What's Cooking?

So I thought I would share my guacamole recipe since I posted about carnitas last week. This is something I make at least once a week and the whole family enjoys. In fact, I perfected this recipe while I was pregnant with Darin and craved avocados! Most days, I just ate it straight sprinkled with salt, on more ambitious days I either made guacamole or California rolls. There is not right or wrong for this recipe and it's all just to taste. I start with the avocados, halved and just mash it with my potato masher.

Next chop up some red onion, cilantro and tomatoes. We don't love onions so I add just a little, if you love onions, throw more in there. We do love cilantro so I throw a nice giant pinch in there. Tomatoes, I don't bother de-seeding and it's whatever tomato I have on hand. 

Sprinkle some salt and garlic powder. Squeeze on some lime juice. Mix it all in and enjoy! Personally, I like to let it sit a little before digging in but who can wait?! Enjoy!!!

What's Cooking?

Bringing back my recipe sharing on the blog. Last week, I tried out a new crockpot recipe...Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas...and I followed her instructions to the T and it came out amazing! We ate it for two meals (with no pictures to show for it) and used it for burrito bowls ala Chipotle, tacos, quesadillas and actual burritos. The boys LOVED it and are asking for more. I froze half of the meat and it was just as tasty the second time around.

Here's a picture of my lunch...leftovers = burrito bowl, lettuce on the side, homemade guacamole, salsa from Sam's club, rice from a box mix and received beans. Buen provecho!

What's for Dinner?

This is my go-to meal when I need something quick and easy. Teriyaki chicken, grilled veggies and steamed jasmine rice.

Buy yourself a bottle or two of this delicious marinade/sauce. We prefer boneless skinless chicken thighs but it's yummy on any other cuts of chicken as well as on steak. Pour some onto the meat, let sit in the refrigerator...I buy family packs at Sam's, separate the chicken into 2 bags, pour in the marinade, cook one and freeze the other. Here I cooked it in a pan but I've also cooked them on the grill or in the winter months, on a grill pan.

Veggies pictured are carrots and asparagus. Seasoned with sesame oil, pepper, soy sauce and garlic (fresh or powdered). Baked in the over at 400F until done. They can just as easily be cooked on the grill. Serve & enjoy!

Nailed It: Pumpkin Nutella bread

There has been too many mornings of me wandering around in my kitchen looking for something quick and yummy for breakfast. Yesterday, I broke down and made the Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Bread that has been on my to-do list for a while. It was super easy and fast (or would have been if I wasn't also wrangling a certain puppy every 15 secs). The recipe was spot on and the bread absolutely delicious. I was afraid I was adding too much Nutella and held back...now I wish I had just followed the recipe to the T. It was still good but definitely 2 tbsp of Nutella per loaf.

Nailed It!

Grilled pizza is one of our favorite summer meals. It's quick, easy and customizable. I looked around for a recipe a few years ago and found this one from allrecipes.com. Last Friday, we actually had friends over for make your own grilled pizza and it was a hit.

Here are some pics of the steps involved. Jori was my photographer for the process. Once you have your dough separated into individual servings, roll it out...I just pull and stretch...nothing fancy.

Lay it down, we do all this outside so my surface is a cookie sheet or two. Once you have your dough shaped, spray both sides with some oil. I find that after a few the cookie sheet has enough extra I only need to spray one side.

Next, throw them on the grill and cook only one side. It doesn't take long.

Apply sauce (we use store-bought marinara sauce) to the cooked side (other side is done too but no grill marks) and top. We love a variety of toppings but our main favorites are ham & pineapple as well as fresh tomato & basil. Fresh mozzarella makes it even better. A little more time on the grill and you have yourself a grilled pizza. Enjoy!

Morrocan Lamb Stew

Remember the freezer meals I prepped a couple of weeks ago?  We have been working our way through them slowly, a meal or two a week.  Last week, I made the Morrocan Lamb Stew not knowing how it was going to turn, crossing my fingers when I dumped it into the crock pot.  It smelled wonderful cooking and tasted even better when it was done.  I microwaved a sweet potato, cubed it and added it into the stew before serving.  Served it with some couscous (box mis) and pita bread.  Delicious!

Freezer Meals

There are tons of pins regarding freezer meals on Pinterest and they look, to me, like a brilliant idea.  Spend a few hours in the kitchen one day, stick the food in the freezer and when in a bind, thaw (sometimes you don't even need to thaw) and dump into the crockpot.  Voila...healthy warm meal on the table! I decided to give it a try some months back and loved the recipes.  I'd love to share which recipes I tried but I can't remember and can't find the pin :(  I have it printed out and can repeat but won't post until I can give credit.  

