Name: Best Chicken Marinade for Quick, Easy & Healthy Grilled Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 1 cup Whole Milk Plain yogurt; 2 TBS olive oil; 4 cloves garlic, pressed; Juice of 1/2 a lemon, plus zest if you want; 1 tsp REAL salt; freshly ground pepper to taste; 1 TBS finely chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dry); 1 TBS finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dry)

Family Friendly La Crosse Restaurants to Try this Weekend

July 20, 2018 by Michelle Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a few new La Crosse restaurants to try, enjoy this list of family friendly places to eat! Each of these delicious La Crosse restaurants has my picky family’s stamp of approval. 🙂

*This post is sponsored by Explore La Cross CVB and includes affiliate links to brand partners. If you purchase through our affiliate links, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Family Friendly La Crosse Restaurants to Try this Summer

From breakfast to lunch to dinner and desserts – we’ve got you covered if you’re heading to the La Crosse, Wisconsin area. We even have a bonus food truck for you to try too! All of these restaurant options are tried and approved by my picky family! Enjoy delicious coffee, craft beer, wood fired pizza, homemade ice cream and more in La Crosse and the surrounding area.

Fayze’s Restaurant & Bakery

We hit Fayze’s Restaurant and Bakery for breakfast take out one morning and my kid were in heaven! Look at those beautiful pastries! The choloate croissants were my fave, but Fayze’s also serves a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Their Bloody Mary’s look fabulous and judging by the wait list when we showed up for our pastries, Fayze’s is a very popular La Crosse destination.

Fayze’s is in downtown La Crosse at Fourth & Pearl

Open at 6:30 am daily (608)784-9548

The Bodega Grill and Bar

If you like delicious sandwiches and beer, definitely stop in at the Bodega Grill and Bar. We tried a lot of the hot sandwiches and loved them all. My favorite was Ozzie’s Own Reuben. Made with brown mustard instead of 100 Island, this was a much better Reuben than I’ve had elsewhere. I’m not a huge 1000 Island fan, though. Dan the beer enthusiast had a great time spinning the bike tire for a brew at the Bodega.

Essentially, spin the wheel and then pay $3.75 for whichever beer it stops at. You get what you get and you can’t throw a fit, but since a lot of the beers cost more than $3.75, it’s possible you’ll save a bit of money while trying a beer you might not have tried otherwise! With over 400 different bottles of beer and 20 on tap, The Bodega is the place to go. We learned about a lot of fun ghost stories on The Ghosts of Historic La Crosse Walking Tour and the Bodega was one of the places they mentioned. The kids also loved their free popcorn. 😉

The Bodega Brew Pub is in downtown La Crosse at 122 4th Street South.

The Rooftop Terrace at the Charmant Hotel

The Charmant Hotel offers several different dining options including The Restaurant, the Lobby Bar & Lounge, an informal Rooftop Terrace, The Parlor coffee bar, and a confectionery Sweets Bar as well. We really enjoyed spending a nice evening on the rooftop terrace. The drinks and wood fire pizza were delicious and the atmosphere was informal enough that we felt comfortable bringing our kids along. If you want a nicer evening out, enjoy a kid-free dinner in the dining room!

We love that the Charmant Hotel sources local ingredients from regional farmers and works with local breweries and spirit makers too! We highly recommend the homemade French Onion Dip, the Burrata Salad, and the delicious wood-fired pizzas! It’s probably a good idea to call ahead for reservations as the Charmant is a very popular destination.

The Charmant is in downtown La Crosse at 101 State Street

608-519-8800

The Pearl Ice Cream Parlor & Confectionery

If you are an ice cream lover, you must stop in at The Pearl Ice Cream Parlor for homemade ice cream and waffle cones. Located in the heart of downtown La Crosse, The Pearl features a 1930s soda fountain and has been voted the #1 dessert establishment in La Crosse. The ice cream, waffle cones, and most of the candy is all homemade and delicious. My family gives The Pearl 12 thumbs up! If you’re feeling adventurous, ask them about the friendly ghosts that tug at their apron strings – another interesting story we learned on the walking tour of La Crosse!

Find the Pearl Ice Cream Parlor at 207 Pearl Street La Crosse

Apothik Food Truck

Be on the lookout for the Apothik Food Truck! We really enjoyed their delicious food at the Driftless Sports Convergence! Apothik’s home location is in downtown La Crosse on the corner of 3rd and Main Streets but they’re a food truck so they’re on the go. Check out their facebook page for uptodate locations. We loved their Chicken Scawarma but Apothik’s menu is constantly changing based on what’s available seasonably.

