Fruit Salad with a Honey Cinnamon Drizzle!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Hope you all had a great week! I went to Idaho and had a great time. Spent Saturday with Jessica! That was fun! For all you Idaho people who know this place we went to Big Judds Saturday night.... (it was my cheat on diet meal, cause i mean come on.. its Big Judds!!) I ate the burger so fast you would have thought its been months since i had a meal!
Anyway I am back to eating healthy and working out :) I told my mom last night that i am officially addicted to working out!! :) Im going every day this week except Friday cause it is date night :)
So i get back from Idaho yesterday and go to work out. Im debating on weighing myself, afraid of what the scale will say.... Well according to that scale Ive lost another pound!! So I have lost about 5-6 lbs now! I was in shock! I called Jessica to inform her that Big Judds didnt ruin everything! She was happy for me.

So for this competition we are all about at a tie right now of a weight loss of around 6lbs! So the pressure is building! Simon asked me last night what if we do not get to 20lb weight loss by July 1st... Im unsure of what we will do with the competition... extend the date? increase the lb limit to lose? I just dont know!

alright alright... I will get to posting a recipe now... Since you have all waited patiently for that delicious looking fruit salad I will post that recipe.

Fruit Salad with a Honey Cinnamon Drizzle

Ingredients

2 cups cantaloupe, chopped
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup blueberries, chopped
2 kiwis, chopped
1 banana, sliced ( I did not put the banana in it. I was afraid if we could not eat it all the banana would go brown.)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds
dash of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Combine cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis and banana in a medium sized serving bowl. Add the honeydew, lime juice and honey to your blender and pulse or purée until smooth.( I was very skeptical of pureeing the honeydew.. but wow!!)

Add poppy seeds and cinnamon and lightly pulse until combined.

Toss dressing with fruit.

Chill for 2 hours before serving.

For just two of us we had a ton left over... Ate it for breakfast the next day and dinner again.

You probably won’t have leftovers, but if you do…

Save them in the fridge for the next morning, and make a fabulous green smoothie! Add a cup of this salad to your blender, along with 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup cauliflower (optional). Add 8 oz. water and a few ice cubes. Push the smoothie button and enjoy! ( didnt have the ingredients to try this) 

This was a huge hit with my husband and myself. I am planning to make it for big gatherings and stuff to. Very very good! 

 Hope you all enjoy!! I have been cooking away and have many meals and things to share with you! Cant wait!! 

Tierra 

Friday with Tierra!

Hey all!! I know I disappeared there for a long while! Im sure you were all just so worried... lol.. Well I am alive... I got so busy with work that I kept forgetting and the next thing you know a couple months has gone by! I sincerely apologize!
Sorry for letting you down Jessica but I am going to do my best to start back up on Tuesdays. Since we got smart phones I never get on the computer and currently our internet isnt wireless so I havent been getting on as much. Anyway i know excuses excuses!

Well today I am gonna share a recipe I got off of pinterest.com. It is such a simple fast, easy snack!

Pretzel Bites!
http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=932

Ingredients

5-10 thawed Rhodes Rolls (1 roll makes 4 bites)
1/2 cup melted butter
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture (1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon)
1/2 cup finely graded parmesan cheese

Directions

Once Rolls are thawed take a sharp knife and cut into four pieces like your cutting a pizza.
Get a medium sized sauce pan and bring water to a boil. Plop no more then 10 pieces into the boiling water for about 45 seconds. They will puff up. Use a slotted spoon to take them out and placed on a cookie sheet with a paper towel laid down to soak up the excess water. They might deflate a little but not to worry it will all work out!
Once you are all done with that place them on a greased cookie sheet and put in the oven to bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. (Now i have a gas stove so the heat comes from the bottom and not the top. So they did not all get golden brown and you have to watch the bottoms so they dont burn. In my oven it only took about 10 minutes)
While that is baking melt the 1/2 cup of butter and put in a big ziploc baggy. Also put the Cinnamon Sugar mixture in another big ziploc baggy.
When bites are done first put them in the butter, seal the bag and shake!!! Then add into the Cinnamon Sugar, seal the bag, and shake!! Use tongs to take them out and place on a plate.
You can also do just plain ones with butter and sea salt!
You can also shake them in a bag with butter, Parmesan and garlic. Which I did but the Parmesan was not the right kind so didnt work but my husband liked them!

A couple of different sauces to use from that blog are: (I made the vanilla glaze one which was great but i did not do the cheese one. My friend who was with me made a glaze with just powdered sugar and orange juice!! It was my favorite!!)

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Combine sugar, milk, butter and vanilla and mix well.

CHEDDAR DIP

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese.

Melt the butter in a med. size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until blended, and

butter has turned lightly golden brown. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar Cheese until smooth and all of the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper. Shake a few red pepper flakes into sauce for added zing!

If you go to her blog it shows really good pictures of step by step process. You will notice some differences between her steps and mine just find whatever works for you!!

A couple days later I went to pretzelmaker and got some pretzel bites! And to be honest I really enjoyed these ones wayyy better! I do plan to find a pretzel bite recipe making my own dough but this is such a nice easy fast way to make a snack!Sorry for the lame picture lol. We made these at night and the lighting in my house is horrible. So go check out the pics on the other blog! They are great~ (Going clockwise from the left are Cinnamon sugar, parm and garlic and butter and salt)
This was such a fun girls activity!


Enjoy!!

Tuesday with Tierra! (Saltine Cracker Snack)

Can you believe it is already Tuesday again?! How time flies! Well this particular post has been a snack that I have loved for years. When I lived in Rigby a very close family to me made this snack all the time. It is the perfect combination of salt but yet sweet.
Now i dont quite know the exact name of this snack so I just call it the Saltine Cracker Snack. Now dont hate this snack right off the bat cause it may seem weird and you might be thinking how could I possibly like that... Give it a chance! Trust me you will not be let down!

Saltine Cracker Snack
By: Denise Bowcutt

You will need:
1-2 pkgs of saltine crackers
1 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1 Bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease cookie sheet and lay out saltine crackers
In a medium sauce pan boil together brown sugar and butter together for 3 minutes.
Pour over the saltine crackers so that all the crackers are covered equally.
Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbling.
Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan and then pour over the caramelized crackers. Spread evenly.
Cool until the chocolate has become firm. (You may put this in the freezer for 5-10 minutes if you just cannot wait any longer for this yummy goodness!)

Enjoy!!

Holiday Crescent Rolls

I found this recipe at one of my favorite cooking blogs, Jamie Cooks it Up! Jamie is so fresh and honest - you can really tell she is herself. And her recipes are fabulous! I have two recipes I'm sharing in this little mini-series from her and you'll love them both, I promise! Now, this recipe is purely from Jamie, however, in this post I'm going to share with you exactly how I made them. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't need 48 rolls so I'll just tell you how I did it. These are quite possibly some of the best rolls I've ever had so you won't regret making these . . . except for the not-good-for-your-hips part {but hey, that's what the holidays are all about, right? Right??........okay, maybe not}!

Holiday Crescent Rolls
Recipe from: Jamie Cooks it Up!
Time: 3 hours
Makes: 24 rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup scalded milk {put it in a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes}
1 Tbsp. yeast + pinch of sugar
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup {1/2 stick} butter, softened
1 1/2 eggs {I use egg beaters or other type of egg substitute, so you would use 1/4 + 1/8 cup}
5-6 cups flour
1/4 cup {1/2 stick} butter, melted {for shaping the dough}

Directions:

Place the warm water, yeast and dash of sugar in the bottom of your mixer. Stir it around and let it proof {get all bubbly} for 5 minutes.

Add 3 cups of the flour and mix for 30 seconds. You want to add this much flour, before you add the scalded milk and eggs because the hot temperature of the milk would be too much for the yeast, and you don't want to "cook" your eggs.

At this point, drop your sugar container on the floor and spill all the sugar. 

And yes, that really is my beautiful kitchen floor.

Okay, I kid! I kid! This was just my clumsy self making a huge mess. . . .

Add the scalded milk, sugar, salt, softened butter (not the melted butter) and the eggs. Mix for 1 minute.

