From Our Kitchen: Vegetarian Chickpea Curry with Coconut Rice

Y'all. Our dinner last night was so good! I know it may be hard to trust a pregnant lady on something like food, what with our reputation for constant hunger, eating of weird things, and so on, but you will just have to trust me when I say that you should absolutely make this at your earliest opportunity.

It's no secret that I am a big fan of most Asian foods, and I absolutely love curry. Almost every curry recipe I have ever made at home has been vegetarian, but I just think that the flavors and colors are all so wonderful that I have a hard time deviating. This recipe might just take the medal for being my new favorite curry, and can we please just talk about sugar snap peas for a moment? Sugar snap peas are not something I would normally buy. I mean, they just seem a little boring to me, and I am not the biggest fan of peas anyway. But douse some of those bad boys in some curry and holy crap I could probably eat my weight in them (except not really right now because, you know, shrinking stomach capacity and all).

What You'll Need:

Coconut Rice

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 cup water (or coconut water, but I didn't have any)
• 1/4 tsp salt

Curry

• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 leeks, cleaned and trimmed (white parts only)
• 1 red pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp red curry paste
• 3/4 bag of frozen sugar snap peas
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 can garbanzo beans

What You'll Do:

1. Begin by getting your rice started. Bring liquids to a boil. Add rice and salt. Cover and cook for 45 minutes (or just follow the instructions on your particular rice subbing out the coconut milk for part of your liquid).
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add coconut oil.
3. Once the oil has melted, add leeks and red pepper. Cook about 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and curry paste, and stir to coat.
5. Add peas and coconut milk. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Add chickpeas and cook another 5 minutes.
7. Add salt and/or red pepper to taste.
8. Serve curry over rice.
9. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

From Our Kitchen: White Bean Chicken Chili

In honor of the first day of October, which is when it really starts feeling like fall to me, I thought I would share one of our favorite crockpot chili / soup / stew recipes (not that this qualifies as all three, just that I tend to lump the three together in my mind). This is about one of the easiest things to make, and it is ridiculously good! Whip up a batch tonight, and thank your lucky stars that we are back into the crunchy loveliness that is fall!

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/4 lb frozen chicken breast (i used tenders)
• 2 cans great northern beans, drained
• 1 can white corn, drained (or half a bag of frozen corn)
• 1 can heart healthy cream of chicken soup
• 14 oz lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 packet taco seasoning (i personally prefer hot & spicy)
• 4 1/2 oz can diced green chiles
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• Cheese for topping!'

What You'll Do:

1. Spray the sides and bottom of your crock pot
2. Place your chicken in the bottom of pot
3. Pour beans and corn on top of chicken
4. In a medium bowl, combine soup, broth, taco seasoning, and chiles
5. Pour soup mixture on top of chicken/beans/corn
6. Cook on high for 5 hours, or low for 8 hours
7. Once cooked through, shred chicken with two forks (should fall apart pretty easily)
8. Add sour cream and mix thoroughly
9. Serve hot topped with cheese! Additional topping suggestions: sliced avocado, cilantro (if you can get over the stinky feet smell - hate cilantro!), salsa
10. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Nutella Stuffed Blondies

Admittedly, I always have a bit of a sweet tooth, but, seriously, this little lemon (baby fruit size for the week!) has increased that tenfold! Give me all the sweets! I don't really discriminate against baked goods. I am just as happy with a pie as cake as cookies as brownies as whatever I can get my hands on. However, there is a special place in my heart for a blondie. I remember it being my favorite dessert to order out as a kid (at Applebee's, in case you were wondering. I wonder if they still have those on their menu. If you can't tell, it's been many a moon since I have been to an Applebee's). I love the texture of a blondie, which is exactly like a brownie - cake-like, but very moist (if cooked right) - but I love them even more than brownies because I apparently prefer vanilla/brown sugar/etc things over chocolate, which confounds me because I also love chocolate, but what are you going to do?

At any rate, awhile back I pinned a pin on Pinterest (I dreamed a dream...) for Nutella stuffed blondies. Shut. The. Front. Door. You are telling me there exists such a thing as a blondie stuffed with all the dreamy wonderfulness that is Nutella? Give them to me now! But, my hubby isn't so fond of Nutella (I don't know why. Childhood trauma involving being hit in the head by hazelnuts? Dislike of Italian products? I just don't have a reasonable explanation), so I knew I shouldn't make them anytime soon lest I eat the whole pan myself (which is really on a problem for my waistline, but a problem nonetheless). However, this week, the perfect situation presented itself: Harris was to be out of town and my Nutella-loving baby sister was to be in town. Ding ding ding! We promptly set about making these last night, were amazed at how lovely the house smelled both while they cooked and after, and waited as absolutely long as we could possibly stand it to let them cool before we both dove in to eat one (note: the wait time was approximately 7 minutes. Maybe.). Y'all. Words cannot even! Gooey heaven-sent deliciousness! Do yourself the biggest favor ever, and go make these right now!

