BBQ Pork Flatbread Melts

So the other night, I was searching for something quick and easy to make for dinner. I had Sloppy Joes on the menu, but those didn't sound good. So I searched my freezer and found some shredded pork, those, along with the extra pitas I had in the fridge, I threw these together and they were YUMMUY!

2 pita flatbreads

1 cup shredded pork

1/2 cup Honey Mustard BBQ sauce

Mozzerella Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. place flatbreads on a dry cookie sheet and place in oven to crisp (about 5 min) and mix the pork with the bbq sauce. once the flatbreads are crisp, spoon a little more BBQ sauce on the top, and spread the pork over the whole thing. top with a little cheese and put them back into the oven until the cheese is melted.

Teriyaki Chicken Tacos

Does anyone else's family have tacos like 2-3 times a week? We do! So I am always trying to find variations to get us out of our 'tratitional taco' rut. These were just what I had in mind!

Makes 4-6 tacos

1 chicken breast

1/2 cup teriyaki marinade

4-6 fajita size tortillas

spinach

siracha chili sauce

Marinate chicken in teriyaki sauce for 1-2 hours and then cook however you want (bbq, skillet, bake) until fully cooked. Slice cooked chicken into chunks and place on warmed tortillas. Top with spinach and siracha sauce.

{EASY} Chicken Gyros

You want to make these! Know why? Because want to make them again. and again and again.

They were SO yummy! And really simple to make!

My love for gyros started at the county fair. I know, not the most conventional place to get greek food. But it hooked me none the less! And with our lack of greek resturants in Southern Utah, I decided if I wanted them again, it was up to me!

So after accidentially buying my baby plain yogurt instead of vanilla, I whipped these up and they were a hit!

For the Chicken:

2 Chicken breasts pounded out flat and cut into strips

1 TBS plain yogurt.

1tsp oregeno

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

For the Tzatziki sauce:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp oregeno

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp white vinegar

salt and pepper

1-2 TBS extra virgin olive oil (use more or less depending on the consistency you want)

In a bowl, mix chicken with all of the other 'chicken' ingredients, allow to marinade for about 1/2 an hour.

For the sauce, strain your yogurt over a fine strainer LINED kitchen towel for at least 1/2 an hour. This makes the yogurt a lot more thick, you'll be suprised! While the yogurt is straining, grate your peeled and seeded cucumber with a fine grater, over a paper towel on a plate. Once the cucumber is grated, squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the pulp. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce, including the cucumber pulp and strained yogurt to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a blowl and refridgerate until ready to serve.

Cook your marinated chicken in a skillet or on the bbq until no longer pink.

Now we're to the fun part! The pita! I am VERY picky about pitas! They are always dry and crumbly. No good. I found these at walmart and they are awesome!

Papa Pita -Greek Pita Flat Bread

It's SUPER soft and thick and YUMMY! and it was like $1.50 for 6 pitas at walmart! Score! Make sure to get good pitas! It makes ALL the difference!

Warm the pitas for about 30 seconds in the microwave.

Then all you do is layer!

Pita on the bottom, then chicken, then lettuce and whatever you want (olives, onion, tomato etc.) and drizzle with the Tzatziki sauce.

Bottled Apple Pie Filling! {Guest post by Tasha}

It's APPLE season!!! And I love to dry apples, bottle apples, but this year I decided to try and bottle some apple pie filling! Let me tell you.. EASY, and so delicious! So I wanted to share it with you. 

Bottled Apple Pie filling

4 1/4 cup Sugar

1 cup Cornstarch

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

Blend all together in a pot with 1 tsp. Salt and gradually add 11 cups of water. You dont want to add all the water in at once because the corn starch will lump up. I started with 4 cups of water, let it start to boil added another 4 cups.. and so on! Until I had the 11 cups of water. 

Cook until boiling, Add 3 Tablespoons lemon juice to bubbling mixture

Peel and slice apples and pack in jars. 

Cover bottled apples with cooked mixture

Then seal with lids

Put in preasure cooker (water bath) for 20 minutes. 

Makes 7 quarts. 

*I peeled my apples at the begining and kept them in a HUGE mixing bowl with water and lemon juice. Then I packed the apples in the jars and did my mixture! I made double the reciepe I had that much apples to do!  Also, pack your apples tight in the jars. I didnt do this with the first batch, and as you can see in the picture I have more filling than apples!!

Happy Pie filling making!!

Tasha B!

What I love Wednesday {Ikea Edition}

Have you ever been to Ikea? No? Well you should! I LOVE that store! We dont have one where I live, but we go up North a lot, and ALWAYS stop there! There are always a few things that I keep buying, #1 because they are cheap, you can walk out of there with a HUGE cart of stuff for under $100! and #2 because they are actually really quality products!

