A Texas Mom Blog - A Southern Fairytale — Food, Family and Photos

Semantics

8:37 PM ByRachelFiled UnderFamily

The other night we were at a friend’s house relaxing when the back door flew open and Monkey came barreling into the room, his little face bright red and his eyes sparking with anger, tears and that wicked gleam that only appears when tattling on a sibling…

Following coolly and calmly on his heels, is Princess.

5 year old Monkey: “MOM, DAD!!! Princess just slapped me in the face”

Without missing a beat, Princess replies in a voice dripping with that special blend of exasperation and sarcasm that only a big sister can manage

8 year old Princess: “No I didn’t. I was just giving his face a High Five”

I can’t begin to tell you how hard it was for us to keep a straight face. The minute they were back outside, we were howling with laughter and wiping tears from our streaming eyes.

32 Comments

Turkey Taco Salad

12:10 AM ByRachelFiled Under17 day diet, Main Dishes

Ground Turkey. Homemade Taco Seasoning. Spinach Salad Mix. Pico De Gallo.

This is the Cycle 1 recipe of the The 17 Day Diet that won my husband over. This is the recipe that lock, stock and barrel sold him on the diet and kept him going through the 1st cycle.

I’ll admit it, taking a steak and potatoes and beer boy and saying – “Oh, by the way for 17 days – it’s nothing but veggies, protein and low carb fruits… oh, did I mention you are only supposed to drink water and green tea” it’s sort of like waving raw meat in front of a crocodile — dangerous.

Here’s the thing. This diet, it’s worked for us.

Nathan has lost and maintained the loss of 40 pounds. I have lost and maintained the loss of 30 pounds.

This isn’t so much a recipe, as a suggestion.

It’s more a … here’s how we put this together.

It may not work for y’all. Do the research give it a chance, it might work for you.

Taco Salad

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Approximate Time: 30 minutes

Less recipe, more suggestion. This Turkey Taco Salad is simple, delicious and filling.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb fresh ground turkey
1/4 to 1/2 C Homemade Taco Seasoning
1/4 C water
2 C spinach or other leafy dark green salad mix
1/2 C pico de gallo

Instructions

In a medium skillet over low - medium heat, add 1 1/2 lb ground turkey and 2 Tbsp taco seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until done.
Add 2 Tbsp to 1/4 C more taco seasoning and 1/4 C water, cover and simmer for 15 minutes to 1 hr.

To Serve: Take your favorite dark leafy green salad mix, top it with 1/4 to 1/2 C turkey taco meat and then top that with 1/4 C of your favorite pico de gallo.

Rachel Says

This is a quick and delicious recipe, the turkey taco meat is easily customizable to your family's taste preferences and the serving is up to you! Served atop greens, garnished by pico de gallo, topping nachos or as a quesadilla filling -- this is a delicious and easy alternative to traditional taco meat

http://asouthernfairytale.com/2012/01/23/taco-salad/

Favorites from Last Week:

I know, it wasn’t a *real* recipe, but it’s one that has proved invaluable to us. It’s one of our favorites.

I can’t wait to see what y’all have to share this week!

Remember to visit others, leave comments, link back and share the love!

29 Comments

Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

11:07 AM ByRachelFiled UnderDesserts, Giveaways, Sponsored

and a giveaway!

That’s right -

Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Nathan and I aren’t really sweets people, please try to contain your shock

We would much rather eat something savory or spicy (as I’m sure y’all have noticed, given the recipes that I post here).

There is however, one sweet combo that both Nathan and Monkey will never turn down – the combination of Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Whether it’s cookies, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream — if it’s peanut butter and chocolate, my boys are all over it.

When I saw the White Lily Flour Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie recipe in the goodie basket that I received, I knew it was the perfect recipe to test and share with y’all alongside today’s giveaway.

These cookies are super easy to make and delicious! They are rich and fluffy and definitely peanut buttery (is peanut buttery even a word?) without being overwhelmingly stick to the roof of the mouth peanut buttery and when they’re combined with the dark chocolate dip… oooh baby .

Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Approximate Time: 18 minutes

Yield: 30 cookies

Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Delicious Peanut Butter cookies dipped in Dark Chocolate. Lightly Adapted from White Lily Flour's Recipe

Ingredients

3 1/4 C White Lily All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C Crisco Butter Flavor Shortening
1 C Creamy Peanut Butter (I use all natural Peanut Butter)
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar (I use dark brown sugar)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste)
3/4 C sour cream

Chocolate Dip

2 C dark chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 Tbsp Crisco All Vegetable Shortening

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375° F
Use a non stick baking sheet or coat a baking sheet with cooking spray
In a medium size bowl, whisk together: flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside
In a large bowl, combine: shortening, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla - beat 2 minutes.
Stir in sour cream and half of the dry ingredients - blend well.
Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and stir until all the ingredients are mixed.
Roll into 2-inch balls (you can use a #2 cookie scoop for this, too) This was a lot of fun for the kids and me to do together
Using a long tine fork (think dinner, not salad) flatten the cookies and add a criss cross pattern to the tops.
Bake 8 minutes.
Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Dipping

In a medium saucepan start melting the dark chocolate chips - add in 1/2 Tbsp Crisco All Vegetable Shortening - you can add more to help with the silky smoothness of the chocolate for dipping.

Dip the cookies however you'd like, the kids and I just dipped then about halfway in, scraped the bottom of the cookie against the rim of the pot to remove some excess and then lay them on wax paper to cool completely

Rachel Says

I prefer dark chocolate to milk or semi-sweet, there's just so much more depth and deliciousness to dark chocolate - you can use whichever you'd like, though. Same with dark brown sugar vs. light - slightly deeper molasses like flavor with the dark.

http://asouthernfairytale.com/2012/01/20/dark-chocolate-dipped-peanut-butter-cookies/

Now on to the giveaway – I teased y’all about it when I shared the Caramel Pecan Biscuit Bake Recipe and now it’s here. This is a truly delicious giveaway.

Not only will you get a basket with White Lily flour, recipes, a pastry cutter, measuring cup, White Lily bread towel and spatula

You will also get this Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus 7-Speed Hand Mixer!

I can’t even tell y’all how much I love this mixer: from the digital display, to the awesome snap on storage case for all the goodies that come with it: beater’s, chef’s whisk, dough hook and even a spatula. I love, love, love this little baby – however I have to admit, my favorite part of it is the eject button. You know how with some mixers you push the eject button and the beaters just release and you pull them out?

Oh no.. not with this baby. The Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus doesn’t mess around. It has a release trigger and when you pull the trigger – those babies SHOOT out. I may or may not have played with this feature for 5 minutes or so – what can I say? I’m easily entertained by kitchen gadgets.

~~Would you like to win this?~~

Mandatory Entry: What’s your favorite treat to make for (or with) your family?

Bonus Entry: Tweet this giveaway and leave your tweet url in the comments

Bonus Entry: Check out White Lily Flour’s Recipes and tell me which one you’d most like to try

That’s 3 entries per person! Good luck, y’all!
This giveaway is open from Friday January 20, 2012 to Sunday January 22, 2012 at 10:00 PM CST. Once the winner has been contacted, they will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen

~~This recipe and giveaway are part of a partnership with White Lily flour. I have received product compensation for my time and talents.~~

This Giveaway is now closed:

Congratulations to our winner: