Buffalo Chicken Wings

For the end of football season I thought I would try my hand at making chicken wings. Rick really likes them. I did a little searching and found a recipe for slow cooker buffalo chicken wings. There's a little work at the end because you need to put them in the oven for 30 minutes to brown up, but other than that the majority of it is in the slow cooker. 

They are very good. I will warn you that they are spicy! You may want to let everyone put their own sauce on after they've been in the oven so they can control the heat. I also found that we had leftover buffalo sauce, so you can either store it in the refrigerator or cut back on the amount you make. We like buffalo sauce so I've found some other recipes (check out Adventures with Veggies for buffalo cauliflower bites) to use it in. 

Adventures with Veggies

Lately I've been trying to get more vegetables in my diet. I think I get bored with vegetables because I end up cooking them the same way all the time or I end up cooking the same type of vegetables all the time. So I decided to be more adventurous. Here are some of the vegetable recipes I've tried recently.

Green Bean Fries - These were a little messy to put together, but very yummy! I used spicy ranch dressing mix I had in the cabinet which was good. We like things a little spicy any way.

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites - These were good... very spicy. I had some left over buffalo sauce I made to use with some chicken wings so I thought I'd give these a try. I also thought Rick might try them since he loves buffalo tenders.... no such luck!

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Tomatoes and Basil - This was good. I think I enjoyed the roasted tomatoes and basil the most. I think you could definitely use them as a nice sauce for pasta or something. The squash was good, but I think I needed to season mine a little more after I shredded it with a fork. Looks really pretty though!

French Dip Sandwich

Rick loves French Dip sandwiches. I came across a recipe while playing on Pinterest one day. It sounded pretty easy, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Well, let me tell you.... Rick loved it. He told me it was the best French Dip sandwich he's ever had.... now that's a pretty good compliment. The best part is they are so easy! Putting the sandwiches together takes the most effort. I will say they are very tasty. I'm not a big fan of these types of sandwiches, but these are very yummy.

I made mine with a little less cheese and used a lower calorie bread rather than the roll. It still tasted yummy!

http://www.thewhickerbasket.blogspot.com/2010/01/french-dip-sandwiches.html

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad

Lately I've been slacking around the vegetable area.... so I thought it was time to bring more of them back into my diet. I think I need more variety. I've been catching up on my food magazines and found a salad recipe in my Rachael Ray magazine. I don't know about you but winter doesn't make me want to have a lot of salad, but I decided to give it a try.

I made butternut squash and arugula salad last night for dinner. When I read the recipe I knew I liked everything in it. I have to admit I was a little nervous about the combination. It was delicious! I didn't toss the entire salad with the dressing since I'm not big on mushy leftover salad. I just put a little in my own salad and tossed it that way. Worked great for me!

I had it again tonight for dinner. It was still really tasty!

Salad tossed without dressing

Salad with some shaved parm cheese and tossed in some of the dressing... yum!

Warm Winter Breakfast

Yesterday we got more snow than we expected. Although it was beautiful when it was coming down, I have to say I'm so ready for spring. In fact as I write this post this morning.... I looked outside and it's snowing again! OMG!

This was the lane to my drive way on my way home from the grocery store yesterday.

Anyway, last night I decided I wanted a nice warm comforting breakfast this morning when I woke up. I kept seeing this recipe for slow cooker oatmeal popup on Facebook, Pinterest, and Melissa's blog post. So I decided to give it a try. I made Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal from YummyLife.com.

It was very simple to put together. I didn't have steel-cut oatmeal, but after reading some other slow cooker recipes online I found you can use old fashioned oats as well, which is what I had. The only other thing I did a little differently was that I didn't peel the apples. I figured I would keep the extra fiber in the oatmeal.

Well, this morning I woke up to check it out. It did make the kitchen smell nice so early in the morning.

This is what it looked like when I opened the slow cooker.

This is a small portion I tried. I added some chopped pecans on top.

The consistency was very mushy. Maybe that was due to the fact that I used old fashioned oats rather than steel-cut oats. Not sure. It was a little bland for my taste. I added some extra cinnamon which did make it taste better.

Not sure this is my favorite recipe, but we'll see how it is as the week goes on. I have plenty for the next few days and I'm going to freeze some as well. I will say it was great not to have to put any effort into making breakfast this morning! :)

If you try it let me know what you think. Also, any additional tips you might use.

