Cranberry Orange Mango Chutney

I love cooking for Thanksgiving. One of the perfect compliments to turkey is cranberry sauce - but I've had enough of that stuff you plop out of a can and serve! I searched and searched for something that would give me a cranberry fix, but also compliment a Thanksgiving meal. I can't wait to make this!!

Cranberry Orange Mango Chutney

Ingredients
1 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1 orange peeled & diced
3/4 cup mango diced (I'll probably use frozen mango chunks that my husband uses for smoothies) 
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger (can add more to cut sweetness, if needed)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Directions
Combine all items in a sauté pan and bring to a boil
Reduce heat and allow to simmer until thickened
Average time = 20 min (depends on thickness desired for the chutney)

Yields approx. 24 oz. of chutney (3 small jars)
If refrigerated, this will keep for several weeks.

Looking forward to turkey, cranberry chutney and all the fixins'!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Crockpot Chicken Chili

I can't say this is a "tried and true" recipe because... well, I haven't made it yet! But I will... tomorrow... I have confidence it will be delish!

Crockpot Chicken Chili

Ingredients
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken (diced)
1 package chili seasoning mix
1 small package Bloemer's chili powder
1 chopped onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 can Rotel tomatoes1 can Northern or cannellini beans
1 can kidney beans (light or dark would work)
Handful of frozen corn

Directions
Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray
Sear diced chicken until cooked through
Add chili powder to chicken and stir until coated
Add chicken along with rest of ingredients into crockpot
Cook on low for approx. 6 hours

Looking forward to eating this warm goodness while it's cool and rainy outside this weekend! :) 

Bacon-wrapped chicken tenders

It's no secret that I love bacon. It makes everything better. When I decided to make bacon-wrapped chicken, I thought it was going to be good. But never did I expect it to be AMAZEBALLS!!! OMG. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I made it for our good friends a few weeks ago and they told me I need to bottle the sauce, for realz. I guess that means they liked it :P 

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenders

Ingredients
1 lb chicken tenders (about 10 tenders)
10 strips of bacon
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup of brown sugar (I used dark, but light would work too)
2 tablespoons chili powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix together salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, parsley and garlic powder
Rinse chicken tenders
Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken tenders and completely coat them generously
Put foil on baking pan and spray with non-stick spray
Wrap bacon strip around each chicken tender
Place each chicken tender into baking pan
Mix together brown sugar and chili powder
Sprinkle this mixture generously over bacon-wrapped chicken, pressing sugar mixture into the chicken to pack it on
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is crisp
Serve while it's hot (and drizzle the pan sauce onto the chicken for extra yummy goodness!)

Banana Choc Chip Muffins

Who KNEW my husband loved muffins so much!? I mean, we've been together for 7 years and although I've baked quite a few times for him, this is the first thing I've ever made from scratch. Let me just tell you -- he ate FIVE muffins in one sitting! LOL! I guess that means they were awesome :P

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 bananas mashed (I even used my potato masher for this :P)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg (we were out so I added vanilla extract instead)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda (this was a little tricky... I only had baking powder - so I used a 2-1 ration and used 2 tsp. of baking powder)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°
Mix butter and sugar together in a small bowl
Dissolve baking powder in water - then add to a separate bowl with mashed bananas and egg
Add butter and sugar mixture to combine all wet ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, now combine dry ingredients -- flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and chocolate chips (since I used vanilla in lieu of nutmeg, I added the vanilla in with the wet ingredients)
Add wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir til combined

Rub butter in bottom of muffin tins
Fill each tin about 1/2 to 3/4 full of batter
Bake for about 20 minutes

Note - You may want to make a double batch if you have a husband like mine! He put them on the very top of the cabinet so I can't reach them :(

Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

Say what!? I know... Sounds like a weird combination! When I saw it on Facebook, I was not immediately impressed. But after thinking about it, I'm convinced they will be yummy! So much so -- I've decided to make some this weekend :)

Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

Ingredients
24 Oreos
Peanut Butter (of course, it must be Jif)
Family-size Brownie mix (along w/eggs, oil & water per directions)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Take 2 Oreos and stack them with peanut butter (a layer in the middle and a layer on top)
Place the stack in a cupcake liner
Place liners in a muffin pan
Make brownie mix according to box instructions
Pour brownie mix over cookie stacks
Bake for approx. 20 min
Pull out of oven and allow to cool

Serve w/a COLD glass of MILK! :)

Blackberry Cobbler

Oh MY! I'd never had cobbler before... Boy, I did not know what I was missing! My husband had never eaten before either -- but the eyerolls as he devoured mine let me know it was good!

