Mojo Chicken with Charred Onions

As a kid I was always a picky eater - think plain hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. If a dish had more than two ingredients to it, I wasn't going to touch it. Once I got to high school and became interested in cooking, I started forcing myself to try new things. I started with the basics: you know, common fruits and vegetables I told myself I never liked. Eventually I branched out and developed a love for trying new foods. Now I not only like trying new dishes but I also love cooking them as often as humanly possible.

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this recipe from Laughing Spatula. Since I recently finished my first round of Whole30, a simple chicken dish with clean ingredients seemed right up my alley. A few quick tweaks to the recipe and 45 minutes later, I ended up with what will surely become your new favorite summer recipe. 

• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
• Juice of 1 orange
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (I use sugar free)*
• 1tbsp cumin
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4tsp pepper
• 1/4tsp oregano

Combine all ingredients, except the red onion, in a gallon sized ziploc bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat. Once heated, add chicken and cook for 6 minutes on each side. Move chicken to a plate and add red onions to the grill pan. Cook onions until slightly charred, about 2-3 minutes per side (do not add any oil to the pan). Allow chicken to rest on a plate covered with foil until the onions are done.

Serve with rice and garnish with lime wedges.

*Whole30 Approved if sugar free

Whole30 Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Today is a big day for me. Ok, not really a big day but still somewhat of an accomplishment. Sixteen days ago I embarked on a journey to better my health. I made the decision to start what will be my first of many rounds of Whole30 and today, day sixteen, means I am officially more than halfway through!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Whole30, it's a "short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system" (Whole30.com). For 30 days, I willingly gave up added sugar (real and artificial), alcohol (not even for cooking), grains, legumes, dairy, MSG, and sulfites. For most this sounds terrifying but I saw it as a challenge; a way to expand my culinary knowledge in relation to nutrition and to try new things.

We are creatures of habit and often times choose not to deter from what we know we like. We go out to the same restaurants over and over again and often order the same thing every time; and why wouldn't we, our trusty favorite dish never fails us right? Eating the same foods over and over gets boring and following the Whole30 guidelines can seem scary for a lot of people when you truly realize how limited you are with ingredients. I realized this on day one but I also chose to accept the challenge and to really push myself to try new things and experiment with different foods. Thankfully not only am I loving the way I feel, but I am LOVING the recipes I have come up with along the way.

One of the struggles of the Whole30 program is fighting off the cravings. When you give up a lot of foods you think you can't live without, you find yourself daydreaming about them. This becomes a true test of willpower. Fortunately for me, I haven't had many cravings throughout this journey but I owe it all to the foods I'm eating, especially meals like this. These meatballs are not only 100% Whole30 approved, but they also taste amazing and seem indulgent. Oh, and did I mention, they come together in less than 20 minutes. 

Yield: 12 meatballs

• 1lb ground chicken
• 1/2 cup grated carrots
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (to keep this Whole30 use Tessemae's buffalo sauce or a mix of Franks hot sauce and ghee)

Preheat oven to 475°. Lightly grease a mini-muffin tin with oil. Add all ingredients except the buffalo sauce to a bowl and combine until mixed. Shape into 12 equal sized meatballs and place into the prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Once the meatballs are done, transfer to a large bowl and top with sauce; toss to coat and serve.

Mini Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Scones

For the longest time I was very intimidated by scones. I'm not sure why I thought making them would be the most difficult thing in the world but I did. Last year I finally conquered my fear and made these carrot cake scones with cream cheese frosting. They were good. They were really good actually but scones aren't exactly the healthiest dessert choice. I decided to make it my mission to come up with a recipe for something that seemed indulgent but wasn't going to put people into a food coma after eating one. This past Friday we had a food day at work and what better chance to test out a new recipe than on my coworkers. This recipe makes 16 scones and after bringing these into work I was left with nothing...absolutely nothing, not even one single crumb in my container to take home. I'll take that as a compliment even though I didn't get to save an extra one for myself...

Yield: 16 scones • Serving size: 1 scone

Calories: 150 • Total Fat: 5g • Total Carbs: 24g • Fiber: 1.75g • Sugar: 11.5g • Protein: 3.5g

• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• Cooking spray
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk (I prefer almond or cashew milk)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a glass measuring cup, add milk and vinegar and whisk until just combined. Allow mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken (this is will end up being your "homemade buttermilk"). Once the mixture has thickened, add food coloring then vanilla and egg and whisk until combined. 

In a large bowl, combine the two flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; whisk together. Cut in chilled, cubed, butter with a pastry blender until mixture looks like tiny pebbles. If you do not have a pastry blender you can use your hands but don't spend too much time mixing, you want the butter to stay cold. Add chocolate chips to flour mixture and mix so the chocolate chips are coated in the flour (adding the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients prevents the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the dough). 

