Category: Recipes

Salads for packed Lunches – Save Time and Money

Post author By Kristin
Post date September 3, 2020
1 Comment on Salads for packed Lunches – Save Time and Money

4 tasty salad ideas for packed lunches

Salads are healthy

It’s that time of year again. Time to start packing some lunches. Are your kids getting tired of sandwiches? Maybe it’s time to switch things up and try something new. How about a packing a nice healthy and delicious salads for lunch? It’s good to get kids started early with a nice variety of veggies in their diet. Try these tasty salads for packed lunches.

Use your leftovers and save money

These tasty salads are also a really good way to use some of your meal leftovers. I love finding creative ways to use my leftovers. Approximately 30-40 percent of the American food supply is wasted.¹ We should all do our part to use our leftovers. Teaching the next generation not to waste food is a huge part of that. Teach your kids to eat the leftover food! Eating your leftovers is also a huge cost savings, it’s estimated that on average, each American household wastes over $1800 of food each year!² Using up your leftover food leads to having more money for other things and a happier less stressful life.³ Here are 4 salads my family enjoys:

4 Tasty Salads for packed Lunches

#1 Caesar Salads for packed lunches

Caesar salad for packed lunch

Caesar salad is very simple. Traditionally romaine lettuce is the base, although you could also add some baby spinach or other greens for variety. Croutons, Parmesan cheese and a good Caesar dressing is really all you need. I prefer to buy my Caesar dressing in the refrigerated section of the produce department. My favorite is Marzetti Supreme Caesar dressing. If you would prefer a heartier option add some sliced grilled chicken or fresh bacon bits. This salad is an excellent choice when you have some left over grilled chicken. I used a 2 compartment container, but a 3 compartment container would be ideal for packing because you could keep the dressing and croutons separated until you are read to eat lunch.

#2 Pasta Salads for packed lunches

Pasta salad is another family favorite. I usually use Organic Garofalo Tricolor Rotini as the base, but any leftover pasta will do. Just add your favorite veggies. I like to make this one after family pizza night. I add the unused pizza toppings like chopped red onion, black olives, salami strips and mini pepperonis. Other excellent options to mix in are sliced cucumber, mini baby mozzarella balls, and cherry tomatoes. I dress my pasta salad with Kraft Zesty Italian and McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning . Once again I used a 2 compartment container for this salad. It works great this way because I can add some fruit on the side. A single compartment container would work well for this salad. I love Fit and Fresh Containers because the lids stay on well and the have an optional freezer pack you can use with them.

Pasta Salad packed for lunch.

#3 Taco Salads for packed lunch

Taco salad is the perfect salad to pack for lunch on Wednesday, following Taco Tuesday. I usually just pack up all of the leftover toppings I sliced for Tacos. Chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Top with cheese and some leftover taco meat. I mix up sour cream with salsa for the dressing and put it on the side to mix in when ready to eat. I used a two compartment container to pack this one, but once again a three compartment container would be better because you could add a side of tortilla chips!

#4 Super-food Salads for packed lunch

I call this super food salad because it is dressed with poppy seed dressing which works well with so many super healthy foods. I used mixed greens with romaine, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds on my salad. This salad also loves all types of nuts, seeds, berries, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and Swiss cheese. Get creative with it. I buy my poppy seed dressing in the refrigerated section of produce. Marzetti has a great one. This salad works well, packed for lunch in a 2 compartment container but would also work well in a three compartment container if you want to keep your nuts or seeds crunchier you could separate them when packing and mix them in when ready to eat lunch.

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Recipes

Recipe for How to make the Best Jalapeno Poppers

Post author By Kristin
Post date August 26, 2020
No Comments on Recipe for How to make the Best Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno Poppers ready to bake

When our neighbor brought over a large basket of home grown jalapenos, we knew we had to start using them soon. According to Healthline Jalapeno’s are packed with nutrients and have many health benefits. It would be a shame to let them go to waste. The best way to use up a lot of jalapenos quickly is to make some jalapeno poppers. You may be thinking that jalapeno popper would be way to spicy, but jalapeno peppers are only mild to moderate on the Scoville scale.¹ The addition of cream cheese to the jalapeno pepper also helps to neutralize some of the heat.² Here’s a recipe for how to make the best jalapeno poppers.

