Tag Archives: Recipe

Hummus Made Easy – Quick, Fit Meals

The following post is sponsored by The Women Bloggers, LLC and the Kendal King Group. All options are my own. #ad #HummusMadeEasy @KendalKingGroup @TheWomenBloggers #SoapBoxInfluence

Over the last month, I’ve proposed an extra dedication to exercising more and eating healthier. With summer practically here, it’s now or never! It’s super hard-working a desk job, maintaining a blog as well as all of the other life and day-to-day activities that come up. To say the least, time is scarce which makes it a little more difficult to keep on top of this goal. I want to share a few tips that help keep me on track and I would love to hear some of your tips as well!

My goal is called “Project Carrie Underwood”. Do I want to look exactly like Carrie Underwood? Of course not. Do I wish I had her legs? Sure do! Am I going to get there tomorrow? Definitely not. What I can do is give myself small goals to help me get in shape, feel better about myself and keep me motivated day to day.

Eating habits This may be the most difficult part of all of this. What’s even tougher is having a huge love for carbs and sweets. It doesn’t really go with the whole “weight loss” project does it?! SO I’ve been trying pretty hard and have come up with a few tips that help keep me on my journey.

Portion control. It’s pretty amazing what looking at labels for portions and dietary concerns can do to a mindset. For instance, something that may look like one serving may actually be two (or three – gasp!). Paying attention to nutritional labels may save us that extra sweat in the gym!
Meal Plan – Plan ahead and never go to the grocery store hungry. This will help you keep on track of your healthy meals (and avoid temptation).
Work off the good foods you LOVE! My favorite. There’s certain foods that I LOVE that are good for me. For instance, I LOVE hummus. It’s great to include as a snack or in a meal. It’s also SUPER easy to make at home.

Bush’s (the same family that makes the beans we all love) has come out with Bush’s Hummus Made Easy which may be the easiest and most delicious appetizer I have ever made. For less than what you can buy pre-made hummus in the grocery store, we can all make hummus at home, just how we like it. What I loved even more – I knew what every ingredient was that was going into the hummus! No preservatives or ingredients that I didn’t know how to pronounce! Yes please! How many products can we say the same about?

Current flavors: Classic, Roasted Red Pepper and Southwest Black Bean (found at Walmart next to the beans). YUM!

As little as two ingredients: the pouch flavor of your choice, one can of beans (as suggested on the pouch).

One step: Mix the pouch flavor and can of beans (drained and rinsed) in a food processor until the consistency desired.

At the first attempt, I was pretty excited and nervous. Honestly, now I’m hooked and will be making my own hummus from here on out. One, it’s cheaper and it makes more than the small pre-made packages in the store. It’s DELICIOUS! It’s pretty good freshly made but let it cool in the fridge for a few minutes and the flavors really blend together! Finally, I can get creative! Add extra ingredients to really kick it up a notch! Trust me, you’ll be hooked!

Eat as an Appetizer!
Use as a snack paired with your favorite veggies, crackers or chip pretzels.

Incorporate into a Meal!
As soon as I tasted the Southwest Black Bean Hummus, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into a burrito. Midweek, it was pretty tough for me to go to the grocery store so I made due with what I had available and voila, a healthy single-girl burrito!

Ingredients:
Bush’s Southwest Black Bean Hummus
Flour Tortillas
Grilled Chicken
Optional: Any fillings of choice: veggies, cheese, guacamole, salsa, etc.

Warm up a flour tortilla and spread Bush’s Southwest Black Bean Hummus.
Add a layer of guacamole and salsa (and any other ingredients at hand).
Add grilled chicken.
Top with a little bit of cheese.
Roll into a burrito or eat as a taco.

This is a super easy meal which can easily be portioned controlled. Filled with protein and whatever ingredients are easily available in the kitchen, this meal has turned into my go-to midweek dinner!

What’s your favorite way to eat hummus? What flavor do you want to try first?

Search #HummusMadeEasy for more amazing recipes!

For more amazing product and recipes ideas: Bush’s Hummus Made Easy |Pinterest Hummus Made Easy Board

Homemade Potstickers for Under $10

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Cooking for one is hard to come by. Grocery expenses add up, ingredients sometimes go to waste and sometimes it’s so much easier to try to meal prep. We recently made two batches of these potstickers to freeze, one chicken and one pork. They are super easy, affordable and great to freeze and portion out.

The following recipe is for one batch. Each batch makes around 36 potstickers. We made one batch with ground chicken and one with ground pork.

Homemade Potstickers

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken (or pork)
1/2-3/4 cup of shredded cabbage (shredded finely)
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 tsp. minced garlic
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 TBSP freshly grated ginger
2 TBSP soy sauce (reduced sodium)
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
36 won ton wrappers

**Sesame Oil – make your own sesame oil by bringing olive oil (or vegetable oil) and sesame seeds to a boil. Once seeds brown, drain seeds. You are left with sesame oil!

