What I’ve Been Cooking
Jonathan 
So I am still on hiatus, believe me my kitchen is sadly neglected right now as I work on feeding my new baby and keeping myself somewhat alive at the same time, but I did want to share a few pics of my little man with you! Here’s the best thing I’ve ever made:
Crockpot Salsa Chicken
This isn’t the first time I’ve posted a crockpot recipe for salsa chicken. A long time ago, when I first started blogging, I blogged this version (be sure to check out my HORRIBLE picture of it too… ::gags::) However as my cooking has evolved and subsequently my tastes, that version just isn’t my cup of tea anymore. I feel everyone needs a good go-to crockpot salsa chicken recipe though, so I decided to give it another go with a different recipe. This one was much, much, much better. It’s healthier and more natural. Not to mention the flavors are more “real” and less processed. Best of all it makes a ton. We used it for chicken tacos and then I froze enough for two meals worth once the baby gets here.
Just a tip, here are some uses for the shredded salsa chicken: chicken tacos, served over rice and topped with taco fillings, used for quesadillas, mixed with pasta/veggies/black beans and baked with some additional salsa and cheddar cheese, used to make a Mexican pizza… the options are limitless which is really why everyone needs a good version at their fingertips!
Source: Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
Ingredients:
4 large chicken breasts
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
1 packet of taco seasoning, or 2 tbsp homemade taco seasoning
1 tsp cumin
Directions:
1- Combine all of the ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred with two forks once done.
Tomato Alfredo Pizza
I'm not a girl cheese sauce. creamy sauces just not me, like the light tomato sauces resource. But believe me, I'm not a health risk for each calorie martyrs here I have kept my sauce of choice to make it up with my love for desserts. But the other day my friend told me I was doing a bit of pasta Alfredo and it sounded so good to me! I decided to make a sauce low fat alfredo for my pizza. That was so damn tasty. John and I were impressed with this pizza. It was a record at the end which is always a good sign to the left. I added the tomato sauce on it because … well … just cause. "I felt like it. So there. I liked tomatoes, but I felt a nice contrast with the pizza. If you are looking for a new idea to try this pizza.
Source: Stephanie cooks original
Ingredients:
Pizza dough
1 / 2 tbsp. Butter
1 / 2 tbsp. Flour
3 / 4 cup low-fat milk (or cream if you do not want the focus of light)
1 / 4 cup Pecorino Romano
3 / 4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 / 4 cup tomato sauce
Getting There:
1 – Preheat oven to 450 with the pizza stone in oven.
2 – In a small saucepan melt butter. Add the flour until it forms a paste.
3 – Pour the milk, stirring constantly.
4 – Bring to a boil under, reduce heat, a simmer. Once the sauce a little thick, add the Romano cheese, stir well.
5 – Cover the pizza crust with Alfredo sauce.
6 – Top with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle tomato salsa over cheese.
7 – 10-12 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is crisp.
Chickpea & Broccoli Couscous Salad
Amy's Fit and Fabulous at forty shares of the favorite lunch of broccoli and chickpea couscous salad .
Mini Banana Muffins
Baking makes me happy. Something about mixing the ingredients, the fragrant smells that come out of your kitchen, not to mention the delicious treats you end up with in the end. I am a big fan of baking. And yet… lately, I’ve been barely doing it. Partly it’s because I’m too lazy to drag out my Kitchen Aide (I know… lazzzzyyyyy) and partly because I just haven’t found any recipes I’ve felt I needed to make. However with 3 black bananas on the counter I decided it was time to whip something up. These were perfect. The recipe was super easy and came together in a couple minutes- plus I didn’t need my stand mixer- score! This yields a lot, I got over 30 mini muffins, so I froze over half of them for easy snacking once the baby gets here. I think the absolute best part is you probably have all the ingredients on hand!
Source: Very slightly adapted from So Tasty, So Yummy
Ingredients:
2-3 over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce (cinnamon, natural, whatever you prefer)
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a mini muffin tin with liners or spray with nonstick spray.
2- In a mixing bowl combine the mashed banana, sugar, applesauce, and egg. Stir well.
3- Mix in the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Spoon into the muffin tins, bake about 15 minutes.
Spicy Baked Shrimp
If you follow my facebook page you saw me raving about a shrimp recipe I made this week. This here is that recipe. I even went so far on facebook to say it was my favorite shrimp recipe… I think I’ll stand by that. Now, typically I’ll make a recipe and some time will pass before it shows up on the blog, but this was just too good to wait.
First of all, why don’t I typically bake shrimp? It’s so easy! I always cook them in a skillet, but this was a nice alternative. Then, add to it that the sauce was delicious- unbelievable delicious actually. My friend Natalie said it sounds like a New Orleans BBQ sauce- I trust her when it comes to food, but I have no background knowledge on that so it might be quite similar. What I will tell you is we didn’t find this spicy at all, but it was very flavorful. The best part is dipping your bread in the sauce- we killed off a whole loaf (a small loaf… don’t judge…). Make this. We will be having this often.
Source: Slightly adapted from Eat My Charlotte, originally from Bon Appetit
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp cajun OR Creole seasoning
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 pound shrimp
Fresh crusty bread
Directions:
1- Combine the first six ingredients in a square oven safe dish. Stir well. Add the shrimp, toss well.
2- Refrigerate 1 hour.
3- Preheat the oven to 450. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring once while cooking.
4- Serve with crusty bread for dipping.
