guest post — A Southern Fairytale

The Never Leave You Hungry Summer Salad

10:01 PM ByRachelFiled UnderMain Dishes, Mouthwatering Monday

Occasionally in life, you meet people who just make you smile. They radiate energy, life, fun and joy and I don’t know about y’all.. but, I’m drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Janice, is one of those people. I met her at BlogHer and we immediately clicked. She’s a magnetic person, driven, funny, vocal, friendly and I swear that she can out energize the energizer bunny. She just vibrates y’all. We were chatting via skype one night talking food and I asked her if she’d like to do a guest post recipe for me.. she immediately said yes, and I was thrilled. Her photography is gorgeous and if I can look like her by eating salads like this.. sign me up!

Thank you Janice, you are a wonderful friend, person and guest poster! I’ll see you in a few days in Chicago! {hugs} Rachel

And now, without further ado from me, I give you Janice’s totally Tonguegasmic Salad Recipe.

The Summer Salad That Won’t Leave You Hungry

by Janice from 5MinutesForMom

I am a salad fanatic. I could happily eat salads seven days of the week. But, having said that — I am not wasting away eating a small pile of lettuce with a few scattered veggies. No, ladies, when I make a salad it is a MEAL!

And this Summer Salad will have you so full I bet you might even have trouble finishing it. (But it is so delicious, if you don’t finish it, I might come over and finish it up for you! Well, no, I won’t. I am germ freak – but I will mourn the uneaten salad.)

Summer Salad Close-Up

Good grief, this salad is like a complete three course meal — appetizer, main course and dessert! The chicken, cheese, and nuts give you tons of protein, the veggies and Romaine lettuce are full of vitamins and fiber to keep you feeling full, the Olive Oil dressing (you can get that recipe over at 5 Minutes for Mom) gives you heart-healthy mono-unsaturated fat, and the sweet berries top you off with anti-oxidents — and taste delicious. Can you see why I eat salads like this most days of the week?

So lets get started:

salad-romaine-lettuce_1

I often choose Romaine Lettuce for my salads because I find it keeps longer in the fridge and it has the most nutrients. (And I like the crunch and the flavor.) But green leaf, red leaf, or butter leaf are also yummy. Just NO iceberg lettuce, ok? (Rachel Seconds the no iceburg)Promise me

Can you get over the size of that Romaine Lettuce?!? Isn’t it incredible? I buy my produce from a local farm just down the street from us. $0.99 for that huge lettuce. Oh I LOVE summer!

salad-broccoli

Choose whatever are your favorite veggies. Broccoli may not be my favorite taste, but I always feel good about eating it!

salad-red-peppers

I always keep red peppers in the fridge. We go through at least half a dozen a week. My kids love them and they are in almost every salad I make.

salad-avocado

I am crazy about avocados. My kids are raised on them. Again, we go through a half a dozen or more a week. Healthy fats, protein and they are so rich and yummy!

salad-apples-nuts

Adding apples and nuts is such a delicious way to flavor up the salad no matter what time of year. Walnuts are delicious and also contain healthy fat. I also love adding sunflower seeds! You can usually find sunflower seeds in my salads!

salad-blueberry-shot

The best part of summer is the fresh fruit. I load my salads up with whatever fruit I have on hand. (My hubby hates fruit on his salads, so in our house, I make individual salads, made to order.)

salad-1

Time to get started! I hate tossing salads. I want to put my masterpieces together one layer at a time.

salad-2

Oops — I almost forgot the celery. I love the crunch of celery!

salad-3

Time to pile on the chicken and the walnuts. (BTW, I am all about the rotisserie chickens! I am too busy blogging and building super huge salads to cook!)

salad-4

Now go crazy with the berries!!!

salad-5

I got so excited about the berries, I forgot to add the avocados. And this salad would not be complete with avocados. So I added some avocado and topped it all with asiago cheese (I often use Mozzarella too) and sunflower seeds.

summer-salad

I topped it all with an Olive Oil, Balsamic, and Dijon Dressing. Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom to get my super quick and easy recipe. (I promise it doesn’t take nearly as much time as building the salad!)

Thanks so much for having me here Rachel for MouthWatering Monday! It was a treat! Hope you enjoy the salad.

If you’re joining in the Mouthwatering Monday Tonguegasmaliciousness, thank you and welcome or welcome back! Make sure to say HI, sign MckLinky with your MWM post URL, grab your Tonguegasmic button, link back here and then go visit all the other participants. Get inspired… do a bit of drooling and enjoy sharing the love of culinary delights with other foodies!

Tagged5minutesformom, blueberries, guest post, healthy, Janice, salad, strawberries, vinaigrette 36 Comments

Texasholly’s Cheeseburger Runzas with BONUS Cinnamon Rolls

12:01 AM ByRachelFiled UnderDesserts, Food, Main Dishes

One of my very favorite must reads is TexasHolly she is a sassy mom to 3 boys, a stick figure artist and last but not least, fellow Texan. She writes brilliantly about her coccyx and her fruit bowl and she runs a North Texas mom site that makes me wish I lived in North Texas. I’m tickled pink that she is babysitting the Fairytale blog for the day and I am floored that she posted a recipe!!! So y’all are getting a double bonus today: You’re getting TexasHolly and food, it doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

Y’all be nice now… y’hear?!

