Up at bat…
And at the pitcher’s mound…
In the pool…
And lounging outside…
A dinner classic…
Made Spring by grilling the chicken and tomatoes first.
Pineapple slushies
One of my favorite summer drinks, and it’s best introduced with a stack of fajitas (I used this marinade minus the tequila) corn salad, and homemade salsa.
Blend together 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks, 3 small pineapple juice cans, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and just a touch of sugar to taste (about 1/2-1 tsp). Chill until ready to serve. If you want to make it adults only, add three shots of blanco tequila!
Then bring out your fajitas:
And enjoy!
Chicken spinach flatbread
Naan + rotisserie chicken mixed with bbq sauce + sliced red peppers + fresh mozzarella + spinach + Trader Joe’s balsamic glaze = dinner. Add first three toppings to naan and then bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. After removing from oven add spinach and balsamic glaze. Enjoy!
Pineapple buns
We celebrated one year with my sweet niece this past weekend, and my sister made a ton of amazing Chinese food. One of my absolute favorites were these awesome pineapple buns:
They don’t actually contain any pineapple, but are called that for the design on top. They are sweet, fluffy, and delicious. They’re quite a bit of work to make, but are well worth it!
Twenty-five minute tuna rice casserole
I’ve shared this dish in the past, and this is just a remix with an added dose of rice and veggies. It’s super easy and will be done in less than twenty five minutes.
Ingredients
Two cans of tuna, drained
One can cream of celery
One bag of Green Giant Steamers Lightly Sauced Cheesy Rice & Broccoli Vegetables
Two cups of potato chips, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp paprika
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the veggies for 3 minutes. Combine tuna, cream of celery, veggies, paprika, 1 cup potato chips. Pour into a lightly greased small casserole dish. Top with remaining potato chips. Cook for twenty minutes, or until heated through and potato chips are lightly browned.
Deep dish pizza
Saturday night dinner. Make the pizza sauce, save yourself time and buy canned pizza dough (or pick up fresh pizza dough from Publix). And definitely get the whole milk mozzarella and cut it into cubes instead of shredding. I made this in a 9×13 brownie pan, and only heated the oven to 475 (our oven is firmly against 500 degrees). And let it cool for at least five minutes before you eat it. You’ll probably need a knife and fork. It’ll be worth it. You may even need to make two. Just a thought. Enjoy!
The in between season
Right now we are living in the in between. Sometimes warm, sometimes cold. Sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny. Sometimes chili, sometimes salad. And sometimes that’s all in one day. So I’m running in and out to protect my tulips and daffodils, who have decided to shine this week:
And we’re making chili and cornbread on the rainy days:
And riding bikes and jumping on trampolines in between rain storms:
It may still be winter, but I can feel spring right around the corner!
Lemon bars with A
At the boys’ book fair this week, A purchased an Auburn cookbook. I didn’t think I could love him more and then he goes and buys a cookbook so that we can cook together. This weekend we tried our first recipe from the cookbook: lemon bars.
He did all the slicing:
Mixing:
And helped clean-up:
And once they were baked and cooled we had lemon bars for dessert!
He did a great job!
Tequila lime chicken & rice
One of my favorite meals when I was in college was Applebee’s tequila lime chicken. It’s one of my favorites to recreate, with the Pioneer Woman’s chicken and rice, topped with special sauce, cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips. I put the sauce right on my chicken because none of my boys like it, but if you have a sauce loving family I recommend just swirling the amount you want right into the rice before serving and making some buttered tortillas to go on the side.
Special Sauce:
¼ Cup Mayonnaise
¼ Cup Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons Salsa
1 tsp chili powder, cumin, paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
Cast iron cornbread
This is more method than recipe. All you need is a box of Krusteaz Honey Cornbread, a cast iron skillet, and half a stick of butter.
Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Place your half stick of butter in your cast iron skillet and place in oven for five minutes. Prepare the cornbread mix according to package directions. Pour in warmed skillet and then cook for 12-15 minutes.
While this is a lovely center piece, the edges are the true stars of this dish. They’re crispy, a bit caremelized and just a touch of sweetness. Serve it with a side of Mix and Match Mama’s chili because you can’t just eat cornbread for dinner….or can you?