Watermelon and Feta Summer Salad

Recently while pinning I have been coming across many recipes that include watermelon and feta cheese in a salad- it seems to be pretty trendy... Now, I am not a huge watermelon person, but I do LOVE feta and something about the watermelon/feta cheese combination just grabbed my attention, so I have been searching for a good recipe to try ever since!

The one that I finally settled on, actually came from Sprout (the channel my son watches)!  Every now and then they will share healthy recipes with their viewers.  I saw this and thought it just looked delicious and, again, EASY so I knew I had to attempt it!  The kalamata olives and red wine was another part of the combination that reeled me in, so I went ahead and made it for lunch today! 

Nothing fancy about it, just throw all the ingredients together and be prepared to be WOW-ed!  The taste is unbelievable- super tasty and refreshing and just screams "SUMMER"...

Watermelon and Feta Summer Salad

 Arugula (I used an arugula/spinach mix)

Watermelon 

Red Onion

Kalamata Olives

Feta Cheese

Red Wine Vinegar (and oil if you like)

Black Pepper

Cut watermelon into bite size pieces, or what I did, was use a melon baller, and throw in a bowl on top of greens.

Chop onion and add to bowl.

Add olives and as much feta as you wish.

Sprinkle with some red wine vinegar and toss! (I didn't add oil to mine, but I know most people enjoy red wine vinegar AND oil, so feel free to add that.)

I always top everything with pepper so go ahead and add some black pepper to the top too!

  <3LML.

Marinated Beef Tips and Veggie Sauté Over Sticky Rice

Summer time= trying to save money by cutting down on my usual once a week grocery shopping trips! 

 This causes me to have to scrounge the cabinets and try to make a meal out of ingredients that we already have.  Last night I made no plans for dinner... it's funny that during the school year I seem to be more on top of meal planning and organization even though I am busier than in the summer!  So, last night I went to the freezer and found some beef tips that I had bought at one point but didn't use and ended up freezing them.  I also had some frozen mixed veggies and of course, sticky rice!  (I literally have a 10 lb. bag that my girlfriend gave me, so rice is always on hand!)

I have made many-a stir fry, but I always end up making it too dry or not very flavorful, or something just doesn't seem right.  Yesterday however, I think I ended up making some pretty moist and flavorful beef to throw on top of the sticky rice!

Marinated Beef Tips and Veggie Sauté Over Sticky Rice

Package of Beef Tips (the kind cut for stew)

Marinade:

Italian Dressing

Worcestershire Sauce

Onion Onion Seasoning 

Seasoned Salt

Garlic Salt

Salt

Pepper 

Olive Oil

Soy Sauce

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

White Rice or Sticky Rice

Butter

Put beef tips in a Tupperware container, plastic bag or any other container.  Pour Italian dressing over beef until tips are covered.  Add about half of that amount of Worcestershire sauce to the beef.  Season beef with Onion Onion until all tips have seasoning on them.  Do the same with Seasoned Salt.  Sprinkle garlic salt, salt, and black pepper over tips to your liking.  Mix beef tips in marinade so that all tips are coated.  Close container or bag, put it in the refrigerator, and let it marinate for an hour to an hour and a half, or longer if you desire.  

In the meantime, go ahead and cook the rice according to the package.  I cooked two cups of rice and after it is cooked but still hot, I like to add a big spoonful of butter and salt to it. : )

After beef tips have marinated, heat up a skillet and drizzle with olive oil.  Add beef tips AND all marinade from the container to the skillet.

Sauté beef in the marinade in the pan until the beef is mostly cooked through and most of the marinade has been reduced.  I then took the beef tips out of the skillet and cut them down to smaller pieces since the tips for stew tend to be cut a bit larger.  After you have cut down the tips into smaller pieces, add the desired amount of frozen veggies and continue to sauté.  There should be a little bit of marinade left in the skillet.

After veggies are cooked, taste and add any more seasoning if you think it needs it.

Finally drizzle beef/veggie mixture with soy sauce.

Serve over rice.

Happysauteing<3LML.

Tomato Mozzarella Lasagna Roll Ups

Yet another Pinterest idea that made it to my food board that I wanted to try it immediately!  I glanced at the recipe but mostly just used the picture then ran with it.  I have included the original recipe to give credit where credit is due...