What You'll Need:

• 1 c. Nutella
• 10 tbsp butter
• 2 c. brown sugar (original recipe calls for dark brown, I only had light brown on hand and it was fine!)
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. Nutella (I missed this part, and the regular 10.5 oz jar of Nutella did not allow for enough extra for this step. I didn't think it mattered, but you can add this extra if you so choose!)

What You'll Do:

1. Line a small baking sheet with wax paper, and make room in your freezer. Divide 1 cup of Nutella into 12 dollops on the wax paper (no need to be exact). Place baking sheet in freezer while you complete remaining steps.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Spary 8x11x2 inch baking dish with Pam. 
3. Melt butter in small saucepan, stirring occasionally until the foam turns golden, and smells "nutty". Remove from heat, and pour into mixing bowl.
4. Mix in brown sugar and cream cheese. Beat for about 2 minutes, until fluffy.
5. Add vanilla, then eggs. Beat well.
6. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to batter, and mix until just combined.
7. Optional: Add remaining 1/4 cup of Nutella to batter, and swirl with spatula. Pour into prepared baking dish, spreading to the edges.
8. Remove tray of Nutella from freezer. Using your fingers, push each dollop into the dough, distributing evenly. Smooth dough over the Nutella.
9. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Edges should be very set, but center should still be seem gooey.
10. Cool completely, and then cut into bars.
11. Enjoy!

Because I was way too focused on eating rather than photographing, photo and original recipe courtesy of  The Food Charlatan

From Our Kitchen: Fruit Salad

So, per the usual, I have been seeing these recipes on Pinterest where you sprinkle dry vanilla pudding mix over fruit salad, I don't know, to make it better? Make a dressing? Whatever. At any rate, I have been wanting to try it. Last week, in preparation for Michelle's visit, I bought a ton of fruit, and decided to try it out, and it was pretty dang tasty! Pinterest prevails again! You should all definitely do this as soon as possible.

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 - 3/4 container of fresh strawberries
• 1 banana
• 2 mangoes (not overly ripe - mine were a little too ripe, and well the whole salad looked terrible - tasted great, looked terrible)
• pint of blueberries
• 3 kiwis
• 1 fresh pineapple
• 1-3.4 oz package vanilla instant pudding

What You'll Do:

1. Prep fruit (wash strawberries and blueberries). Peel banana, mangoes, and kiwis. Core pineapple. Cut all fruit into chunks. Place in large tupperware (or serving) bowl.
2. Sprinkle with instant pudding. Toss to coat. 
3. Store in fridge until ready to serve, or serve immediately.
4. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Banana Bread

I buy a lot of bananas. Sometimes they all get eaten (yay!). Sometimes I cut them up and freeze the ones that are starting to brown to later use in smoothies. And sometimes, like last week, they have not all been eaten and I have too many bananas already in the freezer, so I decide to make banana bread. I absolutely love banana bread, and so does the hubs, and it is so incredibly easy to make! This is a nice treat to have for a snack, post-dinner, or even breakfast!

What You'll Need:

• 3 - 5 bananas (I use 5, which seems to make the bread extremely moist, but 3 will work if that is all you happen to have on hand!)
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• Optional mix-ins: chocolate chips, walnut pieces, pecan pieces, 1/4 cup of peanut butter!

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 5 x 10 bread loaf pan with Pam.
2. Mash bananas (I used the paddle attachment on my Kitchenaid, but you could easily use a potato masher to do this).
3. Either by hand, or with your mixer, add melted butter to mashed bananas.
4. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla to mashed banana mixture and incorporate well.
5. Add baking soda, salt, and flour, and mix well. If you have any optional mix-ins you want to add, go ahead and mix these in now.
6. Pour mixture into bread pan.
7. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and center is set.
8. Remove from oven, cool on wire rack, and slice to serve.
9. Enjoy!

Note: You can also sub the bananas for another fruit, like strawberries! I honestly couldn't tell you which I like better, they are both so good! If you use strawberries, I used almost a whole container of fresh strawberries (I had probably eaten like 4 of them beforehand). I did everything the same, except that I mashed the strawberries up by hand before putting everything in my Kitchenaid (strawberries don't really mash like bananas with the paddle attachment :)

Left: Strawberry Bread
Right: Banana Bread with Peanut Butter!