Best Jalapeno Popper Recipe

Ingredients:

11 Jalapenos
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
6 slices of bacon
1/2 onion minced
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F. Half and remove seeds 8 of the jalapenos, then dice the other 3. In a frying pan, and fry the bacon until crispy. Set aside the bacon to drain on a paper towel lined plate. Sauté the onion, garlic and 3 diced jalapenos until tender. Add salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add the cheeses. Crumble the bacon and add it to the mixture. Mix well. Stuff the 16 Jalapeno halves with the mixture. Place the Jalapeno halves, stuffed side up on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 min. or until lightly browned. Enjoy!

If you like jalapenos, then you should try my guacamole recipe.

If you need another appetizer, then you should check out my Easy Bean dip recipe.

Are Jalapeno poppers healthy?

They do have some very healthy ingredients. Jalapenos, onions, and garlic are all very healthy. However, it would be difficult to call any recipe with bacon healthy. Overall, Jalapeno poppers are not healthy and should only be enjoyed occasionally. They are great party food, but not great for every day consumption.

Are Jalapeno Poppers Gluten Free?

Yes! All of the ingredients are gluten free. However, you should shred your own cheese from a block, or make sure your pre-shredded cheese is gluten free. To make Mexican blend: shred half cheddar and half Monterey Jack.

Are Jalapeno Poppers Keto Friendly?

Absolutely! All of the ingredients are keto friendly. Enjoy!

Can you prepare Jalapeno Poppers Ahead of Time?

Yes, you can prepare your Jalapeno peppers the night before your party, just wait until your party time to bake them. Put them in the refrigerator overnight, and pull them out when you are ready to bake them.

Other Great Appetizers:

Jalapeno-Poppers Print

Delicious Jalapeno Poppers

References:

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Tags appetizer for party, game day snack, jalapeno poppers, jalapeno poppers recipe

Recipes

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

Post author By Kristin
Post date August 24, 2020
5 Comments on Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

This pie is a family favorite. It is requested in place of birthday cake for two of my family members. It can also be baked in an oven, but peach season is in August, obviously a terrible time to heat up the house. I prefer to bake Peach Blueberry Pie on my Traeger Silverton 620 pellet grill.

How do you bake on a pellet grill?

Baking on a pellet grill is basically the same a baking in an oven, as long as your pellet grill has a bake feature and is able to maintain a consistent temperature. Just preheat the grill to the same temperature the recipe calls for in the oven. This peach blueberry pie is baked at 400 degrees, which is a little higher than most baked recipes. Pyrex is rated to 425 degrees, but I never go higher than 400 degrees when I use a Pyrex pie dish on my Traeger Silverton 620 because the temperature does fluctuate + or – 10 degrees.

Peach Blueberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Best Pie Crust

5 Cups of peeled and thinly sliced peaches

2 Cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/4 cup tapioca

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

Prepare a pie crust. Find my Best Pie Crust recipe here.

Preheat the Traeger to 400 degrees F.

Peel and thinly slice peaches. Add peaches, blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, tapioca, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Peach Blueberry pie filling in bottom crust

Pour into a prepared Pyrex pie dish. Top with slices of butter. Cover with top crust. Pinch the edges together. I use the handle of a butter knife to make a decorative edge, and the blade to make a few slits.

Peach Blueberry Pie ready to bake

Cover the pie edges with foil so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and place in the center of the grill.

Peach blueberry pie with foil covering edges on the Traeger grill

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil.

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger.

Continue to bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.

