Mango Chicken Quesadilla March 31, 2011

I used to work at a place called “Themes” which is where I met Ron when he was one of the cooks there.  Anyway,  they made these Mango Chicken Quesadillas that were my favorite thing on the menu!  BUT Ron has no recollection of this AT ALL~  He had no idea what I was talking about so I wanted to make them and maybe  jog his memory.

I decided to cheat and instead of cut up a fresh mango and tomatoes and all the other stuff I just bought a premade Mango Salsa at the grocery store.    It would have been better with the fresh ingredients but I am way to lazy for that.   Stop and Shop has a fresh Mango Salsa that I will get next time. 

     

I cooked off some chicken breast with a little bit of cajun seasoning.

 I had Ron cut up some red onion (I don’t cut onions, ever)  and then layered the onion, cheese, salsa and chicken on half of a  tortilla.  Ron’s trick is if you put down the sour cream or here we used greek yogurt on the tortilla before grilling it is serves to hold all your filling  inside!    I think I should start a “Ron’s Kitchen Secrets”  portion to my blog!

 

Then we used the same Panini Press that we grilled the chicken on to cook the quesadilla just changed out the plates.  SWEET!  Less dishes too!    Don’t forget to spray a little cooking spray on both sides so you get a golden brown color and a crunch to the tortilla.

  I added a little scoop more of greek yogurt and grabbed my Cucumber Martini and dug in.  So Simple yet so yummy.    I also used 2% cheese and no oil or butter.

Ron still has no recollection of this dish, maybe he didn’t work there a the time or maybe I made the whole thing up.       Hahaa.  It was REALLY good.  Now I gotta figure out the  WW points.  Starting back on WW today so I will try to include any new recipes with the points!  Wish me luck.  

Cucumber Martini March 30, 2011

I saw a cucumber drink recipe in “Cooking Light” magazine called “Aqua Fresca de Pepino”    I thought it would make a great Cucumber Martini…..if it taste good without vodka it sure must taste better with vodka was the theory. 

It is really simple ingredients, Sugar, cucumber, lime, and a little serrano chilli.  (we used homemade powdered chili just a pinch)

I had Ron do the work while I took the pics…….I like to make him do the dirty work.

1st peel and seed the cucumber about 2 mediums should do.

Then cut them up into chunks.

Toss in the blender and add 1/4 cup of sugar and that pinch of pepper. (if you use fresh pepper it calls for 1/4 pepper seeded)

Toss it in the blender and add 3 cups of water and 3tbs fresh lime juice and blend.

After it is blended up put it all into the fridge and let it sit overnight.  (or a few hours until dinner is ready) and then strain in a sieve and toss the pulp.

I ran it through the sieve 2x’s to make sure I got all the pulp.  Mix it with vodka in a shaker with ice and a squeeze of lime.

OH MY WORD!! SO GOOD!

Serve this refreshing cooler on a hot day-it’s perfect with spicy Mexican food. Because we only include a tiny amount of seeded Serrano pepper, the beverage doesn’t become very spicy but picks up the “green” vegetal flavors of the pepper.  We had it with a “MANGO CHICKEN QUESADILLAS” which I will be posting tomorrow!

Here is the “Virgin” drink and recipe from myrecipes.com and it’s the same as in the magazine I saw.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 3  cups  chopped seeded peeled cucumber (about 2 medium)
• 1/4  cup  sugar
• 3  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
• 1/4  serrano pepper, seeded
• 3  cups  water
• Ice
• Lime slices (optional)
• Cucumber slices (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Add 3 cups water; cover and refrigerate the mixture overnight.

2. Strain cucumber mixture through a fine sieve over a pitcher; discard solids. Serve over ice; garnish with lime or cucumber slices, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

54

Fat:

0.1g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)

Protein:

0.2g

Carbohydrate:

14g

Fiber:

0.2g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

0.1mg

Sodium:

6mg

Calcium:

11mg

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001988581

Make it Monday PTI March 29, 2011

 

 The “Make It Monday” challenge I did yesterday was WAY OUT OF MY REALM OF ARTISTIC ABILITY!   The challenge was to blend ink using a blending tool.  I had to improvise because I don’t own a blending tool so I used some makeup foam applicator and some different color inks.

What this card really needs is a sailboat stamp…and I don’t have one.  This is called “Ocean Sunset”

I will NOT be trying this technique very often.   HAHAAA.    

EASY Easter Table Centerpice March 28, 2011

I saw a few photos of a centerpiece I wanted to try on http://www.thepartydress.net/2011/03/the-party-dress-magazine/

One that included 2 things: Jelly Beans and some flowers.

It came out cute, but it could really use a few more sprigs of flowers. 

PAPERTREY Ink Blog Hop~ Time for Tea! March 25, 2011

 

I got some new stamps from PaperTrey called Mega Mixed Messages and as soon as I saw the sentiment on one of them I knew what I wanted to make, a Get Well Soon Card!   It worked out well that the challenge for March was to use embroidery floss!!  SWEET!  I was already planning on it! 

