Peanut Butter & Jelly Balls

Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the classic brown paper bag lunch. Unfortunately, they can get quite boring.  So, I set to take a different spin on them & jazz it up in all areas - flavor, presentation, & nutrition.  
These peanut butter & jelly balls aren't time consuming or difficult to make at all.  You can make a batch of them during the weekend, and store them in the refrigerator for quick lunches or snacks throughout the entire week.  

Another great thing about them is they freeze beautifully, so there's no pressure to use them up all at once.  You can even double or triple the batch for the freezer so you don't have to make them so often.  
Don't have a jelly lover in the house?  Feel free to omit the jelly if you want. Have a child with a peanut allergy?  Substitute soy or sunflower butter.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Balls

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup honey
• 1-1/4 cup peanut butter (creamy,crunchy, or natural - take your pick)
• 1.5 cups dry powdered milk
• 3 cups quick or old fashioned oats
• 4 tablespoons flax seed
• 1/2-3/4 cup jelly or jam or your choice

Instructions:

Using an electric mixer, combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Take a tablespoon worth of the peanut butter mixture and flatten it out by pressing it in between your hands making a 2" around 'pancake' shape.  Using your thumb, create a slight indentation of the center of your 'pancake'.  Drop 1/2 teaspoon of jelly into the indentation, and fold up the sides.  Create another small circle with the peanut butter mixture and press it down on the top of the ball, and roll it around in your hands to tighten & seal.  Repeat with the remaining dough & jelly.  Place the formed balls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper & place it into the freezer for 30 minutes, or until set.  Remove, & place the balls in a large container or resealable plastic bag & store in the refrigerator.

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Southwestern Egg Rolls

Don't you just love those recipes that you tell your family that you're making for dinner, and every single one of their eyes light up?  These Southwestern Egg Rolls are that dish for us.  Every single member of my family goes crazy for these - even my picky 2 year old.  

They are packed full of hearty ingredients, and then baked off for a wonderfully crispy crust.  I always serve these with my Cilantro Cream Sauce because the 2 flavors are just destined for each other.  You can eat them by themselves, or with ranch too - but I'm tell you.  If you don't serve them with the cilantro cream sauce, you're really missing out!
You simply saute all the ingredients in a large pan for your eggroll stuffing pleasure.

I love how colorful the mixture is after the fresh spinach has been added.  Don't you?

Then you simply roll the ingredients up in a taco sized flour tortilla, give it a nice brushing of olive oil, and bake it them off in the oven until crispy.

I just love this dish, and I really think ya'll will too.  
Make sure you head over to get the recipe for my cilantro cream sauce so you can puree you up a batch real quick to serve along side this dish to make it even more delicious.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

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Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts - diced
• 1 medium-large onion, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 (14.5)oz can black beans, rinsed & drained
• 2.5 cups fresh baby spinach
• 2 jalapenos, seeded & minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• 10 taco sized flour tortillas

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium.  Add in the chicken, season with salt & pepper to taste, & saute for 5 minutes.  Stir in the diced onions & cook until the chicken is cooked through.  Stir in the spices, jalapeno, black beans, corn, & baby spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted. Remove from the heat, and stir in the pepper jack cheese.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into the center of each taco sized flour tortilla, and roll up like a burrito.  Brush each side with a good coating of olive oil, and place in a baking dish.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through, until crispy.
Serve with Cilantro Cream Sauce, if desired.



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Tomato Caprese Salad {All Fanned Out}

Plump vine ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, a little basil leaves along with a little splash of olive oil & balsamic vinegar.... Perfect ingredients for a perfect salad!  This tomato caprese salad is classic as far as flavors go - but jazzed up in the presentation.  Try serving this up at your next cookout or get together, and see how many 'wows' you get!

Tomato Caprese Salad {All Fanned Out}

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Ingredients:

• 1 large vine ripe tomato
• 4-5 thin slices fresh mozzarella
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves
• splash of olive oil
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:
Take your tomato & cut the top off, where the stem would be at.  Then, cut 4-5 slices into it - about 1/4" apart from each other.  Insert a slice of fresh mozzarella & a basil leaf into each slot.  Splash on a little olive oil & balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.