Dump dough onto a floured surface and form into two disks so that each is about 1/2" tall and 6" across. The dough will be sticky so make sure you have enough flour on hand to add to it if necessary. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut each disk into 8 pieces. 

Place scones about 1" apart on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or sprayed with cooking spray. Brush tops of scones with egg white then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. While scones are cooling, make the frosting: in a small bowl mix the powdered sugar and milk until the frosting is just thin enough to drizzle (if it is too thick, add more milk 1/8 tsp at a time). Using a spoon, drizzle over cooled scones and allow frosting to harden. Serve. 

Recipe heavily adapted from: Skinnytaste

Chicken Dumpling Soup

It's very rare to have a perfect weather day in the midwest. It's the beginning of January and within the past two weeks we've had an ice/snow storm, rain, intense fog, and weather in the teens then a day later it's in the mid 40's. I can't really ever tell if it's winter or spring. With that said, what I do know, is that it's perfect soup weather.

Any time it's gloomy all I want to do is sit in sweatpants, catch up on some reading, and eat homemade soup. Anyone else weirded out by the mushy veggies in canned soup? No? Ok it's just me then. Anyways....

When I was in high school, the one thing I could not live without was chicken dumpling soup from Vegas in Antioch. I had their soup schedule memorized and would die a little inside if I ever missed my chance to get their soup. It was the BEST. Now that I have moved away and their hours have changed (I'm still upset about this), I don't get the luxury of enjoying their soup. So, naturally, I took to my cookbooks to learn how to make my own.  

This recipe is pretty easy so don't be intimidated and it's a lot healthier than buying canned biscuits from the store and throwing them in some broth. Bonus: it makes for amazing leftovers (just ask my coworkers).

Yield: 4-6 servings

• 3 chicken breasts (poached and shredded)
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 48 oz reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup cold low fat buttermilk
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted and still hot)
• 1 large egg white
• Fresh parsley (for garnish), optional

In a large pot, heat canola oil over medium heat. Once hot, add carrots and onions and sauté until softened (about 10 minutes). Add broth, thyme and shredded chicken. Bring to a low boil and simmer while preparing the dumplings. 

In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, stir chilled buttermilk into hot melted butter until small clumps form then whisk in egg white. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. If you're having trouble getting the dough to combine, use your hands. 

Using a greased spoon or your hands, scoop and drop dumplings into simmering soup (about 1" apart). Dumplings should be about 1-2" in size. Wrap the pot's lid with a clean kitchen towel, cover pot, and cook on low heat for 14-16 minutes or until dumplings have doubled in size. To prevent towel from touching heat source, use a rubber band (or in my case a hair tie) to hold excess towel together overtop lid. Serve and top with parsley.

Healthier Jalapeno Poppers

If you're ever look for a good crowd pleasing recipe, this is the one. I love making this dish whenever a friend is having a get together or when we plan on having a few people over. This recipe is especially good during football season.

A typical jalapeno popper is breaded and deep fried. While I don't mind indulging every once in a while, I don't quite enjoy the feeling I get after eating greasy fried foods. Because of this, I take my favorite things about a dish and lighten them up without depriving myself of the good stuff too much. The best part about these jalapenos is that you can actually taste the jalapeno itself. Most jalapeno poppers taste like fried breading and either cheddar or cream cheese only. They never truly taste like a jalapeno! These poppers are SO addicting thanks to a little secret ingredient you'd never expect in a dish like this.

Yield: 30 jalapeno poppers

• 15 fresh medium/large jalapeno peppers
• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
• 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Old Bay seafood seasoning
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the tops off the jalapenos then slice the peppers in half lengthwise. Using a small knife, remove the insides of the pepper (seeds and veins). 

In a small bowl, add cream cheese, bacon, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and Old Bay and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon filling into each jalapeno half equally. I like to use a butter knife so I can press the filling into the jalapeno while also running the knife along the top so there is no excess filling spilling over top. 

Place jalapenos on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 15 minutes. While the jalapeno poppers are baking, mix together the Panko and olive oil in a small bowl. You want the olive oil to just barely moisten the Panko. When the poppers are done cooking, remove from oven and top with the Panko mixture. This step requires some time - sprinkling the Panko mixture on top quite doesn't work. The cream cheese mixture cooks so the Panko just slides falls off the top if you don't take your time to gently spoon it on top. 

Once each jalapeno half has been topped with the Panko, place back in oven and bake for 10 more minutes. After 10 minutes, turn on the broiler for no more than 2 minutes just to brown the topping. 

Taco Stuffed Shells

Every Friday, I spend about 20 minutes planning out my meals for the next week and making my grocery list. I like to plan what I will make for dinner Monday thru Friday and use the leftovers from each dinner as my lunch throughout the week. This helps me to make sure no food is wasted and that I don't have to buy any extra food for lunch!

