Our dinner last night:
Grilled Steak (thin sliced), Roasted Butternut Squash & Roasted Asparagus. Simple but yummy nonetheless!
Harper was digging it too, she ate every bite!
Hope you all had great evening as well!
This oatmeal is something I’ve been making since my daughter first started eating solid foods. (I’ve started adding nuts since then). Its so easy and the fruits and nuts can be swapped out for whatever you like and/or have on-hand.
I love using the apple cider around this time of year but I’ve also used apple juice in the off-season. The sweetness from the cider is the only sugar you need for this oatmeal. It’s awesome as leftovers as well, so make a big batch and warm it up as needed! Its really yummy either way!
Cider Oatmeal
2 1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Stove top directions:
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
I’ve also made this oatmeal in my rice cooker. It doesn’t get much easier than this!
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
ENJOY!
Please let me know what you thought of the Cider Oatmeal! I would love to hear for you!
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
I’ve also made this oatmeal in my rice cooker. It doesn’t get much easier than this!
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
ENJOY!
Please let me know what you thought of the Cider Oatmeal! I would love to hear for you!
About a year ago, my grandparents came to visit and I was given a few of my grandmother’s old cookbooks; some were 40-plus years old. After sitting on my shelves for most of that year, I finally got them out a few weeks ago and started sifting through the recipes. Some of them I sounded just perplexing (Creamed Chicken in Zesty Corn Ring; Asparagus-Peanut Casserole?) and some sounded down right delicious. This is one of the awesome ones, it has so much great flavor.
So I made this stew in my slow cooker instead of on the stove (which you could do!) and I added a few more vegetables but I think it made it even better! Its perfect for autumn evenings since it just sticks to your ribs!
Savory Beef Stew
1 1/2 lb. beef chuck, cubed
2 TBL olive oil
salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 med onion
3 stalks celery
3 parsnips
4 oz mushrooms
3 carrots (or handful of baby carrots)
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 1/2 cup chicken broth, divided
1 tsp basil, thyme and sage, each
1 lb gold potatoes
parmesan cheese for finishing
Begin by seasoning beef with salt and pepper and brown in olive oil in a Dutch oven for 3-4 minutes. (I tried to avoid my non-stick pan for this to get all the extra flavor on the bottom to scrap off later!) Remove with slotted spoon to a plate.
Chop all vegetables and add onion, celery, parsnips and garlic to pan with beef juices. Saute on medium low until transparent, 3 minutes or so, stirring often.
Add carrots and mushrooms and saute for 3 minutes more. Add herbs and a good amount of salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth to scrap up all brown bits from bottom of pan.
Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to vegetables and warm through. Take off of heat.
Chop potatoes and add to slow cooker.
Add veggie/tomato mixture, remaining chicken broth and beef to potatoes in slow cooker. Stir to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.
Turn slow cooker on Low for 4-6 hours or High for 3 hours.
We had my daughter’s soccer practice in the evening so this was awesome to come home to and just dig right in!
We added a little grated parmesan cheese to the top, just to give it another layer of flavor! Even Calvin, the baby loved this hearty stew!
If you wanted to do it on the stove, just add everything into the Dutch Oven with the vegetable mix (instead of slow cooker) and set on low for 1 hour.
Please let me know what you thought of the Savory Beef Stew! I would love to hear from you!
This recipe comes from my mom and she makes these muffins every time we come to visit them in Texas. She always has a huge Tupperware container sitting out on the counter and its the first thing I eat when we walk in the door, usually after our super long 12 hour drive!
Since we’ve already decided that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas here at our house in Florida, I was really excited to whip up a bunch of these for old times sake! They tasted just like my mom makes them, all chocolatey and delicious! (Even better since I had my special helper with me!)
Banana Chocolate-Chip Muffins
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup flaxseed meal (or wheatgerm)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana (usually 2 meduim size)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir sour cream and soda together in a small bowl and set aside. (I had my special helper do that, so helpful!)
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure butter is really soft and room temperature when doing this step.
