Hoosier Daddy!

Father's Day is coming up, which gives me a great excuse to talk about my amazing husband. There is no possible way that my kids could have a better dad. Paul is the kind of dad that will cut up a cardboard box to create props for anything that Gavin is pretending at any given time, he is the dad who will sing and sign the alphabet to his kids from the time they are born, he is the dad who has both kids conditioned to run to the door when they hear the garage door announcing his arrival after work. They are so lucky!

Every year I try to get him something to make sure he feels truly special. This year I found out about an amazing product from Condiment Connection that is perfect for him. My hubby is an Indiana boy, born and raised. He spent his childhood in Indianapolis, then we moved back there together in 2003. Paul is a proud Hoosier and loves his city deeply.

Check out this awesome box!

Not only does it look fantastic, it is filled with tastes of Indianapolis. 

Included in his box are some of the most delicious condiments found in our state. 

St. Elmo's Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

St. Elmo's Steak House is probably the most famous restaurant in Indianapolis. It is THE place to go for any big celebration or event. Their shrimp cocktail sauce was declared "The World's Spiciest Food" in 2008 and has been featured on Food Network. Anyone who knows us is aware that we are not seafood people. I will eat fish, but our family is not a big fan of any type of shellfish. Luckily, I did a little research and found a great recipe for a shrimp cocktail sauce based dip that can be used with chips or veggies. Stay tuned for the recipe!

Squealers Smokin' Hot BBQ Sauce

Squealers is an amazing BBQ restaurant with a few locations around Indianapolis. We loooooove BBQ and Squealers is one of our favorite places to get it. Brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, ribs... you name it, we love it! We have about a million recipes that use BBQ sauce, and this one has won 11 national and regional awards all on it's own! I can't even imagine how delicious the foods we cook with this will be.

Best Boy Bourbon Barrel Caramel Sauce

Best Boy & Co. is an Indiana Artisan that specializes in condiments that are all-natural and made by hand in small batches. I can't say I've ever heard of them before, but this sauce sounds AH-mazing!!! If you've been following along with me on Snapchat, you've seen my new ice cream maker. I think that I will definitely need to whip up a batch of ice cream just so that I have something delish to put this sauce on... Um, I mean so that Paul has something to put this sauce on ;)

LocalFolks Stone-ground Mustard

LocalFolks is a company that advocates for family farms and helps to create networks of support. Despite the fact that the company has grown to have a full product line carried in retail stores throughout the Midwest, they are still committed to supporting sustainability and family run farms. This fresh, stone-ground mustard is the perfect compliment to any sandwich! We can't wait to try it.

After seeing all of these amazing condiments nestled in their Indy box, I knew there was no way I could hold out until Father's Day. Sooooo, Father's Day came a little bit early. Gavin and I presented the box to Paul after work last week and he was so excited about it! Not only did he love the box, he is so excited to use all of the products. We were actually having homemade pizza for dinner that night, so he pulled out the Squealers BBQ sauce and used it to make his BBQ Chicken pizza. Paul said that it's the best BBQ pizza he's made! 

I'm thinking about ordering one for my dad for Father's Day too, but I can't decide if I should send him the Indianapolis box or if I should pick one of the other available cities. They also have a Build-Your-Own Box where you can pick and choose condiments from any of the cities they have available now. 

Check out Condiment Connection to see the cities they currently have boxes for. If they don't already have your city represented, there is a place on their website where you can make requests. And even if they don't have your city, there are plenty of amazing condiments to choose from out of the current cities...  PLUS they have a 20% off promotion going on right now! So go!!! Check it out! Make your husbands and dads as happy as I made Paul :)

              

Low Calorie Chicken & Onions Dinner

This simple recipe is one of the most simple meals to make, but is so delicious that it became one of my staple low calorie meals that I ate during the Biggest Loser competition I was involved with. I actually started looking forward to eating it on the nights I planned to have it for dinner.

In the past, I haven't been the biggest fan of onions unless they were wrapped in a delicious layer of fried batter. These cooked onions completely changed my way of thinking. I still don't plan on biting into a raw onion anytime soon, but cooked onions are no longer on my "Do Not Eat!" list.Although I haven't been able to change Paul and Gavin's opinions on onions, they absolutely love the flavor of the chicken. It has become one of their favorite meals too!

As I said, it is soooo easy to make! I typically make it just for myself, so this recipe is for one serving. But... It is a big serving. I can't say that I was ever able to eat the whole thing. To make for the family, I just multiply the recipe by however many people will be eating.

Start off by putting a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Cut a chicken breast into about bite size pieces and add that to the skillet. Then, slice up a quarter of an onion and throw it in with the chicken and oil. 

Put the skillet on the stove at medium heat. Sprinkle to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. I usually season it twice to make sure that it is super flavorful!

I let it cook for awhile after the chicken is done. My preference is for the onions to get really, really soft and browned. Once I even let it cook so long that the chicken became somewhat blackened and that was really tasty too! So, in my opinion, overcooked is better than undercooked!

I HIGHLY recommend this recipe even if you are an onion hater like most of my family. Give it a try and let me know what you think :) The recipe is included below.

