The All-American Burger
Main Dishes:
The All-American Burger
Ribeye Steaks
Cheddar and Jalapeno Chicken Burgers
Hawaiian Grilled Chicken
Turkey Burgers
Sides:
Chilled Asparagus Salad
Pasta Salad
Scalloped Potatoes on the Grill
Chilled Asparagus Salad
Summer Corn Salad
Avocado, Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
Dessert:
S’more Rice Krispie Treats!
Week 11
Now that the cat is out of the bag (announcing that Rex and I are expecting), I’m sure it all makes sense that I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes lately. Mainly because in the last 5 weeks it has been very difficult to find anything that sounds good to eat. One of those beautiful symptoms of pregnancy. I’ve had a lot more food aversions than cravings and for a while the only thing I could stomach was string cheese, baked potatoes and water. Mmm… now doesn’t that sound like a healthy diet. Luckily, as I am nearing my second trimester food is starting to sound good to me again. Oh how I’ve missed my spinach salads for lunch and my home cooked dinners. Rex has been great during these last few weeks and really stepped up and into the kitchen making dinner for the both of us after a long day at work. I just didn’t have the energy to cook and it’s really hard to think of food when everything makes you want to puke. One thing that has always sounded REALLY good to me has been red meat with A1 sauce! This makes Rex really happy too, and I think surprised him when I would come home from the grocery store and stock our fridge with steaks. Thankfully our beautiful, Colorado weather has allowed us to heat up the grill and we made these marinated pork chops the other day and they were so flavorful and yummy. The marinade is really easy and all ingredients are pantry staples. We ate ours with loaded baked potatoes and sweet peas!
Marinated Pork Chops
Marinated Grilled Pork Chops
What you need:
– 4 boneless pork chops
– 2 T sugar
– 3 T Dijon mustard
– 1/4 cup soy sauce
– 1 T Spicy brown mustard
– 1 T Vegetable oil
– pepper to taste (I didn’t add salt because the soy sauce is salty and pork tends to be saltier too)
Place pork chops in a ziplock bag. In a small bowl combine all other ingredients and mix together. Pour over the pork chops and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Heat up and cook on grill until cooked through. Enjoy…How easy is that?!
Happy Chewing!
We’re expecting!
So when is Baby J due… December 11th! We will be getting an early Christmas present this year!
I am so happy that I decided to start Chew Love because I will be able to share my pregnancy and progress with all our loved ones that are out-of-state. I plan to do weekly baby bump pictures and post every week about how I’m feeling, what I’m craving, and all the other fun stuff that goes along with “brewing a baby”.
10 WEEKS 10 WEEKS
How far along are you? 10 weeks
Total weight gain: 0 lbs., but I’m sure that will be changing in the near future!
Maternity clothes? No, not yet.
Stretch Marks? NO, and I hope I never have to say “Yes” to this one.
Sleep: Not terrible, but I toss and turn and get up to go to the bathroom a few times throughout the night. I can’t wait to buy one of those body pillows!
Best moment this week: Finally telling the world the great news. The out pouring of love from our family and friends has been a true blessing.
Miss Anything? My energy. It takes so much effort to just take a shower some days.
Movement: Nothing yet.
Food Cravings: Pretzels dipped in ranch dressing (is that weird?) and green olives.
Anything making you queasy or sick? The thought of my homemade bread that I use to make every week makes me sick to my stomach…this makes me so sad.
Gender prediction: We still have a way to go before we find out, but I do have an inkling of what it might be. We will both be genuinely excited and happy with either a Boy or a Girl!
Symptoms: Ugh, bloating like crazy… sometimes I look like I’m showing already, lack of energy and nausea.
Belly button in or out? IN
Wedding rings on or off? ON
Happy or Moody most of the time: Unfortunately, a little more moody than happy lately. Mainly because the first trimester bloating and nausea makes me feel so crappy! Sorry hubby!
Looking forward to: A few more weeks and I will finally be in the 2nd trimester and hopefully feeling much better!
To see all my baby bump pictures visit the Baby Bump page HERE
Ground Beef Tostada
To see the Cinco de Mayo party I hosted last year click HERE. I made sure Rex and I had some sort of celebration and cooked mexican food for dinner. We had yummy tostadas! This is probably the easiest and cheapest dinner you can make. With layer after layer of goodness on a crispy tostada, you really can’t go wrong. The other beautiful thing about this recipe is you can change it however you want. Add sliced avocados, sour cream or make it vegetarian by doing just beans and toppings. The ground beef mixture I made for this is also what I use for tacos…it’s the best!What you need:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- tostadas (this can be found with the tortillas)
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
- 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (rotel)
- cumin
- garlic powder
- paprika
- 1 can refried beans
- TOPPINGS (shredded cheese, black olives, shredded lettuce…)
In a large skillet add onion, jalapeno pepper and ground beef. Season with cumin, paprika, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Cook until beef is browned. Add the can of diced tomatoes and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
To assemble, start with your toastada chip. Spread on an even layer of refried beans. Top with the ground beef mixture, cheese, lettuce, olives and any other toppings that sounds delicious to you!
Happy Chewing!
Wailea Beach
We are back, bronzed and feeling relaxed! Why, because we just returned home from a fabulous family vacation in Maui. If you remember from my post last Christmas, my parents surprised the family with a trip to Maui. I was shocked at how quickly this trip arrived but we were all ready for some fun in the sun. Rex and I were especially looking forward to this trip since the last 2 big vacations we have taken (Italy and Iceland) were very adventurous and constantly on-the-go exploring. I told myself that Hawaii was going to be my “Do NOTHING” vacation and that is exactly what I did.
When we first arrived, we were blown away by our gorgeous place. We stayed in a penthouse at the Wailea Beach Villas that had our own private front patio and a wrap around back porch. The glass doors leading to the back porch retracted so we could completely open the place up and breath in the lovely ocean air.
The guys and their catch.
The first couple days we all laid out by the beach and worked on our tans. We also took a 6 person canoe out into the ocean and came face to face with huge sea turtles and learn a lot about the island of Maui. Then the boys had a day of deep-sea fishing while us girls went to the Wailea Beach Hotel for a spa day. We were getting pampered as the guys caught Mahi Mahi and Ono and brought home fillets for us to enjoy. The fish was so delicious and fresh! Good job guys! The next day Rex went scuba diving and got to hold a squid and swim with sea turtles and sharks. Another day the guys went golfing and you guessed it….us girls went to the spa again! We treated ourselves to mani/pedis. We had a couple more days of relaxing on the beach and also checked out some cute little towns that were near by.
Me and Hubby!
I definitely experienced Maui just the way I wanted too….laying on the beach, laying by the pool, and napping and reading on our wrap around back porch. It was the most relaxing vacation and we returned to Colorado bronzed and with great memories. Thanks mom and dad for taking us on a fantastic vacation!
The Family!
Hey everyone, check out this great picture my hubby took of the sunset! Rex has been zooming in on the mountains and taking great shots with my camera. When I went to snag pictures of the recipe today I came across this one…..so pretty! Good job hubby! Nothing really new in the Johnston house, so I will just jump right into the recipe for today.
We love cooking fish in our home, but I find myself always going for salmon or shrimp…they are just so easy to throw together. But as I stood at the fish counter I decided to be a rebel and go with something different. So I picked up 2 tilapia fillets. I made this really easy (only 3 ingredients) rub and baked them in the oven. They were DELICIOUS! I couldn’t believe how flavorful they were. Tilapia is a white fish that tastes really light, perfect if you are cooking for someone who isn’t crazy about fish. I will definitely be making these again next week. 
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
What you need:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow dish combine parmesan cheese, paprika and parsley. Lightly season fish with salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Coat fish into the cheese mixture and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until fish is
cooked all the way through. Serve with lemon wedges.
Happy Chewing!
