Mediterranean Chicken & Rice

3 tbsp of olive oil
4-6 Boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 lemon - juiced
2 stalks of oregano or 1 tsp dried
4 basil leaves or 1 tsp dried 
Sprinkle of salt
1 cup rice
3 cups chicken stock or white wine  
1-2 cups of your preferred vegetable; we've used broccoli or green beans

Preheat oven to 375 F. I used a 5 Quart dutch oven for this recipe so that I could use one pan on stovetop and move it immediately into oven. If you don't have a dutch oven, you can still cook this stove top at a simmer until the water is absorbed into the rice and it's fluffy.
Heat pan with olive oil. Cook chicken in olive oil for a couple minutes, enough to get each side slightly browned. Reduce heat. Add garlic to the chicken. Add lemon and sprinkle salt oregano and basil into pan too. Add rice and chicken stock, make sure all rice is covered, bring to a boil. Add your preferred vegetable and then move the pan into oven.  Bake for 40 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is fluffy.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I found this recipe online years ago and it has been our go-to since then.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened *
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

*For a really awesome cookie, replace 1/2 cup of butter with 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter - YUM!!!

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Frappe

Fill your 16 oz glass with ice all the way to the top. 

Then cover the ice with your milk of choice (ours is Almond Milk). Pour into your blender.

 Add 1 tbsp of Toffee Nut Syrup (Sold at Starbucks, or substitute Vanilla Syrup, you can purchase in the coffee aisle at your local store) 2 tbsp of cocoa powder (such as Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Powder or Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate), a small handful of pretzels and a few chocolate chips if you'd like. Blend until the mixture moves smoothly through your blender. If it does not move smoothly add more milk.

Pot Roast 2 ways: Crockpot or Oven Roasted

Roast cut per your taste/preference
1 packet of dry onion soup mix
Splash of worcestershire sauce
1/2 to 1 cup of water, depending on size of roast
Potatoes, diced
Carrots, sliced

Place roast in your crockpot, add a splash of worcestershire sauce. Pour the packet of dry onion soup mix over roast. Pour water over roast

Layer the potatoes and carrots around the roast.

Cook in crockpot 10-12 hours low, 6-8 hours high.

Or do the same as above but preheat the oven to 350 F, arrange pot roast and such in a baking dish and bake for about 2 hours. Use a meat thermometer to check that the roast is to temperature. Sometimes I cover the baking dish with aluminum foil for the first hour and a half and then remove for the last half hour, just depends on if I have the time to mess with it.

Berry Smoothie

I made smoothies for lunch the other day. It was exactly what I was hoping for. Here's what I put in there:
Serves 3

1 Banana
2 Large Spoonfuls of Yogurt
1/2 tsp ground flax
1/3 cup Blueberries
1/3 cup Raspberry
1/2 cup Strawberry
1/2 cup V8 Raspberry Goji (or whatever fruit juice you have on hand) - I always add the juice last and the amount always depends on if the smoothie needs to be juiced. So I honestly don't know if this measurement is accurate.

Grandma Tyler's Cheesecake

My Grandmother loved cooking shows and had an amazing collection of recipes. The best of the recipes then were called "her" recipes; she now had a personal ownership over them even if they weren't her original creations. This is the cheesecake I grew up eating. In 2003 I discovered I was allergic to dairy and haven't had a bite since. But today, in honor of Easter I decided to attempt Grandma's cheesecake using dairy free ingredients. I also cut the recipe in half because one 9 x 13 pan of cheesecake is too tempting and I'd have to eat half of it all by myself. First I will post the original recipe, to the original scale (for those who can have regular dairy products).

Grandma's Cheesecake
Prep time 15 min
Cooking time 1 hour (longer if dairy free)
Serves 24 small/12 large pieces
Preheat oven to 300 F

Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/2 cup Graham Crackers crumbs
3 T butter or margarine

Combine and press into a 9 x 13 pan.

Filling
3 - 8 oz packages of Cream Cheese
5 eggs
1 cup sugar

Set the cream cheese out at room temperature until softened (30 min, maybe). Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add sugar. In a separate bowl beat eggs until yokes are separated, add to cream cheese and sugar.

Bake at 300 F for 50 minutes. The center should not be soupy. I usually test this by shaking the pan a little to see if the center wiggles.
Let the filling cool for 10 minutes.

Topping
2 cups sour cream
6 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix well, pour over filling. You may need to spread it to cover the filling. Bake 300 F for 10 minutes. Again watch, if it's still soupy add a few more minutes.

Below are the pictures of my dairy free, scaled to half the recipe cheesecake. To make the dairy free recipe I followed the posted recipe using dairy free cream cheese and dairy free sour cream.  Happy Easter!

A few notes regarding my experience when using dairy free products in this recipe:
1) It took much longer to cook both the first and second layer. The first layer took almost 25 extra minutes. I don't know if it was due to my oven or if it was because I was using dairy free. Just keep any eye on the texture, it shouldn't be soupy.
2) There is a taste difference between dairy free and regular dairy cheesecake. Dairy free tends to be sweeter and you don't get that classic cream cheese flavor.
3) I used Trader Joe's cream cheese and Tofutti's sour cream. I was not paid by either of these companies to post this recipe, these products are what I had on hand.

