Hot Wing Joes

Phew....Christmas is over. We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you had one too! It was an exhausting couple of weeks. Our family came down with what we called the plague and was out of commission for about 8 days. Started with a cold that attacked me HARD and moved onto a stomach bug with the menfolk of the house. Joy...fa la la la la...no.

We recovered in time for Christmas and got busy. My brother and his girlfriend were in town so it was wonderful to see them. He has a couple fancy camera's so he took some photos of us the Thursday before Christmas...Cooper was less than cooperative for most of them....

But we did get some really good shots....

We had a get together at my Grandma's that night to exchange presents with my brother. We all brought premade party trays and it was SO easy....so much easier than cooking a big dinner and 1/4 of the clean up!

I usually over do it with food on holidays. I try to make something super complicated an overwhelm myself. This year we had a taco bar at my best friend's, which was so much fun and easy. Christmas morning we hosted our first family get together in our new house and I made casseroles that required overnight fridge visits and just had to pop them in the oven Christmas morning. I am SO glad I did that instead of trying to get up that morning and stand over the stove to make a big meal. Christmas was so easy and relaxed. Cooper had such a good time and we had such a good time just watching him open his gifts and play!

His big gift this year was a train table and lots of train sets and accessories to go with it. It's positioned in our dining room now so he likes to play with it while I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen. 

We ate way too many take out and fast food meals during the 'plague' and Christmas week. Last night I cooked our first dinner in weeks....well our first non-Stoufer's related dinner. Hot Wing Joes. These were super yummy and will go into our regular rotation. The recipe is easily doubled and makes excellent lunches for the week. There are veggies in the sauce, so don't feel too guilty if you just eat it with chips!

Chop up a small onion, half a celery rib, and a large garlic clove. Shred up a small carrot. I like to saute my veggies a bit before adding in the ground chicken so they aren't too crunchy. 

Add the ground chicken, cook and crumble until chicken is done. Drain and add in sauces. 

Simmer until sauces thicken a bit. Serve on a bun topped with blue cheese crumbles. 

Hot Wing Joes

1 pound ground chicken

1 small or half of 1 large celery rib, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 small carrot, grated

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 cup canned tomato sauce, about half a can

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/8 cup hot sauce (I used Crystal)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Dash of black pepper

Hamburger buns

Blue cheese crumbles

Saute veggies and garlic in a little bit of oil until just turning tender. Add in ground chicken and cook until no longer pink. Drain. Add in tomato sauce, chicken broth, hot sauce, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire and pepper. Cook until heated and thickened slightly. 

Serve on hamburger buns topped with blue cheese crumbles. 

Dig in!

2 Weeks After Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Cookie Bites

It's been 2 weeks since Thanksgiving. I made a couple of recipes I wanted to share, but was trying to decide on posting them now in the off season, or sharing them next year BEFORE Thanksgiving. I guess they could be made for Christmas...but anyway. I decided to go ahead and share one of them today and another one sometime in the next few days while it's all still fresh in my typically mushy mind.

(I'm sitting here watching an Ninja infomercial and wanting to go out and buy one)

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving by the way. We did. It was hectic. Thanksgiving day at my Dad and Step-mom's. A full house at around 18 guests. There was so much dessert we call could have sat down with our own individual pies I think.

Part of the desserts and turkey...

I went Black Friday shopping that night with my friend and to my Grandma's on Friday for 2nd Thanksgiving. I was pretty exhausted by Friday night.

The recipe I am sharing with you today was  HUGE hit. I can't take credit for the recipe myself. Our local grocery chain, Publix, has a program called Aprons. They do cooking demos in store and pass our recipes. I was wondering around aimlessly one night trying to figure out what to pick up for dinner and the smell of pumpkin pulled me in...these little delicious guys were baking and lucky me got to try a sample.

My brother chased me to the car to get a few more before we went home, had more at my grandma's the next day and asked for more at our house Saturday night.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! AND they are SUPER easy, bonus!

Pumpkin Cookie Bites

Start with 2 packages of 24 count premade refrigerated cookie dough squares break apart things. Technical terms, I know. I used the Immaculate brand Gingerbread and Sugar cookie variety. I try to use Immaculate brand baking products as often as possible. They are convenient and don't have all of the crap in them like the other brands. When living in Tampa, we had a larger variety at the grocery stores. We don't have as many options in a smaller city now, but I am slowly seeing their brand pop up in stores. 

Anyway...take them out of the fridge while preheating the oven and mixing everything else together to soften up a bit. BUT only take 1 pack out at a time if you only have 1 mini muffin pan to work with.

Meanwhile, mix together egg, pumpkin and dulce de leche caramel. I found this in the International food isle with the Mexican foods.