Peach Blueberry pie with Best Pie Crust

Alternate baking directions for the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the edges of the crust with foil, so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

Peach-Blueberry-Pie-Recipe Printable Recipe

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Recipes

Best Pie Crust

Peach Blueberry pie with Best Pie Crust

I have been using this recipe for over 30 years. I have not tasted another crust I like better. It can be used for both sweet and savory pies. I love it so much that I have never even tried making a different one. It’s so easy, just 3 main ingredients and a dash of salt. I always get compliments on my crust, that’s how I know it is the best pie crust. Now I can just share this post when others ask me for my recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups and 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Milk

2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

Mix all 4 ingredients in a mixing bowl until a dough ball forms. Divide the pie dough in half. Alternatively, you can make one dough ball slightly larger for the bottom crust.

How to roll it out

For the bottom crust, roll half of the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper or wax paper. This step is very important. You must roll this crust out between two pieces of parchment or wax paper.

Pie Crust rolled out between 2 pieces of parchment paper.

Remove the upper piece of paper and after that use the bottom piece to dump the rolled out crust into the Pyrex pie dish. This step is also very important. This crust is too fragile to transfer without using the paper for support.

Bottom crust flipped into the pie dish using the bottom layer of the parchment paper.

Remove the paper from the bottom crust and pinch evenly into the pie dish.

Pie crust ready for filling.

Add your desired filling. I added peach blueberry filling, find it here.

Best Pie Crust filled with Peach Blueberry Pie Filling.

Repeat the process for the top crust. Pinch the edges shut.

Best Pie Crust Ready to bake.

I use the handle of a butter knife to make a nice edge, but you could also use a fork. Bake as directed for your favorite pie recipe.

Best-Pie-Crust Download

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Tags 3 ingredient pie crust, best pie crust recipe, easy pie crust, easy pie crust by hand, flaky pie crust, flaky pie crust recipe, Pie crust, pie dough recipe, simple pie crust

Recipes

Smoked Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger Recipe

Post author By Kristin
Post date August 19, 2020
5 Comments on Smoked Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger Recipe

Shepherd's Pie on the smoker

This Smoked Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger recipe is a favorite at my house. It is actually modified from a recipe I got from my favorite chef Alton Brown. My daughter loves it so much that she will eat the leftovers for breakfast lunch and dinner until it’s gone. She even chooses it as her “birthday cake”. It can be baked in a regular oven, but in the Summer months I prefer not to heat up the house with my oven. This is why I started to bake Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger pellet grill. I use a pyrex baking dish on my Traeger pellet grill for may recipes, including peach blueberry pie.

Smoked Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients for the potatoes

4-5 pounds of potatoes
3/4 Cup half and half
1/4 Cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 Egg Yolks

Ingredients for the meat filling

1 large onion minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic power
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds ground beef or lamb
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, beans)

Instructions for Shepherd’s Pie potatoes

Peel the potatoes, and slice into quarters. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 15-20 min.

Drain the potatoes, add the salt and mash with the butter. In a small bowl mix the half and half with the egg yolks. Use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes, slowly add the egg mixture to the potatoes. Whip until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Instructions for Shepherd’s Pie meat filling

Brown the beef or lamb. Set aside to drain on a paper towel lined plate. Pour the olive oil into the pan and sauté the onions until tender. Return the drained meat to the pan. Next, add the flour and mix to evenly coat the meat and onions. Slowly pour the can of chicken broth over the flour coated mixture, mix to coat. Now, thoroughly mix in the tomato sauce. Season the mixture with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper. Finally, add the frozen mixed vegetables and stir until the vegetables are warm and slightly softened. Transfer the meat mixture to a large Pyrex deep baking dish 13x9x3″ (See the recommendation below) and spread evenly. Top with the potatoes and smooth with a rubber spatula.

Instructions for Smoked or baked Shepherd’s Pie

Preheat the Traeger to 375 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

If you would prefer to bake this in an oven, then preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 40 -50 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

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Smoked Shepherd’s Pie Recipe Printable

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