Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing

 

This is a deliciously tangy, full of flavor, easy to make salad dressing that makes any salad exciting!  You'll see 4 cloves of garlic in the recipe but if you know me, 4 cloves of garlic in anything is nowhere near enough.  So if you like a mild garlic flavor, start with 4 cloves.  If you're like me and garlic is life, I add a whole handful of minced garlic to my jar.  

For me, the Apple Cider Vinegar shines through in this dressing and I don't particularly care for the flavor of ACV.  However, you can tame it down by adding liquid stevia extract (I like Pyure) or raw honey to taste.  It's still tangy, still has that garlic spice to it but WAY tames down that ACV.  

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

4 cloves of garlic, minced (or as much garlic as you prefer)

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 tablespoon sea salt

stevia extract or raw honey, to taste (optional)

Pour the olive oil and apple cider vinegar into a pint sized mason jar.

Add the garlic, nutritional yeast, and salt.  Use a fork and whisk until the oil and vinegar have combined.

Taste.  Begin adding sweetener of choice a little at a time, tasting as you go, if desired.  

Store in the fridge.  Shake well before using.

Shrimp and Mixed Greens Salad with Basil Balsamic Dressing

 

If you're looking for a delicious Paleo salad, look no further!  It's light but filling and the perfect lunch.  If I'm going to be on-the-go or if you pack a lunch for work, this is my favorite to-go salad container!  It keeps everything nice and separated until you're ready to eat so everything stays super fresh.  If shrimp isn't your thing, use whatever leftover protein you have on hand.  Some leftover chicken or steak is also delicious as well as lobster, scallops, crab meat...seriously, any protein you like is perfect!  The salad greens are also so very versatile.  Use whatever you like!  Ok, enough chat, here we go!

Basil Balsamic Dressing:

1/2 cup Olive Oil or Avocado Oil

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon or Spicy Brown Mustard

1 tsp. dried basil or 1/2 tsp. fresh basil (I LOVE basil so I put WAY more in.)

1 tsp. Lemon juice

1/4 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

Large Salad:

4-5 cups Organic Mixed Greens (I get mine from Costco)

1 cup (ish) Organic Baby Spinach (I eyeball all of the lettuce amounts)

1 bell pepper, cut into med-large chunks

1 english cucumber, quartered into med-large chunks

1/2 red onion, sliced

10-12 shrimp, cooked (I throw mine in the air fryer sprinkled with some Blackening Seasoning until cooked) or any leftover protein you prefer

For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients into a 2 cup measuring cup.  Whisk until well incorporated.  Set aside.  

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the salad ingredients.  Just before serving, drizzle with as much or as little of the Basil Balsamic dressing as you like.  Refrigerate any leftover dressing.

*If you're packing this for lunch, keep the salad greens and all other ingredients separated until ready to eat.

No-Bake Peppermint Cheesecake

Merry Christmas!  As we're gearing up to spend our first Christmas in Alaska, I've made some yummy desserts that will also keep our blood sugars low without your sweet tooth making the ultimate sacrifice.  For the past several months our family has really changed the way we've been eating and this pie stays within our new normal.  It's sugar-free, keto, gluten-free, low carb, no-bake, and an option to be nut-free if that's your jam.  

Crust:

2 cups almond flour (or sunflower seeds for the nut-free option)

1/3 cup unsweetened, dutch processed cocoa powder 

1/2 stick butter, softened

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup Swerve Granulated Sweetener

Filling:

2 blocks (16oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. liquid stevia

8 drops Young Living Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil (Click here to grab the best oils ever!)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Swerve Confectioners Sweetener

2 drops Young Living Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil

Topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Swerve Confectioners Sweetener

1 drop Young Living Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil

Optional Extras:

Sugar-free crushed candy canes/peppermints

Sugar-free chocolate bar shavings

Sugar-free chocolate chips

First Step: The Crust

Add all of the crust ingredients to a medium mixing bowl.  (If you have a food processor or bender, throw them in that and blitz/pulse them all together until they make a fine crumb.)  If you're like me, and just moved to Alaska and they're still in storage, a medium mixing bowl will do.  Using your hand, mix and squeeze all of the ingredients together until the butter is fully incorporated.  Give it a taste to make sure it's sweet enough for you.  If not, add some more Swerve.  Press the crust into a 9-inch pie plate and set aside.

