Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuits

This isn't really a recipe, just a simple, easy breakfast idea. In my house, we like eggs different ways. I like mine over medium and the kids like theirs scrambled and the hubby likes his scrambled well. I found that using a cupcake pan to make the eggs in works really well. First of all, they come out the size of your biscuit and second I can do some eggs scrambled and some over medium! (Just make sure you use cooking spray or butter to grease your pan well first or clean up will NOT be fun!)

*Pillsbury Grand Buttermilk Biscuits
*Eggs
*Salt/pepper
*A little milk
*Bacon (Made in skillet, microwave or oven- done to your liking... extra crispy for my household!)
*Cheese

*Make biscuits as per directions on can.

*Make bacon

*Eggs- for over easy (medium or hard), just crack egg into a cupcake pan. For scrambled- I scramble eggs, milk and seasoning in a bowl and fill cupcake pan till 3/4 full. Bake until done at 350. Flip half way. Cooking times will very depending on how done you like your eggs. Typically around 10 minutes.

*When biscuits are done, cut open and place cheese slice on bottom half. Top with egg and bacon. Place top half of biscuit on top and enjoy!

Optional- Top your breakfast sandwich with avocado, fresh sliced tomato or even some sauteed spinach!

after 3 minutes of cooking. I typically flip after 6 minutes. 

Chicken Amaretto

I love this meal. Everytime my mom is in town I have her make it for me. It's great served over sticky rice and we always serve with a green veggie on the side (steamed broccoli, sauteed green beans or a salad). It's great for leftovers as well! She uses her electric skillet to make this, if you don't have one I'm sure any big skillet over the stove top or a wok would work as well! My kids don't eat this, what I do is fry up some plain chicken breasts in the skillet before I start making our meal. They eat those plain with the veggie and sometimes a little rice.

*3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes (We used 1.5 lbs chicken tenders and left them whole)
*2-3 garlic cloves- minced
*1 T salt
*1 T pepper
*1/2 T curry powder
*1 cup flour
*1/2 cup butter
*1 quart fresh sliced mushrooms
*1/4- 1/2 cup Amaretto
*1T fresh lemon juice (We use a whole big lemon + slice an extra lemon to serve on the side... I LOVE lemon!)
*1 1/2 cups chicken broth
*1 T cornstarch
*1/2 cup sliced almonds (we used 2 cans of sliced water chestnuts instead)

1) Sprinkle curry powder, salt and pepper (or Nature Seasoning) over chicken. Place in fridge for one hour.

2) Toss chicken with flour and shake off excess.

3) In Fry pan, saute mushrooms with butter until done. Remove mushrooms and set aside.

4) Add garlic and chicken to fry pan and saute chicken until it is just done- don't overcook. Add mushrooms back to pan. Add water chestnuts

5) In separate bowl, mix chicken broth with the corn starch and mix well. Add to pan along with amaretto and lemon juice. Stir till thickened while cooking on medium heat.

Mixing chicken with flour and seasonings

Saute mushrooms first, then set aside

Saute chicken until done and then add your mushrooms back.

add the waterchestnuts, chicken broth/cornstarch mixture, amaretto and lemon juice. 

Serve over rice with a lemon slice

I like to cut my chicken up and stir it all together and mix the sauce in with the rice! YUM

Pasties

If my family could eat these everyday, I think they would! The are relatively easy to make... BUT they are very time consuming. There is a LOT of chopping and dicing involved. You can use a Pampered Chef food chopper for the onion and carrot, but you will want to chop the potato and rutabaga yourself.  Chopping the veggies up to a day in advance and storing them in tupperware until ready to bake may help.
This is something we make in a big batch and freeze individually. The recipe below makes 16. So for my family of 4, that will give us 4 meals.  My mom gets together with a friend once a year and they go halves on the ingredients and they quadruple the recipe. They each take about 30 home. My mom used to give me 4 or 5 per batch, but I love them so much I decided to make them on my own.  They are great for a last minute meal since all you do is take them out of the freezer and cook them for 30 mins! I serve them along side a green veggie or salad, but they really could be a meal in themselves! My mom's friend makes her own pie crust, I don't. I think Pillsbury's crust works wonderfully and saves a TON of time:)
Sorry if the recipe is a bit confusing. It's hard to explain, but the pictures I think explain the directions better. Email me if you have any further questions!

Thank you Carrie and Mom for this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:
*5 lbs russett potatoes- cubed (we used yukon gold this time) (don't cut these as small as the other veggies)
*1 lb carrots- peeled and finely chopped
*1 LARGE or 2 medium sweet onions- diced
*1 medium rutabaga (or half a large one)- peeled and FINELY chopped into cubes
*2 lbs LEAN ground chuck (93% or leaner)
*salt/pepper (I used Nature Seasoning and pepper)
*butter (aprox half sick cut into 16 slabs of butter- (1/4 T slabs))
*4 boxes Pillsbury Pie Crust (found in fridge section). Each box has two pie crusts. You will cut each crust down the center. This will make 16 pieces of crust. (See picture below)

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper

2) Mix all the veggies, the meat and the seasoning together in a large bowl. Make sure it's mixed really well (using your hands works best) and make sure the meat breaks apart and is not left in large clumps. I used aprox 1 T Nature Seasonings and 1 T (or a little more) of black pepper.

