Fruit Smoothie

I use a variety blend of frozen fruits I buy in the freezer isle at Wal-Mart. The one I usually get has strawberries, mango, pineapple, & peaches in it. I like to use the frozen fruits because I don't have to worry about them going bad and they make the smoothie thicker more like ice cream. I add some yogurt probably about 2 tablespoons, and about a 1/2 cup of milk. But it all in the blender and that is it. If I have banana's I will throw a banana in there too it makes it even better. When I bought my VitaMix the guy who did the presentation made Ice Cream with healthy ingredients and threw a tomato in it. It was good you could not even taste it! If you are feeling brave sneak a veggie in there!

Borracho Beans

Ingredients are

1 1/2 lbs of pinto beans, 4 slices of Turkey Bacon, 1 can of tomato sauce (to thicken the sauce), 1 onion, 2 jalapenos, 2 bell peppers, 3 roma tomatoes, and 1 tbsp of Knorr Caldo Sabor a Pollo, and 1 tbsp of Caldo Sabor a Tomate. It is sold on the Mexican isle at the Supermarket and it is full of flavor! You can put beer in the recipe but this is totally up to you. Place beans in your slow cooker cover with water(make sure the water is way over the top of the beans) I cook my beans for 1 hour then I add all the veggies and seasonings. I added a 16.9 oz bottle of water and that was all I had to add to my beans, but be sure and keep checking the water level and keep stirring. You can cook on low or high. On low you are looking at about 12 hours and high around 6-7 hours. Slow cookers will vary so just keep an eye on them and stir them occasionally. Enjoy!

Beef Teriyaki Over Rice

Ok tonight we had Beef Teriyaki over a bed of white rice. I usually do brown rice but for this particular meal we did white. I used La Choy brand Teriayki sauce because it has less sodium than most the other brands. I used John Soules Fajita meat for this dish. It is already cooked so all I had to do was put it in the skillet and put the sauce on the meat. Cooked it for about 5-7 mintues until the meat was heated all the way through and the sauce was nice and sticky on the meat. I used about 1/2 a cup of sauce (this will depend on how much meat you use and how much sauce you want on your meat). I cooked my rice in a rice cooker; all I have to do is add the water and rice and it does all the work for me. Great investment if you like rice, I paid $14.00 for mine at Wal-Mart and I have no complaints. All there is to it! Simple recipe with a great taste. You can also do these as fajitas with some peppers, onions, all that good stuff and put it on rice as well. We did more of an Asian dish tonight.

Turkey Breast Chili

I scored 6 packages of Ground Turkey Breast that were regularly $5.69 each for $1.15. They were going out of date in 2 days so they were marked down. I bought them and threw them in the freezer. I always look for deals like this it saves money and you still get quality meat. I don't care for Ground Turkey but I love the Ground Turkey Breast it is so good.

I took 2 lbs of the meat and put it in the slow cooker for almost 2 hours on high. No water yet. I spiced it myself I don't care for the spiced packages you can buy for chili mix due to the high sodium content. I used Parsley, Basil, Chili Powder, Cumin, Chives, and a Southwest Blend that has Garlic, Onion, Peppes, Paprika, and Bell Peppers.

I usually add an onion or jalapeno to my chili but I didn't have any so I just used the Onion powder for the flavor.

After the meat is done I added 1 can of Tomato Paste, 1 can of Tomato Sauce, 1 can of Ranch Style Beans, and 1 bottle of water(16.9oz).

Cooked for another 4 hours on low this time. Keep an eye one it and stir it.

Cakes

These are cakes I have made of the past 2 years. I try and make my cakes a little healthier if there is such a thing! I use applesauce instead of oil, I also sometimes use Gandy's whipping cream to make whipped cream for the frosting. I enjoy making cakes I know my kids will love! I made all of these cakes by looking at a picture so far I have had no complaints from my kiddos!

Ok so Connor told me to name this dish George.. Hmm not quite sure why lol but we decided to call it ChickaPenny, because it is Chicken made with Penne noodles.. I only buy 100% Whole Wheat Noodles. This box of penne noodles cost me $1.00 at HEB, crushed tomatoes $1.00, a bag of Chicken Tenders at HEB cost roughly $8-$9 and it goes a long way. I used roughly 8 tenders so break that down in cost and say maybe $3.00. Very cheap meal that made about 6-7 servings.

Put your crock pot on high if you want it done in about 2 hours, and on low if you want it done in about 4 hours. Just depends on your own slow cooker.

I put roughly 8 chicken tenders in the crock pot (no water)
Place the crushed tomatoes, sauce or paste which ever you have or want to use in the crock pot. Put just enough to cover the chicken and the bottom of the crock pot. You don't want it soupy but you want enough to make a sauce.Put the noodles in uncooked and make sure to keep stirring them around so they don't get too overcooked in one spot. Or you can cook them separately and add them at the end of the dish.  I added Bay Leaves, Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Chives, fresh garlic and fresh onions. You can add salt to your meal I don't because I have high blood pressure so I never add salt. Most stuff these days has enough sodium in it to take up your whole daily intake!


Keep checking and stirring you will know when it is done!

Hope you enjoy let me know if anyone tries it. My kids ate seconds on it they loved it. It was healthy and filling so I had no complaints!


I took pics of the fresh onion and garlic, no salt added paste, and the outcome of the dish! I used crushed tomatoes this time not the paste but just wanted to show what kind of stuff we use. Trying to make healthy dishes that still taste bold!


List of Ingredients
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
seasonings of your choice to taste(can also use Italian seasoning it has all the good stuff in it)
chicken breast tenders
tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, or paste can use any or mix these up
Penne whole wheat noodles.

Measurements will depend on how many people you plan to feed. You can make extra and freeze what is left for a quick meal in the future!

First Official Blog!

Hey everyone! This is my first official blog. I am starting a blog about easy cooking at home. I have recently started freeze cooking so that my husband can take healthy food with him when he goes to work in the oilfield. It has worked out so well. I am so glad I gave it a try and I will continue to do it. It also works great on nights we have activities going on and I don't have time to cook a full meal. We use to just grab something quick from somewhere and we all know that usually means something that isn't filling and is very unhealthy. I also do a lot of cooking in the Crock Pot and steamer. I have been making fresh veggies in the steamer and freeze them. You would never know they were cooked at another time and froze. I have several recipes that I have tried in the last few weeks and wanted to share them. I will be trying new recipes as well and be sharing them. I will share pictures of the meals as well. Please share any thoughts or questions you may have, feedback is necessary. Share this with your friends on Facebook as well!