A big part of my meal planning is coming up with meals that keep my budget in check. I love to cook but that doesn't mean I need to spend a lot of money doing it. I've been trying really hard lately to thing of budget meals that are not only healthy, but also fill me up. While strolling through foodgawker.com, I found a recipe for Mexican stuffed shells that not only sounded amazing, but looked super easy to make. The ingredient list was small and required little money to buy - two things I look for now when cooking during the week. I made a few healthy swaps of course and now find myself making this meal at least twice a month.

• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey 
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning
• 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
• 1/2 box jumbo pasta shells (16-18 shells total)
• 16 ounce jar salsa
• 1 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• Taco toppings: sour cream, green onions, black olives, diced tomatoes, etc.

Preheat oven to 350°. In a pan, brown the ground turkey and add taco seasoning. Once cooked through, remove from heat and mix in the cream cheese, allowing it to melt. Set aside and allow meat mixture to cool. 

While the meat is cooling, cook pasta according to package directions. Once shells are done, drain and set shells on a cutting board to cool. While the shells are cooling, add salsa to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth. 

In a medium bowl, mix 1/3 of the salsa with the meat/cream cheese mixture, and shredded cheddar cheese. Pour remaining salsa on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Stuff each shell with 1-2 tbsp of the meat mixture and place in the dish (open side up). Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheddar cheese. Continue to bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with your favorite taco toppings. 

Recipe adapted from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ranch Chicken & Hasselback Potatoes

One of my all time favorite foods is the potato. I love potato soups, baked potatoes, oven roasted potatoes, breakfast potatoes, you name it. Every year for Christmas Eve, my aunt makes mini hasselback potatoes and I count down the minutes on the oven timer until they're done and I can dig in. Seeing the amount of time my aunt put into making them, I quickly realized that they required a lot of patience to make but for some reason I never told myself to just give it a try. 

If there's one thing I hate about baked potatoes, it's the time it takes for them to bake. One weekend, while craving potatoes, I finally sucked it up and gave hasselbacks a try and I was SO pleased with how they turned out - they are well worth the wait I promise you.

Along with the potatoes I decided to make baked ranch chicken. Now I'm not the best when it comes to cooking meat; it's hard for me to get it just right. Somehow though, I managed to get it right this time around. The chicken turned out so juicy that I had to take a picture just to prove it. 

Yield: 4 servings

• 4 medium or 6 small russet potatoes
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Sea salt
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp from a single packet Hidden Valley Greek Yogurt Ranch powder
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 sleeve whole wheat Ritz crackers
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425°. Wash and dry the potatoes. Slice a small piece off the bottom of each potato to prevent the potato from rolling as you cut. Take two wooden skewers, wooden spoons, or anything you don't mind getting nicked with the knife as you cut the potatoes, and set on each side of the potato.

Cut small slits in the potatoes stopping before you slice all the way through - this is where the skewers/wooden spoons come in handy. Each slice should be about 1/8-1/4 inch apart. Place potatoes on a baking sheet (lined with foil), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes.

While potatoes are baking for their first 30 minutes, prepare the chicken. In a freezer Ziploc bag, add the Ritz crackers and crush with a rolling pin. Once crushed to the size of bread crumbs, add the ranch powder and Parmesan cheese. Empty contents into a shallow dish (you want something big enough to dredge the chicken in).

Brush each chicken breast with melted butter then dredge in the ranch mix. After each chicken breast is well coated, lay in a glass baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle any remaining ranch mix on top of the chicken and lightly spray with cooking spray. 

Once the potatoes have cooked for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Put the potatoes back in the oven along with the chicken and continue to bake for 25 minutes. Remove the chicken and cover with foil; bake covered for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and topping is golden brown. 

Mini Turkey Meatloaf

I wasn't one of those kids who grew up eating meatloaf - in fact, I don't think I ever had meatloaf as a kid period. It wasn't until high school that I even tried it for the first time at a friends house and still didn't understand what the big deal about it was. Now that I am older and on my own, I try really hard to come up with meals that are not only healthy and easy for portion control but can feed me for more than just one meal. I finally decided to give meatloaf a try and was pretty pleased with the outcome.

This meatloaf was so easy to make and smelled so amazing as it baked (it somehow smelled like BBQ chicken cooking on the grill which I'm not going to complain about). It's such a perfect meal for meal prep - mini meatloaves make it easy to control portion sizes and also makes it easier to store in the fridge. Luckily for me, I had everything I needed to make these on hand and was able to cook them quickly.

These would also be perfect for kids or even for when you have friends over - everyone gets their own little meatloaf so no one fights over the end or middle pieces. Plus, they're much more appealing as a mini loaf than a slice of cooked ground meat...

