Apricot Chicken

This is actually a recipe that one of my best friends Kara taught me when we had our first apartment together. Back then neither of us knew how to cook very many things- so this was one of our staple recipes. Its still good to be nostalgic and make this every once in a while. It's actually my sister in law Taylor's favorite. She was visiting from college this weekend so I made it for her. Tried, tested and true. This recipe will not fail.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large package boneless skinless chicken thighs ( a little over 2 pounds)
• 1 small bottle Wish Bone Russian Dressing
• 1/2 jar apricot preserves
• 1 package onion soup mix

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, and place in a 9x13 baking dish.

In a bowl combine apricot preserves, Russian dressing and onion soup mix. Mix well.

Pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish. Stir so all the chicken is coated.

Bake at 325 for about an hour - until the chicken is cooked through.

We serve our apricot chicken over rice pilaf with asparagus on the side. Love this dish, brings back such great memories of my early 20's and first starting to cook. Thanks Kara! Cheers!

Twice Baked Potatoes

This is actually a combination of a few different recipes that I read. You pretty much can do whatever you want with these guys. Any fillings and flavor combo's are more than welcome! You can adjust the ingredients below according to taste as well

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large baking potatoes washed and dried
• 1/2- 3/4 cup sour cream
• 5 tablespoons butter 
• 1/2 packet "baked potato topping"
• shredded cheddar 
• pepper to taste

Bake potatoes on a baking sheet at 400 for about an hour - until cooked through.

In a large mixing bowl add sour cream and butter.

Cut potatoes length wise and with a spoon scoop out the insides into the bowl with butter and sour cream. Minding the skins of the potatoes, you need these whole to create our yummy potato vessel. Set skins aside.

Mash until completely combined. Add in the seasonings and mix tip combined.

Fill your skins with the mashed potatoes and place on cookie sheet. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 250 for 15 minutes until melted and golden brown.

These were amazballs! Like I said before, the possibilities are endless to what you can do with these. Bacon, mushrooms, grilled onions, sautéed veggies, broccoli and cheese. Anything you can think of. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Meatloaf (literally the best meatloaf I've ever had)

OK- so I made this today and I just had to post this recipe. It really is the best meatloaf I've ever tasted. And I know just saying this my mom is rolling in her grave- because I swore by her meatloaf my whole life. I now have a new favorite recipe. It was so moist and delicious.. Just absolutely amazing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 medium onion very finely diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic finely diced 
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

For Sauce:

• 3/4 cup of tomato saue
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar

Fold two pieces of heavy duty tinfoil into a long 2x12 (ish pieces) and arrange them as an 'X' in the bottom of crock pot:

Not my picture

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the meatloaf ingredients. Make sure the onion, pepper and garlic are really finely diced. Form into a loaf shape- and place on top of the tinfoil in the crock pot.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the meatloaf- and save the rest for the end.

Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours. 1/2 hour before the loaf is finished- pour the remainder of the sauce on the loaf- cover and continue cooking for the remainder of the time.

When done- carefully remove and transfer to serving plate (I used two spatulas to get it out of the crock pot).

Served this with corn and twice baked potatoes (recipe up soon). The kids devoured it- and Mike said this was the best he's ever had. I really can't rave about this enough- I really hope you try this and enjoy! Cheers!

Adapted from: Crock Pot Moist Meatloaf

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken

This was actually really easy to make- and it was so friggen good! It's the garam masala that gives it the authentic Indian flavor. This seriously rivals a lot of curry chicken I've had. You can find the garam masala at any local world foods or Indian market. Of course we ate it all and I didn't even think of taking a picture, you'll just have to trust me!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup baby carrots (cut in half)
• 1 sweet potato (peeled and cut into bite sized cubes)
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic 
• 1 jalapeño cut and take seeds out
• 1 green bell pepper cut and take seeds out
• 1 5 oz can tomato paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• fresh cilantro for garnish

Place the chicken, carrots and sweet potato pieces in the crock pot. 

Combine the onion, garlic, jalapeño, pepper, coconut milk, tomato paste, salt, curry powder and garam masala in food processor pulse until everything is broken down into a (smoothish) sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve over rice, garnish with fresh cilantro.