From Our Kitchen: Frozen Breakfast Burritos

Last week, Harris mentioned that he was going to be going into work super early for at least the next week or so, and, being the nice guy he is, thought it would be easier on me if I came up with something he could make for himself in the morning versus me getting up at like 4am to make breakfast for him. While I miss having that time with him first thing in the morning, I also really like not waking up at 4am! I wanted to make sure he got a little bit of everything he needs in the morning (without having to pre-make a bunch of eggs which would inevitably become rubbery after a day or so), and that would be really quick and easy for him to heat up. Enter the breakfast burrito! Probably my favorite fast food breakfast of all time is the Whataburger breakfast taquito (which is really a burrito to me) with egg, sausage, and cheese. I did some perusing of various frozen homemade breakfast burrito recipes to see if there was anything special I needed to do, and came up with a great recipe, which has got to be a healthier variation of the Whataburger version! This would be a perfect thing to whip up on Sunday (they only take about 30 minutes), and then have breakfast ready for the whole week!

What You'll Need:
Note: I made 15 burritos, so that is what this recipe makes, but you can easily modify to make more or less!

• 15 flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 dozen eggs (you need about 1 1/4 eggs per burrito, in case you modify!)
• Splash of milk
• Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
• 1 package Jimmy Dean turkey sausage (you could easily substitute pork sausage, bacon, or turkey bacon here)
• Shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• Saran wrap (side note: I abhor plastic wrap, but I have recently learned that it is moderately less offensive if you buy brand name Saran wrap versus off-brand plastic wrap. Just an observation.)
• Gallon ziploc bag

What You'll Do:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Crack all of your eggs in a large bowl. Break the yolks and scramble with a wire whisk. Add a splash of milk (for fluffiness). Add salt, pepper, and cayenne, to taste.
3. Pour eggs into heated skillet and let sit for a minute before beginning to scramble. Scramble until eggs are almost done (you can leave just a little runny because they will cook more when you reheat the burritos, or you can cook until all the way done and then they will be extra done when you reheat. Personal preference all the way!).
4. Create an assembly line of tortillas on your countertop. 
5. Add a spoonful of eggs to each tortilla.
6. Add a spoonful of turkey sausage (Jimmy Dean turkey sausage is pre-cooked, so no need to warm up before you assemble the burritos since they are just going in the freezer!).
7. Sprinkle with as little or as much cheese as you desire.
8. Fold in the ends of your tortilla, and then roll your burrito. Place on Saran wrap, and wrap securely. Place individually wrapper burritos in ziploc bag, and then in the freezer.
9. To reheat, remove burrito from Saran wrap, place on microwave-safe plate, and heat for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
10. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Is today a holiday for y'all? President's Day is one of those holidays that has always confused me a little bit. I don't think everyone gets President's Day off, thereby, is it a real holiday? This is the first time I have had President's Day off since I started working my current (about to be old!) job. We technically get it as a holiday every year, but each of the previous years, one of the conferences we attend has fallen over President's Day weekend, so I have not actually had the holiday off. At any rate, if you do have today off, happy Monday that's really a Sunday!, and if you don't have today off, well, I am sorry.

Husband does not have the day off. He was supposed to (especially since he put in long hours over the weekend - crisis mode! Okay not really, but it is super dramatic), but this happened and that happened, and, lo and behold, off he trotted to work this morning. Lucy and I miss him, but are somehow making it through.

So what does one do on a holiday that may or may not be a holiday? Well, for starters, I went to Target this morning, and allowed myself ample time to walk up and down aisles I don't normally walk up and down. I picked up a black and white striped maxi skirt, and put in my basket for about 15 minutes. And then I put it back. I tried out a chair I have been thinking about ordering online. I looked for an honest to goodness address book. And I didn't find one. I bought a new lipstick! And I wish it were more red and less pink. All in all, it was a delightful trip.

Then I came home, and set about the task of cleaning out my closet. I am usually pretty good about keeping my closet at least functional. But, after going on a week long business trip, I would usually come home and just dump the contents of my suitcase into the bottom of my closet because, well, I just wanted to put the suitcase away. Logical. Then, as it often does, life happens, and there are a million other more important / more fun / more pressing things to do than hang up the clothes in the bottom of my closet. And then I just start adding to them. And...well, you can see how this all just snowballs. Compounding matters this time around was that I ordered some new clothes last week. So, there was also a box of clothes waiting to be hung up. I am happy to report that the closet has been organized and Lucy is happily napping on a pile of winter clothes that I am putting away simply on the principle that I am very ready for winter to be over with, please and thank you!

I also cleaned our floors, as one does when one runs out of time during the weekly chores / cleaning session to clean the floors because one hates doing the floors and saves them for last just in case cleaning time does expire before it happens. But they are clean now, and that it is all that matters.

