5 Minute Meal: Easy Chicken Gyros

In case you haven't guessed already, these 5 Minute Chicken Gyros are not only incredibly flavorful, they don't require any baking!...unless you count 2-3 minutes in the microwave!

It's the best summer meal I've come up with yet!

How to make these Easy Chicken Gyros in just 5 Minutes! 

6 Ingredient Chicken Gyros 

• Tyson's Frozen Rotisserie Chicken Strips (I found these at Costco)
• Stone fire Naan flat bread (I got this at Costco)

• Tzatziki sauce/dressing (any brand will do - I got this at Safeway)
• Fresh tomatoes, red onions, and cucumber (got mine at Safeway)
• *(Optional - Feta cheese)

How to Prepare your Easy Chicken Gyros:

1. Microwave 1 piece of Tyson's Frozen Rotisserie Chicken Strip as instructed on package

2. Cut tomato, red onion and cucumber.

3. Warm 1 piece of naan bread in the toaster or microwave in a damp paper towel for about 10 seconds. You want it soft and warm, not too stiff or crispy.

4. Place hot chicken strip on naan bread, add fresh tomato, red onion, cucumber and drizzle cool tzatziki sauce on top. 

Easy Chicken Gyros with Lots of Flavor

Tyson's Rotisserie Chicken Strips taste like the chicken has been cooking on the spit all day. 

That, combined with the light flavor of cucumbery Tzatziki sauce wrapped up in warm, soft naan bread, is the perfect combination for these easy chicken gyros. 

They really don't get more tasty or simple than this!

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Ikea Swedish Meatballs Gravy Recipe {low-fat version}

A few days ago at dinner time, I found myself with 1/4 bag of frozen Ikea Swedish Meatballs, but no gravy mix. Gasp!

Not wanting to eat them dry, or drive the 45 minutes to Ikea just for gravy, I crossed my fingers and googled "Ikea Swedish Meatballs Gravy Recipe". And BAM! Like magic, it was there.

All I needed to do was use an online tool to convert ml to cups, substitute milk for cream, and test out my newly adapted recipe.

As I shared on Instagram, this swedish meatballs gravy recipe was a total hit! And it's healthier than the original by subbing milk for cream, and tastes like the real thing. No more gravy packets needed!

Here is the deliciousness, that is Ikea swedish meatballs gravy:
(sorry, not ambitious enough to make the meatballs myself. yet.)

Ikea Swedish Meatballs Gravy Recipe

*low-fat version adapted from the official Ikea Cookbook

Ingredients:
1/2 c milk (substituted instead of cream)
1 c beef broth
2 tsp soy sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp flour

Directions:
Heat broth & soy sauce in saucepan on the stove. Dissolve the flour in milk. Add milk/flour mixture to broth mixture. Bring to a boil & thicken. Simmer about a minute. Salt & pepper as needed. Serve with Swedish Meatballs and rice, boiled or mashed potatoes.

*This may be my new go-to for quick, delicious gravy for any meal!

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Quick Easy Dinner Idea: No cooking required!

Want a quick, easy and delicious summer meal idea? This is a great one I just had to share. And there is no cooking required. Say, what??

{Enter: King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls} As I was looking through my coupons and stumbled upon one for King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, (6/30 Red Plum for you couponers), I had a dinner epiphany! Why not make an old favorite with a new twist? Forget regular old hamburger buns, bring on BBQ Chicken Sliders with the goodness of sweet Hawaiian rolls!

And oh, they were heavenly. Soft, sweet bread stuffed with moist rotisserie chicken, bbq sauce and crunchy cabbage (although you could top it with coleslaw if you prefer.) Mmmm mmmm good!

Okay, stop drooling. I'll show you how easy it is to throw these together (like I said, you literally don't have to cook a thing. Score!)