3) Take your crust and place about 1 cup full of the mixture in the center of the lower half (See picture) Then top each mound of mixture with a slap of butter.

4) Fold crust over and pinch sides together. Cut one inch slit at top of each (just over the butter slab).

5) Place 5-6 pasties on each cookie sheet. (You will have to bake these in two batches. Put second batch in fridge until you are ready to bake them.) The first batch, I did two cookie sheets of 6 and par-baked them for only 30 mintues since these were the ones I was going to freeze)

6) Fully bake the ones you will eat that night for about 45-50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

7) If you are having some for dinner that night, serve while hot and serve with ketchup!

8) The ones that you will freeze... let cool until completely cool (at least an hour) Place a towel over them while cooling. Then wrap each individually first in press and seal and then in tinfoil. Freeze for up to 3 months!

9) To make them once frozen- take directly from freezer. Unwrap tinfoil and press and seal. Wrap each with a paper towel and microwave for 3 mintues. Then bake them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Dice rutabaga in SMALL cubes 

add diced onion and carrot and cubed potatoes (Make sure carrots and rutabaga are chopped smaller than the potato since they take longer to cook)

notice potato is larger chopped. Add your meat and mix well

Once it is completely mixed (use your hands) add your seasonings and mix some more

Two round pie crusts come per box (if you get the pillsbury ones) Cut each down center. (So each box will make 4)

Take one cup of the mixture...

And place in center of bottom half of the crust.

Place slab of butter on top and fold top half of crust over. Pinch sides together (Kind of like if you were making ravioli- roll over sides and pinch)

Cut one inch slits on each (above butter slab)

Bake until golden brown.

Serve with LOTS of ketchup!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guinness Braised Short Ribs

I found another great recipe in my "Cook This, Not That" cook book by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. I had never made short ribs before but I've always liked them at restaurants. They compare this recipe to the Chianti Braised Short Ribs they serve at Olive Garden. I don't think these taste like those much, I think these are much better! I definitely recommend serving these over some garlic mash potatoes and with some dinner rolls, or better yet, my Cheesy Rolls! :)

This was a fairly easy recipe to make and my whole family, including my mom, loved them! The adults all had seconds and the kids cleaned their plates! My favorite thing about it was the tenderness of the meat and the gremolata really gave it great flavor and aroma! Below is the recipe that is in the cookbook, and I add a few changes...

Ingredients:
*1 T canola oil
*2 lbs boneless (beef) short ribs
*Salt and black pepper to taste (I also used Nature Seasonings)
*2 cans/bottles (12 oz each) Guinness Draught
*2 cups low-sodium beef broth (I used a 14.5 oz can and added about 1/2 cup of water)
*3 large carrots, cut into thirds (I used half a bag of peeled baby carrots since I had them on hand)
*2 sweet onions, cut into quarters. (I used 2 large onions and I thought it was a tad too much onion...and I LOVE onions. Next time I will use two small onions or one large one)
*2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks. (I used 3 and cut them into four pieces each.)
*8 cloves garlic, peeled
*2 bay leaves

Gremolata (optional but recommended!)
*1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*grated zest of 2 oranges or lemons (I did one lemon and one orange)

1) Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Once oil is hot, place ribs in pan and cook them on all sides until a rich brown crust develops on outside. Remove ribs and place them in a slow cooker.

2) While pan is still hot, pour the beer in pan and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom with a spatula or wooden spoon. Pour beer over short ribs in crock pot.

3) Add broth, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaves to the pot and set crock pot to high. Cook for 4 hours, until beef is fork tender and falls apart. Discard bay leaves (and I discarded garlic cloves). Note: After 4 hours, the ribs still looked tough. I cooked on high for 6 hours and they were fall apart tender!

4)If using gremolata, mix parsley, garlic and zest. Serve beef (along with some of the sauce) over your mash potatoes (or polenta). Sprinkle the gremolata over the top. Ahhh... mazing!

I got 2 packs of short ribs (a little over 2 lbs... 10 ribs in all)

brown them in pan with oil and seasoning

add everything to crockpot and turn to high... I recommend 6 hours.

Gremolata

Almost done!

Served over garlic mash potatoes and sprinkled with gremolata on top.

Notice the fork tenderness... if they don't do this, keep them cooking till they do. Every crockpot varies in heat and cooking time. 

This is the 5th recipe I've made from this book. So far all of them have been a hit!

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My husband loves homemade cookies. I am NOT a baker! He has tried many recipes and finally came up with one on his own using a a few different recipes as a guideline. We love these and we hope you will too!!

