Author Archives for simplifiedbystacie

Do you ever have a recipe that is introduced to you and it’s an instant favorite? All the sudden it’s your go-to potluck recipe, the one you make when you have people over for dinner, and the one you have a screenshot of on your phone because someone inevitably always asks for it when you make it (and share). I will be honest here and say I’m not entirely sure who found and introduced this version of this recipe to my family. I will also be honest and say that I sincerely love whoever that angel was/is. In the spirit of honesty, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe nor can I say how many versions of it my family has devoured over the years. None of that is relevant, the important thing here is that I’m now sharing this family fave with all of you!

This recipe may seem intimidating to some of you because of the length of the ingredients and/or the chopping involved. Let me assure you upfront. It. Is. Worth. It! Also, there are workarounds here if you think with a simplifying kind of mind 😉 For example, if you are a huge fan of cucumbers but not so into peppers, go ahead and double one and remove the other (shorter ingredient list AND final product more to your liking!). Or, love all the veggies included but don’t love to chop your life away? Invest in one of those handy kitchen choppers so you can wash the veggies and just have to do a super rough chop so they fit in your handy dandy chopper. Let’s be real, who the heck cares if your knife cuts are precise and perfect? Real life is soooo not Food Network!

What if you don’t care about any of that but you just don’t see the sense in buying all that stuff for one recipe? Let’s revert back a few posts and revisit that whole simplifying meal planning thing. Hmmm..what could we do with those rough chopped peppers and onions that didn’t go into the kitchen chopper for this recipe? Just add chicken for some delicious kabobs? I think yes! What about making a half batch of this Texas caviar recipe and using almost all the leftovers for a Tex-mex rice bowl with all the fixings? For those of you who haven’t done this, take a couple minutes to make rice then add in the leftover cilantro once the rice is cooked. Top with warmed up leftover black beans and quickly slice and sauté the leftover peppers and onions. Put some grilled chicken or steak or shredded pork on top with salsa and sour cream and voila! You’ve got yourself a meal that is totally different than what you bought these ingredients for in the first place.

If you aren’t convinced that this recipe is worth making by now then I suggest you start re-reading because you must have missed something. It’s a beautiful and versatile (not to mention healthy) dish that can be served with chips or eaten by itself as a salad. This has been a staple in my family for years and I hope that it is one for you and yours as well, enjoy!

1/2 cup and 1 teaspoon are the only measurements you need for this recipe!

The dressing definitely won’t win any pageants but the rest of the recipe’s looks make up for it!

Ready..set..CHOP!

Kitchen chopper sacrifices some of the look of the finished product but makes it ready to eat faster so even trade off I’d say!

Buh-bye burning eyes from handling jalapeños!!!

In case anyone needs an excuse to purchase that adorable colander..this right here is a valid reason 😉

Look at all this fresh gorgeousness!!! Want to know the best part? It tastes delicious!

Legendary? For real? There I go again with the adjectives, right? Wrong! Ask anyone in my extended family, our friend circle, or any acquaintance within any of my siblings’ generation from my hometown and they will back me up. My mom’s monster cookies are legendary!!! 

This recipe is all thanks to my mom and the countless batches of these cookies she’s made for us over the years. That being said, I want to take a detour here and explain how this legendary recipe affected my husband’s relationship with me and my family. Any of you who have met my husband know that he can seem a bit shy when you first meet him. Any of you who really know my husband know that his true self will come shining through shortly thereafter 😉 For those of you who have never had the pleasure of meeting him, you have no idea what I’m talking about so let me tell you a story.

When I first started bringing my boyfriend-at-the-time-now-husband to my family gatherings he was beyond reserved. He came across as a sweet guy who was super polite and seemed to have taken a liking to me. I knew he was holding back and it was only a matter of time before his other amazing qualities came to light and my family saw why exactly I had fallen for him. After just a few times of him going back home to my parents’ farm with me, my mom started to pick up on his favorite foods. She has always had a tendency to make our favorite foods for us when we visit home and she’s taken that to an extreme level now that each of us have brought home future spouses. She wanted him (like each in-law before and after him) to feel right at home.

It didn’t take more than a few visits before he realized that she nearly always has a batch of these cookies either freshly made or hidden in the freezer. Almost equally as quickly, my mom noticed he seemed wayyyyy less reserved when the cookies were mentioned and, inevitably, passed around for all of us to enjoy. Soon, my sweet-tooth future hubby was not only taking multiple cookies before being offered, but even going so far as to ask about the whereabouts of the cookies himself. Eventually, the power of those cookies had my husband loosened up enough around my family that he felt comfortable enough to join in on the relentless teasing that is known as normal conversation to us.