Two Beagles Brew Pub

Located just outside La Crosse in nearby Onalaska, Two Beagles Brew Pub is aother one of our favorite family friendly restaurants in the area. Enjoy live music, six seasonal craft beers brewed on site, pizza, and beautiful sunset views of the Mississippi River. Two Beagles’ lunch and dinner menus are updated seasonally and feature local, organic, and sustainable foods whenever possible.

Find them at 910 2nd Avenue North Onalaska

Red Pines Bar & Grill on the River

Also outside La Crosse in nearby Onalaska, you’ll find the Red Pines Bar & Grill. This chill restaurant has a heated patio that offers great views of Lake Onalaska’s northern shore, a boat dock, live music, and sand volleyball courts! Red Pines Bar & Grill has been voted the #1 Fish Fry, the #1 Rural Bar, and the #1 Neighborhood Tavern so it’s worth a stop on your trip to La Crosse. They have delicious pub fare – make sure to try the walleye bites if you go. Their claim to fame is the Shrimp & Fish Fry on Friday nights so add a visit to your list!

Red Pines Bar is at W7305 County Road Z, Onalaska

Have favorite La Crosse restaurants to add to this list?? I’d love to hear!

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Fun Family Weekend Getaway in La Crosse Wi

July 20, 2018 by Michelle Leave a Comment

La Crosse Wi is very fun weekend getaway for families, girlfriends, and couples. If you’re looking for a city with delicious food, lovely accommodations, and fun outdoor activities for adults and kids, consider Lacrosse! You won’t be disappointed.

*This post is sponsored by Explore La Cross CVB and includes affiliate links to brand partners. If you purchase through our affiliate links, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Spend a Fun Family Weekend Getaway in La Crosse WI

La Crosse, Wisconsin is perfectly situated in the Driftless Area of Western Wisconsin along the Mississippi River. A three and half hour drive from my home in Eastern Iowa, it’s also two and half hours from Minneapolis, three hours from Milwaukee, and four hours from Chicago. One of the things I love most about travel blogging is the ability to explore lovely cities and La Crosse is one city we really enjoyed visiting this spring.

The drive to La Crosse from Eastern Iowa is absolutely stunning. If you can, I highly recommend a drive up the Great River Road Scenic Byway. It meanders through quaint Iowa towns all along the Mississippi River and is absolutely stunning. We saw fun sights along the way like the Hula-hoop Tree in Jones County!

It’s also a great ride on motorcycles I learned from my father-in-law, an avid motorcycle explorer. I sometimes take the Mississippi River for granted since I live 15 miles away from it and see it on an almost daily basis, but it is a beautiful sight to behold and this trip reminded me that!

Family Friendly Things to Do in La Crosse

If your family likes active adventures, La Crosse offers up lots of options. From bike riding to boating, to hiking and exploring, your family will find something to make everyone in your family happy! Keeping kids happy outside {and off electronics} is a not so secret goal of mine – and you can do that in La Crosse. No problemo!

Our family loved biking on the Great River State Trail through La Crosse and Onlaska. This gorgeous mixed-use trail along the Mississippi River is easy biking on well-maintained paths. Make sure to stop in at the Great River Landing so your kids can play in the music park and swing in the giant swings! If you don’t want to haul your bikes from home, rent them from area shops! You can also sign up for guided tours like the one we took.

The Ghosts of Historic La Crosse Walking Tour

We enjoyed walking through downtown La Crosse at dusk learning about some of the haunts and shadier secrets of the area. Now I will disclose that the adults enjoyed this walking tour more than the kids, but the kids had fun too. We even asked several restaurant workers about the stories we heard on the walking tour and every story was corroborated! Since we have our own mischievous barn ghost, we really enjoyed this hour long stroll. Learn more here.

Boat rentals from Island Outdoors

Take a turn on the water with a kayak, canoe, or hydro-bike rental! Even though the weather was bad, we enjoyed going out for a quick 30 minutes on the river. My kids were a little disappointed they didn’t get to try out the hydro-bikes, but we did enjoy the canoes and kayaks in the rain. Had the weather been nicer, I’m sure we would have had to fight quite a bit get the kids out of the water. Check out Island Outdoors for all the deets!

Downtown Shops in La Crosse

We’re suckers for quaint downtown shops and La Crosse does not disappoint. My personal favorite was Duluth Trading Company. I could have stayed there all day! My younger kids loved the independent book store Pearl Street Books and my eldest daughter (the pianist) was in heaven at Leithold Music – such a neat old store with room after room of pianos and more!

Other things my kids would really enjoy doing include the Children’s Museum of La Crosse, taking a pizza dinner cruise on the La Crosse Queen, and playing in the arcade and more at Shenanigans Entertainment Center and Sports Bar. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time on this trip, but I hope we are able to make it back and experience more of the fun things that La Crosse has to offer!

Enjoy this silly little video we made about some of our favorite things in La Crosse!