Second Step: The Filling

Place the first four filling ingredients into a medium mixing bowl (or your stand mixture with the paddle attachment).  Beat those together until smooth.  Give it a taste and make sure it's sweet enough and pepperminty enough.  If not, add more stevia/peppermint vitality.  Keep in mind, you're going to fold in some whipped cream so if it tastes a little strong, it will be diluted in a second.   Add 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup Swerve Confectioners Sweetener, and 2 drops Peppermint Vitality to a medium mixing bowl.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold the peppermint whipped cream into the cream cheese filling and place the mixture in the pie crust.  Place the pie in the fridge until you're ready to top.

Third Step: The Topping

Add all of the topping ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Taste to make sure you like the sweetness and pepperminty-ness.  Adjust as necessary.  Now, you can either get fancy or just spread it all over the top of your pie.  If you want to be fancy, place your topping in a piping bag with a pretty tip and pipe the whipped cream however you like all over the top of your pie.  If that's not your thing, just spread it all over the top.  You can leave it plain like this, or you can sprinkle some crushed sugar-free candy canes all over it, or shaved sugar-free chocolate bar curls, or sugar-free chocolate chips...whatever you like. 

Oven Roasted Green Beans

We've been loving some roasted green beans lately.  It's a great alternative just plain canned green beans (which we also love with a little bit of bacon grease...yum!) and you can do all kinds of fun stuff with them.  Our personal favorite is topped with parmesan cheese and sliced almonds!

Bag of frozen green beans (whatever size will feed your family)

extra virgin olive oil

garlic (powder, sliced cloves, minced...whatever you like)

salt

pepper

parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)

sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with foil.  

Add a generous amount of olive oil to the foil.  

Place your frozen green beans on top of the oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Add garlic powder or cloves (if using).

Use your hands and toss it all around with the olive oil.  If you need more oil, add it...it's soooo good and you want to make sure you have a good coating.

Spread the beans out so that they're in a thin layer.

Place in the oven on the center rack and roast for 10-12 minutes.

Remove the pan and rearrange them a bit so that they don't scorch.  I just take some tongs and mix them around.

Place them back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

When they're done, remove from the oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and sliced almonds.  Serve hot!

**If I'm serving some sort of Asian dish, I like to add soy sauce and a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes before roasting too...so yum!**

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

I know...how hard can it be to make hard boiled eggs?  Does it really deserve a blog post?  Yes!  If you use your Instant Pot to hard boil your eggs, you absolutely need to know this method.  So many people do the 5-5-5 method or the 6-6-6 method or a 4-5-4 method....blah blah blah.  I'm a busy mama and don't have time to carefully time eggs.  I'll mess it up because there's always something to distract me.  So here's the easiest way AND it doesn't require you to babysit it.

Eggs, room temp (I do a dozen or two at a time)

1 cup water

Place the trivet in the bottom of your instant pot.  Add the water to the pot.  Place the eggs on top of the trivet.  

Secure the lid, set the valve to sealing, and process on high pressure for 2 minutes.  THAT'S IT!!  2 minutes!!

Allow the pressure to completely release naturally.  (Read: forget about it while you do other stuff)

Once the pressure has released, take your eggs out and store in the fridge.

Cauliflower Chowder

Whoa baby!  It has been FRIGID here this week!  I mean, subzero temps, wind-chills down to -20, frigid!!  And this is Virginia!  That's coooooold, my friends!  Even for this native Ohioan.  But, I can't lie...I love it!  I LOOOOVE cold weather and snow and overcast days.  These kinds of days make a perfect excuse to have blankets out, a good Netflix marathon going (currently Gilmore Girls) while my daughter is napping, and there is always hot coffee in the pot.  It's when people slow down and stay home and in this busy, go-go-go world, I need days like this.  Where you can just stand outside and listen to the snow fall.  Have you ever listened to the snow fall?  It's one of the most peaceful sounds God created.  For me, that's perfection.  Which brings me to this soup.  It is comfort food without the guilt and it was created to warm you up from the inside out on a frigid evening.  It's slightly sweet from the carrots but it's thick and rich and just warms you to the bones.  Enjoy, my friends.