BBQ Chicken Sliders
on Sweet Hawaiian Rolls ❀

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1 Rotisserie Chicken

1 package Kings Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

BBQ sauce

Ranch dressing (optional)

1 Bag coleslaw mix

Cut Hawaiian rolls in half and place them open on a plate. Break up the rotisserie chicken into bite sized pieces and place on Hawaiian rolls. Drizzle chicken with bbq sauce and ranch; top with a handful of crispy cabbage mix (or make coleslaw and add on top).
Put them all together and you're ready to eat. 

Oh. Yes. Please.
*Serve with corn on the cob and a fruit salad

I must say, this is now one of my favorite meals, especially for summer. It's so quick and easy, plus, you don't have to heat up the house. And for the first time this summer here in Seattle, we don't need to add any more heat to our kitchens. It's in the upper 80's here people! Shocker!

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Summer Meal Idea: Tortellini Salad

Quick, easy & delicious summer meal: Tortellini Salad 

We actually had some hot weather in Seattle this past week! Woohoo! Summer's on the horizon.

I opted for a quick and easy dinner that wouldn't heat up the house. From stove top and fridge to dinner table in just 15 minutes. Not too shabby.

There are countless ways to make this salad. The base is cheese tortellini and you can add whatever veggies you have on hand.

Toss it all with your favorite salad dressing, serve it with a side of french bread, and you're good to go!

Tortellini Salad Recipe

Ingredients

Frozen Cheese Tortellini

*Any of the following can be substituted with your favorite veggies

Cucumber

Tomatoes

Fresh Spinach

Carrots

Zucchini

Olives

Parmesan Cheese

Vinaigrette / Italian / or favorite Dressing

Directions

Cook frozen cheese tortellini according to directions. While tortellini is boiling, dice cucumbers and tomatoes; shred carrots and zucchini; slice olives; rise spinach and blot dry. Once tortellini is cooked, drain and rinse in cold water. 

Combine all ingredients and toss with your choice of salad dressing (I prefer this dill vinaigrette or Italian). Top with a scattering of Parmesan cheese (optional). 

Serve immediately or chill before serving. Goes well with toasted french bread.

Makes a quick, cool summer meal!

Make your own Rice Milk

So far, our gravitation to a whole grain plant-based diet has been going well. We're still trying to figure out new recipes to try, so we have a little more variety and aren't just eating a million and a half beans, but we're getting there.

In trying to cut out dairy (among the other animal-based proteins)  we decided to try making our own rice milk. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it!

Some people prefer to cook the rice first, but I find the milk ends up a little on the slimy side that way.

I followed some suggestions to roast brown rice on the stove and soak it overnight, instead of cooking it, and found that I like that much better.

If you're trying to move away from dairy, or just want to see what all this rice milk hoopla's about, give rice milk a try. It's so easy to make and really does taste good.

After trial and error, here's the way we like to make Rice Milk:

Rice Milk Recipe 

Ingredients:
1/3 c brown rice
3 cups water
Honey or other sweetener
Vanilla

THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Toast 1/3 c brown rice in a pan on the stove until you start to smell its nutty flavor
Transfer the rice into a container with more than enough water to cover it
Soak toasted rice over night

THE NEXT DAY:
Pour out water from soaked rice and rinse the rice
Transfer the soaked rice into a blender and add 3 c water
Blend well
Gently pour blended rice milk through a wire strainer into a mason jar (some use cheesecloth)
Add honey to your liking
Add vanilla to your liking
Store in a sealed container in the fridge

I usually double the recipe and end up with two big mason jars.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN RICE MILK:

[*click items to purchase -Amazon affiliate links have been added for your convenience. As an Amazon associate I earn a small commission for your purchase. We appreciate your support!]

Brown rice

Honey

Vanilla

Mason jars with lids

Cheesecloth or

Fine wire strainer

Blender

What we've used rice milk on:

We've used our rice milk on cereal, added it to recipes, and used it in veggie/fruit smoothies.
It has just the right sweetness (after adding a touch of honey and vanilla) and has a very light taste.

You can also buy it at most grocery stores, but it's easy enough and much cheaper to make it right in your kitchen!

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Make your own Italian Sausage

For our big family Christmas Eve dinner festivities, we all decided to bring soups to share.

