Summer Food Pin-Wins!

Lately I'd say at least 75% of the meals I make are new finds from pinterest.  We love trying new things!  And whether it's luck or whether I'm just more picky in what I pin, most turn out really good.  But I know some people haven't been as happy with the things they try, so I'm giving you a couple of our favorite pinterest meals that are great for summer cooking and keeping the oven off!

Hawaiian Haystacks (without cream of chicken soup)- I can't say it's any more healthy with all that butter, but it tastes much better than its soup counterpart!  I didn't add the ranch packet seasoning.
Chili Lime Chicken Burgers- I did two major changes, first, I used ground pork instead of chicken (mix up in the store- something about chasing three young children while I'm trying to grab groceries).  Second, we mixed the guacamole with mayo.
Buffalo Chicken Tacos- Shut the door, this was good.  We added a lot of lettuce and cilantro to ours as well.
Korean BBQ Beef- No changes.  This was good!
Homemade Refried Beans- I would add more jalepeno and more onion next time.
Pina Colada Pops- I added a lot of coconut extract because we love ours coconutty!

Jamba Juice Recipes

My favorite site with jamba juice recipes disappeared off the internet a few months ago.  With a little prowling, I was able to find a cached copy and put it here for safekeeping.  1 scoop is an overflowing 1/2 cup.  Enlightened base can supposedly be found as a low calorie dairy base at health food stores (I'm not seeing it, so please tell me if you find this because it's in my favorite one!).

ALOHA PINEAPPLE 

10 oz. pineapple juice 

1 scoop plain yogurt 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops pineapple sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

BANANA BERRY 

12 oz. apple juice 

2 scoops bananas 

1 scoop blueberries 

1 scoop frozen yogurt 

1 scoop raspberry sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

BERRY FULLFILLING 

4 oz. raspberry juice 

8 oz. enlightened base 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop raspberries 

1 scoop blueberries 

1 scoop ice 

BERRY LIME SUBLIME 

12 oz. raspberry juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop raspberries 

2 scoops lime sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

BRIGHT EYED AND BLUEBERRY 

12 oz. soymilk 

2 scoops yogurt 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop blueberries 

CARIBBEAN PASSION 

12 oz. Mango-passion juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop peaches 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

CITRUS SQUEEZE 

6 oz. pineapple juice 

6 oz. orange juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

COLD BUSTER 

12 oz orange juice 

2 scoops peaches 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

KIWI BERRY BURNER 

12 oz. Kiwi juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop raspberries 

2 scoops raspberry sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

MANGO-A-GO-GO 

12 oz. Mango-passion juice 

3 scoops mangos 

2 scoops pineapple sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

MANGO MANTRA 

4 oz. orange juice 

8 oz. enlightened base 

2 scoops mangos 

2 scoops peaches 

1 scoop ice 

MIGHTY CHERRY CHARGER 

4 oz. raspberry juice 

6 oz. soymilk 

2 scoops cherries 

1 scoop strawberries 

2 scoops frozen yogurt 

1 scoop ice 

ORANCE-A-PEEL 

12 oz. orange juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops frozen yogurt 

1 scoop ice 

ORANGE BERRY BLITZ 

12 oz. orange juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop blueberries 

2 scoops pineapple sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

ORANGE CHERRY CHEER 

6 oz. orange juice 

6 oz. soymilk 

3 scoops cherries 

1 scoop frozen yogurt 

1 scoop orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice

ORANGE DREAM MACHINE 

6 oz. orange juice 

6 oz. soymilk 

2 scoops frozen yogurt 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

2 scoops ice 

PEACH PLEASURE 

12 oz. peach juice 

2 scoops peaches 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

PINA COLADA 

12 oz. pineapple juice 

1 Tbls coconut 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoop frozen yogurt 

2 scoops pineapple sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

PUMPKIN SMASH 

8 oz soymilk 

1 scoop pumpkin mix (from can) 

4 scoops frozen yogurt 

2 scoops ice 

RAZAMATAZ 

12 oz raspberry juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

STRAWBERRIES WILD 

12 oz. apple juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

2 scoops frozen yogurt 

1 scoop ice 

STRAWBERRY NIRVANA 

4 oz. apple juice 

8 oz. enlightened base 

4 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

1 scoop ice 

STRAWBERRY SURF RIDER 

12 oz. lemonade 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop peaches 

2 scoops lime sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

SUNRISE STRAWBERRY 

12 oz. soymilk 

2 scoops yogurt 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop bananas 

GUMMIE BEAR 

12 oz. peach juice 

1 scoop peaches 

1 scoop of each: orange, lime, pineapple, and raspberry sherbet and frozen yogurt 

1 scoop ice 

TANGO TROPIC 

12 oz. peach juice 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop peaches 

