Homemade Granola

Granola just got so much better...
This is absolutely delicious, minus all the preservatives!!

We make tons of this at once and put it in jars. It's great for gifts, to give to friends and family, or to keep all to yourself ; )

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and let cool.

If you'd like you can add any dried fruit you'd like too.

Separate into bags or jars and enjoy!

Another really delicious way to make this is to replace the maple syrup with honey, and use pecans instead of almonds!

Enjoy! : )

Bertha Hopkins' Almond-Filled Coffee Cake Ring!

 This recipe is from my step mom, Janis. We make it every year around the holidays (well she makes it, until this year when I made my first one!). I don't know why we wait to just have it around the holidays, because it is so delicious. It is a special treat I look forward to every year! This coffee cake is very similar to a bear claw, the yummy almond filling... mmmm!! It has a lot of steps and takes some effort but it is well worth it!!

Here is the story behind the perfect coffee cake:

Bertha Hopkins’ Almond-filled Ring Coffee Cake

Bertha was a parishioner in Pard’s (my father) Stockton Church (1965-1972) The story goes that her husband loved coffee cake and so she searched the world over for the best coffee cake recipe. She invited Janis to her house to show her how to make it. It used to arrive at our house around Christmas time on a foil wrapped piece of cardboard decorated with red and green candied cherries (you can skip that part if you want). When we make it at Christmas, it barely makes it off the cookie sheets before it gets eaten up. This recipe makes two cakes

The cake dough:

2/3 cup milk

1 t. salt

½ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 cube butter

2 pkg. Yeast

½ c warm water

3 cups flour

2 t. grated orange rind

Add yeast to warm water. Put flour in a large bowl. Put butter, milk, sugar and salt in sauce pan to melt and warm (you could use the microwave) Add to the yeast when it is cool enough not to kill the yeast. Stir in the egg yolks and the flour. Turn on a floured board and knead a few times. Raise in a warm place until the ball has doubled. Divide in half and roll each part into a ¼ in thick rectangle. Spread half of the filling on each. Roll into a long log and bring ends together to make a circle. Make cuts an inch apart all around the circle (starting at the outside and cutting to within an inch of the inside) take each little slice and turn the piece over. Raise again for ¾ hour. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove to large plate, drizzle icing while still hot.

Linguine and Clams with White Wine Butter Sauce

Man was this good. I'm drooling just thinking about it...

I made this dish a few weeks ago but hadn't had the time to post it until now.

It was delicious, this is a winning dish!

I bought fresh clams, they are actually pretty reasonable in price - which is always a good thing!

About an hour before you want to eat, you are going to want to cover the clams in water with about a teaspoon of pepper or corn meal. This will make the clams spit out any sand they are holding on to, giving you a more satisfying bite (without grit!)

Throw out any clams that are already opened up or cracked.

After the clams have been soaking for about an hour

Get your pasta going in some boiling heavily salted water, you can use any kind of pasta you like, I use a long skinny spaghetti or linguine. The pasta should take about 8 minutes to cook.

Next,  I start on the sauce.. 

This is another fun dish to make with things you already have around the house and in your kitchen.
If you like a certain vegetable, throw it in a try it out. I used mushrooms, onion and garlic. 

Saute about 1/4 cup of chopped onions, 1/4 cup of mushrooms and a tablespoon of garlic in a pan with a little butter and olive oil (about a tablespoon of each) for about 3-5 minutes. Next add in about a cup of white wine and let it reduce for about 2 minutes (another option is to use chicken stock instead of wine, or use both). Next - pull the clams out of the water and add them to the white wine sauce and cover until all of the clams open up (about 4-5 minutes) throw out any clams that do not open. Add in the cooked and drained pasta with about a tablespoon of butter.

Mix it all together with tongs or a fork and serve!

I chose to serve the dish with a toasted piece of bread that I rubbed with garlic.

It was perfect for soaking up that yummy sauce!

Enjoy!!

Cocoon Cookies (Sandies)!

These cookies hold a special place in my heart and I decided to make them again.

When we were little, my mom used to make these with my brothers and I all the time around the holidays, they were so fun and so yummy! My dad would come into the kitchen just in time to get a cookie while it was still warm :)

So I'm bringing back the tradition.. I'm in my Christmas attire, blasting Christmas music, it's raining and I'm making "cocoons"!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine butter and sugar and mix until creamy. 

