Summer Recipe: Fresh Corn Salad

summer corn salad

We daydream about good thymes in the garden every summer. 🙂 Although we haven’t mastered many garden skills yet, we’re trying. Jenna has a strong showing of tomatoes and zucchini’s most summers. Jessica has had moderate success with spinach, herbs and radishes. Oh, and mint has multiplied everywhere. We are happy to report this year’s garden is growing, and fingers crossed we produce some actual food for our families, and the animals don’t grub on it all before we do.

With gardens, come more garden salads, and entertaining in the backyard. We hope to share more recipes with you, and heres’s the first one.

Fresh Summer Corn Salad
Recipe adapted by Cookie and Kate
serves 5-7 people as a side salad

Salad Ingredients:

  • 9 cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 Yellow pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, with seeds removed and finely chopped
  • 5 Green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 4 cobs fresh corn, either grilled or boiled and then sliced off the cob
  • 1/2 english cucumber, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

Dressing Ingredients:

  • Red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons
  • Garlic, 2 cloves pressed
  • Olive oil, 1/4 cup
  • Sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Black pepper to taste

fresh corn salad from the garden

fresh corn salad for summer entertaining

Wake Up With Dalgona Coffee At Home

dalgona whipped coffee at home during COVID19

Dalgona whipped coffee, a coffee drink that originated in South Korea, has gone viral on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.  We miss visiting our favorite local coffee shops, and sipping frothy lattes. So much so, we decided to whip up our first cup of dalgona coffee. The verdict? It’s delicious, and worth all the hype!  Before stay-at-home orders, dalgona whipped coffee was foreign to us. Now, it’s a household staple.

The cup of creamy coffee goodness looks like an up-side down cappuccino with its rich white and caramel tones, tastes like a coffee milkshake, and has the dreamy peaks and fluffiness of heavy whipped cream on a piece of homemade pie! Get your forearm ready for a quick whisk workout! No fancy machine needed, and your grocery store is likely to have the three key ingredients in stock (if you don’t already have at home), including milk, instant coffee, sugar. The boiling water part can definitely be accomplished at home!

Follow this quick and easy tutorial we shared on Momtastic so you can learn how to wake up with dalgona whipped coffee at home, too!

dalgona whipped coffee at home during COVID19

 

Family Favorite Recipe: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

creamy chicken enchiladas-family dinner

When we ask our kids what they want for dinner, 9 times out of 10 they say Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. It’s not low-fat or dairy-free (sorry, not sorry), but it’s creamy goodness worth making every once in a while. We even found a way to sneak more protein and greens in this dish, so you can justify it even more!

Try it this week – your family will love it. You can make it ahead of time to save time during the dinner rush, and bake it when you get home. Trust us, you will want to lick the dish once everyone devours it.

creamy chicken enchiladas-family dinner

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
adapted from Colorado Cache
5-6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped or shredded chicken, cooked (boil)
  • 1 cup green chile salsa (we use Herdez brand)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • corn tortillas
  • salt to taste
  • 1 cup chopped spinach (cut off stems and chop into little pieces)
  • 3/4 can black beans
  • 1.5 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
  • avocado, chopped green onions or guacamole for garnish

Directions:

Step 1: Combine chicken, green salsa, black beans and spinach in a bowl and mix well.

Step 2: Mix salt (not more than 1/2 tsp) with 2 cups cream in separate bowl.

Step 3: Warm a griddle and place tortillas on top to warm, so they soften and you can roll them.

Step 4: After you soften the tortillas, dip them in the bowl of heavy cream coating each side, and fill them with the chicken mixture. A full spoonful should be enough to fill each tortilla.

Step 5: Roll and place each filled and rolled tortilla in a 9×13 ungreased baking dish. Fill the dish as best you can – we lay them vertically in a tight line, and then we have enough chicken mixture and tortillas to fill the dish with 4 more horizontally (on top of the vertical ones).

Step 6: Pour the remaining cream over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese

creamy chicken enchiladas-family dinner

Step 7: Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it bubbles on all sides. Garnish with guacamole, green onions or sliced avocado, and make sure to pour more of that cream sauce on top!

 

creamy chicken enchiladas-family dinner

We know it’s not an Italian dish, but Buon Appetito.

Delicious 3-Ingredient Fruit Dip

strawberry-cream-cheese-fruit-dip

Easy and delicious is one combo we can’t resist. If your looking for a yummy recipe to share at your next BBQ, or a festive side on the 4th of July, we’ve got an amazing recipe for you. Our grandma always has a tray of strawberries with this amazing 3-ingredient fruit dip every Easter. We devour it. We love anything with cream cheese, so it was bound to be a favorite from the beginning. Place it on a tray, pack it in a jar, dip strawberries or take a spoonful – whatever you do, make it! Yum.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • Kraft jet-puff marshmallows, 7 oz.
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

Mix all ingredients with a mixer in a bowl, refrigerate and serve with a large tray of strawberries. It’s that easy!

strawberry-cream-cheese-dip

strawberry-cream-cheese-dip

strawberry-dipped-in-a-cream-cheese-treat

Dairy-Free Turmeric Tea Latte

turmeric tea latte

Our mom has been preaching about the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits of Turmeric for years. Well, mother knows best again, because lately we’ve been reading about all the benefits of that golden spice. According to studies, the properties of Turmeric (it’s most active component being Curcumin) is beneficial for brain and digestive health, improving cardiovascular health, and boosting immunity.

About one year ago, Jessica started adding Turmeric (a couple shakes), a pinch of Black Pepper, 1/2 teaspoon Coconut Oil, and Half and Half (just can’t seem to give up that bit of cream) to her coffee every morning. It’s a morning cocktail inspired by our mom. The black pepper seems like an odd spice in the coffee, doesn’t it? Well, your body can only use a small portion of the Turmeric you consume, which somewhat limits the full potential of it’s healing properties. Black pepper contains piperine, which helps the body fully consume the Turmeric in the body.

We found a new way to incorporate it into our nightly routine with a dairy-free, creamy and delicious turmeric tea latte. It’s so good! It’s so easy to make, plus it boasts healing benefits we feel good about putting into our body.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 teaspoon Navita’s Organic Turmeric Powder (we bought it from Whole Foods)
  • 8 ounces Organic Soy milk, or nut milk (almond or cashew)
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp coconut oil
  • pinch of black pepper (helps the absorption of turmeric)

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan on the stove. Use a whisk to mix as it heats up. That’s it!

turmeric tea latte

IMG_3584

Take the time to learn more about Turmeric, and how it can benefit you, and if necessary, consult a doctor if taking other medications.