Pico and Feta Stuffed Avocado

Tonight I went with a super easy super healthy dinner, stuffed avocados and salad. Here it is :)

Ingredients:

• 3 avocados 
• 1 6oz pkg tomato basil feta cheese
• 1 tub fresh chopped pico (that tomato and onion stuff you can find in the fresh produce section)
• Half a package garlic parmasean panko bread crumbs
• Garlic Powder
• Chili Powder
• salt and pepper 

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Cut avocados in half and remove pits. Place on backing sheet. Combine Pico, feta and some panko bread crumbs together in bowl. I use the whole tub of pico and throw in the rest until the mix looks good to me. Save some of the bread crumbs to top the avocados with though. Add a little garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Scoop mixture into avocados, top with panko and bake for 8-12 minutes. 

There is really no wrong way to do this. I eyeball everything with this recipe. My 5 and 7 year old liked it a lot. We did salad on the side also. 

Before topping with Panko

Fresh out of the oven

DELICIOUS! 

Crock Pot Honey BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders

I am finding a new love for the crock pot. My Husband recently got out of the Marine Corps after 13 years and we are staying with my Mom and Great Grandmother until we can buy our own home. So when I cook I'm cooking for 2 kids, 4 adults while trying to take care of Little Man who will be 6 months soon. The crock pot is my friend. When I made ratatouille in the crock pot I wore Little Man in the sling while I chopped veggies until he fell asleep... Finished chopping and walked away. Awesome. What's more awesome than a crock pot? BBQ! So here's crock pot BBQ :) Enjoy! I usually make 6 chicken breasts when doing this recipe but I shortened it to 4 here because most people aren't feeding as many as I am right now. When I make 6 chicken breasts for 4 adults and 2 kids I have left overs.


Ingredients: 

• Large package of Kings Hawiian Sweet Rolls (or two small)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/8 cup soy sauce 
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce 

Directions:

Melt butter in microwave while you put your chicken into the crock pot. Mix melted butter, soy sauce, honey, and BBQ sauce in bowl then pour over chicken. Cook in crock pot on low for 5-7 hours. When chicken is done it will easily shred with a fork. I shred in crock pot and mix with sauce then scoop chicken on to a sweet roll. Simple, delicious.

Here is a pic of the sliders I made for Super Bowl this year :)

Sausage Ratatouille Ala Crock Pot

I LOVE Ratatouille! So simple, so delicious. Ratatouille, in case you missed the movie, is a traditional French vegetable stew. This is one of my favorite comfort foods. Here is my super simple crock pot recipe for Ratatouille.

My Veg, carrots are hiding on the bottom.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage 
• 3 bell peppers, I use yellow, orange and green.
• 1 egg plant
• 1 zucchini 
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 yellow onion (I always prefer using shallots but I can't find decent sized ones around here)
• handful of purple fingerling potatoes or any other small potatoe 
• 3 mushrooms
•  3 carrots
• 1 can peeled tomatoes, drained
• 1 can diced garlic fire roasted tomatoes, juice and all
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning 
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop all vegetables into "bite" size pieces. Roll sausage into small meatballs. Layer vegetables and sausage meatballs in crock pot. Add spices, olive oil, canned tomatoes and water. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.  

Delicious!

Guinness Shepherds Pie

I have been getting asked about some of my recipes lately so I decided I would start a blog with the recipes I like to make. Not many pics this time around but heres the scoop! Tonight I made Guinness Shepherd's Pie, super easy and everyone loved it. Here is my recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef (or any other ground meat that fits your fancy)
• 1 bottle of Guinness 
• One 12oz bag of frozen veggies. I use Birds Eye steam fresh asparagus, corn and carrots mix.
• One 14 oz can of diced garlic fire roasted tomatoes.
•  1 box instant garlic mashed potato mix. Most boxes come with two pouches of potato mix, I use both.
• pepper
• garlic powder
• shredded or sliced cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. 

Brown beef and season with pepper and garlic powder. Then add some of the Guiness. Use your own judgement as to how much. You don't want soup but some of it will cook off. I usually buy a pint, eyeball how much I use and use the rest in other recipes.  Add tomatoes and vegetables and cook 7 minutes uncovered. Make mashed potatoes . Put beef mix in glass baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes. 

Bake for 20 minutes. In the last 5 mins top with cheese, in the last 2 turn on the broiler to get a nice crust on the cheese. 

This is a great easy recipe you can make with whatever you have laying around. I didn't have enough shredded cheddar so I broke up some sliced cheddar and also used some shredded parm. You can use whatever frozen or fresh veg you have on hand. You can use Worcestershire instead of Guinness, or with.  I despise mashing potatoes but hey go for it, even better. 

Here is a pic of tonight's dinner, I wasn't planning on taking a photo so it may not look all pretty but it was AMAZING.