Cod Fillets with Blood Orange Citrus Sauce

I think I have a bias towards cod. It's just so mild and there is so much you can do with it! If you look at my fish recipes on here, about 99% are cod. Maybe I should broaden my seafood selections a bit...

Chicken Breasts with Quick Wine Cherry Pan Sauce

We eat a lot of chicken over here. And because of that, I'm always looking for new ways to jazz it up.

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Mango

Have you ever had one of those days where you're just craving something veggie packed and fruity at the same time? I have. On many occasions actually.

Zucchini Pineapple Muffins

These. Oh boy. These are some good muffins. It's almost like a little zucchini bread for one. But better. These muffins are good and good for you. You can be very happy while eating them.

We've really been focusing on the healthy lifestyle over here, but that doesn't mean we're not going to enjoy food. I mean, come on...food is delicious! Why would you deny yourself the good stuff? You just have to make sure the good stuff is good for you. And these muffins totally are. They're so moist and there's just enough sweetness to make you feel like you're getting a great little dessert. Or breakfast. Yeah...I think I may have one for breakfast...

**Update**
I have tweaked the recipe slightly by removing baking soda, lemon juice, and some of the sugar. I have also increased the baking powder by 1 tsp. The muffins have a better texture and taste just as good!

Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce

I recently bought a big bag of frozen cherries at Costco because I was going through this massive smoothie phase. I wasn't that crazy about these cherries in smoothie form though so I've been trying to find other ways to use them up. It was warm outside and I was thinking about grilling and the idea of a cherry BBQ sauce popped in my head. I like using fruit in interesting ways and I've done a mango BBQ sauce before so cherry was a good next step. (I plan on doing even more though - especially peach. Yum!) I took an inventory of what I had in the pantry and after writing up a recipe and getting everything cooking, I had a really good sauce that went perfect on our chicken. It had a great balance of tangy and sweet along with a tiny bit of heat and smokiness. I used about a third of what I made on three chicken breasts so there is plenty with this recipe. The rest can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about a month.

I think I'll give this sauce a try on some chops or ribs next time!

Mango Salsa (with Apples) for Canning

I think I've finally made my best fruit salsa yet. My Apple Peach Salsa - which was pretty darn tasty - has nothing on this one. Nothing I tell you!

Spiced Plum Martini

Quite a few years ago, I used to have Martini Mondays. Then I added Martini Tuesdays. Then Martini Wednesdays. I know that sounds like I was a total lush, but I promise I wasn't. I just really enjoyed a martini after work. And it was only one. That little habit only lasted for about a month anyways and then it just...fizzled. I recently remembered those days and decided I should go back to having a martini every now and then. Since I revisited them I've only made a couple over the past few months but they've been some of the best martinis I've ever had.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I bought a blueberry bush today. Couldn't resist with my new-found green thumb.

And, well, I thought it might be a good idea since my son and I love them so much and they're just so expensive. The plant was only eight bucks so why not give it a go, right?

Blueberries don't usually stick around very long here, but if by chance there are any sitting around after a few days, I'll use them up in a recipe before they go bad. I love to use blueberries in cooking and baking soone day, a coffee cake sounded good. I was also looking for something easy so I thought I'd use the crescent dough can that had been lingering in the fridge. It seemed like it would work really well since it bakes up nice and flaky so I worked out a couple ideas and ended up with this super easy, super yummy dessert.

Basic Pie Dough and Apple Hand Pies

Thanksgiving is right around the corner which means it's the perfect time to bake pies. Of course there's the standard pumpkin pie, but if you're feeling adventurous, venture out and get creative with apple, cherry, or even pecan!

Strawberry Bread

I love trying new things in the kitchen. There's just something so exciting about tasting a new food or creating something that you haven't made before.

I never used to be much of a baker, but I've found myself pushing my own culinary limits lately and writing recipes that I would have never even thought about writing. Whenever I would bake a cake or whip up some muffins, I always used recipes in cookbooks or ones I found online. I was always too nervous to write my own since baking is such a precise science. But like most other things in life, a little practice and hard work will usually yield great results. Since I started this whole blog thing, I've tried out a few baked items here and there and I can honestly say that I've gotten better with each one.

Peanut Butter Banana Bites

My kid is weird. I think I may have inadvertently made him skip loving 'kid food' and go straight to the stuff that kids don't usually eat. My sister and I did it when we were little though and I honestly don't really think it impacted anything so it probably doesn't matter in his case either.

