Homemade Garden Salsa

As I mentioned in my recent garden update, I have vegetables coming out my ears! When I planted the garden, my plan was to make homemade salsa with all the fresh vegetables from our garden. I had no idea how many batches of salsa I would be making, but the count is currently up to eight. 

Eight batches of salsa, folks! 

With those eight batches of salsa, I have had plenty of time to perfect my recipe.

Today, I decided to share my recipe with you, in case you have vegetables coming out your ears too!

INGREDIENTS:

4 tomatoes

1/2 cup red onion

1/2  cup green pepper

2 jalapeno peppers

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cilantro and Parsley to taste

***NOTE: I like my salsa pretty spicy so this salsa is pretty hot! If you like yours more mild, I would use only 1 jalapeno pepper and 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in blender and chop,

2. Depending on the consistency you like, you can also use the puree option. 

3. Enjoy with tortilla chips or your favorite Mexican dish!

Enjoy!

Puppy Popsicles

Happy Hump Day, friends!

This weekend was a fabulous one as far as weather is concerned. It is the middle of August and it was finally starting to feel like summer in Mid-Michigan.... until yesterday. This weekend, it was easy to work up a sweat while doing anything outside. Lucy Lou, loves to be outside all.the.time. but when the sun is shining, her black fur is hot hot hot. 

On a hot summer day as a kid, I loved eating popsicles (who didn't?), so being the cool dog mom that I am, I decided to make Lucy some popsicles of her own.

INGREDIENTS:

18oz. Plain Low-Fat Yogurt

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Jar Banana Baby Food

1 Tbsp Honey

Dog Bones

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients, except dog bones.

Pour mixture into small paper cups. My cups were a little larger, so I only filled mine 1/3 full.

Stick one dog bone into each cup to serve as the handle.

Freeze until completely frozen. 

When ready to serve, peel away the paper cup from the popsicle.

Watch you dog drool over his/her new favorite treat.

I was able to get 8 popsicles out of the recipe. 

Also, if you have a smaller dog: my mother-in-law made these for her rat terrier, and used an ice cube tray instead of cups. You could also use smaller dog bones to stick in the ice cube tray as well. 

As you can see, Lucy really loved these new treats. It only took her about 5 seconds after I was done taking pictures to bit the whole thing right off the bone.

I hope she realizes how loved and spoiled she is!

This post was featured at:

Lemon Sugar Scrub

This stuff is seriously my jam right now! Anything with lemon in the title is an automatic win in my book, but this sugar scrub really is fabulous. I've been seeing it pop up all over Pinterest in the past year or so, but never really understood what all the hype was about. That is, until my best friend made me some candy cane sugar scrub for Christmas. I was instantly hooked! It made my skin feel so soft and smooth, like a baby's bottom. Sometimes, I even get really crazy and just soak in the bath tub with it, ahh so relaxing. I've talked it up so much, even my husband uses it now.

So when Spring rolled around it was no surprise that I needed to make some lemon scented scrub.  With the lemon scent, I've reached a whole new level of obsessed. 

This sugar scrub is very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS:

one lemon, 3 cups sugar, 1/4 cup coconut oil

1. Zest the entire lemon, then cut in half and squeeze out the lemon juice. 

2. Heat coconut oil in microwave for about 30 seconds

3. Combine sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and coconut oil into a large bowl.

4. Mix well and enjoy!

The original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups of sugar, but I try to get more bang for my buck, so I use 3 cups. I can usually fill about 2 shorter mason jars with one "batch".

Have you used sugar scrub before?

What other scents do you recommend? 

(I may need to start branching out a little)

Happy Friday Friends!

Angel Berry Trifle

This Angel Berry Trifle is the perfect summer dessert. It is light and refreshing, and the perfect dessert to take to a backyard barbecue. My mother-in-law has made it for the past few summers and it has to be one of my favorites by far. The recipe makes a ton, I cut the recipe in half and it still nearly filled my trifle bowl. I like it with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but you can put in any fruit you'd like.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunt size angel food cake (or two loaves)

16 oz. of strawberries raspberries, blueberries

2 small packs of vanilla instant pudding

3 cups of milk

16 oz. of cool whip

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut angel food cake into small pieces.

2. Wash and cut fruit as needed.
3. Mix milk and pudding, then fold in 8 oz. of cool whip.

4. In a large bowl, layer starting with 1/3 of the cake, then 1/2 the pudding mixture and 1/2 the fruit.

5. Repeat cake, pudding, and fruit layers, with the final layer being cake.

6. Top the cake with the rest of the cool whip and decorate with fruit.

yummmmm. 

Happy Monday!

Valentine's Day Popcorn Mix

I almost always make chocolate covered Oreo's or Prolo's to send to friends this time of year. But this year, I decided to be a little more creative.  

I'm usually not one to like a bunch of random stuff mixed with my popcorn, but as a popcorn fanatic I must tell you, this stuff is amazing! It is very easy to make and its a quick treat to package up for friends for Valentine's Day!

INGREDIENTS:

popcorn, pretzels, melted white chocolate, and melted milk chocolate, sprinkles, and m&m's.

I even thought about throwing in some peanuts... yum!

1. First, pop your popcorn and lay it on a baking sheet. Add in pretzels.

2. Then, melt the white chocolate and pour it on top of the popcorn, mix well.

3. Add sprinkles and m&m's

4. Melt the milk chocolate and drizzle it over the mixture.

5. Let cool, then eat the whole cookie sheet. 

(just kidding...maybe...) 

What kinds of valentine's day treats do you make?

Send them my way :)

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

 I don't know about you, but I love grilled cheese. I am one of those people that still orders grilled cheese when going to say... Apple Bees. It's kind of embarrassing, but I can't help it. They are just so good!

Well, this weekend I decided to jazz it up a bit and make what I know call the "Gourmet Grilled Cheese." It is very simple to make and oh so delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

2 slices of bread, butter, avocado, red onion, and shredded cheddar cheese

You butter your bread just like you would with a regular grilled cheese and then throw in the rest of the ingredients to your liking. I have discovered it works much better if the avocado is soft enough to spread on, otherwise flipping the sandwich becomes rather difficult. Seriously, you should have seen me trying to do it. I didn't even know my arm could twist that way.

Of course, this grilled cheese may not be for everyone. I am in love with onion and avocado, so I love it. But my hubs would never even consider eating it. Avocado and onion are his two least favorite things. Is this just an Adam thing or are all guys like that?

Happy HUMP Day!

Recipe Binder Printables

My husband has had Photoshop on his computer for as long as I can remember, and I am just now starting to experiment with it. I have been wanting a recipe binder for a while, but haven't been able to find one that works well for me. With all of the new recipes I am making this Fall, I was in desperate need of some way to save all my favorite recipes. So, I decided to create my very own recipe binder pages, using Photoshop. Here is what I came up with:

I spent so much time on them, that I decided I better show off my work AND let all of you benefit from, too!

So without further ado, I present to you: MY FIRST FREE PRINTABLES!

(To use, click on the desired picture, right click, and save to your desktop to print)

Cover Page and Section Covers:

Recipe Pages:

Now I just need to find some motivation (and time) to hand-write all of my recipes onto these beautiful pages for my binder to be complete!

Does anyone else use a recipe binder? If so, I hope you try out these fun printables!

Happy Cooking!

The EASIEST Guacamole Recipe!

Tonight was Mexican night at casa de Muszynski. While I stood in the kitchen making my favorite guacamole, I decided I should share it with you all. I love guacamole... in fact, it's my favorite part of Mexican night (besides the margaritas!). I have tried many, many recipes in my day, but none of them have ever proven to be better than this simple recipe with only four, yes FOUR, ingredients!

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe avocados

1 package of Ortega Guacamole Seasoning Mix

Red onion (as much as you'd like)

1 tablespoon of lime juice

Some people may think it's cheating to use a guacamole mix, but I honestly have found nothing as delicious, not even the copy cat Chipotle recipe (sorry, Chipotle!)

DIRECTIONS:

I have been using the Ortega Guacamole Seasoning Mix for quite some time now and love it, but just recently started adding things to it to try to make it even more delicious. 

The first key to this recipe is buying the perfectly ripe avocado. You want them to be as soft as possible, but nothing is more disappointing than cutting open an avocado and realizing its brown (I use this trick when at the grocery store)

I like my guacamole nice and creamy, so cutting the avocado into tiny pieces is a must for me. I then mash it all up with a fork before adding the guacamole mix, onion, and lime juice. Some people like it chunky, but the smoother the better in this house.

I'm also a red onion lover, so I usually put a lot in there, but most people aren't as big of fans, so just add as much as you like! 

And last but certainly not least comes the lime juice, which is the best part of the whole thing. You can try it without if you don't believe me, but you have been warned!

Last tip: Want to keep your guacamole from turning brown?

Stick the pits inside your dip and it will stay fresher longer! (I think the lime juice helps a bit as well)

Enjoy this simple guacamole recipe on your next family Mexican night!

Let me know what you think.

Halloween Puppy Chow

Halloween is just a few days away, and now that I'm too old to run around the neighborhood trick-or-treating, I like to spend my Halloween night watching Hocus Pocus, snacking on junk food, and anxiously awaiting the youngsters to come-a-ringing. This year, I decided to make a Halloween-themed puppy chow to munch on while hanging out with the Sanderson Sisters.

Here is the recipe in case you decide to whip some up in the next few days, or any time this fall!

INGREDIENTS:
9 cups of Chex cereal
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of peanut butter

1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Candy Corn
M&Ms

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
2. Add peanut butter to melted chocolate and mix together until smooth
3. Pour the Chex cereal into a large bowl
4. Remove chocolate and peanut butter from heat and pour over cereal. Mix until the cereal is completely coated with chocolate.
5. Put the chocolate covered cereal into a large ziplock bag and pour in the powdered sugar.

6. Shake the bag until all the cereal is coated in powedered sugar.
7. Mix in candy corn and m&m's to your liking

What are your big plans for Halloween?

Anyone else planning to curl up on the couch watching Hocus Pocus?