Add water, salt and vanilla and mix.

Next add in the flower in small batches until combined.

Then add chopped pecans and mix well.

Next, take about a tablespoon amount in the palm of your hand and

squeeze it to make a fist, this will give you the "cocoon"

 

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cookies are lightly toasted and golden brown.

Move to a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

 

Enjoy! 

Happy Holidays!

After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup!

 Ok, in my opinion one of the best parts about Thanksgiving... leftovers.

Turkey Soup is so good and pretty simple to make

I start by breaking down the left over turkey and bones.

Sometimes it's easiest to just use the legs, wings, neck and other bones that are already small enough to fit into the pot. If you have a pot big enough for the body, that's great too!

Cut up about 3 carrots, 5 celery stalks, 1-2 onions into large chunks

The beauty about this stock is you can just throw veggies into it. You don't need to peel them and you can use all the parts you would usually throw out.

Place the carrots, celery, onion and bones into a large pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 - 2 hours.

Season liberally with salt, pepper, celery salt, seasoning salt, sage, really any seasonings you like.

Once the liquid is a rich brown soupy color, strain out all the veggies and bones and return stock to the large pot.

Voila! A beautiful stock!

You can freeze the stalk and use it for future recipes,

Or you can make soup!

I dice up carrots, onions and celery (about a cup each) into small bite-size pieces and add them to the stock. Bring to a simmer. 

Meanwhile simmer about a cup of pasta on the side for about 6-7 minutes until its almost done.

Add pasta to the stock with veg.

Shred up left over turkey into bite size pieces and add it to the stock.

Simmer the soup about 5 - 10 minutes.

And serve.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving!! -- Easy Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry... Turkey's best friend.
A Thanksgiving table is hardly itself without Turkey's right hand man on the table - Cranberry Sauce.

It's super easy and way more impressive to say you made it yourself 

instead of plopping it out of a can.

I start by boiling equal parts water and sugar (1 cup of each) in a small pot - for less sweet cranberry sauce use 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup of sugar.

Once it has come to a hard simmer/boil - add in 3 cups of fresh cranberries.

Cover, mixing occasionally until all the cranberries pop. You can encourage them by taking a wooden spoon and pressing them on the side of the pot.

Once all the cranberries have popped - turn off the heat and add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp orange zest, 1 tsp salt. Mix well.

The cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

For fun I added a little something extra to my cranberry sauce.. toasted chopped walnuts!

They help to balance out the sweetness of the sauce and add a little texture.

Yum!

Enjoy!!

Chicken, Mushroom and Chard with Pesto

Tonight I decided I wasn't going to the grocery store and I'd use things that were in the fridge or the garden to make dinner.

I think it's really fun, I feel like I'm on "Chopped" (the Food Network show)

except I don't have a time restriction.

Anyway, I had some left over chicken from the night before, I found some rainbow chard and kale in the garden. I also found basil, which inspired me to make a pesto.

I started by dicing mushrooms, chard, kale, and onion (about 1/4 cup each).

I also minced some garlic (about 2 cloves).

I diced about a cup of cooked chicken.

In a food processor I made pesto:

1/4 cup basil

1/8 cup toasted walnuts

2 tbs shredded asiago cheese

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs milk

Salt and pepper

Pulse until all the ingredients keep together.

Next, I cooked about 1 - 2 cups of pasta in salted water.

In a sauce pan I warmed 2 tbs of olive oil over medium heat.

Add mushrooms and onions, cook for about 2-3 minutes and add garlic, cook an additional 2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Next, I splashed about 1/3 cup of white wine in the pan and added the kale and rainbow chard.
Let the wine simmer for about 2 minutes, until the alcohol has cooked out.
Stir in pesto.

After the pasta is done cooking, add it immediately to the veg mixture.

Before you stir, shred on some asiago cheese onto the warm pasta.

Mix all of the ingredients together, serve with asiago shredded on top and enjoy!!

Cherry "Cobbler"

This is a recipe my step mom came up with many years ago when we were in Michigan visiting family. It instantly became my favorite and one of my go-tos!

I love this recipe because it's minimal mess and so delicious!

The sides are slightly crunchy and the middle is tender and chewy.

The cherries are slightly tart and the cake is sweet.

A perfect combination!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 can tart cherries
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain cherries, in a bowl mix cherries with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Set aside.

