White Chocolate Chex Mix

I have been craving one of these mixes and there is usually more peanuts in them than I want.  I kind of just made this one up based on some other mixes like this that I have had, then kept track of the approximate amount of chex and pretzels that I added.

White Chocolate Chex Mix

12 oz white chocolate
1/2 cup peanut butter
5 cup rice chex
5 cup pretzel sticks
1 cup plain m&m's
1/2 cup peanuts

In a very large bowl, melt white chocolate, mix in peanut butter.  Add the remaining mix ins and stir until well coated.  Keep adding cereal and pretzels as needed to use up the chocolate mixture.  Let cool and break apart.

Baked Dressing

Jer's Aunt Sue always made this at Thanksgiving every year.  The first time that I made it, I did not dry out the bread first and ended up with a soupy mess.  I still didn't plan ahead this year, but I dried the bread out by baking it in the oven for 5-10 minutes on a baking sheet. 

Baked Dressing

3 eggs - beaten
1 1/2 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup onion - chopped
1/4 cup celery - chopped
dash salt & pepper
2 quart bread cubes - dry

Mix eggs, milk, broth, onion, celery, and salt & pepper. Stir in bread cubes and pour into a lightly greased baking dish. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown on top and the center is thoroughly cooked.

Wendy's Copycat Chili

I entered the Chili cook-off at church this week and needed a winning recipe.   I scoured the internet for ideas - I don't personally enjoy chili, so this is a bit of a challenge.  I know lots of people who love some Wendy's chili, so in the end, I went with this copycat Wendy's chili recipe from Delish and modified it by adding some ideas from other recipes that I looked at - including bacon!

Wendy's Copycat Chili

1 T olive oil
5 slices bacon - chopped
1 onion - diced
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 green pepper - diced
2 stalks celery - diced
3 T tomato paste
3 lb hamburger
3 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
dash salt & pepper
1 can tomatoes & chiles
28 oz crushed tomatoes
2 cup beef broth
15 oz kidney beans - lightly drained
15 oz pinto beans - lightly drained

Brown hamburger, drain fat and set aside.  In a large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil, bacon, onion, garlic, pepper, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in tomato paste, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.  Add browned hamburger and half of the beef broth so it doesn't burn. Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder, and season generously with salt and pepper. Pour in crushed tomatoes, using remaining beef broth to rinse the can to catch any remaining tomato. Add beans and stir to combine. Bring chili to a boil then reduce heat to low and let simmer until flavors meld and liquid is slightly reduced, about 40 minutes.  Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Pumpkin Seeds

We carved our pumpkins this year and decided to capture the seeds and roast them.  I made two different kinds because between 3 pumpkins, I had a lot of seeds.  After removing the seeds from the pumpkin, put them in a water bath - they float - and carefully scoop them out into a strainer avoiding the pumpkin guts.  I searched up a bunch of recipes and ended up basing them on this one and this one from Delish.  The butter salted ones were definitely the favorite.

Butter Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 T butter - melted
1 tsp salt
2 cup pumpkin seeds

Mix together butter and salt in a small bowl.  Stir in pumpkin seeds until well coated.  Spread over parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

Cinnamon & Sugar Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 T butter - melted
2 T cinnamon & sugar (recipe)
2 cup pumpkin seeds

Mix together butter and pumpkin seeds in a small bowl until well coated.  Toss with cinnamon and sugar.  Spread over parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 25 minutes.  To make this recipe milk free for Henry, I substituted 1 T vegetable oil for the butter.  Another option is to add pumpkin pie spice to the cinnamon & sugar mixture.

This year I repeated the buttered ones and decided to make a second savory batch:

Seasoned Salt Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 tsp Lowry's seasoning salt

2 cup pumpkin seeds

Mix together oil and salt in a small bowl, then stir in seeds until well coated.  Spread over parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 25 minutes.  

Quiche Lorraine

This was a staple of my childhood, I love a great quiche.  The pie crust makes it so much better than an egg casserole.  Yum.

 (with mushrooms)

(regular)

Quiche Lorraine

1 pint half & half
8 eggs
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup swiss cheese
1/4 cup onion - chopped
8 slice bacon - cooked & crumbled
1/2 small can mushrooms - chopped - optional
dash salt & pepper
2 pie crusts

Mold the pie crusts into the pans, prick the crusts with a fork, then pre-bake them at 400° for 10 minutes. Whisk eggs, half & half, cheese, onion, bacon, and salt & pepper in a large bowl. Pour into prebaked pie crusts. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes.

(1 pie)
1 cup half & half
4 eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup swiss cheese
1 T onion - chopped
4 slice bacon - cooked & crumbled
dash salt & pepper
1 pie crust

Surprise Cupcakes

Jeremy requested that I make these cupcakes - they were a staple of his youth, one of his mom's specialties.