Where to Stay in La Crosse WI

There are lots of great options for places to stay in La Crosse. We opted to glamp in a lovely cabin not too far from La Crosse at the Neoshonic Lakeside Camp & Resort. We loved our little cabin and the campsite offered many kid friendly amenities including playgrounds, swimming pools, guided activities, and more!

Read about our wonderful Wisconsin Cabin at Neoshonic Lake Campgrounds here.

If you’re looking for other options, my friend Nicky from Little Family Adventure stayed at this amazing B & B in La Crosse called The Castle La Crosse. Read about her adventures at the B & B here. And my friend Kim from Two Kids and a Coupon stayed at the AmericInn La Crosse with her family. Her family enjoyed the water slides and more. You read about her adventures here.

What to eat & drink in La Crosse

From delicious coffee to craft beer to wood fired pizza and homemade ice cream, you’ll find the perfect restaurant in La Crosse WI. We enjoyed a wood fired pizza dinner and drinks on the roof of the lovely Charmant Hotel, spinning the bike tire for a brew at the Bodega, eating appetizers at the Red Pines Bar & Grill on the River, and eating ice cream at the Pearl Ice Cream Parlor. Find even more delicious La Crosse restaurants in this post.

We enjoyed our time in La Crosse Wi and the FAM trip to the Driftless Sports Convergence. Thank you Explore La Crosse for the fun filled weekend. What are you waiting for? Book your La Crosse weeekend getaway now and go explore.

Want more Fun Family Getaway Ideas? You might like these posts too!

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Best Chicken Marinade for Quick, Easy & Delicious Grilled Chicken

July 10, 2018 by Michelle 5 Comments

If you’re looking for the best chicken marinade, here you go! We’ve been using this quick, easy, delicious, and healthy grilled chicken marinade for a long time and I know you will love it. Made with yogurt, garlic, fresh herbs, and a hint of citrus, it’s perfect for hot summers and beyond.

Best Chicken Marinade for Quick, Easy, & Delicious Grilled Chicken

I’ve shared this recipe on the blog before. You can find it here in my recipe for Greek Panko Chicken Sheet Pan dinner. But it is also delicious as a stand alone recipe for simple grilling. In today’s installment of Tuesdays in the Garden, I’m sharing this the best chicken marinade for delicious grilled chicken! If you haven’t tried it yet, you must!

Today, my gardening friends and I are sharing our favorite farm to table recipes using ingredients we’ve grown ourselves. My chicken marinade recipe features garlic and fresh herbs from my garden. If you don’t want to use fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs, but since it’s so easy to grow your own kitchen herbs, I really encourage you to try growing a kitchen herb garden. There are lots of options for growing herbs in your kitchen even throughout the winter. And it’s so worth it to be able to snip your own fresh herbs in the dead of winter.

Let’s make this easy chicken marinade!

To make the marinade, all you need to do is mix all ingredients in a glass bowl, or a ziplock baggie if you prefer. I use organic whole milk yogurt. You could use a lower fat yogurt if you want, but there are a lot of health benefits to whole milk yogurt, so I recommend using it!

Fresh herbs result in the best flavor, but you can also use dried herbs if you want. And finally, the recipe calls for lemon juice, but I know from experience that lime juice works just fine in this recipe too. Lemon and lime aren’t always interchangeable, but they both work in this recipe.

Tools I used to make this recipe:

I have found that having the right equipment makes all the difference when you’re cooking, even when you’re making something as simple as this best chicken marinade. Through a lot of trial and error, I’ve come up with a list of indispensable kitchen tools. I’m not a person who wants all the kitchen tools, but I have a core set of a few things that I use almost every day. Here’s a few of them! The following links are affiliate links which means I earn a small commission should you make a purchase.

Microplane – I’ve tried a lot, but this one is the best! I have it in green. 🙂
Garlic press – I’ve also tried a lot of garlic presses, and this is hands down my favorite.
Nesting bowls – be careful when choosing nesting bowls. I like these best because they don’t chip and break like others I’ve used in the past.
Meat Thermometer – You’ll want a meat thermometer to test doneness!
Chicken Pounder – also helpful for consistent grilling times

Chicken grilling tips

Want perfectly grilled chicken every time? Make sure to follow these tips! I can guarantee we’ve done each and every thing wrong over the years and have learned a lot about the proper way to grill amazing chicken.

Pound boneless skinless chicken breast to get them the same thickness. The unevenness of chicken breasts makes the challenging to grill.
If you use a gas grill, make sure you have enough fuel in the grill so you don’t run out mid-grill.
Rub a little oil on the grill before adding chicken so it doesn’t stick.
Cover your grill by lowering the grill lid while the chicken is cooking, or use a foil pan upside down to help keep the heat on your chicken while it’s grilling.
Use a thermometer to make sure you chicken is thoroughly cooked to 165 degrees.

