Lime Bars

These.Are.AMAZING.  That is all.

Lime Bars
Crust:
2 sticks butter, melted but cooled to room temp.
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Filling:
6 eggs
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup fresh lime juice (12-15 small-ish limes)
zest of 2 limes
pinch of salt
Enjoy your time in the kitchen:
1. Grease a 9X13 pan and line with foil.  Then spray the foil as well.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and move the oven rack to the lower middle position.
3. Mix the crust ingredients in a bowl until combined.  Press in to the bottom of the foil lined pan.  Bake for 15-   17 minutes. 
4. While the crust is baking, mix the filling.  Just whip it all together until is is nice and combined. 
5. When crust is finished baking, let it cool for 2 minutes, then pour on filling and return to oven to bake.  Do not let it cool longer than about 2 minutes. 
6. Bake for 22-24 minutes until set and not wobbly. 
7. Now comes the hard part, practice the virtue of patience and let this cool for 30 minutes before sprinkling with powdered sugar and cutting in to bars. 
*I like these best cold.  Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator*

Meet Joyful Momma

Welcome new friends from Pinterest.  So glad you found me!

I am Joyful Momma.
I love pearls
I really really like pink. My husband is color blind (extremely), he thinks our bedding is grey.  To be fair, I have told him that it is in fact, blush pink.
I went to nursing school….but didn’t finish. I have the basic knowledge (just enough to give me anxiety when I am feeling ill)
I can whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, from memory, in the 6 minutes it takes for the oven to preheat.
I have an incredible memory. I can remember very detailed and trivial facts about people. These are the kinds of things that I don’t repeat as the person I hardly know might be creeped out by the things I know about them.
Along with that, I have what my husband terms”media amnesia”. I have had the same CD in my car for about 4 years and I still don’t know the order of the songs or the lyrics. This makes watching the same movies and episodes of Friends really great. Its like I am watching it for the first time.
I have a twin sister. No cool stories, but being a twin is really cool.
I LOVE alpacas. I REALLY LOVE alpacas. I am sure you will hear more about this.
I once worked at Sea World as the vendor in the stands selling popcorn and soda. Shamu freaks me out.
While I have some fun and quirky traits, I have a serious side as well.  These are this things that are a big part of who I am and how I live my life.
1. I am a daughter of The King. I put my faith in my Lord, and I am forever thankful for the love of Jesus Christ.
2. My everyday, in and out life, is my mission field. I strive to show the Light of Jesus to all who know me and all those around me.
3. I intentionally raise my kids. Not much about what I do is “hap-hazard”. I think about what I tell them, how I instruct them, and what I teach them. I want them to grow up in the love of a Christ filled home and see what that can mean for them.
4. I suffered a miscarriage between my girls. We named that little guy Paxton Daniel. I talk about him without shame or fear. I trust the Lord for life and while loss is sad and I grieve what life could have been like with Paxton, I think it is really pretty neat that the only thing Paxton will know is Heaven, and the first thing he saw was Jesus.
5. We have no plans of saying “no” to more children. We are excited and looking forward to opening our arms and our hearts to the kids God would bless us with.
6. Some people don’t agree with me…..and that is ok.
7. I am a list maker and I like to plan. I have a chore list, a laundry list, and a weekly schedule that I try to stick to. I want to be proactive, not reactive, to my situations.
8. My husband is really really wonderful. I will gush about him frequently.
Welcome to my little corner of the world. Enjoy!

Crispy Chicken Roll Ups and Creamy Avocado Ranch

I know that I share a good amount of fiesta type dinners here on the blog.  But, it is what we eat and we love it.  I don’t make anything very spicy since I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old at the table as well.  But I do like to serve spicy salsa or cheese as a topping option.
Everyone was raving about this dinner while we ate.  It was so easy to prepare and I had all the ingredients on hand.  I am sure it will make it in to our regular dinner rotation.
 
These were so quick to assemble.  Mix the filling.  Roll the tortillas and brush with garlic oil.
  
While you mix up the filling let a bit of olive oil and some minced garlic bubble and infuse your kitchen with an amazing scent.          

