Oct22

White Chicken Chili {Crock Pot}

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White Chicken Chili {Crock Pot}

As fall approaches, I find myself making more soups, chilis and stews.  Comfort food at it’s best.  This chili is one you can throw together quickly in the morning, and come home to a delicious dinner ready and waiting for you that evening - all thanks to the crock pot!

White Chicken Chili {Crock Pot}

  • 32 oz chicken broth
  • 8-10 chicken tenders
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (I like fire roasted tomatoes, but any will do)
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • cheddar cheese, for serving
  • tortilla chips, for serving

Place all ingredients except cheese and chips into crock pot, stirring to combine.  Cover and cook on medium for 8 hours.  Remove chicken and shred with a fork.  Return chicken to crock pot.  Spoon into bowls, top with cheese, and serve along with tortilla chips.

Oct21

Toffee Caramel Coffee

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Toffee Caramel Coffee

The temperatures are finally starting to get cooler here, and to me that means cozy evenings snuggled up in a blanket with a good book and a nice warm drink.  I’ve been playing around with lots of new sweet beverages for my next cookbook (which will be ready by early December!), and I decided to share one of my favorites with my dear blog readers!  If you like this one, be sure to order one of my cookbooks when they are ready!

Toffee Caramel Coffee

  • 6 oz. hot coffee
  • 1 tbsp caramel ice cream syrup (or your favorite caramel sauce)
  • 1 tbsp toffee bits
  • whipped cream
  • caramel syrup for drizzling
  • toffee bits for sprinkling

Stir toffee bits into hot coffee and let sit for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Strain to remove any remaining toffee pieces; pour into mug.  Stir 1 tbsp caramel syrup into coffee.  Top with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel syrup, and a sprinkle of toffee bits.

 

Oct20

Hashbrown Egg Nests

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Hashbrown Egg Nests

When you need a good hearty breakfast, full of protein, potatoes, and eggs, but don’t have time to sit down to a big plate full of food…Hashbrown Egg Nests are the way to go.  You can even make these ahead and just reheat when you’re ready to eat.  And they’re the perfect size to grab and go for a quick breakfast on the run.  You can change up the ingredients to whatever meat and veggies you happen to have in your fridge. 

Hashbrown Egg Nests

  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1 cupfrozen hashbrown potatoes, thawed
  • pinch of garlic powder
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of pepper
  • 1 cup egg substitute (or 4 eggs, beaten)
  • 2 tbsp diced green onion
  • 1/4 cup finely diced bell peppers and/or other vegetables of choice
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheese
  • 1/4 cup meat of choice – diced ham, diced turkey, crumbled bacon, etc

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray.  combine potatoes, 1/2 cup minced onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Fill each muffin cup with about 1/3 cup potato mixture and press into bottom and up sides of cup to form a nest.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until godlen brown and crispy.

In bowl, combine egg substitute, green onion, bell peppers (or other veggies), cheese, and meat(s).  Fill each hashbrown nest with about 1/4 cup of egg mixture.  Return to oven and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until eggs are fully cooked.

Serves: 6

 

 

 

Oct19

Stevie’s Triple Decker Sammie

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Stevie’s Triple Decker Sammie

One day at work, the subject of sandwiches came up.  I mentioned that I love a good BLT sandwich.  A coworker asked me if I’d ever had one with peanut butter, onion, and a fried egg – the way his mom had always made them.   My response?  “Um, no!  That sounds nasty!!”  He tried his best to convince me that it was the best sandwich you’ll ever eat.  I didn’t believe him.  I went on my merry way and forgot all about that conversation.  Except not really.  Every once in a while I’d think about that nasty sounding sandwich.  Would it really be that gross?  Well, I finally decided about a week ago that I’d give it a shot.  Only I eliminated the onion.  I don’t do raw onion.  Otherwise, I followed his intructions exactly – I mean, you have to put the ingredients together in the right order for it to REALLY be Stevie’s Triple Decker.  So if you make this sandwich, please, for the love of all things holy, put it together in the right order! 