Nutrition

Calories

429 cal

Fat

35 g

Carbs

23 g

Protein

10 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

Michelle Marine

Yields 1

Best Chicken Marinade for Quick, Easy & Healthy Grilled Chicken

Quick, delicious, and healthy chicken marinade perfect for grilling.

5 minPrep Time

30 minCook Time

35 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

1 cup Whole Milk Plain yogurt
2 TBS olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Juice of 1/2 a lemon, plus zest if you want
1 tsp REAL salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 TBS finely chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dry)
1 TBS finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dry)

Instructions

To make your marinade, simply combine all ingredients in a glass bowl and stir well.
Add chicken and cover with marinade.
Refrigerate until ready to grill - a minutes of 30 minutes, but up to 24 hours!

Notes

Marinate chicken in fridge for at least 30 minutes, but up to 24 hours.

https://simplifylivelove.com/best-chicken-marinade/

Want more farm-to-table recipes from SimplifyLiveLove?

Greek Panko Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

Roasted Farm-to-Table Veggies & Kielbasa

Farm-to-Table 15 Minute Beef & Zucchini Skillet Dinner

Creamy Roasted Garlic Salad Dressing

Tuesdays in the Garden

And now it’s time for recipes from my friendly and amazing Tuesdays in the Garden bloggers. I’m looking forward to trying each and every idea. From homemade muffins to raspberry chicken marinade, to cucumber salad, to chicken and tomato nachos, and growing your own tea garden, I love all of these delicious ideas! Please click on each link to check out the recipes.

From Jami @ An Oregon Cottage – Honey Sweetened Blackberry Muffins

Diane @ Homemade Food Junkie – Grilled Chicken with Raspberry Marinade

Shelly @ Frugal Family Home – Easy Cucumber Salad

Patti @ Hearth and Vine – Tomato Chicken Nachos

Angie @ Angie Freckled Rose – 5 plants you need to grow an herbal tea garden

Better than Take Out Beef and Broccoli Instant Pot Recipe

July 3, 2018 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Better than takeout and healthier too! This easy beef and broccoli instant pot recipe is ready in 20 minutes! Treat your family to healthier Chinese food with this family friendly recipe.

Better than Take Out Beef and Broccoli Instant Pot Recipe

Inevitably when we’re trying to pick a restaurant, one of my children votes for a Chinese buffet. I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled with Chinese buffets. Everyone ends up eating too much food, and it’s never healthy.

But we love Chinese food, so I have been making my own. Not only is it not that hard to make, I feel a lot better serving my creations to my family. Recently, I harvested a bunch of broccoli from my garden and knew I wanted to make beef and broccoli with it. Since the Instant Pot is my obsession this summer, I decided to try a pressure cooking recipe. I based my recipe on this one I found at ISaveAtoZ, but I made a few healthier ingredient swaps and used fresh broccoli instead of frozen broccoli.

The result is an easy recipe that the entire family loves. And it’s really on the table fast! 15-20 minutes is about all you need to make this recipe. Serve it up over rice or noodles – your choice. And then take it easy because dinner is served! Since it’s all made in the instant pot, cleanup is minimal.

Let’s get cooking – it’s easy to make this pressure cooker beef and broccoli recipe
To make this healthier beef and broccoli recipe:

First, cut your meat against the grain into thin slices. I’ve used both a chuck roast and boneless sirloin and they both work really well. Just make sure your slices are on the thin side. Then, prep your onions and broccoli. When that’s done, add oil to the Instant Pot and use the saute feature to heat it up.

When the oil is hot, cook the onions until translucent, 3-5 minutes. While the onions are cooking, mix up the sauce and pour it over the meat.

This post contains affiliate links which means I earn a small commission on your purchase at no cost to you. To make the sauce, I like to use Tamari Sauce. Tamari Sauce is gluten-free and non-gmo. I think it also has a little bit richer flavor. If you want a lower-sodium sauce, get this one.

I like to use fresh ginger when I make Chinese food. I store ginger root in the freezer and then grate it very easily using my beloved microplane. If you don’t have one, you need a microplane! I also use fresh garlic which I love to grow myself. Fresh garlic is very good for your immune system (and keeping away vampires) and fresh ginger can help lower blood pressure.

Pour the meat and sauce in the Instant Pot, cook on high manual for 8 minutes, the manually release the pressure. Carefully open the Instant Pot and add the broccoli, cook on high pressure for 1-2 minutes more, and one again, manually release the pressure.

The final step to making this easy beef and broccoli is to remove 1/3 cup of the hot liquid from the instant pot and mix it well with arrow root powder or corn starch. I prefer arrow root powder because it is non-gmo. Mix the liquid back in the instant pot and watch it thicken! Now you’re ready to eat. 🙂