Mexi-Veggie Bake

After a weekend of traveling, all I've consumed is fast food, wedding food, beer, and diet sodas. Tonight, all I wanted was veggies, so I concocted the perfect dish.

Mexi-Veggie Bake

Ingredients:
2 bags of Mexican Style frozen vegetables
1 can hominy
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp red pepper
salt to taste
Reduced fat cheese (enough to cover casserole dish)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except the cheese. Make sure all is mixed well. Pour mixture into a casserole dish. Top with cheese.


Bake for 30-45 minutes until veggies are tender and cheese is melted.



If you can notice from my picture of the canned items, my can of Hominy is dented. I bought it from the Manager's Special bin for around .49 cents. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but sometimes you can turn one random item into something delicious. This is what I did here!

Life

I've been a horrible blogger lately. My apologies. Life has gotten in the way. Let's talk about life.

I feel like I could write a book or a memoir chronicling each up and down that has happened in my life. I know I'm not alone in this. As of recent, I was taken on one hell of a heartbreak ride. I was knocked down, but what do you do? I'm not staying down. I have to get up, dress up, and show up and be better than I was before.

As with anything in life, if you don't strive to be better-a better friend, husband, wife, sister, brother, daughter, son, employee, whatever you are-then you're never going to move forward. When you hit a pot hole in life, don't get stuck, get out of that pot hole and keep moving. Keep striving to be better than you were before.

Salsa Chicken

Easy to make. Easy to clean up. Good for you. Delicious. What more could you ask for?

This recipe for Salsa Chicken was adapted from A Bicycle Built for Two It's a "must make!"



Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 green pepper
1/2 large onion
1 cup salsa* (any kind)

*I used hot salsa, but you can use any kind according to your lil taste buds!

Slice chicken, pepper, and onion into thin strips.

Boil chicken for 5-10 minutes or until done.

In a large pan, saute peppers and onions until tender.

Drain chicken and add it to peppers and onions. Add the beans and salsa. Mix well until everything is coated with beans and salsa.

Serve over brown rice.

Slim Sloppy Joes

Comfort food at it's finest...Sloppy Joes and Mac n' Cheese! Of course, I chose healthier versions.

I totally forgot to take a picture, so I snapped a phone picture of my leftovers that I had for lunch. I ate my sloppy joe mix without the bun...don't judge me!


The mac 'n cheese is Annie's Totally Natural Shells & Real-Aged Wisconsin Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese. I like this mac 'n cheese because it's free of artificial flavoring and dyes. The natural cheese is colored with a plant extract called annatto. Annatto has been used in tropical American cultures for generations to color foods such as butter, cheese and mustard. The annatto tree grows 20 to 30 feet in height and when its seeds are stirred in water, they produce orange annatto dye, also called achiote, to color foods. Annie's Cheddar Macaroni and cheese is a great alternative for kids(or even us big kids) who need to have that "orange" cheese on their macaroni. It's also a great source of protein, calcium, and vitamin A. What's even better is it usually runs around $.99-2.00.

Slim Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper as desired.

In a large pot, brown ground turkey with onion, pepper, and garlic. Drain any grease from turkey. Add tomato sauce, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar. Mix until brown sugar has dissolved. Let simmer for 20 mins.

Serve on a whole-wheat bun or enjoy plain.

The Homestead in Winchester, KY

I'm all about supporting local folks and businesses, especially those that have a passion for what they do. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to stumble upon The Homestead in Winchester, KY. It was too good not to share.


It's always nice to get out of the city and for me, anywhere that remotely resembles the country warms my heart. The Homestead definitely has a "homey" feel, thanks to the homesteading skills of owner Megan Smith and her ability to make a 100-year-old post office into a quaint place for friends to gather over coffee and homemade fare. While their menu changes daily, they are always serving fresh coffee, homemade biscuits, country ham, and delicious homemade baked goods. Sit on the porch and enjoy the beautiful scenery and passerbys or sit inside and enjoy bluegrass music and the aroma of fresh baked goodies. Either way, you won't leave without a smile and satisfied stomach, so go grab a cup of coffee, listen to some bluegrass music, and enjoy whatever they are cookin' up.

Personally, I recommend the country ham biscuit (pictured above) and the homemade granola with fresh berries and yogurt (pictured below)! Yum!


Also, during my visit I was able to speak with Megan and her husband. I learned that their 8 year old son, Canaan, is the CEO of his own company. It's a really cool story and I couldn't do it justice, so check out The Marshmallows Company.

What a cool family with a great mission! Go check out The Homestead, you won't be disappointed!

You Can Wait...

Are you really so hungry you can't wait for your entree that will likely cost you more than a normal amount of calories? Trust me, you can wait. Appetizers don't spare any calorie room. They're loaded with calories, fat, trans fat, and sodium. I picked out a few popular appetizers to give you some good examples.

P.F Changs Lettuce Wraps
Calories: 640
Fat: 28g
Sodium: 2600mg

Better Option: Skip the appetizer and drink plenty of water becuase you're going to need it to wash down all the sodium you're about to consume from any PF Chang's meal.

Outback Aussie Cheese Fries
Calories: 2440
Fat: 175g
Sodium: 4033mg

Better Option: Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie with only 314 calories and 657mg sodium.


Chili's Chips & Skillet Queso
Calories: 920
Fat: 73g
Sodium: 4040mg

Better Option: I know you're thinking that going for the chips and salsa would be better, but the Bottomless Chips and Salsa will cost you 1020 calories. Go for a light soup, such as Chicken & Green Chile for only 120 calories.

If you really need a starter, a house salad with light dressing is always a better option than the sodium laden appetizers.

Blueberry Banana Bread

Overly ripe bananas are always making their way into my fruit basket. I have a hard time wasting food, so I always try to come up with some way to use the bananas. Sometimes I don't get to them before they are beginning to grow mold, but the times I do get to them, I try to make something delicious. This time I took my simple banana bread recipe and added some blueberries, reduced the sugar, and used whole wheat flour. I would suggest using the recommended amount of sugar.


Blueberry Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
1 egg
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1.5 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the wet ingredients until blended. Add the dry ingredients and blend well. Lightly spray a bread pan (or other pan) with cooking spray and add mix.

Bake for 30-45 minutes. You should be able to stick a tooth pick into the center and it come out clean.


If you're like me, you'll want to add some butter!