This time around, I poked around my pins, found a few recipes I thought my family would like, brought out a few from the last round that we loved and made some regular recipes into freezer meals.  In Saturday night, exhausted from a long day but with all the raw food waiting in the fridge, I put together 11 meals and 2 baggies of turkey meatballs!!!  It should hold us through til then end of my crazy crop schedule...I will still cook but these meals will come in handy on Sunday nights when I'm rolling in on Sunday afternoon and there's an evening hockey game.  Hubby or even the boys will be able to get a meal started in the morning.

If you would like to try making these meals, here is what I made, some recipes made 2 meals.  Some of these recipes are new to me so I'm not making any recommendations.  I will try to come back and update though.

1.  Maple Dijon Glazed Chicken
2. Teriyaki chicken - bite-sized boneless, skinless chicken thighs plus teriyaki sauce.  We love Soy Vey's Very Very Teriyaki.  Just thaw and pan fry (or dump in crock pot)...serve over white jasmine rice.
3. Morrocan Lamb Stew
4. Salsa Chicken - will add sour cream after cooking
5. Cilantro Lime Chicken
6. Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken
7. Turkey Meatballs

Have you tried freezer meals?  If so do share your meals and results.  

 

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

Anyone else tried making Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal?  I saw this on Pinterest and it didn't really interest me until a friend posted about it on Facebook.  It looked like a great idea for breakfast on the go, especially at crop weekends.  I had all the ingredients on hand so I whipped up 2 batches using frozen mangoes, vanilla yogurt and old fashioned oatmeal.  Results - it was good but dry.  There didn't seem to be enough liquid in the yogurt to properly hydrate the oats but I ate both batches.

A few weeks later, I tried it again.  This time instead of oats, I used granola and replaced the mango with blueberries.  Results - It was yummy but once again a little on the dry side.

I spent a few minutes on pinterest researching the recipe and noticed the addition of milk to the recipe.  Since I thought mine were dry, milk seemed like a great addition.  Next recipe, I added 1/3 cup of unsweetened coconut milk to oatmeal, vanilla yogurt and raspberries.  Results - it was really really bland and sour raspberries did NOT help at all. 

I really, really want this recipe to work so I'm going to give it another shot for my next weekend away.  This time around, I will use unsweetened coconut milk, oatmeal, vanilla yogurt and a sweeter fruit and a drizzle of honey.  I'll update here when I try it.  If you've tried this and have a good recipe, please share!!!

Oh Pinterest...What's Cooking?

I found a different recipe for a Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken on Pinterest,.  It's a recipe from the Chef Mommy blog and thought I'd try it out.  I even used her homemade Taco Seasoning...so easy and I had all the spices on hand. This dish was yummy and all my boys loved it.  We served it over jasmine rice with salad and avocado.

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I used the cream of chicken)
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning (I used 1 Tbsp of Chef Mommy's homemade taco seasoning)
1 cup sour cream
cilantro, for serving (optional) (I also added a little shredded cheddar-jack, black beans and scallion on top)

Directions:
Put chicken, soup, and salsa in slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Cook on low for 6 hours (I cooked mine on high for 3 hours). If shredding the chicken, pull the breasts out and shred; return back to slow cooker. Stir in sour cream and heat just until everything is combined.  Serve over rice with a side of salad and avocado.

What's Cooking

This is not a quick and easy recipe nor is it a meal.  It's a typical Puerto Rican dessert that my MIL makes over the holidays.  This year, I had a terrible cold that led to laryngitis and then a sinus infection meaning I couldn't taste or smell anything the entire holidays.  Getting back home, I dug out my handy "Puerto Rican Cookery" cookbook and got to work.  It came out awesome, if I do say so myself and when I posted it on facebook, I had multiple requests for a recipe so I thought I'd post it here.  

 Puerto Rican Rice Pudding (Arroz Dulce or Arroz con Coco)

1 cup medium grain rice
1 can coconut milk (shake can thoroughly and then set aside 3/4 cups)
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 cinnamon sticks
pinch of ground cloves - optional
pinch of nutmeg - optional
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1 cup raisins (as much or as little as you like)

1.  Rinse rice and soak in water to cover for 2 hours.
 2.  20 minutes before rice is ready, combine remaining coconut milk, water, salt, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and ground cloves in a heavy pot.  Bring to a boil over high hear.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3.  Drain rice thoroughly and add to the pot.  Mix and bring to a boil over medium heat (I took it to mean bubbling).  Reduce heat to low and cook until rice is completely dry.  Do NOT stir.  This took about 30 minutes for me.
4.  Add sugar and raisins, mix and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.  Do NOT stir.
5.  Add reserved 3/4 cup coconut milk and mix.  Turn heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until rice dries again.  Turn rice over occasionally and scrape bottom of pan.
6.  Remove cinnamon sticks.  Spoon rice onto a flat serving platter.  Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating.
7.  Enjoy!!!