1 scoop raspberry sherbet 

1 scoop orange sherbet 

1 scoop ice 

TROPICAL AWAKENING 

4 oz. pineapple juice 

8 oz. enlightened base 

2 scoops strawberries 

1 scoop blueberries 

1 scoop bananas 

1 scoop ice

Fresh's Black Bean Burrito Wrap

Another vegan meal brought to you by the Refresh cookbook.  This was seriously delish!  My favorite thing about it is, unlike other meatless meals, this one doesn't feel like it's missing something or lacking in flavor.  This isn't the exact recipe, but includes changes I made (or would make in the future).

picture from Oh She Glows

Fresh's Black Bean Burrito Wrap
Black Bean Filling:
6 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
4 c. canned or cooked black beans

Heat oil over med heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 min or until soft.  Add remaining ingredients except for black beans.  Simmer for five minutes.  Lightly mash black beans so some are still intact.  Add beans to mixture.

Wrap:
4 whole wheat tortillas
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
2 c. shredded green lettuce
2 avocados, sliced

Heat tortillas on a grill or in the oven (I did mine in the microwave).  Spread a thick layer of warm black bean filling on the center of a tortilla.  Spoon a portion of all of the above garnishes on top.   Roll and eat!

Curried Garbanzo Wraps

picture by Oh She Glows

This recipe is a take on the Kathmandu Wrap featured at Fresh restaurant in Toronto.  I checked out a cookbook (I love the interlibrary loan system!) the creator had written for another recipe and decided to try this one, BUT I didn't have some of the ingredients.  Instead of buying stuff I would never use again, I used her recipe as a base, then made up my own!  Oh, and then I ate it too fast to get a picture of it.  YUM!

Curried Garbanzo Bean Wrap

adapted from the Kahtmandu Wrap in Refresh by Ruth Tal

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1/2 large carrot, grated

1/2 c. green pepper, chopped

2 pepperocinins, chopped (or something hotter if you like it super spicy)

1/2 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp oregano

1/2 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp curry

1 can garbanzo beans

1/4 c. tomato sauce

4 whole wheat tortillas

1 pack alfalfa sprouts

2 tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cucumber, sliced

Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic, onions, carrot, peppers, and spices.  Cook until veggies are soft.  In the meantime, use a food processor to smash garbanzo beans into a chunky paste.  Add bean paste and tomato sauce to skillet, and cook until heated through.  Serve on tortilla with sprouts, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

I had my wrap without any of the garnishes (because I didn't have any on hand, must be time to go shopping) and it was still delish!

Cookies & Cream Cookies

I made these cookies for FHE treats the other night, and they were SO YUMMY! Especially the dough! Just use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and instead of chocolate chips, fold in broken up pieces of oreos. So good......got the idea from pinterest :)

Bierocks Revised

Bierocks is a traditional German meal, but with cheese and all that I add, it's much more american.  This is just the filling.  You can wrap it in dough and bake to make bierocks, or you can serve over noodles.

Once again, I didn't have a picture so I took this one from Janet Sheetz.

1 pound hamburger
1 large onion
3 tsp fresh, chopped garlic
2/3 head of cabbage, chopped
1 tbsp season all
1 tsp black pepper
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup
1/4 c. whipping cream (or milk or sour cream if you don't have the whipping cream)
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Brown hamburger with onion and garlic in a very large skillet.  Once hamburger is medium well, add cabbage and seasonings.  Stir often.  Once hamburger is cooked though entirely, turn down heat to med-lo and cover with lid.  Stir occasionally.  Once cabbage is soft, add soup, cream, and cheese.  Heat through.  This makes a large batch to be served over two meals or half frozen.  Serve wrapped in dough and baked or over noodles.

Don't let the cabbage scare you- it's super yummy!

White Bean Fennel Soup

On Saturday we received fennel in our bountiful basket.  I didn't have a clue what to do with fennel- I don't even think I've ever eaten it before.  So I found this recipe on allrecipes.com that had a high rating and tried it.  I never even thought to take pictures because it was just a test, but it turned out super yummy!

This is not my picture.  I took it from the original recipe.

White Bean Fennel Soup by Donna Quinn (my changes in parenthesis)

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth (2 cans)
• 1 (15 ounce) can white kidney or cannelini beans, rinsed and drained (2 cans)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (none, I don't like thyme)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (1 tsp pepper)
• (2 tsp kosher salt)
• 1 bay leaf (2 leaves)
• 3 cups shredded fresh spinach (none because we were out, but it would be really good)
• 
  
• In a large saucepan, saute onion and fennel in oil until tender. Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme, pepper, (salt) and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 (45) minutes or until fennel is tender. Discard bay leaf. Add spinach; cook 3-4 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.