Not gonna lie, the past week or so we’ve been pretty bad at cooking in our house. Life has been super busy and we’ve given in to the ease of eating out. Tonight we tried a Cooking Light recipe (with our own twist) and it turned out really delicious! I introduce you to the Cobb Salad Taco with home-made chips:
Cobb Salad Tacos
I love a good cobb salad – add it to a tortilla and you can’t go wrong!
Ingredients
2 large eggs
2 bacon slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
a squirt (to taste) of Sriracha
corn tortillas
2 cups thinly sliced iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/2 ripe peeled avocado, chopped
Directions
Hard boil the eggs, then dice them.
Cook bacon in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, saving the drippings. Drain bacon on paper towels, crumble and set aside. Add garlic to the bacon drippings and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; add vinegar, oil, and mustard, stirring until combined. Add chicken to pan; toss to coat.
Combine ranch and Sriracha to taste.
The original recipe says to toast the tortillas over the burner… we prefer to give them a 10 second per side fry (using the same oil we made the chips in). That definitely keeps it a little healthier (I guess our “twist” isn’t so light…).
Now build your cobb salad taco! This was a super easy recipe and you can easily add other stuff (in fact, it called for bleu cheese, but I hate the stuff, so I left it out). Enjoy!
Tonight we tried a slow cooker barbacoa beef recipe… it was delicious!
I didn’t take pictures because, to be honest, it’s not really pretty… but trust me, it tastes good! We took this beef and used corn tortillas to make street-style tacos.
Ingredients
1 can of chipotle peppers, plus all the adobo sauce it sits in
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
5 dry bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
4 to 6 cups beef stock
Directions
Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker. Place the brisket on top of this mixture. Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. Use tongs to move the meat around gently to combine everything and put the lid on.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. It’s done when the meat can be pulled apart and shredded easily with forks.
Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart. Discard the fat, if desired. Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it
A few days ago Safeway had a big sale on blueberries – which I love, so I bought the huge pack. I decided to give homemade blueberry muffins a try this morning – they were delicious! I stole the recipe from Martha Stewart (click here to go to the site).
Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups blueberries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter large (3 3/4 inches) or small (2 3/4 inches) muffin tins, and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolks, and vanilla; mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk to mixer, beginning and ending with flour. Remove bowl from mixer; gently fold in berries by hand. Divide batter among muffin tins; sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake until light golden, about 45 minutes for large muffins, about 30 minutes for small muffins. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan; transfer to wire rack, and let cool completely.
This is one of my favorite recipes – I’ve been making it for a while now and absolutely love it. The bummer is that it takes a long time… three to four hours from start to finish. It makes enough for Mike and I to have dinner and then another meal, so if you’re cooking it for a dinner party, you’ll want to double it.
The key to this meal is the soffritto – the mixture of carrot, onion, and celery. It makes the sauce taste amazing and the house smells awesome for hours after! It conjures up that “something’s cooking” smell that makes your stomach grumble!
I finally perfected the pasta – I made tagliatelle, which is a long, thin ribbon. It made all the difference – this tasted so gourmet!
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 ounces thick-cut pancetta, chopped
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef chuck
1/2 cup dry red wine, such as Barbera
1 cup drained, chopped canned
Roma tomatoes (aka plum tomatoes)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups beef stock, plus more as needed
1 cup whole milk (I just use my fat-free milk, but I’m sure whole would be yummy)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pound fresh egg pasta dough
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions
To make the Bolognese sauce, in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the carrots, celery, onion and pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are tender and a rich golden brown, about 30 minutes. If the ingredients begin to brown too much, reduce the heat and stir in a spoonful or two of warm water.
Add the ground meats to the pot and stir well. Raise the heat to medium and cook, breaking up the meats with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and crumbly and their juices have evaporated, about 20 minutes.
Add the wine and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits from the pot bottom. Cook until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the 2 cups stock, the milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the nutmeg. Cook the mixture until it just begins to simmer, then reduce the heat to very low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour. If the sauce becomes too thick or threatens to scorch, add a little more stock.
Partially cover the pot and continue cooking the sauce on the lowest heat setting until it is thick and dark brown, 1 – 1 1/2 hours longer. When the sauce is ready, use a large spoon to skim off and discard any fat that floats on the surface. Cover the pan and set aside.
While the sauce is simmering, make the pasta dough, then divide and roll out each piece into a sheet 1/16 inch thick. Cut the pasta into tagliatelle and let dry for 10-20 minutes.