What's Cooking?

Crockpot Mexican Chicken - Two thumbs up from all of my boys.  We had them for dinner last night as tacos and burritos.  The boys praised it through dinner and were planning their lunches with the leftovers!  Bonus...today is a snow day...no need to worry about re-heating, keeping food warm so I'm going to make quesadillas with the chicken :).  The original recipe bakes it in the oven but I made it in the crockpot.

Crockpot Mexican Chicken
 
Ingredients
1 pound boneless chicken breasts (3 boneless chicken breasts)
1 teaspoon Seasoning for Tacos Salt, to taste (1/2 packet of Low Sodium Taco Seasoning)
1/2 cup enchilada sauce (1 can mild enchilada sauce)
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
3 green onions, chopped
cilantro, chopped

Method (this is how I cooked it in the slow cooker)
Place chicken in crockpot and sprinkle the chicken on both sides with taco seasoning.
Pour enchilada sauce over chicken.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
When done, shred chicken.  Sprinkle cheese and green onions on top.
Serve with Mexican rice (I used Zatarain's black bean and rice mix), sour cream, guacamole, and cheese.  Also, flour and corn tortillas.  Enjoy!

Notes:  We have plenty of chicken leftover and will be making quesadillas with it for lunch today.

What's Cooking?

Parmesan Crusted Chicken {Hellmann's Mayo Recipe} ...this recipe is super quick and easy.  I made it for the first time last week and all the boys loved it.  It's on this week's meal plan and will be making the rotation quite a bit.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

(adapted from Hellmann's/Best Foods)

serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Hellmann's or Best Food's Real Mayonnaise

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4 boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets, about 1 1/4 lbs. total weight or about 5 ounces per breast

4 teaspoons Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

Instructions:

1.  Place mayo and cheese in a small bowl and mix. 
2. Lay chicken breasts on baking sheet (I line my baking sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easy) and spread mayo mixture evenly atop each. Note: I butterflied each breast to cut down on cook time.
3. Next evenly sprinkle bread crumbs atop each. 
4. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and juices run clear. Tops will be browned and chicken will be incredibly juicy. You can also finish them off under the broiler for a minute or two to get them extra browned on top.
5. Season with a dash of fresh cracked pepper and sea salt, if desired.  
6.  I will be serving mine with steamed veggies, cranberry sauce and either rice or mashed potatoes.

 

What's Cooking?

Easy Turkey Soup(another pinterest recipe)...served this to the ladies at our Just Scrappin' Day Crop and it was a hit.  It's Gluten free and Dairy free to boot.  Love how easy it was to make and how tasty it was.  It's definitely going into my recipe box.

Easy GF DF Turkey Soup

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. fresh turkey breast, skin on (used a 4lb breast and 3x the recipe)

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

Half a red onion, finely dived

2 ribs of celery, trimmed and chopped

4 large carrots, sliced (I plan on one carrot per person)

Half a medium-large winter squash, peeled and cubed (butternut, banana, etc)

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Italian style herbs, to taste (basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram) (I used an italian blend)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

Fresh cold water, as needed

Fresh chopped parsley, for serving

Instructions: 

Turn the slow cooker on High.

Rinse the turkey breast in cold water and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with chopped garlic, onion, celery, carrots, squash. Season the goodies with sea salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Add the vinegar. Pour fresh cold water over the turkey and veggies until submerged.

Cover and cook on high until the turkey falls apart using a fork. This could be anywhere from 4 to 5 hours, depending upon the size of your Crock Pot and the size of your turkey breast. 

Remove the piece of skin and discard. Pull apart the the cooked turkey into pieces, using two forks or a big spoon. 

Stir and taste test. Does it need a pinch of sugar to offset the saltiness? How about a little more vinegar to brighten the flavor? Tweak the broth gently with small amounts of sweet, sour and salty until the balance is the way you like it.

If you like your turkey soup spicy, add some hot red pepper flakes!

Serve with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.

For more great Gluten-free, Dairy-free recipes, check out the Gluten-free Goddess Blog.

What's Cooking

Crockpot Honey Bourbon Chicken (found on pinterest)...made it for dinner yesterday and it was a hit with the boys, all three of them.  Even easier, Walmart sells a 3lb frozen bag of boneless, skinless thigh strips .  Cooked the entire bag but did not double the seasonings...and it still came out perfect.  I served it with jasmine rice, Trader Joe's Thai shrimp gyoza and stir fried green beans.

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5

Salt and pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot insert and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from stock pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

What's cooking?

Another recipe from pinterest.com.  Slow Cooker Pullled Pork...a can of root beer, a hunk of pork shoulder and a bottle of BBQ sauce.  Super easy to throw together in the morning and come home to a delicious warm meal.  Another Two Thumbs Up from my boys :)  And a small perk for them, we bought a 2L bottle of root beer so we had root beer floats with the pulled pork sandwiches...YUM!!!

image from bubblecrumb.com

What's Cooking?

