Guacamole Dip

I love getting together with friends.  I love seeing them, their kiddos, talking, playing Mario Kart, watching movies, and playing board games.  One of the other things we like to do is eat good food!!!

Last night we were joining some friends for dinner so I offered to bring guacamole dip.  I love guacamole.  I could eat it til I was sick.  I actually messed up my regular recipe last night and had to fix it...and amazingly it turned out better than normal.


Guacamole Dip

6 Avocados Cubed
9 Roma Tomatos Large Chop
1/2 Red Onion Small Chop
2 Tblspns Lime Juice
4 Tblspns Chopped Cilantro
1 Tblspn Sugar
8 oz. Block of Cream Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

I chop the onions and cilantro and put them in a separate bowl with the salt, pepper and lime juice.  I think this wilts the onions some and keeps them from being so bitter and overpowering in the dip.

Chop the tomatoes and Avocados up and put them in a bowl and mix lightly with an electric mixer.  Add the wilted onion mixture and stir again.  Then add the softened cream cheese and mix well. The more you mix the smoother the dip will be.

I prefer my guac a little chunky so I kept out two of the chopped tomatoes and folded them in at the end.  Also use your seasonings to taste including the lime juice and cilantro.  I like lots of cilantro.  And never....NEVER skimp on the pepper.


Hope you enjoy it!!

Boar Meat Ball Sliders

As I said in the last blog post, James went to our new Sprouts recently.  He came back with quite a load of goodies.  One of which includes some ground ferrel swine (AKA Ground Boar).  I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do with it, but I was excited to try.  Then we were watching Friends today, one of our very favorites.  It was "The One With The Ride Along" and Joey gets the best meatball sandwich in the world.

That got me thinking.  I haven't made meatballs in months!!!  James loves my meatballs and they're great as subs or along with a great pasta.

The following recipe is pretty basic.  You can do this recipe with ground beef, ground pork, or ground turkey.  My suggestion to anyone is to be aware of the fat content of your meat.  A pork or a high fat ratio beef will possibly need more bread crumbs to hold it together.  The low fat ratio beef or a ground turkey could need less bread crumbs so they're not dry.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

What you need:

1 Lb Ground Meat
1 T Chopped Garlic (or 2 cloves of fresh garlic)
1 Medium Onion Chopped Fine
1 Red Bell Pepper Chopped Fine
4 Strips of Bacon Chopped
2 T Diced Sundried Tomatos
1/4 C Italian Style Bread Crumbs
1/2 C Italian Style Bread Crumbs (separate)
2 T Olive Oil
2 Eggs
1/4 C Parmesan Cheese
1/2 T Salt
1 Tsp Pepper

Bread (I prefer Focaccia, but tonight we used Ciabatta)
8 oz. Mozzarella Sliced
Jar of your Pasta Sauce of Choice

1. In a skillet over medium heat add your olive oil, garlic and onions and caramelize.  Add the bacon and brown.  Add the bell pepper and the sun dried tomatoes and cook on low for 5 minutes to late the flavors develop.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

2.  Preheat your oven to 400°F.  In a mixer or a large bowl add your raw meat, 1/2 a cup of your sautéed mixture, your bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, Salt and Pepper, and eggs.  Mix thoroughly.

3.  On a plate pour your 1/2 C of bread crumbs.  Roll a portion of the meatball mixture, approximately 1/3 C, into a ball and roll through the bread crumbs to coat.  Layer in a greased metal or glass pan.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes turning every 5 minutes to brown.

4.  While the meatballs are cooking in the oven add the pasta sauce you chose to the remaining vegetables and simmer to thicken the sauce.

5.  When the meatballs are finished place them on bottom layer of bread, adding the slices of mozzarella to the top of each meatball.  Place in the oven to broil for 5-8 minutes or until melted and/or browned.  Remove from the oven add the thickened sauce to the top of the meatballs and add the top of the bun.

6. Enjoy!!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs

James made a run to the new Sprouts today and brought home tons of veggies, chocolate-toffee covered almonds, and other yummy goodies.  When I came in from work he had a smile on his face and told me he brought home my favorite part of the chicken....THIGHS!!

