Soul Food Sunday- BBQ Chicken Night.

BBQ has to be one of my favorite things to eat. It reminds me so much of my childhood and with my moms side of the family being of North Carolina.

We decided to bust out the grill and make a super yummy dinner for our Friday Night!!

Dinner line up:

Grilled BBQ Chicken

Grilled Garlic Asparagus

Baked Sweet Potato

Sautéed Cinnamon Apples

You can definitely grill your choice of meat any way you would like, but Cody knows I love mine basically smothered in BBQ sauce.

We also decided to bake our sweet potatoes in foil on our grilled along with our asparagus.

Note; I took more pictures of the cinnamon apples because it was the newest thing we were trying out and were too excited how much they smelt and tasted like Autumn.

Sweet potatoes; Ingredients:  Sweet Potatoes, Olive Oil, Salt&&Pepper or  Brown Sugar&&Butter

Directions:1.) Wash and scrub off any dirt off of them. 2.) Puncture with fork 3.) Rub olive oil all over the sweet potatoes 4.) Loosely wrap in foil 5.) Place on grill and cook for about 30-45 minutes depending on size

Asparagus; Ingredients: Fresh Asparagus, Garlic (minced), Olive Oil, Salt&&Pepper

Directions: 1.) Wash and rinse off any dirt 2.) Drizzle in olive oil 3.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper 4.) Cut up and dice fresh garlic 5.) Cook on foil inside grill for 10-15 minutes until it starts to wilt

Sautéed  Cinnamon Apples; Ingredients: Granny Smith&&Gala Apples, 1/2 Lime, 1/4 cup of Orange Juice, 1/2 cup of Cold Water, 1 tsp of Cornstarch, 1/4 cup of Butter, 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar, and 1 tbs of Cinnamon.

Directions: 1.) Peel and cut Granny Smith and Gala apples into about 1/4 inch size pieces  2.) Place butter into medium skillet 3.) Once butter is melted add in apples, orange juice and lime juice. This will cook for about 7 minutes. Continuously stir around apples. 4.) Dissolve cornstarch into cup of cold water, stirring until completely dissolved, then add to skillet 5.) Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon 6.) Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring continuously 7.) Remove from heat and enjoy

This has become a staple in our little home and I cannot express how excited we are for these apples. Our apartment smelt like fall and felt so cozy.

Peace&Love&Flowers.

Apples, Butter, Orange Juice, and Lime

Sautéing for about 5 minutes.

After adding Cornstarch, Cinnamon, and Brown Sugar.

Obsessed with it starting to caramelize!!

Jackson needs a bit of chicken.

Lets Play Catch Up!

Hello and long time no see my friends!

Flower Anne is back!

It has been an insane year as I look back at my last blog post and it was April of 2016, so much has happened since that last post.

As many of you know that I have FINALLY moved from Las Vegas, NV after 6 years to Orange County, CA where I have moved 5 times in the last year that I have been year. With living out of my car for about the first couple weeks, moving into my first apartment, having two amazing orthodontic assistant jobs, getting my orthodontic assistant permit all lined up, and now I can finally say that I have found my comfort place....until Colorado.

I now live in Trabuco Canyon with my lovely boyfriend who I met about 8 months ago at an awesome get up called Patsy's Irish Pub thanks to my best friend Allie.

I lived with my 2 best friends Alexis and Allie for over a year and it was exciting to live with your two best friends and have an entire house for us three. From one big move form Costa Mesa to Lake Forest I'm glad that we ended up finding our home. I couldn't have survived without these two in Orange County. I love you two more than you know and you are some of the greatest best friends I could ever ask for.

So now that I live with my boyfriend Cody in our little apartment with our three cats; Tyson, Jackson, and Dexter, who mind you are like our three children. I am beyond bless to have met the love of my life and my equal in this crazy world. For the last 8 months of being together he has continued to push me to get back into my blog and continue to do what makes me happy, regardless of how I am feeling that day or time. Thank you my love for all your support.

Like many people this day in age with we all have our outlets in life that help us escape from the stress of our daily lives of work, children, commuting to work, paying bills, taking care of a family, or just taking care of yourself. I fall in the category of letting life control me more than I control it and allowing my stress and anxiety to get the best of me at times. Its been a year since I have logged into my blog account, nor decided to come up with ideas to write about. I have deeply missed this way of expressing myself and bringing myself happiness.

