Italian Chopped Salad

I have a face book friend (Kandance Green) I went to high school with that posted she made this recipe over the weekend, so though her I am sharing it with you!  It looked really good!  She found it on Pinterest, where else right?  

I will share the recipe below , but she did a few things differently than the recipe called for and she also had some suggestions that I will add.  

Prep Time: 30 minutes

    Cook Time: 10 minutes

   Total Time: 40 minute

Yield: 8 servings as a main dish, 16 servings as a side dish

Ingredients

Dressing
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dry Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
Salad
• 1 cup ditalini pasta
• 3 cups chopped romaine hearts
• 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
• 1 jar (7.5 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup cubed salami
• 1 cup cubed Provolone
• 3/4 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup mini pepperoni
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• Pepperoncini peppers

Directions: 

1. To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, honey, mustard, seasoning and garlic in a blender. Season with salt and pepper. Blend to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil to emulsify. Alternately, add all the ingredients to a jar and shake until completely combined slightly thickened.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until done. Drain and cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine the romaine, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, salami, provolone, cucumber, pepperoni and green onions. Add in the cooled pasta. Add in the dressing and toss to coat.
4. Serve the salad topped with a few whole pepperoncini peppers.

Advice from Kandace:  

• She chose to buy the Greek Vinaigrette instead of making her own.  (I probably would also do this, in the past when I've made a dressing from a recipe it hasn't turned out so great lol )  plus she said it was cheaper to do that instead of buying all the ingredients not knowing if she would even use them later for anything else.  

• She also pre-chopped everything and let it marinate in the dressing for about an hour.  And she said next time she will probably leave out the chick peas because they really didn't have a flavor.  But her advice is they do add fiber and protein!  

• To make the recipe low carb she suggested leaving out the ditalini.  

• And to serve she said she chopped romaine and served it on a plate and topped it with the mixture but she would eat it even without the romaine because of how flavorful it was!  

Here is a link to the original posting of this recipe !  http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/italian-chopped-salad/ 

Mexican Cornbread

Even though i'm trying to eat healthy I can still share some good food with everyone :)  So I've never liked plain cornbread it just tastes horrible.  And when someone throws a few peppers in it and calls it Mexican cornbread its still nasty lol its just nasty with peppers in it.  However the recipe i'm going to share is the only time I eat "cornbread" because its actually REALLY good.  This is probably one of the things I make that my friends enjoy the most and actually requested on our beach trips!

I found this online so it's not my creation... most things i've shared i've just found and made anyways!

Here is what you need:  

Cast Iron Pan (the size depends on how much you want to make)  For this recipe I use about a 9"
2 boxes of jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
1 cans of cream corn
about 1lb of ground chuck
green pepper handful chopped
white onion  handful chopped
8 oz Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
2/3rd cup of milk
ground cayenne pepper (to taste)


Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• brown the ground chuck with the peppers in onions mixed in... I don't measure the peppers and onions I literally just put a handful of each in to taste  

• mix together the muffin mix, eggs, cream corn, milk and then sprinkle in some of the cayenne pepper.  I just put enough to taste but not a lot because I don't like it hot.  

• pour enough of this mixture on the bottom of the cast iron pan to cover it completely (make sure you don't use more than just a layer to cover the pan or you wont have enough for the top!)  

• After you finish the ground chuck strain it and layer it on top of the wet mixture in the pan  

• Next put the entire bag of cheese on top of the ground chuck

• and last pour the rest of the wet mixture on top making sure it completely covers everything.  

• Put it in the oven for about 25-30 mins until its golden brown.  Toothpick it and make sure the bread is done!  I've put it back in for 5-7 mins longer before and sometimes it was done after 30.  

Tip:  If you let it cool for about 15mins before serving its best because if you serve it really hot it falls apart (but its still good)

August Update!

I've not posted in a little bit so I thought I would share what i've been up to!  I started this blog out with the intentions of it being a little bit of everything and it ended up being mostly food lol imagine that :)  however in July I started eating healthier (I say healthier) because if I say healthy and I cheat people are like I thought you were eating healthy!?  haha anyways I'm just watching the starchy carb intake and calories and tracking them.  However If i do it "carbs" its whole grain or whole wheat!  It's going well so far I've lost 11 pounds :)  

The one food I refuse to give up is Sushi ... and if you know me you know that's my absolute favorite food!  And I have about a million phone pics of sushi to prove it !  Sushi is pretty haha and I must share!  

Okay enough of food and diets... I posted a little while back about movies I wanted to see, and I've had the chance to see several of them so i'll share what I thought (but keep it brief with NO SPOILERS)

GI Joe Retaliation -  it has the rock in it... thats pretty much all I need to say there 

Lincoln-  Very good but if you're not interested in history at all then you will be bored to tears.. I loved it (even though I knew what would happen) haha :) 

42- EVERYONE needs to see this movie.  LOVED it, it's a wonderful visual representation about the struggle Jackie Robinson faced and how hard it was for him to do what he did.  This is one of my favorite movies

The Lone Ranger- I've not seen it yet but I will... I saw bad reviews but I can go ahead and tell you I will love it ... Johnny Depp... the end

Iron Man 3- Robert Downy Jr...... moving on

Pain & Gain- I've not seen this one yet either but.... The Rock

Man of Steel-  This one turned out to be a lot better than I thought it was going to be!  And wow... superman AND Kevin Cosner!  The fighting wore me out though haha its like it went on forever  (I wont spoil anything)  

The Hangover III- not seen it yet but from what I've heard nothing beats the first one and NOTHING will ever beat the Tiger Song...nope....  

Thor- I dont have any idea when this is even coming out!  

The Great Gatsby-  I was skeptical about this one (mostly because I dont even remember reading the book but apparently I did at some point lol) but WOW this is one of my favorite movies.  I think it did an awesome job of depicting the 20s and all of the organized crime that was caused by prohibition!  Leo was GREAT and the music in this movie was also good.

Anchorman 2- no clue when it will be out

Fast 6- I'm embarrassed to say i've not seen it yet :(  I will keep watching them as long as they keep making them... Vin Diesel and The Rock

That's pretty much it for the movies except I cant wait for the Avengers 2 to come out... however Robbie ruined my day when he found something that said it wouldnt have Loki in it!  gosh!  

That's about it for this post (if you have read this far) I'm currently working on powerpoints, and collecting school supplies to set up my new room!  I'm SOOOOOOOOOO excited about it and I will post pictures.  I still lack a few things though.... hopefully it comes together nicely !  

Hope everyone is having a great August!  

Zucchini pizza

This one is easy and fast! I decided I didn't want to eat starchy pizza crust so I substituted zucchini as I had seen on pinterest! I got a big zucchini and cut it into slices like mini pizzas and then grilled them enough to where they were cooked but not rubbery.   Then you add pizza sauce, cheese and I used turkey pepperoni.   After topping them i put them back on the grill to melt the cheese and they were done in just a few minutes. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is a awesome recipe I got from my friend Hailey! This is a hit at any party and it's yummy!

All you do is throw it all in a skillet and melt it on medium to high heat.  Super easy takes about 15mins.  

For one serving mix together

8oz shredded mild cheddar cheese
8oz cream cheese
5-10oz can of chicken depending on how much u like in it, chop it up
8oz ranch dressing
Hot sauce to taste depending on how spicy you want it! Best thing is to mix it in and taste as you make it

And that's it!

Herbs and Oil

So my friend Ira invited me and Robbie over for supper last night for spaghetti.  We decided we wanted to try to imitate Carrabbas herb and oil mixture for their bread.  I found a recipe online but I would change it and I thought I would share that with everyone :) 

We were going to make the bread but we didn't have the 3 hours it took to make it so we found some at the Ingles bakery and reheated it in the toaster oven and it was amazing.  They have lots to chose from.  