In a pie pan or square baking dish melt 1 stick of butter, stir 3/4 cup sugar and mix well.

Add in milk, vanilla and egg - Mix well.

Add in flour and mix well again.
It's okay if the mixture is lumpy, it will cook out.

Pour cherry mixture over the cake mixture, 

make sure you pour all of the juice that was created as well.

Place in the oven in the middle rack for about 30 - 40 minutes until the middle has risen to about the same height as the sides.

Serve hot with vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving!! -- Best Ever Stuffing!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

I loooove Thanksgiving.

And I like to pretend calories don't exist on T-Day.

I wear stretchy pants and eat all day long.

I'm a stuffing/dressing freak. 

I always call it stuffing even though I don't stuff it in anything - so then it's technically dressing...

Stuffing, stuffing, stuffing!!!!

One of my absolute favorite things in the whole world!

My step mom and I have a standing joke about how it barely makes it to the table Thanksgiving day.

We always make it first in the morning and nibble on it all day long. Sometimes we have to hide it from ourselves so it makes it to dinner.

I use the box stuffing, but it's what you add to it that makes it your own and extra delicious.

I add tons of textures and flavors to mine to make it just absolutely perfect in my opinion.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 box of seasoned "stuffing/dressing"
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 medium gala apple, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3-4 stocks of celery, diced
• 1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
• 1 cup craisins
• 2-3 cups chicken stock or veggie stock
• Sage
• Celery salt
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

Start by chopping the onion and celery, I like bigger chunks but it's about preference, if you like smaller pieces, cut them smaller. 

Melt the butter in a large iron skillet or pan on medium heat.

Saute onion and celery until almost transparent, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice up your apple into similar size chunks as the veg.

Add in the apple and saute another 3-5 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper, sage, celery salt and onion powder, a nice amount of each, maybe a tablespoon.
Add in the craisins, so they have a chance to rehydrate themselves with the butter before the bread soaks it all up.

Next, add in the stuffing mix and mix well so the bread absorbs the butter and delicious flavors.

Pour about 2 cups of chicken stock over the stuffing, if you like it more moist, go ahead and add more chicken stock.

Add in chopped, toasted walnuts (to toast, place in a dry pan over medium-low heat, stirring often until you can smell them and they are lightly toasted).

Mix well, I like to use a fork so the stuffing doesn't get too lumpy and stuck together, instead you "fluff" it.

Place in the oven for about 15 minutes.

This stuffing is crunchy, tender, salty and sweet.

Its just SO good.

Enjoy!!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Balsamic Reduction

The best time of the whole year is here!! (In my opinion). Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and luckily I get to celebrate it twice! It's so fun to play with the old classics and I'm going to share a few of my favorite holiday recipes!

For starters: My Roasted Brussel Sprouts!

I think a lot of people don't like brussel sprouts because they haven't had them this way.

The first time I had them they were boiled... ew. No wonder they aren't a big hit at the table.

I love roasted vegetables, and brussel sprouts turn out so beautifully when cooked this way.

Here's what you'll need:

• Brussel Sprouts
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Reduction (My favorite is Rachael Rays)
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I always like to cut off the little stump on the bottom of the brussel sprout, this is totally optional and you can leave it if you'd like. Cut the brussel sprouts in half. Drizzle with olive oil salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast on a sheet pan for about 20-30 minutes until tender.

Move to a bowl and toss with balsamic reduction, salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup!

This soup is a winner!

I love this soup! It's so perfect for a cold night. 

So many different tastes and textures. I just can't get enough!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 3 tortillas, sliced
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• sour cream and mexican-blend cheese for garnish

In a pot, pour 2 tbs of olive oil, add diced onion and saute for about 2-3 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Next add the jalapeno and garlic (for a spicier soup you can leave the seeds and the ribs of the jalapeno on and add them to the soup, for less spice remove seeds and ribs.) and cook an additional 2 minutes, also seasoning with salt and pepper. Next add the chicken broth and fire roasted tomatoes, bring to a boil. Add the raw chicken breasts and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the soup, set aside and let cool for shredding later. Let soup simmer for about 10 minutes, uncovered. Let the soup cool for a bit, a hot soup going into the blender is never a good idea. Once the soup has cooled a bit, blend the soup. Return the blended soup to the pot and add in black beans, corn, and shredded chicken, bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and add lime juice and cilantro. 

Meanwhile slice up tortillas, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook in a 375 degree oven for about 5 - 10 minutes, until crispy. Keep an eye on the tortilla strips, they will go fast.

To serve, pour soup in a bowl, top with cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, and tortilla strips.

Enjoy!

The Best Banana-Nut Bread!

I got the baking bug the other day, it gets me every once in a while and I have to make cookies or brownies or muffins or SOMETHING. Something sweet.

I also had old bananas staring me in the face screaming at me to make banana bread.

So it happened, I made banana muffins. I made muffins mostly because for some reason I don't have a loaf pan, and muffins seem easier to give away and eat as individual servings.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 very/overly ripe bananas
• 1 stick of room temp. butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

In a large bowl, mix together sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Next add milk, vanilla and cinnamon.

On a plate, mash bananas with a fork and combine with wet mixture.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add to wet mixture in thirds. Mix until combined but do not over mix - over mixing will make for tough bread.

Add in toasted walnuts.

Banana bread dough is one of my favorite doughs, I like to live on the edge and eat the raw dough..... It's really, really good!!

Place batter in muffin pan, about 3/4 full.

This recipe should make about a dozen muffins.

Place in an oven preheated to 325 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes

Check with a toothpick at 15 minutes, if the toothpick comes out clean then the muffins are done!

Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Cilantro Pesto

Pesto.... ahhhhhh the beautiful combination of basil, cheese, nuts and olive oil..

I think it's fun to play with recipes and mix things up, swap out herbs, add things, replace others..

Cilantro, I love the stuff, and it's wonderful with all sorts of proteins.
This pesto would be great on skirt steak, shrimp, fish, chicken.. the possibilities are endless! ;)

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 bunch of cilantro (about a cup to a cup 1/4)
• 1 lime
• 2-3 scallions
• 1/4 cup toasted pecans
• 1 clove of garlic (chopped)
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

In a food processor combine the zest of 1 lime, chopped cilantro, scallions, toasted pecans (to toast the pecans, place them in a dry pan over medium heat until you can smell them, mixing often), garlic, veg oil, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Voila!

It's that easy and it's so yummy!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Waffles!

This has recently become a huge thing, Chicken and Waffles, at least around my neck of the woods.
It's coming back in a big way in restaurants with fun, new twists on this old classic.

It's one of my boyfriends new favorites and when we couldn't decide what to do for dinner, he came home with the basic ingredients: chicken and bread crumbs - and I got to work!

 

I love the combination of sweet, salty and spicy. And this dish traditionally is big on sweet and salty so I combined all the flavors together for a delicious and satisfying treat!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 lb chicken breast tenders
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs seasoning powder (natures seasons or kirkland no salt seasoning)
• 2 tbs red pepper flake
• salt and pepper 
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Set out 2 plates and a bowl. Crack the eggs in the bowl and beat them. In one dish mix flour with garlic powder, onion powder, seasoning powder, and 1 tbs of red pepper flake. In the remaining dish, combine bread crumbs and the other 1 tbs of red pepper flake. (If you don't like the heat you can leave out the red pepper flake, or use less). Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper (check your seasoning powder to see if it has salt in it, if so you may want to pass on salting the chicken, or use less salt. Also, Costco has a really great "no salt seasoning mix" that I used for this recipe.) 

Next, set up your station in a row - flour dish, egg bowl, panko dish.

Coat the chicken tender in the flour mixture first, then egg, then panko - set chicken tender aside and repeat.

In a sauce pan, heat vegetable oil - you want a shallow bath for the chicken so it is not quite covered, only about half way. Make sure the oil is really hot, you can check the oil by sprinkling in a little flour and if the oil "sizzles" then it's ready.

Make sure to not over crowd the pan, over crowding the pan will lower the temperature of the oil and you won't get that nice brown, crunchy chicken you are looking for. Once both sides of chicken are nice and brown (about 3 minutes on each side) remove and place on a dish lined with a paper towel. Repeat until all of your chicken is done.

For the waffles:

Since this was a last minute dinner decision, I cheated and used a waffle mix.

These days there are so many different waffle mixes and many of them are just as good as a home mixed batter.

Serve the chicken atop a buttered waffle, and drizzle with maple syrup.

For an extra kick and more spice you can add siracha to the top of your chicken as well.

Enjoy!!

The Best Stewed Chicken Ever!

