Wheatberry Salad

I've been making this for a couple of years and every where I take it people love it! It's so fresh, healthy and yummy. You're probably wondering, what's a wheatberry and where do I get them? Wheatberries are the entire wheat kernel except the hull. They also are a great source of fiber. I usually pick mine up at Fresh Market or Whole Foods. This is great with some grilled chicken on the side or roasted chicken mixed in with the salad. 

Wheatberry Salad

from Ina Garten

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup hard winter wheatberries

1 cup finely diced red onion

6 TBS olive oil

2 TBS balsamic vinegar

3 green onions, white and green parts minced

1/2 red bell pepper, small diced

5-8 baby carrots, thinly sliced1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Directions

Put wheatberries in a saucepan with 3 cups boiling water. Cook uncovered on low for 45 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Saute the red onions over medium heat with 2 TBS of olive oil until translucent. Turn off the heat, add remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Let the salad sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve at room temperature. 

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

I really wasn't sure what to call this. The original recipe calls it a "salad," but to me that would mean the ingredients are just thrown together, not layers like the it calls for. It just didn't seem to be the right wording. Beyond that, this is delicious! It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet. I think it tastes better after sitting overnight, but word of warning - spray the bottom of your pan. I didn't and have had some trouble getting the crust out the next day.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

4 1/2 TBS sugar

a stick and a half (3/4 cup) of butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 - 8 oz packages low-fat cream cheese

8 oz container of Lite or Free Cool Whip

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

6 oz package strawberry gelatin

16 oz package frozen sliced strawberries, defrosted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crushed pretzels, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes and no longer or it will take an act of Congress to get your crust cut! Cool completely.

In a medium bowl or with your stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and mix well. Fold in the Cool Whip. Spread over cooled crust. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Mix in gelatin until dissolved. Add in strawberries. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour to firm slightly. 

Once the strawberry mixture has thickened slightly, pour it over the cream cheese mixture in the pan. Refrigerate overnight or at least 2-3 hours.

If you are short for time, you can let the strawberry mixture cool slightly and then pour it over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Again let it sit in the fridge overnight or 2-3 hours minimum. 

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - August 21-27

So summer is drawing to a close and fall is soon to be upon us! Next week is actually September!  Most of the kids here started school a few weeks ago, but I go back this week. My schedule is sort of ridiculous so there will be quite a few Crockpot meals each week. The last thing I will want to do is come home and make a meal when I've been in class or clinicals all day! Plus there will be studying and homework to do. 

Lots of yummy things on the menu this week! 

Chicken Parmesan
Chipotle-style Burritos

Hot Browns

Turkey Chili

Breakfast for Dinner - Waffles

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia

And as a bonus... Monkey Munch 

(or Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies... whatever you want to call it)

Weekly Menu - August 15-20

It seems the theme of this week might be "comfort food". I am very excited about the menu for this week and I hope my family is too. There are a few recipes from past weeks that I never made because it ended up being a pizza night because of schedules. I am going to attempt to make them this week. I'm trying my hand at baking again with some homemade biscuits. Let's hope I don't blow up my sister-in-law's house or something. I may need a back-up if they turn out to be little rocks. 

Tacos & Mexican Rice

Black Beans & Rice

Slow Cooker Chicken & Stuffing

Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Homemade Southern Biscuits

Weekly Menu - August 2-6

Happy one month anniversary to my blog! 

Things are going to start getting interesting around here the next couple of weeks. I start fall semester on the 25th and I will be officially full time in the nursing program. So all my classes will be nursing classes with clinicals and lots of reading and studying. Mostly I think the recipes are going to get more simple and possibly more centered around the slow cooker. It's really going to depend on my schedule. I will have a one week period where I will not have any classes between summer and fall semester so I'm thinking that I will use that time to test my cooking skills and pull out some of my mom's recipes! 

Here is this week's menu:

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Spicy Orange Shrimp

Black Beans and Rice

Enchiladas

Friday Favorites - Easy Appetizer

So my mom started making this appetizer a couple of years ago. It's really just a snack that she keeps in the fridge for the afternoon before dinner or the late night "snack attacks" of my sister and her friends. It's so easy that I am almost ashamed to put it on here, but it's so delicious I can't resist!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

from my Mom

Ingredients

1 jar of Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread

11 oz log of goat cheese (my mom like the one above so that's what I bought too)

Directions

Let the goat cheese sit out for about 10-15 minutes or until soft. It's a soft cheese anyway, but you want to be able to mix it well. When it's ready, put it into a serving bowl or tupperware container and dump in the jar of red pepper spread. Mix together thoroughly. Serve with pita chips or crackers. 

Citrus Chicken

This recipe was so yummy and refreshing. I am a huge fan of citrus during the summer. The grill wasn't working so I used a grill pan and it was just as effective. I will say that the sugar in the juice burned very quickly and I think you might have issues on the grill with the chicken sticking. You can always substitute for fresh juice. I was just using what I had on hand.

Citrus Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lemonade

juice of 2 medium limes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

Marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours, preferably 8-10. Heat grill or grill pan to medium heat and spray with Pam. Shake the excess moisture off the chicken and put it on the grill or in the pan. Let it cook 8-10 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the breast.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - July 24-29

So I am going out on a limb this week and making up not one, but two recipes! I'm not sure where this inventive streak is coming from and I will be embarrassed if they turn out badly. I am also attempting to make lasagna from scratch. Well not the noodle part, but the rest of it. Usually lasagna is spelled S-T-O-U-F-F-E-R-S in our house. Tacos are nothing special here, just ground turkey and shells from a box.

