Pear And Veggie Salad With Creamy Boursin Dressing

I have been a little lazy lately when it comes to making salads for some reason. I don't know why? Salad is really one of my favorite things to eat. Usually I will stock my fridge with all kinds of delicious salad fixings so that I can throw together a salad for lunch with little prep time. This next week I am going to re-focus my efforts in doing this, so stay tuned for some good salad prep tips that will make it easier to eat healthy when you are short on time, or energy if you're a tired busy mom like me! 

For today I am going to make something simple but good. You can eat it alone like I did, or serve it with your entree of choice!

One of my cheese loves is Boursin. My oh my.... Bring on the Boursin, and I'm in. I could eat that stuff all day long. It has the most amazing creamy texture and has such a mellow lovely flavor. It's a 10 on my cheese grading chart. :)

Now, I also like creamy dressings, but sometimes a bleu cheese is just a little much for me! I thought, why not make a cheese based dressing from one of my favorite cheeses, instead of with a cheese I just tolerate. Ha! Genius! We are going to whip up a nice and simple dinner salad today. This would pair well with pretty much anything. So be creative and have fun!

Here's what we're going for....

Get out your garlic and herb boursin, and separate about 3 ounces of it. Put it in a small mixing bowl and add red wine vinegar and water. Whisk together.

Add olive oil,

Thyme,

And black pepper, to taste.

Mix that up, and there is your wonderfully cheesy, creamy, nummy dressing!

Now we need to prepare all the fruit and veggies. I sliced my pears quite thin. Made my broccoli into tiny florets and halved my tomatoes. You also need to set your oven to 350 and roast your cup of pecans for 7 minutes. Now you should be ready to put together your salad!

You can either mix and dress all your ingredients in a salad bowl, or arrange them out on separate salad plates. I prefer to arrange mine separately if I am serving a group of 4-6 because the salads look so neat and pretty.

Place your lettuce first, then your veggies, and last your pears and roasted pecans. Drizzle your creamy dressing over the salad. Go light, because the flavor is rich! Enjoy!

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Grilled Veggie Fries With Dipping Sauce. So Easy. So Healthy.

Having the last few days warm up so much has lifted my spirits immensely. I am a creature of the sunshine. It never ceases to amaze me how much the weather effects my mood and general happiness. It's a wonder I survive our sometimes harsh and long winter months here in Utah. I have spent a lot of the last few days outside with my kids in our back yard. I am loving tending to our newly planted flower pots and vegetable starts for our garden. We are all loving it! Even my chickens (all six of them) are strolling about the yard with feathers fluffed up. I think spring brings along with it a promise for a fresh start in some ways. I don't ever find myself making (or more like keeping) many goals during the icky New Years months, but in spring I do. I find tons of motivation that has been evading me all these winter months!

During Springtime I make all kinds of fun plans to enjoy the out of doors during the summer and fall. We decide on hikes, boating trips, plan our garden that will keep us busy all season and the list goes on! One of my favorite part of summer plans is Barbecuing. My family is constantly finding reasons to get together with family and friends to "cook out". This is the epitome of Summer fun in my eyes. To celebrate this glorious sunny weather I invited my parents and little sister over for a Springtime BBQ in my back yard. We barbecued bratwursts, chicken and a huge batch of grilled veggie fries with dipping sauces! They were so much fun to make, and came out so crispy and good. I will be making these soon for my husband who was unlucky enough to miss out on these. I hope you can find some fun Summer activities to celebrate with your loved ones. 

So come grill along with me! Let's make some Grilled Veggie Fries with dipping sauces!

I love root vegetables! What better way to enjoy them than to grill them up into fries! First you need two large sweet potatoes (approximately 3 pounds), 2 large parsnips, and 6 carrots.

Wash and peel them. 

Cut up your veggies into fries, trying to keep them a uniform size if at all possible. I cut mine to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Oh those pretties are going to be good!

(Oh look! My herbs are smiling at me!) If you don't have fresh herbs growing at your home I highly suggest planting some! They are super easy to keep alive, and you can't beat the ease of fresh herbs on hand at all times. It's a win win. Collect a smattering of fresh herbs. I used flat leaf parsley, dill, oregano, basil and cilantro. Give your herbs a rough chop. Add your herbs to a small bowl. Add olive oil, minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Whisk until combine and set aside.

In a large stock pot boil 2 quarts water and bring to a rolling boil. Add some salt to the water.

Toss in veggie fries. Boil on medium-high for 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat and strain veggies. Run them under cold water to cool them down and stop the cooking process. The veggies should be just barely tender.