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I don’t cook. Really, I don’t.

So when I DO cook it has to be EASY and taste GOOD or else it isn’t worth the PAIN.

This is one of my favorite recipes to eat. It is something I have modified over time from the original Runza recipe I used to make as a child that was beef (in my case, veggie-beef) and cabbage. Over time it became more beef, then real beef and less cabbage, then no cabbage, and then…why not add cheese!

Wah-la! The Cheeseburger Runza. I have also seen these named cheeseburger bierocks or cheeseburger buns, but I grew up in Nebraska where these type of things are called Runzas. So that is what they are.

This recipe calls for bread dough so you can pick up some frozen/refrigerated at the grocery store OR pull out your 1991 Bread Machine that you got as a wedding present that resembles R2-D2:

Here is the dough recipe – it can be thrown into the bread machine all at once without any prep:

1 1/4 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of bread flour

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
I set my bread machine on a non-baking cycle. I start this in the morning and haven’t had trouble with it even if I don’t get to it by mid-afternoon.

The filling is simply ground beef, onions, tomato sauce and some cheese.

If you want to use all the dough then make this full recipe.*

If you want to save a portion of the dough for cinnamon rolls, then just cut this recipe in half:

2 pounds of beef

1-2 onions chopped

1 can (15 oz.) of tomato sauce

Brown the beef and add the onions. Let the onions get a bit tender and add the tomato sauce.

You are ready to fill your dough!

Out of a full recipe I usually get around 24+ runzas of various sizes. I like to make really small ones for the kids and larger ones for the adults.

Roll the dough out very thin, add the filling and then sprinkle on the cheese – my favorite is sharp cheddar.

Fold the sides in and make a little package.

Flip them over and put on greased baking sheet. If you pause for a little while and let them rise the final product will look a little better. Often I just pop them straight into the oven at this point because I am trying to get dinner on the table ASAP.

Bake them at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Now, if you only did a 1/2 recipe then it is time for cinnamon rolls. You will need lots of help.

First spread the left over dough with melted butter.
Then sprinkle sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon on top and spread it around.

Send all your helpers to the sink to clean up, roll up the dough, cut and bake at 400 for 10-18 minutes depending on your cinnamon roll size and pan density.

Alrighty people, time to eat.

Behold the Runza.

Behold the rolls of cinnamon.

*One argument against the cinnamon roll is that the left over runzas are yummy. You can heat them up in the toaster oven at 400 for about 6 minutes or eat them cold. Either way, I like mine dipped in ketchup.

Thanks Rachel for letting me take over in your kitchen. Everyone is invited over to my place, June Cleaver Nirvana, but be warned you want to pick up food from HERE first.

Thanks for doing the dishes, Holly! I appreciate it!!!!!

Taggedbreakfast foods, cheeseburger, cinnamon rolls, DamnTexasHolly, guest post 15 Comments

Scary Mommy and The Pants Dilemma

12:01 AM ByRachelFiled UnderParenting

I am honored to be here, in the wonderful land of Monkeys and Princesses. I love visiting Rachel for her delicious recipes, sweet stories and loving tributes to her family. While I adore my children to death too, I tend to be slightly more Scary Mommy (at least that’s what they tell me.) Thank you, my sweet bloggy friend, for letting me invade your fairytale for the day…

One of my favorite things to do is to sneak into my kids’ classrooms and secretly watch them. It’s so fun to see them operating on their own, without each other or their father and I, and the teachers have gotten used to just ignoring me altogether. Last week I happily watched my son sing a medley of songs and do the “Hokey Pokey” for twenty minutes while hiding in a corner. I watced my daughter play house, do art projects and boss around her classmates. It allows me to see a whole new side of them and I love it.

There is one scene, however, that I don’t love to see. At all. It inevitably happens at least once a week and leaves me laughing and cringing at once. It’s embarrassing and pathetic. It’s the view of my daughter’s butt crack. And it ain’t pretty.

Last month I approached her while playing in the sandbox, totally oblivious that she was mooning everybody in sight. And it was a full moon. Unless she is wearing elastic waisted pants, the poor kid absolutely can not hold her pants up. This is not a fashion statement I’d like my daughter to be known for. Her teacher actually pulled me aside several months ago and asked me to buy her a belt– apparently they don’t appreciate the view at school either. I obliged and tried belts, smaller sized pants, larger sized pants, pants that promise not to fall… It’s hopeless, the girls simply cannot keep them up.

I’m thankful that summer is finally here and she can once again exclusively wear dresses. I will retire the adorable jeans, cords and cargo pants until the fall, when we will try once again.

In the meantime, I do have a sink that needs professional plumbing, should I miss that lovely view..

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She may call herself Scary Mommy but, I am honored to call her friend. Jill makes me laugh and frequently choke on my morning Diet Dr. Pepper while I try to keep it down so the kids don’t wake up. If you haven’t discovered Jill yet, then you need to hop over there and read her. She writes wonderfully and straight from the heart, she’s open, honest and witty as hell.

Jill, thank you for gracing the Fairytale land with your presence, and I appreciate you taking the trash out with you! It looks so nice and clean! Thanks!!!

Taggedguest post, Scary Mommy 8 Comments