As promised here is the recipe for honestly the best stewed chicken you'll probably ever eat.. ever.

I don't have a great picture of it, probably because we devour it once it's ready!

I love this time of year for many reasons, one being that it's perfect weather for "one pot meals" - stews, soups, chili.. They are some of my favorites!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 pound chicken breast (bone-in)
• 1 pound chicken thigh (bone-in)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 3 tbs flour
• 3 tbs olive oil or bacon grease
• 1 tbs butter
• "Nature's Seasoning" season blend
• Salt and pepper.

To start, remove skin from chicken. Season with salt, pepper, and seasoning blend. Heat dutch oven with 2 tbs olive oil (or bacon grease if you have it. you can also start by cooking a piece of bacon and use that grease. You can add the bacon back in at the end.) Brown both sides of the chicken in batches. It doesn't have to be completely cooked, just browned, you will return it to the pan to finish cooking later. Remove chicken and set aside. Next, add remaining oil and butter - cook carrots, celery, and onion for about 5 minutes, season with salt, pepper, seasoning blend. Add flower and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes, you want to cook out the raw flour taste. Next, return the chicken to the pot and add in chicken broth, it should almost cover the chicken. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the "gravy" is your desired thickness.

Serve with Sour Cream Biscuits.

  

The chicken will be so tender it falls off the bone.
 I promise this will be one of your favorite new go-to recipes.
It's definitely one of mine!

Enjoy!

Sour Cream Biscuits!

These are one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite biscuit.

These are a must try! They will be your new go-to biscuit!

I always make them with this delicious stewed chicken with this amazing "gravy"

(I'll post that recipe next!)

They are so tender and flaky and delicious!

 And who knew making your own biscuits wasn't insanely difficult?!

Actually, it's probably a lot easier than you think!

What you'll need:

•  4 tbs cold butter (cut into small cubes)
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup light sour cream

Mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt). Add in the butter and the sour cream, breaking up the butter as you go until the cubes are about the size of peas, mix until you can make a disc out of the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 15 minutes, or until you are ready to use it. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the dough into wedges and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Top uncooked biscuits with sour cream. Place in middle rack of oven for about 12 minutes. Enjoy!

These are perfect for soaking up gravy (Thanksgiving biscuits? I'm going to try that this year!) I am sure they'd be wonderful for a left-over sandwich, or even just a dinner roll. They are a wonderful addition to any dinner. Hope you guys love these as much as I do!

Not Your Mama's Chicken Salad

One of my new loves is chicken salad.

I'm not a huge fan of mayo and I always associate chicken salad with copious amounts of mayo, so I never ate it growing up.

Once I discovered how to make it myself the game changed!

I add lots of different tastes and textures to take this chicken salad up a notch, and believe me, it is good!

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 medium gala apple
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1/2 cup chopped/diced almonds
• 1/4 cup craisins 
• 3 tbs light mayo
• 1/4 cup poppy seed salad dressing (Maries)
• Salt and Pepper 

I start by cooking my chicken - preheat the oven to 375, season chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 - 20 minutes until it's cooked through, set aside and let rest. I like the taste of toasted almonds, its almost bacon-y, so I toast mine in a dry pan until I can smell them. Meanwhile, dice the onion and apple pretty small. Dice the craisins as well, to keep everything a similar size. You want all of the components to be roughly the same size so you get a little of everything in every bite. Next, you'll dice up the chicken. Once everything is ready, place all the ingredients in a bowl (the chicken will absorb more flavor while its warm, and I think the salad is really good while it's still warm, but you can use chilled chicken as well). Add the mayo and the poppy seed dressing and mix well. You may need more poppy seed dressing or mayo depending on how wet you like your salad or how well it's coming together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Most people are familiar with a chicken salad sandwhich, I'm not here to tell you how to eat your chicken salad ;) but I enjoy mine with pretzel thins! It's really good :) Hope you guys enjoy!

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Homemade Apple Sauce!

Ok guys, not to toot my own horn buuut this was seriously, as my boyfriend would put it, 

"The Dank." 

In other words, it was really, really good.

Growing up, pork and apple sauce was one of my favorites. My dad used to make my brothers and I pork chops once a week and I always had to have a more than necessary amount of apple sauce with mine, some things never change ;) So this dish has a special place in my heart. I thought I could make it a little more "grown up" with similar flavors and ingredients.