Our outlets to help us be happy and doing positive self-care is so highly important in life. I cannot stress that enough. As I am writing this blog I am sitting on my deck, under a big umbrella, drinking ice cold water, and listening to Chon (seriously look them up for some good vibe music). It's the moments like these that makes me think why did I ever let life get in the way of doing what makes me happy? I made a promise to myself that I am going to continue to do my blog even if its once a week or month, I will continue to improve on making sure I take care of me first.

I know this may seem like an all over place type of post, but I feel like that is kind of how my mind is right now until I get back into the rhythm of posting more blogs and sorting out everything I was to write and express about. I hope you enjoyed this little catch up so far of my 2016-2017 year and there will be more food posts, adventure posts, and exploring venues and restaurants.

Peace&&Love&&Flowers!

Turkey Chili with Cornbread Topping.

I love chili. It's one of those dishes that I can seem to get enough of. I feel as if the traditional chili feels very heavy and full of grease. I decided to take a different approach and add new elements to my chili recipe and add more healthy choices.  

Items Used: Ground Turkey, Black Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans,Yellow Bell Pepper, Green Bell Pepper, Red Bell Pepper, Corn, Sweet Potato, Quinoa, Corn Bread Mix, Milk, Eggs, Chili Seasoning (Mild), and Shredded Cheese and Sour Cream (Optional). 

Measurements: 2 cans of black beans and red kidney beans, 1 pound of ground turkey, 1 can of corn, 1 sweet potato, 1 cup of quinoa, 1/2 of the green, yellow, and red bell pepper, 1 package of chili seasoning,  1 box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of milk, and 1 can of pinto beans.

I put all my "wet" ingredients into a giant pot and turned the heat on to medium/high. (Sorry its messy) I placed my ground turkey is a skillet and began cooking it until it started browning. I added in the peppers and sauteed them with the turkey until the turkey was completely brown and cooked. I put the turkey and peppers into the pot and started mixing them all together, put on the lid and began to start on the cornbread. 

Jiffy's cornbread mix is one of my favorites since its so sweet but also really easy to make! In a large bowl I poured in the mix, added 1 egg, and 1/3 cup of milk. 

I put everything from the large pot into a large baking dish, poured the corn bread mix on top and spread it out. I baked the chili at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes since I like things a little more golden and with a crunch type texture. 

This did not take long at all to make and it was amazingly delicious! 

Again, with the turkey and veggies it did not feel heavy when I ate it and as you can see I took a large chunk of it once it was done. This is perfect for fall/winter or those lazy days in when you want some good comfort food. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Soul Food Sunday: Chicken Salad Sandwich.

We all know that Sundays are pretty much one of my favorite days.

Here in Las Vegas it is starting to get warmer during the day so I don't like to really use my oven that much.

I found this recipe last summer and I fell in love with it! It has to be one of my favorite things I make.

It is so easy to make, its really healthy, and after I eat I don't feel heavy. 

This is perfect as a side at a BBQ party, a picnic, you can bring it to the beach, and you can have it alone or make it into a sandwich like I did.

Items Used: Chicken Breast, Pepper, Sea Salt, Garlic Powder, Dried Cranberries, Sliced Almonds, Greek Yogurt, Green Grapes, Red Onion, and Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls.

Measurements: 1 pound of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 1 bag of dried cranberries, 1 bag of sliced almonds, 1 cup of green grapes, 2 apples, 1 tablespoon of pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt and garlic powder.

I started by cooking the chicken breast first. After all the pieces were done cooking, I placed them on a cutting board to cool down so I will be able to touch them when I cut them. 

I put all the other ingredients into a large container to mix them all together.

I cut up my whole wheat dinner roll and literally stuffed as much of the salad as I could in there. 

Like I said, this is one of my favorite things to eat. Its so delicious that I may be slightly addicted to it. 

I hope you give this a try and let me know how you liked it or if you added any new elements to it!

Soulfood Sunday: Orange Chicken, Baked Pineapple, and Chicken Potstickers.

Good evening and Happy Sunday!!

I am starting a 4 day smoothie cleanse as of tomorrow so this weekend I wanted to treat myself to some good comfort food. While shopping at Winco I found all these items. I love orange chicken veggies together. I don't remember ever eating chicken potstickers, but walking by them I couldn't help but take notice and want to make something different. Its been a rainy weekend here in Las Vegas so I truly wanted to enjoy some warm comfort food to go along with my very creative and artistic weekend of relaxing.

Items Used: Ling Ling Chicken and vegetable potstickers, Crazy Cuisine orange chicken, Uncle Bens long grain wild rice, frozen mixed veggies, pineapple, 100% organic cane sugar, and brown sugar.  Of course I could not forget one of my favorite parts...the big bag of fortune cookies. (I really wish that I remembered to buy some green tea ice cream and chocolate Mochi.) 



