https://delightfullydoable.com

Grilled Mahi and Corn on the Cob

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 June, 2014 No comment

Yummy!

Grilled Mahi and Corn on the Cob. Easy, delicious, healthy and most of all…..easy clean up.

I’ve become quite the grill master lately and have really enjoyed it. Makes your food taste great and is easier than I had expected.

This is a meal the whole family with love, as you can see, my little boy loves it as well. :)

Ingredients:

4 Mahi fillets
4 Corn on the cob, shucked
1 White or Yellow Onion, sliced
Dill
Garlic Salt
Salt & Pepper
EVOO
Butter

As you can see I didn’t give exact measurements for the seasoning. I prefer to do seasoning to desired preference. Also, depending on the size of the fillet you may want a little more or a little less. :)

For easy clean up I wrap each corn and fillet individually in foil to allow for the flavors to seep in and stay concentrated.

Sprinkle corn with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Top with a chunk of butter and sprinkle with EVOO.

Fold foil up in somewhat of a dome. This will give easy access to check and see if the corn is done without losing all your juices.

Slice onion and sprinkle seasoning on top of Mahi. Lay onion on top and drizzle with EVOO and chunks of butter. Fold up into a dome.

Grill corn first as it will take significantly longer. Once corn is half way grilled begin cooking the fish for 5-8 minutes (depending on size) making sure not to overcook. You will want the fish to be flaky, this means it is done and not over cooked or under cooked.

Once done, open up and enjoy the aroma and enjoy this luscious, healthy meal.

Cooper LOVED this meal and LOVES seafood. He ate a whole corn on the cob by himself and shared the fish with me.

Cooper being a big boy using adults silverware and feeding himself. :)

Makes for great leftovers if you can make it last that long. :)

Thought of the day

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 June, 2014 No comment

We all know trials and tribulations are to bring about perseverance which brings about faith, but what about the simple reality that in the midst of the trail you are pleading with Christ to change your circumstances. “Please remove me from the situation and lets move on with life.” Maybe there’s more that needs to be learned….

Sometimes I plead with the Lord to “PLEASE, please change my circumstances!” Frustration sets in due to my continual prayer and seeking the Lord for wisdom yet my trials still remain afloat. I can hold it together pretty well, but when things tend to fly off the handle, I can feel the anger build up within me. “Why God?” as I beg for my devotion to begin to change the current mess I am in.

Realizing that God’s time frame is utterly different than mine, I have to remind myself why I beleive in God and His promises. Well– God’s promises never fail while mine often do. Looking back, God has always proven to be faithful. God has taught me many lessons in the midst of trial. God is there even in pain. God always provides a way out of sin. God wants the best for me and God loves me. When I repeat God’s promises, I can refocus my thoughts more positively. If I simply let the negative feelings reside, then I will continue to remain in the mess I am with no hope. I’ve found as I’ve gone through a lot of trials the past few years of life, that God can still bring hope and peace even when the situation remains the same or even gets worse.

This often resembles the moments I feel alone and afraid….lost in the desert with nowhere to turn. God’s path still lays straight ahead paving the way for hope.

That is faith in and of itself. Recognizing the things God is providing while in the midst of pain and agony; hope! I have heard it said many times and yet today for some reason, it was as if I heard it for the first time: When God does not change our circumstances, He is trying to change our heart.

How profound is that? It’s definitely not a new concept and often a piece of advice I give dear friends. Hmm, this must be God reminding me to practice what I preach! :) It was such perfect timing to hear this as I was once again reminded that God has not forgot about me when I often feel I am drowning.

Moment of Truth: Let Truth be your guide, not your mind! Truth often speaks entirely different than our own minds.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 June, 2014 No comment

I get asked for this recipe often– or shall I say, I get asked to make them often! :) They are probably the best cookies you will ever eat. I have substituted the dough for another recipe I make and this was an utter disaster. Using the original cookie dough recipe is important.

