Feta Cucumber Tomato Salad

I am so excited about this salad! It totally made my day! I already had another post scheduled for today, but when I made this salad yesterday and tasted it, I fell in love! Sorry, Super Kicked-up Chex Mix, your debut will have to wait!  I seriously want to eat this salad every day for the rest of summer! It is so healthy and flavorful! I served mine up with a tall glass of ginger iced tea! This salad is all things summer! I can not pinpoint one flavor that stood out to me, but the combination of all the fresh and bright ingredients together brought a sweet crunchy freshness! It actually tasted like there was a sweet dressing was on top, but there is nothing sweet in it. This is such a very healthy salad. I can't wait to make it again!  Have a try for yourself!

Feta Cucumber Tomato Salad

Ingredients
1 large cucumber (or 3 baby cucumbers, like I use)
1 heaping cup of grape totmatoes
3 green onions
1/2 cup basil leaves
1 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbl grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 Tbl fresh lemon juice

Thinly slice the cucumber. If the skin of the cucumber is thick, you may want to peel it too. Halve the grape tomatoes. Slice the green onions on a diagonal, don't be afraid to use the WHOLE thing people (greens and whites)! Now toss all the ingredients in a bowl until it is mixed well and the veggies are evenly coated with oil and lemon juice.

Serve and smile! You can be proud of this Super Healthy Dish!

Happy Summer!

Warmly,
Mary

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Do you have a hard time getting your family to eat healthy meals? Here's another super easy and healthy meal. Your kids (or even you) won't mind eating spinach because it's surrounded with all kinds of other goodness! Who can resist chicken and spinach when it's topped with cheesy nachos? I know you're busy, so I'll get right to the recipe...okay, after some pictures...

Chicken Tortilla Bake

 Ingredients

1 lb Chicken Breast, cooked and cubed
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
2 cups tortilla chips, broken into pieces
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (or more if you like it really cheesy!)
1 1/2 cups salsa, plus more for serving
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 small red onion, diced

Preheat oven to 400. In a large mixing bowl add ricotta cheese and salsa and mix until well combined. Add chicken, spinach, onion, 1 cup of the cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the crushed chips. Mix until well combined. Pour into a casserole dish or large pie plate. Now sprinkle on top, the remaining tortilla chips and top that with the remaining cheese. Cover loosely with a piece of foil and bake for 20 minutes or until hot. Serve with additional salsa  and some sour cream if you'd like.

See, quick and easy! And if you had roasted chicken in the freezer from Freezer Meals...My Way, it's even faster! Enjoy!


Warmly,
Mary

Something Simple

OK, so I know what it's like...you're running around like crazy, you have people yapping in your ear, you haven't had a chance to sit down in 13 hours, you've warmed up your coffee six times today in hopes of having a sip and it remains untouched in the microwave, you've not had a quiet moment to yourself since you were sound asleep, but you're expected to make a tasty dinner tonight. Are you kidding? The dishes haven't even been done from last night's dinner. In fact you're wondering why you are taking 5 minutes to actually read skim through this blog. See, I do know what you're going through! Well, you still don't need to resort to the Golden Arches! Maybe Runza...only because I'm a Nebraska girl, but no seriously, you CAN fix a healthy tasty meal for the family in no time!

Simple Southwestern Pasta

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 c salsa or 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (more or less to your taste)

1 can tomato sauce

1 box Pasta (any will do, I used whole wheat shells)

2 c cheddar cheese, shredded

2 avocados, chopped (optional but so encouraged)

In a skillet brown the beef. In a large pot, boil the water and cook the pasta. Once the meat is done, set it aside. Once the pasta is done, drain the water and return the pasta in the pot to the stove, reduce the heat to low. Add the meat, salsa, and tomato sauce. Heat until everything is nice and hot. Spoon up into bowls, top with the cheese and avocado!

Happy Dinner! You won't believe how amazing the avocados taste on the warm pasta! Oh ya!

Warmly,
Mary