Caprese Lasagna Roll Ups

Any chance I get, I try to make our food a little "healthier" than what we normally eat.  The handful of times I have made lasagna, it has been loaded with ground meat, hot Italian sausage, pepperoni, etc.  We are meat lovers, but when I saw this idea, I decided to try it sans meat to focus more on the taste of the Roma tomatoes and cut some of the grease that's in my usual lasagna.  However, you will never see me reduce the amount of cheese I use. : )   

I loooved this idea for many reasons, one of which is that it was super easy and uses minimal ingredients.  It was a less overwhelming than making a lasagna. And my number one pet peeve about lasagna is cutting and serving it- it usually, without fail, falls apart on me.  These lasagna rolls stayed rolled perfectly and I did not have to worry about cutting anything apart and trying to keep it together as I transferred it from the glass casserole dish to the plate.

The recipe called for an egg white and when I make lasagna I usually mix the egg in with the Ricotta cheese, but was fresh out of eggs today.  I went ahead and attempted the recipe anyway and everything worked out fine... so, I will not include the egg white in my version, although the recipe link does.  Also, I need to call attention to the fact that yes, I use jarred sauce!  My mother made homemade sauce my entire life and is very Italian, but I have not gotten to the point of trying my own sauce.  So for now, jarred sauce it is! (Sorry mom!)

Tomato Mozzarella Lasagna Roll Ups

One box of lasagna noodles

Part skim milk ricotta cheese 32 oz.

One jar of sauce (I like Bertolli's Italian Sausage)

Shredded mozzarella cheese 4 cup bag and 1 extra cup

6-7 Roma Tomatoes

Garlic Salt

Oregano

Parsley

Onion Onion Seasoning (Tastefully Simple) (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare lasagna noodles.  After noodles are cooked and the water is drained, rinse each noodle in cold water and lay flat on wax paper or in a container.

Combine ricotta cheese with generous amounts of garlic salt, parsley, and Onion Onion.  Add about a cup of shredded cheese to the mixture.  *I will apologize here again as I have done before, many times when I set out to try a recipe, I don't measure and just go with the flow.  So, season to your liking.

Cut Roma tomatoes into thin slices.

Spread ricotta cheese mixture over noodles and place tomatoes on top of ricotta cheese.

Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of tomatoes and roll each noodle.

Dump sauce over lasagna rolls and bake for 30 mins.

Remove from oven and cover with remaining cheese.  Bake an additional 5-6 mins. or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle oregano over melted cheese.  ENJOY!

cheeeeesygooooodness<3LML

Baked Avocado Stuffed with Spicy Tuna

I think this is one of the few posts I have actually done in an attempt to replicate food I have had while abroad.  This is a completely original recipe and came from my memories of Granada, Spain and my host mother, Menchu... she used to serve us the freshest salads- tuna on a bed of lettuce or tomato, onion, and lettuce salad.  There was no dressing, and this was the reason the salads were so refreshing!- they only dressed the salads with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.  The taste was unforgettable!

She also frequently prepared us "bocadillos" (sandwiches) with "picatún" which was a spicy tuna.  When I saw that Starkist made a spicy tuna, I decided to give it a try, although it is nothing compared to what I had in Spain.   I combined these tastes and my love for avocados and this was the result...

Baked Avocado Stuffed with Spicy Tuna

1 Avocado

Sweet and Spicy Starkist canned tuna

Lettuce

Olive Oil

1 Lemon

Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut avocado lengthwise, separate the halves, and remove pit.  Take a spoon and scoop all around the outside of the avocado to remove it from the skin.

Arrange lettuce leaves on plate and drizzle with olive oil and then squeeze lemon juice over lettuce.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper over lettuce as well.

Spoon tuna to fill the hole where the pit was in the avocado.

Sprinkle tuna with pepper and Parmesan cheese. 

Bake for 20 mins.

Serve baked avocados over bed of lettuce and top with more lemon juice.

BakeThatAvocado<3LML

Tex-Mex Tortilla Pizza

If you plan well, taco meat goes a long way.  I usually cook 2 to 3 pounds of meat at a time so I can whip it out for a few quick meals/snacks throughout the week.  We love our Tex-Mex and can handle it more than one night a week! At the beginning of the week we did a burrito/nacho night and I prepared the meat, and then on one of our busy nights that same week, when we all ate something different (me-hummus, kids-mac n cheese), I came up with this yummy pizza for Ricardo with the leftover meat and (minimal) ingredients that I ALWAYS have available- now, I will have this "go to" and will only need to prepare the meat, no special shopping list required! And I know I don't have to say that it's super simple and quick to make- that's how I roll!

Tex-Mex Tortilla Pizza

Prepared taco meat

Burrito size flour tortillas

Shredded taco/nacho cheese

Ortega Taco Sauce

Cherry Tomatoes, chopped

Onion, chopped

Green Olives, chopped

(and of course, any other toppings you desire...)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*The secret is in the sauce!- Spread Ortega Taco Sauce on tortilla.

Top with shredded cheese and then taco meat.

Top with more shredded cheese to cover meat. (We LOVE cheese...)

Spread chopped tomatoes, onions, and green olives on top of cheese evenly. 

Bake in oven until cheese is melted and tortilla is crispy and slightly browned. 

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

TryIt.<3LML

Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks

I will take no credit for this recipe except for finding it on Pinterest!  I am a Pinterest fanatic and part of my existence is finding and trying out recipes that I find and sharing them with ya'll if they are worth it.  I have actually found very few recipes that have not panned out for me...  This recipe is again, incredibly simple to prepare, that's part of my requirements, and it is amaaaazing!  I made it quickly yesterday for a snack while I was watching our kids swim in the pool!  

Benefits of eating cabbage!  <--click to read about WHY you should eat cabbage...

If you have never tried cabbage, or are not a cabbage lover, this is a good recipe to start with!  We have some friends that we have over probably every other weekend for dinner over the summer and I will definitely be preparing this as a side one of those nights!  This would be a great side to accompany whatever you will be throwing on the grill this summer or for just a snack...

Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Head of cabbage

Olive Oil

Garlic Cloves

Salt

Black Pepper

*Parmesan cheese (I added this ingredient)

Original Recipe for Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel outer leaves from cabbage.

Slice cabbage into round slices...however many you want...

Smash garlic clove by laying a knife on top of it and pounding your hand over the flat side of knife.

Peel off skin and rub smashed garlic clove over each cabbage slice on both sides of the slice.

Drizzle olive oil over each slice and spread around with basting brush.

Finely chop the smashed garlic and put some on each of the slices.

Sprinkle each slice with desired amount of salt and then pepper.

Sprinkle each slice with Parmesan cheese.

Cook in oven for 20-30 mins.

Remove and flip each slice to other side.

Drizzle other side with oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.

Cook in oven for another 20-30 mins.

Add an extra drizzle of olive oil and top with more parm.
Serve hot and enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Quesadilla

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli QuesadillaOlive Oil
Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Parsley
Black Pepper
Chicken Breast
Steamed Broccoli
Saffron Yellow Rice (I use Mahatma- best rice ever!)
Butter
Flour Burrito Size Tortillas
Shredded (Mexican style) Cheese

Just a little something I threw together one night from some leftover steamed broccoli we had with dinner the night before and some quick cooking rice and easy skillet chicken... You would think being a teacher that summers would be a little more relaxing; not so!  We have soccer, taekwondo, ice skating classes, summer school, trainings for school, etc. to work around, so I am still having to throw things together at the last minute and since I am a little lazier because I feel like I should be relaxing a bit, I sometimes skip my weekly Sunday shopping trip and just go with what we have:  What resulted from these on hand ingredients was a super tasty, picky eater approved, slightly non-Mex version of a quesadilla!

*Cook yellow rice by following directions on package while you are cooking the chicken breasts.

Drizzle hot pan with olive oil and throw in chicken breast.  Season breast with Adobo, garlic salt, black pepper, and parsley.  Flip chicken breast and season other side.  When mostly cooked, remove from pan and slice into small pieces, continuing to cook fully.

When chicken is cooked, add precooked rice and steamed broccoli to the pan.  Like I said, I used leftover broc from the night before.  Heat thoroughly.

Set mixture aside in a bowl and butter one side of a flour tortilla.  Put butter side down in pan and add cover half of burrito with shredded cheese.  Add chicken/rice/broc mixture to half of burrito on top of cheese.

Add more cheese on top of mixture for those cheese loooovers...

Fold burrito over and cook each side until lightly browned and cheese is melted!

*I FINALLY figured out how to flip a burrito without all of the stuff falling out!  Slide spatula under the open side of the quesadilla and stand up to balance on the fold then gently lay quesadilla down on the other side- You will have to use your hand or another utensil to help you flip!

Serve hot and enjoy!

QuesadillaLove<3LML