So you made too much corn on the cob.

I will bet you buy a lot of corn on the cob when it goes on sale. You cook it up and have lots left over. That was me on the 4th of July. This is what I did with it. There wasn't enough leftover for everyone to have their own cob, but enough for everyone to have a scoop-full with dinner.

Since this is a leftover make over, there really isn't a recipe. Slice the corn off the cobs and saute it up in olive oil with a few cloves of garlic and season with salt and pepper. Nothing special, but a way to use the corn without tossing it out.

Here is a trick I am sure many of you have heard of. Use a bundt pan to slice the corn. I am here to tell you it worked like a charm.

Chicken Nachos for a Crowd

The day I made these was one helluva day. It started out with me and Jack sleeping over at my sister's house in Provo (Van stayed home with Daddy). We woke up early early in the morning to go see the hot air balloons at Fox Field. It was completely awesome. Jack even got to sit in a fire truck. After being entertained by the balloons, we went to Provo Bakery where Jack had a chocolate donut and I had an extremely disgusting and disappointing buttermilk bar. They tried to tell me it's like a krueller. Lies, I tell you.

We headed down the freeway towards home. Once off the freeway, I grabbed a Route 44 diet Coke at Sonic. Such a terrible hour to consume soda, but whatever. We got home and everyone crashed. Thank you Van for having such agreeable nap times. We slept and then had to throw ourselves together to meet Lindsey of Cafe Johnsonia at the park with her 3 adorable children. Her baby has the most delightful red hair. We sat at the park and chased our children, some of which were insistent on taking their clothes off. After exhausting ourselves, we both headed home for naps. But not before I took a detour through Sonic AGAIN. Yes Kyler, I'm the same lady you saw earlier this morning. But this time I want a Strawberry Limeade. Yeah, thanks.

Once home, afternoon naps commenced. Of course I went to sleep because I was still suffering from my hot air balloon hang over. After a few hours, I woke up and wished I had the extra cash flow to just go out to dinner. But unfortunately, I don't. And I hate taking my kids out to dinner anyways. Messy madness. So I went with one of my go-to's.

Everyone has their go-to's. A go-to is a meal you know you can throw together at anytime. My go-to's are spaghetti with tomato sauce, potato soup, frittatas and chicken nachos. What are your go-to's?



4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1 large bag tortilla chips
1 lb cheddar cheese, shredded
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can corn, drained
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
Handful chopped green onions or cilantro

Set oven to 400 degrees.

Set a large pot of water on to boil. Once boiling, add the chicken breasts. Boil until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken breasts from the water and set on a cutting board to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred and put into a medium bowl. Pour salsa over the chicken and toss to coat.

Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray. Add half of the bag of tortilla chips and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle on half of the shredded chicken, half of the black beans, half of the corn and half of the onion. Sprinkle on half of the shredded cheese. Repeat again, beginning with the rest of the tortilla chips.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle on green onions or cilantro as garnish. Serve with more salsa if needed.

See? I told you I liked Nutella.

When "Real Simple" asked "What is your guiltiest pleasure?", I responded and I made it into the August issue. Check it out:

Being Forward

I am not sure that there is any worse of a driving hazard than a forward-facing car seat. I should be driving, but all I want to do is watch my baby in the rear view mirror. It is so hard to "just drive". Why drive when I can make him laugh or watch him eat a pretzel? The best is being able to watch his little eye lids get heavy and see him drift off to dreamy land. I never get to see that at home, so of course I am going to watch in the car.

Does Jack get jealous of all of my flirting with Van? Oh heavens yes. He hates it. So beasty older brother gets his toes tickled too and then everyone is happy, at least until Mommy kills everyone because she is busy making crazy faces in the mirror and then hits a car.

Lime Blondies with Macadamias and White Chocolate

On the heels of the snickerdoodle blondies and the citrus craze I just completed comes these little lovelies. So how are they lime? I made lime sugar and it was easy as hell. Is hell easy? Legitimate question.

To make lime sugar, I put the white sugar in the food processor and then added the zest from 3 limes. Then I gave it whirl. The sugar turned green and the zest released the last of it's flavor into the sugar. The lime is perfectly slight in these blondies. Not overpowering at all. It goes so well with the macadamias and the white chocolate chips. Maybe the combo of the lime, macs and white chocolate isn't creative, but you could definitely play with it.

This recipe is the chocolate chip blondie recipe I have, but fiddled with a bit.

I sprinkled on some white chocolate chips before baking,
but I wouldn't do that if I were you.

They were in the oven for a really long time and they just turned brown.

1/2 cup sugar
Zest from 3 limes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Set oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray; line pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Spray paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the sugar and the lime zest. Process until the sugar is green.

In a large bowl, whisk butter, lime sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in egg, vanilla and lime juice. Add flour and salt; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

Bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack, and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board and cut into 16 squares. Store blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Spicy Pepita-crusted Chicken with Cilantro Dressing

For those of you with crawling babies, answer this question: HOW ON EARTH DO YOU COOK WITH YOUR BABY AROUND??? I normally can handle it, but with Van crawling around everywhere, I feel like I can't get anything done in the kitchen. Like, "Hurry quick and wash the raw chicken off my hands so I can grab Van before he climbs up the stairs." Or, "Finish chopping that green onion before Van digs into the house plants."

While I was cooking this, Van was all over the place and then Jack decided it would be awesome to fall down the stairs. So I have chicken in the oven, Van pulling apart the pots and pans drawer and Jack bawling his brains out like his limbs have been cut off. Boy I hate that kind of chaos. But I had kids by choice, so I have to figure out how to hack it.

Enough about my insane children, what about this recipe? I love it when I nail a recipe. This one was nail gunned to the wall. Even though I was going to cut off my own head when I was making this, it was quick on the prep, clean in the flavors and fresh in the ingredients. Big time pleaser in our house (after everyone stopped screaming, including me) and hopefully in yours as well.



2 cups raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/4 tsp chile powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 slice fresh bread
1 cup flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
3 eggs
4 chicken breasts, halved horizontally, making 8 chicken portions

For the dressing:
1 bunch cilantro, stems cut off
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the pepitas, oregano, cumin, chile powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and bread slice. Process until the pepitas are finely ground. Transfer mixture to a shallow dish. Rinse out the food processor bowl and set aside for the cilantro dressing.

In another shallow dish, combine the flour, salt and pepper. And then in another dish, add the eggs and whisk. Create an assembly line with the egg dish, flour dish and pepita dish. Dip the chicken in the eggs first, then the flour, back into the eggs and then into the pepitas mixture. Set the crusted chicken onto the baking sheet and repeat with other chicken pieces. Once all pieces are crusted, bake for 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a serving platter.

For the dressing, combine the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. While the machine is running, add the olive oil. Scrape the sides down and pour into a small jug or pitcher and serve with the chicken.

Brotherly Love

Geez boys, you guys brothers?

Taking a much needed break after traveling along the boring 15 in Nevada.

Sometimes I think about how much I love having two little boys.
I can't really explain what I love about it,
but I am sure other mother's of little boys can understand.