Cilanto Lime Pesto Chicken Tacos

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This recipe is from Joelen over at What's Cooking Chicago 

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos - Makes enough for 4 tacos
Cooking spray for sauteing
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used 3)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup cilantro lime pesto (recipe follows)
flour or corn tortilla
preferred taco garnishes (salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc)

1) Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. (I read ahead on the recipe and noticed the 1 1/2 tsp of Kosher Salt in the pesto, so I did not season the chicken with any extra salt. The extra salt was not missed.)
2) In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, saute chicken over medium high heat and cooked through. 
3) Toss the cooked, seasoned chicken with the pesto. Fill tortillas with chicken and top with preferred garnishes. (I served mine with cheese, tomatoes and hot sauce. My hubby commented that sour cream and a diced onion would have added as well. I agree.)

*To make ahead/freezer meal - Cook chicken as directed above and cool. Place chicken in freezer bag. Prepare Cilantro Lime Pesto as directed below. Place 1/2 cup of pesto in a small storage bag then place inside the freezer bag with the chicken. Freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost and heat chicken. Toss chicken with defrosted pesto. If desired, heat chicken and pesto together before filling tacos.

Cilantro Lime Pesto - Makes 1 cup
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (do not include stems)
2 1/2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsps sliced, toasted almonds
3 Tbsps fresh, chopped garlic
1 1/2 tsps lime juice
1/2 cup shredded Asiago (Parmesan or Romano can be substitued too) (I didn't have any of these cheeses on hand. So, I used some leftover Wild Garlic Havarti. It was very, very good.)
1 1/2 tsps Kosher Salt
1/4 cup chicken broth
1) Using a blender, mix together the cilantro, olive oil, almonds, garlic, lime juice, cheese, salt and chicken broth on low speed for 2 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

4 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:          416          

Fat:                    17g  

Carbs:             16.6g      
Fiber                 2.7g        

Protein:           46.2g 
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 10 

Thoughts: I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! This was really flavorful. My Hubby and I both loved it. I have been looking for great and easy recipes to serve over the holidays when I have a houseful of people, and this just made it onto the list. For these reasons, I give this recipe 5 easy pins!


If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn

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Cheap Korean Beef

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This recipe is from Lizzy over at Lizzy Writes. Follow the recipe here (with my additions and improvements in red).
Cheap Korean Beef - Serves 6
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar (I like it sweet so I usually do closer to 1/2) (Lynn here - I like things less sweet, so I went with 1/4 cup and it was just perfect!)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/2 - 1 tsp crushed red peppers (I hate to chew on a red pepper flakes. So I went with 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Spicy throughout, yet no big pepper chunks lurking about. If your family is not spice-friendly, don't use any or taste as you go.)
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions, diced 
1) Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil.
2) Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. 
3) Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.
Nutritional Information:

6 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:          265          

Fat:                    18g  

Carbs:             14.2g      
Fiber                   .2g        

Protein:           14.2g 
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 7.5

Thoughts: I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! This was quick and really flavorful. I don't usually gravitate towards quick and easy, but this really was quick, easy and super yummy. Everyone at the table loved it and wanted it added to our home cooking menu choices. For these reasons, I give this recipe 5 easy pins!
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn
Want to learn Korean? See the ad below!

Cannellini & Ham Soup

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This recipe is from Christine over at Chow. Follow the recipe here (with my additions and improvements in red).
Cannellini & Ham Soup  Serves 8
Ingredients:
1lb dried cannellini beans
3 1/2 quarts (14 cups) water, plus more for soaking the beans
1 meaty smoked ham bone or 2 ham hocks (about 1 pound)
3 fresh thyme springs or 1/2 tsp dried thyme (I used 1 tbsp dried and it could probably have used a little more than that).
2 medium carrots
2 medium celery stalks
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1 1/2 cups medium-dice, fully cooked smoked ham (about 8 ozs)
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
1) Place the beans in a large bowl and pick through them, removing and discarding any broken beans or stones. Cover them with at least 3 inches of cold water. Allow to soak uncovered and at room temperature at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain in a colander and set aside.
2) Place the measured water and ham bone or hocks in a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. (I skipped cooking the water and the bone and hock by themselves. I moved on to step number 3 and cooked the bone and hock with the beans.)
3) Add the soaked beans and thyme, stir to combine (leave the bone and hocks in the pot), and return to a simmer, skimming the surface with a spoon as necessary to remove any scum. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are almost completely tender but still a little underdone in the center, about 1 hour (the beans should not be completely cooked because they will cook more later).
4) Meanwhile, peel and cut the carrots into medium dice and place in a medium bowl. Cut the celery and onion into medium dice and add them to the bowl with the carrots. Add the diced vegetables and measured salt to the pot, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans and vegetables are tender and the meat is falling off the bone, about 40 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
5) Remove the ham bone or hocks to a cutting board and let sit until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones and set it aside (discard the skin and bones).
6) Using a potato masher, lightly mash half of the beans and vegetables, leaving the remaining half intact. Stir in the diced and reserved ham. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Nutritional Information:

