Layered Taco Dip

I love furniture!  My favorite thing is to go to antique stores and consignment stores to find old furniture that has character.  Preferably the cheap kind!  I see the value in old expensive furniture, but our budget just doesn't quite match up.  I had been looking for a corner cabinet to go in our dinning room.  My mother in law found this one which was perfect!  It just needed a little touching up to update it.

Before:  ugly wood and silver hardware.

Close up of silver hardware.

I painted the inside with the same color as our dinning room walls and spray painted the hardware with oil rubbed bronze (my new favorite can of spray paint)!

The finished product before it was staged.

Spay painted with ORB

Close up

This is a typical layered dip.  It fulfills my Mexican cravings quite well.  Just try it for yourself and make it your own!

Layered Taco Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Frito's bean dip
• Guacamole
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• Shredded cheese (I prefer white cheddar)
• Salsa
• Pickled Jalapenos
• Optional layers:  diced tomatoes, black olives, green onions
• Serve with tortilla chips

Layer dip in ~8X8 dish.  Layer bean dip, guac, mix together next three ingredients in a separate bowl (mayo, sour cream, and taco seasoning) and add on top of guac, shredded cheese, salsa, and pickled jalapenos.  Enjoy!

Polenta Stack with Black Bean and Chickpea Salad

A few months back, we had the pleasure of adopting a sweet goldendoodle named Hank.  He was previously a clients dog and due to unfortunately circumstances he needed a new home.  I fell in love immediately!  How could you not love that face!  

Hank & Alex

Hank is an amazing dog.  He looks awesome, everyone loves him, and he has the best personality.  

Love him!

Alex loves using him at his shows because there is no need to worry about him biting anyone. He loves adults and kids!  

I had to babysit Hank in the van at one event after we discovered that he DOES NOT like gunfire!  The police did a demonstration with police dogs that involved gunfire and he freaked out.  It might be his ONLY flaw.

Most of all, Hank is making a difference in the lives of others.  Alex brings him up to my work frequently to do therapy with my patients.  Those who are in the memory care clinic especially love him.  I think even when the rest of the world can't understand you, there is an unspoken bond between a person and a dog.  It makes my heart smile to see him light up their faces.  Even though they forget who he is with each visit, they are just as happy to be re-introduced the next session.  It is such a blessing to have this sweet dog in our lives.  Now he is living with my in-laws due to the lack of space for another dog at our house. We make frequent stops to see him throughout the week and take him with us whenever time permits.  He is just a love!

I know grilling season is coming to an end, but we have still had some great warm evenings.  I found this recipe on my friend Tracy's blog.  It was my first time cooking polenta and I loved it.  It comes in a tube and is the consistency of grits.  This is a great vegetarian dish that is still a well balanced meal.  Enjoy!

Polenta Stack with Black Bean and Chickpea Salad

Source:  http://kitchenambition.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 1 tube prepared polenta, cut into slices
• 1 zucchini, cut into slices
• 1/2 bottle roasted red peppers, drained (I omitted this since I don't like peppers)

Directions:

Heat grill. Coat the inside of four 18" pieces of tin foil with cooking spray. Combine the beans, tomatoes, basil, and half of the feta in a bowl. Place 1/4 of the bean mixture in each piece of foil. Add the sliced zucchini, then polenta, then roasted red peppers, and finally the remaining feta cheese. Grill on a slow cooker grill for about 30 minutes, or on a gas grill for 10-15. Serve and enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Sadly, I took horrible pictures of this hummus dip.  So you will just have to use your imagination and know that it was awesome if you are a garlic lover, which I am!

I feel like I have been struggling with my food photography lately.  I think I am either in a hurry or super hungry.  I just assume one will turn out good, and lately they have not.

Enough complaining!

Our small group had an outing at the shooting range the other week.  Yes, I actually enjoy to shoot my husbands guns.  He has always loved this hobby. I have always been terrified by guns!  I hate that they are all over our house. I feel like they are an accident waiting to happen...until recently.  I finally went with him one afternoon to the range.  After getting acquainted with the gun and over my fear, I loved it!  My husband was so excited that we could finally go shooting together and have a really good time.