Not-So-Refried Beans

After reading the ingredients on the back of refried beans, I decided to lighten it up!

In a sauce pan, combine:

1 can of beans, drained and rinsed (we usually use pinto beans but I've also done white kidney beans)
Enough water or broth to cover the beans

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or so: just enough time for the beans to soften up.
Then mash them!

Mexican Lasagna

I discovered this recipe a few weeks ago and it has become a huge hit in our house. I found it on the Marathon Mom's blog, http://themarathonmom.com/mexican-lasagna.htm

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 pound browned hamburger meat
1 can black beans (drained)
1 pound grated cheddar cheese
one batch homemade enchilada sauce (super easy)
1 small can green chiles
12 corn tortillas


Instructions:
Brown hamburger meat and drain grease. Set aside.
Prepare enchilada sauce, then place just enough sauce into 9×13 pan to cover bottom.
Place four tortillas into pan.
Begin layering ingredients, alternating as you go. A bit of meat, some beans, some cheese.
Place four more tortillas, then more sauce.
Continue layering with meat, green chiles, beans, then cheese.
Add remaining four tortillas, cover in sauce, then place remainder of cheese on top.
At this point, you can either cover tightly with foil and freeze OR
Bake at 375 to 400 til cheese is melted and edges are nice and bubbly.


*Heather's varation, we skipped the green chiles - I didn't want this to be too spicy for our 2 year old. I also made my not-so-refried beans (we didn't have black beans) and layerd it in.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Ok, I'm not sure exactly how to do this. I found a couple recipes on the blog Marathon Mom that I've come to love and would like to share. And if you make this enchilada-sauce, make sure to use it in the Mexican Lasagna recipe, which is also from her blog http://themarathonmom.com/mexican-lasagna.htm.

http://themarathonmom.com/enchilada-sauce.htm

Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oil
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps:
In saucepan, combine oil, flour, and chili powder.
Over low heat, stir constantly until bubbly and thickened. (About five minutes or so.)
Whisk in water.
Add tomato sauce and whisk til well blended.
Add spices and stir.
Cook until thickened, ten minutes or less.

Credits: The Marathon Mom, http://themarathonmom.com/

Gram's Chicken Noodle Soup

3-4 chicken breast bone-in skin-on (more of the good stuff that helps fight colds)
2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1-2 stalks of celery cut into pieces
1 onion cut into thick slices
2-3 small carrots, peeled and slices into rounds
3 packages of Herb-Ox chicken bouillon
Noodles of you choice (I prefer Reames noodles, found in the freezer section)

Wash and pat dry the chicken.
Put in large pot, cover with water. Add salt, bay leaves, celery and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken and let cool, just enough to keep from scaulding your fingers. Cut chicken into small pieces, discard the bones and skin. Strain broth then return chicken to broth. Add carrots (I also add more celery, cut into thin slices), noodles and Herb-ox chicken bouillon. Cook until noodles are done and carrots are soft.

Heather's Crockpot Quick Cooking variation

I find that chicken noodle soup is a good meal to make the day after I've made a whole chicken in the crockpot.

Make your chicken in the crockpot, follow the recipe here: http://meetthemercers.blogspot.com/2012/02/whole-chicken-in-crockpot.html

Strain and save the juices for the next day's soup. Place leftover chicken in the fridge overnight. The next day, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the chicken bouillon. Finish de-boning the chicken. Once the water is boiling, add in chicken, carrots, celery, bay leaves and noodles. Cook until carrots and celery are tender and the noodles are cooked.

Mimi's Dumplings

Boil salted water in a large pot

3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups of milk

Mix together until an oatmeal consistency. Scoop a small portion on a plate. Dip your spoon in the water and scrape mixture into the water by 1/2 spoonfuls. The dumplings will begin to float when they are done.

To add additional flavor to the dumplings, add bouillon to the water before bringing it to a boil.

Gravy:
1 cup water
2 tsp bouillon
- Bring to a boil and add flour by the tbsp over heat until thickened.

Guacamole

How to pick a ripe avocado perfect for guacamole: The avocado should fit in the palm of your hand and be slightly soft to touch. You could also pull the stem off the top and if it is a bright green, the avocado is still ripe. If you know you are making guacamole in a few days, you can buy a not-so-ripe, firmer avocado. Place the avocado in a brown paper bag with an apple, tomato or banana. The apple, tomato or banana produces ethylene gas which helps ripen the avocado.

4 avocados
1 small red onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lemon, cut in half (save to squeeze for juice). Cut the other half into thin slices
garlic salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Cut the avocados in half, remove pits. Slice lengthwise and then cross cut, scoop flesh from the skin. Mash with a potato masher or fork. Mix in onion, garlic, lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper. Cover guacamole with the thin slices of lemon until you are ready to serve, and to cover any leftovers (if there are any) to help prevent the avocados from browning.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

This is basically a "find the ingredients you like/want and dump them into your crockpot". There are so many options available for this recipe. I obtained it from a message board a few years ago.

1 package of boneless skinless chicken (we use boneless skinless thighs for variation and their lower price)
1 jar of salsa
A can of corn or 1 cup of frozen corn

And depending on if you like additional heat, you could also add a 4 oz can of chopped jalapenos or chilis.

Throw it all in the crockpot and walk away. Low 6-8 hours, High 4-6

Serve over rice, with cornbread, scoop it into soft taco shells.
Add cheese, sour cream, sliced/diced avacado, fresh salsa etc to taste before serving.

Strawberry-Pineapple-Watermelon Smoothie

We had a bunch of watermelon left over and I didn't want to see it go to waste. My general rule of thumb for smoothies is a frozen fruit, a fresh fruit or yogurt and juice. Typically our fresh fruit is a banana but I decided to see how the watermelon worked out.
And I have to be honest, I don't measure much when i'm cooking so if it looks like too much at once try halving it and then working up from there.

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup fresh watermelon
1 cup watermelon juice

We also added in 1-2 tsp of flax seed for Omega 3's and 1 packet of Culturelle probiotics

Combine all ingredients in your blender. I start with the frozen fruit on the bottom, then the fresh fruit and then pour the juice over. Blend ingredients, they should look smooth. The blender should be pulling the ingredients from the top and towards the bottom. If the ingredients are not moving, "juice it". I didn't have enough watermelon juice or any open juice so I added what I did have, Red Tea (Rooibos) which has a whole host of it's own benefits. Pour, sip, enjoy. Serves 4

Off-the-cuff Jambalaya

My 2 yr old DS begged me to make something with the turkey smoked sausage I picked up at the store. I was in one of those unfortunate situations where I didn't have any idea what to make for dinner, so I made up a recipe. I love using my cast iron dutch oven pot. I started the meal on the stove top and then transferred to the oven.

Preheat oven to 375 F
In your dutch oven combine:

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

Heat oil, stir in garlic, celery and onion. Cook until onion is translucent but garlic isn't browned.
Add 2 cups of rice and 3 - 4 cups of chicken stock (I originally added 4 cups of stock but after adding the tomatoes it seemed like there was too much liquid)

Bring to a boil
Cut up smoked sausage

Once the dish is to a boil, add one or two bay leaves and 1 Tbsp Jambalaya spices. (I used Celestial Seasonings 7 Pepper Spices but since have tried to purchase more and cannot find it. I believe Zatarain's makes a Creole Seasoning which is great, I just didn't have it on hand. And their seasoning would probably require less than 1 Tbsp, maybe more like 1/2 Tbsp).

Add 1 (10 oz) can of tomatoes with chili's (or 1 jar of salsa)
1 (4 oz) can of tomato sauce - I guessed on size, i can't remember

Return dish to boil, turn off stovetop and move the dutch oven into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is my modification of the "Anyway You Like It Pumpkin Breads" from the verybestbaking.com website.

Makes 2 dozen muffins
Preheat oven to 400* F

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Chocolate Chips (honestly I add the whole bag)
1 can (30 oz) Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix (If you use plain pumpkin, add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice in addition to what's listed)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice, apple juice or water
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a larger bowl. Combine pumpkin pie mix, oil, orange juice, eggs and vanilla in another bowl. Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes.

Mocha

My recipe for Mocha's is this:
In a tall mug combine
2 Tbsp mocha powder (I use either Starbuck's Mocha Powder or Ghiradelli's Double Chocolate Premium Hot Cocoa)
2 Tbsp water
stir until you've created a syrup

Add 1 Tbsp flavored syrup (my favorites are Peppermint or Toffee Nut)
1/4 - 1/3 cup strong coffee (my standard for brewing coffee is 4 Tbsp of coffee for 6 cups of water)
Milk of your choice (enough to fill the rest of the mug - I'm guessing 1 cup)

Heat milk over stove top or in microwave (in separate cup) until warmed and a little bubbly. Stir & enjoy

You may need to play around with it, it's been a while since I made one. But as we get into these cooler months I'll be making them again.

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1/4 peanut butter
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup milk (we use almond milk)
1 packet of Culturelle probiotic (optional)

Blend until ingredients are smooth. Add more milk if necessary to get the right consistency; you should see your blender pulling the ingredients down and it should "flow". Or you could use a fresh banana which would mean you'd need less milk.

*You could substitute the peanut butter for almond butter. Or substitute for your favorite yogurt instead

Mediterranean chicken and rice

3 tbsp of olive oil 6-8 Boneless skinless chicken thighs 3 cloves of garlic 3 stalks of green onion 1/2 lemon - juiced 2 stalks of oregano or 1 tsp dried 4 basil leaves or 1 tsp dried 1 cup rice 2 cups chicken stock or white wine  Preheat oven to 375 F. I used a 5 Quart dutch oven for this recipe so that I could use one pan on stovetop and move it immediately into oven.  Heat pan with olive oil. Cook chicken in olive oil for a couple minutes, enough to get each side slightly browned. Reduce heat. Slice up green onions and mince garlic, place in with chicken. Add lemon and sprinkle oregano and basil into pan too. Add rice and chicken stock, make sure all rice is covered and then move the pan into oven.  Bake for 40 minutes.