Yield: 4-6 mini meatloaves

• 2/3 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb ground turkey (I use 93% lean)
• 1/2 cup Panko
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• BBQ sauce for brushing

Preheat oven to 375°. In a small pan, saute onions in butter for 10-20 minutes until translucent and cooked to your liking (I don't like crunchy onions so I saute mine until almost caramelized). Once onions are nearly finished, add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.

While onions are cooking, whisk egg, milk, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add panko to wet ingredients. Allow Panko to soak in wet mixture while onions cook (this step is important - soaking the Panko helps to keep the meatloaves moist, especially when using really lean meat). Allow onions to slightly cool then add to wet ingredients along with meat and cheddar cheese. Form into mini loaves and brush tops with BBQ sauce (I used about 1/2 tbsp per loaf to start). 

Place meatloaves on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Halfway through cooking, you can brush on more BBQ sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes. 

* This recipe is great for football season - you can form the loaves into football shapes and top with slices of cheese to resemble the laces after the loaves have finished cooking. 

Lightened Up Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Frosting

Disclaimer: I'm going to be optimistic for a moment and say "now that winter is officially over" even though I live in the Midwest and we all know how untrue that may be....

Now that winter is over, I'm ready to make the switch to lighter spring time foods. This means I can safely tuck my trusty Crockpot back into its home right above the fridge and start planning for meals with fresh ingredients instead of canned ones. April starts in just a few short days and I am beyond ready to step my cooking and baking game up. With that said, I decided to finally take the plunge and make something I have been talking about for at least a year: scones. I'm not exactly sure why I thought that making scones would be such a tedious process but it was actually quite easy. I let this thought stop me from trying time and time again....but not today! Today was the day I finally faced my baking fears and made scones, healthier ones at that.

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy a good scone. I am quite picky about my scones though, so I thought I would make something that I hadn't tried before so I could A) force myself to try something new and B) finally make scones! Plus, who doesn't love a good carrot cake? For those of you who do, you're welcome. For those of you who don't, try again, you're still welcome.

Yield: 8 scones

Scones

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground all spice
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
• 4 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 oz chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
• 1 egg white
• sugar in the raw for sprinkling

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 oz fat free cream cheese
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375° and line a large baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add both flours, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, and salt. (If you do not have a stand mixer, feel free to use a whisk or hand mixer). Mix until combined. Add the grated carrot and mix again - you may need to mix this a little with your hands to ensure that the carrots do not clump together. Add the cold butter and mix until the butter becomes the size of a pea. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chopped walnuts. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk. Using your hands, stir the milk into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together. Place dough onto a floured surface and knead until just combined - this should only take about 10 seconds. Be careful not to over knead the dough - this can cause the butter to melt. Form the dough into a 10" circle, about 3/4" thick. Using a pastry cutter, or a knife, cut the dough into 8 equal sized triangles.

Brush each scone with the egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden, about 20-22 minutes. Allow scones to cool completely. Once cooled, begin making the cream cheese frosting. Either in a small bowl or a small food processor, add all frosting ingredients and mix until smooth. Transfer to a Ziploc bag. Cut a small piece off the corner of the bag and use to pipe the frosting on the scones.

Chicken Bruschetta Burgers

As usual, it's been a while since I've posted anything but now that I have morning hours, I'm going to try my best to at least post once a week. Almost every weekend for the past month, I have gotten most of my meals from restaurants and lost most of my motivation to make new things. Eating out all the time obviously isn't good for my health or my wallet so it's time to make a change and what better way to do that then with an American favorite turned clean eating.

I found this recipe a while ago on Skinny Taste and was dying to try it but of course it ended up in the back of my mind and I forgot all about it. Today however, I finally remembered and luckily for me, I had a pound of ground chicken in my fridge waiting to get used up. This recipe is also great for those who are trying to sneak some extra veggies into their meals.

Now, I am the kind of person who likes to make a lot of extra toppings and sides so that I can use them throughout the week for different recipes. In this case, I made a ton of bruschetta so that Adam could toss some on his omelettes and I could put it on chicken and in wraps. If you do not want a lot of leftover bruschetta, feel free to cut that portion of the recipe in half.

Yield: 4 burgers, 3 cups bruschetta

Bruschetta

• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp white Balsamic vinegar
• 5 medium vine ripe tomatoes, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 4 sticks reduced fat mozzarella string cheese, cut into small cubes
• salt and pepper to taste

Burgers

• 1 lb 90% lean ground chicken (I like Gold'n Plump)
• 1/2 large zucchini, grated (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 cup plain whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 4 cups organic spring mix salad (for serving)

In a medium bowl, combine the red onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. When ready to serve, stir in the mozzarella cheese. 

