Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Tonight was a breakfast for dinner night. It's really the only time I make Nate breakfast. I had come across these bad boys at Mormon Mavens and knew Nate would love them. They were so simple and so good. We both enjoyed them. These would be so fun for kids too. We topped ours with the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls, but you could also use syrup if you'd like. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
tube of cinnamon rolls

Preparation:
Heat your waffle iron. Once hot, place a cinnamon roll in each segment of your waffle iron. Cook for a few minutes or until cinnamon rolls are a nice golden brown and cooked through. Serve hot with icing drizzled over the top.

No, they're not burnt in the middle, that's the cinnamon swirls.

Marinara Sauce

So good! I lost track of the times Nate said, "This is so good!" during dinner. He said it is by far the best marinara sauce he has ever had. I used this sauce in a lasagna last night and Nate declared it to be the best lasagna he's ever had. We also dipped our bread in the sauce. So I'd say this marinara sauce is a keeper! I made an 8x8" lasagna and had sauce leftover to freeze. Next time I'm going to double the recipe so I have more to freeze. I felt like a little Italian grandma with my sauce simmering away and making my house smell so good. I adapted this recipe from one over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe and according to the site, the sauce freezes well for up to six months. We loved this sauce!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 (28-ounce each) cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 Tbsp. dried basil
1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
2 dried bay leaves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste


Preparation:
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and green pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until all the vegetables are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic bread seasoning, bay leaves, and parmesan cheese and simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cook sauce until slightly thickened and the vegetables are completely tender. Taste the sauce. Add salt and pepper as needed. Remove the bay leaves. In a blender or food processor, blend the sauce (in several batches, if necessary) until it is smooth. The sauce can be frozen once it is cooled completely in freezer-safe ziploc bags for up to 6 months. Enjoy!

Turkey French Dip Sandwiches

These sandwiches are heavenly! They were so good, I enjoyed every bite, and I can't wait to make them again! In addition to tasting great, these sandwiches are so easy to prepare. We had Nate's brother Zak and his wife Domonique over for dinner, and we all really enjoyed these sandwiches. The turkey turned out so moist and tender, and the au jus was great. I saw this idea on Kelsey Nixon's cooking show, and I just adapted it to our preferences. Make this soon!

Ingredients:
3 lb. turkey breast or turkey roast (I used a roast so we had both white and dark meat)
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, roughly chopped
seasoned pepper
baguette

Preparation:
Add the chopped onions to the bottom of the crock pot, add the chicken broth and the Worcestershire sauce. Top with some seasoned pepper. In a small bowl mix together the butter and garlic bread seasoning. Rub the butter mixture all over the turkey, if you're using a turkey breast with skin, get some butter under the skin too. Place the turkey in the crock pot, on top of the onions. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Once it reaches that temperature, remove from crock pot and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Reserve the juices in the crock pot for your au jus dipping sauce. To make your sandwich, gently toast sliced baguette under to broiler until it is a nice golden brown. Top with turkey and any desired condiments and dip in au jus! You will love this!

Onion Strings

We love onion rings in our house. Our favorites are these baked onion rings, so good! Since I recently purchased a beautiful blue dutch oven, I now have the capacity to deep fry. Since we were having company for dinner, I thought we could splurge and enjoy some onion strings. These are a super thin cut version of onion rings and we all really enjoyed them! They were a good accompaniment to our turkey french dip sandwiches tonight. I got this idea from The Pioneer Woman, and they did not disappoint!

Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions
buttermilk (or regular milk)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1/2-1/2 tsp. seasoned pepper
vegetable or canola oil

Preparation:
Slice onions very very thin. Place onion strings into a baking dish, cover with milk, and let soak for an hour. Whisk together flour, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot to 375 degrees. Take handful of soaked onions and coat in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess flour and careful drop into hot oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Remove and place on paper towel lined plate to absorb and extra oil. Repeat with remaining onions. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce. We used fry sauce. You could also use these onions as a topping on sandwiches or burgers. Enjoy!

Mini Butterfinger Cheesecakes

Nate's favorite dessert is cheesecake. It's not something I make too often though. Since we were having company over for dinner tonight, I knew it was a perfect opportunity to make cheesecake. I just came across this idea over at Favorite Family Recipes, a few days ago. I'm happy to report they were a big hit! They are a fun little bite-sized dessert that is not too hard to make.

Ingredients:
Crust-
1 c. ground vanilla wafers (I used the reduced fat kind), just pulse these in your food processor and they're ready in no time flat
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
Filling-
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter (I used reduced fat)
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
Topping-
1 cup milk chocolate chips
3 Fun Size Butterfinger, crushed


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie crumbs, sugar, butter and salt into a bowl; mix to combine. Spoon mixture into bottoms of a mini muffin tin and press. Bake for 8-10 minutes and remove from oven.
Reduce heat to 300 degrees. In a stand or electric mixer, beat cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Beat sugar, egg, cream and salt until well combined. Spoon batter over baked crust. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until cheesecake is set. Let cool for 2 hours, then remove from pan.
Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth. If needed, return back to microwave for 15 seconds or so until smooth. Spoon over tops of cakes then sprinkle crushed butterfinger over top.

Shepherd's Pie

This dinner is full of memories for me. This is a super easy dish, one I've made since I was very first married, before I really learned to cook. I remember my mom making this on cold winter nights when I was growing up. We always looked forward to Shepherd's Pie. My mom always put a sprinkle of paprika over the top, so I did too. I'm sure everyone has their own version of this dish, but here is mine.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can green beans, drained
1/2 onion, diced
mashed potatoes (Nate prefers instant mashed potatoes, so I just use one package of Idahoan brand butter and herb potatoes)
shredded cheese, optional
steak seasoning
salt and pepper
smoked paprika

Preparation:
In a skillet, cook ground beef and onions. Season with steak seasoning a small amount of salt and pepper. Once beef is cooked and crumbled, reduce heat to low and add tomato sauce. You may not need the full can. You want enough to generously coat the meat, but you don't want it really soupy and runny. Spread meat mixture into the bottom of a glass 8x8" baking dish. Top meat with green beans, and then with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top of the mashed potatoes with a small amount of paprika. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The potatoes should have a nice light crust. Remove from oven and top with a bit of cheese and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted (if you want cheese). Enjoy!

General Kim's Chicken

This dish is my take on General Tso's Chicken, so Nate renamed it General Kim's Chicken. It's a great base recipe, you could easily turn this dish into orange chicken or sweet and sour chicken, just adjust the sauce. I had several different recipes that I reviewed prior to making this, it's a compilation of those recipes and personal preferences. One of our favorite couples, Sarah and Mike were my guinea pigs for this dinner and they both, in addition to Nate, ensured me it was a yummy recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken-
2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bit sized cubes
2 eggs
salt
pepper
cornstarch
vegetable oil

Sauce-
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. powdered ginger
5 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. sweet chili sauce
1 tsp. sriracha sauce (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup cold water
red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation:
Heat 6 cups vegetable oil in a large dutch oven or deep fryer to 360 degrees. Whisk eggs with salt and pepper. Add chicken and stir to coat evenly. Take each piece of chicken and dip into cornstarch. Coat entire piece of chicken and shake off any excess cornstarch. Repeat with remaining chicken. Fry in small batches for about 3 minutes or until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. I always do a test batch with 2 or 3 pieces to work out any issues. Drain chicken on a paper towel-lined plate.
Dissolve cornstarch in cold water, whisking well. In a bowl combine garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha. Add in cornstarch slurry, again whisking well to make sure everything combines. Pour sauce into a hot wok, stirring constantly until sauce thickens to desired consistency. Then add chicken to wok and stir to evenly coat chicken.
Serve immediately over hot basmati rice. Garnish with crushed red pepper flakes if you like things nice and spicy!

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

Believe it or not I've never made or eaten pasta salad. I don't really care for salad dressing so I've never bothered to try it. We had a sibling dinner tonight and we were asked to bring pasta salad and drinks. I gave this easy salad a try. I simply used less dressing and I actually really enjoyed this dish. I modified a recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff and I was very pleased with the results.

Ingredients:
1 lb. rotini pasta
8 oz. Italian dressing
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 small can sliced olives
20-30 slices turkey pepperoni, chopped
5 oz. colby jack cheese, cut into small cubes

Preparation:
Boil pasta until al dente, rinse, drain, and cool. Refrigerate. Dice up veggies and pepperoni. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl making sure everything is well incorporated. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until ready to serve.

