addendum to festivities

{I almost forgot to represent the time we spent with my fam....good ole swimming and a bbq! I loved being able to spread the fun over three days}

4th festivities

{family: if anyone wants copies of the pics, just let me know, I'd be happy to send 'em over}

couldn't resist

I know I still need to post about more important things like 4th of July festivities, etc, but I just couldn't resist throwing a couple of these up. He's just too cute to pass up :)

Good eats

We've been eating some dang good food lately, and I thought I would share some with you all so that you might enjoy too :)

Asian Chicken Salad

This might be my favorite meal right now. It's fresh, full of veggies, and completely delish. I sort of mixed two recipes together- here's my version:

Serves ~8
I head romaine lettuce (original recipe called for iceberg, but I opted for something with at least a little nutritional value)
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3 green onions
½ head purple cabbage
Couple handfuls of spinach
1 cup bean sprouts
Cilantro (however much your heart desires- I used probably 2 handfuls chopped)
Whole wheat thin spaghetti (I probably used ¾ package, but you can use as much or as little as you want)
4 grilled chicken breasts, marinated with asian flavors, and cut into cubes
Fried tortilla strips or wontons (I did my own by cutting up the unbaked tortillas from Costco, and cooking them in a little bit of oil)
Sauce:
2 T brown sugar
2 t. soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
¼ c. vegetable oil
3 T. Rice vinegar
½ t. garlic powder
Combine all sauce ingredients and whisk until combined. I would make the sauce as least a couple hours ahead of time to let all the flavors soak together.
Chop up all the vegetables and throw in a big bowl with cold, cooked noodles, and the chicken and pour sauce over. Toss well and put the tortilla strips or wontons on each individual serving so they don’t get soggy.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

My new favorite pancake. This is actually a recipe from the famous Pioneer Woman, that I tweaked a little bit.

Health foodies are all about the Greek yogurt. Yes, it is good for you, and yes it has crazy amounts of protein in it, but honestly I would never eat it alone. It tastes (and smells) just like sour cream. Which is perfect for this pancake recipe since it originally called for sour cream! Awesome substitution in my book :)

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

1 c. plain greek yogurt

7 T. whole wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 T. sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

Mix yogurt with dry ingredients until just combined. In a seperate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla, then pour into yogurt mixture and GENTLY stir until barely mixed together (Pioneer woman says its ok to have yellow swirls in the batter). Melt a little butter on griddle and pour 1/4 c. batter onto it. Flip when bubbles form around edges.

Little B absolutely loves these pancakes and I feel completely fine with him eating them because they are actually good for you! I usually add a tablespoon or so of milled flax seed too and take out a bit of flour to compensate.

Orange Muffins

Recipe found here. I, of course, had to "healthify" them by using dehydrated cane juice for the sugar and whole wheat flour. Still super yummy!

Lime quinoa w/ black beans, scallions, and mozz. cheese

So simple, so delicious, and so good for you! Recipe found here. The only thing I did different was use a little mozzarella cheese instead of feta. We usually whip some up for lunch... in the above photo we added some chicken to give it a little more for dinner, but the chicken is totally not needed. This has all the protein you need!

I love me some good, wholesome food!