Easy Pie Crust

I found this pie crust recipe and it is so easy to make. It takes so much better than the refrigerated ones at the store and is much easier to use since you don't have to unroll them!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening (crisco)
3 cups flour
1 whole egg
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. mix vegetable shortening and flour together in large bowl. Cut shortening into flour until small pellets form.
2. Beat egg and pour into flour mixture
3. Add water, vinegar and salt and stir together
4. Halve the dough into two balls and place in gallon ziploc bags
5. roll dough to flatten in bags and store in freezer (at least 15 minutes)
6. thaw 15 minutes before using.

I used these for a chicken pot pie. I put some melted butter on top before baking to make sure it looks golden!

Kristin

Pork Wonton Recipe

I made pork tenderloin the other night and had quite a bit left over so decided to make wontons to have a little variety while we finished eating the meat the next day! This recipe is really easy to make and so delicious.

Ingredients:

Pork Tenderloin
1/2 bag of mini carrots (diced)
4 stalks of celery (diced)
1/2 small onion (diced)
wonton wrappers (1 pack)
1 egg

Directions:

1. Make sure pork is thoroughly cooked
2. Mix together pork, carrots, celery and onion into bowl

 

3. Mix 1 egg with water to form a slurry
4. Take a wonton and dip each of the 4 edges in egg slurry
5. Lay wonton flat and put a spoonful of pork mixture in one corner
6. Bring opposite corner of wonton to corner with pork and seal the wonton closed by pressing down on the edges so it looks like a triangle
7. Bring other two points on the triangle up and pinch together with third point so wonton is completely sealed closed

 

8. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a skillet to just below boiling
9. When oil is heated, drop wontons into oil and cook on each side for 3 minutes (until golden brown)

 

10. Serve with garlic chili sauce

Enjoy!
Kristin

Raspberry Chocolate Cocktail

This cocktail is delicious. I made it on Friday night when I had a friend over. I was looking for something fun and fancy (but easy!). The only downside is that the ingredients are a little on the more expensive side (to buy all of the items it was ~$100). But, if you already have them on hand it is definitely tasty!

Ingredients
1/5 ounces vanilla vodka
1 ounce chambord black raspberry
1 ounce original Godiva chocolate
1 ounce heavy cream
ice


Directions
1. Combine all parts in shaker with ice and shake to mix. (I use a mason jar)

2. Pour over fresh ice in old fashioned glass OR pour in martini glass without the rocks

Kristin

Orange Chicken and Jasmine Rice and green beans

This recipe is one of my favorites both because it is delicious and because it is really easy to make. It tastes just like a restaurant and there isn't a ton of mess in the kitchen for cleanup :-).

Ingredients
1 cup Jasmine rice
2 chicken breasts
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 orange juice from ~3 fresh squeezed oranges
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 green onions (green portion chopped for garnish)
1/2 pound green beans

Directions
1. Put jasmine rice into a pot with 2 cups of water and cook according to package directions
2. cook green beans in boiling water for three minutes and set aside
3. Roughly cut your chicken breasts into chunks that are bite-sized
4. Mix egg whites and cornstarch in large bowl for about 1 minute and add the chicken pieces to soak for 10-15 minutes

5. Heat a skillet of oil on medium-high for about 8 minutes. It should not be boiling but hot so that it sizzles when you drop in water
6. Mix orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, ginger powder and cornstarch into bowl

7. When oil is ready, add the chicken in small batches and cook for 4-6 minutes (until outside of chicken is golden and chicken is cooked through)

8. Dry chicken on paper-towel
9. Add cooked chicken to bowl of sauce
10. Spoon chicken and sauce over rice topped with green beans and garnish with green onions

Kristin

Homemade Potato Fries

Today I had some leftover potatoes that I wanted to use up so I made some homemade potato fries for lunch. This was really easy and quick to do! Plus, they tasted like ones that you would get in a restaurant. So, I will definitely make them again.

Ingredients
4 potatoes
a bowl of cold water
seasoned salt
5 cups of oil

Directions
1. Peel and slice potatoes (I used my KitchenAid spiralizer tool for this but I have also done it by hand)

2. Soak potatoes in cold water and refrigerate for thirty minutes
3. Heat 5 cups of oil in skillet over medium-high heat (it should sizzle when you add a potato to test)
4. cook potato fries in batches so they have plenty of space (each batch is 5-6 minutes)

5. Remove from oil and put on paper-towel-lined plate and season with seasoned salt


Enjoy!
Kristin

Hot Toddy Recipe

This week I have had a sore throat so I have been making hot toddies (because they help and are delicious)! I think this is the best recipe by far:

Ingredients
1 shot of Jameson Whiskey
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 cup water (boiling)
1 cinnamon stick

Directions
1. Heat water in microwave for 1 minute
2. mix whiskey, honey and lemon juice together in glass
3. Add water and stir
4. Garnish with cinnamon stick

Enjoy!
Kristin

Egg Roll in a Bowl

I really love egg rolls but wanted to go for a *slightly* healthier option (basically, I just omitted the fried shell). So, I tried just creating the contents of the egg roll and putting it over rice and not doing the crispy wrapper. I think it turned out really well! Also, it was extremely easy to make so I will probably put this into the regular rotation.

Ingredients

Rice
1 cup jasmine rice
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Meat
1 pound hamburger meat (i did 93% lean)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 bag shredded cabbage and carrots (the coleslaw premix bag)

Sauce
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Garnish
3 green onions

Directions
1. Cook rice according to instructions and mix in ginger
2. Pour sesame oil into skillet over medium-high heat
3. Add in hamburger meat, ground ginger, and garlic salt and mix until meat is browned

4. Add in cabbage and carrots and stir for 5 minutes
5. While cabbage and carrots cook, mix sauce ingredients together in small bowl
6. Add sauce to meat mixture and cook for 5 additional minutes.
7. Spoon meat mixture over rice and add green onions for garnish

Let me know what you think and if anything else should be added to the recipe!

Thanks,
Kristin

Appetizer - Mozzarella Balls

So, I recently bought a bunch of fresh mozzarella balls at the grocery store because they were on sale and are delicious on salads! One of my favorite restaurants down the street makes fried goat cheese balls so I decided to try to make fried mozzarella balls as an appetizer to go with our Italian dinner last night. It was really easy to do!

Ingredients:
5 cups vegetable oil
Mozzarella balls (I had about 15 total)
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs (whisked together)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
marinara sauce

Directions:
1. Dip mozzarella balls in flour and coat completely.
2. Dip coated mozzarella balls in egg mixture and coat completely.
3. Roll mozzarella balls in breadcrumbs and put on a plate.
4. Place plate in freezer for about 10 minutes to harden and set.
5. Put oil into pot and heat on high (about 8 minutes).
6. In small batches (I did 4-6 at a time) place the mozzarella balls in the oil for 4 minutes.

7. Put fried balls on plate covered with a paper towel and allow to cool (5 minutes).

8. Serve with marinara sauce!

This was really tasty and I think we will definitely make this again soon!

Kristin

Teriyaki Turkey with Jasmine Rice

Recently I have been eating a lot of ground turkey instead of hamburger meat. It is a little leaner and I really like the taste. This recipe is great since the majority of the ingredients I already have on hand in the pantry. I only needed to buy the turkey and green onions! It is also really quick and easy to make with minimal cleanup (so that is a major plus in my opinion).

Ingredients:

1 cup Jasmine rice

For turkey mixture
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 small onion (diced)
2 minced cloves of garlic
ground turkey (1 package = roughly 1 pound)

For sauce mixture
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 cloves garlic (minced) to mix with sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Added vegetables
1 head of broccoli chopped
1 bag of baby carrots chopped (i just put them in the food processor)
1/4 cup water

Garnish
2 green onions diced (green part only)

Directions:
1. Follow directions on package and cook 1 cup of jasmine rice
2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add sesame oil.
3. Add diced onion and cook about 6 minutes.
4. In a small saucepan mix together soy sauce, water, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, granulated sugar, garlic and ground ginger on medium heat
5. In a small bowl mix together cornstarch and water until thickened
6. While stirring sauce,  slowly add in cornstarch mixture and stir frequently until sauce is thickened (you can add water if it becomes too thick)
7. Add minced garlic and ground turkey to diced onion in saucepan and stir frequently until mostly browned.

8. Add broccoli, carrots and 1/4 cup water to a microwaveable bowl with microwave lid and cook on high for two minutes.
9. Add vegetables to turkey mixture and stir for about 5 minutes so meat is completely browned.

10. Mix in sauce with turkey mixture.

11. Spoon over cooked rice.
12. Garnish with green onions and serve.

I think you could also add some peas or green beans if you have those on hand!

Thanks,
Kristin

Lasagna with homemade noodles and fresh mozzarella

This is one of my favorite recipes because it is so easy and quick to make. Sometimes I make lasagna in the crockpot but since I made the noodles I decided to cook it in the oven (since I really do the crockpot to help the dried noodles out). It is really simple and pretty cheap to make!