 The paper is PaperTrey Bitty Dot Basics.  I used my “A Childs Year” Cricut cartridge and cut out the cup of tea in 3 inches and “George and Basic Shapes” to cut out 1 inch squares for the end of the tea bag string. 

These were really too simple and too cute so I whipped up a few more.  The good thing is that this lends itself well to using some of the prints that I have a hard time mixing different colors with, like this print…..

I actually let the string hang down a little longer than the card so that it can swing around and put the sentiment on both sides.

Another card I made using some smaller scraps that I had of the polka dot paper and cut the mug out of the “Christmas Cheer” cartridge.

The last one I had lined up wrong in the machine and I went of the edge of the paper and didn’t cut the cup out right.  I didn’t want to waste this cutout because I LOVE THIS PAPER so I saved it by moving it over a little and hanging the string of the side to make it look right.  Pretty good save if I do save so myself!

Anyone for tea?  I think this would be cute if you taped a Celestial Seasoning Tea Bag inside.   Hmmmmm.  Anyone I know feeling sick?   cough~ cough~.

One Layer Wednesday Challenge March 24, 2011

I found another Blog Challenge that is right up my card alley.  The challenge from the site Simplity:

The One-Layer Wednesday challenge is to use an egg or eggs on your one-layer card. How easy is this! If you’re not the Easter basket type, use eggs in a nest…or an egg in a cup, an egg and a chicken, an egg-head cartoon, a good egg, whatever. 

I love the one layer theme.  All the cards that are on her site just that and are not covered in 3 million layers of card stock and buttons and over the top embellishments.  Here is what I came up with and I think this is going to be my easter card for friends and family this year I am going to play with the colors and maybe add a little Easter Wish sentiment on the inside.  I just love it.

http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com/

EVO Worcester~Sunday Brunch! March 23, 2011

Ron and I got up early sunday and went to hit up the brunch menu at EVO!  You might remember that we had stopped by there to have a beer and appetizer and loved it so we sent back to check out the brunch menu!  They did not disappoint!  I went with the french toast with whipped cream and fresh berries! From there Website:

 

Italian French Toast 

 

 

 

Two Pieces of Italian bread soaked in pumpkin spiced

egg, grilled and accompanied by fresh berries, whipped

cream and Vermont Maple Syrup.

 

Ron went for the Eggs Benny!  (which is another of my favs)

They made the home fries with 3 different types of potatoes Yukon Golds, Sweet potatoes and  Purple Peruvian Potato (say that 3x’s fast) 

 

We love EVO and will be heading back to hit up the dinner menu soon.  OMG~ amazing.

Em’s Sunrise Dinner Party March 22, 2011

Who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner or being able to show up at a dinner party in your PJ’s!  Emily does a theme dinner once a month and March was a Breakfast for dinner complete with made to order pancakes with your choise of toppings.

As always it was a potluck style and there was lots of yummy egg dishes.  There was a baked cheese that kind of tasted like a Brie but was a bit different in a pizza dough shell.  

 There were a few different baked egg strata type things.  This was mine. I made it with turkey sausage, cheese, eggs, and french bread.

Katie and Alyssa made something very similar to mine one had bacon and crescent roll.  Both were delicious.

And some Corn Beef Hash! 

And this little thing that looked as good as it taste!

You can’t have a yummy Breakfast Dinner without a few Mimosa’s

Everyone wore some really cute Pajama’s and some even cuter slippers which I totally wish I had gotten some pics of.   

The recipe I used was from Gina’s.

Make-Over Breakfast Sausage and Mushroom Strata
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes 
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1/8th • Old Points: 7 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 288.2 • Fat: 12.4 g • Carb: 18.2 g • Fiber: 1.3 g • Protein: 24.3 g

• 8 oz wheat ciabatta bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (Chabaso)
• 12 oz turkey breakfast sausage (I used Jenny-O in frozen section)
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 1-1/2 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 12 oz egg substitute, like egg beaters
• 1/2  cup  chopped green onions
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt and fresh pepper
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange bread cubes on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes or until toasted.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage to pan; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Combine milk, cheese, eggs, egg substitute, parmesan cheese, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add bread, sausage, scallions and mushrooms, tossing well to coat bread. Spoon mixture into a 13×9-inch baking dish. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Uncover casserole. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Cut into 8 pieces; serve immediately

Thanks Em for another great Dinner Party!

Snowy Spring Start March 21, 2011

I woke up today to a blizzard going on outside my window and then I remember this flower and went out to take a picture of it.

How beautiful is that? 

Rootbeer Float! Where have you been? March 20, 2011

I have not had a root beer float in FOREVER~  I saw it on the menu at the BBQ place we went to and have been craving one ever since.  Then I saw these little ice creams and knew just what to do!

It’s the perfect amount of ice-cream and soda!

And the best part of buying it in these little sizes is that I don’t have the whole half-gallon in the fridge calling my name to come back for seconds. 

This was exactly what I was craving.   The taste of a root beer float can take you back.    YUMMMMMMM!