While bruschetta is chilling in the refrigerator, begin the burgers. Grate the zucchini then squeeze the excess moisture from it using a paper towel. It is important to get as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible so it does not cause the burgers to be too wet. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, ground chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Form into 4 equal sized patties.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and lightly spray with cooking spray. Add patties and cook for 3 minutes on each side. To serve, place 1 cup spring mix on plate, add burger then top with bruschetta (make sure to add the cheese to the bruschetta before topping).

Recipe adapted from: Skinny Taste

Peppermint Cookie Puppy Chow

It's that time of year again where people scramble around the grocery stores trying to figure out just what it is that they want to make for the holidays. I, thankfully, am not one of those people. My list of appetizers, desserts, and side dish options is endless. What to make for which family however, is a tough choice for me. I celebrate Christmas with three different families and this year I decided that I would bring something different to each celebration. The first and easiest dish: puppy chow, a much loved crowd pleaser kicked up a notch.

The original puppy chow is loved by most but it's the holidays people! Time to spice things up and do something different. While walking around the grocery store one day, I saw mini candy cane Oreo's. Now I don't really care for Oreo's but it did give me an idea. I grabbed a big box and a few other ingredients that I thought go well with the Oreo's and headed home. The recipe turned out so well that I knew I needed to post it right away for those of you who are still pondering your options.

• 1 box Chex cereal
• 1 family sized box candy cane mini Oreo's
• 1 10oz. bag Special Dark Hershey's Kisses
• 1 10oz. bag Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Evenly separate cereal into two large bowls; set aside. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and place in microwave safe bowls (keeping flavors separate). 

Add 1 cup of Oreo's to food processor and pulse until cookies have turned to small crumbs. Set aside.

Melt dark chocolate in the microwave; heating for 30 second increments until smooth. Pour over one bowl of cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Add 1/2 of the crushed Oreo's and stir again until coated.

Pour into large reclosable plastic bag or paper bag and add all of the powdered sugar. Shake until well coated; there will be a lot of excess powdered sugar, this is okay, you still have another batch of cereal to add.

Repeat with candy cane kisses. Once second bowl of cereal is evenly coated with melted chocolate, add the remaining crushed Oreo's. Add to bag with powdered sugar and shake to coat. Once combined, add what's left of the box of Oreo's and shake to combine. Allow to cool and enjoy!

* Puppy chow can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips

Remember that cookie swap I mentioned before? Well, yesterday I woke up bright and early to start baking cookies for the cookie swap today. I had 7 dozen to make and wanted to make sure I had time to get them done, packaged, and taste tested of course. My alarm went off at 7:30 and I hopped out of bed and got to work. Last year I brought chocolate snickerdoodle cookies to the swap so this year I wanted to step up my snickerdoodle game and make something a little more unique.

After searching through cookie recipes for what seemed like days, I finally found one that I wanted to try. I tweaked the recipe a bit, headed to the store, got some rest, then got to work. I know most of you are probably thinking "a brown butter cookie? I don't know about that" but trust me, it works. It works SO well actually. The brown butter gives these cookies a slight caramel flavor while the cinnamon chips give them the perfect bite of spice.

I baked cookies for 4 hours...that's right, FOUR hours people. Why? Because this recipe makes a TON of cookies. It's perfect for cookies swaps but not so perfect if you've got a cookie craving and want to whip up a small batch for yourself, so cut it in half or even quarters if you need to.

Yield: 8 dozen

• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp pure vanilla
• 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• 1 bag Hershey's cinnamon chips (about 1 2/3 cups)

For the rolling mixture:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tsp cinnamon

In a medium pan, add butter and melt over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Once the butter starts to foam at the top, increase the heat slightly; the color of the butter will change to a dark yellow then brown. As soon as the butter has browned, remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Slowly mix in the brown butter until incorporated then add the Greek yogurt. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt. Once mixed, stir in the cinnamon chips.* 

Working in batches, add the flour to the wet mixture and mix on low. I found it easiest to mix most of the flour and wet ingredients in a mixer then when the dough got too tough for the mixer, I mixed it by hand in the large bowl that had the remaining flour. 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. When the dough is almost done resting, preheat the oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (do not spray with cooking spray). Roll the dough into teaspoon sized balls and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets; do not flatten the dough, it will flatten on its own as it cooks. Bake for 9 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool then start on the next batch.**

*It is important to add the cinnamon chips to the flour mixture first; when the flour coats the cinnamon chips, it helps them to stick to the wet mixture instead of all settling at the bottom of the bowl. 

