Oreo Fluff

Another super easy recipe, and great for those family gatherings. I've seen a million different recipes with different measurements, and some with one or two different ingredients, an all still called OREO FLUFF. But I will post the one I used, because it was SO DELICIOUS! The family literally licked the bowl clean!

And since my attempt of taking a picture that involved a pudding salad did not look all that appetizing (even though it truly is the BEST!)... I'm going to borrow some pics from the web world. They are pics of the many different variations of the FLUFF, and I'm sure all are delicious. (links included)

This is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

• 2 (small) boxes instant vanilla pudding
• 2 3/4 cup cold milk
• 8 oz Cool Whip
• 1 package Oreos (I only ended up using about 1/2 of the smashed Oreos.)

Directions:

1. Beat the pudding and milk until it starts to thicken.
2. Refrigerate for 15 mins. Crush Oreos in this time.
3. Fold cool whip in with pudding. 
4. Add crushed Oreos. As much/little as you want.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. (If you do overnight, I'd suggest not adding Oreos til a couple hours before planning to eat. That way they won't get too soggy.)

Great presentation! But I didn't mash my oreos this small. I kinda like to have them chunky.  

Find this variation HERE.

 This looks more like what I made. This recipe is from HERE.

 This looks so pretty! Find this one HERE. 

'Better-than-Cafe-Rio' Shredded Sweet Pork

Seriously, I'd eat this every day. #1, it's made in the crock pot. Minimal work. I like that. #2, it's delicious! Just as good, if not better than Cafe Rio if you ask me, or my brother, or my brother in-law, or my sister, or my step dad... they all agree. Plus, the dressing is HEAVEN. I LOVE cilantro! Added a little extra. :)

I borrowed this pic from online. Forgot to take a pic.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs pork (or chicken breasts) *
• 16 oz bottle of chunky salsa (I used Pace Medium)
• 1 can Coke (any soda. I've used coke, coke zero, Dr Pepper.. all are yummy!)
• 2 cups brown sugar

Place pork in crock pot and fill it 1/2 way up the pork with water. Cook on HIGH for 5 hours. Drain off water. Cut pork in thirds. In blender/processor, mix salsa, sugar, and soda. (just enough so chunks are gone) Pour on top of pork. Cook additional 3 hours on HIGH. Shred pork with forks. Leave on low/warm until ready to serve.

*If doing chicken, cook in crock on LOW for 6 hours. Then drain water, pour sauce over chicken, and cook an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour. Shred chicken with forks.*


Dressing:

• 1 Package Hidden Valley Ranch
• 1 cup mayo 
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2-4 Tablespoons of LaVictoria Green Taco Sauce 
• I like to add a little lime juice (opt)

Mix in a blender/food processor.


Serve it as a salad, or burrito, or just over rice! Either way, you can't go wrong. Mmmmmmm......

Mint Lime Melon Salad

Minted Melon Salad

• 2 T. diced fresh mint
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 large lime, juiced and zested
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 cantaloupe
• 1 small honeydew melon
• 1/2 watermelon (or 1 small)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the mint, sugar, lime zest, lime juice and water. Cut melons into cubes or into balls with a melon baller. Add to the bowl and toss to combine well.
2. Cover and refrigerate at least 3-4 hours to allow the flavors to combine.

Sweet Barbacoa Pork

This one is for all you Costa Vida/Cafe Rio lovers! But unlike their 1300 calorie sweet pork salads... this one is only 202 calories per serving! (for just the meat part.) Gotta love that! This is from skinnytaste.com

 We made it into burritos and/or salads. Delicious!

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 2.5 lbs pork loin roast, all fat trimmed
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• 6 oz Coke zero
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
• 1/4 cup water

Step 2

• 8 oz Coke zero
• 6 oz can sliced green chilies
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.

 

Just for the MEAT mix:

Servings: about 10 • Serving Size: 3 oz •
Calories: 202.5 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 26.2 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 0.6 g

Cranberry Feta Couscous Salad

Is it rice? Is it a pasta? Maybe a lil of both??

If you are anything like me.... you've never tried Couscous, and you aren't quite sure what it is exactly.... Am I right? Don't be scared.

My mom and I went to a "Well Balanced Cooking" class hosted by our lovely Kitchen Kneads. We got a handful of recipes that are delicious AND healthy. Gotta love that even more!

So, if you are up for something different, give this a shot. One of our healthy recipes:

 

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces whole wheat couscous (you'll find this most likely in your RICE isle at the store... but Walmart didn't carry any coucous. Just a heads up.)
• water (to make your couscous as directed on package)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (Craisins) 
• 1 Tbsp curry powder or 2 tsp cumin (a lil sweeter flavor)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 orange, juiced
• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced on an angle
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
• Pepper
• Feta, add to taste

Directions:

• In a medium sauce pan, combine water, curry, sugar, salt, and orange juice to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Remove pan from heat and stir in the couscous. Cover the pan until the couscous is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed. (about 5-6 minutes)
• Put the couscous in a large bowl and add cranberries, parsley, scallions, feta, nuts, and lemon juice.
• Drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper and feta to taste. 
• Toss until well combined.

ps. I think this is actually better served cold. But that may just be me. See what you think.

Bowtie Chicken Ceasar Salad

Another recipe I got from Tessa. Pretty easy to make and delicious to boot!

Ingredients:
* no real measurements... just eye it. :) If you like pasta, add more pasta. If you like more chicken, do it. If you like more dressing..... you get the idea. *

Romaine Lettuce (I used 1, fresh.... could probably get bagged if you wanted)
Bowtie Pasta (cooked whole box but maybe only used a lil over half)
Almonds- slivered or sliced (I like sliced)
Chicken, boneless skinless (I used 2-3)
Green onions (a large handful)
Newman's Own Ceasar dressing (Enough to make it look good)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I used a cup maybe...)

Directions:

• Cook chicken. - I cut it into small pieces and cooked on stove top, but I'm sure you could do shredded if you prefer.- Set aside to cool.
• Cook pasta. Set aside to cool.
• Rinse and chop up lettuce. Put into large bowl.
• Chop green onions, add to bowl. Add almonds and Parmesan cheese.
• Add cooled chicken and pasta.
• Mix together. Before serving, stir in ceasar dressing to coat.
• Yum!

Bacon Lettuce Wraps

My husband made these for me when we first started dating... and they were SO good that we eloped shortly after. They totally sealed the deal. :)

 

Pretty simple. You need:
water
1 pkg regular bacon, cut pieces into thirds
brown sugar
lettuce, green or red leaf
cooked rice

• In a FRYING pan, bring water and brown sugar to a low boil. (amount depends on your liking for taste. I started with 1 cup water and 1 cup brown sugar.)
• Cook bacon, until cooked thoroughly, in boiling mix. (I started with about 5 pieces, then tasted one, and decided to add a lil more brown sugar... up to you.)
• Rinse lettuce.
• Pile it all together and enjoy! -Can be a little hard to eat. Roll it like a burrito, or fold it like a taco, and shove it in. If that's too hard, or if you'd prefer, I'm sure it'd be delicious all chopped up in a bowl like a salad.

We like things a lil spicy around our house. We like to add this Korean hot paste too our wraps. A little goes a LONG way, as far as temperature goes. My bro in-laws have also used Tapatio and Chalula. Just some thoughts for ya if you want to spice it up.

"Parfait" - Fruit Salad/Pudding

I'm not sure what the proper name of this is, and technically it's not a Parfait because there are no layers, but it is just like the Parfaits you get at McDonald's (without granola), so therefore I refer to it as a parfait.

This is delicious, easy, and a family favorite!

Sorry, this picture doesn't make it look very appetizing... But trust me, it's delicious!

Ingredients:

• 32 oz  vanilla yogurt (1 large container)
• 1 large pkg of Jell-o vanilla instant pudding
• 8 oz tub cool whip
• 2 bags Berry Medley frozen fruit (or whatever fruit you prefer)

Directions:
   Make this a few hours before you need it so berries have time to thaw.

• Mix dry pudding into yogurt until well dissolved and not lumpy.
• Fold in cool whip.
• Fold in fruit. May be 'streaky' in color.
• Wa-lah! 

** you can use any fruits you like, the Berry Medley is just a good mix of different berries. But if you use something with strawberries, I would recommend cutting them into halves or thirds before putting them in. They seem to take the longest to thaw. Don't put completely thawed fruit in, or it's really mushy and not AS good. You want them to still be a lil frozen by the time you eat it.**

Could also try other pudding and/or yogurt flavors.

Tortellini Salad

Tortellini Salad

1 9-oz pkg cheese tortellini or ravioli
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup finely chopped carrots
1/4 cup green onions
1/2 cup reduced-fat ranch dressing

1. In large pot cook pasta according to directions. Add the broccoli (I buy frozen florets for time and money) and carrots. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again.

2. Add the green onions and ranch dressing and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Caesar Tortellini Salad

This is a salad my kids will actually eat, and is filling enough to be a main dish. Pair with bread sticks and fruit & you have a fast, healthy, cool summertime dinner. Enjoy!

1 package (9 oz.) refrigerated cheese or chicken filled tortellini
1 package (7.5 oz.) complete Caesar Salad mix
1 med. tomato (chopped), (3/4 C.)
1/4 C. imitation bacon-flavor bits
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Dir:

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Rinse with cold water, drain.
Toss tortellini with complete salad mix and remaining ingredients.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!

*May also add chopped broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and carrots for extra nutrition & crunch.