Strawberry-Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

Move over Tapioca! Chia seed has come to town and has taken over our home for good. My son loves it, I love it. It is seriously good and good for you! Pudding that is healthy? How does that work? I'm not going to question it, I'm just going to spoon those healthy omega-3's into my mouth and enjoy the benefits.

Apple Sunrise Slaw

 

 

Coleslaw is one of my all time favorite BBQ side dishes. The crunchy veggies with the cool creamy dressing pair so wonderfully with the savory and saucy meat. Besides eating the slaw as a side dish, it makes the perfect condiment to pulled-pork sandwiches. Yum!  

Chive-Mustard Vinaigrette

Chives are so wonderful and definitely underused in my kitchen. They have such delicate flavors that add the perfect touch of garlicky onion to any dish. Usually when I make a vinaigrette, I make my go-to Creamy Basil recipe, but after my mother-in-law gave me some leftover minced chives from our Easter supper, I had to put them to good use!

 

Breakfast Sausage Loco Moco

Any time it starts snowing or raining, I instantly want to jump on a plane to Hawaii. Snow cones, fresh sushi and pineapple call my name. Then I snap back into reality and remember that I have an 1 year old, and 6 hours straight on a plane with my little guy would be pure torture. Therefore, whenever I'm missing the island sun, I make one of my most favorite Hawaiian meals....the Loco Moco!

 

 

Traditionally a Loco Moco is served with rice, a big ol' beef patty, fried egg and brown gravy. I've even had a different version that included Mahi Mahi fish (delicious!) at Ken's House of Pancakes in Hilo on the Big Island. They even had loco mocos that included spam, sausage links, chili and corned beef. Basically any protein will do! 

Homemade Cheese Crackers

My son is a lover of cheese....just like his mom! ;)  His favorites in particular are mozzarella string cheese and he especially loves himself some shredded cheddar cheese. It's one of his favorite snacks besides bananas and frozen peas/carrots. A little while back I made him a big batch of homemade graham crackers and he gobbled them up. These cheddar crackers are a combination of his two favorite things - crackers and cheese!

Farm Lunches

During this harvest and seeding season, I have become the jedi-master of harvest lunches. I've even got a system down so that I prepare the next days meal the night before. Silly me thought there would be enough time in the mornings to prepare lunch and breakfast for my farmer, as well as feed and take care of my baby in the morning. All of this before my husband darts out the door to start a full day out in the field. Ha! Yeah right!

By doing the work the night before, I get to stay in bed with my baby and cuddle, all while my hubby gets up at the crack of dawn with breakfast and lunch ready to go. He gets fed and I get to "sleep in" (7:30am). It's a win-win!

During harvest, my husband drives truck while his father works the combine. In this scenario, he gets to park the truck for a bit, which allows for different meals like salads, sandwiches and such. During seeding, he is manning the tractor, so everything has to be eaten on the go, using just one hand while driving the tractor with the other. Therefore sandwiches only!

Eating regular old turkey and ham sandwiches can get pretty boring. So my goal as farmwife is to provide some variety and excitement to my farmers lunches. The key to keeping them fresh and not soggy during the long days.....toast the bread! I swear it works! Try it!

Cucumber Melon Salad

A refreshing and crisp salad with hints of salty and sweet make this perfect for bridal showers, BBQ's and family gatherings.

Hello Fresh {Review}

After having such a great experience with Blue Apron, I have totally become sold on the concept of boxed meal delivery services. So when I found a coupon code for Hello Fresh giving me $30 off, I had to give that one a try too!

HINT: If you download their app on your phone, use the code FRESHAPP at checkout to get the $30 off!

It couldn't hurt to get 3 meals for 2 people for $39 instead of $69, right?!?! That's only $6.50 per serving! You can't even eat take-out for those costs. I know this because the other day I went to get take-out for lunch and a salad cost me $8!!! And it wasn't even a good salad. It was just an okay salad. So if I can have a healthy, fresh and fun dinner...then heck yes I'll try it!

Prior to the delivery arriving we were given five options of meals to chose from and got to pick three of those for the week. Dusty and I selected:

• Lemony Pan-Seared Chicken with Pesto Potato Salad and Peas
• Fiery Pork Fajitas with Blistered Peppers and Guacamole
• Jamie's Oozy Zucchini Risotto with Buffalo Mozzarella and Fresh Basil

There were two other options that week of: Salmon en Papillote and Lasagna Penne Bake. We chose the three recipes above because they sounded the most interesting and unique out of the group, plus I wanted to try the risotto since it was a Jamie Oliver recipe. He contributes one recipe each week and they all look fabulous and a notch above the rest!