I purchased 2 lbs of pork tenderloin, in this case it came as two 1 lb tenderloins. I "butterflied" each tenderloin, cut in half but not all the way through, leave the tenderloin connected. This will create a boat to hold the stuffing in. If your loin comes in 1 piece, you can butterfly it and wrap it without an additional tenderloin or top piece of meat.

Tip!: you can ask your butcher to butterfly, tenderize, you name it! for you. In most cases they are more than happy to do it!

Rub the pork with sage, a mixture of spices by Rachel Ray (it comes in a grinder that you can find at the grocery store, its an all purpose spice mix), salt, and pepper.

For the stuffing dice 1 gala apple (I left the skin on, if you prefer you can remove the skin), 1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, 1/2 medium onion. I kept the dice pretty small so it would be easier to keep inside the pork. Place the apple, mushroom and onion into a sauce pan heated on medium/high heat with some olive oil and butter. Saute the mixture with salt and pepper until it is about half way done cooking. Empty the mixture into one of the halves of tenderloin. Next, take the empty tenderloin and place it on top of the tenderloin with the apple mixture, the mixture will fall out, you can put it back in once you are done securing the two loins together. The most common way to keep meat together is with butchers twine, tie 3 to 5 knots down the loin to insure the two loins stay together while cooking. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the loin on the middle rack for 35 minutes. Remove the loin from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Then serve!

What you'll need for the Stuffed Pork Tenderloin:

• 2 lbs Pork Tenderloin
• 1 medium Gala Apple
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 tbs sage
• Rachel Ray all purpose seasoning
• Salt and pepper

Now for the Apple Sauce -

It's probably much more simple than you'd think to make your own apple sauce, and it's really good. I like making my own because I can control how much sugar goes into it, I can keep the skins on my apples (which provide more nutrients!), and I can add as much cinnamon as I want! and really, homemade apple sauce is the best :) 

Dice 3 medium gala apples and place them in a sauce pan with 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer until very tender, you'll be able to squash them with a fork or wooden spoon, usually about 15-20 minutes. Once you have smashed up your apples, stir in sugar and cinnamon. You're done! Was that surprisingly easy or what?!

What you'll need for the Apple Sauce: 

• 3 medium Gala Apples
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

This is a perfect chilly weather meal, sage always reminds me of the holidays. It's hearty feeling but light and healthy! I served this dish with some roasted vegetables. There were some very happy tummies last night!

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did!

Simple Chicken Soup

Yesterday my mom came down with a nasty cold. I love helping people, especially through food, so I decided to head over to her house and make her some chicken soup. I mean, who doesn't want soup when they're feeling crappy?

This recipe is seriously so easy and delicious, you can add things you like or replace things you don't. Soup is so versatile, there is so much you can do with it and its so easy to tweak to make it your own.

ALSO, so many times when I have been at my moms house I find something that I can't live without, like the adorable mugs that I served the soup in. My mom is so generous, anytime I even hint at liking something she insists I take it, like her old vintage glassware that I can't wait to inherit once I have the space for it! I think it is so fun to go through old stuff, so many things are coming back into style and vintage is so popular now.. the easiest way to find "vintage" is to raid family nick-naks!
- If they are willing! -

Back to the soup - 

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 32oz can/box of chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup of cooked brown rice
• Salt and pepper
• Celery salt (optional)

This recipe is so simple.

 Empty the chicken broth into a pot over medium/high heat, add the diced onion, celery, and carrot. Add salt and pepper. You can cook the chicken a million different ways but the easiest way to do it is to put the raw chicken breast into the hot broth and cook it in the broth for 15 minutes on medium heat, this keeps it nice and moist and adds flavor as well. Add salt and pepper again once you add the chicken to the soup, remember to flavor every layer of your cooking! Remove the chicken breast and shred it with a fork. Bring the broth and veggies back to a hard simmer, uncovered for about 5 minutes.

Then add the rice - I like to use the packs of brown rice that cook in the microwave in 90 seconds. They are so easy and cooking the rice separately keeps the soup nice and brothy, because the rice isn't soaking up all the liquid as it cooks. 

Place the shredded chicken back into the soup.

Serve and Enjoy!

If the soup isn't looking brothy (is that a word? well it is now ;)!) enough for you, you can add more chicken stock or you can add water and season it with salt, pepper, and celery salt.

