Grilled Greek Chicken and Corn Salad

I don't want to let go of summer. So here's a great summer dish I cooked up this week.

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 zucchini halved
2 cups of Grape tomatoes sliced in half
3-4 ears of corn
1 cup fresh mozzarella

Marinade
1/3 cup Olive Oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons Greek seasoning
zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
salt/ pepper

Wisk together marinade. Place veggies in a 9x13 pan and chicken in another. Salt and pepper the chicken. Pour marinade over chicken and vegetables. place in fridge for 3 hours or overnight,
Grill chicken, zucchini and corn. Chop up and add to tomatoes and mozzarella.
I used frozen corn because i forgot the corn. I think this is an easy idea you can chain up with different seasonings adding red pepper etc to make it more bold flavors. My older two kids liked this and ate it. It was a no go for the two little "babies" 

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

My go to "Chicken Noodle Soup" 

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
1 pound of Chicken ( I usually just use leftovers I have on hand)
3 cloves garlic
1 onion diced 
1/3 cup diced celery 
3 carrots diced
1/2 teaspoon thyme 
5 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves 
3/4 cup uncooked pasta
1 sprig of rosemary 
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Start by cooking your chicken if you aren't using leftovers. Then in the same pot add Olive Oil and Onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until tender. Stir in thyme until fragrant. 
Wisk in chicken stock, bay leaves and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil then stir in orzo, rosemary, and chicken. reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. 
I like my soup pretty lemony but my kids don't prefer the extra lemon. (kids- eye roll) 

Eat up! 

Balsamic Marinade

Balsamic Steak Marinade 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar 
1 garlic clove minced
1 tablespoon Rosemary (optional) 

Combine marinade and add to zip loc bag with steak. Marinade for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Then grill it. 
We love this simple marinade, if we ever have leftovers I use it to top my salads at lunch. 

Lemon Basil Steak Marinade

This one is another simple steak marinade we love:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 lemon juice
1/4 Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon pepper

Pop this in a zip loc with some steak and let it chill for 30 minutes or more. Then grill to desired doneness.

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

We eat Salmon in this house and love it! Here is a new way I mixed it up last week: 

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• Salmon Rub  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper

Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. I put my salmon into a little foil tray that I could cook the Salmon in on the grill. Cook it on grill until you think/ know it's cooked. 

Top with Avocado, I just made a little mash Avocado, lime juice and a little onions chopped up. I am sure you could add a little cilantro and the world would still go on. 

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M&M Pudding Cookies

These are a new favorite with my kids, they seems to be foolproof and I never have a batch not be super amazing! 

M&M Pudding Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup mini M&M’s

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt. Stir well until combined. Add chocolate chip and M&M’s. 

Scoop out cookies. Bake 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 24 cookies

Taco Bowls

We love to eat all things Taco around here. I especially love to eat burrito bowls. So I recently found an easy way to eat this meal with less preparation. 
I usually have some brown rice and quinoa on hand cooked in the fridge or freezer. Then I make this little number in the crock pot:

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. chicken breasts or ground beef 
• 1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
• 1 bag frozen corn
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• ½ Tbsp cumin
• ½ Tbsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• to taste cracked pepper

1. Add everything  to the slow cooker along with ¼ cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture. If I am using ground beef I usually brown it up and then add to the crock pot. 
2. Cook on low for 8 hrs.
3. After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream. To your liking. 

Super delicious cookies, so good, it's reported that they've been know to elicit marriage proposals...

I found these cookies to make for a baby shower I went to one time. (Not that the gal having a baby needed a marriage proposal) But cookies that were that good needed to be tried! They were a hit! Love them. Found these on http://thecafesucrefarine.com/
Enjoy!

I Want to Marry You Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup uncooked rolled (or old fashioned) oats - not quick oats.
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup white chocolate chips, extra for garnishing, if desired*
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, extra for garnishing, if desired*
1 cup roughly chopped, toasted pecans, extra for garnishing, if desired*
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until melted. Remove from the heat.
Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir until sugars are incorporated and smooth. Chill the
mixture for 10 minutes.
Remove from the refrigerator and stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Add the flour, oats, baking soda, . teaspoon salt, and cinnamon and mix together.
Stir in the white chocolate chips, chocolate chips and pecans.
Roll by hand into medium-size balls or use a scoop, and place on sheet pans. If desired, tuck extra chips and pecans over tops of dough mounds for a lovely appearance.
Chill, on sheet pan for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and bake for 14-18 minutes, oruntil golden brown. Allow to cool for several minutes on pan, then transfer to cooling rack.
Watch the proposals coming pouring in!!! :)

A cook book is born

In 2013  I made a goal to create a cookbook that was more organized then all the print offs stuffed into a three ring binder. I was tired of the mess and it was always disorganized. I also knew one day I was accidentally going to drop my phone into a pot of soup so cooking from my phone wasn't working either. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised the rest of my sisters wanted in on this idea. So thanks to all my sister's (AND MOM) I have my collection as well as their amazing dishes. 

They are The (Taylor) Best (Bertasso) Dishes (Degraw) Some of these "dishes" are the things we grew up on. Many are the treats we indulge in. Others we have come across while raising our own families. 

Now that the book is getting "old" I have found i have many new recipes that need a home, other then post-it notes all over my book. I am not ready to start down that road to printing a new one again so I am starting here: 

The Best Dishes- Additions 
My add on's I don't want lost. I also will have a digital record for future use. (And when I am shopping and need a recipe.)