to get bored with the same recipes over and over again. Eventually this leads to a fight to get the kids to finish their dinner. "Aw, man, tacos again?" So I decided to throw in our twist on Tostadas instead of tacos and everyone is happy again! This recipe combines the concept of a "Mexican Pizza" with a tostada and it is always a "clean plate" meal around here!

Mexican Pizza Tostadas

2 lbs lean Ground Beef 

2 packages Taco Seasoning

1 16oz can refried beans

1 15oz can Tomato Sauce

1 package Tostadas (Usually found on the shelf near the taco shells)

1 16oz package shredded cheese (We like the Mexican blend or Cheddar-Jack)

Toppings of choice (We like fresh jalapenos, green onions and sour cream or salsa)

Brown ground beef in skillet, drain and return to pan. Stir in taco seasoning, refried beans and tomato sauce until combined. Arrange single layer of tostadas on a sheet pan and add a thin layer of taco meat mixture. Top with a second tostada and repeat thin layer of taco meat followed by shredded cheese.(and jalapenos if desired) Turn oven on to Broil. Place in the oven on the middle rack until cheese is melted. We like to cut them in half to make it easier to pick up and eat, or quarters for the kids! Serve with toppings of choice.

**This can also be made with chicken, in this instance I mix the tomato sauce and refried beans in a saucepan and apply it directly to the tostada like a "pizza sauce" then top with chicken rather than mixing it. 

*Also Pictured* Cranberry Orange Margarita: I just combined Tequila, OJ, Cranberry juice to taste and salted the rim with kosher salt! 

Hello, my long lost blog! Here's a new recipe!

I have a really bad habit of using Facebook to share recipes, stories, travels and adventures rather than logging in here and using my blog because it is just so easy to do from my phone...I'm hoping to change that habit, because I really enjoy sharing and being able to look back on things myself with more depth than a status update. (and without the guilt of feeling long-winded when my status update is a mile long!)

My husband and I have always talked about balance and how we believe a healthy, happy life is all about moderation and balance. From Faith to friends, family, food, hobbies, emotions, exercise... everything relies on balance. Going extreme in any one direction never seems to go very well for anyone. We try very hard to make time for family, God, cooking together, going out with friends, getting out and going on adventures with the girls, getting out by ourselves once in a while, relaxing at home and traveling.

More recently we have turned our focus on adding more of a healthy balance to our diets. We have always tried to be conscious of what we eat and thought we were eating "Healthy" because we didn't eat "as bad" as other people. We fell into a bad habit of busy life, lots of pizza and the same ol' 4 or 5 recipes week after week-quick, easy to throw together and generally not AWFUL for you, but also not the healthiest.

We have started looking more into what our diet is lacking rather than what we should do away with. Though we have cut back on sugar and white breads, we are not cutting it out. We have realized we get virtually zero Omega 3's and other super beneficial nutrients in our diet and decided it was time to start experimenting with new recipes so our children aren't lacking in their diets and health as they grow and hopefully carry healthy habits over into adulthood. Our girls love to cook and we have always encouraged them to help in the kitchen. As they get older it's fun to let them loose a little more and see what they are capable of.  I want to provide them with the tools to prep healthy food at home rather than grabbing fast food and pizza constantly just because life is busy. One good day of meal-prep makes a big difference for at least a few days of the week!

Another thing I realized in our journey of striving for healthy balance-we were severely lacking any kind of variety in vegetables! We would always default to broccoli and bell peppers most of the time when preparing stir-fry or any other dish! So, off to Pinterest I went, searching for vegetarian meals, best veggie meals, how to make certain veggies taste better...And I think we are finding some successful recipes that will better support our health!

This recipe quickly became one of my favorites...I love chickpeas and I learned over the last year that I love cooked cauliflower, so seeing the two together to make another favorite-TACOS-seemed like we couldn't go wrong!

It isn't a real technical "Recipe", I will learn how to put those together and post them in true recipe form, but for now, here's a general idea!

Cauliflower and Chickpea Taco Boats:

1 Head of Cauliflower washed and cut into bites
1 15 Oz Can Chickpeas, rinsed(and I'm one of the weirdos that shells my chickpeas, I don't like the filmy skin on them, this is optional!) and patted dry
Taco Seasoning of choice (I used low sodium, store bought taco seasoning)
Turmeric (Optional)
Olive Oil


Preheat Oven to 400°F

I use two separate sheet pans for this recipe because cauliflower requires longer to roast than the chickpeas, but it is still a very low-maintenance meal! Line sheet pans with foil and spray with cooking spray. Toss chickpeas and cauliflower(in their separate bowls) in a drizzle of olive oil, taco seasoning and Turmeric(if desired) Roast the cauliflower for 10 min. Then put the sheet of chickpeas in next to it and roast for another 10min.

We chose red cabbage, jalapenos, green onions and avocados as our toppings and they worked perfectly! An avocado crema would be awesome on them if anyone has a recipe! Many friends and family members commented that it would make a great Mardi Gras week recipe because of the colors! Also note-Taco boats are life changing. That is all.