Bring a large pot three-fourths full of water to a rolling boil and add about 2 tablespoons salt. Add the tagliatelle, stir well, and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 1 1/2 – 2 minutes.
While the pasta is cooking, reheat the sauce over medium-low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and/or nutmeg.
When the tagliatelle is ready, scoop out and reserve about 2 ladlefuls of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the sauce in the pot and stir and toss until well coated with the sauce, adjusting the consistency with some of the cooking water if needed. Serve with fresh grated cheese.
Tonight I tried another Pinterest recipe. It was for a lemon pepper panko bread crumb crested chicken with pesto linguine on the side. It was delicious, although I think it needed a lot more lemon pepper than the recipe called for – that’s the one thing I would change. I only got hints of it, when I like a lot of lemony taste.
Enjoy!
Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz linguine
1/4 cup pesto
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.
For the chicken, set up two wide shallow dishes for the breading process. In one dish, beat egg and add milk, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. In the second dish, add breadcrumbs. Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness approximately 1/2″ thick. Dip each piece in the egg mixture, coating both sides and letting any excess drip off before transferring to the breadcrumbs. Coat both sides, lightly pressing the breadcrumbs into the chicken to ensure they are well-coated. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add chicken breasts and cook about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet and continue cooking in the oven until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.
For the pasta, heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat. Generously add salt and add pasta to boiling water. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain and toss with pesto sauce.
Tonight we tried the last freezer crock pot recipe. This is a really great alternative to the standard carrots & potatoes crock pot roast. Mike said that of all the crock pot recipes we’ve tried, this was his favorite! I did one thing a little differently than the original recipe… when everything was done, I took what was left in the crock pot and made gravy. It was absolutely delicious on our pasta and on the meat! Again, the ingredients below should be divided into two gallon freezer bags.
Crock Pot Balsamic & Onion Roast
Ingredients
3-4 pound boneless roast
black pepper to taste
2-3 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
15 oz. cup beef broth
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup tomato sauce
Directions
Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours.
A couple of days ago I tried another one of the freezer crock pot recipes… this time it was teriyaki chicken. To give credit where credit is due, I got the recipe from Melissa Fallis’ blog via Pinterest. The recipe below is for two bags, so if you’re going to freeze, split the ingredients evenly. Again, one bag is perfect for two, so if you have a family, make the full recipe. Enjoy!
Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
1 bag of baby carrots (I accidentally used regular ones, just chopped them up)
1 red onion, cut into large pieces
2 twenty ounce cans of pineapple chunks, undrained
Today I decided to try another Pinterest recipe. I wanted something hearty and wintery. This soup was just the ticket – Mike and I both went back for seconds! The garlic bruschetta was super easy and a really nice addition.
Enjoy!
Winter Minestrone with Garlic Bruschetta
Ingredients
olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (3 carrots)
2 cups (1/2-inch) diced celery (3 stalks)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) diced peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
26 ounces canned tomatoes
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti
8 to 10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup good dry white wine
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
1 baguette
Instructions
Cook the pasta according to directions, set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 table-spoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Stir in the wine and pesto. Serve with bruschetta.
To make bruschetta, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Slice the baguette at a 45-degree angle in 1/2 inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.
Today I decided to try another one of the recipes from my Crock-Pot-A-Polooza several weeks back. To give credit where credit is due, I got the recipe from Melissa Fallis’ blog via Pinterest. The recipe below is for two bags, so if you’re going to freeze, split the ingredients evenly. Again, one bag is perfect for two, so if you have a family, make the full recipe. Enjoy!
Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
2 green bell peppers, cut into slices
1 red pepper, cut into slices
1 zucchini, chopped
3 onions, chopped
6 red potatoes, chopped (you can also use sweet potatoes)
A few weeks ago I did some serious crock pot preparation with my Crock-Pot-A-Polooza that I stuck in the freezer for a rainy day. Since the weather seems to not want to head back towards winter, I decided that today was a good day for the first test. I started with the Goulash… and it was amazing. Yes, it looks a little like dog food… I can’t help that it’s not very visually pleasing. Trust me, the taste is worth it. The recipe below is for two bags (just split the ingredients evenly between the two before you freeze them). One bag made the perfect amount for Mike and I – if you have kids or a super hungry husband, you might want to make the whole thing at once. I stole this recipe with pride from Melissa Fallis’ blog!
Goulash
Ingredients
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 pounds beef stew meat
12 ounces tomato paste
4 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Cook for 8 hours on low heat in a crock pot.
About 10 minutes prior to serving, add 1/4 cup (1/2 cup if you’re making the whole recipe) sour cream and stir well.
Down The Road I Go 