1. In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, carrot, garlic, onions, ginger, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil ground white pepper and red pepper flakes.

2. Add ground chicken or ground pork to mixture and stir until well blended.

3. Add about 1 TBSP of the mixture to the wonton wrappers. Use a small amount of water around the edges to seal the wonton wrappers. We pressed down with a fork after folding the edges to ensure they were sealed.

4. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add a few potstickers at a time. Potstickers will be ready when they float to the top and are poofy (around 6 minutes in cooking time).

5. Drain potstickers on a wire rack to reduce moisture. They can also be slightly browned in a large skillet after boiled.

6. Freeze: Once cooled, place in a large ziplock bag or freezable container.

Dipping Sauce:
I prefer soy sauce however you can make an olive oil based sauce. For the olive oil spicy sauce heat in a saucepan 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tsp. minced garlic and 1/8 to 1/4 cup of crushed red chili flakes (depending on desired heat). Cook until flavors combined and warm.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Homemade Potstickers for Under $10

Easy potsticker recipe for less than $10 per batch.

Serves: 36

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 6 mins

Total time: 26 mins

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken (or pork)
½-3/4 cup of shredded cabbage (shredded finely)
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 tsp minced garlic
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 TBSP freshly grated ginger
2 TBSP soy sauce (reduced sodium)
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp. sesame oil
¼ tsp. ground white pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes
36 won ton wrappers
**Sesame Oil - make your own sesame oil by bringing olive oil (or vegetable oil) and sesame seeds to a boil. Once seeds brown, drain seeds. You are left with sesame oil!

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, carrot, garlic, onions, ginger, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil ground white pepper and red pepper flakes.
Add ground chicken or ground pork to mixture and stir until well blended.
Add about 1 TBSP of the mixture to the wonton wrappers. Use a small amount of water around the edges to seal the wonton wrappers.
In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add a few potstickers at a time. Potstickers will be ready when they float to the top and are poofy (around 6 minutes in cooking time).
Drain potstickers on a wire rack to reduce moisture. They can also be slightly browned in a large skillet after boiled.
Freeze: Once cooled, place in a large ziplock bag or freezable container.
Dipping Sauce:
I prefer soy sauce however you can make an olive oil based sauce. For the olive oil spicy sauce heat in a saucepan ½ cup olive oil, 1 tsp. minced garlic and ⅛ to ¼ cup of crushed red chili flakes (depending on desired heat). Cook until flavors combined and warm.

Enjoy!

For an authentic potsticker recipe, see Chinese Dumplings.

Delicious & Easy Ice Cream Pound Cake

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SunsOutSpoonsOut #CollectiveBias

Summer is the time for desserts that really provide a break from the heat. It’s also a great excuse to walk down the ice cream aisle at the grocery store (let’s be honest, we all do it!). Recently, I swung by my local Walmart and was inspired with a great idea – a Blue Bunny ice cream pound cake!

It really began when I saw a demo booth for Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Teaming up with Chips Ahoy cookies, they were making cookie sandwiches. These Blue Bunny demo’s will be going in Walmarts between July 9-12th! Be sure to swing in and try out these delicious Chips Ahoy & Blue Bunny ice cream sandwiches! (Check here for locations.)

I began thinking about how I can make something tasty but on a slightly bigger scale for a group. Ta-da, the idea was born and it’s super simple! This Blue Bunny Ice Cream Pound Cake can be made in ten minutes and prepared well ahead of time. Just be careful you’re not too tempted to grab a bite out of the freezer!

Ice Cream Pound Cake
***This is a great recipe to incorporate your favorite flavors. Choose the pound cake, ice cream and topping flavor of choice.

1. Using a bread loaf dish, cover the dish in plastic wrap leaving enough around the edges to cover the dish when complete.

2. Using pre-sliced pound cake, place a slice to cover all edges of the sides and bottom of the pan.

3. Add Blue Bunny ice cream to the bottom and fill the dish 1/3 to 1/2 way, depending on how many layers of toppings you’d like to include.

4. Spread topping across the ice cream evenly.
Need some ideas? Rum, chocolate syrup, vanilla syrup, sprinkles, fruit or even another flavor ice cream.

5. Add more Blue Bunny ice cream (and/or layers) until the dish is full. Top with two remaining pieces of the pound cake.

6. Using the excess plastic wrap, fold the plastic wrap tightly around the pound cake. This will bind the cake together.

7. Place in the freezer until ready to serve.

8. When ready, unfold the plastic wrap from the top of the cake and flip onto a serving plate. The cake will pop out of the dish. Remove the plastic wrap completely and top with garnish of choice. Slice & serve!

This is great to get really creative and colorful. Napoleon ice cream with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry? Vanilla ice cream with strawberries in the middle? I chose to go with vanilla pound cake, Blue Bunny Vanilla Bean ice cream and chocolate syrup. The vanilla on vanilla really hit the spot.

What would be your favorite combination?