Broccoli Spinach Balls

I made these broccoli and spinach balls last week to take to our neighbor's house for dinner.  The original recipe is just for spinach balls but I did half and half.  They were really good but there are definitely some changes I would make to the recipe.  The recipe calls for 6 eggs.  I used five but I think you could get away with using four eggs. Also it calls for a stick of butter but HALF of a stick would be plenty. Finally I added bread crumbs until the mixture became thick enough to "roll" into balls. The recipe I am posting below will reflect the changes I would make if I made these again. The original recipe came from The Curvy Carrot.

Spinach and Broccoli Bites

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped (I used minced onion)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 10-ounces packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 10 ounce package of broccoli thawed
8-ounces stuffing mix
4 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter over medium heat in a pan, add the onion and cook til translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Make sure all of the water is removed from the broccoli and spinach. Combine the stuffing mix, spinach, broccoli, eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and onion/garlic mixture. Combine well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the mixture into individual 1-inch balls. Place each one on the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake the balls for about 15-20 minutes.

The Easiest BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe on, you guessed it, Pinterest and it was super easy and really good.  You could serve the chicken as a whole breast but I shredded it with a fork and ate it as pulled BBQ chicken.  The original recipe came from the blog Stick a Fork In It.

BBQ Chicken

4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Mix BBQ sauce with all ingredients listed under it. Place chicken in crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. If serving shredded, take out the breasts, shred with a fork and then add as much sauce from the crock pot until you have the desired amount in your shredded chicken.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Ring

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I knew it would be a huge hit with Fly Boy and I was correct! This was super easy and I think you could make a ton of changes to the meat and additions to the eggs to always have something different!  This recipe came from the blog Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Ring

1 can Crescent Rolls
5 eggs
Grated cheese
8 pieces of cooked bacon or another desired meat


Lay the 8 triangles from the Crescent Rolls on a piece of parchment paper so that the corners of the base of the triangles meet. It forms a sun type shape.  Lay a piece of bacon on each triangle. Spread a little cheese on the bacon.  Cook and scramble the egg. Lay the cooked egg over the cheese. Top the egg with more cheese and then pull the tip of the triangle up and over the bacon, egg and cheese mixture to form a wreath or ring. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

Chili Lime Steak Rub from Our Best Bites

Last week I made this steak rub from, you guessed it, Our Best Bites and Fly Boy grilled the steak. It was REALLY good. I have yet to make something from their blog or cookbook that I have not liked. The rub gave the steak a good flavor but it was not overwhelming. Again, if you have not checked out their blog or the cookbook I high recommend that you do it, NOW!

Chili Lime Steak Rub
From Our Best Bites

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lime (about 2 Tbsp lime juice)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Mix all dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients.  Rub the marinade over the steak and let it sit for 15 minute.  Grill as desired.

Chicken and Shrimp Mexican "Lasagna"

A lot of times I find recipes that I want to make and as I am reading the ingredients I either don't like them or I do not have them handy.  I had printed a recipe for a shrimp enchilada bake and realized that it had green salsa and green enchilada sauce in it.  I don't like any kind of green Mexican sauce so I improvised! Also I didn't have a ton of shrimp and I had some leftover chicken so I just combined the two. This meal was really good and I realized I am obsessed with refried beans with melted cheese!!!

2 cups of cooked shrimp/chicken
1 can corn
2 cups salsa divided
1 can refried beans
6-9 corn or four tortillas
Shredded cheese

Mix chicken/shrimp, corn and 1 cup of salsa (or enchilada sauce) in a microwavable container.  Microwave on high for two minutes.  In a small casserole dish spread a thin layer of salsa on the bottom of the dish.  Layer tortillas over the salsa.  Spread refried beans over the tortilla and then spread some of the chicken/shrimp mixture over the beans.  Keep layering as desired.  On top of the last layer of tortillas spread refried beans and salsa.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and five minutes before it is done spread cheese on the very top of the "lasagna". We ate ours with guacamole.

Heath Bar Blondies

We had some extra Heath Bar pieces left over from when I make Hello Dolly Bars so I decided to browse Pinterest to see what recipes were out there for Heath Bar cookies.  While searching the pins I found this super easy (and yummy) recipe for Heath Bar blondies.  Less time and less effort sounded good to me!! The recipe is from the blog Lovin' From the Oven.


1 cup All Purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (I used 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits and 1/2 cup caramel chips)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Cream together the brown sugar and melted butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended.
3.) Stir in the Heath Bars and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.
4.) Bake for 30-35 minutes.

4th of July Strawberries and Strawberry Mojitos

At the end of my three week journey away from South Texas I stayed for a few days at my inlaw's house near Dallas.  My sister in-law wanted to make red, white and blue strawberries that she had seen her cousin make. My mother in-law wanted to make mojitos and I got really excited because I had JUST SEEN a recipe for strawberry mojitos on Pinterest.

The quick description for how to make these mojitos can be found here!  Blend together 1 can frozen limeade, 1/2 can (the one that held the limeade) rum, 2 cups frozen strawberries, and a muddled mixture of a few leaves of fresh mint and the pulp of two limes.

For the strawberries you need white chocolate melted with a tsp of oil, washed and dried strawberries and blue sugar.  Dip the strawberries in the white chocolate 3/4 of the way up the strawberry.  Immediately dip about half way up the strawberry with the blue sugar.  Place on wax paper to harden.  Afterwards I thought using some cream cheese frosting for the white would taste AMAZING!

Rosemary Focaccia Bread from Our Best Bites

I have returned from pretty much a month in MD (with a stop in Bermuda) and I have kind of gotten the house back in order and my blogging, cooking, crafting urge is at an all time high! I must have let that secret out of the bag because I now have 11 aviator winging banners to sew.  Anyway, at some point in the last month or so I made this Rosemary Focaccia bread from one of my favorite websites/cookbooks, Our Best Bites.  These ladies get it right EVERY time! This bread was so good that I took it out of the oven, stole a bite and immediately got on Facebook and left them a comment about how awesome it was (AND they "liked" my comment! SCORE!)

The recipe can be found at Our Best Bites.