Surprise Cupcakes

8 oz cream cheese - softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 T vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt in a small bowl, may be lumpy. Stir in chocolate chips. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Fill 18 muffin tins 1/3 full with chocolate mixture. Spoon one heaping tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into the middle of each cupcake. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

Chicken Fried Rice

Jer came across this recipe on facebook and had to have it.  He printed the recipe and reminded me multiple times.  I started it the night before, making the chicken and the rice so that it would be ready for the next day.  It was slightly dry, so next time I would reserve more of the teriyaki chicken cooking liquid to add to the final dish.  The Teriyaki Chicken would also be a great recipe on its own served with rice.

Chicken Fried Rice

2 T sesame oil

1 small white onion - diced

1 cup frozen peas & carrots - thawed

2 eggs - beaten

2-3 chicken breasts - cooked & shredded

3 cup rice - cooked - preferably the day before

3 T soy sauce

Cook the chicken using the recipe below and grab 2-3 breasts, shred them with two forks, and set aside, reserve some liquid.  In a large wok, heat sesame oil and add onion, carrots, and peas, and cook until tender.  Slide the vegetables to the side and pour the eggs onto the other side.  Scramble the eggs and then mix everything together.  Add the rice and chicken and pour soy sauce on top.  Stir and fry until heated through and combined.  Add reserved teriyaki sauce to taste.

Teriyaki Chicken

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup soy sauce

6 T cider vinegar

3/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp pepper

1 bag chicken breasts - thawed

1 1/2 T cornstarch

3 T cold water

In a crockpot, add sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, and pepper.  Mix well, then add trimmed chicken breasts.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Optional: to thicken the sauce, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water and add to the liquid in the crockpot.  Cook for a 10 more minutes.  

Avocado Spinach Smoothie

Jeremy decided to make a new smoothie this past Saturday morning.  He said it was good but that it was a very different flavor profile than anything that he had tasted before.

Avocado Spinach Smoothie

1 avocado
1/2 cup spinach
2 cup almond milk
2 T honey
8 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.

Instant Pot Chicken Breasts

More Instant Pot!  I wanted to see if the instant pot would make chicken breasts nice and tender.  I found a recipe here for cooking time guidelines.  It took about 25 minutes start to finish.  I made it with the chicken broth, but I am interested to try pineapple juice next time.  The kids did not like it of course, even though it was basically plain chicken.

Instant Pot Chicken Breasts

1 bag chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Optional for gravy:
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Pour chicken broth into instant pot, layer chicken breasts.  Season with salt, italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes thawed, 10-12 minutes frozen.  Let it release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick release.  In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water, then stir into the chicken broth.  Cook on saute for a few minutes until the broth thickens into gravy.  I took the chicken out and cut it into 1" pieces, then returned to the pot for easy serving to kids.

Instant Pot Beef Stew

I wanted to make beef stew and make sure that Henry could have it as well as make sure it is something that mostly everyone will enjoy (once I convince the kids to try it).  I found a couple of recipes that looked good, mostly this one from Pinch of Yum, but it did not have potatoes, so I took ingredients from here and here and put it together to make a hybrid version.  Takes approximately 90 minutes start to finish.  It was a hit with everyone!

Instant Pot Beef Stew

2 LB beef chuck roast - cut into 1-2" chunks
1 onion - diced
2 stalks celery - sliced
1/2 bag baby carrots - sliced
1 LB potatoes (5 medium) - cubed
2 cloves garlic - minced
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 T brown sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Place everything except the cornstarch and water in the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then let it release naturally for 10 minutes.  Release the rest of the steam, then mix cornstarch with the water and add to the broth to thicken.  It takes about 30 minutes to come up to pressure.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken

We enjoyed the Chicken and Broccoli from Life Made Sweeter, so we decided to try the Orange Chicken as well.  Her recipe is for 1.5 pounds of chicken, I doubled it so I could have leftovers and use a full bag of thawed frozen chicken breasts.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken

1 bag chicken breasts - thawed, cut into 1" pieces
4 T cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup orange juice fresh squeezed from 2 large oranges
4 T orange zest from 2 large oranges
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 cloves garlic minced
4 tsp minced ginger
dash red pepper chili flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
dash salt & pepper to taste
3 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

In a gallon ziplock bag, toss the first 4 ingredients: chicken with the cornstarch, salt, and pepper.  Heat instant pot on Saute function and add 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil and fry coated chicken pieces in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side, then setting them on a paper towel lined plate.  Meanwhile mix up the sauce in a bowl: chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, sesame oil, and salt & pepper.  Return the chicken to the pot and cover with the sauce.  Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 15-20 minutes.  In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water, then add to the pot and cook on saute for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.  Serve with rice.