When you turn on your mixer, be careful not to turn it on too high. I'm just sayin'. Your kitchen could end up looking like this. Not that I would really know anything about that . . . 

The stuff was all over my floor too . . . but you saw enough of that already {besides the fact that you couldn't really see it because everything just blends into the lovely design}

Add the flour 1 C at a time, until the dough scrapes the side of your mixer clean.

Mix on high for 8 minutes. This much mixing really improves the texture and elasticity of the dough. I have also noticed, if I don't mix it long enough the dough doesn't rise as nicely.

Let the dough rise, in the mixer for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down (I just turn the mixer on for about 5 seconds) and divide it into 6 equal parts. Shape each part into a nice round ball and let them rest on the counter top. I always spread a little of the melted butter on the counter top, before I set the dough on it. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Letting dough rest for just a bit before it's shaped makes a HUGE difference when you are trying to shape it. Let's just say it cooperates better.

With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a nice round circle. You want the dough to be about 1/2-3/4 of an inch thick after rolling it out. Pour a bit of butter in the center....I said it was no dieters delight...you see now what I mean.

With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 8 equal triangles. Start from the fat end and roll each triangle up. Place on a large, sprayed cookie sheet.

It works best to place them in 3 rows, 8 rolls deep. They like to be about this close together.

Place them in a warm 170 degree oven, and let them rise for about 20 minutes. Don't let them get too tall. Once they start to touch each other, they have risen enough. I have a convection oven, so I can cook both pans at the same time. If yours is a conventional oven (this means it does not have a fan in the back), you will definitely want to cook one pan at a time. Just set one pan on the counter to rise. It will rise more slowly than the pan in the oven, but it will be just the right amount of time to get the other pan cooked and your oven empty and ready for the second pan.

Turn your oven up to 350. Leave the rolls in while the oven increases in temperature. (I have had people tell me who own gas ovens that they are better off taking the pans out of the oven while the temp. rises) Bake for about 15 minutes. After about 7 minutes (or when the top pan has gotten a bit golden on the top) I switch the bottom pan to the top, and the top to the bottom.

When the rolls are still hot, I brush them all over with more of the melted butter. Delightful!

Homemade Twix Bars

I am not a chocolate lover. Anyone who knows me knows this is true. But lately, I just can't seem to get enough Twix candy bars. Awful. Horrible. Weird. I know. So I decided to try my hand at these homemade Twix bars. Naturally they are different from what you'll buy in the store - I'd dare say they are better! Super yummy and really pretty easy to make.

Homemade Twix Bars

Crust:

1 ¼ c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter; room temp

Caramel:
½ c. butter
½ c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
½ c. sweetened condensed milk


Crumble crust ingredients together {if your butter is still slightly cold instead of at room temperature, you'll find it easier to get everything crumbled together}. Be sure it's mixed very well. You don't want any large pockets of  butter making things difficult. Pack into 9x9 inch pan that has been sprayed, lined with foil and sprayed again {I didn't spray my foil and didn't have any problems}. Bake on 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Note: I used an 8x8 inch pan and everything was a little bit thick. If you don't think you'll like thick crust or caramel, just reserve some of the crust or filling from the pan or try to cut down the ingredients.

Put the butter for the caramel filling in a heavy saucepan and melt. Combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly as it burns easily {I'm no culinary expert but my caramel was cooked too long. I would suggest timing the boiling as soon as you see little bubbles form - this way, it should still be slightly soft but cooked enough to remain firm. I timed it from when it was really boiling and my caramel was too hard}. Remove from heat. Stir with spoon slowly until it shows signs of thickening {about two minutes or so}. Pour over crust and let cool a little.

Top layer:

Melt approximately 1-2 c. chocolate chips with 1 tsp shortening over low heat or in the microwave {because my pan was 8x8 I used 1 cup of chocolate and thought it was plenty}. Pour over caramel layer and spread carefully. Chill. Cut into bars.

Avocado Relish

Unfortunately it seems that I didn't get a very good picture of the finished product! Ever so sorry. You can see it a little better on the Bean and Spinach Burritos {posted below}. This relish is also delicious served with chips or any other kind of burrito. Mmm, yummy! It's making my mouth water just thinking about it!