Trying my best to not look afraid.

Old pro right here

He looks good in action!

SMALL GROUP PICTURES

Beth shooting Alex's AR15

Jordan with his new gun.  I love that I caught the "fire" in this shot.

Mark and Mary showing off the cool gear we got to wear.  Safety first:)

My hot husband showing off again.

Lauren patiently taking instructions from Jon

And she is off!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Source:  Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

• 2 heads of garlic, intact
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 tbsp. tahini
• 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Remove the papery outer skins of the garlic heads, leaving them otherwise intact.  Chop off the top quarter of the head so that all of the cloves are exposed.  Wrap the garlic in foil and bake until very tender, about 1 hour.  Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the sliced garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the cooking oil.  Set aside.  Once the roasted garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves from their skins (you should have about ¼ cup).

In a small prep bowl, combine the lemon juice and water.  In another bowl, whisk together the reserved garlic cooking oil and the tahini.  In the bowl of a food processor, process the chickpeas, the roasted garlic puree, the remaining clove of garlic, salt and cayenne until the mixture is finely ground, about 20 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the machine running, add the lemon juice-water mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream.  Scrape down the bowl and process for an additional minute.  With the machine running, add the oil-tahini mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream.  Scrape down the bowl and continue to process until the hummus is smooth and creamy.  Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil, top with toasted garlic slices and minced fresh parsley, if desired.

Roasted Green Beans and Chicken Sausage

Today is such a special day because it is our FIVE year anniversary!  I am so blessed to have met such an amazing man that can tolerate all my craziness.  We had my friend Ali read the following verse at our wedding:


1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


Alex lives out this verse everyday in our lives.  He is such an amazing leader for me and shows me nothing but unconditional love.  I am honored to have him as my husband, and look forward to growing with him for the rest of our lives.

My amazing, picky husband:)

Alex definitely surprised me with this new camera!  Not just any camera, but an SLR which I have been wanting for a long time.  After talking to some friends in photography, he went with the Nikon D40.

I love it!

I am very intimidated by technology of any sort, including this new guy.  I plan on taking a class with Lauren soon so I can take full advantage of all the cool things it can do.  Until then, I will continue to snap away at things around the house...primary subject=the dogs:)  Hope you don't get too sick of looking at our four legged children.

Tini jumped up in Alex's lap hoping to find some good eats on the kitchen table.  Look at her licking her lips!

Tucker is my big teddy bear!

I feel like Jackson looks like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.

"Grandma, what big teeth you have", said Little Red Riding Hood

"Better to eat you with, my dear", said the wolf

We were supposed to grab dinner with some good friends last night, but plans fell through when one of them got sick.  Boo for colds.  I ran to Trader Joe's to pick up something quick and easy.  I decided that roasting veggies is my new favorite thing.  I grabbed some green beans and chicken sausage to throw together last night.  It was super yummy and easy.  

I think I could eat this with just about anything and call it the best dish ever.

Roasted Green Beans and Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

• Green Beans, wash and trim ends
• Kosher Salt
• Olive Oil
• Chicken Sausage of your choice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  While it is heating, spread green beans on baking sheet.  Drizzle beans with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake until the beans look shriveled and slightly browned.  ~15 minutes.  

BEFORE

AFTER

While the beans are roasting, cut sausage and saute over medium in pan until browned.  

Combine once completed.

Bean Tostadas

Candle lit dinner because the power was out!

Atlanta and the surrounding cities were hit hard on Monday with some crazy storms.  Alex and I were out doing some shopping for our trip to Mexico in less than TWO weeks!  We had one last stop when the sky turned gray and the bottom fell out.  We heard the weather sirens and decided we should head home because Tini freaks out with storms.  

Easier said then done.  We get to Crabapple, which is the street we live off, and traffic was backed up all the way down Hwy. 92 to turn onto it.  We decide to keep heading down 92 to King Rd.  In a moments time we were in the middle of a hail storm.  It was crazy and very scary.  We made it home in one piece. It wasn't even raining once we got home.

