everyday food made simple

1. You probably won’t believe me when I tell you this, but this past weekend, I had my very first experience with self-serve frozen yogurt. I know – I’m 27 years old and never been to places like Red Mango or Cherry Berry before – I’m sheltered. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I went to a local fro-yo shop called Free Style and absolutely looooved it! There were about a dozen different flavors to choose from, and don’t even get me started on the gazillion different toppings they had! I think one of my favorites was the cake battered one. Yep, we found our new favorite after-dinner dessert joint.

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2. Remember a few posts back I mentioned about the different items different McDonald’s around the world has on their menu? (the post can be read here) Well, apparently not only Canadian McDonald’s has the iced chai frappe, they also have the McLobster! Has anyone had them before? What did you think of it?

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(photo source)

3. A few days ago I discovered our local Caribou Coffee came out with their pumpkin drinks already…. whaaaat?! It’s still August. August means summer, NOT fall. Pumpkins are for the fall, and therefore should not be allowed when it’s still 100 degrees and sunny outside. It’s like a competition between all the large chain coffee shops to see who can bring out their fall drinks out first. Don’t get me wrong – I like my pumpkin coffee, but I’m not ready for fall yet! I’m still clinging on to every moment of summer.

Well, since the drinks are out, I couldn’t say no to $2.50/large drink promotion they had going on today. Even though I wasn’t happy that it’s a sign that summer’s winding down, I unwillingly dragged myself there and they had to twist my hand to make me order a pumpkin spiced iced chai. Ha! Who am I kidding – I ran there as fast as I could after I got back from class :)

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4. Our equine class got a special behind-the-scenes tour at our local horse racing track this morning! I’ve never been to a horse race before, but it was cool getting to see the trainers and jockeys with their horses doing a bunch of different training exercises. My favorite part was seeing the horses in the training/rehab pool! Definitely a cool experience considering these parts aren’t open to the public to tour.

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5. About 3.5 months ago, I was diagnosed with de Quervain’s tendinitis in my wrist that I sustained from repetitive motions from work. I had to wear a wrist brace this summer for 3 months, had hand therapy sessions, tried iontophoresis, and ended up with a cortisone injection which promptly resolved the issue three days later. You really don’t realize how important your opposable thumb is until you can’t use it anymore. It was painful to hold a pen to write, to put my hair up, to button up pants, to hold a knife, to wash my back, and to do little everyday things. I had to modify how I did a lot of things because of it. Now that I’m finally pain-free after 3.5 months, I’m finding myself trying to adjust to the thumb I can finally now use. I still find myself still holding the steering wheel how I did 3 months ago, and just the other day, I texted with two thumbs for the first time in 3.5 months – it felt weird and unnatural.

Moral of the story: keep your body healthy and don’t take anything for granted.

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission.

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Well, fall is just around the corner… and you know what fall means?

No, not apples and cinnamon. Not pumpkin pie. Not hot apple cider, Halloween, or falling leaves.

In our household, fall = football. And football = Minnesota Vikings. Brian is a die-hard Vikings fan (Skol Vikings!), so during football season, weekend plans around our house usually revolves around when the Vikings play.

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And we all know the best part of watching football is the game food that goes with it. Half the time when I’m watching the game, I’m more interested in what I’m eating or what I’m eating next. That’s why this football season, I’m going to try to make an effort to make some simple finger foods/game day foods on Sundays, so be sure to check back every so often this football season! That way you’ll have ideas on what to make next time when it’s your turn to host football Sunday – I’m sure your guests will be impressed!

Even though it’s only preseason doesn’t mean you can’t have yummy game day foods! Let’s start the season out right with some super easy mini taco cups – they’re small, bite-sized, transportable, delicious, and toppings are optional (but highly recommended).

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And who doesn’t like tacos anyway? These are your everyday tacos shrunk into a small miniature size. They might be tiny, but they sure don’t lack in flavor!

You use wonton wrappers, place them into mini muffin tin wells and shape them into a cup. Spoon taco meat mixture into cup and top with shredded cheese.

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Bake for 8 minutes, and wa-la! Happiness in a bite.

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If you want, you can even have a variety of topping choices on the sides for people to dress up their taco cups – tomatoes, green onions, diced onions, sour cream….

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mini taco cups
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Ingredients
  1. One 12-oz package of wonton wrappers
  2. 1 pound ground turkey
  3. 1 package 40% less sodium taco seasoning
  4. 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (you probably won't use all of it)
  5. A variety of toppings (tomatoes, onions, green onions, sour cream, etc), if desired
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet. Drain the fat, and then season the meat with the taco seasoning according to package directions.
  3. Using a mini muffin tin, line the wells with wonton wrappers, so the wrappers are shaped into little cups inside the wells. Spoon the taco meat into each cup, about 1/2-2/3 full. Sprinkle the tops with cheese.
  4. Bake for 8 minutes, or until wrappers are slightly turning brown.
  5. Serve with additional toppings, if desired.
  6. Makes about 30 cups
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
Because these are so tiny, you really don’t realize how many you’ve had until you go back to the pan and realize that there’s only 4 mini cups left (this is totally from personal experience!). But hey, it’s made with ground turkey and reduced-sodium taco seasoning, so that totally cancels out eating more of it, right?

Enjoy!

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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Puppy chow.

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I remember the first time I heard of those two words about 10 years ago, I thought it was something the dogs ate. Well, I guess it could’ve been considering there is a brand of dog food out there named Puppy Chow.

I remember when my friend gave me a bag of peanut butter chocolate puppy chow she made, I smiled and said thank you, but wondered deep down inside why she made food for a dog and gave it to me to try… reluctantly, I popped one in my mouth and fell in love.

“These things are called puppy chow?” Now I’ve learned some people call them Muddy Buddies. Either way, both names still make no sense to me whatsoever. It doesn’t look like any dog food I’ve ever seen, and I don’t even see the relation between these little yummy squares and being “muddy”.

I guess what it’s called doesn’t really doesn’t matter. What matters is that there’s a gazillion different ways you can make these and the possibilities are endless… and they’re delicious!

I’ve always stuck to the traditional peanut butter and chocolate combo, so today I decided to try something new. Something fruity, sweet, and doesn’t involve chocolate. These babies are bursting with orange flavors! It doesn’t require artificial food coloring or artificial flavors – they’re 100% made out of real oranges and are a refreshing change to the traditional flavor combos.

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orange creamsicle puppy chow
Print
Ingredients
  1. 1 box Rice Chex cereal
  2. 16 oz vanilla coating
  3. 2 tablespoons orange zest
  4. 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Place the cereal in a large bowl.
  2. Melt the vanilla coating using a double boiler. Once it's completed melted, pour immediately over the cereal. Stir to make sure cereal is evenly coated with the vanilla mixture. Sprinkle the orange zest over the cereal. Mix some more.
  3. Add in the powdered sugar to the cereal. Stir to combine, making sure all surfaces are coated with sugar. Add more sugar if needed.
  4. Makes approximately 9 cups.
Notes
  1. Another common method is to add the cereal in a large Ziploc bag and mix everything else in that way. It is an easier way to get all the cereal coated with the powdered sugar.
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
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Is there anything that beats something sweet, yummy, and easy to make? I think not! I think from start to finish, these took me less than 30 minutes. I’m all about being efficient and nowadays. It does turn out to be quite a lot of puppy chow in the end, so either pack some in Ziploc bags and give to your friends, or store them in an airtight container and save for yourself!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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1. Last week I discovered the greatness of this:

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If you haven’t tried this and it sounds like something you might like, I highly recommend you go get a bottle and try it out. You won’t be disappointed – I used mine as a dipping sauce for some chicken nuggets and they were delicious!

2. While we’re on the topic of chicken nuggets: we made some last week with some fries, and it looked like Bentley was all about being patient and looking cute, hoping I’d give him and share my nuggets with him…

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3. Have you ever been to an alpaca farm? I got up close and personal with a whole herd of 9 alpacas yesterday! We went on a field trip to a local alpaca farm for our productions class, where we learned how to restrain, give vaccinations, and perform physical exams on them. I must say, as weird as they look, they are pretty cute!

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The cria (baby alpaca) was especially cute with with her little fuzzy face…

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4. Earlier last week, I decided it would be a good idea to create some business cards for Simple Everyday Food. It’s been about 6 months since I’ve started this, and I’ve really enjoyed watching it grow! I’ve had a lot of people from work and school that have asked me about it, and I figured it’d be a good way to spread the word…. On Monday, they came in the mail! I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty happy about how they turned out!

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5. This has got to be the coolest, most awesomest (yes, I just made that word up) mug I currently own in my collection. The moment I saw it, I knew I just had to get it!

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Have a good rest of the week, guys! The Minnesota State Fair starts tomorrow! WOO HOO!

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One weird thing about me is that I tend to only drink smoothies or anything that involves blending ice cubes in a blender during the summer. Once the temperature starts to drop and the days get shorter, I can say “bye bye see you next summer” to frappes, smoothies, and coolers (I love my Caribou Coffee!)…

You can’t blame me, the frigid Minnesota winter is cold enough as it is, I don’t need to make myself any colder by drinking anything cold!

Now that it’s mid-August and there’s only a few more weeks of “real” summer left, I need to get all my slushie/smoothie fixes in before it starts getting cold outside.

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So today I’ve brought to you a very simple yet summery watermelon drink. It’s super easy, yet super refreshing. Watermelon is perhaps the iconic fruit of summer. I haven’t met a person who doesn’t like watermelon – kids love it. I love it. My grandma loves it. Even my dog loves it. It’s truly a fruit enjoyed by people (and dogs) of all ages! It only makes sense making a cold, minty, sweet, refreshing drink with it… right?

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watermelon mint slushie
Print
Ingredients
  1. 3 cups watermelon cubes, frozen
  2. 8 oz plain coconut water
  3. Juice of 1/2 lime
  4. 6-7 mint leaves, additional for garnish if desired
  5. 1 cup ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high for a minute, or until smooth.
  2. Divide evenly among 2 glasses, garnish with additional mint leaves.
  3. Serve immediately.
  4. Makes ~24 ounces (2 glasses)
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
A little bit of separation is normal after you’ve poured these drinks into glasses. It’s just like your blended coffee settling after a while – the icy part floats to the top, leaving the liquid portion on the bottom. Stir it up a little if you’d like and enjoy! You can even substitute the coconut water with some club soda for a little extra fizz. Let me know what you think!

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Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Skirt.com

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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