1/2 stick butter

3 tsp. minced garlic

1 onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

4 celery stalks, diced

1/4 cup flour

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk (or half and half)

1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

onion powder, to taste

cheddar cheese and cooked crumbled bacon as a topping, optional

Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are beginning to soften.  Stir in all of the cauliflower.  Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir and cook about 1 minute until the flour is lightly browned.  Gradually pour in the chicken broth and milk.  Stir constantly, about 3-4 more minutes, until the soup is beginning to thicken.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Once the soup has simmered and thickened, add more salt and pepper to your liking as well as about 1-2 tsp. each of the garlic powder and onion powder.  (I just added it until it tasted how I liked.)

Now, this part is completely optional but I thought it added a nice touch.  Take an immersion blender and give it a few swirls through the soup to break down some of the veggies and make the soup just a bit thicker.  You can also just ladle some into a regular blender and pulse it a few times and add it back into the pot.  Again, all of this is completely optional, but veeeery nice.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon.

Slow Cooker Cilantro-Lime Chicken

My husband and I have recently been looking for some clean eating recipes.  We both feel we need to get rid of some of the sugar and carbs which I'll be honest...that can get ugly.  I was finding that some of the clean eating recipes I had tried were not the flavors that my family typically enjoys.  We like our food to have lots of flavor.  I've found that if the food I cook doesn't have good flavor and the types of flavors we enjoy, we will NEVER stick to any kind of "diet".  Therefore, food must be good.  It can be healthy, but it must be tasty.  So, I was PLEASANTLY surprised by how much flavor this chicken had! Everything about this dish, except for the flour tortillas I had, is clean.  You can probably find clean flour tortillas, but I was in a pinch and only had store brand, regular flour tortillas.  But give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

8 chicken breast halves, or 4 whole breasts

4 limes

1 bunch of cilantro

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4-1/2 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

salsa

avocados

sour cream

flour tortillas, warmed

Lay the chicken breasts into the bottom of a 5 quart crock pot.  

Take one of the limes and remove the zest with a micro-plane.  Add the zest to the crock pot.  Take all 4 of the limes and squeeze all of the juice over the chicken.

Add enough chicken broth to the crock pot to barely cover the bottom.

Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Chop the onion and throw it in.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems and set aside.  Tie the cilantro stems together and lay them on top of the chicken and onions.

Cook on Low for 4-6 hours.

When the chicken has cooked through, remove the cilantro stems and discard.  Remove the chicken from the crock pot and place it in a baking dish.  Using 2 forks, give it a good shred.  Now, I had to discard some of the broth left in the crock pot.  There was way too much (because I think I used more chicken broth than what the recipe called for).  So if you have A LOT of broth, you should get rid of some.  You don't want the chicken to be "soupy".  You just want enough liquid left over to make the chicken moist.  Return the shredded chicken to the crock pot and let it soak up some of the liquid.  To serve, place shredded chicken down the middle of a warmed flour tortilla.  Spoon some salsa on top of the chicken and layer with avocados, sour cream, and chopped cilantro leaves.  Roll it up and enjoy! 

Skinny Buffalo Chicken Tenders

So the Super Bowl was this past weekend.  My husband and I are not huge sports fans...but when it comes to the Super Bowl, we always sit down and watch; mainly for the commercials.  Don't lie...I know there are others like us out there!  But we also *love* Super Bowl food!  Bring on the buffalo, blue cheese, celery, nachos, and dips!  I came across this yummy recipe from my girl at Skinny Taste.  She gave me all of the buffalo flavors I was looking for without all of the guilt of fried chicken wings.  Enjoy!

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tablespoon canola oil

8 strips of chicken tenderloin

1/4 cup Frank's hot sauce

celery

blue cheese dressing

Combine the garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and black pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken tenders and toss to coat.