                       

For the Love of Lego: Making the Most of Small Spaces

Our children have quite the love for all things Lego, especially in a day and age when they have such awesome themes as Lego Friends, Disney Princesses and Lego Creator. As a Mom, I have a love-hate relationship with Legos...I love how creative the kids get, I threw out the "Keep all the set pieces together" mentality early on and love the creative liberties they've taken with building since. I hate the 14 billion pieces that threaten my vacuum and my bare feet...Even with great organization and kids who only play with their legos in the one are of their room that is designated for them, there is alays that one stray, square, sharp little plastic block that I manage to find when I rush into their room barefoot. I also hate how space-consuming they are, with my kids, at least, the bigger, the better, which means that awesome creation is a total space hog. I love the nostalgia legos hold for me, a girl who grew up with tons of legos. I love that they never go out of style and grow with them and their imaginations. So, having said all this, I decided we needed some organization and order before I lost my mind. These kids are well-loved by family who meant well when they ALL purchased them legos for Christmas, I kid you not, I think they got 16 sets that year-I haven't figured out if having a big, loving family is a blessing or a curse when it comes to lego gifts, but we must embrace it nonetheless. (I should also mention two kids=two birthdays and, you guessed it, more legos.) So, to Pinterest I went...and came across a simple, clean, genius idea that had originally been posted on the Family Fun Magazine website, but no longer has a working link, so I followed the blog, "Our Wee Family" instructions as my inspiration.http://ourweefamily.blogspot.com/2012/02/lego-birthday-creation.html

Legoville 1.0

Legoville was born over Summer vacation, just to help with the little bit of Lego pandemonium I thought we had...

Then came the first of many Lego-gift-filled Birthdays and we had to do a bit of an expansion...

Legoville 2.0

Then came the after-Birthday shopping with gift cards...

Legoville 3.0

And Christmas...and after-Christmas shopping with gift cards...

Legoville 4.0

And though this was the perfect set up and gave us plenty of space, then came several consecutive years of even more Birthdays and Christmases. However, this time, instead of upgrading, we renovated what we already had to add olay space, but also use the space more effectively, so I present, the current set up, and I cringe because a Birthday is on it's way this month and Christmas is just around the corner...

Legoville 5.0(or maybe 4.5 since we used the existing structures, haha!)

(Not pictured: Two small sets of lego storage/organizer drawers containing instruction books and sets that are deconstructed.)

I do not have a tutorial, but would be happy to answer any questions if you are interested in building your own! I can tell you we spent less than $100 building ours.(I did get the shelving units on sale for about $10 less each, which helped!) As for the wall, I am shopping today for large letters to put above that say CREATE, and as for Legoville, to be continued...

"Frozen" Birthday Party

We have a Winter Princess who turned 8 this year and I always let her choose the theme for her party. Last year, her Birthday theme was pink with snowflakes...See picture below.

This year, we were talking about what theme she might want and, being the Winter Princess that she is, she picked...Snowflakes. The creative side of me was screaming inside, "But you picked that last year!!" but the logical parent in me was saying, "You were Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween for 3 years straight when you were her age, surely it won't kill you to let her have Snowflakes on her cake for 2 years straight." Logic won. We went with Snowflakes, but fortunately for me and my over-the-top party planning self, FROZEN came out just in time, she kept seeing previews and was DYING to see it, so I said, "How about we invite your friends and go see Frozen for your Birthday and add Frozen to your Snowflake Birthday theme?" (See what I did there? haha) She. Was. THRILLED! "OH YES, Mommy! I LOOOOOVE Frozen, well, I haven't seen it yet, but I know I will love it, I can't wait to have a Frozen Party!!" (Score!)

Sadly, the decorations fell short because I came down with the stomach flu...(I cringe every time I see this picture because I was so out of it I didn't even put the cake on a cake stand...it is still on the plastic thing it came on! D'oh!) but it still looked pretty cute!

*Frozen Cake*
Ice cream cake with "Ice" candy
Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen-I found a Disney princess cake I liked the colors and design on and asked them to make it without the edible princess decals and make a few snowflakes on top...then I purchased the Frozen Figurines from the Disney Store(http://www.disneystore.com/figure-sets-play-sets-more-toys-frozen-figure-play-set/mp/1339878/1000262/?CMP=KNC-DSSGoogle) and made purple"Ice" candy and stuck the glaciers in the cake! (recipe linked below candy picture)

The Goodies:

*Snowballs*

 (They always have white "snow" Cotton Candy around Christmas, so I grabbed a few!)

*Purple "Ice" candy*

(This is a flawless tutorial: except I didn't smash mine into "meth" like candy, I just dropped it on the table and shattered it! http://www.sugarhero.com/2012/07/blue-crystal-meth-rock-candy-for-breaking-bad/)

The Decorations:

Icicle lights strung around the room

 Disney Store's reusable tote served as a decoration as well!

Vintage Blue Mason Jars added a nice frosty touch!