Breakfast for Dinner Casserole

Nate and I went up to Idaho to visit my grandparents Easter weekend. Saturday morning my super cute grandma made us a breakfast casserole. This dish is really similar to what she made and it is perfect for breakfast for dinner.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
10 oz. shredded hash browns (if you're using frozen, make sure to thaw them first)
1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
salt
pepper

Preparations:
Whisk together eggs and milk. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in all other ingredients. Pour into a greased 8x8" or 9x9" baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until eggs are cooked through and set. Serve warm.

Grilled Asparagus

The best asparagus I've ever had! I love asparagus, and this was the most delicious preparation. I will be making this over and over again. We had my mother-in-law over for dinner last night and my husband really wanted some steak. I asked if he'd be willing to throw some asparagus on the grill. Nate cooked it perfectly. The asparagus got some great grill marks and picked up a bit of the steak flavoring. It was my favorite part of the meal last night!

Ingredients:
asparagus spears, cleaned and trimmed
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

Preparation:
Toss asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Grill for about 8-9 minutes, flipping once. We have an electric grill, so time may vary if you have a gas grill. You just want your asparagus at that nice tender-crisp stage. Nate cooked our asparagus in the same spot he had grilled our steaks so they picked up some of that great steak flavor. So good! Enjoy!

Savory Onion Soup Shredded Chicken Sandwiches

With my cold and a long to-do list today, I wanted an easy to prepare dinner. This recipe fit the bill. It is SO easy and tasted great. Perfect for a night like tonight, or any weeknight. You could even throw the chicken in early in the morning on high and have it for lunch. I got the idea from Table for 7. Just serve this up with some chips and carrot and celery sticks and you've got a great meal!

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 3)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
1 envelope of dried onion soup mix
garlic powder- per taste preference (I used about 1/2 tsp.)

Preparation:
Whisk together water, Italian dressing, soup mix, and garlic powder, and add to crock pot. Add chicken to crock pot and stir to make sure it gets coated. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Once chicken is cooked, remove from crock pot and let rest for 10 minutes then shred well. Add back to the crock pot and stir to mix it with the juices. Turn crock pot to the warm setting for 30 minutes then serve on toasted hamburger buns.

Mini Garlic Monkey Breads

We ate these monkey breads with our turkey meatloaf cupcakes last night, and it was comfort food at it's finest! These are so good and super simple to make. I can't wait to makes these again. I saw the idea over at Life as a Lofthouse. Make these soon, you'll love them! I halved this recipe for Nate and I.

Ingredients:
Makes 12 rolls
18 frozen Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning

Preparation:
Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Cut each thawed roll into 4 pieces. Set aside. In a bowl combine the butter and garlic bread seasoning. Place 6 to 7 roll pieces into the garlic mixture and coat with mix. Place 6 to 7 coated roll pieces into one muffin tin. Repeat the process until all 12 muffin tins are full.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Serve warm.

Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes

These were so so good! Have you ever had a night where you just throw a bunch of stuff together and it turns out to be awesome, an instant family favorite? Well, we had a night like that last night. Dinner was perfect. I need to go grocery shopping so this recipe was me just wingin' it. I didn't measure anything last night, so these are my best estimates. This is my new favorite meatloaf recipe, and Nate just text me that the leftovers were awesome too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
1 large egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1-2 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. steak seasoning
1/2 - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl combine all the above ingredients by hand. Do not over mix or your meatloaf will be tough. You want to mix it until it's just combined. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Spoon equal amounts of the meat mixture into the cupcake liners. I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup and got 8 meatloaf cupcakes. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 -35 minutes or until turkey is cooked all the way through (I didn't set a timer, so the time is just an estimate). I double checked done-ness with my meat thermometer. Remove meatloaf cupcakes and peel off the liners. Let rest for 5 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Chinese Pepper Steak

We had Nate's cute sister over for our weekly dinner last Thursday. Knowing that Stephanie loves Chinese food, I decided to make pepper steak. Pepper steak is Nate's favorite Chinese dish, well, it's probably tied with ham fried rice. He prefers his spicy, me, not so much. I simply took out mine and Steph's portion of pepper steak out of the skillet and then added some hot sauce and spice to Nate's portion. I referenced an idea from Allrecipes, but tweaked it for our tastes. This is such a simple meal, enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. sirloin steak, sliced into very thin strips (I simply bought the pre-cut stir fry meat from the store, it was a super busy day)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped (I wanted to use one green and one red, but the red didn't look great at the store)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup beef broth
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. steak seasoning (I use a homemade steak seasoning but you could totally use something like Montreal)
salt to taste
3/4 tsp. brown sugar
olive oil
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Sriracha sauce (optional)