**Make sure to keep the dough wrapped in the plastic when not using to prevent it from drying out. 

Recipe adapted from: What Megan's Making

Hearty Turkey Chili

I know I say this every time I get around to finally posting on here but I'm back...I swear. It's been such a hectic December already and we're only a week in. I feel like my entire December is already packed full of plans thanks to cookie swaps, work potlucks, gift making, and Christmas shopping. Before I know it, it'll be Christmas Eve then Christmas Day then 2015. By then I'll have aged 20 more years thanks to all the cooking, baking, gift wrapping, errand running and anything else I can think of except for relaxing and sleeping.

Let me just take a moment to point out that it's soup season. While perusing my favorite TJMaxx, I stumbled upon this little gem: Soup of the Day Cookbook. You read that right, soup of the day, aka 365 soup recipes for every, single, day of the year. Nothing quite beats a warm bowl of soup during the winter months, which in our case here in Wisconsin, lasts from October to March.

Adam wasn't feeling the greatest this weekend so I decided to whip up a big batch of turkey chili to make him feel better. Let's just say, we were more than pleasantly surprised at just how amazing it turned out. Thankfully I made a big enough batch to feed us for dinner tonight and me for dinner at work for the next week...yes, the entire week.

Yield: 8 generous servings

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 lbs. 93% lean ground turkey
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 - 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes, no salt added
• 2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 - 4 oz can diced green chiles
• Chili toppings: reduced fat cheddar cheese, light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, green onions, crackers, etc. 

In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat and add white onions. Saute until slightly transparent (I usually throw the onions in and let them cook until I'm done dicing the red and green peppers). Add the peppers and saute another 2 minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. 

While the turkey cooks, add the stewed tomatoes to a food processor or blender and pulse until coarsely chopped (or in my case, nearly pureed) . Once the turkey has browned, add the chili powder, salt, black pepper, cumin, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chiles. Stir until mixed through. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top with your favorite chili toppings.

* If you like beans in your chili, you can sub one pound of meat for two cans of your favorite beans

Coffeecake Muffins with Vanilla Glaze

Blogging hasn't exactly been at the top of my to do list lately but now that I'm finally working just ONE job, I've got my weekends free again. Free weekends means new food which means new posts!

Yesterday Adam volunteered me to make him something new for breakfast. Naturally, I accepted the challenge. Breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day, as most of you know, so deciding on something to make that I would also enjoy eating was tough. I kept going back and forth between something potato based and something full of cinnamon. Since the leaves are already changing color, I'm in full fall mode which means cinnamon won.

I finally decided on a cinnamon based muffin and stumbled across an awesome recipe for coffeecake muffins. After changing up the recipe a little, I was ready to bake. These muffins not only taste amazing but smell amazing too and filled our entire condo with the warm scents of fall.

Yield: 12 muffins
MUFFINS

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs

CRUMB TOPPING

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

VANILLA GLAZE

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with liners and spray with cooking spray. 

In a small bowl, mix the crumb topping dry ingredients. Add the cold butter pieces and combine with your hands until the mixture becomes a crumbly texture. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

In a large bowl, mix the muffin dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cinnamon chips). Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the wet ingredients (buttermilk, melted and cooled butter, and eggs). Make sure the butter is cooled or it will cook the egg and curdle the buttermilk. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Gently mix until combined. The batter will be thick; do not add any extra liquid. 

Distribute batter evenly between the muffin cups (about 2 1/2 tablespoons of batter each). Sprinkle muffins with equal amounts of the crumb topping. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean; about 30 minutes.

Let muffins completely cool. In a Ziploc bag, add the vanilla glaze ingredients. Stir ingredients until combined (I ended up rubbing the closed bag in my hands until the powdered sugar had fully dissolved in the milk). Cut off one of the corners of the bag and drizzle glaze over muffins. 

Recipe adapted from: 2 Teaspoons

Sweet Chili Sesame Stir-Fry

My New Years resolution was to challenge myself. This months challenge: eliminating processed foods from my diet (aka clean eating). I've done pretty good by cutting back throughout the month but this week I've decided to cut out all processed foods completely. Now that I've switched shifts at work it's been a little difficult to meal plan. Instead of making dinners and having the leftovers for lunch the next day I have to make lunch and bring the leftovers for dinner. Having tons of fresh fruits and veggies on hand has made it so much easier.

A big part of clean eating is including proteins, carbs, and fats in every meal. Protein helps to build muscle and aids in curbing appetite so including it in every meal will help keep you full all day. Now that I have made the switch to second shift, I am at work until 11pm. Planning meals that keep me full throughout my entire shift has become a big part of my morning routine. This morning I decided to throw a stir-fry together with just a few simple ingredients. This one meal gave me enough leftovers for three more meals AND has protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Yield: 4 servings

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 1 lb. washed and trimmed green beans
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb. lean ground chicken
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and boil for 6 minutes. Once cooked, drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking; set aside. 