Crockpot Chicken Dinner
Is there anything more comforting than a roasted chicken dinner? I have such fond memories from childhood of roasted chickens and all the sides that went along with it (although, honestly, my favorite was Kraft mac and cheese… just sayin’). Well, I can think of one thing more comforting actually- throwing all the ingredients together in the crockpot and letting the meal cook all day. The house smells amazing, the meat comes out moist, and in the end you have a delicious dinner with minimal effort. Now that I am back at work and in my third trimester of pregnancy I see many more crockpot meals in my future. I really don’t want to eat take out nightly but coming home exhausted doesn’t lend itself to creativity in the kitchen… so the crockpot will be a much needed friend of mine!
This dinner came out great. The seasonings were delicious and they really absorbed into the vegetables. You can use any vegetables you want, I stuck with what I had on hand, but I’d definitely use potatoes regardless of what else you choose to use- they’re a must here. It’s easy to adjust to the number of people you need to serve (add more chicken/veggies, take some away, etc.) and you’re sure to have happy eaters on hand.
Source: Adapted from About.com- Southern Food
Ingredients:
2 chicken breast halves (bone in or out)
1 pound potatoes, diced in pieces
1.5 cups baby carrots
1/2 red onion, cut in chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 tbsp melted butter, divided
1 tbsp smoked paprika
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp honey
Directions:
1- Lay the potatoes, carrots, and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Toss in 2 tbsp melted butter, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
2- Lay the chicken on top of the veggies. In a bowl mix the remaining 2 tbsp butter with paprika, lemon, Worcestershire, and honey. Rub the mixture over the chicken.
3- Cook on low 7-9 hours or on high 3.5-4.5 hours.
Roasted Vegetable Stromboli
My favorite way to prepare veggies is to roast them. I feel like it brings out the flavors without compromising the consistency. Sometimes steamed veggies can get… mushy? I guess that’s the best way to put it! Roasting them just lends itself to the perfect consistency and flavor.
A few weeks ago I roasted a big pan of vegetables and threw them all in a bowl to use for meals throughout the week. I’m so glad I did this because it made dinner so easy! I just had to grab my roasted veggie bowl and spoon out the desired amount for each recipe. I’ll be sharing the other recipe with you soon so you can see a practical use for your pan of vegetables (that is, if you don’t want to just eat them as-is!)
This stromboli was amazing. John told me it needs to be repeated frequently. It’s kind of fun, I can see it being a hit with kids, and it’s a little different from what I typically serve for dinner. I coasted the crust with an oil and seasoning mix that really took this to the next level. I loved the crisp top and the soft vegetables… ugh… now I want this again soon!
Source: Stephanie Cooks Original
Ingredients:
2 cups roasted vegetables* (see below for details)
1 batch pizza dough
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Tomato sauce
Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450 with a pizza stone in the oven (if you don’t have one just cook it on a baking sheet).
2- Roll out your pizza dough into a long rectangular/oval shape.
3- Using a pizza cutter, start on the right side of the dough and slice 1/3 of the way in, making 1 inch slits down the side. Keep going until the whole side is covered in 1 inch slits. Repeat on the left hand side, also 1/3 of the way in.
4- Spoon the vegetable onto the 1/3 of the dough in the center. Top with the cheese.
5- Start at the top, take one slit from the right and fold it over the center. Repeat with the dough slit directly opposite. Keep repeating until the dough is “braided” and covering the filling.
6- In a small bowl combine the oil, salt, and garlic powder. Brush over the dough.
7- Transfer to the stone. Bake 15 minutes or until golden.
8- Slice and serve with hot marinara sauce.
* Roasting veggies- I used 2 zucchini, 1/2 a head of broccoli, a handful of baby carrots, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, and a green pepper. I diced them, drizzled with olive oil, and cooked about 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway through, at 375. For this recipe I smashed the tomatoes so they were flat, but that step isn’t necessary. Use any veggies you want. This yielded a lot of veggies, enough for two meals.
Chipotle Alfredo Sauce
You know I love chipotles in adobo. If you don’t, you live under a rock. I’ve raved about them over and over again. Some of my favorites are chipotle chicken pasta, spiced chipotle honey chicken with sweet potatoes, and carmelized chipotle chicken. They are just so smokey and rich… spicy and flavorful… ugh, love. Especially now that I just freeze them and pop some out as needed I always keep them on hand!
I had seen this recipe on Cassie’s blog and was intrigued. I don’t love alfredo sauce, and I really don’t love alfredo with a cream cheese base, but I do love chipotle peppers and I do feel they can make anything amazing. So I did it. John absolutely loved this and I liked it a lot. I like a thinner sauce (this was that heavy alfredo taste which 95% of people love) but the chipotles took it to another level for me. I will definitely make this again since it was so easy. It is heavy though so don’t expect to eat too much of it! John, who can demolish alfredo sauce, didn’t eat as much as he typically does. A little goes a long way but it’s pretty stinkin’ tasty!
Source: Adapted from Cassie Craves, originally from Kraft
Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese
1/2-1 tbsp. chipotle puree* (see note below)
8 ounces fettuccinie or linguine
Directions:
1- Cook pasta according to packaging directions.
2- Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot combine the butter, milk, and cream cheese. Heat until the cream cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in the cheese and chipotle puree.
3- Pour over the hot pasta, tossing well to evenly coat. Serve hot.
* Note- The recipe calls for 1/2 tbsp chipotle puree. I found that to barely give it the chipotle flavor so I doubled it. Now, it was spicy but not too much. If you don’t love heat keep it to the 1/2 tbsp. To make the paste I just minced a pepper and stirred it until smooth with the adobo sauce from the can.
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