Greek Chicken Kabobs

Hi friends! I know, it's been a while, but I had to share this recipe. I didn't use to be a kabob lover because it seemed that my chicken would be undercooked and my vegetables would be overcooked. But now that I have figured out the right sizes of everything when cutting, I am sold on the kabob train. 

These Greek Chicken Kabobs are quickly becoming a family favorite. We have made these many times and had them with guests and they are a pleaser for sure. I paired these kabobs up with a yummy Mediterranian Quinoa Salad, which I will post about as well. The kabobs are full of bright citrus flavor and, when cooked right, super tender and juicy!

2 chicken breasts

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

2 tsp greek seasoning

5 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 red pepper

1/4 red onion, 2 really big thick slices

skewers

1- Prepare the chicken by pounding it to an even thickness all the way around. When even, cut into 1 inch by 1-inch pieces.

2- Combine the greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, zest, balsamic vinegar, greek seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a small mixing bowl.

3- Combine chicken pieces and marinade in a ziplock bag. Massage marinade all over chicken pieces to ensure good coverage and let sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours (massage bag every few hours). 

4- Cut pepper and red onion into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. 

5- Remove chicken from the refrigerator and start threading meat, peppers, and onion onto skewers. 

6- Heat grill to 400°F. When heated, add skewers and grill roughly 4 minutes per side or until chicken pieces have reached an internal temperature of 165° and vegetables are tender but still crisp.

**Randi's Side Notes**

~If you use wooden skewers make sure that you soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before putting them on the grill. This will help to prevent them from lighting on fire. 

~Cooking time may vary depending on how thick your chicken and vegetable pieces are. Use your best judgment. 

White Fish Tacos

Oh my goodness. This recipe is so fresh and so delicious. I love making fish tacos because they come together relatively quickly and never disappoint. I'm pretty sure these tacos came together in less than 15 minutes total. The fish is quickly seasoned and pan fried and then it's topped with a crunchy light coleslaw and a drizzle of tangy sauce. 

Depending on how much filling you put in the shell you can get roughly 6-7 tacos. For reference my husband and I each ate 3 and were plenty full with no side dishes. 

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

I think stuffed peppers are an underrated food. It's basically an all in one dish and who doesn't like that?!
These are my absolute favorite stuffed peppers recipe out there (other then my anti-inflammatory version).
I have made these so many times and never get sick of them. The flavors are absolutely fantastic and to top it off, its super healthy for you.
The filling alone is worth making if you don't like peppers. I like to serve mine up with a nice green salad.

Sour Cream Pancakes

Anybody going stir crazy yet?! We are hanging in there, but I must admit our meals are getting less healthy as the days go on. Oh well.
Breakfast is pretty much my families favorite meal. I never get any complaints and it goes down quick. We have started having more and more breakfast foods for dinner because of this. These pancakes have quickly become a family favorite. I know, I have 3 or 4 pancake recipes on here already but each one is different. I honestly don't think you can have to many pancake recipes because the ingredients needed for each one are different. These pancakes use sour cream! SOUR CREAM GUYS! Oh my heavens. They are amazing. They fluff up so nice and have the most delicious flavor. If you have some sour cream in your fridge or just want to try out a fantastic new recipe....this is the one!

Smoked Pulled Pork

My husband and I have started to jump on the food smoking bandwagon. I am so excited that the weather here has started to warm up enough that our cute little electric smoker can keep the temperature level. There are all sorts of different types of smokers out there, so when reading recipes make sure that you modify it to your specific smokers needs.
This recipe has quickly become our families favorite thing to smoke. We have made it many times for multiple people now and every time gets the same reaction of ,"Oh....OHHHHHH. That is AMAZING." So needless to say it is blog worthy and making its way on.
This recipe begins with brining the meat to make it nice and tender and add more flavor. This does add some time to the process but it is well worth the wait. I usually get my meat in the brine in the morning, the day before I plan to cook it, but that will depend on whether you want it to be done just before dinner and get up really early to get it in, or if you decide to smoke it overnight and then just re-heat when you want it. Hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as we have.

Banana Muffins

Alright folks. I know some stores have been running low on bananas lately. But you may have been one of the lucky ones to find some. We ALWAYS have bananas on hand and there are weeks when we will go through a couple of bunches and others we only eat a couple of bananas. On those weeks where we don't eat as many I like to use the ones getting ripe for this amazing recipe. I love banana muffins. I always have. Thankfully, my entire family loves them as well! This recipe is absolutely amazing. I have tried so many different recipes out there, and found some good ones, but this one is the bee's knees!
This recipe yields around 18 muffins that are super moist and jam packed with banana yumminess. It also has a delicious streusel on top which I feel takes it over the edge, unless of course you don't like streusel, then you can just leave it off.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Hello all! Life is just crazy. I think that is enough said. Between the holidays, trips, and the dreaded toilet paper shortage of 2020, posting recipes has been the last thing on my mind. But, here I am, getting my mind off of the worries of the world and spending more time at home with my family. Recipes may get a little...interesting...over the next few weeks but that's alright.
I know a few days after St. Patrick's day isn't the typical day to post a recipe about Corned Beef, but, that's what's happening. This is the Corned Beef we made this year and it was absolutely phenomenal! Every year I say the same thing, "Why don't we eat Corned Beef more often?!" Seriously though...why don't we. Corned Beef is absolutely delicious. Cooked in the slow cooker keeps it nice and juicy and tender while packed with the amazing peppercorn and saltiness we all love! I wanted to jazz up the flavor packet just a little by adding a couple of other pantry staples to it.
I opted to leave the traditional carrots, potatoes, and cabbage out of the slow cooker this time, but, you can totally add them in to make this an all in one pot dish.

Beef and Broccoli

MMM. Guys. This recipe is amazing. This version of the classic beef and broccoli does NOT have some of the typical ingredients that cause inflammation in the body such as cornstarch, sugar, and vegetable oil. This is a great recipe to use if you are in the beginning phases of "trialing" foods, because other then the beefy ingredients the other ingredients are anti-inflammatory!
Something I love about beef and broccoli is that it doesn't take long to make and can be served together, separate, with rice, without rice, etc. My kids typically like their food all separated out, so meals like this where I can easily do that not only makes them happy, but me as well because I don't have to listen to the groaning at dinner if it's combined.

Buttermilk Biscuits

One of my all time favorite meals is biscuits and gravy. Having a good biscuit makes a big difference. I have tried quite a few different biscuit recipes and this one is the winner in our family.
This biscuit recipe is nice and flaky and isn't dry or chewy.
This recipe is for a basic buttermilk biscuit but you could add your own herbs to it to jazz it up and mix up the flavors each time. Not only do I like to use these biscuits for breakfast with gravy but I also love them with a nice warm bowl of soup or even as a hearty side to some Alfredo or, to be honest, I like them warm with some butter and jam on them. FANTASTIC. Ugh my mouth is salivating, now I need to go make some more!

Snowball Cookies

This type of cookie has so many different names. Whether you know them as Snowball cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding cookies, Crack cookies, etc. it doesn't matter! It's just a darn good cookie.
We haven't had a lot of snow this winter, so we have had to make alternatives to snow to remind us that it's winter. Whether it's having a white pom pom snowball fight in the house or making these cookies, we like to keep the idea of snow alive right now.
This cookie recipe became one of our favorite Christmas/Winter traditions a few years ago. I had never had one of these types of cookies before until I went to my sisters house one year for Christmas and they had these marvelous little bits of heaven waiting for us on the counter. I immediately asked for the recipe and have had it every winter since then in my own home. (Thanx sister!)
last year for Christmas. Pretty sure I ended up eating more then half of the batch that they had made.
The cookies are filled with pecans, rolled to perfection, and dusted heavily with powdered sugar!