Stevie’s Triple Decker Sammie

  • 3 slices bread, toasted
  • mayonnaise
  • lettuce
  • fried egg
  • tomato
  • bacon
  • onion
  • peanut butter

Okay…start with a slice of toast.  Spread on a layer of mayo.  Then add a few pieces of lettuce.  Top with a fried egg.  Spread a layer of mayo on a second piece of toast and place it mayo side down onto the sandwich.  Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on the top of the toast.  Top with tomato slices.  Then add bacon.  Finally, add the onion.  Take your last piece of toast and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on one side, and place it peanut butter side down onto the sandwich.

You’re ready to eat! 

Serves: 1 or 2, depending on how hungry you are!  I could only eat half!

Oct18

Spinach Bacon Pasta

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Spinach Bacon Pasta

Last time I posted (which has been a while, I know…and I’m sorry!), I posted a recipe for Spinach Dip.  That dip is super delicious with crackers or chips, but you can also use it as a pasta sauce!  How cool is that?  I threw together this pasta dish with that spinach dip, some bacon, and parmesan cheese.  That’s it.  Super simple, but so full of flavor!

Spinach Bacon Pasta

  • 8 oz pasta of your choice
  • 8 strips bacon, cooked crisp
  • 1/4 cup Spinach Dip
  • Fresh parmesan cheese, grated

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and toss with spinach dip.  Chop or crumble the bacon and toss with pasta.  Place into serving dishes and top with fresh parmesan cheese.

Serves: 4

Sep27

Sundried Tomato & Fresh Spinach Dip

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Sundried Tomato & Fresh Spinach Dip

Spinach.  Do you love it?  Hate it?  Me – I like baby spinach (aka arugala) in a salad.  I like spinach in dishes where it is a ‘backdrop’, not the main ingredient.  But I LOVE spinach dip.  And since it’s key ingredient IS spinach, I consider it healthy, and find myself eating almost half the batch right after making it.  Don’t judge me.  (But seriously…if you use low-fat cream cheese and sour cream, it really is pretty healthy.  Seriously.)

This recipe couldn’t be simpler to make.  Blanch some fresh spinach, chop up some sundried tomatoes and onion and throw it all in the food proccesor with the other ingredients.  Easy peasy.  This recipe is a great party dish, but you can also use it as a sauce for pasta (that recipe/post is coming tomorrow!)

Sundried Tomato & Fresh Spinach Dip

  • 1 bag fresh spinach
  • 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (dry packed)
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup cream cheese
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon

Blanch spinach in boiling water for one minute.  Draine and rinse immediately in cold water to stop the cooking.  Squeeze to remove excess liquid.  You should have about one cup of cooked spinach at this point.

Place spinach in food processor along with remaining ingredients.  Pulse until smooth.  Serve immediately, or store covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sep26

Broiled Salmon

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Broiled Salmon

Mondays.  Who needs ‘em?  I don’t know about you, but Mondays are super-crazy-busy for us.  I get up, get ready for work, get the kids up and ready for school, take the kids to school, go to work, pick up daughter from school, go back later to pick up son from tutoring, and a couple of hours later, I take daughter to gymnastics, then we come home and get ready for bed.  Yep.  That’s what our Monday’s look like.  Usually, there is only about an hour and a half between the time we get home from tutoring and have to leave for gymnastics.  And on nights like those, I need quick dinners.  And that usually means fish.  It thaws quickly.  It cooks quickly.  So I can take it from the freezer, throw it in a bowl of water to thaw, cook it and be ready to eat in about 45 minutes.  Exactly what I need on a Monday.  Broiled Salmon is one of my go-to dishes for Mondays. 

Broiled Salmon

  • salmon fillets (1 per person)
  • olive oil
  • fresh lemon
  • salt
  • pepper
  • herbs of your choice

Preheat broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place salmon fillets on foil.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Cut lemon in half and slice one very thin slice for each fillet.  Squeeze juice of remaining lemon peices over fillets.  Season with salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice (although, just  olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper is delish!).  Place one lemon slice on each fillet.  Broil until fish is cooked through and flakes easily – about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness.