Preparation:
In a small bowl mix cold water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk well to dissolve cornstarch. In a large skillet, brown the steak strips in a Tbsp. or so of olive oil with the garlic, ginger, and steak seasoning. You're not trying to cook it all the way through, you just want to brown it. Remove the meat and keep warm. To that same skillet add your bell peppers and onions, saute for about 5 minutes or so, or until tender-crisp. Add beef broth to skillet. Next add your water/soy sauce mixture. Stir well. Add you steak back in and bring mixture to a boil*. Once boiling, stir and simmer the dish until the steak is at your desired done-ness and sauce thickens. Serve hot over basmati rice.

*If you want your dish spicy, add a tsp. or two of sriracha and some red pepper flakes at this point.

Amazing Drop Biscuits

Hands down the best biscuits I've ever had! Phenomenal! These biscuits are so good, you need to make these, and soon. We had them to with some baked chicken and salad tonight, and I'm already looking forward to having a biscuit with some scrambled eggs in the morning. I can't say enough good things about this recipe! I got this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I didn't change a single thing, so here is her recipe verbatim.

Ingredients:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk, chilled
8 Tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preparation:
Heat oven to 475 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat liner.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a 2-cup liquid measure, stir together the chilled buttermilk and melted butter until the butter forms small clumps. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture slightly pulls away from the edges of the bowl.
Using a greased ¼-cup measure, scoop out mounds of the dough and drop them onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush with additional melted butter. Serve warm.

Photo updated 05/15/14.

Tex-Mex Lasagna

Another Mexican dish for Nate! I'm happy to say it turned out really well. Both Nate and I really enjoyed this dinner. We didn't end up eating dinner until 8:10 last night, so I'm so happy it was good! I make a Mexican lasagna which we both really like, it uses tortillas instead of noodles. This recipe is another fun variation. I saw the idea over at Not So Homemade, and adapted it, I also made my own sauce. One perk of this recipe is that you are more than likely to have every ingredient on hand. All I had to buy was a green pepper and an onion. Love it when that happens!

This makes an 8x8" or 9x9" pan. Simply double for a 9x13".

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
2/3 cup frozen corn
1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
shredded Mexican cheese blend (I had colby jack on hand, so that's what I used)
1 (8 oz.) can mild Rotel sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
6 oz. water (just use the tomato paste can)
1 cup mild salsa
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
salt and pepper

Preparation:
In a pan, combine the ground beef with a small amount of salt and pepper, 2 Tbsp. of taco seasoning, green peppers, and onions. Cook and crumble the ground beef. Once finished, set aside. Par boil the lasagna noodles (cook them most of the way through and take them out a few minutes before finished). Rinse the noodles with cold water to stop the cooking process. Lay out the noodles on a piece of parchment paper so they don't stick together. In a medium bowl, combine the Rotel sauce, tomato paste, water, and salsa. Add a pinch of salt if you need. In an 8x8" or 9x9" baking dish, pour some sauce into the bottom of the dish. Make sure it's enough to cover the entire bottom. Lay some lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. You will most likely have to trim down the noodles so they will fit. Pour a small amount of sauce on top of the noodles. Add 1/2 the meat mixture on top and then 1/2 the beans and corn. Sprinkle some cheese over the top. Add another layer of lasagna noodle, then sauce. Make sure you add a fair amount of sauce to ensure the noodles finish cooking in the oven. Then add the other 1/2 of the meat mixture, beans, and corn. Sprinkle some cheese over the top. Add the last layer of lasagna noodles and a fair amount of sauce on top, making sure it covers the top. I had just a little bit of sauce left over, so don't stress if you don't use it all, but you should use most of it. Cover the baking dish with a square of parchment paper, and then cover with tin foil. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil and parchment paper and sprinkle some cheese over the top. Return, uncovered, to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted. Let the lasagna stand for a full 10 minutes before slicing, or else your lasagna will be a sloppy mess when you dish it up. Nate finds this 10 minute wait almost unbearable, poor guy! Dish up and serve hot with a fresh and crisp green salad. Enjoy!