Press dough into greased mini-muffin pan to form little cups. 

Fill and bake! Let cook a bit and pop out with a spoon to cool completely on a cooling rack before storing. 

Pumpkin Cookie Bites

1 egg
1 cup canned (not pumpkin pie spiced) pumpkin
2/3 cup dulce de leche caramel
2 (24-count) packages refrigerated cookie dough (gingerbread or sugar are preferred), softened

Preheat oven to 375. Spray mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.

Whisk egg until blended. Stir in caramel and pumpkin until evenly blended.

Separate and press dough into muffin pan to form cups. Fill each cup with about a teaspoon full of pumpkin mixture. Bake for 25 minutes until crust is golden. Cool for 10ish minutes in pan and pop out with spoon to cool on cooling rack completely.

Dig in!

Down Under Potato Soup

23 days until Christmas....I have a very excited little boy. He is almost 3 and this is the first year he kind of 'gets' it. He knows he's going to have his picture with Santa and say CHEESE! He wants to leave Santa chocolate cookies and chicken. His words, not mine. I am excited to see his face Christmas morning.

Last night we spent the evening in our city's downtown area. We dined at Palace Pizza and walked around the park. It's decorated with lights and Coop had a blast!

Now this recipe has NOTHING to do with Christmas...but I wanted to share pictures with you of my adorable child. :)

NOW, onto the food. A couple of weeks ago I checked out one of those Restaurant Copy Cat books and copied down a recipe for Outback's Walk-About soup. I haven't actually HAD the soup in the actual restaurant, but the recipe sounded like it would be MAGIC. When trying to decide to what to cook for dinner for us tonight, I came across the index card it was written on and decided to give it a whirl. I altered it a bit to bulk it up for a main course and changed the name. It was SO GOOD. I cannot press that info on your enough. I don't know if this is how the cook it 'down under', but they should. 

First, start with 3 or 4 smallish to mediumish potatoes. Peel them and dice them up. Boil them in water until nice and tender. Drain and set aside. 

Meanwhile, dice up 3 small onions and saute in butter until tender.

When onions are soft, remove from heat and add flour, paprika, salt and pepper. 

Add milk and stir until smooth. Return to heat and add broth. Simmer until thickened and hot. Add in cream and cheddar. Add the potatoes. 

Serve garnished with mozzarella and green onions. YUMMMMMMY!

Down Under Potato Soup

3 to 4 small to medium potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 pepper
3 cups milk
4 cups vegetable, chicken or combination of each broth
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Chopped green onions and shredded mozzarella cheese for garnish

Peel and dice potatoes. Place in pot, cover with water and boil until tender. Around 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop onions and saute in butter until tender. Remove from heat and stir in flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Return to heat and add milk, stirring until smooth. Add broth and stir until combined. Simmer until thickened slightly. Add cream and cheddar cheese. Stir until smooth and add potatoes.

Serve with green onions and mozzarella.

Dig in!

Easy-Peasy Meal Number 1 - Taco Dip

Sometimes I don't really feel like cooking, but we don't need a night of fast food. Or, we are broke but want something yummy and not ramen noodle related. That's when I turn to one of my easy-peasy meals for din din or weekend lunch. Little effort and cheap!

The first one I introduce to you started as a taco dip ages ago for a party and adapted to a dip for 2 (and a half) people as the years went by. It's PERFECT for sitting in front of the tv watching a Parks and Rec Netflix marathon or a sporting event.

I use Chili's chips and salsa for this, It's $2.99 for a good portion of chips and salsa. Cheaper than buying the  jarred stuff and a bag of tostitos. But you can use whatever you want. You can also use a fresh Hass avocado if you can catch them on sale or use 2 100 calorie Wholly Guac packs.

Easy-Peasy Taco Dip 

1 can refried beans

1 to 2 cups salsa

1 cup sour cream

1 ripe Hass avocado smashed or 2 100 calorie Wholly Guacamole packs
Shredded lettuce
Shredded cheese
2 chopped plum tomatoes
Chips

Heat refried beans and stir in salsa. Mix avocado or guacamole with sour cream. Layer it all in a casserole dish or divide into bowls. Serve with chips.

Dig in!!

Nacho Cheese Noodle Bake

Can you believe it's going to be Thanksgiving in 2 days? And it's almost 2013, whoa! This all dawned on me the other day....where has the year gone? 

I have been attempting to get our house ready for the weekend, my brother and his girlfriend are flying in and will see our house for the first time. It's a wreck. Do you ever sit back, look around and wonder when a tornado touched down in your living room? I do. Almost. Every. Day. Coop was in the hospital last week. He has asthma and when he gets a cold, it's a doozy. It makes his little lungs go haywire and we end up in the ER. He was admitted this time and spent 4 days there. He's all better now but our house isn't. Blah, housework, blah....

