Eggs Florentine

So this is what I had for dinner.


Garlic, sliced
Mexican Squash (or Zucchini or yellow squash)
Handful of spinach leaves
Green Onion Stalk
Green Bell Pepper, sliced
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
2 eggs

I sliced up some garlic, Mexican squash, green onion, bell pepper and added a handful of spinach to a frying pan.  I topped it all with some olive oil and sea salt.  I turned up the heat to medium and sauteed a little while I added 2 eggs on top.  I stir everything up while it cooked.  Then when it was done, I served it up all nice and pretty on a plate.  I suppose you could add cheese or serve it with toast.  But I ate it as is.  Best of all it was ready in 10 minutes or less.

Low Calorie Chicken and Veggie Alfredo

This post is going to be very unpolished, just written as I was trying to remember what I cooked tonight.




This is a great low calorie meal. I made this only for me, but I could definitely increase the portions and make enough for the whole family. I try out things on myself and then if I like it, we can make it for everyone. 

Chicken & Veggie Alfredo

Assorted Veggies chopped in bite size pieces (broccoli, cauliflower, Mexican (green) onion, zucchini, and yellow squash) I did 2-3 cups just for me =)

Frozen, yet previously cooked chicken breast (5 oz) (I cook all my chicken breast in advance and then freeze individual portion sizes)

Walden Farms Alfredo Sauce

Assorted spices (garlic powder/salt, sea salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, cayenne – this was a mistake but turned out well. I accidently poured some over my veggies and chicken in the pan and then rinsed it all out, but a small residue stayed and added a bit of a kick.)

Olive Oil

Miracle Noodle/Shirataki Noodles



Chop all your veggies. Reheat the chicken. Once the chicken is warm, slice into bite-sized pieces, unless you have a really good knife that will let you cut frozen cooked chicken. Place about a teaspoon or so of olive oil in the pan and add veggies and pre-cooked chicken. Season with spices. Once the chicken and veggies are done, top with Alfredo sauce, about 1-2 tbls, just enough to coat the food, not overwhelm it.

Shiritaki noodles, just need to be drained and rinsed and dried. I decided to toss them in the same pan as the chicken and veggies (on one side) to just heat them a bit, but it’s not required. Shiritaki noodles don’t have much flavor and will pick up the flavor from the food it’s served with. Shiritaki/miracle noodles as I learned from googling it are noodles made from plant fibers (yam flour) and have no calories and less than 1 g of carbs per serving. Compare that to the 20g per serving on regular noodles.

Top the noodles with the Chicken and Veggie Alfredo. Add a salad on the side (half the plate) topped with your favorite Walden Farms dressing.

The only calories from this meal come from the salad, veggies, chicken and the olive oil. Seriously, Walden Farms – zero, miracle noodles – zero.

BBQ Chicken Fajita Salad

I have been gone, I know.  Did you know I moved?  I digress.  I made myself dinner tonight and I loved it.  I have affectionately named it BBQ Chicken Fajita Salad.  Call it what you like but it's rather easy to make. 
1 T (or so) Olive Oil
Sea Salt
3-5 oz already cooked chicken breast (I have some cooked and frozen in the freezer and heat as I need it)
1 bell pepper (I used green but you can use all colors if you want), sliced
6 mushrooms (average size - nothing special), sliced
Salad/Lettuce/Spinach
BBQ sauce - I use Walden Farms

Make your salad however you like.  I only had lettuce and spinach.  Set aside on a plate. 
In a small pan add olive oil and sea salt.  Turn on medium heat and add chopped veggies.  Joe was chopping onions for something and I grabbed a pinch of onions.  Saute' until soft but still crunchy (peppers and onions.) 
Add chicken to pan and add about 1 T (more or less) of BBQ sauce on top.  Cook and break chicken into bite sized pieces while it's heating.  The goal here is to brown it and create BBQ looking marks with the cooked sauce.
Top salad with chicken and veggies and enjoy.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Easy Salsa Mix

My sister (in-law) Rebecca (and Chad and family) gave us a couple of items for Christmas this year. One was a jar of salsa mix and the ingredients to make it. There was also a jar of Ranch dressing mix. I've written down the recipes before and have them in a notebook, but decided posting it here would be best. Since I've only tried the Salsa, I am only posting that now.

Easy Salsa Mix

1 C Dried Cilantro

¼ C Garlic Powder

½ C Dried Minced Onion

¼ C Dried Sweet Pepper Flakes

1 T Salt

1 T Pepper (optional - if you like it hot)

Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in airtight container.