Dijon Ranch Chicken

Oh, this chicken is so good! It is most definitely a keeper recipe. I included this recipe in the marinades section because I think this would also taste awesome on pork chops. We both loved the bold flavors and how moist and tender our chicken was. Even with all the seasonings you add, nothing is overpowering. This is a dish easy enough for any weeknight, yet tasty enough to serve to company. I got the idea from Not So Homemade, and I altered it to suit our tastes. Hurry and add this recipe to your menu for the week!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. chicken (you can use breasts, drumsticks, thighs, whatever you're craving)
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preparation:
In a small bowl combine everything but the chicken. Mix well. Using a basting brush, coat the chicken on all sides with a layer of the mustard mixture. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for one hour. Once finished marinating, bake or grill your chicken until it's cooked through. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving. I made boneless, skinless chicken breasts and baked them at 400 degrees for 32 minutes.




P.S. This is fourth new recipe I've tried in the last 24 hours. That has to be some sort of record! I'm just glad they all turned out tasty!

Baked Churros

Okay, this is another super simple recipe. It comes together in a matter of minutes and is definitely a crowd pleaser. I took it tonight to a game night and everyone enjoyed them. I saw the idea over at Six Sisters' Stuff, it's a darling site, be sure and check it out.

Ingredients:
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Unfold and cut puff pastry sheets in half lengthwise, and cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips. Place strips on a lightly greased parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown . Meanwhile, combine sugar and cinnamon. Remove pastry sheets from oven and dip in butter, then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let stand on a wire rack 5 minutes or until dry. Serve warm. Makes 36 churros.

Blueberry Muffins

I actually made breakfast! I rarely make breakfast in our house, unless I make breakfast for dinner. This week was so crazy. One of the busiest I've had in months and Nate was so great this week. He totally deserved a good breakfast. Muffins for Nate! I was just going to do a box mix, but I couldn't bring myself to pay over three dollars for one mix, so homemade it was. I got this idea from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen, don't even worry about thawing them, just throw them in)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin pan with paper muffin liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and milk. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350º for 20 to 25 min, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Bites

My little brother is visiting us this weekend. Both he and Nate love cinnamon sugar anything! It was the perfect opportunity to make these donut bites. They are super simple, and super fast to make. I bet kids would love these. I saw the idea over at
Table For Seven.

Ingredients:
1-10 count tube of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Cut each biscuit in half and then roll into ball form. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes or until lightly brown. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and ground cinnamon until well combined. Once doughnuts are cooled, coat with warm melted butter, then coat with cinnamon sugar mixture. Makes 20 small doughnuts

Pot Stickers and Dipping Sauce

I made this pork roast earlier in the week and we had lots of leftovers. I re-purposed the leftover meat to make these pot stickers. They turned out so well! Nate and I both really enjoyed this dinner. Assembling the pot stickers is a bit time consuming, but it is so worth it. This is definitely a keeper recipe in our house. I followed this recipe from Simply So Good pretty closely. She has some great step-by-step photos posted too. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

I doubled this recipe since I had a lot of leftover pork and it made 58 pot stickers.

Ingredients:
8-10 oz. ground pork (I used some leftover roast that I diced up)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 cups napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. green onion, minced
20-30 pot sticker wrappers
oil
water

Preparation:
In a food processor combine pork, chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, green onion, ginger, pepper, and cabbage. Pulse mixture until it's well combined and there are no chunks. Take a pot sticker wrapper and wet the edge all the way around. Add a small amount of the filling. Fold wrapper in half. Wet the outside edges and pinch into small pleats. Repeat until filling is gone. Keep the pot stickers covered with a damp paper towel until you cook them. In a large pan, heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add pot stickers seam side up, but don't over-crowd the pan. Cook until bottoms are golden brown (Nate and I like our pot stickers a little more crispy, so I also brown the sides). Once the bottoms are browned, lower the temperature to medium-low. Add 1/3 cup water to the pan and immediately cover with a lid. Be careful, the oil/water mixture will splatter. Steam pot stickers until water has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Once finished, remove from pan and keep warm until serving. Clean out pan and then repeat until all the pot stickers are finished. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.


Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce
2 Tbsp. scallions, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl and set aside.