In case you need a little more info on flaxseed (like I did) check out this article on WebMD.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed

Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins

I've been trying to get myself to bake these muffins for a while. Well, today was the day! They were delicious! And I'd say fairly healthy..... 

I would suggest that you leave them in the muffin pan a bit before you take them out. I took them out after a few minutes and found the middle could have been just a little bit more cooked. The recipe doesn't provide any type of timing or suggestions around cool down.

Check out the recipe.... Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins

I didn't use the muffins foil liners they suggested. Just a little baking spray.

Yummy with a cup of tea in the morning.

Greek Chicken Soup

My favorite soup is the Greek chicken soup from The New England Soup Factory. I've had the cookbook for at least 2 years and have made only one soup out of it. It's so delicious and has such a small number of ingredients.

The full recipe is online here. I've substituted cooked rice for the orzo and just cooked it a little less. I've also used thin spaghetti broken up into approximately two inch chunks, in a pinch.

For zesting the lemon, I've had the best luck with a Microplane zester. I used to use a small citrus zester, but that took forever.

I highly recommend this soup. SO delicious, especially if you love lemon.

Roasted Veggies

This paste week I did a lot of cooking while my parents were here visiting for the holiday. One night we had a turkey breast (cooked in the slow cooker), corn, and roasted vegetables.

The vegetables were so easy and super yummy! Here's what I did.

Ingredients
bag of small yellow potatoes
baby carrots
butternut squash
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried parsley

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the potatoes in quarters and put them in a medium to large bowl. Add carrots, butternut squash (I used pre-cut since I was trying to cut down on the work), olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and parsley. Roast in the oven for 1 hour or until browned. Flip them a couple of times to ensure they brown evenly.

Remove from the oven, season to taste (if you need more seasoning - I've found you don't) and serve hot.

They are delicious! The carrots and squash get a little sweet which balances nicely with the garlic and salt. Yum!

Beef Stew with Beer Biscuits

A couple of months ago, I made beef stew and beer biscuits for dinner.... they were both delicious. I did  have a little trouble with the shape of the biscuits. They came out a little flat, but still tasted good. Not sure what happened. I wonder if it was the type of beer I used... Coors Light (didn't want to use the good stuff while cooking. Thought I'd keep that for drinking. ;))?

I plan to make this again at some point so I will check back in when I do if I have better success. If anyone has any thoughts around the type of beer feel free to comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Beef Stew: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/beef-stew-with-root-vegetables-recipe/index.html

*I didn't use the parsnips and turnip. I used good old fashioned russet potatoes instead. One of these days I'll be more adventurous around trying the other veggies.


Beer Biscuits: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/beer-biscuits-recipe/index.html

* I used a pre-made baking mix.... I wonder if this or the beer made them flat?

No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls

Last week I attended a nutrition seminar at the gym and the nutritionist brought a quick and easy pre or post or workout snack.  The recipe she provided was a little sweet so I looked one for another one. This is the one I made.  The only thing I would change is using less honey. They were quite sweet at room temperature. The sweetness seemed less prominent after they had been refrigerated. Because the peanut butter is melted, I think they would hold together with less honey.

I followed the recipe as written though I didn't have mini chocolate chips so I chopped up regular size ones.

To form the balls, I used a small scooper, and rolled them in chopped almonds.

Due to the peanut butter, I wouldn't eat this before I work out, but it's good quick snack afterwards.

Overnight Oatmeal

My new obsession is overnight oatmeal. I've tried it with regular milk and yogurt, just milk, and just almond milk. All are good, it just depends on what you're in the mood for. The version with yogurt is richer and also higher in calories, but also with the added protein from the yogurt. The unsweetened almond milk version is definitely lower in calories. I go for the unsweetened, plain almond milk to avoid added sugars and additives. It actually tastes good and I don't really like very sweet oatmeal anyway.

The yogurt recipes on this site -The Yummy Life -were recommended to me and they're great. Also, at the top of the  article, click the link to more versions. I've made the version with apricots (with almond milk) and the apple cinnamon one with milk and yogurt. I've added frozen berries and fresh apples other times, and I've used both chia seeds and ground flax seeds.

Chia seeds

The first time I tried chia seeds I followed a recipe without reading about them. 2 tbsp of chia seeds caused some serious stomach bloating and gas (sorry) that lasted about two days. I've since cut back to about 1 tsp per serving and make sure to drink a lot of water. There's a lot of info online about chia. The health benefits are great. From WebMD, "Enjoy chia seeds for their flavor and to boost the fiber, protein, calcium, antioxidants, and omega-3s in your diet."