You can actually buy an herb mixture but it was around $7 but if you have the herbs already at your house then its cheaper to mix it up!  

Here is what you mix together:

it calls for a tablespoon of crushed red pepper but that was entirely way too much so I would advice:

1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper  (maybe even less than that depending on what you prefer) 

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt 

and all you do is mix it, up good pour the desired amount into a plate and then put some extra virgin olive oil on top of it and dip away!  

I've included some pics, the mixture isn't the prettiest picture in the world :) and the bread was yummy!

Strawberry Cream Cheese cobbler

I've tried another pinterest recipe and I was very skeptical because the way it's made.   First off whoever posted it called for two quarts of strawberries... That's a bit excessive and only four oz of cream cheese?  Come on lol that stuff is amazing!  So this isn't my recipie I did get it from pinterest but I will share it here :) and tell you how I made it.  

What you need: 9x13 glass baking dish,  1/2 cup of butter
1 cup milk
1 egg beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 quart strawberries (that's two of the plastic containers at the grocery store)
8 oz neufchatel cheese

Melt the butter and pour it in the bottom of the pan

Mix milk, egg, flour, baking powder, and sugar together and pour on top of the butter but don't stir it.

Next after you cut up the strawberries lawyer them on top of that mixture

The original recipe called for 4oz of the Neufchafel cheese cubed on top of the strawberries well I used all 8oz and that's what I recommend and I wish I had spread it out instead of cubing it... That's what I suggest changing about it.  Or making smaller cubes so they go further because they don't really melt they stay in chunks.... 

After you have it together 45-50mins at 350 or until it's golden brown.   I left mine 50mins.

Pics below... If you've tried it or you do try it tell me what you think and if you would change anything! Serve with ice cream!!! I didn't do that but I should have :)

Shish Kabobs

Well here it is!  Recipe post #2, and no this is NOT my creation!  This was given to me many years ago by a friend of mine from his family.  These make the MOST amazing Shish Kabobs!

The good thing about Kabobs is you can include anything you like!  So for this I will share what we prepared  on ours.



MARINADE:  Mix the following together:  This makes 1 batch, double if necessary (depending on how much you like)

1/3rd cup of honey
1/4 cup of Spicy Brown Mustard
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cloves garlic (If you use minced 1/4 teaspoon = 1 clove)
1 teaspoon ground ginger


*I doubled this and ran out because we had SOOOOO many vegetables, but doubling it should give you enough for about 4 people.  

This is what it looks like:

For meat we used:  Boneless skinless chicken breast, flank steak (cube both) and then slices of sausage
Vegetables:  Onion, Green Pepper, Zucchini, Mushrooms, baby tomatoes
Fruit:  Pineapple sliced
(how much you buy depends on how many people you're serving)


Next put your meat in a freezer bag, and your vegetables in a bag.  And in my case fruit :) and pour in the Marinade and make sure everything gets coated.  Put everything in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

After its done marinading put everything on the kobobs (Except the pineapple I just grill those) and cook!

*For me personally I put all like things together (as you can see in the pics) because they will cook all at the same speed.  When you mix them up it looks pretty but you run the chance of having a piece of meat done with undone vegetables vice versa.  

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

Movies to see in 2013

We went to see G.I. Joe last night... VERY good by the way!  And as we were watching the previews I was thinking about how many movies are coming out that I want to see this year!  So I've decided to put together  a post about the movies I want to see.   *These are in no particular order and should open up in a separate window*

First here is G.I. Joe:  G.I. Joe 2 Retaliation  (This is the only movie on the list I've already seen)

Next is a movie that came out in 2012 but I'm planning to watch it tonight after attending a birthday party.  That movie is Lincoln:  Lincoln

While i'm thinking about history, I'm excited about seeing this one... 42 The story of Jackie Robinson:  42

One cannot have a list of movies without a Johnny Depp movie in it:  The Lone Ranger

And speaking of my favorite actors, lets throw in a Robert Downy Jr. film:  Iron Man 3  (this is one that you need to see the first 2 before you go to the third)


Here is another Dwayne Johnson movie for the list, it looks fun:  Pain & Gain

I hope this one is as good as the Batman has been:  Man of Steel

One of the funniest moments in my entire life happened because of the first movie and the Tiger song:  The Hangover Part III

Lets throw in a good movie for kids:  Despicable Me 2  The end of this trailer made my entire day...