Blue Apron {Review}

Is it just me or does it seem like groceries are costing more and more with each passing week? I remember when we lived in Billings a few years ago that we could get by on $80 a week for a weeks worth of groceries and have some really great meals. Then we moved up to the Hi-Line and it seems like our grocery bill doubled overnight. Besides inflation, it must have to be so ridiculously high due to the fact we are out in the middle of no-where. Grocery shopping use to be one of my favorite activities to do each week and now it has just become depressing. I walk out of the store each time irritated and frustrated that I've spent that much on food for a small family of three. The sad thing is, I'm not the only one...most people I talk to around this area say they spend anywhere for $150-200 a week at the grocery store....yikes!

Enter Blue Apron.

When I first read about Blue Apron, I initially thought it was a frivolous and luxury service. Three meals for two people costing $59 a week sounds like a lot of money. But the more I crunched the numbers and read reviews, I thought this could actually save us money as well as provide three extremely fresh and healthy dinners each week. So we gave it a try....

Forgive the pictures please....I used Snapchat for taking pics :/

Traditional Deviled Eggs

There are few things with my husband that we disagree upon. Should we watch football or Once Upon A Time on Sunday nights? Football always wins. Who gets to unload the dishwasher or do the laundry? I usually end up doing both. Bacon or Pork Sausage for breakfast? I'm on team bacon!

The one argument that still stands to this day since we started dating 9 years ago is whose deviled egg recipe is the best. He likes his eggs savory with taco seasoning and I like mine slightly sweet with pickle relish and dried minced onion. We usually can’t agree so we end up making both recipes most of the time and quickly gobble them up!  

Homemade Graham Crackers

Have you ever been so desperate for something sweet, you reached to the very back of your pantry for a box of expired graham crackers to snack on? No? Just me? Well, whatever you do.....do not eat expired Graham Crackers. No matter what. To make a long and painful story short, let's just say I ate some Graham Crackers that should have been thrown out two Christmas's ago. They tasted like paint thinner and rat poison which lead to a long night of "talking to Ralph on the big white telephone." It wasn't pretty. Don't do it!

Luckily, homemade Graham Crackers will not cause such horrible events to occur. In fact, they do the exact opposite! Everyone in my family adores these crackers and they are the perfect wholesome treat for my son.

Baby's Favorite Foods

Over the past few months it has been so much fun to watch Nolan’s ability to eat more solid and regular foods evolve. Some of his favorite foods today include: avocado, banana chunks, string/shredded cheese, pepperoni slices and basically anything involving pasta. The boy also loves himself some French toast, pancakes and waffles, which is total proof that he is my son.

 

I must admit that sometimes life can get too crazy to strictly make 100% of Nolan’s baby food, so I supplement and feed him store bought food when needed. For the most part, he gets a healthy balance of my home cooking, fresh produce and regular baby food. As a working mom, there is only so much you can do and that is just alright by me.

 

One of his favorite foods, which I was impressed and shocked to find, are peas and carrots. You know the frozen bag of pre-cut bite-size peas and carrots? He loves those! I usually take about 1/4 cup of frozen peas and carrots, defrost them in the microwave for 30 seconds with a bit of water, cool them with cold water and let him enjoy. He will go to town on his pile of peas and carrots and gobble them all up! How lucky am I that my son loves vegetables?!?! Hopefully this isn’t a phase and it will stick throughout his childhood. (fingers crossed!)

 

I’ve talked to a few parents and I must say that I’m pretty lucky. My son is not a picky eater (at this point in his life). Any combination of food I throw his way he eats without questioning. Lately our biggest hurdle is that he insists on feeding himself with a spoon or fork, and that gets messy!

 

Here are a few of Nolan’s favorite homemade baby food combinations…

Back To My Roots

If you didn't notice, I've been gone from The Girly Girl Cooks for almost a year. I thought I needed something new, so I started the blog, Hi-Line Healthy. After 11 months of working on Hi-Line Healthy I've come to realize it just isn't me.

I'm The Girly Girl Cooks. Always was, always will be.

Over the past year, I've shared some really great recipes on Hi-Line Healthy. Over the next few weeks I'll be bringing them over here and sharing them with all of you.

Meanwhile, let me update you on what has been happening the past year...