I've been craving a good sausage lentil soup lately, so that was my pick.

As I reached in the freezer for the package of sausage (one of my many great coupon finds!), I realized it wasn't flavored. Ugh. Please don't make me go back to the grocery store on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Thanks to an Italian Sausage Recipe I found online, I was able to turn my regular old pork sausage into flavorful Italian Sausage! The internet saved the day!

How to make your own Italian Sausage from regular Pork Sausage

In a glass bowl with an airtight lid, add the following ingredients and refrigerate over night:
(I only had just under 1 lb of pork sausage, so I halved the ingredients below, minus a dash)

2 lbs pork
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground fennel seed
1-1/2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Mush ingredients all around in your raw pork and refrigerate over night in an airtight container to increase the flavor absorption. Cook normally the next day.


We even ground our own fennel seed with a mortar and pestle. Fancy, I know. It smelled SO good! Like licorice actually. I couldn't believe how fragrant it was.

Incidentally, the soup was a fiasco, so I'll spare you from that recipe. Midway through cooking, it seemed too bland so we added a bunch more flavorings. In the end, it ended up being way too salty and we didn't eat much of it. Drat! Note to self for next year's Christmas Eve dinner dish? Keep it simple!

Hope your holiday was happy and bright!

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Nutella Coconut Cookies: easy and delicious!

A couple nights ago my husband came home at 7pm and informed me that he signed up to bring a dish for tomorrow's potluck. Oh, and a couple dozen cookies.

For a brief moment I felt like the mother of a 2nd grader who was just told while tucking in her child,  "Oh by the way, I'm supposed to bring 3 dozen cupcakes for a class party tomorrow. Goodnight." I'm sorry, wha??

It wouldn't have been a huge deal, except for the fact that I was exhausted from being sick the past several days with a sore throat & stuffy head. Top of my list? Not so much baking batches of cookies.

However, having been home pinning things on Pinterest, uh ehm, recovering that day, I suddenly had a moment of IPR (Instant Pinterest Recall). Some call it a disease, I call it a miracle.

"Nutella Cookies! Only 3 ingredients! Bake for 8 minutes!", I blurted out as Pinterest took over what little brain power I had left.

Crisis averted. My sanity, and the potluck, were saved. Thank you Tasty Kitchen!

Nutella Coconut Cookies

*Revised from Tasty Kitchen's Nutella Cookies Recipe

These cookies are like a little brownie bite - lightly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. If they weren't for the potluck I would have eaten all 24 of them!

Ingredients
1 cup Nutella
½ cup Sugar
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1 whole Egg
*we added 1 Tbsp water
*we added 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend all ingredients together well. Form into 1" balls. *I used a cookie scoop. Place on a cookie sheet. Press down firmly with the bottom of a glass. Bake 7-8 minutes or until set. *I ended up baking them for 10 minutes maybe because mine were a little thicker. Cool on a baking sheet.

YUM!
Bring these to your next holiday party!

Happy Holidays my friends!

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Dill Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe: Make your own!

{image: acefitness.org}

Don't put away your summery salads just yet! In fact, this delicious Dill Vinaigrette Dressing is one you can use all year long.

For the longest time I bought pre-bottled salad dressings, even if I didn't love them. I hadn't really even considered making my own dressing, thinking it would call for too many ingredients I didn't have.

Turns out I had all the fixin's for this delicious dill vinaigrette and you might too!

Dill Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, dill weed, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard and pepper. Shake or blend until all mixed. Put in covered container and refrigerate. Serve chilled.



It's even pretty shaken up. Such a lovely pale pink. The dill and red wine vinegar give it just the right touch.

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Rice with a Coconut Kiss

Ahhh, Coconut.
The smell is like tropical island and sunshine.
The taste like sweet summer.
A Hawaiian delicacy perched in a tree.

I had never tried Coconut Rice until a few days ago. And don't even get me started on how much I liked it. I must have said it 1,000 times with every delicious bite.