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add sesame oil, garlic, and ground chicken to pan. Break up chicken as much as possible and cook until browned (about 5 minutes). Once chicken is mostly cooked, add sweet chili sauce, hoisin, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and cooked green beans. Stir to coat and continue to cook until chicken is done and green beans are tender (about 2 more minutes). Serve over quinoa. 

Asparagus and Spinach Pesto

For the past few weeks I've been trying really hard to minimize my intake of processed foods. My fridge has been stocked up with fresh fruits and vegetables now that it's FINALLY transitioning into spring here in Wisconsin. I'm not a sweets fan so I have to force myself to eat fruits. When I do that I usually neglect my vegetables. I had an entire bunch of asparagus sitting in my fridge and did not want to roast it like I normally would. I thought and thought and thought about what to do with it and then it hit me...pesto. Typical store bought pesto's are too strong for me and are loaded with preservatives so I wanted to make my own. Using an entire bunch of asparagus and handfuls of spinach for this pesto is also a great way to sneak in veggies. The garlic and pine nuts add such distinct flavors that even the pickiest eaters wouldn't realize just how healthy this vegetable based pesto is.

Yield: 2 cups

• 1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends discarded (about 1lb.)
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and boil for 4 minutes or until tender. While asparagus is cooking toast pine nuts until fragrant. When asparagus is tender, transfer to a large bowl filled with ice water with stop the cooking. 

Once cooled, chop asparagus into 1" pieces. Add to food processor with spinach, garlic, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice. Pulse until roughly chopped. Drizzle in olive oil and continue to pulse until pesto becomes smooth. Serve over pasta with grilled chicken and toasted pine nuts. 

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fad diets are all the rage these days. There are so many people that are testing out diets just to lose weight instead of making healthier choices for the rest of their lives. Not going to lie, I've done it. I was vegetarian for 3 years, vegan for a month, pescetarian for all the times in between, and the list goes on. This year though I have really been trying to make bigger changes that last. My new years resolution was to challenge myself with something new for each month. January I gave up meat and challenged myself to eat more seafood (sustainable seafood at that). February I challenged myself to give up sugar. Since lent started in March, I gave up tortilla chips (weird I know, but when I go out for Mexican food I eat the entire complementary basket and then some). This month I've been challenging myself to make foods that I normally buy processed. I've been making my own salad dressings, chips, sauces and now cookies!

I know, I know, it's easy to make cookies from scratch. I am way more conscious of what I put into my body though and wanted to take something so unhealthy and make it better. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, butter free, and most importantly: ALL NATURAL. I'm not going to lie and say these taste just like the most indulgent of chocolate chip cookies because they don't. They do however taste so good for being healthy and in my book, that's all that matters. You know those almond cookies you get when you order Chinese take out? That's exactly what these taste like only with chocolate chips to make them better.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup (sugar free if you can find one)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the vanilla, syrup and eggs and mix to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix (starting with a spatula and then using your hands). Once mixed, add the chocolate chips. Melt the coconut oil and mix into the batter. Your batter should have the consistency of normal cookie dough, if it is too thin add more flour. 

Place tablespoon sized scoops onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat (if you do not have a Silpat, lightly spray your cookie sheets with cooking spray). Make sure to flatten the cookie dough with a spatula, it will not flatten as it cooks so this step is important! 

Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before eating. 

Recipe adapted from: Simply Taralynn

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

2014 has been nothing short of an amazing year so far. It's been a while since I've posted anything so here's a brief update on what's happened in my life since December:

• I discovered that my kitchen is not big enough for all of my cooking dreams and messes
• I got a new job!
• I met an amazing group of people that have shown me that work can actually be fun and enjoyable
• I discovered this guys wisdom: Jarrid Wilson
• I gave up meat for a month
• I gave my wardrobe a complete makeover
• I oddly grew to enjoy baking despite my dislike for baked goods
• I learned plenty of pointless information about geology
• I applied for graduation!

That just about sums it up. Working a Monday through Friday, 8:30-5:00, job has forced me to meal plan. I've always been good at planning out my lunches and dinners for the week but breakfast has always been a struggle for me, especially because I am not the biggest fan of breakfast foods. My options are limited and so is my morning time.

This past week a friend of mine made these muffins. I, however, do not like blueberries. At all. Especially in muffins. So I decided to change up the recipe a bit and sub in a few other ingredients for the blueberries. I can't even explain just how amazing these muffins smelled while they were baking. The apples add moisture to the muffin and keep them from drying out while the sugar on top gives them a nice added crunch.

Yield: 12 muffins

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 apple (diced)
• Sugar in the raw for garnish

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a muffin tin with liners and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Place oats in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Place oats in a small bowl with almond milk, mix, and let soak for 30 minutes. In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, honey, applesauce, egg whites, oil, and vanilla; mix well. In another small bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk. 