He prefers the breast because he says it's tastier, but I COMPLETELY disagree.  The thigh is the juiciest and tastiest part of the bird for sure!!  Tonight I wanted to make something tasty and easy and I think my concoction has won him over to the dark side...pun intended.

My husband loves food, and I'm a pretty decent cook, so when I ask him how dinner was he usually tells me, "Good," or "I liked it."  Occasionally I get an, "I liked it a lot," or, "Really good," but tonight he gave these chicken thighs an, "Awesome," rating....always makes my heart happy to get a good review from my favorite food critic.  ;)

The recipe is VERY easy, super simple, very little prep, and doesn't take long for total dinner time.  This is a very basic recipe and you could always amp it up by stuffing the thighs before rolling them up if you wanted something fancier.  Some suggestions for stuffing could include Cream cheese and jalapeño, stuffing mix and apples, spinach and feta cheese, or cooked wild rice and herbs.  Experiment and let me know how yours turn out!

Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

What you'll need:

4  Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

4  Strips of Bacon

½ C Worcestershire Sauce

¼ C Brown Sugar

2 T Brown Sugar (separate)

2 T Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Gallon Zip Lock Bag

Glass Baking Dish

To make:

You'll want to marinate your chicken thighs for the best flavor.  To do this you'll mix the worcestershire sauce and the ¼ C. of brown sugar together in a zip lock bag.  Add your chicken thighs to the bag, press out the air, and seal.  Massage the bag for a few minutes to make sure all the chicken is coated thoroughly.  Let them sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour.  I suggest a few hours for best flavor.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.  Add prepare your glass pan by coating a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom to keep the thighs from sticking. 

Take your chicken thighs out of the bag and season on both sides with salt and pepper.  If you're stuffing the thighs with something this is the point to add it.  Roll the thighs up as you would a cinnamon roll.  Wrap one strip of bacon around the thigh and if necessary secure with a toothpick.  I didn't need any tooth picks.  I just tucked the ends of the bacon under the bottom of the chicken thighs when I added them to the pan.  If you stuff them I would suggest using a tooth pick to keep the stuffing secure.  

Place the chicken thighs in the greased pan and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top.  Cook in the oven, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes or until they reach 170°F on the inside.  

I really think this is a fool proof chicken recipe.  After trying it you can start experimenting.  Try marinating in Soy sauce and Pineapple juice for a teriyaki flair, lime juice and chopped cilantro for a Mexican craving, or a simple worcestershire and BBQ sauce.  I also think these would be great on the grill as long as you watch out for flair ups as they'll drip a lot of fat.  

Good luck with your cooking and I hope you get an "Awesome" rating from your Honeys!!!

Tipping the scales at....

....208 lbs!!  Whoa...The day I got on the scale and saw how out of control my weight had gotten I cried.  It was heart breaking to know that I had gotten so lazy.  However, I didn't decide that day to hit the gym and lose the weight.  That day I felt very sorry for myself and I was upset, but a week or so later my husband (such a great man) came up with this plan to run a thing called the Warrior Dash in Platte City, MO, a little town outside of KC, MO.  It is a 5K run in which you climb over walls, cross a moat, jump over a fire pit, and crawl through a mud pit that has barbed wire and ropes over the top, etc. He told me that he wanted to do this run and I said that it sounded like fun, until he informed me that someone died last year during the run. I was quaking and a shaking inside...."please don't ask me to do this with you" was feverishly repeating in my head.  He kept raving about it and how much fun it would be and I realized what was going on.  He really did want me to do it with him, but he didn't want to push me into it.  I sheepishly asked him if he wanted me to join him and he looked me in the eye and said, "I would love it if you would do this with me, you don't have to, but I would love it if you would."  Well, when such a handsome man says something like that to you, you get convinced pretty fast.  Besides, I was extremely flattered that he wanted to do this WITH ME!!

At this point, we are signed up for the 11:00 am run and are training for it. I believe the program we are using is the Couch to 5k and this week we have been running 1 min and walking 2 min 6 times. It's not been too bad!!  The first day of running I was on my last set and felt like I was going to pass out, but the second day of running wasn't nearly as hard.  We finish up with a good hard ab workout and on days that we don't run he lifts, and I do cardio.  The best part is that we are doing it together.

 I have also been on a new eating plan (I don't like to say diet because those have always been so temporary for me).  So far I have lost 14 lbs, but then the Thanksgiving holiday hit and Bob came to visit (for those ladies and gents that don't know, bob is the monthly cycle :) ) so I hadn't been back on the scale to see how much I knew I had gained back.  But getting on this morning I am exactly where I was.

My food plan is as follows:

#1 -  I don't usually eat breakfast, but it's in the plan to slowly start eating more for breakfast and less throughout the day.  There are many dietitians that suggest that eating breakfast is actually one of the best ways to lose weight.  When your body goes for hours over night having not eaten it thinks it is in starvation mode and starts holding to any and all calories that it can get a hold of.  Therefore, if you feed your body well in the morning and let it know that it's gonna get food today it will process those calories and the coming ones with more efficiency.  Don't go crazy with this and assume that it means that you can eat whatever you want for breakfast.  This research clearly shows that eating a balanced meal in the morning can help you lose weight, but don't abuse it!!

#2 -  Drinking plenty of water is very, very, VERY important to shedding pounds.  James, my husband, bought me an early Christmas present that I LOVE so very much!!  He bought us Camelbacks so that when we go to the gym we both have plenty of water and we can stay hydrated during the day.  So far it's been great!!  I love Camelbacks because they don't spill, there's no lid to unscrew while you're running on the treadmill and there's no tipping the bottle, thus no spills down the front of you.
Staying hydrated is important for weight loss because as you do your cardio exercises you are losing water and turning food into energy and waste and the water is what helps move the waste out and replace the hydration you are losing.  Water can also help with other weight problems such as over eating and hunger.  Drinking water throughout the day will keep something in your stomach instead of it being empty then full, empty then full.  Drinking a glass of water before a meal will help you not over eat because your stomach has contents (water) then you don't need as much food to fill it up!

#3 -  If you were to ask my husband, "To Dani, what makes any food taste better?" He'd tell you that I love the taste of pretty food.  I like color in my food - red, yellow, green, and I'm always thrilled with the occasional purple!!!  I love color in my food and the more color in your daily diet, the more nutrition you are getting.  Plus, if you take the time to plate your food nicely you will enjoy eating it more and won't scarf it down.

#4 -  Avoiding eating out is something that James and I have been doing for a while, but for our budget, not our waist line.  I am one of the lucky ones who actually really enjoys cooking.  I love looking for new recipes to try, adding a twist to make it mine, and plating it beautifully.  There's a real feeling of pride to work hard on a meal, present it with flair and hear the "mmmmmmmmm"'s that follow.  Eating in can also be good for your health and body.  Most restaurants, even the fancier ones, use foods that are stuffed with preservatives, were frozen, and are not fresh.  When you cook at home you know that you and your family are getting the freshest ingredients that you could find.   You can replace things in the recipes that you don't like with food that you do, make a recipe healthier, or just tastier and more appealing.

#5 -  I have a salad every day.  Vegetables and fruit are important for a healthy body, so I try to make sure that I have a salad for lunch or a salad with dinner and a piece of fruit every day.  This may sound extremely boring, but I make it fun and tasty.  My coworkers tell me every day how my salads always look good.  I make them pretty because then I want to eat them!!  I always use really green lettuce (no ice burg in sight), nice red tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, olives, and cheese.  Don't freak out about the cheese or the dressing.  Yes, there's fat in it, and yes there's more calories, but pay attention to your serving.  I don't burry my salad in cheese and I don't drown it in dressing.  I get a sprinkling of cheese 1-2 tablespoons of dressing for my salads and that is just fine.  That may not seem like enough dressing, but a good way to stretch the dressing is to put the dressing in a separate bowl, container, whatever.  Dip your fork in dressing, then get a bite of salad.  You get dressing with every bite, and I usually don't even eat all my dressing this way.


I am planning on blogging about my weight loss,  I won't promise every day, but maybe once a week?  It's hard to post where I am now and I hate to post how much I weigh, but I'm going to own it, because when I get to where I want to be, I'll be proud to share my progress.

Here is where I am now.

Height: 5'6"
Original Weight: 208
Current Weight: 197 lbs
First goal: 175 lbs

Total weight lost so far: 13 lbs
To go: 22 lbs


I'm gonna get there....