And now, the real point of this entirely long-winded post: a delicious recipe for a buffalo chicken spaghetti squash casserole. I found a recipe on Pinterest (duh), but thought it could definitely use to be turned into a casserole, so that is what I did. It was delightful, and American, and buffalo-ey, and the spaghetti squash also made us feel like it was totally healthy! Okay, at least somewhat healthy! If you need a refresher on cooking a spaghetti squash, please to go here.

What You'll Need:
Makes 4 servings

• 1 medium-large spaghetti squash, cooked
• 8oz cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's because I had it on hand from Super Bowl dip, but Texas Pete will also work!)
• 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing (if you really dislike blue cheese, you can use ranch, but I really dislike ranch, so blue cheese it is!)
• 3 - 4 chicken breasts, cooked 
• Shredded cheese, for topping (I used mozzarella because it's what I had - feel free to sub whatever you like!)

What You'll Do:

1. Cook your spaghetti squash.
2. Cook your chicken. I cooked mine in the crockpot for a few hours and shredded it, but you can cook however you choose, and then cut into smaller pieces. Although, I definitely recommend shredded chicken here!
3. Preheat oven to 350. Spray pam in your chosen casserole dish (I used my 9" Le Creuset pan)
4. In a medium saucepan, slowly melt cream cheese. 
5. Once cheese is melty, add in hot sauce and blue cheese dressing. Mix well.
6. In a large bowl, combine cooked chicken and hot sauce / cheese mixture, until chicken is well coated. 
7. Now add spaghetti squash, and, again, mix well.
8. Spread mixture into casserole dish.
9. Top with as much or little cheese as you desire (I just did a light sprinkling, and it was great!)
10. Baked about 15ish minutes, or however long it takes to get your cheese topping melty (do you like that non-word I have used twice, now?).
11. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Vegan Pesto Pasta

We have been trying some new things in the kitchen this month, and while all of them have not been the greatest of successes, we were both pretty happy with this little dish. It is the perfect dinner dish for Meatless Mondays (or any meatless night you would like to have), and is also completely vegan and gluten-free. I think we have managed to cover most of the lifestyle and dietary considerations with this one, and bonus for it being very tasty! You can easily swap this up to be non-vegan (add some Parmesan to the pesto), non-vegetarian (add some chicken or shrimp), and/or non-gluten-free (use real pasta). Any way you make it, I am sure you will be happy with the end result.

What You'll Need:

• 4 medium to large-sized zucchini
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 container cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup, plus about 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 4 - 5 cloves garlic
• salt and black pepper

What You'll Do:

1. It's good to go ahead and prep everything because once you start cooking, this comes together very quickly.
2. To make pesto, toss spinach, basil, 1/2 cup olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt to taste in a food processor. Process until smooth sauce is formed, scraping down sides as needed. Set aside.
3. Using a potato peeler or julienne peeler, peel zucchini into "zoodles". If you have never done this before this is a good video showing technique. I use a potato peeler and my noodles are just wide and flat vs thin. When you hit seeds in your peeling process, it is time to move on to a new section of zucchini. Easy peasy. After you have made your zoodles, set them aside.
4. Snap ends off asparagus, and then cut into thirds. Set aside.
5. Cut cherry tomatoes into quarters. Set aside.
6. Hit 2 tbsp olive oil in large saucepan.
7. Add asparagus and cracked black pepper, and cook about 4 - 5 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, and cook another two minutes. Add zoodles, a bit of salt, and another splash of olive oil. Cook, mixing all together for a final two minutes (zoodles should be soft but not mushy).
8. Add pesto to taste (I recommend starting with a little bit, and adding more as your taste buds prefer).
9. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Cake Mix Cookies

Yesterday, after our weekly pizza making and football watching, I had a sweet tooth (surprise, surprise!). I didn't really feel like walking the 500 or so steps over to the Mrs. Fields at the mall (read: I didn't feel like putting on real pants), and I didn't think we had any chocolate chips or other suitable cookie mix-ins (read: hubby doesn't really care for sugar cookies), so I was bummed for about 2.5 seconds until I realized that we did have cake mix in the cupboard! Winner! These are about the simplest cookies on the planet, and there are surprisingly super good! They remind me of those super soft cookies you get at the grocery store that have frosting on them (you know what I am talking about, I know you do), only better! They take virtually no time and so few ingredients, so you should definitely make some as soon as you can!