I am a ‘dough eater’ and always have been. As you have heard previously, I used to hide the dough from my sister but in the midst of hiding it, I would sneak spoonfuls for myself because it was so good. I figured I made the dough, I get to eat it. :) Having a son, I am trying to teach him it’s “icky” to eat something that isn’t cooked which in turn forces me to sneak bites from him as well, carrying on the family tradition. I don’t want to be a hypocrite but also do not want to feed my son raw eggs. I did pay the price for my hypocrisy as after I got the first batch out of the oven, I literally felt I was going to throw up. Not because I had eaten a large amount of raw egg but because I ate probably half the batch of cookie dough! Needless to say, my tummy was NOT happy with me for a good couple of hours.

That evening, I decided to transition to the fully cooked double stuffed chocolate chip cookie and was much happier. :)

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a stand mixer cream butter alone for about a minute or until fully smooth. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar.

Beat until smooth making sure not to over beat the dough.

Add in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour, salt and baking soda.

Once dry mixer is fully incorporated stir in chocolate chips. You are now ready to prep your cookies for utter perfection.

Dough meets its maker- The Oreo.

This is the part you want to be sure you do not eat too much dough. If you love dough as I love dough, you may get a tummy ache afterwards. (This is the best dough ever)

On a cookie sheet place a small spoonful of dough and slightly flatten.

Place a cookie on top (I used vanilla cookies today but rotate between vanilla and Oreo).

Spoon another spoonful on top of the cookie and fold edges over until combined with the bottom. You may have to pick it up to help mold it together.

Once cookies are prepped, bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes.

Once baked, cookies will be extra large. I cut them in half to see the beauty of the Oreo AND because they are so large you truly don’t need a full cookie every time you eat one. BUT if you are like me and eat two halves anyway, you will feel better about yourself as your portions seem smaller when eating “half” a cookie at a time. :)

These puppies are dangerous. Beware!

Make sure you have a cup of milk on hand and ENJOY!

“KIND” Bars

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 30 May, 2014 No comment

I found this recipe and thought it was a must make recipe. Who doesn’t enjoy KIND Bars, they are healthy, delicious and easy to pack n’ go. You can substitute this recipe in multiple ways for different flavors and nuts.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup + 1 TBSP raw honey
2 TBSP whole wheat flour or Almond Flour
1 Tbsp Almond Butter
¼ tsp sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped cashews and/or soy nuts
¼ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup dried cran-strawberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium bowl combine honey, flour, almond butter and sea salt. Mix until honey is well incorporated. Add oats and mix well.

Add nuts, cranberries and chocolate chips.

In a parchment lined 8×8 press mixture into pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let cool completely. Once cooled remove from pan and cut into little squares. Stores well in plastic bag and freezes well for a later date.

*This recipe is adapted from The Nourishing Home.

Thought of the day

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 29 May, 2014 No comment

Hebrews 12:11 NIV

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

You often hear life is worth more than you’ve been living but why aren’t you living it now? Why aren’t we striving for the importance of life to only have today soon become yesterday and a memory of the past. Soon your life has passed and nothing greater was accomplished. We always talk of the future and never make the future the present. More often than not, we let our future dreams keep us from achieving them; let your dreams become reality.

My son will soon be 2 and I am having a really hard time with it. It’s crazy how much I love the little bugger but can’t seem to understand how life literally passes by. I feel it was just yesterday that I bore this little child and now my baby is officially gone, he’s become a little man. I’ve struggled with time passing by and wishing I had another one on the way. I want a little sibling for my son beyond what words can describe. I always wanted a large family and I always wanted them closer in age. This was important to me as my sisters and I are three years apart and I always felt that was too far apart. We were just enough apart that we never hung out together, never had the same friends and simply didn’t get along until now. If given the opportunity I wanted to change that for my son. Well here we are and that simply is not possible as of today due to the simple fact that I am not pregnant and my son will be 2 in three weeks.

He is a blessing!

This is a part of life I have had to accept. It has not been easy but that’s usually typical in life. The things we want most, usually happen in a completely different way than we had wished. Accepting this part of my life is actually a really big deal to me because I know my desires of my heart but I also find it more important to take this opportunity to learn through the present just as the verse above stated. This is my reality right now and I need to embrace it. There are things in life I wish I didn’t have to go through, wish I could change but than I look back and am thankful for the heartache as it was in incredible teaching moment for me. I hope to gain that in this particular scenario as well.