Add egg, beating well.
Beat in sour cream mixture.
Stir in remaining ingredients. (Trust me, they are all in there, my helper just dumped them all in.) Don’t over mix it!
Eat a few extra chips.
Spoon into greased muffin pans. (I used the butter wrapper with my silicone pan, I love that thing!)
This is what I got when I said, Smile!
Bake for 18-22 minutes. They will be down when golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before removing from pan.
Acting silly while our muffins baked!
Enjoy while warm, that’s when they taste the best! (Bathtime was where these muffins where enjoyed. Otherwise I would have posted a pic of her eating one!)
Please let me know what you thought of the Banana Chocolate-Chip Muffins! I would love to hear from you!
When you want something yummy, filling, cheesy and/or all of the above, this is a great dish for that. I even prepped everything ahead of time and then let it sit in the fridge until a hour before we were ready to eat. I love recipes like this since I can do so much while little ones are sleeping or otherwise occupied.
I adapted this recipe from a few different ones and omitted a lot of the “cream-of” whatevers soups. It still has that great creamy taste, but with none of the weird, hard to pronounce ingredients!
We gobbled this right up and had hardly any left over. This dish is also one that can be easily doubled and frozen. Just defrost overnight in the fridge and bake as you would with the other version! Enjoy!!
King Ranch Chicken
6-8 chicken thighs
1 TBL chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 onion
1 each, red and green pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 roma tomatoes
3 TBL flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies
12 flour tortillas
8 oz grated cheese
1 TBL chopped cilantro
Lay out chicken thighs on baking sheet and season with salt, pepper and spices on both sides and brush with olive oil. Put in oven to broil for 4-5 min per side until browned. (You could also use already cooked chicken, just add seasoning and spices.)
Remove chicken from tray and reserve 1/4 cup of liquid from chicken. (Use 3 TBL of butter if using cooked chicken.) Allow chicken to cool and chop/shred into bite-size peices. (I usually do this in the dish its to be cooked in, less dirty dishes, right!?)
Warm reserved liquid in skillet or saute pan and heat to bubbling. Add flour and cook 1-2 min until flour is moistened. Add chicken broth and bring to boiling. Reduce and cook for 5-10 min. Pour into another container (I used my measuring cup).
Chop all veggies and mince garlic.
Using the same pan, add veggies and saute on medium low for 5 min until soft.
Chop tomatoes and add fresh tomatoes and Rotel to pan.
Slice tortillas into triangles
Now time to start layering! I set up an assembly line: tortillas, veggies, chicken, cheese. First, layer tortillas on bottom of a large oven-proof pan. (If you don’t have the chicken liquid in your dish, make sure to spray the bottom.)
Next, comes 1/3 of the veggies, then 1/3 of the chicken.
Add cheese and keep layering, tortillas, veggies, and chicken until all is used, holding off on last 1/3 of cheese. Pour soup mixture then add cheese and sprinkle cilantro on top.
At this point you could put in oven at 325 for 40 minutes or cover and refrigerate or freeze. If refrigerated, I put it in my oven for 1 hour at 325. If frozen, you can defrost in fridge and then follow refrigerator instructions.
We served it with some sour cream to top it off, yummmm!
So here goes! My first post of what I know will be many posts!
Who am I? I am a mother of two, working on raising these munchkins and all that goes with that. I try to get them to eat their veggies (not that hard, most of the time!), and actually have everyone at the table love it too! My hubby is a big-time carnivore, so I try to address that with every dinner as well.
We eat at home mostly because that’s easier with a crazy (but really sweet!) 3 year old and a rambunctious and silly one year old but also because its cheaper, healthier and more convenient overall.
Here will be my reviews and recipes of what we eat. I am not a chef, and have no formal training when it comes to food, but I just love cooking for my family and loved ones. I will tell you what we think of the things that I cook or bake or prepare and what we love about them. If we don’t like it, I promise to not post it but will likely redo it and end up really enjoying it next time! Hopefully, you find something awesome and will make it for your loved ones!
Shannon