The nice thing about soaking them overnight is they absorb all that liquid and then they don't expand as much in your stomach. I recommends starting off with a small amount. The recipes at The yummy life above  are pretty reasonable.

Apricots and add-ins

Chopped dried apricots soaked overnight turn a nice soft consistency and are very flavorful. They're pretty sweet so there's not much need for additional sweetener. I tend to skip the sweetener and get that from ten added fruit. The one time this failed was with a pumpkin oatmeal recipe. That one really needed some sugar.

Does anyone have  any other suggestions for oatmeal mix-ins?

Turkey Chili

Today I made turkey chili in the slow cooker. I started with this recipe from Skinnytaste Kid-friendly Turkey Chili but made some changes based on the comments and the ingredients on hand. I used:

• 1.5 lbs ground turkey
• 2 12 oz cans of crushed tomatoes instead of Rotel and sauce. I blended one can to smooth it out. I also wanted to use organic and avoid added salt.
• Doubled the spices except the salt 
• A cup of frozen tri-color peppers instead of one fresh. The fresh organic ones at the store looked a bit wrinkly and now I have more left for the next batch. 
• Added a can of black beans, rinsed
• Served with pepper jack cheese I shredded myself and low fat sour cream. No avocado because I had some in my smoothie for breakfast. 

This was good - nice and spicy.

Shipping Baked Goods

Tis the season to bake! If you're anything like me, you like to bake and share. I know I don't want all those baked goods in my house. :)  Plus they make a great gift.... something from the heart!

Up until now I haven't really shipped any of the baked goods I've made. So I needed to do some research. I found a helpful article and thought I would share it. Check it out! Hopefully it will help someone else as well.

Delicious Chickpea and Sausage Minestrone

Last night I tried another new soup recipe. I love homemade soup and it was definitely the weather for it.... the snow was coming down!

This is the next morning.

I was catching up on my magazines and came across this interesting recipe (chickpea and sausage minestrone) in the most recent Cooking Light magazine. I made the soup without the pasta in the afternoon and let it simmer for a bit (it doesn't say you have to do this). I used the turkey sausage crumbles that I had in the freezer and it made it so simple. When we were ready to have dinner I cooked the pasta and added the last few ingredients. I also added a little of the pasta water to give it a little more broth.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how this would turn out. It was delicious! Rick and I both enjoyed it! We had it with some oyster crackers, but I'm sure you could have bread or biscuits too. Give it a try on one of these cold winter days! It makes a great lunch the next day too.

Question: I used ground red pepper that I had in the cabinet. I'm not sure whether this is the same as the crushed red pepper they suggest in the recipe or not, so if anyone has any thoughts let me know.

Pork Roast with Winter Vegetables

Tonight I made a pork roast with winter vegetables for dinner. My friend Yvonne sent me the recipe. It was really good.

Here's the recipe. It's super easy and is really good on a winters night. 

Prep time is maybe 20 minutes (buy the squash cubes)

Cooking time 50 minutes (max if the roast is on the 2+ pounder side)

2 large garlic cloves minced

Grated zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 ½ teaspoons of salt (divided see steps below)

1 ½ teaspoon of pepper (divided see steps below)

2 pound boneless center cut pork loin roast

½ butternut squash or 1 package of the cubes they sell in the produce section of the  market is easier!

3 large carrots peeled cut length wise

3 parsnips peeled and cut length wise

4 celery stalks cut into 3 pieces each

4 teaspoons olive oil

One medium size baking dish as long as its deep you’re okay.

1. Preheat oven to 450◦
2. Mix together garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, 1 tsp salt, tsp pepper and rub it all over pork
3. Toss all vegetables together in a bowl with the olive oil, rosemary, the ½ tsp of salt and the ½ tsp pepper
4. Spread all vegetables around the pork
5. Bake for about 45- 50 minutes you’ll see it browning on the top
6. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing
7. Serve with the vegetables

As always I made a few adjustments.....

• small yellow potatoes instead of the parsnips
• added half a chopped onion
• premium pork roast instead of a tenderloin
• cooked it for about an hour (maybe due to the cut of meat)

Tip: I didn't rub the mixture all over the pork. I only rubbed it on the top. I think you should rub it all over the pork since it was fairly peppery. 