Mango and Chick Pea Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

This little salad started out as a side to my crock pot layered enchiladas. I picked up some mangoes at the store the other day and while I sat there in the kitchen smelling cumin and chili powder and all things crock pot, I thought I'd whip up a simple mango salad to go with. Simple it was. Tasty, too.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

I always thought stuffed french toast would be hard to make so I never really attempted it. Well, the other morning, I thought I'd give it a go. Normally the toast comes from a thick slice of bread with a slit cut through the middle. I didn't have thick bread but I've never actually had stuffed french toast and I since had my heart set on it so I just knew I had to improvise.

Apple Butter Spice Cake with Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

I made a new cake a couple weeks ago and I can't believe I haven't posted it yet! I guess I'll just say that it's because life keeps getting in the way. We've had a lot going on over here with vacation, being out of town, and setting up a pool...twice. I haven't been getting as much work done as I'd like and I certainly haven't been cooking as much or posting about it. But I'm making it a point to write about this cake tonight because I'm not only too tired to do anything else, but it's just so good that I have to write about it.

Sun (Oven) - Dried Tomatoes

 

I had tomatoes in my fridge a little bit ago and they were almost past their prime. I hate throwing out food, especially tomatoes that can be expensive, so I decided to do my 'reusing' thing. Sun-dried tomatoes seemed like the perfect thing to do because there are so many ways to use them.

Watermelon Strawberry Fizz

I love watermelon but it's sometimes hard to get through an entire one in our house before we get sick of it. I usually end up throwing about a quarter of it away because it starts to get slimy and gross. Watermelon is great in so many ways but I usually just have it cubed up in a bowl and sprinkled with a little salt. (I know, I know...it sounds weird, but I first learned of this strange way to eat it years ago at my old job. A coworker sprinkled some salt on a slice after lunch one day and I must have made the funniest most disgusted face because all he did was laugh. Well, it took me a a couple weeks to work up the nerve to try it that way, but once I did I never looked back.)

Apple Pluot Tarts

Have you ever had a pluot? If not, you're missing out. It's this sweet fruit that is almost like a plum but with a little more bite to it. There are a few different varieties but they're all very similar so they can be used interchangeably.

I discovered them last year at the grocery store. I was walking in the produce section when the word 'dinosaur' caught my eye. It's not normally a word you'd see around fruit so I was intrigued. I headed over to the sign and saw a fruit that was green with pink speckles on it. Now, any fruit that has pink dots on it has to make you look twice, right? And it must taste good if it's that pretty, right?

Grilled Pineapple

Have you used your grill yet? We've been using ours quite a lot lately. Charring up some food on the grill is a great way to have tasty food that is healthy, too. You don't need a lot of extra fat when you grill so it's a nice way to eat good food and feel good about what you eat.

Coconut Ice Cream

I recently acquired my very first ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet maker. How cool is that, right? I secretly always envied those that already had one because they are able to make combinations that you just can't find at the grocery store. I'm not really a big fan of ice cream, but the ability to make sorbet is mostly was lured me in. Something about the smoothness of a sorbet is just so simple, appetizing and inviting.

Well, with every new appliance that enters my house, I have to use it to it's full abilities. This means that I had to make an ice cream right away. My husband is an ice cream freak, but sadly for him, my first attempt had to be a coconut flavored concoction. He hates coconut. He went to Dairy Queen that night.

The Avocado Topping Experiment #1

I recently came across an avocado recipe on Pinterest that I just knew I had to try. Well, it's not so much a recipe as it is an idea of what to do with an avocado. This particular idea had an egg being cooked in an avocado half. Yum, right? (You can find the Pinterest blog post here: http://foodbeast.com/content/2012/01/13/idea-baked-avocado-and-egg/ and the original post here: http://www.reddit.com/r/food/comments/oettz/baked_avocado_and_egg/) 

When I looked at this picture (to the left) that was pinned on pinterest, I was in love. How could you not be? Avocados are one of the best tasting foods out there and even though they are a fatty food, it's the good fat. How can there be good fat you ask? Well, there is a certain kind of fat that actually lowers cholesterol and is good for your body. I swear. And as long as you eat them in moderation, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://www.reddit.com/r/food/comments/oettz/baked_avocado_and_egg/. There are also plenty of other sources out there that will tell you the same.

Back to the dish at hand...