Avocado Relish
Sarah Harwood

1 large, firm, ripe avocado
2 T fresh lime juice
3/4 C finely chopped seeded tomato
1/2 C minced green onions
1/3 C minced fresh cilantro
1/2 1 tsp hot pepper sauce {optional: I never use it because I can't stand hot stuff. My hubby would probably love it}

Directions:
-combine avocado and lime juice in bowl and toss. Add tomato, onions, cilantro, and hot sauce. Toss gently. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Serve at room temperature.

Nutri-Grain Bars

Dan and I are pretty big fans of Nutri-Grain Bars. We don’t buy them very often, though because we’re cheap and figure we can live without them. And we’re probably right.
We have friends that don’t like Nutri-Grain Bars. They bought a whole box at Sam’s Club {or some other bulk foods store place, I don’t remember} and they decided after they bought the huge box that they didn’t like them. So they gave them to us. We were happy.
Now, all those bars are gone. Told ya we liked ‘em!
But you know what’s even better than Nutri-Grain bars? Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars! I was a little nervous to try this out not being sure what it would taste like. They are so yummy! They make a great snack and are really pretty quick.
The only problems with this recipe:
1 – They’re really messy to eat. We decided that next time we make them we’ll store them in the fridge to hopefully help them set up more. I will also probably put more crust on the bottom
2 – These are super super sweet. I’m the kind of person that likes sweet things to an extent – if it’s too sweet, I probably won’t eat it. For that dilemma, I’ll probably add a few more oats or take some of the cake mix out and possibly use less jam {which may also help with problem #1}
3 – They make a whole 9x13 pan full! This was a little too much for us, especially because they are so sweet! However, you could probably refrigerate them and make sure they are set up and then wrap some individual bars into waxed paper, put into freezer baggies and freeze for a yummy treat any day of the week.
Even with these problems, the recipe is still so delicious! And heck, I think I solved the problems anyway so we’ll be making them again for sure.

Nutri-Grain Bars
Ingredients:
1 pkg yellow cake mix
¾ cup butter
2-1/2 cups quick oats
12 oz preserves or jam
1 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter; combine cake mix and oats in large bowl. Stir in melted butter until mixture is crumbly.
Measure half the mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Press firmly into bottom of pan. Combine preserves and water; spoon over crumb mixture and spread evenly. Cover with remaining crumb mixture. Pat firmly to make even. Make at 375 for 20 minutes. Top should be a light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Valentine's Chex Mix

This is a recipe I found from BettyCrocker.com and it was really quite good. I made it for a ward party, hence the fluted pan (I didn't have anything else that was red!). For those are familiar with muddy buddies, it's a very similar recipe only this one uses white chocolate so I liked it a whole lot more!

Ingredients:

• 9 cups Rice Chex cereal (I actually used about 7-1/2 cups corn chex and 1-1/2 cups wheat chex)
• 1 cup white vanilla baking chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar (I used more than this so it would be more white)
• 1/2 cup red, white and pink candy-coated chocolate candies
• 1/4 cup red or pink jimmies sprinkles, optional

Directions:
In large bowl, place cereal. In small microwaveable bowl, microwave baking chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute/30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.
Place 1/2 of the cereal mixture in 1-gallon food-storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake well to coat. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool (about 15 minutes).
Meanwhile, stir candies and sprinkles into remaining cereal mixture. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool (about 15 minutes).
In serving bowl, mix cereal mixtures. Store in airtight container.

One of the things I like about this recipe is that is can be used for virtually any holiday - a little change of the colors of the candies, and it works for anything!

Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't remember for sure, but I believe I got this recipe from Kraft. And they really live up to their name! They are truly extraordinary!

Need:

• 1 & 1/4 cup granualated sugar
• 1 & 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 bag chips (24 oz) I didn't even come close to using this many

Directions:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla & eggs with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda & salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
- On un-greased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.
-Bake 12-15 minutes, or until light brown. (it only took about 8 minutes in my oven) Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to a cooling rack.

Makes:
About 5 dozen cookies

As you can see, I made these cookies with mint and chocolate chips. That turned out really well.