Give it a try and let me know if there's any other tips you have.

This is what mine looked like

Fruit Salad, Kale Salad, Green Smoothie

These are the two things I made for Thanksgiving.

Kale and Orange Salad with Mustard Dressing
I didn't bother blanching the kale. I washed it, and julienned it, basically, and then let it sit in the dressing for a few hours. I didn't put much salt on it, and it definitely needed it. You can skip salt and let people salt their own, of course.

Winter Fruit Salad
This was just delicious! The only complaint I have is it really takes a long time to segment the fruit and send the peels down the disposal.

We also had a green smoothie for breakfast: 1 banana, 1 avocado, a bunch of curly kale, and some milk. I think there was some ice too.

Super Fun New Bags

This weekend my husband took me to a party that his friend was having. It was a premier party for her fun handmade bags. She's been making things in her spare time and is now starting to sell them. At her party, she had bags of all sizes (totes, purses, iPads, phones, yoga mats, makeup, etc.). She also had fun wine charms, earrings, and pendants. She can and will make almost anything! I'm looking forward to my new yoga mat bag and table runner! Love the fact that they will be one of a kind.

And she's super talented.... a lot of materials she uses are re-purposed from things like clothes and furniture. I'm amazed at how she can take something that isn't wanted any more and make it into something completely different. Such a great idea!

Plus Jan is just a super nice person! I got to meet her and her daughter that day... and spend a little extra time with them after everyone else left. Nothing like a little wine, munchies and some good company to celebrate a new purchase! ;)

Check out the bags I took home with me!

I got this one for a Christmas gift.
It has great pockets in side with fun big button closers. 

This one I bought for myself. Love the colors.
I think it will make a great carry on bag.... maybe even a good laptop bag.

This is the other side of my new bag. It also has some fun pocket inside.

This is a makeup bag I got. Plus it's washable!

If you like these and you're interested in any for yourself her name is Jan Lathum, Oak Rock Hill Designs. Her email is oakrockhilldesigns@yahoo.com. Mention that you saw her bags on this blog. :)

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

I'm always looking for a new slow cooker recipe. I love my slow cooker! Nothing is better than putting the ingredients into a pot and letting it cook itself! Not only does it do all the work for you, but it makes your house smell amazing!

So this week I tried a new soup (or I guess stew) recipe. It's chicken pot pie stew. I did make a few changes.... I used:

• small yellow potatoes instead of red ones
• a can of low sodium chicken broth instead of the bouillon cubes
• a small amount of celery seed instead of the celery salt (I didn't have any)
• garlic powder instead of garlic salt (I didn't have any of this either) 
• some frozen corn, green beans, peas, and carrots

I think with this recipe you can pretty much play with the veggies to suit what you have on hand (or what you like). As you can see I worked with what I had in the house.

Next time I make this I think I will make a couple of changes.

• I'll use reduced fat/salt cream of chicken soup
• Less pepper.... it doesn't sound like a lot in the recipe but it turned out pretty peppery

If you try this recipe let me know if you make any changes. I'd love to hear about them.

Salmon Salad with Cinnamon Toast

Breakfast today was a variety of flavors.

Banana yogurt espresso smoothie - ingredients obvious along with ice.
Salmon salad sandwich on cinnamon raisin toast. Surprisingly good together.

The salmon salad was canned pink salmon from Costco with some diced Granny Smith apple, diced celery, mayo, shredded Parmesan cheese and pepper. The bread was Ezekiel cinnamon raisin. I think it would be just as good with chicken salad, with the apples too. The sweet and savory flavors went well together.

Best part of this meal - I didn't have to make it. Thank you H!

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

I made pumpkin bread for the first time this weekend. In the past I haven't been a big fan of pumpkin, but in the last couple of years I've begun to really like it. In fact I start to crave pumpkin flavored coffee, muffins, etc. when fall comes around. So I decided to take a stab at making my own pumpkin yumminess. :)

I found a pumpkin bread recipe on Allrecipes.com. With a little tweaking based on the reviews it turned out great. I used 2 cups white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar instead of all the white sugar. I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I also substituted half of the oil with applesauce and the cloves with pumpkin pie spice. Oh... one other thing, instead of 3 smaller bread pans I ended up using 2 larger pans and a very small pan. That's all I had to work with and turned out pretty well.

I will definitely keep this bread recipe in my recipe box. It would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving feast or a gift for someone.... not to mention a tasty breakfast or snack.