Asian Roast Pork

I have such a good husband. I had a horrible day yesterday, and at dinner time I was gone working on things for my church calling. Cute Nate made dinner all by himself. All I did was some prep work earlier in the day, and Nate baked the roast and pulled the fried rice together. When I got home from my meeting, dinner was on the table including a napkin in the shape of a rose! Nate did a great job, dinner was really tasty. Everything turned out really well. I saw this idea at Allrecipes and modified it to fit our tastes.

Ingredients:
1 (2 lb.) pork roast
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup brown sugar
3 green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. Asian chile paste (if you don't like things spicy, cut this in half)
1 tsp. pepper

Preparation:
Whisk together soy sauce, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, onions, chile paste, and pepper. Pour into a gallon sized ziploc bag. Add pork roast and make sure it gets evenly coated. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours. Bake roast at 325 degrees for about an hour, or until your desired done-ness.

Black Bean Dip

This was really good. I don't even like black beans, and I enjoyed a couple bites of this. Nate loved it. This dip is so easy, and if you're going to be serving this at a party, I definitely recommend doubling. It's funny, I came across this idea today and knew that Nate would love it with our dinner tonight. How's that for a quick turn around! I saw the idea over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. I was in a rush so I modified the recipe a bit, but it was a big hit with the husband.

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz.) can black beans (I used the low sodium ones)
2 heaping Tbsp. lite sour cream
1 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
shredded cheese

Preparation:
Rinse and drain your beans. Add beans, sour cream, milk, and seasoning to food processor. Pulse until smooth. Pour the bean dip into a lightly greased 8x8" baking dish. Sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top of the bean dip. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and dip is bubbly. Enjoy hot.



I shared this recipe over at Chef in Training and Mandy's Recipe Box.

Cookies 'n Cream Rice Krispie Treats

Two dessert posts in one week, what has come over me? Tonight we took dinner to one of Nate's cousins that just had a baby. They have a few other children, so I wanted to bring something kid friendly. I thought this dessert fit the bill. Nate also loves cookies 'n cream flavored things, so I killed two birds at once and made him a fun dessert too. I found this super simple idea over at Glorious Treats.

Ingredients:
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
20 regular oreos, crushed/chopped (about 2 1/2 cups crushed)
5 cups mini marshmallows
3 Tbsp. butter

Preparation:
Put rice krispies treats into a large bowl. Spray a 9x13" casserole dish or cake pan with non-stick spray, set aside. In a gallon sized ziploc bag, crush oreos. You want to have some crushed into small pieces, and some bite size chunks. Add oreos to rice krispies and stir to combine. In a large microwave safe bowl, heat butter and marshmallows together, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. They will expand, so make sure your bowl is big enough. When the marshmallows are puffy and mostly melted, carefully remove from microwave and stir to fully combine the butter, and make sure the marshmallows are fully melted. Pour melted marshmallows over cereal and oreos and use a spatula sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to quickly combine all the ingredients. As soon as all the cereal is combined, spread mixture into the prepared 9x13" dish. Use the spatula to press the mixture around the dish, and flatten as needed. Allow to cool before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Nate's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

We had a big pasta dinner with Nate's siblings tonight. Nate and I were in charge of bringing the meat sauce. I got so spoiled and Nate volunteered to do all the work. I picked out a recipe for him to make and gave him a few pointers. I have to say, Nate did a fantastic job. The sauce was really really good. This recipe makes a ton, so even after feeding 8 people, I still have enough to freeze for another meal. We used a recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and suited it to our tastes. Great work Nate!

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped and divided
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage (we used mild)
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons dried oregano
3 teaspoons dried basil
2 14-oz. can Italian-style diced tomatoes
2 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves

Preparation:
Cook and crumble Italian sausage, and drain any fat. Set aside. Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the onions and saute until translucent and slightly browned. Add garlic and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add beef and cook until no red is showing. Drain beef slightly. Add sausage. Blend up the remaining onions in a blender or food processor until mostly smooth. Add mixture to the garlic, onions and beef and stir to combine, cooking for another minute. Add tomato paste and spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring until combined. Add tomatoes and beef broth. Stir until combined and add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The sauce will seem watery at first but will reduce to perfection after simmering for an hour. After simmering we put the sauce in the crock pot and kept it on low all day. Serve over hot cooked pasta. Enjoy!