Cranberry Chicken

The picture I have of this doesn't look great so I will get a new one.  But it is super yummy! When I had the twins, I had two different people bring this to me.

2-3 Chicken Breasts
1 packet of Onion Soup Mix
8 oz Russian Salad Dressing
1 can of Cranberry Jelly or you can make your own using fresh cranberries

Place chicken, cut up or whole in baking dish.  In a bowl, mix together the onion soup mix, Russian dressing, and cranberry jelly.  Mix well and pour over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until completely cooked.  Serve over rice. 

If using fresh cranberries make that before you do anything else.

Banana Berry Smoothie

Not the best picture, I know.  But I was in a hurry to eat it up!
Lately I've been trying to lose my weight from having the twins.  This has been working great!  For breakfast this is what I have.

1 large or 2 small bananas
1 cup of frozen berrries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
1 cup of Juice - usually white grape

Blend well and enjoy!

Apple Craisin Salad

I never should have put this salad in a yellow bowl for the picture.  It makes it look weird.  Anyway, I have some friends (Christie and Nicole) who make the most awesome salads.  When it comes to salad, I am hard to impress so this says a lot.

Ingredients:
Romaine
Clementines
Apples - Honeycrisp are the best
Craisins
Roasted Almond Slices
Mozzarella Cheese
and a Poppy Seed Dressing

Oh my gosh it is so amazing, I've pretty much had this for lunch every day this week.  I'm not joking.  It is so easy to throw together and so worth it.  I like to think I'm being healthy by eating it, but the truth is that by the time I get the dressing on there, I've pretty much undone all of my effort in eating healthy.  Oh well, we'll pretend like I only use a little spoon full.

Pomegranates, Cranberries, & Artichokes

For decorations of course!


Not only are these all delicious, but they are awesome holiday decos, too!

Here's a quick trick to getting the pomegranate seeds out.  Soak the pomegranates in water first.  It's much easier getting the seeds out if you do this.  Trust me.  I soaked mine for a full 24 hours first.  Not on purpose, I just didn't have time to get to them before that.  I'm not sure what the least amount of soaking time would be.  But it's worth it.  My kids LOVE to snack on these.  I guess I do, too.  They are really yummy

Blueberry Muffins

I got this recipe from the Essential Mormon Celebrations Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen. And it rocks.


Muffins 
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. Lemon Zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 recipe Muffin Topping (see below)
1 recipe Muffin Glaze (see below)

In a large bowl (not a mixer), combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until well blended. Make a well in center of mixture. Place egg, butter, and milk in center and stir just until blended. Carefully stir in lemon zest and blueberries. Fill 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle with Muffin Topping. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle with Muffin Glaze (not pictured above)


Muffin Topping 
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (not pictured above)
 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted

 In a bowl, combine above ingredients and sprinkle over muffins.


Muffin Glaze 
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice

In a bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over muffins after baking.

Spinach Smoothies

I know this is the least appetizing sounding smoothie you could possible create while still edible. But I keep hearing about people LOVING these smoothies. Each recipe I find is different so I did what I thought sounded the best.


Prettier before the mixing

Doesn't look edible but I promise it is. And it's good.
I didn't add blueberries but I'm sure they would be pretty good

2 Bananas
4 Strawberries
1/2 Cup Raspberries
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
1 -2 cups of Spinach
1/2 T. Honey

These are a great way to get your fruits and veggies in or if you're not a breakfast person, this would be great for breakfast, too.

Strawberry Salad

This is a very summery salad but it's still 80 here in AZ so I think it's still ok.

1 Head of Romaine
1 lb of Stawberries
1 Cup of sliced Red Grapes

Poppy Seed Dressing:1/2 Cup Mayo
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

Add all ingredients for poppy seed dressing and wisk until well mixed. Put in fridge until salad is put together.

Wash lettuce, strawberries, and grapes. Cut lettuce if not already. Slice strawberries & grapes and add to salad.
Wisk dressing again and add to salad right before serving so the salad won't wilt.