breakfast wrap

Look how good this looks!  I used a whole wheat tortilla and mine was so stuffed it was more of a fold-over than a wrap.  My other family members used huge white tortillas so they were able to wrap theirs.  These wraps were a big hit.  The sauce of course was what made them extra yummy. 

breakfast wrap
They're pretty easy so I'll just tell you what we put in them-
turkey bacon, baked (we love the kind from Trader Joes)

scrambled eggs
sauteed sliced mushrooms and sliced onions
wilted spinach (we used the microwave to it)
sliced tomatoes
cheese (we used sharp white Tillamook)
tortillas

sauce:  light sour cream mixed with your favorite salsa

Melt the cheese in a tortilla then stack it with delicious toppings.  Wrap it all up and enjoy!

three ingredient tomato soup

My kids cheer when I tell them we're having homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner...and it's the easiest dinner EVER especially because for the grilled cheese sandwiches I use our sandwich maker. (I'll be sending each of my kids to college with a sandwich maker!)  We loved this soup.  I think this will be my go-to tomato soup recipe.

three ingredient tomato soup (adapted from inspiredtaste.net)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan option (this is much less than what the original recipe calls for)
1 onion, cut into large wedges
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or more to taste

Melt butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large saucepan.
Add onion wedges, water, tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a simmer.  Cook, uncovered for about 40 minutes.  Stir occasionally.
Blend the soup (I used an immersion blender) then season to taste.

olive focaccia bread

We had a delicious Father's Day dinner.  Peruvian Beef Kabobs, Grilled Vegetable Kabobs, fresh veggies with hummus, fruit and olive focaccia bread.  For dessert we had store bought cheesecake with fresh berries and Hershey's triple chocolate cake.  It was a lot of food and tasted so good.

olive focaccia bread (adapted from the pioneer woman)
makes 2
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup olives (any variety or combination roughly chopped and blotted dry)
olive oil for drizzling
kosher salt for sprinkling

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water.  Let stand for a few minutes.
Add salt, olive oil and 3 cups flour and mix together with a spoon until you need to use your hands.  Knead, adding flour as necessary until a nice soft dough forms.
Coat dough with a little olive oil and put back into the bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Set aside for 1-2 hours or store in the refrigerator until needed.
To make focaccia, remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.  Place chopped olives on top of the dough then very gently knead the olives into the dough.  Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle.  Place on separate sheet pans or cookies sheets drizzled with olive oil.  Drizzle more olive oil on top of the ovals.  Let sit for up to an hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Press dimples into the surface of the dough.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake 30-40 minutes until focaccia is golden brown.  Cut into pieces with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.  Serve right away.

the best ground chicken burgers

This chicken burger was awesome.  It beat my expectations even though I baked them and enjoyed mine without cheese.  YUM.  It was perfect after an afternoon at the river.

the best ground chicken burgers (slightly adapted from allrecipes.com)
1 pound lean ground chicken breast
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 small onion, finely grated
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Take a half-cup scoop and scoop 4 patties.  Turn into thick, round patties and place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Bake patties for 30 minutes.
For cheeseburgers, place a slice of cheese on top of the burgers and cook for an additional minute or two or until cheese melts.
Place each patty into a hamburger bun and top with your favorite toppings.

simple barbecue sauce

Last night my plan was to make some grilled BBQ chicken and some grilled Asian chicken.  I went to marinate the BBQ chicken and there were only a few drops left!  Gasp.  So I made some.  It was delicious.  Sweet, tangy and smoky.  I'd definitely make it again.  It only took 5 minutes.

simple barbecue sauce (Cooking NY Times)
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for a few minutes.

100% whole wheat french bread

I decided to try a bread recipe I love but a whole wheat version since I avoid refined grains as much as possible (my family is another story).  This bread is so soft and delicious!  I pulled out my homemade strawberry jam and sunshine jam and the family really enjoyed it.  They prefer the white french bread but with jam they'll eat whole wheat! :)
Note:  With the leftover loaf I think I'll make a big hoagie sandwich.  My kids will love that.  They love big, long Subway-type sandwiches and won't mind the whole wheat at all with all the fixings!

100% whole wheat french bread
makes 3 loaves
2 1/2 cups very warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur brand)
2 tablespoons yeast

Note:  You can make this bread using a standing mixer but I like to make it by hand.
Pour yeast into a large bowl.  Slowly pour very warm water over the top.  Add sugar, salt and oil.  Let stand 5-10 minutes until yeast softens.  Add flour 2-ish cups at a time until you've added 5 cups and stir well.  When you are unable to stir well with a spoon, begin kneading in the bowl until dough is soft and flour is well incorporated and you can take the blob of dough out of the bowl and knead it on the counter top.  Continue to add flour until a soft dough forms.  Place back into the bowl and let rest 10 minutes.  Punch dough then let rest 10 minutes.  Repeat until you have punched the dough 5 times.  After the final 10 minutes divide the dough into 3 balls.  Use your hands to roll the balls into long rectangular bread shapes.  Brush tops with olive oil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

sunshine jam

Anyone in need of a little liquid sunshine?  This pineapple jam turned out GREAT and I am so excited about it!  I got the idea because a friend's birthday was coming up and she loves all things tropical because she lived in Hawaii during her college years so the idea of pineapple jam came to me and I had to go with it.  My family thought it was pretty great on crackers with cream cheese, by the way.  I ended up making three batches.  Each batch made 4 jars with a little left over...to eat right away of course!

sunshine jam (pineapple jam) (keyingredient.com)
1 (20 ounce) can of crushed pineapple
6 to 8 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
3 cups white sugar
1.175 ounce box Sure Jell pectin powder (pretty sure my box was 2 ounces)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I used 1 teaspoon and all batches turned out great)

Prepare steamer or water bath.
Prep the jars by cleaning them (I put them in the dishwasher and timed it right so the jars were hot as I needed to till them).  Set them on a large baking sheet.
Empty the undrained can of crushed pineapple into a large measuring cup and add enough pineapple juice to equal 3 1/4 cups.
In a large pot, add the pineapple and juice and pectin and bring to a rolling boil.
Add all of the sugar at once and stir.
Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Add the butter and continue stirring for 1-3 minutes.  
Using a ladle, fill the clean canning jars and with a clean, damp cloth quickly wipe off the rims of the jars and put the two piece lids on.  Process the jars in a steamer or water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool on the counter.

chicken avocado burgers

An hour before dinner I didn't know what was for dinner but I had some ground chicken to use.  I found this recipe and it was great!  A great way to use ground chicken.  My son wondered why his burger was green but he ate it and seemed to enjoy it. That's a win.

chicken avocado burgers (delish)
1 pound ground chicken
1 avocado, mashed
1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
buns- we used sliced french bread, toasted or whole wheat english muffins 
lettuce
tomato
sliced pickles
sliced red onion
your favorite condiments

In a large bowl, combine chicken with avocado, breadcrumbs, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Stir well to combine and season with salt and pepper.  Form the mixture into 4 patties (I used an ice cream scoop and made 5 patties). 
In a large skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, over medium-high heat,  add the patties and cook until golden brown on one side 4-5 minutes.  Flip the patties and cook another 3-5 minutes until cooked through.
Serve on a bun with lettuce, tomato and onion.