The Gifts:

Local Love: Experience Columbus *Food Edition*

So, I followed a link in an online article, earlier, that led me to a list of the "Top Ten things to do in Columbus". The one that really caught my eye was, "Go Out To Eat Constantly" Boy, they aren't lyin'! Seriously, there is SO much to eat here...even at 19 years old when I hardly ever went out to eat,due to a shopping habit and working in retail, I moved to TN and one of the things I missed the most was the FOOD and the long list of dining options!! Fast food, PIZZA(Oh, the pizza options made me want to cry, they were so sad!) and casual and/or fancy dining restaurants...I did find one I liked, Calhoun's...good ol' American food and bbq, and one other that has since closed down, but had the best mozzarella sticks ever...but every time I was craving something specific I would get very homesick because all the good food was back in Columbus!!

This article reminded me of the variety around here and since moving back we have greatly enjoyed "Going out to eat constantly" (Okay, so maybe it's just once a week, but still...) We try to go somewhere new every once in a while...places we've seen on TV, read about in magazines, or heard great reviews about from friends. I wanted to share a list of my own favorites in or around Downtown Columbus and give people an idea of what they are like, in case they are looking for something new to try as well!

Schmidt's Sausage Haus:

Location: German Village

Atmosphere: This place is a blast! I don't recommend it for a sit down, quiet dinner...it is more the, "I came to have a good time with friends, eat some good food, maybe a beer and sing along with the polka band!" kind of dining experience. Note: If you yell out the request for "Free Bird" The band will play it...on the accordion and tuba!

Food: I recommend the sausage sampler platter or the Golden Turkey Reuben, it is delicious!!(I did not take a picture, I was starving, so I dove right in!) For dessert, the cream puffs are a must-even if you get it to-go! Honestly, there were 5 of us, everyone got something different and everyone loved what they ate! I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu!

http://www.schmidthaus.com/

The Thurman Cafe:

Location: Thurman Ave.

Atmosphere: Bar, loud music, loud people, sometimes loud singing involving entire bar...kind of depends on the jukebox selections that night! Waiters/Bartenders are fun, sarcastic and busy-that place is always hoppin' so don't be surprised if it takes a while to get your check...flag them down, they don't mind!

Leave your mark! There are dollar bills EVERYWHERE! Just ask your server for a Sharpie and some tape! They will gladly give them to you! 

Food: Giant Burgers that will make you drool...All burgers are 3/4lb, so sharing is a great idea here! The A-1 Burger is the Slam. Seriously, so good. Their appetizers are awesome, the fried pickle chips are delish and their chicken wings...well, just order them and let me know what you think about their size!(*hint* their ginormous!)
Fried EVERYTHING...pickle chips(My fav!), pickle spears, Jalapeños, Mushrooms, Pizza "Egg Rolls"...and I don't have a picture, but their chicken wings are the biggest I've ever seen!

Also, they have "Thurman's To-Go!" Due to the small nature of the building, you could spend quite a while waiting on a table, we've used the To-Go option multiple times now and love it!

http://thethurmancafe.com/

The Jury Room: **Update: As of 2015 The Jury Room is permanently closed**

Location: Mound St.

Atmosphere: I can't speak for the daytime hours, as we've only dined here late at night(8pm or later) and at those hours it is still pretty busy, they usually have good music playing(not real loud) and it kind of seems to be a hipster hangout after 9pm. I would assume, by it's location, the breakfast/lunch crowd is business/downtown employees. The decor and architecture are very neat, it was a bordello and has made the list for "America's Most Haunted Restaurant's and Bars"

Food: Lots of awesome sandwiches! Their menu changes with the Seasons and everything I've ever had there has been good, their fried pickles are my favorite! My favorite sandwich is the Chicken Pesto(on a hoagie) and I prefer the fries over the house chips!

http://www.juryroomcolumbus.com/

Jeni's Ice Cream
Locations: Several around Columbus, Easton Town Center, Bexley, German Village and 714 N. High Street in the Short North Arts District, which is a great place to stop in during the gallery hops in the Summer! Don't be deterred by the line if it is wrapped outside around the building, this is common during weekends in the Summer and the line moves very quickly! (Also, the line basically starts at the door, so there is really nowhere to go but out!)

Atmosphere: Vintage Ice Cream Shoppe with modern, adventurous, magnificent flavors, very cute, tons of personality(The atmosphere as well as the employees!)
Food: The flavors will blow you away, some of them sound just plain crazy, but 9 times out of 10 they are amazing...and I only say 9 times out of 10 because I don't like coconut flakes and the coconut ice cream has coconut flakes in it(I can feel them on my tongue just talking about it...blech!)

Wildberry Lavender : Delish!

Jeni's "To-Go!" (Influenza Sorbet was like a Hot Toddy and tasted great during flu season!)

Personal Favorites: Plum Sake Sorbet and Pistachio & Honey

Wildberry Lavender, Pistachio & Honey and Honey Vanilla Bean

One of my all time favorites is the Rainbow Frozen Yogurt, it is like eating Sunshine and Rainbows in a delicious, fresh made waffle cone, I kid you not! My other favorite hasn't been featured in a couple of years, but it was Violet and Meringue and it was a very sad day when I finished my last pint and they quite carrying it for the Season(And never brought it back! Boo!)
At any rate, you can't go wrong! Check it out!
http://www.jenis.com/