Turkey, Bacon, Avocado on Squaw Sandwich

My daughter asked me - mommy, if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? My answer is the turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich from Butch's Grinders in Riverside. Their secret ingredient is the squaw bread from Galasso's Bakery in Mira Loma.

I attempted to recreate it after purchasing a loaf of squaw. Here's what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS

Squaw Bread

Mayonnaise

Garlic Oil

Iceberg Lettuce Finely Shredded

Onion - finely sliced

Tomato

Pickle

Provolone - 1 slice

Turkey

Avocado

Bacon

Every ingredient must be fresh and chilled. Mix the lettuce and onions together and lightly season with salt and pepper. Spread the garlic oil on one bread slice and light mayo on the other. Layer your sandwich accordingly, bacon, tomato, avocado slices, pickles, lettuce onion mixture, cheese, turkey, top with mayonnaise side down.

Enjoy!

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Pastrami Pizza

I do not like pastrami or mustard, except when it is placed atop a pizza. I first tried a pastrami pizza from the Downey Pizza Company. Now it is a monthly meal in our home. It is so easy and everyone loves it. I'm thinking I will bring it to a super bowl party next year.

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Crust (I used a BOBOLI)

Yellow Mustard

Pastrami

Pepperocinis

Jack cheese

Red Pepper

Garlic Salt

Spread the mustard on the pizza dough as you would sauce. Cover the pizza with the remaining ingredients as you like. Season with Red Pepper and Garlic Salt. Bake at 450 degrees for 14 minutes.

While you are eating the pizza, bake a brownie pizza for dessert! (recipe coming soon)

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30daysof...Favorite Famous Recipes

For March, the 30daysof…blog will be focusing on famous recipes from restaurants, movies, and cookbooks. The inspiration came after eating a McDonald’s Apple Pie and watching the movie Julie and Julia(which I rated 4 stars). I have scoured the internet looking for the recipes and had to improvise on a few, but here is a of 30 of my favorite famous dishes.

1. Apple Chicken Goat Cheese Salad by Nordstrom Café
2. BBQ Chix Pizza from CPK
3. Chipotle’s Guacamole
4. Ghirardelli's Chocolate Covered Strawberries
5. Corn Bread from Marie Callendars
6. Cream Corn from Summit House
7. Creamed Spinach from the Summit House
8. Crème Brulee from the Summit House
9. Doubletree Resort Chocolate Chip Cookies
10. El Torito Corn Cake
11. French Onion Soup from Mimi’s Café
12. French Toast Casserole by Four Season’s
13. Julia Child’s Bruschetta
14. Key Lime Pie by CPK
15. McDonald’s Apple Pie in a Pie Pop
16. Meatloaf by Mimi’s Café
17. Mrs. Knott’s Fried Chicken
18. Pasta e Fajiole soup from the Olive Garden
19. Pizzuki from BJ’s
20. Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
21. Salad Dressing from the Olive Garden
22. Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake
23. Downey's Pizza Company - Pastrami Pizza
24. Swallow at the Hollow Macaroni and Cheese
25. Swallow at the Hollow Sweet Potatoes
26. Tampopo’s Crunch Roll
27. Tequila Chicken Fettucine from California Pizza Kitchen (CPK)
28. Thai Chicken Wraps from Mimi’s Café
29. The Walnut that Kissed the Chicken Sandwich at www.rutabegorz.com
30. Turkey Bacon Avocado Sandwich from Butch’s Grinders

*Links will be posted throughout the month as I make the various recipes. In the meantime, what are your favorite recipes? Share yours below and leave a website link to help other moms be rock stars in their own home.

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Looking for Love? - Here it is!

This recipe makes my heart melt: Dark Chocolate covered Strawberries served with a Marshmellow Cream Dip.

INGREDIENTS

Long Stem Strawberries

1 package of Ghirardelli© Dark Chocolate Chips

1 Jar of Marshmellow Cream

1 package of Neufchâtel Cheese

HOW TO MAKE

Melt chocolate chips in a glass bowl atop boiling water. Add 1 tsp oil then stir until smooth. Dip Strawberries and lay on wax paper. Place in Fridge to harden.

For the dip, blend the entire jar of marshmellow cream with 1 package of Neufchâtel Cheese. Optional: sprinkle with brown sugar.

I decorated the bowl with the remaining chocolate. The strawberry shaped like a heart is the first picture in the album on facebook titled, Looking for Love. Make sure to look for love wherever you are. Take a picture and share the love with everyone.

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Tequila Chicken Fettucine

One of the best recipes at California Pizza Kitchen is their Tequila Chicken Fettucine.

It is requested in our home every month.

Here is how we make it:

-1 (16 ounce) package fettuccine pasta

-1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

-2 tablespoons minced garlic

-2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers

-3 tablespoons butter

-1/2 cup chicken stock

-3 tablespoons tequila

-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

-3 tablespoons soy sauce

-1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

-1/4 red onion, sliced

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

-1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

-1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, saute the cilantro, garlic and jalapeno pepper in 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the stock, tequila and lime juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until reduced to a paste-like consistency. Set aside.

Pour soy sauce over the chicken and set aside for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, In a medium sized skillet, saute the onion and the red, green and yellow bell peppers with the remaining tablespoon of butter or margarine, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook fettuccini according to package directions.

