Hazelnut, peach, blackberry, chicken, blue cheese salad

This salad was absolutely amazing! Perfect for summer!

http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/04/grilled-chicken-salad-for-dinn.html

Brisket

Yum-o!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/texas-oven-roasted-beef-brisket-recipe/index.html

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

Quite possibly one of the best salads I've ever had!

http://pinchofyum.com/chopped-thai-chicken-salad

-I had a ton of those organic mixed greens from Costco, so chopped that up and used that instead of cabbage.
-I didn't use chili pepper - so it wasn't too spicy for the kids.
-My papaya (from Trader Joes) was really ripe, so I diced it instead of trying to shred it.
-I added mint!!!  Because we love mint!!! And it goes so well with thai food!

Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce

We just got done eating this. It was amazing!

http://theboogieblog.net/2011/02/27/stuffed-salmon-w-sriracha-cream-sauce/

Last night's salad

This is what what we ate last night. Tonight's salad was good, but this salad was phenomenal.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/thai-marinated-skewered-and-grilled-jumbo-shrimp-recipe/index.html

http://www.grouprecipes.com/11419/thai-mango-salad.html

For the salad: I didn't sautée the peanuts, I just threw them on top. Instead of mixed greens, I used baby kale (from Costco).

For the shrimp: I used 1 lb of shrimp and made half the marinade. I didn't have tamarind paste for the shrimp. I just went with out. We ate the shrimp on top of the salad.

Chicken Berry Salad

What we ate tonight:

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/salads/chicken-berry-salad/

I left out the sugar in the salad dressing and it was definitely sweet enough.

Super yummy!!

Soy Sauce Green Beans

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/soy-glazed-green-beans-recipe/index.html

We love these and make them a the time! Even the kids ask for seconds and thirds. I skip the first part about blanching the beans and just go straight to sautéing them instead.

Kale Salad and Paleo Pancakes

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/raw_kale_salad_with_balsamic_pine_nuts_and_parmesan/ 

http://www.roostblog.com/roost/spiced-banana-almond-meal-pancakes.html 

I added whey protein to the batter, which made it dry, so I also added almond milk. I also threw in some chia seeds and ground flax seeds.

Both recipes were delicious!!!

Our beliefs about food, and a great fish dinner

Here is what we believe about food and why:

Watch those carbs:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/18/pasta-not-bacon-makes-you-fat-but-how.aspx

Don't rule out bacon:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/03/eating-bacon.aspx

Don't rule out butter either:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/07/why-is-butter-better.aspx

Fat is good for you:
http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner_fats.htm

Low fat is not good for you:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/21/why-you-need-to-avoid-low-fat-milk-and-cheese.aspx

Death by sugar:
http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717

Fish Rub:
This rub was taken from a Blackened Salmon recipe, however, I find that it works well with multiple types of fish.  Along with salmon, we have tried tilapia.  
It makes a ton, so you can use what you need and save the rest for another meal.
-2 Tbsp paprika (I like smoked)
-1 Tbsp cayenne (can be omitted if you don't want it to be spicy)
-1 Tbsp onion powder
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp ground white pepper
-1/2 tsp ground black pepper
-1/4 tsp dried thyme
-1/4 tsp dried basil
-1/4 tsp dried oregano

I melt a whole stick of butter - yes a whole stick of butter - you could use whatever amount you like.  If I'm grilling the fish,  I put a couple of sheet of foil together to create a kind of pan to put the fish in and enough to fold up over the fish to enclose it while grilling.  I pour the melted butter onto the foil pan, place the fish on top of the butter and sprinkle the rub on top of the fish.  How much rub you use is up to you.  I find that you don't need much.  I have gotten four meals out of this recipe.  If I bake the fish, I do pretty much the same in a glass baking dish.  I pour the butter in the dish, place the fish on top, and sprinkle on the rub.  I do not cover the fish with foil in the oven.  The other day I did tilapia at 425 degrees for about 20 min.

We serve the fish along side a caesar salad with this dressing:
Classic Caesar Salad Dressing
http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2011/07/classic-caesar-salad-dressing-recipe/
It is probably my favorite homemade caesar salad dressing.  I bough anchovy paste for it.

Our favorite dressing and the salad to go with it

For the Creamy Balsamic Dressing:
(makes 1 2/3 cups of dressing)
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons seasoning salt such as Lawry's
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra light olive oil

I wrote the dressing out here because I've modified it just a bit.  It calls for two types of salt and I felt like that was too much salt.  The original recipe and salad recipe are here:

http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2012/03/kitchen-sink-chopped-salad-with-creamy-balsamic-dressing.html

Baked Oatmeal with Fruit

http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/09/12/baked-oatmeal-with-fruit/

Another one of our FAVORITES!

Trying it with Tilapia tonight. 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/halibut-with-coconut-red-curry-sauce-10000001880016/

Two more long time favorites

http://m.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-grilled-chicken-with-cilantro-dipping-sauce

I let the chicken marinate all day. I like the extra flavor.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/crispy-kale-chips-recipe/index.html

I use coconut oil in the kale chips. Mmm!

The last three meals

Tonight: http://spoonful.com/recipes/grandma-lulays-chicken-and-dumplings
(But I just used bite sized pieces of chicken breast)

Last night:
http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/shrimp-with-bacon-cheese-polenta-10000001622429/

2 nights ago:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1590
-I didn't use white bread and milk. I just added about 1/3 C bread crumbs to the mixture.
-I used Parmesan cheese instead of parmigiano-reggiano
-I made 10 small patties. I topped 5 of them with the ham and cheese and then added another patty on top and molded the two patties around the ham and cheese to cover it.
-I browned the croquettes in butter in s pan, then finished cooking them in the oven at 400° for about 30 min.

Yum!

http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/spicy-asian-noodles-with-chicken-10000001880019/

This was great! The kids ate it. We love Asian food and will make this again!

One of my favorites

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/braised-hoisin-beer-short-ribs-with-creamy-mashed-yukons-and-sesame-snow-peas-recipe/index.html

Omg chicken, kale salad, and kale chips

I've made the OMG chicken before-the one from Pinterest. It's really good. We tried out the kale salad tonight and even though we didn't have pancetta or radicchio, it was still at hit. We had left over kale so I made kale chips with that-tossed in coconut oil and salt. There were no leftovers!

http://theenchantedcook.blogspot.com/2011/10/parmesan-crusted-chicken-hellmanns-mayo.html?m=1

http://seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/serious-salads-kale-apple-and-pancetta-salad.html

Asian Salmon with Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/seafood/asian-salmon-with-oven-roasted-sweet-potatoes/

Oh, it was SO GOOD!

SE Asian Fried Rice

Dinner last night was delish! It was time consuming, but I don't mind. You make time for the things you love, and I love to cook. I haven't blogged my dinners in amost a year. I'm not making any commitments to say I'm back in the saddle because clearly I can't commit to blog, (this is the third time I've started it up), but I'll give it a good effort. It's a new year and a good time to try to form good habits. At least I have a good excuse if I fall behind - they are 5, 3, and (almost) 7 months. So here goes:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/southeast-asian-fried-rice-10000001949703/