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet.  Add the seasoned chicken tenders to the hot oil.  Cook until golden about 3-4 minutes.  Flip the tenders over and continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.  (I deviated slightly from the original recipe here.  She takes the chicken out of the pan and then tosses it in the hot sauce.)  I like to add the Frank's to the hot pan and toss the chicken so that it's all coated in warm hot sauce.  Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese.

Low Carb Chicken Noodle Soup

Happy Monday, Friends!  Ok, so this whole gestational diabetes thing is super annoying...but I'm managing.  It's not quite as bad as I had imagined it would be before I started googling different recipes.  And since I know that I HAVE to have carbs, I'm happier.  That being said, I can't over-do it with the carbs, but I'm finding some pretty tasty recipes that are very satisfying.  This is one of them.   For those of you who are also dealing with gestational diabetes...or diabetes in general...my sugar was surprisingly low 1-hour after eating.  You can have a hearty, full bowl of this soup with lots of noodles and my sugar was in the low 100's (anywhere from 109-118).  Anything under 140 for gestational diabetes is considered golden.  So that made me *very* happy.  And I was full when I was done with my bowl!  Bonus!

For me, chicken noodle soup is best when it's made from scratch.  And I mean FROM SCRATCH.  I love to cook a chicken (or a package of chicken thighs), de-bone it, shred the meat, use the meat in the soup and then use the bones to make homemade chicken broth FOR the soup.  It just makes things..."sigh...ahhhhhhh" when you take that first piping hot sip of the broth.  Yes, it's a labor of love.  Yes, it's work.  Yes, I know many of you are rolling your eyes.  Yes...I know.  Store bough chicken broth is FINE.  In fact, if you REALLY want to make it easy on yourself, use store bough chicken broth and canned chicken.  I won't judge.

 

4 cups fully cooked chicken-dark, white or both, de-boned and shredded

8 cups low sodium chicken broth (or your own)

2 cups water

2-3 large celery stalks, chopped

2-3 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 cup white onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced (or 5-7 tsp. garlic powder...more to taste)

onion powder, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

8 oz. whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles, broken into thirds

In a large soup pot, add the chicken, broth, water, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and seasonings.  Stir well to incorporate all of the ingredients together.  Cover the pot and cook on high heat until the mixture begins to boil.  Once it's boiling, turn the temperature down to low and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes, keeping the pot covered and stirring regularly.  After 30 minutes, turn the temperature back up to medium-high and allow the soup to return to a boil.  Add the spaghetti noodles, stir, and put the lid back on.  Allow the noodles to cook for 5 minutes.  At this point, the soup is SUPER hot.  Allow it to cool slightly.  Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings to your liking.  Enjoy!

Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I am normally not a fan of a tortilla soup.  Any recipe I've tried was bland and just not all that exciting.  THIS one...is NOT bland and really made me very happy.  I was in the mood for "Mexican" food the other night but didn't want all of the work of a taco bar and I certainly didn't feel like going out.  (At 8 months pregnant, I look for any excuse to stay home in my sweats.)  And this is a slow cooker meal which doesn't get much easier.  

3 pieces of chicken, cooked and shredded (use whatever you have i.e. breasts, thighs...)

1 (15oz.) jar of salsa (mild, medium, hot...whatever you like)

1 (4oz.) jar of chopped green chili's

1 (15oz.) can of black beans, drained

1 (15oz.) can of corn, drained

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups water

3 cloves of garlic, minced (or 3 tsp. of garlic powder)

1 jalapeno, minced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. lemon juice

Toppings: Tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, avocado slices, fresh chopped cilantro

Note: I always have cooked, shredded chicken in my freezer.  If you have raw chicken breasts you are planning on using in this recipe, just chunk it up raw and throw it in.  It will have plenty of time to cook.  If you're using a bone-in piece of chicken, I would bake it in the oven, let it cool, shred it, then add it to the slow cooker.  That way you won't have to fish out any bones from your soup.

Add all of the ingredients (except the toppings) to a 5-qt. slow cooker.  Stir well to incorporate all of the seasonings.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

When you're ready to eat, add a few crumbled tortilla chips to the bottom of your bowl.  Generously ladle some soup on top of the chips and top with any (or all) of the toppings.  This is a "skinny" recipe, so there's very little guilt here. Serves 4.

Calories: 275, Total Fat: 8 grams, Saturated Fat: 4 grams, Protein: 22 grams, Total Carbs: 29 grams, Sugar: 7 grams, Fiber: 6 grams

Grilled Summer Vegetables

I LOVE grilled veggies!  My most favorite veggie in the whole world to have on the grill is zucchini.  That being said, we grill veggies all the time.  My favorite BLEND of veggies to grill is zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and green peppers.  I love that you can add any or omit any veggie in there that tickles your taste buds.  Asparagus, tomatoes, leeks, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers...ANYTHING.  Here is what I do and these amounts feed about 4 people, so adjust accordingly.

2 zucchini, chopped into 1/2 inch slices

2 yellow squash, chopped into 1/2 inch slices

1 large onion, red or white, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch chunks

olive oil

garlic powder

salt

Heat your grill to high heat.

Chop all those glorious veggies and add to a large bowl.  Drizzle enough olive oil over the veggies to give every piece a light coating.  Generously sprinkle on the garlic powder and salt; to your little heart's desire...and toss it all together.  Place a piece of heavy duty foil over top of your grill grate.  (Otherwise you'll be losing everything through spaces in grill.)   Now, depending on the size of your grill, you may have to grill them in batches.  Every veggie should be able to lay flat on the foil.  You don't want them all piled on top of one another or they'll get mooooshy.  Flip the veggies frequently and grill until you get a nice char on them, but they still have a bit of a crunch when you bite into them.

Skinny Cilantro Lime Rice

Have you ever been to Chipotle and had their rice?  This is a knock-off, skinny recipe for it!  I love all things cilantro and this rice is no exception.  And to make it better, it's "skinny".  One of my favorite sites, Skinny Taste, has come up with an at-home version that you'll make over and over again.  I do.

1 cup extra long grain rice or basmati rice

1/2 lime, the juice of

2 cups water

1 tsp. salt

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

3 tsp. vegetable oil

In a small, heavy pot add rice, water, 1 tsp. of the oil, and salt.  Boil on high until most of the water evaporates.  When the water just skims the top of the rice, reduce to low and cover for 5-10 minutes.  Turn the stove off and keep covered an additional 5 minutes.  Add your rice to a serving bowl.  Drizzle the remaining oil over the rice, squeeze on the lime juice and add the cilantro.  Toss and serve!

Mandarin Romaine Salad

My amazing Pastor's wife brought this delicious salad to a birthday party this Spring.  I seriously couldn't get enough of it.  It's sweet...but not too sweet...and so incredibly fresh and crunchy from the Romaine lettuce and almonds.  She doubled the recipe and it fed a small-ish crowd, so I would say if you're taking this to a party definitely double it.  If you're just making it for home, use the single recipe.

4 tablespoons sugar, divided

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. tobasco sauce

1 bunch romaine lettuce, chopped

1 (11oz.) can mandarin oranges

1 red onion, sliced and separated into rings

In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of sugar and add almonds.  Mix well until the nuts are coated.  Cool and break apart.

In a jar, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar, vegetable oil, vinegar, parsley, salt, pepper, and tobasco sauce.  Shake well and set aside.

In a large bowl toss the lettuce, oranges, nuts and onions.  Dress the salad just before serving.  Serves 4-6 people.

Fruit Salad with Orange-Vanilla Syrup

Oh. My. Word!  My best friend, Pioneer Woman, did NOT let me down when she shared this recipe on her Food Network Easter episode this year.  I love fruit...but this syrup puts it over the top!  It's awesome as part of a breakfast buffet or as a light summer dessert.  I've even made the syrup, poured it over just the strawberries and served the strawberries over short cakes.  Sigh....

For the Syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

The juice and zest of 1 orange

2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan, add all of the ingredients and stir to combine.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to Low and simmer for 15-20 minutes and allow it to thicken slightly.  Set aside to cool, then place in the fridge until it's cold.

For the Fruit:

4 pints strawberries, hulled and halved

2 pints blueberries

2 cups red grapes, halved

2 cups green grapes, halved

Mint leaves

Mix together all of the fruit in a large bowl and pour the cold syrup all over the top.  Toss gently to coat.  Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

 

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

This might be my new favorite summer dressing!  It's tangy and so very fresh...makes my heart happy.  I think it might even be good as a marinade...but I'll check into that on another day.  Use this to dress the Southwestern Chopped Salad.  Ahhh-mazing!  Now, I will say that I like bolder, stronger flavors so if you think some of this might be too much for you, just cut back a little bit on the lime juice and zest and pepper.

1 cup loosely packed cilantro, roughly chopped

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

The zest and juice of 1 lime

1-2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 jalapeno with half of the ribs and seeds removed, roughly chopped

1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar

1/4-1/2 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients, except olive oil, to a blender or food processor.  Process until all of the ingredients are finely chopped.  While the processor is on, stream in 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.  Transfer to an air tight container and chill until ready to use.  Makes approximately 3/4 cup of dressing.

Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake

A friend of mine, and fellow lover of Skinny Taste, texted me and raved about this Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake.  I read through it and immediately put all of the ingredients on my grocery list.  I finally got around to making it this week and it is SO amazing!  In the original recipe she uses her own homemade pesto.  I didn't have any so I used store bought, but if you'd like her homemade skinny pesto recipe, click here. Also, if you've read much of my blog at all then you know how I feel about tomatoes.  Her original Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake recipe includes tomatoes baked onto the top of the chicken...and that's just not for me.  So I omitted them.  But if you'd like to follow her original recipe which includes tomato slices, click here.  For the rest of us non-tomato lovers, this recipe's for us. 

4 chicken breast halves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup pesto

1/2-3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Wash chicken and dry with a paper towel.  Lightly season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.

Place seasoned chicken onto prepared baking sheet.  Divide the pesto evenly over each chicken breast and spread it around making sure the pesto covers the entire top of the breast.

Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear.

Remove the chicken from the oven and add a layer of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese to each breast.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  I served it with sauteed mushrooms and green beans.

Guacamole

Have you ever been to a Mexican restaurant that serves table side guacamole?  THIS IS IT!  The flavor is so fresh and tasty...I could eat it for a meal.  This isn't really a "recipe" per say as it is instructions.  You can add as much or as little of everything as you like.  I like to allow 1 whole avocado per person, so depending on how many people you are feeding, adjust accordingly.

First, slice the avocados in half lengthwise.

Then, using your knife, give the pit a good whack.  Watch your fingers!  Once the knife is wedged into the pit, give a slight twist and the pit will pop right out.  Cool, huh!

Now, I'm not one of those people who thinks you have to have a special tool for everything in the kitchen.  Stores are filled with little gadgets for removing avocados from the skin.  A spoon is all you need.  Seriously.

Scoop all of the delicious goodness out of the skin and into a mixing bowl.

To your avocados, add a generous pinch of salt and garlic powder.  Then, using a fork, start mashing the avocado.  Please, PLEASE don't mash it into a weird green looking paste.  Leave some big chunks in there.  Trust me.  It makes the whole dish.

Next add a generous amount of Salsa, Pico de Gallo Style.  And don't skimp!  The guac should be nice and chunky!

Garnish with some extra cilantro and serve with tortillas and chips.  Definitely a crowd pleaser!

Salsa, Pico de Gallo Style

There are few things I like more in the summer time than having fresh veggies dressed up all different ways.  Take this recipe with you on your next trip to the farmer's market.  It's good enough to eat with a spoon!  I will warn you...it's a bit of a labor of love to dice all of these veggies, but SO worth it!  I once tried to do a short cut and throw everything in my food processor....save yourself the heartache.  Turn on a good show and start chopping.  And if you're making this recipe, you might as well grab some avocado's while you're at the store.  While a tortilla chip...or spoon...is all you need to enjoy this salsa, adding it to smashed avocado's makes for one tasty Guacamole!

3 green peppers, diced

3 onions, diced (I like red, but white works fine too.)

12 roma tomatoes, diced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 tsp. salt (I usually add a little more.)

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

jalepeno peppers, diced and to taste...depending on how spicy you like things

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or overnight is best.