I hopped onto the Pinterest.com bandwagon over Christmas and am hooked.  I love that I can bookmark recipes, links, etc by image.  It makes it so much easier to find my links and recipes.  There is also no point in pinning and then not trying the recipes so I'm also slowly working my way through the recipes I have pinned.  If you are on pinterest and would like to follow me, click on the button to the right --->

The first recipe I tried was the Slow Cooker style Baked Potato Soup.  Super easy and super yummy.  I made ~half the recipe...whatever potatoes I had left of a 5lb bag, 48oz chicken broth, 1 block of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, less salt...you get the idea and it was delish!  Both boys gave it two thumbs up :)  Enjoy!

Image from MamaLovesFood.com

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup Ingredients:

• 5 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
• 1 medium/large yellow onion, diced
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 64 ounces (8 cups) chicken stock or broth
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened (I use low fat)
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt 
• optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup Directions:

1. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
3. Add the softened cream cheese and puree soup with an immersion blender until the cheese is incorporated and about half the soup is blended. (Alternately you could remove half the soup and the cream cheese to an upright blender, then re-incorporate).
4. Stir well, top with your choice of garnishes & enjoy!

Yields about 10-12 servings.

What's Cooking?

Pizza bites are a big hit with my kids and their friends.  It's a fun alternative to pizza. I lay out the ingredients and have my boys help me roll them up.  It's always a blast.  And the last time I served this, I made a double batch and between me and 4 boys, it all disappeared!!!

Image from ourbestbites.com

You'll have to follow the link for the recipe...I can't do it justice here.  The blog has step by step pics and is wonderfully written.  On the blog, Our Best Bites, they call it STUFFED PIZZA ROLLS...either way they're quick, easy and yummy!!!

What's Cooking?

Grilled Salmon with Peanut Hoisin Sauce (from allrecipes.com)...a change from the usual teriyaki salmon I make for the family.  This I serve with jasmine rice and a side of stir-fry veggies (Veggies, oil, soy sauce, minced garlic).  Always a big hit!

Grilled Salmon with Peanut Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
• CRISCO® Cooking Spray
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Sauce can be made several days ahead of time and refrigerated. If it is too thick, just add a little water when heating it before serving.
2. Spray the salmon filets with CRISCO® Cooking Spray on both sides, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Grill until done to your liking. Top each grilled salmon filet with warm Peanut Hoisin Sauce and sprinkle with chopped scallions, just before serving. Enjoy! 

What's Cooking?

Shrimp and Mushroom Linguini is what the recipe is called on the allrecipes website.  I think it's an awesome copy of Olive Garden's Seafood Portofino.  I halved the butter, added a dash (or two) of white wine and lobster to get the requested lobster meal for a birthday boy.  Parsley and basil fresh from the garden.  Very yummy! 

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package linguini pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1/2 pound cooked shrimp

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguini, and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook and stir until tender. Transfer to a plate.
3. In the same pan, melt 1/2 cup butter with the minced garlic. Stir in the cream cheese, breaking it up with a spoon as it melts. Stir in the parsley and basil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in boiling water until sauce is smooth. Stir in cooked shrimp and mushrooms, and heat through.
4. Toss linguini with shrimp sauce, and serve.

ps. even the picky eater ate it without picking anything green out!!!!!!!!!  

What's for Dinner?

Hamburgers, french fries and pickles...now that's it's unofficially summer, the grill has been put to work.  Hamburgers are a quick and easy meal be it veggie burgers, turkey burgers or beef burgers.  It's all good and the boys gobble them up, no complaining about these meals.  We are not big fans of pickles and have always happily left them out until last summer...I had an overabundance of dill and didn't know what to do with them.  The only pickles I like are half sours and when I came across this post/recipe, I just had to try it.  I made a batch and fell in love with them...last week, with dill ready for harvesting, I made the pickles again and shared with the ladies at our Just Scrappin' in Sturbridge crop.  Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe...so here it is.


Dill Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients
* 1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
* 2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds {I used 3 regular cukes}
* 1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included) {fresh from my garden}
* 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
* 2 teaspoons whole white peppercorns {only had seasoned pepper}
* 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar {used half apple cider, half white vinegar}
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt {used coarse sea salt}
* 2 teaspoons dill seeds {didn't have any so left it out}


Preparation
* Divide sliced onion between three recycled smuckers jelly jars. Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.
* Using mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and mallet, crush mustard seeds and peppercorns together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, water, sugar, coarse salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
* Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours in fridge.
* Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids. Do Ahead: Can be made 1 week ahead.
* Keep refrigerated.