Grilled Watermelon

So...I have heard about grilled watermelon...but had never tried it until today. I am not quite sure what I think of it. It's different...not bad...different. What do you think??

Pat piece of watermelon with paper towel...brush with olive oil...place on hot grill...and grill for about 3-4 min on each side. Pull off grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper...that's it!

Poor Man's Meal (2)

So I stumbled upon some videos on youtube that I think are super neat:-) It's a 91 year old woman sharing the recipes that her mother cooked during the great depression. I decided to try one of them tonight. It was awesome....and super easy...and obviously cheap! The video is below. The only thing I added was a little garlic powder and pepper....but that's it! You really should try this...I mean...hot dogs and potatoes....who doesn't like them???

Cheese Cake Bites

I thought these would make a good little bite sized dessert for the Easter cookout...and boy did they:-) They were all gone quickly!! I only got one...but it was good:-) These are really simple to make too!

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 butter melted

Cheese Cake Bites:
2 8oz packages of cream cheese at room temp
1/2 sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Cherry pie filling


Combine everything and mix well.

Preheat over to 375. Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners. Place small amount of crust mixture in each cup and press down.

Cream together cream cheese, sugar with a mixer until fluffy...add eggs one at a time,,,mix. Add vanilla...mix.

Pour small about of batter in each cup to fill them in. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges appear to be set.

Allow to cool completely before adding cherry topping. Refrigerate until serving:-)

Chicken Chimichanga

YUM!! These were awesome:-) Joel LOVED them!

I used my chicken taco recipe for the meat:

3-4 chicken breasts (Frozen or thawed) Put the chicken breasts in crock pot...add a can of diced tomatoes, a can of corn and a can of green chilis. Turn on high for 4 hours.... Shred chicken.Drain any extra juices from the meat mixture before using for the chimichanga's.

Heat up can of refried beans
Spread beans on flour tortilla, add some chicken mixture and a little cheese. Roll up and put on hot griddle with a little butter for about 2-3 minutes until brown...flip and do the same thing to the other side....ENJOY!!!!

Pasta Salad 2

This is a delicious and easy summer pasta salad! I made it for a cookout we had recently and everyone LOVED it....Joel keeps asking me to make it again:-)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta (one package of the spiral kind)

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 cucumber - de-seeded and chopped

pepper

Italian dressing (not a lot)

Colby jack cheese chopped into small cubes (however much you want)

salami (chopped into cubes) however much you want

red onion chopped

Mix everything together and let chill in fridge for about an hour before serving...YUMMY! Very light and delicious! You could also add black olives....carrots....etc...whatever veggies you want!!

Chicken with mushroom and onion gravy

It's been a while since I have tried a new recipe. A friend of mine gave me a version of this...and found a similar recipe that was only 286 calories per serving. That's not too bad. So I decided to make it! It was super easy and had LOTS of flavor!! I will be making this again for sure! Yes, I made mashed potatoes with it...but I only used a little butter and sour cream....it's all about portion control!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
salt
pepper
garlic
mushrooms (about 2 cups sliced)
1 med onion sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tbs flour
3/4 cup of white wine
canola oil
thyme


Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chicken breasts. Add canola oil and bring to med high heat ...add chicken and brown on both sides cooking almost all the way. Remove chicken and sit to the side...keeping it warm. I put mine on a plate and stuck it in the microwave. Add onions and mushrooms to the pan...stir for about 2 minutes...then add wine..stir to break up all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Boil until wine mixture is almost gone...then add your garlic...stir. Next sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture...stir until all the flour is mixed in...then add the chicken broth...bring to a boil and stir until mixture starts to thicken....add a little salt and pepper here if needed and some herbs.... Place chicken breasts on top of mixture...cover pan....and let simmer for about 10 min or until the chicken is done.

You can always add herbs to this....but I don't keep lots of fresh stuff around...and am not a big fan of dried herbs...so I just added a touch of thyme...and that's it.

ENJOY!!! YUM!,,,,great comfort food without all of the calories!

Tomato Salad

YUM!

Ingredients:
grape tomatoes
fresh parmesan cheese
pepper
balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:
Cut grape tomatoes in half. Mix in bowl with parmesan cheese, salt/pepper, and about 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette. Serve!