Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes

This was our dinner last night. We had it with pesto and whole grain linguine. 

It was so yummy!

I always marinate my chicken the night before with garlic, salt, pepper, red vinegar and a bit of olive oil. If you do so, it is no need to add salt and pepper before you cook but I always add a lit more of garlic powder before cooking the chicken.

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons olive oil

• 2  skinless chicken breast cut up in small pieces

• 1/2  teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4  teaspoon salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2  cups cherry or grape tomatoes

• 2  tablespoons Balsamic or sherry vinegar

• Prep Time - 5
 
• Cook Time - 16

Instructions

1. Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on both sides. Reduce heat to medium and add tomatoes. Cook until chicken is done.
3. Sprinkle with vinegar and scrape pan to loosen brown bits.

Modified Recipe from Relish site.

Muffin-tin Crab cakes

My family and I LOVE crabs so I was very happy to find this recipe at Eating Well site! I didn't have red peppers so I used green pepper. This recipe was so easy to make and it did taste yummy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound crabmeat
• 2 cups fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs, (see Tip)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, minced
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 10 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 6 lemon wedges, for garnish

• PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Generously coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray.
  2. Mix crab, breadcrumbs, bell pepper, scallions, mayonnaise, eggs, egg white, hot sauce, celery salt and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among muffin cups. Bake until crispy and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

  TIPS & NOTES

  • Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave or serve cold.
  • Tip: To make fresh breadcrumbs: Trim crusts from firm sandwich bread. Tear bread into pieces and process in a food processor until a coarse crumb forms. One slice of bread makes about 1/3 cup crumbs.

  NUTRITION

  Per serving: 183 calories; 5 g fat ( 1 g sat , 1 g mono ); 124 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrates; 2 g added sugars; 21 g protein; 6 g fiber; 574 mg sodium; 96 mg potassium.
  Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Zinc (20% dv), Calcium & Vitamin A (15% dv).
  Carbohydrate Servings: 1
  Recipe from Eating Well

Fresh Tomato Salsa

 This is my favorite salsa recipe!
I had it at my 4th of July Barbecue

"Delicious with the traditional corn tortilla chips, this salsa is also great on grilled chicken or seafood."

Ingredients

1 small onion, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup pieces)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces ( I always add a little more!) 
2 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Place onion, cilantro and jalapeño in work bowl fitted with the metal blade. Process until finely chopped, about 5 seconds. Scrape work bowl. Add tomatoes,lime juice and salt. 
Pulse until tomatoes are coarsely chopped, about 5 to 7 times. 
Let stand for 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to develop. Serve with chips.

Servings

Makes 1-1/2 cups

recipe from http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/appetizers/332.html

4th of July - last minute party

I wasn't going to do anything for the 4th but after going to Hobby Lobby in the morning to get some craft materials for the girls, I changed my mind after seeing all the 4th of July stuff on sale! 

Got the flags{4 for $1}, pinwheel{$1.70 each}, metal stars{$1.50 each}, ribbon{$1}, America sign{$4}, glitter stars{$1} and wood tag {$1.50} for 50% off!  I already had the fabric from Walmart. The plates are my outdoor set that I got last year at Target{50% off}. I love bargains!

I used plastic containers{Clorox Wipes container} filled with sand and rocks as vases for the flags and pinwheels. 

My beautiful girls! :) 

My son didn't want to leave the pool! Can you see him on the background? Ha!

Tomato Cocktail! :)

Made my famous salsa. It was so so HOT! 

Get the recipe HERE.

Summer Salad with lots of blueberries, strawberries, and  dried cranberries. All the fruits were on sale at my local supermarket! Paid 77 cents for a pint of strawberries!

My children are not too crazy for salads so I made a small berry treat! Got the little ice cream container  at Hobby Lobby{12 for $2.50}

It is not a party at our house if we don't do a craft! We made some cute visors. Visors and stickers were 50%off at Hobby Lobby{65 cents for each visor and $1.50 for the stickers}.

We all made some cool visors!

Had some fun in the pool!

Just Chillin' 

Can you see my son's happy face on the background of the first picture? He loves celery! :)

He loves the pinwheels!

Yummy! Traditional 4th of July food.

Not too sure about fireworks!! 

Watching the town fireworks.We were a little too far and it was cloudy but it was fun!

For someone that didn't want to do anything I think we did all right! And it was all pretty simple and affordable!

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July as well!