This one was hard to find so i'm assuming it will be later in 13?  Thor the dark world

Who doesn't love a movie about the 20s?  The Great Gatsby

And I cannot forget this one:  Anchorman 2

Last but not least, this is the movie i'm MOST excited about seeing:  Fast & Furious 6



After putting together this  list, I realized I was going to have to have a small fortune to see them all!  Gift cards accepted :)  haha j/k

Which are you most excited to see? Comment below and tell me!  

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

A couple of the things I said I would be blogging about were recipes and things I've tried from pinterest.  This post will be a combination of both!  There's TONS of pins out there linking you to recipes so I came across one that looked easy so I tried it, and I'm going to share that with you below.  This isn't my recipe by no means, but there are so many pins with it on it I'm not going to try to give one person credit! 


Pizza Spaghetti Bake:

What you need:

1 pack of spaghetti
1 can/bottle of spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu)
1 pack of pepperonis
1 pack of sausage (I use a kind that I get locally, its amazing!  If you live near me I get it at Bethel Grocery)
1 pack of shredded mozzarella cheese (or whatever kind you prefer on your pizza!)
Casserole dish for cooking  (13x9)
Oven
Pan to brown sausage


Instructions:

~Boil the spaghetti and don't forget to season the water with a little salt!  Drain well and place in casserole dish

~Brown the sausage using Medium/High heat, making sure you chop it up with the fork to give it the consistency of ground beef.  When it's good and brown, drain the sausage.

~Top the spaghetti in the dish with your sausage. 

~Pour in your sauce in and mix it all up making sure everything gets coated with the sauce.

~Cover everything with Mozzarella cheese.

~Cut the pepperonis in half and top the casserole with pepperonis evenly. 

~Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins and make sure the cheese is melted. 


Suggestions:  You can do so many variations with this just like you would your pizza!  I want to try this next time with pineapples and maybe add in some variation with cream cheese to make it creamier!  The recipe as I posted it is very good though!  Definitely let me know how yours turns out if you decide to try it ! 

Here's a pic of how mine turned out: 

What's all this about?

So I had a blog once before, it was actually this same URL.. I decided to delete it and start over.  I spent so much time trying to make it look cool that I messed it up.  After I made it more complicated than it really needed to be, I tried to find a new site.  In doing that I couldn't find one where people could leave comments, and that's something I really wanted.  So with all that said... i'm back where I began... (imagine that!) 

SO... Here's what this is going to be about:

-Pinterest finds and trys (if you haven't discovered this site yet, wow!  You're missing out)  I noticed today A LOT of people were sharing recipes on Facebook and pinterest has a million times more to offer and they're much easier to pin and get back to!  All you do is create a "board" and mine are categories of things I find that are neat!  And when you "pin" something you find it goes on to whichever board you chose, then you can get back to them super easy!  

http://pinterest.com/angchambers06/  <~ here is mine, if you don't follow me feel free!


-recipes this goes along with the pinterest thing, but sometimes I have things I make on my own, or find other places than pinterest so I will share those with everyone :) I have a couple of things people like that I make

-random yeah thats pretty much my favorite word to describe all my nonsense... so I shall make that a category... the whatever I feel like post

-travel... dont get to do it often, but I like sharing when I do!  

-reviews I plan to do some reviews on here too, that probably won't be too often, but If I come across something amazing or something terrible and I feel the need to share... I shall

That's all I can think of that I could possibly want to blog about, I am open to suggestions as well!  Feel free to share my blog!  

ps.  If you're interested in the title of my blog, and the description it comes from a Pink song.. and I love anything and everything that sparkles!!!