Once the veggies are cooled toss them well in the herb/oil mixture. Preheat grill to medium. When it is hot, place the fries on the grill and cook until crispy and charred slightly, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from grill and serve hot with some good dipping sauce. I made a BBQ sauce dip and a creamy lime herb dipping sauce. You can make the sauce ahead and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Recipe for my two dipping sauces are below.

Oh boy these were tasty. You would be surprised how many main dishes these would go well with. Tonight I served them alongside a bratwurst dog with curly cabbage and pickles. It was a great first BBQ to kick of my happy season! Yay! 

Thanks for cooking along with me! I wish you a fantastic Spring and Summer, filled with family and friends. Oh, and don't forget the Barbecues! 

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Cookies in bed. Why not?

Last night my darling daughter Elena came downstairs a while after bedtime to deliver me a note. This particular note made my day. It is one of those *awesome* moments where you are so glad you are a mom. I know I don't have very many of those after 7:00 pm when I am hoping all my kids are snoring in their beds, but I did have one this time. Elena wrote me this...

"Dolfin? Mom I can't go to bed. I em not tird. I can't slep. I love you. Love Elena. No slep."

There were several "hearts for love" as Elena calls them too. I about laughed out loud when she gave it to me. OK baby girl. I hear ya. Me neither. Also, what's up with the Dolfin??? Ha!

Elena suggested that we should make some cookies. Peanut Butter. Her favorite! Who could say no to that? It sounds like we need to change to the 8:00 (or later) summer bedtime around these parts. 

We set out to the chicken coop to find some eggs for the cookies. Oh these fresh eggs are so great for baking! Especially if you have them at room temperature. While we were out, we cut come fragrant lilac and a few other blooming sprigs to brighten the kitchen!

Now we are ready to get baking! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

I have to admit, I have taken to the chunky peanut butter these days. I don't think I have had this in over 15 years until recently, and boy is it good! So why not try it in my good old PB cookies? Good choice I tell ya!

First we mix cream together the peanut butter, softened butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. I always use my electric mixer to do cookies. 

Next add the eggs and vanilla. Mix to combine them.

Now add salt,

Baking soda,

And last but not least the flour! Don't I have the cutest baking assistant? 

You should have some cookie dough resembling something delicious like this! Not be good, and try not to eat the ENTIRE batch while it's still dough. :)

Because I was feeling extremely naughty last night, I whipped up some rich chocolate frosting. Just because I "needed to" don't judge me. You know what Elena said to me when I started making this? "Oh no!! I don't like chocolate, I only like Twix." What on earth is wrong with my child? She must not be mine, because I don't think I could live without chocolate. I tell her, "Honey, Twix is made with chocolate..." She doesn't care. Or believe me. What a crazy person. 

OK. Back to making REAL chocolate frosting!!! 

This whips up really quick by the way. Don't be alarmed by the fact that I am cooking it in a pot first. It is no biggie! So melt a stick of butter. Yes. A whole dang stick, because this is a TREAT not a vegetable. :)

Pour in 1 cup of the best semi-sweet chocolate you can find. I use 58% Noel Chocolate. It's mega yummy. And rich. And yummy. Did I say that already? Then add vanilla. Stir chocolate, butter and vanilla together until chocolate is melted. Don't overheat.

 As soon as the chocolate is melted pour in 1 cup powdered sugar in and stir until combine.

Next transfer gooey chocolaty mixture into a bowl.

Add one more cup powdered sugar, salt, nutella and whole milk. Use an electric beater to mix well.

The consistency should be thick and rich, but not quite like your average buttercream. It is much more chocolaty and smooth. 

Oh my gosh this was good. I died. Wait. I guess I didn't, but I could have it was so yummy!

Find a handy dandy ball roller, and place your dough balls on a lined baking sheet.

Pop those morsels of joy into your hot oven so they can get even more yummy. This yummy making process should take 8 minutes. I think you can wait that long. :)

Boom baby! Chewy, hot, peanut butter cookies ready to be savored, and slathered in chocolate (if I'm eating them) or not. It's up to you! They are equally good both ways. Note: I love the crunchy peanut butter in this recipe!! It was so good. Gave it a little crunch, but not a ton.

Let your cookies sit for 2 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

Now they are ready to eat! Peanut, peanut butter! And chocolate!!

This is the "Ooh! These are really good!" face. I actually caught it! Ha!

This recipe makes 4 dozen cookies. I only usually bake two dozen, then freeze the rest so that I only binge on 2 dozen cookies instead of 4. I'm a smart cookie! Wrap your remaining dough in parchment paper then roll up in tin foil, and you have a perfectly good second batch of cookies to bake up when you need them! Hooray!

There you have it. Chocolaty, peanut buttery cookies sent from heaven. I give you permission to eat these in bed like I did. :)

Here is the handy little recipe! Enjoy!

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