Tropical Smoothie

I know Whole30 doesn't want you drinking your calories. And Paleo doesn't really care, so long as you get your fruit. Both diets just do not want you adding sugar. To ANYTHING.

Whole30 Compliant Fire-y Crock-Pot Tomato Soup

I started the Whole30 challenge 5 days ago. [sigh] I really miss bread.....

But - it has forced me to change the way I think about food. So far, I've not had the grumpies, or anything else most people go through on their first four days. I guess I'm lucky on that.
The fiance' is also benefiting from my culinary adventures....he has liked what I've cooked so far.

Yummy Fire-y Crock pot Tomato Soup

A Little Slice of Heaven

A while back my better half won free plane tickets (and because they dragged their feet, free car rental, too!) to anywhere in the continental USA. Where did we go? Well, where else? Virginia.
Not because we love Virginia, but because we are big history nerds and wanted to see Jamestown (the original, not the tourist trap one), Williamsburg and Yorktown.
And because my brother lives near there, we crashed at his place. So other than food (which we would eat no matter where we were), our trip was free!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Dream Cups

Yesterday's Cherry Cheesecake Cups were such a huge hit, I thought I would try my hand at making one with my favorite combo of flavors- Chocolate and peanut butter. Oh how I love thee! And if I do say so, these turned out absolutely fantastic!
These whip up so quickly, there's no reason why you can't make a dessert several nights a week...

Easy Shredded Chicken

I started thinking that there must be an easier and quicker way to shred chicken then using two forks and 30 minutes of my time.
Tada! There is! Oh yeah, video below the fold....

Easy Garden Hose Wreaths

I had a 50' garden hose that didn't fit in my little garden hose reel bucket thingy (that's the technical term). So I thought about throwing the hose away, being as space is at a premium where I live.
Then I thought, why would I throw out a perfectly good hose? Why not cut it up instead?
So I did.

Absolutely Easy Peasy Yet Fantastic Chicken Enchiladas

Yeah, I totally made that name up. But it's true. Really it is.

And while I do make my own salsa, you can too. Or buy *cough* *cough* store bought. That's fine. Although I cannot vouch for the taste if you do.
I usually make a double batch of enchiladas because, well, a single batch just isn't enough for two growing boys and Grau. Seriously.  The last time I made these, I only slightly increased the amounts and made 13 enchiladas, and Grau's elderspawn ate eight on his own. I know! EIGHT! Wow.

Where I Mess with My OCD Son. Because I Can.

So, my son is a bit OCD. His room can be a total mess, but by heaven the lid on the dish soap bottle in the kitchen must be CLOSED. He's reprimanded me several times because I don't care- I leave the flip top open and go about my business.

So, one day I thought, Hmmm....I could totally mess with him and see what he does....

So this is what *I* did...

I cut the flip top lid off the dish soap.... (language alert below the fold)

Getting Techy

Yeah, that's me. I'm getting techy. I just started a Google blog thingy (yup, that's the technical term) because I wanted to upload a zipped file to one of my popular posts, but couldn't. Blogger doesn't allow me to do that. So I opened a google blog thingy and uploaded the file there, then linked it to my post on here and vice versa.

See. No problem!

Espresso Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

I got this recipe from The Monday Box and I am so glad I did!
These are wonderful. Not sweet, not not sweet. Ya know? Perfect with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

I used 85% Dark Chocolate instead of the toffee or semisweet chocolate bar the recipe calls for. I'm sure if you use the recipe as posted, it would be sweeter. I like mine not that sweet, so the dark chocolate worked out perfectly for me!

Spicy Chicken Caesar Wrap

Oh, how I love chicken. I really, really do. It's one of the few foods that takes on the flavors of whatever you cook it with. Seriously. Unlike beef which must assert its dominance over the dish and can only be coated with flavor, chicken is a wonderous protein that chooses to play well with others.