What You'll Need:
Makes about 1.5 dozen cookies

• 1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Yellow)
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 container of frosting, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Chocolate)

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray cookie pan with Pam.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, and butter (either by hand or with a mixer).
3. Drop rounded spoonfuls of batter-dough onto cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 min, or until bottoms are just golden and tops are still soft.
5. Cool cookies on wire cookie rack for about 5 or 10 minutes (read: until you simply cannot wait any longer, but the frosting will not slide off in a gooey mess)
6. Plop a dollop of frosting on each cookie, and then spread across the top.
7. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Eggnog Pie

As I am sure we are all out there making final preparations for our holiday meals next week, I thought I would share a delicious Christimastime dessert (that, if you recall, I in fact made for Thanksgiving!) as inspiration for next week's festivities. If your household is anything like ours, you have probably drunk your weight in eggnog this Christmas season, so it is only appropriate that you now try your hand at an eggnog pie! The best part about this pie (I mean, aside from the fact that it is delicious!)? It is a no bake pie! Completely homemade, no baking. I mean, that's awesome, right?

What You'll Need for the Crust:

• 10 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Need For the Filling:

• 1 quart eggnog (I recommend the Southern Comfort brand of eggnog - by far my favorite!)
• 2 (5.1 oz each) packages of vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Do:

1. Melt your butter in a large mixing bowl, and add your graham cracker crumbs.
2. Mix in your brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir until well combined.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Spray a 9 inch pie pan, and place your crust mixture into the pan. Begin pressing down to form the crust along the bottom and sides of the pan.
   
   
   
   
4. Place the crust into the refrigerator to set while you mix together your filling (don't worry - it only needs to set for just a few minutes - roughly the time it takes for you to put together the filling). 
5. In a large mixing bowl, blend together your vanilla pudding mixes and eggnog. Mix well. Add in your cinnamon and nutmeg, and continue to mix until mixture begins to thicken
   
   
   
   
6. Get your crust back out of the refrigerator. Pour filling mixture into crust. At this point, you can garnish with whipped cream, cinnamon, or, as I did, some graham cracker sprinkles on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and place back into refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Credit to original recipe

From Our Kitchen: Baja Chicken Fajitas

I don't know about you guys, but I love fajitas! Interestingly enough, I hate the onions and green peppers in fajitas, but just the simple act of compiling all my own goodies in a warm tortilla is something this girl loves. Several years ago, when I first ordered fajitas at On the Border, I was amazed at my options in building the perfect fajita. Not only do you get to choose the meat(s) you want on your sizzling pan, but you also get to choose from three different veggie options. I know one is the traditional onions and green peppers (yeck), and one is squash, zucchini, and red pepper (yum), and I don't remember the third. Now, seeing as I looooove squash and zucchini and red pepper (everyone finds this weird since I don't like green peppers, but I firmly stand by my stance that they taste very different), I was sold on this particular combination, and, to this day, OTB is still my favorite place to get fajitas for this very reason. I decided last week that I wanted to take a stab at recreating this dish at home. I didn't follow any recipe, and just kind of winged it, but really, it's pretty basic, yes? I forgot to take a bunch of pics, so you will have to settle for two, but it was really delicious and super easy!

What You'll Need:

• 3 or 4 chicken breasts
• Fajita seasoning packet, or combination of cumin, ground red pepper, chili powder, etc
• Splash or two of lime juice
• 2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 yellow squash
• 2 zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• Ground cumin, ground red pepper, and salt, to taste
• tortillas
• toppings: cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, whatever your heart desires!

What You'll Do:

1. Cook your chicken. Now there are obviously several options here: you can cook it in a frying pan on the stove until done, and then add fajita seasoning and water as directed. Or, you can do as I did, and cook it in a crockpot to get some nice shredded chicken (I know, not your typical cooking for fajita chicken, but was really delicious!). If you go the shredded chicken route, spray your crockpot, place chicken breast inside, pour in about 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth, pour seasoning on top and toss to coat. Cook on low for about 4 hours, or high for about 2. Shred with forks when cooked through, and give a couple splashes of lime juice.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, and add squash, zucchini, and red pepper. Cook down for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then add ground cumin, ground red pepper, and salt, to taste. Continue cooking until veggies are tender, but not mushy!
3. Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil, and warm in the oven for 10 minutes.
4. Top warm tortilla with chicken, veggies, and various toppings of your choice. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Spaghetti Squash Marinara

Spaghetti squash has been something I have been wanting to cook for a good while now, but, until this past week, I could not find it in the store! I was delighted to find on in my local produce section this past weekend, and was eager to try out a recipe. When I cut into the squash, I discovered it reminded me of a pumpkin (perhaps why I could not find it in the store before now?). I was really excited about this, and was so happy with how it turned out! I felt like I had a huge bowl of pasta, but really I had a huge bowl of veggies. Plus, 1/2 cup of spaghetti squash has like 21 calories - amazing! I served our spaghetti squash with leftover marinara sauce from our Sunday pizza making, and also prepared some chicken parmesan to go with it. You could serve it with any sauce really - olive oil with salt, pepper, and parmesan, or a garlic sauce, or really whatever floats your boat! All in all it was delicious! Also, I should note, I was very surprised by how much "spaghetti" one squash yields. It is definitely enough for about 6 servings, if not more.