              

Low Calorie Chicken & Onions

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: approximately 10 minutes

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Ingredients (1 serving)

• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 1/4 Onion
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Paprika to taste

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a skillet.

2. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through and onions are browned.

3. Serve and ENJOY!

Midnight Snack: Peanut Butter Delight

If you ever get a late night sweet tooth but struggle knowing what to eat, you are going to love me after you try this! 

Make Your Own Taco Seasoning

Chicken Veggie Weight Loss Soup!

Farmers Market Hack

I love farmers markets. I love that the items are local and fresh, from produce to homemade soaps and lotions to dairy... The list goes on! The problem is my commitment level. Our local farmers market takes place for a couple hours on Thursday nights. Every week I think about going, but there is always something else going on, like it's during dinner or swimming lessons or there's homework to be done. I'm ashamed to admit that I've only made it there once.

The EASIEST way to cut a pineapple!

Pineapple is one hundred percent, no question, my favorite fruit. As much as I love other fruits, there isn't any other that even comes close to the delicious tangy sweetness of a pineapple, in my opinion. Canned pineapple is okay, but it is barely in the same league as fresh pineapple. There is only one big flaw to having it fresh... removing the fruit from the spiky, tough exterior.

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas!

One day last year I was lacking serious inspiration for my dinner ideas. I tossed some chicken and some chicken broth into my crock pot and put the decision off. A little bit later, I decided that I would make something in the Mexican family of meals so I threw in some taco seasoning. After about an hour, I decided that the mystery meal would be enchiladas.

They turned out amazing and thus, crock potenchiladas were added to our regular dinner rotation. 

Make Your Own Baby Yogurt Melts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

The first time I made these cookies it was for a family reunion cookie exchange. Every person attending would bring several dozen cookies and everyone got to go home with a couple of each variety.

It was such a wonderful party and these cookies were a hit! I actually ended up making them again not too long after that party because I had to give too many of them away :)

St. Patrick's Day Pancakes

We love Brinner at our house! Not familiar with a meal called brinner? Well, it is the genius idea to scarf down breakfast food at dinner time, thus br-inner! 

Best Banana Bread Ever!

I have to be honest, I'm actually not the biggest fan of banana bread. I know, I know, I'm crazy!!! That being said, Paul and several of my other favorite people thoroughly enjoy it! So, when I notice that I have bananas that are past their prime, I love to whip up a loaf :)

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken & Potato Soup

The cold weather came back strong this week! As always, I like to view it as an opportunity to make some yummy soup. I didn't really feel like getting out into the cold weather, so I decided to work with what I had in the house. Annnnnd.... what I had in the house was chicken and potatoes. I even found some carrots and an onion to throw in. It turned out AWESOME! This is a great creamy deliciousness that helps the body fight off all of the cold weather outside :)

Homemade Biscuits & Gravy

One of our family's favorite things to have for dinner is breakfast food! My husband taught me his recipe for AMAZING sausage gravy and I brought the homemade biscuit recipe to the table :) I'll even show you the special way we plate ours, which makes it taste so much better!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

Brrrr!!! The cold has returned to the Midwest! You can't walk outside without the air hurting your face :(  If only it were snowing, it would make it all worthwhile! The other good thing about cold weather is that I get to put my crockpot back to work. One of Paul's favorite soups is chicken enchilada soup, so I decided to give that a try.

Valentine's Day Gingerbread House

Living in Indianapolis, we are big Peyton Manning fans! So we were pumped to cheer him and the Denver Broncos on in the Super Bowl. Go Denverapolis Broncolts, ha!!!

Spectacular Homemade Salsa!

In honor of the Super Bowl today, I am going to share my husband's AWESOME salsa recipe. One of the best things about this recipe is that it is totally customizable! To make it spicier, add more jalapeños. To make it less spicy, add more tomatoes. The tomato to jalapeño ratio that we used in this recipe makes a pretty spicy version. Paul ranks it a 6 or 7 out of 10, if 10 is so spicy it would make you cry :) AKA, too spicy for me!!!

Crockpot Chicken & Noodles

I love crockpot meals! They are so convenient if you are going to be out of the house all day, but I love them even when I'm home. Getting to smell delicious food cooking makes the house feel cozy, especially during winter!

This Crockpot Chicken & Noodles recipe is by far the easiest crockpot meal I make. Prep time probably only takes about 5 minutes depending on how long it takes you to gather your ingredients :)

Doctor Who's Fish Finger (cookies) and Custard

Tomorrow Doctor Who will be removed from Netflix. Sooooo, Gavin and I have been binge watching the show all weekend! In the Doctor's honor, we had Fish Fingers and Custard for dessert tonight. Fish fingers dipped in custard sounds disgusting, so we make cookies disguised to look like fish sticks but taste a little like shortbread cookies.

Pepperoni Breadsticks

This weekend I decided to take a good thing and make it better! There is a local restaurant that makes amazing pepperoni breadsticks. Paul and I have been known to order only bread sticks as a meal occasionally.

So, I decided to modify my Olive Garden copycat breadsticks, which can be found here.