I will be making this again for sure. I'm actually going to be trying a slow cooker chicken tiki masala soon too- so watch out for that recipe in the near future! Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker coconut curry chicken

Mini Shepard's Pies

These were so fun to make. The kids were so excited to have "pie" for dinner. I was actually able to make 12 pies out of 1 pre made pie crust- by rolling it out on the thinner side and punching out the size I wanted with a glass. The kids loved helping with this. Pretty easy to throw together. Of course I had to make my own mashed potatoes (bacon and chive cheddar) which took a little extra time- feel free to use pre made or whatever you have on hand.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pre made pie crust
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 diced onions
• 1 small can diced mushrooms (drained)
• 2/3- 3/4 cup peas ( I used frozen and just boiled them until they were tender)
• 1/4 cup beef broth or stock
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups of mashed potatoes

Heat oven to 400- roll out the pie crust and punch out 12 rounds a little bigger than the size of a muffin tin. Press each of the crusts firmly in the muffin tins. Bake about 8 minutes or until golden brown- remove from oven and reduce heat to 350.

In a skillet over medium high heat add a little olive oil and start cooking the onions for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the beef and cook until browned. Drain the fat. Add in the mushrooms, peas, beef broth and worcestershire. Stir to combine - salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the beef filling into each of the pie crusts- and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing pies from the muffin tin. 

Pretty easy right? And so damn good. I think next time I want to try doing this with mini chicken pot pies! Like I said before, super kid friendly too! Cheers!

Adapted from: Mini Shepards Pot Pies

Corn Chowder with Ham and Bacon

Yesterday was Sunday- and football was on. It's starting to get cold up here in New Hampshire - so I wanted to do some warm, game day friendly comfort food. This is a really easy chowder- that is perfect for this time of year. I threw it together in 20 minutes then just let it simmer on low until we were ready to eat. Of course you can not use bacon or ham and have a super yummy vegetarian chowder too!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 slices of bacon (uncooked - diced)
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 1 small ham steak (edges trimmed) chopped
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 small bag frozen corn (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces
• salt and (white) pepper to taste
• fresh parsley for garnish

In a medium pot get your diced potatoes boiling in some water, cook until almost done- drain and set aside.

In a large pot over medium heat start cooking bacon until it starts to crisp- add in the onions and cook until softened. Add in the ham and cook with the onion 1-2 minutes. Add in the milk, half and half, chicken broth, cooked potatoes, creamed corn and frozen corn. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper (I used white pepper) to taste. Serve right away or keep warming on stove on low. 

I served the chowder with grilled cheeses, and salad. It was the best dinner on a cold November night. Next time I think I'm going to try my hand at clam chowder, yum! Cheers!

Enchiladas

So, every time I've ever claimed to make enchiladas apparently have been false. I usually use flour tortillas and especially make burritos and bake them with some sort of sauce on top. Then I found this recipe from The Pioneer Woman- and figured out I was doing it wrong. So I tried it this way and everyone seemed to dig it. A little time consuming. I did most of my prep work (chopping veggies) during the day and set it aside for later to make things a little easier.

INGREDIENTS:

For the sauce-

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 28 oz can (mild) enchilada sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the meat-

• 3/4 pound ground beef (lean)
• 1/4 pound ground pork (optional- if not use 1 pound beef)
• 2 small cans (4 oz) diced chilis
• 1 larger onion finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

For tortillas-

• 10-14 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup canola oil

To assemble-

• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used mozz but use cheddar if you have it)
• 1/2 cup chopped black olives
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• chopped cilantro to garnish

For the sauce- In a sauce pan over medium heat combine the oil and flour to make a roux. Cook for a minute, then pour in red sauce, chicken broth salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30-45 min until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the meat- Brown the meat with the onions in a skillet. Drain off the fat. Stir in the 2 cans of chilis and season with salt. Set aside.

For the tortillas- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Fry the tortillas one at a time for about 30 seconds on each side. Until soft- not crispy. Set aside on a pepper towel lined plate. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. 

To assemble- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure your sauce has thickened up and is cooled off a little (I didn't do this and it was still super hot when I started rolling up the enchiladas). Dip each tortilla into the red sauce, then place on work surface. Put a little cheese, meat, olives and green onion in each tortilla- roll up- and place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat until all of the ingredients are used. Top with the remainder of the red sauce and shredded cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Garnish with cilantro, olives, green onion.

This did take a little extra time and love- but it really was worth it. I served this with a chunky black bean salsa, sour cream and rice on the side. I'd love to try this recipe again someday with chicken. Cheers!

Adapted from:Simple Perfect Enchiladas