8 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:          127          

Fat:                   2.9g  

Carbs:             16.5g      
Fiber                 3.5g        

Protein:             8.9g 
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 3
Thoughts: This was good, but it could have been better. Next time I will increase the amount of thyme and add garlic to the recipe. I made this recipe and Creamy Potato & Ham Soup during the same week. My hubby much preferred the Creamy Potato & Ham Soup. So for those reasons, I give this recipe 3 pins.
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn
Who knew the lowly potato saved the world? See the ad below!

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

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This recipe is from Christy over at The Girl Who Ate Everything. Follow the recipe here (with my additions and improvements in red).
Creamy Ham and Potato Soup - Serves 6
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup carrot, diced (optional)
1 cup diced cooked ham (I ended up adding 2 cups. One cup seemed a little on the skimpy side.)
3 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tbsps butter
5 tbsps all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Note: I added some carrots that I had and Becky said she adds a can of corn too which would be good.
Note: I thought the soup a little under seasoned. So I added 2 cloves of garlic, minced and 2 tsps of dried basil. My hubby LOVED the soup with the basil.)
Directions:
1) Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, carrot, ham and chicken broth (and garlic) in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper (and basil).
2) In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk so that lumps don't form and until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3) Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through.
4) Top with cheddar cheese, chives, and bacon if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Information:

6 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:         268.7           

Fat:                     14g  

Carbs:              26.6g      
Fiber                  2.4g        

Protein:              9.9g 
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 7
Thoughts: This is a really good basic ham and potato soup recipe. I added in garlic and basil, and these made for a much more flavorful soup. But, oregano, thyme or even Italian seasoning could be experimented with as well. The only other thing I changed was to double the amount of ham. I just felt that one cup with that amount of liquid was a little on the sparse side. For all of these reasons, I give this soup recipe 4 hearty pins.
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn
Who knew the lowly potato saved the world? See the ad below!

No Bake Energy Bites

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This recipe is from Ali over at Gimme Some Oven. Follow her recipe here (with my additions and improvements in red):
No-Bake Energy Bites - Makes 20 - 25 (My batch made 20)
Ingredients:
1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
1 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (I tried almond butter)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1) Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
2) Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container (They are slightly sticky, so I stored them individually-wrapped and then put in an airtight container) and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Ali's Tips: Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients! Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond (This is what I originally made them with - yummy!), sunflower seed, etc) for the peanut butter. And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed. I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey's thickness helps hold things together. Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include: chopped dried fruit, dried berries, chopped nuts, other chips.
Enjoy! (I agree!)
Nutritional Information:
20 Servings
Amount per serving:
Calories               157
Fat                     10.2g
Carbs                 14.9g
Fiber                    1.9g
Protein                3.5 g
Fiber                    1.9g
Protein:                3.5g
Weight Watchers Points Plus Values: 4
Thoughts: These should really be called, "Crack No Bake Energy Bites," or "Don't Plan on Eating Just One, Even Though You Know How Many Calories They Are, Because You Know You Are Going to Eat Them All, So Do It and Just Get It Over With." Yeah, they are that good! I will definitely make these again. The next time, however, I will hide them in the refrigerator of a friends house, in the next state over. Therefore, these delightful little bites get 5 healthy pins!
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn
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Guaranteed Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

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This recipe is from Karen over at The Art of Doing Stuff. Follow her recipe here (with my improvements and additions in red):
Guaranteed Crispy Sweet Potato Fries - Serves 6
Ingredients:
sweet potatoes (Karen doesn't state how many/pounds to use, so I went with 3 medium potatoes, because that's how many she showed in the picture.)
1 or 2 tbsps corn starch
2 tbsps olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
Directions:
1) Cut your sweet potatoes until they're medium thickness. Not hugely thick cut and not shoestring.
2) Let potatoes soak in water for an hour - half the day. (not mandatory, but recommended) (I would also add 1 tsp of salt. The water draws out the starch content of the potatoes, but the salt draws out the water content. This is important because you don't want your oven to become a steam bath.)
3) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
4) Throw cornstarch into a plastic bag.
5) Dump a handful of sweet potatoes into the bag with the cornstarch. Twist the top of the bag so it forms a balloon with some air inside and shake the fries around until they're lightly coated with the cornstarch.
6) Put your coated fries on a non-stick cookie sheet.
7) Drizzle olive oil over the fries.
8) Using your hands, make sure the fries are well coated.
9) Arrange them on the sheet again, so they have space between each fry. The less fries on the pan, the better they'll cook. (I wish Karen could have been a little more exact in this instruction.) Too many shoved together and they'll never get crispy. They'll just steam. Pop the fries into your preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.
10) Meanwhile you can make the dipping sauce. Mix together the mayonnaise with the Sriracha sauce and Cayenne pepper. You can adjust the proportions to taste. 
11) Check the fries after 15 minutes, flip them over (you might have to use a spatula depending on how "non-stick" your pan is) and return to the oven if necessary for another 5 minutes.
Nutritional Information:

6 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:          212          

Fat:                17.9g  

Carbs:               12g

Fiber                1.9g          

Protein:            1.3g 
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 6
Thoughts: I'm afraid I can guarantee the guarantee in the title. They were not crispy, tasty, but not crispy. Karen ends this blog post by saying, "Please note: This recipe does have a bit of a learning curve. It may take a few attempts to get your proportions of corn starch and oil correct. It took me several years (seriously?) to figure out how to do this, but with these instructions it shouldn't take you more than a couple of tries - Karen." My feeling is that after years of trial and error, Karen could have come up with a more precise recipe. I was really looking forward to crispy fries, but it just did not happen. I will make this recipe again. And if I do achieve that perfect crisp to my fries, I will update you. For these reasons, this recipe gets 3 hearty pins.
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn
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Homemade Fortune Cookies

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Hello! It's Lynn's daughter Kelly again. I'm here to guest blog about my most recent Pinterest recipe experience. Go check out more photos from my attempt at making these, or read about my upcoming summer in France on my blog, Rainboots & Beef.
This recipe is from Kelly (good name!) at Just a Taste. Here is her recipe (with my additions and improvements in red):
Homemade Fortune Cookies
Yield: 16 fortune cookies
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
Handwritten fortunes (optional)  I used quotes from my motivational quote board on Pinterest. (Lynn here - good choice Kelly!)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional) Ha. My cookies were so ugly I didn't feel like wasting chocolate on them.
Sprinkles, for garnish (optional) I ate the sprinkles out of the jar while I cooked, if that counts for anything.
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper or a Silpat. (I didn't have either. Instead I just greased a regular cookie sheet.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla, cinnamon, flour and sugar. The batter will be very loose. (The batter wasn't exactly lose. It was kind of like glue. I definitely approve of the cinnamon and vanilla in fortune cookies. It made them taste more like sugar cookies than fruit loops, which I think store-bought fortune cookies tend to taste like.)

Using a small spoon, scoop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto the lined cookie sheet. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the batter into a very thin circular layer. (This didn't exactly work for me because the cookie sheet was so greasy and slippery.) Repeat this process with additional batter to form two or three circles of batter on the cookie sheet. (I did three at a time. This is so you can insert fortune, fold, and pinch without the cookies beginning to harden, theoretically.)

Bake the cookies for 5 to 7 minutes, or just until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. (About six minutes seemed to work best for me, but if your cookies were as thin as they are supposed to be...this might be the burning point.)

Remove the cookies from the oven, place the handwritten fortunes in the centers of the cookies, and then use a flat spatula to very carefully release the cookie from the sheet tray. Fold it in half, then pinch the edges inward (as shown above) to create the fortune cookie shape. Continue this process with the remaining cookies, which will harden within 30 seconds of being formed. (This just didn't work. I placed the fortune on the cookie and spatula-ed the cookie off the cookie sheet, but when it came time to fold in half, they just broke, for the most part. The few that didn't break, were way too hot to pinch. About 2 cookies that I made even slightly resembled the shape of a fortune cookie, and none of them had even a slightly similar texture. They were basically folded sugar cookies with paper inside...and the paper was so enmeshed in the batter that you could hardly decipher what the fortune said.)

As an optional garnish, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-second intervals then dunk the hardened and cooled cookies into the chocolate. Immediately decorate the chocolate-dipped cookies with sprinkles and let harden. (Didn't do this. My cookies were too ugly.)

Nutritional Information:

16 servings

Amount per serving:

Calories:             41

Fat:                      .1g  

Carbs:                9.3g

Fiber                    .1g          

Protein:                 1g 

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 1

I probably wouldn't make these again unless I had a different recipe. I give this recipe 2 pins.

The result:

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Thanks for letting me guest blog and I hope you stop by and check out my blog, Rainboots & Beef, sometime soon!

If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn