Life as an Aced

I've had a box of quinoa in the cupboard for who knows how long - and after inviting one of my co-worker and his wife over for dinner i got the idea from her to use it in a salad I don't like recipes with ten zillion things in them so when I stumbled upon a caprese quinoa salad on pinterest I knew it would be a good starting point for me. Quinoa Caprese Salad Ingredients 1 cup Quinoa dry cooked (1 cup quinoa 2 cups water) 1 container mini tomatoes 5 sticks of string cheese cut up a handful of basil leaves chopped Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Salt and Pepper Directions 1) Mix Everything together 2) When ready to serve top individual portions with oil and vinegar 3) Add salt and pepper to taste NOTES: -CousCous would work too -Feel free to use big tomatoes -I always have string cheese so thats what I used but a ball/block of mozzarella cheese works too

The other day I decided to try something different  ---  I have been BBQing a lot lately and a popular thing on Pinterest has been potatoes on the grill. They have so many different varieties and favors but when I saw Bacon and Cheese Ones I knew that was something I could get Eddie on board with. The Recipe I adapted mine from came from Taste of Home . It was the most basic and simple and figured I could add my own flair easily to it. In the original recipe they had the potatoes in a foil wrapper but in the comments a few people mentioned that foil containers were a ton better so that's what I went with as well Campfire Potatoes Ingredients Foil Container 4 Potatoes 4 Slices of Bacon 3 tbsp Parmesan Cheese 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder 1/2 tsp Onion Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Pepper 2 tbsp Olive Oil 1/2 cup Cheddar 1/2 cup Mozzarella Directions 1) Pre Heat Grill 2) Peel Potatoes and dice into cubes 3) Combine Potatoes, Parmesan , garlic powder, onion powder,...

I LOVE Ranch - - I don't eat it as much now like I did before I met Eddie (he hates ranch) but when I do I eat it by the spoonful Especially my Ranch Veggie Dip Over Easter I made my ranch dip and the end of it was sitting in my fridge when I decided to go UnProcessed. While the dip itself consists of Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese it was the Ranch Dressing Packet that was killing it for me HOWEVER after seeing a post on  Gimme Some Oven  it was actually super simple to make that little packet myself Homemade Ranch Seasoning Ingredients 2 Tbsp. dried parsley 1 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed 2 tsp. garlic powder 2 tsp. onion powder 1 tsp. ground black pepper 1 tsp. salt Directions 1) Combine all ingredients NOTES -Use 1 tbsp mixed with 1 cup greek yogurt and 1 cup Cottage Cheese to make a dip -Add about 1/4 cup milk to dip to make a dressing

I have seriously found the easiest way to make Baked Potatoes. . . Put them in the CrockPot!!! I found this tip on Pinterest a while back and seriously haven't made baked potatoes any other way since CrockPot Baked Potatoes Need: CrockPot Foil Potatoes Directions: 1) Wrap Potatoes individually in foil 2) Place in CrockPot and cook on low all day

I haven't made bar chips in a while and instead lately just been taking the easy route with frozen fries. The other day I had some extra time and potatoes laying around so figured lets try this again and see if we can simplify them and YAY . . . thanks to the broiler I did!! Bar Chips Take 2 Ingredients: -4-6 Small Potatoes -Olive Oil -Cooking Spray -Greek Seasoning -Parmesan Cheese Directions: 1) Pre-heat Oven to 425 degrees 2) Cover the bottom of a high walled baking sheet with oil 3) Wash and Peel the potatoes and cut (like chips) in thick slices 4) Spray potatoes with cooking spray then sprinkle with greek seasoning 5) Cook for 25 minutes on Bottom Rack 6) Move to top rack and Broil 2 minutes at a time until nicely browned NOTES -Check out the Original Recipe  here -We served these with Chicken Poppers but you can easily replace them for french fries for any meal

With our cruise coming up and being gone for almost 2 weeks me and eddie had the plan to eat everything in the house and not go grocery shopping. It has lead to a few creative dinners and a little more snacking them normal but WOW I didn't realize how much food we actually did have in the house!! We are on week two of eating what we have then maybe buying one or two things and still have enough food to last us right up until we leave. Lately for lunch I have been taking frozen veggies roasting them up in the oven and eating them alone or over rice - - really quick and simple and best part is you don't even need to defrost them Roasted Veggies Ingredients -Frozen Veggies (i've been using asparagus and broccoli) -Cooking Spray -1/2 tbs minced garlic -Red Pepper Flakes -Salt Directions -Preheat oven to 450 degrees -Spray frozen veggies with cooking spray, top with garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes, toss until well coated -Cook for 15-25 minutes (depending ...