My first pick, the measuring cups. I love these things! The numbers dont ware off, and they are super sturdy! I have like 3 sets of these! They also have the measuring spoons, that I may have to get next trip!

Next up is the childrens tableware. I LOVE this stuff! I think each pack of 6 is like $1.99. They are sturdy and dishwasher safe (thankfully!) I have 2 sets of the cups, 1 for my baby to drink from... and one to play with! they make awesome stacking cups and the colors are great!

Okay I think this is my very favorite Ikea find, I LOVE these salad bowls! I bought 2 last time I was there and I use them all the time! They are really classic bowls and for $2.99 you cant go wrong!

Well, that's it for today! My 3 favorite Ikea finds! Hopefully you can find an Ikea near you and do some shopping of your own!

Lighter Chunky Vegtable Chowder

I really wish I had a better picture of this soup, because it was AWESOME! But I guess that's what you get when you dont start dinner till 6:30! This soup/chowder/whatever you call it, was so yummy! And it's actually really not bad for you like most cream based soups! Of course you could add chicken (and if my husband was home that night, I would have!) but it's so good even without it!

2 TBS light margarine

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

2 small potatoes diced

3 cups 1% milk

2 cups fat free chicken broth

2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup cold 1% milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheese

In a large pot, melt butter and add oil and onion, cook until ontion is translucent. Add carrots and celery and cook until soft. Add potatoes, seasonings, 3 C. milk and 2 C. chicken broth, heat to a boil stirring frequently until potatoes are tender. Add cornstarch and milk mixture and stir well. remove 2 cups of the soup and add to a blender,  blend until smooth and add back into the soup (this helps thicken the soup) Add cheese and stir. 

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza {Guest Post by Tasha}

The grill is not just for burgers anymore! For a smokey flavor and crispy crust, grilled pizza is the way to go! 

I got this recipe out of one of my favorite cook books: Goosberry Patch Quick and Easy Family Favorites! We All love recipes that take less then 1-15 minutes to prepare!

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

13.8 oz tube refrigerated pizza dough

2/3 c. BBQ sauce

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips
8 oz pkg. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C. green onions

Spray a baking sheet with no sides with non-stick vegetable spray; roll dough into a 16''x20'' rectangle. Spread sauce over dough; arrange cooked chicken strips on top. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Spray cold grill with non stick vegi spray; preheat grill to medium low heat (275 to 325 degrees). Place baking sheet on grill; grill, covered for 3 minutes or until dough begins to set (no longer doughy). Slide dough onto grill and continue grilling , covered, 10 more minutes. Use baking sheet to remove pizza from grill; sprinkle with green onions. Slice into squares.
Serves 4.

*Side note: You can also Broil it if you dont have a grill or dont want to grill. Broiling in the oven is pretty much the same thing, just cooks from the top to bottom instead the other way around. It is still Yummy!

Enjoy your Pizza!
Tasha B!

Menu Monday

On time!? really!? It's a miracle, I know. ;)

Monday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Clam Chowder*

Friday: Sloppy Joes

Saturday: date night

Sunday: Burgers and fries

Fall Bucket List {Guest Post by Tasha}

FALL BUCKET LIST

Two thousand and eleven

 Apple Picking

Make Leaf Art

Go on a Hay- Ride

Have a photoshoot in a leaf pile

enjoy a bonfire w/ s'mores

make caramel apples

CORN MAZE

got to a pumpkin patch

GO ON 2 DATES

Make fall cookies

Take a nature walk (bring the camera)

trick-or-treat

bake pies

Decorated (carve/paint) a pumpkin

Drink Fancy Coffee/ Hot Chocolate Drinks

PICNIC

Thanks to Pintrest I printed off a Fall Bucket list, It has some Fun stuff on there, and great ideas to do with your family or friends! Ive got 2 crossed off so far :)!!!! And you have till November to do it.. also, you can put more on your list if you want!! 

Enjoy..And happy bucket listing! 

Tasha B!

Double-up your frames! {DIY}

Sorry I've been slacking on the posts! My little brother just left on an LDS mission to the Dominican Republic, so the past few days were spent helping him pack, and spending time with the family! But now it's back to the blog! With a project none the less!

Awhile back, in this post, I mentioned that I had made this frame...

Well this frame because more popular on Pinterest than the frame I did the actual post on! So I thought I'd do a post on how to 'stack' frames.

I started with 2 frames, one was an 8x10 that I have had forever, the second was somewhere in between an 8x10 and an 11x14, it was a yard sale find. They were both just fine on their own, but I can't even leave anything alone.

All you really need to look for is that the top frame will cover the back frames opening. Make sense?

 Then, using a strong adhesive ( I used Emler's Glue-All) glue your top frame to your bottom one. Allow to dry overnight.

 Please please please make sure your frames are straight! I used a ruler to measure the distance from all sides.