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MOMables Make-it-Fresh! Taco Tray (Homemade Lunchable!)

I had the pleasure of meeting Laura from MOMables while on the California Dairy Tour. We recently decided to get together to do a back to school series.  MOMables has all sorts of homemade, fresh ideas for your kids lunchbox - great ideas just like the one she is sharing today.  So make sure you check out her site, and be back here every Thursday for 4 weeks to see what else she brings - and her site as well for a few back to school guest posts from me!  

Kids love chips and they love dips.

What parents like are fresh and real ingredients - the MOMables™ way. 

Those boxed lunches dangling on the shelves at the grocer right at the kids’ eye level sure are tempting, aren’t they? Convenient – sure. Nutritionally – empty. Sure it has colorful, fun packaging, but that’s where anything good about those prepackaged lunches ends. At MOMables™, we love showing parents how you can turn simple and fun lunches into healthy and fresh meals.

If you want nicer and more colorful packaging, get rid of the zip bag and invest in some fun and reusable lunch containers.

 

The prepackaged lunch comes with tortilla chips, salsa, and cheese dip. “Cheese” - if you can really call it that, since cheese is not even one of the first 3 ingredients listed. The box lunch includes a sugary fruit-flavored drink and candy. You might be thinking, well… if kids eat it, why not buy it? Because the boxed lunch has so many ingredients that aren’t real food that you might as well not call it lunch.

Taco night is very popular in most households, right? Often times you have one left over serving of taco meat and wonder: what the am I going to do with this?  I’ll tell you.  You can make taco tray the MOMables way.

Our taco tray contains high quality beef, shredded real cheese, shredded lettuce, a serving of fruit and whole grain tortilla chips. The only things not pictured are a small container of salsa I usually include, a reusable napkin and utensils.  

This lunch took two or three minutes to prepare and I didn’t need any special tools to make it.  Healthy lunches can include left overs; you just have to re-purpose them!  If you need more lunch ideas you can always visit our blog, Facebook or Pinterest.  Helping busy parents make fresh lunches is what we do!

-- Laura Fuentes shows parents how to make fresh school lunches over at MOMables™.  A wife, mother of 3 and a lunch enthusiast who insists on healthy, wholesome food for her family.  
On her personal blog, Super Glue Mom, she writes about managing motherhood on a deadline.  She’s also a food contributor and recipe developer to numerous sites, and helps busy parents overcome the difficulties of cooking real food in a hurry. You can find Laura on Twitter and on Facebook and MOMables on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. 

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Bananaberry-Kiwi Kabobs

Here's a fun little recipe that I created for Life Around Home that involves absolutely no cooking whatsoever - just a little bit of assembly, and you're all done.  If you haven't checked them out yet - Life Around Home is the first ever social media driven television show, and I happen to be the cooking neighbor for it.  I share new recipes every Monday there, so make sure you go give them a 'like' so you don't miss out on anything.  There is something for everyone too - everything around home, that's what their about.
Now - back to your regularly scheduled recipe...  :)
These fruit kabobs would be a fantastic treat to jazz up the kid's lunchbox, appetizers for a party, or just a snack to serve up when you're hungry.  Kids & adults alike will love the fun colors, pretty presentation, & of course - the flavor!

Bananaberry-Kiwi Kabobsscroll down for the recipe card designed by Life Around Home

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Ingredients:

• whole fresh strawberries, hulled
• fresh blueberries
• bananas, sliced into 1 inch thick pieces
• kiwi fruit, peeled & quartered
• wooden skewers

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients on a wooden skewer in the following order per kabob.  1 strawberry, 1 banana slice, 1 kiwi quarter, & lastly 4-5 blueberries. Serve immediately. 

