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.