Soon, my whole family began to realize this man was not nearly as shy as they first thought. He’s still the super sweet and polite guy they saw at first but he’s also now his normal hilarious, quick-witted, and smart self around them. I won’t lie here, I have little doubt that these cookies (along with the rest of the delicious cooking and baking of my family) sealed the deal with my husband falling in love 😉

Thankfully for our marriage, I found that the power of these legendary cookies extends past the boundary of my mom’s kitchen. Imagine my relief when I realized these cookies are actually simple enough that a notoriously failed baker such as myself can bake these delicious godsends! These cookies were a staple in our house when I was growing up, they are still a staple there when we visit home, and now I can make them a staple in my own house too. I can’t begin to tell you all the stories of these cookies but they include them being payment for work done, them being a midnight snack for family sitting around visiting late into the night, them being the core reason of relentless teasing about my perfectionist mom making sure exactly THREE M&Ms are visible on the top of each baked cookie (when I say each cookie, I mean EACH COOKIE of the thousands she has baked in her lifetime!). 

This recipe has been passed around to so many friends over the years that I thought it was only fitting to share with you all too! For those of you bakers, don’t panic when you scan this thinking I made a typo…there really isn’t any flour in this recipe! Now, go ahead and lose any reservations about making a full batch if this is your first time making this recipe. I halved it from the original which makes 4 dozen and believe me, you’ll regret not making at least 2 dozen after the power of these cookies has you falling in love after the first bite!

Yep. I said it. Magical marinade. Why is it magical, you ask? Because it’s so versatile of course! No crazy ingredients, quick to whip up, and works on steak/pork chops/chicken. That trifecta, in my book at least, makes this recipe magical! Now that Mother Nature is FINALLY releasing us from the throes of winter into a much more mild-mannered spring season, I thought it was the perfect time to share a marinade recipe. Also, with it being Mother’s Day and me being extra thankful today (as opposed to being incredibly thankful every day) for my mom, I figured what better way to show appreciation for her? Mom, this blog post is for you and all the thankless meals you made for us before we learned to be as thankful for you as we are today! Thank you. For really real, thank you!!!

Is there anything more exciting than the transition from one season’s meal plans into a new one? Just when you’re sick to death of your winter rotation of crockpot roasts, casseroles, and never ending soups, along comes a new season complete with new cooking options (outdoor grilling, yay!) and new seasonal fruits & veggies (double yay!). They don’t say that variety is the spice of life without good reason! Not sure how my mom kept such a variety of food in our rotation of meals when we were kids but I am SUPER thankful for that!

Growing up, I never realized the extent of work that went into each of our meals. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this little tidbit but I grew up on a farm in a quintessential small town. My dad grew multiple crops and raised livestock in teamwork with my mom who grew a garden and made seriously almost every single meal homemade. As an adult, I honestly have no idea how they managed to do this while not killing one of us kids…or each other! Now that I’ve reached the adulthood phase where I have to meal plan for myself and my own tiny family, I remember all the times my mom would beg us to just say what we want for supper! I find myself demanding answers to that same question from my husband and daughter and commiserate (about 25 years too late) with my mom. Did I mention how thankful I am for her?

To this day, I’ll never understand how both my parents stayed sane without having numerous fast food/restaurant options within a couple miles’ radius to run through and grab food for the family. It’s no wonder my mom is the amazing cook that she is or that my dad has always been so open to trying new meals. I’m so incredibly thankful to have been brought up eating home cooked meals, taught to cook, and been made aware of where our food came from and the fact that not everyone had those luxuries. All that being said, my mom got creative with recipes and used a few of the same ones in totally different ways so we never got sick of eating at home. This marinade is one of those recipes! She’d use it one week to marinate and grill chicken for salads then use it the next week for marinated grilled pork chops with mashed potatoes. I was clueless for years that it was the same recipe with only the protein being different; I just knew I loved that chicken and those pork chops too 😉 Now that I’m officially “adulting” and attempting to recreate that same homemade meal experience, I find myself secretly rejoicing when my daughter says she thinks some steaks cooked on the grill with that special sauce sounds great for dinner! For those of you who don’t know my daughter, that is a HUGE win! Getting her to eat meat, in any form, has been a struggle since the day she started consuming solid foods. To have her ask for steak literally makes me want to cry..tears of joy!

Alright friends, get your grill ready and let’s get marinating! Also, quick side note to thank your moms or the mom figures in your life for all they did for you. Whether we realize it or not, our parents shape us into the people (and especially the parents) we are today!