I was hungry so I got dinner ready while Alex took care of the dogs.  The bean tostadas were super easy and healthy.  Right when we were about to serve ourselves the power went out.  Thank goodness for gas stoves:)  Alex went and grabbed a flash light and his head lamp to light the way.  

In the dark with his head lamp.

Dinner was awesome.  We will definitely be making this again.  Alex threw some left over steak into a pan with some chipotle pepper sauce and sauteed it to add to his tostada.  You can use this mix in a burrito or a taco.  

Bean Tostadas

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp minced chipotle in adobo sauce (found on the ethnic aisle)
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 1-15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 tbsp. fresh salsa
• Corn tortillas
• Optional Toppings:  Shredded cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, green onions, lettuce
• (You could also add cooked chicken or steak if you want meat)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper; stir, cooking 30 seconds.  Add the beans and the vegetable broth to the pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. 

While the beans are cooking place another small skillet over medium heat.  Brush olive oil on desired number of corn tortillas.  Place in skillet and cook on each side until cooked through.  Approximately 2-3 minutes.  

 Remove the bean skillet from the heat, stir in the salsa and mash the mixture with a potato masher.

Lay tortilla flat and add bean mixture.  Top with desired toppings and enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Bad picture, but I promise it tastes great!

While I was snowed in last week I made our menu for this week.  I thought this soup would hit the spot with the cold weather.  I love how you can make it your own with all the different toppings you can add.  This is a great Sunday soup to make since you need a little time for it to cook.

I am sitting here now, snacking on some pistachios, wishing I had a bowl of this soup in front of me!  You get hungry at 10AM when you get up at 5AM.

I made two batches of this soup.  One for my small group co-leader who just had her 5th child right after Christmas.  We lead a group of freshman girls at InsideOut which is the high school ministry at North Point Community Church.  Our girls are awesome!  We have 21 total.  We meet once a week on Sunday evenings for a service just for the high school students.  We then break off and have small group time where we discuss questions from the service.  I also have the pleasure of hanging out with them outside of group too.  We are having a pancake breakfast this weekend which will be so fun!  I get to see these girls grow in their faith over the next four years.  What an awesome experience!  

The other batch was for my other small group.  My husband and I also lead a married couples small group.  We formed this group from close friends.  There have been some changes lately in group members so we wanted to host a dinner with the "new" group and allow everyone some social time to get to know each other.  We had a great time over a great meal.  Lauren made a yummy batch of gluten free Mexican brownies for dessert.  She said she would post the recipe soon so here is a link to her blog.

As I have mentioned many times, I do not like bell peppers so I omitted them from this recipe and it was still great.  Feel free to play with the toppings.  I read the original reviews and everyone said you definitely should add some lime to the finished product.  I agree!  Great flavor!

I cut the tortilla strips and sprayed them with PAM and placed them in the oven at 350 for about 6 minutes then under the broiler for about 1 minutes to make them crisp.  This step is not necessary since you will be putting them in soup and they will get soggy, but I like it anyway:)

Source:  The Pioneer Woman
Servings:  8

Ingredients:

• 2 whole chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 can rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• 32 ounces low sodium chicken broth (I used 2-14.5 oz cans because that is what we had in the pantry)
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 cups hot water (just let the tap water run until hot)
• 2 cans black beans rinsed and drained
• 3 tbsp. cornmeal or masa
• 5 whole corn tortillas, cut into strips about 2-3 inches
• Optional toppings: sour cream, diced avocado, diced red onion, salsa or pico, grated cheese (monterey jack, cheddar), cilantro, and definitely lime.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Mix cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt.  

Drizzle approximately 1 tbsp. olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides.  Set aside the rest of the spice mix for later.  Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your meat thermometer says they are done.  

Use two forks to shred chicken.  Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a pot over medium heat.  Add onions, peppers, and minced garlic.  

Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix.  

Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.  

Pour in rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans.  Bring to a  boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.  

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water.  

Pour into soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes.  Check seasonings, adding more if needed.  I added a few more shakes of all (chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and salt).  Turn off heat and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.  Add tortilla strips before serving.  Serve and add toppings.  Enjoy!

