Balsamic Vinaigrette

Balsamic Vinaigrette (Serves 8)

• 6 T Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp raw honey
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 6 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Combine vinegar, lemon juice and honey in a medium bow. Whisk to blend.  Stir in mustard, mix well.  Slowly add oil while whisking, mix well.

Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. If it thickens when cold, hold it at room temp for 30 minutes and shake well before using.

Garlic Lime Shrimp Salad

Garlic Lime Shrimp Salad

Serves 4

• 1 lb uncooked shrimp
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 2-1/2 Tbs lime juice
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 8 cups lettuce
• 1/2 sliced avocado
• 2 sliced tomatoes
• 1 sliced cucumber

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl to marinate shrimp for 10 minutes.  Then grill shrimp on a skewer or other preferred method for 3-7 minutes.  Assemble a salad with the lettuce, avocado, tomato and cucumber. Serve with Lemon Vinaigrette.

Avocado Chicken Salad

Serves 4

• 12oz Chicken breast, shredded
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pepper to taste

Mix well and top on your choice of wrap or sandwich bread with a tomato, lettuce, cucumber slices.

Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Pot Roast

image from marthastewart.com

Martha makes everything look easy, and this is one thing that is… and healthy.  My version, because apparently even Martha’s recipe wasn’t exactly perfect.

Ingredients

• 8 medium carrots, cut into thirds
• 2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons flour

Directions

1. In slow cooker, add 2 tablespoons water, carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

2. Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).

3. Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish.

4. Pour pan juices into a saucepan and mix in 2 tablespoons of flour.  Heat until boiling, stirring frequently and simmer.  Yummy gravy for your pot roast!

Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

photo from allrecipes.com

Recipe adapted from life-in-the-lofthouse.com

Ingredients

• 5 bell peppers
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 cup shredded Colby-jack or Pepperjack cheese, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cut the tops off of each bell pepper. Remove any seeds and stems from the inside. Dice the tops of each bell pepper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the raw ground beef, enchilada sauce, onion, rice, diced bell peppers and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Stir to combine with a spatula. Stuff each pepper with the ground beef mixture.
3. Pour 1 cup of water into the crock pot. Place bell peppers inside. Cover with lid and cook on Low heat for 6 hours OR on High heat 4 hours. Top each stuffed pepper with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover with lid until cheese has melted.
4. Serve warm with favorite toppings. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings

image source Allrecipes.com

Recipe source is a combination of Betty Crocker’s Bisquick recipe and an Allrecipes.com recipe.

8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 onion, finely diced
  Dumplings
• 2 cups Bisquick mix
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
Cover, and cook for 8 hours on low.

To make the dumplings, mix 2 cups bisquick mix with 2/3 cup milk.
About 30 minutes before serving, turn the slow cooker to high and drop the dumpling dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

Super Easy Sliders

This recipe is best for a family or party.  I’m going to give bare bones directions/ingredients because you should make them how you like.

Ingredients:

Kings Hawaiian Rolls (one package, leave them attached)
1lb Ground Beef (or whatever meat you want)Sliced Cheese

Directions:

Cook meat.  If doing ground beef, flatten it into a shape that is a bit bigger than the package of rolls, since the fat will make it shrink down.  You may need to divide the giant patty in half to flip it over.  A Griddle is great for this.

Once the meat is cooked, slice the rolls in half.  There’s already a line if you break them apart individually but just use the line as a guide for where to cut.  Lift off the top of the rolls and put down your cheese slices and meat patty.  Put anything else on that you’d like and then replace the top layer of rolls and cut out each roll with a knife.

Enjoy!

Sweet Bacon Wrapped Chicken

from google. Not my photo.

I made these as originally directed and the verdict was, “too sweet,” so I am sharing my modified recipe.  These can be made small for appetizers or in chicken tender size for a dinner.  The original recipe is from Paula Deen.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 (1-pound) package sliced bacon
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick
3. Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture.
4. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wrap on rack in broiler pan.
5. Bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Alternative directions: For a dinner, cut the chicken into strips, or use chicken tenders, wrap a whole piece of bacon around the strip, secure with a toothpick if you want to, but this isn’t necessary. Follow the other instructions.

Maple-Dijon Chicken

photo by wittyinthecity.com

The claim on this recipe is that it was “man-pleasing.”  And since I buy chicken breast in bulk and have a VERY tough time being creative with it, I welcome all kinds of ideas on how to make chicken less boring, not dried out, and ultimately tasty.  My Pinterest food board is FULL of ideas to try, but since I haven’t yet tried them all, I’ll only share what I have tried and what was husband and momma approved.  If momma’s not happy, no one is.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ½ cup Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh rosemary (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, syrup, and vinegar.
3. Place chicken breasts into 9×13 foil-lined baking dish. Season with salt & lots of pepper.
4. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. Make sure each breast is coated. Put some more pepper on, if you please.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
6. Season with fresh rosemary.  (Husband and I found the dried Rosemary I used to be displeasing… I made it again without and we liked it much better)

 

Poutine

from allrecipes.com

Poo-what? Poutine is a French-Canadian delicacy… really its just Fries topped with gravy and cheese (curds).

REAL poutine is made with fresh cheese curds and homemade beef gravy, BUT who has that on hand at all times? Not this momma.  If you do, please use them instead.  If you’re like me, this alternative is a crowd pleaser. Here’s the super simple recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
• 2 packages of brown gravy mix (substitute with your favorite gravy, but brown is best.)
• 4 cups cold water (per gravy packet instructions)
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

(Serves 4, I usually do half the recipe)

Directions

1. Cook french fries in oven per package instructions.  Or deep fry if you’re feeling feisty, just make sure you do your gravy before frying since its so much faster.  You want these to be crispy, but not burnt.
2. When the french fries are about 5-10 minutes from being done, prepare your gravy.  Its nice to have them both hot at the same time… if its done before the fries, just keep it warm on a low burner.
3. Plate up your fries, cover with a few ladles of gravy and top with shredded cheese.  The cheese should melt on the warm gravy and fries.
4. Eat up!