 When it was done drying, I spray painted mine white, actually white, then brown, then white again. Make sure you get it covered well, because most likely your frames wont be the same color underneath.

 Here's the fun part, for me at least! Distress!! Bash and bang that baby up to your hearts desire!

I used sandpaper and get this... a KNIFE! Yup, I just took a cheap serrated steak knife and used it to (lightly) carve grooves into the wood, and chip off some of the paint. ALL of the dents and dings and lines you see were done with the knife, and then ran the sandpaper lightly over the whole thing.

 then all you have to do is dust it off and hang it! Sorry for the horrible lighting, I wasn't patient enough to wait till tomorrow when the sun was higher.

I think thicker, bulkier frames look so much nicer than the thin ones that are in most stores, and this way, you don't have to pay $45 a frame at a boutique!

I hope this gives you some inspiration to look at your frames in a new light and start stacking them up! Trust me, you'll be amazed at the difference!

Chopped Pizza Muffins

Talk about a 5 minute lunch! These were so quick and fun to make! And they are very versitile! You could add sausage, mushrooms, ham, olives or even switch up the pizza ingredients for eggs and sausage! (which I may try!)

You need...

1 can Jumbo Biscuits

Pizza toppings (I used pepperonis and bell pepper)

cheese

That's it!!

Then all you do it take a biscuit, throw some of the  toppings on top and chop away until the biscuit is in bite size chunks, it's all combined! Fill each muffin tin with 1/2 of a biscuit/filling,  then bake according to directions on the biscuit package.

Menu Monday

Whoops... sorry, better late than never, right?

Monday: Chicken Taco Salads

Tuesday: Pizza Casserole*

Wednesday: Confetti Tacos

Thursday: Pizza Chicken*

Friday: Taco Chili*

Saturday: Spaghetti and garlic bread

Sunday: My brother's Mission farewell... I'm making the Roast Beef , Pasta Salad, and a few desserts.

.... seems like a taco and pizza themed week huh?

Liebster Award!

I just have to say thank you to Michaela from An Affair from the Heart for this award! It me so happy to see that people enjoy this blog! :) She was so sweet in what she had to say about LLS!

"I always look forward to Stephanie's posts. Her site is just a little bit of everything. Recipes, scrapbooking, decorating, printables... you name it. It's a smorgasbord of ideas!"-

So, the rules that come along with award are simple:

1) Show your thanks to the blogger that gave you the award by linking back to them.

2) Reveal your top 5 picks by leaving a comment on their blog.

3) Post the award on your blog.

4) Enjoy the love of some of the most supportive people on the Internet

 

So now onto my choices for this award!...

 

Over the Big Moon- This is a new favorite! I found it when they featured my tot food list. But I love their blog! Recipes, giveaways, menus, printables, you name it... its on there!

Becoming Betty- this is one of those food blogs that I go back to again and again because she makes things that I would make!

Budget Bytes- The name says it all. In this economy, I don't care if you lost your job or not... everyone is cutting back, and this site has some AWESOME recipes for cheap!

Dittle Dattle- If you want to be inspired, check this blog out! She does tons of features and link parties that suck me in for way too long!

I'll get you my pretties- SO many fun ideas, I want to try them all!

 

I hope you find some new favorites from my choices! And thank you to all you who keep reading this blog!

Sausage and Pepper Pillows

I do a lot of these recipes, I know! But they are SO quick and really easy, that it's really convenient to throw some version of them together when I am stumped for a quick lunch! This one was definitely a keeper!

Sausage and Pepper Pillows

1 can jumbo butter biscuits

cooked sausage

diced green bell pepper

cheddar cheese

flatten out biscuits into a large oval, and put a spoonful of sausage, some green peppers, and cheese onto one side, fold over, and press to seal edges.

Bake according to biscuit directions.

What I Love Wednesday...

I know, I've missed the last few weeks! But here is what I love this week!

This dressing is awesome! I have seriously eaten salads with this for like 9 out of 10 lunches the past few weeks!

I bought this baby yesterday! I had a swiffer in our last house, but we had linoleum floors, so it didn't work too well and I ended up throwing it away. In our new house, we have tile, and I was sick of getting down on my hands and knees every single day to clean up little spots. So I bought another one! And I have to admit, I was THRILLED when I saw they had a pink one for breast cancer awareness!

enough said.



Happy Wednesday!

BOW Give-Away! {Guest post: Mindy}

My Sister in law Rocks and made a bunch of bows for a THANKSGIVING Bow Give away! So go to her blog by following the link:  

http://jasonheidi.blogspot.com/2011/10/thanksgiving-bow-giveaway.html

Time to enter ends Wednesday, so hurry and Enter!!

THANKS HEIDI! ♥

Happy October! {Free Halloween Printable}

 Can you believe it's October already!

Just to celebrate... here's a printable!

Orange and Grey Download 8x10

Green and Purple Download 8x10