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{Not Your Typical} Walking Tacos

Once August & September hits - it begins camping season for us.  The temperatures are beginning to get much milder, and the weather is usually perfect.  Sometimes we head out to an actual destination, while other times - we just pop up a tent in the backyard.  Backyard campouts are fun too!  
One of my favorite things about the camping is the food. S'mores, hot dogs, anything cooked in a cast iron skillet - I love it all.  Another one of my favorites are Walking Tacos. But I make mine a little different than the typical recipe.  I don't use taco seasoning, and instead I use fresh ingredients - and the flavor that you end up with because of it is unbeatable.  When Life Around Home asked me to send over a lightened up camping recipe, I just knew that my walking tacos were the ticket.  

They are super fun to make, and to eat.  The kids just go crazy over them! Oh heck, who am I kidding - I go crazy over these too!!
And, you certainly don't have to wait for a campout to enjoy these.  Make them up any time.  They'd even be a really fun lunch option for when you or your kids brown bag it.

{Not Your Typical} Walking Tacos

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Scroll down for the printable recipe card, courtesy of Life Around Home

Ingredients:

• 6-8 - 1oz snack packs of baked cheese flavored tortilla chips (like baked doritos)
• 3/4 pound pound ground sirloin (ground turkey or chicken can also be used)
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed & minced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup black bean & corn salsa
• optional toppings of your choice, such as shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, cilantro, chopped tomatoes, etc

Instructions:

For the prep before camping trip:

In a skillet, start browning the ground meat.  Stir in the onions, jalapeno (if using), garlic powder, chili powder, salt & pepper. Cook until the meat is cooked through and the onions are translucent.  Drain any grease that has come off the meat.  Stir in the black bean & corn salsa.  Allow to cool, and then transfer to a plastic container or wrap the mixture in a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil.  Chill in a cooler until ready to eat at the camp site.

For the camp site:

Warm the meat mixture in a cast iron skillet, or if using a tinfoil packet - warm over the campfire.  (The mixture can also be served cold, but is better warmed) Evenly distribute the mixture in between the snack size tortilla chip packs, crimp the edges, and give each pack a good shake.  Top with any toppings you desire & eat straight from the bag.  

***Remember, you can make these ANY TIME - not just for camping!!***

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Summer Squash Cole Slaw

During this time of year, most gardens are overflowing with squash and zucchini - I thought it would be fun (and tasty) to put a spin on a traditional cole slaw recipe by adding some of them into it.  The flavors meld together so well, and the colors that the dish produces are just so beautiful.  Plus, by adding these veggies into the slaw - you get a whole new health element added.

Summer Squash Cole Slaw

Created by Mrs Happy Homemaker for Life Around Home

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Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized yellow squash, unpeeled & julienned
• 2 small zucchini, unpeeled & julienned
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sugar (or sugar substitute)
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine squash, zucchini, onion, & purple cabbage.  In a separate small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients & mix well with a whisk.  Pour over the squash mixture & toss to coat.  Cover & refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Serve with a slotted spoon.

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Watermelon Feta Salad Tarts

In honor of Watermelon Day, I thought it would be a fun idea to create a fun spin on the traditional watermelon feta salad by combining it with the appearance of a watermelon tart. The presentation is adorable, and gives a whole new life to such a simple recipe.  

The sunflower kernels is something you don't really see in watermelon & feta salad, but it adds just the perfect amount of salt & crunch, and compliments it so well. You can eat it as a snack or as a light meal.  You can even cut the watermelon into smaller circles for a fun party appetizer that is sure to be the talk of the party.

Watermelon & Feta Salad Tarts

created by Mrs Happy Homemaker for Life Around Home

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(per serving)

Ingredients:

• 1 3"-4" round slice of watermelon (use a glass or biscuit cutter)
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup roasted & salted sunflower kernels
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette, or to taste

Instructions:

Lay your circular slice of watermelon on a plate.  Sprinkle with feta cheese.  Arrange the onion slices on top, and around the slice of melon.  Add the sunflower kernels on top of the feta.  Garnish with the balsamic vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.