What You'll Need:

• Spaghetti squash
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Marinara sauce, or sauce of your choosing

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half
   
   
   
   
   
3. Remove seeds
   
   
   
4. Place squash open side down on baking sheet, and roast for about 45 minutes
   
   
   
5. Remove squash from oven, and allow to cool completely (about 15 minutes)
6. Completely shred the insides of the squash with a fork (as soon as you begin to shred a part of it, you will see how totally easy this is)
   
   
   
7. Scrape all of the "noodles" into a large bowl
   
   
   
8. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper
9. Serve with sauce of your choosing
10. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Mini Egg Frittatas

I could eat eggs almost any time - I love them scrambled, fried, poached; as omelets, frittatas, quiche, pretty much any way you can come up with (except hard boiled, yeck). Harris is also a pretty big fan of eggs, and we, like most people, do enjoy having breakfast for dinner every once and awhile. This is one of my favorite breakfast for dinner recipes, just because I feel like it is a little bit different, and also incorporates a lot of flavors. A lot of this recipe is "guesstimates" in terms of ingredient amounts - I usually just eyeball it, so do keep that in mind.

What You'll Need:
Makes about 24 mini frittatas

• 1 carton Egg Beaters
• 1/2 container deli turkey, chopped
• 1/2 bunch of asparagus, steamed
• Goat cheese (or any other kind of cheese you prefer)
• salt & pepper to taste

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Pour egg beaters into large bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Give a good whisk.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Chop deli turkey and asparagus into small-ish pieces (don't you love the precision here?)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Spray muffin pan with Pam
5. Use a measuring cup to pour eggs into muffin pans (only fill about 1/3 of the way at first)
   
   
   
   
   
6. Top eggs with several pieces of turkey, asparagus, and cheese
7. Fill remainder of cups with egg
   
   
   
   
   
8. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until middle is set, and edges are slightly browned
   
   
   
   
   
9. Enjoy!
   

From Our Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

My dear friend, Michelle, asked the other day for me to put up a cheesecake recipe. Now, while my waist line certainly does not want a cheesecake in the house right now, I was happy to oblige in at least sharing a recipe, and am proud to present you with my favorite cheesecake recipe of all time. Yes, you heard me right: of all time. This is a really simple recipe, and can be prepared in either a traditional springform pan, or just in a pie dish. For the sake of simplicity (ahem, Michelle prefers her recipes simple, yes?), I will share the pie dish version, but please let me know if you would like help with the springform version. This is an old recipe from a cheesecake cookbook my grandparents gave me when I was like 10 years old (obviously me and cheesecakes go wayyyy back).

What You'll Need - Graham Cracker Crust

• 12 graham crackers
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 7 tbsp butter, melted

What You'll Do - Graham Cracker Crust

1. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor, until they become a fine dust. Add in sugar and salt and pulse to combine.
2. Add in butter, pulse to combine, scraping down sides as needed, until a fine meal forms.
3. Dump the graham cracker mixture into a 9-inch pie pan sprayed with Pam. I use my fingers to press down, but you use whatever works best for you. Make sure to leave a little edge!
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven, and set aside.

What You'll Need - Cheesecake Filling

• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup prepared cookie dough, divided (I typically use the pre-made stuff here - a roll is more than enough - but feel free to make your own too!)

What You'll Do - Cheesecake Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, and mix until well incorporated. Drop 1/2 cup of cookie dough by level teaspoonfuls into batter and gently fold to incorporate.
3. Pour into your graham cracker crust. Top, by teaspoonfuls, with remaining cookie dough.
4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until center is almost set (should be a nice golden color)
5. Cool, and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
6. Enjoy!

I should also note that you can obviously use a pre-made graham cracker crust here, but I am morally opposed to that, so don't tell me if you do. Obviously, kidding (but not really).

From Our Kitchen: Gnocchi Chicken Marinara

Prior to last week, we had never tried gnocchi before. Now, let me be real with you here for a hot minute - 1. I really wasn't too terribly sure what gnocchi actually is, and 2. I was also incredibly not sure on the proper pronunciation. You know kind of like that whole quinoa debacle that happened a couple years ago (the one where where people were saying key-no-ah, or the like, you know, that one). At any rate, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and found a recipe on Pinterest (duh) that combined gnocchi with marinara sauce, cheese, and chicken. Seemed like a no-brainer except the person who wrote the recipe didn't do such a hot job of giving amounts, or even listing all the needed ingredients, so I took the basic premise, and concocted this little gem. I think we were both pleasantly surprised! It's really very easy, and comes together quickly. It makes plenty for several meals too, which is a bonus!