Avocado Salsa

One thing I miss about living a little further south is El Pollo Loco. Everything I got at that restaurant was delicious (although slightly over priced in my humble opinion). My favorite thing to order was their Chicken Taco Al' Carbon and I would drench it in this amazing avocado salsa.
So being that we no longer live by an El Pollo Loco I had to go in search of a copycat recipe. 
This recipe is PRETTY DARN CLOSE to El Pollo Loco's Original avocado salsa. I say original because they changed the recipe for theirs a few years ago (per the update below). I don't know if they changed it back but this is our favorite homemade version.
We like ours a bit more thick then how they have theirs but aside from thickness, everything else is pretty spot on.
This recipe is a great alternative to salsa's that use a tomato base for those who can't have tomatoes or who are just looking for something different. We like to make a double batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days to eat with chips and quesadillas.

**UPDATE** I have recently been noticing that the kind at El Pollo Loco is spicier then it used to be and read a sign somewhere that they don't use the jalapeno anymore to make this but they use a habanero pepper instead. So I guess if you like the extra heat you can change the type of pepper in this recipe but I prefer the taste of the original salsa better.

Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki

I love gyros. Love love love them. We used to have a great little Greek/Mediterranean food place that we would go to all the time when we lived down in Phoenix and they had the BEST food ever. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.
Needless to say I have been craving some gyros lately but I'm way to cheap to buy lamb (which is what we always ordered at that restaurant) so when making it myself  I always opt to use this chicken gyros recipe. It is so good. I have also included a fantastic Tzatziki sauce recipe that goes wonderfully with it.
 I like to add some fresh red onion, tomatoes and sumac and served them on homemade Pita bread.
I also like to pair this up with my favorite Lemon Butter Rice as a side.

Tortillas

Homemade tortillas are seriously a BILLION times better then store bought ones. You know how store bought tortillas don't really have much of a flavor...these do! Now, they aren't overpowered in flavor that it takes over whatever yumminess you are putting inside said tortilla, but it's more then just a vessel to hold your fillings. I've been on a huge tortilla making kick for a while now, testing and re-testing different recipes and I finally have come up with the ones I prefer.
Now, do they take a little more time and effort then the kind you buy already made from the store? Yes, but can you make a decent amount and keep them in your fridge for another time when you need some instantly...YEP. So I will typically make a batch on the weekend and then use them throughout the week. (Yes we go through a lot of these because they make the best quesadillas, and lets be real, quesadillas for lunch with little kids is always a win!)

Cashew Chicken

This recipe is legit. It is full of flavor and just flat out delicious. My kids love it, I love it, my husband loves it...I'm sure if I had a pet they would love it as well. It takes hardly any time to put together from start to finish and is anti-inflammatory!
💥Mind Blown💥
In all seriousness, this is just a darn good recipe. It's got the crunch of the roasted cashews and all the wonderful flavors you would expect from an Asian dish.
Since discovering this recipe (and tweaking it) we have had it almost every other week. That's a pretty big deal in this household because I don't like to make very many meals over and over again.
Give it a try, you won't regret it, and your gut will thank you!

Lentil Curry Soup

So it's been a while. I go through these periods of time where I get really into blogging and then I need a break. But, here is one of our favorite soup recipes. We make this quite often at our house.  This stuff is great.
This soup recipe is one that is not only warm to eat but is full of those delicious warm curry flavors. I love it so much! 
Besides the flavor being amazing, another awesome thing I like about it is that it comes together pretty fast which makes it great for a weeknight meal.
This soup is great for many dietary needs. It's anti-inflammatory which is awesome for me as I have been trialing foods right now.
Every week we try to do a meal that doesn't have any meat in it. This is a great recipe if your trying to cut out some meat because having the lentils in it makes it very filling.
*This picture isn't the most appetizing to look at but I promise it is worth trying!!!*