Ingredients:
15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon orgeano
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 package 93% lean hamburger meat
1 16 ounce container cottage cheese
3 tablespoons parsley
1 egg
1 8 ounce package of parmesan cheese
pasta noodles (i doubled my pasta noodle recipe and put it at the bottom)*
1 8 ounce package of fresh mozzarella

Directions:
1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. brown hamburger meat in pan over medium-high heat

3. add in oregano, italian seasoning, salt, pepper
4. add in tomato sauce and simmer for ten minutes

5. mix cottage cheese, parsely, egg and parmesan together (sometimes i add spinach to this)

6. boil noodles for 2-3 minutes
7. take baking dish and coat bottom with hamburger sauce mixture
8. add layer of noodles
9. add layer of cheese mixture
10. repeat steps 6-8 until all ingredients are used

11. add mozzarella to top of dish

12. bake for 30 minutes


*Pasta Noodle Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 eggs
1 tablespoon orgeano
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients with your hands

2. Form ball with dough
3. Allow dough to rest for about ten-twenty minutes
4. either use a pasta maker (i use a kitchenaid attachment) or roll and slice with pizza cutter

5. boil for 2-3 minutes

Homemade Pasta Noodles/ Chicken Parmesan over noodles and sauce

The past few weeks I have been making homemade pasta noodles instead of buying the fresh pasta noodles at the store. I was doing this for a few reasons. Mainly, to justify having a pasta maker attachment to my KitchenAid. But, also because it is much more affordable than buying both dried pasta and fresh pasta at the grocery store where I shop. The recipe to do it is so easy and I have played around with adding tons of different spices, oils, etc to give different tastes. But, one of the best combinations is below!

Ingredients
1 Cup Flour
2 eggs (you can omit the yokes if you want to)
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon coriander

Directions
1. Put all ingredients in a bowl

2. mix with hands into a ball of dough
3. allow dough to rest for about 15 minutes

4. put in pasta maker attachment OR roll out with a rolling pin and cut with a pizza cutter

The other night I added some spaghetti sauce with herb seasoning and baked chicken parmesan with fresh mozzarella on top of the pasta and it turned out amazing!

Ingredients:
can of 15 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon marjoram
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1 egg (whipped)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
fresh mozzarella slices

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a bowl, mix together tomato sauce and all spices and put into baking dish
3. Dip chicken breasts in flour and cover completely
4. Dip chicken breasts in egg
5. Coat chicken breasts in breadcrumbs
6. Bake chicken covered for 40 minutes

7. add fresh mozzarella slices to top of chicken and cook for ten more minutes
8. cook fresh pasta in boiling water for three minutes and drain

9. Add fresh pasta to bowl and then add chicken on top


Thanks,
Kristin

Chocolate Cake in a Cup

This summer I discovered (probably really late) that you can bake in a cup if you use your microwave. I love this and do this when Andrew decides he wants dessert and we don't have any options in the house (aka Skittles). The recipe is simple and you can jazz it up with whatever you have in the pantry.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons milk (i use 1%)

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (i have found that olive oil leaves a weird taste)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons pecans

3 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

caramel syrup for topping

Directions

1. Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a mug and stir to blend

2. Add milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extra and mix together until smooth

3. Add pecans and chocolate chips

4. bake on high for 90 seconds

5. drizzle top with caramel topping

I have also added ice cream to the top in the past if we have it in the freezer. Or, you can add whipped cream as well. Pretty much anything works in this recipe.

Thanks,

Kristin

Sausage and Cheese Nacho Dip/Baked Potato Stuffing

For the National Championship game earlier this week I made a sausage and nacho cheese dip to go with some lime tortilla chips that we had at the house. It is so simple to make and I put it together in the fondue pot (which is awesome since I always forget to use it). It is only three ingredients which makes it really easy and it's not healthy for you at all! We ended up having leftovers so I used those as the filling for a baked potato that we had for dinner last night. So, we ended up not wasting any of it which is a good thing. I think this is definitely a crowd pleaser when you are watching a sporting event!

Dip:

Ingredients
1 package ground sausage
1 block velvetta cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Brown sausage

2. add in velvetta cheese (cut into cubes)

3. stir in heavy cream until blended
* stir frequently and keep on low heat setting. Also, add more cream as needed for consistency

Baked Potato:

Ingredients
1 russet potato per person
sausage nacho dip

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. scrub potato clean under water
3. rub olive oil and sea salt on skin of potato
4. stab potato all over with fork so that you have tiny holes for baking
5. bake for 55 - 60 minutes
6. slice open and add sausage nacho dip to top for filling

Obviously, this is not healthy at all but it tastes amazing :-)

Kristin