Combine soaked oats with other wet ingredients and mix. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in apples. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of batter to each liner and sprinkle with sugar in the raw; bake for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Per muffin: 123 calories, 2g fat, 14.5g sugar, 2g protein 

Skinny Chicken Parmesan Calzones

That's right ladies and gentleman, I'm back! It's been a crazy, hectic month and I can't even tell you how amazing it feels to FINALLY be on Christmas break. Every free minute I had was spent reading, writing, and researching for finals. Now that I have 3 weeks of freedom, I plan on cooking as many new things as possible. 

About a week ago I made Chicken Parmesan for dinner and was beyond pleased with the results. Typical chicken parm. recipes use a flour, egg, breadcrumb dredging process but I decided to make things a bit easier on myself and used just breadcrumbs and butter. The chicken turned out just as amazing and was a LOT less messy (something I'm sure Adam was very pleased about). I also baked the chicken instead of frying it. 

I was starving when I woke up this morning and didn't have the effort to make myself breakfast so I sat around and looked at food blogs (not a good idea when you're already hungry). I got an instant craving for breakfast burritos...then snickerdoodle cookies...then calzones. Breakfast burritos required too many ingredients so I got over that craving pretty quickly. Cookies were out of the question, especially at 9am. Calzones however, sounded pretty doable. I found a recipe for buffalo chicken calzones and got inspired to come up with a chicken Parmesan calzone. 

This recipe requires some waiting but not a lot of work and believe me, the waiting is worth it.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan Calzones

Yield: 2 generous servings

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp light butter (I like Smart Balance light butter with flaxseed oil)
• 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 can Pillsbury refrigerated classic pizza crust
• 6 slices Sargento ultra thin sliced provolone cheese
• 4 tbsp marinara sauce, plus more for dipping
• Egg wash (1 egg, 1/2 tsp water)
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp fresh grated Parmesan

For the chicken: 

Preheat oven to 450°. Combine 1tsp grated Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in a bowl. In another bowl, melt butter. Brush melted butter on both sides of chicken breast and dip in breadcrumb mixture, evenly coating both sides. Place on greased baking sheet and lightly spray the top of chicken with cooking oil. 

Bake for 15 minutes, turn chicken and bake another 5 minutes. Let chicken cool while preparing pizza dough.

For the calzones:

Remove dough from packaging and roll into a ball. Divide dough in two and roll out. 

Place 3 slices of provolone, chicken breast, and 2 tbsp's marinara sauce in each calzone. 

Fold dough in half and pinch edges closed. Whisk together egg and water. Brush calzones with egg wash. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and fresh grated Parmesan over the top of the calzones. Bake 10-15 minutes (oven should still be set at 450°). 

(The egg wash helps to create a shiny exterior without burning the dough). 

Angry Orchard Cinnful Cider Bread

For those of you who haven't made my Cinnful Cidercakes yet, you need to! My cidercakes have been a hit and I decided I wanted to take the recipe to the next level and turn it into a bread. I love any and all kinds of bread - especially banana bread, pumpkin bread, and beer bread. After giving it some thought, I decided that I wanted a moist bread like banana bread, with the denseness of pumpkin bread, and that used hard cider instead of beer. I had a pretty solid recipe for my cupcakes and decided to somehow modify it to give it a bread-like texture. 

Now I've done my fair share of food research and I know that substitutions can be made for most things but not without a little modification first. Banana bread is moist because of the banana, pumpkin bread is super moist because of the pumpkin puree and beer bread obviously uses beer to keep the bread from drying out. When it comes to apple cider bread, equal substitutions cannot be made. Apples are a very, very wet fruit and adding applesauce instead of banana or pumpkin puree nearly doubles the moisture which could turn the bread to goo, especially since there is added liquid from the hard cider already. I wanted a strong apple flavor so I cut the amount of cider in half to account for the moisture in the applesauce. The result was a rich, moist, bread that fully embodied the flavor of Angry Orchard's Cinnful Cider.

Angry Orchard Cinnful Cider Bread

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup cinnamon applesauce
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup egg beaters
• 1/2 cup Angry Orchard Cinnful Cider
• 1/4 cup cinnamon chips
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon fat free half and half (or milk)
• Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 9x5in. loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and apple pie spice. In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar then add applesauce and mix. Add 1/4 cup egg beaters and mix. Once mixed add remaining 1/4 cup egg beaters and mix again. Slowly mix in hard cider until fully incorporated. Working in 3 batches, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix. Pour into loaf pan and cook for 55 minutes; rotating after 30. 

Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan and then slowly remove from loaf pan and cool on a cooling rack. 

For the cinnamon drizzle: melt cinnamon chips, fat free half and half, and vanilla over a double boiler. As soon as ingredients are melted, drizzle over cooled cider bread and top with chopped walnuts.