Ingredients:
*1 cup all-purpose flour
*1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*1/4 tsp salt
*1 1/4 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
*8 T unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temp
*1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
*1/2 cup granulated sugar
*1 large egg
*1/4 cup maple syrup (we added a tad more than 1/4 cup)
*1/2 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
*1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1) Set 2 racks in middle and upper thirds of oven and preheat to 350. Line cookie sheet with non-stick parchment paper.

2) In medium bowl, stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats together with a whisk.

3) In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for half a minute until blended. Beat in egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in maple syrup and vanilla until mixed well.

4) Turn mixer down to lowest setting and gradually add flour-oat mixture. Blend just to combine. Then fold (stir) in the chocolate and peanut butter chips.

5) Place ping pong size balls of dough onto the lined cookie sheet at 3 inch intervals.

6) With moistened fingers, flatten and round out cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes (turn pan once for even baking). Cookies are done when lightly brown on top. They will still be very gooey until they sit a bit to cool. Set cookie sheet on rack to cool.

ENJOY!

Whole Grain Waffles

My kids are obsessed with Eggo waffle, and since we are a family that is on the go in the am, we don't typically have time for a long, sit down breakfast on school days. I wanted to make waffles in a big batch that I could freeze and take them out to toast as needed. (Kind of the idea of the eggo, but I wanted to use healthier ingredients). A friend gave me this recipe she got from All Recipe's website and said she loved it. I have to warn you, my husband was not a fan. I thought they were good with butter and syrup, and the kids gobbled them up plain. The key to remember, these aren't your to be your fluffy waffles you get at a waffle house. These are replacing EGGOS. And they are HEALTHY. My kids ate them. I enjoy them. And I like the ingredients in them. For those reasons, I am posting this recipe and I will make them again! If you are making waffles for a special breakfast and ONLY looking for taste... these aren't the right ones... in my opinion.

I tripled this recipe. We ate them fresh that morning and I put the rest in large zip locks to freeze and use for the next month.

Ingredients:
*2 eggs, beaten
*1 3/4 Cup skim Milk (I used 1% organic milk because I had it on hand)
*1/4 Cup canola oil (or coconut oil)
*1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
*1/2 cup flax seed meal
*1/4 cup wheat germ
*1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour, which is probably why they didn't taste as good to my husband who doesn't like wheat bread)
*4 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free)
*1 T sugar
*1/4 tsp salt
*1 tsp cinnamon

I also added some fresh blueberries.

Directions:
1) In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat in whole wheat pastry flour, flax seed meal, wheat germ, whole wheat flour (or all purpose), baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth. Fold in blueberries if you are adding them.
2) Preheat waffle iron and coat with cooking spray. Pour batter into waffle iron in batches and cook until crisp and golden brown.

(we tried two different waffle irons. These are MUCH better when made in one that makes thinner waffles. We didn't care for the thick, belgian waffle)

mixture looks grainy

Pour ladle full into center of waffle iron

Makes thin, crisp waffles. Perfect for freezing and re-toasting!

ENJOY!

Scalloped Potato Gratin- Recipe by Tyler Florence (Food Network)

I get a lot of recipes off the food network. I always look for recipes that have 5 stars AND a lot of reviews. The only thing I hate about the recipes on this site is they give you a recipe and tell you to do it one way, and then they will have a video link for the recipe and they make it completely different than the recipe says to! I typically follow the written recipe the first time and then play with it to tweek it to my family's liking. I really liked this recipe a lot. Made a great side dish for ribeye and asparagus! Next time I make it I'm going to add thinly sliced onion to each layer and use 1% or skim milk instead of the heavy whipping cream (although some reviews say not to). I may even try making a meal out of the recipe sometime adding onion, rotisserie shredded chicken, and corn or zucchini!

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
* 1 sprig fresh thyme (I used 2)
* 2 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
* Butter
*2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices (this is pretty thin... much easier to use a mandoline if you have one and set it to the 1/8 setting. I LOVE mine and use it a ton!!)
*salt and freshly ground back pepper (I alternated using sea salt and course kosher salt. I also used a little nature seasonings.)
*1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for broiling  (I used a bit more. I topped it at the end with some fresh parmisiano-reggiano and I did not broil... I simply put back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a casserole dish (I used a 9 x 13 ceramic casserole pan)

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg. Stir often- don't let burn.

Place a layer of potato in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper. Pour a little of the cream over the potatoes and top with some of the grated Parmesan. Do this 2-3 more times, making layers and seasoning each layer, adding the cream and cheese to each layer, until all the potatoes have been used.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Sprinkle on more cheese and broil (or bake) until cheese browns (about 5 minutes)

I used the mandoline to cut my potatoes. They turned out nice and thin. If you do it using a knife and end up with a bit thicker cut, you may need to increase cooking time.

Heating up cream, thyme, garlic and nutmeg. 

layer potatoes so they are slightly overlapping. (Sorry for the bad picture taking!)

season each layer well and pour cream over each layer

make sure to add fresh grated cheese to each layer as well.

Top will get lightly crispy and brown.

ENJOY!!