I also found this "roasted garlic" loaf of bread at the store, I toasted and buttered it to serve along with the soup. It was the perfect lunch and my mom is feeling better already!

Corned Beef Hash!

Last St. Patricks Day something happened to me. I became obsessed with corned beef. I ate leftovers for a week and then I wanted to make another one. This NEVER happens to me... in most cases, I HATE leftovers...... Then, I started ordering it everywhere. Before I'd never thought a thing of it, I didn't understand the hype. And the boiled cabbage.... ew.

 Now, I'm a corned beef eating machine.

I love cooking at home because I have control over how much salt, butter, sugar etc goes into the food I'm eating.

 So I went to the store, grabbed myself a 2.5 delicious pounds of brisket and got to work.

The corned beef (which is brisket that has been pickled or brined) normally comes with a spice packet. I dumped the spice packet along with a beer and some water to cover the brisket (fat side up!!) in a pot. I turned the stove on, brought it to a roaring boil then turned it down to simmer, covered for 2 hours. (I have found it takes about 1 hour per pound of brisket). The house smelled so good the entire time this baby was simmering away, and its so easy.

What you'll need for the corned beef:

• One 12 oz. beer
• One beef brisket (corned beef and spice packet)
• Water

Meanwhile, I started on my cabbage.

A few years ago my boyfriend and I got sick of the old boiled cabbage and decided to turn it up. We sliced it thin and sauteed the cabbage with some onions, salt, pepper and BUTTER! It turned out sooooo good. My trick with the butter is to add it at the end so you get the flavor by using less butter and you can avoid a ton of calories. Or you can use half olive oil and half butter, this also keeps the butter from burning. Cook the cabbage until its tender, about 10 minutes, after about 5 minutes I cover it to let it steam for the last 5 minutes.

What you'll need for the cabbage:

• 1 head of green cabbage (sliced medium to small)
• 1 medium onion (sliced medium to small)
• 1-2 tbs olive oil
• 1-2 tbs butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Once the corned beef comes out of the water, I cut most of the fat off the top.

If you are going to use it later, I wrap it in foil and let it cool for an hour or two on the counter then I stick it in the fridge (you can cut the fat off once its cooled, its much easier). If not, you can cut it up while its nice and hot and serve it with the cabbage! Always remember to cut AGAINST THE GRAIN!

Now, for the important part and why we are all here...... the hash:

What you'll need: 

• 2 cups of diced up corned beef
• 1 cup cooked cabbage
• 3 yukon gold potatoes
• 1 orange bell pepper (diced)
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1-2 tbs butter
• salt and pepper

I take the cooled corned beef and diced it up pretty small, the size is all about preference.

I start by warming up my iron skillet (these things seriously rock) on medium/high heat and get it nice and hot before I add my ingredients. I dice up my yukon gold potatoes pretty small, so they cook quicker, and throw it in the skillet with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I turn down the heat a little bit to about medium/low so it doesn't burn, remember to stir every once in a while! Then I dice up an orange bell pepper and an onion and toss it in with the potatoes after about 5 minutes. I salt and pepper every layer of my cooking, salt and pepper when the potatoes go in and again when the veggies go into the skillet, etc. Once the potatoes are nice and tender add the corned beef and some of the cooked cabbage. Stir it all up and Voila! Delicious corned beef hash!

Serve with toast and an egg.

My boyfriend likes scrambled eggs so I decided to throw his hash in with the cooking scrambled egg, toss some cheddar cheese in and he was a happy camper.

There's so many different ways you can do it, but this way is honestly so delicious!

Then if you have left over corned beef, throw it on a nice soft roll or some bread with a little mayo and some of the cabbage for a delicious sandwich! or you can make more hash ;)!

Enjoy!

Welcome!

 Well, here we are. I've been thinking I should do this for a while and I'm finally doing it.
Here's a little background: I'm a twenty-something you can almost always find in the kitchen. I love the old classics and the new and unfamiliar. I try to make my recipes as healthy as possible without taking away from texture and taste. Besides being in the kitchen I love my dogs and cats (who are basically dogs), exercising and hiking, spending time with family and the friends who might as well be. I have no culinary education except for my binge watching of the Food Network. Seriously. If I'm not in the kitchen I'm probably watching a cooking show, which I learn a ton from, or I'm lost in the woods somewhere ;)
 

Stay posted for delicious recipes!

First up -- Corned Beef Hash!