Halloween Dinner!

this year i thought i would attempt a fun halloween themed dinner for the family--it always seems the boys are in such a hurry to costume up and head out trick or treating that dinner is rushed and picked at and candy ends up being their most substantial evening meal! this year i scoured pinterest and came up with some winners.

the dinner:
hot dog mummies (i added bacon bits for eyes and used pillsbury reduced fat crescent rolls)

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Middle Eastern Kabobs With Tomato Relish

Kabobs Recipe

Ingredients: (makes 6 kabobs)

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 c. plain low-fat yogurt

1 TB. lemon juice

1 ts. dry mustard

summer detox water!

i have been seeing various concoctions of detox water all over pinterest lately and decided i too was going to minimize my diet sodas this summer and drink something with some nutritional/healthy value. i am here to say---this stuff is FABULOUS! it still pretty much tastes like water but with subtle hints of the lemon, mint, ginger and cucumber. nothing is overpowering--it's just REFRESHING.  it's super simple to make too. you just need water and a pitcher along with these ingredients:

three-berry focaccia bliss

this is your perfect dessert! its so tart, sweet and delectable--ideal for a hot summer day. you only need a handful of ingredients and its ready in 30 minutes!


ingredients:
*1 10 oz portion fresh of frozen (thawed) whole-wheat pizza of bread dough
     (i just used a boboli whole wheat crust and it was perfect)

*1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

*1 tsp. olive oil

*1/4 c sugar

*1/4 c each of fresh blackberries, raspberries and blueberries--i used a lot more though

Mediterranean dinner!

here is a recipe i stumbled across and it turned out to be a definite hit with the family!

very easy and can be made early in the day and refrigerated until you are ready to cook it. the original recipe calls for 'smoked paprika' and i only had regular paprika but otherwise i followed the recipe faithfully.

you just need chicken, tomatoes (yellow and red), cilantro, lemons, cannelloni beans, and the usual herbs and spices. the avocado yogurt sauce was a nice addition but my kids didn't like it.
i served it with whole grain pita and couscous.

my st. paddys feast

this year i decided to make my own st patricks day dinner instead of my usual run to the grocers deli to buy their corned beef dinner
overall, it was quite a success! the soda bread was a bit dry and dense and my irish tea cake completely sunk in the middle (thus my coverup by dumping a bunch of berries in the middle!) and i am not sure if i would add the rutabaga again (first time i have eaten it and it wasn't very memorable) but the whole family loved it and i made enough to last us at least 3 meals. i also bought stick on mustaches and 4 leaf clover beads for everyone to wear at dinner time to make the meal extra festive!

i think i cut my bread slits a bit too deep!

a quick and simple slow cooker dinner the whole family will love!

today i made a tortellini crockpot dinner that was delicious and easy

ingredients needed:

1 tube of uncooked rolled sausage (i used bob evans italian)

1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini

2 cans diced italian tomatoes (drained)

3 cups chicken broth

if you need a winning dessert---go with this- CHEESEBURGER CUPCAKES!

my son needed an entry for his cub scout annual dessert contest. the good part is i knew about this two months out. immediately i began searching online to find 'the one'. i had snickers race cars, aquarium jello molds, and campfire cakes all on the 'maybe' list until i stumbled upon cheeseburger cupcakes! these were the cutest things and upon further searching i discovered they are everywhere--just google cheeseburger cupcakes. i probably looked at 20 different versions and then just customized my own.