fresh

Balsamic Grilled Peaches & Chicken Salad Dinner

/ Jodi / 14 Comments

balsamic grilled peaches and chicken 3

Oh Friends… you know how much I love chicken and discovering new and different ways to prepare it.

Well this week I discovered another Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

It’s simple, it’s fast, it’s healthy, and it’s YUMMY!

balsamic grilled peaches and chicken 2

I have seen and heard about grilling peaches, and I was intrigued.

Having some ripe peaches in the fridge that weren’t getting eaten, now was the time to try it!

grilled peaches

It was so easy, and they were DELISH! 

Balsamic Grilled Peaches and Chicken

If you are looking for another light and simple, but full-flavored summer chicken dinner, look no further!

And remember, like I always say, if you don’t like a particular ingredient, switch it up!  Substitute goat cheese or feta or even shredded cheddar for the blue cheese if you are not a blue cheese fan (but BOO to you because it is DIVINE!).  Change up the greens to ones you prefer.  I used Spring Mix, but it would be awesome with Spinach or Arugula or Kale too!

Be creative.

Have fun!

Make dinner a celebration.

Create art on a plate.

You won’t be sorry about this one!

Balsamic Grilled Peaches & Chicken Salad

Ingredientsbalsamic grilled peaches and chicken 2

  • 4 chicken breast halves
  • 4-6 cups Spring Mix Salad Greens
  • 2 large sweet Vidalia onions, sliced into 1/2 thick slices
  • 4-6 ripe peaches – cut in half and pitted
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1 Bottle Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (I used Ken’s Light version)
  • Olive Oil
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

  • Marinade chicken breasts in 1/2 bottle balsamic vinagrette for at least 4 hours.
  • Grill chicken when ready to serve.
  • Place Onion Slices in a grill basket (or foil).  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Grill until translucent and char-grilled.  Place on one side of grill while chicken is grilling on the other side.  These two take about the same amount of time – approximately 20 minutes.
  • Once chicken is done, remove from grill, and set aside.
  • Sprinkle peach halves with olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar.  Place cut side done on grill, and grill for about 5-7 minutes until soft and char-grilled.  When done, remove from grill and slice peach halves into three or four pieces.
  • To plate, place a cup of greens on plate, top with grilled onions, peach slices and crumbled blue cheese.  Add chicken to side or slice and mix in with chicken.
  • ENJOY!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Leftover Lunch Salad

/ Jodi / 31 Comments

leftover lunch salad

One of the best things about having a job where you can work from home most days, besides being able to roll out of bed and be at your desk in about 17 seconds, not needing to comb your hair or put makeup on, working in yoga pants and t-shirts, having a furry co-worker by your side, getting to take walks at lunch time….

Ok – there are A LOT of things I like about my job and being able to work from home…

But, one really nice benefit is being able to make healthy and easy leftover lunches instead of going out and eating fast food or having to pack a sack!

Like this salad I made the other day – a small piece of leftover grilled Delmonico steak on top of leftover salad.  Voila!  Veggies and protein and nourishment that tastes good and is good for me!

And after yesterday’s DECADENCE of those Fudgy Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Brownies, I thought it best to show I don’t always eat like that!

QUICK TIPS:

  • Always make more salad than you need for dinner and throw it in a Ziploc bag to keep fresh for a day or two.
  • Don’t add tomatoes to your salad until serving.  Tomatoes completely lose their taste when refrigerated (so never refrigerate them – you don’t – right?!!?!!).  Tomatoes also make leftover salad SOGGY.  Yuk!
  • Make an extra piece or two of your protein – chicken, steak, pork, fish – and throw it in a Ziploc bag too.  It can be sliced on a salad, added to a wrap, thrown on a bun, or even just eaten as is – hot or cold – depending on your work day and stress level.
  • Keep seeds and nuts on hand to toss in and on things.
  • Hard boil some eggs in the beginning of the week, and you always have a quick protein ready.
  • Canned beans area also great additions to salads and wraps.  Open a can of black beans or any kind you like, drain and put in a plastic container in the fridge.  This way you can easily toss on your lunch or pop in your mouth in a jiffy.
  • Keep fresh fruit around so you can grab a handful of berries or snack on a clementine or banana or crunchy apple when your tummy gets to grumbling.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

/ Jodi / 15 Comments

thin mint cupcakes

Imagine fresh baked chocolate cupcakes topped with icing that is “spiked” with Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (and then topped with one more to grow on!)

Yep – that’s what I baked yesterday…  in between a trip to the gym, putting out the patio furniture, a walk with Mikey, and caring for the toughest guy I’ve ever known (dear hubby) who is recovering from some shoulder repair surgery he had this past week like nobody I’ve ever seen!  (That’s my Marty!)

You may remember I recently made some Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Cookies (my youngest son, Nick’s favorite ever); so when I had the urge to bake some cupcakes and was considering what to make, I knew I had to try these when I came across this recipe by  Lizzy @ YourCupofCake.  Lizzy’s recipe called for using a boxed Devil’s Food Cake Mix, but I didn’t have that, so I made mine from scratch.

thin mint cupcake

I also baked mine a minute or two too long (darnit!).  I’m more of a cookie and pie baker than cake/cupcake, but I’m working on it.  And truthfully, I’m not sure you can beat a Duncan Hines Cake Mix, so don’t hesitate to use your favorite chocolate boxed cake mix or cake recipe for this.  The real KEY to this cupcake recipe is all in the icing!

thin mint cupcake and milk

So bake your favorite chocolate cupcakes, and then frost with this yumminess from YourCupofCake.

Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Servings: 14 cupcakes
  • Print
Ingredients:
14 Chocolate Cupcakes – baked and cooledthin mint cupcake 2
Thin Mint Frosting:
1 cup softened butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 cup milk
10 Thin Mint cookies, finely crushed & sifted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Beat butter with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add cocoa powder, vanilla and peppermint extract and milk.  Beat again. Add crushed cookies and powdered sugar, and beat until smooth. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  Top with sprinkles and and an extra cookie if desired.
This is my second entry for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge, because I just had to share something FRESHly baked!
Thanks to everyone who “liked” my photo yesterday, by the way!  In my 10 months of blogging so far, I received notice that yesterday’s post was my all-time favorite post for “Likes.”
I hope you like this one as well!  🙂
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Fresh

/ Jodi / 32 Comments

Fresh tulips and hyacinths

Since yesterday was the first day of Spring, and the SNOW came back to Mars (thankfully only briefly), I bought some fresh flowers to bring Spring indoors!

Nothing says Spring to me like the smell of tulips and hyacinths.

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “Fresh,” so the fresh flowers that are the centerpiece on my kitchen table are my submission this week.  I thought this was a fun angle with a different perspective.

Happy Spring!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi