It’s salad season and I couldn’t be happier! I’m always up for a loaded salad and this bright Greek inspired one hits the spot perfectly when I need a hearty, healthy meal. I’ve got to keep my strength up these days, you know with all the packing and all. Though I’m pretty certain that I could eat whatever the heck I wanted and not gain a pound- it’s hard work! Good grief. I could really use a teenage witch named Sabrina right now to blink and make all my stuff  magically appear in my new house, tidy and unpacked. Fo’ realz.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who loved that show.

Anyone?

Back to this Chicken Tzatziki salad! You’ll find the recipe and step-by-step over at I Heart Nap Time as I did a guest post over there this week!  I hope you’ll hop over and take a look!

Click here to go to see the recipe! 

I stumbled upon this recipe a few years ago on the Food Network site and its crazy name caught my attention right away– Waffles of Insane Greatness. Good name, right? But at that time I was all hung up on my then-favorite waffle recipe that called for 42 separate bowls for mixing and whipping and folding and an eye of a newt.  By the time I was finished making them it looked like something nasty had been detonated in my kitchen but I was convinced there was no other way to get the perfect waffle. A few months later I met my good friend the yeasted waffle, fell in love all over again, appreciated that my kitchen wasn’t nearly as trashed at the end of my waffle-ing and named it my new victor.

Enter these waffles.

A few months ago I was going through a binder of recipes I had printed out and found this one. It was nearing dinner time and I had whittled away my afternoon making meal plans for anytime besides the present so I decided to give them a go.  And as luck would have it they were quick, only dirtied one bowl (score!), and were absolutely, melt-in-your-mouth amazing!

The “secret” ingredient in these is the addition of corn starch; it lightens the flour keeping them super moist and tender.

Combine your dry ingredients: flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Can I just tell you how thrilled I am to not have orange counter tops in our new house?!

Next add some buttermilk, and egg, oil, and vanilla to the try ingredients and whisk until no dry spots remain.

It’s pretty hard to mess up this batter by over-mixing like you can with some waffles. Once it’s mixed give it about 30 minutes to rest, though I’ve skipped this step in the past and have seen no big difference.

Whether you let it rest or not, know that the batter is SUPER runny. I’m able to scoop a pretty generous 2/3 cup  into my waffle maker  to make nice full waffles because it puffs up so beautifully though.

Cook until golden brown and smother in syrup. Our favorite is Buttermilk!

Welcome to crazy town. Sometimes I feel like the last week of May and first week of June should be a national holiday. By the end of next weekend the amount of talent shows, parties, rehearsals, and graduations I will have attended will leave me with enough squeaky folding chairs and squirmy 2-year- olds to last me a lifetime. On top of all this, we’re moving. In 3 weeks. 2 hours away.

Oy.

The frosting on all of this is that my sweet hubby is graduating with his B.S. next weekend. It’s been a super long road for him and we’ve had all sorts of kinks and road blocks that have prevented him from a timely completion of his schooling, but he did it! He’s worn the badge of an “non-traditional student” proudly and I love that he still rides his skateboard to school everyday even though he had a girl say that he was  much too old to be still riding. Pshh.

Gotta love being at least 10 years, 2 kids, and a wife older than most of your classmates! He’s graduating but we still get to embrace the student life a few more years as he works on his doctorate. That’s where all the fun of moving comes into play! Since we’ll likely be eating whatever is quick and easy the next few weeks as we pack up our last 4 years worth of junk stuff, I made up a big batch of these bean and cheese roll ups to keep in the freezer. They are one of our favorite quick meals and I’m actually kind of surprised I haven’t shared them on here already.

The  filling is made with a few cans of re-fried beans, cumin, dried onion, salt, chili powder, and a little hot sauce. Give it a stir and you’re good to go.

Grate up some cheese, grab some tortillas, and set yourself up a little assembling station.

Sometimes I make them with small flour tortillas, sometimes not. I decided to make these large and in charge this go-around with burrito-sized ones. Spread about 1/2 cup of beans for large or less for the small tortillas and top with cheese.

Roll up each one and place on a lined baking sheet.

Brush the tops of each roll up with canola oil. At this point you can slide the entire pan into the freezer and then transfer them into a ziplock bag for storage once they are frozen OR you can bake them right away.

When thawed they bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, 20 minutes from frozen. They are done when the cheese is melted and the tops are golden. They are perfect dipped in sour cream, guacamole, or salsa!

Here’s a rule that I think should be a thing: Friends shouldn’t go to the Mediterranean without bringing all of their friends. I say this because I’ve spent the last 2 weeks following my cute friend Eliza’s Instagram feed as she has traveled and ate her way through Europe.  I’m now seriously aching for some white stucco’ed buildings, bright blue water, and open-air markets thanks to her. But the one picture of her’s that has burrowed its way into my soul and isn’t surrendering residence anytime soon was that of her grilled feta cheese with olives and tomatoes.

Photo by Eliza @ Eliza Domestica

Do you see what I mean? I saw it and immediately imagined myself sitting on a deck over looking the blue water with a light breeze running through my hair, pieces of warm pita bread in hand. My days aren’t planned, my children are inexplicably well-behaved as I lounge next to my hubby for hours, and a hunky way-too-young-for-me-local keeps the feta flowing like honey.

Good thing it doesn’t take much to make this dream (or at least part of it) a reality: feta cheese, kalamata olives, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.

Give your olives a rough chop and place into a bowl.

Dice up a fresh tomato– halved cherry or grape tomatoes would be great for this too. Place the tomatoes in the bowl with the olives and add a clove of minced garlic to it too.

Cut the feta into cubes and place in an oven-proof dish.

Add just a pinch or two of red pepper flakes to the tomatoes and olives and give it a stir.

Spoon the tomatoes and olives over the feta and drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the feta is soft and hot– it won’t actually melt all the way but will spread easily. Serve with warm pita bread and enjoy!

 It also reheats well if you have left-overs, but the chances of that happening are slim. Very, very slim.

I didn’t even know these little delights existed until a few months ago. I had just bought my ticket for Food Blog Forum and joined a Facebook group for the attendees. As I was going down the feed I started to see a common thread- everybody was talking about how excited they were to have a Dole Whip (or seven). The thread soon progressed into a discussion and confessional for those that were then deemed “Dole Whip Virgins” and we playfully planned an initiation ceremony for all of us underprivileged bloggers.

After the main conference on Saturday, I set off with a group of bloggers to the Magic Kingdom in search of the beloved Dole Whip. It was probably close to midnight so our pictures didn’t turn out ideally, but I finally got to taste what everyone had been raving about and didn’t have to introduce myself as Heather “the Dole Whip virgin”, any longer.

Picture by Vijay @ noshonit

So now, unless you are completely well-versed in Disney cuisine, you’re probably wondering what this is, aren’t you? Well, it’s basically pineapple flavored soft-serve. You can order it a few different ways: swirled with vanilla or orange and served in a cup, or in a pineapple juice float. My favorite way to eat it is as a vanilla-swirled float.  At Disney World it’s found at either Aloha Isle in the Magic Kingdom, or at Captain Cook’s at the Polynesian Resort; it is well worth tracking down if you’re visiting.  BUT, if you’re not en queue for a trip to Disney World I’ve got your back because the Dole Whips are coming to you!

The cravings set once I arrived home and I knew that I needed to figure out how to make these. After a few quick searches I found a few recipes that didn’t need  an ice cream maker but rather called for some freezer time in a ziplock bag. I really wanted to find a way to make it taste authentic without an ice cream maker, but ultimately came to terms with the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen.  So  yes, you need an ice cream maker for this recipe but it doesn’t have to be a fancy one. Mine is an older-model Cuisinart and I love it. You know what else I love? I got it for $8 at a thrift store.

We’re using 5 ingredients here: crushed pineapple, Cool Whip, lemon and lime juice, and just a touch of sugar.

In a blender puree 2 cans of crushed pineapple with the juice, 2 tbsp of sugar, and 2 tbsp of both fresh lemon and lime juice. Let it roll for as long as you’d like because you want it smooooth.

To the blender jar add in 1, 8 oz container of Cool Whip or whatever whipped topping you like. I’m typically not a whipped topping kind-of-gal and prefer whipped cream but I wanted to stay true to the original–and the original Dole Whip is dairy-free. So, Cool Whip it is!

Give it another go-around in the blender until it’s well-mixed. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty darn good even before it’s frozen.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and process for 10-20 minutes. Mine was ready at about the 15 minute mark.

If you’re in a float kind of mood (like I was and probably always will be), fill a glass half-way with pineapple juice and top with the soft-serve. I filled up a piping bag and squeezed it into my glasses to make it look a little more authentic.

Sip, savor, and enjoy! I’m not going to say it’s an exact replica of Disney’s treat, but it’s pretty darn close and curbed my cravings quite nicely.