The up side? Coconut oil is rich in a fatty acid. It's also been known to increase metabolism and strengthen the immune system. The down side? It's made up of more than 90% saturated fat. Oh yah. That.

If you're throwing caution to the wind, like I do from time to time, try this sweet side dish with a kiss of coconut. The lovely ladies from Sisters Cafe paired this coconut rice with Peanut Ginger Chicken & Mango Salsa. If you like peanut butter and a touch of ginger, you'll love the chicken. It was really good too. It complimented the coconut rice perfectly.

Coconut Rice (from Sisters Cafe)

2 c. coconut milk
1 ½ c. white rice
1 c. water
3 ½ T. sugar
½ t. salt

Combine the coconut milk, rice, water, sugar, and salt for the rice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir once, then cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Fluff with a fork, cover, and keep warm until serving. (You can also use your rice cooker.)



I have some really fun things to show you this week! I've been a sewing diva lately. From sewing my own cute pajama bottoms, to refashioning projects. Stay tuned!

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Vanilla Hot Chocolate: not just a Starbucks delicacy

My mom and I have a guilty pleasure.
Starbucks Hot Chocolate.

We love to go to "The Bucks" (that's what she calls it and now I'm copying her), get our fave's (she loves the peppermint and I love the regular) and we grab a cozy seat by the fireplace, cup our steamy chocolate, and talk and laugh the way best friends do.

But with all the fuss over Starbucks, did you know you can make your own Hot Chocolate Delicacy?? I kid you not.

The thing I learned about Starbucks' hot chocolate, is that they use vanilla syrup. I'm crazy about vanilla, so I decided to try a little hot chocolate magic of my own and see how it turned out.

Enter Vanilla Syrup.

Just get your favorite hot chocolate mix and a bottle of Vanilla syrup (*not vanilla extract - much too bitter). I've often found the syrups in the coffee section of most grocery stores.

I like to mix my hot chocolate with hot milk (for a creamier taste), but you can also use water with most mixes; and add a Tbsp or two of the Vanilla syrup. Start out small and add to meet your taste.

And what's a cup of hot cocoa without marshmallows?? You've gotta have some marshmallows. And while you're getting all fancy, you might as well drink it in your favorite fancy mug (it really does taste better in a fancy mug).

Hope you love it like I do! It sure sweetens the sting of that cold December air.


*Makes a great gift basket idea too!  Here's my address: (hahaha) J/K

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Edible Creativity: Key Lime Pie

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! As always, it seemed to go by way too fast. And I'm not just talking about scarfing down dinner. You know what I mean, you work on it for 10 hours, you eat it in 10 minutes? Crazy phenomenon.

I'll admit, after all the holiday hoopla it's a little hard to return to reality. However, on the bright side, the countdown to Christmas has begun!

For our holiday feast, I tried my hand at making a Key Lime Pie I found on allrecipes.com, per the request of my 17-year-old niece.  It turned out pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Creamy and light with just the right tang.

And no egg yolks, like so many other recipes.

• Condensed Milk
• Sour Cream
• And ok, I did cheat and use Key Lime Juice, unlike the die hard pie makers who juiced 40 limes with their bare hands.

But I did zest 2 fresh limes to make up for it

And made my own graham cracker crust (I get a few points for that too don't I?)

• 1/3c sugar, 6T. melted butter and about 10 sheets of crushed graham crackers

Pre-oven pie

Fingers crossed...

We had a little extra filling and crust, so we made a little sample. I mean come on, we had to make sure the pie was ok to eat, right?!

And voila! It only took us about 6 slices before we got a skinny enough slice of lime to put on top. haha

The price of perfection.

And in case you want to try it, here's the recipe, with *my changes:


Key Lime Pie VII 

Ingredients

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
*2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.

[*Homemade graham crust: mix 1/3c sugar, 6T. melted butter and about 10 sheets of crushed graham crackers and press into pie plate. Bake for 5 minutes at 325, let cool a little, add filling and bake as the recipe states].

Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream!

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