What You'll Need:

• 1 package gnocchi (I used the sweet potato version)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 package steamfresh asparagus (or fresh asparagus, but I like the short cut sometimes)
• 16 oz marinara sauce (homemade or jar)
• 8 oz ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 5 slices mozzarella cheese

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place chicken breasts in a small baking dish sprayed with pam. Drizzle olive oil over chicken, sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning on each piece of chicken. Roast for 25 minutes. After chicken is cooked, cut into bit-size pieces.
3. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add gnocchi, and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, or until gnocchi rises to top of pot. Drain, rinse, set aside
   
4. Steam asparagus. Cut asparagus into pieces. Set aside.
   
   
   
   
5. Combine marinara sauce and ricotta in medium bowl.
6. Spray A 9x9 baking dish with pam. Spread 1/4 cup of sauce mixture on bottom.
   
7. Add gnocchi, then asparagus, then chicken to baking dish.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Top with sauce mixture, then Parmesan, then slices of mozzarella.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until mozzarella is browned on top. 
   

From Our Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

I thought it was about time I shared a sweet treats recipe with you guys. I learned to bake way before I learned to cook anything. As a child, I would sit in my Nana's kitchen, and "help" her bake cookies, cakes, pies, anything you can think of. Every holiday, starting when I was a pre-teen maybe, I was responsible for all the desserts at our house (my Mom abhors baking - I'm not trying to be pretentious I promise, hate just wasn't a strong enough word. I think she may have an honest to goodness fear of flour or something), so days before Christmas you could find me in the kitchen baking up the likes of chocolate chocolate chip cookies, pecan pies, and more. I have really started to love making things from scratch - when I made Morgan's graduation desserts, everything from the cake mix to the cookie dough to the frosting was from scratch - it was so much fun, and so delicious! However, if you know anything about making it from scratch, it usually takes a good bit more time than a boxed mix to get from "mmm I could really use a cookie" to "wow this cookie is delicious!". This cookie recipe can have you from zero to cookie in no time, plus, it is the perfect base for a variety of mix-ins. Yesterday was the first time I tried chocolate chips and toffee, but we have done butterfinger bits many times, and I would imagine peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, raisins, coconut, whatever your heart's desire would be just as great. These are perfectly chewy, soft and delicious cookies!

What You'll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips + 1/2 bag toffee bits (or substitute your favorite mix-ins)

What You'll Do:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.
2. Combine sugar and butter until well mixed. Mix in egg.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until well incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips & toffee (or other mix-ins).
5. Drop by slightly rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet.
6. ***At this point, you can either proceed to the next stop, or (and this is my personal recommendation for the absolute perfect cookie), take your balls of cookie dough, place in a ziplock bag. Place the ziplock bag in the freezer for 1 hour. The cookies bake just fine without this step, but I think they turn out even better if you freeze them first. You can also keep them in the freezer for weeks, so if you just want a cookie or two at a time, this is the perfect solution!***
7. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Yields 2 dozen cookies

From Our Kitchen: Chicken Salsa

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I have been bringing out the crockpot more frequently here lately. I usually reserve my crockpot cooking for the fall and winter times, which, really, makes absolutely no sense because crockpots keep your kitchen from getting overheated, which, really makes them perfect for the summer months, but whatever. Most of my crockpot recipes are soups and stews and the like, so here we are back to fall and winter times. What a difficult conundrum.

Chicken Salsa, however, is a great crockpot recipe for pretty much anytime of the year. I purposely did not take a picture of this because it is not a pretty recipe, but it is terribly yummy, which totally makes up for appearances, yes? I told my coworker friend, David R. (isn't it like first grade again when you have to identify someone by their last initial because someone else in the class has their name?) that I would put this recipe up on the blog for him, so here you are, David!

What You'll Need:

• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 1 jar of your favorite salsa (I personally loooove Tostito's restaurant style salsa)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 8 oz cream cheese (I usually go with 1/3 reduced fat variety)

What You'll Do:

1. Spray inside of crockpot. Place chicken breasts in bottom of crockpot. Pour beans and corn over chicken. Cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 4 hours.
2. When chicken is cooked through, shred chicken with two forks. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes - 1 hour to allow chicken to absorb juices and flavors.
3. Cut cream cheese into large chunks, and mix in until well incorporated. Cook an additional 30 minutes
4. Serve over rice (Harris' preference) or in a tortilla (mine)
5. Enjoy!