When the peppers have wilted, add the chicken and soy sauce. Toss and add the reserved tequila/lime paste and cream. Bring to a boil. Gently simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick. Toss with well drained fettuccini and garnish with cilantro. Serve.

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Sprinkles cupcakes made by TLC - That's Me

My mom knows how much I love Sprinkles Cupcakes so she bought me a canister of the cupcake mix for Christmas. At first I was disappointed because it is the experience and the tradition that I love the most.

Traditionally, Every year before the beach, we drive an hour to our nearest Sprinkles Cupcake Store. We wait in line for at least 15 minutes and we pay almost $4 for one cupcake. That is not the hardest part though. The hardest part is choosing which flavor to get. Besides their signature red velvet (which now comes Gluten Free and Vegan) they have other flavors such as Peanut Butter Chocolate, Coconut, and Chocolate Marshmellow to choose from. A box of 4 will run you $12.

So in honor of March's 30daysof...favorite famous recipes, I made mini red velvet cupcakes out of the cupcake mix to bring to an evening group meeting. The kit comes with 12 of their dots and a package of dry mix. The recipe for their frosting and the cupcakes are inside. Do they taste the same? Yes. They are fabulous!!!!

The cupcake mix makes 12 cupcakes and costs $14. Flavors are red velvet, dark chocolate, vanilla, lemon, banana, pumpkin, spice and chocolate peppermint.

And as they always say, mother knows best! So thanks mom. Sorry I seemed so disappointed at first!

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Big Belly Banks - A great gift for kids

Traditionally when a niece or nephew turns 1 or 2 in my life, they get one of these adorable BIG BELLY BANKS.

It makes saving money fun. And, instead of putting coins in their mouth, they put the coin in the bank and watch it travel down to its belly. When it's full, simply unscrew it and count the savings.

My daughter's bank gets emptied every birthday. It has been a great tool in teaching her how to count money.

Big belly banks have over 20 designs and sizes to choose from to match the decor.

Flowers, race cars, dogs, dinosaurs, football stand, baseball bat, cat, and more.

Visit their website for more details.

http://www.bigbellybanks.com/home.php?cat=1

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Give a Heart Attack to someone you Love

Just because Valentine's has passed, doesn't mean you can't share the love with those who deserve it. In fact, why not make a tradition of it?  This is a great way for teams to show their appreciation for a coach's effort and replaces the old tradition of toilet paper and raw eggs.  Decorate the lawn with homemade hearts or get this adorable flock of flamingos to garnish their lawn with.

Either way, the coach will appreciate the effort.  

Have fun and go give a heart attack to someone you think is doing a great job!

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The 3 things in every relationship

This is a picture of my husband and I. It's the typical engagement picture on the beach at sunset looking into each others eyes and holding a toaster. Yes everyone - that is a toaster.

But this toaster is not just any toaster. It is a symbol of an expression my stepdad says about choosing your partner which is,

"Take the three things you hate most about the person you are dating. Multiply that by 10 and if you can live with it, then you should get married."

Well our first "fight" was about this toaster. I liked it put away and he liked it on the countertop. So every morning he went to make toast he would have to pull it out of the cupboard, plug it in, toast the bread, eat, then go to work. Then I would wipe away the crumbs and put the toaster back in the cupboard. It lasted about three weeks before he finally snapped.

When sharing the story with our parents, they laughed because they knew our "rose-colored glasses" of new love were clearing up. They shared with us it's the little things in marriages that build up. The shoes he leaves laying in the hallway, the dishes she leaves in the sink for days, the light bulb no one wants to change, and the toaster's permanent spot in the kitchen.

I knew they were right but quickly dismissed it thinking, "I will never let those petty things bother me. Especially not with this wonderful man who is choosing to spend the rest of his life with me." Taven on the other hand, had the foresight to trust "experience and knowledge" when he carried the toaster out to the shore at sunset. (Well, I can call it foresight now 13 years later. Truth is, at the time, he was trying to make my parents laugh.)

This picture sits on the shelves at the offices of W.F. Underwood Financial and Insurance Services (my parents). When their clients come in, many will look at the picture, and do a double-take asking, "is that a toaster?" To which he will share his life lesson "the 3 things."

As with most couples, Taven and I have fought over many "toaster" issues throughout our marriage and never were they about a toaster - until two weeks ago when the one we've used broke. He went and bought a new one at Costco but I didn't like it (the slots weren't deep enough for his sourdough bread) So I told him I would exchange it. I went to three stores testing various types. Unsatisfied with them all, I decided the one he chose was perfect. I brought it home and meant to put it back where it belonged but instead left it in its box on the dryer. When he woke up and went to make toast he yelled, "Where's the damn Toaster!!!!!!!"

I laughed.

Then he did too.

So what are your three things? And/or what marriage advice can you share?

If you reply with some good advice before March 1st, you will be entered to win - you guessed it, a free toaster!!!!! Comment on the Facebook fanpage or below.

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Be Italian - Jewelry

See my Valentine's Gift! 

It is the first purchase we've made from QVC and it was for this Italian-made 14k pendant. Supposedly it is "the new thing." It is intricately designed gold woven over a stone. The best part, it is offered in Rose Gold which looks best on my skin. Can't wait to show you all the picture. 

If you need to order one and BE ITALIAN now is your chance.  

Get it in Yellow, White, or Gold

This picture is taken from the QVC website.

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