Not that this really has anything to do with the recipe I share with you today or anything. Today, I am sharing a yummy, easy-peasy-extra cheesy, Nacho Cheese Noodle Bake. I was flipping a Taste of Home magazine and saw the original recipe. I have altered it slightly..leaving out olives and substituting a few other things. 

Brown ground chicken a drain. Mix in a can of fire roasted Tex-Mex style tomatoes, corn an nacho cheese condensed soup. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cook and drain half a bag of egg noodles.

Mix it all together and pour into a greased casserole dish or baking pan. Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese over the top and bake until bubbly.

Nacho Cheese Noodle Bake

3 cups uncooked egg noodles

1 pound ground chicken

1 can fire roasted Tex Mex tomatoes

1 cup frozen corn

1 can condensed nacho cheese soup

2 cups shredded Fiesta Blend cheese

Ranch dressing

Shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream. tortilla strips

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown ground chicken an drain. Stir in tomatoes, corn and soup. Heat to a boil, reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cook egg noodles and drain. Stir into chicken mix. 

Pour into greased baking dish, sprinkle with cheese and baking for 15 minutes until bubbly.

Spoon into bowls and drizzle with ranch. Garnish with shredded lettuce, tomato, sour cream and tortilla strips. 

Chicken Fajita Chowder in the Slow Cooker

We've had cooler...cold for Florida in the fall...weather over the last month and it's been an excellent time for soup! I could eat soup almost every day, it's so comforting, so satisfying. My husband isn't a big fan of soup on a regular basis, but my little boy agrees with me....he likes soup! Or, poup as he calls it...his name is Cooper...which he pronounces Pooper...so when he says Cooper likes Soup!, it makes me giggle.

This soup is SUPER yummy. Very comforting, good for you and makes excellent leftovers. It does thicken up while in the fridge, so reheat on the stove with a little chicken broth to thin it out a bit. It can also be made on the stove top.

Chicken Fajita Chowder

Dice onion and 3 sweet bell peppers. You can use any variety of peppers green, red, yellow, or orange. 

Saute with a little olive oil until tender.

Meanwhile, brown ground chicken and drain. 

Transfer chicken and peppers to slow cooker. Combine with enchilada sauce, green chilies, rice, broth and salt. 

Cook on low for 3 to 5 hours, until rice is tender. Stir in sour cream and cheese. Serve hot with a little more sour cream cheese and tortilla chips. 

Chicken Fajita Chowder

1 pound ground chicken

3 medium green or sweet peppers, diced

1 medium onion, diced

3 cups chicken broth, water or combination. I used a combination

2 cups frozen corn

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 can green enchilada sauce

1 small can diced green chilies, I used about 1/4 cup but it's up to you how much you want to add

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 cup sour cream

 Brown ground chicken, drain and set aside.

Saute onions and peppers in a tablespoon of olive oil until tender.

Transfer peppers and chicken to slow cooker. Mix in broth, corn, rice, enchilada sauce, chilies and salt. 

Cook on low 3 to 5 hours, until rice is tender. Stir in sour cream and cheese until melted.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Dig in!

Italian Puff Pastry Tart

Long time no post, I know..I know. Slacker. After about a million attempts at trying to find a new and awesome recipe to put up, I finally succeeded! Ever have a string of boo-boos in the kitchen? That's me lately. I forget to turn on the crockpot, only to discover it HOURS later, when I am ready to eat what's in the crockpot and it's no where near done...OR..I attempt to broil something, only to realize my oven doesn't have a broiler element...sigh.


WELL....there was definitely success with this delicious little dish below. I had a girl's lunch a few weeks ago and made awesome broccoli pot pies from Oh My Veggies!. It called for a puff pastry sheet, and only used one. Kevin isn't a fan of broccoli, so I needed to think of something else to do with the remaining sheet..besides apple turnovers. I can't even remember what else I made for dinner that night, but felt we needed a 'bread'. That's when inspiration struck! It was delicious, it was magic, it was all gone before we knew it....

Italian Puff Pastry Tart

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed if frozen

Olive oil for drizzling

Grated Parmesan

Extra-thin slices of tomato

Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 425.

Lay out sheet of puff pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press together any cracks to reseal. Sprinkle puff pastry with a handful of parmesan. Lay slices of tomatoes in rows to top of cheese and top with another handful of so of cheese. Drizzle with olive oil (a little bit goes a long way!) and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until puff pastry is browned and cheese is melted. Start checking after 15 minutes. 

Slice into squares and Dig in!!