So, with that in mind, I long to be “trained” from Christ through the hardship of my circumstances and one day have utter peace from these worries I carry so dear. I know the Lord hears my cry and I know He feels my pain, but as of now, the peace has not followed. I trust it will come, I trust my life in the hands of the One who created me!

Though my burdens may seem minor to some, it’s not to me. We all have such burdens that carry extreme weight that others simply can’t understand. That is okay! We all have desires of the heart we long to fulfill and when they aren’t fulfilled or look different than others, we tend to feel inadequate or insecure.

Through pain and sorrow we all carry burdens in our backpack. We tend to weigh them down so much that soon we are stuck with a heavy load we simply can’t carry. Join me in releasing our burdens to Christ and let Him carry them for us.

Read the verse once more:

Hebrews 12:11 NIV

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Let us choose to learn from every opportunity that comes our way. Don’t miss out by the distractions that fill our minds but release our minds to the One who knows our deepest desires! Let Him give you peace.

Moment of Truth: Don’t worry about failure, worry about the many times you miss the opportunity to try.

Cherry Pie

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 29 May, 2014 No comment

This will be by far, the best recipe you will ever make for a cherry pie. As my husband asked the other night about the crust, I informed him that different pies call for different crusts. I have two crusts that I absolutely love and this is one of them.

Last summer we went camping with our son and some friends and had a wonderful time (except in the middle of the night when my son was wired from caffeine he snuck from daddy’s soda). Before heading home we went cherry picking as it’s such a fun experience to do when all the orchards are full and ripe.

Almost a year later, I still have cherries in the bottom of my freezer and decided since my husbands step dad was coming over for his birthday dinner, this was a good time to make a warm cherry pie.

Ingredients:

Filling:

5 cups frozen tart cherries
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1-2 tbsp butter (optional)

Crust*:

3 cups flour
1 cup cold butter
2 Egg Yokes
4 tbsp cold water
2 tsp salt
¼ cup granulated sugar (optional)

Begin making crust by adding flour and butter to food processor. Once the mixture is crumbly add in egg yoke, water, salt, and sugar. Mix until well incorporated. (Dough may be sticky)

Divide dough into two parts. On a floured surface, knead additional flour from the counter into dough until no longer sticky. Roll dough large enough to fit your pie plate.

Place dough into bottom of dish leaving enough room over the sides to pinch together with the top of the pie dough. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan add cherries, sugar and vanilla. Begin to heat over medium heat until cherries begin to thaw.

Once cherries are somewhat thawed, add cornstarch. This will thicken the sauce.

Once thickened, set cherries aside to let cool a little bit. (If mixture is too thick add additional water 1 tbsp at a time and heat through. If mixture is too running, mix 1 tbsp cold water with 1 tsp cornstarch and mix in)

Once cooled and not extremely hot, transfer cherries into pie plate. If you choose, add additional butter at this point.

Add the top layer of the pie and pinch edges together. Slice an “x” in the middle of the pie to allow it to breathe while baking.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until the middle of the pie is bubbly and the edges or golden brown.

Serve with Vanilla Bean ice cream and devour!

*I use this crust on a couple breakfast dishes as well: Egg Tart, Chicken Pot

Kale and Basil Pesto

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 May, 2014 No comment

This pesto is great for anything. It would make the best chicken or shrimp pasta, to a great appetizer or Pesto polenta shrimp bites (recipe here).

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped kale or spinach
½ cup fresh basil
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup pecans
1 tbsp minced garlic
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup EVOO
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp garlic salt

Add all ingredients for the pesto into a food processor.

Puree until well blended (add more oil if needed).

Serve as an appetizer or with pasta.

Great flavors call for repeated meals. :)

Bacon Stuffed Chicken

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 25 May, 2014 No comment

Bacon Stuffed Chicken. Similar to Cordon Blue but way better, I took the initiative to grill this up as I have found a new enjoyment in barbecuing lately. Although there are only so many things you can grill without making chicken more than 3 times in a week the same way, I wanted to take the opportunity to spice it up a bit. I choose to stuff chicken breasts like you would Cordon Blue, but because I had no ham, I turned to bacon, our true friend! :)

The weather was impeccable! While the chicken grilled, Cooper and I would take time to step away and water the garden we’ve been working so hard on.

