Shredded Beef Verde Tacos

 Every time that I have Mexican food, I remember how much I love it! I came up with a weeknight taco recipe so that when I came home I could indulge in some delicious shredded beef tacos!

Ingredients: (This recipe is just for the beef taco filling, make sure to also purchase taco shells and other various toppings!)

3-5 lb pot roast
1/2 purple onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/8 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 jar of salsa verde

Directions:

Chop up the purple onion and garlic.

Place the pot roast in the crock pot. Top with the garlic.

Then top with the purple onion, salsa verde and top with the cilantro.

Place the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.

Take the beef out of the crock pot and shred with a fork. Throw away any fat.

Now here is the fun part! Use the beef as your taco filling and top with your favorite ingredients! I used my left over taco meat for taco salads the next night! Yummy and easy!

Cinnamon Bun Smoothie

This recipe is super easy for a busy work morning! The first time I made it, my boyfriend asked why I didn't make him a double, that's how good it was!

Ingredients:

3 ice cubes
1 packet of Quaker weight control maple & brown sugar instant oats
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
A dash of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of milk (I used silk vanilla milk for extra flavor!)

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in the blender. Place the blender on "smoothie" option for about 1 minute or until it is well blended. Pour into a cup or mason jar and garnish with another dash of cinnamon! Yummy!

Mac and Cheese Bar !!!

Nothing beats any type of food bar for any type of party! I had a ladies night the other night and made a mac and cheese food bar, because honestly, who doesn't love mac and cheese? Especially when it's loaded! For the cheese sauce I used Ragu double cheddar sauce, a little bit of milk and a mixed shredded cheese. I kept it in the crock pot so that it stayed warm throughout the night. There are endless toppings that taste great on mac and cheese so I narrowed it down for my mac and cheese bar. I also printed out some recipe examples in case anyone was stuck on what type of combination to make. 

 Feel free to be creative and have fun!

Bruschetta Chicken over Roasted Veggies

What a delicious and healthy meal! This definitely curbed my appetite for Italian food! I wasn't even missing pasta when I ate this! With buying the bruschetta instead of making it myself, I was able to save a lot of time on my busy week night!

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken tenders or thin sliced chicken breast
1 bunch of asparagus
1 purple onion
1 ball of mozzarella cheese
1 container of bruschetta (I used the Trader Joe's brand and it was delicious!)
1 tablespoon of EVOO
Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Salt and pepper for garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 400. Chop the asparagus in half and chop up your purple onion. Place the asparagus and onion, along with the EVOO drizzled on top in a casserole dish and place in the oven.The vegetables will need about 35-40 minutes to cook. Next, grill up your chicken. While your chicken is grilling, warm up your bruschetta and thinly slice your mozzarella. Once the chicken is finished cooking, top with thin slices of mozzarella and top with the bruschetta. Plate up with the vegetables underneath and garnish with fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper. Dig in and enjoy!

Tomato and Onion Quiche

Nothing beats a nice homemade quiche on a Sunday morning! Feel free to be creative and use what ever vegetables and cheese you want or have on hand!

Ingredients:

1 Pillsbury pie crust
4 eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of cream
1 onion
2 tomatoes
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1 cup of desired shredded cheese
1/2 tablespoon of EVOO
Non-stick pray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Take a medium sized frying pan, and place 1/2 tablespoon of EVOO and place on medium heat. Dice up your onion and place into the frying pan. Allow the onion to cook until it is cooked through. While your onions are cooking, dice up 1 of the tomatoes and set aside. In a mixing bowl, add your eggs, milk, cream, a dash of Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and whisk until well blended. Mix in your diced up tomato, 3/4 cup of cheese and cooked onions to the mixing bowl and stir well. Spray your pie tin with non-stick spray. Lay out your pie crust to evenly fill the pie tin. Fill the crust with your egg mixture. Place in the oven for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, take your quiche out of the oven. Slice your second tomato thin and use it to make a design on your quiche. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and place it back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Take the quiche out of the oven and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mini Bunt Cakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these for my boyfriend's mothers birthday and they were delicious! If fall had a taste, these would be it!

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1 package of super moist carrot cake
3/4 cup of water
1 can of pumpkin (15oz)
Mini bunt cake pan
Non-stick spray

For the Frosting:

2 cups of confectioners sugar
4oz of cream cheese (don't use fat free)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of cold cubed butter

Directions: 

For the cake:

Preheat your oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the carrot cake mix, water and can of pumpkin. Mix well until it is well blended. Spray your bunt cake pan with non-stick spray. Fill them half way with the mixture. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until it passes the toothpick trick.

Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack. I used a butter knife to gently remove my cakes from the pan. Allow to fully cool before frosting them. This recipe should make about 9 mini bunt cakes.

For the Frosting:

Add all of your frosting ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Blend with a hand mixer. Start at a slow speed and slowly increase the speed until it is a frosting like consistency.

Once the frosting is well mixed, place in a large ziplock bag.Cut a small edge off the tip of the bag and gently squeeze the frosting out on to the cakes with your desired design. Be sure to keep the frosting refrigerated because it has cream cheese in it! Serve and dig in!

Blueberry Pie Bars

 

I made these last night and they were finger licking good! You can cut them up as bars, slices of pie orrrr just dig in with a spoon like I did!

Ingredients:

For the crumb part:

1 cup of sugar

3 cups of flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

1 egg

1 cup of cold cubed butter

For the filling part:

4 cups of fresh blueberries

 tsp of vanilla extract

 tsp of corn starch 

1/2 cup of sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to  375. In a mixing bowl, add the 1 cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix well. Cut in the cold butter and egg. The dough will be crumbly.

Next, make your filling. Add the blueberries, corn starch, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Gently mash and stir the ingredients until they are well mixed.

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. Take 1/2 of the dough mixture and layer it flat in the pan. Next, layer your filling mix on top. Top off with the remaining dough mixture. Cook in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes or until it is golden brown and bubbly. If you are serving this warm, vanilla bean ice cream is the perfect topper! If you are cutting them into bars, let them cool completely before cutting them.