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients
4 cups fresh blackberries
Zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup milk
1-2 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Place blackberries in a bowl and "smush" to release some of juices
Add sugar, lemon zest & juice to berries. Combine and set aside 
*You may not need a full cup of sugar - just use your own judgement!
Melt stick of butter in a 13x9 baking dish
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and then whisk until well blended
Slowly stir in vanilla and milk and continue whisking
Once butter is melted in baking dish, slowly pour batter over the butter (do not stir!)
Pour berries on top of the mixture in baking dish (do not stir!)
Sprinkle brown sugar liberally over the top
Bake for 45 min to 1 hour until golden brown


To serve, put warm cobbler into a bowl and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! :) Watch out! It'll make you wanna smack yo mama!

Red Beans-n-Rice

On a whim, I tried making this and it turned out much better than expected! And what makes it better? You can make it in the crockpot!

Red Beans-n-Rice

Ingredients
1 lb. red beans soaked and rinsed
1 meaty ham bone
1 green pepper chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
1-2 lbs. smoked sausage
1 tablespoon of Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon of red pepper flake
3 cups of chicken stock
3 cups of water
Salt & pepper to taste

**You'll also need cooked rice. I just whip up instant rice on the stove when the beans are almost ready to serve!

Directions
Slice sausage into bite-sized pieces and brown in a skillet on the stove
Drain off any grease and set aside
Rinse beans thoroughly and pour into crockpot
Add water and chicken stock to beans
Add chopped vegetables (green pepper, onion & celery)
Add sausage
Add remaining seasonings (Creole, red pepper, salt & pepper)
Cook on high for 7-8 hours

To serve, scoop cooked rice into bowl and ladle red beans over rice
DE-LIC-IOUS!
 

Dorito Chicken!

If you have been on Pinterest even just a few times, you've probably stumbled across a recipe similar to this. Since I've been on a MAJOR Doritos kick the past few weeks, I decided to give this a whirl! Boy, am I glad I did! De-lish!!

Doritos Chicken

Ingredients
4 - boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
1 bag of Doritos crushed (I used Nacho Cheese, but Ranch would be great too)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up!)
Soak chicken breasts in a bowl of milk
Whisk 2 eggs in a separate bowl
Create an assembly line - chicken, eggs, doritos, baking sheet
Take each piece of chicken from the milk, soak in eggs mixture, roll in crushed Doritos and line on baking sheet
Bake at 425° for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown
Be sure not to let the Doritos burn!

You will be impressed! It was better than I expected ;)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Need I say more!? I have a friend who is CRAZY about peanut butter, so I'm making these yummy delicious bars for her this weekend! Plus, you can never have too much sweet stuff, right!?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
2 cups of graham crackers finely crushed
2 sticks melted butter
1 1/4 cup Jif peanut butter(And yes, it MUST BE JIF!!)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Directions
Mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, powdered sugar and 1 cup of the peanut butter in a mixing bowl
Smooth mixture into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish and set aside
Place chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds
Stir. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir. If still not melted, microwave for 30 more seconds. Stir until melted
Spread melted chocolate mixture evenly over peanut butter mixture in the baking dish
Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting into squares

Then... it's time to devour with a cold glass of milk!! :)

Easy BBQ Chicken

So, it was my turn to cook last night. My hubby is so considerate and handles most of the cooking during the week, so it's only fair that I contribute on the weekend.

Chicken breast was all we had in the freezer. I'm about "chickened-out" so I didn't want to make the same ol' same ol'. I started hunting on Pinterest for a marinade or something that could jazz up the same ol' boring chicken breast. When I couldn't find anything, the hubs chimed in and said, "Hey, why don't you just make BBQ chicken!?"

Now - I do confess that anytime I make BBQ chicken (I wish my fingers would stop trying to type BBW chicken!) LOL! Anywho, I always just through a bottle of store bought BBQ sauce on some chicken and let it ride. This time, though, I wasn't satisfied with doing that. I wanted to make it my own... make it better...

I didn't do much but it was enough to make some yummy delicious BBQ chicken!


BBQ Chicken

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 can of soda (I used ginger ale)
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (I used store-brand Honey BBQ)
1 cup brown sugar
Juice of 1 large orange
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375
Season chicken breast (I used salt, pepper & a salt-free Ms. Dash seasoning)
Place chicken in glass baking dish lightly coated in non-stick spray
Pour can of soda into dish surrounding chicken
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 

For the sauce, add 1 bottle of BBQ sauce to sauce pan over low heat
Add 1 cup of brown sugar and juice of 1 large orange
Whisk until combined

After chicken has cooked in soda for 1 hour, remove from oven and drain off majority of soda
Cover chicken with BBQ sauce from pan and recover with foil
Bake for an additional 45-55 minutes

Chicken was moist, tender, sweet and delicious! The hubby approved!

Simple Vinaigrettes!

Considering I never eat salads, this is an odd thing for me to make. However, I think the "weirdest" part of a salad is the dressing. I have not yet found a typical dressing that I will eat.

SO, I'm on the mission to make one that can appeal to me as well as the normal salad-lover (though there is nothing normal about loving rabbit food!) :P

Let's try these!

Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp. honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Can't wait to make a salad and see if these creations pass the test!

Roasted Parmesan Potato Wedges

I searched and searched for a side item to compliment the orange cranberry chicken I'll be making later this week. Finally - I came upon this super simple one! It sounds easy (which I will need after I get home from work and try to put it altogether)

Roasted Parmesan Potato Wedges

Ingredients
4 - large potatoes
2 tbsp. olive or canola oil
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions

Cut each potato lengthwise in half
Cut each half into three wedges
In a large bowl, sprinkle potatoes with oil; toss to coat
Combine the remaining ingredients
Add to potatoes; toss to coat
Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking pan coated with cooking spray
Sprinkle with any remaining coating
Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown and tender

Can't wait to chow down on these babies!! (coming from the girl who does not even like cheese!) Go figure :P

Orange-Cranberry Chicken

Can I just tell you that I am SUPER pumped about this dish!? We are having friends over for dinner this week and I am so excited about it! I've always wanted to be able to invite people to our home and have dinner and such. And now, we finally have a place where we can! YAY! :)

NOW - Let's just hope this chicken tastes as good as it sounds!

Orange Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients
4 - chicken breasts (I'm using boneless; bone-in would be good too)
1 - 14 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 cup of orange juice
1 tbsp. brown sugar
Zest of 1 large orange
Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp. butter
1-2 tbsp. flour or cornstarch

Directions

In the bottom of the slow cooker, combine cranberry sauce, brown sugar, orange juice and orange zest

Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper. Add to slow cooker.

Cook chicken breasts on low for about 4-6 hours or until meat is tender.

 

For glaze, add butter and flour to skillet to create a roux

Add 1-2 cups of orange cranberry liquid to roux

Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens
Serve sauce over chicken breast

 

Is anybody else hungry!?? :)

Meatloaf

Although meatloaf is pretty yucky to stick your hands in to mix, once it's cooked, it is delicious -- and filling! Add a vegetable and some mashed potatoes and a down-home comfort food meal is served :)

I used to make this with ground beef - but I recently used ground turkey in its place. My husband could not tell a difference in taste and neither could I! The plus side is: there is less excess grease and it's definitely healthier with the leaner ground turkey!

Meatloaf  

Ingredients
1 - 1 1/2 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 egg
1 - 1 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I use italian for extra flavor)
1 onion chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
3/4 - 1 cup of BBQ sauce (I know you might think this is weird, but trust me! It's awesome! Every person I've told who has tried it this way will never go back to tomato sauce or ketchup!!)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup ketchup (to put on top near the end of cooking time)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Lightly grease baking pan
Combine all ingredients (except ketchup) in a large bowl
Pour mixture into pan and form into a 'loaf' shape
Bake for about 45 min
Take out meatloaf and add ketchup to the top
Bake for an additional 15-20 min

So easy! So good! Now I'm hungry! I might have to pick up ingredients to make this later in the week :)