Still not gathering the concept that once we dug the hole, buried our seeds and recovered the hole, doesn’t mean to uncover the seeds again. Sweet baby makes me laugh. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the attempt to grow our garden together.

After the chicken and garlic covered beans were done, Cooper and I sat on the back porch together enjoying the weather and eating our delicious meal. Michael got home late from work and was so happy to see such an amazing meal in front of him that looked as if I slaved over it for hours. Though it looks complicated, its is extremely easy to prepare and the grill does most the work.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, sliced open
8 pieces of bacon
4 slices of Pepper Jack Cheese
Garlic Salt (optional)
Paprika (optional)
1 lb Fresh Green Beans
EVOO
Garlic Salt

Prepare chicken by slicing open leaving one end still connected. Stuff with raw bacon and cheese. To hold shut pin together with three toothpicks.

Season the top of the chicken with garlic salt and paprika.

Grill until no juices flow clear. Be careful not to over cook.

Eating dinner with mama on the back porch on a beautiful evening.

Cooper still hating the fact I take pictures all the time

Serve with fresh grilled green beans!

Enjoy!

Bagel Supreme

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 24 May, 2014 No comment

I used to frequent a coffee shop while in college. We would drop in multiple times a week if not sometimes daily. While studying and writing papers I would get a fatty bagel with the choice of unlimited toppings. They made their own bagels which makes everything taste better.

This brings back such memories every time I make it at home realizing I used to be a naive college gal just drinking coffee and gaining the freshman 15. Although, it wasn’t just my freshman year to gain weight, it did get less as the years progressed. :) I realized through staying up late your metabolism kicks in overtime asking for more food and with little sleep your body simply can’t process all the calories without gaining weight. Double edge sword. You think you are invincible in college and come to find out, the only invincible part to college was your classes; no way around them.

So, with those college days in mind, here is a great recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2 Bagels
Cream Cheese
2 Avocados
2 Tomatoes, sliced

Optional Toppings:

Sprouts
Cucumbers
Bacon

Toast your bagel and in a small bowl mix cream cheese and avocado together. Spread on top of bagel.

May leave sandwich open faced or closed. I prefer open faced as this is how they served them at the coffee shop.

Top with tomatoes and basil or any remaining toppings you prefer.

Thought of the Day

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 23 May, 2014 No comment

My son as every parent says, does nothing wrong. :) Okay that isn’t where I am going with this, but my son does not hit his friends and does not show aggression in a physical manner. But for some reason the other day he decided to partake in this action. The children I am watching stay from about 8 am to 5-5:30 pm. While their mom was at our house to pick the kids up Cooper decided to get upset and take a big whack to the little boys head and let out a large scream. Sharing has been a very tough thing to learn lately. He has done a fabulous job considering he does this three full days a week. When this incident took place I was mortified! I did not want his mom to think this happens all day long while she is at work because it doesn’t. Cooper does not hit…….. until now.

Two days ago the same occurrence proceeded to happen before my very eyes. Same situation, mom had just walked in the door and was chit-chatting and all of a sudden, the toy helicopter landed abruptly upon this little boys head. I was mortified yet again. I couldn’t fathom what had just happened and let alone while his mom was here for the second time. Again, this does NOT happen all day long but how do you explain this while she has visually seen this take place two times now?!

As the night proceeded I began to contemplate the scenario. I’ve begin to believe that by the end of the day Cooper is simply done sharing his toys and is ready for them to leave. He has to share all day long and is constantly being nagged by me to share his toys. He’s young, doesn’t have siblings and for the first time has regular friends here playing with HIS toys. I think this could be our culprit; he just wants his toys back. It’s the end of the day, friends are leaving and hungry bellies and tired eyes begin to take place. Poor little guy!

Moment of Truth: I’m glad Cooper does not hit on a regular basis but WHY does it have to occur when his mom is around!? The ugly moments you wish no one saw making you feel like a poor parent. “He is really a good kid” you think to yourself wishing that that was the side she saw as well.