For The orange chicken and pineapple I preheated my oven to 400 degrees.

I sprinkled the 100% organic cane sugar and brown sugar on top of the cubed pineapple. I placed the orange and pineapple on baking sheets lined with tin foil. (Easy cleanup.) With the pineapple I baked it for 15 minutes and the orange chicken was baked for 18 minutes.

For the potstickers I added 1 tablespoon to a skillet, turned it on medium high heat and added the potstickers flat-side down in a single layer. I added 1 cup of water, brought to a boil then covered and let simmer for 8 minutes. After the 8 minutes was up I uncovered the skillet and let them finish cooking until all the water had evaporated and the potstickers are slightly browned.

The Uncle Ben's ready rice only took 1 minute and 30 seconds to make. It was easy, I just cut a little slit at the top of the bag and put it in the microwave. I put water in a large pot and turned on the heat to medium-high. Once the water came to a boil I placed my frozen mixed veggies in and let that cook for about 5 minutes. I strained the veggies and placed on my plate. At the time everything else was ready to take out and off the stove. I put the orange chicken in a bowl and poured the sauce over top and mixed together. I plated everything and I was excited for my Asian inspired night for dinner.  

Everything plated so beautifully together and tasted even better. I highly recommend baking your pineapple. It was amazing. I would have grilled my pineapple and placed it over the chicken, but that will come in a summer time inspired recipe! Try out this recipe and let me know if you like it! Hope you enjoy!

Spinach Cheese Ravioli with Turkey Meatballs.

Aside from my sweet tooth problem, my other love is pasta. The never ending cycle. With all of my favorite foods to eat I have been trying to come up with healthier ways to enjoy them. So mixing tomato based sauce instead of alfredo, spinach, and turkey meatballs instead of ground beef sure made his meal taste a lot lighter to me.

Items Used: Frozen turkey meatballs, Spaghetti sauce, Spinach cheese filled ravioli, Fresh spinach, and shredded cheese.

I started with preheating my oven to 400 degrees and placed my frozen turkey meatballs on a sheet pan. I baked the meatballs for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile I put my spaghetti sauce and 2 handfuls of spinach in a frying pan and began to cook the spinach until is was welted down. After my meatballs cooked I added them into the sauce to get more flavor.

I boiled water in a pot for the raviolis. It didn't take long for them to cook, about 7-10 minutes depending on the texture you want. It took about 7 minutes for mine. I drained out the water and placed the raviolis in the sauce pan as well. I mixed everything together and then placed in my bowl and sprinkled some cheese on top. I always have to add more cheese with pasta, it the one thing to complete my pasta dishes!!

 

Early Saturday Mornings. Cinnamon Roll Casserole.

I have times where I need to escape from the world and run away.

The place I always choose to go to is my hometown...Big Bear Lake, CA.

With breakfast food being my favorite thing in the world to make, honestly if I could eat breakfast foods 24/7 I would and be completely content with my life. But sadly I crave everything that is doughy and sweet. Hence where again my sweet tooth comes into play.

I was thinking of how to combine one of my favorite sweet breakfast dishes with a new twist. I found this idea on Pintrest. A cinnamon roll casserole!! Perfect!

Items Used: 2 cans of cinnamon rolls, 4 eggs,1 cup of milk, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and of course the cream cheese icing that came with the cinnamon rolls. 

I started by having a heart attack slightly with the can of rolls busting open. Who needs coffee when you have surprise bursts from cinnamon rolls?

I greased a baking pan with olive oil and ripped the cinnamon rolls into bit size pieces and placed them on the bottom of the baking dish. I mixed all the wet ingredients together in a large bowl, whisking them together until all blended perfectly. After I poured the entire mixed over the cinnamon rolls. Looked beautiful and smelt wonderful!!

I placed the baking dish in the oven at 375 degrees and baked it for 45 minutes. The entire house smelt amazing and felt so cozy. Definitely made my mouth water. Once it was done baking, I did not wait a second to pour the melted icing all over the casserole. It melted instantly and bubbled. Delicious!! It was time to dig in a devour.

And of course we had to step outside and get the forest in the background since we felt we made a rustic type of breakfast. Needless to say this did not last long at all. We all dug in and went back for a couple more bites. Absolutely something I will be making again! Side it with eggs, turkey bacon, and some other favorite breakfast foods.

Give this a try if you are wanting something sweet to eat, you will not be disappointed!