Cottage Cheese Stuffed Avocado with Two Options

Perfect for eating on the deck with some pretty flowers nearby.

It's getting hot around here, and I don't mean in the good way.  I mean in the frizzy hair, damp underarms, I'm cranky and have lost my appetite kind of way.

Generally I don't eat a heavy lunch anyway because I get home from work late.  So I eat a light lunch around 1:30 and then eat supper around 5:30.  Most of my lunches are some form of leftover from the previous night.  However sometimes there aren't leftovers, or now that it's hot, I don't feel like messing with heating anything up.  On those days I make myself a salad, a pimento cheese sandwich, or my latest obsession - an avocado stuffed with cottage cheese.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Brussels Sprouts

My husband declared in late October that he felt he needed to lose a little weight and try to eat healthier.  According to the USDA, he was, in fact considered obese.  And I have to say that in 6 months, he's lost 30 pounds just by changing his diet alone.

Creamy Beef and Penne with Vegetables

Eons ago when I thought I was a good cook, and my husband did too, but in reality what I did was fake it with processed foods and shortcuts that may or may not have worked, I made a pasta dish I'd found in a magazine.  It had stew beef, mostaccioli pasta, and lots of vegetables.  I remember it being good, but for some reason I never made it again.

Foil Pack Fish Filets

My husband and I love fish (the 8 year old, not so much).  We especially love to put fish on the grill.  Usually we buy salmon, but occasionally I'll find a good sale or managers special on something else that we'll try instead.

Birthday Sleep-over Snack Food

On Saturday the 8 year old will be having his 9th birthday party at the local skating rink and afterward his 3 closest friends will spend the night with us for an "after party."  The party package includes pizza and sodas, but we'll be eating around 4:30.  So I thought our overnight guests will probably want more to eat later in the evening.  I can't see corralling them to sit down for a meal, though.  That's where heavy "finger food" snacks come in.  I'll be setting things out buffet style and letting the boys eat what and when they want.

Corn Tortilla Dogs

One day this summer I was standing in the middle of a 7-11 waiting for the 8 year old to finish up his "pit stop."  The hot dog roller caught my eye and as I watched hot dogs, taquitos, corn dogs, and batter covered round foods slowly turning on the heated rollers, I thought to myself "I bet I could make something like that at home."  Thus the corn tortilla dog was born.

Cast Iron Skillet Nachos

The final post of my little two week camping series is for these super yummy and easy cast iron skillet nachos.  You don't really cook the nachos in the skillet.  It's more for getting everything warm once its assembled and for serving.  So if you don't have a cast iron skillet, don't panic.  You can still make these nachos easily using a heavy duty pan or even a disposable aluminum pan.

S'mores Trail Mix

Here's a quick, easy one for a day time hike or an overnight car camping trip.  We like to mix up a big batch of this before all of our camping trips so we can snack on it in the car or while we're waiting for supper at the camp site.  I like it because, while it's admittedly not the healthiest snack mix out there, it's fun and versatile.

Meal Plan Camping Style

Things have been a little stressful in good ways and in not so good ways around the Now Things Are Cookin' household the last few weeks, which is why the blog has been quiet lately.  My husband and his best friend have known each other literally all their lives.  They lived across the street from each other from the time they were babies until they graduated from high school and even roomed together in college.  Two weeks ago my husband's best friend's father passed away.  Both the family and my husband have been taking it hard.

Two days after the funeral, we took our annual  four day/three night (car) camping trip with three other families. We've taken this trip ever since the 8 year old was the 3 year old,  It's always a trip we look forward to every year, even after the disaster of a trip four years ago when it was 100 degrees every day and none of our campsites had any shade!

Avocado Smothered Chicken

Avocado is usually one of those things in our house that ends up in salsa or guacamole and not much else.  I blame it on my husband who generally steers away from avocado.  However, lately he's been asking for a little avocado slices on the side when we have Mexican oriented food.

Peach Blueberry Garden Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinegrette

Okay, I have a small confession.  While I do love vegetables (I was that crazy kid who at age 5 would gobble up a plate of steamed broccoli and ask for more), I sometimes prefer fruit even more.  So if I can find a way to combine them into one meal, that's just about the closest thing to perfection I can get.

Vacation Meal Ideas

Later this summer when our family goes on vacation to Virginia Beach, we're planning on eating most of our meals in the hotel room to save money.  We did this last year on our vacation too, but I wasn't quite as prepared.  This year I'm already making food to freeze and take with us on our trip.  My husband and I are already talking about eating out at the two restaurants we tried last year, but for the most part, we'll make all our meals in our room or pack picnic lunches to be enjoyed on the beach.

Two Super Easy Sauces

Ever have one of those nights when you've got to get supper in the table in a hurry and you're not feeling inspired, so you pull out a tried and true meal?  For me that's usually breaded chicken with rice or angel hair pasta.  Sometimes I'll manage broiled salmon if I've found some on managers special.  But then...there's that look on your family's faces.  That look of resignation that you've just phoned it in for dinner tonight.

Cast Iron Skillet Breakfast Casserole

When I decided to go gluten free back in January to help me resolve some of my health issues, one of my first challenges was what to eat for breakfast.  I know it's the most important meal of the day, but it's a meal I usually just grabbed some cereal or a muffin while trying to get the 8 year old off to school.  I was even guilty of stopping for a doughnut more often than could be called a special treat.

No Bake Granola "Cupcakes"

Five years ago next month when the 8 year old was just barely 3 1/2, my mom got terribly sick.  My dad, who is paralyzed on the right side of his body called me after three days and asked if I'd make the 2 hour drive to their house to help care for both of them until my mom was well.  The two of them thought she had the stomach flu.  I, of course, agreed, but I told my dad to make sure my mom was prepared to go to the ER when I got there.  She hadn't been able to keep anything on her stomach for three days, so I knew she was dehydrated.

Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls

The 8 year old will eat just about anything if I wrap it in what he calls a "blanket," i.e. a crescent roll.  He still won't eat tomatoes, though, so I do leave them out of his portions.  Because he loves sausage gravy, I thought he would love this too, and I was right.

Deli Sandwich Skewers

So I have a confession to make.  I'm not one of those moms who whips up a beautiful packed bento style lunch for the 8 year old each day.  In fact he usually gets a sandwich, a container of fruit, and some other sort of "side" like cheese flavored crackers, graham crackers, cheese sticks, or fruit leather.  The fanciest I go is to spread cream cheese on a whole wheat tortilla and roll it up.  However yesterday school was delayed two hours due to "wintery mix," so I had extra time to do something special.

Beefy Rice Romano

A couple years ago when we were really struggling financially and getting food from a food bank, we happened upon a box of Parmesan cheese flavored rice mix.  There was a "recipe" on the back of the box for Beef and Rice Romano.  Basically one was to combine a pound of browned ground beef with the rice mix.  At the time, it seemed like an inexpensive way to make a decent dinner for my family.  The 8 year old sucked it down like there was no tomorrow and kept telling me to keep the recipe forever.

Chicken Crescent Bundles

My 7 year old has a certain few recipes he absolutely loves.  This is one of them.  Oh, he won't eat them with spinach, of course, so I prepare a few for him without the spinach.  Another thing I like about this is that it's a good quick and easy meal for those busy weeknights when we have Scouts or get home late.

Chicken Crescent Bundles

6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup milk
3 cups cooked shredded or chopped chicken
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
fresh cracked pepper
2 cans refrigerated crescent roll sheets
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350*.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, milk, chicken, spinach and pepper.

Unroll one crescent roll sheet and lay out on baking sheet.  Cut in half lengthwise, then again widthwise.  Spoon 1/8 of the chicken mixture on each rectangle.  Fold over the the long edges, then the short edges, pinching lightly to seal.  Repeat with second crescent sheet.

Brush all 8 bundles with butter and sprinkle bread crumbs on each.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pancakes

It's pancake night!  Well, almost.  Tuesday, we'll have pancakes to mark Fat Tuesday and the beginning of Lent.  While we aren't particularly religious, nor are we Catholic, I do like the idea of a period of reflection and service.  But I also like pancakes especially when they are covered in yummy berry syrup.