Tacos

Lasagna

Stuffed Chicken Wellington

Parmesan-Herb Crusted Salmon

Citrus Chicken

Lemonade Pie

So my new Southern Living came today and on the front cover was lemon pie. I flipped to the recipe and decided that it was Morgan-proof! No baking and minimal ingredients! I thought about making it a lime pie, but discovered that Jell-o does not make a lime pudding. Who would have thought? It was very delicious and perfectly tart. 

Lemonade Pie

adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients
1  12-oz. can fat free evaporated milk

2  3.4-oz. packages sugar-free & fat free lemon instant pudding mix

2  8-oz. packages reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1/2  tsp  vanilla extract

1  12-oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed 

1  9-inch ready-made graham cracker pie crust

Directions

Whisk together evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened.

Beat cream cheese and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add lemonade concentrate, beating until smooth; add milk mixture, and beat until blended. Pour into crust. Cover and chill 8 hours or until firm.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - July 18-23

I am very excited about this week's menu. I've got a few favorites as well as a new one that I am trying from Pioneer Woman or as I lovingly refer to her PW. If you haven't yet discovered her, I insist that you march yourself over to her website. You can thank me later.

Salmon, veggies and couscous

Chicken Stroganoff

White Bean Enchiladas

PW's Chicken Strips

How to... Make Iced Coffee

So if you are anything like me you are addicted to Starbucks or Dunkin's coffee. The problem is that my wallet is not addicted like I am. One of my friends gave me the best solution - make your own iced coffee! As for my cup, I bought it at Starbucks. It's one of their double-walled cold cups that is made to look like one of their regular cups. It wasn't cheap, but I love it!

Iced Coffee

Ingredients
Coffee - I like to buy the little bags of flavored coffee, but regular would work too!
Milk
Sugar, Splenda, Sweet & Low, etc.
Syrups - you could do a flavor syrup as opposed to flavored coffee

Directions
Brew a pot of coffee. Let it cool a little and put it into a tupperware pitcher. Place in the fridge for several hours or until cold.

Add ice to your cup. Add your preferred amount of milk. I fill mine about 3/4 of the way full of skim milk.

Add your sweetener (optional). Also just an FYI - sugar will not breakdown in a cold drink so you might be better off either adding it to the hot coffee before putting it in the fridge or choosing another sweetener.

Pour in your prepared coffee and enjoy!

Weekly Menu - July 10-15

This week definitely has a little more variety. I usually like to mix it up a little, alternating between Mexican, American, family favorites, etc. Now, below you will see the word "pie" do not get excited. It's more like a ham & cheese frittata (I think). I am not a baker by any means and it will be a rare day when you see any baked product on here. My cookies are flat and crisp, my cakes are dry and my cupcakes look like a 3 year old decorated them! Occasionally I will try something and I will post it, good or bad. Until then you will just have to wait in suspense, or not.

For this week:
Mexican Lasagna
Ham & Cheese Pie
Grilled Chicken with Corn and Summer Squash Succotash
Turkey Burgers
Chicken & Potato Cakes

Crunchy Lemonade Chicken

This was yummy and a perfect summer supper!

Crunchy Lemonade Chicken
adapted from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients
2 TBS grated lemon zest (3 large lemons)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (use the lemons from above)
3 TBS packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
4-5 chicken breasts
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1 TBS dried thyme
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional - this gave it quite a kick so beware!)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I used light with good results)


Directions
Mix 1 TBS lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add 1 cup water and the brown sugar whisking until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the buttermilk. Either pour into a ziploc bag with the chicken or put a lid/plastic wrap on your bowl. Marinate for 4-5 hours.

Preheat the oven to 475. Put the panko, thyme, salt, pepper, remaining TBS of lemon zest and cayenne (if you choose) into a plastic bag or bowl. Shake or toss to mix. Put the mayonnaise in a bowl. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place a rack on top. Coat the rack with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Take the chicken from the marinade, shaking off excess liquid and dip in the mayonnaise. Coat each side slightly. Drop the chicken into the breadcrumb mixture and coat thoroughly. Transfer to the rack. Once coated, spray each breast with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Shrimp Scampi

This recipe was delicious and very easy! I doubled the wine and butter from the original recipe to make more "sauce".

Shrimp Scampi

adapted from This Mommy Cooks

Ingredients:

4 TBSP White Wine

4 TBSP Butter

1 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes

2 TBSP garlic, minced
juice of half a lemon

1 pound shrimp

Directions:
Melt butter in skillet. Once melted, add wine, parsley, and garlic. Mix well and add shrimp. Cook 6-9 minutes until shrimp is pink on both sides. I served this over angel hair pasta with some garlic bread.

Weekly Menu - July 2-8

Something that I have taken from my mom, I make a weekly menu for dinners. This helps prevent the "What are we going to have for dinner?" question that comes at 5pm and it helps you budget your money. Instead of making 3 or more trips to the grocery in a week, I only make one on Friday or Saturday.

Also just because I might plan for something one night doesn't necessarily mean that we have to eat it that day. The only time that I insist on it is when there was prep work such as putting the ingredients into the crockpot.

Without further ado, the menu:

Shrimp Scampi
French Dip Sandwiches
Salmon, veggies & couscous
Crunchy Lemonade Chicken