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Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Here is a re-vamped & much healthier version of the typical ice cream that we all love in the hot months of summer.  It's also dairy free, making it a great option for those who are dairy/lactose intolerant.  It only has 3 ingredients, so it's definitely easy & budget friendly - plus you can pronounce all the ingredients in it!  Definitely a plus in my book.  You don't even have to have an ice cream maker to pull if off either, although you can use one for faster preparation.

Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Ice Creamcreated by Mrs Happy Homemaker for Life Around Home

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Ingredients:

• 2 (14oz) cans full-fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 vanilla bean, split & insides scraped out with a knife (you can also substitute 2 tablespoons of real vanilla extract for the vanilla beans)

Instructions:

Thoroughly combine the coconut milk, honey, & the insides of the vanilla bean with a whisk or electric mixer.  Make sure you beat it well for the honey to combine with the coconut milk.  If using an ice cream maker, follow the manufacturers instructions. Afterwards, place the ice cream in a covered freezer-safe container & freeze for a few hours for flavors to meld & for the ice cream to firm up.  Alternatively, if not using an ice cream maker, place the combined mixture into a glass or steel bowl, cover with plastic wrap, & freeze - removing every hour to whisk it until it's the desired consistency.  This will last 1-2 weeks in the freezer.  

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Pico de Gallo Salsa

It's summer time, and that means that there is a ton of beautiful fresh produce in season.  I have so many recipes that I pull out this time of year, but I think my very favorite is homemade pico de gallo.  I grow tomatoes, jalapenos, & cilantro every year - so it just seems like the perfect thing to make to use it up too.  And, we sure do eat it up.
Pico de Gallo is not hard to make at all, and it really 'makes' a variety of Mexican dishes.  Like my steak tacos.  And, my pork tacos.  Plus - there's always just scooping it up with a tortilla chip for an awesome snack.
It's quite simple actually too.  Start off with your tomatoes - dice them up into petite bits and let them sit in a strainer basket (or colander) over a large bowl. This allows some of the excess juices off the tomatoes.  

Oh, and don't make the mistake of throwing away the tomato juice that drains off.  That's good stuff there - and I'm all about not wasting anything.  It's great to use in a marinade, in a juice or smoothie, or even as extra moisture in a recipe.  I actually use it in my pork tacos (recipe coming tomorrow) to help keep the pork moist while simmering.

While you have your tomatoes draining, dice up your onion, jalapeno, & cilantro.  

That's leftover chopped pork in the picture for pork tacos.  But don't put pork into your Pico de Gallo.  Please.

Once the tomatoes are done being 'juiced', mix it all up in a large bowl.  Then, squeeze the juice of one lime on top and give it another stir.  And, I have to add in that if you don't have one of these nifty lemon/lime juicers, you're missing out.  I am in love with mine, and it gets way more juice out than my hands - and it's just a fraction of the price of a traditional juicer.

Let it sit in the fridge, covered, for a good 30 minutes before serving for the flavors to marry a little.  
Fantastic stuff there, I tell ya.  And pretty too.

Store it in the fridge in an airtight container - and if you see you haven't used it all in about 48 hours (as if that's even possible) - just throw it into your food processor or blender, and make it into a restaurant style salsa, and can it. When my garden is really overflowing, I do this first thing and make several batches to can to enjoy in the winter.  Yummers.

Pico de Gallo Salsa

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(printable button at bottom of post)
Ingredients:

• 4 medium to large vine ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 2-4 jalapenos, minced (use accordingly to how hot you want it)
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1.5 cups, or suit to your taste)
• 1 lime, juiced

Instructions:
Place the diced tomatoes into a strainer, or colander, over a large bowl.  Let 'drain' for about 30 minutes.  Reserve the juice for another use, if desired.  In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, & cilantro.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lime on top, and stir.  Cover, and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes for flavors to marry.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 48-72 hours.  You can also put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender for more of a 'restaurant style' salsa, and it's great for canning purposes this way too.







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