Use 1-2 T of mix with a can of Rotel® (or generic) Tomatoes and Chilis. Let refrigerate to blend flavors. Serve as you would any salsa.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I did not invent this recipe. I have found it online in many places. I originally found it connected to the Duggar's family website. I suppose I could just link to the recipe on their site however I want you to read my blog. I've even looked up the ingredients of the ingredients and created an ingredient listing you can add to bottles if you decide to give it away as a gift. We make this as a family, I do most of the work, but everyone has helped. We've made it twice so far and it lasts our family of 6 about 8-9 months. It would probably last a little longer because we gave some bottles away the first time. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Fels Naptha soap bar, grated
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

Essential oil for scent if desired



Instructions:

Grate the soap bar (I use a food processor, but it's soft enough to do by hand – here's where the little helpers come in)

Add to a sauce pan filled with about 2 cups of hot water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves. The soap will try to blend together during the stirring process, just keep stirring until it's completely dissolved.

Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Fill to top with hot water. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Cover and let set overnight. The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in smaller laundry-detergent dispensers or containers. Shake before using. I add a couple of drops of essential oils to individual containers of detergent. Scents to try are lavender, rosemary, anise, or tea tree.



Directions for use: Use ⅝ C for top load and ½C for front load machines. I measure the caps of the detergent bottles I use and then compare to above measurements. Usually a cap full is enough, but some caps are smaller than others.



Picture of mixture once it's done.  These are helpful so you'll know yours is right.  It will get thick as it sits.

Ingredient listing:

Ingredients: Water, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Borate, Soap (Stoddard solvent, Fatty acids, C8-C18 and C18-unsaturated, sodium salts, Hydrocarbons, terpene processing by-products~Terpene processing by-products)

Legal Disclaimer: Harmful if swallowed. Possible eye and skin irritant. As with all cleaning products, keep crystals and solution out of reach of children and pets. Avoid contact with eyes and mucous membranes or prolonged contact with sun. In case of eye contact, flush with water for 15 minutes and call a physician. Do not ingest. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting. Drink a glassful of water and seek prompt medical attention. 

Conference Traditions

Besides watching conference and printing out those conference packets I receive via email, there are two traditions I have for conference weekend. They are to throw out my mascara and make cinnamon rolls. I've been doing both traditions for several years now.

It has been said, and I don't know by whom, women should replace their mascara every six months. My birthday is about 6 months from Christmas so I could've used that as a guide, however both are busy times for me. So I found conference happens to be a great time to do that. It's always the first Sunday (Saturday and Sunday) in April and October. It's more reliable than daylight savings time and it's not that busy of a weekend for me. I've heard we should replace lipsticks about as often.. I once read that Jackie O only used a tube of lipstick once. It was as if once it had her germs it was no longer good. Perhaps it was donated to the poor women who can't afford to buy their own new lipsticks. One would hope not, however as charitable as the Kennedy's seemed to be, I would expect such a thing. Anyhow, I digress. I do not toss my lipsticks until they are gone. Sometimes, I'll mix the leftover with some petroleum jelly to make lip gloss, but's for another blog.

My second tradition is to make cinnamon rolls. It all started when I told years ago (by the ex) that there was a talk given at Priesthood Session where the wife and family of this speaker would make donuts every conference weekend and the whole family would enjoy them once he (the speaker) came home from Priesthood. It was some sort of incentive to go. I've never heard nor read the talk, perhaps it was about traditions or the importance of making it to Priesthood (no matter how big or little the bribe.) Anyhow, from that day forward, I decided to attempt the task of rewarding my man for going to Priesthood. It started with mini-fried biscuit donuts that my mom used to make. And then the guy stopped going to Priesthood and church so there was no need to offer the reward.

Then I heard about Krispy Kreme donuts. Yummy. So after he was gone (from my life,) I continued the tradition for my boys. I explained to them that they were too little to go then, however I would buy KK donuts every conference weekend. Then I married Joe and he added to the tradition and without fail he always went. He really didn't need the reinforcement, but it was still fun to buy KK donuts with the boys. Then KK went out of business in AZ. Oh no! What was I going to do?

That's when I started making cinnamon rolls. KK is now back in business, but my cinnamon rolls win hands down. Over the years, I've perfected the recipe. Tweaking something here and finding we like it, or finding something we did not. I found any basic roll dough works, but I find the ones for the bread machine are easiest. I usually make two batches. The frosting recipe I always use is found here . Unfortunately, writing this blog, I found this site has now been removed or blocked, but I have saved a copy of the recipe. If you google "Gordon Family Cinnabon" you might have luck finding it elsewhere or you can email me for my complete recipe (dough, filling and frosting.) The only change I have on the frosting is the extract flavoring (I have yet to try lemon, but will this year. And I have used almond, too.) For the filling I've decided I like more than any recipe calls for so here's my filling recipe:
FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, softened. (Cinnabon prefers margarine, however margarine is one molecule from plastic, so I always use butter)

My two conference traditions have gotten me far. By swapping my mascara, I follow experts and prevent possible eye infections. And by making cinnamon rolls, I encourage my men to do their duties. So this conference you'll find me in new mascara wearing an apron baking in the kitchen. Anyone want some warm gooey cinnamon rolls?