Picnic in the Park: Mediterranean Chicken Wraps

I so glad that spring has been really good to us lately.  I love being outdoors!

Most weekends you can find us hiking, swimming, hanging at the beach or eating alfresco.  While the weather has been a little up and down lately we've had a perfect day for a picnic in the park!  So I seized the moment and packed us a scrumptious lunch, packed the blanket and headed to Griffith Park for an afternoon of leisurely fun and food.

I just love, love, love...all of our wonderful parks.  Griffith Park is a landmark in Los Angeles.  It's a huge 4300 acre area that houses the LA Zoo, the LA Observatory, the Greek Theatre among all the natural reserves that house a multitude of wildlife.  There are many trails for hiking and designated picnic areas.  It's a great place to spend the afternoon.

So we drove to a perfect picnic spot and started unwrapping out food goodies.  First up are these tasty Mediterranean Chicken Wraps.  Oh boy are these good!  Last night we grilled a Greek Lemon Chicken and I made sure we had leftovers for another use.  Perfect, as these were cut up and used in these wraps.  The rest of the ingredients are fresh veggies rolled up in a tortilla with the chicken and a sprinkling of cheese.  There you have it!  The perfect, portable, sandwich.  

A big bonus is you can eat them with your hands...less silverware.  Yea! The kids, heck, the whole family will love them.  They really are the perfect picnic dish.  They would be great to take to a concert in the park...hmmm I'm thinking Hollywood Bowl!  They have all the great flavors of the Mediterranean.  Simple, smart, tasty, and filling.  What better than that?

Enjoy!




Mediterranean Chicken Wraps

serves 2

Ingredients:
2 8-inch tortillas or wraps
1 grilled chicken breast, cut in slices1 cup of romaine, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium tomato, cubed
1/2 cucumber, seeded and julienned
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Directions:

Lay out two tortillas.  Divide the chicken, lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber and place them down the center.  Top with feta cheese.

Fold in two opposite sides of the tortilla toward the middle. Then roll the long side over, rolling tightly like a burrito to enclose all the ingredients.  Secure with a toothpick if needed.  To serve cut the wraps in half slicing on the diagonal.  

Serve and enjoy!

Note:  If you are taking these to another location, make sure to wrap them in parchment paper or aluminum foil to keep them fresh.

Springtime Brunch: Strawberry Sour Cream Muffins

I love springtime.  It makes me want to eat outside and have brunch!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the nice weather of spring than having a brunch filled with foods that speak 'spring'.  Omelets with asparagus, mushrooms, and peas come to mind.  So do strawberries.  We see the first of our strawberries in the spring and they peak around May.

One perfect way to feature these luscious babies is to bake them into some muffins. Not just any muffins though.  This is a brunch...it deserves a little decadent muffin. One with sour cream in it to make it soft and tender.  Oh the joy of a strawberry muffin!

I've used a basic recipe and even provided you with lower carb options should you choose.  Either way you make them they will turn our fantastic!  Perfect for your spring brunch menu.

Remember, if you can't find some good juicy strawberries yet, then use frozen ones. They will work just as well, and you don't have to thaw them!

Enjoy the spring weather!





Strawberry Sour Cream Muffins



Makes 12


2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/8 t salt
½ c sugar or ¼ c Splenda sugar blend
2 large eggs
1 c sour cream
6 T canola oil
1 t vanilla
1 c frozen or fresh strawberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine. In another small bowl lightly beat eggs. Add in sour cream, oil, and vanilla. Beat slightly to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until moistened. Do not over mix. Fold in strawberries.

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fresh Strawberry Milkshake

Ice cream is a weakness of ours.

We just love the creamy goodness but sometimes we like to shake it up a bit from our usual scoop of ice cream.

This time we turned our favorite dessert into a creamy, dreamy, Fresh Strawberry Milkshake!  Oh man was it good! We had just come from the farmers market and had bought extra strawberries to make a shortcake with but I couldn't help myself, and decided to put them in a milkshake.

Now I typically gravitate toward a chocolate milkshake, but something about these strawberries were calling me.  Might have been the nice spring weather, or the bright red colors. Whatever it was I was disappointed because these berries were just delicious!

A milkshake is easy to make, you just through everything in the blender and turn it on.  Voila, a perfect milkshake is born.

So now we are sitting on our patio enjoying the beautiful cool weather and a delicious Fresh Strawberry Milkshake.  Life is good!

Enjoy!



Fresh Strawberry Milkshake

serves 4

8 ounces strawberries, cored and sliced
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pint low-fat vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup 2% milk

Pour all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.