Sep2

Paw Paw Muffins

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Paw Paw Muffins

About a week ago, I went to a friend’s house to pick up something I had ordered from her.  When I stepped on her porch I could smell this really sweet, fruity scent.  When she opened the door the first thing I said was “what smells SO GOOD out here???”  It smelled absolutely divine.  I can’t even describe it.  She informed me that it was Paw Paw fruit from her Paw Paw tree.  Seriously?  I had only heard of them from The Jungle Book movie!  Is there really such a thing?  Yes, there really is.  She gave me a bag of them to take home and try.  She told me that they are an ‘acquired taste’ for most people, so don’t be alarmed if you take a bite and don’t really like it at first.  So, I took my little bag of Paw Paws home and was anxious to taste one and make something with them. 

First, I just cut one open, and ate a bit of the flesh with a spo0n.  Hmm…she’s right.  I didn’t love it.  But I didn’t hate it either.  I couldn’t decide.  So, I made muffins with a few.  I did like the muffins better than the plain paw paw, but I still didn’t love it.  My husband really liked the muffins though.  Here’s the recipe, in case you ever come across some Paw Paw fruit yourself!

Paw Paw Muffins

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 3 medium-large paw paws (or 4 small ones), flesh removed
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup walnuts

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In seperate bowl, combine paw paw flesh, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg yolk.  Stir just until mixed together.  Add dry ingredients and walnuts to paw paw mixture, stirring just until combined.  Don’t overmix.

Divide evenly into 5 or 6 muffin cups (grease the muffin cups or use papers).  Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted comes out clean.  Cool slightly before serving.

Sep1

Creamy Tomato Soup

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Creamy Tomato Soup

Love tomato soup?  You’ll love this delicious version of the classic.  A grilled cheese on the side and you’ll instantly be transported to your childhood.  Or, top with a dollop of whipped cream or sour cream for your grown-up tastes!  This soup starts with canned tomatoes, but if you have some fresh ones you need to use, throw those in too, as well as that little bit of leftover tomato paste you have hanging out in the fridge.  Extra tomato flavor won’t hurt!

Creamy Tomato Soup

  • 14 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
  • 6 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups half-and-half
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

 

Heat a large, heavy stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tbsp of the butter along with the onions.  Cook until onions are soft – lower heat if needed.

Add bay leaf, tomatoes, and tomato paste.  cook over low heat until the vegetables are very soft, about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in seperate pan, melt remaining butter.  Add the flour, mixing until combined.  Cook over low heat until the mixture starts to turn golden brown and gives off a nutty aroma.  Slowly whish the half-and-half and the milk into the flour mixture.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Carefully pour the milk mixture into the pot with the tomatoes and whisk well.  Add 1 cup of heavy cream and simmer another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove bay leaf.

Puree the soup until smooth (use an immersion blender, or blend in batches in a blender or food processor).  Bring soup back to a simmer, and add more milk if soup is too thick.  Serve warm.

 

Aug30

Blueberry Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream

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Blueberry Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream

Yes, another ice cream recipe.  My kitchen has turned into sort of an ice cream factory lately.  I just keep thinking of new flavors I want to play with!  Can you blame me?  Smooth.  Creamy.  Just mix it up and throw it in the freezer.  Doesn’t get much easier.  So, when we had a big bowl of blueberries that were reaching their last days, I decided to make a blueberry cheesecake ice cream!  Super delicious.  Seriously.  It was my husband’s favorite so far. 

Blueberry Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream

Ice Cream:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/3 cup spreadable cream cheese
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup graham cracker chunks

Blueberry Sauce

  • 2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp cold water
  • 1-1/2 tsp lemon juice

Prepare the blueberry sauce by combining all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook, stirring often, until thickened.  Let cool before proceeding.

For the ice cream, whip one cup of the heavy cream to stiff peaks.  In seperate bowl, beat cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Add remaining cup of heavy cream and vanilla; stir until smooth.  Fold whipped cream into mixture.  Spoon blueberry sauce over whipped cream mixture.  Sprinkle graham cracker chunks over top.  Gently fold in until there are ribbons of blueberry sauce running through – do not overmix.

Pour into a freezer proof, airtight container and freeze until firm.