Veggie Chili

I am so grateful for this snow day.  I am not good at just relaxing, but this will force me to just chill out at home.  I stocked up on food this weekend like all the other crazy people at the grocery store.  I decided to make this veggie chili I saw in my Southern Living magazine for company that we had coming over last night.  Our good friends, Kristen and Cody, are adopting a sweet baby girl from China.  We wanted to hear about all the latest updates over a warm meal.  Here is a link to her blog about Mae.  Such a sweet story.  Kristen is dairy free/does not eat red meat and I am gluten free.  As you can imagine this makes for a limited menu.  Luckily this chili hit the spot!

Kristen all ready to brave the drive home in the snow.

As with all recipes I have to change up something.  For starters I used organic carrots which are smaller than normal carrots so I used four instead of two.  It also called for a chili seasoning kit.  I have never seen a kit so I just bought the chili seasoning packets from Sam's.  It turned out the first ingredient was whole wheat so that wouldn't work.  Alex ran back out to the store for me and found a Tex-Mex chili packet that was gluten free.  We used three of those packets instead of the one chili seasoning kit the recipe called for.  This chili turned out to be a big hit.  Everyone loved how hearty it was even though there was no meat.  I also made gluten free cornbread that was awesome.  I will be blogging on that soon!

A quick note on organic fruits and vegetables.  Organic fruits and vegetables have not been sprayed with pesticides.  The research has shown that even after washing fruits and vegetables that pesticides still remain on non-organic foods.  There is no research on the long term affects that this might have on our health, but I feel  it makes sense to eat organic.  I have always understood you should buy organic things that you can not peel.  Things that we peel, bananas, oranges, lemons, etc. are fine to buy non-organic.  Here is an article explaining the same thing.

I did not use the French's Chili packet shown, but the Tex Mex one instead.

Source:  Adapted from January 2011 Southern Living Magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots, diced (or 4 small carrots)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 1.25 oz packets of Tex Mex Chili Seasoning (any kind would work or if you find the chili seasoning kit use that)
• 1 8oz. can tomato sauce
• 3 cups tomato juice
• 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 15 oz cans great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn (I used white shoepeg because that was already in the freezer)

Directions:

Saute carrots and onions in hot oil in a 5 to 6 qt Dutch oven over medium heat 7 minutes or until onions are translucent.  If using the chili seasoning kit, stir in half of the red pepper packets and all remaining packets.  If you are using the regular chili seasoning packets then dump all three in now.  Saute mixture 2 minutes.  Stir in tomato sauce and next 7 ingredients.  

Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Serve with desired toppings.  We used sharp white cheddar cheese and cilantro.  You could also use sour cream, chopped green onions, and chopped tomatoes.  

Three Bean Soup

This recipe has been passed around our family for years.  It is a quick and easy go to meal when you really do not have time to cook.  You just dump it all in a pot and let it go.

I made this recipe for our friends, Allison and Chris, because they just had a precious baby girl, Stella.  Allison is not a vegetarian, but she does not really enjoy most meat dishes.  (For a strict vegetarian you could substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock.)  I think it is always great to take soup when people might be receiving  a lot of food because they can freeze your soup and eat it at another time.

You can play with this recipe and make it "yours".  I am sure you can add sauteed onions, peppers, and garlic to spice it up a bit.

Before I was gluten free we served this with cornbread.  I am hoping to try some gluten free versions and will blog on those adventures soon.

DISCLAIMER:  My "picky husband" does not like the amount of diced tomatoes in this recipe.  He picks most of them out which leaves more for me!

Three Bean Soup
Walker/Conger Family Recipe (Unknown original source)
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 cans of beans, drained and rinsed (Use whatever you like.  I used pinto, kidney, and black beans)
3 cans of diced tomatoes (I have started buying these in bulk at Sam's...much cheaper than the grocery store)
1 can of corn
2 cans of chicken broth (Another good bulk buy at Sam's)
1 packet of dry ranch dressing
1/2-3/4 packet of taco seasoning (I use a whole packet.  You can add a little spice by getting hot vs. mild)

Place all ingredients into a pot and heat to a boil.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes.  I simmer for one hour.  (See, I told you it was easy!)