Easy peasy, but oh so good!

From Our Kitchen: Whole Wheat Pasta w/Garlic White Sauce

Folks. I concocted this recipe all on my own! Here's the story: yesterday I realized I was very limited in what was around the house for cooking. While I adore going to the grocery store (this makes me weird, yes), I was morally opposed to going to the grocery store on a Friday afternoon for ingredients for one meal, and then turning around and going back for my weekly shopping this morning. Moral opposition is a really hard thing to overcome, you know. So, I rifled, I pillaged, I dug, and I decided that whole wheat pasta, asparagus, and turkey bacon would naturally go together very well, but that I would certainly need some sauce to bind it all together. I have never attempted a homemade sauce before (Harris always makes our homemade red sauce - it's one of his specialties). So, I used the powers of Google to determine what the makings of a basic white sauce would be. I didn't have all the needed ingredients, surprise, surprise, so I improvised, and came up with something I (and the hubby) found pretty tasty! Yay!

What You'll Need:

• Bunch of asparagus
• 1/2 pack turkey bacon
• 3/4 box whole wheat pasta (I had penne, but use whatever, you know)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cheese (Parmesan is probably the best option, but I had extra sharp cheddar, and it worked fine!)
• 2 cups milk (I used skim - you could also use whole milk, heavy cream, so on and so forth)
• salt & pepper, to taste

What You'll Do:

1. Snap ends off asparagus, and blanch in boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain, rinse with cool water, and set aside.
2. Prepare turkey bacon (I baked mine in the oven, but feel free to fry, microwave, what have you). Chop turkey bacon into small-ish pieces
3. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt butter.
5. Saute garlic in butter for 2 minutes.
6. Whisk in flour and milk. Stir continuously until well incorporated.
7. Add in cheese. Continue stirring.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add pasta, asparagus, and turkey bacon to sauce.
10. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole

Back in my college days, when I was really just learning to cook for myself, and poor Harris was subject to things that were sometimes good, and sometimes not so, I found the recipe for Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole. Don't get me wrong, this is still a good recipe to have in your repertoire - it's easy, cheap, and has good things in it! When I found this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I would have to give it a try! It felt like a more grown-up version of that beloved college recipe, quinoa instead of rice. Not only do we love quinoa in this house (can you tell, yet?), but it packs so much fiber and protein per punch that I knew it would only enhance the nutrient value of a classic, tried, and true dish!

I totally forgot to take pictures on this one, but trust me and try it out!

What You'll Need:

• 3/4 cup Quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 10 oz Cream of Broccoli soup
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for topping
• 1 bag frozen broccoli
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt (I use the garlic and wine seasoning from the Melting Pot - ah-mazing!)
• 1/4 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 cups cooked diced chicken, chopped
• parmesan cheese and crushed tortilla chips for topping

What You'll Do:

1. Combine the quinoa and broth in a medium pan, and cook according to package directions, until quinoa is light and fluffy, and liquid has been absorbed. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a casserole dish with nonstick spray.
3. In a large bow, mix together soup, yogurt, milk, 1 1/2 cups cheese, sugar, and spices. Stir in quinoa, broccoli, and chicken.
4. Place mixture into baking dish. 
5. Top with remaining cheese, parmesan, and crushed tortilla chips.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden and bubbly
7. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Quinoa Fried Rice

Can I just tell you one more time that we really love Asian food? Would you be okay with that? Okay, good, glad we got that out of the way because we do really love Asian food! Fried rice is one of those amazing vices on the menus at most Chinese and Japanese hibachi restaurants. You know you probably shouldn't love it, but, alas, love it you do. I found this recipe on the Pinterest (seriously - who among you does not just love the Pinterest?), and knew this love of fried rice combined with a newishfound love of quinoa would be a potent combination for our taste buds on one fine day. I made a few minor adjustments to the recipe, and was absolutely amazed at how much it tasted like the real, restaurant version thing! Oh quinoa, you beautiful, versatile, little grain, you!

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1/4 small onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped and peeled
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 1/2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp sesame oil

What You'll Do:

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. After cooking, fluff with fork, and store in fridge (up to overnight).
2. Mix teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl; set aside.
3. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Add onion and carrot. Cook about 7 minutes, or until onion and carrot are softened.
4. Add garlic and ginger. Cook another 2 minutes.
5. Add in the rest of the olive oil and quinoa. Stir fry about 2 minutes.
6. Add sauce and stir-fry until mixed well, about 2 minutes.
7. In a separate pan, scramble your two eggs. Add to the stir-fry.
8. Toss in the peas until warmed through.
9. Serve alone, or as a side to your favorite asian main dish!