If I Dream It...

When trying to think of a new way to make chicken (it really is the main dinner item around here)... I figured I would try cooking it differently. It was time I made time to cook chicken in the oven! I've done it before - I'm usually just lazy and prefer to pan fry or grill it if it's not in the crock-pot. So this time I marinated my chicken breasts and tossed them in the oven, cooking down my marinade liquid to kill any bacteria and use it as a sauce. I also prepared some potatoes - that would ALSO be cooked in the oven :) Ok, toaster oven - I figured it'd be better than trying to do them and the chicken at the same time and I didn't want anything to go cold. And yes - I was being a little lazy for time :) Even considering the time, this was good!  Toss together marinade and let chicken marinade at least an hour - I like to flip the bag every 15 minutes or at least once at 30 so that the marinade gets all over the chicken.  Place chicken breasts ...

We had grilled kabobs with steak, pork, peppers, onions, and pineapple the other day... which led to a conversation about how good grilled pineapple was. That got me thinking - it had been a LONG time since I had a sandwich with grilled pineapple on it. It had sounded horrible to me when I first heard about it, but once I tried it I realized it was SOOOOO good. This even led to me being willing to try it on pizza - but that's another story all together :) With grilled pineapple on the brain, I decided I would toss a marinade together for some chicken to grill and top with grilled pineapple in a sandwich. I don't know why but I decided to use coconut milk in the marinade - and I must admit, much like my first time trying grilled pineapple, I was pleasantly surprised. So much so, that I used the rest of the coconut milk in another marinade. Granted - it was a very simple and lazy marinade that used up the rest of my coconut milk and another ingredient I had left over from a r...

When cooking with the crock-pot I've done a bit of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, but I didn't want to do the same thing... however, I wanted BBQ... so while it's not a huge stretch, I did branch myself a little. And while I like the thought of a mango BBQ - I wasn't sure it was something I could get the hubby to go for (though I'm sure I'll try that one of these days too)... so what could be an easily accepted tweak that sounds yummy? BEER! That was it! So to make a simple BBQ beer chicken sandwich I went... And with the crock-pot, it really can't get much easier.  The beer and BBQ sauce by themselves impart a lot of flavor - so I didn't add a bunch extra.  And as per usual - the simplicity of the crock-pot is also wonderful for lazy days... so it was super nice to toss dinner together over lunch and then come home and dinner is almost ready... it's great.  Now I didn't make a bunch - I need to get a smaller circle crock-pot again s...

Well I am a bit late in posting this, but better late than never right? :) So the other day, I was hungry and trying to think of lunch... however what came into mind was a a combo of what a friend had for dinner the other night and a recipe I had seen online... mind you I really had no clue what my friend had - just how it looked... but it looked good... so what was now stuck in my head, was something that would take some time, and would most likely be a great thing to make in the crock-pot... Since I didn't feel like putting the time in now and wanted to do it in the crock-pot - this wasn't a lunch recipe, it was a dinner recipe that I had in my head... since it sounded so good I figured I'd toss it together and then I'd figure out lunch next. I know that seems backwards - but the dinner recipe was now stuck in my head and since I wanted to do it in the crock-pot, it was time to put it together. So I pulled out the crock-pot, and started with some frozen chicken br...

Ok - I know it has been been quite a long time since I've been here. I must admit I didn't think it'd take me so long to start writing again. And I really thought I'd start with sharing things I made for my wedding that I now have pictures for. However, I come back excited to share another recipe. One that was so good that I finally took the time to sit down and start writing again. So the crafty stuff will be following :) but I will not be gone so long between posts again - at least not for awhile :) So regarding my exciting recipe that I am excited to share with you... I was headed home the other day and started thinking about dinner. I realized we didn't really have a protein ready to eat... we have roasts in the freezer, but they're big and in the freezer... so I ran to the store real quick to grab some chicken. We usually always have some but it's been awhile since we made a Costco run. When I got home, it was time to try to figure out what to do ...

So I’ve been really bad at posting my gluten free journey lately. Needless to say life has been busy and I’ve not found much time to sit down and write. Sadly this also means I haven’t had much time to mess with photos either – but I do have some to share with you. This journey has been an interesting challenge. I cannot say I’ve noticed a huge physical change – nor felt all that different in all honesty. But I have learned to get more creative and think fresher – which, in the long run is really a better goal. I firmly believe that all things, in moderation, are ok as long as there’s not a allergy or health issue for you. I think it takes a bit to find the right balance and that it depends on your diet and lifestyle. There is no substitute for being healthy – and to me, that means putting good things in your body as well as working out to keep your body in shape. This is not to say that I do not enjoy to indulge in certain foods – I love to eat… I do not eat to live and I do not...