Isn’t that such a pretty dinner?!  And you guys are gonna love me, the dip is made with 0% fat Greek Yogurt and not sour cream.  It adds a nice little tang.
   
Crispy Chicken Roll Ups
4 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
1 tsp cumin
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 cup water
* Add all ingredients to a crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours.  Drain and toss in Kitchenaid mixer to shred*
1 cup shredded cheese (I just used what I had on hand)
2 chopped green onions, white and green parts
1/3 cup salsa
1 tsp salt
1 (6oz) container of Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt (plain)
*Add to shredded chicken in a large bowl and set aside*
1/3 cup olive oil
2 gloves garlic, minced
*Heat over medium 5-8 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat*
12 flour tortillas
dried cilantro for garnish
1 recipe Creamy Avocado Ranch (below)
salsa for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking pan with parchment paper
2. Roll up chicken mixture in 12 flour tortillas and place seam down on parchment paper.
3. Brush tortillas with garlic oil and sprinkle with dry cilantro.
4. Bake 10 minutes, turn and bake another 10 minutes until edges get golden brown.
5. Serve with a smile and a large dollop of Cream Avocado Ranch and salsa

Cream Avocado Ranch
2 ripe avocados
1 (6oz) container Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt (plain)
juice from 1/2 lime (about 1 Tbsp)
1/2 pkg dry ranch dressing mix (1/2oz)
1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder
1. Mash avocados in a bowl until creamy.  Stir in yogurt and remaining ingredients.  Chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Roast on the Grill

We love to have a big Sunday dinner.  We almost always have family here to enjoy the meal with us as well.  When it is so hot in the summer, it makes a big Sunday dinner a bit of a challenge.  I try to keep the oven off so that everyone doesn’t want to spend all afternoon in the basement.  Roast in the crock pot is good, but nothing tastes as good as a nicely marbled roast with a crispy outside.

Roast is one of our family favorites.  And, who knew you could cook it on the grill.  And it didn’t take long at all.  This was definitely one of the best roasts I have yet.  It is seasoned simply with just garlic salt, onion powder, and ground black pepper.  I was VERY generous.  I gave this roast quite a nice spice massage.
 
The most time intensive part of the whole thing is that you sear it 5-8 minutes on each side to give it a nice crust and seal in the juices.  This thing turns out very juicy and flavorful.  Be sure that you do NOT trim off the fat.  That is part of the flavor and moisture.
After searing it, we let it cook on a pan to avoid fire.
Then you just let this baby sit and cook on indirect heat for about 70 minutes.  (Instructions below)
 
Serve with a side of garlic potatoes and carrots.  Finish the meal with warm chocolate chip cookies. 
 
Need to buy a good roast?  It can be hard at the store to determine a good roast from a bad one.  Visit Ranchline All Natural.  You will get a perfect cut of meat delivered to your door every time.  And the price is perfect.
Ok, so now here are the instructions.  Don’t be intimidated by the length.  This is an easy meal.
1. Take your roast out of the fridge and pat it dry.  Season generously with garlic salt, onion powder, and cracked black pepper.  Let the seasoned roast set at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
2. Turn all 3 or 4 burners to high to preheat the grill. 
3. Sear all 4 sides on high for 5-8 minutes per side (or until grease fire starts)  This will form a nice crust.  It may look burned but its ok.
4. Transfer the roast to a pan that is safe up to 400 degrees.  I just used a 4 sided cookie sheet to keep the juices on.  Now we will cook it on indirect heat.
5. If you have a 4 burner grill, turn off the 2 middle burners and turn the outside 2 burners to medium or until your lid thermometer says 310 to 325 degrees.  Set the pan over the middle two burners that are off.  If you just have a 3 burner grill, just turn off the 1 middle burner and put your roast over that one. 
6. Close lid and don’t be tempted to peek.  Check it in about 45 minutes.  Use a meat thermometer in the middle of the roast of and it will need to read about 135 when you take it off the grill.  It will still cook a smidge on the cutting board while it is resting.
7. Let roast set 5-10 minutes before slicing.  Slice and serve.  Enjoy!